Hooray for God!

My new blog

2008-06-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've started a new blog dedicated to my business, Paisley Petals! In case you didn't know, I started my own business doing flower arrangements for weddings and events. I will most likely update the Paisley Petals blog much more frequently than I do this one. So far, I've had 2 posts in 2 days! Check it out here.

Thanks!

For My Reader, Rebecca

2008-06-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Rebecca recently reminded me that the last time I posted, it was the end of March. So, this one's for her...

The last few months have been sort of a blur of activity. My first weddings of the season were in April, and it has been a bit crazier than I expected. I knew my weekends (Thursday through Sunday) would be busy with weddings. What I didn't realize is how busy Monday-Wednesday would be. Those are the days I spend catching up on everything and everyone I had to put off while I was occupied with a wedding (or 2) over the weekend. But, it is definitely a blessing for such a young, small business to be so busy!

My biggest wedding of the summer was on June 7th. I was so nervous! I get nervous for every wedding that I do because I really care about it, I've invested a big part of myself into creating the flowers, and it's not like you get a second chance. I can't just say "oh, you don't like your bouquet? OK, let's try again next weekend!" But this one I was especially nervous for. Eric kept reminding me to have confidence in myself, but it's hard sometimes. As it turns out, the bride (and everyone else in the family, wedding party, guests, etc.) were thrilled with the flowers and raved about them over and over again! What a relief!

As I was cleaning up my flower shop today, I took a minute just to sit down and look around. I was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for giving me such a fun talent that I can use to generate income for my family and for giving me the guts I needed to quit my job and go for it! I've come quite a long way from trying to do flowers in my parent's kitchen! My shop is super cute-- it has french doors, grid windows, a custom-made tall-enough-for-me workbench, and shelves stocked with supplies and a big, huge cooler. All this, and it's only a few feet from my back door! I can't believe my little business has been up and running for a year now! I still feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants a lot of the time, but I love it! My family has been so supportive, especially my husband. I know that I would not be doing this without his support, confidence and help. I am so blessed!

In other news, I was just voted on to the board of directors for the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce. Crazy, huh? I'm excited to be a part of our community in this new role. I love our little town-- everyone should come and visit!

Well, I think that's a pretty good update for now. I'll put up some pictures from this summer's weddings as soon as I start to get some back.

Hooray for God for the blessings of self-employment!

Spring?

2008-03-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

So, Spring officially started last week. Here's what it looked like at my house last night and this morning:

Crazy, Huh? March 27th. Hooray for God for unexpected surprises!

Still Learning...

2008-01-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately-- well more like the last several years, but especially in the last couple of weeks-- about how the way we treat people reflects God in us. Our home group has been watching the Nooma video series by Rob Bell. If you haven't seen them-- see them! They're great discussion-starters. The last two have led us into similar conversations about the way we live our lives. God has really been teaching me a lot about myself and my attitudes since my senior year of college (7 years ago!) and I thought I'd share a little of my journey.
Through most of my high school years, I was the worst kind of Christian. I mean, I wasn't out there door-knocking and telling complete strangers they were going to hell, but I had a pretty terrible attitude. And worse than being obnoxious to strangers, I was hurtful to people in my own family. I was too self-righteous to step down off of my self-assigned pedestal and share life with them. I was specifically horrible to my little brother. He's 16 months younger than me and was 2 years behind me in school. He was a rule-breaker. I was not. Obviously, this made him a terrible human being and me awesome. Well, at least in my mind it did. In reality, he was struggling and needed his sister to be there for him, not to judge him by his behavior. I left for college and our relationship improved a little, but it didn't feel very real. My senior year of college, my brother let our family know that he was gay. I, of course, struggled with this revelation for awhile. I had not seen it coming at all. From there, my brother began a dangerous cycle of surrounding himself with the wrong people, drugs, homelesness, etc. This went on for 5 or 6 years, and was really painful for all of us. In the last couple of years, my little brother has really turned his life around. He's been holding down a job for over a year, is off drugs and is in a steady relationship with a nice, responsible guy.
God has used my brother to teach me so much. I'm not sure why I ever thought that lecturing my brother about his choices would cause him to change anything. Throughout all of the most difficult points of our relationship, with all of his drugs, disappearing, and dangerous behavior, I could never stop loving or caring about him. God taught me that He had given me that love, and that love should be the foundation of all of my actions toward my brother. He taught me that homosexuality was NO DIFFERENT than ANY OTHER deviation from God's plan for sex. NO DIFFERENT. He has also taught me that if people do not know Him or have a relationship with Him, there is no reason for them to change their behavior. It is so useless and harmful for Christians to go around trying to make non-Christians behave like Christians. These revelations have made it much easier for me to just treat my brother with the love and kindness and respect he deserves as one of God's creations. I don't always get it right, but it is so much better. Through my relationship with my brother, God is also teaching me how to do a better job of loving the people around me. I want my life to show that I care about people. I know I will be continuing to be taught by God for the rest of my life in this area. Hooray for God for being willing to teach me!

Of Christmas & Cars

2008-01-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting couple of weeks around the Pritchard household...

Let's start by filling you in on what we got my hubby for Christmas. Eric plays the bass, and he loves it. It's one of the things that makes him really happy, and he's quite good at it. He plays for the worship team at our church, and I sing, so it's a great ministry for us to do together. For years, Eric has wanted to build his own bass amp, but the components are pretty expensive. He's had a couple of them for a long time- before we were married. After we got married, it got put on the back burner as far as financial priorities go, so he hasn't been able to get any new components for about 3 years. He had 3 major components left to get other than some cords, etc. So, for Christmas, his parents got him the racking system, and everyone in my family went in to get him his bass cabinet. It was awesome-- it was a lot of work to keep him totally in the dark, but he was so surprised and excited! His birthday is coming up next month, so I'm excited to see if we can all work together again to get him the last piece he needs. Hooray!

We had a great Christmas with our families. We spent the afternoon/evening of the 23rd with Eric's family for our traditional Christmas dinner/gift exchange/hang out and visit. It was lovely. On Christmas Eve, we met some friends for lunch and then spent the evening with my family- we went to Aunty Judy's house, ate, exchanged gifts, piled in the motor-mansion, went to look at some amazing Christmas lights, went to a movie, came back to Judy's and ate some more. Christmas day found us, as usual, at my parents house by 9am. We spend the whole day there in our pj's opening gifts, having dinner and just hanging out. The whole family was there- My sister and her family, Eric & I, Mom & Dad and My brother and his parter, Brent. We had a great time!

