New Accessories

I'm not typically an impulse buyer. I like to assess and prioritize what I am going to need/want and generally have a plan when it comes to saving for something or using birthday/Christmas money. Sometimes when I'm at Target I'll pop a pair of cute flats or earrings into my cart, but by the time I get to check out I feel guilty about them and take them out, simply because they're not part of my shopping agenda for that day. This can be a good and frustrating quality. On the one hand, it prevents me from spending a lot of little money unnecessarily that adds up to a bigger chunk of money. My rule is, if I am still thinking about the item a week later, I will allow myself to go back and seriously consider purchasing it. However, sometimes the coveted item is not available anymore, which can be frustrating.

So there's this necklace that I've been wanting on Etsy for about a year. I found the seller randomly when I was trying to get inspiration with what to do with yo-yos after I had made a bunch and didn't know what to do with them. I thought they were really unique. THEN to add even more fuel to the fire, this girl bought one and wore it to her brother's wedding, and seeing it as part of an outfit sealed the deal. But, we're trying to be good about using the credit card and I didn't really have a good reason/occasion to wear or buy one. Then this Easter I wore a simple grey dress, and I thought this is my chance for a yo-yo necklace, and I can wear it a lot this summer with tank tops...

And then the next thing I knew this pretty little package greeted me one day when I came home from work.

And here she is in all her glory. You'll have to excuse the picture... I just threw it on with what I was wearing so I could throw it up on the blog. I just love it. Without fail, someone compliments it when I wear it. Seeing how it's pieced together, I will definitely try my hand at assembling one this summer. Maybe a new item for the fall craft boutique at church?

And then there's this other accessory that I've been sporting lately, which, if we're friends on Facebook you already know about....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my 22 week belly picture taken today after work, which explains the scrub pants and rather worn out look. Our second son is due 9/15/10 and is completely healthy. We are so full of happiness and gratitude. The story of God's faithfulness and perfect timing with this baby will come shortly, I promise Internet. I guess at first I didn't want to mention anything until I was in the double digits weeks-wise and the chance of miscarriage was reduced. Then once I passed that hurdle I wanted to wait until after the 14 week ultrasound just to make sure that there were no abnormalities/problems. After we cleared that, I thought well, I may as well wait until we know the sex of the baby... and then I just didn't post anything out of laziness. But now I'm ready to announce and fill you all in on the amazing journey we've been on because exciting things are happening people!! And, as my sister in law pointed out, I really should get back to blogging before I actually, you know HAVE the baby and then shock everyone with his sudden appearance.

Thanks for all the love and prayers. I have missed you all!!

Crafting for a Cause

Every year on the first Tuesday of November our church has a holiday boutique that is put on by the women's ministry, Women In Touch.  Who is the backbone of Women In Touch you might ask?  None other than my wonderful mother in law!  She would blush and tell you it's not true, but really, it is.  She works hard monthly to coordinate their luncheons, the speakers they have, hand makes hundreds of favors a month to set at the ladies' place settings... she's the real deal.  To see this big boutique come together year after year under her direction is pretty inspiring.  So many people give of their time and talents to provide home made goodies to sell for the boutique, with all of the proceeds going to missions.  They even sell some goods from underground churches we support in China and Vietnam - really incredible!

Well, every year AFTER the boutique has happened I tell myself that I will craft a couple of items a month and put them away so I won't have to cram everything in last minute.  So far, that hasn't happened.  The cramming and jamming seems to be where it's at for me right now.  But honestly, I enjoy participating and offering something to sell, so I don't really mind.  It's just that I know I could produce a lot more to sell if I wasn't up against the clock at the end.  In years past, I've given embroidered onsies.  But I didn't have any purchased, washed and ready to go.  I was feeling the time crunch and was having a lack of inspiration.  Then I was reading this lady's blog (which I do quite a lot) and something caught my eye.  She was wearing a fabulous headband that was decorated with yo-yos.  I started to get excited.  About a year ago I came across an online tutorial on how to make yo-yos so I already had some in a baggie stashed amongst my crafting supplies.  I hadn't been sure what to do with them - it was MEANT TO BE!!  I grabbed my glue gun and went to town.

