This and That

Last week we had small group at our house... and let me just say that I got far too much pleasure and enjoyment out of it! I rarely get to have people over and show off my house with it's decor and pictures and splashes of color everywhere that I love and adore - so I get a little bit excited when I do... and even more so when I get lots of compliments :). After everyone left, Matt and I were like... wow EVERYONE sure commented a lot on how much they liked our house, fireplace, photographs on the wall (mostly ones I've taken... a couple by Jordan), colors, kitchen floor, and more. The other houses we've been at so far were just as nice or nicer than ours.... do we just not remember as many compliments at those ones? Or were they all expecting the least from us since we're just the poor newlyweds? :-P I don't know... and it's kinda funny because I am not usually one to get so high off of compliments, especially not if they're about myself - but apparently I do if they're about my home :). I also recently put some pics of Evangeline and Lucca in frames around the house, so now I can show them off too :).

On a different note, I have parent-teacher-conferences this week, boo. That means that I will be at work until around 8:30 both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Then small group Thursday night, stopping by my babysitting kids' to see their costumes after work Friday and then a Halloween party later when Matt gets off work, a day to relax Saturday, and Matt's fam on Sunday. I have a jam-packed week! It's nice to have a life once in a while.

At church we're going through a sermon series called The Story of the First Church, based on the book of Acts. It must be good from the start because it's from Acts, right?! Well it really is very good, but Pastor Jeff also referred to an old sermon last week, out of James, that he preached last spring. It was about choosing joy because when bad things happen, you have to choose something-some response, so you might as well choose joy. I've been thinking about that and how and where to apply that in my life. Joy isn't just about being happy, but more like, having a peaceful attitude about things, a better outlook. So my goal is to apply this to my lack of time spent with my husband. With his school and work (mostly because of work) and my work... we really get very little time together during the week or on the weekend. And now that we're in a small group, we have even less, because that was one of our free nights (but we decided it was a necessary sacrifice). So my goal is to appreciate the time that I do have with him so that that counts even more, and to do more things to encourage and uplift him because he is the one having to be gone so much. I want to appreciate all the time that I have to myself to do the things I've never had time for previously in my life: reading, scrap booking, emailing and calling and encouraging people more, cooking, baking, watching gilmore girls ;). That is my goal and my prayer... a very hard one... but I going to try and ask God to help me along the way.

An Ode to my Honda

Here is a little story for you. My Honda started smoking just a little on my way home from work the other week. I pulled over and assessed the situation and everything looked OK enough to drive the rest of the way home, and it didn't smoke any more the whole way. We took it in and found out that there are MANY oil leaks (some of which are behind the timing belt and super expensive to fix), all 4 fuel injectors are also leaking gasoline, and a few other small odds and ends. Fantastic. All in all, it costs more to fix it than that old car is worth. And since they say it is now unsafe to drive... that leaves us with one car for the moment.

Now, I have this tendency at times to worry or overreact and get overwhelmed by situations like this. I want to control them myself and have it within my power to fix them. I have a very hard time giving up control to God (or others that He is working through) to take the burden off my shoulders. I am happy to say, however, that I tried very hard to let God have control, and with His help and reminders, I haven't really freaked out at all. I won't say that I haven't been impatient or frustrated at all this past week with all the carpooling and such, but only minimally.

We had decided that we would look for a newer used car, but we would still be in a crunch to find one soon... because carpooling and Matt riding his bike some days from Calvin to work isn't going to cut it for too much longer with the weather getting colder and wetter. But then Matt's parents offered to let us borrow their second older mini-van because they don't need it anymore. What a blessing! Now we have time to really keep our eyes out and find a good deal. Especially since it is so hard to find time during the day when neither of us are working to go looking.

Alrighty... back to my dear old '89 Honda Accord and a few highlights during it's life with me...

• My parents bought it in the fall of my senior year of high school (2002... exaclty 6 years), and I have had it ever since then, minus my freshman year of college.
• On it's first trip out of town, Natasha and I drove it to visit Trinity Western College in BC, Canada. On our way home, which was the night before Thanksgiving, it started overheating and all the water we poured into the radiator emptied right back out.... it was shot. My wonderful uncle Doug picked us up from Mt.Vernon, the closest real city, until my Dad could come rescue us... and the car was recued a few days later.
• I packed way too many people and gear into that little car (which has an amazing amount of leg room and trunk space for a compact) too many times my senior year thorugh basketball, softball, and other activities (most involving blaring music with at least the sunroof open... no matter the temp).
  
