I am trying to enjoy winter...Skiing and Snowboarding

Last night Jeff and Sarah somehow talked me into going to the slopes with them...

I went snowboarding for the first time about a year and a half ago. It was HORRIBLE. I hated it. I fell like every five feet. It took me the ENTIRE time we were there just to get down the "bunny" hill once!!!! (Sarah said it's a pretty long bunny hill...we rode a chair lift up to the top of it).
Pic from March 2007...I atleast got a good picture out of it hahaha...



















Anyways, last night they convinced me to try again, but try skiing instead...
And I LOVED it!!!!!!!!! It was so much fun! I didn't fall at all on the bunny hills...(which were pretty big and we also took a chair lift to). Jeff and Sarah even brought me down some regular ones but I kinda freaked out and took my skiis off at this mandatory jump. All in all it was a lot of fun though and towards the end I was finally getting a better hang of it. I can't wait to go again!

The three of us at the end of the night...














I don't own snow pants or a "REAL" winter coat, so I'm wearing one of Jeff's coats and wind pants hahaha!
















Sarah and I stopped mid-hill for a picture...
















It was really a fun night. I'm so glad they talked me into going. So glad I gave this skiing/snowboarding thing another chance! Well, I won't be giving snowboarding another chance...but the skiing thing, that was fun!!!

cruising the curvy mountainous coast again

one of jeff's treats to me was a convertible...it has been really fun having it...
if I could figure out a way to upload video on here from my phone that'd be cool...
ok jeff is getting annoyed at me for being on my phone. going to the beach now!

Maui, Hawaii Here we come!!!

Photos of Maui, Hawaii...
















Jeff and I leave for the gorgeous island of Maui, Hawaii in exactly 34 hours!!!

That is, this Saturday the 8th in the morning! We return on Sunday afternoon, November 16th! We'll be gone for about 9 days and we are very excited! It's going to be like a 2nd honeymoon because we are going all by ourselves and without Ethan. I can't wait for some amazing quality time together and with the Lord.

This is where we'll be staying...
This is the only pic I could find online of it...it's a condo stay so it'll be more like a house or apartment than a hotel room so we can do some of our own gourmet cooking (a hobbie of ours) and things like that which will be nice. :)
It's called Maui Beach Vacation Club. I'm just excited for some beautiful weather! It was kinda cold today and very rainy. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow...yes! Perfect timing!













We're going to have a complimentary luau dinner that came with our booking...and that will be held here: (follow link...I couldn't save the pic)
Lei Greeting and Luau

Ethan was sick last week and then I was sick tuesday night and yesterday and then Jeff wasn't feeling well yesterday either. Needless to say, I'm glad we got that out of the way and are feeling a lot better now. We have a lot to do in the next 34 hours...we both work tomorrow and haven't even begun to pack!

Sarah is going to be house-sitting for us (staying here) and also watching Ethan 5 1/2 of the days we'll be gone while Suzanne and Don are going to be watching Ethan the first 3 days we're gone. I think he'll do just fine. Maybe we'll get Sarah to do some skype with us! (Thanks, Jake for the info on that...)

Well, I probably won't be going online again from here on (unless it's from the airport) so pray for a safe flight!!! (I'm a little bit nervous about flying over the ocean for such a long period of time!) Jeff's already been to Hawaii 3 times so he'll hold my hand on the plane I guess!

And, today, was a good day at the flower shoppe. 5 of my arrangements are on display in the coolers right now (a pivotal moment for me!) and 2 of my arrangements went out for delivery today (another pivotal moment!) The owner said that one of my bouquets was very beautiful (which made me smile) and also said that I'm in charge of the rosedale arrangements (they're more discountish flowers) she said I do the best ones for that and that I should act as the boss over that project kinda when she's not there...which was also cool, but anyways. I am beginning to like working there. I am learning more than I thought I would. I'm getting a lot of practice. Not always what I want to learn, but seeing different ways of doing things (not always my preferred way or the way I'll do it in the future but it's cool to see different ways).