They were so easy!  And I loved how they turned out!  Don't all the colors just make you smile?

I ended up making ten which seemed like a very small, insignificant drop in the bucket.   But that's not what it is about.  And it really motivated me to get it together for next year.  And to make one for myself. 

Boo to You

Round these parts Halloween is pretty fun.  It's my Gramps's birthday, so it has always been a celebration.  Not into the gory stuff, just a extra fun day to celebrate, dress up and what not.  As a kid I loved the dressing up (mostly because that meant I got to wear makeup! and eat candy! and stay up late! all the normally forbidden things when you're 8).  Also, if I'm reminiscing about Halloweens of days past I need to include my elementary schools AWESOME carnival, called the Shriek-o-Rama which was soooo much fun - oh, fond, fond memories!!  Now, it's just fun to be the grown up in my own home and decorate and prepare for it. Last year was the first year in our house and we were shocked at the number of trick or treaters we had.  Apparently, our street is the place to be.  And I guess I understand the appeal.  It's a cute flat street (in a very hilly little valley) and our neighbors decorate with lights and jack o' lanterns and spider webs.  But we didn't feel like celebrating.  We had just gotten Gabe's diagnosis and pretty much wanted to keep to ourselves.  Handing out candy was the only thing we did.  THIS year though, we were prepared and ready to join in the festivities!!

Blitz got in on it too.  Joe stuck him in his old EMT jumpsuit, and to our amazement he kept it on all night.  It was quite the hit with my family and the kids who came to the porch.

So I invited my folks and my Granny and Gramps over to help me since Joe had to work that night, and I knew it would be busy with kids and thought they would get a kick out of seeing everything since anymore their streets are VERY quite on Halloween.  What I didn't know was that since it was the night before Daylight Savings was to end, Joe got to start work an hour late.  It was great to have him there too.  We carved our pumpkins, got to visit with everyone, and played some rounds of Quiddler (a really fun word making card game), and manned the door.  We mostly let my mom have candy duty, which she loved.  We live in the same district of the elementary school that she works at, so to see the kids' reactions when they saw her at the door was hysterical.  You know, that feeling of weirdness and shock you would have if you ever ran into one of your teachers outside of their classroom in a real place, like the grocery store or gas station?  That's what was all over their faces.  "Mrs. L?  YOU live here?!?!"  Then you could hear them muttering to themselves after they had gotten their candy the mind-blowing fact that Mrs. L had given them Halloween candy.

This was the first year that my Gramps didn't carve a jack 'o lantern for himself on his birthday.  He just thought that all the carving and scraping would be too much for his hands this year - I wish I knew how to work the scanner, because there are some really cute pictures of him at around 4 with his birthday pumpkin that are priceless.  I just love my Granny and Gramps.  There is no one like them!!  I'll have to do a post some day just about them - they have a very romantic story (well, I think so anyway) complete with a blind date meeting and a war wedding.  This past July they celebrated their 67th anniversary.  I want to be like them. 

So we had about two and a half hours of a solid stream of people, and the grand total of trick or treaters was 168.  We had 6 big bags of candy that I had gotten, my mom brought 3 and Granny brought 1 and we still had to send dad out for a candy run to Safeway before the night was over. 

Aaaaaand Blitz helped himself to his own treat at the very end of the night.  When things died down at the end, I pulled the pumpkins in so they wouldn't get smashed in the street overnight and placed them on the hearth for safekeeping.  Ha!!  I was in the kitchen cleaning up, and when I walked back into the living room, that's the sight that greeted me.  Who knew dogs liked pumpkin?

Wishful Thinking

I like purses.

A lot.  

They are probably my one "big" indulgence.  I still have the very first purse I ever was given when I was around 3; navy blue corduroy, with a little leather strap.  It was a vital part of my ensemble when I would go on walks around the block with my Granny and we would collect leaves, flowers, rocks and I would stick them in my purse for safe keeping til I got home and could organize my loot. Now it is safely stashed away in my memory box along with favorite books and tiny shoes and a favorite stuffed animal.  

Then in my teens, I graduated to all kinds of colorful, patterned, glitzy bags big and small and had Rubbermaid bins that I stored them in since there was such an abundance.  When my family went to New York I thought I had died  and gone to heaven on Canal Street where you can buy designer knock offs for cheap.  Eventually though, I outgrew them and gave them away to some high school girls at my church who were happy for the freebies.