We also got to visit with some of our friends who were visiting from out of town. Dustin & Kendy Wallace, who moved from Enumclaw to Omaha at the end of the summer, were in town and we got to spend all of Wednesday evening with them. Aaron and Amy Redelsperger were also in town. They brought their two adorable little girls over and had dinner with us on Thursday night. It was so good to catch up with our friends!

On to the car story-- A few days before Christmas, my transmission started acting up- slipping, etc. I took it to my regular mechanic. He had it for a week (including weekends, Christmas, etc.) but couldn't figure out what was wrong and told me I needed to take it to the dealership. I did. They took another week to figure out what was wrong. Long story short, it needed a new transmission to the tune of $3500. We still owe $5000 on the car. We don't want to invest a bunch of money in it because it's too small for the business and for hauling kids around (not yet!). So, we had them put a $600 band aid on it while we figured out what to do. Another long story short, my parents co-signed on a loan for us, and last night we bought a 2004 Chevy Malibu Maxx. We love it! It's going to be a great fit for the next season of our life. And, it's still under warranty for awhile, which makes me feel good. Not to mention it has the hauling capacity of a small SUV with the fuel economy of a mid-sized car, and it has the roomiest interior ever, even in the back seat, which is great for us not-so-small folks! Come see me-- I'll give you a ride!

Hooray for God for giving us family and friends and for taking care of us all the time!

Christmas Eve!

2007-12-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

Most of you probably know that I get just a little bit excited about Christmas. There is just something amazing about this season. A big part of it for me is that I get to give lots of gifts! If you've ever read that book about the love languages, I'm totally a gift-giver. It's one of my favorite things to do. I love picking out just the right gift for people. At Christmas time, I get to give gifts to everybody all at once, and it's so exciting I can hardly stand it! There are a couple of gifts I am especially excited about this year. I would tell you what they are, but I don't want to run the risk of ruining the surprise. The one I'm most excited about is for my Husband... maybe I'll post again in a couple of days and let you know the whole story...

We're looking forward to spending time with lots of family and friends over the next few days. Yesterday was Christmas with the Pritchards. I am blessed to have such wonderful in-laws! Today, we are having lunch with our friends the Daceys, then cruising in Aunty Judy's motor-mansion with my fam to look at Christmas lights, then going to a movie. Tomorrow will be Christmas with my family all day. Wednesday evening is dinner with the Wallaces who are visiting from Nebraska where they moved in August, and Thursday will be dinner with the Redelspergers who are up from Cali.

I'm hoping to make it to Portland soon... I miss my friends!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Finally!

2007-10-09T09:01:00.001-07:00

So, I have lots of hair. It's curly and thick and it was getting really long. I mean seriously, really long. It hadn't been this long since high school. It was taking over my life and driving me crazy! So yesterday, I finally got a haircut!!! Hooray!!!

Here's proof:

Before:

And After:

Also? Yesterday I went to pick my niece up from high school because she was sick. I walked into the office and the student who was working in there asked me "oh, are you just getting here, hon?" WHAT?! I said "Actually, I'm 28 years old and I'm here to pick up my niece." Seriously, people-- this happens to me ALL THE TIME! I know, I know, I'll be glad when I'm older and look really young. But the thing is, right now, I want to be treated like a grown up and not a kid! Geez Louise!! :)

Business is Booming!

2007-07-11T09:20:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but it is what it is. Running a business takes a lot of time!

I have to tell you that working for myself is the most rewarding job I have ever had. It allows Eric and I to have a lot more flexibility with our schedule and it will eventually allow me to stay home when we have kids. I get to do everything exactly the way I want to do it without worrying whether my boss will be pleased with me. Not to mention that I get to make a living doing what I really love!
I had a wedding on Sunday, and it was beautiful! It was at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle, right on the water. I got to use a lot of orchids and lillies. I'll put pictues up when I get some. My niece, Kylie, helped me out with the wedding. She took a floral design class at her high school this year, so I don't really have to train her, which is awesome. Plus, it allows us to spend quite a bit of time together.
I'm also working on booking more weekly accounts. I have 4 businesses I deliver to right now, and my goal is to have about 20. Weddings are the biggest money makers, but weekly accounts provide more steady income, which is really nice.
God has really blessed this season of our life together. Eric really loves his new job. The fact that it's here in Enumclaw just makes it that much better. We are just really enjoying everything that God is blessing us with right now!
That's it for now. Make sure to visit my business web site at www.paisleypetals.com.
Hooray for God for keeping us afloat while I give my dream a whirl!

Big Changes

2007-03-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

No! I'm not pregnanat! Stop it! I did, however, turn in my letter of resignation for my job on Monday. And my next job is going to be... (drumroll)... opening my flower business!!! Am I crazy? Possibly. But, I've done over 30 wedding so far-- probably even done the wedding of some of you reading this blog--and I love doing it. I just don't feel fulfilled working for someone else when I have this marketable skill that I can put to work. If the business takes off, it will allow me to stay home when we do have kids (LATER!), which is our goal. I do have an opportunity to work from home part time doing booking for a guy who does assemblies in elementary, middle and high schools, but that isn't steady income, either. So, this is all a little scary. I am meeting today with a few people I know who own their own businesses to get advice. Eric is working on a website, and it should be up soon. I'll be sure and let you all know. We would appreciate all of the prayers we can get as we give this a shot. I'll be at my current job until April 30th. After that... well, we'll just see what God wants to do. Hooray for God for being so awesome and trustworthy and able to take care of us!

Snow Day!

2006-11-30T23:09:00.000-08:00

My mom has worked at Black Diamond Elementary School since I was in first grade. Apart from never having to worry about forgetting your lunch money and getting to see inside the world of the top-secret teacher's lounge, the best benefit to her job was that we were always among the first to know when school was closed for snow. Long before it showed up on the local news, my mom would get the call from the school employee's phone tree. I remember how the snow transformed our yard. My parents have 5 acres of property-- an eternity of playspace to a kid in the snow. My brother and I would sled down the driveway, build snow forts, have snowball fights and build snowmen until we were frozen. Then, we'd come in and sit by the fire, drink some cocoa, and we'd be back at it again as soon as we were thawed out. Snow days were my favorite.

