Four Years!

Today is our Fourth Anniversary. What a blessing to be married to a such wonderful man! We're going out to dinner tonight to the Melting Pot. We had gone there for my birthday back in April. It's a fondue restaurant. It's a nice romantic restaurant and always super good food! It makes it fun when you can cook it too. It kind of makes for a long evening, but that's what's great about it!

Since I have Saturday off this weekend we thought about going away to celebrate our anniversary, but we have decided it would be better to stay home and save some money so that we can buy furniture and other baby-necessities. We may work on the baby's room, too - painting and whatever else to get ready for the baby! I also have Monday and Tuesday off for the Fourth of July, so it's a nice long weekend that we can relax together and get some things done around here.

I guess we don't have the whole weekend to ourselves. On Saturday evening we're going to look after our nephews in Seattle while David's sister and brother in law go to a wedding. Then we'll stay overnight up there and go with them to a baseball game. The Mariners have been doing really well lately, so hopefully we'll catch a good game!

The day after I posted the last blog I started feeling the baby moving - very slightly, and it was hard to tell if it was the baby, but it was! It feels like something you can't control, just little "flutters" is what everyone tells me they're supposed to feel like. I just think it feels like a movement inside me, only you can tell it's not you because it's too far forward.

We found out a couple weeks later that we're having a baby boy! I thought all along it was going to be a girl, and who knows, they say the ultrasounds are never 100% but the lady there could tell pretty clearly that it was a boy. Anyway, we're excited to be having a boy first. :)

I've still been feeling great. I went out shopping last week with a friend of mine to pick out fabric for a baby quilt that she's going to make for us. It's going to be so cute! I'm so excited and so is she! Her name is Amanda and she is super sweet.

I have been playing tennis every Thursday on my days off with another friend named Anna. Her and her husband recently moved here from California and have been coming to our church. They just live down the street from us, not quite in the same development but in an apartment community that is brand new also. She played tennis in high school and coached it as well, so she's really good. But, she's teaching me a lot - so far my serve and my forehand have improved a ton!

Polynesian Cultural Center

On another day in Hawaii, all six of us decided to take an excursion to the North Shore of O'ahu and enjoy the Polynesian Cultural Center. The drive there was an experience in and of itself. We were planning on stopping at all kinds of places that we had learned about through our Hawaii books or other people. One of the places someone told us to go was a place where they have the best shaved ice. Apparently we found the place in one of the books and we decided to try to stop there on the way up. Well, we must have turned the wrong way or something, because we never found it.

Next on the agenda was a burger place for "The Big Kahuna." Again, we never found that place and so we let it slide. Our lunch would have to be eaten elsewhere. The navigator, David, told us the map was terrible. Third on the list was to stop at "Giovanni's Shrimp Shack"... well, I'm not sure if what I saw was what it was supposed to be, but I had seen a truck on the side of the road with Giovanni's name on it, and it was in the area where there were all kinds of little roadside stands for shrimp, but we didn't even try it because the truck didn't look like it had a side open to sell shrimp. Additionally, we figured the little ponds all along the sides of road were where they "farm-raised" the shrimp and it just didn't look too good. We ended up getting a burger at the snack stand at the Cultural Center. No one's going hungry here. :)

At the cultural center, we were part of a group with a tour guide, who led us around and got us into the different shows for the different islands. We saw a guy climb a coconut tree and another guy break open a coconut in under 30 seconds, I think. That was the place where they were telling us the men do all the cooking! The guy speaking said that's why he moved to Hawaii. :) The tour guide had us see the boat dances, a drum show, and we even made music ourselves in the land of Fiji. It was all very interesting and fun, but my favorite part of the whole day was the show in the evening. We had great seats - we were about 8 rows back from the front! I have some pictures from the show, but they didn't turn out very well.

