Fires, Flowers, Sun, & Food!

After a weekend like we had, Mondays just don’t seem so bad. After at least four weekends in a row where we were gone, we spent this last weekend at home ALL weekend. It was a very welcomed change.


Friday when we both got off work we snuggled on the couch and watched some TV. Then we decided that we wanted to go out on a date, so we went to Acapulco, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. It is not super authentic Mexican food, but super good. They have this white cheese sauce that we have them put on EVERYTHING that is so amazing. After dinner we plopped down on the couch to nurse our completely over filled tummy’s! Then we had a great surprise by some friends stopping by and hanging out with us. It was great to see them and catch up.

Saturday my husband did the most amazing thing ever! He woke me up with a beautiful breakfast that he had made for me in bed. He actually got up, went to the store, and then made everything. He also brought me a huge bundle of tulips. WHAT AN AMAZING GUY! I was so happy and felt so loved. We then had been looking forward to doing some lawn work so headed outside and got dirty! We had a huge load of manure from Phil’s parents that we put in the front gardens to enrich that soil. The lawn was super long after all the rain, so Phil and I took turns mowing! Phil did a bunch of rototilling so that we can plant grass in all the areas we pulled up bushes and other things. After we got all the hard work done we went to Linders and got a bunch of flowers to plant in the gardens. My heart was so happy! We got home and planted all the flowers as well as planted a bunch of hasta’s that my mother-in-law gave us! I am so excited to get the gardens going and continue to beautify our yard. I also realized that I really do love flower gardening, and that getting my hands dirty planting in awesome.

After church Saturday night we did something really crazy! We had some good friends over for a bon fire and ended up sleeping out in sleeping bags by the fire! I am sure that our neighbors think we are crazy but we had so much fun I don’t care!

Sunday after working, we had some books we needed to return to the library and I just felt like being out. So after we dropped the books off Phil took me down to the Tea Garden where we got bubble tea. Phil then drove me downtown to show me where he is working now. His access card was still working on the weekend so we were able to go and see his office as well as go up on the roof of the building. It was so cool up there. His building is downtown right by the Metrodome, you can see so much of the city from up there. After we left the building, we drove down to the river and were able to take that road that follows along the river. It was the most beautiful drive I have been on. The river was so peaceful and the sun was setting leaving a pink glow on everything. There was a bridge by one of the lock and dams that you could see the reflection perfectly, it was almost so perfect it was hard to figure out where the bridge ended and the water started. Even though it was so simple, the beauty and serenity of the night brought so much peace to my heart. I felt so relaxed and refreshed after the weekend, it was truly amazing!

This week marks the start of summer at Northwestern that means I am once again so busy I never stop moving for a moment the whole time I am at work. Today I did a nine hour day and feel like I should not have left when I did. I have pages and pages of things that I need to accomplish in the next few weeks. I am really hoping I will be able to keep the blogging up over the summer, however it may get a little harder!

The one with emergency rooms, fires, bathrooms, friends, and wiffle ball...

Just for the record, nothing burned that we didn’t want burned and the emergency room ended up ok! :) But as you can guess we had quite the weekend!

We kicked off the weekend by grilling out with our small group on Friday. It was a blast to hang out and spend some good time with friends. Every time we leave friends I am reminded of how grateful I am for good people in our lives!

All last week I was very stressed out and lacking sleep so I had been looking forward to sleeping in for days. However as much as I wanted this to happen, it was just not to be! :) Emily, my twin sister who lives in our basement apartment had been battling a migraine headache that would just not go away. She had taken off work for the past few days and just was not getting better. So Saturday morning 7:45am she calls me from work saying she was starting to lose vision and needed to go to the hospital and get something to relieve her headache. Phil and I rolled out of bed and picked her up and headed to the ER… Needless to say I think God was teaching me something about giving and caring for others! In the end they gave her some great drugs and was able to finally be headache free after a four day migraine! Phil and I also had fun playing doctor in the hospital… I think we watch to many medical TV shows!!

She looks scared.... why would she be go scared when Dr. Katie is taking care of her?!? At least Dr. Phil was staying away.... I mean he really only knows about taking care of crazy people right?

I'm just checking her fluids and making sure her IV is dripping at the correct rate... don't worry, I'm a pro!

OH NO! Flat-lined! Good thing Phil and I know what we are doing... we most definitely saved her life!