• That winter, it was broken into in our church parking lot during youth group. All of my cds and my stereo were stolen. This is when I began burning cds like mad because I had to replace so many and insurance didn't cover very many.
• While I was at Calvin my freshman year, I think Dustin mostly used it.
• August 2004 my dad drove across the country with me for the first time to bring it to Grand Rapids.
  
• My car had it's first midwest winter... where I REALLY learned how to drive in the snow. how to dig my car out, how to do doughnuts, how much work it is to scrape the snow and ice off... everything important.
• In May 2005 my dad flew out to drive back to Seattle again with me... this time leaving Matt behind in the dust... so sad. But Dad and I did go through the Badlands and Yellowstone National Park on our way this time!
  
• I also took it on the ferry and drove through the Olympic National Forest to go backpacking.
• August 2005... another drive across the country.... returning to see Matt after a long summer appart :).
• Soon after I got there, Matt, Scott, Grace, and I drove to Sandusky, Ohio to go to the Cedar Point amusement park! However, soon after returning... my car began smoking and ended up needing a new engine! For about a month I had to get rides, borrow Matt's car, ride Grace's bike, and take the bus. So we got a newish used engine put in.
  
• My Honda was a trooper through the next two winters and another drive back and forth across the country (the way back to GR being with Matt this time!).
• Oh, and a month of Matt visiting and us going all over Seattle, Mt. Rainier National Forest and elsewhere.
• Summer 2007... I graduate and Mom and Dad sign the car over to me as a graduation gift.
  
• September 2007... oil leak problems costing lots of money.
• March-ish 2008... Matt's car is broken and we almost freak out because the Honda starts steaming.... but we get it checked out and it's only a hose and a quick cheap fix.
• May 2008.... minor oil leak, expensive to fix.... we put up with it.
• July 2008, we seal the sunroof closed because it leaks and pours water on the passenger seat after it rains hard (which it has the tendency to do here!)
  
• That bring us to now, October 2008.... little lasting Honda's life is finally over :(

More Fall Photos

Pumpkin Carving Fun

I Love Fall!

So, this week didn't turn out quite how I expected it to. I ended up not having a super long weekend last weekend, because someone was sick Monday and I had to come in to work anyways. But then I got this past Friday off instead, so now this weekend is the long one, lol. Anyways, that kinda threw me into the work week unexpectedly and really tired me out! We went on a field trip to a farm/pumpkin patch on Wednesday, so that was fun. It went pretty well (although, we did have almost as many parents as children :-P). I really can't remember much at all from my week at the moment.

Oh, last week Sunday, Matt and I went on a nice fall (despite the 80 degree temps!) walk through the nature preserve at Calvin. But then I got 5-10 mosquito bites, one of which swelled up to the point that it looked like I had a huge tumor on my arm or something (not very comfortable either). I loaded up on antihistamines and benadryl cream, and that did the trick... within a couple days.

This one is actually at a park on a river near our church.

This one too.

Now to Calvin

I like the variety of colors in this tree.

I've noticed a lot of these colorful vines on
tree trunks lately, they look really cool :)

I filled up 5 yard waste bags with leaves (and that was after stomping them down to fit) on Friday. Boo, and there are still just as many on the tree waiting to fall off yet. Plus 2 piles that I didn't fit in the bags. Fall's beauty is in full swing though! Here are a few pics from last week. And I'm hoping to take my camera to the trail by our house sometime soon as well, I ran along it Friday and it was even more amazing. I am going to miss midwest falltime, that is for sure.

My long weekend hasn't been very exciting: laundry, cleaning, raking leaves, errands (for some reason the mall was already as crazy as it is at Christmas time! Yuck!), work stuff, and babysitting. I bought a few cute fall decorations :). It was killing me not to have any, and they were 50% off at Hobby Lobby, I LOVE that store!

Matt and I are going to carve pumpkins tonight... I'll post some pics later :). Did I mention how much I like fall?