I also am going to be a substitute teacher at Maranatha which I am extremely excited about as well and will also be coaching the 5th & 6th grade cheerleaders this year. I was told I was getting a raise this year...and today I found out what that was...a whole 15 bucks! hahaha I just laughed. $15 is better than nothing. It's not for the money anyway. It's my way of giving back and serving others.

How was that for a life update all in one post, Jake??? Hahaha

Life Update

Last week was rough. Ethan was sick, then I got sick, then Jeff got sick. And all on different days...and it lingered about 2 days each. So we all didn't get much good quality time together. Anyways, I'm glad we're all feeling better now!

Last week was also one of those weeks where Jeff and I were just both kind of struggling with where to go from here. What to do in life, what jobs to have, wanting to be in God's will, but not knowing how to get there...
Ever have one of those days where you just don't know what you should be doing in life and you start looking at your circumstances and the job you have and just feel like there's gotta be more to life than this? That was like our week last week. The devil was just really putting depressing thoughts in our heads and it was really a tough battle. Thursday when Jeff stayed home from work because he wasn't feeling good, we just had a long worship session and just had to THANK God for all He HAS DONE and WILL DO. It seemed like all hope in things was failing, but when we turned our eyes on God, the burden was lifted. Even in the natural it just seems like things aren't going good, but when we completely give it to God and stop giving thought to it, that's when we feel free. That's what I've been doing this whole month it seems (just keep on giving any thoughts to God), but last week I started taking those thoughts back into my own hands. Just wondering what God has for me. I just want to be in His perfect will and it's so hard to know what that is sometimes. I feel like I just need to take steps of faith and just ask Him to close doors where they need to be closed and open them where they should be open. That's the other thing, I haven't been working much (only at the flower shoppe which cancels out Ethan's daycare) and so I've gotten worried about money so much that I have been tempted to go back to Eagle Street. I know I am not supposed to go back there and it was like I kept getting this image in my mind or sentence in my mind (probably Holy Spirit led) that kept saying "It's like a dog going back to its own vomit"
Enough said. I'm not going back as tempting as it is sometimes. It was such good money. Man!

All this to say, sometimes the devil tries to sidetrack us with thoughts and situations happening in the natural, but we have to keep our eyes focused on God and how HE cares for us and how He takes care of the birds and He'll take care of us too. Somehow we always seem to make it. And it's because of God's provision. I just have to keep focus on that. Our God is supernatural and He will always provide.


Here's a little story...some may say it's a coincidence, some may say it's favor!

Jeff wanted to go get some beans for coffee from Starbuck's...so we went there to get it and if you pay with a Starbuck's registered gift card, you get a free drink. So, we decided to load a card and then pay for it and get our free drink.
I guess you could say it wasn't really planned and the money would come out of our grocery fund...we decided we'd put $20 on the Starbuck's card. Don't know why $20 since beans cost $10-$12. I pulled $20 out to put on the card. After giving the cashier the money, I looked on the floor and said, "Jeff, I think you dropped this" and he said "I didn't drop that, I didn't even have a $20 bill in my wallet" The $20 bill was folded so I knew it wasn't in my wallet either (I keep my cash straight). After talking a little bit about it, we realized it was a random $20 and that paid for the $20 re-load on the starbuck's card. After finding it, it was like God was saying to me that He'll always make a way to provide. Even for the little enjoyable things in life. Some would say it was a coincidence that we found $20 on the floor and decided to put $20 on the Starbuck's card all at the same time, but some of us (me) would say that is just one way our supernatural God works and one way that we get favor in small situations like that. (Thanks, God for the coffee money...haha)

I hope whoever reads this finds some encouragement in it, and if no one reads it, that's ok too because I really just enjoy journaling about life. Let GOD be your source of provision today!!!!

6 Random Things...(Well, kind of random, not super random)

Evan tagged me a little while back and I just read it! So I'm gonna do it!

-Write 6 random things about yourself.
-Tag 6 people at the end of your post
-If you were tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

6 Random things about myself...

1. I'm weird and crazy and spontaneous. Especially when it gets late at night...I start saying things like, "I crack myself up like an egg ahahahahahaha!" and then laugh uncontrollably...or laugh about the bird pooping on my head story even though no one else gets it. I just love being weird and crazy and meeting weird and crazy spontaneous people!

2. I can eat a whole jar of green olives in one sitting.

3.In high school, I went to the dentist after not going for a while and found out I had 14 cavities! 7 on each side!

4. I like unique things...anything that is different from the average thing...and I LOVE giving unique or hand made gifts.

5. I save wrapping paper. That's right. Well, maybe not the actual paper, but the ribbons, bows, and bags...I save them...and then I reuse them. That's right re-use. Because I'd rather spend more money on a gift than part of the money on the wrapping paper!

6. Not sure if this is something random or not, but I can't think of anything else...
I LOVE and THRIVE on deep conversation! I love being transparent and I love it when people are transparent with me! I love just being real.

7. Nate's made me think of this...I was the only one in my family (of my siblings) that was not born in Minnesota...I was born in Colorado! My brothers always teased me and said that the altitude affected me (in a negative way). Aren't they nice?


I don't know what else...If I think of something better, I'll edit this!

What's Five Bucks to Ya?

It's a pint of organic strawberries to me...

Tonight Jeff and I were at the store picking up a few things for the week and organic strawberries were on sale 2/$7 so we grabbed one. That's right. One. Not two. At the lovely Cub Foods they always have these signs that say 2/$5, 3/$4 etc etc... but, it's all just marketing. You really don't have to buy 2,3, or 10 to get the deal. You can grab one 2/$5 item and it'll be $2.50. Good to know, right? (although last week we fell for the 10 for $10 avocadoes deal...)

Anyways, I always read over my receipt when we're leaving and tonight I noticed they charged us $4.99 for the strawberries instead of $3.50. Only a $1.50, right? (In a normal world maybe...) but, we were still in the store grabbing a free redbox dvd (free because we get free codes to rent free movies and it's great) so I went to the customer service counter and asked them about it...
The guy apologized and said, "Here's Five Bucks (not $4.99) for a refund" He refunded the strawberries completely!!! He said, "It's part of our right price scan guarantee...if it scans wrong, we'll refund your money on the first one and charge you the right price on the 2nd one."

Awesome, huh? It seems that many times probably 1 out of every 3 shopping trips we find some sort of mistake on the receipt...which brings me to my next point...be aware! Don't just sit back and expect everyone to do everything for you...be proactive and save five bucks once in a while!

And, another thing, if you're not on a budget five bucks doesn't really seem like any sort of a big deal, but when you actually watch where your money is going, five bucks can be a dealbreaker. That's all.

And, today Pastor Peter Haas' sermon was awesome. He talked about just being smart with your finances and even gave a plug for Dave Ramsey. He showed a little video that they made that you should watch when they post it this Tuesday. I think it'd be great for anyone who has purchased and financed a new car.

That's all.

P.S.
Jeff and I have for the first time in our lives been on a "budget" or "spending plan" for more than 3 weeks at a time! In fact, this Tuesday, October 7th will be our 3 MONTH MARK!!! And, this is the first month that it has actually caught up to us where there is actually extra money in the bank at the end of the month!! Big Shock!!! It's great. We're slowly but surely going to become debt free!!!!!!!!!!

It feels good to fit!!! And other life updates...

I must say that our move to Substance Church has been nothing short of perfect. It's so amazing when you find where you fit in the body of Christ. Yesterday, in church, I just kept thinking, I am soooo glad God brought us here. This feels so amazing. I feel like we are FINALLY on track and heading in the right direction! We're finally doing something right! Haha, but seriously, I am so thankful for finding Substance. It's really not about "church". At ALL. "...it's not about church services that make you feel good, where you have an ooey gooey worship experience with God..." (Pastor Peter Haas) "...it's about having fellowship with other Christian believers that can pray with you, lift you up, and hold you accountable...that's true church" (Sorry if I didn't quote that right) But, I agree.
The stats about having close Christian friends to do life with show how much more of a chance you'll have to stay on track with God, than someone who doesn't have close fellowship with believers (we're still in the process of finding some really close Christian married friends). Jeff met a lot of married guys at the Men's Retreat and I'm excited to go to the Women's Retreat at the end of October.
God is finally ACTUALLY a part of our life instead of just being some religious legalistic ritual that we take part in because it's what we've always done. That makes me excited! I just wanna jump and run around!
I highly recommend downloading the substance church podcast! I think the new one comes out every TUESDAY! Yesterday's message was awesome, and I just feel like we're finally getting fed spiritually! With stuff that is relevant to doing life!!! I hope it's the 2nd service podcast, that's the one we were at and it was really good. Subscribe to it. Listen to it.

