Owen Beach

I took the kids down to Fort Nisqually today, only to realize that they are only open Wednesday-Sunday. Bummer. Good thing Owen Beach is right there. And lucky for us, we had packed a lunch! So we spent a couple of hours exploring Owen Beach and all of its beauty. We made some fun discoveries and had a nice time, despite the fact that it was soggy and in the 40F's! These were all taken with the iPhone:

The drive down to the beach is beautiful:

Ethan likes maps. He liked this one too. It was fun for him to see just how we got from home to the "You Are Here" dot. He looked at the legend on the map and figured we were about 8 miles from home. He also liked seeing where we were in relation to Commencement Bay since we got to pretty much the entire bay (we drove around the bay to get there):

Fuschia Crocs on a pebble beach:

Me & my Evan bear:

Ethan checking out all the cool nooks and crannies:

Ethan and Evan walking along the bottom of the cliff. Near the bottom (under the tree roots) is a very cool wall. It's rock and mud and you can actually take your finger and write in the mud!

Ethan & Evan:

Evan & Ethan checking out all the cool things along the cliff face:

Evan & Ethan:

Ethan:

Thankfully it stopped raining and dried out just enough for us to enjoy a picnic lunch before heading out!

We stopped at Fort Nisqually to take this picture. If you look carefully you can see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge there in the distance:

On the way home, I stopped at Hello, Cupcake so the boys could have a treat! I got a coconut cupcake and the boys each got lemon... YUM!

The Bouncy Place

It's spring break! We decided to hit the Bouncy Place today since the forecast calls for a LOT of rain. The boys had a great time!

Life Lessons, Symbolism, and Falling Apart

I get the distinct feeling that God is trying to either teach me something big or prepare me for something I can't imagine right now. So many things have happened in our lives in the past three months that have tested our faith, our patience, our love, our relationship, and our endurance. Through it all, I've tried to maintain a good attitude. I've tried to find the silver lining in the clouds. I've tried to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and that some lessons are not apparent to us right now. We aren't always privy to the "whys" of the challenges we are faced with. But tonight was the final straw for my battered spirit.

To recap the past few weeks... our home was burglarized. That was the first blow. We remained positive, knowing that our home owner's insurance would cover things. Then we found out that without our knowledge or approval (of which we discovered neither is required), our deductible on our policy had QUADRUPLED. We fought and fought to no avail. We felt used and taken and that was the second blow. Again, we held our heads up, upset as we were, and took it in stride. (Yes, we were depressed about it for a bit, but we got over that and moved on. What else can you do really?) We took comfort in the knowledge that we could use part of our tax return to pay for some things. Imagine our horror when we did our taxes tonight and discovered that for the first time in 11 years, we owe money to the I.R.S. We normally get at least a couple thousand dollars back but for varying reasons this year, we actually owe money. (Thankfully, it's not very much.) This was the final blow for me. I was okay for about an hour and then I spiraled.

I left the room and just had myself a really good and cleansing cry. Why? Why is this happening to us? This isn't fair. Let me reiterate that this is NOT about the "stuff". I don't care about any of it anymore. I've said goodbye to it all and I know it's never coming back. It's just the combination of it all. Mike put it quite eloquently tonight when he said, "I feel like we got robbed three times." It feels violating. You feel helpless and used. After I wallowed in self pity for awhile, Mike and I sat down and talked through it all (and I cried some more). And truthfully I do feel better about things. And once I allowed myself to feel sorry for myself a bit and have a good cry (or two), I was able to clear my head and be open to the Spirit about things.

I am reminded of the following scripture found in Matthew 11:28-30:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I am once again able to remind myself that everything happens for a reason. I have always had a profound belief in that concept and this is no different. At first I wasn't able to see what that reason was. But as time goes on, I think I am catching a glimpse of what it might mean. (Of course there may be multiple lessons here, but this is just one that I'm extracting from these recent escapades.)

Mike verbalized it when he said, "We needed to have the reset button pushed." Yes. That's it I believe. Aside from the home invasion woes, Mike and I have also been working on our own marriage relationship and through ALL of this, I do believe that God is trying to tell us that we need to have the reset button pushed. What we've been doing (in our relationship, in our family, in our daily lives) is rote. It has become rote and unthinking and in more ways than one, it is not working. We needed a loud wake-up call because if He's been sending us soft ones, they've fallen on deaf ears. We needed something big to wake us up, make us think, and get us out of a rut.