Here are 2 videos that I took of Evangeline on my phone when I was there last month. This is her best trick these days (unless there's something new that I haven't been informed of yet). If you put your finger up and down on her mouth, she automatically starts "talking" so she can hear the funny noises she makes! I love her!!



To be fair, here is an adorable new picture of Lucca... I think this may be my favorite so far... so precious! And I see more of Dustin in her when her eyes are opened big like that.

Long weekend

This past week has been pretty uneventful. Our theme in preschool this week was Fire Safety - so that was rather amusing... teaching kids to Stop, Drop, and Roll, among other things. Oh, we did get a visit from the fire department! That was um, interesting.... let's just say, there was a chain reaction of kids bursting into tears when the fireman was puting his gear on, and then put his oxygen mask and tank on. It's kinda cool to teach such young kids these concepts and to see several of them actually learning and remembering them. But really, in the end... it's mostly pointless. Because what is a 3 year old going to do if 1.they are on fire, 2.their house is on fire, or 3.there is a lot of smoke? Cry. Plain and simple, cry, scream, and then either freeze or run around looking for mom or dad. Oh well, I guess it's still worth it if it made an impression on the few older kids.

I have an unexpectedly long weekend. My usual day off is now Mondays, but this week it got switched to Friday (yay). But then that means next week is back to normal with Monday off.... thus the freakishly long weekend. I know, I know, I shouldn't complain. But it's so much harder to have the energy and patience to get through the week at work when it's 4 long days in a row, and nothing to break that up. And then to have a 4-day weekend, and be thrown back into another long work week - brutal. I was going to try to visit Grace in Illinois with all this time on my hands, but I have a bridal shower to go to on Saturday and I would have to find a replacement at church on Sunday, so that ended up not working (hopefully I can go in a couple of weeks though). So instead, I have a ginormous list of things I've been wanting to get done around the house to chip away at, some planning for work, and some good old relaxing and reading to catch up on :). (But I still have lots of open time for phone dates if anyone is interested)

We had small group again last night. I love it! It was at another couple's house last night with their adorable 12 month old, Cohen (yes, that's right, like Seth from the OC, ha ha). We are studying acts and the story of the first church. We were talking about how Peter and John were so bold after Jesus' death to talk about Him and perform miracles in His name. And how in everything, they made sure that everyone knew it was in the name of Jesus, and that they didn't receive one ounce of credit. So we got to talking about our reasons for doing things, and even in things that we do for God, because we feel Him pulling at us to do so... what is our true motivation? And what if part of our motivation is selfish, or more about us than glorifying God and serving in His name? Does that mean we shouldn't do them? I don't think so. Yes, I think you should work on changing your motivations and doing things for God and letting people know that it is God doing the work, not you. But I still think that God will use you if you have the wrong motivations.

BABIES!

I FINALLY got to go visit my fam and meet baby Lucca! Although I already am dying to return and missing them greatly. It was a fantastic weekend. I got into Seattle at 10:30 Friday morning. Within a couple hours, Allyson came over with Evangeline :). She is so big! She babbels on and on, smiles all the times, laughs sometimes, tries to put everything in her mouth (and i mean everything... her mouth is constantly open wide and her hands are contantly reaching for something to put in it!), rolls over and over and over, and is just so darn cute. She is actually 5 months old today.

Around 5 I got to go over and meet Lucca and hangout with Jenae for a little bit. Lucca is so small, but so beautiful and precious. She has the sweetest little face. Oh, and she little to cuddle and snuggle and lay on your chest - that's the best. She's already smiling a lot and is very allert and curious when she is actually awake :-P. I crocheted her a little hat called a "teeny beany" hee hee, and it looked adorable on her. That night Tash came over and we just talked and got caught up a bit (she's moving into an appartment, yay Tash!).

Saturday was a very full day. In the late morning, I went with Jordan, Allyson, Evangeline, and Carissa to the EMP (Experience Music Project) in Seattle, which is attached to the Science Fiction Museum... which I had no idea was there. The EMP was cool, but we were glad that we had free passes and didn't pay the $25 or whatever it is for admission. The best part is the instruments and stuff you can play, but it was so busy that we didn't end up doing very much of that. We also wondered around the SFM and saw replicas and props and what-not from ET, Star Wars, Star Trek, and loads of other movies and books.

