Cooking - Coupons - Crocheting

*smile* It took me a bit to think of three things to post about that all started with the same letter.  What can I say?  Alliteration has been ingrained in me over the years. :)

Cooking

Over the past year and a half Maggie & I decided to make one night a week 'our night' to cook.  Maggie cooked on Tuesdays and I cooked on Thursdays.  I think it makes cooking more fun when you're the one planning what will be prepared.   Haha...there for a while it was a competition to see who's meal would be better.  I think Josh got a little spoiled in the dessert area because he started whining questioning when we stopped making dessert with every meal.  :) 

Last week the menu was being planned and Maggie just so happened to do all of it, plus she's been the one making dinner all week.  So it gave me an idea.  Why don't the 3 of us (Maggie, mom & I) rotate planning the menu and cooking?  They thought it was a great idea too! So next week I'm in charge of planning the menu and cooking.  It may sound funny, but I'm kind of excited about doing it.  Now I just need to figure out what we'll have.  I definitely want to throw in at least one new thing to try. Maybe I'll post the menu once I have it. :) 

Coupons 

I'm trying to become more coupon savvy.  They're out there, so why not use them?  Last week we were able to use coupons on top of the sales the store was already having.  We ended up saving around $50!  Call me crazy, but I love looking at the receipt to see how much money I've saved! Lol.  Anyways, I thought I'd post the different websites I go to for coupons/deals.  Here goes...

Money Saving Mom

The Frugal Girls

The Krazy Coupon Lady

Free Sample Freak - Sounds silly signing up for free samples, but again...if they're out there, why not take advantage of them?  They've come in handy!

So those are the blogs, but there's also coupons.com, smartsource.com & redplum.com.  I've also been buying the AllYou magazine.  It costs $2.49 and they've got tons of coupons in there, so if you can use at least that much in coupons out of it, it's worth it.  I also want to throw out there that I heard Walmart will take coupons from other stores. I haven't verified it with my Walmart yet, but I plan on it. (If they do, just make sure they know it's a competitors coupon so they can make the price adjustment when they scan the item.) Also, the Sunday paper is usually full of coupons!

Crocheting

Between both of my grandma's I learned how to crochet.  It's not something I've done for quite some time, but I'm hoping to pick it up again and become more skilled in it.  Selena has been crocheting quite a bit and has been making dish cloths and pot holders.  A couple weeks ago she showed me how to make a dish cloth and we're even talking about making stuff over the winter months to sell at the Farmers Market next year as an outreach program for the church.  Anyways, I've kinda got the crocheting bug now.  (hehe...I made Max a tail warmer!) I got a catalog in the mail today from Lion Brand and there are so many neat things I'd like to try.  My only problem right now is I need yarn to crochet and you need money to buy yarn and you need a job to earn money. :)  So once I get a job I'll start trying things out.  There are some really neat things in there that are knit and I have no clue how to do that.  I remember doing some sort of knitting when I was younger, but I wouldn't know where to begin now.  Maybe once I get crocheting down, I'll make an attempt at it. 

So there you have it.  Cooking - Coupons - Crocheting  Hopefully I didn't bore you.

And because I can...here are a couple of closeups...hehe

Haha...look at that mosquito bite smack dab in the middle of my forehead!

Awww...Max's pig tails!

Prop 8

As most of you probably know, a ban on homosexual marriage in CA was overturned yesterday by Judge Vaughn Walker.  Here's an interview with Wendy Wright from Concerned Women for America that I thought was really good.  We had the opportunity to meet her while in DC, and I was very impressed with her and enjoyed hearing what she had to say.  She's gone through alot of persecution standing up for what she believes in and I really admire her for that. 

Pounding the Pavement

That's what I've been doing this past week.  After our trip to Oregon, Maggie & I started this wonderful thing called...Looking for a job. :) It was very intimidating at first because I've never had to do that before.  I didn't have a resume, I had never conducted an interview and I had only filled out one application.  You see, when I finished school I picked up an application for a bank and started filling it out, but that's about as far as I got before the Lord gave me a job at the church.  I praise the Lord for the 5 years I was able to work there.  It was a huge blessing to be in such a great work environment and I couldn't have asked for better coworkers.  I'm really going to miss that. 