Before the show we had dinner - a traditional Luau. I had never been to a Luau. It was fun, the food was good and the entertainment during the show was fun. We even watched them uncover the poor pig we were going to eat. I have a picture, but I'll spare you. :)

Hiking in Hawaii

On one of the Hawaiian days David and I decided to go for a hike through a rainforest. We had to drive in to Waikiki to meet the tour bus. First we stopped at a lookout point where we could see the valley that we would be hiking in. If you look at a larger image of the picture you might be able to see the light green leaves in the middle of the valley. This is actually only one tree! We walked right by it on our hike and the sheer magnitude of it was amazing. Our tour guide also told us about the cliff edge that we're standing on. Hawaiians jumped to their death because they did not want to get taken into slavery. Apparently at the bottom of that cliff they are still finding bones.

The trail was beautiful. We learned about all kinds of things, trees that had been brought in as opposed to trees that were native to Hawaii. A lot of the foreign trees were killing the soil around them so the indigenous trees were unable to grow. Our tour guide here is pointing out what looks like a coconut from this tree, but it is actually not a coconut. Unfortunately, I don't remember what he said about it!

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the rooster that followed us for a little while. There were some interesting tropical birds and animals along the way. One of the places we stopped to look at was a maze of roots that grow above the ground. The tour guide was telling us that this is where pigs like to hide out because it is almost impossible to get to them. However, we didn't see a pig because a wild pig wouldn't be that close to a trail. When Hawaiins go in search of a wild pig they will take dogs to sniff them out because the dog would be able to get through those roots much easier.

My favorite part of the trail was the waterfall. We had to wade through the river to get the picture of the two of us, but it was a beautiful view. I was all proud at first that David and I were the only ones who really followed the rules because we wore running shoes as the pamphlet had instructed us to. But, when we had to wade through the water, I was sure wishing had worn open-toed hiking sandals as most everyone else was wearing!

Waterfalls hold special significance for the two of us. David had proposed to me at a waterfall. :) The rest of our little day trip was fun. After the van dropped us off we walked around a huge shopping mall and bought some gifts for friends. Then we went out to dinner together at California Pizza. We didn't got anywhere too fancy since we were still in our hiking gear and since we had been getting plenty of fancy meals all week long at the resort. We had a great day together!

Hawaii!

Our trip to Hawaii was wonderful! It was beautiful and sunny pretty much every day. We enjoyed the relaxation! David had to do some work while on vacation, so he didn't get too much sun, but hey, what's better - working at the office, or working on the beach in Hawaii, soaking up the sun and sipping a Mai Tai?! I think I'd take the latter!

The resort we stayed at was absolutely beautiful. David's parents had purchased a condo there a few years ago when we had stayed at a hotel just down the walkway after the week long cruise they had taken us on. They thought they'd go to the information meeting about the new condos with the idea that they 'might' buy one.... well, you're already hooked if you go with that mindset, so they came back with a 3 bedroom condo. All three rooms looked out toward the water. The beach is beautiful and not too wavey or dangerous because they have these large man-made lagoons for people to swim in. The pools were also gorgeous. On the one end they had fake sand for kids to play in. I think there were 3 hot tubs and 2 different pools. The pools had large rocks around the edges so it made it look nicer than just a regular pool.

There's a full kitchen in the unit, so we made our breakfasts and most lunches there, and then enjoyed dining out for dinners. My parents had joined us on the cruise two years ago, and were invited to join us again. Hawaii isn't normally a place people in Ontario go to - it's easier, cheaper and just makes more sense to go to Florida, but it's oh so wonderful!! The third bedroom in the place was actually a full separate unit, but attached to ours. My parents got that unit. David and I had the "kids" room with 2 twin beds, but we just pushed them together. My parent's room had a small kitchenette with a little fridge and an extra pull-out couch. They liked having their privacy at times. Actually, we all had privacy. There was also three bathrooms, which made it nice so we didn't have to wait for the shower. It was quite luxurious! I'd like to send a BIG THANK YOU out to Dan and Joen, who so lovingly allowed us to share this vacation with them.

It's been so long I almost forgot how to post a blog!