On Tuesday this week, I had my first grown-up snow day (note: just then, when I tried to type "snow," it came out "snot." "snot day." Gross.) and it was amazing! It was just like being a kid again. It had been so cold here that when the snow fell, it was falling on top of ice. We here in the greater Seattle area are not used to getting much of this kind of weather, so the whole area just basically shut down. Eric and I watched the news until about 6:30 with our brekfast in bed. Then we walked to the store to buy hot chocolate, batteries for the camera, and a few other snow day essentials. We spent a few hours on work that we had brought home with us in preparation for the storm. Then we headed up to the local golf course to go sledding with my sister's famiy and my parents. I almost hit my head on a tree. Seriously. I was *this*close. We put up Christmas lights on our cute little house and finished decorating the inside. Then it was off to my sister's house for chili dogs and "White Christmas." What a great day! It was different from, but every bit as enjoyable as my childhood snow days. Hooray for God for being so creative and for making something as fun and beautiful as snow, and for an unexpected day to hang out with my hubby!

Here are some pictures of our house and car in the snow, us in the snow, our neighborhood in the snow, random palm trees growing in Enumclaw (serious) covered in snow, and a bonus picture of our Christmas tree. Thanks to our awesome friend Jeanne for helping us pick it out and set it up when she was here over the weekend. Love you, pally!

I'm Alive, I Promise!

2006-09-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, friends! Guess what the hubby and I are doing this weekend? Moving into our new house! We are homeowners! Hooray!!! I am really excited to get moved in and settled. This will be my 7th move in 5 years, so it will be nice to be able to stay in one place for awhile. I bet you want to see some pictures of our house, don't you? OK, you can:

Here is a picture of the outside of our house:

And here is another one:

Isn't it just about the cutest little house you ever saw?

Here is a picture of the washer and dryer that the sellers took with them which they were NOT supposed to take. They didn't do it on purpose, and our most awesome real estate agent in the whole world bought us a set to replace the ones they took.

Here is a picture of my kitchen. This is the room I am most excited about in the whole house. I know it just looks like a normal kitchen, but let me take just a moment to explain to you the kind of kitchen I have had for the last year. The fridge is old and has no working light inside. I have a grand total of 2 cabinets in the entire kitchen, one of which is under the sink and clearly must house the trash can. My counter space is equal to approximately 2 square inches. The stove is one of those tiny apartment stoves that you can't even cook a pizza in without it touching the sides and getting all burnt. And the dishwasher? Non-existent. And let me tell ya, 2 people make a lot more dirty dishes than one people. A lot! Anyway, I LOVE my new kitchen! I was unpacking things the other night and trying to decide which of my many, many cabinets to put things in. It was awesome!

Hooray for God for our new home! And guess what else? Hooray for God for our first anniversary! It was this past Sunday, and we celebrated by spending Saturday night at the Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle. We went to the market, had lunch at Lowell's, ordered a movie in our room, slept in and had room service for breakfast... it was awesome! Well, except for the bus ride there and back, but that is another story for another day. I'm off to do some more packing!

Tagged

2006-09-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Jeanne tagged me with the book list, and I have a feeling if I don't post it pretty soon, I'm going to get in trouble. So, here we go:

A book that changed my life: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis- it was the right book at the right time. I was struggling with feeling like what I believed didn't make any sense. Even though I know that God is too big to be understood, the logic of this book was just what I needed at the time to keep me on the right path.

A book I've read more than once: The Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, The Harry Potter series, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A book that made me laugh: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A book I would take with me if stuck on a desert Island: Hmmmm... no idea. Other than the obvious survival guide or something like that

A book I wish had been written: Um... The next Harry Potter book would be nice... I always hate it when I finish one and have to wait for the next one!

A book I wish had never been written: The Shipping News. I had to read it in high school and I HATED it! I was so mad when it was recently made into a movie... I refuse to watch it!

A book I've been meaning to read: (this answer used to be blue like jazz, but I've started reading it since I started working on this post a couple of weeks ago, so now I don't know...)

I'm currently reading: Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller
The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum... there are 14 Wizard of Oz books. Did you know that? They are really fun. My hubby loves them and has them all.

Real Friends

2006-08-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post. Things have been very busy around the Pritchard household lately. Mostly, we've been working on planning a big, fat, fabulous 30th birthday party for our dear friend Rebecca. The party was on Friday night, and it was wonderful. Everything went just the way we wanted it to. We spent about 4 months planning and preparing for this party, and part of me is kind of sad that it's over! But it really was a perfect evening- good weather, good food, good friends, and I think our friend Rebecca felt really loved and special, which was the entire goal of the party, so that was awesome. I could go into lots of detail about the party, but what I really want to say about it is this: Planning a party of this scale is a lot of work. I won't lie. It's lots of hard work. But I can not tell you what an absolute joy and pleasure it was for us to be able to do this for Rebecca. And I'm not just saying that to try to sound nice. I really mean it. When you have someone in your life that you care about as much as we care about her, it really is a joy to be able to do something fabulous to bless them. Rebecca's friendship has been such a blessing to me over the past 10 years that I can't even begin to show her how much I care about her-- a big party is just the tip of the iceberg! Everyone should have a friend as great as Rebecca. That would be awesome! Thanks, Jeanne, for being such a fabulous, lifetime friend! I love you! Hooray for God for picking us to be friends!

I'll try to post pictures from the party soon... but I'll have to get some from Jason first, because I was so busy, I forgot to take any!

Also, in case you are curious, all is well with our house-buying process. It appraised for $7,000 more than we're paying for it, and we close on September 15th. Thank you for your prayers!

Home Owners?