As of today, I've written a resume (with the help of Brother Geist & Brother Majors), filled out 4 applications, taken my resume into 4 offices, applied for a Bookkeeper position, File Clerk position, and Receptionist position.  I'm also constantly looking on Worksource and the local classified ads. 

I haven't heard anything from the 3 positions I've applied for.  Hopefully I'll hear something from at least one of them this week.  In the meantime, I'm just trying to stay proactive about looking and praying all along the way.  I know the Lord has the perfect job for me out there.  It's just waiting for His perfect timing. 

FaMiLy FuN

Last week Maggie, my mom & I were able to spend time with family in Oregon.  It was fun seeing everyone again and catching up on each other's lives.  Anyone looking from the outside in would think it's utter chaos (and yes! it can be sometimes..hehe) but we've grown up with it and it just seems perfectly normal to have so many people around and 10 different things going on at the same time.  =)

Can you imagine playing Apples to Apples with around 20 people?  Haha 

Can't you just imagine what Josiah's face must look like? :)

Girls night!

It was a little too exciting for Violet. ;)

Newspaper

You may have already read the article via the link I gave you, but here's the hard copy with a picture!  Here we are with the Ambassador of Macedonia, Zoran Jolevski.

The Methow Valley

That's where we are now!  Before we go any further, how about a lesson on how to pronounce Methow because it's not what you think. :)  It's pronounced Met-HOW. Say it with me...Met-HOW.  Good.  Now we can move on. :)

As soon as we got back from DC we started working on moving.  Sunday was the official farewell/commissioning service at church.  Let's just say there were quite a few teary eyes.  While we were all excited at what the Lord was doing, it was hard to leave everyone.  It still is hard, but honestly, it's not quite what I thought it would be.  While I miss everyone, it feels natural to be here.  I think it's just another testimony to God and how He prepares us for what He calls us to do. 

Anyways, Monday we ran errands, cleaned out the travel trailer, had dinner with friends and stayed the night with Josh in his apartment.  A small studio apartment was not made to sleep 5 adults. Haha...it was interesting, but worth it to be able to spend our last night with him. :) 

Eight o'clock Tuesday morning found my dad and I at the Uhaul place.  We picked up our big truck and then while he packed up the truck (with help from a few men) I stopped at the bank to close an account and also submitted a change of address at the post office.  It was really neat, because these people that I've known for several years especially because of working at the church were sad to see me go and wanted me to keep in touch.  Have you ever had your Post Office clerk say keep in touch?  Haha...I have! Lol!

Eventually we all ended up at the Majors where a few friends and our pastor gathered to say a final farewell.  We loaded up, lined up our 8 car caravan and headed across the mountains! 

We got the Majors Uhaul unloaded and stayed the night with them that night because our house wasn't available until the next morning.  Wednesday started the grueling task of cleaning and unpacking.   We're still working on it because unfortunately the previous dwellers didn't leave the house very clean, but there's been alot of progress made.  I think we're finally done with the upstairs, which includes new paint jobs in mine & Maggie's rooms (I'll be doing another post on my room in the near future)!  Now we'll start on the downstairs! Our goal is to at least get the family room cleaned and painted by the end of this week. My mom, Maggie & I leave for Oregon on Sunday and when we get back we should have some new furniture delivered and we wanted to have the living room and family room ready for that delivery!  Our current furniture will go downstairs and the new stuff will be upstairs!

For the 4th we went to a demolition derby in a nearby town.  It was really neat!  They had races and then the demo derby at the end, followed by fireworks!  Here's a video of one of the races!

We held our first official service on Sunday, and it went great!  We didn't have as many people as we hoped to have, but at least some came, right?!  I've been given the ministry of church pianist and am actually surprised at how well my playing is coming along.  Once again, God enabling us to do what He has called us to!

Oh!  You may have noticed I changed my header to...**Welcome To The Valley**  While I'll always be an Island Girl, I felt it was appropriate to change the header since I'm now living in the valley! 

Are you ready?

**Already read this post?  See the addition at the end!**

Be prepared for a long blog post, because I'm going to attempt to catch you up to what's been going on! 

