Here I am at the dining room table in a perfectly still house with the
faint sound of a rooster bidding the world "Good Morning" just far
enough in the distance to be quaint rather than obnoxious. It's a
wonderfully peaceful time I didn't realize how dearly I missed until
now...
We are partway moved into Kory's house and will be completely in by
June 4th. It's great to hear birds rather than motorcycles and silence
rather than thumping salsa music! Sometimes at night during the summer
at our place on Fellows st, it really felt like our bed was strattling
the median in the middle of the road. I thought I was going to get run
over a time or two!
Anyway, I'll fill you all in on some exciting new developments in my
next post... But for now, I just want to share the beautiful calm of
this morning with you :)
Just wanted to post a couple cute photos! Enjoy :-)
"Aren't you going to play with me mom?"
"I just discovered my tongue!"
I'm not sure how there can be tons going on and nothing going on all at the same time. Probably b/c the things I was going to do, I can't b/c every piece of electronic equipment I touched today (not my iPhone - Praise God) decided not to work for me :-) My computer decided not to run the programs I needed to use to edit all those wedding photos and my camera... well, thank goodness it still was working at the wedding! Oh well. Maybe God knew I needed a break and gave me one! So, instead of being angry about it I got to spend some more time enjoying Asher and eating some of the chocolates my lovely husband gave me for Mother's Day.
Asher is a doll for sure! I'm getting to know him better and he's becoming a pretty predictable little guy - well, at least his eating, awake time, and sleeping times are becoming predictable. He loves attention so I'm sure that it will continue to be a patience tester the rest of our lives! He's been giving us so many smiles though, and actually knowing a bit about what he wants and when he'll want it has been so helpful! I have been told to enjoy every moment (it's not like I don't) but I really do look forward to seeing what he'll be like and hearing all the interesting thoughts he'll have. If he's really our son, I'm sure he'll be hilarious beyond belief (from his dad) and tell us everything he's thinking all the time (yeah, from me). But really, I can't wait!
Also, Neil and Kelsey, if you're reading/seeing this, I know! Elliott has the same onesie... I left a comment for you on your myspace about it :-)
So, this month is still bound to be busy despite technical problems but I feel a bit less overwhelmed now than I did this morning. Hopefully tomorrow I can either figure out these computer and camera issues or maybe God will miraculously heal my expensive pieces of equipment. I just bought a new lens (Mother's Day gift/lens needed for the wedding) so it would be nice if my camera kept working so I can use it some more! But who knows, maybe this if His way of making sure my photography goes on the back burner for longer than I am anticipating. I don't know that I want to be wildly successful with my photography, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to earn a living by it... but God knows better than me!
Okay, not much else to say. I have to knit a million blankets this summer so I need to spend the rest of my time tonight on my current project for little Zion due in just 2 weeks... yikes! Love you all!
Hi folks! We've been slacking on updates lately... sorry. Anyway, here's a recap of this weekend:
Saturday, Joellen shot her first wedding for our friends Justin and Austie (as an asside, Justin and I have the same birthday). Anyway, she got to the ballroom at 10:00 AM and stayed there until 9:00 PM so needless to say, she was pretty wiped out by the end. The shoot went well, though and despite a few technical difficulties, she ended up with over 1,500 images that now she gets to sort through :) She had a great time and I'm sure Justin and Austie will love the results. Incidently, Joellen also looked stunning in that dress! I was on baby duty all day, but thankfully Asher was on his best behavior! Joellen insists he's never that good for her...
Sunday, we went to my folks house for Mother's Day and had a great time with the family. Although Asher was a bit fussy (relative to Saturday) Grandpa was able to calm him down, bringing him ever so close to that blessed state of slumber time and time again only to have him startle himself awake for one reason or another.We've had our hands full lately and haven't been able to make it out to Mom & Dad's in a while so it was nice to be able to spend the afternoon with them.
I've got a new schedule at work which I'm not too terribly excited about... I'll be closing 2 days a week (boo!) Oh well. Hopefully, we'll be able to grow the graphic design business to the point of sustainability and kiss AT&T sayonara!
Ok that's it from my corner for now. More news as it unfolds...
Thanks for your kind comments on my last post! They were very encouraging for me to read...
So here's what's going on now. It's been pretty busy around here lately. We're preparing to move to Kory's since we have given our 30 days and have to be out of our current place by June 4th. We're hoping to move a bit at a time to make things easier although it's hard to be split between two places. You can't take one thing without another, or the other without yet another... Anyway, it's a logistical challenge.
