*SURPRISE!!*

Thursday afternoon I was teaching away - when I got an e-mail from Andrea. She was announcing that I was going to have visitors...so with that - I finished up my teaching day & scrambled home for some serious house cleaning. As most of you know, our house is *usually* clean - but when I know people are coming...I must do more. So I did...& I was exhausted by the time I went to bed. Of course, I couldn't sleep because I was SOOO excited that My Andrea, My Ethan, & Matt :) were coming to visit me.

We played, played, played. I'm sad to say that they went home today - but we had a wonderful time. We are thinking about making this a bi-weekly weekend tradition. Want to play Andrea?! The only catch is, you come here. I think we should make Erin play too. Everyone come to me...that will work out best. :)

Yesterday afternoon we visited the tulip fields. In the rain. In the hail. In the drizzle. Did I mention the weather wasn't great!? After waiting in the car for a few minutes - we braved the elements in order to take a few pictures. Here are some of them...

Andrea playing in the tulips...

Andrea, we don't lick the tulips. Didn't your mom ever teach you that?!

Enjoying a yummy dessert & hot chocolate break from all of our shopping on Saturday... (Waitress took the picture a little bit fuzzy...) Ah well. :)

Andrea absolutely ecstatic that she got to go to THE fabric store. I was content to play along. Not nearly as excited as she apparently was from this picture!!

Thank you guys for coming to visit us - we had a blast (as always) with you. Come again anytime!!

My Friend...

Here he is - my friend the hummingbird (or as Nellie calls them, 'gumming birds'). I have their feeder hanging outside my back door & they come and go as they please, all winter long.

This past week, this feeder broke - so we replaced it with a fancy glass one. The 'gumming birds' now think they are eating dinner at The Plaza (it's true, I asked one earlier today & that's what he told me).

Tonight as we were making dinner I was checking on my birds - we had 3 coming and going - Tim saw a magenta colored one...I missed him but have already decided he will be my bird since pink is my favorite color. Isn't magenta a form of pink? If God did make a pink hummingbird, I'm sure it's for me.

Yep, that's right, this post is just about hummingbirds. That's what happens when I have a 'regular' week & time on my hands...

Tea For Six...

On Thursday afternoon we joined Faith (my mother-in-law) at her house for a tea. It was a very formal affair including a 3 course meal, lovely table setting, & delicious food!! What a treat. Thank you Faith for all of the work you put into this - it was truly wonderful! I think we should do it again this summer... :)

Table setting:

These were little pound cakes made to look like grilled cheese sandwiches - aren't they cute?!!? And they were very good too...

Dessert...

Here is the only pic of the three of us - unfortunately it's blurry & my mom's eyes are closed. :( But I still love it...

52 Card Scrap-Up

Look! I'm all caught up!! Here is my card from this week's 52 card scrap-up. The prompt was 'Fresh' & issued from My Andrea. I had the privilege of creating it at her house - with her scrappy things. Thank you Andrea for letting me use your supplies - it was fun to scrap with you while I was there! Miss you...

Front:

Back:

Spring Break '08!

Well, here we are - the end of a wonderful spring break. Although I'm rested, the house is clean, laundry is going, & I have fresh sheets on the bed, I think I could still use just one more week off...I guess I'm operating on the the theory of you give me an inch, I'll take a mile (or another week in this case).

Before I get into the goodness that has been my spring break - I've added two friends to my side bar - Amanda & Sarah O. if you want to check out their blogs. Okay...now onto our week of fun.

Sunday morning (yes, that was Easter) we left Portland at 6:30 am - (yikes!) to fly to Boise. Tim's parents picked us up (thank you again Richard & Faith) & took us to Nyssa where Tim grew up. We went to church with them & then came home for a delish lunch & much needed naps. After we woke up, we headed back to Boise to have dinner with my parents & my cousin Stacie & her husband. We had a wonderful dinner together. Then we messed around Boise for a bit before taking a detour back to Nyssa (via my old house - thanks for driving us by that Richard - I loved seeing it again).

Monday we played in Nyssa & Ontario with Tim's parents. It was good to spend time with them, just doing what they do...we also visited Tim's grandmother. That evening we headed to my parents house for dinner & to stay with them.

Tuesday Tim worked & I played with my mom. We went for a massage (thank you Mom!!), shopped, & played around. We had a wonderful time, just mother & daughter. I miss that...
Tuesday night we went to Andrea's. I went with her to Bunko & had a fabulous time! It was so fun to be with those women playing a fun game & seeing what Andrea's Bunko group is like. My good friend Bethany was there too - so it was super fun to see her.