Oh goodness...how far do I go back? Ummm...we moved out of our house about a week after this post. Maggie & I stayed with the Howers for a week, while my parents and Josh lived in the church travel trailer.  During our stay at the Howers, Alyssa, Linnea, Maggie & I decided to have a girls night and went to see Cinderella at our local playhouse.  Can you believe that it was the first time I had even been to our playhouse after living there my whole life??  I can't either...oh well!  The play was great and we had alot of fun spending that time together!  I hope to start going to the local playhouse here!

Once Josh got into an apartment, Maggie and I moved to the travel trailer for a few days at least.  That week was busy getting ready for Washington DC, as we were leaving that Friday night.  It was also my last week of work...it was very bittersweet.  I'm so blessed to have been able to work/minister at the church for the past 5 years with a great staff team!  I couldn't have asked for a better job!  They threw a farewell luncheon on Friday and got me a really neat blanket with a map of Whidbey Island on it, as well as some delicious chocolates!

On the day we left for DC a certain someone celebrated a birthday. 

Merry
Available
Goofy
Generous
Imaginative
Enthusiastic

We were in Washington DC for a week.  A very busy one at that!  Once we got there we pretty much hit the ground running!  We were busy morning to night with lectures and sightseeing.  Lectures included: How World Views are Formed, Humanism in Public Education, Islam, Martyrdom, etc.  We were able to visit: Monuments & Memorials, Smithsonian Museum, Holocaust Museum, USS Barry, Macedonian Embassy, night tour of the Capitol!, etc. We were also able to meet several different people from different organizations such as Concerned Women of America, Focus on the Family, etc and we also had the opportunity to lobby with Senator Cantwell!  It was an awesome week.  I learned alot and was really encouraged to get more involved in politics and becoming aware of what's going on in the world.  Along with the pictures I'll post, here are links to more pictures as well videos!

Are you still with me??  It wasn't as long as I was thinking it would be, but that's pretty much what's been going on leading up to the move.  Come back tomorrow and I'll have more on that!

**Addition** We made it in the paper!  Here's the link.

Did you miss me?

While I apologize for the silence, I need to tell you it will continue for a bit longer.  As most of you know, we're in the process of moving.  We moved out of our house a couple of weeks ago and it's been utter chaos since then.  Last week I was in DC and it was awesome!  Today, I'm sitting at the library while the moving truck is being loaded. :)  We leave town today and it's very bittersweet.  I'm sad to leave, but I'm glad to finally get the move done and over with. 

Once we get settled in, I'll be sure to check back in and let you know what's been going on in more detail.  Until then...have a great week!!

Last Night?

Here we are almost 3 weeks later and I'm laying in my bedroom floor because all of the furniture is gone.  Just about everything was taken to storage today.  This very well could be our last night in the house.  If everything goes according to plan, the papers get signed tomorrow!  Which means we have to move out tomorrow.  It's so sad!  After 14 years living in this house we're moving out.  I know that it's with a great purpose ahead of us, but it's still sad.  I'm actually not quite sure what to think of it all right now.  It seems kind of unreal.  It hasn't quite hit me yet.  I'm thinking it will as we pull out of the drive way though, knowing we won't be coming back to 'our home.' Hmmm..

We had a garage sale Saturday.  It rained and rained and rained.  It's been doing that alot recently.  It's doing that right now. :) Anyways, we weren't sure what the day would hold with it being a holiday weekend, and then having rain added in.  BUT, God is SO good!  Despite all of the odds that we thought were against us, God worked them out in our favor!  We had SO MANY people come!!  There were several people who made comments saying that since it was a rainy day they decided to go garage saling!  There were even some people who were going to go away for the weekend but didn't due to the yucky weather!  Thank You, Lord!  You certainly know what's best!!  We had so much stuff and got rid of almost all of it!  We made a nice amount of money too! That'll come in very handy when buying things for the new house! 

One more thing before I go to bed. :)  Josh was supposed to be moving into an apartment this week, but it fell through today. (The reason still doesn't make sense to me.  Haha...oh well. God has something better for him.) So we'll probably be staying with some friends until he can find a place.  Your prayers would be appreciated concerning this!

SOLD!!!!!

Well, it happened!  Our house sold!  The buyer is the one that placed the offer last week.  His first offer was ridiculously low, plus he wanted our washer/dryer and riding lawn mower.  We countered back that we still wanted our asking price but we would give him $5,000 for closing costs.  We also told him he could have the lawn mower, but not the washer/dryer and also moved the closing date to June 3.  He came back with another offer that was still too low, and we rejected it and stuck with our previous counter offer.  We figured it wasn't going to work out with him, but obviously God had other plans because he accepted our offer today!  God is so good!  It's neat because we were supposed to have a showing today but they called and cancelled at almost the exact same time we got the call about him accepting our offer!

