Halloween

The Husband's coworkers made him participate in their Halloween deal today. They dressed up as the Village People and he was the cop. I got some pictures when I popped in before heading to work myself. We're waiting on the pictures that his coworker took. His coworker also took a video of them dancing to YMCA. It was pretty great.









My coworker came in with her 4 month old pumpkin. She was all smiles until I grabbed the camera and then she was mesmerized and got the deer in the headlights look. Oh well, she's still super cute!










Here she is!


Anyway, came home after work to already find little kids running up and down the street. We've been hiding out ever since, but managed to not get any kids! (Of course it has something to do with the fact that it doesn't look like we're in a duplex! Shh!)

Tomorrow we are picking up my brother in law and his fiance and we are having them over for dinner. Should be fun and a nice time to help them out. So I have to start cleaning up the apartment now! Eek!

Deviled Eggs

The Husband really wanted deviled eggs last night. After we came home from youth group, we boiled 6 eggs. We decided to only make 2 for last night. So we made them with garlic powder and paprika and enjoyed. Too bad he ate 1.5 instead of the one egg, so I only got one half, but that's another story!

So tonight, he comes home from work and wants some more. But this time, he wants to experiment with different spices. We made up 2 eggs and then tried several. Garlic and sage were the best to mix in and paprika, dill weed, and basil turned out to be the best to sprinkle on top.

That's the most exciting thing happening at my house tonight!

Don't eat the Candy Coins!

From Susan's blog:

For those of you with little ghosts and goblins in your lives. Don't eat the chocolate coin candies!

The little chocolate coins are not safe for kids to eat this Halloween. They are made in China and contain the Melamine that children's deaths were related to recently. With Halloween coming soon, pass this on to your family and friends.

Sherwood's Milk Chocolate Pirate's Gold Coins from China contain melamine.

Read the full story at the following link from Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/coins.asp

Large amount of traffic..

As part of my daily routine, I check my blog stats, on Google Analytics and Feed burner. Google Analytics said I had 70 visitors yesterday and Feed burner said that I had 120. After I got over my shock, I investigated. It appears that on the blogger toolbar at the top of the page, where it has the "next blog" link, my blog was the next one. So I had a ton of visitors. I had a couple of funky comments that I deleted but didn't think anything of.

Anyway, just had to throw that out there. Also, check out those two sites I mentioned. They are great if you want to see where your traffic is coming from :)

As a side note to that, combined with the post I just posted about the blog experiment and this sudden burst in traffic, I think I will be working to make my blog a bit more anonymous. Start looking for more initials rather than full names, etc. Just a heads up!

The Blog experiment

For those of you with great content, but no readers, check this out. Chuck Westbrook has created an experiment to seek out good blog content, but seems mostly ignored in the blog world. Go check out his experiment, and add yourself if you'd like!

Good soup and family time

Mmmm, Husband and I just made his favorite meal: Celery Soup and All Bran Muffins. We both have full and happy tummies now! The only problem I have with it is watching the pile of dirty dishes double in size!

Yesterday we spent 3 1/2 hours at Husband's parents house. We brought his brother along as we both had things to discuss with the mother in law. It was fun to just hang out over there. Said brother is getting married in 3 weeks, so we were all discussing the planning of that. We also discussed who's coming for the wedding and not Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving will be a little bit empty this year, without the 2 older brothers, but they will be down for the wedding.

Husband and his brother made up a song or two as they waited for me to talk to MIL.

Saw a pretty kitty in the yard yesterday on my way to mail. I had to go back inside and grab my camera. I got a few shots and then it ran away from me.
Not much else is happening, but I figured that I would check in and say hello to everyone.

New blogs

I've had an idea in the back of my head for some time now to create some new blogs. I even attempted to start one this past summer, but never had the time. I still don't really have the time to be running 3 blogs, but that's what I'm doing =P. I started a personal finance one, and also one as a rant about tourists at my work.

Check them out if you feel so inclined. I don't expect you to follow them, but just know they are there if you are ever interested! They will probably morph into something that only I will find interesting, anyway.

Just thought I'd throw it out there!

Golden nails

I painted my fingernails gold yesterday. I can't remember the last time I had them painted. It's probably been at least a year. I can't wear nail polish at work, so I just never wear it on my fingers anymore. But since I have 5 days off in a row right now, I figured I'd make the most of it. I used to paint my nails all the time. Getting a job made me stop. Probably a better thing for me anyway.

I got to scrapbook again last night!

Husband forced me to watch Star Trek Voyager 4 nights ago. And of course, I am enjoying it. We've watched the first 3 episodes so far. I didn't really grow up with it..I am a Star Wars fan instead! He is the opposite, raised on Star Trek, doesn't care for Star Wars. Anyone else a fan?