2006-08-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

I love the Northwest. I love how we have 4 distinct seasons, and it never gets super duper hot or cold. I love the trees and the mountains, the lakes and the rivers, the plants and the flowers. I love Seattle and Portland. This is a great, great place to live! But we pay for it, don't we? I am overwhelmed by how expensive everything is. Since I got married, I've really been feeling like we will just be stuck renting forever (think squints from The Sandlot- FOR-EV-VER). Home ownership just seemed like such an unattainable goal. I didn't know what to do to even begin to reach it. However, my best friend from forever happens to do home loans for a living. So, we set up a meeting with her this past Saturday to discuss what we could qualify for, how we could make it work, etc. To be honest, I thought we would be at least a year out from even being able to seriously think about buying a house. But she is really good at her job and encouraged us and helped us figure out a way to get into a house. So, we thought we'd start looking around. We drove around town looking at what was for sale. And then we found it. The one and only house in our price range happened to be a well-kept, super-cute 1926 craftsman. Tiny, but that's all we need right now. So we put in an offer. CRAZY! Our real estate agent (whose kids I baby-sat for 8 years before college) said we're not going to see anything else like this come around for awhile, if ever. So we went for it. They accepted our offer! Our inspection is on Sunday afternoon, so hopefully that will go perfectly and as of September 15th we will be homeowners! Any prayers you could offer up on our behalf would be very much appreciated. Here is a picture of what will hopefully be our first home:

Hooray for God for answering our prayers and helping us get out of the rent cycle and for providing all of our needs and a lot of our wants!

*** Update *** We had our inspection yesterday. The current owners are going to do a couple of small things for us like getting the chimney cleaned, but other than that, we're set. Now we just have to wait for the appraisal from our lender, and then we will be done and we should close on September 15th. Hooray!

2 presents and 2 big ol' kids

2006-07-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is the story of 2 presents and a couple of big ol' kids.

When Eric and I were dating/engaged, we didn't get to see each other much. He was living in Seattle and working noon-10PM and I was living in Enumclaw (an hour away) and working 9-4:30. It was not an easy time for us. A couple of months before were married, Eric's cousin Pamela came back from a mission trip to Mexico. She brought us 2 finger puppets as a gift- a boy and a girl. Since we didn't get to see each other very much, she named the boy Eric and gave it to me and named the girl Paula and gave it to Eric. That way, we could carry each other with us at all times. I kept Eric in my purse in a special zippered pocket. This was present #1.

Present #2: Julianne and Zeke gave us a digital camera as a wedding present. They made sure to give it to us before the wedding so that we could take pictures on our honeymoon. We didn't have a camera, so it was the perfect gift.
Big ol' kids: My husband and I refuse to be boring grown-ups. Sometimes that causes us to do things that some might think are stupid or weird. We don't care. Hence, our honeymoon pictures. Most people would take pictures of scenery, have someone take pictures of the happy couple, etc. Not us. We took pictures of Eric all around Victoria. That's him above by a fountain outside some government building.

Here he is listening to a piper when we first got into town.

Here he is holding a Canadian flag outside of one of our favorite pubs in Victoria- Irish Times

We had so much fun taking pictures of Eric in Victoria that we continued the tradition once we got home.

Here he is watching the sunset with Paula from the lifeguard chair at Pritchard beach.

And here is the happy couple and their pet giraffe, Perry, nestled in amongst our nativity set at Christmas time.

Hooray for God for being able to have fun in life, and for a husband who doesn't stifle my child-like spirit!

Crazy Times and a God who Provides

2006-07-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

What a crazy couple of weeks this has been! We went to Portland for the big Cascade reunion. They did a really great job putting that event together. If anyone missed it, next time, don't! Seriously-- it was great to see everybody and hear old groups sing together again and have chapel again. Then, my hubby had a crazy, CRAZY week at work. He worked almost 80 hours. Gross. Then on Friday, Rebecca came to visit us. We had a great time with our good friend! She got to stay all the way until Tuesday morning. It was so nice to get to spend some good quality time with her. We went to dinner, went shopping, took her to some of our favorite restraunts, read magazines, took naps in the shade, ate and hung out with the fam, went to the races, saw a fireworks show... it was great! (thanks for coming, friend!) I mean, we stayed with her when we went to Portland, but seriously-- she was so busy with the Cascade event that we didn't really get to see her much at all until we took her out to celebrate when it was all over. This week is going to be crazy again... Eric's sister is getting married on Saturday and Eric is in the wedding and I am doing the flowers. Tonight is the bachelor party, so Eric will be out late for that, and then he has to go do a job for work before he can come home. Then tomorrow is the rehearsal and dinner all the way out in Enumclaw. Then Friday I have a Dr. appointment, then I have to run into Seattle to pick up the flowers, then spend the rest of the day putting all of the arrangements together. Saturday is the wedding. It's hard for us to be so busy because we really are just so in love that we want to be together all the time, and a regular work day is quite enough apart-ness, thank you very much. But do you know what is great about God? He gives us just what we need. Yesterday for the 4th, Eric and I turned down all invitations and just stayed home together all day. We needed that so badly. I think the last time we did that was probably on our honeymoon. If it wasn't for that time together, I would have been crying when he left for the bachelor party tonight. But even though I would prefer to have him here, I was able to smile and sincerely say "have fun!" when he left. Having that time together yesterday will help us get through the rest of this week. God is so good to us. Hooray for God for meeting all of our needs and a lot of our wants!

Life updates

2006-06-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't really posted in awhile. Here's what's been going on with me:
* I'm still working on planning the shower for my sister-in-law
* I'm also planning a party for my friend Rebecca's 30th b-day. Let me know if you want to be in on the planning, and I'll tell you where to sign up!
*My mom is taking our family (mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece & nephews, brother, husband, aunt, uncle &cousin) on a cruise next April to Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel. Fun!
*My hubby is looking for a new job. This is a good thing for several reasons including, but not limited to the following:
1. His current job involves working with a lot of poisons
2. His current job is ridiculously poorly managed
3. His current job requires him to work wierd hours, even though at the beginning, he was told that it wouldn't
4. His current job does not allow him to get enough sleep-- ever
5. He has other things that are important to him like our marriage, church, and the band
So... he had a job interview on Tuesday for a much better job. Please pray that God would do what's best for us where a new job is concerned. We really need a change.
*The band had a show on Friday. After the sound guy and the other two bands were paid, the Upset Victory guys got $2 each! :) It's exciting to be a part of my hubby's blossoming music career. Make sure you go to their website and join their mailing list so you can keep up-to-date on what's happening with them.
*My job is getting better. I am getting more and more training and finally starting to feel like I know what I'm doing.
*There are currently 2 people in my life who cause me to constantly struggle with my attitude, and I'm related to both of them, which means there is no escape (no, my fabulous husband is not one of them). God is really working on my heart, but it's hard. Feel free to pray for me about that.
*My niece graduated from the 8th grade yesterday. I am so proud of her-- she is so much more sure of herself at 13 than I was even through high school. She is one of my favorite people of ever. She looked so cute and grown-up in the dress she wore to her dance last night. I can't belive she's going to start high school in the fall!
*My hubby and I are coming to Portland. We're staying with our dear friend Rebecca and we're really excited to get to spend some time with her. I am grateful for Rebecca and how comfortable it is for us to be around her. She's the kind of friend that didn't go all wierd on me just cuz I got married. She loves Eric almost as much as she loves me, and I love that the 3 of us can hang out and have a good time.
*I'm excited to see all my Portland friends this weekend!

