I am Elizabeth Bennett

:: L I Z Z Y ::

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Pride and Prejudice, I think, is my favorite Jane Austin movie. Its so hard to chose! Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice are my number ones. Emma a close 2nd. If I had to be another character besides Lizzie, I would want to be Elenore Dashwood. She is just fabulous and I still tear up every time I see her cry when she realizes that Mr. Ferris has not married the ugly little girl with which he has been secretly engaged to these many years. My sister and I watched the 6 hour P&P 4 times in one week a few years ago. Such a great movie, great characters, great acting. Who can resist Mr. Darcy's character? You just hate him and love him all in the same breath. Oh, I love Jane Austin!

So many excuses....

I just thought I should post a quick note so that people would have something new to read if and when they visit my blog. Nothing more discouraging than to go to a blog for a month and not see anything new. I am in Washington right a this moment. I am in Spokane visiting my parents and tomorrow Jana, the kids and I drive back to Seattle. I have to do a few things on our house that we are selling in Maple Valley before I am able to go back to Colorado. Its a little bitter sweet. I am having to stay a bit longer than I anticipated which is "yay" for me to spend more time with family and friends, but also sad for me because I will have to be away from my husband longer. The last time we were away for this long was 2 months after we got married and He went to Africa for 2 weeks. Talk about the stupidest decision that we ever made. Newlyweds should never be away from each other for that long.
Anyways, I am trying to make sure I see everyone before I go back to the "land of thin air". When I am home I will post the millions of pictures that I took of all the kids and tell you all the great stories that I have :)

National Day of Prayer

President Bush has declared today a national day of prayer. Here is a prayer that Dr. Charles R. Swindoll wrote for our nation:

"Almighty God, we pause to reflect on Your character as we seek wisdom for such a time as this.
In these unsafe days, You remain all-powerful and able to protect;
In these uncertain times, You remain all-knowing, leading us aright;
In the unprecedented events we're facing, You remain absolutely sovereign.Our times are in Your hands.
Therefore, our dependence on You, is total, not partial . . . our need for Your forgiveness is constant. . . our gratitude for Your grace is profound. . . our love for You is deep.
We ask that You guard and guide our President and all who serve the people of these United States. May uncompromising integrity mark their lives. We also ask that You unite us as truly "one nation, under God." May genuine humility return to our ranks. And may that blend of integrity and humilityheal our land. In our Lord's name we pray, Amen".

I thought it was a great prayer to pray over our nation today. I hope that all of you are taking time to thank the Lord for his blessings on us and the wonderful United States that we get to live in.

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm a year closer to 30. At least I'm not Lisa who will be 30 in 10 days - LOL! My darling husband woke up early, went and got me Starbucks and then took me to " The Original Pancake House", which serves the best breakfast in the world. I had the crepe's with fresh strawberries. Yum! Then tonight we went and had sushi with our friends Paul and Lori Trani. Curt bought my favorite cake from Whole Foods. Its called the Chantilly Berry Cake and oh my goodness! If you get a chance, go to Whole Foods in Bellevue and try it. They sell it in individual pieces. The picture of the cake is at a funny angle because we had eaten the other half :) But it is a beautiful cake.

So I had a really nice day :) Bill and Jenn sang me the most energetic version of the Red Robin happy birthday song. It was invigorating! All my family and Curts family called to wish me a happy birthday. I am blessed.

Headboard

So, here is the headboard that Curt and I made. I am still not sure if I like the bump in the middle, but Curt does and so for now it stays. I am very pleased as to how it turned out. It was our first attempt and I think we did well. Now all I need is bedding that I like to go with it. I actually like the bedding that I have but I think I want to try something else. Curt thinks Im crazy because we have not had our current bedding very long. Im sure that he is right. Our room looks a bit bleak from this angle, but its actually quite cute, espescially when the bed is made.

For Sale

Well, the time as come to sell our adorable home in Maple Valley. Our very first home that we ever owned, sniff, sniff. We just dont know how long we are going to be here and therefore need to let our home go to someone else who can love it a lot. We bought it 6 months after we got married and have so many great memories in it. I think every Sunday Jenn and Bill came over for veg day after church. We always seemed to make tacos or Papa Murphys pizza. Then we would make the boys go down to Safeway and buy brownies and icecream. Safeway was just down the hill and what a wonderful shopping area to have within walking distance. We always got to see Mt. Rainier as we drove out of our neighbor hood on a clear day. Curt and I walked a lot in the neighbor hood because it was such a great walk and a peaceful place. It was also a great place to run. When Jana and Justin and the kids lived with us we would take the kids to the awesome park we had. Jana and I would walk to Starbucks every Saturday morning to get our fix and some exercise. I feel teary as I type. We are really going to miss our house and the most awesome neighborhood in the world!

Found it!

Look at this adorable table that I found! I had been looking and looking for a table to fit that wall because I felt like the wall needed to be anchored. I was browsing Ross one night and bam! there it was. Its hand painted and had a broken leg so I got 40% off. The broken leg was nothing, very fixable, so I got a great table for a lot less :) And I am happy!

Guess what!!??!!!