Now, I actually have some very nice designer purses that I love.  Joe has seriously spoiled me in that way - and I am totally enjoying that cause I'm sure when kids come that will change.  The only problem is, since they are more expensive than the trendy ones I could run into Target and grab, I feel obligated that they should be serviceable FOR.EV.ER. and match any and all seasons/clothes/colors etc.  This means that I have had to tamp down my instincts to want the colorful bags and choose the sensible black and browns.  But I miss the colors.  I miss the fun.

Anyway, I was browsing online today, and I saw the pretty thing above (Kate Spade Westbury Opus-Drawstring in leather) and instantly like the cobalt-y blue color.  Ahhh... maybe one day.  

What're some of your favorite things to treat yourselves to?

And also, I hope you are enjoying your Labor Day - I know I am!!  12:30pm and I'm on my second cup of coffee still in my PJ's!  Not too shabby!

I Want to be the Next Elle Woods!!

OK, not really.

But all my secret Broadway/musical knowledge geekiness has been brought to the forefront by this show:

Shut up.  Stop laughing.  I'm baring a part of my soul here people!

MTV is doing a reality show to replace the current lead in Legally Blond the musical, and it has me hook, line and sinker.  

When I was little I was quite good at singing and did lots of theater in church and the community and even got contracted to do some Christian kids musical recordings.  Then junior high came along and the pond was a lot bigger, and I got a whole slew of insecurities about how my voice matched up to others and what a scrawny bean-pole I was - I didn't want to be the center of attention.  Then high school came and I didn't have the cojones to enter into that super clicky world... so my little musical ambitions drifted away, although I am still an avid lover of all things Broadway.  A highlight of my life was when on family vacation in New York in '03 I won front row tickets to Wicked, and got to have Kristin Chenoweth sing right in front of me.  She was so close I could have reached out and touched her sparkly-blue Glinda skirt.  

I love seeing the auditioning process and imaging myself there; although, Elle is not a role I would ever get.  She's just not me.  I think that if I could cast myself in a show, I would be Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie.  She's got moxie.  And I can bring that too.  I'm rooting for Lauren (the young one).

East Coast VaCa (from, oh, two months ago)

So have I been the poster child for a bad blogger or what? You know it is bad when your husband sends you not so subtle hints that you should update your blog accompanied by sighs and stares.


Tsk, tsk.


Here's my feeble attempt to make up for my rudeness, because really, that is what it is. I've still been reading other's work, just not caring to contribute any of my own. Now, we have been swamped by a lot here recently, but I can't even really play that card when half the people that I read have at least one child if not more so you know they've got their hands full, and they faithfully find the time to keep me entertained. The cycle must stop! So follow me while I reminisce about our trek to Virginia and DC.


Jefferson's beautiful Monticello.

The real reason for the trip: Jerrod, Amanda, John and Tyler. We love them! It was so great to be able to spend time with them, see what their lives are like, and relax in their home. Thank you four so much for your warmth and hospitality. We can't wait to return the favor when you guys can make it out to Cali! I even got to meet some blogging pals too!! Candace and Kelly, thank you both so much. It meant a lot that you took time out of your very busy lives to come spend an evening with us! You both are as sweet, funny and warm as your writing portrays you to be.

Oh, sweet baby Tyler. I held him every single chance I got. What a happy little guy.

Mt. Vernon, Washington's home, was one of my favorite historical sights that we saw. Because we were there in the extreme off season, it was like it was open just for us. I could've sat out on the back porch for a long time. So peaceful and quiet looking onto the Potomac.

OK all you Ugg haters (my SIL Amy!), take note. I wore mine in the freezing snow, sock less, and this girl who always has cold feet and hands, had toasty warm toes. They are awesome, and I will use them forever. So there.

Some fun facts about Virginia: I had my first Chick-a-Fillet and Cracker Barrel experiences. They were tasty. The speed limit feels extremely slow. Most traffic seems to amble along at 40-45mph, verses the Bay Area's 80mph freeways. It drove Joe nuts at times. Also, road signage is very confusing. When we were heading to Lynchburg at one point we saw sings that told us we were on 129 South and (I think) 52 North at the same time. Not sure how, but we were. All in all, I really liked it.