That's all for now. If you're going to be in Portland this weekend, let's make sure we get together at some point!

Hooray for God for life and all of its craziness and the things He teaches us through it all!

HELP!

2006-05-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

So... I am throwing a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, and I am having a really hard time thinking of ways to make it special. I can't really do a fun theme because she just wants gifts from her registry- which is a good idea since she's never lived on her own before and she needs a lot of stuff- but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make it not just another boring shower. The other problem is that I really don't know her that well, and that makes it hard to do anything really personal. But I found out on Saturday that no one was throwing her a shower, which I thought was ridiculous, so I'm doing it. Any bright ideas?

Girl's Weekend!

2006-05-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my family is splitting up into two very distinct groups: girls and boys. The boys (My hubby, dad, brother-in-law, and 2 nephews) are going fishing over in Eastern Washigton. The girls (myself, mom, sister, and niece) are staying at a new hotel in downtown Bellevue for some good food, shopping, and relaxing. I was thinking about it this morning, and I feel so blessed to be part of a family where 3 generations of girls can just hang out together and really enjoy each other's company. These 3 girls are the most important women in my life. We love and support each other through the good stuff and the not-so-good-stuff, and I treasure these relationships. I am really looking forward to spending some time with my girls. Also, I'm looking forward to staying in a nice hotel, having my room cleaned for me, being steps away from great food and shopping and doing some serious relaxing. I wish I could just go now, but we all have to go to work/school first. Hooray for God for 3 great girls who love and support me and for the opportunity to do the same for them! Anybody else doing anything fun this weekend?

Saturday Morning

2006-05-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning at 8:21 and I have already been up for approximately 2 hours and 41 minutes. In case you are unable to figure this out for yourself, this is a completely inappropriate time to be awake on a Saturday. My hubby and I do not usually sleep the day away on a Saturday because we like to go out and get breakfast at our favorite breakfast place before a) band practice starts and/or b) they close the griddle and I can no longer get pancakes. So, usually we get up around 8 or 8:30. But not 6 or 6:30. That's just ridiculous. But, Eric and I both have to work today (gross) and we still wanted to have breakfast together, even though he had to leave an hour and a half earlier than me. So, yesterday I bought a couple of cinnamon rolls and we had those and coffee for our Saturday breakfast today. I know this is starting to seem like a complaining post, but I'm getting to my point, I promise... You see, I HATE mornings. HATE. Getting out of bed is one of my absolute least favorite things to do. And those of you who know me well (i.e. have been my room mate and/or family member) know that for me to get out of bed an hour and a half earlier than necessary is quite an accomplishment. So, guess what? Hooray for God that I get to have a husband that I love so much that I want to get out of bed early on a Saturday just to get to have breakfast with him before he has to leave!

Portland Bound

2006-04-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, since most of you who read this blog live in P-town, I thought I should let you all know that Eric and I are coming down for a visit. My friend Dave is graduating from Cascade next Saturday (April 29th), and we're going to be there. We'll be coming down Friday night and staying until Sunday afternoon. We'd like to see as many people as possible while we're in town. Let me know if you'd be interested in meeting us at Spag after church on Sunday for some lunch. The last couple of times I've been to town, I've tried to get peole to come out to lunch on a spur-of-the-moment thing, and not too many people have been able to come. So, I'm going to give the ol' "let your friends know you want to have lunch with them after church a week in advance" method and see how that works out. We're excited to see you all!

Birthday Fun

2006-04-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was my birthday. I am a big fan of birthdays. I think it's fun that everybody gets their own special holiday and we celebrate how awesome we think they are. This birthday was a special one for me... it was my very first married birthday. It was so great to wake up next to my husband in bed and hear him say "Happy Birthday, Wife!" We both took the day off of work and spent it together hanging out in our awesome city. We had pancakes for breakfast at Luna Park Cafe (our favorite breakfast spot), took a lovely drive along Lake Washington Blvd. (all the cherry trees are blooming), Went to the Experience Music Project (my sister bought us a membership as a wedding gift), went to Elliot Bay Books (sign in the children's department said "attention: all children left unattended will be given a free espresso and a puppy."), Went to Pike Place Market (bought some beautiful tulips), did some shopping around Westlake (nothing exciting to say about shopping), Watched a Movie (Ice Age 2- pretty funny. Eric said he'd like to see a live action movie where Ray Romano and Queen Latifah had a romantic interest in each other) and went to dinner at the Icon Grill (great dinner, and the most AMAZING ice cream sundae I have EVER experienced). So, it was a great, great day. Oh, and my birthday present? My hubby recorded the song he wrote for me and put it on our ipod so that I can listen to it whenever I want (which will be daily, I assure you.) It was a great day, and I am excited to see what the rest of this year has in store. Hooray for God for letting me turn 27!

Here we go again...

2006-04-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

So, getting married is basically an absolute guarantee that you are going to gain weight. Seems to happen to everybody. Thankfully, Eric and I have not put on so much weight as to have to buy bigger clothes, but neither of us is happy with our overall health at the moment. So... we joined a gym. Ugh. I love being in shape, but I really really hate working out. Well, at least the cardio part. I don't mind the weight lifting so much. But it is definitely more fun to go with my hubby and work on a common goal that to be doing it all alone. And our gym is pretty great. As part of our membership, we get to meet with a trainer once a month. Most gyms I've been to give you a brief consultation when you start, but then you're on your own. So, I'm pretty excited to have monthly access to someone who will help me design a workout to meet my goals. I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I am NEVER going to be one of those people who can just eat whatever they want, never exercise, and still be in shape. It's just not going to happen. If I want to be healthy, I'm going to have to work at it. I'm also playing volleyball right now, which is kind of my reward for working out. I mean... I LOVE volleyball, and working out makes me better at it, so I'm really glad that I still have an opportunity to play competitive ball. It's quite a bit slower than it was in my college days, but it's super fun. I'm excited to start honoring God more by taking better care of my body. Hooray for God for giving me the motivation and the tools to make it happen!

