My Phone... part 2

It was stolen. $370 of downloads. I was so irritated. Thank goodness for ATT, they took care of everything. I am sad...

Don't call my cell phone. It is off. Call my house phone. If you don't know it, email me.

Again, I'm sad.

~N

6 months!

Matt and I have been married 6 months today! Totally crazy. We have learned so much and are continuing to learn. We are having fun learning how to be together and spending lots of time together (making up for the long distance, I suppose!)

On Thursday, my last day of school, Matt and I planned a trip to Tahoe, just for a night. We stayed at the Montbleu on the Nevada side of Tahoe. We got there around 4 and explored the hotel. It was pretty nice. We were cheap and got the 2 queen sized beds versus the 1 king because it was cheaper. Whatever though, we sleep on a full so queen is bigger!

We played the Deal or No Deal slot, I lost 20 bucks fast and could no longer play. (I over think and just wanted to keep my money). Matt was winning a lot so we kept going. We ate some yummy Mexican and had a margarita (which was really strong). I learned how to play Roulette, which Matt won at also. We ended 20 bucks up!

The next morning I got a manicure from the spa! Very nice...and then we drove home. Chain control was in effect so it was a LONG drive home. But, we made it in time for Laura and Eric's rehearsal dinner!

It was a nice time to get away!

~N



Winter Wonderland!



Driving



The Road



The manicure was great. The nail polish actually stayed.

The Longeneckers!

So, Laura and Eric's wedding was beautiful! I am so happy for them. They day went smoothly. Laura looked stunning, Eric was handsome, and they were both super excited! Now they are on a cruise! I love them both and can't want to have some married friends in town!



Laura and I at my wedding!




Laura and I at her wedding!



So beautiful and happy!




The only picture with Eric in it!



Me and Matt!

We have been married 6 months tomorrow! Yay! We went away to celebrate last week, I will post pictures soon!

~N

Oh, the things I learn...

This week in my first grade class was crazy, crazy but fun. The kids were wound up on Monday and I really hard to get as much academics in as I could. The pressure to get all these kids to read by June is really setting in. We did a lot of Christmas crafts and activities. Wednesday, as we were getting working I had one of my lovely little guys poop his pants, for the 2nd time in a week. I just shook my head and sent him out the door.

On Thursday, we decorated cookies, we had a Christmas sing, Santa came to visit, and it was a day of fun! One of my little guys, whom I adore and hold very dear had to go to the bathroom so I sent him off. A few seconds later, one of the 2nd grade teachers brought my little guy in and told me she would be escorting him to the bathroom. She came back and told me that he had walked to the grass part right outside my classroom, unzipped his pants, and begun to pee.

Funny thing is, a few days prior he had been taking a long time to go to the bathroom so I told him from now on I was watching the clock. So the next few times, he was coming back SO fast. I made him promise that he was really going to the bathroom.

Sure enough, he was, he wanted to make me happy by not taking too long to go. Lesson learned, first graders are resourceful...don't time them when they go to the bathroom!

Busy, busy, busy

I have a crazy schedule these next few weeks:

Thursday 12/18 - Last day of school for Christmas break! Matt and I are going to Tahoe to spend a night away!

Friday 12/19 - Laura's rehearsal dinner

Saturday 12/20 - Laura's wedding...crazy!

Sunday 12/21 - Youth Christmas party

Monday 12/22 - Work on classroom, surgery at 3:30

Tuesday 12/23 - Lesson plans/classroom

Wednesday 12/24 - Christmas Eve

Thursday 12/25 - Christmas Day

Friday 12/26 - Christmas with Matt's dad

Saturday 12/27 - Christmas with Matt's mom

Sunday 12/28 ~ 1/3 - Mexico Mission trip

Monday 1/5 - back to work


Oh my, I need prayer! I will post pictures as much as I can!

~N

My Phone...

...it's gone. Lost. Stolen. Who knows. It's gone. Don't text it. Call my house phone if you need to get a hold of me. I'm bummed! I'm irresponsible!

~N

My husband

I love my husband! I love being married! I love having a Christmas tree to share with someone. (He cares a lot more then he puts off!) I love sharing a bed with someone. I love Matt...