The sad news this week is that my step grandma passed away Saturday. Now all of the grandparents on my dad's side are gone. And all in one year, too. It's hard to believe that the next time I go to Washington, I won't be seeing any of them. I don't even know that we will ever go to Washington now. Husband is not much of a traveler, and I'm finding it hard to get him time off to go anywhere. While I have aunts and cousins in WA, I'm not particularly close to any of them. I would like for him to meet my WA family, but I don't see it happening in the near future. I love traveling, so it's kind of depressing!

Have a good week, everyone!

Love story, part 7

We were engaged! I could finally tell everyone and be openly excited. We did a lot of planning, and soon it was April 4th!

Husband and I saw each other before the ceremony. He was in the sanctuary, with his back turned and then I walked up behind him. He cried when he saw me. We had a few moments alone and then the whole family (both sides) rushed in for pictures.

I thought I would be fine for the ceremony...but as soon as it was time, I started crying and never stopped. He and I both cried, overjoyed that we were finally getting married. We had our first ever kiss at the end of the ceremony. The ceremony went well, the receiving line turned out to be fun (once I stopped crying!) and the reception was a blast. The whole day went by so quickly though! It was amazing to have so many loved ones around to celebrate our day.

We left, and headed to our apartment, and the next day, onto our honeymoon. We had an amazing honeymoon, where we traveled to Soldotna and Anchorage just to get away. We even both got sick, him just not feeling well and me with the flu, but it changed nothing. It was a great time for both of us.

Now we are living life, nearly 7 months later. We still love being married. :) Hard to believe it's almost been a year since we got engaged!

Me and my youngest niece.
All photos by Joshua Veldstra.

Thanks for reading our story! I hope it inspires you to tell your own!

My new purse!

Brrr! It's been so cold outside today! The weather thing on my computer says it's 29 degrees, but the wind chill is making it 18. It's very windy, yet sunny, but it's just cold. The only consolation I can find is that at least it's not blowing snow around, and we aren't buried under it yet!


So yesterday, my parents took me to Soldotna to go shopping. At the top of my list was a new purse...tada!
It's a lot more spacious than my last one, which was starting to get ratty. It's going to take some getting used to, but I really like it.

I also picked up some nice baskets to use for organizing our closet. They were on sale for a really good price. That's pretty much all that I picked up that is really worth talking about. Got 2 more photo albums for my photos that I print off. (Whenever I take pictures that I really like of scenery or whatever, I print them off and put them in albums so that I have them. I didn't buy any clothes, which I am proud of.
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I got a ton of homework done at work today. It gets so slow that in the winter, my boss lets me do homework, especially when everything that can be cleaned is sparkling. Today I got all of my accounting homework done and read the chapter for next week, and finished half of that weeks homework as well. I'm at the point of being willing to work more, since I get so much more homework done at work than at home!

Oh and the unanimous vote among my blogs was that everyone would prefer too much cookie over too much milk. Just thought I'd make you aware of the results!

Love story, part 6

We would go into jewelry stores and discuss what we did and didn't like, so in September, we made a trip to Soldotna. I can't remember if we were on our own or not. But we sneakily went to the Fred Meyer Jeweler and picked out a ring for me. A cute, 3 diamond ring. And I was so excited, but then we were still not able to make plans.

It became a waiting game of when I could gather up the courage to feel out what my parents were thinking about us. One Sunday afternoon, right before I started house sitting, I was sitting in the car with my parents. Dad was taking a nap, and Mom and I were talking, and I finally just brought it up. "We were thinking about getting married, this is why it will work, we have jobs, we have a plan, etc. What do you think?" And Mom was very receptive, even excited. And Dad was half awake, listening the whole time :) Their thought was basically, "it's about time!" which surprised me greatly.

In our eagerness, we wanted to get this show on the road. So Mom and I set up, without Husband, a time for him to ask my dad for my hand. The deal was, we would be at dinner together, all 4 of us. We made a dinner date for Tuesday, October 30, at Happy Face on the Spit.

Now that I look back on it, I don't know why Mom and I had to be there, but for whatever, we did. So we had dinner. Poor Husband was pretty nervous, of course. I should have gotten up to use the restroom but I felt stuck to my chair and didn't and so Husband had to ask for my hand with 3 witnesses. I feel so bad now, but you know, it went fine. My dad said that they would be honored and I got a big grin.

We left, in one car, with big smiles, and a HUGE relief and weight off our chests, and a giddy feeling. We had pumpkin pie at my house sitting place for dessert.

So of course, we didn't tell anyone of what had transpired, because we weren't engaged yet. But we were both very giddy, and I felt like I was on cloud nine, knowing that we could finally be married. Husband started conniving a plan, trying to do something that I would love and to also surprise me. And I became impatient, wondering when he would pop the question!

