Honey Bunches of Oats

It's hard to believe that this story is real...

2009-12-03T03:13:00.000-08:00

but it is. Read this girl's story here.

I know that kind of life isn't for everyone, and at least for me it can be hard to relate to at times. But, I still think we can all get something out of her journey, even if it's just to be incredibly thankful for the blessings we all enjoy on a daily basis.

Spain

2009-10-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Spain was an adventure. It had some good parts and some bad parts, but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to experience my first taste of Europe with anyone other than David!

James Island

2009-07-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my birthday, we took an Olson family boat trip to James Island (which is a small peanut shaped island in the San Juans). David's family used to go to James Island when he was little and he has always had very fond memories of their trips there, so it was especially fun to see the place that David loved so much as a kid!

We had a great time hanging out on the boat relaxing, eating a super yummy lunch, going on a beautiful hike, and just spending time together as a family. Theo even came along and he did so well! He was awesome on the boat and didn't seem to mind it a bit, and he was a trooper on his first hike ever. We called him our little billy goat because he just wanted to climb over everything. It was a wonderful day!

This summer so far...

2009-07-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

~ We've played lots of tennis, and I while I don't think I'm good at it yet, I do feel like I'm getting better. Theo even comes with us and runs around while we play.

~ We celebrated David's 28th birthday with a BBQ at a beautiful state park with his family.

~ I've taken lots of walks with this little beauty, her mama (my friend Kristy), and Theo.

~ We've had several game nights/bbq's with friends and hope to have more. Game nights are our favorite!

It's been a good summer so far and we have lots to look forward too...my birthday, visits with family, camping, Spain (assuming our passports go through and David can get me on the plane, ha).

Our garden...

2009-07-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

We made a small Square Foot Garden in our backyard. Much to my horror, David let Theo out so he could "help." What do you want to bet that he got a bath that night?

The finished product (this was back in early June, some of the plants are crazy huge now...I'll have to get some updated pics of the garden).

Do you think he likes his new home?

2009-07-14T01:26:00.000-07:00

Update...

2009-07-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I've posted, but a big change has happened since then. We started thinking about buying a house in March, and by May we had bought a brand-new townhouse 15 miles north of our old place and moved in! It's 3 stories, 2 bed/2.5 bath, and about 1300 sq. ft. It's a starter home, but it's perfect for us right now. We are loving having such a nice big kitchen to cook in (especially compared to the postage stamp size kitchen we had in our old apt.), and having a nice big garage to store our stuff in has been awesome!

Here are a few pics of the place before we moved in.

Kitchen. The refrigerator is off to the right, and a powder room is tucked back in the far right hand corner.

Dining Room/Kitchen (taken from the living room).

Dining/Living Rooms.

The view from the master bedroom. It's actually really pretty on clear sunny days because you can see the mountain range behind the hills.

Our little yard. I've since planted a small Square Foot Garden to the right of the grass.

After a cancelled flight, a missed flight, and a 22 hour drive...

2009-01-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

...we finally made it to "The Happiest Place on Earth."

Getting down there consisted of two of the absolute worst days of my life, but it was worth it, and we ended up having a wonderful time at Disneyland with David's family! Thanks for everything Jan and Dan!

Now for tons of photo spam:

David and I spent Christmas Eve at a cheap hotel in Roseburg, OR eating takeout Chinese food.

The only upside of Christmas Day (aka - hands down the worst day of my life)...was seeing these lovely snow-covered mountains.

The day after Christmas...Southern California at last!

First day at Disneyland.

The castle all decorated for Christmas.

That night we had a scrumptious dinner at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

The next day we spent at California Adventure.

We watched the Pixar Play Parade that night, which was actually really neat.

Then we all went to Bubba Gump's for a yummy dinner.

The next day we got up really early in order to use our one Magic Morning pass (this lets you get into the park an hour before it opens). It was kinda nice getting to see the park and all the pretty decorations before the giant crowds were there.

I'm normally not a huge fan of the "It's a Small World" ride, but the holiday version was actually really cute.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - one of my favorite rides! The first time we rode this ride I beat David (clearly a miracle), but by the second time around he had far surpassed me and I sabotaged myself by spending to much time trying to thwart his efforts and not enough time scoring points myself!

New Orleans Square is probably my favorite part of Disneyland!

That night David and I stayed pretty late and watched Fantasmic! and the holiday fireworks show.

The next morning David and I had an awesome breakfast at The LaBrea Bakery and Cafe in Downtown Disney, then we headed to California Adventure again.

We saw a lot of super cool shows at California Adventure over the days. A few of my favorites were a Broadway-style production of Aladdin, Talk Time with Crush, and a 3-D show called "It's Tough to be a Bug."

That night we met up with the family for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.

I loved the way they decorated all of the trees in Downtwon Disney. They were so beautiful in person!

After dinner, we all took the monorail back into Disneyland, as this was the rest of the family's last night at Disney.

The next day David's family flew home, but David and I stayed a couple extra nights because we'd driven down. We took a Disney break on this day and just spent some time relaxing. We saw a movie in the afternoon (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, good film) and then went back to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Since it was just the two of us, we split a chicken salad and then got the famous Volcano for dessert! I think we ate about half of it, lol.

The next day was New Years Eve. David and I spent the day at California Adventure, and finally got to go on the best ride ever...Toy Story Midway Mania! The two previous times we'd tried to ride it, it had been broken. It is such a fun ride though!!

That night, after we'd taken a nap and changed into nicer clothes, we headed to Downtown Disney for a fabulous dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.

After dinner, we stopped by the "O" in California (outside of California Adventure) for an Olson family picture.

Then we headed into Disneyland. It was so CROWDED!! Seriously, you could barely walk, it was insane. It was a fun, but crazy, way to end our vacation!

Merry Christmas...from the Santa Puppy!

2008-12-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

Current mood: happy!

2008-12-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

Woohoo, I am so happy to be done with school for the quarter! When I took my last math test on Wed. night, the professor told me that she wanted me to stay after I took it so that she could grade it and then talk to me. I was thinking "uh-oh." But after she was done grading it, she told me that I did so well on all of my tests (4-100% and 1-97%) that I got to skip the final! I am so happy that I don't have to spend my entire weekend studying. It also gives me a little bit of confidence that I won't completely bomb Chemistry next quarter, as it has never been my favorite or best subject.

~So, yes, this is a little bit of a brag post...but I want to record it for when I'm in the midst of all the hard science classes that I don't really want to take, and am questioning my abilities!

If I never see a fried food again...it will still be too soon.

2008-11-24T03:30:00.001-08:00

Sometimes in an effort to be a good wife, I suggest doing things that aren't really my thing, but that I know David will love. That is how we found ourselves having a "Deep Fry Dinner" last night. Looking back, I am not sure what possessed me to suggest this particular idea! haha

Things we deep fried:
potatoes
purple onion rings
calamari rings
shrimp
tilapia
chicken breast
salmon rolls (I made these with salmon, spinach, and cream cheese all rolled into a spring roll wrapper...just like the ones we get at our favorite Thai restaurant)

It took hours to do everything! I don't even know how it could take that long, but it did...and that's not even counting cleaning up the kitchen. But the worst part was that by the time everything was done and we were getting ready to eat, fried anything was like the LAST thing I wanted. I ate two salmon rolls and drank a can of Fresca...and that's about all I could handle. So now we have fried food up the wazoo (we froze most of it), my apartment smells like a fast food restaurant, and all I can think about are carrots and apples. :(

Bzzz...Bzzz...Bzzz...watch out for the Theo Bee!

2008-11-01T22:45:00.001-07:00

The picture above is before his recent haircut, on the day I bought the costume and couldn't wait to put it on him. The two pics below are on actual Halloween.

So good!

2008-10-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

P.S. - This also gives you a hint about Theo's Halloween costume!

Is it mean that I...

2008-10-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

just about peed my pants while watching this video. I don't know why, it just cracks me up!