Today, I came home and the kitchen was cleaned, the floor was mopped, the family room was picked up. We had been so busy lately, barely at home, and when we are we are exhausted...so our house has fallen through our fingertips. Today, Matt made me smile. I know he just wanted to do something nice for me. I love having a husband.

Thank you Matt! Thank you for being my best friend and loving me for who I am!

~N

The Joy of Teaching

This year has been a lot tougher for me than last year with teaching. I've felt burnt out a lot more and I feel like I am working a lot more hours. First grade is just a lot tougher than second, which I expected but I just get worn out

This week though confirmed to me why I am a teacher and why I will stay a teacher. (Besides the fact that I know the Lord has called me where I am). I have a student this year who at the beginning of the school year I thought would be one of my more difficult students. He was REALLY low. REALLY REALLY low! For the last couple of weeks there has been a change in this little boy. He is sitting taller, he is able to sit still, and more importantly he is reading! READING. I sat down with him on Thursday and we read a little book together and he read it. With some help but more reading then helping. On Friday, I tested his sight words. (I do a weekly sight word test). He had a long list of sight words that he did not know. I asked him if he knew any on the page as I was writing something down and he just started reading off the words. As I began formally testing him he began to get more and more excited with the words that he knew. His voice got higher with excitement, he was looking at me for approval. I was so excited. He only missed 4. 4 out of 30! I was so proud of this little boy. He was so proud of himself. I had tears in my eyes as I watched his pride. I looked at him and said you can read! I called his mom to let her know...I hope she is as excited as I was!

This is what makes teaching worth it. I did not do anything for this boy but give him an opportunity to learn. I am so thankful I could be there to help him!

My class!


~N

Thanksgiving???

Wow! Thanksgiving has already come and gone and I don't know where it went...I had a week break? I'm more exhausted then I was when break happened.

My break started with meeting Hayden. We went to church on Sunday and Matt led worship for the first time! My parent's came to see him and I think it made him a little nervous. He still did great. I think I get more nervous then he does. That night I had the chance to go to youth group and see Matt lead the Bible study. He did really awesome with that too! The kids are super involved and I could tell Matt loves to lead it. My teacher instincts kick in though and I constantly want to simmer the kids down. I resisted though.

On Monday I went to my classroom to work on somethings but I caught a cold and didn't go the rest of the week. However, I did not get enough done.

So, early Thanksgiving day (like 4am early) we headed out to Riverside to see Matt's family. The drive went pretty well and pretty quick. It was great to see Matt's family and spend time with them. It was hard at the same time because I knew my parent's didn't have very much family around, my brother and his family were at her family's, and this was my 2nd year in a row being away from them. Praise God they are so understanding! They know that as their kids grow they are not going to be around as much. It would be even harder if they gave us a hard time!

We had a great time at Matt's Aunt Jill's house spending time with his family, playing games and eating yummy food but let me tell you, we were so tired!

The next day was a wonderful day to hang out with Matt's mom and stepdad, Mike. We went and spent time with Matt's Grandpa Russ. Whom I asked if I could call him grandpa too, he said yes! :) We had good conversation and I learned so much at about Matt's grandma, which is really great because she is such a beloved person in their lives. Then we went to this great restaurant that Matt's older brother told Mike and JoAnn about called Viva Madrid. It was so yummy! We ate lots of tapas and drank wine and talked. We went and walked around in a little Christmas shop and bought some ornaments. It was just a nice, relaxing evening!

The next morning we got to see Matt's sister's new house. It was a great house and it was fun to spend time with Sarah, Josh, and the girls.

I really didn't take any pictures, sorry! I just forgot! I have lots more to post and now it is time to get ready for Christmas! Yay! Anyone get their Christmas tree yet?

~N

Hayden!

Okay, so I have lots of pictures of the Hayden boy! He's so precious. We celebrated my mom's birthday and Thanksgiving yesterday and I could have taken that baby home with me. He is so precious. He is so sleepy! I fed him, burped him, changed him...Meghan and Justin were so great in that they were so easy going and just let me do my thing with him. I love that he is MY nephew! I love him very much, I didn't know I could love someone else's baby so much.

