~12/28/2010~

So I've totally dropped the ball on this whole "Project 365".... however... with our recent circumstances I've had a pretty decent excuse in my book.....

~12/6/2010~

Today was the day of our Christmas Party for my work, Foursquare Church. We had a blast! We bummed around all day, relaxing, knowing that we would be up until at least midnight. What geeks are we??? We went and got Josh's hair cut, and got a pair of tights for me, and that was it for our errands for the day. Our Christmas Party was at The Golf Club at Newcastle, and it was GORGEOUS!! I seriously work with some of the greatest people on earth, so we knew going into it we'd have a great time! After an incredible 5 course meal, Roger took a few minutes to speak into the lives of all of the employees. Definitely something to make us cry, he's so good with words! And then... the dancing began. The DJ was hysterical, and we all got out there and danced and danced and danced! It was such a fun night, and I was DEFINITELY ready for bed when we got home! For our picture of the day... Here it is! I set the timer on my camera and set it on a shoe box on the end table! Haha!

~12/5/2010~

After work today Josh went to play basketball with the guys, and I headed down to my mom's house to relax and hang out a bit. We've had the most stressful couple days, and him getting some frustrated energy out in basketball was exactly what he needed, and I needed a good cup of stress release tea and talk with my mama. Afterwards, Amber and Rylee came over to hang out, so we went and got Mikey to hang out with Rylee. The kids had a blast! I should've gotten a picture! It was so cute watching them run through the house all sweaty from playing so hard! We always have a great time visiting with Amber too! After Ray took Mikey home, Rylee took to playing the piano and singing to us, including the songs, Apple Bottom Jeans, and California Gurls. We laughed so hard! Such a great way to end the day!

~12/4/2010~

Talk about exhausted! Today I felt so stinking lazy! I ran to the store to grab a few things, and laid around watching 90210 all morning! I probably should have done something productive, but then I sit back and think about all the things I generally cram into my days, and snuggled back into the couch!

~12/3/2010~

Friday= date day with Linds! After work today I headed straight out to Southcentre and spent the evening with Lindsey. We shopped some at Nordstrom Rack, and then headed over for some yummy Spaghetti Factory! We even got to sit in the cable car! Haha! After dinner we headed to the mall, and spent several hours looking for great deals! It's always so fun to shop around with Lindsey, and I love that we have the type of friendship that doesn't require "constant entertainment".... you know? Just being with her is fun! We even got our picture taken with Santa! I'll scan the picture in and upload here shortly. Anyway, here's a picture of the night's loot!

~12/2/2010~

Sad day! I went to lunch with 2 amazing girls, Carly Melius and Julie Mironchuk, and totally forgot to get a picture of their gorgeous faces! They are both 2nd year interns at Puyallup Foursquare, and absolutely fabulous young women! We went to the Rock for a ridiculous amount of pizza, and had a great time together! I'll get a picture of them and show them off on here at one point!

~12/1/2010~

After a busy day at work, I came home to relax and catch up on reading. I borrowed a series from Lindsey McKinnon, and as cheesy as it sounds, it's a series she's got in her classroom for her 6th graders to read! They're really good books though! They're by Scott Westerfeld, and the first book of the series, which I'm ALMOST finished with, is called The Uglies. They remind me to a degree of a book called The Giver, by Lois Lowry. If you haven't read either please do so! Anyway, I had had a rough afternoon, so when Josh walked into our bedroom with a bouquet of flowers I instantly started thanking him! He chuckled, and told me to read the card, that they weren't from him. His parents had come by and dropped of this gorgeous bouquet as a thank you for hosting Thanksgiving. How sweet is that? They seemed to really enjoy Thanksgiving at our house, and I'm so happy to know that they really did!

~11/29/2010~

Today wasn't exactly the day off of my dreams, but we DID get the rest of the Christmas lights up!

