Happy Birthday Celebration: Days 28 & 27

Well the 34 days of birthday celebration is coming along well and has been a lot of fun so far. Although, I will admit that I am not as creative as I thought I was and this is going to be a lot harder than I thought! But here was day 28....D opened a cute box with a yellow UofO bow right on top and this is what was inside...

A new baseball shirt and hat
Which came in handy for Day 27
Which was tickets the the civil war baseball game!




And if just being at the game wasn't fun enough....
the Ducks WON in the bottom of the 10th!



Here is a pic of a happy D with the celebrating team in the back



BUT

That's not all!
The game was SUPER fun because I got to get my picture taken with the DUCK! (who is my favorite!)

I heart the duck!
If you know me, you know that I love all mascots.
I'm not sure why.

Happy Birthday Celebration: Days 34 & 33

So, as I had told you before in previous posts, I am celebrating D's 34th birthday this year, with 34 days of BIRTHDAY FUN!

On Saturday morning, he made us breakfast before we headed down I-5 to Pleasant Hill to celebrate his sister-in-law's birthday. As we were eating, I told him "I have a surprise for you!" He looked confused but then I gave him this card.....

....that said this inside....

Also in the card, I explained to him that we would be celebrating for 34 days. This card is cheesy, which is probably why I love it so. But also ironic, because he can't really eat Chinese food.

The last part of the card explained his Happy Birthday: Day 34 treat: (blogger keeps loading this pic sideways....i don't know why) But what I wrote was that today I was going to treat him to a Sugar Free Vanilla (I love you a) Latte!

So on our way out of town we went here:

And waiting about 20 minutes for our coffee because they forgot D's drink...but soon we had coffee in hand and were happy campers.

On Happy Birthday Day 33. I put my baking skills to the test.
D Loves pie. But hardly ever gets to eat it, because there are not too many sugar-free pies out there. So I attempted my first Sugar Free Apple Pie. And I have to tell you, it turned out WAY better than I had expected. I was so happy, because he was so happy and excited. He kept thanking me and telling me how good it was and what a great job I did. That is why he is so easy to love. He is so wonderful. So at a little after 9 pm yesterday evening, we shared my homemade from scratch masterpiece...










And, it was actually good.

I was a little worried that he was going to think my 34 days of birthday was silly. Especially since he is not one to really care about his birthday. But really, who doesn't like some extra love and attention and knowing that someone is thinking of you and making effort to show you how special you are. On Sunday morning, on our way to church, he said with a smile,
"Today is 33 days before my birthday."

He likes the attention, whether he will admit it or not. :)

The Color Red

Today I was contemplating the color red and its significance. It started when I saw this sign on the back of a truck.

Then I started thinking about other signs that were red.





They all seem to indicate caution, warning, danger.
They all come across as urgent, attention-grabbing,
they are passionate about their message.


Passionate got me to thinking about something else the color red stands for.




LOVE.



A Red Rose. The Rose of Love.



Passionate Love that sets our heart on fire.




So as I was contemplating the significance of the color red. I thought about the urgent passionate signs pointing out danger and safe boundaries. I thought about Love.




And then I thought about red letters, red words, red sentences.





The Bible.
a danger sign
a safety plan
a love letter



My conclusion is that the color red is the color of
The Ultimate Passion
The Ultimate Love
The Ultimate Sacrifice




The color red is more than just a color.
Red is the color of blood,
the color of a perfect life given for me (and you),
so that we may know true peace, joy and love.
Red is the color of life.


I hope you have found true peace, joy and love through the color red.
The color red has changed my life.

To Buy or Not to Buy

So in my internet browsing, I came across this dress.....

I am in LOVE with it.

I am thinking that it is the perfect dress to wear when D and I go out for his fancy birthday dinner to Portland City Grill. Do you guys like it? The problem is that it is a little bit pricey. Not sure if I could pull the trigger and actually buy it. But tell me what you think.

So, We're a Little Different

I think it is our differences that make life exciting and worth living each day!

• We both like to budget. I budget to spend. He budgets to save.
• I can't live without sweets. He can't live with them, literally.
• At the end of the day, he hangs his clothes or folds them and puts them away. I decorate the floor.
• I always wipe the counter after preparing food. He never does.
• I load silverware sharp side down in the dishwasher, he loads them sharp side up.
• I have a giant head with giant ears, he has a tiny little head with tiny little ears.
• He is meticulous at taking care of his electronics (phone, camera, iPod, etc.), me....not so much.
• I use my car to go places AND for storage, he uses his car just to drive and keeps it clean always.
• I would never use a dead animal to decorate my house, he thinks he has good taste. (Just to clarify....I don't really like any of it, but horns? ok. maybe a skin? alright. But the whole body or a giant elk or deer head? NO!)
• I think watching hours of ESPN is a waste of time, he thinks there's no better use of time.
• He is super good at yard work and can make anything look amazing. I don't like dirt in my nails.
• He is kind and forgiving, I tend to lean towards the "screw you once you screw me" attitude. I have a lot to learn from him.
• He is secure and doesn't really give a rip about what people think. I drive myself crazy thinking about what people think, over analyzing every situation and conversation.
• He wakes up bright and cheery in the morning. I think there is nothing bright or cheery about the morning.
  