Meghan is doing great. She is always energetic and always bubbly and just because she had a baby and is up every 3 hours throughout the night doesn't faze her. I respect her attitude so much and hope I can learn from her easygoing personality.

Justin is also doing great. It's incredible to watch him interact with Hayden. Justin is clearly much more gentle, patient, and we can interact so much better! It makes me happy to have him that way!

Here are some pictures of the sweet baby boy. He is so pretty!











~N

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is so amazing to be a part of a church family again. Actually, I don't know if I have ever been in a true church family (other than the Inn). I mean when I was at Adventure it was just SO big. Now, with Westbridge it is small, it is a community. At the last minute, Rick (the pastor), asked the youth group to adopt a family for Thanksgiving. What this meant was that the youth would get together the necessary food for a dinner. The family that we provided for was a single mom with a 10 year old son. On Sunday we gave the kids a list of foods to volunteer to bring. They had just over two days to get the food. Matt also sent out an email to the kids. It was amazing! We had way more food then necessary for a Thanksgiving dinner! WAY MORE! These kids and their families went above and beyond what was asked of them. Everything was dropped off to our house before noon today and Matt and I delivered the basket to her. We bought a gift card for the little boys birthday and one of the kids in the youth brought a $20 gift card for Walmart.

It makes me so joyful to be a part of a church that wants to serve. I know times are tough out there for everyone. I know people are struggling. I love working with people who know the LORD is bigger then money and are willing to sacrifice what they have!


Here is the basket Matt put together:

This is the extra food:

The little boy's favorite food is chocolate chip cookies...so I made them. (They were SO good!)

~N

End of world???

There is so much talk in the Christian world about Jesus' return. There is so much talk about the end of the world. I have to be honest: I have fears about the end of the world. I have desires in my heart that I, selfishly, want to have fulfilled.

I am publicly claiming that I will not live in fear. Fear is not of the Lord unless it is fear of the Lord. I know and believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I know that he has died for our sins and rose again. I know that I have nothing to fear because if Jesus is coming to take his people, he is taking me with him. I am going to live in that promise, I am going to live in that faith, and I will not dwell in the fear of the unknown. I will live my life for Jesus daily, proclaiming the truth, desiring his will, and live excited for him each day.

I am saying this to all of you blog reader's out there to hold me accountable. I no longer want to live in this bondage of fear as it knocks me down and drags me in. Please pray as I can do this only with the Lord's strength.

Thank you!

~N

Hayden Pierce

My brother and his wife Meghan are currently in labor! They should have their baby boy in just a couple of hours, right on his due date. I am excited to meet him. Hopefully, I will have pictures soon.

~ Auntie Niki...haha :)

Swings

Matt and I took a walk around our neighborhood - taking advantage of the amazing weather right now. We ended up at the park a few blocks away. We played on the jungle gym and swung on the swings.

Swings remind me of my childhood. I still get the funny feeling in my stomach as I come down from the swing. It just makes me smile. We jumped off and ran around.

I love moments when I feel like a kid again.

~N

Veteran's Day and Apple Hill

This past Tuesday I had the day off, woohoo for Veteran's! I've been so tired, so worn out, so in need of a break that this middle of the week day off was very welcomed. I left early on Monday and didn't bring any work home! Do I regret it, NOPE, should I have? Probably.

Matt and I had planned to go to Apple Hill. We went out to breakfast and headed up to Apple Hill! I was so excited because I didn't think we would make it up this year, it is the end of the season. We went up and just walked around. Enjoyed the cool weather, the beautiful colored leaves, ate apple pie, bought Christmas presents. It was so nice, relaxing, and extremely needed.

After we had a wonderful scenic drive we went to old town Placerville. There we walked around and looked through the shops, bought our nieces Christmas presents :) and just enjoyed each other's company. It was really the best day off I had had in a very long time. Thank you Lord!

Here are some picture from our day!













~N

Update on the gross...