This is my solution for fixing a headache... Oh no... this is mean! (Just for the record this picture is AFTER she had the meds and was feeling better... no am not so cruel as to pretend to hit her on the head WHILE she has a migraine... just after!)

Just taking some notes to put in her file!

*disclaimer... I do not take any responsibility for my actions that morning... or the embarrassment i caused Emily.... clearly I was still sleep walking.... I mean LOOK at my hair?!?! (who in their right mind would go out like that?!)

After we got back from the hospital we biked over to a park near our house where we met friends and played waffle ball… this is apparently our new favorite thing to do! It was so beautiful out and a blast to do.

Saturday night we went to church and then came home and grilled and had out first camp fire of the year. I am not sure what it is, but I just love sitting by the camp fire with the warmth coming from the fire and the cool air. Phil and I ended up having a great talk about the sermon… but more on that later!

Sunday I finally got to my much needed sleep-in! When we got up we started work on the bathroom right away and finished grouting the tile countertop of the vanity and installed the hardware for the shower. I had a much needed talk with my mom also… although it left me crying at the end because I miss her so much!

For lunch, we meet Phil’s parents and sister to celebrate his Mom’s birthday! It was very nice to see them!

After lunch Phil and I decided that we needed to get out and enjoy the great weather, so we took the dog for a walk to the dairy queen a few blocks from our house. Seriously… I felt like the All-American family! It was so nice to be out and enjoying the warmth!

To finish off our weekend we spent more time getting the bathroom together. This morning I took the first shower in our new bathroom and got ready at our new vanity! So unbelievably nice! It looks so great, and is awesome to have some BIG progress being made! Today we are continuing to prep the walls for paint, and after this is done we will be able to install the toilet… something I am greatly looking forward to!

Ladies and Gentleman… We Have TILE!

Over the weekend we made some great progress on that bathroom that I am totally excited about! Phil and I were both volunteering at church this weekend, so our time to work on projects was quite limited. My goal for the weekend was to completely tile the shower, however in order to do this we had quite a bit of prep work first! Saturday after getting home from church around 7:30pm we had to fur out a wall and put up the cement board so that we could tile the next day. Then Sunday when we got home from church we hit the bathroom hard! After a few road blocks… like not having the correct tools to cut natural stone and a trip to Home Depot … we started the actual tiling around 4pm. It started out really difficult, but after we both got hang of how to work with the stone and a good system down it started to go up really fast. My sister was our runner and helped us sort the stones and always made sure we had enough ready. Because the mortar would dry out if left out, once we started there was no going back, so we were up tiling until 1:30 in the morning! It looks awesome and both Phil and I are really happy with the way it turned out. Now I just need to stay awake at work!

Today we are going to do the grout, then tomorrow we can seal it and we will have a fully functioning shower! I am very excited for this!

I will post pictures soon... for some reason they will not upload today!

I think we have been here before

Question: Why on Monday mornings does it seem things always go wrong? It’s like a rude awakening; yup it’s not the weekend anymore, welcome back to LIFE!

This morning we were greeted by some not fun news. I realize that I never talked about the fact the Phil’s contract position ended last Friday. Though there have been a few different possibilities, nothing has come up yet, so as of today Phil is at home waiting for a phone call. He was also in the running for what we thought was the perfect job, and found out they chose someone else… yes we found this out this morning… go figure.

Ok, to be honest, I am so confused and frustrated! I know that God has a plan, I am sure that He will take care of us, I know this has all happened for a reason. Though I know these things and have seen God work in our lives in ways we didn’t think were possible, somehow I still feel lost. I feel so human, so shakable. I just keep on praying that God will give me the faith to trust Him, to make it more than head knowledge.
Even as I say these things I feel stupid because I know that God has and will take care of us. He has shown this time and time again. I am excited to see what God has in store, and I really do pray that in my unbelief, God will continue to work in me to follow Him better everyday.

OK…. Therapy session is over…. Thank you for listening, I feel much better.