Oh love. It's a wonderful thing.

Today I.....

• am in a bad mood
• am looking at how much money I don't have
• am trying to plan our trip to Spokane
• am wishing my nails didn't look disgusting
• am dreaming about what I would do with an endless supply of money
• am pondering things I probably shouldn't
• am trying to fight my insecurities
• am trying to stay awake
• am writing a list of things I need to pay/buy
• am convincing myself not to freak out
• am cold
• am not liking the new FB
• am trying to get everything done at work, but still blogging
• am sad
• am reminding myself of the Truth and all the blessings in my life
• am wishing I had done something with my life
• am dreading the future
• found the kids I used to babysit on FB, WOW
• am trying to trust
• am recalling all the reasons I was right
  

Wednesday Junk

1. Have you guys missed me? Lol, I have been such a blogging slacker. I just have nothing interesting enough happening in my life to dedicate a whole blog to. So you are left with my lists of junk.

2. This week at work has been pretty crazy. But I like it that way. I am so tired, but at least I am not bored. Tonight we are having a Open House reception thing to announce the new Elementary School principal. Putting the event on is my job. So was Monday nights event. And all the retirement events for the current principal. I am not complaining, I am actually excited about it. Things like this let me be creative and do something I really enjoy.

3. D and I went to the Blazer game on Monday night. It was the best game I have been to in a while. It was so fun. The Blazers won 111 to 94. The crowd was crazy loud and excited and everyone kept chanting, "Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!" It reminded me of when I was a little girl and Blazer games were so exciting.
One of our players got hurt after a flagrant foul and that was scary. The other player got ejected. Our team and the Lakers got into a fight after our player was hurt. That was kind of fun. Not really, I don't really support fighting, but it was something that doesn't happen very often. And in some way, it was encouraging to see them stick up for their teammate. But what was really neat was to see the players circle together with one of their assistant coaches and pray as a team for their teammate. I don't think that the Blazers vs. Lakers rivalry will ever die. And Kobe, as good as he is, just comes across as the biggest jerk ever. I know that's mean, but really.

4. D's birthday is next month. He will be 34, and he is a little sad about his birthday. And if you know me, you know that I LOVE birthdays! So in order to cheer him up and show him some extra love, I have come up with a super-duper birthday plan. I really want to share with you everything that I have up my sleeve, but I can't. I know he probably doesn't read my blog, because apparently he doesn't find me interesting, :) but I can't take the chance. All I will say is that the shenanigins will start on March 21st.........34 days before his birthday. Oh, and thanks to my super smart sister, I am saving money because she told me about something I needed at Costco! Thank you very much!

5. One of my oldest friends, Ben, is getting married next month. I am pretty excited about it. D and I will be driving up to Spokane for the wedding and we get to go to my most favorite place in the whole world. Manito Park. I bought a new dress for the wedding and am so excited about it. I didn't really plan on buying it, I had just been admiring it online and then on Saturday, I was bored so I went into the store to just try it on. Bad idea. BUT, it was 30% off, so that's a good deal right? I thought so, so I went home with this:
And also this cute shrug that matches the color of the flowers on the dress to go with it:

Now all I need it super cute teal shoes. But I won't buy any.

6. I want to get married and have babies. Anyone surprised? I didn't think so.

Happy Birthday Dad! (Belated)

February 25th was my dad's birthday. On February 25th (and several days following) I was sick. Really sick. Hence the severely belated happy birthday dad post.

My dad was away for his birthday. In his happy place in Central Oregon in his "cabin". And as miserable as I was on his birthday, it was somehow appropriate for me to be sick on his birthday. As I knelt over the toilet, slightly amused at watching D try to figure out how to take care of me, I thought about my dad. He always took care of me when I was sick. He should seriously get an award for being the best throw-up cleaner-upper ever. He certainly has done his share of it.

Kelly and I's bedroom was the furthest bedroom away from mom and dad's. And Dad must have some sonar hearing, because at the slightest sound of someone being sick, He was always there. And fast. He would sit in the bathroom with us while we were sick, and then bring us a glass of water or 7-up to rinse our mouths. He would clean us up when needed, clean up the floor when needed, the sheets, pajamas....etc. When more throwing up action was expected, he would make us a bed on the floor, closer to the door. He would make sure we were comfortable and that we had our blankets, and that there was a "receptacle' close-by.

Doesn't this make fatherhood sounds so glamorous? I'm sure he thought so. But in those moments, he never let us see how truly disgusting that job was. He just made us feel like there was no where else he would rather be, than there taking care of us and telling us stories of the "4 space girls" to help us fall back to sleep.

Sorry for the graphic post, but dad and I spent a lot of time like this together when I was little. :) Seems like I was always throwing up.

I love you Dad, for all the glamorous fatherly things you did for me, and for the not-so-glamorous.

I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing birthday!