Meanwhile, the next day after asking for my hand, Husband went to his college class and talked to one of my best friends that he had a class with. He asked her for help and she was excited of course, but I had no clue that she knew what was happening.

Later that week, said friend and I were hanging out when something occurred that I spilled the beans. She surprised me by not being very surprised. I didn't think about it too hard, though.

The next Wednesday, November 7, I got out of my college class and called that friend. I figured that she was with Husband, and they would be waiting for me. They were, but I found it odd that they were at the beach. Immediately I became suspicious, but at the same time, I knew that because my friend was there that he wouldn't ask then.

I arrived at the beach, one where we have lots of memories, where we collect sea glass, and take many pictures in the gazebo. It was freezing and windy, and almost time for sunset. Husband and my friend were sitting in her car. I bundled up and got out of mine and they got out as well. They both kind of had funny looks on their faces, but I was slightly oblivious. We chit chatted for less than 2 minutes when Husband said, "Come with me, I have to show you something!"

In that moment, he grabbed my hand and I knew it was the moment I had always wanted. We ran to the gazebo and the floor was sprinkled with alstroemeria flowers. He led me to a glass jar that I had found at a garage sale. He had put beach sand, sea glass, rocks and shells in the bottom and a little treasure chest in the middle. It was on a railing, so I was turned away from Husband as I looked. He had me open the chest....to find a gum wrapper ring that he had made. I was slightly disappointed, but at the same time, knew it was to be cute and memorable (and it was!). (Husband made me countless gum wrapper rings through our dating)

I turned around to see Husband pulling the real ring from his pocket and getting down on one knee. He took my hands as I stood transfixed and excited. I honestly cannot remember what he said, but I do remember the, "will you give me the honor of being my wife?" and I grinned, and stood there with tears in my eyes, and just basked in the moment before excitedly saying "yes!"

After that, we hugged, I looked at my ring, and I don't know what else. Soon, our friend came to the gazebo, camera in hand. It dawned on me that she was there to take pictures, knowing that I would be eternally grateful. She took pictures of us after she walked up and shared in our excitement. It was awesome to have her there for the moment and I am so happy that she was able to photograph our moment!

After calling the family, the friends, and getting excited responses, including Laurel screaming, and Husband's mom wanting us to hurry the message along because she was in a meeting, we started planning. April 4th was soon decided to be the day, and it was less than 5 months away!

Stay tuned for Monday!

Cookie or Milk

My husband just asked me this, so I will ask you...

If you had to choose, which would you rather have: too much cookie or too much milk?

We both chose too much milk. What about you guys?

Amusing moments

I went into work today, with Husband in tow, to say goodbye to a coworker who is leaving for 3 months. Turns out that my boss had left some clothes for me to try on that had been her daughter's. I didn't think they would fit at all, because her daughter is pretty small. But, it turns out that most of the clothes were big on me! Out of 9 articles of clothing, I am taking 4 - a grey sweater, a pair of jeans, a jean skirt, and a little black dress. The dress is cute, not really my style, but it has a high neckline. The tradeoff is it's short on the bottom, but oh well. I was going to take a picture of it, but my computer is not cooperating right now. Anyway, I was rather shocked to be smaller than her, but I love hand me downs!

On a similar note, Husband did 2 amusing things today. As a bit of a disclaimer, Husband and I have most of the same tastes, and he is not being mean if he tells me something does not look good. Most of the time I agree in the end. I was trying on the clothes and he was giving me his opinion. I put on this black button up shirt, that only had 2 buttons in the middle, and it was a bit big. He wasn't paying attention to me at the moment, and when I asked him, "Does this look stupid on me?" He turned and glanced for a second before saying "yes." Haha. For some reason it struck me as hilarious. This is not abnormal behavior from him, and I never take offense at that from him, but I was thinking about how other women would probably be hurt or offended by that remark. I, on the other hand, laugh and agree.

Amusing moment number 2. Referring to my moment a week or 2 ago, and my Christmas obsession, while we did the dishes tonight, I conversationally brought up when I could start decorating, and kiddingly asked if I could start now. Totally seriously, he replied "yes." I stopped talking and just sat there, "oh...". Husband started laughing and was like, "You didn't expect that, did you? I took the wind right out of you!" It threw me off so much, especially when he said that he likes to decorate a bit early for it. Husband doesn't care about Christmas. It doesn't excite him or anything. Where on earth did this come from?? Anyway, so I might start a bit early, in November, so we don't get so sick of it all, but it was nice to know that he doesn't care...unlike some families who insist on after Thanksgiving.
I love decorating before then. I don't see the point in only having the decorations up for a month.
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Anyway, here are some pictures.

