Bear with me...

Life is sucking a little bit right now and writing just insnt on the forefront of my mind at the moment. I should be back in a day or so. 

4 days until 2009!

Well, Christmas came and went without incident...well, here in Vancouver anyways. Back home, I get a call from my sister who tells me that mom snapped her ankle in half. Yes, you heard right... in half... as in her foot is dangling to the right, while her ankle is on the left, and her leg is still somewhere actually attached to her body. Ofcourse it was the first Christmas that I am away. Why not? Anywho, she is doing just fine, on pain meds. She had surgery Christmas eve and received one plate and 4 screws (yuck.) .  She is on a walker right now, and after about 6 weeks she will get a boot and a crutch. Every year it is tradition to have a big yummy seafood dinner Xmas eve... dad and Shannon got treated to green beans at the hospital cafeteria. 

We, on the other hand finally got a digital camera! However as of right now I dont have any photos that dont involve suprise shots of me in my bathrobe and morning hair groping for the lights first thing in the morning, so no photos today. 

It has started to rain in the past couple of days, so after 2 weeks of being cancelled, we finally get to go to church!! It does get old when it is snowing and automatically schools shut down and church is cancelled and everyone completely freaks out. I just dont get it. Although now that we actually get to go to church, do I feel like going anywhere? Do I feel like taking a shower? Ahem. No. I feel like a cup of tea and sitting with scripture perhaps. Actually, make that a couple cups of tea to wake up, and then maybe breakfast so that I might comprehend what I would be reading. 

Oh well. I am looking forward to 2009 and the events that will take place. I am looking forward to starting the year again and be just a little better than I was in 2008. I dont do resolutions, but changes for the better. I just pray the Lord helps me remember them. Hope you all had a great and wonderful Christmas!

Its too early to think of a title for this post.

It is 6:30 am. In the morning. In the early freakin morning. And Im not sleepy. Why? I ask aloud. I was dreaming the most awesome dream, it was an encore presentation to the book I was reading last night. In my dream the castle actually got stormed by the bad guys and the entire land was thrown into darkness... I, nearly escaping death a few times, got in close with the enemy ranks as an undercover being, leading on as if I truly were subverted by the Dark Lord to his followers, and yet always going back to my band of good guys with the knowledge I gained to try to break things apart from the inside and restore happiness and sunshine to all the land. The detail was so good and the dialogue was awesome, and then Zacs alarm jarred me awake. So I sent him off to work, fully intending to go back to bed to finish off saving the world, and now I cant sleep. I know if I forced myself to, I would wind up with a huge ol' headache and then be sleeping until 11:30. I know this because every other time I go back to bed that happens. I just cant get up at 8am. Ever. Here is the kicker.... IM YAWNING LIKE CRAZY but Im not sleepy.

Anywho, today, somehow, is Christmas Eve. (already?!) It is definitely not as eventful as years past. Christmas will be opening gifts, breakfast, going to a movie and then slugging out the rest of the day. And then its over. And then a whole new year is upon us, the one where I will turn 24. The one where starting a family will come into play. The one where hopefully God will grant us a home of our own. It will definetly be a year of firsts. I am excited, albeit a little apprehensive.

I really do wish that we were home for Christmas. I miss my family. And my kitty. And my best friend. It really is amazing how much we take for granted and then realize just how much everyone means to you when you leave. 8 hours away isnt bad, its not like I'm in France or anything, but winter time here is ridiculous. (Oh and the best part about the weather? This year we move up here is the worst winter they have had since 1968.) The interstate is closed throughout Oregon, to even get on the I-205, chains are required, to drive even into Portland, chains are required. And yet nary a snow plow to be seen. None. Nobody even shovels the walk. It is a bit ludicreous. But I am enjoying the snow, however it does remind me of plopping Stinky in the snow last Christmas and watching him zoom around in it. He would put his front paws out straight and then just snow plow down the driveway. He'd chase snowballs too, and then get confused when they dissapeared into the snow, then I'd toss a little snow ball onto his butt and the poor thing would get so confused, so he'd plow through the snow again looking for it. Thanks for permitting me a small memory. 

Zac might only have a half day today, so that means that if I go to bed, he would come home at 10:30 and I'd be asleep. Maybe I will force myself to get up at 8. (I say that every time) If anything, the house is chilly and my bed is warm, and if logic serves me right, then theoretically.... I should go back to bed. Good night.

Its a good day.

I had a dream last night that I went to visit my best bud Cecelia and actually got to sit down with her and talk, and to visit my kitty Stinky while there. She had a gazillion baby kittens too... like 4 week old little fuzzballs. It was such a relaxing and deep dream it felt like I was actually there. I woke up so refreshed and happy that I was able to hug my kitty again and to just hang out and talk with my friend I hardly ever see. I love it when dreams are that good. It was better than the dream I had before that, I think I was in Las Vegas or something and the people I was with kept shifting and somewhere was scenario where I lost my purse, and the only person helping me was a girl named Jess from A Path Less Followed blog...(Ive never ever met her let alone talked to her), but then she got whisked away by a flood... I think I prefer the simplicity of the first dream. It is indeed something I have been wanting to do anyways.

It stopped snowing. I am stuck at home again, Zac had to take the car. So I am making jam thumbprint cookies. (oh darn.) I do have to go to the store however, before they all close Christmas eve. I am getting excited about Christmas coming up... I hope all your holidays are coming together nicely. I have to go try to not burn some cookies..

Snow Beanies

It hasnt stopped snowing. Yesterday we went out side, 5 inches of snow, with 1/2 inch solid ice on top of it. Every where. Even on the other side of town. (We had to go buy more sand bags for the truck. Yes I know it was Sunday. Church was cancelled by the way, 2nd week in a row.) Look at the distance between my fingers. It took 45 minutes to chip the ice off my car. It looked like someone dumped water on my car just as it was freezing. My lock had 1/2 inch of ice on it. So a bathtub of hot water later....

So then this morning, I wake up to this: Those are steps by the way. It snowed about another 3 inches last night, and we have snow drifts in a few spots.

So Zac took the car today, has better snow abilities and the sand bags 

never got out of my car and into the truck...hehe... so I am stuck at home today. There is no way I am driving that truck, even with sandbags in the snow again. So I woke up with Zac like usual, made him Breakfast and his lunch and set to work on my first time crocheting a beanie. I am so pleased!! It worked!

Its 8am now... got a disaster calling my name. Seriously, if ya didnt know any better, you'd think 5 people lived here on the weekends. I've gotta stop taking weekends off. Mondays are just a disaster!

Ponderings of the Christmas Sort.

Thanks to my dear parents, our little tree doesnt look so lonely anymore!! I am not sure who the Crate & Barrel package is from, there was no return address, but I am assuming it is from an aunt and uncle that go for the pre-packaged gifts every year.

I am finally getting into the Christmas mood...now that my packages will be mailed out today and mom sent dads Christmas cookies. Zac is even getting into the spirit a bit now that we have gifts under..well.. next to our tree. This season has been a hard one, with everything I have ever associated Christmas with so far behind me... it is really making me start to think really what this whole Christmas schtick is all about. 

Here in Vancouver, I dont have a roaring fireplace. I dont have the laughter and warmth of parents and in-laws. I dont have the dinners dad makes us. I dont have the stockings that are normally hung. I dont have the comfort of being 10 minutes away from either set of parents. Among other things....

So sitting here with my baby Christmas tree, with the thoughtful gifts my parents sent, I am beginning to wonder why we even bother celebrating Christmas anyways. Yes, I am a church going person, yes I believe in Jesus and the virgin birth. But why then, now that all I hold familiar is stripped away, why o why does it just feel like another day? Have I really not focused on the fact that Christmas is really the celebration of the good news that Heavenly Father sent us? I was pondering this thought yesterday. I suppose up until yesterday, the only way I ever really felt the Christmas spirit was through all those material things that kinda helped it along. It never once was really about Jesus. Until Yesterday.