Moving on to the DC portion... we stayed in the historic Foggy Bottom section which is about 5 blocks from the Georgetown area, and it was great!! Waaaaaayyyy too cold, and so I think to do DC justice we'll have to head back in the spring sometime. For instance, the last day there we had planned to do a open air bus tour so we could see all the monuments, and we woke up that morning to a raging snow and ice storm. There was a lot we missed. Owell. Reasons to head back, right?

I started noticing that most of the old churches have bright red doors. Love it!!

We were able to go to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which obviously has a lot of meaning to us. It's nice to see those heroes honored.

Me and Rex getting friendly at the Smithsonian.

The Hope Diamond. Which was really sparkly.

This was the closest we got to it walking to dinner one night. On our way to the Old Ebbitt Grill, actually. I would love to go back - the flavor there is older, and you really get a sense of America's roots, which as a history person and lover of all things old, I connected with.

I'm already set to go back. As usual, travel only whets my appetite for more of it!

Scurry, scurry

So.

We found out this afternoon that the trip is a go, so off we fly to DC tomorrow bright and early, and then drive 3 hours into Virginia to see family. We're super happy that we get to see Jerrod, Amanda, John and Tyler, even though we will probably have to come home early (cutting into the DC part of the trip) so Joe can do the court thing. Oh well. Family time is most important (and hopefully meeting a VA blogging acquaintance or two?!?), anything after that will be like icing on the cake.

Since I had pretty much convinced myself that we would be sticking around here and cancelling, you can imagine that I've been dashing all over like a crazy woman. It feels like there are forty-two thousand loose ends all needing to be set straight (house stuff, loan stuff, laundry, packing, yada, yada, yada) and even though I have my trusty lists to make me feel like I'm in control, I'm sure that I forgot something. But I won't fret about that now because I must tuck myself in because my fabulous chauffeur of a brother-in-law Josh will be here way too early for my taste to take me to the airport.

So have a good week! We'll chat when I return...and then (gulp) only 2 weeks till the new house... :)

New Favorite?

I've mentioned before that I'm not on the forefront of new things... it takes a little bit of watching and waiting to see if they pan out before I take the plunge. TV shows fall into that category, especially since we got cable when all the series were ending last season, I really felt out of the loop. Mostly what I watch is on cable - lots of TCL and Food Network, and I get my dose of reality (or lack thereof) TV by watching Lauren and the girls on The Hills. If my TV received only those two channels, I could make it. I'm not a fan of too many of the shows on ABC, NBC, you know the main channels...I think they had their heyday when I was in high school and you had the good version of ER with George Clooney, Seinfeld, Friends, Mad About You, and a super stellar cast on SNL. Anymore, a lot of the shows are just plain trashy to me, or interest me.

All that to say, I was channel surfing last night and landed on NBC at 8:30PM on 30 Rock. I'd obviously heard about it for awhile, but knew nothing about it, except that it won the Emmy for best comedy, so I decided to watch until the first commercial. Well, I watched the whole darn thing and laughed a lot during it. I think I'll tune in next week. What really surprised me though was Tina Fey, aka Liz Lemon - she is so watchable!! And cute. And smart. And witty. I think she may be my new favorite sitcom lady. I haven't had one of those since Jennifer Aniston. Huh.

And since I'm on the topic of TV, I must say that on The Hills, Elodie was absolutely amazing and got hers in the end over Heidi. I wish I had that kind of guts!!