This was a couple weeks ago. I think the contrast between snow on the hill and not on the trees is fascinating.

This was at the church a week ago. I thought it was very dramatic in all red.
These 2 are from the hill, of the Lake and the Spit.

Pumpkin Pie

Husband loves pumpkin pie. I love it too, but I think he likes it more. Before we got married I stocked up on food for our fridge, and bought a frozen pumpkin pie. Sometime soon after, we cooked it and ate it. A month or so after that, Husband commented that we should get another and just have it. So, since about June, every couple of weeks I look in Safeway for a pumpkin pie...and they never have any. Anywhere. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to find them in 3 places! I bought the frozen one on sale. Yay, it's pumpkin pie season again and then we'll be sick of it!

Yesterday, I did a bit of housework, and was happy with what I did, but didn't complete it. I went to town on a whim to my in laws to pick up some stuff we had in their basement and ended up staying for an hour and a half. It was fun, but reduced my productivity a lot!

Now I'm trying to stop sneezing and coughing to get some ambition to do something.

Housecleaning

Friday, my boss bought pasta salad and hot cocoa for me and her to eat at work for lunch. We sat upstairs and ate it together. It was nice :) I love my boss. That was definitely the highlight of the day, because after that, my throat starting hurting. By 5, my head did too. I was cranky all night to poor Husband and just wanted to sleep. He was (and always is) a good sport about it.

Saturday, my head no longer hurt, but it was obvious I had caught the cold going around town. I felt better than the night before and was not cranky, thankfully. Work went alright, and wasn't too big of a deal. Except I had a flat tire! My boss's husband came and aired it up and I've been keeping an eye on it ever since. It looks alright, but time will tell!

After work, Husband and I went to a wedding reception. It was fun to get to meet the bride, and chit chat. I used to not like meeting new people, but nowadays, I seem to thrive off of it, for some reason. Anyway, that was a fun time, and then we went home. It was so cold outside, due to the wind. We ran to our car and then when we got home we ran into our place to warm up. I'm not ready for winter yet! By the time we got home, I started to drag again.

Sunday, went to lunch with my parents after church. It was good time and then Mom and I went "shopping" at Ulmers. 40 bucks later, I left, but I had several needed things. I got a cute little clear 3 drawer container to put on my computer desk to help control the paper clutter I have everywhere. I also got us a new paper towel holder. We got one at Salvation Army before the wedding for like a dollar and it drives me crazy! It's only a wire base with a wire pole to hold the towels. The problem is that is so light that it does not hold steady when you try to get a paper towel off! Basically, you need 2 hands to get a paper towel off of the holder...and sometimes, you only have 1 hand when reaching for one. I wanted to get a new one on our honeymoon, but Husband didn't think we needed one...(obviously I thought differently) but I didn't put up a fight. SO, here I am in Ulmers and they have all kinds of fancy ones, and some cheaper ones. Way more expensive than say, Walmart prices, (everything in Ulmers is not that cheap) but I decided on a nice, heavy one and purchased it. Those were the 2 most exciting items I bought. Husband thought it was nice. I think he's figured out why I wanted a new one, since the honeymoon, by the way. But yes, it is SO much nicer. I can't get over how much happier I am with it! Anyway, this is becoming a weird tangent.

Due to my shopping trip I didn't get started on my homework until 4:45, right before Husband got home. I didn't do hardly any homework on Friday or Saturday, due to feeling so out of it and not being able to concentrate through my cold. Thus, I had to scramble last night. I did some of what I needed to, but left 2 things that I just knew I didn't have the brain capacity left to do a good job on. It felt good to just let it go and not worry about it.

This morning's highlight was my meeting for "coffee" with my favorite red head. We talked politics, church, friends, significant others, life, the usual. It's always so fun to do that with her. After that, I took her home, and bought some groceries. I've been sitting here ever since, catching up on other love stories and blogging. My original plan was to clean and clean some more today, but at the moment I don't have much ambition. Every Monday I attempt to do a ton of homework and it never happens, so I figure that today I won't attempt any. All I will do is clean my house!

Love story, part 5

Our senior year went by fairly well. School was not that great for me that year, and I didn't enjoy it in the least. Husband was the bright spot for me. We worked through a lot of expectations for each other. Time went on, we had our first anniversary (had a nice picnic). We longingly dreamed of the day we would be able to get married, but knew we didn't have a way of supporting ourselves long term and knew at least my parents wouldn't go for it, quite yet. Husband's parents were just ready for us to get it over with!