~11/28/2010~

Josh got started on the Christmas lights today! Here's phase one. I know the lighting is HORRID, but come on... I have a point and shoot camera, and it's dark outside! :-) Tomorrow he'll put the clear icicle lights tomorrow. It's so funny, because he wanted to put up colored icicle lights SO BAD! And, thank you Jesus, I won that battle! So hopefully tomorrow's picture will be another grainy photo, but this time as the completed project! Tonight he went and played basketball with Derek and some guys at White River High School, and Michelle and Owen came over and had dinner while we watched The Chipmunk Adventure. Michelle and I LOVED this movie when we were little, and I pulled it up for Owen on youtube a while back, and Michelle found it on Amazon! And Owen LOVES it! It's so fun to watch him enjoying the silly things we did when we were kids!

~11/27/2010~

So this morning I thought I would light a fire. And it worked! I know that sounds cheesy, but I've never lived in a home with a wood burning fireplace as an adult. They've always been gas fireplaces. Josh had bought a couple "presto logs" before Thanksgiving and so I took one and built myself a fire to read to. This picture shows it in it's very beginning stages. I took this picture and sent it to Josh so he could be proud of his wife! Haha! I work at 345p on Saturdays, and so at about 315p I realized that not only was the fire still going, but that it didn't appear to be close to dying. So, as cool as I am, I ran to the kitchen, filled a pitcher with water, and threw it on the fire! It went out, and I may have to clean out the fireplace today.... classic.

~11/26/2010~

Black Friday! Yea, I didn't truly partake. However, once I got up, I did run to the mall long enough to get a KILLER deal on the dress I wanted for our staff Christmas Party. It's so cute, and it was 40% off! I love it, and here it is!

~11/25/2010~

Happy Thanksgiving! Josh got up this morning and started up the BBQ for his ( I call it! ) world famous turkey! It is hands down the best turkey I've ever had! So here he is, firing up his BBQ! We had my Mom, The Patseys, Josh's parents, Angie, DJ & Robyn, Katie, Amber & Uncle Bill over for dinner, and it felt so good to have all of us seated around the table together just enjoying each other's company. Mrs Amber Miskell, and sweet Rylee even stopped by for an hour or so! I think Thanksgiving was a success!

~11/24/2010~

No photo today. I spent the day in the lobby of our church decorating with Sarah, Amber & Katie. It's funny, I've been attending Foursquare for years and years, and never thought about who did the decorating, and how long it actually took. 6 hours, and we got a tree up, put lights on it (mind you it's a 15 foot tree) and got the garland up on the banisters wrapped in lights, and 3 wreaths up. It's some hard work! We had a great time though, pumping Christmas music through the lobby, and having yummy snacks and decorating with some of the greatest women I know!

~11/23/2010~

Today was such a great lazy day! I spent the day slowly getting things ready for Thanksgiving, and making sure that a long work day Wednesday wouldn't be a stresser. And call me silly, but I truly believe I came across one of the modern world's great inventions at Safeway today! "plastic" sliverware!!!! I kept thinking about all the dishes I would have to do after dinner Thursday, and knowing that I had these made me think that it was like 40 pieces that can just be TOSSED and not WASHED!

~11/22/2010~

Look at these cute boys and their HUGE snowman! They had a blast outside! Mom and Michelle came over to get Owen this evening, and the weather turned for the SCARY! It was blizzard like outside, and after picking Owen up, they spent 2 hours on the road trying to get home in their usual 20 minute commute. We got inches and inches of snow, and I got a text from work telling me to enjoy a snow day on Tuesday!

~11/21/2010~

After church today Josh and I headed down to Orting to hang out with Mom and the Patseys. While eating dinner, Owen asked us "After nigh-night do you have to go to work?" Josh and I both said no, and he jumped and said "I'm gonna have a sleep over at your house!" Haha! So, he packed his bags, and got in the car and headed home with us. It had been snowing throughout the day, and when we got home we saw that we had already gotten a couple inches! Owen wanted so bad to play outside, but it was already dark. So instead, he ran through the house with my camera taking pictures of everything! Here are a couple that he caught that Josh and I were impressed with!

