Three.

Is it bad when an hour spent sitting in a doctor's office reading old magazines feels like a vacation? Just an hour alone with my iPod and old issues of People magazine? No one demanding anything from me. Nothing being thrown at my head. No screaming. No crying. No spilled juice on the carpet. No repeating the same warning to stop tormenting the poor cat for the fifteenth time...

Then again, what would my life be like without those things? Pretty dang boring, I'd say.

Wow...I'm back.

Okay. I had this big, long post started and then I got a little bit ADD...basically, I've been in a funk lately and I wanted to make a list (shocker, I know), of things that make me happy. I mean, why not. That's sort of my thing, is it not?

• Fall: Crunchy leaves, apples, the smell of apple pie (not the taste), baking, the crispness of the mornings, hats, scarves, gloves, the colors, and taking pictures of Audrey in the leaves.
• Jack Johnson at the Gorge: Oh man. Minus the uh, secondhand smoke, it was amazing.
• Rediscovering old music: I've been re-importing all of my music since my computer crashed and lost it all...it's been a fun trip back to my younger days.
• Speaking of computers...we got an iMac: Oooh. Where have you been all my life, iMac?
• Ballet: I've been doing ballet. Yep. It's amazingly difficult and fun. Leotard, tights, and all.
• Watching Audrey do ballet: Three and four-year-olds doing ballet? Cutest thing you've ever seen. I promise.
• Watching Volleyball: I almost don't want to admit this since I've spent a lot of time making fun of it. It's really fun to watch...I mean, I watched an undefeated college team, so maybe I'm biased. I don't know. It was fun. Spanx and all...haha.
• My friends: They are all amazing. Each and every one in different ways. I love them.
• New friends: I love it when I really connect with someone new. The moment when you know you just met someone who you'll be friends with for a long time to come.
• Hip Hop: I wish some of it was a little cleaner in the lyric department, but I just can't get enough of those beats!
• Skyping: I'm a little late on this phenomenon since we never really had a webcam until now. I love it. It's funny.
• Swimming: I forget how good it feels until I finally do it again. Oh man. It's so relaxing.
• Hockey: One month until the season starts.
• Being spontaneous: It's harder now with a three-year-old, but I love the feeling when I'm able to just decide to do something and then do it on a whim.
• Cover songs: I don't know what it is. I love a good cover. Heck, I love a bad cover.
• The fact that Justin rides a motorcycle: He's so awesome. It makes me feel a little rebellious to ride on the back of his motorcycle...
• Snuggling: With Justin, with my friends, with Audrey (when she'll let me)...I just love it.
• Belting out worship songs in the car: Nothing better.
• Being able to breathe: I haven't been able to breathe properly without coughing for over a month now...I kind of miss it.
• Laughing out loud after reading a text: I know this sounds like a facebook 'like', but it's funny when this happens because then I kind of feel like an idiot. And that makes me laugh more.
• Audrey's drawings: She is three and can already draw a whole person. Head, legs, arms, body, everything. Her people sort of resemble Tim Burton characters, but that just makes it better. I'm so happy that she seems to have inherited the artist gene from me:)
• Hearing Audrey sing along to songs in the back seat. Best thing ever. She just makes up her own words.
• And...there are many more...

Aaaah...Spring.

After all the whining about the weather in the last post, I must say, I am so thankful for the wonderful spring weather we're having now. Audrey, Joon (our new puppy), and I went for an evening walk to the park today and it was just beautiful out. It made me really yearn for summer! Hopefully it stays warm until then!

On a similar note, since it's been so nice outside lately, we've been able to pretty much finish all of the work we've been doing on our backyard. Someday maybe I'll post before and after pictures, but it's not quite finished yet. When we moved in, everything was just overgrown and full of weeds. We spent all last spring and summer tearing out stumps (by hand), pulling weeds, trimming hedges, and landscaping. This year we built a raised vegetable garden and rocked in an area along our fence to keep the weeds down. It's starting to look really nice and we're excited to start having barbecues and bonfires (or you know, little fires in our fire pit).

I'm just very happy right now. Things are going well for us. I'm just amazed more and more each day at the things God has provided for us. Especially the things we never asked for or thought of for ourselves.

I've been blessed with a new job at the Soap Lake School district as a Para Pro sub. I had originally interview for another position at the elementary school, but was turned down in favor of someone with a little more experience. At first I was pretty disappointed, but the principal actually called me and let me know that he still really wanted me to come work at the school as a sub. Honestly, this has worked out much better than if I would have gotten that other position. This way I don't have to find a daycare for Audrey right away and I'm still free to stay home with her most days. Also, if I would have gotten that position, I wouldn't have been able to help teach the lifeguarding classes this year, which is something I love. It's amazing what can happen when I actually hand everything over to God. I've decided that I'm not going to worry about where I will work or what my career will be because God already knows. He has something perfect for me. It's been nice not worrying about that.