And the thing is, is now that I contemplate it more, it is such a different feeling to have the Christmas Spirit in Christ than the former feeling I was looking for. It is more quiet, complacent, reverent. It is warming from the inside. It definetly isnt as hectic, as chaotic as the other kind of Christmas spirit... Having the spirit in Christ is, gosh I dont even know the words. I guess what I am trying to say is that finally realizing that Christmas stripped from its wrapping paper is pure love, well.. that is a miracle. That Our Lord sent his only son to save mankind, even thousands of years after His mortal death, from the mortal sins we create and posess, that we may progress to be as He was.  That through Him we are saved from Satan and his wiles, that we are offered eternal life in His house, that we do have the chance to repent and be forgiven. What a loving God we have.

It sure makes Christmas seem alot more peaceful. Christmas in Vancouver may just be the best one I've had yet. 

Lord I am so thankful for thy presence on this Earth. I am thankful that thou hast chosen us to share thy good news and that we might be saved. I ask Lord, this season to please bless those who need thy word, and also those of us who know it, to please impress it upon us once again and I say these things in the name of our dear savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I finally have a tree.

Its almost a 12 incher. I couldnt stand not having a tree for the third year in a row, so I went to Craft Warehouse and got me one. 

I feel a little more Christmas spirit-y. Tomorrow the gifts will be mailed.. yes I know there are 8 days until Christmas. 

It feels like I can relax a little bit now. It stopped snowing for a bit, but man its cold. And myself, being the genius that I am, caught my lunch on fire this afternoon, set the fire alarm off, and had to open the patio door, the window and the front door. I froze.  I am starting miss being 10 minutes away from my moms house this time of year. I know she has her fire place roaring, their tree with all our ornaments are up, Dad has baked cookies and mom has put up the decorations. Its becoming really hard to realize that I am 8 hours away. 

Oh well, I am enjoying the snow at the very least.

Snow

It snowed. It hasnt gotten over 28 degrees all week, and we are supposed to get hammered by another Alaskan storm all week. Freakin brrrr.

So far we havent gotten that much, but it has been a steady snow all morning. That means because Vancouverites are weenies, I have to go to the store now before they close on account of snow.

Just in time for Xmas... maybe this will get my head on straight.

 

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Gift bags make it look like you got more than you actually did.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. The woodstove wont dry that sucker out!
3. When do you put up the tree? Well, in the days when I had trees, 3 weeks before Xmas. I dont have a tree this year. Or last.
4.When do you take the tree down? 3 days after Xmas. No point in having a tree in the house otherwise.
5. Do you like eggnog? You mean to ask if I like sludge scraped from the drainpipe? Uh, no.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I was spoiled rotten, so I dont really remember any favorites. Fave adult gift: hubby gave me a gorgeous pearl necklace with diamonds last year.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Grampa chuck or hubs.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Me.  
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Never had one. my life is bleak.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I try to mail them every year. They are still sitting on the desk in front of me.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Used bath lotions and sprays from my dead grandmas house. 
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Its a show really: Claymation Christmas.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? LoL. Im just starting that, thank you.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe I did, maybe i didnt.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas eve seafood buffet, Christmas breakfast, everything else that goes with it.
16. Lights on the tree? I prefer all white. But our tree growing up was a mess of blinking lights and aluminum foil. We could have landed a few UFO's.
17. Favourite Christmas song? O come O come Emmanuel
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? HOME!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes. I can even recite the night before Christmas by heart.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I prefer stars, but once again.... there is no tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning Christmas? Immediate family gifts Xmas eve + 1 random gift.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? How not into it I feel. 
23. What theme or color are you using? I have a figurine of an xmas bunny. That is the only decoration I have put up. I'd put up more, but there is no place for them. Boo.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? As always, Mexican food.  
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I dont know. Fisrt Xmas without the family. So far, I think I am going to get a tiny little tree from the craft store.

Ok, well that didnt help. Oh well. Tomorrow I will git 'er dun!

Quick update cuz I feel like poo.

We got our first snow yesterday. *Ahem. Did I say snow? I meant skiff of white stuff that flew over the road. Minute amounts of white flurry that didnt stick. They cancelled church. Because of the snow. Because Washington doesnt even OWN snow plows. When it snows here, and these are the words of a Vancouver-ite that has lived here all his life: "the city just shuts down and waits it out."

Anywho, today was sunny, this week though we are supposed to get slammed with some nice snow storms straight in from Alaska. Ok I feel like crapola so I am going now. 

I. LOVE. MY. BED.

No that is not code for anything... today I slept in until 10:30 because I was so gosh darn comfy!!! 

My sleep number is 35. I woke up this morning so late, half because hubs went to bed at 9pm, so ofcourse after we read, I was a little tired... I was awake in bed for 3 and a half hours. But I just couldnt get up... oh no... I was snug as a bug in a rug. Normally when I wake up, it is at 8 or 8:30 and I have no problem doing so because I hurt like h-e double hockey sticks and the need to move around and pop all the joints in my body trumps staying in bed and sleeping. But now... oh now! The second love of my life has arrived! (Yes I realize that 2nd position will be replaced by baby #1 eventually) but for now, ahhhhhhhh.

Its raining out, finally a full blown rain. Latley we've either had sun or mist. That means that I am certainly not going anywhere. So far my big plan today was to go check out the ENORMOUS Cost Plus down the street, because ofcourse, Cost Plus just isnt the same anywhere you go. Not to mention it is 11:30 and I am still in my robe trying suck down a cup of tea. 

Man I love having a camera on this phone. I still want a camera though. So todays plan of attack is a good thorough cleaning, and to finish up Christmas cards. Zac still hasnt gotten paid yet, so I cant do Christmas shopping yet. Boo.

Oh we went to see the Twilight movie, I absolutley refuse to read the books. So gathering what I could from the movie, I still dont want to read the books. Apparently the movie is a ton cleaner than the books, but the main girl Bella is made to be a complete stuttering idiot that is confused by everything and just cant comprehend anything either. Complete blithering idoit. Not to mention, she always has a look on her face like she will vomit at any given time...it goes back and forth between that and having dog poop under her nose. And also not to mention, she is supposed to fall in love with Edward...to my understanding like head over heels I-would-kill-for-him in love.... the most she gives him is half of an awkward smile and some more stuttering. Edward, the main vampire, is as equally as retarded, just in a different way, the way Bella stutters when she cant get something out is about the equivalent of Edward being silent and opening and closing his mouth like a fish when he cant get something out. There are scenes in the movie that you would just looove to punch either of them a few times. T-t-t-t-today, Bella!!

It wasnt a bad movie though, just frusterating at times. Im still undecided if I will watch it again. Probably not. So there you have it folks, an unofficial guide to the latest vampire hype. I honestly still dont understand why the movie was such a big deal. Wasnt that good. Perhaps its because I havent read the books. I still refuse. Oh well. 

Alright, I am off to go make another cup of tea and catch up on some blogs. 

Ow. Owww. (Oh..and my phone camera is working!)

YYEEEOOOWWW!! Yes folks, that was the lovely sound I made in my head this morning upon rising to make hubs breakfast at o'dark freakin thirty am. It may have felt better to scream it out loud, but I felt my hamstrings were doing for me already.

So Monday, worked out as normal. Added in arm weights and then did some quad and hamstring lifts. Now dont get me wrong, I dont do the gung-ho approach to weightlifting. I did a set of 12. As in I bent my legs 12 times. Thats it. Felt fine afterwords. 

Tuesday hit, and ok, I was a little sore, no biggie. So I decided to forgo the workout and just do yoga. The program I found was to open up you hips, which was amazing feeling! And also just general stretching yoga too. I felt great and lengthened.

And then comes this morning. My hamstrings feel like, well, lets just say it took me about an hour this morning to be able to walk on them without bending my knees. Ow. It has been awhile since I did leg weights, and somehow, now, after the fact that my legs hate me, I am remembering that it was always the 2nd day after doing weightlifting that always killed me and I had vowed to never ever do it again. (I was 15? 16? at the time.)

So nothing a bath and some Ibuprofen cant help. Geez. I hate it when body parts rebel. So on the good news side of things: Our bed comes tomorrow between 1-5pm. I am thankful that it is not like the Idaho cable guys who say to expect them between 8-5pm Monday Through Friday- Sharp. I always hated that. You were prisoner for a dang week in your home, making sure you didnt miss them.  