~11/20/2010~

Third time's a charm! I spent the morning going through Josh's abundance of old clothes while Direct TV set up shop here at the house. We've had Direct TV in the past, and loved it! After 2 failed installs, a man came today without a complaining bone in his body, and got us all set up! I wasn't about to chase him around with my camera, and organized drawers and shelves of Josh's clothing aren't particularly exciting for ya'll (though I DID take a picture for Josh to text to him!) I won't be posting today. Though I wish I HAD taken a picture of church tonight. We had our first live album recording during service, and it was like being at a concert! The auditorium was packed and everybody was singing along! I may just have to steal a picture from somebody who got one and post it later!

~11/19/2010~

Here's to a night out with Lindsey! I love this girl, and I HATE the fact that she lives an hour away. But I love that we manage to get together! Tonight started with dinner at BJ's... HEAVEN! Happy hour means personal pizza, side salad and PAZOOKI! Another horrid "no picture" day.... i'm starting to really suck at this!

~11/18/2010~

Today involved a LONG OVERDUE lunch with Miss Mandy Schaapveld. I love love love this girl, and we just don't get to spend enough time together. She is now planning her wedding for 9.9.2011, and it's so fun to watch her go through the process! I can't believe I didn't take a picture of her gorgeous face!

~11/17/2010~

Oh dang. God bless my husband and my nephew. Owen spent the evening with us, and Josh and I took him to the store to get some Christmas decorations. We then made pizza, turned on some Christmas music, and the boys went to town! I know it's super early, but I couldn't resist! They had a blast!

~11/16/2010~

Today I got to spend some time with Mr Michael James Stroud. Ray dropped him off with me at work and we spent about 2 hrs hanging out. This kid is just hysterical! He played the Wii like an old pro, and I made some name cards for Thanksgiving! I think they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

~11/15/2010~

Monday Date Day! Josh and I took the day and went up north to Bellevue to do some window shopping and basically spend the day together. No picture. But a great day nonetheless. We spent the whole day going through different shops, and deciding on Christmas decor. I'm so excited to start that process! I want to wait until the night before Thanksgiving so that the house is super festive for the day, but we'll see! Josh is down to decorate yesterday if he was given the chance!

~11/14/2010~

Today Josh had a catering job after his normal shift at Clancy's, and I had a Newcomer's Dessert after our Sunday morning services, which means neither of us would be home until after 4p. Direct TV was to come in and install some time Sunday afternoon, so my mom in all her mommy glory, grabbed a book and spent the afternoon at our house waiting. Well, by the time I got home at 4p, Direct TV still had not come by, but my Auntie, Uncle Paul, and Uncle Bill all had! So, UB and I jumped in his truck, ran to Safeway and picked up everything for a taco bar. What a fun and unexpected Sunday evening! Josh got home at a decent time and got to visit as well! Dinner was started before Josh got home, so I took this picture right quick to send to him... to entice him to get his rear home! Haha!

~11/13/2010~

I have an addiction. It's called Peppermint Candy Ice Cream... and it's HEAVEN! So, I crawled into bed, and decided that my night wouldn't be complete without a bowl of ice cream. As you can see I chose to give myself a relatively small amount, to save the ice cream for as long as possible! And it's fabulous, because I don't have to share the ice cream with Josh... he CAN'T STAND peppermint! :-)

~11/12/2010~

I'm so bad at this! I even told Anne that I was going to get a picture of us!!! Well, shoot! Today after work, I ran out to Tacoma to visit my chiropractor, and man was I out of alignment! I had seen him last Monday, and I was worse than before! I will be back again next Monday for sure! After the chiro appointment, I ran out to Auburn and met the lovely Anne Finley for dinner at Red Robin. We haven't had a chance to sit down and visit in a long time, and it was so great to catch up with her! I worked with her at Puyallup Pediatric Dentistry. She is one of the most genuine people I know, and I love her. After dinner, she and I headed over to the movie theatre to watch Due Date. And it's hysterical! Allen from The Hangover is in it, and just as funny in Due Date. Actually, there were several characters from The Hangover in this movie! Defnintely entertaining! I look forward to my next visit with Anne for sure!