I went to the general surgeon today to have my infected lump checked out! They couldn't do anything. I was so upset I wanted to cry, oh wait, I did! Poor surgeon guy. Once I explained why I was upset (this isn't the first time, I have been in pain for a few weeks, it's disgusting, everytime I go to the doctor it cost 20 bucks!) and he totally understood and took action. He was pretty mad that my regular doctor said there was nothing that could be done. We scheduled "surgery" (it's outpatient and really no big deal) and sent me on my way.

December 22, 2008 @ 3:30 pm the nasty thing will be out of my body!

Praise God! :)

~N

Gross!

So, this might be kind of gross but it is an interesting story. I have had a cyst on the back of my neck for years. It became infected a few years ago, so I took some antibiotic and it went back down. It's normal size is a size of a pea. It's current size is that of a walnut, perhaps bigger. I made an appointment for a consultation with a general surgeon for Thursday to see if I can have it removed. However, it started swelling more, turning strange colors, and hurting. And then on Saturday night, while unable to sleep from being sick to my stomach, I found an extra lump. Gross! This one was the size of a marble. You can see it by just looking at me. So, Sunday evening I decided to call the advice nurse at Kaiser. She advised me to go to the ER as soon as I could. Needless to say, I freaked out! I think I went to the ER one time when I sliced my head open on the cutting board when I was 4 or something. After I finally got a hold of Matt we headed to the ER. Before that I sat on the phone with my mom and had to cancel dinner plans with Erica and Casey. I got my wrist band and sat in the waiting room. They are nothing like what is on TV. When I finally saw the doctor she decided she wanted to cut into my cyst to "drain it". She numbed my neck and cut into it. Nothing came out and Matt almost passed out. And she said the extra lump was a swollen lymphnode. So, she put me on antibiotics and sent me home. Now my neck hurts even worse, my swollen lymphnode is so sore. I can hardly turn my head over my right shoulder. Gross! Matt did say that my cyst has gone down some, which is good.

The funny part of the night is when we went to go look for our car. We knew right where it was but because the hospital is under so much construction we were unable to get there in what seemed to be a logical way. We ended up in the lobby of the hospital with the security guard, thinking we were going to be able to walk straight through, we let him know we were looking for our car. He immediately presses his walkie talkie and says *alpha 10-4 this is Bob looking for Matt 3* or something like that. Matt and I thought he was kidding and we laughed out loud. He was not kidding. We were escorted up the stairs and then back down the stairs as the phone was ringing. And then, we were escorted out the front doors (where we originally came from) and then another security guard drove over in a car, picked us up, and drove us to our car. It was quite comical. After a very late dinner of Taco Bell, we got to sleep around midnight. I was exhausted on Monday and the antibiotic made me very woozy.

I can't wait to find out when they can take this nasty thing out. I'll keep you updated. ~N

Kristin's wedding day...

Kristin's wedding was wonderful! It was really strange to be back to the Flower Farm, as it is where we got married. It was scheduled to rain right about the time the wedding started. However, the rain held out until all the guests were inside. She looked beautiful and they were really happy. I had a glass of wine tonight and was definitely feeling it. It had been a long time since I had a drink. Here are some pictures.

The bride and I.

Erica was a bridesmaid

It was a fun, busy day! I am so happy for her! ~N

Wedding...

My friend Kristin's wedding is this weekend. The bachelorette party was on Thursday, the rehearsal dinner was last night, and the wedding is today. Pray for no rain! I will post pictures. I'm not in the wedding, I am organizing the walking down the aisle and what not. I've been to enough (and had one of my own) to know what I am going to do!

~N

Decorating

I have a new love of decorating. I have enjoyed putting our little house together so that it is warm and classy. I wish I could do more with my kitchen (ie. paint, new fixtures, etc) but it is what it is.

I look at different decorating websites sometimes and I found a picture of a room. I would love a room like this in our home someday.

Here's the room!

~N

I need to brag a bit

I love my husband. He is so amazing to me. First of all, he takes such good care of me. Loves me unconditionally, even when I am emotional or stressed out. When I was sick, he made sure I was comfortable and had everything I needed.