There are so many facets of our lives that need changing and need resetting. I think this is simply the wakeup call that we need to get our ourselves in gear and start making some serious changes. We're slowly revamping our diets and between that and having our (stolen) video game consoles gone, we have already noticed positive behavior changes in our children. That alone is priceless. We have a long way to go and I know these things won't happen overnight, nor will they happen painlessly, but we must put one foot in front of the other and know that God has a plan for us and although He never promised it would be easy, He did promise that it would be worth it.

I am also reminded of one of my very favorite church stories. I learned this story from my seminary teacher many years ago. Sister Hallstrom was an AMAZING seminary teacher. She put her whole heart and soul into that program and while I know I didn't appreciate it the way I should have THEN, I am beyond grateful for her time and sacrifice today. She taught me SO many things that I use in my life today. One of the stories she shared is a well known one in the church. It's called The Currant Bush, by Hugh B. Brown. Whenever I am particularly down on life, I reread this story and it always makes me feel better. I won't write out the text of it here, but you can click the link if you want to read it. There are profound lessons to be learned in that story.

I guess overall this is helping me to redouble my faith. (In my patriarchal blessing, I'm told to redouble my faith in times of adversity.) Moreover, I am being reminded that I cannot and should not go through any trials without seeking guidance and assistance from the Lord. We are not supposed to carry these burdens alone.

My outlook on all of this has changed and I can say without any uncertainty that I am turning this over to the Lord. He sees the whole picture. He knows what is best for me. I will have faith that these experiences will mold me into something better and will make me more humble and teachable.

Today in pictures

For Project 365, I can only choose one photo for the day. I took several others today and wanted to post them. These were all taken with my iPhone.

This is the crosswalk we use each day to get to and from school:

This is the road that leads to home:

Less than 1,ooo miles until my baby turns 100,000 She's been so good to me and I fully expect her to easily go another 100K:

One of my favorite places on the planet:

320th and winter trees:

Strange to put a toilet here, but for one thing, my boys will crack up laughing when they see this. For another, a very proud 6-year-old in my home cleaned this all by himself. Not only that, but he cleaned the floor and after I snapped these pictures, he cleaned the sink as well. But that's not even the most amazing part... he did it without ANY whining or complaining. He did it cheerfully and was so proud of himself. You can tell by the look on his face! I'm so proud of both my boys today, who cheerfully and quickly cleaned up this afternoon!!

Face2Face Billy Joel & Elton John

I had the grand opportunity of FINALLY getting to see Billy Joel and Elton John... TOGETHER on one stage! I have such a deep respect for both of these musicians. They are legends in their own time. Both are insanely talented and to see them together was an absolute treat!!

I went with Jodi, Jaime, and Jaime's sister-in-law Melissa. We had so much fun! We found great parking and then grabbed some food in the Seattle Center House. Then we headed over to Key Arena for the show. We sat at the very stop of the venue, but it was okay. It was kind of nice not having anyone behind us. I was a little miffed at how tight the seats were packed in and I was also frustrated that we could not really see either of the screens that were up. But oh well... we still had a decent view of the stage and I thought the sound system was pretty good. We could still hear the artists when they were speaking, even if the crowd was loud.

Seeing these guys was a real dream for me. I admit that I'm a much bigger fan of Billy Joel than I am of Elton John, so I was more excited when Billy sang. He sang so many of my favorite songs! We did a lot of screaming and by the time we got done our hearing was pretty muffled!

All in all a fun night and I'm so happy I got to enjoy it with friends. Here are some pictures from the night. Thanks to Jaime for the photos!!

January recap

I thought I'd do a little January recap since this month has been incredibly busy for our family. December wasn't such a great month for us in a lot of ways. But despite how busy we have been this month, I'm happy to say that overall it's been a wonderful month and I think Mike and I are in a place in our marriage that is better than we've ever been. That is most important to me because as long as that is strong, then the rest will fall into place.