Substance Church Podcast Page

Another AWESOME podcast is Renee Burt's homemaker's podcast!!! I still think her teachings at homemaker's are WONDERFUL (even though we don't physically attend LWCC anymore) for ANY girl, mother, or wife!!! You can download those from LWCC's website under small groups. I think one of my favorites from last fall is called: "Complain Train" It's great! You should listen to it!

What else in life is happening...
We just found out that the guy that "installed" our floral cooler did it completely wrong. In fact, DANGEROUSLY wrong! So wrong that if a city inspector came out, they'd give us 10 days to get it fixed or get out and condemn our house! Is that scary or what? So we need some prayer with that situation because it was one of our NEIGHBORS that tried to install it for us and he's become really rude in the process and has already been paid $2100 in full. He did everything wrong and might have even ruined the compressor. Talk about a headache! Nothing God can't help us with. We really don't want to become enemies with our neighbor, but paying that much money to possibly have ruined the cooler is not a good thing...I'm pretty frustrated about it! Which brings me to my next point...
GOD LEADS WITH PEACE!!! Over the last month or so Jeff and I have had a few experiences where we felt uneasy about a situation, like the cooler, and went with it anyway, it has not turned out good. I've definitely learned my lesson! We need to listen to the peace even when in the natural everything seems like it'd be fine, and then stuff happens. So, this just prepares us for things later in life. Listen to the peace in your heart, because the Holy Spirit leads with that peace and then it can prevent situations like the cooler one from happening!

What else is new...

I got a part time job in a flower shop as well as working on my business, (Prestigious Petals) the flower shop is called, "The Flower Shoppe" creative name, right? Haha, it'll be good experience though and I'm already learning new things. Some that are a little old fashioned and 80's looking, but some that will help me in my business. I'm excited for the Holiday season because I haven't done a lot of Holiday designs.

We all 3 started going to a Chiropractor...we all have spines that are not in line in the right way and Jeff's is actually starting to form arthritis (shown on x-rays) so we all 3 will be getting adjusted 3 times a week for the next 3 months to get it fixed and then once a week after that...(we setup a family plan) It's actually really amazing how when your spine is completely in line and none of the nerves are being crushed how much quicker your body can heal itself. People think that getting adjusted once a month or even once a year is enough, but it's not because it's like getting braces...you can't put braces on one day and then take them off the next day and expect your teeth to be straightened. It takes time. Then after you have braces, you get a retainer to retain the shape. Same thing with the spine. You need to retain the alignment by getting regular, maintaining adjustments...that's another story though.

I have a wedding this weekend...fall colors: orange, champagne, and hints of blue...that'll be really pretty.

We had a bbq last night and it was a great turnout! 14 people came! (8 of which were married couples! yay!) It was funny because as people left last night, the only people left were the married ones and we all sat around the bon fire and talked...we had...Jeff & I, Ryan & Alisha, Brian & Michelle, and Joseph & Moriah. It was really fun. I thought it was so cool that we finally have some married friends after 3 1/2 years of being married!!! But, we're going to get even more married friends from going to Substance and going to the married subgroup and all that. Yay!

Now I'm just having a nice Monday...Jeff and I found ourselves waking up at 9:30a.m. to Ethan talking in his room...either the alarm didn't go off or Jeff turned it off in his sleep! So, we had a late start to the day, but sometimes you just need a little rest.

Sometimes these update posts are a little boring, but I really just like to journal about life and look back to see where God is taking us...I recently had someone write on my "Wall" on facebook this, and it completely touched me, it was about one of my former posts. It inspired me to post.