Prom, though we didn't go to the dance, just dinner.
Getting started early! :P

We spent a lot of time discussing what "someday" would be like. How we wanted it to happen as soon as we could. How it just made so much sense. But we waited. We waited until we knew we both had jobs, and could get the parental approval. Neither of us knew what living on our own meant. Slowly, we understood, and still wanted it more. I started house sitting jobs, to get some independence. I'd been paying my own expenses since I got a job, and Husband did too. Once we had been together 2 and a half years, we finally decided to get the ball rolling. With both of us almost 20 years old, we knew we were young, but we felt we could make it and do fine....So it was time to talk to my parents...

That will be continued on Thursday!

Funny Forward

Funny email forward a friend posted.

I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 92). We decided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, and blue.

My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him staring every time. When the teenager had had enough, he sarcastically asked, 'What's the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?'

Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response, knowing he would have a good one, and in classic style he did not bat an eye in his response.

'Got drunk once, and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son.'

18 days of sunshine

My boss told me today that someone told her that there were only 18 sunny days this summer. 18. Wow. I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad!

9 year old and politics

Today, my 9 year old brother in law was asking me who I am voting for in this election and then proceeded to tell me that he wants to order, from the internet, one of those McCain/Palin support signs. Wow. It threw me off pretty well. That's not something he would normally care about. My mom in law told me they've all been following the campaigning closely, as the 2 older kids are pretty interested in it, so Nathan is too.

My mom in law also told me that my sis in law (k, way too many in laws in this post!) who came over last week had a great time with me. I didn't doubt that she did, but I was seriously not doing a thing when she came over and all I did was talk to her. I don't make that much conversation with her really, so it made me happy that she actually enjoyed herself.

So, I was attempting to write this entry when my power flipped off. It's at least the 2nd time it did today. No idea how many more times it has. There's been a work crew working in our neighborhood. It would have been nice to know that they would be shutting off the power, especially more than once!
So, when I realized it wasn't coming back on for a while, I packed up a book and drove to the beach and did homework there. It was pretty distracting, but I got an accounting quiz done there.

Husband will be getting home soon. So I need to get cracking on some more homework!

Love Story, Part 4

The next few weeks are a blur to me now. I wrote extensively of it in my journal, though. Neither of us had our licenses, so we were dependent on friends and family to see each other. (we lived 15 miles apart.) 2 of my best friends were dating 2 of his best friends, so we ended up having group "dates" all the time. Usually those consisted of going to the beach or the parks. It was a convenient way to see Husband all the time, especially since one of those guys had no qualms about driving to my town nearly every day to see his girlfriend.

It was always so much fun and such a learning process for us. We were both scared teenagers who didn't know how to express their feelings. We were able to make physical boundaries pretty early on, though and we kept pretty close to them the whole time. We learned how to communicate, after many tears and misunderstandings. We had come into the relationship that we were serious about looking for "the one," and that if the other wasn't right, we wouldn't continue. So serious from the start! I look back now and shake my head, but it all worked out.

We went on a missions trip together in July. We weren't together much, and were very busy. I was home for 2 days from that trip, and then my parents took me on a family vacation for 2 weeks. That was the longest 2 weeks of my life! I missed Husband so much, and could not call him much due to roaming cell phone charges. There was little internet in any of the places I was. It was good for me to be away from him, but I still missed him like crazy.

Us on the fourth of July, about a month into it.

A few days later, we went to Happy Valley Falls with some friends.

Summer turned to the school year, and we kept getting to know each other. It didn't take long to decide that we were going to marry each other. I think we might have rushed things just a bit, but that's how it goes sometimes! However, we knew that we wouldn't be able to get married for sometime, and we knew that we wanted to wait a while to be sure and to know that we would be mature enough to make it work.

To be continued on Monday!

I love good worship!

I've been meaning to blog for several days, just haven't sat down to do it.

On Monday, I spent nearly 2 hours chatting with coworkers. I went into Husband's work and hung out with him and his coworker while he showed me some things they have been working on. I can't think of anything else that happened.

Yesterday we killed some mold on our windowsills.

When we woke up this morning, we drove off for breakfast. We talked about 3 different places for breakfast, which ended up as a wild goose chase as each one was closed. We didn't want to go to Duncan House, where we always go for breakfast. We finally settled on Caribou, because we didn't want to go back home. It was good, but by that point, of over 20 minutes of wandering town, we just wanted food and the excitement was gone :P Oh well, it was still nice.
Then we got our tires changed on our cars. Due to poor planning on our part, no one could pick us up. Then we called our friends who live pretty close. So we walked over there and hung out for an hour, chatting. It was fun.
And youth group tonight was really good. Heard an amazing testimony from a YWAMer, and then we prayed for each other and got words. It was really nice. So today was a good day, but a bit rushed. Oh and Grace led worship. It was super good. I love singing Angela Pinkston's songs!