We rang in the new year on a ferry boat as we watched fireworks over Seattle. My mom was here from Hawai'i and we were also with John, Jodi, and their crew. It was a BLAST... so much so that I think I'm going to make New Year's eve my priority holiday next year!

Mike left Washington not once, but twice this month. He spent a few days in Vegas for business and I REALLY wanted to go with him but it just didn't work out. If goes to the CES conference next year, I'm definitely going to plan on going with him. My mom will be back next year and she has already told me to let her know when the conference is so that she can make sure she stays through that time to help take care of the boys. I'm so excited. (You know it's pathetic when you are excited about a trip with your husband to Vegas while he attends a work-related conference. A conference, mind you, that is an entire year away! We haven't really left our kids overnight with anyone but one time. It's hard to find people that will take the kids for overnight trips.) My mom is also coming in September and she said she'll watch them if we want to leave for a few days then too. Yay! Anyway... Mike also went to L.A. for the first time last week. It was just an overnight trip but we missed him still the same.

I got to meet a former coworker and dear friend for lunch this month. I haven't seen Pam in a long, long time and it was awesome to catch up with her. My only regrets are that the time went way too fast and that she lives so darned far away. I am so happy we reconnected!

Jodi and I got to go and see 100 Monkeys perform in Seattle... a major highlight of the month!!

I think I finally got my second job situation straightened out. It's been months and months of agony trying to get through orientation, poor communication with the manager, and a new-hire evaluation done. But somehow, I made it through all of that I'm now just a "regular" employee instead of orientation. I've since worked two shifts on my own and they have both been very pleasant. This second job is a blessing to our family. I worked there on Thursday night and when the manager came in Friday morning, she even smiled at me and said "good morning". WOW... this is a huge improvement!

We welcomed two beautiful nieces into our family this month. Sabrina was born on January 11 and Blair was born on January 30. They are gorgeous and healthy and our family is blessed.

Our own son Ethan turned 8 years old on January 13. What a huge, huge milestone that was!! We took him out to dinner at Claim Jumper (his choice) and we saw Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel as a family. It was a really fun night. I didn't even have to bake a birthday cake because Ethan requested that instead of cake, he wanted the gigantic ice cream cookie sandwich at Claim Jumper. So we had that with a candle on it. Yum!

Ethan had his bishop's interview this month for his baptism. He is so excited and so are we! Due to work schedules, we are having his baptism a little later in February. He is busy planning the program right now and is really looking forward to this milestone event in his life.

Ethan also started Cub Scouts this month! I have a Cub Scout! WOW... it is mindblowing to think that it seems like only a few months have passed since I was holding him as a newborn. Now he's planning for the Pinewood Derby and looking forward to all that cub scouting has to offer!

Sadly, a coworker of mine lost her husband in an accident on January 26, just two days after giving birth to her third child. We still do not know all the details surrounding his death, but we certainly mourn and pray for her. The nursing staff on my unit are holding a bake sale tomorrow in her honor to raise funds to help her out. Her children are ages newborn, 1 and 2. I can't imagine...

And unfortunatley, as I've already written about in detail, our home was robbed a little more than a week ago. As I've stated before, we are blessed in that nobody was home, nobody was injured, and the only things taken were of material value. I pray for the thieves that broke into my home. I hope and pray that they will find peace in their lives such that they will no longer make the choice to engage in this kind of destructive behavior.

And lastly, we enjoyed a wonderful day at church today. It was ward conference and I learned so much. There seems to be a real focus this year on the basics and I think it's very timely. Right now it seems as though the world is very chaotic. There is SO much going on around us. So many people are having difficulties with things in their lives. So I think that getting back to the very basics is so important. After church was done, we went over to the Worrells' home and enjoyed the afternoon with them. We got to meet their new puppy Jasper (yes, he most certainly IS named after the Twilight character!!). Our boys enjoyed playing with theirs. We enjoyed talking and the comeraderie of friendship. Of course we enjoyed a splendid meal as well. We mentioned before that we'd never had a fried turkey before and so John made one! We enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, bread and green beans. And we had brownies for dessert. The food was amazingly good. Mike and I both agree that we would LOVE to have fried turkey again in the future... it was wonderful! The picture at the top is the view I caught looking out from Jodi's deck. Spectacular view!

