Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Memorial Day






I am still working on our anniversary pictures so I thought I would post some from yesterday. We spent the night at Jonah's parents to spend the day with them on Memorial Day. They live right on a lake so it's always relaxing to spend time by the water- and with them! It's been a while since we visited so it was nice to see everyone again. We spent some time with Jonah's niece and nephew who are so funny  at their ages. Joseph is 5 and Joselyn is 7...I think I am so bad about getting birthdays correct! But as they get older you see how different boys are from girls, by the rough nature of boys vs. the gentler way of a girl! 

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Asheville, NC



We made it back from our whirlwind trip to Asheville, NC. We left Thursday afternoon and came back last night. Overall it was wonderful, for the time spent with Jonah and the change of pace and scenery. Traveling has a way of helping you unwind and grow. Seeing new places, new people, a different way of life does something for the soul. Once your away it's so nice to come back home. So I must write what we thought of Asheville. Being our first (actually mine, and Jonah was there a lonngg time ago) time together was so much fun. We stayed at a lovely little bed and breakfast walking distance from downtown. First time at a B&B, and I was kind of nervous since I would consider myself a pretty private person. But it was so nice. The house was like an old victorian style and I thought of my sister Erinn who loves that era. It was built in the 1800's but the decor and interior was so well done and not overcluttered and clean. It had original wood floors too, a huge front porch with rocking chairs and beautiful maintained flower gardens with ivy and a stone pathway (my sister Laura would have loved). Our room was up a teeny tiny set of stairs and very private and lovely. I was worried about being able to hear other people being in a house, but it was secluded. We had our own jacuzzi tub (with rain shower head) and robes. There were brownies and drinks out in the kitchen and the hostess and her husband were so kind and did not make us feel weird. Of course there was breakfast served the next morning and it was very delicious and gourmet, baked grapefruit with cranberry (baked, yes, and I think I must try making it) and a plate of delicious food with eggs and homeade blueberry bread, and some yummy things I cannot remember but I did take pictures of!! When we came down for breakfast the table was set with candlelight, roses, and beautiful background music. An all around lovely experience. And did I mention there was a cat  outside that was so loving??
The town of Asheville itself was something else... We walked and meandered through downtown and Biltmore Village,  and it was so much fun to eat at the little restaurants and visit all the stores and local work of those that lived there. But the people...wow. I was told before we went that Asheville is a very liberal place with a high percentage of gay people. Which surprised me because I always thought in my head it would be beautiful, and that's all I really thought. The people there were very: earthy, hippie, granola, natural. Which is fine if you want to live like that, but I kept seeing the emphasis of worldly liberal thinking everywhere. Obama supporter stickers, gay supporter stickers and such in book stores, windows ect. I saw it so much it was sickening to say the least. It's one thing to be natural it's another to live your life so blatantly for something that's wrong. My stand against the gay lifestyle has been brought to a new level after seeing so much of it. I have to say I saw more manly looking woman there than I have in a long time....yuck. So it was a bit of a surprise to see all that there. But aside from that the surrounding mountains are beautiful!! 
We decided to take the famous Blue Ridge Pkwy home instead of the interstate, which I was nervous about because of curvy mountain roads (kind of sickening) so we drove the slow 45 mph and it was beautiful!! The highlight was when we saw a black bear come out on the road, and I panicked thinking I should probably put the window up, but the bear went back into the trees and we drove on. It was pretty awesome to see that big huge bear though. Nevermind the fact that we took a different way off of the pkwy and ended up going on the curviest roads in my entire life for well over 3 hours...I shall never forget that, and I think it will always make me laugh. 
Oh, I forgot to mention halfway through Friday our camera battery died, and we didn't have the charger...can you imagine? what a tragedy for us! So on the way home at one of the stops along the Pkwy, Jonah got the idea to use his laptop's 'Photobooth' , on a mac it's the place you can take photos using the built in camera. So we ended up with these fun shots. The timer is 3 seconds hence the running and jumping. I think there were some people up on an overlook that were watching us the whole time too, which makes it even funnier. But as you see here below these are the only ones I can leave with you, until we charge the battery to get the photos we did take off of the camera.
Until I can upload more photos, it was a wonderful anniversary celebration of four years!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Getaway

