Gingerbread Night 2008

The Silver Lining

The challenges and adversities I've faced in my life have taught me a very important lesson... that the Lord never gives us obstacles, without knowing we can handle them with His help or grow from them in the long run. It's taught me that in the midst of one of life's speed bumps to seek the silver lining. November has seemed to be one of those month's where there has been many reasons to reflect on that.

As mentioned in a previous entry, at the beginning of the month our car broke down. We thought it was the alternator which would require expensive repairs. The silver lining, it was the battery which was far less expensive to fix. Then my Nana and her stroke. A horrible and a humbling thing to happen. But there has been a silver lining. There has been an outpouring of love and concern on her behalf. And as you all know it gave me reason to go see her, which I will treasure always. All month it seems I've been fighting one sicky or another, leaving me feeling a little drained. The silver lining, is that the kids are happy and healthy as little horses. Sunday morning our basement and back yard started to flood. The plumber came out and tore up our yard. It was looking like it was going to be thousands of dollars to fix the problem and we were going to have to be without water for a few days. The silver lining, it ended up being able to be repaired for $800 instead of thousands and thousands and we were able to have water again by days end.

Even more of a silver lining, what better month for all of this to happen than the month of November. The month of Thanksgiving, the month of Gratitude. Our many blessings have been in the front of my mind as I've reflected on that. It has made seeking that silver lining so much easier when things threaten to throw our focus off track. We are blessed beyond measure. I know that as we gather together around the Thanksgiving table tomorrow, the challenges of the month will be forgotten. Because no matter what life tries to give or take away from us, we can always gather together and feel the warmth of the love between us and know that come what may, we will always have the very most important thing in this world...each other.

Eat Your Heart Out Dorothy

My brother is getting married next month and I needed an outfit. So with that as an excuse, I set out in search of sassiness and I found these...

Justin said they look like Dorothy shoes. (But he said that's not a bad thing, whatever that means?) She could only wish her shoes had been this cute. And you know what, Dorothy can't be the only one allowed to harness the sassiness of a pair of ruby red pumps!

Well, the mystery girl in the picture below is my cousin Jen. We have been told our whole lives how much we look alike. In fact when I was in Boise, my uncle walked right past me, before realizing it was me and said "Oh sorry honey! I thought you were my daughter!" So I was kind of surprised so many people didn't think we looked alike at all! Funny, huh?!

Let's Ask The Audience!

Just for fun...

Take the poll on the right.

How much do we look alike?

Multi-Taskin' Momma

I was running short on time this morning, but was starving. So I resorted to eating a bowl of cereal in the shower. I thought, 'Hey I can chew and wash my hair at the same time.' Sigh, I'm pathetic.

Husband Tag

-photo courtesy of Maryn-

5 things he Loves:
1. Little ol' me, of course!

2. His three, beautiful daughters.
3. An endless supply of good books.
4. Music...Paste, i-tunes, his i-pod, Pandora, they're all his favoritos!
5. Good food - can't say I blame him.

5 things on his To Do List:
1. Write, write, write.
2. Go to games, go to games, go to games... can you tell the basketball season has started?!
3. Take me to New York and get lost in the Met.
4. Write a book about his grandparents life. The best little orphan love story ever.
5. Go to Montana and learn to fly fish... he can't eat fish, but he wants to catch 'em.

5 Foods he enjoys:
1. Peanut Butter - and more specifically, it has to be Creamy and it has to be Jif.
2. Chocolate - Chocolate chips mysteriously disappear rather quickly around here!
3. Greek Easter Bread - it makes him very happy!
4. Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam - he will not eat any other kind of jam/jelly.
5. My Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 things you may not Know about him:
1. He has really nice feet - mine look like Fred Flintstones, so I've hoped our daughters would get his.
2. His hair grows ridiculously fast - I think he is part Chia Pet.
3. He loves to do the dishes - which you won't get a complaint out of me about.

4. He gets free sandwiches at the Subway by our house, since the manager thinks he is kind of a big deal. Hey, being a real life Ray Ramono has to have some perks, right?!
5. He never pees with the door open.

5 Places he's lived:
1. Sacramento, California

2. Grand Prairie, Texas
3. Portland, Oregon
4. Vancouver, Washington
5. Currently kickin' it in A-Town.

5 Quirky things about him:
1. He can't stand to be the passenger in a car - he prefers being the one in control.
2. He is obsessed with maps, directions, and shortcuts.
3. He hates 'what-if' questions - I love them, but he rarely humors me by answering them.

4. Whenever he gets on a plane he profiles everyone around him in case things get rowdy.
5. He bites his fingernails to the nubbins.

5 People to tag:
1. Jen Nagel
2. Elisha Knudsen
3. Hayley Jones (Soon to be, husband for you!)
4. Tina Fussell
5. Sarah Swanger