Along with our bed, we also got 2 free bathrobes,

 combined total value of $190! (people would actually pay that much for a bathrobe??) Although they are VERY nice. They quilted, with that soft fleecy stuff inside. And they are heavy. It feels like you are wearing an old fashioned drap with a sash. Oh and they are monogrammed HIS and HERS. And I see why now, because I accidently threw on Zacs and it is HUGE. It may as well be a blanket. But holy crap they are warm,  which is nice, I can keep the heat to a minimum. 

Oh, and I finally figured out how to get the photos off of my phone, so here are the pics Zac took on our trip to Lucia Falls.

Oh, and I've officially admitted Im a complete nerd.

So there is a lady in our church named Ginny Potter, right? They announced her name in church on Sunday, and Zac didnt hear it very well, so he asked me to repeat it. Went something like this:

Him: Did they say Germy Potter?

Me: No, they said Ginny Potter.

Him: Oh.

Me: Which is funny because ya know in those Harry Potter books? Ginny Weasly ends up marrying Harry Potter, thus becoming Ginny Potter! So she's Harry Potters wife! 

(ive got a big grin on my face at this point, marvelling at how clever I am.)

(insert huge eye roll from hubs..)

Him: WOW. You are such a nerd. 

Then he said something about me bringing up Star Wars... but I dont remember what he said. Fine. I admit it. Im a Nerd and proud of it. At least we nerds can put two and two together.

Monday morning

Good morning all. This morning was especially hard to wake up, I kept thinking I heard Stinky meowing every so often, then I'd move to go get him, but then remembered he is back in Idaho. So I didnt get much sleep. We didnt do much this weekend. Saturday Zac didnt have to work so we bummed around the house, no cleaning happened...hehe... (yes I am paying for it today!) I made sketti, and thats about it. Sunday was about the same, just insert church some where in the middle of it. 

There is an awesome website that has waaay cute long skirts, denim, khaki, you name it. I couldnt remember the name of it to save my life! So I searched. And searched. And then finally decided to look through all the comments on this girls blog I read, where I had thus clicked on another blog and found the website link. And I found the blog! And she had made it private. With no means of contacting her. So I gave up and found one for $20 on ebay. That is way more that I would prefer to pay, but I do realize that you cant really find anything like that for any cheaper. Not to mention NO stores sell them. Hardley any do even on the internet!! Apparently we are anti long skirt nation!! 

Im not really ready to tackle the day today. Sunday was such a nice relazing day. It was pouring, so we took our umbrellas with us on our 15 second walk across the street to the building. I havent used an umbrella since I was like, 8. One of the neighboring churches was holding that nativity all last week and als Sunday so thier congregation was invited to join our congregation... it was a full chapel!!! But I have never heard such beautiful singing! The voices were so loud and joyous that the organist had to play a little extra loud, as in we could hear the re-verb of the speakers. It was nice. 

Ofcourse being the christmas season, all the talks were centered around Christ(which is normal anyways) but also around making the holidays stress free. Huh? Whats that? I just only realized that we have19 days until Christmas, Zacs first check doesnt come until the end of the week, I have to get stocking stuffers out ASAP, which then means I have to figure out what to get who... I dont think we will be able to fly back home, it will be about $500 round trip for both of us. Airlines dont do Christmas specials apparently. I havent even thought about a tree. I do have a small xmas village, but I have no furniture at the moment so there really is no where to put it. I will figure it out. 

Good morning

Zac drove me down the street last night to finally see mount hood. It is seriously this big in front of you, and yet it is a loooong ways away.

Oh I cant wait for our bed to get here!! I am so dang achy and migrainy. Our last place wasnt to awful, it had wood floors underneath the carpet, underneath our foam pads. Here we have some lovely concrete under that carpet. Owwwie. Our bed comes next Thursday. Perhaps it will help my dreams too, lately they have sucked. My alarm woke me up this morning in the middle of getting screamed at by my husbands female boss. (I havent even met Zacs boss. And I know he isnt a woman.)

I am not working out today. Last night was night 3 in a series of days that have given me perhaps 4 hours of sleep a night. My brain just wont shut off! And no, I dont drink caffeine or eat before bed. Not to mention every prominent bone in my body juts out onto the floor... oh yea, I think I finally lost a few pounds. i dont have a scale anymore/yet, maybe I will go and try one out at Target. 

Since we got Verizon, I cant talk to the one person I yak at everyday anymore - my mother. But she got me onto Yahoo Messenger, and apparently if you have a microphone and speakers, you can call PC-to-PC and talk like a normal phone conversation for free! Who needs a phone? Whichever party wants to talk, presses call, then the other partys computer rings! You pick it up and yak away. I really like Verizon, but their service is so gosh-darn expensive. O well. The phone is cool.

I am excited for Sunday night too.. every Chistmas up here apparently all the different churches in the Gorge get together and make a HUGE recreation of ancient Bethlehem. Apparently they have camels, and lepers and whatnot and so forth. I think that it is really cool that all the different denominations can come together and put such a loving effort into bringing the community together. 

So todays plan of attack... uh... yeah. Well... I woke up at 9:30... and here I am still at 10:18. I think I will go take a bath and try to loosen up my aching muscles. Then take a nap. Who am I kidding, I'll probably get ready and then go take my rent check down, then clean the house and then go on a scouting mission for a broom. I think mine got left behind in my parents garage. I only discovered that I didnt have one after a pail of black eyed peas dumped its contents on top of me and all over the kitchen. I love picking up beans by hand. 

Now that I got paid, perhaps I will actually go get some food items. Hehe... I also discovered Zac hates eating vegetarian. Now we are not Veggies by anymeans, we were just strapped for cash for the past week, so I made bean soup because, well.. thats what I had. And the first thing out of his mouth? There's no meat in it? So my main mission today is to get ahold of a hamsteak. I will do my regular food shopping when he gets paid. I keep telling him we should just become ranchers, then we would have no shortage of red meat. 

Ok, I've got to hit the shower, well, bath to be more exact. Have a great day!

A long update.

Well,we made it. Today starts day 3 of housewifing, and I am thoroughly loving every second of it. It is so fulfilling to be able to get what needs to be done, done! Here is an account of what has taken place since last wednesday:

Wednesday, November 26th: We scrambled to finish cleaning our apartment, had the property manager nose through it. He even checked for dust on the top of the cabinets. Really?? Zac cant even reach those. Oh well, dont have to put up with him any longer. So while this was taking place, I had stuffed my poor kitty in my car so he would be out of the way, and boy was he unhappy. (poor schmoo) So Zac had everything loaded into the pickup and he left for my moms. I had Stinky and left for Cecelias, albiet late, but she was awesome and stayed for me. Then I left for moms bawling my eyes out all the way there. Got to moms, and ate a wonderful early Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say we were stuffed to the gills, ( surprise?) and then Zac went to go hang out one last time with his family and I stayed at mine... all 4 of us just slugged out on the couch and watched TV. Good times. Then it was bed and 6am came mighty early.

Thursday, November 27th, Thanksgiving: 6am we were up dangit. I actually got to sleep in a bed that night so I was sleeping very well. I decided to be a bit selfish and I took my time to get ready and shower while Zac went to help my dad pack the vehicles. I went out there to help them, but anyone who knows my dad and packing, well... you just dont get in the way of his "art". He is the master packer if I ever saw one. So I went in to help mom with breakfast. Which was fine, because it was freezing outside and I had to snitch a few sausages anyways. (tee hee) We left the driveway at 9am, and went to Grandma and Grampa Young's house (Zacs g-parents), then to his parents. Then finally, we left for the freeway about 10-ish. My grandparents are in Ontario, Oregon which was on the way so we stopped in to see them as well. Then we were really off. Granpa gave us his 3-mile walkie talkies, which made the drive sooooo much better. Since we were driving separate cars, we had no one to talk to and only country as radio stations. So having those little gadgets were very nice. Especially when we hit fog. Well, I should say cloud. Going up the blues was fine until we hit the summit and there was a cloud on top of it. Couldn't see a darn thing. But right ast we hit back to ground level, it was clear. Was a little scary though. We just got behind a semi and stayed put.  

