It's my crazy life and I love it

Making the move

2010-03-09T02:27:00.000-08:00

My new home is at

www.skippynscoop.wordpress.com

See that post below?

Does it show up in microscopic font for you too?

Blogger won't save it when I try to fix.

Time to make the move.

Come visit me where the text is readable.

To quote my sister Kris

2010-03-08T23:56:00.000-08:00

She wrote "Ok, end the pity party and update your blog!" on my facebook page yesterday.

Alright then.

I'm over it. for now.

Thank you all for the encouraging comments on my last post.

A few things I know:

I have been blessed with amazing people in my life.

I will always have my friends, no matter where I am.

I am where I am because God has placed me here.

I can choose to be happy.

Vitamins really help.

So, on with life I go.

Now the random things of life.
Because I know that's what you all come here looking for.

It's spring break here.
We have snow. Lots of it.
There is likely close to four feet in our backyard and more on the way.
It's spring break here.
I should take pictures of all the snow.

Ben had a friend sleep over last night.
It's a friend that I have a very low tolerance for.
Last night I overheard Ben and his friend in a heated discussion.
It was a creation vs. evolution discussion.
Ben had his Bible out and was reading from Genesis.
He was rock solid.
I love that kid.

We signed back up for Full Circle Farms.
We had used the service in Kotzebue, but hadn't signed back up since we'd moved here.
They offer a CSA program that delivers organic produce here to bush Alaska.
It was so fun getting our first box of yummy stuff and this week we get another!

Tonight Cooper read a book to me.
Well, most of a book anyway.
It was Danny and the Dinosaur.
He did such a good job!
It's hard to believe that just last fall he could barely recognize his letters.
I love that kid too!

Remember back here, I had decided to join a "read through the Bible in a year" group.
I quit.
It's okay.
I am not legalistic so I have no guilt in letting this go.
Our church recently started a Beth Moore study and I really felt like that was where I needed to be right now.
I am also trying to get through the Love Dare.
The Love Dare is a 40 day challenge. It will take me much longer than that.
Those two things are important to me right now.
Some year I'll read through the Bible.
Just not this year.

And that's all she wrote tonight.

Gotta be honest here

2010-02-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

I'm still struggling here.

Life here in Dillingham is a little tougher to adjust to than it was in Kotzebue.

I'm trying to sort it all out.

Maybe I shouldn't, but that's just what I do.

I don't think it's just me either.
The boys seem to be struggling too.

We all seem to be struggling with connections or lack thereof.

I thrive on friendship. I love girlfriends.
I have always been blessed with AMAZING girlfriends.
Can't seem to make connections here and not for lack of trying.

I really miss my BFF's.
One is my sister. We chat often, but I still really miss her.
The other is a friend that I was blessed to meet 5 years ago.
Three years ago we really connected.
I miss her so much that every time we talk I cry.
So I've avoided calling her.
That hurts.

Any words of wisdom?

Ten

2010-02-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

Double digits today and it's bittersweet.

Dear Ben,

My sweet valentine.
Happy tenth birthday!
What a year it has been for you.
You have accepted this adventure like a true champ.
I am amazed at how you have adapted and flexed to both of our new towns.
I love watching you grow into a great boy who loves and cares for others.

My prayer for you in this coming year is that you will continue to grow more in love with Jesus and care deeply for your family.

Put on your Full Armor of God Ben, so that you may withstand the ways of the world as you grow into an amazing big boy!

Love you bunches,

Mom

Standing on the tundra in Kotzebue with gramma.
September 2009

Funky Monkey

2010-01-31T15:41:00.000-08:00

There is a smoothie shop in the Salmon Creek area of Vancouver that the boys and I used to frequent when we lived there. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was called, but it was one of those chain shops and it wasn't Jamba Juice. The name doesn't really matter that much, except that it drives me nuts that I can't remember what the place is called, so if anyone there can clue me in it would really help me sleep at night.

Anyway, Cooper LOVED a smoothie there called the Funky Monkey. It was chocolate, peanut butter and banana. He used to BEG me daily to stop and get him a "Funty Munty" (remember, he has speech issues). Well there is no stopping for a Funky Monkey anywhere around here, so we have created out own, and I do have to say that it is as good as (if not better than) the original.

Since it's that good, I've decided to share our recipe with you, but first you have to start with a different recipe. The first one that you need is our Hot Cocoa mix. Yes, we make our own Hot Cocoa mix. In bulk. Because we drink hot cocoa in bulk. Feel free to 1/2 this recipe if you need to.

Hot Cocoa Mix
16 Cups Powdered Milk
10 Cups Powdered Nesquik Chocolate
6 Cups Powdered Non Dairy Creamer (you can use flavored....I don't, but you could)

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
To serve mix 1/2-3/4 cup of mix in a mug with HOT water.
Top with lots of marshmallows.

Funky Monkey Smoothie
1 1/2 cups Ice
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup Hot Cocoa mix
4 tablespoons peanut butter
two bananas

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
Makes 2-3 servings.

Cooper is one happy bush Alaska living boy since we've started making these!

Normal

2010-01-20T00:40:00.000-08:00

That's what life in the Alaskan Bush is.

We all get up together (most days), get ready for work and/or school. Some days I sub at the school, some days I work at the store, some days I stay home.

We all drive to town together.

The boys get dropped off at school. So do I if I'm working there that day.

Dave goes to the store. So do I if I'm working there that day.

In the afternoon the boys walk to the store unless it's real cold (below zero). In which case one of us will run and pick them up. Somedays they have activities to go to, like chess club or basketball or guitar lessons, right after school.

On the days that I sub at the school we hang out at the public library after school while we wait for Dave to get off.

On the days that I work at the store the boys just come there and hang out and wait for us to get off work. They like to pick a movie from the video department to watch on the giant display TV's. Or sometimes they go play on the big piles of plowed snow in the parking lot.

On the days that I am not working then the boys come home on the bus.

Evenings are spent at home.

If there is still daylight when we get home the boys almost always choose to play outside, no matter how cold.

There is chores and homework, always before playing outside.

Then dinner. Always made at home. We eat normal food. Sometimes it's something labor intensive, sometimes it's not and sometimes it's just cereal. Tonight we had Tyson chicken strips (from the freezer section) and Ore-Ida steak fries. We decided to pretend we were eating out at Red Robin!

After dinner is reading, baths and sometimes a little American Idol!

AWANA is on Thursday evenings and we go to potluck/Bible Study almost every Friday night.

Dave works Saturdays (he works 5 1/2 days a week, Wednesdays are his 1/2 day....such is the life of a grocery manager) so the boys and I hang out on Saturdays, usually at home, but sometimes there is something going on in town. Last Saturday there was an "Ocean Art" time at the UAF Bristol Bay campus. This Saturday there is a showing of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D in the elementary school gym, complete with 3D glasses for the first 200 people!

Saturday evenings are usually spent hanging out at home, often playing games with friends or watching a movie.

Sundays are church and then more of not alot of anything. Sometimes football, sometimes sledding, sometimes lunch with friends (at our house or theirs), always a nap!

See, it's normal. Just like your life.

And now i have no idea what else to blog about.

Sunny Sunday (cold too!)

2010-01-14T14:20:00.000-08:00

Simply Random Thursday

2010-01-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Shhhh, listen. Can you hear that?

It's my husband. Snoring. At 9:00 in the morning.

He finally has a day off. He has worked 11 straight.

The boys are off to school, so it's just Dave and I home for the day.

That NEVER happens.

I'm going to make pancakes and bacon (his favorite) for breakfast.

Then we'll probably watch a movie or something.

Can I share with you one of the blessings of this house?

The garage is heated.

And we park the truck in it.

It was so nice to get into an already warm truck this morning to take the boys to the bus stop.

My boys don't usually ride the bus in the morning.

Normally Dave takes them to school on his way to the store.

Not needing to go into town today we opted for the bus.

We had no idea what time it came so we were out there early.

While sitting there in the beautiful morning moonlight (and our already warm truck), Benjamin said "It's amazing that God could create the world to work like it does." and Cooper said "I'm glad we live in Alaska mom."

I could only agree with both of them.

Have you ever read through the Bible in a year?

I never have. I'm not sure that I've ever even attempted to.

This year that is one of my goals.

I have the time. Trust me, I have lots of time these days.

And I really want to.

Last night I was blog surfing and went to my cyber friend Meredith's blog.

She had posted about a group of people that were reading through the Bible in a year.

So I invited myself to join along.

This is the reading plan.

I am excited!

Care to join in?

And one final thought on this random day.

I've been thinking about changing blogging platforms (is that what this is called?).

From Blogger to Wordpress.

I've been playing around with Wordpress a little bit and it seems to have some better features than Blogger.

It seems a little more "grown-up" than Blogger.

I've already imported all my past blogs over there (it was soooo easy to do!).

I'm still blogging here for now, but I'm thinking that will change soon.

Check it out.

You can tell me what you think about it!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

We did celebrate it.

In Dillingham.

We had to really, tickets for us to fly to see our family would have cost $4182! Eek. Oh, and driving is just not an option, so stay we did.

Honestly, I didn't expect to do as well as I did. This was my our first Christmas not spent with family. But I did okay. Some days I cried, most I didn't.

Right around the time I started wondering what we were going to do for a Christmas tree, a gal that Dave works with offered to loan us an extra one that she had. Oh sure, we could have gone out and cut one down, but we really had no idea where to go. We had also heard that trees that are cut here don't last long because they die of shock when they are brought in to a warm house! We had no desire to see a tree "die of shock" right here in our living room, so the offer of an artificial pre-lit tree was truly a blessing.

The boys made their lists and they both requested new costumes. Cooper wanted a policeman costume and Ben wanted a "ranger's cloak". It just cracks me up that both of my boys LOVE to dressup. Remember last year's Christmas gifts? Believe it or not the ranger's cloak was easy, I just called Gramma! The policeman costume proved to be a little bit more difficult, but after much online searching I found one.

Ben in his rangers cloak with his new bow and arrow set.

Apparently I have not taken a picture of Cooper in his police costume yet, but here he is crashed out on Christmas night with the hat on!

Other gifts came by way of Santa Amazon and Vision Forum. It was truly the easiest Christmas shopping I've ever done and ALL of the gifts arrived in time for Christmas and most with free shipping!

When the shopping was done, I decided to start baking. I went in search of a good sugar cookie recipe and ran across Our Best Bites and fell in love!! I made these and this and this, all of which were very yummy and fun to give away. I really wanted to make these, but was not able to get the small jars at the store here. They are so cute though and I thought they would make fun teacher gifts.

Oh, and let us not forget the sugar cookie recipe. I had so much fun making these and this recipe is so easy and makes a really good cookie. I should know, I ate enough of them....

Christmas Eve brought a candlelight service at our church. It was very beautiful. Benjamin was asked to read part of the Christmas Story from Luke 2. He did such a great job! We were also able to hear Bible readings and Silent Night in the Yu'pik native language.

Christmas morning we slept in. Yes, I said, we slept in. Oddly enough our kids have NEVER woken up early on Christmas day. They're weird, but I'm not complaining. We got out of bed at 9:30 and I made the kids wait just a little bit longer while I got breakfast in the oven and then we set out to open gifts. The boys were very happy with their three gifts from mom and dad, their stockings filled by Santa, and their gifts from grandma and poppa.

After all the gifts were open we set to work at getting dinner ready. We had extended the invitation to other families, who have no family here, to come to dinner at our house. We ended up with about 20 people here for dinner and games that lasted late into the evening. It was so much fun!

Christmas 2009 will go down as one of our best Christmas' ever, if you ask me!

Nine months

2010-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Alot can happen in nine months.

A family can grow.

In numbers and strength.

It's been exactly nine months since we left behind our "old" life for our crazy Alaskan adventure and we have grown.

Not in numbers (I can't say that we ever will but I can't say that we never will either) but definitely in strength.

Awhile back my friend Nicci asked me to post what God has been teaching us since our move. She said "I know He has a reason for your Alaska life and I want to know how He has been moving."

Well, Nicci, here is how God is moving.

We are learning how to live and be together as a family, not that we didn't do that before, we just didn't do it well. It took the removal of all the distractions of suburban life to show us that we really weren't thriving, just surviving. We are discovering that we still have things to do, people to know and a few places to go, but we are also discovering that those things don't own us or define us.

Our boys still play sports; there has been softball and basketball so far, and ice hockey starts soon. There is no tryouts or practice or team parties or trophies or running from field to field. It's just sports, the way sports used to be. The boys are also learning how to be boys; to play in the woods, shoot a bow and arrow, build forts and ride on snowmachines. We no longer schedule their every waking minute with activities. Of course there is still school and we have been blessed with an awesome AWANA club here in Dillingham, but most days we come home, do homework and then they usually head out to play. We don't schedule playdates anymore. If they want to play with neighbor kids then they just go outside eventually other kids will show up. If no one shows up to play, well they still have each other and they are slowly learning to be each others best friend.

I can't speak for my husband as to what he is learning through this adventure, but the one thing that I see is that he has realized it's okay to take a risk, to step out into the unkown, to leap in faith. Because that is what he did for us. Moving our family away from Vancouver was a BIG step for Dave, but he did it in faith and I am certain that there is no regret on his part.

My growth has come in the form of learning to live in the moment, not worrying about what the future holds (but still having to remember that if I need something not available here, I must plan ahead because shipping things takes time!). Without a doubt, although sometimes I do, I know that we are exactly where God wants us to be. Even in Dillingham, a town that has been much harder for me to embrace than Kotzebue was. Most of the time I don't even question the reason why we are here. To me it is simple, and it is the same reason God places anyone anywhere. Our reason for being is to bring glory to God, to show others the love of Christ in a real and tangible way, and to love others the way that Jesus loved in order that they may come to know Him. That's it. It's simple. Yet, sometimes I forget. Sometimes I find myself wallowing in pity. Poor me, I live in the Alaskan bush, I don't have fast internet, or starbucks, or Target. Poor me, butI forget to look at what I do have; a husband who loves us enough to take a giant leap of faith, boys who are learning and experiencing more in their lifetime than most ever will, and a God who has given me more than I ever deserve and who has been everywhere he will ever take me.

I can't say that our life is perfect (just today I snarled at my husband as soon as he walked in the door) but I can say that it is perfect for us.

PS...2010 is our PFD qualifying year!!

Outside Recess

2009-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've been doing alot of subbing at the elementary school and have spent quite a few days working as an aide in the kindergarten classes, and let me tell you that there is nothing quite as exhausting as helping eighteen 5 and 6 year old get ready to play outside for thirty minutes in freezing weather. Snow pants, boots, coats, hats, and mittens for everyone can take 10 mintues to get on. Because of this the kids only go out once a day. It truly takes such a long time to get dressed and undressed for recess that if they did it more than once a day there would be no time for learning.

Cooper LOVES outside recess. No matter the weather he still plays hard and knows not to stick his tongue out near metal! The play structures are fun to jump off of when the snow has piled up and the swings are looped over the top bar in order to make them higher off the snow. Like recess' in the lower 48, there is basketballs and footballs to play with, but our kids' playground toys also includes shovels to push the snow around when it's fresh.

But not today. There will likely not be outside recess today.

It's cold. -5 for a high, with a 'severe windchill warning' in effect until late morning. Predicted windchills of -30 to -40. By recess time at 11:00 it might warm up a little, but they keep the kids inside when it colder than -20 (that's negative folks!!).

Brrrrrr......

Mama wants

2009-12-06T01:11:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone out there wants to buy ME a present..........

1. A crockpot. Somewhere, somehow, in our move from Kotzebue to Dillingham, mine went missing. Imagine trying to live through a cold, harsh Alaskan winter without one. I need one. And I like this one:

2. Smartwool socks. I've heard they are the best, but goodness gracious if I can't bring myself to pay $15-25 for ONE pair of socks. But if you are so inclined, then feel free!

3. I-tunes gift card!! I need new music. Maybe some new showtunes so that my son will quit playing (and singing) this one over and over and over again.

4. Mama also needs a new scarf and I love this one:

So, if by chance you knit, and are wondering what to make me for Christmas, here ya go.

5. This book. (it's 'Fearless' by Max Lucado for all those who didn't click on the link!)

6. Snowshoes. For the whole family!

So, there you go, my Christmas list. There was a few other things on the list that I already know will be under the tree.

How about you? What are you hoping will be under the tree?

I Blinked

2009-11-26T03:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but it did and I can hardly believe it.

I blinked,

and just like that,

my baby is 6.

Dear Sweet Cooper,

You are six!! Wow. What a year it has been. You have been such a trooper in our big moves. You have adapted so well to both of our new towns and I am really proud of you.

I love how you play hard and love deeply.

You are such a brave boy! You'll try anything. I still laugh about the time this year that you told me you wanted to be a "devil dare" when you grow up! But you are already a "devil dare" if you ask me.

You love to sit at your craft table and create, you love playing outside in the snow, and most of all you love to dress-up and pretend you are someone or something else; Indiana Jones, monkey boy, a super hero, and the latest is Nacho Libre, where you run around in just your red under wear and a cape!

This year you have discovered a great love for learning. You started kindergarten and you look forward to going so much that on Saturdays you often tell me you wish it was a school day.

Cooper, you have such a zest for life and while sometimes I wish I could stop you from growing up, I love watching you embrace all of life's adventures!

My prayer for you is that you will continue to love Jesus with all your heart and love other people more than yourself.

You are such a treasure and bring great joy to all of us. So Cooper, grow deep, grow strong, but please don't grow to fast.