Things that I'm loving lately...

2008-10-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

~ This blog post (the Oct. 6th one) from the pastor of the church I used to go to.
~ Getting a 100% on my first math test. Woohoo!
~ How Theo snuggles up with my legs, which happens even more often now that the weather is getting cooler.
~ Trader Joe's white cheddar popcorn.
~ The fact that 3 of my friends are having babies (and I get to host a triple baby shower:)...and that David and I are getting a new niece or nephew in the spring!
~ Finding cute, yet inexpensive, purses and shoes at Target. I got these a couple of weeks ago.

~ My car Vanna. After having her for over a year, I still feel kind of giddy when I get to drive her (plus, she still has a faint new car smell, mmmm).

You really feel old when...

2008-09-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

you ask a girl sitting next to you in your algebra review class "has it been a while since you've taken a math class too?" and she replies "oh, well I'm still in high school..."

Seriously, shoot me now.

Is it bizarre...

2008-09-10T04:06:00.001-07:00

that sometimes I have a burning desire to be like a Stepford Wife?

Seriously...I want to wear the constrictive, but absolutely adorable, little dresses, have my hair coiffed every day, always have something wonderful baking in the oven, and dinner on the table every day when my husband comes home. And surely I would have kids if I could be guaranteed that they would always be clean and well-behaved! It's just too bad that I don't have robotic insides and an un-opinionated temperment. ;)

ETA - I just realized (as I was clicking on another episode) that this newfound obsession stems from watching way too many episodes of AMC's Mad Men on On Demand lately!

"Camping" by Theo

2008-07-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went on my first camping trip to Lincoln Rock State Park. Mom and Dad were a little afraid to take me for fear I would be a slight pain-in-the-butt at times. They were somewhat right! I was very good at times, and not so good at others. But I had a blast and I can't wait for my next camping trip!

Here I am all packed and ready to go!

This is the view from our campsite. Somehow Mom managed to score us the best site in the entire campground!

Dad and I went exploring that night.

Then when it got dark we watched the wildfires burning nearby.

The next day I went for my first swim! Complete with a lifejacket to make my paranoid mommy feel better. When I got to the small and rocky beach near our campsite, I jumped right into the water...and then quickly swam out when I realized I couldn't touch! I loved splashing in the water and zooming around the beach, but I'm not so sure about the whole swimming thing!

After I had dried off from my water adventures, I spent the afternoon lounging in Dad's chair, drinking my water, and enjoying the shade. :)

That night, after I'd eaten all the extra graham crackers from the smores we made, I snuggled with Dad by the campfire.

The next morning I was rested and ready to greet the day!

We walked around a bit and then we came back, where I "helped" to pack up camp.

What a weekend! I loved camping, but it was exhausting. I slept on the way home...until the curvy roads and the french fries Dad fed me caught up with me. I then urped up straight into Mom's purse! Then I heard them both yelling "sick!" a lot. Oh well, I went back to sleep (though later I did have the punishment of having to get a bath). I can't wait for my next camping trip!

Whistler...

2008-07-08T01:31:00.001-07:00

In June, David and I were able to take a trip up to Whistler for a few nights with his brother Jeff and sister-in-law Jessica. It was lots of fun...we had a couple of adventures, ate some yummy food, and had a good time just hanging out! It was a pretty good time of year to go because it wasn't very busy, so there were no huge crowds and no waits for restaurants (David says during the winter weekends it's just insanely crowded). Thanks to some timeshare points from David's parents we were able to stay in a nice lodge right in the middle of the village. It's such a fabulous location because you can pretty much walk anywhere! David and Jeff stayed there when they went snowboarding in April and I can see how awesome it would be then...it's right near both of the major lifts up to Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The only thing I didn't like about Whistler was the drive up there! It's narrow and curvy and basically my worst nightmare (though they are in the midst of a huge road project to expand it to mostly four lanes because of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics). It's a beautiful area and worth the drive though!

Here is the beautiful view from our room...

The first night we had dinner and drinks (bellinis!) at a fabulous restaurant called Milestones.

Our first full day there, David and I walked around the village a lot, while Jeff and Jess went mountain biking (brave folks). Then we all went on an ATV tour up Blackcomb mountain. I was sooo stinkin' nervous, but it wound up being really fun. Though I was secretly glad when we got put in a group with an older couple, because I figured they wouldn't be too speedy. In reality, I was the slowest one...slow being relative. Driving up to 40 kilometers an hour seems pretty fast to me when you're on an ATV! Anyway, we saw a bear on our way up and the view at the top was really pretty. Excuse how dusty and grimy we all look in the pictures!

After our ATV trip we de-grimed and went out to dinner at an Irish pub that had some live music that night.

After dinner, we stopped to take a picture. I look like a freak here, but you can see the totally awesome bike park in the background!

The next day is where things got a little more interesting for us (Jeff and Jess were doing more mountain biking that day). It started off nice. We slept in, then David and I walked around the village and got some lunch at a little pizza place. We had decided that our activity for the day would be to do a nice easy 7-mile paddle down The River of Golden Dreams. I had called a canoe/kayak outfitter earlier in the morning to make a reservation and asked whether they would recommend a guided or un-guided tour based on our paddling experience. The guy said "oh, it should be no problem for you both to do an unguided tour. The river is at the perfect level." I thought good, this should be no problem. Plus, it's cheaper to do an unguided tour.

We get there that afternoon and they didn't have any double kayaks, so we were told we'd have to paddle a canoe. David and I, along with 3 other people, then got in a van to be driven to Alta Lake, where we would be dropped off with our boats (The River of Golden Dreams connects 2 lakes, Alta Lake and Green Lake...the outfitter is on the banks of Green Lake). In hindsight, I should have thought there was something amiss when I saw four little old people getting out of some boats on the bank of Green Lake looking like they'd just been through a washing machine. But hindsight is 20/20.

We were the only unguided people being dropped off, so once we got to Alta Lake they got our canoe out, pointed in a vague direction and sent us on our way. We paddled across Alta Lake and it was really pretty. We had a great view of the mountains.

We tested out our steering a bit on the lake and even though we had a few little waves, we didn't feel too unstable. We got to the mouth of the river and paddled into it, thinking how nice and peaceful it all was. The river is pretty narrow, but the water was calm.

Preview of things to come...this is the last picture that my almost brand new camera ever took.

We paddled on for a little bit, enjoying ourselves. Then we had to stop and portage our canoe around this teeny tiny little dam. One of the guided groups got there a little bit after us, and this lady who I could not understand tried to explain to us what we needed to do when we started paddling again. See, a little ways after the portage, there is an area where 2 rivers meet and the water gets faster. She told us we needed to paddle up into the current and then let our boat get carried around to the right and facing downstream again. I was a little nervous, but we got back in our boat and actually made it through this part just dandy. I thought to myself "we're doing pretty good here, this doesn't seem so bad." Then the river started to get faster and more narrow. Instead of nice lily pads and tall grass on the side of the river like before, it was mud and super thick vegetation with lots of trees that stick out and caused you to have to duck so they didn't stab you in the eye. We paddled the way they told us to, with no backpaddling, just using forward paddling to steer the boat (looking back I should have known better). Instead of helping us steer, all it made us do was go faster and faster in an already quickly moving river.

About 150 yards from where the two rivers joined, we lost control of our paddling in the fast current, rammed into the vegetation on the sides and got dumped into 38 degree glacier water (me, headfirst no less). I thought I was going to die! It was sooo freaking cold that I could feel my breath shortening and my limbs starting to stiffen. I called out for David to help me, but he was too busy trying to stop the boat from going downstream. I will say that the river was probably about 5 feet deep at this point, so thankfully we could touch, but the current was so strong that it wasn't easy to get anywhere. My concern wasn't really drowning, but more the fact that when you fall out of a canoe, you ain't getting back in it while you're still in the water (unlike a white water raft, where it's easy to get back in), because canoes are often pretty heavy, they're very tippy, and the sides are usually pretty high. And initially I saw no where on the side of the river that was conducive to climbing onto, because the vegetation was so thick. I floated downstream a little bit, consciously trying to slow down and lengthen my breathing, and finally I found a place where I could climb out. I had to grab onto branches and haul myself up a mud bank (losing one of my brand new Teva flip-flops in the process), then climb over a bunch of tree branches to get to a larger section of river bank. David was still in the water just holding onto the canoe to keep it from going downstream (though luckily he caught it at a shallow point that was maybe 3 feet deep). He wasn't sure what to do because it was full of water and too heavy for him to lift and dump by himself (and I sure as heck wasn't going back in, hero that I am).