The trip up I-84 through Oregon is so freakin ugly and desolate. It looks like a freezing version of nevada with sparse, and I mean sparse trees. We stopped in a tiny town called Arlington to gas up. This place was kinda cool, was built into a hillside and looked like a Christmas Card. And then through more desolation. We were by the river the entire time, but it just was sage brush. Then, we hit the Columbia River Gorge.... BREATHTAKING!! It was so beautiful, and we got there right when the sunset hit... oh the photos don't even do it justice. It got dark as soon as we got towards our exit, and ofcourse started to rain. Nothing is better than fining your way in the dark and rain on a HUGE freeway where exits turn into exits. But we made it. 

We unloaded our stuff, and then decided to drive the main drag, Mill Plain Blvd, which is a block or two away from us. There is so much stuff here!! We discovered we are in the upper-crust section of town, and there is everything you could ever want here in our little bubble. The little "quadrant" we are in is called Fishers Landing and Cascade Park area. So being Thanksgiving, nothing is open and we were starving so we went to Sharis. (yeah, I know) But get this... Shari's up here is a far, far cry from the ones in Nampa. The food was actually AWESOME!! and it wasnt just cuz we were hungry. 

Friday, November 28th: Slept in until the late ol' time of 8am. We got ready and hit the town again. This was also Black Friday. Well, we figured out that our Tmobile phone does not get service up here at all. So we went to the Verizon store and got an awesome Black Friday deal on a Venus LG. I love this phone. Mostly because you can hear out of it. We were so excited to go check out the town, we had forgotten breakfast. But every wonderful place has a Pita Pit, right?? Oh yeah baby! Right across from Verizon. Nothing makes you feel at home like a Wal-mart and a Pita Pit. :)  I had a gift card to burn at Target, so we went down a block and got Zac some new work pants and myself a new purse, and a hot water maker. We drink a lot of tea in this house, so hot water needs to be always on demand and a tea kettle is just too slow. (we're not americans, are we? lol) Our new phone has unlimited GPS, so used it. All day long. We found Walmart, and plenty of other things. It was a fun day.We GPS'd our way to down town, which kinda looks like downtown Payette. Kinda dumpy, just old. Went to this Irish Pub and Grill O'Shanahans and got there in time for Happy Hour. We had AMAZING fish tacos, a HUGE plate of cheesy fries, and marinated steak bites and probably between the both of us the equivalent of two 2 liters of coke. Pop refills are free at bars, I didnt know that. Then home it was.

Saturday, November 29th: Woke up and unpacked a bit. Went to meet the LandLady to sign paperwork and get aquainted with the fitness room and laundry center. Went back to the house and GPS'd our way to the mall. It is called Shoppingtown. And I thought Boise Town Square Mall was kinda dumb.. So we wandered around, there are a few stores we dont have in Boise, but for the most part everything was familiar. Except the Sleep Comfort store. Oooohhh.....heaven on Earth. So most of you know that we got rid of our bed about a year ago because it was causing Zac to have back trouble and migraines right?? Well we have been sleeping on foam camping pads for the past year. Not exactly comfortable to someone (me) who likes sleeping on cloud-like objects. So the second we laid down on the sleep number beds, it was like a chorus of angels were above us singing the cliched "Halleluyah!".  I felt nothing on my hips, my spine, my shoulder blades, nothing! Zac loved it just as much as I did! So we decided that this was going to be an in-the-near-future purchase, just not right now. But then we went back to bed on our foam. Both of us after feeling the bed and then waking up from the floor, decided in an instant that we needed a bed. (YAY!) So it comes in a week or so. My sleep number is 35, his is 55. Im excited, I've already picked out a bed set. (Im such a woman)

Sunday, November 30th: Slept in and ate breakfast. Called Cecelia to see how she was, give her my new number and see how schmoo-bug was doing. Apparently he is liking Cecelia and was ready to go outsided, so that makes me feel at peace. Went to church at 1pm, got home at 3pm...Oh thats the other awesome thing! We timed walking to the church and it took :37 seconds! We can see it from our house. Then we just slugged out and unpacked and I made dinner. 

Monday, Tuesday: Zac went to work. I stayed here on Monday... Went and talked to management about our mailbox key, then worked out for an hour, then came home and finnished unpacking. Zac came home at 3, which I wasnt prepared for, but I didnt mind. We went to Wal mart. Tuesday I worked out, then ran errands and then discovered that Zac is supposed to come home at 3, not 5.  

I love having the time to slowly wake up and have my tea, make breakfast, fit in a workout before getting the errands done. I love having the house clean and myself put together. And I can wear jeans!!! In Boise, every day I had to wear office attire except weekends when it was church clothes for a few hours and then I was so worn out it was just sweats and no shower.  Oh! And it smells like pine trees, there are so many trees!!! It is cloudy 99% of the time and misty/rainy. It is absolutly gorgeous up here. I really like this relaxing thing. I got a late start today, usually I am up at 8:30, but today I slept in an extra hour. Just couldnt get to sleep last night, rather couldnt get comfy.  So that has been my week in a nutshell... I am happy to finally have the internet again. Oh and another great thing, Washington doesnt tax food. I bought lunch stuff for $15.26 and it was $15.26. Amazing.

WE MADE IT!!

I am back to the land of the living!! I have internet finally!!! I am fairly busy this afternoon, but tonight I will get on and get you the whole schmear. 

And were off.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are leaving in about an hour for Vancouver. And Thank you a million times from the bottom of my heart Cecelia!! I luv ya babe!!

Coping skills.

I'll tell ya, this last week has been one of the most horrendously stressful weeks I've ever had. However thanks to the grace of God, it has been easy. Everything has fallen into place accourdingly and I really have been stressing over nothing. He truly is guiding this. I found out what was causing most of my stress too.... finding a place for my kitty. I am so attached to him. But my best bud Cecelia called and said she would take him, oh I cant tell you how the relief just flooded over me. I havent gotten that good of sleep in a week. I didnt realize that was what I was stressing over. I basically have no stress now, although I am still sad that I have to leave Stinky, I know he will be much happier at her house. She has a yard and I know she will feed him, and he will still have a warm place to sleep. Cecelia, I thank God for your awesomeness. (and Aaron. I didnt forget your other half, tell him thanks too :)

So I just sent our deposit in, and Decembers rent will show up just in time. It really hasnt hit me that we leave in 1 1/2 days. It is still so bizarre to me, almost surreal. I still have my inner nagging about money and stuff, but I know that I need to trust Him, He has gotten us this far with not a hitch. I know He will get us through the rest. I am excited to be able to start keeping house though, after getting all unpacked and through a couple of paychecks, then I will start decorating and making it feel a little more like home. I am excited for that. 

I do get a bit teary eyed when I think of leaving my family, but it is helping alot that my parents are so gung-ho about us going and supporting us so much and excited for us that it is giving me the strength to go without being too sad. Because they are doing that, it doesnt make me feel guilty for leaving and they are allowing me to be excited. I think it would definetly be harder if my parents were crying and "oh i wish you werent going" kind of a thing. 

I am ready to start new, we were even talking about trying to get pregnant perhaps next fall or the spring after... we'll see what happens. We definetely want to get established first, and we'd like to buy a house. Again, we will see. 

I thank God for all He has done for us, and for making this transition so smooth. Our prayers really have been answered. He has been praying to be able to work at the union in Vancouver, and I have been praying my little tail feathers off to be able to never work again. I kid you not, those have been our exact prayers. Every night. For a long time. God never ceases to amaze me.

Oh my goodness.

3 days. Only 3 days. 3 days to finalize packing, find someone to take the kitty, eat an early turkey and say bye to everyone. Not to mention sleep... Sleep? Whats that? Friday night we went and said bye to all our welding friends... the came home and I took a sleeping pill and knocked myself our for a night. Slept well, but woke up with a migraine. (let it stand to note that Excedrin is awesome). Saturday we woke up late, made a good breakfast and just puttered around. It felt so good to not rush around. Then it was on to moms to unload boxes in her garage and dad made us prime rib... It was a good day. Aside from spending from 9pm-12pm at mom in laws doing laundry. Late nights kill me. Sunday was haphazard. Church, then lunch, then over to sis-in-laws for nephew Kyle's 1st birthday party. Also had hairdresser sis-in-law chop off my hair. I love it. So then Zac dropped me home at 10, and then he left to watch a movie at his brothers house while I crashed into bed with a warm fuzzy cat. So needless to say, nothing got packed. 