So, today I come home and there is a present sitting on the coffee table, wrapped and everything. He had bought me a "prize". And if you know me, I LOVE prizes. Call it my love language, I don't know. I just love them. I opened my prize and he had bought me Anne of Green Gables on DVD! Oh my gosh I was so excited. Judge me if you like but I think Anne is my favorite movie. My parents used to rent it for me all the time. I only had Anne on VHS and I don't have a VHS player anymore. Now, I have it on DVD! Yay!

Isn't he the best, most thoughtful guy every!? What is really special about this is that he listens. I had briefly mentioned at one point that I wanted it and then didn't think about it again...I love him and I am spoiled. :)

~N

Associate Pastor?

It's not 100% solidified but it looks like Matt is now the newest paid employee at Westbridge Christian Church! It's so exciting for him that he has the opportunity to serve in the way that God has called him. He will still be working at PF Changs because the money isn't enough but he can drop a shift or two! We are very excited and I am a little nervous. Matt says he's not, but I think he is a bit.

Praise God!

~N

Bridal Showers

My friend Laura is getting married in December and I am a bridesmaid in her wedding. The bridesmaids threw her a shower on Saturday. (I'll post pictures when I get some!) Her main wedding color is purple so the shower was purple explosion everywhere! The shower turned out really nice and Laura seemed really happy, which is what matters most! Everyone I tell about the showers I am in constantly say, "Oh, it's your age." I think that is so funny because I had never thought of it that way. There were so many people in my life that were married a few years ago that I feel like I am on the end of it.

Next up, baby showers! hehe

~N

Date Night #7

This week for date night we stayed home. I didn't go to work so I stayed in my pajamas. We had really spent a lot of time together that week as I didn't go to work on Monday so we hung out then. But I made a point that we DO something on our date night. So we made dinner together. Stuffed mushrooms with ground turkey, grilled onions, and cheese. Matt was starting to feel pretty miserable at this point. And, I think we discovered he has some sort of reaction to cooking or raw onions. He didn't feel good at all, his throat hurt, his stomach hurt, he was dizzy. I had to run to the gas station for Peptobismal. So date night was...a night full of snotty noses, and stomach aches. Hopefully this week will be better.

Substitutes

It's been awhile since I have updated. I ended up being SO sick last week. I took Monday off, went back Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Thursday our language arts coach came in and told me, basically, I needed to call in sick on Friday. I had no voice, I was exhausted and obviously I looked terrible. My principal and coach found a sub for me, and she was AMAZING. I never thought I would be so pleased with sub. Honestly, she told me not to make lesson plans and just tell her the page numbers. I was so thankful and feeling so miserable by that point I had just decided that I would make up for what they missed on Monday. I didn't have too! I came in on Monday and my classroom was clean. The dates were changed. I mean, it was pretty amazing and such a relief. And don't worry, I feel better. :)

~N

So Sick...

I have such a bad cold. I have hardly moved from the couch all day. My chest hurts, my neck is so swollen and sore. Matt has taken good care of me all day. It was wonderful. He's so good to me. Now he is at work and I miss him, even though we said two words to each other all day (simply because it hurt too much to talk). I think I have watched every possible show on Food Network and HGTV. My mom is supposed to be coming over with some soup. I still have quite a few report cards to finish...and I have to go back tomorrow! I just got a call from a parent who said her son did not have any homework today. I forgot to put that in the sub plans! Stink... ~N

What did I do?

Matt's idea and I went with it. He was inspired by our niece Madalyn, "It will grow back!" What do you think? ~N

Nothing

This is the first Saturday in quite a while that I have had nothing to do. I didn't have to get up and do whatever. I had no commitments, no appointments, nothing! I needed this! Especially since the next 3 weekends are jam packed! 2 bridal showers and a wedding...I am so excited about the showers and the weddings for these women too!

So today, I woke up at 7 and laid on the couch. (I don't think I can sleep in anymore.) Matt woke up a few minutes later and played guitar. He had worship practice this morning. I tried to make some muffins but they were so nasty! I ordered some pictures from our wedding and I put those in a photo album. I took a long nap. I didn't even clean...well, I did just do the dishes.

Good thing because I think I have a cold. My throat has been on fire all day long, my nose is at that beginning stage of running and my eyes feel heavy and my body is achy. I told Matt I wanted to call in sick. I never want to call in sick. Too much work to make sub plans, but I have report cards due soon and a burning throat! What should I do?