Dan and Brandy, our two bestest friends, are leaving us to go back to Michigan. We are super sad at this departure, but we also understand it's in their best interest. They were never going to stay here forever anyway. There was a great going-away party for them on Saturday night. It was at an Italian restaurant and after dinner, Brandy first got up to share a few things but she couldn't get very far into speaking because she started to cry... awww. So Dan came and rescued her and had a huge speech written up. He is an amazing speaker and entertainer, so he kept everyone amused for at least the next 30-45 minutes. He had things to say about everyone who have been important parts of their lives over the last four years. Funny, embarrassing, tear-jerking stories and memories. Amanda, a good friend of theirs, had made a quilt for them with memories from all of us - short little snippets of memories, meaningful Bible verses, going-away wishes, or simply "Don't go!" (from Jesse Edmunds). Such a cute idea, something they'll treasure forever.

I also contributed a little something for them, thanks to Jessica's idea from her wedding guest book. I had everyone contribute a picture of themselves for a little scrapbook and then I put it together with space enough for people to add a little something in there also. It turned out pretty well, even though I'm totally NOT a scrapbooker!! But I love looking at it, so I think they will too. It's got pretty much everyone who was at the party. I couldn't give it to them that night because there were a few people a little late in giving me their photos, but I got them eventually and just finished it tonight. The two church secretaries (of all people!) are the two couples left who have to write something in there!! Dan and Brandy are leaving on Saturday, March 25th. Very sad. :(

Mom and Dad G coming to visit

My parents will be visiting us this weekend. This will be the first time they will get to see our house. We are excited to have them out - they come in Friday evening and leave Tuesday morning. It will be a nice visit. We are glad to finally be able to see them again, and they are really excited to see our house. We went shopping on the weekend to get some home office furniture. We were able to have David's dad come by with his truck and take a few of the items to our place, but when we tried to set it up Sunday night we discovered we didn't have all the right legs for the desk. So we went back up to Seattle and exchanged a leg and now have a very nice computer desk set up so I can type this in style! It will feel great to finally have a little organization in this room. We had been using a folding table (the kind you would use for church basement potlucks) and we had no other furniture except a few filing cabinets. We still had boxes and piles of papers and books all over the room. The rest of the furniture will be coming on Thursday so we should have it all set up by Friday when they come. I'm also looking forward to taking a little time off while they're here (Saturday and Monday).

Tonight we had our neighborhood Bible study. We met these people through a lady at my work who knows them from her church. They were starting a home group with a few other couples who either live in this neighborhood, or who live close by. David and I went last week, but this week only I was able to go. David has been sick for the last couple days. It's a good group. We are discussing their sermon notes, and although David and I don't go to their church, we still have great discussions. Tonight we were talking about how we can be more open and willing to have the Spirit lead our conversations with others that we might be used in the process of them coming to know Christ. We also talked a little about how we can hear God speak to us. It is a discipline being quite and still enough to hear His voice. Something I need to work on more and more.

Seahawks WIN!

I am not normally into football, but most everyone watches the Superbowl (me included), just this time it actually means something to me! I may even get up to go to the bathroom during the commercials (instead of watching it just for the commercials!).

Seattle is super excited right now because our team is playing in the superbowl! We have had an amazing season and an amazing team! David even got to GO to the last 2 games of the playoffs at Quest field!

I have been impressed when watching the coverage of the team, how focused they are. They are not out celebrating their NFC championship win, they are staying focused on getting prepared for the superbowl championship. They are happy and excited, sure, but they seem to be level headed and focused on the real goal. I have also been impressed with how nice everyone seems when they do press conferences. This picture of Shaun Alexander, League MVP, is pointing heavenward because his strength comes from God.

Grant Wistrom bought David's grandpa's house on Lake Washington and is totally renovating it. He told the family he wanted to have us all over once it was completed so we could see the changes he made. Who knows. It would be really cool to meet a famous Seahawks guy!

It's been quite a while since I have posted... sorry Jessica!

