Three Years

I have come to enjoy and appreciate anniversaries so much more than birthdays lately. Birthdays arrive and we turn another year older and it takes no work. They just show up. Anniversaries arrive too, but as I've talked to so many friends who are married and as I look at my own marriage, I realize that anniversaries are kind of "earned" in some way. Marriage is an amazing journey, full of ups and downs, but in order to make it work, it takes commitment and some hard work at times. Couples have to push through tough times to come out on the other side stronger, and I think that's something worth celebrating. Every time our anniversary rolls around I am reminded of the journey we have been on this past year, and I love looking back and celebrating the moments we didn't give up and the moments that were full of joy and the moments that drove us to our knees and the moments that we clung to each other because that's all it felt like we had. This past year was definitely the most difficult of our short marriage, and as we stand here today I look back at where we were a year ago on our anniversary. We had gone away to the Washington coast for 2 nights to try and escape a life that had come to feel so difficult and painful. Turns out, you can't really escape those things. We spent the weekend trying our hardest to put on our happy faces and enjoy each other, but in reality we were both so angry at the circumstance we'd found ourselves in with my husband's job. We would try and make a rule that we couldn't talk about the church but that pretty much left us with nothing, we were so consumed and hurt and frustrated that we didn't know what else to talk about. Here we are a year later and in such a different place in our marriage and family and work. I look back and I celebrate where God has brought us, how God has strengthened us, all the things God has taught us, and the amazing gifts God has given us.

I hear couples say they aren't doing anything to celebrate their wedding anniversary this year because "it's just another day," and that makes me so sad. Even if it's not elaborate, even if it's nothing spectacular, even if it's several days before or after your actual anniversary, take time to celebrate your marriage--you've worked for it, and in a culture where more and more couples are calling it quits, I think marriages are worth celebrating! My husband likes to say that our anniversary is the birthday of our family, and that today our family is 3 year's old. I think that's worth finding a baby sitter and making plans even though we're busy and we have other things we could be doing with our time. So this weekend that's what we're doing. We're setting aside time to go to dinner, and we're going to see the Hunger Games because I have been waiting for months for this movie to be released, and we're going to celebrate all that this past year has brought. Happy anniversary honey, I love our little 3 year old family!

Hellllo Sunshine!

I thought I'd share some photos from this past weekend since it was pretty much the nicest weekend we've had since moving here! Enjoy our latest adventures!

Friday afternoon Missy & I headed over to Whidbey Island for the start of the annual girl's weekend. The rest of our friends had to work and come later Friday night, but we arrived about 4, took a walk on the beach, and then made dinner together.Our meal was delicious if I do say so! I found butternut squash ravioli at Safeway that had an amazing alfredo/sage sauce. It was heavenly. That and a great salad, sliced apples and carrot sticks made for a fantastic start to the weekend--especially eating together on the back deck!We had brought everyone's food and luggage over in our car, so we set up the cabin while waiting for friends. The snack table was the most important :) We made cookies, guacamole, had fresh fruit, chips, crackers and plenty of beverages to choose from. I don't think anyone went hungry this weekend!Relaxing Saturday morning--reading, massages, sunlight, coffee. We were each assigned a meal to shop/prepare for, so Heather and I made a delicious breakfast of her famous pancake puff, fresh blueberries, bacon, and orange juice/mimosas. The tide was out Saturday (not as far as I've seen it go out but it was out enough for a great walk!) so a walk on the beach was the next activity after breakfast. I have so many memories on this beach--it's the beach our family would go to every summer--I have so many pictures of us as little kids climbing those sand dunes :)Leslie, Jen and Heather on our walkJen was in charge of lunch, and oh my word did she make the world's best sandwiches! Apparently they are sandwiches her husband makes often, and we will be too now that we've been introduced to their amazingness! Start with a large sourdough roll, pile on fresh mozzarella, turkey, and then a bunch of vegetables (red peppers, cucumbers, shredded zucchini, red onions) that have been soaking in olive oil/balsamic vinegar. The bread absorbs the balsamic, so instead of mayo or mustard the main flavor is sourdough and balsamic with the mozzarella and turkey undertones. Heaven I tell you, simply heaven.Darbee, Heather, Jen, Missy, Lynn, LesliePost lunch reading on the deckI had to leave after lunch on Saturday because of the U2 concert that night and I was teaching Sunday school the next day (the rest of the gang stayed til Sunday). The mountains on the ferry ride home were incredible. It was a gorgeous night for a concert! It was our first time to Qwest Field--I loved the view of downtown from it! The 360 degree stageLenny Kravitz openedBono...we heart him...

Anniversaries Rock

This past week SurferDude & I celebrated our 2nd anniversary by taking his first vacation day since we arrived here. We left Sunday evening after a 10 hour day at church and drove over to the coast to an amazing bed and breakfast at Ocean Shores. It was right on the beach, and was incredible. We will definitely be going back! In spite of the rain we experienced we had a great time driving around, exploring beaches (including driving on the beach, which you can do here, which I'd never done!), enjoying some delicious food, and just escaping life in the city. SurferDude bought his new wet suit, with the thickness that will allow him to be in the frigid Washington water, and we tried really hard to find him some good waves to ride, but the tides and weather weren't very cooperative. But at least he's prepared for next time!
Here are some photos from our adventure.