OK, so I'm hooked

As I was heading out of the apartment to Target last night, there was something on the doormat. Lo and behold it was a glorious little package from Amazon, with my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I let out such a big gasp that Joe came running into the room thinking something was wrong. Being the mature adult that I am, I squealed, jumped up and down, then calmly put the package on the coffee table, determined to do my shopping and open the package when I got back. So I did. When I returned I ripped into that bad boy, and proceeded to read until 5AM this morning. I don't even remember the last time I did that. I didn't even feel tired. I finished it this afternoon. So before, I was completely ignorant about the wizarding world, not really caring about what I was missing, and somewhere along the way Harry and the gang won me over. I think it was around book 3; that's when I found myself wanting to know what happened next. I have to say, I love the way the series ended. I like it when there's a definite ending, and you know where the characters end up in their lives. So to sum it up kudos to Harry, Hermione & Ron, and kudos to J.K.Rowling for creating an awesome world/sport/story... (what would it be like to spend a day in her imagination?) it was simply smashing.

iPod Lovin'

This is my apple green mini iPod. I use it everyday and love it to bits. When its not in the dock, it's in my purse/car being toted around. Quite awhile ago, Candace made a cozy for her iPod that was awesome, and I tucked away that idea in my head to do at a later time. Every time I would go to make it, something would come up, and it would get put on the back burner. The other night, when Joe was watching something he had DVR'd that I wasn't really into, I grabbed some felt scraps, floss, a needle and went to town. This is the finished result:

The front; please folks, hold your applause till the end.

The back with spiffy initial letter "k"...

And we'll wrap up with the full body shot.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Mostly, I was using it as an exercise to practice some different stitches, because on the onsies I find myself using a lot of the split stitch, and that's it. If it was truly heinous, I could pitch it...but I ended up thinking it was pretty darn cute, and wanted to share it. Right now, I'm a real navy girl, and I love the aqua and coral against it - gives it a retro kick that I can't get enough of. Note to self - next time, use a ruler when cutting fabric. Eyeballing it is tough. And also, invest in a white pencil, because free styling your design on dark fabric at night is not the easiest. Having a little guide would be lots easier.

Lately, these two men are dominating the play time on the iPod...

Chris Rice is relatively new to me, and I think he's great. Especially the "Lemonade" song. I find myself humming it throughout the day.

Michael, well, I could listen to him sing the phone book and be enraptured. My mom and I are going to see him in August when he comes into town...till then he croons to me on my commute.

And there you have it. The up-to-date info on me and my iPod.

The D40 Has Landed

And I'm in love.

Graduation & Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti

Bet you thought I was gone for good! Nope, just a slacker. Haven't been around the place for the past two weekends, and not home much during the week, and when I am, I'm either catching up on chores, or enjoying important TV shows like Little People Big World, or Law & Order SVU. I still don't really feel like writing, but want to share the pics, so without further ado, here they are...

HUME LAKE COUPLES RETREAT

So, so, so glad that we were able to go to this. It looked a little sketchy for a stretch there, but God is good. He knew we really needed this piece of rejuvenation and focusing on us and Him. Hard to believe that a week ago at this time Erin, Kiyoko and I were in our swimsuits laying out in front of the lake, gearing up to do the GPS Treasure hunt. *Sigh* Very fun. There's no place else quite like Hume Lake. Think of the biggest and best summer camp you've ever been to, multiply it by 100, and you get Hume. They have quality facilities, quality location, quality worship, and get awesome speakers. You get the gist. We were fortunate to tag along with the Lankford's church, so we met a lot of new people, and they were all really nice. The scandal of the weekend was they thought Joe's identical brother Josh (whom they all know because he interns with Chris at their church) was there with a mystery woman (me). I lost count of the people who tentitively came up to Joe and said "Err, are you Josh, or Joe? And who are you with?". It was pretty funny.

Joe and I committed that we would always try and do things to benefit our marriage and relationship; we've just seen too many people focus on other things within their marriage like kids, work, etc., and we just want the foundation of "us" and where we are with the Lord to be rock solid, with the idea that everything else will be stronger and better off for it. That's why we're so for premarital counseling with a real counselor vs a pastor who definitely has the best of intentions, but not the same training. Ours was invaluable; in fact, we went back to her for about 1 session a month for 4 months right before Joe started the academy because we knew it was going to be a tough stressful situation. It really helped, and I firmly believe that working on yourself or relationship in that capacity is a good thing. More people should do it. OK, I'll get off my soap box now...
So, we took full advantage of all Hume had to offer like renting bikes and riding around the lake, the high ropes course for the guys, paddling out into the lake on a boat, the pool, the GPS treasure hunt (which was fun but really exhausting), the snack shack, hanging out at the coffee shop Hume n' Beans talking and laughing...really just playing. It was great. They took care of everything. But the real "meat" of the retreat was the speakers, Bill & Pam Farrel, who wrote the book Men Are Like Waffles & Women Are Like Spaghetti . We had all read the book, and actually, we had done it together as a small group with the Lankfords a few years ago. The whole point of the book in a nutshell, is that men compartmentalize things, while women connect everything together, and how to work through and with those differences in a loving relationship, rather than have them grow into really big problems. Communication, people!! That is what a lot of it boils down to...and Lord knows, I'm not perfect at it by any means, so it was really good to hear positive ways to work on it.