Husband and I have been making an effort to spend more time together this weekend, and it's so nice. Just throwing that out there.

Tomorrow I will hopefully get a lot done (right) I have to make another trip into work for a paycheck.

I started playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass last night. It's pretty fun, and I think I can do ok with this one :P (I'm not the greatest at video games by any means) Wish me luck!

Love Story, part 3

It was a long but giddy couple of weeks for us. I had a computer class and Husband and I would email each other back and forth during that. He's always been a big romantic and would email compliments to me that made me smile the rest of the day. It was a fun time.

School ended and right after that, Husband went on a trip past Anchorage to see a friend. I was missing him like crazy. I couldn't talk to him much at all. He had told me he'd been praying about us before he left and wanted some confirmation from God that it was ok to date me. While he was on the trip, at church, he got what he was looking for. To this day, I cannot remember it. I'll have to ask him again. Anyway, so he got on MSN that afternoon and asked me out. (another thing he will never live down) Another instance of he couldn't wait. (Don't worry, that trend of not being able to wait ended there!)

They came home that night and somehow I made contact with them. At 1 in the morning they drove down my driveway and I snuck out of my house for the first time in my life and we drove to my dad's shop down the driveway. I know we sat there for at least an hour. There were 4 of us, just talking, but Husband and I just kept looking at each other. When it was time to go, he walked me home and we hugged all excitedly, but awkwardly. May 29 was a good day!

To be continued on Thursday!

Christmas??

I'm one of those people who loves Christmas. Such that by Halloween, I'm ready to decorate the house. Also meaning that I buy presents early as soon as I find what I want. I still put some off till the end, but I get good deals this way. My pile of boxes from the mail has gotten a bit bigger, so what did I do today? I just wrapped 7 presents. Maybe it's the attempted snowing outside or putting off homework or housework. Now I have a tidy pile on a shelf in the living room and a box with presents for Husband hidden in the closet. I know I'm crazy. Now the hard part begins of finding the presents for those impossible to shop for family members!

We put out Christmas items at work this week. Not our full table, but just some that have been sitting upstairs since January. No point in not selling them.

Needless to say, I can't wait to decorate for my own place this year!!
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Last night we went to our friends' house for dinner. We stayed 4 hours, just talking around the table. Good company :) And the dessert was really yummy, of brownies with cookies on top. *waves to Lori!!* It was a lot of fun, and nice to be inside as it sounded like we were having a blizzard, but it was only raining.

Yes, I'm procrastinating doing my homework. And it has tried to snow today. Or rather, it's been snowing this rainy slushy mix that melts. I think the top of the hills had some that actually stuck though.

It's school fundraising month apparently. We've gotten hit up by more than one, from my niece and several of my coworker's kid and his friends. I'd love to do everything, but I don't need any of it!
Safeway has been in the habit for the past several months asking if you want to donate to this or that research. October is of course, breast cancer awareness month. I still tell them no, though I sometimes think I should contribute, due to Mom's bout. As she likes to say, "I've donated too much to that cause as it is!" Not sure where I'm going with this...go get a checkup! :)

Maybe tomorrow I'll post more than just random happenings. Now I really do need to do homework!!

First Snow

Youth group was fun last night. We met some new people and had a good chat with them. Then we went up to our friend's house for her going away party. Oh my goodness, there were so many people there! Great food and good conversation abounded. (What were those quiche like egg biscuit things? SO good!) It was definitely a fun party, but a sad occasion.

This morning, we woke up to snow in our yard. Most everyone else has already had snow that stuck. This is the first day we've had some. It's almost all melted now, but the point is that it stuck! It's so early!

After my declaration yesterday that I would not scrapbook any more, I ended up doing 3 more 2 page spreads! They were quick and easy to do and now I am almost caught up to this past summer! It's a great feeling.

My goal for today is to do more homework and get on the ball with that and go into town to get rid of our trash. Other than that, it will be a quiet day.

Here are some pictures from recently!

The new coat, and typical face

The hillside yesterday..finally losing leaves

Crazy cloud on Monday


Our snow this morning. Don't you love our caged tree?

Love story, part 2

In my newly found attraction for Husband, I soon started to agonize. I could not figure out what he was thinking, and I didn't want to change our friendship. I would start to think that he had feelings for me, but then something would set me back. We were both too shy to do anything about it. I think most of our friends that didn't already know could see what was happening.

Time went on, my mother went through treatment. (She's fine by the way!) It took 7 months of dilly dallying for Husband to make the first move. A friend had sent an email forward that talked about two friends who were in love with each other but did not know how the other felt. I still have the email.