Asher is doing well. Joellen took him to the doctor to see about his reflux and he prescribed some medication that really seems to be helping. Ok, so maybe I should back up... Yes, I said "he". The doctor we had to take him to was all the way in Tualatin because the first doctor we took him to at PMC (along with every other doctor in McMinnville & Newberg) will not accept Care Oregon. It's a long story far too dull to relate here, but let's just say it's been pretty frustrating especially for Jo. However, the doctor in Tualatin (Dr. Armsby) turned out to be a super cool doctor and Joellen really liked him. We've seen an instant improvement in Asher's sleep and disposition over the past few days and as a result, we've seen the same result in our own :)
Now we're just spending a little evening family time as we've become accustomed to doing... He's far too cute for words so I'm really glad we have lots of pictures :) I just snapped the one at the top of the post a few minutes ago.
I have yet to hear back from the church about the ministry coordinator position but I should find out soon. The Lord continues to bless us every day we're just thrilled to dive into summer! Our horse is stabled up at Emerald Downs in Washington and will be racing within the next few months! Can't wait to get that first photo of Asher in the winners' circle!
That's all for now folks...
Sorry this post was a bit scattered, but then again so am I :) God bless you all and to all a good night!
I had a ring burning a hole in my pocket. I had made the trip to the jewelry store earlier that day and was enjoying a nice evening with Joellen at Cornerstone. If I remember right, Jeff and Chelsi were there with us but something came up and they had to go, so I said to Jo, "Hey, why don't we go to the beach?" It was about 9:00PM I think and for whatever reason, she agreed :) So we headed out to the coast and to make a long story short, after beating around the bush for a good hour or two, I asked Joellen to marry me and once again she agreed! She must have been in an agreeable mood that night...
So here we are 5 years later and we're blessed with the birth of our new son, a wonderful addition to the family. It might not always be perfect and sure there are times when I'm sure Jo wishes I were less this way or that way, but overall it sure has been fun and we both look forward to the next 5 years of our life together. Watching Asher grow up, moving another half dozen times, you know... the usual. The Lord has been our constant provider and I know he has some unbelievable plans for us and for Asher. I for one, can't wait to find out what they are!
So I finally caught Asher smiling - well, mostly smiling. He seriously sees the camera/phone and stops smiling! My friend Michelle and I were at Winco when he just decided to be so happy and smile over and over again... it was the cutest thing ever! Here is the evidence for all of you to see!
Asher has been a pretty easy baby. Not too much screaming... but once he's hungry, there's no consoling him! He's like his dad and fights falling asleep but other than that, things have been pretty good. It's tough not to have things be laid out for me - I'm sure all you moms know how unpredictable children are :-) I'm finding more and more that God desires me to let go and just relax. When I think about my life and imagine being laid back, taking it easy and just dealing with things as they come along I almost cry! Good tears (no worries) b/c it would be so nice, easy and well, relaxed! Why not? What reason do I have to try and plan things out? I just get disappointed when things don't work out... am I seriously that dense? What could be easier than just going with the flow? Sure, some times do call for planning but not each second of the day. I've been shocked at how much I could learn in such a short time and I hope to be learning this lesson I've described very, very soon! I want to be open to God working however He decides so I need to be open to Him changing my plans and look at the fluctuations as chances to have Him work through me!
off my shoulders :)
Ok, so I've physically lost 30lbs since January which I am excited about... but even more exciting is the huge weight off my shoulders due to the fact that we received the check from the buyer who bought our car today and took it down to the bank eliminating nearly $14,000 in debt and over $400 in payments and insurance from our monthly overhead. That in and of itself is a huge relief! But it gets better.
Joellen, Asher and I plan on moving in with our good friend Kory of
Valley Green Landscape when our lease is up in June. The great thing about that is that the move will save us an additional $400-$500 dollars a month and we'll be helping Kory out with his mortgage. We've gotten behind quite a bit being "upside down" for the past couple years, but it will be great to slow the financial hemorrhaging and start making strides toward getting caught up. In addition, we'll have access to a kitchen with normal human-sized counters, a fireplace, hot tub and of course the baby grand piano! Asher will have lawn and floor space to crawl around on once he gets to that point and we all will have a little more breathing room...
Last but not least, I have an interview in a couple hours with our church for a position as a ministry coordinator / admin assistant. We'll see what happens there, but I'm hoping to soon be free from the deep dark clutches of AT&T.
Asher's been smiling more the past few days although his smiles have been elusive to the camera so far... We'll keep trying but for the time being you'll just have to take our word for it - it's super cute :)
That's about it for now. Joellen and Asher send their love and say "Hi!"