Finally, after 5 minutes or so, a different outfitter guide and his client stopped by in their canoe. The guide was able to help David dump the water out and eventually set the canoe up partway on the river bank. Poor David was in the water for about 10 minutes and his feet and legs were just numb. The guide and his client went on their way and we decided to wait for our outfitter's guides and their clients to come by so that we could ask them what we should do. We waited and waited and waited, getting divebombed by gigantic mosquitos in the process, and they didn't come. Probably 30 minutes later they eventually floated by. Every single one of the clients had flipped over as well!! And all three of them were on guided tours (with two girls from England being in a double kayak and their two guides being in a canoe, and another guy was in a single kayak with his guide that was also in a single kayak). What the heck! I had thought this was supposed to be a calm, family-friendly paddle trip. Not a hypothermia-inducing nightmare! The two girls from England that had flipped over refused to paddle by themselves anymore, so they got in the guide's canoe, while one of the guides paddled their double kayak down the river. She is the one who we wound up stopping. While very nice, she had an extremely thick Japanese accent and neither David nor I had any idea what she was trying to tell us we needed to do. Basically we had no idea how much longer the river was going to be going that fast, and neither of us had any confidence in our steering abilities at that point...so we were terrified of tipping over again. But a little bit of luck was with us and where we wound up getting to shore was not that far from a bike path, which led to a parking lot.

Yep, you guessed it, we decided to be weanies and throw in the towel. We were extremely cold and I was caked in mud and hopping around with only one shoe. David was covered in scrapes and future bruises. So we had the lady call and the outfitter came and picked us up and drove us back to our car. I told him everyone had tipped over and asked if the river was unusually fast this time of year. He said "no, that's just the river we run" and then went on to say "that's why we recommend you go with a guide." I could have smacked him!

I'm just peeved that they advertise it as being great for families and seniors. I'm sorry, but if a family was paddling down that river and tipped over, a little kid could easily be swept downstream in all the commotion. Not to mention that the sheer shock of the cold water could give some little old person a heart attack!

That was a very long story, but I suppose our paddle adventure could be summed up something like this:

Cost of canoe trip - $110
Cost of ruined cell phone - $100
Cost of ruined camera - $180
Memories of 38 degree glacier water - PRICELESS!

We went on to recover and have some well-earned and very yummy appetizers at Earl's Bistro, and then a late dinner that night with Jeff and Jess. The next day we left beautiful Whistler and drove back home, picking up our exhausted puppy from his grandparents house on the way.

It was a fun trip and we have some good and eventful memories to look back on!

Swedish Pancakes and Sprinklers

2008-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Our little family had a good Father's Day. Theo and I started off by making David swedish pancakes stuffed with fresh blueberries and topped with whip cream. They were scrumptious!

Then we went up to David's parents house in the afternoon for a yummy bbq salmon dinner. David had fun playing bocce ball with his brother, and Theo and our niece Angelina had fun running through the sprinkler and giving each other lots of hugs and kisses!

mmmmm....

2008-06-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

I made bread today! It was my first time ever making homemade bread...and it turned out sooo yummy. David says I should make it every day. I don't know about that, but I will definitely make it again. It was pretty easy too! See the recipe here.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to both of our moms and grandmas! You are each wonderful and very special to us!

David, Theo and I celebrated "Happy Puppy Mother's Day" today. Theo helped David make me a yummy breakfast of omelette and fried potatoes and then served me breakfast in bed. Theo also gave me a very sweet card and a movie I have been wanting (27 Dresses). It was a wonderful morning with my boys!

I can't stand the name of this movie, but...

2008-05-01T01:14:00.001-07:00

seriously, it's hilarious!

Extreme Makeover: Dog Edition

2008-04-28T05:14:00.001-07:00

Before:

After:

Theo got his hair cut the other day and I swear, if I wasn't his puppy mother, I would never know he was the same dog! He looks so completely different, and even his personality has changed a bit since his haircut. I have to admit, I loved his fluffiness, and I cried the first time I saw him with all of his hair gone. I love him just the same, he just seems more "handsome" than "cute" now.

Blog Re-Design!

2008-04-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was tired of my blog looking so boring, so I re-designed it. It's not exactly professional looking...but it's much more fun and bright now. I'm happy with it!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

2008-04-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago David and I joined a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, every week we go to a nearby pick-up location and pick up a big box with our name on it, containing 12-14 different kinds of fruits and vegetables (all organic and locally grown when possible). We love it!!

We have been eating so much healthier now because of all the fresh produce we've been getting. And you definitely notice a difference between certain veggies that are grown organically and ones that are not. I sent David to the store to buy green bell peppers the other day because we ran out, and he was rather grossed out by the thick coat of wax covering all of them. It's something that we never noticed before, but now that we've had fresh from the ground stuff it's easy to see a difference. Plus, we've gotten to try things that we've never eaten before and that I would probably never think of to buy...like sunchokes (a little like a water chesnut and yummy in salads or omlettes) and rainbow chard. As the summer gets closer, I'm excited at the thought of all the yummy fresh fruit that will be coming our way!

My biggest reason for wanting to join a CSA is because I really want to support local organic farms. I think it's pretty silly that in our culture that we often go to the store and buy items that have traveled 10,000+ miles to get to us, when we could buy the same item and have it come from a local farm where it only traveled 30 miles to get to us. By buying fruits and veggies that are locally grown we save resources and also wind up getting fresher produce in the process! I will say, that it is a much harder task to buy only local produce items in the winter and spring months. Our CSA is one of the few that even operates outside of the summer season. They get by by having partnerships with other organic farms throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. But, they always try to buy as local as possible while still maintaining quality (which is obviously much easier done in the summer and fall).

Some info on how to find and pick a CSA:
There are so many CSA's popping up everywhere, that it was very hard for me to choose one. I went to the Local Harvest website and spent several days weighing the pros and cons of each CSA. I wound up choosing Full Circle Farm. It is probably one of the biggest CSA's around, which comes with pluses and minuses. A huge plus for me is that each Friday we are e-mailed the list of what items will be in our box the next week, and I can then make up to 5 substitutions from a "substitution list." This is incredibly convenient, because then we don't wind up getting brussel sprouts or asparagus (which David and I both hate) and have it go to waste. Full Circle Farm also operates all year round, which most CSA's dont. Most of the smaller CSA's have a set "growing season" (often 12-16 weeks during the summer/early fall), and often you have to buy what they call a "share" ahead of time, usually in early spring (we pay weekly since ours is year-round). This share entitles you to pick up a box of produce each week during the growing season. A lot of the smaller CSA's also have u-pick flowers, herbs, and oftentimes, berries...which is something I had to sacrifice by going with a larger CSA. I've thought about switching to a different CSA for the summer, because I looove the idea of getting to visit a farm and do the u-pick stuff, but I would miss the ability to do substitutions an awful lot. So we'll probably stick with the one we have for this summer. Anyway, if anyone has ever thought about joining a CSA, I would highly recommend it! There are so many options out there, that you can really choose the one that's right for you and your family.

Being a Christian Democrat...

2008-03-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

I've decided that my blog is far too bland. In the past I've been hesitant to ever state any real opinions on certain topics...but now, I'm over that...because this blog is supposed to be about my life and my opinions are a part of my life.