2 days after my friend sent it, on May 16, 2005, I was talking to Husband on MSN, when he suddenly got really serious. (everyone teases him for doing this on MSN, but it worked :P) He brought up that email forward and I could suddenly see what was coming. I freaked out and could hardly breathe. Husband told me that he couldn't hold it in any longer and that he liked me. I was so excited/shocked that I didn't say anything for several minutes, which really scared him. Once I got over the shock, and replied that I liked him too, we kind of relaxed, but not really. We talked for hours, and he picked the worst time to bring it up, as I had a big paper due the next morning. I got a bad grade on it, but it was the best bad grade I ever got!

However, at this point, we still weren't "dating" and the next day we went for a walk from Husband's house to what we soon would call "the grassy spot," a little trail near his place. We had a long and awkward talk about what this all meant and how we didn't want our friendship to change, etc. But we still weren't dating officially!

That will be coming next Monday!

More Lazy days

After small group, we got another invitation to dinner for Saturday night. We've been doing great, getting free meals lately. Tonight we have youth group and then we're going to a going away party after that.

Yesterday was a very lazy day. I did some homework, and that's about all. This morning, I let myself scrapbook! I did a total of 2 spreads, both from last December. After this I will probably work on inbetween shots that don't really have a place. I don't think that I will do any more today. I need to continue doing homework.

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I had to write a paper last week on open source software based on an article. After reading the article I realized how misled I have been about open source software. It totally seems like the way to go now. I always that that it would be unsecure and not useful, but that is definitely not the case. I will be looking into it sometime soon.
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I have also decided that I have way too many clothes. I recently had 2 loads of laundry to do and realized that it barely made a dent in the clothes that I had hanging in the closet. My mission is going to be to go through my clothes and get rid of a lot. I love to get new clothes, but there's no point if I don't get good use of the ones I have now. I want to start getting more nice clothes in general, for when I eventually get a good job. Whenever I start working on that project I will let you know how it goes.
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I feel like I need to blog, but not much is happening at this point in time. I'm waiting with baited breath for when snow will officially come.
Hopefully I will have more to say later!

Random bits

This post will be a bunch of random thoughts!

- My boss brought me half a tub of "Philly Treats" from the main store. They're chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz Bits. So yummy. I bought a half a pound of them and left the rest at work.

- I also went grocery shopping and went a little crazy, but it was all stuff that we needed/had been wanting. Chocolate milk, Lays potato chips, and I got flowers for Husband. Saturday was 6 months of marriage for us!

- I ordered some pictures from Snapfish last week and they came today. As I went through them and put them in their spots to scrapbook them, I realized that I have been severely lacking in scrapbooking! I have Christmas pictures from last year to do! Maybe if I work hard this week I can do some.

- Husband's coat came last week. He actually hasn't worn it yet. It's been pretty cold for the beginning of October so he's been going with his old standby. He tried it on and it looks good, though.

- Last week I was at our mailbox when our next door neighbor walked up, wearing shorts. (It's jacket-all-the-time weather now, definitely not short weather) and she said hi to me. Then I made a comment about how she looked 'summery' and she laughed and mentioned bringing 0ut her pants soon. It was a good little chat, as we had had a tense moment a few months ago and no contact since then.

- My goal was to do tons of school work today. I haven't done any yet and it's 6. But I did get a ton of grocery shopping done, a huge load of dishes (by hand), a chat with my boss, picked some rosehips, printed stuff at the college and got a shirt for Husband at the local consignment shop. I also picked up some swimming shorts for me, since I really don't have any. I almost bought a cute cute dress, that was only $18, but I think it would have been too small and I really don't need another dress. Oh and I made an appointment for our tire changes for next week. So, I got a lot done today, really. Now we're off to small group and then it's the weekend for us!

Our Love Story

I came across this really cute idea from Owlhaven.net for writing your love story. I will continue it on Thursday, hopefully. So here it is!

Husband and I met our freshman year of high school, at the Christian school. It was a very small school by some standards. We had a few classes together. He was homeschooled mostly, but took a few classes at the school. The way he tells it, fairly soon after school started, he looked around the room at all of the girls. He mused about which one he could see himself marrying. Oddly enough, he saw me towards the end and decided I was a good one. (Note, he wasn't just deciding right then and there, just musing) He didn't know my name or anything about me, but I was reading a book and was all quiet. And then a friend leaned over and said something to me and I laughed. And scared him to death.

I laugh a lot, and especially so when I was insecure as in high school. I laugh loudly and somewhat obnoxiously. So for whatever reason, I scared him. That's how he likes to tell it, anyway. After this, he kept that thought at the back of his mind and would come back to it time to time, but just went on with life.