Today, we are packing the rest of most of the stuff. What a pain. I'm getting excited. Im also nervous and sad I have to leave my furball. I love my hair tho.

A note to go with the last post..

My mother is being so sweet, her and dad are making us thanksgiving dinner the night before we leave since we will be driving all of Thanksgiving day. What a thoughtful thing to do. I love my parents. :)

Its finally hitting me.

I broke down last night. I couldnt hold it in any more. With all the stress an angst and things, put on top of saying goodbye to all my dance girls... I bawled. For a few hours. I still am tearing up thinking about leaving my girls. It's like all of them were my own children I am leaving. And especially giving up my pointe girls to someone new... Im so protective over them, it is so hard to see someone else teach them. I just hope she gives them the freedom to have fun with pointe and not drill seargent them as if they were at the Royal Ballet of London. They dance for themselves and thier families, not world wide audiences. I explained to her that I let the girls help with alot of the choreography and stuff... Oh I'm worrying too much. They will be fine, and I suppose they will get used to a totally different teaching style. I will miss them so much. 

Lisa (the head teacher) said she would give me addresses to keep in touch. I'm excited to send everyone postcards. 

So that emotional experience on top of trying to get all this moving stuff in order finally caught up with me. So aside from puffy eyes and I'm completely exhausted, it felt good to cry. Although I fear I am not done crying. We have 5 days until liftoff. We aren't even staying for Thanksgiving dinner. It is really hard to leave for me around the holidays. My family is a very traditional holiday family, so it is difficult. Not to mention I will miss my grandpas 80th birthday party. I'm just overwhelmed. I am really hoping the lady that is coming to look at the apartment will take it. (Please God?) 

Ok, so anyways, let me finally get to how this all happened. Backtracking here... ok.. so my husband was in the welding program at BSU, this was his 3rd month. His teacher had a former student who manages? the welding fab in Vancouver who discovered my husband and was impressed and then called us and offered him a job. Thats it. It couldnt have happened any quicker. It is amazing pay and somehting that Zac really likes to do. I wont have to work if I dont want to, but I  will until I get the credit card paid off. Coffee shop or a book store would be nice. 

We got to spend a little time at my moms house last night, which was nice. Im going to miss them so much. I'm still waiting to hear if we approved for the apartment I applied for... I hope to hear today. WHen I hear we have an apartment up there and someone to take over ours here, I think I might be able to relax. I havent even had time to call everyone and tell them. Holy crap I am tired.

Oh ya, and I am trying to find a place for our cat. If you know anyone in the Treasure Valley who wants a cat, let me know. Hubs says we cant take him. My work is interviewing for my posisiton today. She is nice. Ok I have to get back to work now, which is another thing on top of all of this, working 8 hours and trying to wrap things up here too. I think I deserve a break after this move. 

I am alive...

I promise, but just barely. So many things to do in 6 days has my head swimming against such a tough current that all I want to do is sleep. So, my point in saying this is that Im alive and will tell you everything when i get a chance to have a normal brain function. 

Also, please pray for us that God will send the right person at the right time to take over our exisitng Boise apartment lease. Thanks.

What I've been keeping mum about...

I can finally tell you what I have been dying to say... (and Cecelia if you are reading this before talking to me, its because I havent gotten to a phone that isnt at work or with Zac. You will be hearing from me very soon) Anywhooo.....

WE'RE MOVING TO VANCOUVER WASHINGTON!! BY DECEMBER 1st!! 

Holy crap. So right now we are in the process of boxing things up, finding an apartment, finding someone to take over our lease, figuring out what is he best day to leave, and today telling my work that I am putting in my 2 weeks.

Mom wants me to stay another 2 weeks after zac leaves, but if we get someone to take over our lease, then that will pocket us another $1000 which will enable us to leave by Thanksgivign. Even though we only have 2 weeks, things are still so up in the air. So much to do. Packing isnt going to be a problem, as we dont own anything. 

So... I am excited, thrilled, overwhelmed and stressed at the same time. I'll update as I can.

New blog i found

Just found a fun new blog! It is Rob in Space, narrated by, who else, Rob. His writings are personal, funny, witty and Christian oriented. Check it out!

One of those blogs

Ok so I'm just going to spew out random stuff now... I feel like writing, but I dont have anything really to write about. Zac is coming home tonight, he was out of town for a day or so, so I bought him a ribeye and some shrimp and scallops. I dont think he will be home until 8:30 or 9:30 though. He may not even be hungry. Speaking of hungry, Crap in a Sack sounds great right now. That is our endearing term for Jack in the Box. I had lasagna earlier, but eggrolls and poppers sound wonderful. I guess if he isnt hungry that will be tomorrows dinner then and I will just make a sandwich or something. Zac took his side of the bed with him on his trip. We sleep on 2 foam pads put together. When both are there, then it looks like a double size bed. But now that his isnt there, mine looks so lonely. Its depressing. I cant ever imagine living without him. 

I actually cleaned tonight. I told hubs I would, I dont think I will have the entire kitchen done in time, but I did vacuum. That's an accomplishment. The BSU vs Vandals game is tomorrow. Too bad it is up in Moscow. My sis, who is a student there right now is going. I know it will be a blowout, every single year it is. I dont even know why they call it a rivalry. It is always so one sided. It is getting cold out now. Although the sun is up at 7 am. I drove in to work today with bright blue sky, sun way over the horizon and the moon in the same spot opposite the sun. It was a little surreal. Speaking of surreal, I need to get back into my art. Im just not as inspired as I used to be. When I was depressed and hated the world and so on and stuff, my creativity just flowed. Now that I am immensly happy, I cant even draw a cube straight. Well, not that bad, it just isnt like it used to be. I miss it the creative streaks, but I sure dont miss my moods or attitudes. My quality of life is soooo much better now. I suppose I could trade a wonderful life for good art. :)

I need to take the trash out, but I think it is raining again. Maybe. Stinky got a harness and leash yesterday. So I took him out on the catwalks of the apartment, and we gave the building a "cat scan". He had to sniff every single little nook and cranny 5 times a peice. He really enjoyed it. And he is pretty adament about his sniffing too. I tried to tighten his harness mid-sniff and got quite an attitude! Apparently I was interrupting a good sniff. So I think I like my phone better than I thought I did. Its growing on me. definelty not what I would have chosen, but cant complain. I forgot to go to the bank today. Darn it. 

So if Zac is hungry tonight, I am totally going to red-neck it. Since I dont have a bbq or a george foreman, I cant grill the steak. However... I have a waffle Iron. It is about the same thing as a george forman, just flat. And it still has grooves for the grease to go down. And since you cook pancakes on a griddle at 350 or so, I would assume the waffle iron gets that hot, considering you get waffles in 2 minutes. And if it isnt hot enought, then perhaps it will slow-grill it. Insert Jeff Foxworthy: You might be from Idaho......

I cant wait for hubs to get home. I do miss him. Wow. I could be entering invoices right now... hahahaha. forget that. I will do them tomorrow. No way I feel like doing it now. I need a new pair of jeans. I really hate the ones I have. One pair fit my legs really well, but it makes my hips look humongous. The other pair are so stretchy that they look (and feel) painted on. Im starting to get tired. Ok... off for the night.

Why do Tmobile phones have to suck??

So were on Tmobile. Until May. And our trusty flip phone that we've had for 3 years finally lost is flip. Zac is out of town at the moment so I am having to have a phone on me at all times until he gets back. So I decided that since the wires are now popping out of the phone, that I would get a new one.

So my choices, without adding time to my contract, were a flip phone and  bar phone. Thats right, 2 phones. The flip phone, was the one that we got for free when we first signed on. We hated them s much we threw a phone breaking party and went and got our trusty flip. So the Bar phone, is teeny. Hard to hold onto. The buttons are small, and the ear peice is one of the ones you have to stick right up to the hole in your ear. But it was $50 bucks. So it will last us until may.

Its light, plasticky and cheap feeling. I was looking at my mom-in-laws phone, a verizon LG, and it is  steel tank!!! Tmobile phones are crap. Like Saturns. (They are made out of plastic too)

Oh well. Out in May. 

With the faith of a child.