I'm sooo excited. Our anniversary is this week and we are taking a little time off this week to have a little getaway to Asheville, NC. I have never been there, and Jonah was there a long time ago. Nestled in Mountains it's sure to be a beautiful place to visit. I'm excited to spend the time with Jonah and to discover a new place together. We leave on Thursday for a lovely overnight trip together, plus it's an extended weekend (Memorial Day)! Pictures are sure to come later. Now if I can only wait until Thursday...

But I wanted to leave you with this odd picture I found. We are members of AAA and receive discounts for hotels through it, and while I was on their site one of the first images to greet me was this:








Is it me or does that card he's holding look GINORMOUS. Yeah, I'm pretty sure the AAA card I have in my wallet is not that large. What were the designers thinking for this photo?
'Maybe if we make the card as large as possible, it will bring in more members....'

Monday, May 18, 2009

pie


So I made a pie this weekend. Lemon Meringue. Yum my absolute favorite. As I was making it I realized why I make is so rarely-it's so much work! But the end result was worth it in so many yummy delicious bites.












 

















Saturday, May 16, 2009

how funny is that?

I was reading the latest on one of my favorite blogs and I came across this old post that has got to be the funniest one I've seen in a while:
It is definitely something so airheaded and blonde that I would probably do it myself!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Randomness

So it's been a busy end of the school year week for us. Jonah more so than myself but still busy. And wait it's only Tuesday? sigh. But I know the end of the school year is almost here and with that comes summer break for Jonah! I'm excited about it too, because my work week will be a little shorter- 4 days :) instead of 5. I'm really excited about the break for Jonah though, he has worked soooo hard and I am proud of how much he can do (and handle) throughout the year. He is such a hard worker, and I am amazed at how much detail and effort + patience he puts forth in every task. I love my Jonah.
The other day we had fortune cookies at lunch and Jonah said he had received the best fortune in his life and there was no need to have another one-








I have to agree.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

princess umbrella

It's 'hump' day- Wednesday! The hustle and bustle of mid week activity has already begun. I've arrived at work with projects waiting and begging me to finish them :)
I just thought I would write a quick post.
I was sitting at my desk checking emails and a lovely dressed parent walked by, on her way out the door. She smiled and said, "Have a nice day", as she pushed through the doors. I said the same and watched her walk out, admiring her cute stylish outfit as she walked out doors. Then she stopped to open an umbrella (rainy day) and to my amusement it was a light pink and white disney princess umbrella. How funny, I thought, how children change your life in ways you never thought they would!

Monday, May 4, 2009

thanks to God

I am tired today :). It's been a busy busy weekend. Aside from our date night on Friday, groceries and cleaning on Saturday and church and managing the youth coffee shop on Sunday- we had the opportunity to take on two extra jobs- one on Saturday working as manager on duty for the high school production at the performing arts center where I work and another on Sunday afternoon filming (and catching the show for free) of the musical "The Pirates of Penzance" because one of my coworkers (that was in it) called us last minute to see if we could film it, get paid, and see the show for free. It was a great musical, and a lot of fun to catch a professional musical.(it's been a while since Jonah and I saw a real musical, so good to hear how awesome their voices are)
We are working hard at earning extra money to put towards our debt snowball (Dave Ramsey plan we are on) and the Lord has blessed us with jobs here and there. How fortunate it is that I am able to pick up extra work centered around my current job, work with my husband, and also learn more about artsy things- theater, filming ect.
I have felt my interests and focus kind of moving towards photography more and more and I have been given open windows of opportunity this year. I'm excited to grow and learn more.
I realized this weekend that I always want to be learning more...not be in a stagnant place where you are just going along, complacent.
How much of a parallel that is with our Christian life. We should always be growing, learning moving. But I know it's easy to just sit back and soak in things around you. I do that too.
But I pray my life is one of growth so that I can fully serve in the ministry God has placed me in.