I on the other hand, was completely clueless and oblivious to him. Being a small school, I should have gotten to know him pretty easily, but it just didn't happen. I was focused on other guys there, and he didn't seem interested to me, so I never gave him another thought.

The next year, I started to notice that every so often he would be looking at me. Husband claims he didn't, but I distinctly remember it and being surprised. Towards the end of that school year, we sort of got to know each other a little bit, through a friend.

School ended, and in early summer, I started talking to Husband via MSN messenger. Said friend continually would have constant chats with everyone in one window. After a couple of these, I added Husband to my list because he was "so funny and nice." So as the summer went on, I got to know him a bit and really enjoyed talking to him.

And then school started again. I switched to the public high school and he continued homeschooling. By this time I was pretty good friends with him from our online chats and was attending youth group regularly, so I saw him often.

Around this time, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, so I was majorly distracted and hurting. The day she was diagnosed, Husband was actually on a trip on the east coast. And I was surprised at myself for wanting him to know about it so he could pray for me and just be there. The same friend managed to get a hold of him to tell him about it.

He was not having a good semester that year. He was going through some stretching spiritually and with some friend drama, so he was not really focused on me at all. But the stuff with my mother made him even more wary of his feelings. I haven't ever been able to pin down with him when he actually started feeling for me, because he is so bad at dates. Somewhere around this time!

A month later, in October, towards the end, it suddenly occurred to me that I liked Husband. Which started a roller coaster of emotions and hope and disappointment.

To be continued!

Snow :(

I just looked out our window, checking the weather. As I looked up onto the hill, I see white covering it. I knew people got snow yesterday and the day before but I didn't know it had stuck! The forecast today calls for 3-6 inches on the higher elevations...no!! I'm so not ready for snow yet!

Getting to know people

Thursday we went to that couple's house. We went for "dessert and games". We don't really know them at all, so it was pretty awkward for a while. But by the time we started playing the game (10000, Farckle (sp?) or Moose Dice, whichever name you prefer) we had all warmed up to each other and were having a blast at the end. It was a really nice and fun evening.

Oh and before we went over there, I went to the beach to get out of the house and do some homework. While I was parked, 2 ladies parked next to me knocked on my window needing a jump. I was really happy that I was able to be there at the right time to help them out. I think it might have been a God thing :)

Friday, I worked, and got into a really good discussion about politics and local churches with a coworker. After Caleb and I were both off of work, we went to Starvin' Marvin's for dinner for my brother's birthday. It was good to hang out with my family and be together.

Today was more work and tonight has been school stress. I was working pretty hard but took a break to take a shower and haven't been able to get back into it. So I figured I would blog like I've been wanting to for 2 days. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to post about the rest of the things I want to that are inconsequential.

Oh, we had an earthquake at 9:45 tonight...did anyone else feel it? The earthquake site never registered it, but it gave us a good shake for sure.

AP town

I made a trip out to AP today to get my snow tires. My parents are going on a trip this weekend and I'm afraid the snow might come before they come home. It's been almost a month and a half since I've been out there. My kitties were excited to see me and hadn't forgotten me yet. The leaves are almost gone on the drive, and I missed the best days for photos. It was a nice quiet drive. I was in a bit of a melancholy mood after finding out some bad news.
Dad and I got my tires and then we tried to find Mom and after a bit of manuevering, found her at the post office. We got lunch from the local "Mexican" restaurant and ate it at the firehall. It was good and fun. :)

Now I'm home and reflecting on my hometown. At 1pm, we were on the main road, and town was so quiet! It really is pretty tiny, but a nice town. I was noticing how the local pawn shop guy was sitting on his front porch, waiting for business. I can't imagine that he gets much, though. For some reason, the whole experience just struck me. Not really sure why.

Tonight we are going to that couple I wrote about from small group's house for dessert. It should be a fun time to get to know them!
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I ordered Caleb a Carhartt jacket this week. It was on sale for a good price and I've been wanting to get him another coat. The only jacket he has is much too big and bulky for a lot of use. It's great for winter when it is very cold, but not good for summer or fall. The jacket came today and I'm waiting for him to get off of work so he can try it on! I hope that it serves him well and is worth the investment!
I also ordered him a dressy shirt yesterday. I think I will give it to him for Christmas. My husband has a small frame, so it is hard to find nice clothes that aren't too huge for him. He has a lot of nice dress shirts, but are just too big. So I have made it my mission to get him some more. So far I have one coming!

I found out that one of my coworkers is missing me and another girl a lot. She's pretty much just been working with my boss for a month only so they're getting tired of each other. It felt nice to be missed :)

I came across a blog post on another blog challenging others to write about their love stories on their blog. So that's my goal for later. I found some cute ones, so I found some inspiration. Look for that sometime soon!