That wraps up a very busy and eventful and blessed January!! I should also mention that it's been unseasonably warm this January... in the 50s nearly every single day and not a flake of snow or a speck of ice to be found! We are NOT complaining... it's been wonderful! February holds much more in store for us. Mike is traveling again, we are celebrating our 11th anniversary, and Jodi and I are escaping to another concert! On Wednesday night we are heading out to see Elton John and Billy Joel perform at the Key Arena (FINALLY!!) This is the concert that was canceled in November due to illness. So it's been a LONG wait. I believe I bought these tickets last March or April. Feels good to finally use them! And of course on the 27th, our Ethan will be baptized. There is so much to look forward to!

Ward Conference

We had such an awesome ward conference today! I was so uplifted and I felt like each and every message was delivered for me personally. I got so much out of today's lessons!

I have a quick thought I wanted to share... a highlight of sorts...

We were late for church today (grrr) but it wound up being a good thing. There was absolutely no place to sit in the chapel so we wound up sitting on the chairs in the foyer. I found that for me personally, it was a perfect place to sit. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I am sensitive to a lot of different kinds of noises. I found it was pretty quiet in the foyer and there was a lot less distraction... less light, less people, less noise. Plus, the speaker is right in the middle and I could hear everything really well. I actually got a lot out of the talks by sitting out there. (Oh, have I mentioned that the couches are comfy too? Maybe I shouldn't post that... everyone else will be vying for a spot out there!)

As I sat listening to the talks, I was spiritually edified and uplifted. Our stake president, President Nicholls spoke in the second half of the meeting. During his talk, I was watching various parents come and go from the chapel with wiggly little children. They were all so cute. At one point, a father was out walking with his little toddler. He seemed genuinely interested in everything that was going on out there. But something happened that just warmed my heart and really testified of the spirit...

As this father walked past the picture of Jesus Christ that is in the foyer, this little boy swung himself around in his dad's arms and reached right out for that portrait. The look on his face was priceless... as though he was thinking, "Hey wait. Stop. I know this man. He is my friend." The recognition in his eyes was undeniable. Just seconds after this occurred, President Nicholls began talking about the Holy Spirit. He said something to the effect of (not an exact quote, sorry): "Have you felt the Holy Spirit today? When you feel that feeling, it's telling you that this is the way. This is the path to follow." And I just began to cry as I sat there... because as he spoke, this little boy was illustrating the point so eloquently. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the way. Even as a small child who can't yet express those feelings verbally, he knows. It was a beautiful moment... one in which the sun and stars and planets seem to line up perfectly to deliver a message loud and clear. I'm so thankful for that experience today!

I am so happy I was at church today!

Violated

I've never been raped. But I think I might have some inkling about what the emotion of that experience might be like. Realize I said "inkling." I'd never profess to actually think I could understand what that act feels like, having (thankfully) never experienced it. On Friday, our house was burglarized. When I realized it had happened, it was like someone had socked me in the gut. There was a physical pain associated with it. And then came the sadness and fear and anger and frustration as I processed the fact that someone had entered my personal sanctuary and violated my sense of peace and wellbeing. My home has always been my little slice of heaven. It's the place where I can let down my guard, be comfortable, and know that the I am safely locked away from whatever else is going on outside the doors and walls of my haven. But that was violated and rocked on Friday and I've had a lot of processing to do.

I'll back up... I'd been having problems with my iPhone. Two trips to the Apple store at Southcenter did not fix the problem. Finally I made a call to Apple headquarters and talked to a nice guy who agreed that it was time to switch out the phone. He called me Friday morning and told me he could get me an appointment at the Southcenter store in the next hour. I jumped at the chance, knowing I had to work all weekend and wouldn't have another opportunity until the following week. I had planned on staying home and catching up on laundry and dishes and that sort of thing. But instead, I grabbed my wallet and phone and took off. Afterward, I met Mike for lunch since he works right there in Renton. We enjoyed a nice lunch together and then I headed home. I was gone no more than about 3-1/2 hours.