Our family is expanding!!!! We are adding to more too the brood this fall. Jana and Lindsay are expecting!!! Lins is having her baby around September 22nd and Jana is having hers around Nov 17th. Im SO excited!!!! More babies to love :) Hooray. Julia was telling me all about the baby in her Moms tummy. She said that they hope its either a boy or a girl. I asked "what if its neither?" She was confused. She asked Jana if the baby had toys to play with in her tummy? Kids are so cute! So that is our happy news for now. I swear, there is something in the Washington water! So many women I know are pregnant. Fun!!!

Valentines Day!

We had a great Valentines day. I got up early that morning and made Curt a special breakfast with my Grandmas amazing syrup recipe. I made french toast, eggs, fried potatoes and orange juice. Yum! Then he took me on a date on Saturday. It was a suprise and he planned it all by himself. We started off the day with Starbucks, who can beat that, and then our first stop was the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" house. I grew up watching that movie and then of course everyone who is a Titanic fan knows her from that movie also. I was so amazed that he remembered that I liked that movie and would love to see her real house! Isnt he awesome. Then we went to the Colorado History musem which was lovely also. After that he took me to one of my favorite restaraunts the "Old Spagetti Factory". He actually doesnt like that place so it was a huge sacrifice for him to take me there :) After that we went downtown Denver and went shopping and then to a movie. We went to the Cheesecake Factory afterwards and got dessert. Yum! What a perfect day and what a wonderful husband!!!

Future makeup Artist

This is Julia and her friend Reagan and then of course Jace and Reagans brother Josiah. Arent kids so wonderful!

Happy Birthday Jules

Julia turned 4 on the 6th of March. My goodness I still remember the day she was born. My Dad called me at 5:45 in the morning to tell me that she had been born. We didnt know whether it would be a girl or a boy so it was sure exciting when we knew it was a girl! I had no idea my life would never be the same.

We had so much fun putting together her gift and mailing it. I think we had more fun than she did opening it. Here are some pictures of what we sent.

A package coming in the mail...

Look what Jana is getting ready to mail me!!!! I'm so excited. Now all we need is for them to stay in the box for a few hours. These are my favorite pictures! I especially love the last one where Julia is getting out of the box and she is totally squishing Jace. The pain and annoyance is all over his face :) Here's a funny story. I was talking to Julia on the phone the other night and she was asking me where Uncle Curt was. I told her that he was at school (hes back in college :)). She said, "No hes not, school is for teenagers!" I'm sure she is a bit puzzled as to why old Uncle Curt is in school :)

Our Friends and Boss'

Curt and I both work for Joe and Kerri Smith, old friends of Curts. He has known them for 10 years or so. We are so blessed with our jobs! We work about a mile from our home, we work out of their home so its casaual, they are so giving and so nice to work with. And for the first time in my life I have health insurance. Isnt that wonderful. I am SO grateful for everything. These pictures are from Joes parents 53rd wedding anniversary. We were so honored to be invited to the celebration. Joe's Dad may be the funniest man ever. They got married after only knowing each other for a week! Can you believe it. Oh how different America would be if people would have that kind of commitment to their vows. How many marriages would last these days if they got married after a week of knowing each other? I think its awesome that they have been married 53 years! Its a great example for Curt and I.

So the pictures are of Joe and Kerr, Joes parents, Joe and Oliver and Curt and I. Dont you think Curt looks like an old fashioned thief? All dressed in black with a knitted cap on? Actually we hate to admit it but we have fallen on financial troubles and Curt is now a professional thief. Keep him in your prayers

We survived........Football season :)

The season is over and our marriage is still intact :) The Colts beat the Bears!!!!! Hooray!!!! Its not that I hate the Bears, my inlaws love the Bears, but I love Peyton Manning and Coach Dungy. It was Peytons time....it was the Colts time. And how awesome is it that the owner and the coach gave glory to God!!!! And when Coach Dungy was asked how great it was that he was the first black coach to win a Superbowl, he said that it was more wonderful that he and Lovey Smith were the first Christian coaches to be in the Superbowl and were able to show that following the Lord and doing things the right way works. Something like that anyways....its too late to be articulate.

To my wonderful husbands credit it was his idea to put the X on the sweatshirt because I didnt have any Colts gear. He is a great sport and I have a lot to learn from him.
We spent the day with our friends James and Karen and Joe and Kerri. For some reason I didnt get any pictures of Joe and Kerri. They had to leave at half time so I didnt have enough time to get er done. We had a great time. Superbowl, no matter who is playing is always fun. I am just so glad that the Patriots were not in the Superbowl this year, last year or any year in the future. That actually could ruin a Superbowl :) Anyways it was a wonderful way to end Football season. You can ask anyone who knows me and I have said since the beginning of this season that of course I want the Seahawks to be back in the Superbowl but it would make just as happy to see the Colts win it all! They deserved it, Tony Dungy is a class act and I am so pround that he gives all credit to the Lord! I love Peyton Manning too. Go Colts....... and Go Seahawks next year :)

Cards anyone?

It wasso nice to see Jenn and Bill while we were home for Christmas. We miss them SO much. Words cannot explain. They came over one night and played cards until 2am. We got a little punchy and started taking werid pictures. It was so fun! We all look horrible.....as the night went on we looked worse and worse and more tired. They put Bella to bed in the living room and she did not want to sleep. At one point we heard her growling, which I guess is her telling Bill that she wants to play. We cracked up! she is such a doll.