Sun!

We had a fantastic weekend here in Seattle. Dennis and I got to take advantage of it and play in the sun.
Saturday we took Burton to Marymoor Dog Park, we liked it cause we did a nice walk, but Burton could have cared less. He walks right along side of us, hardly smells another dogs butt and is just content walking with us. I hope to take him on a few hikes this summer. He is such a good walking buddy!
Most of the time here, when you have one hot and sunny day, the next is crappy and we all miss out, but his weekend was a nice exception. Both days were over 70 (we are so not use to it!) After church on Sunday we headed to our friends house for a birthday BBQ. Gorgeous day for it, had fun playing with all the kids and seeing their new house. Looking forward to many BBQ's this summer there!
We decided to see what all the fuss is about and check out the Tulip festival that everyone has been blasting pictures on Facebook with. Right as we get in to Mount Vernon we hit traffic.... then more traffic though Mount Vernon, we got confused and stopped in town, no fields, so we hop back in the car or more traffic out to the fields.
It is hot outside, we are getting grumpy, we both hate traffic, pretty sure we are lost, just starting to get on each others nerves. I'm borderline from crossing my arms and screaming at the top of my lungs.. then we make each other laugh. I love that! That is how most of our stressful moments go. We know that the only way to make it better is to laugh, and one of us does something stupid or points out something that we can't help but chuckle at, or even going so far as throwing out a little tickle to cut the tension. I love the tough moments with Dennis, because the way we pull ourselves out of them are so worth it.
We finally arrive, and the first thing Dennis sees is kites, a large kite field, he is in heaven and ready to have fun!

 The first kite we saw, and the sun trying to peek out

 Too bad I don't know photo shop and I can't take that kid out in the background

 The colors were beautiful!

 My Tulip Angel

 Kite time! We ended up buying a little pocket kite (we already have 2), Dennis had to fly something, the wind was picking up, but could have been a little better kite weather

 See, not enough wind!

 I love barns!

 Heheh, Dennis attempted to fly this little baby kite, didn't work!

When we finally decided we had enough tulips, we made the trek home, holy smokes it was horrible! There was traffic everywhere, luckily we took a pretty scenic route and tried to make the best of it. (Should have taken 10 minutes to get out of town, it ended up taking us over an hour!)
There was a huge traffic stop on this corner, then we looked up and saw this swarm of birds, they did the most amazing moves, it was quite beautiful to see.

I had to stop and take this picture, again with my love for barns, and with the mountains in the background, I would love to wake up to this every morning!

Flight Lessons

I wanted to go all out for Dennis' 30th birthday. I sort of thought that it would be our last ho rah before we had kids (didn't work out so well). Dennis was happily surprised with a trip to Mexico, where we relaxed, toured, and got to try new things like scuba diving!
But way before his actual day, I had purchased him introductory flight lessons. He said he would love to learn how to fly, why not try it out? We attempted to use these at least 5 times, but the weather in Washington is a little unpredictable, especially when we started trying in October!
I almost for about it since it has been 7 months, then it appeared! The original place in Arlington closed down, but lucky for us a place in Puyallup was still accepting our certificate (good thing since it was already paid for!)
We finally picked a good weekend, woke up early for our trek way down to Puyallup, only to walk outside to dark gray sky's and an Erie loom of the coming rain. Since we live in this convergence zone, we called and they said it was gorgeous and sunny down South. Phew!!!!
The second we hit highway 167, the skis parted, the rain stopped and there was this bright thing above our heads we were not prepared for! We forgot our sunglasses!

 We pulled in to the flight school and were unprepared for the sight. Mount Rainer was so close and so gorgeous, The clouds continued to move, but mostly they hoovered right over her top, sometimes revealing it, and others just keeping it out of sight.

 We thought Dennis would have to take some lessons in their classroom first, you know the boring book stuff. But were shocked when our instructor took us straight to the plane. We got a young, fun, and lively pilot. I don't think anyone else would have fit us the same.
Dennis was so happy to pose next to the Cessna he would be flying in 10 minutes.
Now that thought scared a touch. I'm not quite sure why I thought I would be able to fly with him. I have been pretty brave lately, and I used to get really sick when flying, but have been such a big girl lately, I thought I can do it! (Well after I ran in to the bathroom and prayed)
Little did I know that mastering the large commercial plane and riding in a tiny 3 seater was much, much different!

 Right before we boarded our plane we were able to watch another plane take off and make a picture perfect moment over the mountains.