This weekend was so good for both Phil and me. Friday we had two couples over from our small group for dinner and games. It was a blast and we are continually thankful for great friends in our lives! Saturday, my cold got the best of me and so we spent the day relaxing. Though I felt really lazy it was so nice to just lie on the couch and sleep and relax. Sunday we slept in till WAY to late (honestly, I didn’t know I could sleep in that much anymore!) and when we got up headed outside to the beautiful sunshine. It was 63 and oh so very sunny. For March 14th, I believe we got a record amount of yard work done! The whole yard was just a mess after winter, so we got everything cleaned up, had a fire and burned a bunch of wood and the Christmas tree, took down the Christmas lights, cleaned the excessive amount of doggie presents all over the lawn, and even got an area behind our garage ready for new soil and grass! Phil even changed the oil in both of our cars; honestly the man can do ANYTHING! It felt so great to be outside in fresh air and getting stuff done! We are both very excited for all there is to do in the yard once things warm up even more.

If anyone knows of any job openings or contacts for Phil, we would greatly appreciate it!

It’s coming… Spring!

This morning as I was turning through my planner I realized that daylight savings time is this next Sunday! Spring is really coming!! Yesterday as Phil and I pulled into our driveway I also spotted the first visible grass in our yard, I forgot there was such a thing under this grey blanket of dirty snow! Though I keep on reminding myself that March and April can still bring snow, I cannot help but feel excitement for the coming warmth, green grass, trees with leafs, and best of all FLOWERS! (I often think I am living in the wrong climate…)

Though I love warmer weather and green grass and that wonderful smell the earth has as everything comes alive again, spring reminds me of things so much more important. After the snow has melted the world is left with the dirt and grime of the long winter, but then it rains. It rains and washes away the dirt and brings new life to everything. Even though this has been said probably about a million ways and billion different times, it reminds me of how God brings each season for a purpose. In my life I have experienced the winter, it has been cold and dark. There have also been wonderful times like when I can play out in the snow and make snow angels. But when spring approaches I am grateful. When the rain comes to clean the earth I want to stand out with my arms out and let it wash me.

Over this last weekend Phil and I enjoyed a great time with friends, we spent a great day with Phil’s parents, and on Sunday spent the day at Church volunteering. After the busy but fun weekend, I came down with a little cold and decided that I should stay home on Monday, so of course Phil decided he would only work a half day also, and got home about the time I was getting out of bed… we won’t say what time that was! It was so good to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep and just R&R.

The bathroom project now has an official “start date”…. THIS WEEKEND!! We are hoping to get started on Friday after work and get as much done over the weekend as possible. We will be tearing EVERYTHING out, down to the studs, so it will be a lot of work but well worth it in the end! On Saturday morning when I let the Dog out, I was surprised to find a huge box on the front step! Yes, the vanity has arrived! It is now sitting in the dining room ready for a bathroom to go in. I am going to take some pictures of the bathroom “before” and post them soon.

Over the weekend I heard from so many people who read this blog, it is so great to hear people enjoying my ramblings of life! Thanks for saying something, it's fun to hear! I love hearing your comments and thoughts so feel free to continue to comment! I am honestly honored that you would take time out of your busy life to read what I have to say.

I am off to the orthopedic specialist today for some long awaited answers… ok I know it has not been that long, but I am more than ready to hear how long the healing process will be and what is actually going on! I have also figured out another possible reason this happened… but that will have to wait for another day!

Oh and did you notice?!?! We finally changed the slide show! (Thanks to Phil!) These are pictures from our wonderful trip to Akumal Mexico over Christmas!

Long Weekends…. My Favorite!

Both Phil and I had an amazing Valentines weekend topped off with having Monday off as well. As Phil says, “Thank you Presidents!” We really packed in the fun, so for a re-cap…

Friday night we got together with some great friends for dinner and bowling!
Saturday we had another Birthday Party for our good friends, Jen Knight and Alex Whitworth. We ate yummy nachos and watched the Olympics. (By the way, have I mentioned that I am in AWE of these athletes!?? Ok, well I am!)

Sunday for Valentines Day we celebrated Phil and Katie style and went shopping for bathroom stuff. Though most people would not think this is a great way to celebrate, this could not have been better for us. We LOVE to work together and are both super excited for this next project. While we were at Lowes, one of the employees cornered us as we were walking out of the store and asked if I was forcing Phil to do things for me since it was Valentines Day… he said that that was a great way for me to get things done… oh so strange! Here is a sneak peak at a few of the things we picked out!

Monday we enjoyed a relaxing day of doing laundry, shoveling snow and going to a World Vision exhibit that Eagle Brook is doing, check it out here if you want more info, I would highly suggest you go if you can!