I was late to work today. :( What a way to start out the new year! I was surprised I was only 1 minute late. But that means I still get a half-point against me. I had 2 half-points against me - one from Oct 17th for being stuck in traffic (on regular streets, not highways) and not having traffic cams so my supervisors could not verify it. It was just after having moved into our new house and I was getting the feel for how long it would take me. I thought I'd try a short-cut, but it ended up being the most travelled way with the most construction, school-zones, and slow cars that morning. I vowed to never try that way again!! So, after 2 months of perfect attendance you can have a point roll off. Well, that first point should have rolled off because I had 8 months of perfect attendance prior to it. But then a few weeks later I had another point because I woke up late or something stupid. It was my fault, so I accepted it. This morning, though, I was mad at myself. I keep thinking my alarm didn't go off, but I think it did... it was probably going off for quite a while and I just decided not to do anything about it, until we both realized it was about 7:40 and I had to be at work at 8!! Hence why I was surprised to be only 1 minute late! I actually almost made it!! But no such luck. The email came saying Cheri logged in at 8:01 for an 8:00 start time.

During that schpeel just now, I finally connected that it is Tuesday night, not Monday night. I had been trying all day to get ahold of the girl who hosts our girl's Bible study and have not been able to reach her. I realized that because it is Tuesday night, we wouldn't have study tonight anyway - we always have it on Monday nights. It may have been yesterday, but I wasn't sure if we were having it so close to the holidays, which is why I was trying to reach her. This is such a fascinating blog, I know. But hey, at least I'm blogging!

Our holidays were wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve with David's sister and her family. Our two little nephews are adorable. Jack is 4 and Joe is almost 2 - so they were so excited about what Santa would be bringing them. They left cookies and carrots out, but had to drink some of the milk and eat some of the carrots while we were setting up for a photo op. Danielle and Mike put them to bed, but Jack's mind was just racing. After they had come downstairs, Jack came tiptoeing down again because he realized they had forgotten to put out the reindeer dust - so they sprinkled oats and gold glitter on the ground outside their front yard so Santa would know which house is theirs.

We spent Christmas day at David's parents house. First we had our own Christmas time together, then visited with his Grandma Essey for a little while - she's now in a nursing home, and then we went to his parents. We had a New Year's party here at our house, with 6 other couples, and we had made pizza dough and sauce for our friends to make their own pizzas. We had a blast.

A New Years Prayer

May God make your year a happy one.
Not by sheilding you from all sorrows and pain,
but by strengthening you to bear it as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
but by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
but by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
but by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
but by showing you when people and their causes need you most
and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God's love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

World AIDS Day - Dec 1st

At work on Dec 1st we got to take a field trip! We all piled into a couple of buses and headed to Seattle. We were able to go through the One Life AIDS exhibit. It was incredible to walk through the life of one of the children and what he or she experiences. It is more than any of us could imagine having to deal with in a lifetime. I was "Stephen" from Uganda and I was forced from my home at night by rebel soldiers looking for children to serve in their "Lord's Resistance Army." These rebel soldiers take children as young as 7 yrs old and train them to use guns, brutally threatening and beating them to make them obey. They even take girls to use the guns as well, and to be used as sex slaves for men. It is horrendous.

I appreciated the experience of walking in the shoes of one of these children. It transforms you into their home, their culture, and their experiences. Hopefully it transforms those that walk through to know they can do something about the atrocities. This exhibit has been touring all over the US to make people aware, so we can put an end to it.

Watch a video of the AIDS experience
Test your knowledge on AIDS

Thanks for reading.

Happy American Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving here at our house, again. It was a much smaller crowd this time, which made for a much less stressful dinner. There were only six people all together, so we had good times of playing games and eating. We had way too much food! I am used to cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 15 or more, so for only 6 we had a huge feast. But I figured that way we could all have leftovers. One of the nice things about having Thanksgiving at your own house means you can have pretty much all of the leftovers, so it was nice that we had enough for everyone to take some home. David's brother likes to have people over because he likes to do a lot of the cooking. He brought the pies: a sweet potato-pecan pie (drizzled with chocolate sauce), and a pumpkin pie. I had a tiny piece of the pecan, it was very good! I am allegedly not eating desserts right now (or trying not too)... This was an idea that started a couple of months ago with a friend (Syd) who tried to have her and her kids not eat desserts for six months, and then she would give them $200 if they made it. Well, they have since dropped out, but I started it along with them... fully knowing I would have to go through the holidays. So, I'm doing a pretty good job - only having eaten a tiny piece of apple pie at Canadian Thanksgiving and now a tiny piece (and not even all of it) of pecan/sweet potato pie at American Thanksgiving. A debate has come of it, though. Are donuts considered dessert or not? I'm basically cutting out all sweets, so I was reprimanded on the second week for having 2 bites of a donut. Most people feel donuts are breakfast foods and are not desserts. However, since I am cutting out all sweets, there are some that feel they should not be eaten. I said NO today when I walked by the donut area - every Saturday some brazen lady brings donuts. Anyway, I'm getting off topic - this is risky for me to put my idea on here because now I'll have to be even more accountable to not eating sweets!! There's already enough people around work that know and will give me a hard time if they see me eating something I shouldn't be. The girl I sit across from at work loves it because it means I have to share ... or just give it to her.