I'm Back!

2006-03-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's been so long, friends! It was great to see some of you at Tim's wedding yesterday. When I got home, my fabulous husband had our internet service all ready to go, so now I can blog freely from the comfort of my own home! So, with apologies for the long delay, here are a few more pictures from our wedding. I have hundreds, so it's hard to pick just a few. Does anyone know anything about "flickr?" Would that be a good way for me to share some more pictures? Anyway... I'm glad I promised that I would post some more wedding pictures, because it gave me an excuse to look at them again! Our wedding was such a wonderful day for us. And the best part is that every day since then has just gotten better and better! Horray for God for marriage!

Band Practice

2006-02-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, my husband was at band practice. And I was there, too. And I had nothing to do except for to think of something to blog about. Also, the once upon a time is right now. So, as previously stated, I am at band practice. Eric is in a band called Upset Victory. I have a link to their web site on my main page. They have a couple of shows coming up, which is exciting because they've been working on recording their EP for a long time, so there haven't been any shows for awhile. Someday, Eric will be able to make a living just with his music. That will be great. In the mean time, though, we're trying to juggle 2 full time jobs and a full time band, which is quite a challenge. For example, today we both had long days at work and didn't get home until 5:45. We should have left our house for practice at 5:30. So, we changed really fast and ate in the car on the way here (we were lucky this week... we usually don't get to eat first). We'll get home at around 10, just in time to get ready for bed. On Monday, March 27th, they have a show that starts at 10 PM. 10 PM!!! Remember how I said that we both had full-time jobs? That start at early, grown-up morning times? Yeah, so all of this full time everything is going to be a bit tough. But we can handle it! Hooray for God for giving my husband such great talent and the potential to get to make a living doing something that he really loves. Also, hooray for my husband for having the courage to do something about his dream!

Happy Birthday!

2006-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me point out that this is my SECOND post of the DAY!

Now, on to the matter at hand:

Today is my husband's birthday! I am so glad he was born! He has made the past year the best one of my life so far. Every day with him just gets better. Even when the lifey things of life get tough, Everything about life with him is so much better than everything about life without him. I feel so ridiculously blessed to be in a love like this. Eric makes me feel like the most beautiful, treasured, valuable, and loved girl in the whole world. The very best thing about his birthday is that when God made Eric, he had me in mind, and I'm celebrating that today.

Happy Birthday, Husband! I love you! A LOT!

At last!

2006-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Friends, it has been a very long time since I owned a computer. I had a laptop in college, which served me well. Sadly, as things go with technology, it was outdated by the time I graduated. So, I have been without a personal computer since April of 2001. I've managed to get by using computers at work during breaks, but now that I'm trying to manage a household of 2 instead of just 1, (hooray for being married!) it's getting more and more difficult to stay organized. Eric and I have been computer shopping since we got married. We had planned to buy one with all of the dollars we were given for wedding gifts, but other things came up that we had to spend our money on. So, we've been casually looking and trying to figure out how to come up with some more dollars.

Most of you know that Eric started a new job a few months ago, and they gave him a work truck, so his car was just sitting around not being driven. A couple of weeks ago, we started getting parking tickets because you can't leave your car in one place for more than 72 hours in Seattle. Lame. So, we decided to sell the car, because we just weren't driving it enough to justify the costs of keeping it around.

The next day, we went to the Apple store. (no comments from any of you apple haters out there, please). We were able to purchase a new imac (that's his picture there at the top of this post) and ipod for the amount we sold the car for. So, now all we have to do is figure out what kind of internet connection we should get, and then, at long last, we will have joined the 21st century! Hooray! Now I can blog from the comfort of my living room, and I'll be able to get the promised wedding pics posted, not to mention getting all of our bills and junk organized at home!

Silly New Blogger

2006-02-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

So... last night I was talking to my dear friend Jeanne for a good long time (thanks for the chat, pally!). At some point in the conversation, I mentioned something about how I hadn't had a single comment on my blog since I changed the format. She said "well, you must have the comment moderation thing turned on." Turns out, that was precisely the case. And not only was I not aware that I had it on, I didn't know where to go to moderate the comments. Hence all of your comments not appearing on my blog. So, now I've got that all straigtened out, and you should be able to comment to your heart's content without any trouble. I'll get this thing all figured out one of these days. It will be most helpful when we have a computer at home (soon!) and I can blog at my leisure instead of hurriedly durring a 10-minute break at work. Thank you all for your lovely comments. For those who requested it... I will post more pics from the wedding when we acquire the aforementioned computer at home. :) Horray for God for my friends!

Volunteering

2006-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of you know my job title, or at least the name of the organization I work for. For those of you who don't know, I am the Volunteer Coordinator at Vision House. Vision House is a Christian Non-Profit that provides transitional housing for homeless moms and kids and also homeless single men in a seperate program. We currently run 2 women's homes with apartments for 15 families as well as a beautiful child care center, and 2 men's homes with room for up to 8 men total. My job is to recruit, train, and schedule volunteers. It is very rewarding and very challenging work. We have all sorts of volunteer opportunities from office work and building maintenance to working directly with Vision House kids. Many of the people in my family have become Vision House volunteers, and I know they have been blessed by it. The picture in this post is of my sister and my niece volunteering at the Vision House Kid's Christmas Party. I had a really cute one of my mom with one of the little boys too, but I can't post pictures of Vision House kids. I'm wondering what sorts of volunteer activities other friends and family members are invloved in. So, if you have a second, leave a comment and let me know what kind of volunteer work you are currently involved in. Or, if you're not doing volunteer work, would you like to? Are you just too busy, or have you not found the right organization yet? What would motivate you to start volunteering? I just came back from a great volunteer manager's training put on by the United Way, and it made me curious about the volunteerism of the people I know. So... comment away!

