First Completed Project!

I completed my first sewing project yesterday: a sunglasses case. When driving over to Gretchen's, I realized half way through my journey that I left my make-up bag at home. Hello?! It worked out fine though. So, the case was a completely tangent idea from what we were going to do: little girlie purses, but since I'm so slow at this, it took us the whole time. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I even did some hand sewing with the lavender ribbon and button closer. So now I have 2 projects to complete: make-up case & little girl purse. I can see how this maybe an on-going hobby. I think I'm now seriously considering purchasing a sewing machine. Even though I'm really following Gretchen's every move & have a hard time visually the steps-- hopefully with time & practice I'll get the knack of it.

SCCRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAM!

Today, I won tickets to So You Think You Can Dance when they come to the Oracle Arena in Oakland from the radio station 99.7FM!!!!!! I never win anything & now I've won something I TOTALLY WANTED! :D I've been a giggly girl all day! Sweeet!

William is SO good! I called him as I was driving home since I heard the contest. He looked online for the phone number & thought to call the station to make sure the number was correct. The DeeJ told him it was the next song (to call in on) so we were listening to the radio via the good ol' internet & we both called in. First I got caller 12, he was 13. Then I called back & was caller 25!!! I couldn't believe it. I was so excited that I was screaming at the lady. Woo-hoo!

So, yeah, whatever, it's cool. I get to go to some concert thing about some dance show. whatever :)

A Great & Short Article

By Mark Discoll while he spent time with the amazing J.I. Packer-- a wonderfully faithful man & theologian. It's short, simple but oh, so good to remember!!

Here's the link to check it out. I really liked the 3rd point about godliness starts in the home. How so important is our spiritual condition inside our home!!

More Of Our Beautiful Earth

Here's another glimpse of unusual animals, jungle birds. You may have never known about them, but thanks to Planet Earth-- we now do! :) Enjoy! Just imagine if human males tried to attract women like this!!

Click here to go to video.

Week 2: Letter V

So a few of them I turned upside-down to make the "v" a little more obvious... :)

Random Little Find

It's a coupon website for anything retail online!! I was checking out for clothing online stores. Hey, if you are looking to buy from there anyway, why not check to see if you can get free shipping or 15% off?

Sampling of stores: LL Bean, American Eagle, Victoria's Secret, JCPenny, Banana Republic, Macys, etc.

In Awe

I was speechless when I found this blog. How amazing!! Could you imagine?

Good Questions

Here are some good questions to unlock truths you may have not shared lately with your spouse. First answer questions individually then share with each other**.



1. I am important to our marriage because...
2. What I contribute to my partner's success is...
3. I feel central to our relationship when...
4. I feel peripheral to our relationship when...
5. The ways I have fun with you are...
6. The way I get space for myself in our relationship is...
7. The ways I am intimate with you are...
8. The role I play as your wife/husband is...
9. I feel most feminine/masculine in our relationship when..
10. I deal with stress by...
11. I feel most loved when you...
12. Though you may or may not know it, I'm showing you my love when I...
13. How we spend our spare time is determined by...
14. Our social life is planned by...
15. I need you to...

**These questions come from Dr. Les & Leslie Parrott's Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook

The Sin of Impatience

On Saturday, I learned about how nonconstructive my impatience/time-consciousness can be to William sometimes. During the morning, I bought us tickets to a fun play for the evening. It had great reviews & a wonderful story-line. At the time, William only had one ride & was planning on being home by 3pm. No problem. We could enjoy "Butterflies are Free" in Walnut Creek at 8pm. All this changed within 2 hours. William got another ride & wasn't going to be back in the office until 7pm...when the theater doors opened. He told me he would call when he was driving back to the office so I could meet him there.

Around 6:45, I hadn't heard from him so what did I do?! I started calling him...as if that would get him there faster or something? First impatient mistake. It went straight to voicemail. So did the other two times. He called me 10 minutes later to tell me he was already at the office but had to finish paperwork. He didn't want me waiting in my car so he was timing it out. Being me & in a rush to make it to the play at least 30mins before 8pm-- I jumped in my car to head over-- ignoring his request to heat up his dinner one more time. Second impatient mistake. So I got there with his semi-warm dinner & clothes, and then waited for a few more moments (when I should have been waiting by the microwave) before he came out.

