ten reasons i love FALL

well, i love the fall season for many reasons, but there are 10 more particular reasons i like the season.  we have had a late summer here in Spokane...just this past saturday we had a 90 degree day.  for all my western folks, please be jealous.  but don't worry it rained here all day monday and everyone thought they were melting...pansies!  but here are twn reasons why i LOVE fall...

10. pumpkin spice lattes/apple cidar
9. blankets are needed to be wrapped around me at all times
8. i don't have to think about what i'd look like in a two piece
7. the beautiful colors
6. football season, which for me means family, friends, and food
5. running in the crisp, cold, morning
4. children & adults can get away with dressing like medical staff with absolutely no education to back up their costume
3. sweaters and sweats and sweatshirts and slippers and bathrobes

2. this picture

1. MY BIRTHDAY!!!!  October 26

Thank you Steve Van Dyken :]

Where to hang this???

From Family to Friends

In a blink they are all gone, all of them.  The past week was surely a highlight of the summer.  Molly set up camp right in the middle of our living room and lived out of two duffel bags.  Our futon became her bed and a simple drying rack became her shelving unit, where she decided to nicely store her clothes.  It was great fun…until it ended Friday.  She pretty much hitchhiked her way to Spokane, with a short pit stop at the Gorge to watch the Zac Brown Band play.  She arrived Sunday with a smile on her face, some fudge in her hands, and a list of “Spokane to do’s.”  Unfortunately, I had to work most days she was in town, but once I clocked off I was ready to play! 

Monday 9.19.11

Bright and early = 6.2 mile run in the sun!  I had already committed to work until 4 that day but soon was able to go to Zola’s for happy hour!  Yum!  Hummus platters, blue cheese sweet potato fries, salmon swimmers, $1 beers, and a cheap tab!!!  We eventually drove over to give Molly a quick tour of Moody Bible Institute and then it was straight back to the apartment to put on our comfies to watch The Jones’ (sorry Dad we watched it without you).

Tuesday 9.20.11

Bright and early = a workout at the gym!  I had already committed to work until 9 pm so it was all fun and games for Molly trying to learn the Spokane bus system to get her busy little self around town!  She missed the first bus due to her lack of following directions but eventually she made it downtown to see Gonzaga friends!  Bedtime came real quick after I got off work.

Wednesday 9.21.11

Bright and early = no run = work at 7:30am.  I raced home around 11 to spend the rest of the day with Molly!  We re-energized with a pit stop at our local java hut and then hit up some apple picking and tractor riding at the local farm, Greenbluff.  I bought 18 apples.  I don’t know how many Molly picked.  But we definitely couldn’t dilly-dally around the farm because Craig was expecting Molly’s famous enchiladas when he got home from work.  YUM!  Check out my recipe page to see how easy it is…

The night didn’t end there!  We decided to indulge at the local frozen yogurt bar and then we were ready to turn in.

Thursday 9.22.11

Bright and early = I worked out at the gym all alone!  I had already committed to work until 4 but soon after met up with Molly and Marissa to run the Flying Irish!  What is the Flying Irish, you ask?  It is a 5k that is run by 300+ people every Thursday.  They leave from the local Irish Pub and run a different 5k route weekly.  If you run it 6 times you get a t-shirt and 50% off all pub fare after the races.  Race #1….complete!  To make up for the calories we had burned we stopped in at our favorite restaurant downtown, Steelhead.  Blue cheese fries, crab and artichoke dip, portabella mushroom burger, a regular burger, and two schooners covered the table.  Our calorie intake was met.  Success.

Friday 9.23.11

Bright and early = no run = work at 7:30am.  I raced home around 11 to spend the last few hours with Molly.  We ate some leftovers and then decided our time together needed to commemorate at Costco.  Well, I guess that is a white lie because we ended at Ultimate Bagel so that Molly could check off the last thing on her “To Do in Spokane” list…eat a bagel at Ultimate.  Check.  I then unwillingly drove her to Marissa’s so that she could hitchhike back to Federal Way.  Afterward, I sluggishly walked to the gym to run off my sorrows and sadness.

But our week/weekend didn’t end there…No way!

Saturday 9.24.11

After a 2 hour membership class at church, a hardcore workout, and a BBQ at Craig’s professor’s house, we met up with Steve & Shannon Van Dyken (Steve is Craig’s BFF and was his groomsman at the alter).  They stayed at my place of employment, The Spokane Club!  We visited briefly and then headed home to enjoy some time alone.

Sunday (TODAY!!!)

We attended both services at church today because Craig and I had the privilege of being introduced to the congregation.  Craig is the new High School Youth Group Intern at Northview Bible Church, so we were called up front to have people come lay hands on us and pray over us.  It was a very neat experience and a welcoming introduction to our year of service at Northview.  After twice the amount of holiness we went out to lunch with Steve & Shannon and then flipped on the Seahawks as we played a rousing 3.5 hour game of Phase 10.  Our time together concluded about an hour ago at the local frozen yogurt bar where we said our goodbyes and watched Craig cry over the loss of his BFF.  We are now sitting at the Whitworth University library.  I must say it looks like Craig is working on homework but I bet he is really thinking about me…ahhhh…true love.