Our evening picnic--spinach dip, cheese, crackers, and chocolate chip cookies--yum!SUCH a beautiful place!He made some friends!Anniversary dinner Salmon baked on cedar over sauteed apples and onions--oh my word. Amazing.

Nourishing Our Souls

We are learning first hand how incredibly important it is to take time out and go play. To have a full day to just be outside, even if it's chilly, has proven to be so incredibly important for us. I never really was a nature girl, but since meeting Charles I've started learning how much I really do love the fresh air, the sunshine, the wind, seeing God's creation in all its glory. We did some hiking around California, and I enjoyed it, but I'm not a girl that loves the heat--and most of our hikes were done in the summer, in rather desert-y conditions. This past weekend we had a full day on Saturday with absolutely nothing on the calendar. No youth events, no dinner plans, no nothing. (Don't get me wrong, we love all those things! But a break every now and then is good too!). We weren't really sure what our day was going to hold, but as we were eating breakfast Charles mentioned seeing if we could go take a hike somewhere (it was gorgeous and sunny out). We ended up at Twin Falls Creek which was only about 40 minutes away, and was a great hike--not too strenuous, great views, a mixture of sunny and shady spots. It was definitely a day that was good for our souls!

First though, someone from church texted us to let us know that Alki beach had some impressive waves thanks to the wind, and that there was even a guy out there trying to surf. So of course we had to go check it out! Oh my word the views of the mountains were absolutely incredible.Then we got to the hike, it was so so beautiful!The trees were so moss-covered, they looked to me like monsters--I thought they were pretty coolYay! Vitamin D!

7 Quick Takes Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Here's what's been happening around here these days.

**1**

I know it was only a 4 day week, well for me it was actually only a 3 day work week because I have today off as well to travel, but I gotta be honest, the week felt like a year! It was a long and stressful 3 days! I'm not even sure exactly what it was that had me so stressed, other than having a lot to do in a short amount of time, but it wasn't a fun week. I felt like I was being asked to do things for one of my jobs but wasn't given the proper tools or information to be successful, which is a terrible feeling. I am more than happy to do various tasks, but give me a shot at being successful! I know that was aggravating, and we also had an extra planning meeting for our youth staff, which meant Wednesday I couldn't work in the afternoon, I was at the church from 2-9. So that probably didn't help either, even though it was a good meeting!

**2**

Last weekend was awesome though! We definitely had a relaxing 3 day weekend! Saturday we went with Ryan and Alethia to a town about an hour east of here called Yucaipa to pick fresh fruit (we thought we were going to pick apples, but the apple fields weren't open. The raspberries were though!), eat apple pie, and enjoy a new landscape. It's crazy this place is only an hour from LA, it doesn't feel like part of the city at all!

We ended the day by eating Ryan's delicious salmon burgers (seriously, they are incredible), and playing a round of Cities and Knights (an expansion of Settlers of Catan). A great afternoon/evening with great friends!

**3**

Monday afternoon Charles and I went to the beach about 4, and he surfed for awhile while I read, and then we drove to a cliff overlooking the ocean and ate a Trader Joe's picnic dinner while watching the sunset. It was a great time together thinking about and preparing for these upcoming weekend interviews.

Yum! A Trader Joe's picnic :) A sushi sampler (cooked, and no I'm not pregnant, I just don

't want to eat raw meat!), hummus, and a salad with goat cheese and red peppers.

**4**

Last night our girls group did happy hour at The Melting Pot to celebrate Tera's birthday! A dinner of cheese and chocolate--seriously, what could be better??

**5**

Youth group started back up for the fall this week which was very fun! I know I've seen these kids all summer, but it felt good walking back into our youth room, playing silly games, and enjoying good conversations. I love these girls, it will be so hard to leave them one day!

**6**

A few weeks ago we were invited to a Friday night family dinner at a church family's house--a family who doesn't have kids in the youth program yet. We had been saying we wanted to get together with these guys for a year, and finally made it happen! The joke is that she hates cooking but has a huge kitchen and I love cooking but don't have space. So she went grocery shopping for me and I went over and cooked for all of us in her great kitchen, it was so relaxing and fun! They have 3 beautiful girls (1st grade, 3rd grade and 6th grade) and we had so much fun playing with them, watching their parents do such an incredible job of parenting them, and eating delicious food. As we left Charles said "wow, that's the kind of family I want to have, that's the kind of dad I want to be." It was really fun watching, as John asked his daughters to think about their words and their actions, asking them "honey if a person who didn't know you heard what you were saying right now about your friend, what kind of person would they think you are? Lets think about what our words communicate about us." Instead of "don't say mean things. That's not nice." It was really beautiful to watch such a hands on dad with his three little girls! We loved our evening, it was one of the best Friday nights we've had in awhile!

**7**

We head to the airport in 2 hours to fly up to Seattle for a quick weekend. It'll be an intense weekend though! My husband is being interviewed by a church there to be their middle school & high school youth director, so the whole weekend is being spent with the search committee. They're housing us, feeding us, giving us a car to use for our free time, and of course, asking a lot of questions. Which is what we'll be doing too--asking questions. Is this a community we could see ourselves in? Is this a church that seems like a good fit? Do we click with the senior pastor? Is this a job description that will allow my husband to fully utilize his strengths? I anticipate having a full and tired mind come Sunday!