It was a small venue & we already had great seats (although I didn't think long enough to realize this) so we actually just waited around for 20 minutes before being seated. We found free parking walking distance from the playhouse too. It was a fabulous, well-acted play. We laughed a ton. A great evening, only dampened by my impatience. William was gracious in forgiving me & I was sad that I hurt him by not trusting his plan & timing. It really all worked out just fine & we had fun. I just also learned that it's good to be timely, but not at expense of my husband & his plan. I was no help in our problem whatsoever. And it was pointless to stress. I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of my learning curve. I wish learning was easier. Annoying!!

Who Says Mondays are Manic?!

William & I made a pact to really spend the day together. We stayed inside & didn't touch electronics until 3pm...well I did pick up the phone once to see how a friend's interview went. And we just hung out. First, we pulled out our old (oh, yes, so old) pre-marital booklets that we had worked on. We reviewed our answers & did a few more of the activities in there. Then we baked! :) Together. And only wore Starbucks aprons too. :D We made Banana Walnut Bread & Wheat Herb loaves. So good. And we also found some ways to pass the time together (wink,wink) while the breads were baking. Such a lovely day indoors.

Here's our Banana Walnut Bread Recipe:
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup ground walnuts
1/3 cup butter
1&1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t lemon juice
1/4 t baking soda
1 egg
1&1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1&1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In bowl, mix sugar, butter & lemon juice. Beat in egg. Combine flour, ground walnuts, baking powder & baking soda. Add to sugar mixture alternately with bananas, blending thoroughly after each addition. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into greased 8.5x4.5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 mins or until golden brown.

**We added 2 t vanilla & 2 t cinnamon too just because...

A Gracious God

who humbles us while answering our prayers. I was so touched by this story about a 14-year-old pimply faced boy & his prayer. I know the Lord answered my prayer-- not on my timing & way beyond my own limited ideals.

Are We Too Wired?

I found this great article that I'll stash way until 3rd trimester writing: persuasion. Last year, my students did a 5 paragraph persuasion piece on whether kids are too wired or not: the consequences of technology. I loved doing the piece & discussing it with them. We even did a "mock" debate with teams. It was great to hear the thinking of these 10 & 11 year-olds as they really thought about how much we multi-task & consume our time with widgets & gadgets. I can be just as bad as though youngsters listening to their ipod, while texting a friend, IM chatting, and doing homework. One really has to wonder how deeply productive & connected one can be while doing more than one activity. Here's the original article from Time Magazine 2006 that we read together as a class to get a jump start on the topic.

The Letter V...

is our week 2 theme. A little strange, huh? Well, we thought it was one of the obscure letters & would prove to be more of a hunt. 

The letter "V" makes me think: vibrant, vivacious, and vivid. During writing, I'm always telling my students to use VIVID details in their pieces. The letter reminds me of the 5 natural senses: touch, taste, hear, see, and smell. Those small details that we never really notice... much like the letter itself. It's colorful, textured, loud (vroom of a speeding car), and angular. It's also the peace symbol that many people (particularly famous celebrities) overuse or the silly bunny ears that kids use while taking a picture. And sometimes so dang annoying when making up elementary alphabet words... V is for volcano, vegetable, vest or van. I will steer clear of Venus, Vendetta or other suggestive monologues**. :) Pictures to follow...

-J

**Although, when I saw the Colorado College performance, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Might As Well Ask, You Never Know

Both William and my dad are pretty good about this. Today, I tried it. When shopping with my parents all over the East Bay for a furniture piece that will go in their new office, I found another great "S" to add to our collection. We were (thankfully!) at our last stop:  California Living in Danville. I went to the counter to purchase my "S" block when impulsively I said to the man, "I wouldn't be hurt if you gave me a discount." It was a fairly pricey piece so I thought What the heck? Why not? The man simply replied, "Oh really, you wouldn't? Well, OK. Let me see what we can do." I was completely shocked. 20% off later, I walked outside with a grin & a new "S". Pretty great, huh?! As my mom always says, "Everything is negotiable." I think I'll keep trying it.