When we got back, Dustin and Jenae brought Lucca over and let me babysit while they went out for a couple of hours... yay! I loved my auntie babysitting time, and getting Lucca all to myself :). I also took plenty of pictures while I was at it, of course. She is so much fun! She makes all kinds of noises, no matter if she's awake or sleeping, and is hilarious to watch wake up (which may take several minutes). That night the whole fam came over to Mom and Dad's (except for Matt who wasn't there...) and celebrated Dustin's birthday. So... more babies! Plus a few games and dessert :).

Sunday we all went out on Mom and Dad's new boat on Lake Union. And we had perfect weather... actually all weekend it was blue skies, sunny, and low 70s. So of course, Seattle looked amazing on the water. Sunday night I got to visit my friend Teresa, who is pregnant and due in less than a month! I can't wait to meet her baby girl sometime this winter :).

A few pics from the weekend:

Cute Cousins

Evangeline kept trying to get Lucca

I love you Lucca!

Such a sweet little face

There's that open mouth...

This may be one of the only with her mouth closed :-P

On the boat!

Allyson and I on the boat

Giant life vest

I just had to show this one off :-D

for more pics... go here for general weekend photos
go here for more lucca
go here for more evangeline

Long-Time-No-Post

Pretty much the day after I wrote my last post, I got super busy! Which is completely the opposite of my past year, and slightly unwelcome because I had a cold and lots of headaches (possible sinus infection) at the same time and zero energy. I have been taking home child portfolios/anecdotal records to work on a couple nights a week to try and get ready for parent-teacher conferences in a couple of weeks. I had lots of planning to do for themes and small group activities as well. Don't get me wrong, I have been enjoying the preschool, it's just been a lot of work lately. And then I was doing laundry, packing, and cleaning before I left for Seattle for last weekend. Kate Maxwell stayed over for a night right before that as well. I think you get the point.

I will write another post about my Seattle weekend, first I am going to get caught up on everyday life. Fall is here! It's definitely getting colder out there... last night was in the 30s for the first time and there was a little bit of frost this morning. I am mostly enjoying fall so far, but it's one of those falls where the trees are confused and there are bare trees, trees with green leaves, and trees with colored leaves all at the same time. So it isn't quite screaming out to me the beauty of fall in full scale yet.

Yesterday, Matt and I went to the Robinettes Apple Haus and Winery (ie: apple orchard). We don't have many chanced to do things together earlier in the day, so he ended up getting off at 5 yesterday and we went after that, before they closed at 6, lol. It was fun none-the-less. We got some amazing hot and fresh doughnuts! We bought a bag of honeycrisp (my new favorite by far!) apples, and a gallon of the best apple cider ever. We also sat and people watched all the families with little kids running around the giant apple and going down the wagon slide.

Matt enjoying his doughnut

I'm excited about our apples!

In front of the big apple

Matt and I just started a small group Bible study through our church. I went to a kind of kick-off, get to know each other event for all of the new small groups a couple of weeks ago, but Matt was working. There are 4 other couples: one in their 40s with 4 kids ages 7-14, one in their 30s(the wife at least) with 3 kids ages 2-7, one in their late 20s with a 1-yr-old, and one couple that actually went to calvin and were a year ahead of us and in our dorm (although we didn't know them, just who they were). So it's a good mix of ages that are still somewhat in the same stage of life. This past Thursday we had our first study at one of the couples' houses, and it went really well. I am really excited to get to know the other 4 couples and learn from and with them. They are already being an encouragement to me to be an example; to be persistant in being Christ-like at work, with my friends, with my family; to be more out-going in sharing my faith (yikes!); and to spend more daily time with God. We are using a study guide that Ada Bible put out to go along with our current sermon series (The Story of the First Church, out of Acts), and that is really good as well. It's cool to be able to dig deeper into topics that we hear taught on Sunday.

What else? We have our first field trip with all the youngins in the preschool soon - we're going to a pumpkin farm :). It's going to be completely crazy keeping tabs on everyone, but hopefully we'll get lots of parents to come along, and it should be fun anyways.