Ahhh...I'm Reading Again

I used to be an avid reader. I was on top of my game in elementary school scoring all kinds of "AR Points!" But ever since I was in high school and we no longer got to choose what we wanted to read but rather had it chosen for us, I lost my love of reading. Apart from having quiet times with God's Word, I just haven't done much reading at all, well, apart from the Twilight bandwagon I jumped on, lol. But that is changing...

My current read is this book...


...and I am loving it!

Our Wednesday night small group has been going through the book of Romans, and a verse really caught my attention a couple of weeks ago.

"So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." Romans 8:6

Now truthfully, all of Romans 8 caught my attention, but this verse sparked a thought in me as to who is really controlling my life. I know enough about the Holy Spirit to sort of "box him up." I know what He is capable of doing (raising people from the dead!) but I don't ask for that kind of stuff in my life. I feel that I hardly ask for anything at all. If I don't think I am capable, I don't ask. Instead, I make all sorts of lame excuses about why I am "not enough." In me saying that I am not enough, what I am really saying is that "God, you are not enough." And that is positively absurd!

So I feel God is teaching me all sorts of things about His Holy Spirit...the very Spirit of God who lives in the hearts of those who are His. He is one powerful Spirit! It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to break the power of sin...no other power can break it! In fact, I was reading John 16:7 when Jesus said...

"But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you."

I often think that if I had Jesus physically beside me everyday, that I would make better choices, but Jesus said that it was actually better for Him to leave so that we could have the Spirit! So if Jesus said that was the best thing, then no doubt it was the best thing. So basically, I'm learning that the Holy Spirit is far more capable and powerful than I have given Him credit for, and I want to start living, really living, by that power.

So back to this new book...The Forgotten God

I picked up this book intending for it to be my airplane read on our return trip home in February, but haven't touched it since. So once I found myself reading about the Spirit and how powerful He is, I remembered that I had this book, which is subtitled "Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit." And I felt God pulling me to it. So now, here I am, reading again. And I can't wait to see where it takes me!

It's "Jeannette Day!"

In case you didn't know, April 8, 2010 is "Jeannette Day." Says who? We do! Jeannette is our dear friend who we met when she started coming to our Wednesday night Life Church life group. We've loved her ever since! She is truly one of sweetest, funniest, most thoughtful women I've ever known and I'm so happy to call her my friend. Sadly (for us, at least), Jeannette is going to be moving at the end of April back to California to be closer to her family. Although we are very, very sad, we certainly can't blame a girl for wanting to be closer to family. So in honor of Jeannette, we declared April 8th "Jeannette Day" and planned to spend the whole day with her. It was fabulous!


Started the morning with our weekly Bible Study

Let me introduce you to these wonderful gals...Left to Right: Jeannette, Terry, Dawn, and Amanda. And do you see the little yellow gift bags? Those were gifts to all of us from Jeannette! We planned a day for her but she brought gifts for us. Don't you see why we're going to miss her? She's so thoughtful =)

Then we loaded up and headed out with a surprise for Jeannette...

Lunch @ The Cheesecake Factory (it's her favorite)!


Guess what we started choosing first??


Decisions, decisions...


Five happy ladies!!


This picture requires no caption =)

But Jeannette Day didn't end with lunch...we had appointments for pedicures!

Don't we look relaxed?


Just look at those happy feet =)
And not only was today "Jeannette Day" but it was also "One Day Without Shoes" sponsored by Toms Shoes. So here's our barefoot picture to show our support!

A Week with Mom!

What a super awesome week we had last week! I picked Mom up from the airport on Tuesday because she was here to visit for a whole week! We had such a great time just hanging out, doing some shopping, venturing out in the rain from time to time, and all sorts of other things. Mom doesn't come to Washington to be entertained, she just wants to relax and spend some time with her family. It's a good thing she doesn't require much entertainment because we had a week of uncooperative weather! I am so glad she was here to spend not just a week, but also Easter with us. It was certainly not easy (it never is) to take her back to the airport, but I know how much she is needed back home...I can't keep her here forever!


Hanging out after the Easter service @ Sunbreak


My Easter Sweetie


The Easter Bunny was good to Derek...and good to me as well, although I didn't get a picture.


Just check out the color coordination with my sweet Kade =)

We did have one semi-sunshiny day, so we decided to take advantage of it and make a trip to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The tulips bloomed late last year and I never got to see them, but this year they were right on time (actually early) and I thought it would be worth the trip. Well, it was a beautiful sight to see despite the frigid wind, but I must say that I think it's one of those "once in a lifetime" trips, meaning, I probably won't be going back. It was very cool to see it once, but I think that's enough for me.