~11/11/2010~

Ah yes... Thursday. Work, Nap, Team Camp. I wish I had a picture for my big event for the day, but it would have probably resulted in total tragedy. When leaving Team Camp all I could think about was getting home and getting my rear to bed. It's dark and rainy... and I think I'm Mario Andretti. I pull out onto 9th, and ALMOST RUN OVER 2 people from church!! It was so bad, they had to JUMP to get out of my way. Attractive.

~11/10/2010~

No picture today! We spend the evening with Ross & Jackie Plate. They're a couple from church that we've enjoyed visiting with at church, and thought it'd be fun to spend a whole evening with them! After yummy dinner (if I, the cook, do say so myself!), we spent FOUR HOURS visiting and laughing, and just enjoying each other! Sad though, they move to Ft Bragg, North Carolina at the end of the month! I wish I had a video of our night, time lapse style... we laughed our head's off!

~11/9/2010~

I'm sorry, but how cute is he? All packed up and ready to head home after our final small group meeting for a while! We're taking the rest of the year off study wise, but since we all like each other, we're getting together right after Thanksgiving and before Christmas for an ornament exchange.

~11/8/2010~

Wow. Today was definitely interesting. We got up and headed straight out to the Chiropractor for a MUCH NEEDED appointment. I hadn't been adjusted for over a year, and knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Between that and starting raw prenatal vitamins, having coffee yet nothing to eat, and riding in the car with my sinuses bugging me, we had a rough afternoon, and ended up at my mom's work so i could rest, and eat. Mom sent us home with several bottles of Evian and San Pelligrino, and as you can see by the picture, Josh thought he was pretty cool! Haha!

~11/7/2010~

Oh Egg Nog... how I love thee. There is something in Egg Nog that makes me sneeze with every swallow... but dear Lord is it good!!!!

~11/6/2010~

Happy Happy Birthday Owen! Today is Owen's 4th birthday! Owen has his birthday party today at Super Jump in Sumner. Everybody had a blast! When it came time to open presents, Owen sat down, and handed each card to Michelle, for her to read to him before he busted the present open. He got so many fun things from his little friends, and we got him a puppy pillow pet. I don't know if you know about those, but they're kind of ridiculous, yet all the kids love them. So Owen picks up the bag from us, and takes the card off and gives it to Michelle. In the process, he got a peak into the bag, looked up at me with HUGE eyes, and mouthed with excitement "It's a pillow pet!!" I almost cried, it was so adorable! Then he opened it up, and snuggled it right away! We scored and got the "favorite" gift of the day! I honestly don't know how I'm going to function if we have our own children.... Watching Owen makes me want to cry, and he's not even mine! I'm going to be a tearful mess of love when we have them!

~11/5/2010~

He must be on his way to a little town called... ASPEN! Haha! This guy was in front of me all the way up town, and all I could think about was Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber. He was completely oblivious to his surroundings as well. Quite intense seeing as how he's riding something that doesn't even have doors!

~11/4/2010~

Christmas shopping! Yay! Sarah, Jessica, Amber and I hit up the stores this afternoon for Christmas decorations for the church. We're going with Silver, White, and Teal this year, it's going to be gorgeous! And of course, CHRISTMAS MUSIC! I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that believe Christmas music is completely and totally inappropriate before Thanksgiving, but I beg to differ! I didn't take a picture today, but I should have... I had plenty of opportunity, we went to FOUR different stores checking out decor!

~11/3/2010~

Another beautiful fall day! How do we not LOVE living here during this time of year? Here's Mt Rainier from Canyon Road. Sitting at a light, completely mesmerized!

~11/2/2010~

Gorgeous fall day here in Washington! 74 degrees and lovely! Here's a nice shot on my way home from visiting Josh at Clancy's coffee!