"Hi Nicole, I think I told you about the upcoming book on Jeff's family. Today Candice sent me his birthday. But not where he was born. From about 3 this afternoon I have been updating material and looking at verious family si... Read Moretes to try to get a grasp on their lives. Having said that I went and looked at some of your blogs and started to cry. You really need to keep doing the blog thing it will touch people. Here is what I read. Last week I prayed with a girl in my group to receive the evidence of speaking in tongues and then this week I prayed with ANOTHER girl in my group to receive the gift of speaking in tongues! Last week was the FIRST time I'd ever prayed with anyone to receive tongues...I've done the salvation prayer with people, but never for speaking in tongues. If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will! I'm so excited for these young girls to experience what tongues is all about!!!!!!!! That's when I realized how on fire for Christ you are. I truely was touched!"

It's just cool to hear comments like that from other people.

We had one of our last boat charters of the season on Saturday night...and we might not work on the boats next summer...so we took some fun pics...enjoy!

I love working with Jeff. Do you like our uniforms?
Who knew you could make $30 an hour while being with your best friend?!?!?














We're having so much fun















Can you find Jeff in this picture???














Today is the first day of Autumn! I love the Fall! I say that Summer is my favorite season and then Fall is my 2nd favorite! I love it. I love sweater weather and the cool air and the changing of the tree leaf colors. It's so wonderful. I hope everyone has a perfect Autumn day!

(Ethan and I outside today on the first day of Autumn)
He's reaching for his nuk! (It's hard to get rid of that thing!)

Tribute to "Quail Man"

Goodbye, Quail Man...

Well, 2 days ago, Ethan goes up to the fish tank in his room and says, "Pish, pish" (Fish) But Fish (Quail Man) was laying on the bottom, dead. My heart kinda sank. Jeff got "Quail Man" (That's what Jill and I named him because he traveled from Jeff's parents house to where we live on Quail Avenue, I also know Doug Funny was Quail Man...anyway) before we got married.
Jake & Sheena gave Jeff the tank for Christmas 2004. Jeff went through a couple fish before Quail Man, all Cichlids, meaning they eat other fish. We went together to get Quail Man downtown at a pet store off of University Avenue.

Quail Man was a very pretty color, white with an orange belly, and he'd turn purpley blue when he was scared or we moved his tank and he got a little startled or stressed out. He's been with us since we've lived here on Quail Avenue and Ethan has gotten to have him in his room since he was born. It's the only pet Ethan's ever had.

About 6 months or more ago, Jeff was tired of taking care of Quail Man (though he was easy to take care of...we'd feed him once every 1-3 weeks and fill his tank up the same amount of time apart). One night, while I was at work, Jeff decided to flush Quail Man down the toilet and sent me a text saying he was doing so. I didn't get the text until it was too late...or so I thought. I got another message saying he tried flushing him TWICE and he would not go down!!! I said, "Take him out of the toilet! That's sooooo mean!!! I will take care of him!" So, Jeff did just that, and he's been with us ever since. The only thing is, I kinda forgot to take care of him sometimes. Sometimes, I remembered to feed him maybe once a month...
But he hung in there! He was great. Very low maintenance. I'm not sure if he died of starvation, or of some other tank error, but he died shortly after I filled about 4-5 inches of water in his tank. I wonder if I did something wrong, that was my first time filling the tank. I didn't put any stress coat in the water, I think Jeff always did that. Whatever it was that caused it, he's gone now. :( It kinda makes me sad!
But, there is something a little weird or ironic to the story...
Ethan has been getting Chiropractic treatment since he was born (because of his torticollis, but that's another story) and recently at the Chiropractor, Dr. Brist said that something electronic in his room was disturbing his treatment progress. He did some tests and nailed it down to the fish tank! Isn't that crazy? Well, we've been talking about it and didn't know where to move the tank to...and then boom, Quail Man dies! Like it was a sign that we really needed to get the fish tank turned off or out of his room. Well, we turned it off, and it's just sitting with water in Ethan's room...so empty. But, for the better I guess for now. Who knew something like that could affect so much?

Here are a couple pics....