Now what?  We have 3 weeks from tomorrow to move! Things are going to be extra crazy with moving on top of our busy schedule.  We head across the mountains Friday night so we can take another look at the house we want and put an offer on it.  Please pray for the Lord's will concerning that.  The people living in that house are leasing it, so we're not sure we'll be able to get the house by June 3 which means we will be homeless for a bit. ;-)  Josh will be getting an apartment, so we'll probably live with him. Hehe...

Here are the pictures that were up on the Remax website.  This home has a lot of good memories in it.  The Lord has really blessed!

Mother's Day

We made a trip over the mountains this past weekend for a special Mother's Day service.  We had a really good service, and were even able to go see the grange hall where we will start having services once we get moved over.  Here are a few pictures, as well as a couple of video clips of last minute specials. 

For Sale

For anyone who has read Maggie's blog recently, you know that our house is up for sale now.  It officially went on the market April 30th.  It's a very bittersweet time, because I'm excited about what God has in store for us, but on the other hand I'm sad to leave family, friends, etc.  We'll only be moving 4 hours away so that makes it nice for visits, whether it be us coming back or people coming to see us...HINT HINT!

We had a showing on Saturday and Wednesday.  Reality is setting in.  We're really moving.  But let's make it even more realistic with this little detail....

Last night's viewer has placed an offer on the house!  What?!  The house hasn't even been on the market a week!  It's really exciting to see how God is working everything out, but it's kinda scary too at how fast things are happening.  Oh, and did I mention this guy wants the house by May 31st??  If this goes through, we won't even have the normal 30 days.  Haha...the funny part is that he offered to let us rent OUR house if we can't get out that fast. 

*sigh*

I know this is what God wants for us and I'm excited about it, but it's kinda scary at the same time.  We've talked about how it would be nice if the Lord allowed our house to sell quickly so we could just move and get it over with.  Now, it's like He's answering those prayers, but yet it seems like it's happening TOO fast.  But...as a friend pointed out, God's not going to allow anything to happen that He won't enable us to get through. 

A really neat thing about it is that we were hoping to get our house on the market the beginning of April, but ended up needing more time.  During the past few weeks we've been watching the price drop drastically on the house we're looking at!  So if you think about it, what if we got our house on the market when we originally planned and it sold right away?  The house we're looking at would still have been the original price it was when we first started looking at it.  The Lord knew that house would drop in price, so it's like He just held us off long enough for it to happen.  God's timing is always best! 

So, as you can imagine things are a bit crazy around here. =)  My parents go meet with our realtor tomorrow to talk about our counter offer.  I know several of you are already praying for us right now...your prayers are definitely appreciated.  This is a huge change in our lives, and it could become very real very soon! 

Oh...I realized this is my 100th blog post. Yay!! 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I'm a day late in posting this...but I guess it's better late than never. :) 

 

Servant's heart

Hilarious

A great mom! 

Ready to listen

Optimistic
Never fails to show love



Happy Birthday, Mom!
I love you very much!!

The Pioneer Woman!

I've recently discovered her, and I love the recipes I've tried so far!  Here are a few that I've made.

Lasagna

Mashed Potatoes

Meatballs - I just took her meatball recipe, used Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, and baked them.

Cinnamon Rolls - These are divine!

Go on over to her website and see everything else she has.  There are so many other things I'd like to try!

Cookies!

You may remember back in December that I mentioned being inspired to make some decorated cookies.   Well I attempted for Ladies' Bible Study, but failed miserably.  I was ashamed to take my cookies!  I've since then given it another try with very pleasing results.   I've done it a couple times now.  Each time it gets easier, and I learn new tricks and what not to do. =) 

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Icing Recipe - this is royal icing WITHOUT meringue powder!  Much cheaper!!

Chocolate Fudge Nutella Brownies

If you like Nutella, you'll love these!