I am so glad God made me your mommy!

Carnival: If you came to my house today

2009-11-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

I'm joining in on a bloggy carnival that I found through my friend Meredith (one of my favorite bloggers that I hope to meet someday "in real life"!). If you care to join along just head over to La Vida Dolce to link up.

If you came to my house today you'd find us still in our pajamas and beds unmade. There is no school today so the boys and I are home. Actually, the boys aren't technically in their pajamas, they are incognito......long johns (white for Ben, black for Cooper), ski goggles and glove, with capes over their backs. They will likely spend the whole day pretending that they are superheros.

If you came to my house today you would find those superheros cleaning alongside their mom. They clean bathrooms very well, the biggest does the sinks, counters and mirror, the youngest scrubs the toilets. Cleaning bathrooms is a task I believe every boy should know how to do. Their wives will thank me some day.

If you came to my house today we would serve you Monkey Bread (we are going to use only one stick of butter, but I'm sure it will still be yummy ) and hot cocoa after you played outside in the fresh snow. Bring your coat, snowpants, hat, gloves and boots, because even though there isn't a cloud in the sky, it is only 14 degrees out. Brrr!

If you came to my house today you would need to bring your game face, because after all the cleaning and playing in the snow is done, there will be games. The favorite of the house lately is Yahtzee.

If you came to my house today you could help me decide what to make for potluck Bible Study tonight. I need to go to the grocery store, but really don't want to, so instead I'll be seeing what I can dig up in the pantry to make.

The superhero wearing black, with a pair of striped pajama pants tied around his neck as a cape, has selected the High School musical as our cleaning soundtrack. It's playing now, guess I better get started.

Thanks for coming by our house today!

This took forever to download, so you better leave a comment

2009-11-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

This post had a different title originally, but I decided to change it. It was either that or quit blogging altogether. Our internet here is so slow and it is nearly impossible to get a connection between the hours of 5pm and 11pm, but, here you go, the post formerly known as :

Home

One of the benefits with the company that my husband works for is paid housing for managers. In Kotzebue, this translated into a three bedroom, one bath apartment, complete with sloping floor, stinky walls, and black mold growing in the bathroom. It was less than spectacular, but it kept us warm.

Our move to Dillingham brought a very nice surprise!
We have a house here:

And it's huge, but you would not know that from looking at the front!

It's actually the biggest house we have ever lived in.

We are guessing that it is about 2200 sq. ft.

It does have some quirky features,

like FIRE ENGINE RED counter tops:

Even though red is my favorite color, I am pretty sure that I would NOT pick it for my counter tops in my own house, but I can live with red because of all those cabinets. And that picture does not even show the other corner and the cabinets there. Oh and that island.....it's about 10 feet long.

I can also appreciate the red because the rest of the house is WHITE.

Not just white, but white on white. Like this handy wall of shelves:

And see those cabinets? They would be perfect for a television. If only someone would have thought of putting that electrical outlet down there on the inside of the cabinets and run the cable tv hookup into there instead of on the opposite wall.

Now we move into the entryway and it is rather large too, which is great because when come home and take off our coats, snow pants, boots, hats and gloves we end up with quite a pile. One genius thing about this area is that there are TWO baseboard heaters, making for a great glove drying area. That door to the left is a large coat closet. Straight ahead is the door to the heated garage and to the right (out of the picture) is the front door.

Oh, looky, more RED counter top. But once again, it's livable, because it is in my GINORMOUS laundry room. With more cabinets and what you can't see is that it goes around to the right with more storage. I've never had a laundry room, always laundry closets or hallways. I love having somewhere to fold the laundry and being able to shut the door if I want to ignore it all.

There is alot more to this house, like three very large bedrooms; one of which we are not using because the boys share a room, so if anyone wants to visit, we have space!

Here however, is the greatest thing about this house:

The WALL O' WINDOWS with vaulted ceilings.

The entire backside of the house is windows. The big WHITE dining room has huge, high windows. These are the living room windows and on a sunny afternoon the light just streams through, which will be a welcome sight during our long, cold winter!!

So, there you go. Our home in Dillingham.

and there likely will not be anymore pictures until one of ya'all can come up here and speed up my internet connection. I have a room for you!

Nurse Ratchet

2009-10-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

I have sometimes thought about going back to school for a nursing degree and while it is a lovely thought, there are two fundamental problems with it:

First is that I don't do blood or body fluids.

It's true, I have been known to pass out at the site of blood; my own or others. And body fluids make me want to barf.

"But wait" you say. "You have children. Boys none the less."

Ah yes, but God has taken mercy on me. In my nearly ten years of motherhood, only ONCE has either of my two boys had an injury that bled more than a microscopic amount AND when that injury did happen there was a lot of people at my house and someone else dealt with it for me.

"But children barf" you quip.

Yes, this I know, and once again God has shown me favor by giving me a charming husband that has cleaned up nearly all of the vomit his children have produced. And once these children were old enough to understand the value of money, I began bribing them.

It goes something like this:

Young boy, "mommy, my tummy hurts"

Me, "well, please don't throw up and if you really need to, remember I pay $5 if you make it in the toilet"

Which brings me to the second fundamental problem; my bedside manner.

Or lack thereof.

It's true, I have no patience for the infirmed in my own home.

Outside of my house, it's a different story. If you are sick, or injured, or somehow otherwise incapacitated, you have all my sympathy, empathy and a home cooked meal delivered to your door.

But if you are living with me and are sick or injured you are just out of luck (unless of course you are five and get the swine flu and spend 6 days laying on top of our mom with 103 degree fever. In which case I shall gladly lay and nap with you and ignore all other responsibilities of life because one never knows when it will be the last time you snuggle with me).

Hypothetical case in point:
Let's say you are a 45 year old man and you go out on Monday night to play basketball with the younger set, and lets say that younger set is comprised of young men whose father you could be. And while playing basketball with these young men you injure your foot, but because of your advanced age you can't remember whether you came down on someone else's foot or just came down on your own foot wrong, either way it's a mute point because the next day you can barely walk. So you drive yourself to the medical center for an x-ray. The doctor says to you "you have fractured your foot in two places" and tells you to stay off of your foot for four days and then to return to the clinic for follow up on Friday.

Well, hypothetically speaking, if you came home and shared this information with me. I would be likely to not be very empathetic or sympathetic. I might even be a little mad at you for thinking that you could still play basketball with the twenty year old boys. And after your first day at home, staying "off of your foot" I might even ask what your plans were to return to work. And when you tell me of your doctor appointment scheduled for two days away I might even tell you to be sure to ask for a walking cast so that you can go to work after your appointment.

I'm just saying I should probably skip the nursing degree, ya think?

I promised to be a better blogger

2009-10-21T01:42:00.000-07:00

But.................

I'm struggling right now.

I'm in a funk.

I'm not exactly sure why.

I do know this though: I left a piece of my heart in Kotzebue.

I miss it there.

Alot.

That in itself is just crazy.

Six months ago I could not imagine even living there, much less loving it there.

But it happened.

I fell in love.

So please, bear with me while I work my way out of this funk.

In the mean time, here's Cathy havin a little to much fun with her dead caribou:

I guess we could say that this guy left his heart in Kotzebue too!

A Goody Giveaway!!

2009-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Michelle is hosting another one of her fabulous Goody Giveaways!

Aren't these little treasure boxes adorable?

While I'm busy relocating to a new corner of Alaska this weekend you could be over at Michelle's blog entering to win one of these little cuties.

Go check her out and tell her I sent ya!

P.S. I'm making a "new town resolution" to be a better blogger!!

Dillingham Alaska

2009-09-23T00:18:00.001-07:00

That's where we are heading.

Dave got a promotion!

We leave Kotzebue on October 2nd.

Sad yet excited (with a little overwhelm mixed in) is the best way to describe our feelings.

We have made good friends and enjoyed out time here in Kotzebue.

We have heard that Dillingham is beautiful.

So, off we go (site unseen) to the next leg of our Alaskan Adventure, trusting God all the way!

Where YOU been?

2009-09-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

Summer in the arctic has come to an end and for some reason you guys missed it all, so here are a few highlights:

July 3rd brought a beautiful high 70 degree day, perfect for the kick-off to the 4th of July festivities.

Dave was invited to be a judge for the burger cook-off.

Independence Day 2009

the high temperature for the 4th of July was 47 degrees!

But it was still a great day for sno-cones.

and lip-syncing contests.

Ben and his friend Max brought down the house with a hilarious, first place winning, dance/lip-sync number, the likes of which this community has never seen. It truly was awesome, and if my internet connection was a little faster I could download the video. Instead, you must just trust me when I say the white boys got moves!

The 4th of July celebration here was great hometown fun.

The only thing missing was the fireworks, which are reserved for New Years Eve due to lack of summer darkness.

Of course no summer is complete without swimming

and our swimming hole just happens to be part of the Arctic Ocean.

Rainy days had kids climbing wallsLiterally.

And let's not forget the softball.

It is huge here.

I played. Ben played. Dave played and helped coach.

The AC Cardinals took second place in the regional tournament!

and obviously Ben was having a lot of fun!

There was lots more to our summer including berry picking on the tundra and visits from Shaylene and Kris. There was also a couple of trips to Seattle for the boys and I, an overnight trip to Anchorage for Dave and I, and a quick weekend trip to Portland for the whole family.

But alas, all good thing must come to an end..........

Only to make way for another good thing:

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

My 4th grader

and

my kindergartener!

With his teacher, Mrs. Marcus

Oh, and not only has summer come to an end, but so has our time above the arctic circle!

We are on the move again.

And since I know how much you all love my cliff hangers, that's all i'm gonna say about that right now!

Irony

2009-07-29T04:52:00.001-07:00

Just 500 feet apart in the Ted Stevens International Airport..............

Global Warming?

I think not!

Remember

2009-07-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

this?

My sweet friend Michelle (the artist) gave me a new clock last winter at her Studio Sale. I was also able to buy the super adorable matching candlesticks.

Guess what?

He broke the clock AGAIN!

It involved a ball again too.

Ugggghhhhhh.............

I want to scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Brain is Fried

2009-07-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

Learning how to put people onto a commercial airplane is harder than you think (or at least harder than I thunk).

And I feel like I've lost my blogging mojo.......cuz ya know I had mojo.

But before my very last brain cell goes, I'll tell you about our teenager.

She is my non-blogging sister, Angie's middle daughter. Shaylene is her name.

She was looking for summer work and is not afraid of an adventure and we needed some babysitting help and live on the edge, so to speak. So here she came.

It has worked out great. She is babysitting the boys a little (actually it's been alot while I've been doing my new job training, but it'll be less starting next week) and she's working at the grocery store.

Yeah, her Uncle Dave gave her a job and he's glad he did. She's dependable, shows up when she's scheduled, and works hard (all qualities that are somewhat difficult to find here). She's loving working and her earnings are adding up quickly. Between babysitting and the "quite a bit higher than minimum wage" pay that she earns at the store, along with nothing to spend her money on, she should go home with a good chunk of change for six weeks work

She's made a few friends here and in her time off has discovered the joys of arctic wakeboarding and fourwheeling.

(yeah, that's snow in the back ground!)

In her two weeks here, we've had only one curfew violation and I gave her the "you had me very worried and I thought I was going to have to call your mom and tell her something terrible happened" lecture and sent her bed with no facebook time. The next evening I asked her to stay in and she did so willingly. So it's all good and we are loving having her here!

That's all from this fried brain for now. I hope to have my mojo back soon because I do need to fill you all in on a Independence Day celebration like no other...........

soon, very soon.

I hope.

She's right (and cute)

2009-06-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

I got myself a teenager:

(more on that later)

She guest blogged for me below.

And she's right. It is no longer my crazy life.

She would probably call it my boring life.

Some would agree with her. Not me.

I call it my new life.

And it's starting to suit me very well.

There's not a lot to do. But I'm never bored.

There's no where to go. But I love being home.

So, I guess I need a new blog name since it's no longer "My crazy life" although I do still love it.

Any suggestions?

2009-06-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

So this is Shay and i'm going to blog for tt....so i just have to say one thing she does not have a crazy life there is really nothing that goes on here.....the craziest thing is a dog birthday party..hmmmm don't really get that!! But that's as crazy as it gets in her life....or the softball games but those aren't really crazy they are fun.....all we have done since i got here is sit on facebook, watch tv, go on walks.......what a crazy life tt.....love ya <3 shay

Friday Fotos

2009-06-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from this week:

Flowers on the tundra
Beautiful ice on the shore:

1:17 AM (that's the sun!)

and last, but not least

tundra fashion:

shorts, hoody and rubber boots!

We are LOVING life here!

File under "I'll try anything once"

2009-06-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

SEAGULL EGGS

Yuk!
Too Fishy!!

(but I said I'd try anything once)

Winner

2009-06-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

#1 12 pack Pepsi - $12.65

(I forgot to mention it was on sale, so we'll just go with regular price)

#2 Costco size tide - $43.75

#3 6Rolls charmin TP - $9.89

#4 - 28pk Water - $24.99

#5 - Farmans Dill Pickles - $6.98
(on sale, but notice the regular price!)

#6 - Oroweat Bread - $6.55

#7 Salad Dressing - $6.82 (on sale)

#8 One gallon milk - $9.49

Grand Total: $121.12

(if I had really bought these things there would also be a 6% sales tax on ALL of these items, so the actual total would be $128.39)

And the winner is:

Gina

her guess was $119.00.

(yeah, she's my sister, but we have honestly NEVER talked about the price of groceries)

So, what'll it be Gina, Starbucks or Target?

Thank you all for playing along!

Nostalgic

2009-06-03T01:18:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling all sentimental about this kid tonight.

No recent major milestones or anything, it's just that he's getting big. He's not quite nine and a half, but really he's closer to 18 than he is to his birth.

Tonight we were walking home from fishing, just he and I, and he slipped his hand into mine. I silently gasped. It was a huge hand. Big and kind of rough. It wasn't a little boys hand anymore and it didn't stay in mine for long. Almost as quick as it slipped in, it was pulled out.

Now don't get me wrong, he still drives me nuts. His love of Star Wars and Bak-u-gon baffles me and his constant chatter and commotion wears me out. But for just a moment tonight my heart stopped when I realized that he's not gonna be a little boy much longer.

PS. Don't forget to enter your guesses in my Grocery Game!

Grocery Game

2009-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, we are going to have a little fun here.

Below are pictures of eight common grocery items.

You get to give your best guess at the prices of these items if purchased at the grocery store here in Kotzebue (the one my husband works for).

THE RULES:

Leave your guesses in the comment section of my blog.
Please list your guesses like this:
1 $x.xx
2 $x.xx
3 $x.xx
4 $x.xx
5 $x.xx
6 $x.xx
7 $x.xx
8 $x.xx
Total for all eight items $xx.xx
The person closest to the actual total price for these eight items, without going over wins! You can be over on the individual item prices as long as you don't go over the total price.
If you live in Kotzebue you are not eligible to play! Sorry!!
Comments will close at 11:59pm Wednesday June 3rd.
Winner will be announced Thursday, June 4th.
If you do not have a blog please leave an e-mail address or some other way to contact you in case you win!!

The prize? Well in honor of my recent trip to Anchorage , I'll offer either a $10 Starbucks or a $10 Target gift card, your choice!

Here are the items:

#1 - 12 pack of Pepsi

#2 - Costco size Tide

#3 - Quilted Northern TP (6 double rolls)

#4 - Bottled Water

#5 - Pickles (on sale!)

#6 - Loaf of Bread

#7 - Salad Dressing (on sale!)

#8 - One gallon of Milk

HAVE FUN!

Operation Anchorage: Success (mostly)

2009-06-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

First of all, I took NO pictures of my trip (well, I remebered to take one but you can't see it until the end). Sorry!

So my super secret appointment that got me the trip to Anchorage in the first place was a second interview with THE major passenger airline company of Alaska. Good news.......I got the job. I will be working as a Customer Service/Ticket Agent here at the Kotzebue airport. I was torn about taking this job because I LOVE my job at the school, but the travel benefits that come with this position are just too good to pass up, so here's to hoping that I love this job as much.

After my two hour interview and pee in a cup session, Cathy and I headed out for my lesson in Alaskan Bush Shopping. First stop, Walmart and only because she insisted that the right totes for shipping were there. They call them Alaskan Bush luggage, and you never leave Kotzebue without them! I bought four Sterilite tubs and off we headed to Costco.

At Costco she told me to bring the totes on with me and set them out on a flat bed cart and shop into them, that way I would know really how much space I had. My number one priority was toilet paper. Toilet paper is so expensive here! I then proceeded to fill my three of my four totes with stuff. Once we were done in Costco we headed out to Cathy's rental car and she showed me how to pack my totes. This process included opening and discarding of much of the exterior packaging in order to create more space. Toilet paper rolls became hole filler.........stuffed in wherever there was room. Cereal was taken out of the boxes and packed in only the bag. Ziploc bags were completely removed from their packaging and stuffed into one of their own and used as hole filler. Pretty soon we had three expertly packed totes and a pile of cardboard packaging that was not going to Kotzebue.

From Costco it was on to my beloved Target. Did you know there is only ONE Target in Anchorage? And it just opened about three months ago? God loves me!

Just inside the door of this beautiful Target is Starbucks, but I was able to resist the urge and walked right on by. We only spent a short time (well short to me, but I'm sure it was quite long enough for Cathy) in Target before we headed out to meet another friend and her family for dinner.