I needed some inspiration for this blog post, so I decided to chose a picture of a place that is near and dear to my heart: Pioneer Hall, home of my freshman year at Linfield.



Let's just say that that was a year to remember and cherish in a unique way.  You couldn't pay me a kajillion dollars to redo that year but I wouldn't have done anything differently either.  I remember getting my room assignment shortly into the summer after I graduated HS and having my jaw hit the floor when I saw not one, not two, but three names under ROOMMATES FOR 2005-2006.  I panicked!  Are most colleges like this?  In movies and TV shows it is usually just one other roommate and they have bunkbeds and their rooms are messy, while they become best of friends and never disagree.  Harsh reality, my life was not about to become a TV show.  However, two out of my three roommates did become some of my best friends, one of which I roomed with for the next three years. 

The course load that year was "hard," which then made me change the description of my senior year course load to "suicidal."  But I had to learn on my own that I couldn't skip class because of a hang nail or eat 4 slices of pizza and ice cream just because it's available.  But I enjoyed every minute of exploring the freedom God granted me - to make the decisions I wanted to make.  I am pretty sure the first week I had Wendy's food three times and didn't go to bed until 11pm.  That year brought lots of immature laughs though that are so fun to look back on.  When can I slide down a set of stairs on a mattress again and get away with it?

The only downfall of my Linfield career was that Craig only got to experience one year of it with me...and that was at a distance...in another state.  And by my senior year I would say I was making healthier, less stupid decisions.  So he didn't get to experience that at all.  But what makes me even happier than if we were to share a Linfield background is that we do share a Camp Gilead background.  Our jokes, memories, and laughs stem from that crazy place.  We saw each other every summer and now know that God was growing us separately throughout the school year.  But don't worry, Craig has seen pictures of my freshman experience and I have walked him through campus many times...holding hands :]

the end.

my moody experience

this weekend i got the pleasure to attend the moody fall retreat with craig.  it has been a while since i had been on a retreat.  [side note: i was a youth group retreat junkie all through jr.high & high school].  i love the community it builds, the relationships that are formed, and the food that is available!  it is just all-around a refreshing time.  a time of escape and a time to redirect my focus to what really matters in life.  craig and i got to camp alongside the river since we are married.  everyone else stayed in cabins.  here are pictures of the haskins' villa, complete with beach front property.

the majority of students were freshman because the retreat was required for all incoming students.  so, naturally, we were mistaken for 18 year olds.  but it was fun meeting some of the second year students that craig has become friends with.  the weekend was full of free time, worship, and activities.

it was so encouraging to get to do it all with my husband!  the most fun was the high ropes course that we participated in together.

god is so good as to what he allows us to do!  to escape for three days from work, school, money, friends, family, the city, etc., is a blessing.  it builds up our marriage and reminds us of the glue that is between us...our savior.  

but to switch it up just a bit from sentimental to humorous...craig's amazing talent that took 3rd place and won us a $25 gift card to wal-mart...

Moody's "Almost Talent Show"

to view more photos, visit: My Moody Experience

simply photos

Here are some pictures to keep you all busy while Craig & I are gone this weekend...

Will write a post after our return from our glorified camping trip...

Whale Bird & Sea Lion Watching...

I am getting really bad at keeping this up-to-date, but if it is any excuse, I am working 3 jobs, tending to my husband when he is around, working out like a mad woman, and trying to make friends and get connected with a ministry here in Spokane.  Craig and I were able to go to Federal Way this past weekend to visit friends and family and see Craig's cousin, Elisabeth get married.  What a whirlwind of events it turned out to be!!

We drive over Friday afternoon, with a backseat passenger hitching a ride, and roll into town just in time to eat shrimp, chicken, and salad with Dad, Molly, & Dustin!  We shoot a round of darts and then head to Mom's to crash.  Bright and early I have my running treads on to hit up the side streets of fdub!  Then it's back in the car to have lunch with Craig's Dad and stepmom, attend a wedding, and then back home.  Sunday, we got the magical opportunity (thank you groupon) to go whale watching in the San Juans.  I was stoked - for one of my greatest obsessions is over whales!!!  I couldn't sleep!  It took 4 hours of traveling to get to Friday Harbor just in time for a 4 hour whale watching trip.  The camera card was cleared in order for us to take mass amounts of photos of the whales we were going to see!  FALSE!  We didn't see one whale - just stupid sea lions, birds, and bald eagle.  How obnoxious!!  Furious!  I was not a pleasant wife for the next couple of hours.  My dream of whale watching in the San Juans was crushed.  My husband escaped an extra hour of an unpleasant wife after we received two free vouches to come back and try again.  Let's just say the whales let me down!

Here are some pictures we should have come home with...

Ok, so maybe not the one that has a humongous glacier in the background, but still, any backdrop to a whale photo would have been nice.

Isaiah 40:28-31  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint,   and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;   they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;   they shall walk and not faint.