There he lay...gone...(He doesn't look very pretty in this picture)















Ethan looking at the dead "Quail Man" (A Firemouth South American Cichlid)

We are... CNN Grill

What we've been doing for the past week...















REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION...

Working at "CNN Grill"

Pictures to come...

People I've personally given restaurant service to...sorry if the spelling is wrong:
Anderson Cooper
John King
Wolf Blitzer
Alex Castellos
Gloria _____
Candy Crawley
Owners, CEO, CFO, of Google and Yahoo
Others...I will post when I find out their names...

I will post pictures soon...

But, for now, a Seattle Newspaper writer posted an online blog about Jeff!!!! Check it out~!

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/this_is_jeff

A little clip about the grill...or search cnn grill MN on google!

Eagle Street Grille becomes CNN Grill

"Let Go and Let God"

Ever heard the saying, "Let go, and let God"?

It seems that when we strive for more of God that the devil tries to come at us even more, or we notice it more. It's like, you get soooooooo excited about hearing the Word and are sooooo excited to act on it, and then boom! The devil throws things your way!!! I was having a pretty good week and then yesterday I was just feeling really lost like I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing and just had all these cares. When I got home from working on the boats last night, I was talking to Jeff and he was like, "You just have to give it to God." And my rebuttle in my mind was, "But if I give it to God, then I won't have anything to worry or care about." EXACTLY! DUH?!?!?!? Sometimes I feel like we (or maybe just me) get so greedy with our cares that we just want to carry them around and baby them and get attention from them because if we give them to God, then we won't be all mopey and down and sad and greedy or needy for attention anymore...hmmm...meaning we'll be happy! So, in the shower this morning, I was like, Ok, God, I just give it all to you. And it's like from then on, you just have to not think about everything. Just stop worrying about it all. We need to live in the PRESENT and stop trying to figure out our entire lives! God will lead us in the right direction as we follow Him and GROW in Him and as HE finds us ready to move to the next step. What a great revelation! Thanks, Jeff, for hitting me in the noggin with such an obvious reality!

Fruits of the Spirit

Lately Jeff and I have been listening to a lot of podcasts. We've been listening to a "nightly message" too, and we have been striving to actually grow closer to God. In a lot of the messages, I feel like they're saying, we crucify ourselves to be one with God, we put our flesh down, we don't even have a "hint" of greed, and when we do these things and truly seek God, the fruits of the Spirit will flow freely from us.

That is something I love. When you truly find who you are IN CHRIST, things of this world do not matter. I feel like I don't have to be in competition with people. When we try so hard to be perfect and compete with everyone to have the nicest things, what is the motivation? Self and greed. I feel like when we strive to be a woman of peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, that we don't even DESIRE to be in competition or greed. We DESIRE to be a woman of GRACE. I feel like God has been speaking to me about that lately. That I just need to be a woman of GRACE. Loving and not criticizing, not judgemental, not selfish, not greedy, JUST Loving. It's so easy to get distracted when people around you only care about me, me, me and what they have...but it gets tiring to try and compete. Why even try? That isn't what God is calling us to do. Who cares if we've downgraded our cars! Hahahaha I just have to laugh about it because I could so easily think, "It's not fair, I wish I had a nice car...I wish I had a bigger house...I wish I had..." That's not where I am supposed to be. When the time comes for me to be ready, will I still want the best of the best in the material world? Probably not because I would rather give more money into God's kingdom and missions and church planting. We can get by with something that works and is nice, but we don't need to have the best of the best.

Someone once said to me, "If you have people over and there isn't a spec of dirt, every little thing is perfectly in order, not a sight of any sort of a mess, the home doesn't feel like a home anymore and there is no feeling of hospitality, because what the point of getting it to that degree of perfection is so that you can IMPRESS someone. We should not be trying to impress people because it will just make them feel more uncomfortable in the end. Plus, then the motive is wrong." (That was just a paraphrase)

We ALL like our homes to be clean and in order and nice looking, but we need to examine ourselves so that when we're doing it our motives are correct. I don't know why I'm saying all this, I just feel like God has really been working on me to not compare myself with others and to just be a woman of grace. The woman that God truly wants me to be. Just to focus on Him and not care about what others think. Seek after the fruits of the spirit instead of seeking after material things. It's funny now when I hear people talk about me, me, me and what they have and what they're getting, and all they're doing...is that really what God wants our conversations to be like? In the end, those people usually don't have it all going on and maybe they don't have a great relationship with God, or a great marriage, or God's provision or God's protection, or blessing on their life. I don't know...I guess I just really want the fruits of the Spirit to be EVIDENT in my life!!! I'm so excited to finally be GROWING in God. Finally. (And I like to journal about the journey...it's always fun to look back and see just how far God is really taking you.)

