travelogue 2

Here it is, ma! So after three glorious days on the ocean, the m-fields packed up and met my sis and her brood and Sal up at Seatac to fly to Pennsylvania for my Uncle Bill's 70th birthday! We haven't made the trek to see this side of the fam since I was 17.... so many years, and children, ago. It was an eventful trip (can you say cancelled flight with five kids ages 3-10?) But they had good attitudes and we eventually made it out there the following day.

The rest of the trip kinda flew by, losing a day and all, and was pretty low-key, but turned out to be perfect. Here's my mom with her last living auntie Pauline, cousin Sandra and Uncle Bill on the right.

Here's the similar looking ladies of the Johnson clan :)
Here are the Mankamyers! Aunt Bonnie, cousin Scott with his bride Melissa, and Uncle Bill. The young ladies are my 2nd cousins that I SO enjoyed meeting. From the top down, they are Ally, Mia and Avery. They opened up their home, fed us, gave up their beds and busted out a 30 cup coffee percolator for our stay- all of which was much appreciated by us as we were given the clear directive from them that "mi casa es su casa"
Here's cousins enjoying some FRESH and DELICIOUS PA corn! Seriously money.
And here's cousin WWE. Seriously, it was such a blessing to have the kids be close enough in age that everyone got along and played super well together. I remember Marcus saying to Beau has he ran by "Beau! I haven't seen you all day!" Literally. Which, I'm not gonna lie, makes it almost like a true vacation for the parents too ;)

I don't want to leave anything out, so here's some bullets. I am not a big user of bullets but I thought my mom would appreciate these:)

-antiquing with sis and Auntie B

-earthquake

-Fuddruckers

-Gettysburg

-CORN... and I am not even a corn lover!

-mountain pies....mmmm.... look it up :)

-reminiscing and really listening to others relish in their memories

-sharing stories of God's call and faithfulness

-old photos of Uncle Bill rollerskating

FYI, I got so into this post that I missed my oven timer and made a batch of hockey pucks instead of ginger snaps....ooops!

travelogue 1

So this summer was noteworthy to be sure and I would be silly to not share some of what we did. In mid August we spent three nights at Seabrook with Marcus' family. If you haven't been to Seabrook, climb out from under your rock and GO! It is a fabulous place to go with family. Our weather was pristine and slightly chilly- really can't ask for much more than that when you visit the mighty Pacific.

Here's a group shot :)

On the perimeter of Seabrook's property is forest, including some of these massive old growth stumps that I just had to get a picture of. Marcus and Beau are practicing for Beau's upcoming strong man competition where he must throw 500 pound pieces of drift wood.
Marcus and I actually got about hip deep in the ocean! It was a blast! Nothing like jumping waves to make you feel young again. Although after awhile I could barely feel my feet and I was worried a wave might take me out in that feeble condition. So Marcus buried me in some warm, soft sand... it was heavenly. Until I, you know, had to get up.
Then Bradie wanted in on the action!
It was a such a perfect trip and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Here's Bradie being a monkey. We're not sure why the "monkey" comes out when the camera's on, but oh well. It's a nice picture of a handsome man.

Keep a look out for travelogue 2. There's more to our adventures. I'll try to not wait a month this time. Or maybe I will- it was kind of nice to dust off summer here since all is busy now with fall and school. Just kidding, mom!

I've been meaning to post this- my inlaws are having a house BUILT for them! Yippeeeeee! We are SO excited for them as I can think of no one who deserves it more!

Check it out by clicking on Janie's blog. She has been doing a fabulous job documenting the process.

In her words "God is so good"

For limited time only... an infomercial of sorts

Most people that read my blog know that Marcus and I have spent the last three months in submission to Tony Horton and the P90X routine. I feel a little crazy for posting PICTURES, half naked ones no less, but still here are some before and after shots with stretch marks cropped out... I mean I am not THAT crazy.

After:

Before:
So there you have it... YOU yes, YOU can look like this if you work your A$$ off for three months and not eat junk! only three EASY (but not cheap) payments and a gallon of FREE sweat can take you there!!! So what are waiting for?!

Ha. but seriously, my favorite part, and the most surprising to me, are my pectorals which are pretty BA and actually got bigger. The best part is how enjoyable it was having a "shared activity" with Marcus these last three months. We tried to do the work outs together whenever we could and celebrated one another's accomplishments.... and I hereby dare HIM to do his own post because he looks great!

Something even more treasured to me is that I just finished reading the Bible, beginning to end. I started that journey at the end of January following the 90 day reading program (woops!) but am still proud to have finished in about five months. I have been loving God's Word more and more these past few years and finally reading through non-stop has only deepened my understanding of His big picture and His holiness, and ultimately of His love for us all.

Marcus has been walking back and forth while I have been trying to formulate this post and even accused me of being long-winded! Can you believe that?! So I will sum up:

Open your Bible.

Put it on the floor.

Assume a Plank position over open Bible.

Start doing push ups while reading.

Don't stop until you have pecs,

don't stop until you are like Jesus.

Baby, you're a firework...

Happy belated Independence Day, gentle readers. I had way too much fun last night standing out in my very own driveway trying to capture the fruits of MANY neighbors' expensive hobby.

I finally figured out a small aperture and slow shutter makes for a nice exposure. I didn't use a tripod but experimented with holding the camera next to my belly while not breathing. I actually like the blur, it's very other-worldly.

Also, driving up the I-5 corridor on the 4th of July is the best of all worlds... crossing the trestle and looking at the intermittently smoky and sparkly panorama almost made me a bit emotional. Freedom is too wonderful for words sometimes.

rain is a blessing

As Wildkratts winds down...

You know a potted Hosta is happy when you can't see the pot :)


Above are close ups and one broad shot of my wildflower garden. Broadcasting a pack of seeds in a cup of sand is embarrassingly easy.
This is trailing soapwart that I started from seed last year and it didn't do much! Now it is full of pink moundy-ness that I just love. And see those cool circular leaves? They are from the wild flower broadcasting...perhaps I had a little bird friend help me? The purple violas are from TWO years ago! They keep seeding themselves. They're like weeds almost. My cup runneth over.

I am turning into a random blogger I know. I'll do a true update soon.

some other March stuff in April...

Early birthday visit to the Gig, where the next generation finally had some outdoors time in the fort/smurf pond where Heather and I would play. Not together though, I was way too pesky and loud for my sister. At least now we are friends. Far better late than never at all, I say! Above in the tree is my niece Emma, who is TEN!? Crazy.

We hiked the Lime Kiln trail yesterday as a family, no rain and BEFORE the snow, so win win :)
Had some special play time with special friends.
So I turned 30, finally. It was really nice and my family really took their time to celebrate me, which is always wonderful. Marcus actually surprised me with an overnight away! We stayed down on the waterfront and it was very nice. Auntie Caren took the kiddos and she is so good with them that I truly experienced close to 24 hours of not a care in the world. Marcus also got me one of my favorite gifts ever- a dutch oven which produced my first (and definitely not last!) artisan bread loaf that is pictured above.