I've been thinking about politics a lot lately, as are a lot of people I'm sure, and I'm finding the whole pre-Presidential election quite frustrating in certain ways.

For one thing, I'm having a very hard time dealing with certain segments of the Christian population that think any true Christian would only vote for a Republican. I don't care who people vote for...vote Republican, vote Democrat, vote for Nader...whatever, as long as you vote. But don't judge me (or others) for having opinions that differ from your own. A person can be a Christian and still vote Democrat, it's not an oxymoron.

I've had several people tell me "I don't believe in abortion and I don't believe in gay marriage so I obviously vote Republican." A certain member of my family has even questioned me in the past on why I don't think that way as well, since I am very pro-life. Umm, because I've done a lot of research on the major campaign issues, more than most people my age that I know, and I've decided on what issues are most important to me and which ones I think will impact my life and my future children's lives the most, and those two issues just aren't it.

No candidate and no political party are perfect in my opinion, and most people (me very much included) probably hold views on different issues that fall on both sides of the political map. But everyone has to choose the candidate that they feel best reflects their overall opinions on how the country should be run. If that's a Republican for you, then great. But for me, it's usually a Democrat...and I don't think that makes me a bad Christian.

Happy 1st Birthday My Darling Theo!

2007-12-30T01:20:00.001-08:00

In woolly mammoth mode!

After his recent haircut!

I love this little dog soo much! I know some people think it's irrational to love a doggy as much as I do, but I can't help it. Sometimes my heart just aches when I look at him. This has been a really, really hard year for me personally...but Theo has been the one thing (besides David) that has brought some light and joy to my life. I'm actually a bit scared to have human kids for fear I won't feel as strongly about them as I do my Theo. I truly feel like he was a gift from God when I needed one most!

Snow Puppy!

2007-12-02T03:15:00.000-08:00

I loooove snow, so I was very excited that it snowed a bit today and that Theo got to experience his first real snow! He wasn't quite sure what to make of it and he wasn't too happy that his mom kept trying to make him sit still so she could take pictures!

"What is this wacky stuff?"

"Mooom, my tushy is getting really cold!"

"Dad, pick me up and save from the psychotic picture taking lady!"

Wal-Mart documentary

2007-12-01T02:21:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched the documentary WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price , and if you haven't watched it you should! I have never been a fan of Wal-Mart...in fact, I think I've only been in one about 3 times ever. But after learning about some of their business practices and how they treat their "associates" it is safe to say I am never stepping foot in another Wal-Mart for as long as I live!

I think one of the facts that struck me the most in the documentary was that The Walton Family, which is worth over $95 billion dollars, has only donated 1% of their net worth to philanthropic organizations. Yes, that is still a lot of money. But seriously people, what do you really need with the $94 billion dollars that are left over! Bill and Melinda Gates on the other hand, have donated 58% of their net worth and plan to increase that percentage. It's just such a staggering difference that it is astonishing to me.

I do realize that all documentaries are pretty much shown from one person's point of view, but if even half of what is talked about in this documentary is true (and it is, because I've done a lot of reading on the subject lately), it is just a horrible, horrible company that I do not wish to support with my money. I would much rather spend a bit more money on items and support a company whose ideals are much more in line with my own!

Pirate Puppy

2007-11-01T11:35:00.001-07:00

David won't normally let me dress Theo up, so I've told him I at least get Halloween. He didn't even want to walk Theo out to the car when he was dressed up though, lol. Luckily, my friend Elisa finds doggy dress-up just as hilarious as I do, so we went over to her house on Halloween. :)

My grandma is 92 today!

2007-09-11T03:18:00.001-07:00

I know she doesn't even really know what the internet is and surely will not see this birthday greeting, but I just wanted to wish my grandma a Happy 92nd Birthday anyway. She is the sweetest woman and I just love her to pieces. So much so that any daughter I have will be named after her...luckily she has a nice name! :)

Here is a picture of her 2 years ago at her 90th birthday party. She looks sooo pretty!

An answer to a prayer...

2007-09-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

I hadn't talked to my mom in a while, like over a week, and I finally talked to her last night and she told me that she had been avoiding talking to me because she didn't want to have to tell me that one of her dogs, Toby, had gone missing. Mom and John have a very large fenced yard, but they often leave the front gate open and had never had any probelms with Toby leaving before, but he must have seen a cat or other small snimal and chased it out of the yard and gotten himself lost. She was hoping that he would just show back up before she had to tell me, but it had been a few days (he went missing Tues. night) and she wasn't so sure that was going to happen anymore.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE dogs...so I did not take the news of him being gone very well at all! I literally cried all of last night, so much that I had a headache for about 8 hours straight until I finally fell asleep. I just kept imagining all the terrible things that might have happened to him and I just felt sick thinking of him out there all scared and alone. You see, Toby is kind of a wimp...one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet, but a wimp...and I did not have high hopes for him surviving well on his own. When we first got him a couple of Christmases ago from the Humane Society he was terrified of concrete, being put in a car, and even being taken out of the house. He had been at the pound for a long time before mom adopted him, and he had been adopted out twice before and then taken back both times, which is why I think the poor thing had all these issues. But he has made so much progress living with my mom and is such a well-behaved boy now. I just prayed and prayed that he would find his way home...for Toby's sake and because I knew my mom felt incredibly sad and kind of guilty about him running away. But in my heart, I truly didn't believe that he would ever be home again. I'm ashamed to say it, but I had so little faith!

But early this morning a mini-miracle happened! My uncle Joe was on the way to take some stuff out to the city dump (a way he doesn't even normally take mind you) and he saw a dog wandering around by DeSale's (the Catholic high-school in town) and the baseball field complex right next to it and thought it looked vaguely like Toby. The area is about 2 1/2 miles from my mom's house! My uncle saw a guy out in his yard and asked if the dog was his and he said "nope" so my uncle raced up the couple of blocks back to his house and grabbed my aunt Susie (we're not really sure why, but we think my uncle thought Toby might run and wanted a reinforcement) and then went back down to where Toby was and luckily he was still roaming around there. My aunt called his name out and he shot his head up and came running over to them! They put Toby in the truck and brought him home.

Mom said she saw uncle Joe at the door and then saw Toby sitting right beside him and just started bawling! Soo many people had driven around looking for him and had been praying that he would come back and he finally did! Mom said he was so tired from walking around for the last 3 1/2 days that he didn't even have the strength to act happy to see her (and this dog looooves my mom). She said that he is so stiff and sore that all he managed to do before going to sleep was drink a bunch of water, but he seems like he will be fine. I am just sooo thankful that Toby is home. My heart just ached thinking of him being gone. Especially now that I have my own little doggy, I just can't even imagine how I would feel. I mean I know in theory they're just dogs, but in my family they are very much important members of household, and I am just so happy that Toby is back where he belongs!

One year ago today...

2007-09-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a hard 1st year in many ways, but never because of our marriage. That has always been the rock that made everything else okay. I am just so thankful to have David in my life! And I know it's kind of a cliche, but I truly do love him more each day.

Putting things into perspective...

2007-08-07T04:49:00.000-07:00

You know those times when you're feeling kind of depressed, and frustrated, and maybe even unlucky (yeah, see previous post)...and then you hear something that really makes you appreciate all that you DO have? Well, last night was definitely one of those times!

I went out to dinner last night with one of my best friends and she informed me that she had sad news to tell me. An old friend of ours from college was river-tubing with her parents and a couple of her friends on the Wenatchee River last Thursday when her mom got stuck on some debris, couldn't hold on, and eventually went under and drowned. I was/am shocked!

This was a wonderful Christian woman that I had the good fortune to meet while in college. She and her husband ran a boys ranch for troubled young men near Leavenworth at the time, and they opened up the lodge there to our Christian college group. They were the sweetest hosts and you could just tell how much they loved the Lord and eachother. My friend always had the nicest stories of her parents and she just adored them.