Wednesday was mess around day. We went & visited my grandfather, had lunch with my parents & hung out. Wednesday night I got together with some lovely girls from my old youth group. It was SOOO fun to see them again & hang out. I think we were gone for over 3 hours. Here is a picture of My Andrea & me before we left to meet the girls.

Here is a picture of the 5 of us at dinner. What a wonderful evening we had...

Then we took our party to Baskin Robbins for some chocolaty goodness. Yumm!!!

Thursday my mother-in-law had invited us over for a tea party. My mom & I went & we had an absolutely wonderful time. Faith outdid herself (as usual) & spoiled us with delicious food & a beautiful setting. (I have pictures of this that I will post later). Tim's aunts & cousin joined us & it was a great afternoon filled with love & time together. That evening Andrea & I watched Dan In Real Life. What a great movie - loved it.

Friday was play with Andrea day. We shopped around, played, & enjoyed our time together. That afternoon we all headed to the airport, where Andrea, her mom & sister joined us on our plane & flew to Portland. They were heading for girls weekend, which I crashed on Saturday. After a 2 hour delay, we were finally on our way to Portland. We arrived home late that night - but it was SO good to be home. We had such a wonderful time in Boise, & appreciated our parents & friends letting us stay with them - thank you so much for making our trip so fun!!!

Saturday Tim & I hung out, then I headed to Portland to shop with Andrea & her mom & sister. Tim joined us later for dinner at Marco's Cafe - yummm!! It was so fun (& so nice of your mom & sister) to let me join you on girls weekend. Thank you! Here's a self portrait we took at the mall...

I have many, many more photos to share - come back soon to check them out!!

Spring Break!!

Hooray for spring break!! I must say that all of this sunshine & resting is good for my soul. Not that I don't love my job (right Andrea?) but I do L.O.V.E. my breaks too. :)

Highlights so far from this break:

• Getting red highlights in my hair & having lunch with my sister
• Spending quality time with my husband
• Seeing friends we don't see very often
• Easter Sunday!
• Michelle B. (in FL) announcing she's pregnant again
  
• Nellie asking Jesus into her heart - on Easter Sunday
• Spending time with family
• Looking forward to an awesome week with my BFF & family
• Did I mention sleeping in?!?

Happy spring break!!!

52 Card

Here are some more of my creations. Last week Erin challenged us to use something from our junk mail. I had the perfect piece of mail. It was from Verizon tempting me with this. I LOVE this. I desperately want it. I can't have it. Before Tim (BT) I was not a gadget girl - in fact, I made fun of him & his gadgety-ness while we were dating & even when we were newly married. Not so much now, he's converted me...I love them too & I think I would be very productive with a cute pink blackberry in my hands. Anyway I digress. Tim didn't know I wanted to keep the Verizon add for the junk mail & he shredded it as I was begging again for this gadget. So...I dug the remains of my sad little picture out of the recycle bin & used it on the back of my card. It makes for a much more interesting story. And sadly, it's the only blackberry I'll be holding anytime soon.

Junk Mail: Front

Junk Mail: Back

Silvia did a guest prompt & her challenge was: What's on your mind?

Front:

Back:

Random Thoughts...

Okay...how cool is this. I'm shopping in the grocery store the other day & I come across this - I knew I had to have it. #1 because broccoli is my favorite & #2 because it's called 'Broccoli Wokly'. What's not to love about that!?!

Next random fact, I finally (after almost 4 years) found some items that would add height to our fireplace mantle. I'm very excited about this find & even more excited that I found it on 70% off clearance at Jo-Ann's! How great is that!?!?

Thirdly, yes, I'm still doing 52 card scrap-up. I was just 4 weeks behind...but not now!! Here is my card from this week - the prompt was 'How do you go green'.


Front:

Back:

I think that's all for now. I'm done with random things for the moment. Stay tuned...I'm sure I'll come up with more things soon.

Self Help?

My latest reading material...

Happy Mail

It was a good mail day around here today. I received my kit from here & here. What to do with all of this goodness?!? Well, I started by oohing & ahhing over it all - then I spread it out on the counter & photographed it for my blog. That's about as far as I've gotten. However, I do see some serious scrapbooking in my future this weekend...happy mail day to me!!

This Cat...