Back to Thanksgiving: the games we played were fun. David's family usually don't play many games, so I was surprised they were happy to play with us. The holidays are really the only times when they will play games, but usually it's bridge (they are a smart family!). I haven't completely got the hang of bridge yet, but I think it takes years to really master anyway. We played fun, easy games... Catch phrase, Apples to Apples, and a game called Whoonu - a super-easy, learn-people's-favorites type game. Uncle Forrest even joined in on the games!!

We at WV were fortunate to have both Thursday and Friday off but working in the call center meant we had to be there today, Saturday. Yesterday David and I were thinking about going to the early morning sales but didn't want to sacrifice sleep that much, so we went in the afternoon but still didn't get too much shopping done. I was planning on going skiing/snowboarding with some friends this afternoon, so I switched my shift and worked from 5am to 1pm. (early morning, but I love having the afternoons!) However, apparently there isn't enough snow on the mountains for night skiing, so they don't want anyone running into rocks or something on the slopes. We'll do it another time.

It's a beautiful day, I'm going to go enjoy it!

Study

i'm part of a girls bible study. we're going through 1st and 2nd timothy. we just met tonight and we met here. it was nice, i love having a house that we can use for ministry and meeting in to grow and encourage others in our faith. we studied the last chapter in timothy (chapter 6) and one of the big things that struck me in that chapter has to do with contentment. in our american culture it is really hard not to fall into the trap that "leads many into ruin and destruction." i want to be able to use what i have for God's glory and be content with what he's given me. it's good to be smart and save, but the key is to not hold things very tightly. i'd like to think if everything was taken away from me, i'd still be able to praise God. afterall, it is just stuff.

the other thing too, talking about respecting our 'masters' or leaders or employers, it's so easy to do everything properly when their eye is on you, but what is above reproach is when no one is watching and i'm still doing my job to the best of my ability and as i should be because i should be doing it as unto the Lord and not for men. these are very common thoughts, but they were good reminders for me.

Fingerprints of God

Right outside our bedroom window we can enjoy the sunrise every morning. This particular morning God had a great idea with the fog settling on the ground and the sun rising softly behind the trees. David captured this shot after taking my grandparents to the airport. I can feel God's love as I see shots like this. I am so thankful for the beauty all around us.

A few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures. Our master bedroom we painted this pretty blue color, and the master bath is a yellow color, but I'm still not sure I'm going to keep it that way. I don't know yet if it like it well enough. The bonus room is the one with the TV, and in the other set of photos it has the red wall which is opposite the TV.

We are so blessed to have so many friends help us out so much that first weekend we got the house. That first Saturday we got all the painting done except for the master bath, which was started the next day and finished a few days later. Thank you to all our amazing friends!

Pictures!

Finally I am able to add a few more pictures. My grandparents are visiting right now from Kitchener, Ontario. It's fun having them here. I think it's a good motivator to get things unpacked and ready for guests when you have them in right away. Everyone is always quite forgiving, too, when one room is a total disaster. My dad's parents travelled out west on a train that took them from Toronto to Vancouver with a 2 day stopover in Edmonton, AB. They have had a fabulous time. They came with another couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The train sounds much like a cruise ship, with phenomenal service and food all hours of the day.

These pictures are mostly of the downstairs. It shows the colors we chose for the walls. There is one picture of the bonus room. We do not yet have much furniture for that room but it works great for an entertainment/TV room for now.