~11/1/2010~

Wow, what a day! I got up, and decided to get a good work out in before the day got too far ahead of me. Started out in the living room, working legs and core, trying to stay out of Josh's eye sight! Even though he'd NEVER tease me, it's just awkward working out in front of him! After he left for a meeting, I went into the family room to get on the treadmill, but it was super warm in there, so i opened the garage door and the sliding glass door to cool it off while I put my DVD in to run to (Just Friends, I love love love the movie and with Halloween over, it's officially appropriate to watch Christmas movies in my book!) Once I got the DVD going, I started walking back to the treadmill and saw something odd.... upon closer observation, I saw that it was an awfully calm field mouse. He just sat there, checking things out. I panicked! No mice in my house! I called Josh in tears, and shaking like a leaf. I ran outside and grabbed the neighbor's cat and locked him in the family room with the still calm mouse. Buddy the cat looked at the mouse, meowed, and LAID DOWN!!! Are you kidding? What good are you cat???? I grabbed Buddy and put him back on our front porch where he promptly fell back to sleep. (He is ALWAYS sleeping on the chairs on our front porch!) I went back into the family room and put a bowl over the mouse, who still hadn't appeared even the slightest bit bothered that I had been around. When Josh came home he took a paper plate, and slid it under the bowl so he could safely move the mouse. I let him know how lethargic the mouse actually was, so he took the bowl off and just walked him outside. After talking with a friend who has had mice in his house before, he is sure that the poor guy had already eaten poison, and was as calm as he was because he was dying. And after thorough investigation of the house, we found there to be absolutely no sign of mice in our home, thank God! It's looking like he meandered into the house when I opened the whole thing up to cool it off! Teach me to do that again! Anyway, here's Josh all proud of getting the mouse safely outside!

~10/31/2010~

Too bad we didn't dress up today! Josh and I are a bit spotty with when we dress up for Halloween. Josh already has our costumes decided for next year, however, I have a totally different idea of what I want, and dang it! I'm going to win! :-)
Traditionally, every Halloween, Josh's family gets together for dinner. This year it was Black Angus. We had a great time! Robyn and DJ weren't there, but Ron, Lynda, and Angie came and we had great food and great conversation! After dinner we headed down to Orting to go trick or treating with Owen. He has got it DOWN this year! So cute! He would run from house to house, and yell "They have their lights on!!!" He even willingly walked into a garage that was set up like a haunted house! When he came out the other side smiling I asked him "Baby, what did you see in there?" and he said "I saw CANDY auntie!" Haha!

~10/30/2010~

Wow. No picture today. Got up about 830, worked out, did my devotions, curled up on the couch and read my book. I'm reading the Carrie Diaries, which is the story of Carrie Bradshaw before NYC. No Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda. No Big, no Aidan. But, a cute book nonetheless. Half of the book I swear I can hear Sarah Jessica Parker narrating!

~10/29/2010~

Today was our team's "official" Pastor's away. We went to Clancys, had coffee and went over our paperwork, before going to the brand new Panera Bread at Tacoma Mall for lunch. Good coffee and good food! It was incredibly emotionally draining to go over all of the paperwork though, and it felt so good to be done for the day! After work I headed down to Orting to spend the evening with the family. We decided to go to Los Pinos for dinner, and Owen was hysterical! He loves "rice and beans" (that's what he calls the restaurant!) and he always gets spoiled with quarters for the little toy machines! Here he is thinking he's being silly and smiling for a picture only if I take it from under the table!