Happy Birthday, Jakey!

A lil gallery all about Jake...

Look how "Cool" he looks in this pic at the AR Razorbacks game...














Ope, here's the real deal: Christmas with a new babe.















Wearing his Easter Egg Cookie Mask...what a chappy!





















I guess he cleans up well! (Sheena, "[Insert loud whistle here]"

















And then he of course, manages to work the "Sass" with my Son...















Today is my brother Jake's Birthday!

I hope you have an amazing day, Jake! (since I know you'll read this!)

Jake is a great older brother...he likes it when we pull things from the childhood "memory box" so I'm going to try real quick...

I remember when he used to drive us to school in his black z34 all decked out. It was great. On mornings when I was crabby, he'd put silly music on and do the kangaroo dance just to annoy me. In my head, I actually thought it was funny and admired him for not being crabby back. He always made an effort to get to know the 3 younger siblings. I loved that about him. He cared about us! When I was old enough to drive, he even let me drive his pimped out car. All of my friends were like, WHOA! Jake lets you drive his car??? I'd smile and be like, "Yeah, duh!?! He's coo like that" What a nice big bro.
Now he lives in Arky and we all miss him here in MN, but are happy that he's pursuing God's calling on his life. He is married to a beautiful girlie named Sheena who I couldn't be happier to have as a sister (in-law, whatev). He also has this cute smiley little big cheekies boy, Jeremiah...what a blessing.



Love you, Jake! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!


















(What a cute family he has)

Sunny Summer Days...

Summer is finally off and running!

Yay!!! There are blossoms on my squash and tomato plants...yay I can't wait!!! We had some summer squash from Jake & Sheena's garden last night...it was delicious...thanks for sharing the wealth you two!!! We sauteed it in a little olive oil, when tender added some salt, pepper, and soy sauce...it sizzled nicely and had great flavor! Bon Appetit!!!

Here are a few beach pictures...







Wednesday we went to Lake Calhoun...Sailboats in background...





























Ethan kept picking up the rocks and was trying to eat them...















Thursday...We went strawberry picking yesterday...(Mom, Sarah, Ethan, and I) delicious strawberries...we were eating them while we picked.






































Today...Ethan got into a little trouble when I forgot to shut the bathroom door...look at that guilty face! Ethan: "What'd I do? I'm just playing with my truck, see?" (That was a brand new MEGA roll of toilet paper...looks like less here than it really was) He unrolled it all the way to the cardboard! Must have been fun!


















And right now, I'm updating my blog while Ethan naps! (Oh, and enjoying this too...)
(It's called a Venti Iced "Starbucks Double Shot on Ice" (containing 5 shots of espresso) It's just like an iced latte...it's probably the best deal they have right now...for summer. I ask them to substitute the classic syrup in it for vanilla syrup, but tell them to only do half the amount and I add a little extra milk...it's perfect. Only $3.04 with tax. Jeff and I sometimes split one of these (Who says it has to cost $8 everytime you go to Starbuck's?) Try out my discovery! You can substitute any flavor for the classic syrup...and 5 shots...come on! This would normally be atleast a $5 drink!
(I needed a little motivation to clean...hahaha oh lovely Friday!)

The photographer sent me a few nice pictures from the May wedding...

My Mom's Birthday...

I forgot that I was going to post pictures of the flowers from Mom's birthday...



















The bouquet from Jake(& Sheen & JJ), Sarah, & I (& Jeff & Ethan)...