You Know Who You Are

2006-01-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is a tribute to one of my life's greatest friends. She is true and loyal and real. She has always loved me without reservation. I have never had to pretend with her. She is kind and giving and talented. She does her very best for her family. I admire her parenting skills. She has let me share in the lives of her kids, which has made me more loving, and has taught me a lot about the way God loves us. She is smart and funny and so quick-witted that it sometimes takes me a minute to catch up with her. She has a strenth about her that can only come from her choice to depend on God. She does not fake it. There is nothing false about her. She is willing to be vulnerable so that other people can learn from the things she has experienced. She is capable and skilled and willing to try new things. And she is so fun! She is just generally an excellent person to be around. I have looked up to her my entire life and will continue to do so. She has been facing some really heart-breaking challenges lately, but I know she will face them with grace, dignity, and love because she is serious about letting God work in her heart. I just wanted to take a minute to let the world know how special she is to me and to say "Horray for God for my Sister!"

Being a Grown-up

2006-01-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that getting married is this magical thing that makes people start treating you like a grown-up. In general, people tend to take you more seriously and expect more of you. Well, I have a secret: My husband and I are a couple of big ol' kids, and we have no intention of growing up EVER! Oh, sure, we'll pay our bills on time, probably buy a house before too long, and be generally responsible citizens. But when we do the dishes, we will have soap fights in which I grow a soap beard and he grows a soap cone out the top of his head. When we go for long walks in the park, we will jump from mole hill to mole hill, pretending that the grass is RED HOT LAVA!!! We will stay up late, eat ice cream for dinner, make weird faces at each other in the bathroom mirror, and go out for breakfast every Saturday morning. We will kiss at red lights, and then make up silly songs about it. And we will laugh and laugh and laugh. And we will be happy. Hooray for God for giving me my perfect husband!

Catching up

2005-12-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

I figured some people who stumble accross this blog would be wondering what on earth I've been up to for the last year and decided that would be a good place to start. So... let's see... last December, I finally decided to quit my job at Cascade and move back to Washington. I lived with my best friend since forever, Julianne, for a couple of months. I found a job in January and have now been working as the Volunteer Coordinator for Vision House for almost a year. It is a great organization to be a part of. The bulk of our work is in providing transitional housing for homeless moms and kids, but we have a men's program as well. Check it out at www.vision-house.org.
In February (February 13th, for those interested in specific details) the man I'd been hoping to love for nearly 3 years told me that he felt the same way. Thus began the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. Being loved by a man who is in love with God is really just amazing. Eric proposed on May 24th, and we were married 4 months later on September 24th. My mom says I win the prize for my life having changed the most in the last year.
I have to say that marriage is incredible. It's more than everything that I hoped it would be, and beyond worth waiting for. And I'm really, really proud of God for inventing it. When it's done His way (or as close as we humans can get to His way) and He is blessing it, it is just amazing. I have never been so happy in all of my 26 years.
So, that's the basic story of the past year. Next time, I'll try to write about something more specific, but I had to start somewhere... Hooray for God for my fun new life!

I Give Up!

2005-12-13T15:46:00.000-08:00

Family is the best thing ever. It's the reason I moved back to Seattle in the first place. Now that all of Jeanne's family is living in the greater Portland area, as much as I love her and want her to myself, I don't want her to leave her family. So, I hereby resign my attempts to get her to move to Seattle. In the near future, I will rename and transform this blog so that anyone who is interested can keep up with all of the ridiculously exciting happenings of my life. I love you, Jeanne!

Reason #12

2005-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jeanne's birthday. I like birthdays. I like to make them special and help my friends celebrate the gift of life they have been given. I especially like Jeanne's birthday. Why? Because I get to do all sorts of fun, silly things, and Jeanne gets to pretend like I'm a silly girl and she is half annoyed at the birthday fun, when the truth of the matter is, she LOVES it! For example: one year (2 years ago, I think, before she had to start spending her special day surrounded by a million little children at the coast) I broke into her office the night before her birthday and decorated it-- complete with a paper-streamer curtain on the door and vases full of daisies. Then, I brought her a bag full of individually-wrapped presents that she was only allowed to open one at a time whenever I stopped by to see her throughout the day. Doesn't that sound like fun. Well, this year, all I got to do for her was leave her a stinkin' voice mail because her phone doesn't even work out at the dumb coast. So, reason #12 that Jeanne should consider a change in location is that birthdays just aren't as fun without your everyday friends. Plus, I make a stinkin' good mayo cake. :)

Reason #11

2005-07-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

Jeanne loves music. And not just the stuff that everybody is listening to on the radio, either. She enjoys expanding her horizons and finding cool new sounds that maybe nobody has heard of yet, but they sound good to her. She is, shall we say, a bit of a Connoisseur. In fact, right this very moment, she's probably thinking "where could I go in Portland on Labor Day weekend to hear lots and lots and lots of great music, see cool art and films, and eat good food?" The answer: nowhere!!! What on earth is Jeanne to do? I would like to suggest the following answer:

The 35th annual BUMBERSHOOT!!!

The 2005 schedule was just released a few days ago, and it's going to be great! You can check it out at www.bumbershoot.com. So... reason #11 that Jeanne needs to mobilize her musical madness and move to the beautiful emerald city is that bumbershoot is awesome and much more enjoyable when you can go home and relax in your own home at the end of each of the 3 days of fun. Come on, Jeanne. You know you want to.

Reason #10

2005-07-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Jeanne enjoys a good, relaxing time in a nice, calm environment. I just signed paperwork for my new apartment. Let me paint a picture for you:

Imagine a lovely neighborhood along the shores of south Lake Washington. The sun is shining, the birdies are chirping, and happy people are enjoying their beautiful surroundings. Charming houses with lots of character surround you, making this the perfect neighborhood for evening strolls. As you walk down the block, you notice a particularly cute brick tudor surronded by amazing gardens. You walk around through the gate at the back of the house where you find yourself surrounded by trees and flowers. You notice the inviting hammock, the comfortable porch swing, and the stress-relieving hot tub. Once inside the apartment, you immediatley feel at home.

This is where I live now. Reason #10 that Jeanne should move it on up is that, well, who wouldn't want to come visit me all the time when I'm living in a place like that? I mean, the bathroom is so big, it's got 2 chairs in it. We could have tea in there.