It's too quiet

The Swenson Family left this morning & already the house is way too quiet. We miss them & they are not even on the 5 South yet. Last night we ate Thai food to keep with our family tradition--all but my dad who stuck with the left-over steak. He's non-ethnic when it comes to food. :) We also went to Castlewood to see how their house construction was coming along. The kids loved playing in the dirt & exploring to find golf balls. I love that my family has been sucked into the Swenson family. It's been so great having a full house of people. I am now reminded how quiet two people in one home can really be.

Our Trip To San Francisco

Yesterday we drove into San Francisco to check out Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf. I had to drive the bulky Suburban, which turned out not to be as bad as I originally thought. We saw the sea lions, toured a submarine, ate clam chowder out of a bread bowl..basically all the tourist stuff. The kids loved it, but very quickly after lunch, the youngsters were revealing their nap-deprived selves! So, we're already planning the next trip to hit the Golden Gate & Alcatraz. I really love the city. Every time I'm there, I scream for not going more often. There's so much I'd love to check out. I'm glad William & I have some more time before summer ends to take trips into the city. Another fabulous outing with the Swenson Family!

Family Sandwich

A deliciously fun & tasty treat. And it's healthy too! Try one today!

We Love Planet Earth

Yes, we do! We bought the entire season from Costco awhile back. I've already used segments for Summer Science School. It's great with the high-definition camera shots. And we watched it with our family today after a trip to SF & the pool. Today, we introduce the Flat Lizard. A multi-colored lizard from Africa. They are a rare species that is only found in South Africa and they primarily eat insects. Do you feel educated yet?!?!?? We whole-heartedly encourage the series-- talk about natural drama, beauty & awe!


More on Flat Lizards
More on Planet Earth

You're Old

I found out last night, when my grandma was over, that the clock (see "Some of My Favorite Things" post) is over 130 years old. Her mom owned it before she did. Wow! I guess that's considered an antique, right?

4

The number of Ashaya's new age!! We celebrated her birthday tonight with some delicious steak, corn on the cob & yummy chocolate cake! She loved her new gifts: an orange apron & a princess crown/wand set. We also hung out at our pool in the afternoon. I love pretending I'm 10 again. Emily & I played that underwater game where you scream a word underwater & the other person has to try to figure it out. We also did round 2 of our fashion show tonight. We had an addition to our audience tonight with my grandma & parents. The girls were great entertainment. Ashaya insisted we call her the Birthday Girl this evening. She was the star!

Model Material

No visit to Uncle William & Aunt Jessica's is complete without rummaging through Aunt Jessica's closet to check out her heels & clothes. These girls are such model material

Chugga-Chugga

Choo-Choo! We had so much fun in Old Sac Town. And the train museum was a hit with everyone. The cool weather was a welcomed surprise, but it warmed up in the afternoon. We know when we've have a good day when Tristan's tongue started to bleed
from licking his giant jaw breaker. And four-year old Ashaya, after a long nap in the car and while Emily & Tristan bicker, leans over to her mom and asks, "Am I being good, Mommy?" These kids crack me up. It's so great to have a full house!! More fun to come.




(No need to worry, Tristan was just really bummed when he found out that this train toilet was out of order)

More Cool Circles

A Few of My Favorite Things

Nesting: the need to make the house a home. :) I read a recent article about how decorating a home should be a long process-- one that takes time, patience & do-diligence. If not, then it will just be a department store moved in--pure commercial without that personal touch. It was such a good reminder to me that I shouldn't be in a rush to have everything right now. Plus the hunt is half the fun & when I find that great addition for a great price, it's fabulous! I love our home & what we've done so far. I especially love much of my grandmother's contributions. I inherited great pieces. When we had her over back in the spring once we pieced our home together, she was so elated to see her things being used & how different we worked with them than when they were hers. Here are some of my favorites: