Old Love....the proof is in the pictures

"My love for you knows no limits. It is timeless, spaceless, formless, unshakable and un breakable. In good times and bad, happy and sad, through the highst highs and lowest of lows know that I am there with you. I will be your strength as you have been mine, desire your best and highest good to manifest itself in your life. I see you completly healed, whole and living the life you are loving, surrounded by so many who love you, just as you are. You are an unbelievable comfort, grace, wonder, inspiration, soul deep connection for which I will forever be grateful. Do not think for one second you are alone, for two hearts and souls joined together in friendship, for this life and in many past lives, forges an unbreakable bond that only grows stronger in time. I love you. "-unknown

I am reminded of two things when I read this quote. The first is Christ's love for us. The second is the love my grandparents have for each other. Cue sappy love music :) Do you ever hear old people tell their stories of how they met or see those super cute threads on facebook of love stories. Well, my grandparents totally have one of those.

I was over at my grandparents today, spending time with my grandpa. He was diagnosed with late stage, metastasized cancer in September. The doctors didn't expect him to live through October but here it is in February and he is still here, he is one tough dude. (Proof is in the picture).

Unfortunately though, the impending end is becoming nearer and nearer. We all know it and so we are trying to spend as much time with him as possible. I had the idea to make him a slideshow of all the pictures of his life, so he could see how blessed he has been. My Papa really has had a blessed life, he has never had to bury a child or a sibling, he lived to be an old man, traveled the world, and dutifully served Jesus. I have no doubt, NO DOUBT at all that when he gets to those pearly gates that Jesus will tell him "well done my good and faithful servant". It makes him getting sick a little easier, knowing that this is not goodbye. Anyways back to the slide show.....I have been collecting pictures from family members and friends and tonight my grandma asked me to take one down from their office. She said it was the most important picture to have in the slide show, it was the picture she fell in love with. That being said here is their love story.......

My Grandma Surae grew up with 2 younger sisters, my Papa Mert grew up with 2 younger brothers. Grandma's sister Janelle dated Papa's brother Norm in high school (after both Grandma and Papa were out of school). Papa was single and was talking to Norm about it. Norm mentioned that his girlfriend had a sister who was single. Norm asked his girlfriend for a picture of her sister and gave it to Papa. He kept that picture in his wallet.
Grandma was reading the newspaper one day and saw a picture of a gorgeous army soldier and cut it out and kept it on the mirror of her dresser. It was a picture of Papa. (proof in the picture)

Neither of them had ever met, yet they both had pictures of each other. Grandma said she fell in love with the man in that picture before she ever even met him.
Eventually Norm introduced Papa to Grandma and he asked her out! He was so nervous though he brought along his cousin Terry. (Proof in the picture).

My papa is first on the bottom row and next to him is Terry

 Terry thought that Grandma was pretty cute so he asked her out, but she said no, she was already in love, and really hoping that Papa would ask her out again, this time just the two of them, luckily he did.
Fast forward a bit and the two of them get married (Proof in the picture)

 and forward a little more and they have a baby, Gregory-my dad. (Proof in the picture).

 And eventually my Aunt Christine and Aunt Lisa. (proof in the picture)

Papa always made sure that my grandma was taken care of, she took care of the kids and him and he took care of the bills.
Grandma went along with Papas dream of owning a farm (proof in the pictures)

and being a "cowboy" and moved from California up to Oregon. He soon retired after moving up here and spent his days working on the farm-for fun, as well as traveling to wherever Grandma wanted to go. (Proof in the pictures)

in Israel

England

They have this saying, if one of them goes on a trip, or even gets out of bed early, or up from the table, they say "I'll save your place". Papa told Grandma that when he gets to heaven he's just saving her a place.
When looking at them, they seem like any ordinary older couple, they are not super lovey dovey but the family all knows that they have each other up high pedestals. Papa has always put Grandma right behind his relationship with God and Grandma has always done the same. (Proof in the picture)

When the movie "The Notebook" came out, I went and saw it with my Grandma. At the end of that movie the couple essentially dies next to each other in bed. It's already such a sad movie but that just melts you even more. So Grandma and I are both teary watching this and she says to me "I hope that's how your Papa and I go out." Then came a flood of tears. I highly doubt that's how it will work out. But the two of them really do seem whole with each other. One without the other just seems so wrong. But like the quote above says "Do not think for one second you are alone, for two hearts and souls...... for this life and in many past lives, forges an unbreakable bond that only grows stronger in time." I think that's how it will be for them, after all he's saving her place.