New Home

pictures of the dining room and kitchen.

the hutch actually looks normal now that it's in a more spacious area.

thanks to mom and dad g. for the thoughtful housewarming gift. This beautiful fall arrangement came on the first day we were here, when we were just getting started on painting. They were dropped off by the sweetest old man who just loves to make people's day. Wouldn't delivering flowers be such a fun job? :)

Canadian Thanksgiving was a blast. Unfortunately the camera battery was dead, but we've got great memories of the evening. I must say it was so nice to have so much help in the kitchen now that more than 1 person can be in there and not feel cramped! I had it nice and easy this year, I felt completely relaxed. I was also told that this was the best year yet because of all the space we had. It was great! After dessert was served and the bellies were filled, most people stayed for a rip-roarin game of Wild Hoopla. David's brother Dane and their dad, Dan stopped by on their way home from the football game convieniently to pick up Joen's laptop, (which David was supposed to fix sometime during all the festivities) and even more convieniently Dan and Dane were hungry for some leftovers! I made a turkey frame soup today after work. The bones had been boiling overnight and cooling during the day, so the meat was easily taken off. We'll see how it turns out.

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Another year, two thanksgivings! Gotta love having an international marriage! Of course, the REAL canadian thanksgiving was this past monday but we were right in the middle of our move, so we are having it this weekend. It sure makes us work harder getting everything set up and put away, but it's a lot of fun.

"I'm thankful for my health, my childhood, and spell check. I'm thankful for our new hot water tank and how we no longer have to coordinate our dishwashing with our bathing. I'm thankful for the wide range of flavors potato chips come in--mesquite barbecue in particular. For platform shoes. For coincidences. I'm thankful for all the people who ever left, in those dishes by the cashier, a penny I later used. That I don't know everything that people say behind my back. I'm thankful I was born after the advent of indoor plumbing, and after the popularity of corsets. I'm thankful for insect repellent, nonstick pans, and Velcro. I'm thankful that people in real life don't spontaneously break into song like they do in musicals, and that some weeds look like flowers, and that at the end of a really bad day there is sleep. I'm thankful for maybe."
adapted from an Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I'm thankful for Thanksgivings. I'm thankful for turkey and stuffing and Marie Pat's sweet potato recipe. I'm thankful for my husband, my family, and my friends. For my job, the work we do, and the countries in which I'm from. For those less fortunate and all I learn from their happiness. I'm thankful for our new house and the moving company that helped make it our home. I'm thankful for changes of seasons, cozy fireplaces and hot apple cider. I'm thankful for email and voip. I'm thankful to my God and Savior for each day He gives me breath.

What are you thankful for?

jumping on the bandwagon

I had a different blog site and I haven't really been good about writing on it. I have been great about posting pictures there of our brand new house as it was being built, but I haven't yet figured out what to share of all I'm thinking about everyday. Anyway, so I've really been enjoying other friend's blogs and think it might be fun to have one of my own that people can actually comment on (the other one made a person sign up to post a comment). We'll see how this goes.

Setting up house

ok so the wait is over... now the work begins! David and I have been building a house for 6 months or so... no, WE haven't been doing the building, but we've been having it built. We just had all our furniture moved yesterday, so we're super excited about it! We have been staying here for the past 5 days and over the weekend we got all kinds of painting done. I will have pictures of the walls painted and the furniture in very soon, but we have to clear up all the boxes first. We (as in me and a bunch of friends - I don't think you'll catch David in a pair of painting overalls to save his life!) painted the living room, dining room, kitchen, the master bedroom, and the bonus room on Saturday. David was busy with putting up blinds, helping his dad put in the garage door opener and he also started to put in door handles and knobs for the cabinets. It's so exciting... for US, but scary for our cats. Mario and Luigi have been used to living in one place for their whole lives, so this move is causing some anxiety and stress! They stay in hiding: Mario curled up in the litter box, and Luigi under the bed. I'm sure they'll get used to it soon. I HOPE anyway, otherwise we'll have one very stinky cat and one extra large super-size-me lazy lug!