4 - one ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoons pure vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips, optional
1/2 - 1 whole jar of Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter or spray and flour a 9 X 13 inch glass or non-stick baking pan.
Melt unsweetened chocolate and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Do not burn. Remove from heat.
Using a wooden spoon or spatula, add sugar and stir until well mixed.
Add eggs, vanilla and salt and beat well with a wooden spoon.
Fold in flour and mix just until smooth. Do not overmix. This is also the time to fold in chopped nuts & chocolate chips.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Cool for about 15 minutes, then spread desired amount of Nutella over warm brownies.
Sprinkle with more nuts, chips sprinkles or whatever else you like!
Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Yields from 16-24 servings depending on size.

Adventures in Housesitting

Last week I had the opportunity to housesit for the M family.  They have a cat, which was pretty self sufficient.  The only problem with her was that she threw up twice! Gross!!!

Now the dog is another story.  I had a fairly normal schedule during the week, aside from obligations that took me away for a couple of hours each evening. Let's just say, he's not used to spending that much time alone...and you know what that spells...T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!! 

The first night was completely my fault.  I had used the house phone before I had to go somewhere and just left it on the couch.  When I got back I found something on the floor that was rather random, and later realized that he had chewed the antenna off of the phone.  Ok...not that big of a deal because at least it still works. :)

For the next few nights I found a shoe, a bag, and the bottom of a child size rocking chair destroyed or chewed on.  Again...not good, but not horrible losses either.  It was the next thing really horrified me.

Any time you pull up to the house, he is at the window watching for you. It's like the welcome home committee or something. :)  On Friday, he wasn't at the window when I pulled up.  Oh no!  What's going on in there??  I walk up to the house and peeked in the window and what did my eyes behold??  Luke standing in the middle of the living room amongst fluff.  I was trying to think of what it could possibly be.  A pillow?  No...there weren't any in the room.  When I walked in the house it was made very apparent what was all over.  The couch!!!  Oh my word!! I couldn't believe it!  He managed to rip back seam of one of the leather couch cushions and pulled almost everything out of it.  Thankfully, the leather wasn't ripped.  (Just so you know, they were able to fix the couch!)  I didn't know what to do.  I knew now that I couldn't just leave him to roam the house anymore.  I couldn't stay there 24/7 either.  He had a kennel, but supposedly figured a way to get out of it...houdini dog!  I figured I'd give it a shot and put him in there anyways, because I had to somewhere to go that evening.  I put him in and shoved the kennel up against the wall with the door facing the wall.  I gave him a raw hide bone and hoped he would be distracted by that and not try to escape. 

When I came home later that evening I saw him standing in the middle of the living room floor.  My first thought was, He got out!  But upon further observation I realized that he was still in his kennel!  He managed to slip his tray and bone out of the kennel and then move the kennel with himself in it....at least 10 feet away from where I put it!!!  I couldn't help but laugh!  I was cracking up!!  He may not have been where I left him, but he was still in the kennel and nothing was destroyed...yay!!

After talking with the M's that night, I found out they'd be coming home Saturday which was earlier than expected.  So I had one more day to keep Luke from destroying anything else. 

I didn't have to go anywhere until Saturday afternoon and only to run a few errands, so hopefully the kennel would work again.  I arranged it just as I had the night before, except I put up a baby gate to keep him from manuevering his way into the living room.  When I got back it appeared to have worked like a charm!  He had still slipped the tray and bone out and wasn't in the exact spot I put him, but he was still in the general area I wanted him.  Victory....or so I thought.  It was then that I looked down and saw that he got ahold of the front door mat and shredded it!  He also managed to scrape his nose.  In his attempt to escape he loosened some bars on the kennel and I'm thinking that's where he scraped his nose.  Again, I had to laugh because Day 6 would not have been complete without the sixth thing being destroyed.  But alas, I was wrong again...right before I left I was playing with him outside before I put him back in the kennel (not before making sure he wouldn't hurt himself again) and he managed to pop the ball we were playing with.  Nice one, Luke!  I guess 7 is the number of perfection! Haha!! 

When the M's got back how do you think they found Luke?  Trying to get out of the kennel?  Destroying yet another piece of their property?  Nope!  He was just laying in his kennel!  I guess he figured he'd better get his act together before they came home and be on his best behaviour. 

It was quite the adventure to say the least!  I sure got my share of frustration and laughter out of the whole ordeal. :)  I know this was long, but hopefully you got a good laugh out of it!