Hey honey, look what's for dinner

So I'm a slacker when it comes to blogging, My wife is a much better and more creative blogger. Creative inspiration comes at the least convienent times for me, still I feel the need to express my creativeness (is that a word?) when it happens.

My wife had put a meal in the crock pot this morning, and I was responsible for removing the meal (which smelled great) from the crock pot and making salads for dinner.

We often laugh about what we are going to have to change when we have kids, it's just about everything. I'm sure our first Parent teacher conference will contain the phrase "I've never had a student do that before, did you teach that to your children?"

So while I still have a chance to play with my food, here is what came out of the crock pot.

Sandy... Why are you following me?

Remember Annie? "Dumb dog, why are you following me? I don't have a crumb dog..."

Well, today, we ended up with our own "Sandy". He is a gray Lopso apso without anyone to claim him. We put him on a leash, while we were gone today, with some water, a sign saying take the dog leave the leash and call us. But when we got home, he was still there. We also called the Humane Society for their lost and found, but no one has put a request in for him yet. Poor pup.

This is the funny part: The other evening, we were at a local cafe playing cribbage, enjoying a glass of wine, and the live music, when a lady sat down next to us with her small, dog carrier. I was a little annoyed that these small accessorised dogs are allowed in restaurants. These dogs get treated better than people at times. Anyways, walking home we were discussing the scenario and we both agreed... "We will NEVER own a small dog!"

BUT, now that we have a stray we are seeing that there are some perks for having a small dog:
1. They do not tear up your yard like a larger dog
2. This particular dog is very mellow and doesn't demand much attention.
3. The dog is older and potty trained... another great perk!
4. This dog I have yet to hear bark... Hmmm, not all small dogs are yippy dogs?

So, are delima... do we keep him till we find the owners, or do we turn him into the humane society? He will be held for 5 days before getting adopted at the H.S. We were thinking of housing him for those days, but knowing us, we will become too attached and he will become our permanent stray. Any thoughts?

Owners... PLEASE come and get your dog!

What do you do...

With old textbooks, childhood papers/stuff animals, that are now sitting in a box? Any creative ideas? My thought right now... Pitch em.

Parents for the weekend

Last weekend my brother and sister-in-law went away for the weekend to have a retreat before baby #2 comes in Oct. We were adopt a parent for the weekend and had a great time with our niece. It was challenging and fun, and both of us decided that it's not time to have kids quite yet... we will just borrow others for awhile.

What about the rest of our trip?

(This has been saved in my box for a couple of weeks... just needed time to post. We've been a little busy these days.)

From Vancouver we started down memory lane for my husband. We drove to Othello, WA where he worked on a farm for a couple of summers while attending Washington State University... Go Cougs!

In Othello, being that it is a small town, there were several people awaiting to see "my hubby's wife" and who she was. For they had all prayed for me back when he was working on the farm. I met and heard all sort of stories from my husband's past. It was great!

Farm Golf: the second evening, while we were there, the people we were staying with had set up 9 holes around their home. Friends had come over again to visit with us, and the golf game was absolutely necessary and an absolute blast! The "holes" were hitting the "orange plastic on the tree", hitting it into the baby swimming pool, or through the PVC pipe. Other rules were if you hit your ball on the gravel it was considered water/dead ball, but if you actually hit your ball in the irrigation ditch (where water actually runs) it's still a live ball=-). SOOOO many laughs!!! It will always be the most memorable golf game I have ever played.

From Othello we drove to Pulman, WA to visit WSU were my husband graduated from school. Here are some pictures of the beautiful rolling hill country. It reminded me of the wallpaper on Microsoft Program or maybe it's Gateway. You know what I am referring to?

(His name was Pepto the pig=).

After visiting my husband's stomping ground and the Bookie at WSU, we met with his old Pastor and started our drive to Spokane to stay with another college buddy and his family. Here we had a wonderful evening... again walking down memory lane with stories, prayers and many laughs.

In the morning we visited the Damn of Spokane and had late morning snack and much needed cup of java.

