Where were you on 9/11

I remember that I was on my way to work listening to Jazz on NPR news when they interrupted my program with a news bulletin, shortly after that my friend Jessica called me and told me what happened and to see if I had talked to any of the navy guys on board of the USS Lincoln. I must admit that I didn't understand the gravity of what the news or my friend was describing. I was only 21 and absorbed in my own little world, concerning my own little family and my own little friends. It wasn't until I arrived at the Ophthalmology office where I worked and saw the streaming video's online where it hit me, and even then it didn't effect me the way it effects me now. 2,751 lost their lives that day. Many things have changed since that day, the US is no longer ignorant of terrorist like we seemed to have been before. The radical Islamic put Christians to shame in their devotion to Allah, they seem to show more devote passion and commitment to their god, and are willing to die and kill innocent people to show their love and devotion to Allah, and to punish those who don't believe in Allah. Two years later the US waged war upon terrorist and have been fighting that war since. I remember thanking God for a president that wasn't hasty in his decision to go to war. The US have lost 3,376 soldiers in combat since the beginning of the war. That is only 625 more the we lost on 9/11, they are making sure that what happened then, won't happened again. Reflections on this particular day serves as a good reminder to be thankful for our government, those who serve our country in the military, those who gave their lives on that day, thankfulness to God that He is sovereign over all things, and that He has already won the battle!

Why I love Fall

So I know that I am completely copying Lisa Martin but I think that it is a good idea to be thankful in every season!

Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the cooler temperature, snuggling up in sweaters and jeans.
















I love the changing colors of the trees.


I love trimming back all of my plants. I love hot cocoa.









I love Turkey around Thanksgiving. I love the Thanksgiving holiday!

















I love the foggy mornings that burn off into sunny but cool afternoons.

















I love college football, especially Michigan Wolverines! GO BLUE!!













I love watching soccer games in the afternoons! I love how at Grace, everything starts up again, all of the ministries that took the summer off begin again and the campus is hopping! What a great season fall is!

Hannah's Big Day

So today Hannah entered into the next phase of her life. This phase will occupy the next 13 years of her life...yes...school! Today was her first day of pre-school at Grace Academy. She had no problems leaving me, in fact I hung up her coat and went to turn around, she had already gone to her desk and started coloring a picture. It was a little disapointing, I was expecting a little bit of clinging. After 2 1/2 hours of schooling I picked her up and asked Kathy Hawke how she did. Kathy said that Hannah just jabbered away, talked, talked, talked, and then talked some more. Now if you guys know Hannah at all, she is not a talker unless she is in an extremely comfortable setting. So here are her pictures from me waking her up with a flash to Tim Lugg taking a family picture! It was great!!

This Past Weekend.

Here are a few shots of where I was this past week. My brother Cory and his new wife were married in Meridian, Idaho. It was a lot of fun. Wednesday and Thursday were spent helping my mom get my grandpa's house ready for the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. While Friday was spent at the house where the wedding was going to be held at, working on decorations, chair setup, ironing, and whatever else they needed me to do. The wedding was small, elegant, and beautiful! Here are some pictures. Hannah was the flower girl. She did great during the ceremony but was awful before hand taking pictures. I did however manage to get a few shots of her dress. Before I forget, the bride and her bridesmaid's all decided to jump into the pool with their dresses on! It was really fun to watch but alas I didn't have my camera with me at that time so I missed that photo opportunity!

Shocking News!!! Must Read!!

Okay, so today is Hannah's 4th birthday and we told her that we would have whatever she wanted for dinner. At first she wanted cottage cheese, but then when I explained that it could be ANYTHING she decided that we would go out for hamburgers and french fries. She decided Red Robin over McDonalds so that she and Ben could get a balloon.

I decided for some reason to go to Red Robin's web site to look around. This was a big mistake! My mom who had been dieting told me the Red Robin doesn't give out their nutritional value unless you contacted the branch office. Well, their website now offers the nutritional value of their food. I decided to look up what I would normally order, you know, just to see how healthy I thought that I was being. I always order a Teriyaki Chicken Burger with no tomato. So it has grilled chicken breast, teriyaki sauce, lettuce, pineapple, swiss cheese, and mayo on a bun. I had always thought that it was a healthier option because the chicken was grilled and not fried, I knew in the back of my mind that it would be high in sugar because of the teriyaki sauce but still I was thinking that it would be around 400-500 calories. THE SANDWICH ALONE IS 900 CALORIES!!!! 900!!! That is crazy and that is not including french fries or a drink!!

So, then I wanted to see how much my second option The Whiskey River Bar-be-cue Chicken Wrap. This option included french fries with it. Do you want to take a guess?? It is on a spinach tortilla, it has chicken, cheese, bbq sauce, lettuce, and ranch dressing. Go ahead.....take a guess. Whatever you guessed you are most likely wrong!! 1526 calories!!!! Can you believe it!! That is your ENTIRE DAY of calories!!! And once again that is not including any drinks! I was completely shocked!!!

