Work Party

The work party was so fun that we attended on Friday night. With all that has gone on this past year, everyone was ready to let loose and have a good time! I think everyone was still recovering on Monday. The party was held at The Pacific Club which is a private club our president belongs to. It is a beautiful building. As you can see from the pictures it was a good time had by all.

I really enjoyed the dinner served. Never trust someone when you ask them if you have something stuck in your teeth! hehehe

The room was decorated so nice, it was fun to get all fancied up and not have to pay for it =0

This is Austin with us, I work with him and he also is our neighbor.

Another co-worker, Sean and I were having a very interesting conversation about this book.

Lucas and Lexy

Here are a few pictures of my parents trip to Kentucky. I miss these kids so much and I can't believe how fast they are growing.

Nana and her angels.

Here come's the sun, (do do do do)

That title is from a song for those who didn't know. Haha. Press the title if you don't believe me! The last three days have been pretty gloomy, I loved it! Today there are tons of fluffy scattered

clouds and lots of sun. It's still cold out!

Well this is what I see for 8 hours at work. I do have a nice view compared to most people, so I cant complain.

These are sitting on my counter,

at my desk, in front of my face!

Pure torture.

:::Just say no, just say no:::

The presents are just for looks,

I checked already. =(

Some remnants of a holiday party

Thor got some special treats last night from the store. They were only 50 cents each, so he got two new toys. Took a minute for him to decide which one he wanted to play with first.

Hope everyone had a wonderful night, and have a great day! It's almost Friday!

BTW, have you seent hat Christmas day countdown at the top =/ getting really close!

Another weekend gone

These last two days have gone super fast for me. I loved the rain yesterday, and have been enjoying the cooler weather. Lots of events coming up! This Friday is my work party, we always have a good time at that. But this year will be very different without all my girls =( We use to fill an entire table and it felt like it was just our party. I will poor some for my home girls when we're there. Love you girls! Then on Saturday I get to see my good friend who is coming to visit her family from New York. Cant wait to hang out and really catch up.

We have been able to have a few fires at home which has really saved us from turning on the heater! I'm holding out as long as possible, yes... I know, I'm cheap. I have only crossed two things off my shopping list!! Five more to go, I think.

Joe and I are counting down till we leave for our road trip to Oregon/Washington for the week of New Years. We will get to see our good friends and spend New Years Eve with them, which we haven't been able to do in a long time. We are going to stay at the Skamania Lodge in Stevensen Washington, it's a beautiful place and we are all hoping for snow!

Almost hump day, I meant to do this post in the morning =/ whoops! Like I said, these days have been going really fast for me!

Here are a couple pic's of us enjoying the fire at home last night. My little cuddle bugs!

Fun Family Weekend

My Aunt is doing well after her surgery. I am excited to go visit her soon! Thank you all again for your prayers.
Well what an awesome weekend I had with my brother visiting and our trip to Disneyland. It was really crowded that day but we still had a great time hanging out. There were six of us, my Aunt Sheryl, Aunt Tammy, my parents, my brother and I. We got to go on a lot of the rides but I think our favorite one was the last one we did which was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters! We were all a bit competitive with it but still had so much fun. I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of going to Disneyland no matter how old I get.

I love this picture of the castle, it was actually a reflection in the pond below. Thanks Aunt Sheryl for the idea! The 2nd picture is on It's a Small World and then my brother with the light up Mickey ears that helped us keep track of each other!!

My brother left for Kentucky Monday and my parents just left for Kentucky today for a visit. This will be a very different Christmas this year, I will really miss having the kids around and watching them get excited for presents. I will also miss having my little sister Lizzi around this year too, she will be in Africa working with WYWAM, I am so proud of her!
14 days people! that's all there is till Christmas!! I have been able to cross off one present from our list =/ I always think "next year I will be done with plenty of time to spare" but the next year comes and goes and I am still shopping last minute. Well good luck to you all who are in my shoes, and extra luck in the parking lot!!

