Busy!

Okay, I know that I have a ton to blog about, but first I have to share something very recent with you all. I have been attempting to talk Robert into painting our cabinets white...well, I was not having very good outcomes with the discussion. I just hated the old oak cabinets in our kitchen and knew that it was not feasible to re-do them any other way than painting them (and besides, I've always wanted a white kitchen). So, when Sis. Morey asked if we would host group fellowship at our home this past Saturday, I leaped with joy. This is because I just knew that now Robert would want to fix up the kitchen! So needless to say, here was my kitchen Friday (rotated and saved but for some reason it will not work on upload):

You can imagine how panicked I was feeling...I had to take everything out of the cabinets and drawers and so you can imagine what the living areas looked like! Well this was Saturday morning, it took 6 hours to complete the job, that's including the prep time:

 

I kept worrying and Robert kept saying "don't worry, it will get done". I promise you that when Pastor Garrett walked through our front door for group fellowship, Robert was very glad that he had completed the project, heehee. Hmmm....how many other projects do I need done... ;)

 

The kitchen is not completely done, we are still going to finish the island and add crown moulding, but for now I am happy with my sparkling white kitchen!

 

God bless America!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

All pomp and circumstance :)

I finally finished my Bachelor's degree and here are a few pics from the occasion :) I must say that it was a lot of fun having my family in town and having so many friends to celebrate with me :) Unfortunately, I have only a few last minute pics from the party :( LOL....that was fun though girls, at its best!

I am starting my Master's program in January and am excited about it! I feel so blessed though in the meantime to have a job that I LOVE, seriously. Some people ask me if I'm joking when I say that, but I'm not, I really do love my job at ASU and feel so blessed. So many fellow advisors I talk to say that they worked very hard to earn their "dream" job, and many of them were in their forty's before attaining it...yet, the Lord has blessed me to have this opportunity before I even turn thirty! However, after I earn my Master's I will be applying for at least part-time faculty positions because my "dream" job is to help people stretch their minds to the limit with creativity! Some of you have read my pieces of creative writing and know exactly what I'm talking about, LOL Even though I've had to taste a few trees (literally) to get creative :) hehehe. I also love public speaking, especially storytelling, and hope to teach a few storytelling courses during my lifetime. The storytelling courses that I've taken were nothing but fun (albeit nerve wracking at first). I think America especially has lost the art of storytelling and I would love to play a small part in bringing it back to light.

Anyways, enough rambling, here are the pics:

Valentines day 2013

Okay....so you all are going to begin thinking that my husband and I have completely lost our minds when you hear how we spent Valentines Day this year :-)

We decided on a Family Date Night!!!!! Yes, can you believe that happened? We were talking a few weeks ago about whether or not to search for a babysitter on Valentines so that we could have some time just the two of us and Robert said "ya know, we love being all together and I really don't mind just planning something for all four of us and avoid the hassle of trying to find someone to babysit that evening". Of course I was skeptical at first since we always have gone out on Valentines just the two of us. Well, we found out that Old Country Buffet was actually hosting a "Family Date Night" on the 14th and so we decided to go ahead and give it try. I must admit that it was soooooo much fun! The line was very long to get in but once we sat down to eat, all was well. The kids had balloons, stickers, coloring books, etc. to entertain them. There were so many other families there and it was nice to see parents interacting with their children and having fun! Yay! We were not the only weird ones :-)

This led me to think about Valentines Day in a whole different way....what better way to spend it than with the ones you love with everything in you? I think that so many people have kids and then act as though they are a burden on their marriage. I mean, of course time "alone" is important to a marriage, but that can happen any day of the year! So, I think we started a little tradition in our little family :)....well, the pink pancakes for breakfast are a tradition too!

With all of that being said; our 7th wedding anniversary is fast approaching and we are in planning mode. What is funny is that we have tossed around the idea of doing another cruise but then we thought about how much fun Rachel would have on a ship and decided we will wait and do a Disney cruise as a family vacation instead. LOL....told ya', we are losing our minds :) No, we just love our little love bugs! :)

I will add some pics as soon as I upload them!

Old pics...

I was just going thru pictures from over the summer and found these pictures of my husband when he was building the pillars for the platform decor at the church. Rachel and Josiah always love to go to the shop and "help" him. It is cute because Josiah will play with sticks of wood and just bang on things, while Rachel creates "art" with Daddy's blue tape used for marking things. It is such a blessing that Robert's shop allows him to use the shop for outside work. They actually donated all of the crown molding to the church, which is very expensive crown! And they allowed him to order the wood using their account so that it was cheaper....I will post a "after" pic as soon as I remember where I saved it on our computer :) Thank the Lord for His many blessings!!!

Snow trip....

A while ago we went to the snow with some friends and had a blast! Rachel and her friend Charlotte had the most fun out of all of us I think, they were little dare devils and wanted to go down the biggest hills on the sled, while Katie and I just worried that someone was going to get hurt :-) .... What happened Katie????!!!! We used to ride all of those crazy coasters (you were crazier than I was!) and now we're worried about rolling down hills!!!! I think it is time for a mommy trip to Magic Mountain so that we don't lose our grip...heeheehee. We went to a place called "Wing Mountain Snow park" and it was really nice. If you are in the Arizona area and want more info their website is: http://snowplayaz.com/.

After discovering my dead batteries in my camera, Katie came to the rescue and got these snapshots from the day:

 Josiah kept taking his mittens off and playing with the snowball maker:

 These dad's were intent on making a snowman.....we won't discuss how that turned out :)

 The poor guys, pulling all the kids on one sled, while Josiah napped in the other one!

 The look on the girls faces in this pic is great! :

Hi!

"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."
Proverbs 23:23

Recently that has been Rachel's favorite verse to quote. Last night after church service her and her little friend Joel were quoting scripture to one another as we beamed with Godly pride. It is my prayer that our children will indeed "buy the truth, and sell it not"! Also, that they will remember to hang on to wisdom, instruction, and understanding!

Just thanking the Lord today for His love!