~10/28/2010~

In true Thursday form, I worked, went straight home, crawled into bed and napped until it was time for team camp. After team camp, I went home and worked on a sheet called Pastor's away. Once a year, all the pastors on staff fill out a form, drawing attention to things we need to focus on in the following year. Wow. Not an easy form to fill out. I chose my key word - Refine- and refine I will. I have made so many changes in life in the last couple years, and though they've been incredibly positive... I definitely need to refine myself. Shore things up, straighten edges. It's hard to admit when things need to be fixed in oneself, but how great to know I work for somebody who expects nothing less from us than constant growth. Can't beat that! So I'll be spending some blogging time in the next year going over my progress. We had to fill out physical goals as well, and with us looking to start a family, I made my physical goal simply to take care of my body. Exercise. Whether it's walking on a treadmill or running, pregnant or not pregnant, I will take care of my body. Including a dismissal of my LOVE for taco bell. That parts actually a bit more intimidating to me than the exercise itself! Haha!

~10/27/2010~

Miss Amber Alseth has been in Minneapolis for her Grandma's memorial, and she came home today! I went and picked her up from the airport. I'm so used to having this girl around all the time it was definitely strange not seeing her face over the last several days!

~10/26/2010~

Tuesday night book study night! Today I went to lunch with the lovely Julie Mironchuk, much enjoyed and WAY overdue! And after tackling and FINISHING a list approximately a mile long of things to do around the house Monday, I was able to just come home after work and relax until the girls came over. So, I curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, fireplace on, The Wizard of Oz on the TV, and red nail polish for my fingernails! The picture isn't clear of the TV, but you see my view for the afternoon! So nice to have a completely empty afternoon! Book club lasted all of 30 minutes, before everybody separated into other conversation. I love getting to visit with these girls every week!

~10/25/2010~

Monday date day! We stuck close to home this week, with both of us getting over some pretty hefty head colds. So, we started out with Clancy's Coffee, and then headed out to Enumclaw to get some pictures for a BPO we're doing. We weren't sure where the heck the street was, so we pulled over in a church parking lot, and stumbled upon this! How cute is it??!! It totally made me think of Elbe's church! After Enumclaw, and stopping in to visit with Michelle, we headed home where I tackled a list of things I wanted to get done around the house. All in all it was a great day, getting to spend some much enjoyed time with Josh, and getting to scrub down the house!

~10/24/2010~

PRAISE THE LORD!!!! I can confidently say that last night was THE BEST sleep I've gotten on a Saturday night since starting my job here at Foursquare Church! I fell asleep easily, and early, and woke up refreshed and without an alarm clock at 445a. I don't need to get out of bed until 545a, so I just snuggled up in bed and relaxed. It feels so good to be ALIVE and AWAKE today! No picture though... I attempted to take one of Josh when we were at lunch at Famous Dave's, but my phone didn't have enough battery to open the camera, and my actual camera was in my computer bag!

~10/23/2010~

I've done a bit more thanksgiving shopping. I got some really fun purple and green wine glasses, and a water pitcher to match our dishes. I still have a list a mile long of things I want to do for our first Thanksgiving that we as a married couple get to host, but I set up my table with what I had so far. So, I thought you'd enjoy the progression!

~10/22/2010~

Owen spent Friday afternoon with me. He came into the office when he got out of preschool, and spent the last hour of my work day being spoiled by everybody I work with. He left the church with MOUNDS of candy and new toys! No wonder he likes to hang out at work with Auntie! I still wasn't feeling well from my cold, and was just sick to my stomach about the dog thing. Owen overheard me tell Sarah how I was feeling, and spent the rest of the afternoon telling me he was sick too, and at one point he yelled from his carseat "Auntie Auntie I'm gonna puke!" I quickly get into a parking lot and get him out of his seat, only to watch him walk over to this light post, spit just like his Uncle Joshie, sit down and say " Auntie, I just need a break".... seriously? Haha! I got his rear back into his carseat and took him back to my house! Funny boy!

~10/21/2010~

Chest colds. Definitely not at the top of my list of favorite things to have. So, after work, and Team Camp, I went home, and fired up the vaporizer. I wish you could see the amount of steam coming out of this sucker!