Fields & fields of tulips!










Beautiful View!

I can't say enough how happy I was to have my Mom for a whole week! A girl can never get too much of her Mom. It never fails to be the fastest week of the year, like she's hardly here before she has to leave. I can't wait until I get to see her again (and the rest of our family, too), but in the meantime, I'll just have to settle for an email or a phone call...thank goodness for technology!

The Week in Review

Some weeks just have more excitement and adventures than we know what to do with. Last week was one of those weeks. Here's how it all started...

We heard about a free Matthew West concert in a town about an hour away so we loaded up with our friends after church and started our journey. On the way, we stopped to check out Snoqualmie Falls.


Beautiful, as always


So we hung out for a litte bit...


With our friend Michelle and her two guys, Will & Carson...


...and the Lewallens!


Watched and guarded as Kade had some rock climbing adventures


And did the same for Ryne, who had some adventures of his own.

To make a long story short, we had a few, actually quite a few other adventures and didn't make it to the concert. No worries because it was a fabulous day! But our adventures with these two fellows didn't end here because we got to have them for 3 days while Kyle and Terry enjoyed an anniversary trip to Portland.


The boys got two packages in one day from each set of grandparents...watching these two tear into a package is an adventure!


Guess what was inside? A croquet set! I tried to teach them how to play but they were just so excited to have a mallet in their hands that they didn't pay much attention and invented their own game, lol.


And package #2 really saved the day with not one, but three Peter Pan movies!
We had many, many, more adventures not captured on camera...Kade and Ryne are always ready for an adventure!


Then, Kyle and Terry returned home with a treat for us...a dozen VooDoo Donuts from the one and only VooDoo Donuts in Portland. Just look at all the crazy toppings! So not only did we get to hang out with a couple of the coolest toddlers I know, but we got paid with donuts =) Thanks Kyle and Terry, we had a blast!

But my week of adventures wasn't over yet...


Derek planned a date night into Tacoma


And surprised me with tickets to see this lady...Reba!!


And this cowboy...George Strait!!

My sweet husband totally surprised me with tickets to see Reba and George in the Tacoma Dome. I was so excited...Reba, George, and I go way back. In fact, I can't remember not knowing who they are. I am definitely from a country music lovin' family. I won tickets to see Reba when I was 11 years old and my aunt and Mom used to take me to see George Strait nearly every time he was in Biloxi. I felt just like a kid again and these two performers definitely didn't disappoint! I knew all the words to all the Reba songs, and learned that I am behind on my George Strait. It was such a fun night and I'm such a lucky girl to have such a thoughtful husband. =)


We even got to see Barbara Jean, who made an appearance to sing "Happy Birthday" to Reba!


Finally, Reba came out in her red dress to sing her last song...can you guess what it was??? Fancy!!


George ended the night with a little "Ace in the Hole."


What a night! We sure enjoyed ourselves =)


Where else to you end a good night, but with a midnight trip to Denny's?

And surely there are more adventures to come because Mom will be here on Tuesday! And we only have one week until...


Easter! Starting on Easter Sunday, we are launching weekly worship gatherings and are so excited about it! Please help us by praying for our Easter service!

Fighting, Singing, and Dancing

It's hockey time! Well, actually, it's nearing the end of hockey season, but we were super excited to go to a game with our friends, the Hiebers (you remember them, they got us hooked on LOST). Well, now we are becoming hockey fans, too, and after that gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada, who wouldn't love hockey??


Closest hockey team: The Seattle Thunderbirds


Where the T-Birds play


Our Saturday night game was the Seattle T-birds (white) vs. the Portland Tomahawks (red)


The real reason we watch hockey...the fights! =) Nothing too serious at this game, but there was a fight in the stands just a few sections over from ours.


Seattle scores and the sold out crowd jumps to their feet!!


Check this out...a helmetless goalie! Why? Because he had just blocked a shot with that helmet and it split wide open! Yikes!


See that big number at the top, 9041? Well, that number won our friend Justine a suite for 15 people to Sunday night's final game against Vancouver. She was so sweet to offer tickets to us, but we couldn't accept because we were going to...


This place! We had tickets to see Legally Blonde the Musical!


Had a few appetizers at this really neat Irish Pub (built below street level).


I felt so sad that Derek couldn't see the hockey game and was instead going to this show with me, but he insisted he didn't mind =) What a keeper! We (and yes, I do mean "we") had a great time and really enjoyed Legally Blonde.

And of course, I just had to wear something hot pink. After all, it's Elle's signature color ;)