Beautiful

Check out this beautiful, thought-provoking video. It's worth a few minutes of your precious time.

http://www.dashpoemmovie.com/

Brrrr!!

To go along with the "Grrrr" post I have added the "Brrrr" post. :) It is a snowy and nasty day here today. Last evening it was 45 degrees and rainy; this morning when I got up it was 3 degrees and basically a blizzard. Julie, Kim, and I were planning to head to IKEA today which is in Canton, MI east of Detroit. Let's just say that we decided that although IKEA is great, but it is not worth risking our lives for. The roads were "treacherous" this a.m. so we decided to stay home. Hopefully another day will work in the near future.

Grrrrr. . .

The title of this post is a slight indication of my frustration level in setting up my new computer. Why I thought I could set up my own wireless is beyond me. You'd think by 31 years of age I'd be able to admit when I need help. But I thought I could follow directions. That is something learned way back in kindergarten, right? Anyway, when it comes to computers, we all know it's not as easy as 1-2-3. Thank goodness for Dell and Netgear support! I think I was about ready to marry "Rob" from Netgear after he helped me get everything up and running. :) I am now wireless, although getting there involved lots of wires going every which way. Trust me, from now on I will admit the need for help before the frustration level gets out of control. :)

Saturday Morning Coffee

Trenton and Ben had fun playing together.

Trenton and Ben testing out Tim and Alissa's
new jogger stroller.

Ella is getting so big!

Nathan chilling out in his bouncy seat.


Saturday morning us girls (and kids) got together for coffee. It was a great time. We haven't all been together in quite a while so it was fun to just catch up. Soon the kids will outnumber the adults. Congrats go out to Rachel and Mike who are expecting Toonstra #3 this summer!

Slippery Little Buggers. . .

Most of you know I wear contact lenses. Well, as I was getting ready today to brace the elements and shovel my driveway, I had a little mishap with the contacts. For some reason the drain stopper in my bathroom sink has never really worked well. I've tried to "fix" it to no avail. So cleaning the contacts over an open drain is always a gamble. Today it happened. . . the left contact went down the drain. This happened about six weeks ago too, but the contact was quickly rescued. When you figure I've lived here two years and I rinse my contacts twice a day I haven't done too bad. But anyway I frantically turned off the water hoping to keep it from being washed all the way down. I grabbed a bowl and put my limited plumbing knowledge to work. Now if I turned the water off quickly enough the contact should be in the little u-shaped thing under the sink. So I loosen it and dump the water in a bowl. No contact. Hmmm. Now what? I thought maybe it hadn't made it down that far yet. This was a long shot, but I put the u-shaped pipe back on and ran a little water. Now for the moment of truth. I loosened the pipe again and wala! A bright blue contact floated in the water. You may wonder why this is worthy of blog post, but that was basically like finding sixty dollars under the sink, and that's something worth sharing. . .

Save the Date

Save the Date for an Uppercase Living party at my house on Saturday, February 16 at 10:00am. It should be a good time. If nothing else just come for brunch and some great company. :) Let me know if you'd like to come. Official invitations to follow. . .

Stopping by the Stuive's on a Snowy Afternoon

Did any of you catch that my title was a play on words from the title of Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"? At Cutlerville Christian we had an English teacher who required us to memorize this poem and then recite it with expression. Ben and I remember every word. I'm not sure what happened with Brad because he can't recite a line. :)

I drove out to Holland today to see Tim, Alissa, Nathan, and Ella. Once I exited the highway it was quite snowy and there was (or is it were?) several inches in Tim and Alissa's driveway. The all wheel drive came in handy once again. The babies are doing great. They're growing like weeds and continue to be content, except when their diapers are being changed. Although Ella doesn't mind as much as Nathan. It's hard to believe they are three weeks old already.

The best things. . .

This pic turned out dark but you get the idea. . .

. . . come to those who wait AND work hard. Ben and Kim moved into their new house today after months of hard work and long days. They are still getting settled in and have a few projects to finish up, but are thrilled to be "homeless" no more. Congrats, Ben & Kim, your house is beautiful! May it be a happy home for many years to come.

Burnishing

What do us bloggers who don't have kids blog about? Apparently the weather and home improvements/decor. Very exciting, I know. You should really limit how many times you check my blog a day. :) Just kidding.

So I went to a "party" for Uppercase Living a few weeks ago. If you haven't heard of this before you're missing something pretty cool. Basically they sell thousands of different sayings/pictures/designs that you can put on your wall. The great thing about it is that it is completely removable without damaging the paint. Anyway, I spent some time this evening putting up my purchase above my kitchen window. I'm thrilled with how it turned out! You may need to click on the picture to see it larger. By the way, burnishing is the technique of transferring the pattern to the wall by rubbing it with a credit card, thus the title of this post.

Those of you who know me well are probably thinking I will jump on the bandwagon since I'm so crazy for this product and start selling it. For those of you who don't know me well, I tend to jump head first into something I'm excited about only to get bored a little while later. You'll be pleased to know that I have no intentions of selling Uppercase Living, but I may have a party. :) I think I'm getting wiser as I get older.

Is it really January?

Seriously, 62 degrees and a tornado watch hardly make sense for January 7. It would be nice if the sun would shine, but I guess I should just be thankful for temps above freezing. Thankfully the PACU has no exterior windows so we don't have to move any patients or do anything special.

Hope you're all adjusting to a full week of work/school after two shortened weeks. It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it?

They're growing!

Proud mommy with her two beautiful babies

Nathan was wide awake after eating.

I buzzed out to Holland today to spend some time with Alissa, her mom, Nathan, and Ella. It was fun to catch up and just relax holding the babies. I even witnessed a cloth diaper change which went very smoothly! :) Nathan and Ella seem to be content, easy-going babies (I'm knocking on wood, Alissa). As you can see Nathan was quite alert while I was there, but Ella was sacked out most of the time.

"Party" pics

OK Rach, here's some pics from the wild party! Carissa and I were privileged to spend New Year's Eve with five great guys - Mike, Dan, Luke, Ben, and Trenton. We had a blast hitting balloons around, stacking poker chips, and "eating" play food. It's funny how my idea of fun changes as I get older. Unfortunately Kurt and Rachel had to work, but I'm sure the party will be just as wild next year!

Happy 2008!

Happy New Year to each of you! I pray that 2008 will be a year of happiness and health for you and your families. May we all look forward with joyful anticipation of what God has planned for us in this new year. And when times get tough (and we know they will) may we be at peace knowing that God is walking with us through it all.