Dream List February 2012

I love love love lists. I don't know why, maybe it's the closet compulsive organizer in me. Why that organizer doesn't make an appearance more often???? I don't know. To appease my mind I have compiled a list of things I love, need, and want. Here it goes

Love-things I am happy and grateful for

1. Jesus....Man that guy is SO cool. Beyond being the savior of the bent, broken, and damned, he teaches me about friendship, love and mercy every day. 

2. My family-Blessed by them, what more can I say?

3. High heels, lipstick and mascara-literally all I need to feel pretty. 

4. My Crockpot. Seriously it's a wonder machine.

5. The color green-living in Oregon is a total plus for this one. I am blessed to see that color everyday everywhere I go. I love it!

6. Gardening-I wish my green thumb was just a little bit greener though. I feel big things for this year though. 

7. Pinterest. My family is eating better, my house is cleaner, everything is better with pintererst.

8. The seat warmers in my car. If I drove a piece of poo car and still had seat warmers I would be so happy still.

9. Crossword Puzzles-I embrace my inner elderly person and love doing at least one (sometimes 2) of these a day. 

10. Cooking-It is my happy place.  

Need-things that need to happen/ I need to get STAT

1. Exercising-needs to be more of a priority.

2. Playing more with my kids, specifically my daughter-she has got the short end of the stick with the whole new baby deal, but she's handled it like a champ

3. Eating Healthy/Dieting-Yup, goes hand in hand with that whole exercising thing....gotta get that pre-baby bod back.

4. Devotions in the morning-Typically I do them at night, because mornings are a little crazy for me. However, I read recently that Jesus would seek out the Father in the morning, before the sun even rose and I need to do that too. 

5. Prayer for our mission trip-I have not been doing a good job of this lately/at all. Feel free to join me, prayer for softening of hearts both our group and the people we are going to be witnessing to, prayer for funds to come in, and prayer that God would do a miraculous work while we are in Oaxaca. 

6. A one piece swimsuit-this tiger earned her stripes with this kiddo and doesn't want the world to see them

7. Patience- With my kids and my husband- I lose my cool all to often

8. To skype with my sister-Lindsey if you are reading this, we don't skype enough and I miss you So much. 

9. To get off my booty and clean my house-I probably shouldn't be writing this blog right now, there is always stuff to do in this house

10. To declutter-I need to make a garage sale pile in a bad way, there is way WAY too much stuff in our house. I need to start living more simpler. 

Want-not completely necessary but they would make life easier/more fun

1. Chickens-Names are picked out, we just need the coop and the chicks. 

2. My garden planned out- trying a new style of gardening this year called "companion planting" and I just haven't got the hang of it yet. 

3. A wide striped Chevron skirt/dress(notice the one on the link is not available :(- I swear nowhere has this, and I want it, maybe I should learn to sew

4. My husband to be happy-I know he is happy-ish right now, but he works so dang hard. I would love to be able to see him relax a bit. 

5. The sun to shine a little bit more. Oregon, while beautiful, can be a bit dreary. 

6. To finish my dang cookbook. So SOOOOO close to being done with it. 

7. An endless supply of stamps-I never have forever stamps/international stamps when I need them

8. Shabby Chic Toms-Adorbs!

9. To travel out of Oregon/California/Washington in the near/immediate future-My mom and sister are going to Leon France for my Aunts wedding and I would just die to go with them, however not practical at this time in my life. 

10. A new pair of Wedges (preferably two toned/patterned) would be dandy. 

There it is my dream lists of February, who knows what the future holds for the next few lists. 

Peace and blessings!

Valentines FOR HIM!