Needless to say this caused me to think about some of the feelings that I've been having lately. I've found that it hasn't made me worry any less about the future or changed my mind on wanting good things to happen for David and I...but it has made me truly appreciate the people that I am lucky enough to have in my life. I may not have everything that I want, but I certainly have what I need.

So I feel like all I do is ask for prayers lately, but if any of you could keep the Ellis family in your prayers I'm sure they could use them right now.

**On a little bit of an offshoot...I have white-water rafted on the Wenatchee river before and always thought of it as an "easy" river because it only goes up to a class III. Several times in the past couple of weeks, I have even thought about planning a river-tubing trip on the calm stretch of river where this accident happened. Never once did I think of it as a very dangerous activity. Just a couple of days after Mrs. Ellis drowned, another woman drowned on almost the exact same stretch of river in a very similar scenario. Neither woman was wearing a life-jacket. Whether that could have helped them in any way we'll never know, but it just goes to show you that even calm looking water can be dangerous. So please, please make sure you and your loved ones wear life-jackets!!

Warning: Pity Party Post

2007-07-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this all by saying that I do know I have many things to be thankful for. I have a husband that I love more and more each day. I have a puppy that I adore so much that I'm actually a little scared to have human children, for fear that I won't find them nearly so cute or endearing as I do my little Theo. And I have a small, but wonderful, group of family and friends. So I do know that in many ways I am very lucky.

But man-oh-man I just feel like nothing is going our way this year! David did not get the job that we hoped he would and I am just feeling very sad and slightly bitter about the whole thing. The woman he interviewed with (who owns the company) initially called HIM. She knew exactly how much sales experience David had and what kind of work he'd done in the past (David's friend works there and told her about David). She interviewed with him for about 90 minutes the first time and told him all about the pay structure, which was mind-boggling, and kept saying how she wanted to talk to him again and just basically made it sound like he had an excellent chance to get the job. So fast forward to 1 week later and she still hadn't called. So David called her to see if they could set up another time to talk about some of the topics that she'd mentioned wanting to discuss, so they set it up for the next day. David and I spent a couple of hours that night going over things he could say and writing down good talking points. The next day when they talked he said her whole demeanor had changed and she wouldn't even let him finish what he was saying before she started asking him impossible-to-answer questions and then finally telling him that it wouldn't work out. What the heck? She made it sound like he wasn't qualified when she'd known exactly what his previous experience had been before she'd ever even called him...AND the last guy she'd hired (David's friend) had far less sales experience than David does and was given 2 weeks to learn before he ever even talked to a client. I just don't understand why she couldn't give him the same chance. It just frosts my cookies that she set this whole thing in motion, got his (and my) hopes all up by acting like David had an awesome chance and then just smashed it all to pieces like it didn't even matter. This lady's whole schtick is that she wants to hire "good people that want to work hard and make money"...I'm sorry, but if she's looking to hire a "good" person who is willing to work hard, then she couldn't do any better than David. He is more honest and has more integrity than just about anyone else I've ever met!

All of this on top of the fact that David's company is starting to hire and will be training people in CA to do his job, so if he has more than 6-8 weeks left at his current company I would be shocked (though they haven't told him any of this as they don't tell him anything...he just hears it through a reliable source), AND I'm not working anymore right now (long story I don't want to discuss), AND our rent has risen $200 to $1055 a month for a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. Good grief, we could pay a mortgage in some towns for what we're paying in rent (and we do not live in the most expensive apts. by any stretch)! I just want a house with a yard for Theo and there aren't any decent and affordable ones in our area. I just feel like the job he didn't get was the only chance we had to be able to live the kind of life we want to. I know people will say that David will get more opportunities...and I'm sure he will...but I can guarantee that they will not be as financially rewarding. And I do realize money isn't everything and there are a lot of things that are more important, but sometimes it's just hard to see it that way.

Okay...pity party is now over!

More prayers needed...

2007-07-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

David had two job interviews this week! Both companies contacted him, so I'm definitely giving God the credit on that one. He thinks that both interviews went really well, which is awesome, I'm so proud of him! The second interview in particular...if he gets the job, it would just be the greatest thing for him career-wise that I could possibly imagine! We could wind up doing so many great things for our little family and our big family. I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up, but I can't help it! I just pray that this is the path that God wants for us.

I personally have had a beyond tough time in the past week and I am not all that comfortable with sharing specifics online at this time. But if any of you could keep both of us in your prayers I would be so grateful!

He bakes?

2007-07-02T15:28:00.001-07:00

Last night at about 10pm David got it into his head that he wanted from-scratch chocolate chip cookies. After trying to sweet-talk me into making them (i.e. "but you make them soo much better than I will") to NO avail he decided he was going to make them himself! Now, in the almost 4 years we have been together I have only seen him bake one thing...brownies from a box, in which he forgot one ingredient. So to say I was not sure how this would go is an understatement!

He asked a lot of questions as he went along and had a couple of humorous moments, such as when he scooped the cookie dough out onto the baking sheet and made each ball of dough so big that if he had baked them that way they surely would have all just melted into one big cookie, lol.

I teased him about his baking skills quite a bit, but he wound up doing great! So great that I told him I never need to make cookies again, because he can do them so well himself. His response was "man, I should never have done this!" haha

And during all this, what does a good wife do? She takes pictures of course!

Pictures from the Park!

2007-07-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

The cutest puppy in the world!

2007-06-18T15:14:00.001-07:00

I know everyone thinks they have the cutest puppy in the world....but I REALLY do! ;)

It's a good thing too, because his cuteness gets him out of a LOT of trouble! He recently got a haircut and he looks so much more grown-up to me now. I miss his fluffiness, but appreciate that I can actually see his eyes now, lol.

This picture is decieving though. It looks like he was just nicely posing for me. Umm, NO! It took literally 12 times of me putting him in position, telling him to "sit" and then "wait" before he actually stayed long enough for me to back up and get a good picture. So much for all these commands he's supposed to be learning in puppy class!

My dream concert!

2007-06-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday David and I got to go to the Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Soul to Soul 2 tour at the Tacoma Dome! I bought our tickets months ago and have been looking forward to the concert for a very long time. It was awesome and we had great seats, which was a plus. They both sounded really good live and put on a very good show! Here are a few pictures from the concert.

Changes

2007-06-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

My little family is going to be going through some major changes in the next few months or so and we could definitely use some prayers.

David's job is basically dissolving, and while we have no idea when exactly this is going to happen (#5,067,848 on my list of things that irritate me about his company), it will be sometime in the not-too-distant future. Suffice to say, he will hopefully be getting a new job somewhere sometime soon. So will I most likely, something I'm not exactly sad about, as while I love working with my client (a lady with Down Syndrome), my actual job is really, really not making me happy! I've never really liked either of my jobs that I've had since college and I really need a good change to happen in my career...even if that is deciding to go back to school, because my current career path is not even remotely what I want to be doing. Life is too short to spend 8 hours a day hating your job (though to clarify, when I'm at work I try to make the best out of the situation and stay positive for my client).

And all this change after we'd just spent the last 2 weeks seriously talking about buying a house somewhere, grrrrr. So now we have a bunch of hard decisions to make about moving and where to apply for jobs, what kinds of jobs to apply for, buying a house, maybe going back to school. It's just a lot to decide on and think about! Most of this stuff we have been talking about for a while now, but this situation has just thrown it all into the forefront a little faster than we'd thought!

So if any of you have any prayers you can spare for us I/we would appreciate it!

Alaska!

2007-05-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

We got back from our Alaskan cruise on Sunday morning and I think I need an after-vacation-vacation!! It was exhausting having to go back to work the Monday after getting back, especially when I have a whole closet full of laundry that I still need to get to! :/

As for our cruise...it was beautiful and very relaxing! We had very good weather except for one rain-soaked day in Juneau, so that was a big blessing. And when I say "good" weather, I really mean 52 degrees and at least semi-sunny as that is very nice weather for this time of year up there!

Our boat, the Holland America Noordam was very nice...definitely not one of the party ships, but very nice in a more traditional, classy sense. David had a good time laughing at all the tacky orange decor though...and I told him "if you think this is bad, you need to take a look at some of the ships that are 10 years older"...because our boat is only about 1 year old and isn't even 1/10 as garish as some ships I've seen pictures of, lol. I've come to the conclusion that being on a cruise ship is kind of like being on a mini-floating Las Vegas....you have the shows, the buffets, the fruity cocktails, and the crazy decor! We were definitely one of the youngest couples on board though, which was fine as we're totally not crazy part animals by any stretch of the imagination!

We spent our days walking around the ship, getting coffee drinks in the Explorations cafe and reading books from their library (they had a great travel section), taking naps, sitting in the lounge chairs on the Promenade deck watching the magnificent scenery go by, eating good food (gotta love that you can get ice cream cones about 12 hours out of the day!), seeing all sorts of cool wildlife, going on one lame excursion and one awesome excursion, watching movies and shows, drinking yummy mojitos, and mainly just relaxing!

I will admit though, as much as I enjoyed our trip...on our way back to Seattle when we hit some bigger waves I was kind of a bundle of nerves! I think I've seen Poseidon too many times and anyone who says you can't feel the waves in a boat that big is dead wrong! You can feel them even when they are only a few feet high, much less when you're in 8 foot waves! If I ever cruise again I want it to be somewhere nice and calm like the Caribbean!

Anyway, here are pictures of some of the highlights from our trip...

Adios Seattle!

First night at sea.

Our room, which was very nice and actually a pretty good size!

Cruising into Glacier Bay National Park.

The Margerie glacier in Glaciery Bay...it looks tiny, but it is actually about 250+ feet high, much bigger than our boat!

Cruising out of Glacier Bay.

Rainy Juneau.

Mendenhall Glacier...part of our excursion in Juneau (pretty, but the other half of the excursion was a salmon bake with yummy food, but a horrible location next to a wharehouse and smack in the middle of a very industrialized area...we left this excursion feeling rather ripped off!)

Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill...this was the ships fancy restaurant that you have to pay a surcharge for...but oh my goodness, it was one of the best meals I've had in my life. I had hors deurves (mom, you'd be proud, I actually ate a mushroom tart and it was good ;), clam chowder, filet mignon, scalloped potatoes, fresh baked bread and butter, after dinner chocolates, and chocolate volcano cake with fresh whip cream. Along with a guava mojito. It was fabulous! Thank goodness we didn't eat there every night though or I would have gained like 10 lbs.!

The cute little town of Sitka.

Our awesome Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest excursion in Sitka. The weather was beautiful (a day like this happens about 10 days a year all the locals said) and we had very few people on our trip so we had lots of room to roam around the boat and got to go out into the open ocean to a place called Jacob's Rock where we saw tons of Stellar Sea Lions (which are huge, like 1,200 lbs., not the small ones you'd see in CA). We also saw about 4 humpback whales even though it was early in the season for them to be there, as well as sea otters and bald eagles.

A picture of our cruise ship taken from inside our excursion boat.

Ketchikan...a town that gets about 200 inches of rain a year, but was magically sunny on the day we were there. :)

The view from our stateroom window as we left Ketchikan.

David and I on the 2nd formal night of the week.

And lastly...Theo after we brought him home from grandma and grandpas! He was tuckered out from all the adventures and mischief he had while on his vacation! :)

Bon Voyage!

2007-05-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are leaving on our cruise to Alaska! David and I are very excited for it...and quite frankly, just glad to get a much needed break from our jobs!

We still haven't even started packing, but I already know I'm probably going to pack way to much. But really, how can one not pack a lot when they're going to Alaska? I mean, we need fair weather clothes, cold weather clothes, semi nice clothes, dressy clothes, etc. I feel like I'm going to have to pack my whole stinkin' closet! But this cruise thing has given me an excuse to shop for some new clothes, which is kinda fun. David bought his first suit for the cruise as well...he's like an actual grown-up now, lol. But my favorite thing is that I got to get new shoes! I looove shoes, it's genetic, so it's really not my fault! ;)

These are my newest shoe purchases. Cute, but still practical for walking around a big rocking boat!

*On a side note, we had to drop Theo off at his grandma and grandpa's today (David's parents) and it was heartbreaking! I know they will take good care of him, but the minute we drove off I just felt sad, like someone was missing from our family. I got a little teary, but David told me I couldn't cry because if I did, then he might cry too. He said he was surprised at how hard it was to leave Theo. Clearly, we've become just a little attached! :)

Sunday picnic

2007-04-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

David and I had a nice day yesterday! We packed up a picnic lunch and headed to a nice, deserted park with a huge lawn so that Theo could run around. He hasn't been off of his leash much, since we live in an apt. and don't have a fenced backyard or anything. But this lawn was so large that we figured David could outrun him before Theo could get anywhere unsafe.

And oh boy did Theo have fun!! David would run up ahead and then Theo would give chase as fast as he could...his hair flying back, ears flopping in the wind, and the cutest little puppy smile on his face! Then he would crash into David and promptly plop to the ground in exhaustion. About 20 seconds later this would start all over again! It was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen, I just could not stop laughing at him. Makes up for all the times he tries to chew on my shoes, headband, blanket, etc. Here are a couple pictures to illustrate. :)

The only bad part of the picnic was when we went to eat our sandwiches and saw the bread was moldy...granted it was just a small amount, but we had only bought it 3 days beforehand! Isn't that annoying when it happens!?

We've created a monster!

2007-04-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

This little guy sure looks innocent doesn't he? Well, let me tell you...it's an illusion!!

Theo is sooo much work and has so many little doggy neurosis it's amazing! He has serious separation anxiety (and he's only alone maybe 4 hours each day) and yelps whenever we leave. He also yelps in the most annoying, highest pitched, bark I've ever heard if we say, dare come inside and put away groceries before getting him out of his crate. Seriously, yesterday I thought I was going to lose my mind it was so loud!

He is also fairly terrified of all other humans and dogs. He will let others pet him if they come to him, but he sure as heck won't go to anybody. In fact, yesterday when David took him outside to go potty, Theo saw a little old lady in a wheelchair and promptly proceeded to hide behind David and would not budge! He's such a stinkin' pansy! Hopefully, we will start puppy classes soon and he will get less neurotic.

He also hates baths, the hair dryer, curbs, stairs, dog treats, human food (whaaaaat?) and pooing outside! This morning I took him out twice within a 1-hour time period to go to the bathroom and how many times did he poo outside - 0...how many times did he poo inside within that same 1 hour time period - 4...that's right 4! Including one pile right on top of David's shorts! Seriously, if I ever mention getting another puppy anytime soon, somebody slap me!

Phew, I'll stop with my whining rant now and add that he is very cute and bounces around like a little bunny rabbit, which is pretty darn adorable! He also loves his dad (David;) more than anything in the world and it just warms my heart to see them together!

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

2007-04-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've always loved Jane Austen books and movies, and I also love quizzes, so it's only natural that I would take this quiz to find out which Jane Austen heroine I am!

Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

*Most of that is true...with the serious exception of "your singing voice is captivating"...that could not be further from the truth, lol! Maybe Theo finds it captivating though, because he always looks at me strangely, like "what the heck is that?" Oh, and neither do I play the pianoforte beautifully, or at all in fact! The first description sentence ("You are implusive...") is definitely true though, fits me to a "T" in fact! ;)

Meet Theo!

2007-04-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

The newest member of our family is.....Theodore "Theo", our little 14 week old Havanese puppy!