(we're missing the arkansan fam from this photo and Jeff)


Mom's office was filled with flowers (all ordered through me...)!!!















pink bouquet on Left from Aunt Elana, Grandma Elaine, and Uncle Sid
25 Red Roses bouquet from Dad (on Right) with curly willow and seeded eucalyptus
large bouquet on right (see above)

My Most Recent Wedding...

This wedding flower business stuff is kinda fun! Here are a few pics from my most recent wedding!

The Bride's Bouquet...pictures do not do this justice!!!!



















The bridesmaid's bouquets...purple and bronze were the colors...

















The reception centerpieces...




















The cake topper...
















The cake topper on the cake...





















Everytime I do a wedding, I feel like I get better and better at it...it's exciting! All the things you can do...

Recent Pictures

I love my lil family...














I love my lil boy...

































I love my hubby...














What do you love?

A Match Made By God...Happy 3rd Anniversary, Jeffrey!

I remember the day that God told me Jeff was the one for me. How exciting. Learning and growing together has been so much fun. I could not have been given a more perfect match.

Remember how we used to make lists of what we wanted in a future mate? God gave me everything on my list and some!

I am so amazed at how much Jeff has grown in the Lord and how much we've grown as a couple just over the last year. Last year was our best year yet, and this year is going to be even better!!! I am so blessed and happy that we continue to grow further together. He has shown me the true meaning of unconditional love and support. He still opens every door for me and always prefers me. He has shown me how to loosen up and not sweat the small stuff. Thanks, Jeff, for showing me that having a few drops of water on the bathroom counter is ok. Thank you for not getting upset if the house is messier when you get home from work than it was when you left for work. Thank you for not putting expectations on me and just for loving me the way I am. Thank you for always taking out the garbage without being asked. Thank you for doing the dishes the many times you do while I sit there and play with Ethan. I am sure you would rather be playing with Ethan. Thank you for always helping me when I ask for your help. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for being such a great Daddy and Husband. You have taught me that relationships are too important to get upset with eachother about little things. At the end of the day, we always know that we love eachother no matter what, and that's what I love about you.

Happy Anniversary to the one love of my life, Jeffrey.

Today is a GORGEOUS day...just as gorgeous as it was on our wedding day. Today truly reminds me of the day we promised to keep God first in our marriage and stick with eachother through everything. What a perfect day.

Flowers Galore!

I've been living and breathing flowers lately. A big wedding and a convention on the same day this week. Yikes. I spent the whole day doing convention flowers. All day yesterday doing wedding corsages and boutonnieres...and tomorrow is all the bridal bouquets and reception pieces.
Jeff and I are also working on the boats tomorrow night for our first charter of this season...! AND, it just so happens to be that our group is NatureRich! So Jeff and I will be working while my family and NatureRich business people are enjoying the cruise. I guess I'm excited that we get to work it with people we know. That should be fun. The wedding is on Saturday (my biggest wedding flower order as of yet). Then Saturday night the convention awards dinner...I wonder what dress I shall wear. I'm tired. I need sleep. I pick up another $300 worth of flowers bright and early tomorrow morning (well in like 6 hours). Long couple o days ahead of me. I'm just winding down from today right now...so journaling helps. Ok, night!

I can breathe again.

::Sigh::
Last week was crazy...40 hours of school, plus packing everything for Ethan everyday and coming home and doing house work and also coaching cheerleading, and also working on my floral design business and also finishing making jewelry for the craft show that was on Saturday and Sunday...I really don't know how those moms that work a full time job do it...taking care of everything else adds up to so much. I feel like I could barely even catch my breath. And, now, I can. Kind of. Except now I'm playing catch up. I'm on my 4th load of laundry today! I ordered all the flowers for a wedding I'm doing next Saturday, cleaned, and coached cheerleading today. But it didn't feel as busy as last week. Those classes sure wear me out!
Here are a few pics from class...














These are a couple of examples of what a flower girl could/would carry...















This is like a cake top...



















































And then, on Saturday night, we got together with a bunch of couples from Driven Senior High and watched live horse racing at Canterbury Park in Shakopee and also watched the Kentucky Derby on the big screens (Hence, the big hats and dressing up)...















And after that we went to Biaggi's for Dinner (Still all dressed up)