I found some pictures I thought I was missing! My Aunt Tammy, Mom and Dad. Then there is my brother, me and Aunt Sheryl. OH! and the last one is the best fries we had ever had! YUM!

Update

My Aunt Maude got through her surgery last night, everything went as planned. Thank you for your prayers. Now for recovery. God bless America Aunt Maude!!

(something we say to each other).

Prayer request

My dear Aunt Maude had a bit of an accident yesterday and broke her hip. She will be going in to surgery this morning to have a screw put in. It was a clean break, which I hear is a "good" thing. I am not sure what time her surgery will be at today, but please say a prayer for her and the doctors performing the surgery. I love her so much!

Happy December 1st!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, I sure did!! I got to see my family and two of my best friends over the long weekend. I was lucky enough to join Liz and her family and some other friends on her search for her wedding dress. Which was a total success btw! It was so much fun!

I am really excited for this week, my brother is coming down for a visit from Kentucky. I wish his entire family was coming with him but this time he will be traveling solo. But I am still super excited to have him to myself for a little while.

This is the last week before Joe takes his CBEST test, he will be taking it this Saturday at 8am. I am nervous for him but have total faith in his test taking abilities, he is an awesome test taker. After he passes this test he will start applying to the two schools, then more waiting. I am not so good at the waiting thing =/

24 more days of shopping left, let the countdown begin.

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you all have a great weekend and wonderful time with your families. I'm excited to see my everyone tomorrow and for the long weekend. Be safe!

Oh and to all of you brave enough for black Friday... Good luck!

Food, lots of food

Today at work we are doing our annual Thanksgiving potluck. I have never been one to get excited about potlucks, I think it's because I'm a worrier. I worry that the food wasn't kept at the right temperature, there some ingredient I hate in it, and other dumb things that make no sense to be worried about.
On the lines of my last post, I am very thankful for the overwhelming amount of food we as Americans have available to us pretty much 24/7. But food prices have been on the rise and it makes it a bit more difficult to have all the things we enjoy eating. Joe and I have had a lot, and I mean a lot, of pasta, rice and whatever sale meat was there at the store. We get really tired of the same thing and start to run out of ideas on how to make different things out of the same foods. BUT!! We have no reason to make sour faces at the idea of a spaghetti dish once again for dinner even though we had it for lunch from last nights left overs. Not once in my life have I ever had to go to bed hungry, wake up hungry or go through the day with out a meal or even a snack. It might not be that yummy steak with fresh veggies on the side, or fish with some kind of delicious veggie on the side, but its still good food!! I am SO blessed to have a husband who is gifted in the kitchen and truly enjoys figuring out a new way to make an old dish. Our budget is stretched but our stomachs are full. I pray that with this Thanksgiving season we only make what we will eat and don't see an ounce go to the trash.
We were at the grocery store this week and as we were checking out, they asked if we would like to donate a dollar to our local food bank. OF COURSE I WOULD!! I know a dollar isn't much at all but I hope it helps. My brother and sister in law have a donation request right now to feed children in Africa, they made a great video to explain the need and what our contributions can do. Here is the link to the site and the video. http://www.cohcommunity.org/involved_donate_nopeasvideo.html
I know I wont be eating my peas this year!! Hope you don't either.

Thankful

Happy Tuesday to all. I made the title for today Thankful, because I forget to be that sometimes. I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect! So I have been trying to take time during the day to be thankful for Gods gifts, big and small. Whether its being thankful for my friends, family, husband, dogs, food to eat, clothes to wear, or a warm cozy bed to sleep in, I want to be thankful. With all the fires that have been going on and with the losses people are experiencing, I especially feel I need to be thankful. My heart and my prayers go out to the people who have lost their homes, I cant begin to imagine what they are going through now. The fires hit pretty close to home, being my parents house and some of our family friends, and I am so thankful to say that everyone is OK.
On Thanksgiving day people usually go around the dinner table and say things they are thankful for, but I hope to do that everyday. It really helps me when I want to feel sorry for myself because I don't think things are happening the way they should be. I have to be thankful for what is now!! And always know my plan is not my own, and leave it in the hands of the Lord. Sometimes its easier said than done, but that's where being thankful really comes in handy. I can start to list in my head all the things I am thankful for and then I don't have time to worry about what isn't happening that I think should be! Sometimes it's still not easy, and I make a reservation for a pitty party of one. Remember, I'm not perfect. I'm sure someone understands out there ; )