He was so good on his first night here. He didn't make a peep, seriously not a single peep, the entire time when we picked him up and took him with us....until we put him in his crate for the first time. Then he was not pleased and let us know in a very high pitched cry! Everything I've read said that you cannot take them out when they bark or cry when they're in the crate or they will think that that is what they need to do in order to get out and will continue the behavior. But it was soo hard and he looked so pitiful! It also made me scared about what he was going to do when we put him in his crate at night to sleep and when he is alone in it for the 3 hours a day that he will be by himself until one of us gets home. Well, he was very, very good last night. He gave a couple little whines and then seemed to accept that he needed to stay in his little den (though his crate was right next to our bed for comfort). How he does during the day remains to be seen! I just hope we don't become the hated neighbors!

Theo and his dad :)

First family photo!

Theo with his favorite toy...a pink hedgehog!

Tulip Time!

2007-03-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

It's almost that time of year when the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival rolls around! I was going through my pictures looking for some stuff to digiscrap and I came across our Tulip Festival pictures from 2 years ago. Aren't the flowers just gorgeous? And we can actually walk to them from David's parent's house, which is extra nice! I've only ever seen the flowers that once, so I definitely think I'm going to have to drag the boy up to see them this year!

yet another layout

2007-03-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Credits: Template - Jennifer Woodbury; Paper and Elements - Rhonna Farrer/Two Peas

David and I babysat our adorable niece Angelina yesterday for a few hours and she was soo good! Agreeable and happy and such a little ham! So I decided to take a couple of cute pics of her while she was in such a good mood! Then I scrapped one of the pics along with a small list of some of her favorite sayings. I can only imagine how picture and digiscrap happy I'll get when we have our own kids!

Oh, and yes, I do realize how completely and ridiculously pink my blog is getting! Hopefully I'll figure out something to do with it soon!

I'm ending with a couple more pics of Ang...just because her cheesy grin makes me smile! :)

My most recent digi scrapbook page...

2007-03-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is only the second full page I've ever finished, lol. I've played around a lot trying to make digi pages but I am still very much a newbie! It's hard for me because I get all perfectionistic about it and very frustrated when I don't understand everything (which is quite often:). I actually made this one off of a template though which was pretty cool. Much easier than if I had to do it myself because all I had to do was copy and paste layers and decided what colors/papers I wanted in it.

Credits:
Template - Gina Miller Designs; Papers - Daniela Peuss/ScrapArtist

Wiiiiiiiii Madness!

2007-03-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

What is it about men and video games? Seriously! It almost seems like a requirement that they are obsessed with them. Almost all of the guys I know are into them at least a little bit...so for you wives that have husbands that aren't...count yourself very lucky! David is going to be in for a rude awakening when we have kids and they become old enough to know what is going on, as I don't want them having too much "screen time" and that means their dad is going to have to set a good example! David definitely knows how I feel about this already and he kinds groans and says "I knoooow" whenever I mention it, but I'm not sure he realizes just how strict I'm going to be about it.

Now for my video game confession. While I could be very happy my entire life without ever playing a single round of WOW or game of Halo...I kinda want a Nintendo Wii. David has wanted one for a while now and he has been working really hard lately, so I decided to play the "I'm such a super-nice wife card" and told him if he can find one (as they are still sold-out many places) he can get it as an early birthday present. At first he was like "well, we should make sure we spend our money carefully." Yeah, that attitude lasted all of 4 days, and by the next weekend he was calling store after store to find someone who had a Wii instock. He even got up early on Sunday morning to go wait for an hour at a store that he had called and who told him they would have them instock only to have the store open and him rush in along with a bunch of other people and find out the person on the phone was a big nincompoop and didn't know what they were talking about. He was disappointed and surprisingly, so was I. I had been looking forward to my afternoon of virtual bowling!

So, if anyone sees David, don't tell him that I actually really do want him to get a Wii, it'll just give him way too much teasing potential! ;)

How does anyone afford a house AND children?

2007-03-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is something I have been stressing about so much lately! David and I really want to have a house of our own and also have kids in the not-too-distant future. But houses in the area we live in are minimum $400,000 and they're appreciating at like 10% a year, which is insane! Where is this supposed housing bubble...because it's definitely not where we live! We can't afford that even on both our salaries...much less just David's salary.

Which brings me to another point. Growing up I never thought I would want to be a stay at home mom...I mean, I wanted kids, I just did not want to be around them all day long! But as I've gotten older it's all I think about. I know it's an incredibly hard job (and that's definitely what it is...a JOB...granted, a very rewarding one), but I also know that I don't want to work all day, commute back home and then only have a couple of hours with my children before I send them off to bed each weeknight. I don't want to miss out on their childhoods like that. But living off of just David's salary (which in my opinion is quite decent for a 25 yo) in this area is just unfathomable! Seriously, how do people do it? Even if I did work, full-time childcare around here is at the very least $10,000 per year, per child...so if you have 2 kids in daycare that winds up being $20,000+ a year! Not too mention the extra gas to get to and from a job. My piddly little social worker salary would barely cover that after taxes are taken away, so it really seems like there wouldn't even be a point to me working unless I found something too good to refuse. So, it would be hard to have a house and just one or two kids, much less the three or four that I actually want!

Even if we move (which is almost a certainty since we do actually want to own a home someday) and have a lower mortgage than if we bought around here, it still seems like it would be practically impossible to be a SAHM and own a home on anything less than 75k per year. It seems like you should be able to live on less, but when I get bored I run budget numbers (yes, I know, I'm a freak) and I've found it's pretty much impossible, expecially when you still have college loans to pay off!

Gee, can you tell I'm a worrier? I pray about this all the time and yet I still can't stop focusing on it!

So, I beg you, somebody please tell me to stop worrying and give me some magical tips on how to have a house and kids on a budget!

anticipating our first cruise!

2007-03-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago David and I booked our first big vacation together...a cruise to Alaska in mid-May! We are very excited...partially because we really need a break from the everyday stuff to just relax and recharge, but also because we're going to be able to explore an amazing part of our country that we've never seen before!

We're going on the Holland America Noordam, which is their newest and supposedly nicest ship. We're stopping in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria...and we leave from Seattle which is extra nice as we don't have to fly anywhere! For those that don't know me well, I am terrified of flying...I've done it quite a few times and I used to love it but, after a couple of bad experiences, it seriously scares me to death! It's something I'm working on though as I don't want David to miss out on visiting places just because I won't fly there. But for now it's kinda nice that for our first big vacation together we can just not deal with that stress!

Anyway, that's our most exciting(to us) news for now! I am going to try and update more often as it's good to see one's thoughts written down and it's something I've been slacking on lately. :)

my week at a glance

2007-01-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Oy, it's been so long since I've updated my blog! Sometimes I just feel like I have nothing interesting to say, but I've been trying to convince myself that a blog doesn't need to be full of big, exciting posts all the time and that it's okay to write about the little things. So that's what I'm doing today!

~Earlier this week I lost my cell phone, or it got stolen, or some combination of both. I looked everywhere I could think of, and it doesn't help that at my work I get no reception so when I called my phone I wasn't be able to hear it ring if it was there. So, I've been taking David's phone to work with me as I have a longer commute and no work number, which he does...and I've been hoping that it would just show up, but it hasn't. So yesterday we were at dinner at this nice Italian place and I was saying "I guess I'll have to get a new phone" and he jokingly said that it wasn't fair that I got to get a new one and he didn't. Flash-forward to later that night and we were about to go to bed and he couldn't find his phone. I felt this intense sense of "uh-oh, what did I just do!" and said "uh, don't worry about it honey!" and then quickly walked over to the laundry area and dug his jeans out of the washer and low and behold...there was his phone! It was completely fried and I just started laughing uncontrollably. You know one of those totally inappropriate situation kind of laughs. So I went in and told him I did something bad, but I could not stop laughing. Poor guy, he probably thought he'd married a nutcase! Finally I managed to stifle my giggles and tell him, but he was not quite as amused by the whole thing as I seemed to be. I told him that at least now we both got to get new phones, but that did not seem to help! Lucky for me he wasn't too mad and this morning found it somewhat amusing as well. But, lets just say this has not been my week for phones!!