After dinner, Cathy and I went to meet up with our Pastor and his family. They were also in Anchorage and had an extra vehicle that I could borrow for my next day's shopping adventures.

From there I headed to my Priceline.com reserved hotel. That ended up being disastrous when at 10pm I was still waiting in the lobby and sixth on the list for a clean room. I ended up calling around for another hotel, found one and headed over there and am now dealing with Priceline for a refund on my first reservation...........

Thursday I was on my own.........I headed out to find somewhere to get my haircut. I found one of the chain salons in the mall but they were not able to get me in for a few hours, so I found an independent place down the road. They were able to get me in right away and the gal did a great job. I will definitely be going back there! Then it was back to Target to finish my list. I still had a few more things to get.

Two hours later I emerged from Target and headed out to the parking lot to pack my last tote. Ooops, I bought a few to many things. It all wouldn't fit so I had to return a couple of things. Not making the cut? Two boxes of cereal and a roll of parchment paper.

From Target I was off to find myself some lunch. I had decided to nix the Applebees Honey BBQ wings for my family because it just didn't seem like a smart idea to have them sit out for the next four hours. All I could envision is food poisoning.

It was then off to the airport to check in for my flight back to Kotzebue. I had four large Sterilite totes FULL, along with a very heavy carry-on packed to the brim with overflow stuff and my personal bag. On the advice of my more seasoned friends I used the curbside baggage check, tipped the Skycap and headed inside to check in and pay for my one extra "bag". Check in was fairly simple, only one of my totes was a little over the 50 lb limit (by 2.8 lbs), but they sent it through without charging me! One hour later I was through security and headed to my gate.

When what to my wandering eye should appear:

and my in flight snack consisted of a grande, non-fat vanilla chai and an oatmeal raisin cookie.

A successful trip in the bag and since I am now an airline employee I will be able to do this more often (and next time I'll remember to photograph the whole process)!

I'm leaving, on a jet plane..........

2009-05-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

I scored a trip to Anchorage. For free (i'll tell you about that in a later post). So I am leaving on the 151 tomorrow and returning on the 153 on Thursday. That means I am leaving Kotzebue at 8:20am, arriving in Anchorage at 11:20am by way of Nome, then leaving Anchorage at 5:20pm on Thursday and arriving back in Kotzebue around 7pm.

Just over twenty four hours in civilization!

My friend Cathy was going to be heading to Anchorage later on Wednesday for a work conference, so she changed her flight to the same flight as mine and is going to show me the ropes of shopping, packing and shipping from Anchorage to Kotzebue.

What's on my agenda?

Well, first I have a super secret appointment on Wednesday at 1:00. I love secrets!
I'll fill ya'all in on it when I get back.

After that?

Target.......... I miss my Bullseye!

Costco..........groceries in bulk!

A haircut........I'm desperate!

Walmart.........only if Cathy insists!

Starbucks.........no, I've gone this long without, why now?

Applebees........on request of my family that I bring home Honey Boneless BBQ Wings for dinner Thursday.

Alaska Airlines allows you to check THREE bags for flights within Alaska. So I will be heading there with only one change of clothes in my carry-on and returning with three Rubbermaid totes of groceries and household items that we have disovered we need.

I'm leaving my laptop at home. Mosty just to prove to my honey that I can live without for two days.

I hope I survive..................

It's Break Up Time

2009-05-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

From frozen solid:

To flowing chunks:

In less than four weeks!

You should make these

2009-05-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

Honestly. They are delicious.........

(photo courtesy of All Recipes.com)

I hope there's some left when my family wakes up in the morning!

Goodness comes in a wax box

2009-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

One of the major frustrations I have encountered is the lack of good produce available here. The grocery store that Dave works for does have a produce department, but for whatever reason the quality is less than stellar and the prices are outrageous (groceries in general are so expensive, but that's a whole different, carefully worded post!).

A couple of weeks ago some friends told us about Full Circle Farms in Carnation Washington. They offer bi-monthly organic produce delivery to our village (and many other locations in Alaska and Washington) so Dave and I decided to give it a try.

Signing up was simple and quick online. We were given the option of "permanently excluding" three items. These are things that you never want in your box. Our three permanent exclusions were brussel sprouts, beets and parsnips. On the Thursday before our village's scheduled delivery we received an e-mail declaring that weeks box contents. From Thursday until Saturday we were able to log into our account and make up to 5 substitutions to our box or add additional content to our box. Substitutions are free, but adding contents does cost additional. I only made three substitutions trading tomatoes for kiwi, lemons for more apples, and asparagus for avocados.

Tuesday is pickup day in Kotzebue. All of the boxes are air freighted in and delivered to a church. My friend Bree was kind enough to go by and pick mine up and delver it to my house for me!

There was a few casualties in shipping in that three of the five kiwis and one of the mangoes were smashed and split open by heavier produce, but I was told that the farm will take care of that, so I sent them an e-mail today. Other than that we are very happy to have found this service!

I told you

2009-05-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Function trumps fashion:

Photos courtesy of Cathy

Let's go fly a kite

2009-05-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

Today my new friend Cathy and her son Noah picked us up and took us just outside of town to fly kites. Until today I had not had the chance to get out this direction and had no idea that in order to get there we had to cross the airport runway. Just as we were approaching the runway so was this cargo plane. Thanks for yielding, Cathy!

At the top of this hill is this peculiar site commonly referred to as "the golf ball". This is part of the US Air Force White Alice project.

Kite flying was fairly successful. It was pretty windy out and we had cheap kites, but the boys were able to get them up.

From the hill that we were on we could see back down into town, as well as across the tundra and across the Kotzebue Sound to the beautiful mountains.

It really is cool to see another part of God's amazing creation!

Photos of our new life

2009-05-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Scroll down for the exciting conclusion of Our Arctic Adventure.

Cooper in front of one of the snow drifts on the way to school.

Our first family photo in the Arctic. We are standing on the Kotzebue Sound. It is a large body of water that seperates the peninsula that Kotzebue is on from the Alaskan mainland.

The ice should be breaking up soon.

Waiting for the start of the Kobuk 440; a 440 mile dog sled race that starts and ends on the Kotzebue Sound.

The Kobuk 440 start line.

Only on the Arctic. Care to guess what this is?

A closer look.

It's someone's catch of the day; a caribou and a sled full of shee-fish.

Taking advantage of the natural refrigeration (freezer)!

This barge travels out to the larger barge to ferry freight in.
When the sound is not frozen solid that is.

The sun already well above the horizon at 7:30am.

The entire story of how we came to live in the Alaskan tundra can be read here.

On to Kotzebue (Part 10 of our Arctic Adventure)

2009-05-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Part 6

Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

Somehow, amongst all the flight delays and airport closures, our flight to Kotzebue left Anchorage on time. We were on our way on a 737-400 Combi; cargo in the front, passengers in the back.

We arrived in Kotzebue around 7:15 and were greeted by Dave's boss and his family (whose daughter happened to be coming in on the same flight as us from the state Science fair). We loaded our luggage into the truck and headed out for the tour of our new town and the grocery store where Dave would be working.

In all the research that I had done before we headed here, nothing could have prepared me for what we saw. This is an isolated native village. Think indian reservation, only worse. There was more snow than I had ever seen, and buried in all that snow was so much garbage and junk. It was so ugly and I was not prepared for the visual impact.

By the time we arrived at our apartment we were exhausted and hungry and I was so overwhelmed by it all that I broke down crying. This town was ugly, there was so much snow, and on top of it all the previous tenant in our apartment must have smoked like a chimney because it stank so bad. By the time we had some dinner, found our suitcase with our bedding and collapsed into bed it was after midnight.

Tuesday we spent the morning wandering around town getting life set up. We registered the boys for school, went to the post office to get our PO Box (there is no street mail service here), the cable company, and the phone company. We also headed over to the grocery store to stock up and were in complete shock at the prices that we could not bring ourselves to buy much more than a days worth of food.

Wednesday Dave started work and the boys started school. Fortunately, that first week of school we were able to get a ride from Dave's boss' wife, because it was cold in the mornings. That entire first week it never got above 0 degrees and the mornings were -15 to -20 with evev lower windchills! That morning, after I walked the boys to their classes, I stopped in to chat with the principal for a few minutes, and as I was leaving she asked me if I would be looking for a job? They had an opening for a secretary for the primary grades and if I was interested I should apply. So I took the paper work and filled it out. Less than a week later I started working at the school! I love the job and it was a great opportunity to get out of our smelly apartment to meet people.

We have now been here five weeks and the initial shock has worn off. The weather has warmed up, we are now seeing highs in the mid to upper 30's, although there have been some 40 degree days. The snow is melting very quickly; all the roads are clear of snow and now just covered in giant puddles. The new issue is that all this water has no where to go, so the city has been working overtime to pump the melted snow out onto the frozen Kotzebue sound.

We have traded our snow boots for mud boots and have quickly learned that function trumps fashion in the footwear department.

The last day of school was last Friday, and we are laughing at the irony of "summer vacation" while there is still piles of snow on the ground. I still have two weeks of work at the school and then will probably be working on projects at the district office as needed over the summer. Dave is really enjoying his job, and while it is the same industry he has always been in, it is very different from what he has experienced before. We are slowly getting over the cost of groceries, I shopped yesterday and my heart only skipped one small beat when my total bill came up to $490 for two weeks worth of groceries. The good news is there is nothing else to spend our money on; only a couple of restaurants (none of which we are brave enough to try), no Starbucks, no movie theatre. We walk everywhere, unless someone happens to be going our way. (We left both of our cars in Vancouver and Dave's dad was able to sell one of them the week after we left. The other we are hanging on to for the time being).

The boys have adapted so well, we are truly proud of them for being so amazing in this transition. They have both made a couple of friends, and as predicted my blonde hair, blue eyed boy was quite the novelty to the third grade girls! Both boys are looking forward to VBS this week at our new church.

Our apartment smells a little better; I painted a couple of the walls that seemed to be seeping nicotine, although I could certainly use some great "smelly" stuff to help mask the lingering odor (if anyone wants to send me a small gift a candle or air freshener would be very appreciated!)

The visual "ugliness" of the village is still there, and quite possibly worse as the snow melts and unburies a long, harsh winters worth of garbage; however, I barely notice it anymore. I am starting to see beauty in the great people that I have met here!

So here we are, living 30 miles North of the Arctic Circle and it was all God's plan.

Now, who wants to come visit?

Let the Adventure Begin (Part 9 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-05-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Saturday morning we left for the airport with one last possible hitch in our plans. Mt. Redoubt. The Alaskan volcano had been erupting daily for the entire week and we knew that flights into Anchorage had been cancelled all week long because it.

Our first leg of the trip was a short flight into Seattle and we knew that flight would not be affected by the volcano but we were uncertain about our flight from Seattle to Anchorage. A big part of me was hoping that it would be cancelled. All of my family lives in the Seattle area and if our flight was cancelled due to the volcano we would have been able to get together with them before we left.

As we exited the plane in Seattle, we scanned the departure screens for our flight. It was on time! We had 30 minutes until our flight to Anchorage left and of course it was departing from a gate clear on the other side of the airport. We grabbed our carry-on's and heavy coats (which we were carrying because we knew we would need them as soon as we were in Alaska) and booked it across the crowded airport, stopping only for a quick potty break.

When we arrived at our departing gate there was at least 150 people crowded around the Alaska Airlines counter. I was a little confused about what was going on so I worked my way over to the gate to ask the agent there. She told me that they had already boarded the plane and the people there at the counter were trying to get re-booked and were waiting for their name to be called off the standby list. Since we already had our boarding passes we needed to board right away or they would give our seats away.

Once on the plane it was only a few minutes until we were pushing away from the gate for our flight to Anchorage! It was a very nice flight. Both boys were excited to be able to watch a movie and I was even able to get Cooper to take a two hour nap!

We arrived in Anchorage, gathered our seven large suitcases from checked baggage, found the biggest cab we could and headed for our hotel. The gal at the hotel check-in counter was very surprised to hear that we had made it in on a flight that day. Apparently the airport had been closed all morning because of the volcano, and we later found out that it closed again 1/2 an hour after our flight arrived and it remained closed for the rest of the weekend.

But we had made it into Anchorage!

That weekend was spent relaxing, exploring Anchorage, and shopping for extreme winter clothes. We also ate out at a few of our favorite restaurants and took the boys to a movie; knowing that it would be the last of these things for quite a while.

(This is the house that I lived in when I was a little girl. Ben and I went out looking for it on Sunday afternoon. It was so weird to see it after nearly 30 years, the house itself looks exactly as I remembered, the neighborhood does not!)

Monday morning Dave headed over to his orientation meeting at company headquarters. While he was meeting the big wigs the boys and I wandered around downtown Anchorage, enjoyed a Starbucks breakfast and spent a couple of hours at the Imaginarium.

By the time we got back to the hotel around 2pm Dave was already there and he had news that our flight out had been cancelled due to another volcanic eruption. So we called the front desk to request cleaning service since we would not be checking out and I sent Dave and the boys out to find something to do while our room was cleaned. During this time I was on the phone with our travel coordinator from Dave's company working out the details of another day in Anchorage. While she and I were on the phone she decided to recheck our flight status and found out that the airport had reopened and our flight was departing on schedule in less than two hours!

I found Dave and the boys and somehow we managed to get all of our stuff into suitcases and loaded back up in a cab. When we arrived at the airport we were once again greeted with throngs of people. There were lines of weary travelers everywhere and tv reporters trying to get the latest coverage. By this time we had a little more than an hour until our scheduled departure and the lines to check in were so long it was questionable whether we would make it in time. After about fifteen minutes in line, with no movement, a ticket agent came by saying that if we already had tickets for flight we could bypass this line and move over to another counter to expedite check in. That counter was right next to where we were standing so we were able to get right over there to be second in line. As we were placing our bags on the scale to be checked in I was a little worried that we may have gone over the 50lb weight limit after we had added our new purchases, but our heaviest bag weighed in at 49.7 lbs. Within 1/2 an hour we were checked in, through security and sitting at our gate waiting for our flight to Kotzebue and the beginning of our new life.

TO BE CONTINUED..........

The final chapter of Our Arctic Adventure is scheduled to post at 7pm(Alaska time) Monday evening.

Our Last Week in Washington (Part 8 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-05-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

I was really hoping that our last week in Washington would be relaxing.

But, there was still so much to do.

We had moved out of our house and were spending our last week living with Dave's mom and dad. Dave was working through Wednesday of that week and I was still busy trying to get the house ready to rent and shuttling the boys back and forth to school. We were also trying to sell both of our cars, but in desperate need of them still!

We had some interest from potential renters, but no commitment yet and I was starting to stress out. We really did not want to leave the house un-rented.

Still the week went well. Somehow we were able to get all the work at the house done by Thursday and that day we received a call from one of the potential renters; "she definitely wanted to rent our house and was in agreement to the terms of the lease. Could she come meet me on Friday to sign the lease?"

Whoa, this was a huge answer to prayer! Without going into details, we had asked for a somewhat extreme condition in our lease offer to her, and she agreed to it. Only God!

That week I was also blessed with the opportunity to hang out and say goodbye to my amazing friends. On Wednesday morning my friends from my son's elementary school held a going away breakfast at a local restaurant. It was so much fun and I felt so blessed by each of the women there that I called friend:

Thursday afternoon I snuck away to meet my friends Vicki and Vanessa for lunch. We always have such a great time together and this was no different, except for the fact that there was a lot of tears. After lunch we decided that mid-day ice cream was in order, especially since we were celebrating Vicki's b-day!

Friday was the day of goodbye's. Both of the boys spent their last day at school and saying goodbye at the end of the day was tough.

Friday afternoon we went by our house to meet our renter. She showed up with cashiers check in hand, we did a walk through, signed the lease and handed her the keys. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to our home for the past five years, but we knew that we were stepping through a door that God had opened for us.

Friday night our very good friends, the Storacis', opened up their house for a going away gathering. Oh what a night that was. It was so amazing to see so many of the people who had been part of our lives for the past 15 years come through those doors.

We were blessed! It was definitely an emotional evening. Saying goodbye is never easy and around midnight, after everyone had left, we said goodbye and headed back to Dave's parents for our last night in Washington.

That night brought very little sleep for me. I still had many suitcases to get packed and closed and before I knew it it was morning and we were headed to the airport for our 9:30 flight to Seattle and then onto Alaska for the beginning of our new adventure.

TO BE CONTINUED.........

A sneak peek for LeeAnn:

Following God's Plan (Part 7 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

It is amazing how things work out when you are following God's plan.

By the time we figured this out we had less than four weeks before we were to leave for Alaska. All of us together.

Time to kick it into high gear.

The first thing to do would be to figure out what we would be taking and what we would not be taking. The company that Dave was going to work for had given us a relocation budget, however everything that we were going to take had to be shipped as air freight. The village we were moving to is WAY off the Alaska road system so it couldn't go by truck and the ocean here is frozen solid, so no barge service until July. It all had to go by air. Because of that, the company does provide furnished housing, so we would not be taking any of our furniture.
We decided that we would work on taking minimal stuff, because it is just that; stuff. So begins the packing and sorting.

Over the next week and a half I packed and sorted. I gave each of my boys a box and told them to put their favorite things in. I went through my house and decided on what I could sell and what I couldn't live without and Dave did the same.

Also during this time, word was getting out that we were liquidating and friends started calling offering to help. I was so amazed at the amount of help that I had. Dave's parents came one afternoon to help pack, my friend Meleea called the next day; she had a couple hours to spare and wanted to help. My mom and dad came that weekend and spent the weekend helping.