Well the weekend is finally upon us! As if I needed to remind anyone. hehehe. This week went pretty fast for me, I hope you had the same luck. Be safe this weekend and enjoy the heat; well try =/ I'm not looking forward to it.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Hump day is finally coming to an end, two more days till the weekend! I hope you all had a great day and will have a nice evening.

Our mini vaca

I have to first say thank you to my Dad for putting the pictures on to the computer for me since I forgot my camera in my parents car. I'm excited to share the pictures of our mini get away.

Oak Glen

We had a wonderful day together. When we arrived, we went to the small store and looked at all the fun gifts they had, and decided which apples we liked best. They had a lot of samples of things out and we made sure we tried them all! After the apples, apple cider, and some kind of delicious spread purchase we went to get some lunch at the BBQ next door. We filled out tummies with awesome BBQ then topped that off with amazing apple pie.

Well after all that we needed to walk it off, it was hard to get moving but it was very worth it. There were some small trails behind the orchard which made you feel like you were in a different place. It was very peacful and beautiful.

It was such a fun time and so relaxing, I cant wait to go back again soon. To see more pictures of our trip, click on the title at the top "Our mini vaca".

Case of the Monday's

Monday came so fast I wasn't quite prepared. We had a wonderful weekend spent with my parents. We went to Oak Glen and enjoyed so many things up there. That just reminded me I forgot my apple for today! Grrr. I have great pictures to share but as I said, I was not prepared for Monday coming so soon. I will post those asap! I hope everyone had a great weekend too, and that this week will fly by so we can enjoy another weekend! If you like the cool weather, enjoy it while you can! The weather is turning quite drastically again this Friday =( I like the cooler weather so I am not looking forward to more heat.

Oh, and if you could say a prayer for our little Thor, he seems to either have a cold or he might have asthma. He just hasn't seemed to be feeling well since last night.

Small update, I left my camera in my parents car! So this week will not be so big on the pictures =/ Sorry. I really wanted to get the ones of our trip to Oak Glen up!

Almost Friday

Friday is so close I can taste it! Or was that a bite size snickers left over from the Halloween candy all over the office at work. =/

What a week.

Rain

Thank you God for the rain! Even though it woke me up twice in the middle of the night. Everything looks so different after a good rain, I really enjoy it.

Well we ended our Monday night with a wonderful dinner made by chef Joe, some Mario Kart and two sleepy dogs. We hope you all had a great night too! Be careful on the wet streets.

Rusty's Birthday!

Today is Rusty's 13th birthday, so he was given some special privileges.

He is not usually allowed on the couch, for obvious reasons, there is just not enough room for him! And he rarely gets the remote control.
Thor is pretty jealous of this special attention Rusty
is getting today, well he always is when all eyes aren't on him. Happy Birthday Rusty!! We love you!!

Changes

I can't believe how fast time has been going. Even though it still feels like summer weather, we are well on our way to Thanksgiving and Christmas!
As most of you already know, Joe and I have made the decision to move soon. With a lot of prayer, talking, research, and more talking, we came to the conclusion that Joe will be getting his MAT (Master in the Art of Teaching) in Oregon. He will be applying to Concordia University and also George Fox University. Both have satellite campuses in Portland with programs for working adults. This will take about 22 months to complete. At the moment Joe is preparing to take the CBEST in December which must be passed before applying to the schools. Please keep him in your prayers!
We are both very excited for this new adventure that is to come, but also know leaving behind friends and so much family will be very difficult. But the Lord has blessed us with a lot of family and a lot of friends that already live in Oregon and Washington; and we cant wait to be able to spend more time with them.
So this is why I have decided to make this blog, to keep connected with you! I don't know what we would do without technology these days.
Well, happy November!