~N

Date Night #7

For date night this week we planned to walk through Old Sacramento. It's about a 5 minute drive from my school. We left after I cleaned up the classroom a bit and walked around for a little bit. Matt was starving and so we searched for a fun but different place to eat. I think originally we wanted to go somewhere locally owned or something but we ended up going to Joe's Crab Shack and shared an appetizer of crabbed stuffed mushrooms covered in cheese and a giant bucket of crab, shrimp, corn, and potatoes. It was soooo yummy, I love crab. Joe's is a fun place to go. Definitely not romantic but it is fun to laugh at your waiter as they have to dance. Matt was thankful that he does not have to work there!

After dinner we walked around some more and sampled salt water taffy (so good!) and people watched. We also bought a caramel apple that is currently sitting in the refrigerator waiting for me to eat it. We only spent about 2 hours total out there because we were both EXHAUSTED! We ended up coming home and putting on pajamas until my parent's called and wanted to take us out to frozen yogurt. We hadn't seen them in a while so we went a hung out with them for a few minutes.

It was really a nice night but man was I tired and my throat was feeling really strange. Needless to say I was in bed early and probably asleep by 10. :)

~N

Give him a break?

I love my husband, he does so much for me. He drives all the way to my school just to bring me my lunch. He works in my classroom stamping kids stinky feet. He works at PF Chang's even though he doesn't like it! He is so patient, so loving towards me. He does the days dishes and makes the bed everyday! Now, the latter two he does with a little heckling but yesterday when I got home and teased him about playing video games all day, he laughed and thought it was pretty funny that he completely forgot about making the bed and doing the sink full of cereal bowls. Needless to say, I don't need to give him a break, I just need to give him a hard time every once in awhile! :) I love him too much not to!

~N

*Auntie Meme, you are totally right, they just aren't born with the idea to make the beds! I guess that is why they need us and we need them!*

Preach it Babe!

On Sunday Matt preached to the church about worship. He did so amazing! I was so very proud of him. It was really the first time I had heard him preach for real. I heard him preach for the youth group but that was definitely different. He did so good and I was so nervous. Thank you LORD!

~N

Productive Weekend...

This was really a productive weekend. I was complaining about the messiness and the laundry but everything is dusted, put away, and it feels great! We even cleaned up that special room a bit! I was so so happy to have everything put in it's place and good. I got home tonight and the bed was not made (Matt was the last one out!) and the days dishes were sitting in the sink...I was so bummed! Come on Matt!

~N

Date Night #6

So, on date night was actually really great! See, we had a dessert to go to with the church elders. So, Matt and I went to dinner at Mikuni's. Mmmm, so good! Sushi is my favorite, thanks to my in-laws. :) We had a nice dinner hanging out and relaxing with each other. After that we went to Target. Some of you may laugh but I love Target and Matt actually has fun looking around. So we just walked around Target and chatted and goofed around. It was just fun!

After that we went to the dessert. Funny story, we went to the pastor's house where he told Matt the dessert was going to be and when we got there we found a babysitter! He forgot to send us the email that told us he had changed the location. When we finally made it to the house where everyone was we hang out and chatted. We got to know some great people. It was just really nice to be able to be around church family.

After the dessert Matt and I came home and watched a movie that we had bought from the $5 section at Target. Actually, Matt watched it and I fell asleep!

It was a nice night!

Kristin's Shower

My friend Kristin is getting married in November and today I went to her bridal shower. It was a great bridal shower. I honestly don't like shower games at all but these were pretty good. I didn't throw the shower at all but we played some pretty great games that I suggested! :) I think that I could professionally throw showers now. Anyway, Kristin is the girl that I went to the State Fair to see her get engaged at the hypnotist show. So, today was her shower and it was really fun. It was great to honor Kristin in that way. I am so excited for her. She met her husband-to-be in Romania, they were/are missionaries there and are hoping to go back in the future. The picture is of Kristin and I a few years ago at a Brooks and Dunn concert. We had some good times.

