32 Years Ago Today!

32 years ago today Dave surprised himself by asking me to marry him! It's true! He was planning on doing it the next night over a romantic dinner but instead asked while sitting on the couch with all of his roommates in the kitchen! But I said 'yes' and the rest is history! We are romantics so we celebrate this special day every year to remind ourselves of God's amazing faithfulness.

Thanks to a wonderful Olive Garden Gift Certificate(a Christmas gift which was most appreciated) we had dinner out before heading to our Life Group(small group) from church.

I appreciated not having to cook dinner tonight even more than usual because I had spent 6 1/2 hours standing in line today to get into the Passport Office to drop off my Passport application form! That's right.....actually it was more like 6 hours standing outside in the line, and then the last 45 minutes sitting inside 'fretting' over whether or not my number would be called before 4:30. We had been warned that at precisely 4:30 the office would in fact close and everyone not served would have to come back the next day!!!!

Can you imagine? After all those house in the cold, mothers with babies, grandmas with their walkers, people freezing(it took me several hours to thaw out) some of them were told to come back tomorrow! I however was thankful to have my number called with 2 minutes to spare!!! Unfortunately as of today you couldn't actually come back to pick your passport up unless you brought your airline tickets along(no one told us so I wasn't the only one that had my plan for a quick turnaround foiled) but at least my application is now in their hands and not in my bag waiting for another day!

At least the sun was shining, there were some great people waiting in line with me, it wasn't raining, snowing or foggy, and I got to read a good book that a friend had given me on Monday! Yup you read that right...I read the entire book while standing in line! Nothing quite like redeeming the time!

And all this on an anniversary of sorts! So yes, I did enjoy our quiet dinner celebration tonight! Here's to my wonderful husband who loves me, encourages me, cheers me on, and gives me wings to fly and soar! Thanks Honey for all this and more!

Texas Holdem Anyone?

Tonka, often comes to visit when Heather and Matt come over on Sundays. As you can see he is growing up very fast and one Sunday got up on Heather's chair when she went to get Aidan and got right into the game!

"Alright, I am ready for some cards!"

So what are you going to do?

Alright, this is my hand to play! All in!

I actually loaded these pictures almost two weeks ago when I was having problems downloading pictures to my blog. But the past two weeks have been crazy busy so this morning I decided that it was time for play before work and got them up. It's a beautiful sunny day here so we are all enjoying the break from the rain! Yeah!

Although it was cold, it was absolutely beautiful! and so inviting! If I hadn't walked it already earlier in the day I would have had to walk it now! I love this park and the fact that it is so very close! And some days we even get to watch eagles soar while we walk.
I have had problems today with the pictures I am posting not being there when I come back to my blog. Anyone out there have the same problem? I resorted to posting one at a time but want to post multiple pictures again so am open to suggestions.

No picnics today!

No picnics today! Although the storm initially was literally blown in with strong winds, it has been relatively calm since then as you can see from this picnic table in the park! The snow is just as it was when it fell......giving the impression of little hats on the table and seats!

On Frozen Pond

Here is the Frozen Pond.....this is where we walk and today it really was a frozen pond! The poor ducks had no place left to swim! There weren't any skate tracks so I guess it isn't as frozen as it looks or the kids would be out there skating as they have in previous cold winters. But today it was just me and my camera(I drove down after coming back from our walk so I could capture just a bit of what we had enjoyed along the way!) How thankful I was again today for a faithful walking partner who keeps me accountable to getting my heart rate up!

A Winter Wonderland

After surviving last week's winter storm, we have had unusually cold weather for our part of the world so the snow has stayed on the ground and we are enjoying sunshine and blue skies! I just had to take my camera out and catch a few of the sights along the way! It's a whole different world than the usual grey rainy days of January that we have....here's our house with it's blanket of snow!(don't you wish you were here now Jody?)

An Unusual Day!

Today is an unusual day! Why you ask?(even if you don't I am going to tell you!) If Dave came home early from work right now he would be so frustrated with me because you can follow me through the house by looking at open doors and projects started! So why is that so unusual? Here's why....

.......because it is a Friday and I am not working on my laptop(I have put in three very long days and am all caught up in both emails and hours) so I am having an at home day that isn't on the weekend!

........because I am posting in the middle of the day and not at midnight while Dave is sleeping(and snoring) in the other room(now only the dog is sleeping and yes, snoring!)

.......because the vacumm cleaner is out having been used to do the bedrooms upstairs and is now waiting to do the Linen Closet? The linen closet you ask? Yes...it is true...I am delving into the depths of that horrificly(is that a word?) full closet and insisting on both order and space(my current obsession continues...it will be cleaned out by lunch!) The little man at the MCC Thrift Store will be so excited to take my bags out of the car when I drop them off!(is there a reason I had 8 sets of sheets for 2 twin beds?)

.......because the sun is shining and reflecting off the snow! Yes, snow again! We survived our 14th storm of the season with only 9 hours without power and Dave fighting his way home arriving almost 3 hours after he left the office(that was on Wednesday while I sat at home and wondered if he was going to run out of gas, but being the good boy scout that he is, he filled up with gas along the way! Good thing he did!)

.........because I am posting pictures of another room that we have 'made over'! Well almost...the floor still has to go! But for those of you that remember the dungeon that was my laundry room(actually it was a storage room with no order and piles everywhere....they grew, and they grew, and they grew!!! Honest!!) Dave stripped the wallpaper, and Heather helped me paint over the holidays!


Now if only the washer actually worked! It has decided that there is only cycle I can wash on(warm/cold) and one I can rinse on(hot/warm) so for every load I have to listen and move the knob half way thru, all the while making sure I have the right tap turned on or off depending on the load! Oh joy....


We love the new look and notice I even have room to sit at my desk and work on my laptop! A novel idea!


Can you believe it Jody? What a change! I too marvel at what can happen to a room after taking out 6 blue bags of recyclables, 5 large green bags of garbage and at least one box of goodies to the Thrift Store! How did that stuff all get there?!

....back to my unusual day....it's unusual because I got to talk to Jody and Darin on skype this morning(oh I do love the free long distance calling!) and now that they have made their announcement on their blog, I can make it here too. Come July, Aidan will no longer be the only grandchild appearing on our blog!!! Yes, it is true...Baby Miles is due 7/7/07...or thereabouts!!! But in the meantime, here is a cute picture of him smiling!


Our good friends Tom and Ruth were here this week and they got to meet him for the first time...she is holding him here while I captured a smile!