~10/20/2010~

Well well well. Today was supposed to be a post full of pictures of our sweet new puppies. However, the people we purchased these dogs from chose to take our money and not put them on the flight to Seattle. They spent the day streaming excuses, and asking for more money. So, instead of being excited to show off new additions to our house, I went to be upset and feeling absolutely taken advantage of. We spent almost 2 hours on the phone with United Cargo, trying to figure out if there was a flight we could get the dogs on today, but, whether or not we can get the dogs on a flight is neither here nor there. If the "sellers" don't put them on a flight it's just more wasted money. The photo today shows off what I did while waiting those hours for United to answer. Roger is writing a book about the Anatomy of a Soldier, and he has chosen me to take notes on it for him. I have pages and pages of written notes that I need to get into outline form for him this week, so I sat down in the living room, and went to work while listening to the HIDEOUS hold music! Great times!

~10/19/2010~

Josh and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, and we are so excited! In reading Uncharted TerriTori, by Tori Spelling, I got some incredible ideas for hosting parties, since her mother is the QUEEN of hosting! Haha! On my lunch today, I headed up to Joann fabrics, and got some material to make some table runners for both the tables for guests and the table to display the food on. There is one more piece of material I want to get my hands on, a sheer goldish material that will be bunched and draped over the table runners themselves, decorated with the leaves from our wedding. It's going to look so great, I can't wait to have it decorated and take pictures to show off! But today, it's just the ideas thrown on a table together, but use your imaginations with me, it's going to be fabulous!

~10/18/2010~

Monday Date Day! Today Josh and I headed up to Seattle for the day. We window shopped through Pacific Place, and checked out all the odd little shops that Pike Place Market has to offer. I love that we get to spend these days together, creating memories and just being together! After we got back into town, we met my mom, Michelle and Owen at Red Robin for dinner, and Owen was in awe of my "green burrito", otherwise known as my Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap. He had to eat some of it! It was too cute!

~10/17/2010~

After services today, and a good nap, Josh and I headed down to Orting to do dinner with the fam. When we got there, Michelle's good friend Lindsey Borg and her fiance were having their engagement photos taken, and Michelle was "babysitting" their 8 week old boxer puppy. I promptly picked him up and stuck him on my lap, where he slept until they were done with the photo shoot! This little guy's name is Gus, and he's so precious! Definitely got Josh and I excited for our additions this week!!

~10/16/2010~

No picture today either. But dang I felt accomplished anyway! I got up, worked out, got ALL the laundry done, including our bedding, got the entire house cleaned, did my devos, AND visited with Michelle for an hour! How great to get all of that done before weekend services start! I knew I was going to be able to enjoy my Sunday afternoon and Monday off without guilt!

~10/15/2010~

Right after work today Leah picked me up, and we headed up to Kent to meet Amber, Rylee, & Lindsey for Manicures and Pedicures, before going out to celebrate Lindsey's birthday. We went to a salon called Pauline's Nail Spa, and then up to Lindsey's house to get ready and met several of her friends at Joey's in Bellevue for dinner. Joey's was SLAMMED, so Troy took it upon himself to find us a place to eat sooner than later, and we ended up eating at Palomino, which was fabulous! Everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves, mostly Lindsey, which made me so happy! She is one of the most amazing women you'd ever have the pleasure of meeting! I chose miss Rylee for my photo of the day though, because of how dang precious she was hanging out with us at the salon! She looks so much like Amber in this picture to me!

~10/14/2010~

Directly after work on Thursday I met up with Leah and Mikey to find a dress for Lindsey's 30th Birthday Bash. I wish I had taken a picture of Mikey, he was hysterical! I love that kid so much! So, no picture today... but work, shopping, and another great week of Team Camp!

~10/13/2010~

Greta

Theodore

So here it is guys! We have officially decided to purchase these two precious little things! We will get them next week, and we can't wait! The boy's name will be Theodore, to be called Theo or Teddy, and the girl's name is Greta. These of course are not pictures I've taken, but until I can overwhelm you all with pictures I've taken of them, this is going to have to do!