Then our road trip took us back to Seattle. We stated at The W in downtown Seattle. It was a much needed retreat, especially for me, as I had met so many new people. I needed some down time. The W was a big treat for us... having a bell man, very comfortable down comforters and soft sheets, and our own personal bath robs. We were on the 14th floor and could look over downtown from our window. (A pic of our bathroom... so relaxing!)

The next morning we visited:

Rebecca, Vicki and Jana... Remember Flying Fish and screaming;-)....

We took a ferry over to Bremerton, WA where my husband worked as a Mechanic at the Naval Ship Yard. There was another homecoming hosted by his good friends, inviting the old worship team over to again... see who this girl is that he married.

Here are some pics from the ferry ride. It was a beautiful, clear day!

This trip made me realize how amazing it was that we even met. Has anyone ever felt this way? The many paths and choices that people make, yet God in his faithfulness bring two hearts together... Even Mt. Rainer wasn't too big for God.

High Fro... more thoughts from my trip

No not hair, but our nickname for High Fructose Corn Syrup.

This is one ingredient in my home that I work very hard to keep out... And it is work! HFCS is in almost everything, and it is sooo damaging to your body. The one example that has stuck with me, in the midst of my reading, was a research study performed on rats receiving HFCS. The rats' liver was similar to the liver of an alcoholic (aka cirrhosis of the liver). Being a nurse, this was enough information to work hard at not consuming it... making grocery shopping a challenge and sometimes expensive. Check it out... start reading the ingredients on the foods you buy- you'll be surprised what it's in (i.e. soda, ketchup, yogurt, jelly, cereal, even Worcestershire sauce).

Portion Control:

When we go out to eat, we usually split a meal. This does several great things: 1. cuts down on the cost of a meal. 2. Allows you to eat a normal size portion. 3. If the 1/2 portion wasn't enough, allows you to think about dessert : ).

Why am I addressing this? Because in Canada our eating habits changed. I could not find HFCS in the ketchup they served at the restaurant, in soda, or other foods I looked at. Secondly, my husband and I couldn't share our meals anymore because the portion sizes were normal!

It makes me wonder if only the US has approved HFCS as an ingredient. For those who read this from other countries, can you tell me if it's in your foods?

When I saw this, it made my wheels start turning, almost in anger... Does Heinz Ketchup really create a separate batch for Canada? Why do we get the HFCS? And if you don't want it you have to pay more at a health food store to not have it in our house! GRRRR

My heart is saddened by the health in our country. We have to change.

2 Corinthians 5: 8-10
Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

How did you do?

Is the question that I am getting these days... and the answer, "Better than predicted".

Our travels ended late Saturday evening, and this week contains getting back into the swing of things.

Last Saturday, we flew into Seattle and after a delay at the rental car company, finally got on the road heading towards Vancouver, BC. We got to the here and enjoyed an hour and 1/2 wait to cross over into Canada.

We had to pick up our packets at the expo by 5pm in able to run the race, and with our delays at the car company and the border, we were cutting it really close! In addition to our previous delays, our directions to the hotel were very confusing... meaning more delay, turning around, stopping for clarification, etc... we finally drove into the driveway of the sponsoring hotel at 5:15, threw our car keys to the valet, and took off with a pre-marathon warm-up to the expo. They were tearing down the event, and someone had mercy on us and gave us our packet and shirt :-). WE WERE GOING TO RUN!!!!!

Reflecting on this stressful time of being so close to running the race but having a BIG possibility of being disqualified, made me realize how badly I wanted to run this race. It was very encouraging to see my hearts desire to run (spiritual implementation I will touch on later).

So Sunday morning came...

Isn't this hysterical! I definitely hadn't had my coffee yet ;).

During the race, I had a blast... mentally. Physically, my lungs were great (benefit of training at 6000 ft and running at sea level), but my legs were hurting a little. During training we ran a lot on trails instead of pavement... my muscles suffered a bit.

There was so much to look at and embrace in the moment. Several times I found myself skipping, singing, praying, praising, and a smile on my face. The course took you from University of British Columbia to Stanley Park. When you left the residential area of the race, it opened up overlooking the ocean and skyline of downtown Vancouver... beautiful!

Here are some pictures driving backwards on the course.

(Where my husband met me and ran me in...)

(My favorite house I ran by).

Time: 2:33:52... and enjoyed every minute.