i love my sister...

We have so much fun together, and I'm convinced I wouldn't like living in Moscow so much if she weren't here.

NEW POST! FINALLY!

So sorry it's been such a long time since my last post! I got a terrible head cold on the second to last day of our trip, and finally feel like a normal human again. The head cold wasn't just the normal "change of seasons" cold that I usually get - no, this one involved fevers and fainting... no good. But I'm on the mend, and just in time, too!

Because of going on vacation last week, Bran and I needed to scrounge up some extra bill money. In a crazy effort to do so, I'm working two shifts today - I went in at 7:00 this morning and worked until 1:30pm, and go back in at 5pm and will probably work until 9ish. Crazy! But lots of hours = lots of tips!

I'm so glad I was smart last night and this morning - it made work a breeze. I went to bed at 10, and got up at 6 to take a shower and eat breakfast before I went to work. It was so nice to have some extra time to get ready rather than trying to get up and run out the door!

Alright time to take a nap and maybe watch some Grey's Anatomy with Jen before my next shift.

post later?

This is another one of those "I'll post later" posts.

I know that you hate them (mom and Karen, I apologize!) but i'm way too tired to post right now. When I do, I'll include pictures from our trip, and some I took of Bran and I with our dogs.

Love!

Why the bad rep for in-laws?

Mine are fantastic. Bran's computer died a few weeks ago, and not only did Jeff get it fixed, he's also giving us a new one to replace mine. Karen surprised me today with a copy of "Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management" which I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago. And on top of it all, they're giving us an excuse to have Spring Break! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I love you all! :)

In-laws, trips to the coast, and making our own Spring Break

Bran's family gets in today, which means that I don't think I'll have much time to post this next week. They're all on Spring Break, and so Bran and I decided to make our own Spring Break to hang with them. We're taking off work next week to go on a 3 day road trip with Jeff, Ty, and the girls (Karen will be in NC at a basket weaving convention). We're super excited about the trip, which might include staying in Seattle the first night, then driving down to Oregon, and possibly hitting Portland - I'm glad I'm spontaneous and easy going when it comes to travel, or the trip might drive me insane!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Need I say more?

Time really has flown!

This week went by sooo fast - I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. 

Work was good (I made $100 in tips on Tuesday night, after only making $20 on Saturday.. Go figure!), Evie was happy, and my house is almost clean! The only thing that's not done is the laundry, but that's only because my next laundry day isn't until Saturday.  There are lots of things I love about sharing my house with 3 people other than my husband, but having laundry days isn't one of them.  

In other news, for those of you who know them, Kelly Rhine and Rachel Ryan just started courting! We're sooo excited for them, and can't wait to see how things unfold.  Bran and I are going to have them over for dinner after our trip to Portland next week to get the low-down on how things are going.  We couldn't be happier for our friends!

 

I don't have to work tomorrow night, so I'm going to try to post some more then. Love! 

Long Week

That perfectly describes how I feel today.

Saturdays never really feel like the weekend for me, since I work every Saturday night. Sundays don't really either, since Bran has to work after we get home from church. Because our schedule is so weird, we really don't feel like we ever get a break. I watch Evangeline every weekday, and then usually work at the Pantry on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Bran works Wednesday through Sunday, and the overlap makes for an exhausting week. The week after next, though, we're both taking off all week to spend time with his family while they're here. We're going to the Oregon coast, then hanging in Portland for a few days. I can't tell you how excited I am to get away!

Goodwill finds and the Dump...

It's been a while since I've done a picture post. The first set is from our recent trip to the dump, which is a regular occurrence what with the dogs destroying the fence in the backyard and all. I only went because we were going to go to Lewiston afterward, which didn't end up happening thanks to some truck problems. But we did go to the movies instead, and saw Slum dog Millionaire. The movie was fantastic, and I'm still dying to get out of Moscow for a little while.

Bran tossing sections of the old fence.

I sat in the truck while he worked. I didn't like the smell.

Bran being silly on the side of the road.

I'm usually terrible at finding "winners" at Goodwill, but today was evidently my lucky day. I found this ceramic pot, which I'm going to have Bran drill holes into so I can use it as a planter.

I also found this vase to put my dried Valentine's flowers in.

I love the way the vase looks, but I'm still trying to pull together the rest of my Spring Mantle arrangement.

These are the Primroses I bought on the 1st. They make my kitchen window look spring-ready!

I couldn't pass up these Daffodils, especially since they remind me of Ireland every time I walk in the front door!

Mom - you'll have to sort through our Ireland pictures and see if you can find the one of me in the field of daffodils.... We don't have any of the pics on our computers!

That's it for now... Have a lovely evening!

A bit of everything

Last week was fantastic. Gregg was here all week, and it was so good to spend time with him. I can't wait for him to move out here in a few years! It is such a wonderful thing to grow up with someone, then be away for a time and realize at your reuniting that you have both become adults without realizing it. It's scary, but it's great.

I've really enjoyed my scripture reading for the past week. I decided to make just reading the New Testament my goal for now, then move on to the rest. I would typically start with Matthew and proceed book by book to Revelation, but I've found that I analyze and understand things better when I don't read all 4 gospels in a row. In light of that, I decided to read the first 8 books in this order: Matthew, Acts, Mark, Romans, Luke, 1 Corinthians, John, 2 Corinthians. I've read Matthew and Acts, and am halfway through Mark at the moment. I'm so glad I decided to do it this way, because the break between gospels helps hold my attention.

I remember not liking Acts when I was young. I'm not sure why, but it just wasn't my favorite. Having read it again, though, I absolutely love it. I would give so much to spend even a few moments listening to Paul speak in person. Re-reading the book was a fantastic reminder of what an amazing man Paul was, and how much he gave for the sake of the gospel. His devotion makes me feel like I'm doing nothing to further the kingdom, but then I remember that we each have our calling, and traveling all over Europe spreading the gospel isn't mine right now. Mine is to minister to my husband, my family, and my community, and let the gospel shine through the way I treat them.

I'm looking for a good Couples bible study to do with Bran and haven't come across any I'm in love with yet... if you have any ideas, let me know!

Bran and I were talking the other day, and neither of us can figure out where the time has gone since we got married. We can't believe that we will have been married a year in 2 months! The craziness of moving, renovating the house, living with siblings, working full time, etc., has made time fly. Something I really wanted to do in our first year was start lots of traditions, but the fast pace made that difficult. We did establish a few, though, like having Shrimp Bisque on Christmas Eve, having house dinner once a week, etc.

I decided that I want to make some traditions of my own, that are just for me. I started today, and decided that on March 1st of every year I'm going to buy potted plants for the house. I love plants, and haven't successfully kept one alive yet, but I'm determined. So on March 1st of every year I'm either going to add to my beautiful, flourishing collection of plants, or start over.