I've had an epiphany moment. I was curiously drawn to a church publication I have in my house, and drawn to open it to an article I hadnt yet read. I picked it up and read the title, and started to put it down thinking, what in the world do I need to read this one for? I hadnt read it because it looked boring. But as I put it down, I was prompted to pick it up and read it. So I did. I started. I got half way through and then stopped cold at one sentance.

"...to have the simple faith of a child."

My eyes started watering, this was what I had needed to hear. With all that is going on around here lately and all the uncertainty, yes, I have been praying and reading scriptures and stuff, however I still have the doubts. The what if's. The what if nots. To trust Him in all things is to not have any doubts, to know for certain that His will, will be what comes to pass.

So upon reading that, It flashed me back to when I was little and prayed. I prayed with reckless abandon. I remember the thought never crossed my young mind that God wouldnt ever fulfill His duty. There were no what ifs. I prayed with the full confidence that He knew what He was doing. I remember loving the Lord so completley, even though I was never brought up in a church or specified religion.

So this passage stopped me in my tracks and put my fears and doubts into perspective. I was not trusting Him completley. I was not loving Him completley or letting Him love me completley. I still even as an adult need to pray with that reckless abandonment. I need to remember that He hears my prayers and He will do as His will sees fit. I am remembering to have confidence.

I need to return to having the steadfast faith and love and purity of a child.

Lord our Father, help me to have the love and faith I had when I was a child. Show me how to pray with faith, and how to love thee with true confidence. Help me Lord in my trials, that I may truly know thy will. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Giving thanks for a few things

Im inclined to shout my thanks to the Lord today. Even in lieu of things that are brewing and stirring and slowly coming to pass that are good, yet causing a little stress, I am so thankful. Because without Him, these blessed current events would not be happening.

Things I am most thankful for:

-My solid marriage

-Church on Sundays

-The practice of prayer and worship

-A strong shoulder to cry on

-Spontaneous foot rubs

-The ability for Zac to see himself excel in something

-The job God allowed me to have

-The stable financial situation we are in

-The trust I am able to put in Him when times are uncertain. (like these)

-The promptings of the spirit

-The ability to find comfort in my husband

-The ability to find comfort in the Scriptures

-The wonderful women who blog inspirations

There are so many more things I am thankful for, alot of them would say what I still cant say yet. And I am dying to say them. But I will have to wait. 

Losing weight with Glynnis

A lady whose post I frequent, Glynnis Whitwer, has challenged herself to lose 8 pounds in 8 weeks, starting today. She has asked for moral support and to do this with her. She also said it didnt have to be 8 pounds, it could be holding yourself accountable for scripture study for 8 weeks. Or keeping your bathroom clean for 8 weeks.

As for myself, since I just so happen to need to lose 8 pounds, I am in supporting her on the 8 pounds in 8 weeks challenge. I will weigh myself every Wednesday.

Heres the starting numbers: 118

The Goal: 110 (yes, that is my healthy weight. Ask my doc.)

I challenge you to do something for 8 weeks that will change some aspect of your life for the better. 

Clutter.

Cluttered minds create cluttered houses. Cluttered houses create clutter spiritual lives. Cluttered spiritual lives create me going absolutley insane. Due to some recent events that have and are starting to come to pass... this goes back to te post where I couldnt say anything about it...well, I still cant say anything much. 

However its got me so overwhelmed, that even when I list out my to do's, it gets tossed in with the clutter. I have alot of to do's and you-sure-as-heck-better-get-that-done's, and quite frankly I dont know where to start. This includes the to do lists at work. When I get stressed, I freeze and just want to sleep and therefore nothing gets done. Dang clutter.

So my mind is one big cluttered to do list. Within the past week, my house is covered in laundry piles, papers and boxes I was going through from our last move. My spiritual life includes church and a nightly prayer with hubby and nothing else. I keep telling myself I need to just take an hour and sit down and itemize things priority down to can wait half a year to do. But I havent found that hour because Im too dang stressed-lazy to do it. Its quite overwhelming. Not to mention my mother-in-law just gave me 5 million invoices to enter by..oh... December? Sooner? Could we not go with the original schedule of giving me one week at a time so I dont have to spend 6 hours a night entering invoices? O well. I love her to bits and will make sure her accounts are finished by the time they need to be.

Ok, so on a better note to end this post... there is nothing more heartwarming than being at a football game, standing up for the national anthem, and hearing 32,000 people sing it in unison. Perhaps there still is hope for America.

Good and Morning should never be in the same sentance.

I'll post somehting as soon as the caffeine kicks in. Which at this rate seems like never. Oh yes. Its one of those days.

16 hour day. Oye.

Today is loooooonnnnggg. And it isnt even over yet. I was up at 5:30.... at work still until 4:30...then its find something to eat and truck it to Nampa to sub 3 hours of dance classes for the teacher who normally does it. She is in California right now. I always have a blast in classes, I am just going to get home at 9:30. Then I am going to bed. What a day. 

Im going to have to get some liquid motivation (caffinated something..) I am extremely thankful that I am employed, but I cant wait to be a housewife. Maybe then I could keep my dang kitchen/house clean and have dinner ready on time. That would be a miracle. 

Work has me busier than ever. The only reason I am posting today is because I cant look at another spreadsheet without going crosseyed. So I am taking a quick break. Also bookeeping has me busy doing end-of-year things. I never ever ever want to do any of that again. Im burnt out. I cant do it anymore. I'll finish up this year and then I am quitting. 

Theres a football game this Saturday, we play Utah state. It will be a blowout. Again. I am happy we have such a good team, however I do like to see a close game. O well. Were good. 

Ok. Break is over. Next time you see me my eyes will be crossed.

Correction:

My dear friend Cecelia brought this point up to me;

when I stated I've found the ones really doing all the complaining are the ones who put more effort into money and material things to satisfy thier happiness and quality of life and not focusing on the spiritual aspects of living for today and enjoying what God has already blessed them with.

She took it as I was saying every hard working american and christian are complainers...which isnt what I meant at all! My thoughts were driven toward all the whiners I see on CNN all day long... It is on at my work. All Day. Every DAY. 

So my apologies to those I have offended who run thier own businesses, ministries and whatnot and also to the rest of us trying to hold their own.

Taking the high road.

Well Obama is president. Not my personal voting choice, but I must say it didnt come as much of a surprise to me.  I dont particularly care that he is the first black president. Atleast he is a human. And all this talk about living in a socialist nation is kind of irritating me too. I used to live in a socialist nation. When I lived in France I made sure I payed attention to the government issues and things and just how miserable the people were because everyone always made a big hoo-ha over it. 

Miserable? I beg to differ. I realize the issues of socialism and how they are not particularly ideal and dont really agree with it totally. However, as for quality of life, I discovered while living in France, they are just as happy as clams. They realize they cant do much about the whole thing, so they just have learned to enjoy life and roll with the punches. 

And since we as "the people" cant do much about anything regarding politics and government, I mean really, what are we able to do about it... write him a letter? Protest on the steps of washington?  (alot of good that does) well...I say, since we are in for the long haul, lets not let our quality of life go down. We can enjoy ourselves and our familys just as much as when Bush was in office. Or Clinton.  I've found the ones really doing all the complaining are the ones who put more effort into money and material things to satisfy thier happiness and quality of life and not focusing on the spiritual aspects of living for today and enjoying what God has already blessed them with. When you realize just how much you are blessed, then you can really start to see what quality of life really means. Lysa Terkeurst put it very plainly:

Jesus never called us to the comfortable life. He called us follow him through whatever life hands us. 

Jesus never waited for the circumstances of the times to line up in his favor. He called us to follow him and be light in the darkness.

Jesus never bad mouthed the leaders of the day or demanded they change their policies. He called us to follow him and live out the truth through our right choices.

America has had its ups and down, and yet we as a people still live.  As long as we live good honest lives, within the laws and rules of our country and our God, then we have more freedom than protesting and resisting all the way.  

I honestly do hope however, that with this new administration some good things may come of it. 

Stirring the pot.

God is brewing up something. Something potentially huge for Zac and I. It has not fully come to pass yet, as I only just heard the news. I am sorry I cant say much more than that at the moment, especially since I am work right now. I can say it would be absolutley wonderful news in 99% of the aspects, and bittersweet in the 1%. It does involve Zac's welding skills and my never having to work again too. (Have I said too much?) This is killing me not being able to say much, but I had to atleast get this much out. I promise as soon as I get a little more information and my wits about me I will explode with an explanation. 