Laundry

I love laundry, I really love laundry. I love the smell of laundry. I love crawling into freshly washed and dried clothes. I love folding laundry. I HATE putting laundry away. I don't know why. I just hate it. I think part of it is because we don't have enough space. Matt doesn't really have dresser. Our room is kind of perma-messy. Our closet is so tiny. We took of the doors to our closet so it is just hanging out. We want to put a curtain type thing over our closet so that the stuff is hidden put nicely hidden. I think one of these days I am going to go out and find a curtain rod and some curtains have Matt hang it. Maybe if it was hidden I would feel better. Haha, I got way off topic. So, the laundry sits on the floor, folded and not put away because I hate it. I tried to make it Matt's job but he doesn't care if it is put away. I think he is still shocked that I fold his underwear! :) ~N
*sorry the pictures are a little strange. I have to use my computer because I don't have my camera back yet from my mom*

Kitchen Table and Preaching!

So we are going to a really great church. Currently, we are praying Matt gets hired on to lead worship among other things. We really enjoy the people and the pastor. Matt somehow mentioned that we needed a kitchen table and Rick, the pastor said that they have one in their garage they don't need. We checked it out and it was perfect! Perfect and free! It is so great because we are able to eat inside and not be eaten alive by mosquitoes. Also, it offers more space to cook! AND, Matt has a place to study and get ready for the sermon he is preaching tomorrow for church! That is why the table is messy. Honestly, the kitchen is super clean because I spent all morning scrubbing...it feels so good to have clean kitchen, with clean floors, and clean ovens, and clean everything. But this is our table and Matt is preaching tomorrow about worship! Please pray, we are excited and nervous...(okay, maybe that is just me...) ~N

Messiness

We had our first guests spend the night last weekend! Super fun to see some old friends. They are from the East Coast and flew out here to visit some friends at Bethel in Redding, CA and stopped by to hang out here too. I spent the summer of 2006 with Bekah at The Inn in North Carolina and Janeen is Jackie's sister. (Jackie is a good friend of mine that I met at The Inn too, she was one of my bridesmaids!) It was fun to see their faces, in person. :) But, because we had guests we had to clean out the ridiculous room that is what we call our spare room. Really it is a junk storage room. I mean look at it! Gosh, so embarrassing. So, we spent Sunday afternoon "cleaning" the room. What really happened is we pushed everything aside so that the girls would have a place to sleep. Combining two people's things are so tricky. We have a lot of crap! I'm hoping my sister-in-law and her family come up to visit. This will encourage us to organize ourselves. There just isn't enough time in the day! Any suggestions on where to start? Anyone, unbias with our crap want to help? ~N

My camera

Okay, so I have some things to post but all the pictures are on my camera that is with my mom. She forgot to bring on Sunday when I asked her. I need to go get it and then I will update about our kitchen table :) and my nephew's baby shower! N

Date Night #5

Well, it wasn't really a date night. I mean...we were both exhausted and the Angels were playing in the playoffs.

We went out to dinner at Lucilles and it was fun. Then we went to RC Willey to check out some furniture. We still have a gift card that Matt's dad gave us for our wedding. We want to buy something perfect. Then, we came home and watched baseball. I actually fell asleep on the couch. And Matt watched, frustrated. They lost and I was in tears because he was so upset. Sports are dumb.

Date nights are going to be hard in the next few weeks. It is busy, busy, busy. Lots of bridal showers and weddings coming up. Plus, we are going to a dessert thing at the church next Friday night. Oh, busyness. Yuck.

Exhaustion

I am so tired all the time. I come home from work tired. I wake up tired. I try to go to bed early but I am still tired. I eat better foods and I am still tired. We even took a walk last night to get some exercise. Work is swallowing me a alive this year. I think I liked it last year because I never realized how MUCH I was drowning. This year I know more and expect more. Plus, first grade is extremely hard! People have always said that and I completely understand now.

So, this is why posts are few and far between. I am tired.