 The boys doing the safety walk through.

 Nature letting us have a peek a boo of the top!

 Ready Captain? He looks so cute!!!!

 The plane was so tiny, the boys' shoulders were touching, and neither of them were big!

 Take off was good, pretty smooth, he had Dennis flying from the first moment. I on the other hand, continued to pray! The sight was incredible, we were able to hoover over certain areas to see the gorgeous views from above.

If we flew nice and steady and didn't make any turns, I might have been okay, might.
But this little plane can turn on a dime, bank to the left, boom we are on our side!
Our instructor kept saying how fast Dennis is learning and how impressed he was with him.

 This was the last picture I could get off before our instructor looked back at me and saw me starting to sweat bullets and get really uncomfortable. He asked if I wanted to go back, I barely got a nod out.
Not the first time he saw this because he turned on the air (which meant opening the windshield gaps), that felt fantastic and I almost thought I could handle it. Then we turned around to head back, I could feel the sweat dripping down my back, my head starting to get light headed, and the dreaded tight feeling in my thought. No please don't!!!!
Next thing I know, I'm taking my camera lens out of my camera bag, sitting it on my lap, just in case. Ha, moments later, I'm blowing chunks in my camera bag, in the back seat of the plane as we are heading back. I got so close! The sight was unbearable, at first I thought I was throwing up blood, but then remembered that I had strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, not the prettiest sight to upchuck!

Within moments of throwing up, the heat went away, my throat stopped burning and I pulled myself together. By this point we were descending. I only got one more picture before we landed.
I was extremely embarrassed, I knew he knew, but neither of us said anything. I closed my camera bag (I'm so sorry Hollie, it was the only thing I had, either that or my shirt and then I don't think I would have stopped vomiting.), and ran off the plane to the bathroom to clean up. I tried really, really hard to get the red stains out of the bag, and so far, no such luck.
I cheated Dennis out of some time on his flight, I shouldn't have went up there, what was I thinking? :( I asked if he wanted to do it again, and he said, why have a hobby that you will never be able to enjoy with me? Ahhhh, such a sweet husband!
So I learned a few lessons, just praying won't get you though, you actually have to prepare yourself too. I don't like small planes, I will admire them for the ground and never attempt to enter one again!

Patience

I always hear, Patience is a virtue, it is currently not one of my virtues!
There are seven virtues and each has a vice associated with it;
Chasity: Lust
Temperance: Gluttony
Charity: Greed
Diligence: Sloth
Patience: Wrath
Kindness: Envy
Humility: Pride

I know I'm not perfect, but I completely fail at patience sometimes. The definition of Patience: the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
That is not me right now, I'm complaining, losing my temper, major irritation, and all the like!

I have prayed for patience, and it is not a pretty sight. Don't pray for something that you are not actually sure you want. I have been tested more then I ever thought I could have been over the past year. In the end I truly appreciate the attempt to make me patient, and it has helped alot, but again, still not perfect.
If I turn it just a little and not focus so much on trying to be patient, but instead on the sin associated with it; Wrath, it makes it a little more tangible for me. When I think of wrath I think of anger, hostility, and what I suffer from the most of all those, entitlement, the thought that you deserve something. But truly we don't deserve anything, nothing should be owed to us.
Sometimes we get so focused on the virtue, and not on if we are not practicing the virtue what does that look like. Sometimes we can read a word and say, yes that isn't me, but read the definition, delve in to it, is it something you truly struggle with? I don't want to feel like I'm entitled to anything. Deep down that is my true struggle, to not feel like I'm owed, entitled or deserving of anything.
I will continue to pray for patience, but will also pray to let go of my entitlement issues. I would rather pray for strength to handle what ever God's decision is then to pray for a specific outcome. Pray for others, but not for myself. Instead, pray to be a better person, have more strength, love more, serve others and be content with what God gives me.
This 'house' experience has been a challenge on my patience and self deserving attitude. I want answers, I want conclusions, I want, I want, I want. How selfish is that? In order for us to get what we "want" we have to affect the lives of others. I know my future won't be ideal for us, but I pray that it serves my Lord.
We don't know where we will live and that scares me, through the fear, I will look towards the good that could come of this.
Now to leave you with the funny virtues!

Spray Paint and Lace

This has been a project! I have been planning our bedroom for awhile, as I never wanted to actually change our current room around, I decided to collect all of the stuff I wanted for the next space and then slowly start on those projects. Well that time is coming, so the projects begin!
Over the summer we became garage sale addicts, what is better than a garage sale? An Estate Sale! I can't wait for summer Estate Sales again! We searched and searched for a set of night stands, and we finally got lucky and found these.