Not only were friends coming to help, but others were calling wanting to buy our furniture. I was planning a garage sale for the following weekend but before that time came I had pre-sold nearly all of our big furniture and our trampoline. The day before my garage sale, my friends Val and Kelly came and spent the entire day sorting and pricing. THE.WHOLE.DAY. That afternoon my sister Kris also came to help with the garage sale and let me tell you, she is a pro. Seriously, Kris can work harder than anyone I know. Not only harder, but smarter. She is motivated, organized and OCD. You want Kris to run your garage sale.......

Friday of the sale brought the most beautiful sunny March day that the Pacific Northwest had ever seen. That was God! The sun shined all day and the people came and came and came, including my mom, who made the nearly four hour drive for the second weekend in a row to help. By the end of the day we had sold about 75% of our stuff. We were exhausted as we packed what was left into the garage and called it a day.

Saturday's weather was much more typical of March in the Northwest, windy and rainy. Dave handled the very slow garage sale while Kris, my mom (the clean freak) and I worked inside on getting more stuff organized and packed and cleaning rooms. By mid-day it was apparent that Friday was a garage sale boom and Saturday was a bust, so Dave closed up shop and Kris and he sorted what was left and hauled most of it to the Goodwill, while some went to my friend Meleea's to be sold at her garage sale the next weekend. By Saturday evening the garage was clean except for a few large items that we knew we could list on Craigslist, but most importantly NOTHING came back in the house!

I said goodbye to my mom and Kris on Sunday morning. It was tough, I was moving over 2000 miles away in less than two weeks. I had no idea when I would see them again.

By Sunday evening, everything that was being shipped was packed. We had reduced our possessions from 1356sq. ft. to 32 moving boxes that were scheduled to be picked up on Tuesday. Our bedrooms were empty and our mattresses had been set up in the living room. We were living out of suitcases and eating off of paper plates for the next few weeks.

Monday afternoon brought an appointment with a property management company about managing our house as a rental. Ugggh, that was frustrating. Let's just say, I should have been in the property management business. The list of fees was huge, the list of services provided? Not so big. However, from that meeting came one good thing; a target rental price, and one bad thing; the suggestion that we repaint the bedrooms.

Repaint the bedrooms? I didn't have time for that! We had one way tickets to Alaska on a flight that was leaving in a week and a half but it was very necessary. So we made plans to paint that coming weekend.

Tuesday brought the moving truck and all 32 of our boxes were loaded up to begin their journey to Alaska. They started out traveling by truck to Tacoma, where they would be loaded onto a boat and shipped to Anchorage and from there they would travel by airplane. So begins the adventure.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. We were busy cleaning, dreadfully prepping to paint the three bedrooms (I hate to paint!), scheduling a carpenter friend to come and do some small repairs around the house, still trying to sell our cars, and looking for a renter for our house. On top of all this Dave was still working and I was just closing out the month for my last few clients.

Thursday evening brought another answer to prayer. My sister Angie called. She and her husband were available to come that weekend to help us paint, and they would bring their paint sprayer. Once again GOD provided; my sister and David are the ultimate do it your-selfers.
They made the three and a half hour drive to my house on Friday night after both had worked all day. Bright and early Saturday morning we began the monumental task of painting three bedrooms. While David went to Home Depot for the primer and paint, Angie and I began masking all the trim and sheeting the windows and floor. The primer had to be rolled on which took just about all day, but we were able to spray the paint on and by 5:45 that evening the job was done! David and Angie packed up and headed for home, hopefully knowing how much they had blessed us in their less than 24 hours with us.

Then it was Sunday and we were heading into our last week in Washington..........

TO BE CONTINUED

We interupt this long, drawn out story for this

2009-04-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

My good friend Eryn and her husband Matt are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. They are amazing people, with amazing faith. Ever since they were youg newlyweds they have felt called to foreign adoption and they are now walking through the long a tedious process. It has been amazing to me to watch them step out in faith, knowing that this is what God has called them to do, and to see how God is meeting their every need.

Eryn is a super crafty and ever resourceful lady and she creates and sells the most amazing things in an effort to raise funds for their adoption. She has some new items for sale on her blog that I absolutely fell in love with:

She has handcrafted these from recycled t-shirts and is selling them along with some of her other creations.

Please take a minute to stop by her blog, look around, read their story (it's inspiring), order some of her goods, or just leave her a note of encouragement.

As soon as my boys have their new t-shirts, I'll post a picture of them standing on the Alaskan tundra in their Ethiopia t-shirts!

The phone call (part 6 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

Monday afternoon the phone rang.

It was my dad.

No big deal, right?

Wrong.

You see I could count on my hands the number of times my dad has called me. Only because he is a man of few words and the fact that I call my parents often enough that he never really needed to call me for anything.

I answered the phone and we proceeded to have a great conversation. Ever since the day we told my parents about our move, my dad had been very excited. He's kind of an adventurer and at one point in his marriage he actually also packed up his family and moved them from Washington to Alaska, which is how I and my younger sister came to be born in Anchorage. He was excited about our new adventure and he and I spent the next thirty minutes looking online at different websites with information about Kotzebue. Just before he and I hung up he said something that spoke very loudly to me.

He said; "So, why aren't you all moving together at the end of the month?"

So I kind of stammered back; "ummm, well, we want to leave Ben in school until the end of the year."

To which my dad replied; "oh, well, I think you are making a mistake. I think that you all should be leaving together at the end of the month. You should get there and get the boys in school so that they have time to make friends before summer. The world does not revolve around Ben and you all need to be together."

This caught me completely off guard for two reasons. First of all, how did he know I was struggling with this very issue? I had said nothing to anyone, after all I was strong and independent. Secondly, in all my years of marriage (nearly 15), this is the FIRST time my dad has EVER offered his unsolicited advice. Like I said, my dad is a man of very few words, and butting into other peoples lives is not his thing. Yet here he was speaking to me about the very heart issue that I was struggling with. He didn't know. As a matter of fact, I didn't even tell him at that moment. I'm not even sure to this day that he knows.

We hung up the phone and I immediately the tears started flowing again. I sat there and bawled and bawled. What were we going to do? It was in that very moment that I realized that, although we were doing what we believed God wanted us to do, we were trying to do it according to OUR plan and not GOD'S plan.

In that moment I experienced something that I have rarely experienced. Complete brokenness.
I had no idea what the next step was. I had no idea where to start. I had no idea how this would all work. I had no control. And there I sat, crying and crying.

It didn't take me to long to figure out what the next step was: Pray. (yeah I'm smart like that)

Pray and surrender. Admit that I wasn't in control (and never really was) and ask God to show me what the next step for us should be. So pray I did, and immediately I knew what needed to be done. I needed to talk to Dave about this whole thing.

When Dave got home that evening, I barely let him walk through the door when I said "I need to talk to you."

I told him all of the struggles that I had been having about staying in Washington without him, and I told him about the conversation with my dad. Then he told me about a conversation that he had had with some good friends about this very issue and about how hard it would be on our marriage to be apart for that three months. We hashed it all out, we talked about all the work that would need to be done in order for us all to be able to leave in less than four weeks, and most importantly we prayed.

After that conversation, I felt peace. Yes, I still had this crazy long list of things to accomplish in the next four weeks and my husband would still be working during this time, so most of it I had to do without much assistance from him, but he was there to help when he could. However, I also had peace in my heart. Peace that I had not felt for a very long time. Peace that came from realizing that God was asking us to go; all of us at the same time to step out on the (frozen!) waters together.

Peace that I knew came from following God's plan......................

TO BE CONTINUED

Our Plan (Part 5 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Sorry this has taken so long.......I'm a major procrastinator.

So Dave and I talked and formulated OUR plan.

We decided that he would head up to Alaska at the end of the March to begin his new job and the boys and I were going to stay in Washington until the end of the school year and not pull the boys out of school. So while Dave would be starting his new job, I would be working on packing what we would take, getting rid of what we wouldn't be taking, sell the house, and do our best to prepare ourselves for life in the Arctic.

That was our plan.

That week we met with our realtor (Dave's uncle) about the prospect of our selling our house and the news was not good. The housing market in our area was FLOODED with foreclosures or short sales and all of those houses were pulling the market value of ours down. We would be able to get just barely what we owed on our house, if that at all. Frustrating, but not the end.

After that meeting it seemed like the best option for us would be to keep our house and rent it out. So we scratched "sell the house" off of my overwhelming long list of things to do.

As we headed into the last weekend of February, with OUR plan in place, I started to have this feeling that something wasn't right with our plan. I started to feel like the nearly three months that Dave would be in Alaska without us was not what God had planned. However, I told no one. I mean after all, I'm a strong girl, I am independent, I can handle all the tasks at hand. Maybe that was just the problem.............I am strong and independent. What would I need my husbands help for, forgetting the fact that I am supposed to be working towards repairing my struggling marriage and not working towards fostering my own independence. But still I went along with OUR plan.

That Sunday afternoon, I get an e-mail from a good friend with a worship song attached. Her message said; "we sang this song at church today and it made me think of you and where you are at right now." The song that she sent me was "Vineyard Musics - If You Say Go".
Holy Cow. That song perfectly described what I was facing:

"If you say go, we will go. If you say stay, we will stay. If you say step out on the water and they say it can't be done, we will fix our eyes on you and we will come."

I listened to that song over and over that evening. Each time crying harder than the time before. I just didn't get it. We were going. We were all moving to Alaska, so why was I having the feeling that something about our plan wasn't right.

Monday morning I woke up hoping that my awful feelings about our plan had gone away. They hadn't, and I just didn't get it. All day I had this argument going on in my mind. One part of my brain was saying "We're going. We're doing what God wants us to do." But there was the other part of my brain that was saying "yes, but you're doing it under your terms, not God's." For the better part of the day I tried my darnedest to ignore the part that was telling me I wasn't doing it on God's term and I was successful for most of the day.

Until my phone rang...............

TO BE CONTINUED

(but you'll be happy to know that I am going to write the next part right now. It will auto-post sometime tomorrow!)

Hell No (Part 4 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

That's what I said.

It was a Thursday afternoon when he told me about the job and it's arctic location. I spent that evening researching Kotzebue, Alaska and managed to find just about all the negative things I could about it. Let's see, it's 30 miles NORTH of the arctic circle (and I hate to be cold), mayonnaise costs $16 per jar, gas is $7.50 a gallon, there is 20 days of straight darkness in the winter and there are no restaurants. Yep, that's why I would not be moving to Kotzebue Alaska.

That weekend was a busy one, we were having a bowling/sleepover party for Ben's birthday and my sister Kris came to town to help and hang out. Have I told you that Kris is my best friend? Add that to the list of why I wasn't moving to the arctic. It was bad enough that we already lived a little over two hours apart. That Friday, I started sharing what I thought was the funniest job offer ever with everyone I saw. It went something like this; "Dave got a job offer in a native village 30 miles north of the arctic circle. Isn't that hilarious!"

Kris and I talked about it a lot that weekend; looked online at everything we could find about the village, and laughed at the thought of Dave and I and our boys living in the frozen Tundra.

That whole weekend, while I was laughing at the job offer, something was going on in my heart and mind, something that played over and over in my mind all weekend long..........

"You asked me for an adventure."

That was it. All. Weekend. Long.

"You asked me for an adventure."

I tried to ignore it. Honestly, but it never went away.

I can't say that I heard an audible voice with it, although that would have been cool, but it was just the constant thought in my mind that weekend.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, after my sister had gone home and I had repaired the damage of a weekend of 9 year old boys, I acknowledged the leading of my heart.

"Okay God. You are right. We asked you for an adventure, but can I say wrong adventure God?"

Hmmm, probably not.

So all night Sunday I wavered. I knew I needed to talk to my husband and tell him that I was wrong in my original response, but I was scared. This wasn't the adventure that I had hoped for.
So that evening I prayed.

"okay God. I'll consider this job offer, but if you really want us to go you'll have to clear the way."

Haha, funny when we think WE can put stipulations on GOD!

On Monday morning, before Dave went to work I said to him; "okay, if you want to LOOK into this job, then let's do it. But let's be sure that we ask all the right questions, pray about this and make sure that this is exactly what God wants us to do."

That day Dave called the gal back and told her that we were interested, but could she provide us with the name of someone that lived in this village so that we could ask some questions. No problem, and by the end of the day we had spoken to the guy that would be Dave's boss. He was completely honest with us about life in the village; it was different, and it was tough, but taking the job with this company was the best thing he had ever done for his family (they had moved from the Seattle area four years ago to go to work with this company). We talked a little bit more with the HR gal from the company about the opportunities within the company and the logistics of such a move and everything just seemed right.

After a couple of days of back and forth conversations and e-mails between Vancouver and Alaska, and lots of prayer, Dave and I decided to accept the job offer. We called the company and by Wednesday afternoon the official offer was in our e-mail. We printed it and read it over and over. Dave signed it and I started worrying and asked Dave to hold on to the offer and not fax it back until Monday. I mean, we needed to be sure that this is what we were supposed to do and the company was wanting Dave to start on March 30th which meant being in Anchorage for orientation on March 30th and being in Kotzebue to start at the store on April 1st. It all seemed impossible

Apparently, I had yet to figure out that I wasn't in control of this.

Again we were heading in to another weekend and I had lots of fear. I was scared, but Dave and I talked alot about it, and again after much prayer, we decided that this was the adventure that God had for us and so we decided that we just needed to take the step of faith and send the offer back.

We then needed to formulate our plan.

TO BE CONTINUED.................

Movement on Job Front (Part 3 of our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part2

After five months of waiting for a move on the job front, suddenly there was something.

And it wasn't good.

On a Tuesday afternoon in early February Dave got word that his store (he was an assistant grocery manager) would be closing within the month and that was all he was told at that time. When he came home and told me that I was scared and frustrated. I had been laid off from my job in October and had since then been working on starting up my own home-based bookkeeping business, and while business was picking up, it was not nearly enough to really support us if Dave were to be out of work. So fear set in. How would we survive? We were barely making it already and Dave being out of work would only add to the financial crunch.

On Wednesday when Dave arrived at the store he was given some good news and some bad news. The bad was that the store would be closing sooner than previously thought. The good news was that the company was going to take all of the managers from the division (5 stores) and throw them all back in the pool to re-interview for the existing management position. So basically there was 20 managers and 16 positions. In that moment God gave me a sense of peace. I knew my husband was very well qualified and had more experience than most everyone else. Oh, and by the way, the interviews were the next day. Yep, Thursday.

Dave interviewed the next day and then we waited. Through the weekend. Finally, the next Tuesday we heard that Dave had gotten one of the positions in an area store. Unfortunately, we learned that it was going to be in a store that was 40 minutes one way from our house AND it was in the neighboring state that had a state income tax AND that state is none to friendly in offering refunds to employees who live in our state, but work in their state. So, not only was his gas expenses and commute time more than quadrupling, but he also had to take a 9% pay cut because of the state income tax. But he still had a job and we would just have to adjust our lifestyles and cinch the belt tighter, and I would have to put all of my effort into growing my business quickly.

And so we set out learning how to live on less, and being thankful that Dave still had a job in an economy when many did not.

And still he continued searching.

Three weeks later the phone rings, and rings again and rings again. Suddenly Dave has a job offer, an interview scheduled for the next day and another interview for the following week! After talking over the one job offer Dave and I decide that it is not the right job for him (or our family) so he turns it down. The next day is a phone interview with a grocery chain in Alaska. Dave hangs up from that interview feeling very confident that he had done well. The very next day the gal calls Dave back and gives him a tentative offer, along with a warning to "research this, look at where we are asking you to go, and really discuss this with your wife." She then asked Dave to take the weekend and call her back on Monday if he was truly interested.

It was that evening that my husband came to me and told me about this possible job offer. He was very excited! Then he told me where the company was asking us to go. I had never heard of Kotzebue Alaska, so I immediately went online and Googled it. Then I promptly turned to my husband and said, "Hell no, I'm not going there."

To be continued..........

Hanging by a Thread (part 2 of Our Arctic Adventure)

2009-04-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

So the door to North Carolina slammed shut. Literally. One day we were in salary and relocation talks with the new company, the next day Dave was no longer a candidate for the position. To say the least, we were bummed. We truly thought this was our adventure. There was no good reason why this should not have worked.

Well except for this one good reason: Our marriage was hanging by a thread. Literally. And within two weeks of learning that we would not be moving to North Carolina, everything came crashing down. Not over one particular thing that either of us had done, but over lots of selfish behaviors and years of poor communication and stress on both of our parts. There was pain, there was anger, and there was hurt. Lots of it. And there was threats of leaving. Again from both of us. It was tough and very stressful. But you know what else there was, that I am certain would not have been in North Carolina?

Friends. Amazing friends that were committed to walking alongside us through this very dark time. Friends that had been with us since the beginning of us and friends that we had only known for a short time. Before calling it quits, we agreed that we would get counseling. Neither of us wanted it to be over. We both understood that we had said vows that meant that we were to be married to each other 'til death parted us', but we were hurt and we needed help to get past the pain. We started meeting with our pastor and his wife, who happened to also be the ones who encouraged Dave and I to start dating over 16 years ago.

During that time that we were meeting with our pastor I also had a small group of amazing girlfriends that were holding me accountable to the changes that I needed to make in my heart. Within that group of friends was a gal that I had been acquainted with, but had not completely connected with. That did not stop this friend from seeing a need and jumping in to meet it. One evening she called me and asked of she and her husband could take Dave and I out on a double date. They wanted to take us to see the movie Fireproof.