What was also really cool about the weekend, was not only being with the Lankfords (of course), but with our other friends who mean so much to us. Very rarely do all our schedules mesh together; so this was great. Hopefully, we can make it an annual thing where no matter where we are, or what we're up to, we can make it to this together. Friends are so important, aren't they? The older I get, the more I see just how much they do for us in our lives, and what purpose they have in them; especially for me, my girlfriends. Erin, well, I would have to sum it up that she is definitely my "kindred spirit" (you'll only get that reference if you read the Anne of Green Gables books, and if you didn't, I feel really sorry for you - its like you missed a piece of childhood). We are two peas in a pod. No matter how long it has been, we always start right back from where we left off - and we've never had a fight. No stupid girl drama with us. She was my maid of honor, she'll be my kids' aunt, and we'll be fun crazy old ladies together. 'Nuff said. And Kiyoko, she is the most generous person I know, coupled with fantastic advice. I love the frankness of our talks, how we can be creative and crafty together, and that time spent with her is time well spent. How did I get so lucky?

Me and my favorite guy. Jeez, I'm white. You can't tell where I start and where my tank top ends...

Biking around the lake with the Sorgels (Chase & Erin).

Contrary to what you might think, very yummy food - not camp-y at all. And check out the view from the dining hall...not too shabby, right?

Thank you Alder (especially room 201) - you were good to us...hope to see you next year!

GRADUATION

It was really fun, and I'm really glad that we were all able to be there, except, it really pointed out to me that my grandparents have really aged, and this was probably the last trip we'll make with them. I've been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit with all my grandparents, but this time was a very big contrast to all the previous times. It was stressful on them not remembering where they were, all the security precautions now, etc. Not too fun to watch. But on the flip side, my brother's graduated, we had an awesome dinner (no, didn't make it to the premiere), and really great memories. Luckily, we were blessed with a foggy morning for the graduation, otherwise I would've burned to a crisp despite the fact that I lathered on the sunscreen. We were seated out on the football field and there was not one spec of shade. I really hate being so fair, and I hope that our kids inherit Joe's tanning abilities. Anyway, the speakers were good, but there were A LOT of names we had to sit thru till they got to Blaine's. When they did, we all jumped up and screamed like maniacs. It was fun. Tip: If you are ever in the vicinity of the Napa Rose, go eat there. Even if its just for an appetizer or dessert. The whole time I was eating, I kept thinking that our friends Chris & Kiyoko should've been there, because they're the real foodies. Each dish looks like a work of art, and tastes amazingly good. You know how sometimes you go to a really classy or gourmet place, and nothing tastes good, because its all a little too fancy & weird? Not so here. Truly one of the best meals I've ever had. And if you don't want to eat, just go there to look, because it is gorgeous. Its a combo is Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, and the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite (we stayed there for a portion of our honeymoon), all beautiful timber, big boulders/river rock and stained glass, huge fireplaces, classy piano music playing - love it! I keep telling Blaine to please, please keep working at Disney when we have kids so we can use his sweet discount there at the park and hotels. He just rolls his eyes. I'm only half joking.

So, now you're caught up. Jeez, I didn't feel like writing, but man, I got on a roll. What's up next? Well, I just finished the first onsie, now onto another. We got our tax refund, so I'm hoping that this weekend we can go to a store and at least peruse if not buy a new camera (exciting!). We went and saw Pirates last night, and I'm still not sure what I think. I could watch Johnny Depp play that character forever - he was definitely the best part of the movie. I'm still trying to figure the plot out...I'm half convinced there wasn't really one. Not too sure. Anyway, have a great first weekend of June people!! (June - can you believe it?!?)