Is named Deacon. He is adorable - & slightly spoiled. I decided to make a list of things that he does to entertain us. Ally entertains us too - but she acts more like a real cat. You'll see what I mean...(and yes, Kelly, this post will be just about the cat - sorry). :)

1. Deacon likes to be on the computer. Every time I sit down to check e-mail, check blogs, etc - he's here putting his paw on me & meowing to come up. He's actually doing it right now. You may remember this...

2. He follows me everywhere I go. Seriously. I have a habit of not sitting down when I'm at home & this little guy will follow me
around from room to room as long as I'm on the go. When I do sit - he's right there to jump up into my lap - which leads me to the
next point -

3. He LOVES to be petted. At any cost - really. He will let you pet him for as long as you allow. One day this past summer I decided
to see just how long he would stay - after an hour & a half, I was done & he still wanted more. (That's right - I don't have anything
better to do in the summer than to do experiments on petting my cat - how great is that?!!?).

4. He sleeps like a person. He likes to put his head on my pillow & get under the covers with his front paws sticking out - ridiculous.

5. He's recently discovered Spongebob. We have a little yellow toy that he has decided belongs to him. The thing is - he won't play
with it while you're looking. Tim has tested this theory by putting it near him & standing back. Deacon won't touch it. However, as
soon as we leave the room - he does this...

(That's spongebob in-between his paws - he secretly loves it).

6. He comes when you call him. Just like a dog. Every time. I'm not exaggerating.

7. He loves popcorn. As soon as he hears the kernels start to pop - he comes running. He usually likes to eat between 7-9 pieces.

8. He does not love to take a bath. He howls & whines the entire time.

9. He sighs out loud when he's about to fall asleep. As if to say 'this is the life'.

10. He plays fetch. We have a toy that spins plastic discs into the air & if you're lucky, he will go get it & bring it back to
you. He does this 3 times maximum - then he's done.

11. He's a mama's boy. I have no idea how this happened. Okay, maybe some idea...

12. He's terrified of our adorable nieces. Whenever they come over - Deacon hides under the bed. A few months ago, he hid for 23
hours...because they spent the night - scardy-cat.

13. He misses Erin. After dropping her off at the airport last Sunday, we returned home to find this - waiting for her on her pillow. I'm sure he was also longing for 'Aunt Nicole' too. He loves his auntie.

This cat is too fun. He's probably as close to a dog as we'll come.

Just a few more...

pictures from our weekend that is. :)

Here is Nicole enjoying a pedicure & Starbucks - what could be better?!

Just for you Erin - one more shot of our girl crying. Sorry Nicole - but you look great! :)

Silly girls - aren't they adorable? Love 'em.

More Birthday Pics

So Saturday we began the day with a wonderful breakfast that Beth made (& mimosas!). It was my first one - so good, anyway, I digress. After breakfast we cleaned up & headed to the beach on our way out of town. Here are some pics of my girls.

Nicole (you may not recognize her without her birthday crown) & Erin :)

Self portrait

And here is the evidence that yes indeed, Nicole cried happy tears a lot on her birthday. Interesting since it's been several years since I've seen this one cry - she's not a crier (I think that's my job). After we came home from the beach we took her to get pedicures & while we were there her boyfriend sent her beautiful flowers. After that goodness we went to dinner with just a few close friends & had a wonderful time. We went around the table to say what we love best about Nicole - hence the tears again. But again, happy ones. After dinner we headed back to my house for the movie 13 Going On 30.

It was an amazing & wonderful weekend - and one that I will not soon forget. Happy, happy 30th birthday my dear friend - I love you - mean it! :)

Erin & I sitting on the red ball outside of Target. Why? Because we can.

She Did It!!

This weekend Nicole turned 30. We surprised her *big time*!!

Erin arrived on Thursday night (as did Tim) so I spent my evening at the airport. :) Thursday night Nicole came over & we had a slumber party - round 1. Friday morning we woke up & it was 'go' time. As soon as Nicole was in the shower Erin & I were packing our bag & getting things ready. Erin whisked Nicole away for coffee & I got into action packing the car - we even went so far as to put Nicole's things in another suitcase in-case she came into the bedroom - she would still see her suitcase on the floor (of course - she didn't even come back into the house - but that's okay).

I can't get into the rest of the details tonight (my brain hurts a little) so you can read it here.

I will expand upon all of our festivities this week...after some more sleep. Until then, here are a few pictures from our adventures. Thank you girls for all of the wonderful playing - I miss you both dearly!!

The birthday girl - isn't she beautiful? This is my new favorite picture of her...

Arriving at the house - realizing we were surprising her...

My Erin...miss you!!

The cupcakes from Friday night at the beach...