~10/12/2010~

So like I've said before, on Tuesdays a group of us women get together to study a book called So Long Insecurity... and also as I've said before, we spend time after the study entertaining ourselves, and this week, we watched this man/child sing Usher's DJ got us falling in love again, along with Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I have to say, it was painfully awkward to watch, but you can't take your eyes off it at the same time!

~10/11/2010~

"DAY"CATIONS
Josh and I have Mondays off together. Its the only full day off each week for us. So, today, we chose to start a tradition of "day"cations. We'll spend the day checking out a place in the northwest that we can get to and from in the span of a day. Today, was Port Townsend. Wow. I've been there once, when I was in high school, and was excited to get Josh back there to see the "battery"... it's this place called Fort Worden, and it's a huge building of creepy rooms and dark hallways. The water is so pretty out there, and you look right out to the straight of Juan De Fuca. After Fort Worden, we tracked down the Manresa Castle. I watched an afternoon of "The scariest places in America" on the Travel Channel, and this "castle" was on it. So, some what reluctantly, we checked it out. When we walked in, the woman behind the desk asked us if we needed anything and told us to feel free to check it out. We checked out the parlor, the ballroom, and started walking down the hallways. We started down a particular hallway, and we heard what sounded like laughter, that turned into a different noise. I can't really describe it... but needless to say, we looked at each other, raised our eye brows, and LEFT!

We had a great time today, just exploring the area, and I look forward to many more Mondays with my tall drink of water!

~10/10/2010~

There are some people that you can have around you for months, and not discover their uniqueness.... Courtney is one of those girls. She is a 2nd year MI student, and she and I share a bond now that I believe is life long. On the outside she looks just like any other adorable college girl. But, she has serious kidney problems, which can really wear her down and knock her out. It's hard to be 19 yrs old and not always be able to keep up with your friends, and I was just a bit younger than her when I found out about my heart disease. So, just like Courtney, I look completely normal on the outside, yet struggle physically because of the inside. She gets me and I get her. And I love her all the more for it. For her strength to just trek through each day with her hysterical sense of humor, and her desire to grow in who she is.

~10/9/2010~

There is a little girl at our church, 13 months old, and precious! Her name is Marybella, and I snag a snuggle from that sweet girl every chance I get! Marybella was dedicated at church tonight, so I told the family I'd take pictures for them to remember the evening by. I didn't promise anything special, but they were so excited just to know that they would have photos period! They are such a sweet family!

~10/8/2010~

Josh's baby sister married her best friend, the man of her dreams tonight. And she was gorgeous. While getting ready she just glowed. I took this picture with my phone to send to Josh, he needed to see the big smile on Robyn's face! I am so happy for her, she has chosen an incredible man who will cherish her and be all that she dreams her husband would be!

~10/7/2010~

Ok, so I know I didn't take this picture, but I'm choosing it to be my picture of the day, because I wish I HAD taken it! Isn't he precious???

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine had her house burglarlized and her husband was held hostage during the ordeal. And then a couple nights ago a drug deal gone bad at the south hill mall turned into a high speed chase and an officer chasing him on foot through the woods (by our house!) before shooting him. And to add insult to injury Josh locked himself out of the house the other morning and I slept through him banging on the door, ringing the door bell, and finally breaking into the house. It was at this point that I realized we needed to hvae the guns back in our house (Josh has an arsenal but we just didn't have the room at our home downtown to store them) and a dog. And Josh had me checking online for English Bulldogs.... now, they're spendy little guys... until we came across HIM! He's champion blood line, AKC, yadda yadda yadda good, and we can get him for a STEAL! We're making our final decision tonight!!

~10/6/2010~

I didn't take a picture today. I didn't even THINK about it. Which is super sad because I spent the evening with Lindsey and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with her, where we had a FABULOUS Reese's peanut butter caramel heaven piece of cheesecake! I feel like I never get to see Linds enough, so I think I was too into getting to visit with her to think about pictures! But, needless to say, I had an always great time with her!

~10/5/2010~

Look at who came and visited me at work today! Owen and Boston were so cute while hanging out in my office while Michelle & I visited.