~On a brighter note, yesterday was gorgeous so David and I went out and played tennis. It's crazy to me that we were able to do that in January! I got to use my new racket that my lovely in-laws gave me for Christmas and I did pretty well. Not good mind you, but not bad for me. Hopefully we'll keep having this nice weather so we can play again soon.

~I got 2 issues of Self magazine in the mail this week. Some little elf must have gotten me a subscription. It's always fun to get unexpected things in the mail!

~I've also been trying my hand at digital scrapbooking this week. I like the textures and stuff of traditional but I've always thought digital would be fun because it's less messy and I like the idea of being able to print out several of the same page without having to actually do more than one. It is a lot harder than I thought though! Once I get the hang of it I don't think it will be so bad though and it will be great for when we have kids. I'll post some pages I've done in a later blog. :)

~I signed up for this free Kraft recipe magazine a while ago and finally got the latest issue in the mail this week. It comes out periodically and has got some really neat recipes inside. Go here to sign up!

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

honeymoon pictures (very belated!)

2007-01-09T17:09:00.002-08:00

I was going through and organizing all my photos on the computer today and I came across some pictures that David and I took on our mini-honeymoon to Long Beach (WA) after our wedding in Sep. Looking at them and reminiscing a bit made me happy, so I thought I would share a few.

Even though we had dated for almost 3 years by the time we got married, we had never really gone on a real vacation together before this and I was a little nervous about it because it was going to be just us and I was afraid we would end up bickering and getting on eachothers nerves since we weren't used to spending 24/7 with eachother. But, my fears were for nothing, because it was a wonderful few days and we got along great! Probably because he humors me a lot, lol. Hopefully this is just the first of many fabulous vacations to come!

The best picture we got of us on our trip.

The pathway to the beach in front of our cute little inn.

Since Long Beach is well-known for it's kite festival, we thought it was appropriate that the one souvenir we purchased was a pretty kite!

A pretty view near the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

At sunset on our last night there. David's eyes are just so blue in this picture, I love it!

Thanks for looking!

A New Year

2007-01-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

I have always been a list maker. So when Jan. 1 rolls around I always make my little list of things I want to do and accomplish that year. There's always been the obligatory "exercise more, eat healthier, save money, etc." Not that those things are bad goals, but they often just never panned out the way I wanted them too, and I would end up feeling frustrated with myself for not trying harder and accomplishing more. This year I decided not to make my annual list and instead just try to be content with my life in the present. I still would love to make certain changes in my life, and I want to always continue to grow emotionally and spiritually as a person, but I also feel like I need to learn to not just look towards the future all the time (which I have a horrible habit of doing), but appreciate that I have a wonderful life just as it is, and any goals that I accomplish this year are just an icing on the cake.

I came across this wonderful story today that really illustrates what I've been thinking lately.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions - and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your business and/or job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else - the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play games. There will always be time to clean the house - it's a never ending job anyway! Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Christmas with family

2006-12-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

This year we got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with David's family and we had a wonderful time. On Christmas Eve his dad's side of the family always has a party with lots of people and lots of food. It rotates places every year but this year it was at David's parent's house which was really nice. After the party Jeff & Jess (David's brother and his wife) and David & I stayed up late playing games which was a blast! We might have had a bit too much fun because the four of us didn't wind up getting to sleep until 3:30am!

Christmas Day David and I woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls, which is definitely not a bad way to wake up! We had a yummy breakfast and then opened our stockings from Santa. How Santa manages to fit so much stuff into each stocking will forever be a mystery to me! Then, after we all got ready for the day, we opened presents around the tree. It was especially fun to see our little niece Angelina open up all her presents. She has grown up so much lately and has really turned into the cutest little girl. She loves saying "Hi Aunt Tammy" and "Hi Uncle David" over and over again which of course we think is adorable! In the evening we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with David's immediate family and his beloved grandma, Aunt Ellen and Uncle Don.

It was so nice to be able to have a nice relaxing holiday and get to spend some good quality time with our family!

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas:

picture of the week

2006-12-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

I took this picture quite a while ago while out on David's parent's boat. We were out on the sound, somewhere near Deception Pass. Every time I see this picture I just feel a sense of peace, like everything is alright with the world. :)

a couple of my favorite new things...

2006-12-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

Do you ever come across something and then wonder to yourself "how in the world did I live so long without this" because you love it so much? Well, this rarely happens to me, but it has happened twice in the last few weeks.

I've been wanting rainboots for a long time now. If you live in Western Wash. you will definitely know why! I was trying to decide between pink boots with cupcakes on them or lime green ones with girly cocktails. But then my practical side came through and I started to doubt how many clothing items I have that will actually go with pink cupcakes or lime cocktails. Plus, this particular brand didn't have much cushioning in them. So I was looking around online and came across these. I ordered them in black thinking they would go with just about anything. They came a couple of weeks ago and they are oh-so-comfy and cushy inside and keep my feet warm, all while still looking cute with jeans! After living over here for 7 years now, I will never understand why it took me so long to buy rainboots!

Then, yesterday while browsing Sephora with a friend I noticed this cute little tube of lip shine. Candy Cane lip shine to be exact. So, of course I bought it (for those who don't know me well I have a hard time resisting fun makeup :) Oh, my goodness, I love it! This stuff seriously smells and tastes (not that I eat it but you know what I mean) exactly like a candy cane, plus it gives your lips this lovely little tingling sensation that I love. I'm slightly obsessed with it now. David even told me last night I should go buy a few more tubes of it. Considering how much makeup I alreay have, I was shocked...but hey, if someone's telling me to go back to Sephora and buy more, who am I to argue. ;)

my first blog!

2006-12-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Since I don't really feel like writing a big blurb about myself I'm just going to compile a list of 50 of my favorite things (in no particular order) to give a little insight into who I am.

1. my wonderful husband David
2. my loving family
3. dinner and a movie nights
4. board games, especially Scrabble!
6. playing a great round of golf
6. tiny little puppies
7. baby names...I'm a naming nut
8. kayaking on Lake Washington
9. pizza from The Rock (especially the Bat Outta Hell which has chicken breast, herb cream cheese, pecans, hot cherry peppers and cajun spices....mmmmmm)
10. the smells of fresh-cut grass, rain, new shoes, and the ocean
11. pina colodas
12. Thai food...David and I could seriously eat it every night
13. shopping days with friends
14. fresh flowers
15. clean sheets on the bed
16. winning my Fantasy Football games
17. reading cookbooks
18. floating in water...whether it is a pool, lake, or ocean
19. white water rafting
20. getting my hair cut, colored and styled
21. seeing new pictures of my niece Angelina
22. having a clean house (not the actual cleaning part, but the satisfaction I feel afterwards)
23. cuddling with my husband
24. hazelnut truffles
25. everything about Christmas (the nativity story, the music, the movies, the decorations, the food, etc.)
26. going to the ballet
27. fresh tortilla chips and guacamole
28. reading travel magazines and dreaming about the places I want to go
29. shoes, shoes and more shoes!
30. browsing (and sometimes buying) at Crate & Barrell, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Forth & Towne, Anthropologie, Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble
31. taking a beautiful picture
32. my husband's bear hugs
33. eating a meal with a view of the water, especially at sunset
34. hearing from far-away friends and family
35. new episodes of Gilmore Girls
36. shopping for makeup, especially at Nordstrom and Sephora
37. finding the perfect gift for a loved one
38. Ben & Jerry's everything but the...ice cream
39. finding something I'm good at
40. the beach, preferably a warm one
41. the way I feel after working out (for how much I like this, you'd think I'd do it more often!)
42. bbq'ing on a warm summer night
43. chubby babies
44. curling up in bed with a good book and a cup of cocoa on a rainy day
45. baking cookies and brownies
46. feeling like someone understands who I am
47. a warm shower on a chilly morning
48. fresh baked bread
49. my husband making dinner for us (he does this often but I love it every time!)
50. going home to Walla Walla