1000 Words

1000 Words

Images from Hubby's Birthday

My wonderful Hubby had a birthday this past week, and we had a WONDERFUL RELAXING evening!!!

We have been working so hard lately, and even our weekends have been filled with early mornings, hunting, cooking, entertaining, and more work.

On my hubby's birthday, we relaxed, we did NOT do work, we ordered Chinese (which we haven't done in MONTHS!!!), we cuddled and fell asleep early.  It was a WONDERFUL day!!!

A family picture... and our outfits show how relaxed we were!

Our celebration continued on Friday evening.  I had work in Grand Junction (the nearest "big" city to us) and so we continued our celebration with coupons, shopping, gift cards and dinner.  We had a great time and did NOT spend much money!  We are having a lot of fun learning to save and make economic choices when we do want to splurge a little.

Here are some pictures of our Birthday Partying:

Birthday Boy

Presents!

The animals want to be a part of the party!

They love their Daddy!

A family celebration!  :-D

"Show me the card, Daddy!"

"When is he going to get to these presents?"

"He had no idea how much fun this ribbon will be for me!"

Lexie and Lloyd get pretty close to each other these days.

"Daddy, let us help!"

An ipod/iphone alarm clock -- he has wanted one of these for a LONG time
(A big thank you to his mom!)

A fun adventure in Mexico when we go in November!
Chris gets to choose between Deep Sea Fishing, Scuba Diving, or Whale Watching!

"FINALLY, he got this box opened.  Now the party can start!"

Happy 32nd HUBBY!

I love this man!

 Here are family picture outtakes:

We love our Lexie and Lloyd!

Friday Letters

• Dear Hubby, I hope you had a wonderful and happy birthday yesterday.
• Dear Friday, Thank you for arriving.  I'm so happy you're here!
• Dear Friends and Celebrities Who are Having Babies, Please stop making it look like so much fun.
• Dear Car Stereo System, Please never die.  I could not get through my 700+ miles/week without out and my audiobooks!
• Dear University of Michigan Wolverines, Start playing more impressive football... offense, defense, special teams -- you name it, I want it improved upon!
• Dear Children and Adults with Siblings, I'm jealous of those relationships and memories you have that I do not, and never will understand.
• Dear Weekend, Please rest, renew, and rejuvenate me.

 Have a great weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBBY!

My wonderful, handsome, hard-working, loving husband has a birthday today!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBBY!

You are my dream-come-true, and every day with you is full of joy, teamwork, love, surprise, laughter and fun!

I am so excited to spend today spoiling you, surprising you, rejoicing that the Lord perfectly knit you together, and made you perfectly for me!

 You are my:
hard-workin'
middle-school teachin'
wild animal huntin'
back rubbin'
prayer liftin'
gourmet food cookin'
etiquette learning'
wood-workin'
domestic animal lovin'
family valuin'
student inspirin'
Bible studyin'
money savin'
mountain hikin'
wife cuddlin'
laugh creatin'
home improvin'
elder respectin'
friend makin'
promise keepin'
church goin'
kind word speakin'
big dreamin'
surprise likin'
patience havin'
dog trainin'
Cardinal baseball enjoyin'
Michigan football watchin'
wife complimentin'
moment embracin'
joke crackin'
wife emotion supportin'
amazin'
Husband!

Thank you for loving me so well everyday, Babe!

I love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sometimes and Always

Sometimes: I feel like Super Woman -- wife, teacher, mom to animals, occasional cook, long-distance worker

Always: I'm never Superwoman... I can do about two things per day -- work and mom to animals, or work and wife, or work and cook... never more than two in a day.  I'm never Superwoman.

Sometimes: I come up with great ideas for my hubby's birthday (or Christmas or our anniversary)
Always: I'm pretty sure I end up giving him gifts that I think are great instead of gifts that he thinks is great (don't worry, he does the same thing to me)

Sometimes: I acknowledge that I need a hair trim
Always: I decide the price isn't worth it (which makes me so grateful for the fact that I was just given a gift card to a hair salon in town!!!  YAY!)

Sometimes: I enjoy the challenge of 14+ hour work days (5:00am-7:00pm and beyond)
Always: After I enjoy the challenge, I'm completely exhausted and sort of hate the idea of work the next day.

Sometimes: I think about how happy I could be staying in our sweet little house in Rifle forever.  We have such a sweet little home and, in our second year here, we are SO content!
Always: I imagine a house with more land for our children to run and play... eventually.  I love the quote "The soul needs more space than the body."  I want our children's souls to have more space than their bodies.

Treasuring the Present: Big Dreams

 Right now, my hubby and I dream big.
We have been married 14 months and we have so many dreams, and so much life ahead known only to God.

14 months and counting!

We are so happy right now, these wonderful days of both of us working, soaking up time with each other and our animals, traveling, learning more about each other every day, and time before children.

How many children will squirm out of our arms?

When we think about our life ahead, we have so many ideas.  Every so often, one of us will make a statement about what might happen in the future, and the other will agree or disagree or laugh or cheer.

More Graduate School anyone?

We have so many ideas and we don't know which will manifest themselves and which will never come to fruition.  We don't know which new dreams will grow in our hearts over the years.  So much lies ahead, and we are excited for all that lies ahead -- most of it unknown.

Some of our ideas for the future have included:

• Graduate school for one or both of us
• Children 4-6
• Adoption
• Pets 2 dogs, 2 cats
• Small farm
• Writing books
• Owning small businesses -- bakery, carpentry, technology, book store, harp playing
• Missions work
• Home ownership
• Alaska-bound
• Cross-country road trips with our children

So many adventures under our belt, and more yet to come!

The truth is, we do not know what the Lord Wills for our future.  We don't know what challenges, joys, choices, endeavors, plans and audibles are in our future.  We don't know if we will have 1 child or 7, we don't know if our first child will arrive in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or not at all.  We don't know if we will stay in Rifle, leave Rifle, or leave and then return.  We don't know if we will take odd jobs, summer jobs, at-home jobs, or become business owners.  We don't know if we will get promoted over the years or lose our jobs.  We don't know what "in sickness and health" days are in our future.  We do not know how many days lie ahead for us, we do not know how they will be spent or how many people our family will eventually include.

I am so in love with this man!

 What we do know is that our faith rests safely in God's hands.  All of the joys that will come our way are expressions if His love.  All of the challenges that come our way are invitations to draw closer to Him.  Every day we spend together, we learn more and more about each other and become better and better at loving each other.  We are so happy together... and so much is yet to come!

1000 Words

1000 Words