P.S. Also, here's a picture of the park by my new apartment:

P.P.S Also, hooray for blogger finally catching a clue about making it easier to use pictures!

Reason #9

2005-07-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is a giver. She likes to serve people and take care of them. I just happen to work in a job up here that would allow her one of the mose awesome opportunities to do just that. I am the volunteer coordinator at a place that does transitional housing for homeless moms and kids. Which means that it's my job to find people to come and play with the kids on Tuesday nights while the moms have their meetings. Jeanne would be a fabulous addition to our volunteer staff. AND she would get to experience the deep satisfaction that comes with just holding one of these kids for a little while and letting them know that they are loved.

So, reason #9 that Jeanne should gather up all her matronly wonderfulness and relocate it is that the children need her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why, Jeanne? Why won't you help the children?!?!?!?

Reason #8

2005-07-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is a bridesmaid. And not just any bridesmaid, she is MY bridesmaid. And the only one in the party who has been in a wedding before. Something about her presence just makes me feel calmer. I've got this crazy thing going on right now where I don't FEEL stressed out mentally, but my body is showing aaaaaaaallllllll of the physical signs of being stressed out-- tight neck and shoulders, random canker sores, breakouts on my face, restlessness... even my teeth hurt! So, clearly, I need a little Jeanne therapy. I think it's the only thing that will break the vicious cycle. And a weekend visit is just NOT going to cut it, people. I need access to my amazingly grounded, Godly, wise friend ALL OF THE TIME.

So... Reason #8 that Jeanne should pack up her psych degree and journey Northward is that if she doesn't, I'm probably going to lose my mind.

Reason #7

2005-05-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Portland
Is that a mountain off in the distance? I'm not really sure...

2005-05-13T13:55:00.001-07:00

Seattle
Waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy more mountain for your moolah.

Reason #6

2005-05-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is an auntie. Speaking as an aunt myself, I know that it is one of the great joys and privilages a single girl can experience. I mean, you get to have all the fun of having kids in your life that you love with your whole heart, but when they act up or get bratty, you can just send 'em home to mom. You can take them out and spoil them and get them hyped up on sugar and buy them noisy toys and then drop them off at home! Seriously, though, the relationships I have with my niece and 2 nephews are some of the most treasured in my life. When I moved to Portland, I started missing out on all of the little things. I mean, I made it home for their birthdays (usually) and holidays, but I missed all of the day-to-day stuff. Now that I'm back up here, I see them all the time. For example, my niece (who is now 12! and in the 7th grade) had a track meet last Thursday. I went to watch her compete, and then we went out to Cold Stone. Then on Tuesday night, she came over and had popcorn and watched cartoons with me. She's also been coming out to volunteer at the place where I work. We make it a point to hang out at leas once a week, and she even initiates it a lot of the time. Last Saturday, I took her and my nephew out shopping for Mother's Day. It's just so great!

Jeanne's niece lives in Oak Harbor. The equation is pretty simple: Portland=futher from her niece; Seattle = closer to her niece. She's almost 2 now, but she'll be 12 in the blink of an eye. So, reason #6 that Jeanne should get her little Auntie Fanny up here is that missing out on the loves of your life growing up is LAME. Come on, Jeanne. We'd be the coolest pair of Aunts you ever saw... group trips to the zoo, the waterfront, ice cream... you know it would be great!

Reason #5

2005-04-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Jeanne came to visit me over the weekend. I was hoping she'd just stay, but it didn't work out. Curtis and I showed her a good Seattley time, even, and she didn't stay. However, we did present her with several more reasons for relocation. I am at work, though, so I will only be posting one of them now:

Jeanne loves beautiful things. Over the weekend, she got to see Mt. Rainier in all her glory, stunning views of the Seattle Skyline, and the beautiful baglady outside the B&O. Not to mention her new boyfriend at the Dilettante cafe. Also, her first glimpse of the Starbucks SODO building and a stunningly beautiful ferry on Elliot Bay. Now, I'm not saying that Portland is doesn't have it's share of beautiful things. Lord knows I love that city. All I'm suggesting is that perhaps it's time for a change of scenery.

Who could pass up the opportunity to gaze at these marvels every day? Apparently, Jeanne thinks she can, but she is sadly mistaken. So, reason #5 that Jeanne should herself become Seattley is that there is just so much breathtaking beauty to behold, and she should be a part of it.

Reason #4

2005-04-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is the assistant to the Dean of Students at Mountain Range University. "I should be excused from chapel because (insert ridiculous reason here)." Who wouldn't want to run far, far away from that? Seattle = far away from whining college students who think that they are the exception to every rule. Portland = close to whining college students who think that they are the exception to every rule. Seems like a simple equation to figure out to me.

So, reason #4 that my patient and loving friend Jeanne should move it on up is that even the kindest soul can only take so much from the blubbering babies. Run away, Jeanne! Run away!

Reason #3

2005-04-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is one of my very bestest friends in the whole enite great big huge ol' world. Today is my birthday. She's not here. I don't think this one requires a whole lot of extra explaination, so...

The third reason my fabulous pally Jeanne should hoist her hiney up here is because no celebration is as enjoyable without her.

Reason #2

2005-04-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is the Replacement Sister. That makes 3 sisters in my family, and 2 out of 3 sisters agree that Jeanne should move to Seattle. Sister Marie and I are terribly lonely in our sisterhood without her. We cry most days because of the deep sadness in our souls at being separated from Jeanne's loveliness. We have Jeanne-shaped hole in our hearts! :(

All of our sisterly activities are only 2/3 as fabulous as they should be. Our laugheter is only operating at 66.6% of its usual rate of delightfulness. Return to us, Jeanne, and save us from our forlorn and fragmented state!

Reason #1

2005-04-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

Jeanne is a California Girl. Granted, she has lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for a long time, but not long enough to acquire the "webbed feet" that most of us natives are born with. While it's true that Seattle and Portland both see their fair share of rain in a given year, the average annual rainfall in Seattle is a full FOUR INCHES LESS than it is in P-town! (i know you're curious- it's 36 inches in Seattle and 40 in Portland)

So, reason number 1 that my dear friend Jeanne should pack up the u-haul and point it North is that those extra four inches could just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Her sunny Cali demeanor just can't handle the extra precipitation!