Mini post.

Kyle - I got your email, thank you for the encouragement and I am happy you enjoy my writings. I am sorry I could not email you back, my computer crashed and now I cant get into my emails for the time being. But I did want you to know that I appreciate your comments.

You're not wasting a day if you are enjoying yourself.

Oh I can't tell you how good it feels to finally have a day to do nothing. Mowing season is finished and Saturdays are finally freed up. We went out to Downtown last night, the central theme throughout the costumes (or should i say lack of costumes) was the porno version of Alice in Wonderland. All halloween is anymore is an excuse for adults to walk around town naked. Sheesh. We then went to some friends house in the next town over and came back home and crashed at about midnight.

Today we reserved to do absolutley nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. We slept until 10am, then woke up and sipped my way through a small pot of tea. Made buscuits and gravy and fried eggs at the request of hubs. Then I finished my book by the window with another cup of tea and listened to the rain. Then we watched The Godfather. Hubs is watching #2 right now, I'm too dang tired to try to follow it right now. Then we went over to a church friends house for a football get together to watch the BSU vs. New Mexico. We won 49-0!! Lovely. And it was nice to meet a few people from church we hadnt gotten to know. 

And now I am fighting with my eyelids, but I have been looking up videos and photos of my heroine Gelsey Kirkland. She is the best ballet dancer ever to walk the face of the earth. She is my inspiration also as an artist. It is funny because everyone always idolizes actors and such, and I could care less about them. She is my favorite not because of her looks or her body as she is not terribly gifted in them like you would think of a movie star, but her mind is so philosophical and abstract that it is like she reads my mind. In her books she is able to put the perfect words to my ideas that I could never ever explain to people. In some respects I understand her frusteration in the dance world because they were and are my frusterations. She is the only famous person I would ever want to meet, and she is only really famous in the dance and art world. 

Ok enough about that. Some would probably say I wasted a day out of my life. I beg to differ. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hubs and I are looking forward to every saturday now. I think next sat, we will do Steak and Eggs for breakfast. What a nice change from waking up at 6am and working all day only to find that Monday somehow arrives 10 minutes later. 

Happy Halloween!

It is Halloween! And my boss is going around to random offices with one of those horrendous looking masks scaring the daylights out of whoever owns that office. Luckily for me, I have been present for each one and I am the front desk so there isnt anywhere to hide. hehehe....

My work made me dress up for our lunch-hour party. I am a ballerina (no kidding) they wanted me to wear my tutu, but I think that it would be showing a bit too much leg at the office. Plus, it is crumpled to heck.  So I came in my practice gear, leotard, tights, warm up pants and ballet sweater. Yes my hair is in a bun and I am wearing my toe shoes. I look normal, but it is an authentic costume. So there. 

Tonight Zac and I are going to help out with our churches Trunk-or-Treat for the little kids, and then later we are going downtown. Now we dont drink or partake in any of that kind of thing, but tonight we are going downtown to the bars to watch the costume contests. Boiseans get crazy at Halloween. 

I didnt get to carve a pumpkin this year, but I was so busy I didnt think about it until today. O well. Oh, and no Im not going downtown dressed up.  I hope you all have a save and happy Halloween!

I have decided.

Thanks goes out to Linda and Emily, for thier advice and the testimony I gained in choosing a new name for my blog. Ofcourse the URL is still the same, I wish I could change it, but oh well. 

I came to the conclusion of the name "Doubting Him Not" because that is one of my foremost goals. It is so easy in times of gladness and joy that we pray and thank the Lord for all the good He has done, however when times of grief and strife hit us, the first thing we bombard Him with is "why? why have you forsaken me?" and other whatnots of that type. So we pray for us. We pray for Him to undo what He has done as if He did something wrong. 

I have learned to kneel during times of adversity and stress, and instead of asking Him why, I have learned and am still learing to submit, that He wouldnt have given me whatever stress or hard time if He didnt have a good reason. He always comes through and shows that nothing was in vain.

Therefore, I Doubt Him Not.

A happy note.

Ok, please excuse my last rant. I had to blow off some steam. It seems that my IRS problem has been resolved. Excuse my venting. Although I still like that little stressed out cat picture I used. Reminds me of what my cat might be feeling when my husband tries to terrorize him. Poor bug.

Oy Vey.

And the stress is mounting. Again. The newest predicament is with those lovely fershtinkiners we Americans so lovingly call "the IRS". So we are entitled to these "stimulus packages" right? Ofcourse. Even the rest of us Americans who filed an extension to file our return by October 15th. According the "nice" lady at the IRS, my tax return is being processed but wasnt received until the 23rd which makes me ineligble for a stimulus return. So that got me immediatly on the horn with my accountant, because we had that return postmarked definetly before the 15th. Our accoutant used to work for the IRS and he said that if the envelope is postmarked on or before the 15th, whether it is April or October, then we are not late and should be eligible.

 So he said that what probably happened is the person who entered them probably put the post date as the day they received my return and not the date on the stamped envelope. Now he is going to call them and see what schlep did that and get it reversed. Even if I postmarked it for the 13th, I should still be eligible. Its like all those people in April lining up at the blue post box on the 15th to get it in the mail by midnight. 

Searching for a New Name

I am looking to change the name of my blog... not the URL, because I cant figure out how to do that and keep my stuff... I just want to change it on my page. At the Hearth just doesnt seem right anymore. The only name I like so far is taken by someone else... If you have any ideas let me know. Changes abound. 

face lift again

I am in the process of de-trashing my house, my car and my personal details. So my blog is getting a facelift too. I havent decided whether I like this one or not, I'll keep playing with it, but it feels clean and minamalistic to me, and yet classy. So bear with me. It feels good to change things up a bit. And I do like the contrast of the yellow roses.

86 things you may or may not want to know.

Here are 86 things about me...

1. I much prefer fountain pens to gel or ballpoint. I don't know why, makes me feel fancy and old fashioned I guess. 

2. I still love and miss the old Saturday morning cartoons from the late 80's. The ones now are mindless drivel.

3. I don't like watching movies twice, unless it's Robin hood Men in Tights. Just not a movie person, although I watch them all the freaking time with my husband. 

4. I'm lazy. If I don't feel like doing something, 99% of the time, I procrastinate until the last second. 

5. I really really with a passion hate accounting and book keeping and money, but its just my nice-guy nature to have taken over my in laws books, and our bills. This is the last year I do the books though. I abhor it.

6. I never went to college because I wanted to be too many things, however my dream job is to become a stay at home wife/mother/homemaker. Although I'll probably end up get a teaching degree.

7. I tear up and get a homesick feeling when ever I see pictures of Ireland. I've never been there. 

8. I didn't do crap in high school. Senior year everyone thought I fell off the face of the earth because I sequestered myself in the art lab all day long. By senior year, I couldn't stand all the stupid people and high school politics.

9. I am not a people person. I have to force myself to be in crowds. I start to get anxiety if there are more than 6 people in the room that aren't family. I deal with it though.

10. I don't understand politics, but I can give you 15 different ways to run the country.

11. I have been dancing classically and in other mediums since I was 4. I teach classical ballet now. 

12. I am still a bundle of insecurities, though slowly getting better, still have to fake that confidence sometimes.

13. I always wanted to be a cowgirl and be able to get away with the silver jewelry and flannel shirts. There's just something romantic about that whole western ideal.

14. I hate chick-flicks, but yet am a hopeless romantic. The only love stories I like are bonnet-movies. 

15. The first thing my husband ever gave me was a punch to the stomach. He was play fighting with my best friend at the time and she moved and he hit me. We've been together ever since. 

16. My husband and I have been together for the most of 8 years. This upcoming February will be marriage anniversary number 3!

17. I am the exact opposite of my husband in almost everything. It works great.

18. I'd take seafood over any chocolate, steak or sweet thing any day. 

19. I am the biggest worry-wart that has ever walked the face of this earth. Then when things work out, I kick myself for expounding so much dang energy worrying over nothing. 

20. I am the oldest of 2 kids, and only just started to get along with my sister 6 years ago. And now she lives 6 hours away and I keep kicking myself for not enjoying her presence sooner. 

21. My husband was the only boy I ever dated.

22. I have travelled a lot of places a lot of times, but have only been to Disneyland once.

23. I would like a house of our own to call home and to keep up and to decorate. I hate apartments. 

24. I am a horrendous driver. Not like I've totaled my car or anything else for that matter, I just freak my husband out when I drive.

25. I am also horrible about my cars upkeep.... I can hear my engine clicking from needing oil. See #4.

26. I am the biggest bookworm ever, but I haven't read a book for 3 years due to lack of time.

27. I never, ever skipped school in high school. I was too afraid of what punishment would be at home when mom and dad found out. 

28. I have a ton of scars, but they are all tiny ones from wrestling with my cats throughout the years.

29. I was always "Teachers Pet" in elementary school, got made fun of quite a bit. Didn't help I had THICK, LARGE coke bottle glasses and a perm with fluffy bangs.

30. Even though I hate accounting and such, I love math like algebra and trig. I also love English courses. This year helping my husband with his college math papers were the highlight of my day. 

31. I had a ton of cats through the years and still remember every name and color pattern. Here they are: Darling, Sparkle Shine, Skittles, OC (outside cat), Little One, Itty-Bitty, Porky, Curious, Harvey, Sadie, Roscoe, Squeaky, Buddy, Fuzzy-Butt and my current furball is named Stinky. 

32. Nicknames from family: Punkin, sweetpea, court, Torqwrench. Nicknames from husband: Too embarrassing to say to anyone but him.

33. I hate the news with a passion unless I know someone on it who did something stupid. Then I turn it off because that stupid person I probably knew in high school is still the same stupid moron for making the news.

34.  My husband proposed to me over a pile of dirty laundry in his bedroom the day I got back from France. He was going to do it at the airport, but my mom talked him out of it because my cat had died while I was in France and no on freaking told me until the day I got back. So we went to his mom's house to say hi and he went back to his room while I was talking to his mom and he called me back. I went back thinking nothing of it, and he was there on one knee, shaking like crazy. It couldn't have been better!

35. The worst injury I have ever had was a hernia. My next to worst was a fractured wrist.  

36. I don't really ever get bored. 

37. I like all kinds of music except for mainstream stuff and opera. 

38. I can count the times I have been pulled over on one hand, but 2 of those were by the same cop in the same spot in the same month. Yes, he remembered me.

39. I hate being frugal. I hate pinching pennies and making food last, although I am proud of myself for making $20 in food last for two people for 1 month. 

40. One day I am going to be able to afford to buy everything I write down on my shopping list!

41. I love grocery shopping. New food is like clean laundry, wonderful to enjoy.

42. If I had a choice between an awesome looking boob-job and lasic eye surgery, I would choose eye surgery. I'd rather be able to see my small boobs than to go blind later in life. 

43. I've only had one calling in my church, and then we moved. I don't mind one bit. 

44. I hate to sing in Sacrament Meeting, but thoroughly enjoy it in Relief Society.

45. I LOVE cold rainy gloomy weather, but I hate being cold. I want to hug the person who invented warm husbands, sweaters, blankets, and tea.

46. I love to get dressed up just as much as I love to be a scrounge. Its fun.

47. I would love to act in musicals on Broadway.

48. I am scared to death to have children, more about losing the weight than anything else. I also want 2 kids. Already have names picked out.

49. I always wanted to be a chef, but vowed that after working at Subway and Papa Murphy's I'd never work in the food industry ever again. So I just cook at home. 

50. I once told my sister when she was 4 years old that if she didn't fold her toilet paper on the perforations  and score them before using it, the toilet paper police would come and take her away. She believed me until she was about 9 years old. She can beat me up now. 

51. If hubby and I could move anywhere, it would be Sitka, Alaska, although Vancouver looks to be the next place we will be put. **more on that later

52. I am a soda fiend!! I can drink a 2 liter by myself. Its dangerous to have it around me, unless its Coca Cola...then I don't touch it. Icky.

53. I tried to be anorexic for 2 years in high school. It backfired, I gained weight and now cant ever imagine not eating more than 3 time a day. 

54. I have absolutely no desire to go to the South. Or the mid-west. Too dang hot for starters...

55. No desire to go to Mexico or South America. If the trip was offered, I'd take it, but wouldn't go on my own accord. I wouldn't go to Africa if you paid me. I'll watch National Geographic and the Travel Channel instead.

56. Sometimes I wish I was tall. (I'm 5' 3/4") But then I remind myself I wouldnt be able to find cute shoes and I wouldn't fit so well in my husbands arms. 

57. I don't particularly care for hot chocolate. I'd rather have tea. 

58. I used to wish we still dressed in dresses from 1100AD, the comfy ones before they figured out corsets. So pretty. I still wouldn't mind.

59. Before I became a member of a church and started going, I made it a point to never ever wear a dress on Sundays, unless it was Easter Sunday. I didn't want anyone associating me with Christians.

60. I love babysitting because I get a chance to be a kid again. If I had a sidewalk, I'd still have sidewalk chalk. When we lived with the Halls, it was so tempting to have all that driveway and not to get sidewalk chalk and draw away. 

61. My husband thinks I'm fragile and is extremely overprotective of me, and even though I protest sometimes I secretly love that he wants to keep me safe and is so concerned about me. 

62. I used to make it a point to look the best I could, to dress up and make sure I was put together, and within the past 2 years, my sweats are my favorite thing to be in. I get made fun of by my mother inlaw (who is very into looks) for wearing PJ pants or sweats and flipflops to the store. I think its cute. And dangit, Im comfy.

63. Sleeping is one of the top things on my favorites list. I am definetly NOT a morning person.

64. It took me forever to get used to not carrying my cell phone 24-7. I still get a little anxiety sometimes when I dont have it. 

65. I love clothes and shoes but hate shopping unless its at Ross. I just cant justify spending more than $9 on a shirt.

66. I love going out to eat. I love the atmosphere, the food (most of the time) and being with my husband. Maybe it just caters to my inner rich-girl. But then again, a solid home-cooked meal blows restaurants out of the water completley.

67. I hate spiders, crawly things, flies and mosquitos. (insert spine shiver)

68. I'm not large by any means, but I fear bathing suit season. Shopping for swim suits is up there with jean shopping. Miserable.

69.  Im the biggest cheapskate I know, but only when it comes to myself. Theres an issue there I am sure I need to work through... I can justify a $25 pair of headphones for hubby but cant wrap my head around why I should spend $12 on a new purse for me. 

70. I'm horrible at keeping a diary. So I blog. It's a godsend. One day I'll print everything out and bind it and call it good. 

71. My most favorite cherished book of all time is Catherine called Birdy. I bought it in 5th grade and still read it.

72. I speak present and future tense French. Even though I lived there and worked there, I still cant tell you something has already been done. Freakin hard.

73. I hate Curry. I refuse to use it. I also hate acorn squash. Yes, even with brown sugar and bacon. Give it up already.

74. The most fun I have had this past year was when my husband and I went to Salt Lake City for the weekend, and went to Lagoon. It was like we were both 10 years old again. 

75. I'm mostly Irish, with English, Welsh and German roots. Somewhere up the family tree, someone married a Cherokee Indian, but that doesnt seem to matter. I'm Irish dangit.

76. I look like my moms side of the family completely. My sister looks like my dads side of the family completely. And yet everyone says we look alike. My mom doesnt even say that. We dont even resemble eachother. It's like we were orphans.

77. My best friend died when I was 16. I knew her from 4 years old. I still miss her.

78. SInce 6th grade, I've had 7 classmates die. Most of them were suicides.

79. I've only had 1 close family member die since I've been alive.

80. I only have 3 cousins. I am the oldest.

81. The best vacations I ever went on growing up was the yearly couple weeks spent in the Bay Area at Grandmas with my 2 cousins (at the time). 

82. The best vacation with my husband was our honey moon camping out in Alaska. 

83. I never ever get zits. And on the rare occasion I do, I get 5 little glowing red ones in the most horrible places that no amount of makeup can cover. 

84. I really really really hate waking up in the morning, but I absolutley love being up in the mornings. I also prefer to wake up early and get off work early.

85. I've been many different hair colors, but at heart, I will always be dark brown. (watch for a post on this)

86. Winter is my favorite season.