As I rounded the corner of my culdesac, I immediately sensed that something was wrong. When you live in a house for 9 years, you notice right away when something doesn't look right. The color of my front door was off. As I got closer to the house, I realized that this was so because the door was slightly ajar... not wide open, just slightly ajar... and this threw the light and shadows into a different pattern than my eyes were used to seeing. Let me say that this is not the first time I've come home to find my door ajar. Typically, it's never bothered me. I've always known that someone must not have closed it tightly or sometimes we go out the garage door and forget to check the front door. But this time I immediately knew that something was not right. For one thing, I had a sense of dread and evil. It was as though there was a bubble of evil all around my house. I could almost see it. I had a sick, disgusting, terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. And secondly, I remembered very, very distinctly coming out the front door and putting my key into the lock and turning the deadbolt. There is no way it could have gotten opened except from the inside.

I called Mike on the phone from the driveway and told him that our door was open. He asked if I had gone inside to check things out and I said, "No way. I'm too scared. What if someone is still in there? What if they have a gun or a knife? What if they were in there when I drove up and now they are hiding?" I walked to the side of the house... another sucker punch. The screen to our kitchen window was down on the ground and sitting in the leaves. However, the window itself was closed. I noticed one thing on the kitchen counter looked like it had been displaced, but it was something so minor that the kids could have moved it. The dirty dishes piled in the sink (the ones I had planned on staying home to wash before talking to the guys at Apple) were untouched and undisturbed. I walked back around to the front and used the garage door opener in the car to open the garage. Another bad sign... the door leading from my laundry room to the garage was open. I never leave that door open. I'm meticulous about keeping it closed because I don't like heat escaping into the garage. And a piece of wood we had near the door was broken and split. I did not enter the house.

I walked back out of the garage and decided to ease my way up the front walkway towards the front door. My heart was pounding and I was nervous and I could just FEEL the evil. I had Mike on the phone with me the entire time. I wanted him there in case anyone attacked me. At least he'd hear and be able to call police for me. I used my foot and tapped on the front door to open it up and then the major blow came. There in the corner of my living room, where there should have been a flat screen television, was an empty space. I said to Mike, "The TV is gone." Mind you, my feelings had NOTHING whatsoever to do with the TV. I just felt sick and violated and I began to shake. At that point Mike hung up and left work to come and meet me at home. I got back into my car, locked the door, and called the police. I was pretty surprised by my reaction while on the phone with the police. I was very calm but I was shaking and trying really hard not to cry while I gave her information. I just felt sick. Then all I could do was wait. So I sat in my car and updated my Facebook status to reflect what was going on and within minutes, Dianne (a nurse I work with) pulled up in my driveway. I was SO happy to see her. She gave me a big hug and stayed with me until Mike got home so that I wouldn't be alone. I am so thankful and grateful for friends. She really, really took the edge off my anxiety just by being there. Then Mike got home and he walked into the house and checked things out and made sure no one else was in there. Only then did I feel "safe" going inside. It felt odd walking in and seeing things missing, knowing that thieves had infiltrated our space.

A Federal Way police officer showed up. He made a report and took photographs. He's a very nice guy and we've since communicated with him a few more times and he's been very helpful. Then we filed a claim with our home owner's insurance. I don't expect that to be resolved for another week or so. In the meantime, we've had a security system installed and I do feel a lot better about having it. I like it and it's easy to use. I was able to sleep peacefully today while the kids were in school. I keep thinking that these guys could have come in one day while I was asleep in my bedroom. How scary!

As a follow up... I'm feeling better and better about the situation. I thought it would take me a LONG time to get over this feeling of violation. But I've come to realize over this past weekend that much of that feeling is in my mind. I have made a conscious effort to let go of those emotions. Yes, people came into my home uninvited and took things that belonged to us. However, if I allow that to consume me, then they win. If I allow those feelings to swallow me up, then my home will never be a haven for me again. So I choose to let it go. Moreover, I feel sorry for the thieves who committed this crime. I feel sorry that they were in such a place in their lives where they felt the need to stoop to such heinous acts. I pray for them. In the meantime, I'm taking my home back. It's MY piece of heaven on earth and I can't allow outside influences to change that happy fact.