That evening out was such a blessing to us. It came at a very critical time with a very critical message. Our marriage was worth fighting for. It was at that time that I realized that my God cared so deeply for me that he shut the door that we were going to step through and by doing so he was protecting my marriage. Because I am certain that had we gone to North Carolina all the hurt and pain would have still come to the surface but we would not have had the support we needed to get through it. We were still in Washington state because God knew that was exactly where we needed to be for the stormy season that we were in.

So there we were, still in Washington, committed to working to repair our marriage, and praying for a new job still.

Five months would pass before there was any movement on the job front and then all the sudden there was something.

TO BE CONTINUED...................

Our Arctic Adventure

2009-04-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

Seven weeks ago I had never heard of Kotzebue, Alaska and now I live here.

It has been a crazy ride and the story that goes along with it is a little long, but worthy of telling, so grab a seat and a warm cup of something to sip and come along as I tell you the tale of how we came to live in a native village 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

My husband Dave has been in need of and searching for a new job for the better part of the past year. Last spring he left the company that he had worked nearly twenty years for to go to work for a new company. It became quickly apparent that the move to the new company was not the best for him or our family. So Dave began looking for a new job.

One evening while he and I were walking through Ikea (my idea of a hot date!) we were talking about the need for a new job and the idea of taking an adventure. In that discussion we decided that we wanted to be willing to go anywhere that God led us. We wanted to take our kids on an adventure somewhere outside of our tidy little suburban bubble. Now don't get me wrong; I LOVED my suburban bubble. It was cozy and comfortable. It fit me well but after that evening we both started praying for an adventure along with a new job for Dave and I always jokingly added "I'll go anywhere as long as it's south of the 47th parallel".

In August of last year Dave got a call from a head hunter in his field that was looking to fill some positions with a company on the East coast and within a matter of a few days and after quite a few phone conversations it looked like we would be moving to the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. We were excited, especially as talks with the company moved forward, to begin what we thought was our new adventure. Unfortunately, or actually fortunately, things ended up not working out with that company and shortly before we were to fly out to check things out in North Carolina, God closed the doors. At that the time we were very sad that this position had not worked out, but looking back we can clearly see many reasons why that was not the adventure for us.

One of the most evident reasons why that move did not happen would rear it's ugly head shortly after those doors slammed shut.

TO BE CONTINUED................

Exhaustion

2009-03-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

has set in.

I'm tired. Very tired.

The moving truck comes tomorrow, which means I must now unplug my computer and pack it.

I hope to be able to buy a laptop this week...........

but for now I'm "unplugged".

I'll probably sneak off to the library to check e-mail and cruise blogs if time allows.

Otherwise, I'll see you all "on the other side" in a few weeks!

If you think about it, pray for us!

It's liberating........

2009-03-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

to sell practically everything you own.

Our life has been relegated to 25 boxes, five Rubbermaid totes, and 7 suitcases (we need a couple more BIG ones, if anyone out there has some they no longer need).

We have a few more bigger items that I am putting on Craigslist, but other than that it's all gone. Our garage sale was a HUGE success on Friday. We had beautiful sunny weather and lots of people stopped by. Saturday, not so much. It was rainy, windy and COLD! We did sell a few things, but by early afternoon it was very evident it was time to close up shop.

All of our housewares are packed and awaiting pickup this week by Roadway to begin their journey. It will all go by truck to Tacoma, then by barge to Anchorage, and finally by air from Anchorage to Kotzebue. We are hopeful that it will all arrive within a few days of our arrival there!

We are still in our house, albeit with no furniture other than our mattresses. Sometime this week we will be heading out of here to stay with friends and family for the remainder of our 12 days here.

Over the past few days we have been blessed by so many people who have stepped in to help with all the work that needed to be done. My in-laws came for a couple of hours one day last week and helped with packing. My friend Meleea also came over for a few hours to help with packing. On Thursday my friends Val and Kelly came and spent a good portion of the day helping me get set up for the sale! Then Thursday afternoon my sister Kris arrived and set out to work. And let me tell you that there is NO ONE that can work like Kris. She is amazing. Productive, decisive, motivated and strong. She spent the whole weekend working for me. Directing what needed to be done. On Friday my mom came and she worked right along with Kris. My mom is a self proclaimed clean freak. So you know that underneath my stove and fridge were cleaned as well as the shower knob in my bathroom!
Thank you so very much to all of you for your help. I was feeling completely overwhelmed by the task at hand last week and now I feel like life will be completely manageable and likely enjoyable these next two weeks. We are blessed by you!

We might be CRAZY.......

2009-03-15T00:12:00.000-07:00

Go check out the latest pictures on Cathy's Blog.

Alright Elena..................

2009-03-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here it is. The moment you have all been waiting for.

Right? I know you've all been sitting next to your computers waiting for this:

We are MOVING!

What? You say no big deal? People move all the time?

Well, people don't actually move all the time to where we are going.

We are moving to Alaska.

Okay, so people do move there.........

But we are moving to Kotzebue, Alaska.

Ha Ha! See you've never even heard of it, right?

That's because it is a village of about 3000 people located 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Yep, I said 30 miles North of the Arctic Circle!

There, see the red dot? That's where we're going.

Here it is from the air:

See that strip of asphalt running through the bottom right corner?

That is the airport runway, on which Alaska Airlines lands 737.........

So I expect that ya'all will be coming to visit me sometime because you've always wanted to go to Alaska.

It's a long story on how this came about, but it is a good one, in which God has a mighty hand.

Sometime in the very near future I will be sharing it with you, but for now I have the monumental task of sorting, selling and packing up our house to focus on.

But soon, very soon I will give you the REST OF THE STORY. (RIP Paul Harvey!)

In the meantime, I leave you with this

(it is the blog of a gal that lives in Kotzebue. Go check it out, you'll be amazed and might even think we are certifiably crazy!

**We are leaving in 2.5 weeks and in that time we have to sell or get rid of nearly everything we own. the company that we have taken a job with provides furnished housing, so we are taking very little more than our clothes, the boys' toys, linens and kitchen stuff. Other than that, it all goes. We are having a giant garage sale this Friday and Saturday from 9-4, so if you are in the area, stop by! We also have a very cute house for sale or rent and two cars for sale!**

This pretty much sums it up right now

2009-03-01T23:27:00.001-08:00

My good friend Brenda sent this to me on facebook.
I've listened to it five times tonight for no other reason than the fact that it describes exactly where we are at.
It's worth the five minutes!

It's Big

2009-02-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been absent again.

My brother-in-law David noticed. As a matter of fact he sent me this message on Facebook:

February 20 at 10:22pm

Hey Trish,

Do you have blog writer's block. Haven't seen anything new lately. Just making sure you are keeping your time between FB and your Blog world even!!

David

I haven't replied yet so here it goes:

Hey David,

Yep, I've had writers block. Actually there is lots to blog about as you know, it's just that the things that I have to blog about aren't quite ready to be told to the whole entire world yet. You know what I mean? Soon though, very soon. God is opening doors as we speak. He has a plan and while it seems kind of wild and crazy to us, Dave and I know that it will be God's perfect plan. So as soon as we are ready to reveal, I'll have more to blog about. Until then, I'll just blog about you. Oh and by the way David, this girl loves comments on her blog more than she loves messages on her facebook, so since you read it you might as well comment on it.

Love,

Trish

Here's David.

He's a great guy. He married my sister about 9 years ago. She had two little girls from a previous marriage that he took in and has loved and provided for as if they were his own. He whole-heartily stepped in to raise those girls. He and my sister have since had another little girl so he is now daddy to three girls!

Now, you may have caught on that there is something big going on here and let me just say that it is BIG. I can't quite tell you what yet, but if you happen to have my phone number or e-mail and want to inquire that way, I will be more than happy to tell you what is going on. We are excited and scared but we know that God is in control. More to come soon!

The Face of Nine

2009-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

My sweet valentine is 9 today!

Dear Ben,

Nine? You are growing up to quickly. I cannot believe that nine years have passed since you made your appearance into this world two weeks early. You were not due until February 29, which means that had you been born on your due date you would only be TWO!

Nine is big. It means that you are almost into double digits! It means that you aren't really a little boy anymore, but not really a big boy either. It means that some days you will still hug and kiss your mom and some days you'll have none of that.

I have really enjoyed watching you grow this year. You are trying new things and are making great choices. You are a fantastic student and do a great job in school.
You are a good friend to everyone, but have also done a fantastic job in choosing your closest friends. I love the boys you hang out with!

You are funny and witty and always quick to smile.

You are compassionate and forgiving.

You love Jesus with all your heart and this year you were the one who prayed with Cooper to ask Jesus into his heart. That is something I will never forget!

You are a fabulous big brother, even though your brother gets on your nerves and into your stuff sometimes. When I make you two hold hands and look into each others eyes and say "I love you and you are my best friend" after a fight, you say it so easily.

Ben, this year I pray that you will continue to grow into the wonderful boy that God has planned for you.

I also pray that you will not grow to big to sit on my lap sometimes!

Happy Birthday Buddy! You have brought us so much joy these last nine years.

We love you bunches!

Mom, Dad & Coop

Never trust a five year old with a secret

2009-02-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

Alternately titled: Hit em where it hurts

Alternately alternately titled: I'm gonna get real here

Not that I'm not always "real" with ya'all, it's just that I recently had a conversation with my friend (in real life) Meredith about blogging and how hard it is for me to share my life here and then my other friend (in blog life) Meredith went and posted this. I mean, I tell you all the funny stuff and every once in a while I tell you the junk (yep, I have junk), but I rarely go to deep here. It's because I have a wall. I have a wall in real life and I have a wall in blog life. And this wall keeps me from allowing people to get to close. I hate this wall. I want to be more transparent to everyone not just my few close friends. I'm working on breaking my wall down, but it's thick and tall and strong.................
and what is it with TWO different Meredith's bringing up the same subject within 24 hours of each other?

So my real confession:

I fed my five year old McDonald's today.
TWICE!
The first was an arranged hookup at lunch time, we met some friends there.
The second? Well perhaps it could be called poor planning?
Whatever it is, it happened.
Ben's birthday is on Saturday and I left the gift buying to the last couple of days because that is just how I operate. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather and by later this afternoon it was apparent that I was not getting better, but am likely going to end up with the crud, so it became necessary to get my tail in gear and get the birthday stuff done while Ben was at his theatre classes tonight. So off Cooper and I went to the only mall in our area that has Lego store for one particular requested gift. A Lego key chain.
(Yes, I drove 30 minutes to go to the Lego store for a $5 Lego key chain).
After that Cooper and I ventured over to Toys R Us to pick up one more gift. I figured our timing was good in that spending a few more minutes shopping would enable us to miss the rush hour traffic getting home. Ummm, yeah, WRONG. We got back on the freeway headed North and pretty soon we were sitting. At a complete standstill. Oh and did I mention my gas light was on and had been on for about 10 miles? So as we approached another freeway that would take us by a Costco on the way home, I decided to jump on it so I could stop and get gas. Well, that freeway was backed up too. So there I sat at 7:15 pm on a backed up freeway with a very hungry five year old and an empty gas tank, oh and I'm getting sicker by the minute. So off the free way we go where I find the first drive thru and gas station that I can.
And that my friends is how I came to feed my five year old McD's TWICE in the same day.

Now about the secret. On the way home I had a very serious discussion with Cooper about not telling Ben what his gifts were. I told him that they were a surprise and that Ben would get to open them on Saturday, so he only needed to keep the secret for two days. Since Cooper only knows what the two gifts we picked up tonight are, I didn't think it would be that hard for him to keep them a secret for less than 48 hours. Wrong again. As soon as we walked in the door Cooper said "Dutter, me and mom got you a Lego key chain and I got one too."
I was fuming. I had just gone over with him in the car that we were going to tell Ben nothing!
I told him how sad I was that he told Ben, but he didn't seem at all remorseful. It then dawned on me that I needed to "hit em where it hurts" and that taking away his Lego key chain (I told him he couldn't have it until after Ben's b-day) would be the best punishment for his crime. When I told him that would be his punishment he started crying, sobbing actually. Very quietly, but huge, great big alligator tears.
I think he's remorseful now.

Overheard in the back seat of my car......

2009-02-09T23:54:00.001-08:00

**girls name has been changed to protect the innocent

Cooper: "Dutter do you think Julia** is cute?"

Ben: "No, she has plaquey teeth."

Apparantly good dental hygiene is on the top of his list of important qualities.......

I love Jesus but I drink a little too

2009-02-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

Weird

2009-02-05T23:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life is just strange.

Not one thing in particular today, just a few random things that I'd like to comment about:

First of all, I just Instant Messaged with my mother on Facebook. That seems weird to me. Of course I had to walk her through it all, but she caught on very quick. She is a smart one.

Today after MOM's group (at church) my friend Andrea and I gave in to Cooper's pleas for lunch out. He wanted to go to the "place with star chicken". So Carls Junior it was. When we walked in, Andrea noticed a man sitting by himself near the door and he was muttering something. A few seconds later we are standing near the counter and this man has approached the counter and is still muttering, only much louder now, and it's obscenities coming out of his mouth. I had to look a few times to see if he was on a bluetooth talking to someone, but no, he was still talking to himself. Andrea and I then proceeded to find a seat as far away as we could so as to not subject our kids to the profanity. Just as we got our kids all situated, this man moved from his seat near the door to a table directly across from us. We both had our backs turned to him but we continued to hear his outbursts of randomness that sounded like conversations with his other self. After a few minutes we decided that we did not like having our backs to him, so we adjusted our seats to be able to see him a little better, all the while still trying to protect our kids from hearing him. As soon as we turned our seats it was evident that this man was in a heated battle with the "demons" inside and it was turning into a physical battle because once he reached out to slap something or someone across from him and a few minutes later he stod up to choke the invisible being. It was at that moment that Andrea and I both decided that it was time to move ourselves and our small children out to the enclosed play structure. Fortunately this man did not follow us out there, but I did stand next to the door just in case I had to block it shut to keep him from coming in. I never once felt like we were at risk of being injured, but I sure did want to protect my kids from seeing his outbursts. It was very sad to witness his very obvious mental health issues. I do wish people did not have to struggle with that.

Ummm, Michael Phelps.........can I just say: what the he!! were you thinking? Really. For me it's not so much that you were smoking pot, although I don't think that is right either, but why in the world would you take a hit from a bong in a place where any JOE SCHMOE could take a picture of you doing it? I mean, I really do not believe that you were in the presence of just your closest friends, who you could most likely trust not to take or sell such a picture. Buh-bye Kelloggs........

And my final oddness for the day............

The boys and I went to an open casting all today. Well, it was actaully the boys and I and about 1000 other 6 to 9 year old boys from the Portland surrounding area. Harrison Ford is producing a movie in the area (starring Brendan Fraser) and they need boys for some roles, specifically looking for a six year old and a nine year old. Well when Ben got wind of this he immediately declared himself just what they were looking for. So in a moment of insanity, I agreed to take him to the casting call. We got down there at 2:15, noticed the line wrapped around one block and halfway down the next, drove around for 15 minutes looking for s parking spot, then secured our spot in line and stood there. For 3.5 hours. Seriously. All for the very slim chance of being able to work with Indiana Jones.

It was a weird day today.

36

2009-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'm celebrating.

Why?

Because I like to celebrate and I like me.

We shall start the day with cake.

Yep, we are eating cake for breakfast.

Why?

Because I like cake and I like celebrating and I like me.

After breakfast, I'll drop my sweet little urchins off at their respective schools and shall then go have chai tea with a good friend.

Why?

Because I like chai and I like my good friend and I like celebrating and I like me.

After tea, lunch it will be, again with more good friends.

I'll pick the place and together we'll sit.

We'll chat and we'll laugh and we'll laugh some more until the ring of the school bell draws near.

Why?

Because I like lunch and I like friends and I like laughter and I like celebrating and I like me.

So today, would you all please celebrate with me?

Why?

Because I like you and I like celebrating and I like me!

Interviewed by my momma

2009-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I agree to my mother's game last week of letting her interview me.

I was expecting much more difficult questions from her.

So here we go:

1. Tell me who outside of your parents has had the greatest influence on who you are today.

Wow, that is kind of a tough one now that I have to think about it. There have been lots of great influences in my life. Lucky me. The greatest would have to be Pastor Ray and Trudy (the pastor and his wife from the church we grew up in). Ms. Trudy always made sure that I felt loved, even when I didn't think I was loved at home. She always knew when I was having a case of "fifth child" syndrome (which was probably most of the time) and would do something small to remind me that I was loved!When I was 18 and struggling to find my way in life 3000 miles away from my parents, Pastor Ray and Trudy took me in. Gave me a place to live and lots of gentle, loving guidance. They are truly amazing saints who never wavered in demonstrating God's love by being loving, gracious, generous and caring to me. I have two small gifts that Ms. Trudy gave me years ago, that to this day I count as my most precious possessions.

2. What was your aha moment when you understood the Truth of the Salvation message?

I can't say that I've ever had an 'AHA' moment. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 9. Ms. Trudy had invited me over to their house for a sleepover. It was near my birthday time, and I remember that she had a couple of gifts for me and a cake that we got to eat in the living room! It was just she, Pastor Ray and I. Ohhh, how I loved those sleepovers! It was such a special treat for me to go to their house and be an only child for that time. Well, that particular evening after cake and presents she and Pastor Ray explained the gospel to me and asked if I wanted to pray and ask Jesus into my heart. And I did.

There have been many a time since then that I have strayed from the Lord and tried to do things on my own only to discover it was the wrong way, but I do count that night when I was nine as the moment that I accepted Christ.

3. What is your favorite childhood memory?

I had a good childhood! A few things that come to mind are:

*Going to the bakery on school mornings with Dad. We would have hot cocoa and a donut while we wrote silly notes on napkins about why I was late for school.

*Bible Club House and Potlucks at Burn Road Bible Church.

*Floating down the Jordan River on inner tubes in the heat of August.

*Building leprechaun traps in Grampas raspberry patch. We never did catch a leprechaun. They always sprung the traps and would leave us candy under them.

*Going to Grandma Margaret's apartment complex that she managed and she would open the pop machine and let us get one for free! I always picked Mr. Pibb.

4. Would you rather read the book or see the movie?

Without a doubt, I would rather read the book. I love to read and I believe my imagination to be WAY better than Hollywood's. I have instilled the rule at our house that if you want to see a movie that is made from a book, then you MUST read the book first.

I did recently break that rule by seeing Marley and Me, but I now have the book in my possession to read.

5. What is your love story, how did you and your husband meet?

Well, I moved to Portland to go to college at Multnomah Bible College. I had decided that I wasn't going to 'date' for my entire first semester. I had just come out of a very bad relationship a few months before and just needed time. About 3 weeks after moving to Portland I got involved in working with a middle school youth group and on my first night there I met Dave. He was so funny and had me cracking up the whole time. I also noticed how he interacted with the middle school kids! That night I went back to my dorm and told my friend Meagan "don't laugh, but I think I met the guy I'm going to marry." She laughed.

I was not going to ask Dave out for two reasons: I wasn't dating that semester and I found out he was 9 years older than me! So we spent the nest five months working together with our middles school kids, hanging out with mutual friends and getting to know each other. In June of that year some good friends of ours (Bruce and Tom) cornered Dave at the same time their wives (Vicky and Shawn) had me cornered and started asking us why we weren't dating. Apparently it was obvious that we liked each other! Shortly after that Dave asked me out. Our first date was dinner at the Olive Garden and the movie Dave. Three months later we were engaged and 10 months after that we were married. This summer we celebrate our 15th anniversary!

This last one is not really a question, but more like a command from my mother.

In this post, I made a confession that she would like to know more about.

So I'll humor her:

(my sister confessed to the same infraction in a post recently too. Funny thing is we were not together when we did it and neither of us had knowledge that the other had partaken in such heinous behavior!)

Trish and Gina, I am still curious about that skinny dipping you both confessed to on a meme. My question is who, where, when, why?

Me, three other girls, four boys.

Lakeside Bible Camp, Whidbey Island

Summer 1989

Because we were 16 year old Christian kids who wanted to break the rules in a bad way.

Now I would love to interview you and you and you. So here is what you do. Come on now, don't be shy. I will be nice I promise. It is a great way to get to know you.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So come on, let the good times roll!!

CRISIS AVERTED

2009-01-27T22:42:00.001-08:00

**ETA** Thank you Sue and Julie for being smarter than me! They both were able to e-mail me my profile picture. So...........

I'M BACK.

Now stop licking me.

Earlier today I had lost all my web hosted pictures from my blog.

I was able to recover all of my blog design pictures but have not been able to find my profile picture. You know the one of me wearing the goggles. It has become my signature, my identity, who I am...............

what's a girl to do?

For now I am a pile of tootsie pops.

Will you still love me?

PS. Please know that i do realize that this is not a CRISIS in the true sense of the word.

Menu Planning

2009-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Since being laid off from my job in October I have found myself with a little more time at home and a lot less money to spend. So I have taken the task of saving money as my new part time job in order to not have to go out and find a job outside of my home.

In an effort to really be mindful of my families finances I have started paying more attention to our grocery shopping budget. A few months ago I started clipping coupons and watching the grocery store ads for great deals on the items that my family uses. This actually is a pretty easy task since I have three major grocery stores (including my favorite one stop shopping center) within a mile of each other and a fourth (but my least favorite to shop at) not far the other direction. After having pretty good success with my coupons I decided to add another step to my grocery budget consciouness; menu planning.

Now granted, we have always had some sort of "menu plan" around our house. And by that I mean that there has always been food in the pantry from which something could be concocted for dinner, but rarely has there been a "plan" about what that might actually be anytime before one hour prior to dinner. There has also been a lot of nights where I had no idea or motivation for what to make so we just went out and, well, that no longer fits into the budget.

So last week I took the leap (with my blog friend Meredith as my guide) and wrote out ten meals to cover two weeks (I only did ten to allow for the consumption of leftovers and because sometimes I just don't feel like making dinner and so we eat cereal!). I then made a shopping list based on those ten meals, making note of what I already had on hand, gathered my coupons and headed out to the store. I did all the shopping for those meals along with stuff for breakfast and lunches. My total grocery amount came to $126. Now that did include a few household items (laundry soap, dryer sheets, and toothpaste) but it did not include much meat because I already had most of what I needed in my freezer.

At home, after the groceries were put away, I set to work doing a little prep work, such as cooking up all my ground beef and chicken (see here for a great way to cook your chicken) and seperating it into meal portioned freezer bags and shredding all my cheese and doing the same with it (we are not big cheese eaters, so shredded seems to be the only way it get's eaten here.) Then since I was feeling motivated I went ahead and assembled the enchiladas that were on the menu plan and stuck them in the freezer. (I also had enough ingredients to deliver a small pan of enchiladas to our neighbors who are always blessing us!)

We are now headed into week two of our two week menu plan and so far it is going great! I did have to run back to the grocery store one day last week for two forgotten items, but have not stepped foot in there since last Tuesday. Although I will probably have to go sometime this week and pick up some more milk and bread. Our fresh produce and vegetables are starting to run low, but we should make it through most of the week, and when it runs out I've got frozen veggies and fruit that I canned this summer to tide us over.

I'll share my actual meal plan with you in another post but for now I am setting to work on my next two week (ten meals) plan and would love any suggestions for what your favorite family meals are.

I am also working on getting all my meals and their required ingredients into an Excel spreadheet (because I truly LOVE spreadsheets! honestly, they make my heart race, especially ones that I can use the merge feature on!) with the idea that I'll get all of our meals in and be able to create my shopping list through a merge document. That makes my heart go pitter-patter!

Wii might need a twelve step program

2009-01-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Exciting times around here at the Hull house.

Seriously.

We had a low key wiikend.

And by low key, this is what I mean:

We hung out with good friends at their house on Friday night. They served us adults a yummy dinner and the kids had pizza, which they all thought was yummy too! Then we played Wii.

Saturday morning Cooper had a soccer game. He scored 12 goals. Yep, 12. Then we came home and played Wii.

Saturday evening the boys and I were getting ready to head over to some other friends house to babysit their kids and play more Wii. I was reaching down to turn off our Wii and my back went out. OUCH! I have a recurring back injury that makes itself known at the least opportune times. But the show must go on and so we went to babysit and play Wii.

Saturday night I slept on the living room floor, and only slept because my good friend "nidociv" (spelled backwards to keep the weirdos away!) was in my system.

Sunday morning there was no way I was going to be able to get to church and sit for an hour and a half without the use of my above mentioned good friend. And since he makes me very drowsy, there was no use going, so I stayed home and slept.

After getting home, the boys played more Wii. Then I kicked them out to play outside, in the sunshine, because the sun don't shine here all that often. They then proceeded to tromp in the front door every fifteen minutes begging to come in and play the Wii. After nearly an hour of that I told them that if they came in again before 4pm for anything other than the potty, I was going to sell the Wii. That was an idle threat, but it worked.

I then decided to try out the Wii Fit that we had bought on Friday. After about 30 minutes of yoga, I discovered that my back had loosened up and was feeling a little bit better. Another reason to play the Wii.

Then some friends came over for dinner and the kids proceeded to play the Wii for the next three hours. They did have to take turns because we have only two controllers and there was four kids............

Monday dawned bright and new and brought with it more Wii playing. I was first, with more yoga. It helped again. My back felt a bit better (until I pushed a full shopping cart around the grocery store). The boys played a little Wii while I prepared my two week meal plan and grocery list.

After the grocery store guess what we did?

Yep, more Wii. but just a little. There was homework to be done.

Then the weekend was over, but not before a little..............

Wrestling with DAD!
(you thought I was going to say Wii!)

Now, I know that you all think that all we did is play Wii all weekend.

That's not completely true.

You see, when I wasn't playing Wii or passed out on the floor from the pain meds, I was over at the Stretch Marks Blog watching this:

Beyoncé - New Music - More Music Videos

I wonder if there is a Wii game that can teach me to dance like that.

(when my back feels better!)

PS. Please disregard my previous post about my children's favorite Christmas gifts. Who was I kidding?

One of the things I love about my kids

2009-01-12T01:17:00.000-08:00

These were their favorite Christmas gifts this year

Ben:

Chef Hat, Apron with 'Chef Ben' stitched on it (stitched by the fabulous Emily), and cookbook.

Cooper:

Cowboy boots, cowboy vest (made by the fabulous gramma), cowboy hat, rope and guns.

I'm so glad that simple things still make them happy!

(although I do know that our days of cell phones, i-pods and 'cool clothes' are not to far away)

Photo's courtesy of Gramma's blog.

My 99.....

2009-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Things I have done are listed in BOLD (along with commentary, because we all know I like to commentary!)

1. Started your own blog - duh
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - jr. high band, and last night I played Rock Band, they both count right?
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - Christmas 1990, BAAAADDD MEMORY!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - don't ask mom.
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - More than once......
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - oops!
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - my boss' son was choking on a butterscotch disk. I gave him the heimlich and the candy came shooting out. I should have used that moment to negotiate a raise!
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby - or two
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee - summer camp, 1987. Playing a game where we had to hide in the woods. I stepped into a nest on the ground. 13 bee stings and a night in the infirmary!

A Beautiful Friendship

2009-01-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

Do you have a beautiful friendship?

this, that and some linky love

2009-01-08T01:03:00.000-08:00

Don't look now (cuz ya still have to read my post), but my brother has a blog. (Did you all just hear me snort as I laughed?) He is honest to goodnessly (is goodnessly a word?) the LAST person I would have expected to have a blog. I'm not sure why I thought that, I just did. He is an artist (and I say that in the loosest, most masculine sense of the word). His first mastered art was free enterprise, in grade school he ran a candy store from his desk. He would buy (or steal? it's still up for debate.) candy from the store, take it to school to sell to his classmates for a profit. As an adult he discovered the art of laying hardwood floors. He creates beautiful hardwood floor designs. Some of his work can be seen here. Most recently he has taken up the art of Nature Photography. He hikes the many trails of the Pacific Northwest with his baby boy on his back and his camera on his front and has started sharing the beauty that he finds through his camera lens, and apparently that is what this blog will be about. (please take no offense to his blog address, i'm pretty sure he is referring to the fact that he is my parents one and only son, not that he is THE ONE And ONLY SON. I think.)

Now, a few other things I'd like to share with you:

My friends in real life, Delores and Meredith, both recently posted wonderfully amazing truths that spoke right to my heart. You should read them and while you are reading Meredith's, turn up your volume and listen to the song.

Beckie has inspired me. She is an amazingly crafty woman. She has dedicated the next few weeks, while she waits for her baby girl to arrive, to crafty ideas. She's calling it Operation Project Month and she got me to thinking 'gee, if Beckie can be all crafty while she's 38 weeks pregnant, than surely Trish can finish the ONE craft that has been sitting on her kitchen counter for 6 months'. So today I went and bought the couple of supplies that I needed to finish it and that is what I am doing tomorrow. Stay tuned for pictures. (I also bought some supplies for another craft that I want to do, but i'm not gonna tell you about that, because we all know that it will be a few months before I get it done!)

I've been following the Confessions of a CF Husband blog for over a year now, and today if a day of celebration for them! If you haven't read their story yet, head over there to visit. It is an amazing story and today their miracle baby turns one. Happy Birthday Gwyneth!

We all know that his blogosphere is an amazing 'community' and right now one of our neighbors needs our prayers and support. Kori over at Between a Whisper and a Roar has been dealt a tough blow. Her husband has Cystic Fibrosis AND stage 4 Colon Cancer and now Kori has found a couple of lumps in her breasts. Her doctors are concerned and she is now waiting results of her mammogram to determine the next step. Please lift her and her family up in prayer and if you don't mind stopping by her blog and letting her know that you are praying for her I'm sure she would love it.

And finally, my bloggy friend Meredith took drastic measures yesterday in order to accomplish some tasks around her house. Today I will be doing the same thing, only I can't send my whole computer to work with Dave because it is a desktop, so instead I will be sending the mouse with him. I have a lot of things that need my attention around my house, including this disaster:

and this disaster:

I've gotta get these messes cleaned up, my in-laws are coming to dinner on Friday and I don't want the nasty clutter to tarnish their image of me.

So ta-ta for Thursday, I'm unplugging all in the name of productivity.

we're gonna have a little laugh here

2009-01-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

At my husband. Well, actually we're not laughing AT him we're laughing WITH him. Normally I wouldn't post anything at the expense of my husband, but this one is just too funny!

And besides he gave me permission.
(Now you may have read this over on my mom's blog, but go ahead and laugh again and then leave a comment, cuz I dig em.)

As you know the boys and I hopped a train North last Monday to spend the week with my parents. The two and a half hour train ride was fantastic, I was able to enjoy all the scenery with my eyes closed while the boys chatted up the very friendly older lady that had the privilege of being seated next to us. And chat they did. About everything. About half way through the 2.5 hour trip she excused herself to go buy some coffee and came back with hot cocoa's for both the boys. I think she was hoping it would keep their mouths busy for the rest of the ride! But I digress......

Dave had to work Monday and Tuesday so we planned that he would make the drive to my parents house on Wednesday, we would all be there to celebrate Christmas with my family on New Years Day and then would drive back home together, thus saving another unsuspecting Amtrak customer from my children's perennial chatter.

Well, Wednesday rolls around and my mom, my sister and I have places to go and things to do, so I called Dave to let him know that the front door will be unlocked when he get there and we all head out to do our thing. Two hours later I get a call from him on my cell, and he says "let me talk to your mom please." So I hand the phone over to my mom and within seconds she is laughing so hard that she about brings up a lung. And this is how that story goes:

See this house?

It's my mom and dad's.

They live in one of those cookie cutter neighborhoods where every third house looks alike from the outside. Dave can honestly tell you that isn't necessarily true about the inside though.

You see Dave pulled up to this house that Wednesday afternoon:

He walked up to the front door, turned the door knob and walked in. He says his first thought was "wow, why are all these dirty diapers laying around on the floor? Usually Evy keeps a much cleaner house." Then up the stairs he went to place his grocery sack of beer, homemade pickles, and smoked salmon in the fridge. After doing so, he looked around and though to himself "wow, they have made some changes around here." Dave then proceeded to make himself comfortable at the table and read the paper for about 15 minutes before duty called. When he walked into the hall bathroom he was shocked at the filth and again thought to himself "Evy usually keeps her house much cleaner than this" and suddenly an odd feeling ran through his body. He walked back down the hall and opened the door of the Master bedroom where he was greeted with an unmade bed and a big screen TV mounted on the wall............"hmmmm, the only TV Evy and Stan have has always been in the basement, and besides Evy makes the beds EVERY day." So down the stairs he went to confirm his suspicion. He opened the door to the guest room that we usually sleep in and sure enough, it was not as he remembered. Instead of containing a beautifully made bed, the room was lined with junk and shotgun targets. At that moment Dave knew that twenty minutes earlier he had entered the wrong house! He slipped his shoes back on and beat feet out of there, hopping in his car and heading out of the neighborhood before someone else realized he didn't belong in that house. He decided to head down to the nearby town where my dad's office is to confirm that my parents had not actually moved in the year since he had been to visit. During the short drive to my dad's office Dave remembered that he had put his bag of stuff in the refrigerator at the house that was not my parents! It was then that we received the phone call from him desperately wanting to talk to my mom. He wanted to know if she knew the neighbors and how they would take it when he went back to retrieve his beer, pickles and salmon and had to tell them why it was in their fridge!

Once it was determined what house Dave had mistaken as my parents, my mom said that she did not actually know the neighbors but would go over with him later to introduce herself and explain what had happened.

About an hour later we get another phone call from Dave saying that it would not be necessary to go over, that he had already gone over and gotten his stuff from the neighbors fridge. I said, "oh were they home?". To which he replied, "No. I knocked on the door, opened it and hollered HELLO. When no one answered I ran up the stairs, got my stuff and ran back out of the house."

The neighbors are none the wiser..............

Dave is though.

He now knows that my parents live in the fifth house on the right, not the third!

Parent's on the left, neighbor's on the right

Dear Supervised PlayRoom Inventor,

2009-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Reposted from sometime last spring.......

I love you.

Really.

Do you realize what you have done for me?

You have made it possible for me to drop my child off in a colorful, toy filled room at the front of my favorite super store for one hour of uninterrupted time "one-stop shopping". I know that the big-wigs think that they have made a smart move by offering this service in hopes that I will be more relaxed while shopping and in turn fill my cart with beautiful and lovely things that I don't need. However, I am smarter than those big-wigs and sometimes, after I place my four year old in the loving hands of that employee (who, by the way, knows us by first name and NEVER matches up our security band numbers when I come to claim him), I simply head over to the in-store coffee stand, purchase my overpriced, overly sweetened, overly fattening drink and head to the magazine aisle, where I pick a few of my favorite brain stimulating periodicals like People and US Weekly and then I go sit on the floor sample couches and read for THE ENTIRE HOUR! I certainly never get one hour of uninterrupted periodical perusing time at my house. Except for that one time I locked my self in my bathroom with the fan on and the shower running and sat, fully clothed, on the porcelain throne. Even then the natives were pounding down the door every ten minutes wanting fruit snacks.

Then there is the gym and again I declare you genius. While certainly not free, it is well worth the expense. You see, my children beg to go there. Daily. There I get one and a half hours of child free time. Yes, I know the purpose of this playroom is to entertain my children in order that I may get my tush onto one or more of those sweat inducing machines in the other room. And most of the time I do. However, I must confess that, once in a while, I place my children in the care of those perky high-school girls and I go sit in the whirlpool spa in the ladies locker room. Yes, I am usually the youngest, least wrinkled lady in there. But damn, I look goooooooood in a bathing suit next to those ladies.

Let us not forget the favorite Supervised PlayRoom of all time. This one has a great name. It is called Smal Land, yes with just one 'L' because it is Swedish. And those Swedes love my children and me so much that they too have made it possible for me to wander their mega store for one hour unencumbered by offspring. What they don't realize is that I almost never grab one of their paper tape measures, pencils, or giant yellow shopping bag. Instead I walk through their rat-like maze, straight for their 325 sq. ft. model home. There I seat myself on the lovely, cherry red striped ektorp chair, pull out my cell phone, call my sister Kris and enjoy a peaceful phone conversation for once. Oh, and sometimes I go to their brightly lit cafeteria and buy me some meatballs with gravy and lingonberry sauce. I love not sharing my meatballs.

So to you, Mr (or Miss) Supervise Playroom Inventor, I tip my hat and in the words of Budweiser I call you my "real man of genius".

What you don't realize is that I am the "real mom of genius" and have figured out how to use all three Supervised PlayRooms in one day. Can you say THREE AND A HALF HOURS of alone time without having to pay a single babysitter!

With much admiration of your ingenuity and mine,

The mom

Scarred for Life

2008-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Reposted from May 20, 2008

Dusty died.

Well, okay, but who is Dusty?

Our neighbors dog.

Remember I am not an animal person, so Dusty has been the closest thing to a pet that my children have had (besides those fish that live in Ben's room and refuse to die even though we never remember to feed them or clean their tank).

Dusty was a sweet dog. Ron and Sue had Dusty for 14 years and in the four years that we have lived behind them my kids had come to love him. He was patient and gentle and even shared his water bowl with Cooper once.

Over the past year Dusty's health has been rapidly declining and on Sunday he had a stroke. Ron and Sue took him into the Emergency Vet Hospital and determined that it would be best to have Dusty put to sleep. Sunday afternoon we were all outside when Sue pulled me aside to tell me about Dusty. She and Ron were understandably very upset about the loss of their sweet dog and she asked that I please tell my boys.

So I did. And they were sad, but seemed to process it well. We talked about how Dusty was very old and had gotten very sick before he died and that Mr. Ron and Ms. Sue took him to a dog doctor and that is where he died.

Great job, Trish. You covered your kids first pet death experience very well.

Why thank you very much.............

but not really.

Monday morning after getting Ben on the bus, Coop and I are making the five minute drive to the fabulous Miss Jeanie's house and the conversation went like this:

Coop: "Mom, will Dusty be back from the dog doctor today?"

Me: "No, buddy. Remember Dusty died. He is not coming back from the dog doctor."

Coop: "Oh. Mom, what will the dog doctor do with Dusty?"

Me: "the dog doctor will just get rid of him by burning his body."

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just told my four year old what really happens to dead pets..........

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How stupid am I............did I forget that I was talking to a four year old?

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am supposed to tell him something nice bout how dogs go to heaven and all that sweet stuff.........

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What were you thinking Trish? Now what are you going to do..........

Oh good, we're pulling into Jeanies, maybe YOUR FOUR YEAR OLD WILL FORGET ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST TOLD HIM!

Knock, knock on Miss Jeanies door.

Miss Jeanie opens door.

Coop: "Miss Jeanie, Dusty died and my mom told me that the doctor is going to burn his body"

Miss Jeanie (with stunned and bewildered look on her face): "What?!?"

Me (stammering because I feel like the worst mother in the world): "Dusty was our neighbors dog and yes I just told my four year old what really happens to dead pets and now I am late to work can you take care of that for me i don't care what you tell him cuz anything is better than what I just told him thanks and goodbye."

Daycare.

It's practically the same as therapy. Right?

We're out of here.......

2008-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

The boys and I are headed out of town for the week. We are hopping a train tomorrow morning to head North. First to my sister Kris' for a day or two, then to my mom and dad's for the rest of the week.

We're going to celebrate Christmas with my family on New Years. It'll be a big shindig seeings as how my immediate family (brother, sisters, spouses, kids, mom & dad) number 34. It's lots of fun and lots of crazy!

I've got some repeat posts lined up to play again. They are my favorites from the past year.

Don't forget to head on over to Sunshine & Lemonade to enter her last Weekend Winner Giveaway!

In The Spirit of Christmas

2008-12-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Sweet Lady at Fred Meyer,
Thank you. Truly, thank you. You know what Christmas is all about.
You looked into the eyes of a total stranger as we passed each other in the store and saw that I had been crying. I was trying to hide it, but obviously I was not successful. Then instead of just offering a sympathetic look and walking by; you put your hand on my cart and stopped it. Then you put your hand on my arm and asked me if I was okay.
It had been an emotional day (some days are just like that). That store was PACKED, my children were driving me NUTS, my husband and I had been ARGUING all morning long, and honestly it's time for my monthly bout of PMS. I was beginning to feel frantic, like I didn't have everything I needed for Christmas. I was worn thin and it was showing.
While I was trying to convince you that I truly was okay, you reached out and hugged me. In a very friendly, stranger to stranger hug. Not only did you hug me, but you whispered "This isn't how it was meant to be. Take a deep breath and remember that the baby, born in the manger, is what this is all about."
Then you let go and asked if I would be okay. I looked into your caring eyes and muttered yes. Then you and your husband smiled at me and walked away. I scurried off to find a corner to compose myself and dry my eyes.
I looked for you again the whole rest of my shopping trip. I wanted to thank you and possibly hug you back (even though that is WAY out of my comfort zone), but I never did see you again.
So here and now, I want to say thank you. For looking into the eyes of a complete stranger. For reminding me that there was nothing more that I needed. I already have it all because of that Baby, born in the manger.
I hope you know I was blessed by you today.
Merry CHRISTmas,
Tricia

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

PS. Yes, this truly happened to me on Tuesday.

The whole neighborhood was turned on

2008-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of our favorite Christmas movies:

And look what a house nearby has in their front window:

HI-LAR-I-OUS

Happy First Day of Winter!

2008-12-21T22:43:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe all this snow! We are buried here. Benjamin and I went out our deck to measure this afternoon and our 12inch ruler was buried by about 1/2 an inch. I know, to all you bloggy friends that live places like Colorado, Illinois, Virginia and other arctic places, that may not seem like much, but for those of us here in the normally rainy Pacific Northwest, it is a ton of snow!

So what have we been doing?

Well, we've played in the snow.

We left our stuffed friends inside to watch the snow fall.

We sucked on sheets of ice.

We played games together on the computer.

(please ignore that messy desk!)

We decorated our gingerbread house.

Tonight, during our bedtime prayers we prayed that our dear friends Jim and Bob the squirrels are tucked into their nest high in our tree and are staying warm.

And finally, tonight I spent two hours shoveling the walk, digging my car out from under a foot of snow, and putting chains on so that when Dave leaves for work tomorrow in our four wheel drive Xterra, the boys and I are not stuck here at home!

Sometimes when you're five......

2008-12-12T00:07:00.001-08:00

Sometimes when you are five:
You make your own lunch while your mom is using the facilities.

Sometimes when you are five:
You spill the whole pitcher of juice while trying to pour yourself a cup.

Sometimes when you are five:
You try to clean up the mess by yourself; using every clean dish towel in the drawer.

Sometimes when you are five:
You drink the rest of the juice right out of the pitcher.

Sometimes when you are five:
Your mom says yes to the Froot Loops immediately following lunch because she has a mess to clean up and needs to keep you occupied and in her sight.

Sometimes when you are five:

You ride your scooter around and around in the kitchen because your mom thinks it's cute that you are call it a "mow lawner" and you keep offering to mow my wood floors.

I said SOMETIMES son.

(just not again tomorrow please!)

Smooth (like buttah!)

2008-12-08T19:24:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Books, Books and more Books ETA

2008-12-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

More answers to some of the questions that I received a few weeks ago:

Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade asked:
What books are you reading right now? What book have you read that you really wish they would make into a movie (that would be good - and not a horrible Hollywood version of your fav)?

Right now I am reading: Finding the Hero in Your Husband by Dr. Julianna Slattery, Parenting the Heart of Your Child by Diane Moore, and Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman & Ron J. Findley.

The first two are 'self-help' style books, which I am not usually a fan of. However, I am enjoying both of these and have been able to glean good information that I can apply to my life from both.

Stumptown Kid is a book that Ben read this summer. It is set in the 1950's and is about a white boy who befriends a black man who had played ball in the Negro League. Ben really enjoyed this book when he read it this summer and wanted me to read it then but I never did. When my parents came to visit last weekend my dad was asking if I had anything for him to read. Ben jumped in and said that he had a good book and then disappeared to his room and came back with this one. My dad read it that evening and the next morning and then he and Ben had a discussion about it that I enjoyed listening to. So last week I picked it up one evening and am half way through it now.

Three books at one time and I am not doing very well at finishing any of them! I also have two books on hold at the public library. One is Wicked (which I am 11th in line for right now), the other is My Enemy's Cradle. Interestingly enough, I just found out that the later book was written by Sara Young, who is the same person who wrote the Clementine children's books under the pen name Sara Pennypacker.

As far as what books I would like to see made into a movie. I really cannot think of one. I am very excited to see the Tale of Desperaux. The boys and I love that book and will quite likely splurge to see the movie in the theatre when it opens in two weeks!

Meleea, Jennifer A., and Lula! all agreed that they wanted to hear my thoughts on The Shack:

So this one is hard for me to write. Mostly because I hate controversy and this book is a huge bestseller right now and has been highly acclaimed as Christian fiction.

And I did not like this book at all.

I started reading The Shack this summer, but could not get through it, so I set it aside. I wasn't to excited to pick it back up again because it is not an easy read. The writing is not grabbing and it requires quite a bit of concentration to follow the story. When I read fiction I want it to grab me. Draw me in and take me away. That is why I read fiction, as an escape. This book was definitely not an escape.

I picked this book up again early this fall because I was invited to join in a book club that was reading it. I finished it this time because I wanted to be able to participate in the book club conversation, not because I liked the book.

My determination is that while the Shack is a piece of fictional writing it is not being taken as that. This book has been widely accepted as eye opening into the persons of the Trinity however, it does not line up with the Biblical portrayal of the Trinity. That and the fact that so many people are claiming this as "life changing fiction". I do not believe that fiction can truly be life changing, it is fiction after all and the definition of fiction is "something feigned, invented or imagined; a made up story." So my struggle with this book comes when people say something like "this book changed my life, it opened my eyes to the ...............(insert whatever insight this book brought)", and I have heard this. In the above mentioned book club conversation I heard this: "The Shack has changed my life in the way that it allowed me to see that God could be whomever I wanted Him to be, including a woman if that was the way that God fit into my life". It was then that I realized that this lady was searching and when you are searching you often are looking for what sounds good although it may not necessarily be truth. This insight sounded good to her because it fit into the role that she wants God to play in her life. It reminds me of what I call the Church of Oprah, that god is in us as whatever we want he or she to be, and is only one of the ways into heaven. However, this is completely untrue as told to us in the ultimate authority, The Bible, in John 14:6 "Jesus said to him "I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me."

So my take on The Shack boils down to this:

Read it with caution and take it as a piece of fiction (a made up story). If you find it to be "life changing" feel free to e-mail me and we'll discuss that.

And sorry, but I cannot loan you my copy as I returned it to Costco after I read it because I thought it was crap!

** ETA** I would never be one to tell someone not to read something. Probably because I am a bit of a rebel (just a little bit though!) and if someone told me NOT to do or read something, you can be pretty sure that i'd go right on ahead and do it anyway! Read it, form your own opinion, because this is MY opinion and opinions are what make the world go round!

And finally, since we're on the subject of books, my mom tagged me for this meme last week. I have never played along with any of her tags, but I happen to have four books here on my desk right now, so I'll play along.

These are the rules: Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

The closest book of the five is Stumptown Kid. Page 56, fifth sentence and the following sentences read:

" I said I didn't say nothin'," I repeated.
"I think you called me a name, Stumptown," Lobo said.
He came out and stood there on the line between home and first base, his hands on his hips.
"He called you a creep, Lobo," said one of Lobo's friends. He sneered, probably thinking about what Lobo was going to do to me now. Will was watching from behind. He looked scared.

Now I want to know what you are reading or have read lately............

The Best Nativity Ever

2008-12-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

It was built as an entry into a Lego contest that required "building your favorite winter scene completely from Legos" and writing a 50 word or less essay describing your scene and why you built it.

Something to think about

2008-11-28T23:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a little something to chew on this Christmas season.

My husband and I have always done a very simple Christmas for our kids, and I cannot say that I am ready to give the gifts up as my sister and her family have done, but her post is very good and really something to think about this Christmas.

5

2008-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby Cooper turns five today. I can hardly believe it. Just a few days ago I pulled him into my lap and asked him to stop growing older. To not turn five. To just be four forever. He would have nothing to do with that, probably because turning five means he gets to take four friends to play at Jungle Playland and to have lunch at his favorite little golden arched bistro.

Dear Cooper,

I can truly hardly believe that this day has come. Five is so big. What a sweet blessing you are to our family. You are such a cuddle bug. Hugs, kisses and snuggling are your thing, and as long as there is peace, love and snuggles, you feel safe. There is nothing that makes this mom so happy as when you want to snuggle with me on the couch and have 'face'.

This year has been a year of big boy adventures for you. You learned to ride a two wheeler like a pro,you climbed a humongous tree with your BFF Kaleb without us moms knowing (until Kaleb fell out of the tree), you went solo into the big pool while mom sat on the edge, you came down the water slide without anyone there to catch you, you rode your bike to the park down the road with your big brother, you started preschool and played on a soccer team.

I cherish the 30 minutes that we have in the car three days a week after dropping Dutter off at school but before your school starts. I love that you want me to drive straight to your school and every time you tell me to slow down so that I don't miss the driveway. You then climb into the front seat with me and we sing at the top of our lungs to the High School Musical Soundtrack. You sing all the boy parts and tell me I can only sing the girl parts. It makes me laugh every time! Some mornings we just sit there in the preschool parking lot and chat. You have become quite the conversationalist and I love it when you throw a big boy word or two into the conversation.

The very best part of this year Cooper, was the day that I listened from the drivers seat as your brother prayed with you to ask Jesus into your heart! Hearing that made it nearly impossible to drive because I could not see through the tears and just tonight you made me cry again when your bed time prayer included the words "I hope I be a bwessing to my fwiends tomowwow".

It makes mommy sad to see that you are hardly my baby anymore, but it also makes me so happy to see you growing up to be such a sweet little boy.

Cooper, you are a blessing everyday.

Love you more than you know,

Mommy

Answers to some of the deep and meaningful questions ya'all asked me

2008-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. Right? You've all been waiting on pins and needles for this moment in time when I answer all your burning questions about my life.

Here we go:

Elena asks: How did you meet LeeAnn?

Well, Elena, LeeAnn and I met at church. Or more likely in a small group Bible Study. We had a mutual friend that invited me to join their group that LeeAnn was already a part of. That group disbanded, but we still go to the same church and see each other there. We don't get to hang out together, mostly because we live across town from each other and our paths don't cross much, but she is one of those people that I am always happy to see and I feel completely at ease talking to when we do get a chance to talk. But look, I do have this picture of LeeAnn, our friend Lisa and I from five years ago. (Sorry LeeAnn, I'm not sure why my scanner scanned you in so gray!) So Elena, how do YOU know LeeAnn?

Gina says: Tell me about how we met.....

Well, Gina, you always have been a smart aleck, but I'll explain it for the rest. It goes like this. Our parents brought you home from the hospital around my 28th month of life. I'm pretty sure I asked them to take you back, but they insisted on keeping you and probably tried to convince me that you were 'my' baby. I wasn't buyin it. So in short, I've known you all your life. I knew you when you chewed your toenails. I knew you when you still sucked your thumb at 13. I knew you when you drank beer with your friends behind the garage at 14. I knew you when you drove white Geo Metro with a license plate frame that said "a princess doesn't do dishes". Baby, I have known you all your live long years and I can honestly say that I am glad they didn't give you back.

Hot Tub Lizzy asks:

What television show from your childhood do you have the fondest memories about?

Without a doubt it would be The Cosby Show. We didn't have tv for a lot of my childhood, but when we finally did get one I remember my family gathering every Thursday night to watch Heathcliff and Claire Huxtable raise their family. I love to watch the reruns with my kids now!

What's your favorite breakfast food?

Cereal. I would eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I didn't have mine or my families nutritional needs to worry about. And not healthy cereal either. Sugar cereal. Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Sugar Puffs, just not chocolate cereal; it's gross.

What would your dream job be? What's a job you would NEVER want to do?

Right now I think my dream job would be as an Labor & Delivery nurse. There is TWO fundamental problems with that dream though. First of all I could NEVER pass an Anatomy & Physiology class in college, so I quit taking them and secondly, I don't do blood or body fluids. Seriously, I have been known to pass out at the sight of blood and my gag reflexes are awful. So what good would I be. However, I LOVE the miracle of life.

I guess my job that I would NEVER want to do would be a Phlebotomist. You know, a person who draws another persons blood for lab work. Yah, probably not my gig. I also would NEVER want to do anything related to sewage or septic. Blech.

Someone is giving you a $100 gift certificate for Christmas. What store would you want it to be from?

Ooooh, yay! $100 just for me? Well, the completely impractical part of me wants it from Title Nine. Specifically to help pay for this:However, the practical side of me would say Target. I do love my Red BullsEye.

Alright, that's all I'm giving you for now. Thank you all who have played along so nicely. This is fun! I promise to get to the rest of your questions very soon.

Still want to play along? Well, feel free to leave your burning questions in the comments.

Another Weekend Winner Giveaway

2008-11-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

Don't forget Kat at Sunshine & Lemonade is doing her Weekend Giveaways! I REALLY want to win this one because I WANT a favicon.

Bad.

Not a bad favicon.

Just a favicon that I want badly.

Whatever.

So click on over, enter yourself and if you win feel free to donate the prize to me.

And don't forget that I'm taking questions here.

I'm gonna start answering them on Monday.

I know ya'all can hardly wait, huh.

And yes, I will post my "review" of The Shack. That won't happen until later in the week though because it's going to be all scholarly, so it will take me a while to come up with some big words to include in the post. Give me time folks.

Until then, please go add your questions for me here. Remember I'll answer anything.

ANYTHING!

Whad'ya wanna know?

2008-11-19T21:52:00.001-08:00

I've got bloggers block again. I just don't know what you want to read about so allow me to throw a few things out there:

Do you want to know about how I went to my friend Meredith's house on Wednesday morning and just hung out? Really, I did nothing but sit on her comfy leather couch and talk with her. For three hours. She worked on a counted cross-stitch, but I just sat like a bump on a log. She is seriously one of the easiest people to talk to and I love that about her. It was a great morning!

Or maybe you want to know about how my friend Vanessa and I are going to see Twilight at 10:45am on Friday morning. Seriously. We are going to the movies at 10:45 AM on a Friday morning. Who does that? Well apparently I do. We both really want to see the movie, but neither of us are such die hards that we want to venture out at midnight the night before and we don't want to mess with the pubescent crowd on Friday night, so we are going to the 10:45 AM showing. It'll be fun to see what other mothers sneak off to the movies while their kids are in school!

I know, you really want to know about how frustrated I am with my wardrobe, right? I'm basically a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Most days that is what you will find me in. Jeans, long sleeve t-shirt, and my black Dansko clogs. It's my uniform. I love my uniform, especially when I add my black Columbia Sportswear jacket or my red Eddie Bauer puffy vest. It's what I feel most comfortable in. It's me. However, I wish I was a little more daring. I want to walk into a store and pick up something not in my uniform and wear it. Maybe I should start with these:

or these:

I'm sure you are all dying to know about how I called my mom last night and dumped a huge guilt trip on her about how she never comes to visit me, right? Well I did. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fair of me either. I called her back tonight and apologized. The great thing about my mom is that she forgives me. She forgave me before I even called to apologize. I love that about her.

Speaking of my mom, I know that you all want to read about my moms trip to Africa. Well, she hasn't shared much of the details yet. I think she is still processing a lot of it, but I also know that she is easing us into the tough stuff. At any rate she has two posts about her trip so far, go read them here and here.

Oh, oh, I know. How about I teach you all the most popular game at our house these days. I know you are all dying to know how to play

"Happy it's not your birthday"

So it goes like this. The game can ONLY be played immediately following dinner and ONLY on nights when daddy is home (yep, I made up those rules). So we go around the table and one person at a time closes their eyes while the other three very quickly run through the house and grab random objects to give to the other person for their NOT birthday. Once everyone has gathered back at the table the gift receiver opens their eyes while we sing "happy it's not your birthday to you" and is then presented with their gifts and a tall tale of why that gift is suitable for their NOT birthday. The recipient then gushes over the thoughtfulness of the gifts and we laugh at the silliness of it all. We then proceed to let everyone in the family take a turn at being the recipient of the completely random household objects. It is hilarious! Cooper made up this game a few months ago and wants to play it every night, that is why I added my two rules to the game.

Well, that's all I got. For now. I better save some of my randomocity for another time, especially since I just don't feel my blogging mo-jo coming back.

Why don't you all help a girl out here and ask me some questions.

What do ya want to know?

Any question.

C'mon, you know there's something you really want to know about me.
About my sister?
My feelings on Obama?
Or the Shack?
About the ozone layer?

Just ask, I'll answer.

Talk about Publicity Stunts

2008-11-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe I am going here because I usually avoid controversy.

I thought we were done with this, but apparantly not because it is in the news again. So here I go:

I'm sure you all heard the news last spring that Oprah (blech) heralded as miraculous? You know about the "pregnant man"?

Well apparantly "he" is pregnant again.

This is NOT miraculous because "he" is not a man. He is really a she. She was born female and grew up female and as an adult decided that she wanted to pursue living as a man instead.

She is a female, and the only miracle in all of this is that by God's design women were made to have babies. That is miraculous.

The fact that a woman, who has decided to live her life as a man, is pregnant is not newsworthy. I am so tired of Oprah (blech again) and Barbara Walters (who has lost any credibility as a news anchor as far as I'm concerned) touting this as news.

The media needs to quit playing into these peoples incessant need for the limelight and send them back to their quiet little Bend subdivision.

Please let this go away!

I didn't mean for this to happen..........

2008-11-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, truly sorry. I cannot believe that this has happened to me. Honestly, I swore it never would. I have even warned others about safeguarding themselves from this exact thing. And now it has happened to me. I'd like to blame it on her because if she hadn't contacted me about "the friendship" I would have been able to just let it remain what it was; a monogamous relationship. Instead, now I foray back and forth. I have made contact with so many others from the past that it is just inevitable that I would fall in love. Oh, I do know that nothing can replace my first love, but I would like to work out an agreement in order to keep them both. Is that to much to ask? I mean at least I'm being honest and not stringing either of them along.

So tell me, can a girl love her blog and Facebook at the same time?

PS.........

I didn't win the Wicked Soundtrack and book from Kat.

I'm sad.

The good news is that she is doing another Weekend Giveaway.

And this one involves the tata's.............

(i've always wanted to type that on my blog!!)

tata's

tata's

tata's

tata's

It's another giveaway!!

2008-11-07T17:14:00.001-08:00

My friend Michelle is doing another giveaway of her fun products.

Go check out her blog and get in on the fun!

Isaiah 46:9-10

2008-11-04T00:15:00.000-08:00

Remember the former things long past,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will
accomplish all My good pleasure.'

Ten Weeks of Winners

2008-11-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's another giveaway..............

From my friend Kat at Sunshine & Lemonade. She is doing TEN weekends of giveaways, and if the first one is an example of the rest of the prizes then you all best just stay away, because I want to win them all!!

If you must go visit her, be sure to TURN UP the volume because she plays great theme songs to each of her posts!!

The future of the free world is at hand.......

2008-11-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

You all thought I was going there, except I'm not.

I will say this though:

No matter what happens on Tuesday, God is in control.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog fodder:

Ever since the day this kid started talking

my husband and I been in complete agreement about his future.

This child is destined to be a Lawyer, a Politician or a Con Artist

(and yes, we do realize they are all very closely related if not one in the same).

Take this conversation tonight at the dinner table tonight:

Ben: "I'm thinking about getting baptized."

Me: "Oh really, why?"

Ben "Well, it's just one more step in me getting to heaven."

Me: "Actually, Ben, you do not have to be baptized to get into heaven, remember all you need to do to get into heaven is to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and ask him to be your Savior."

Ben: "Well, what is baptism for then?"

Me: "It is a public decleration of your faith in Jesus Christ."

Ben: "or it could just be my Publicity Stunt"

Minus a few brain cells today

2008-10-31T13:08:00.001-07:00

As we speak my son is sitting in a third grade classroom slowly losing his brain cells. They are being killed off one at a time all in the name of Halloween. You see at his school they are allowed to wear costumes as long as they are dressed as a book character. So Ben chose to dress as Calvin (as in Calvin & Hobbes)

And since I am always the super prepared mother I sat down last night at 11pm with red t-shirt and a black sharpie to create a Calvin shirt. 45 minutes later I was done, but high as a kite from the Sharpie pen fumes. 7 hours later my child awakens me from my coma by standing next to me in his awesome shirt, but all I can smell is Sharpie. It is then off to the bathroom to create the wonder that is Calvin's hair. Yeah, it's cool, but cool takes ALOT of goop. We put in mousse, we put in Got2Be Glued gel, and we put in more Aqua-Net hairspray than I used my entire eighth grade year. Once his hair is in it's chemically induced state of coolness, he then heads out to the living room to pick up his accessory piece. An adorable stuffed tiger that we picked up at the Goodwill yesterday. Did I say PICKED UP AT THE GOODWILL? Then by all means I should probably sanitize that thing before he hauls it around all day. And by sanitize I certainly do not mean throw it in the wash machine with some eco-friendly laundry soap and extra hot water. There is no time for that. By sanitize I mean grab the giant aerosol can of Lysol and spray the heck out of that tiger.

So that is how I sent my third grader off to school today. Looking like Calvin, carrying Hobbes, but smelling like a chemical reactor. Hopefully no one lights a match!

Pictures to follow later tonight.

Dear Zac Efron,

2008-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, did you have a great weekend or what? I heard your newest installment raked in over 40 million dollars this past weekend and that was just it's opening weekend. Not bad for a movie marketed to the "tween" set. You know the 8-11 year olds that really do not have any money to their name, but instead spend daddy and mommy's money to see you and your beautiful girlfriend sing and dance your way through your senior year.

I admit that I have not seen your latest movie yet. I'm still undecided about whether or not I will take my tween to see it. Now don't get me wrong. I did see the first two. And honestly I really liked them. Well, the first one more than the second, but that is typically the way it goes. My kids loved them too. Especially the songs. There is nothing like driving your four year old to preschool with the soundtrack to HSM playing very loud and listening to him sing all the words to every song. That is marketing genius!

I do have one bone to pick with you though, little mister. And yes, I know you are actually in your twenties, an adult and everything. And while you may or may not choose to be a role model in real life, you chose to play one in the movies thus making you a person that lots.......errr, make that tons...........oh no, maybe millions of 8-11 year old children adore, probably most of whom are girls (along with lots of thirty-something women, but we won't go there). Since you have so many adoring young fans, would you do them all, and me, a favor and spend a tad bit of your millions, it doesn't have to be much, on a belt. Yes, I said buy a belt. You know one of those things that holds your pants up while you are walking arm in arm along the beach with your sweet girlfriend. That way the millions of YOUNG girls who adore you, never have to risk seeing a scene like this. What if your under garment accidentally slipped down that last 1/8 of a centimeter.

(photo courtesy of People.com)

Enough said.

Now please go on your merry way making sweet teeny bopper musicals.

Much love,

The mother of a tween whom I never hope to see with his pants slung that low

I worked the system last night

2008-10-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

My beloved local Fred Meyer recently sent out some amazing coupons in celebration of their grand re-opening after completing a remodel.

So tonight, armed with my grocery list and coupons I embarked on a savings adventure.

After TWO hours (I was by myself, so I shopped leisurely) I had a cart full of groceries, and not just the basket portion, the bottom of the cart was packed tight too!

My total before coupons was $208.43.

After coupons?

$94.02

Yeah Baby!

Wordless THURSDAY

2008-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

(because I make my own rules!!)

This one shall be titled "Goalie Practice in the Pacific Northwest"

BOO-kini

2008-10-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

A friend recently gave me a couple of zuchinni and for some reason Cooper took an instant liking to this one.

(Yikes that kid needs a haircut!)

Today we turned his big zucchini friend into something delicious:

(Yikes that is a big knife right there next to that 4 year old!)

Cooper called it Bookini Bread.

So BOO-kini bread it is. All ready to be delivered to his teachers tomorrow and an extra set for Ben's teacher.

A message from my mom

2008-10-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who are praying for my mom as she serves in Africa. Here is an e-mail update she sent out today:

We arrived in Kigoma at about noon today. Am safe with the Stillman's at this time. Are trying to make plans for when we go where. Culture is so different, am having a difficult time seeing the poverty I am seeing. It is a way of life here. We will be going to one of the refugee camps this week sometime. I can see the Congo from the Stillman's front window. They are about 4/5 of the way up the lake from the southern tip. The lake is 400 miles long and 30 to 50 miles wide. They tell me it is the 2nd deepest lake in the world. Kigoma is also right on the border of Tanzania and Burundi. Geography lesson for today.
Flying from Dar es Salaam took about three hours. It took 4.5 hours to fly from Seattle to New York. In all fairness, I was on a prop to Kigoma and a Jet to from Seattle. A difference of about 200 miles per hour.
Chuck, I still have had all of the Toilet Paper I need. Will see how things are once we get to the camps. I think we will go to one of them this week. Are getting only one day in each, had hoped for more but the officials say that since they are being sent back to Congo they do not need visitors any more. Whew, the corruption is amazing.
I am taking as many pictures as I can, but I have to be careful as so many places do not want you to photograph them and some of the people are insulted if you photo them also. I always ask before I do.
Someone, please tell Susan that I would include her in my mailings except the address I have for her is not current. If she sends me an e-mail I will be able to include her.
Gina, maybe you can tell dad that I have mailed again.
Stan, send me an e-mail so I know you are receiving from me.
Love to everyone
Ev, Evy, Mom, Gramma, etc

It is very hard for me to imagine my sixty something year old mother, who has never travelled outside the US (except to Canada and Mexico once) taking it all in in Africa. It will beinteresting to see what God shows her. She is already a wonderful person and I just know that God will use her in an amazing way. She will come back a changed person.

Please continue to pray for her safety and ministry.

Circa 1990

2008-10-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Please Pray

2008-10-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

My mom left early his morning for 3 weeks in Africa. She is going to the Congo to serve the Tanzanian refugees there.

Please pray for their safety and effective ministry!

Are you Smarter than a 3rd grader?

2008-10-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

My third grader announced tonight that he had homework for me.

"Oh really?" I said. Fully expecting him to pull out yet another questionnaire or form for me to fill out.

He then proceeded to pull this out of his backpack:

That is Laszlo Polgar's book titled Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games.

It is 1104 pages long.

And all the pages that look like this:

Apparently the kid did not get the memo that I don't do books that long. (Although I have read a certain Vampire series whose 2560 pages were worth every minute of my time.)

I asked him why I needed to read the book, which ironically has very few words and far to many pictures of chess boards.

He told me that he wants to be a better chess player because chess players are better at math.

Ummm okay.

Then he said that in order to be a better chess player he needs to practice more at home. And in order to practice more at home someone there needs to know how to play chess.

So he asked Mr. Wagner (the media specialist and chess coach at his school) for a book that I could read to learn how to play chess.

Apparently Mr. Wagner recommends this one.

Can't we just stick to being mediocre in math?

It's my crazy life and I love it

Making the move

To quote my sister Kris

Gotta be honest here

Ten

Funky Monkey

Normal

Sunny Sunday (cold too!)

Simply Random Thursday

Christmas 2009

Nine months

Outside Recess

Mama wants

I Blinked

Carnival: If you came to my house today

This took forever to download, so you better leave a comment

Nurse Ratchet

I promised to be a better blogger

A Goody Giveaway!!

Dillingham Alaska

Where YOU been?

Irony

Remember

My Brain is Fried

She's right (and cute)

Friday Fotos

File under "I'll try anything once"

Winner

Nostalgic

Grocery Game

Operation Anchorage: Success (mostly)

I'm leaving, on a jet plane..........

It's Break Up Time

You should make these

Goodness comes in a wax box

I told you

Let's go fly a kite

Photos of our new life

On to Kotzebue (Part 10 of our Arctic Adventure)

Let the Adventure Begin (Part 9 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Our Last Week in Washington (Part 8 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Following God's Plan (Part 7 of Our Arctic Adventure)

We interupt this long, drawn out story for this

The phone call (part 6 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Our Plan (Part 5 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Hell No (Part 4 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Movement on Job Front (Part 3 of our Arctic Adventure)

Hanging by a Thread (part 2 of Our Arctic Adventure)

Our Arctic Adventure

Exhaustion

It's liberating........

We might be CRAZY.......

Alright Elena..................

This pretty much sums it up right now

It's Big

The Face of Nine

Never trust a five year old with a secret

Overheard in the back seat of my car......

I love Jesus but I drink a little too

Weird

36

Interviewed by my momma

CRISIS AVERTED

Menu Planning

Wii might need a twelve step program

One of the things I love about my kids

My 99.....

A Beautiful Friendship

this, that and some linky love

we're gonna have a little laugh here

Dear Supervised PlayRoom Inventor,

Scarred for Life

We're out of here.......

In The Spirit of Christmas

The whole neighborhood was turned on

Happy First Day of Winter!

Sometimes when you're five......

Smooth (like buttah!)

Books, Books and more Books **ETA**

The Best Nativity Ever

Books, Books and more Books ETA