I am so excited for this Valentines Day! This is the first year (since 2009) that Joe and I get to spend the actual day together! His schedule, in years past, have put him working on pretty much every holiday including this one of love. So when I found out that his shift had Valentines day off I had all these grandiose ideas for what we would do. Then came the bummer news.....he's in class....all week....in Portland (1.5 hours away)....until 5pm. You know when you see the air leaving a balloon and the balloon quickly shrinks and makes that horrible noise while flying all over the place? Well that was my emotion to that news. Then I picked my emotions up and decided that I will not let that ruin our Valentines, it just won't be a fun filled, all day adventure like I had planned. Joe told me since he was going to be in class that he couldn't plan an evening date so it's all on me this year. I decided that if I am responsible for planning this date that I was going to go all out, no holds bar for a special date for him. 

Step 1: finding a sitter. Literally everybody I know have plans, and probably everybody they knew have plans for the evening as well. So I went will my fail safe; my mom and dad. Luckily their anniversary falls 2 days after Valentines so they don't really celebrate Valentines and gladly and willingly will take our kids. 

Step 2: reservations. If you live in the Albany/Corvallis area, you know that our selection of restaurants is limited, our selection of Fine dining restaurants is even more limited. I called all the restaurants that appeal to the hubby and I and they were all booked for Valentines. Over a week out and they were filled already!!! I was freaking out. How was I going to make this day special for Joe? Well his class is in Portland, and while I hate driving I am willing to pick him up from class to go to dinner there. (He carpooled with a few other guys this week so we didn't have to worry about having both our cars up there). I call around and most places up there are booked for regular dinner hours and have like 4:30 or 10:00 open, not happening. I found a place I've never heard of before, Aquariva. They have a special Valentines menu-4 courses- with local ingredients and wine pairing and it's right on the river...how romantic. I booked us for 5:30, hopefully Joe's class doesn't run late because I am wayyyy excited about this place. (Food review to come on Aquariva, check the link for their normal menu). 

Step 3: his gift. This was perhaps the easiest part of this whole plan the date out thing. I decided to make him a man bouquet. I'd seem them on pinterest, but I went a little bigger on mine. See I have this movie scene idea in my head for when I pick him up. You know in Pretty Woman when Richard Gere's character is in his suit holding a bouquet of roses and he is by the limo at the end? Well I kind of want to do that; sub suit for nice dress, roses for the man bouquet and limo for Saturn Vue, lol. Below is how I constructed the bouquet and what you will need if you want to make one too. 

Step 4: home. When we get home from dinner I wanted to surprise him with some chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. So instead of ordering berries for a ridiculous price (seriously 6 strawberries for $20, thats crazy!) I made my own. I even attempted to decorate them. Below, below is how I did that. 

Not super pretty but they will suffice. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines day! I will fill you in on how ours goes.  Surprise your fella/friends with something fun! Ciao!!!

The man bouquet:

You will need:

A bucket/mug/pale-(I used a large popcorn bucket that I found at the craft store-it was big enough to fit a 6 pack in it-optional)

Florists foam or styrofoam would work too

Florists wire or wooden dowel

Hot glue gun with LOTS of hot glue

Airplane shots

Cigars

Scratch its

Candy

Beef Jerky

Anything else your fella would like (duck tape, popcorn, twinkies, you name it)

 optional (paper for cutting out flowers to glue to the tops of everything)

Ribbon

Confetti/stuffing for the base

Fill the base of your bucket with florists foam (or a 6 pack and florists foam in my case) 

Start hot gluing the florists wire to the objects of your bouquet. Make sure it is sturdy because it will have to stand on its own. Once the glue is dry stick the wire in the florists foam. Fill up the bucket with the remainder of your goodies. I cut out paper flowers and glued them to the top of everything to give it a flower bouquet look. Here are a few examples

cigars, scratch its and beef jerky

Candy, airplane shots, and a lighter for the cigars

You can barely see the 6 pack in the base

Mini treats as well. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1/4 cup dark chocolate

2 Tbsp. Heavy whipping cream

1 Tbsp. Butter

Strawberries

Sprinkles/Nuts

Mix all chocolate, cream and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds and let sit for about 1 minute. Stir until mixture is velvety smooth. Dip strawberries in until mostly covered. If using sprinkles, immediately dip into sprinkles.  Place on a wax paper/parchment paper covered dish and chill. Let them harden for 10-15 min and serve whenever you are ready. 

 Bon Apetit!