So, I'll be subbing tomorrow for the first time, and I'm a little nervous but mostly excited. I've met most of the Para Pros already, and I really got along with all of them! I also know probably a third of the kids at the school because they used to go to the after school bible club at my church. I got about fifty hugs when I was there and it was a nice feeling to see that I made some sort of impact on those kids.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

--Ephesians 3:20, 21

"She's Just Waitin' for the Summertime, When the Weather's Fine..."

Is it just me, or was the weather better in January? I don't know what the deal is, but all this cold and rain and wind is really starting to bum me out! I keep thinking, "I should totally go on a bike ride/walk/run/exercise of some kind!", and then I look outside and see the storm clouds blowing in. Which makes me want to snuggle under a blanket and eat chocolate. A lot of chocolate. I think I may have a deficiency of some sort.

I was feeling pretty good for about week while I taught a lifeguarding class. That's always a good diet and exercise plan for me because not only am I swimming a lot, I'm only able to squeeze in small, healthy snacks throughout the day. Perfect! Only, that lasts about a week and then the class is over and I'm back to eating chocolate again...

I'm just very black and white when it comes to weather. I've never been a big fan of Spring really. Unless it's Spring in Seattle. Spring in Seattle is amazing. The weather is pretty much perfect and usually the rain comes at less frequent intervals. I should have a Spring home there. I think I'm going to work on that. I mean, Spring here can be pretty amazing too, but lately it's been more like a drawn out winter. It's exciting seeing all of the new flowers and plants that start popping up, but I'm not a fan of this unpredictable weather. I pretty much like it hot or cold. Not a whole lot in between. I just want to be able to plant my garden and not fear frost and snow in the middle of April!

It's hard with Audrey too because we're stuck in the house on cold, wet days. We all just get along much better when we can get out and exercise! Maybe I just need to get her some rain boots. I don't know.

So, here's hoping that old man winter takes the next train out of town. I'm blaming him for my chocolate consumption. Maybe that Easter bunny too...

"The wave is comin' but I ain't got no fear..."

2010 is shaping up to be a very good year and it's only March. Wait...what? March is almost over? How did that happen? We've been so busy, the months have been flying by. Sometimes I wish things would slow down (and they will soon), but for the most part I've actually been enjoying all of the activity. Last year I felt like I was in a rut. I wasn't depressed, but I just didn't feel well and spiritually I was sort of stagnant I guess. I think the two usually go hand in hand. I've made some changes recently that have greatly improved my outlook and overall health. I've realized (again) that when I let God take control, my situation and outlook improve exponentially. I'm still baffled as to why I forget that so easily. One would think that after 25 years something would sink in and stick in my little brain. One would think.

I'm just thankful that He not only provides me with life, but He allows me to experience all of the little things that I love. I'm amazed that the One who created the Universe also cares about the minute details of my life. The only reason I can even enjoy any of the sports and activities that I do is because God made me that way. That has been an amazing revelation in my life. Not that I didn't know that intellectually, but I'm realizing it in a different way. He cares enough about me to allow me to experience things I love even when they don't really seem to matter in the grand scheme of things.

I guess I'm getting a little more philosophical than I originally planned, but really. I've had some amazing opportunities lately, and a lot of them were things that I never thought I would get to do. Some were things that seemed like good ideas, but I had no real plan about how to make them happen. Some were on my "bucket list". And some were just things that I just never expected to be as enjoyable as they were.

The past three months have been so busy. We've travelled around the state more than we have in a long time. There has been maybe two weekends that we were just at home. I just want to list some of the things we have had the opportunity to do lately because I'm so thankful for the provisions God has made for our family and for the wonderful experiences I have been given.

• I participated in a book club. This was something I never thought I would do, or be interested in doing, but it was really fun. We chose some pretty good books. Our group was made up of about eight women and we all really get along well and have really good discussions. I've been blessed with some really great friends in the area.
• I have played in two all-women's hockey tournaments with teams made up of people I had never met before.
• I joined a strings group at church. I play the guitar, and we also have a mandolin, two hammer dulcimers, a bass, two auto harps, and a banjo.
• I had the opportunity to play my guitar with the strings group at church in front of actual people. I have never, ever done anything close to that and it's something I have wanted to do for as long as I have played the guitar. Which is a long time.
• I was summoned and ended up being chosen as an alternate juror on a wrongful death suit. This was such an interesting experience for me. The case was really interesting and I loved watching the whole courtroom scene unfold. It wasn't exactly like the movies, but it wasn't too far off either. It's definitely something I would like to experience again.
• One of the hockey tournaments I was invited to play in was against the EWU women's hockey team. It was amazing! I loved it! They played a really rough game (and remember, I play with all guys usually), but it was still fun. One of the girls playing on my team happened to be someone who I went to high school with and hadn't seen since maybe junior year. It was fun catching up with her. It was just an amazing experience to play against an actual college team. Especially since I've only played for about two seasons.
• I completed my second season as a hockey player with nine goals (just one shy of my goal for the year) and four assists. I basically tripled my goal amount from last season, which was exciting! I felt that I really improved some of my skills this season and I had a lot of fun getting to know all the guys who play.
• I'm teaching my fourth lifeguarding class right now in Moses Lake. I love it! It can be really stressful and exhausting, but I love teaching people and helping them succeed at something that it so challenging. It's a really fun group of people this time and I'm really enjoying it.

One of the best parts of the past three months (or even the past year) happened last weekend. I was able to go spend the weekend in Seattle with my best friend for her birthday. When I got there I was able to visit with some of the people I had met when we lived there, but hadn't seen in close to three years. The last time most of them had seen me I was about nine months pregnant. We had a great time catching up and just being silly and crazy. After that we went to see the cherry blossoms in bloom at UW. It was my first time seeing them, and it was really pretty. The whole campus is pretty, but the blossoms make it that much better. It sort of makes me wish I would have gone there for college. After we had our fill of cherry blossoms and people watching on the quad, we headed downtown to see the Bodies Exhibition. The last time this exhibit was in Seattle, I was pregnant and I wasn't sure if I would have been able to handle something like that. I'm glad it came back and that I finally decided to go! It was fascinating! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It just really made me appreciate what God has created. Everything about us is intricate. There is no way any of it could have happened by accident.

The next day we got up early(ish) and headed to Ocean Shores with another friend to go surfing. I have wanted to go surfing for as long as I can remember. Seriously. It was definately on my "bucket list". I can't even explain how much I love the ocean and I knew I would love surfing. We had a fun time driving the two-and-a-half hours to the beach. It was like a mini road trip. When we got there it was overcast and cold (as usual), which I expected. What I didn't expect was the wind, but we were determined to surf. And that we did. I surfed until my hands went numb from the cold and then surfed a little more. It was amazing. It was even better than I expected (minus the cold). I was able to stand up on my first try and then by the end I was able to ride the waves for a little ways. When we were finished and took our gear back to the surf shack, the old, crusty surfer dude told us we were hardcore and that we probably couldn't have picked a worse day to surf. We took that as a compliment. It can only get better from there. It's definately something I would like to do again. And again.

I was just thankful for that whole weekend. First of all, I have a husband who realizes when I need a break from the day to day monotony that comes with being a stay-at-home mom. I know not everyone has someone who they can count on like that. It's really great because I've been getting overwhelmed with Audrey's "terrible twos" lately. She's usually pretty good. I've learned to handle her strong will, but lately she's been going through some really stubborn stages. I can handle it about 95 percent of the time, but the other 5 percent can really make me want to rip my hair out. I love that Justin can sense that and will stay with Audrey while I go recharge.

I'm also thankful for the time my friend and I got to spend. At a time when we could have easily grown apart, our friendship has become stronger than ever. It was nice to just go have fun and let go. It's been awhile since we've been able to do that. I've also gotten to know some other great people who she introduced me to when we lived in Seattle, and it's been great hanging out with them.

Hello, Seattle, I am the Crescent Moon

We just had a fabulous weekend in Seattle. It was nice to get away from the dreary, rainy weather over here to the sunny, warm weather over on the western side of the state. Wait. Shouldn't that be the other way around? Well, one would think. It's true though. There was actual sun in Seattle. Gasp! The sun occasionally peaks through the clouds and when it does, it's probably one of my favorite things. It's beautiful and it makes me really miss living there.

On Saturday we met my friend for lunch at Justin's favorite teryaki place, and when I say place, I really mean hole-in-the-wall. It really is good though. After that we headed to Greenlake and walked around and learned that rollerblading is making a comeback. People of all ages were just rollerblading around like it was 1995. It was fantastic.

Later we all met another friend and headed to Everett to watch the Spokane Chiefs play the Silvertips. Our seats were six rows up and slightly to the right of center ice. Uh-may-zing. We were just about the only Chiefs fans there, and of course Justin, Audrey, and I wore our jerseys. It was kind of fun. Random guys kept coming up to us and half-whispering, "Go Chiefs!". It was like being part of a secret club or something. The game was really good even though Spokane lost. The worst part was when the Silvertips scored and they blew this ridiculously loud train whistle like four times. They scored five goals, so that's like twenty earsplitting whistles. By the end Audrey was looking around all wild-eyed and holding her hands over her ears. I felt bad about that, but she still loved the game.

After the game we parted ways with our friends and headed back to the hotel. Audrey had been looking forward to "fwimming" for about a week, so we made our way down to the pool. She had a lot of fun and I got her to jump in and go under water, which was impressive. I don't think she would have cared what we did to her as long as it didn't involve train whistles. She's still talking about how the train was yelling at her.

The next day we just wandered around Seattle Center since our hotel was only a couple blocks away. After that we headed back over the mountains. The worst part of the trip happened when our car got sideswiped in North Bend. We had stopped to walk around at the outlet mall and when we got ready to leave we noticed that our car had gotten hit. No note or anything. We did notice that the car parked one space away had front-end damage remarkably similar to the damage on our car, so we call the police. They came and checked it out and determined that it "probably" wasn't that car because it would have bent the wheel rim and the molding. Really? You know for sure that it would have done that even though you have no idea how they hit us or if they stopped before they scraped the molding or whatever? Justin wasn't so sure either since there was blue paint transfer on their car and silver paint transfer on ours. Also, the measurements of all of the scrapes and dents matched the ones on the other car.

Anyway, it was all very frustrating and ends with us having to use the majority of our tax return to fix something that someone else caused and was too chicken to fess up to. I guess we can be thankful that it happened at a time that we were expecting our refund. It's just frustrating since we've had similar things happen to every vehicle we've owned. Maybe it's God telling us not to put so much pride in possessions. I just have to think of it that way. In the end all of this doesn't matter. I mean, at least we have a car and money to pay for the damages. We could have gotten our car stolen in Seattle or we could have gotten into a wreck. I just need to remember to put things in perspective.

So, basically we had a great weekend minus the fender bender. It would take a whole lot more than a dent in the car to ruin a good weekend in Seattle.

"My wife and I just prefer Seattle. It's a beautiful city. Great setting. You open your front door in the morning and the air smells like pine and the sea, as opposed to bus exhaust"

--Ron Reagan

Resolutions?

I've never been one to make New Year's Resolutions mostly because I'll forget about them a week or so into the new year. I love making lists though, so here's a breakdown of my goals for this new year (in no particular order):

1. Get into shape. This one's sort of cliche as far as resolutions go, but I do need to be a little more deliberate in my efforts to stay healthy and strong. This past spring I was playing hockey once a week, biking two to three times a week, and swimming at least once a week. I felt good. Now I play hockey twice a week...and that's about it. I need to step it up.

2. Play my guitar. I was doing well for a couple of months but I got busy over the holidays and sort of stopped.

3. Read my bible every day and journal more. I'm hoping to read through the bible again this year.

4. Complete some sort of wall hanging for our dining room. I have some ideas bouncing around in my head, but I need to make the time to actually do it.

5. Scrapbook more. I need to finish Audrey's first and second year. It's a big task, but I really want to be done with it.

6. Decorate Audrey's room. I'm planning to repaint her room purple and add some original wall art and some shelving for more storage.

7. Score at least six more goals before hockey season is over. I have four so far.

8. Teach Audrey her ABCs. She can repeat them after me and she can identify most letters but she hasn't been able to say them all in a row yet. We practice off and on, but I want to be more consistent in spending that time with her.

9. Finish working on our backyard improvements. We still want to make a raised vegetable garden, put brick edging along our side yard, and fill it in with rocks. It was amazing to see the transformation last year, and I'm excited for this year.

10. Make more art. Whatever it happens to be, I need to use that talent I've been blessed with before I lose it altogether.

11. Keep in touch with friends and family on a more regular basis. Not via facebook, but with actual phone calls, letters/cards, and visits.

12. Continue to organize and declutter our lives. I feel so much better when I get rid of all of the extra stuff we never use.

13. Run more. I know I already made a goal to get into shape, but running is a whole different category for me. I hate it, but I want to be able to do it. I have to be careful because my knees are steadily losing cartilege, but I know if I stretch adequately I can do it. I ran a two mile fun run in 20 degree weather last month and felt great, so I am pretty motivated to get out there.

14. Be an example to those around me. I've been really making an effort (okay, more like God has been working in me) to be more of a positive influence on those around me. There's so much negativity in the world that a little kindness and compassion go a long way.

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining in an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinately being just an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

--C.S. Lewis