They look good, but not what I wanted, I knew I wanted to play with this clean canvas!
We decided to take advantage of having a deck and nice weather, we also had to learn some spray painting techniques. Oh there were so many mistakes we made, I think we tried to rush it and just plan ole be lazy! First we didn't clean the piece, and instead of sanding we decided to prime. Both mistakes, oh and the biggest one? We forgot to get masks, so after the first night of painting we both went to bed with killer headaches and tasted spray paint. Not a good idea!

After two coats of priming we decided to paint the stands white, as I knew my dresser would be a vibrant color and I wanted the accents to stand out more then the night stands.
The white looked good, but since we used flat (I wanted a older style then glossy), it needed a little umph to make it pop. I figured why not try out a lace technique I found on Pinterest?

 Easier then I thought, just place lace on  top (I didn't use the spray adhesive this time, but will next time, just makes the lace stay flat)

Nice even coat, and leave for 30 minutes to dry.

 Peel off and Viola (sp?) you have pretty lace detail!

I did this on my drawer and the center of the two doors.

 I knew I wanted new handles, the originals were ugly! We found some at Hobby Lobby that I loved, but didn't want to spend over $5 a piece!!! That would be $30+ for new handles, I think I can save that. I found 6 handles at walmart that I could spruce up for 1/3 that cost!

One really awesome hint that I found was to put nails facing up in cardboard to spray them with out having to touch them. The color selection in spray isn't exactly what I desired, so I settled on this blue, but I'm still in search for a different color. Good thing it is really easy to change the color up!

 We found new hinges, but they were $3 a piece, and I would need 8! No thanks, threw a bit of white paint that I had left over and boom done! :)

 Don't mind the mess.. but here it is against the other one I still need to do.

 I like the white, we decided to do it a little thin so you could still see the grain and gray primer underneath. I like the yellow lace, but not crazy about the shade of blue handles.

I wish I could say that this project is done, but unfornetly I still have one more to paint!

So much for my chores....

Up to date the chores list that I made has been really good for me. I love checking things off so much, no matter if they are something fun (changing my Scentsy) to something gross (cleaning the toilet). I have enjoyed keeping the house clean and feel a little proud of myself :)
Well, things have changed a little, that hour in the morning that I have been cleaning, has now been turned in to an hour of packing! We finally got a closing date, and we have to be out by April 23! They only gave us 21 days notice, and now we are down to 17 days! This is exciting, and a little scary, as we don't have anywhere to live. Not a big deal right? Not for us, we just seem to go with the flow!
The house we would like to move in to is occupied, so until the tenants accept their notice and move out, we are homeless....
Thank God (please do, I do everyday!) that we have an amazing family. We are going to crash in my sisters spare bedroom until the decision is made as to where we can live. Wasn't exactly the ideal outcome, but for now it works well. I'm so excited my sister lives over here now anyways, and I know it will be a like a big slumber party for a few weeks to a few months (I'm hoping for the earlier!).
With the reality that we are out of the tiny spaces, and moving in to a larger house, the dreaming continues. I have fully envisioned my room, but have so much work on the rest of the rooms.
I have so many projects that I have been collecting that I need to start mastering. Paint nightstands, dresser, mirrors, windows. Figure out how to hang windows as a headboard. Find a dining room table, living room chairs, and finish the pool table.
But for now we are living out of boxes. We started packing, our goal is pack for at least an hour every day. Living room, dining room, Dennis' closet, and half the kitchen are done. There are somethings I can't pack, like my Scentsy and my crafts, I have parties scheduled, and making crafts for a wedding, gifts, and a baby shower.

This is how I feel, we had to move boxes just to watch TV last night. The boxes are over the top of my head and we are not even half way done! I forgot how much I hate moving, but I know the worse is only to come, the unpacking, oh how I dread that!

On other news, today is Good Friday, or also known as Holy Friday, today commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Today is a day to reflect on the sacrifice that was made for our sins. Today is a day to think back to where you were before you had Christ in your life. How Christ has saved you. I know I have shared my story in the past, and I will be spending today thinking about Jesus' sacrifice and what that means to me.
Today is a sad day, but also a good day, with out Jesus' death, He would be unable to rise again and save us.

Isaiah 53:5

"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. "

   "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."
- John 3:16