For my final on-line journey, I went to McDonald's website to check out the meal that I would get there. The meal I usually would get is McChicken sandwich meal that comes with fries and a drink. I included in the drink a coke (which I usually get a lemonade). But, the entire meal at McDonalds is 950 calories. Granted, that is a lot of calories as well, but for 50 calories more I get an entire meal at McDonald's rather then just a sandwich at Red Robin! This is absolutely shocking to me. So, before you go out to Red Robin, or maybe you would prefer to look after, check to see how many calories are in you sandwich!!!

I, however, made a promise to Hannah that we could go anywhere she wanted, we are going to Red Robin. I think that I might just get a side salad which only has 217 calories!

I hate movies.....

That just leave you hanging! No closure, no answers just an ending! Curtis and I just watched "Cloverfield" where the basic principle of the movie is that some type of monster thing which no one knows where it came from, what it was or anything, attacks New York City. It is all shot like a documentary feel to it where you feel like you are getting dizzy from the camera moving too much, and where all of the main characters die a horrible death. The thing is that they never tell you what attacked them, and how it dropped from it's arms smaller monsters, and why if the smaller monster bit you why the authorities freaked out and took you away. And another thing, why didn't it kill any animals? Another thing is that you see the results of one guy being attacked by the main monster but then the monster drops him and doesn't consume him. What's that all about?

It is a pretty interesting movie, I won't watch it again, and I am definitely not suggesting that you should watch it either, but if this peaks your interest and you are thinking to your self, "How bad can the ending really be?" I would strongly recommend the you watch it with a curse box on because like in most terror movies where there is wide panic among people there is a lot of taking the Lord's name in vain. Back to the original problem though, why leave everyone hanging? It is not like there will be a "Cloverfield 2" or anything.

One more thought before I end this rampage of these type of movies. I NEVER want to live in Manhattan! Almost in every movie where something bad happens, it happens in Manhattan. For example: "The Day After Tomorrow" a fictional movie on how global warming will throw us into an ice age, the main "trauma" if you will, happens in New York. Even though it never made it to port, "The Titanic" was headed to New York (okay, I know, that one is a stretch.) "Men in Black" is another one, where the majority of aliens live in New York! "I am Legend" is another one, "Independence Day" has quite a few scenes of the meteor shower destroying New York landmarks. The newer version of "Godzilla" happens in New York as well. Even in Disney's "Enchanted", the wicked step mother that turns into a dragon happens in New York! And then the biggest disaster of all "King Kong". Who can forget the scene of King Kong hanging off the Empire State Building? Man, I am telling you, if you go to New York, go to upstate New York and no where near New York City

5 Years and Counting!

This past Saturday Curtis and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Friday night we went out to McCormick & Schmidt (our favorite seafood restaurant) with my parents who last Tuesday (7-29) celebrated their 36th anniversary. We had fun and ate great food, even though I didn't like it (thanks to the pregnancy). Saturday we kind of just hung out at home resting, well, I rested while Curtis took care of the kiddos for me. Sunday after church we dropped off the kids at my parents house and headed to the movies to watch "The Dark Knight" which, as everyone knows, is completely incredible! After that we went and checked in to "The Silver Cloud Inn" in Mukilteo which that is where we spent our first night together for our honeymoon! After taking an afternoon nap we headed out to dinner at "Glutton Jumpers" oops I meant to say "Clam Diggers" oops I did it again, Claim Jumpers. Being pregnant I didn't want to try something new and risk throwing my meal up.

We really did have a great time but the best part of all is when we got back to the hotel and watched a movie on pay-per-view. I don't know what it is exactly that I like about watching a newer movie that is still in the theaters in my own bed, but I love it! Curtis and I try to watch one every time that we stay in a hotel. On this particular night we watched "Prince Caspian" which I totally loved! Movie got over around 1:30am and we fell asleep to the crackle of the fireplace, the sound of the water hitting the beach (because our door was open) and to the coolness of the AC. Yes, you read that right. We had the fireplace set to turn on at 63 degrees and the air conditioning set to turn on at 67 degrees. It was perfect!

So, I look forward to the next year, and the next five years, and then the next 10, 20 30 years together. Curtis and I had a conversation about where we saw ourselves in 5 years. It came to me that in 5 years Hannah will be almost 9 years old!!!!! Ben will be 7 1/2 and the baby will be 4 1/2!!!! The BABY!!! The same baby that is causing me to puke almost daily will be going into preschool!!! That is insane!!!

It is great to reflect upon God's grace in marriage, and comparing our union to the union between Christ and His bride. Now obviously it is no where near the same because Christ loves His bride perfectly because He is perfect! I love Curtis, but he is not perfect, therefore, can't love me perfectly! But it is still a great thing to strive after! So, hopefully, in 5 years I will be blogging about our 10 year anniversary!!