I am thankful beyond words that none of my family was harmed or home when this crime took place. I'm thankful that the thieves chose only to take my things. They did not destroy things or turn things over or ransack my home. They simply took what they wanted and they left. In the grand scheme of things, it could have been much worse. Even in the face of such a despicable act, there are things to be thankful for.

100 Monkeys

Jodi and I had a totally amazing adventure on Monday night... we got to go to Seattle and see 100 Monkeys perform live. Now let me back up and explain who these guys are...

Of course it's well known that we are self-proclaimed Twihards (i.e., we are obsessed with author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series). In the movies, the character of Jasper Hale is played by actor/musician Jackson Rathbone. Aside from acting, Jackson plays in a band called 100 Monkeys. They have mainly stuck to the eastern side of the country but due to fan demand, they are branching out in 2010 and touring all over the country. Lucky Seattle got to have them right at the beginning of their tour.

I had asked Jodi if she wanted to go and we both were kind of nonchalant about it. We kind of figured, "Eh. If we go, we go. If we don't, we don't." But we ended up deciding to go and WOW are we glad we did! We took off Monday evening and got lucky enough to find parking right across the street from the venue. Then we went in search of food... not an easy task at night in the SODO district as it's very industrial. However, we got lucky. Less than two blocks north, directly across the street from Safeco Field is the Pyramid Alehouse. While the Alehouse is obviously known for their large selection of beer and lager, we of course went for the food, which was VERY good and quite reasonably priced. We were actually surprised at how cheaply we got out of there. Because it was happy hour, all the appetizers were 30% off. I got a plate of pork sliders and a side of sweet potato fries (a seriously huge side, I might add) and some water and got out of there for less than $10! That is a STEAL for really good quality food in downtown Seattle!

After filling up on good food, we walked back to the Showbox and got in line for the show. Despite being near the end of the line, it wasn't that crowded at all. Luckily, we don't drink alcohol, because half the crowd headed into the bar. That meant the rest of us could secure a pretty good place to see the band. We weren't far from the stage at all. We did have to wait through two opening acts before 100 Monkeys took the stage. The first guy, Jacob James, was pretty good but I thought all his songs sort of sounded the same. He was definitely humorous and kept us smiling, especially when he was so rudely cut off in the middle of his first number by a fire alarm going off! (Thankfully, just a little smoke from the kitchen... nothing serious.) After he performed, we listened to a group called Exohxo perform for awhile. They were very lively and talented and kept the audience entertained. My only complaint is that the music was SEVERELY too loud... so much so that we could't really hear the singers singing. But they were good.

And then of course, the Monkeys took the stage and I can't believe how fast the time just FLEW after that. These guys are TRUE entertainers and kept the audience VERY happy for the time they were on stage. I am still amazed at just how talented these guys are. Not only can they sing, but they ALL play EVERY instrument! After each song, they would move around and trade instruments. They'd travel back and forth between drums, keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, and congas. Every now and then they'd throw a flute and trumpet in the mix as well! They took turns on lead vocals too. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. It was a BLAST and I was not ready for them to leave the stage!

As we headed out the door after the show, we got to shake hands with one of the band members, Jerad. I would be lying if I said we weren't a little giddy about that! We walked around the corner to cross the street to the car and realized that two other band members, Jackson Rathbone and Ben G. were hanging out of a window upstairs, waving to fans walking by. So we waved too and said, "Thank you" and got in the car. Then, just like a couple of school girls, we sat there and continued to watch them. After awhile, they threw a bunch of Scrabble tiles out the window to a handful of fans below. So we jumped out of the car and grabbed a few.

Then we just stayed there for probably a good hour as they interacted with fans. People were throwing t-shirts up to them and they were signing them. One girl even threw her bra up to have it signed. Can't say we we'd be willing to do THAT! Finally, they closed the window and we left. It was a fabulous night. They were playing in Portland the next night and I have to say, if I wasn't working, we would have headed down there to see them perform again! That's how much we loved them. What a fabulous time we had!! I will forever have fond memories of that night!

Happy Birthday Boot!

Today is Rebekah's birthday... happy 24th! We met up with her, Emily, Loral and the parents over at the Mongolian Grill in the mall. We had a nice meal together.

Happy Birthday Bekah!!