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Date Night #4

I am really bummed because we didn't have a creative night planned for date night. I was so busy this week I hardly had time to just relax, which if you know me, is necessary. What we did have planned was to hang out with our friends Laura and Eric. Laura was my roommate before I got married and we all used to hang out a lot. It had been a long time so we made a date. Matt and I ordered pizza and ate it on the coffee table. When Laura and Eric came over we just talked up a storm. It was good to catch up and hear stories. We went to get some frozen yogurt (my favorite) and when we got back to the house Matt pulled out Cranium, the game. We basically played charades for an hour or so. It was really fun! We laughed a lot and enjoyed each other's company. The pictures are of our ridiculous game!

Cookies!

When I got home from work on Monday I wasn't ready to be a vegetable. Which is usually what I do when I come home. Matt was working that night and it was the first day of Fall! So, I decided to bake some cookies! In honor of Fall, I baked pumpkin cookies. They were very yummy! I also bakes peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Also yummy but I think I over cooked them. You have to be careful with peanut butter, it is usually done before you think. So, I spent the evening baking and took the cookies to work the next day to celebrate Fall. The pumpkin cookies were a hit! SO GOOD! Sorry, no pictures of the peanut butter ones!

So Sad!

Matt's parents bought us a really great frame that we were going to hang between our two bookshelves and put some wedding photos in. When we opened up the plastic to hang it the entire frame literally shattered in our hands and flew everywhere. I was so bummed!

Operation Clean House

On Saturday we had plans to clean the house thoroughly. So, we got up and walked to the meat market down the street (good meat!), bought sausage, and came home and made breakfast burritos! I love breakfast burritos sooooo much. After yummy burritos, we set to work. We scrubbed the kitchen and then set to the family room. Ultimately the house wasn't too dirty. We really just wanted to rearrange furniture because the room was way too crowded. So, we did and we love it so much more! After the living room, we scrubbed the bathroom and moved into the bedroom. It feels nice to have a clean house. It needs a deep clean every once in awhile. The coffee table looks messy always, but right now we have rebate stuff that we MUST send in so it is there to not forget. Matt wants to put a guitar stand there. We had a few arguments over all the books! Eventually they will go in the spare room.

Date Night #3

The plan for date night was to MAKE Asian food, play boccie ball in our backyard, and watch the third Lord of the Rings movie! After a week of crazy work and making dinner every night, Matt and I flipped a coin and the coin decided that we were going to FAT'S. Mm mmm, my favorite. Cream cheese and crab won tons...so instead of making Asian food, we went out. We will fix it this week for dinner! When we got home we searched everywhere for the boccie ball set and discovered it was lost. (It's probably at my parent's house!) So we played catch until we struggled to see the ball and began getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Super fun! Finally, we cuddled up on the couch and watched the movie. I have a hard time in suspenseful movies and continually asked Matt questions because I kept getting so stressed. He had to tell me the endings to keep me from freaking out! It was a fun night! Food, exercise, and movie...I love our "special" time!

The Biggest Loser

Okay, don't laugh at me but I am watching the Biggest Loser on TV and I have teared up at least 3 times. There is a father/daughter team where the father is so sick (because of his weight) that he could not compete so the daughter competed alone. She RAN up the hill and won the prize of immunity so her father and herself could stay another week. She just loves her dad. I think of my dad and how much I love him and for some reason it just brought me to tears. I too would run up the hill when it is killing me to help save my dad's life!

Overwhelming house!

My house is overwhelming me. The living room is really crowded, we really want to move around the furniture and change things around but we have had no time! We bought bookshelves from Target and all of Matt's books don't fit on them. Plus, I wanted to use them for decor! The front room is LOADED with crap! I mean, it's embarrassing.
Our kitchen has a very large green floor. It gets dirty so quickly and I hate dirty floors. I hate when things stick on my feet, or it is sticky. I try and sweep the floor every couple of days (though it should be daily). Here's the problem, sweeping is my least favorite chore. I don't know why, I just hate it. I get really impatient and just kind of give up. Well, tonight I swept and mopped the floor. I guess the floor feels different but it still looks dirty green. Can you tell the difference?
I know I seem to be complaining, I am extremely grateful for our house and I love having a place to call home. I am just overwhelmed. You know that feeling, when you can't seem to catch up? That's how I am feeling. Plus, I haven't gone to the gym in months and I never drink enough water...but that's another story.