.feels like HOME to me.

We pick up the keys this afternoon :) We are officially home owners!!! Let the madness begin!

.california girls in seattle.

Jenny, Meghan and I all used to go to church together in Granite Bay during High School. All 3 of us ended up living in Seattle :) It has been nice to have some people around who aren't from here and can relate to me. We went out in Ballard a few weeks ago and had a great time!

.memory lane.

I was looking through my iphoto and found some pictures of Nick and I when we were little. Thought I would share :)

.simple woman's daybook.

So I have to admit...I totally stole this idea from a friend I grew up with who lives in Minnesota. Her blog is awesome and she always has great ideas so I thought I would try this one. It's just a little survey from the Simple Woman's Daybook that I think is great :)

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

...outside my window...

a sunny beautiful fall day

...i am thinking...

i am looking forward to lunch :)

...i am thankful for...

my mom & dad for flying me home to spend time with them last weekend

...from the kitchen...

chicken cobb salad

...i am wearing...

a grey shirt, navy juicy hoodie, jeans and flip flops

...i am creating...

editing photos, creating invitations, decorating the house

...i am going...

on a long run tonight after work

...i am reading...

"Crazy Love" by Francis Chan

"A Time to Gather" by Gary Smalley & Sally John

...i am hoping...

to get caught up on my to do list by the end of the weekend

...i am learning...

the God provides always in His timing

...pondering these words...

"all of You is more than enough for all of me"

...i am hearing...

the clicking of the keyboards in the office

...around the house...

piles of things ready to be packed

...one of my favorite things...

the feeling of coming back home to my husband after being gone for the weekend

...plans for the rest of the week...

catching up and packing up the house for the move

.labor day.

For labor day weekend we made the trek over to Spokane to hang out with Nick's family. We left Friday after work and hit quite a bit of traffic so we didn't get there until about 10 so we just said hello and went to sleep. On Saturday morning Nick and the rest of the fam went to Hannah's high school volleyball tournament and I stayed back to take the Cox's family photos.

Saturday night we went to Gordon's wedding (a friend of JD and Nick) at Gonzaga. It was fun to get dressed up and go to the wedding. We got home and watched the Husky football game and went to sleep. I decided, much to Nick and the Dietzen family's dismay, that I might just be a Husky fan :) The Dietzen's love the WSU Cougars but living in Seattle I kind of feel like I have to root for our hometown Huskies...we will see how this rivalry goes down :)

On Sunday morning we went to early church and then the boys headed off to golf. Hannah, Angela and I went to see the movie "All About Steve" with Sandra Bullock....it was a strange movie. Not worth your time or the money to see it. Then we went to pick up Mishal (Nick's mom from the airport. She had been in CA visiting Lindsay and Derek.

Sunday night we had a delicious dinner of flank steak, chicken, baked potatoes, and a wonderful salad. Then we watched the movie "State of Play"...which was pretty good. Definitely kept you on your toes!

Monday the boys went golfing early in the morning and the girls just kind of relaxed and hung out. Then Nick and I headed home in the late afternoon and surprisingly didn't hit any traffic at all on a holiday weekend!!

This weekend I am off to CA to visit my family while Nick is working since they have a deadline approaching. Can't wait to go home and see my family!!!

Here is a picture of Nick and I from Gordo's wedding (I look 8 months pregnant...but don't worry I am not!)

"The road to a friends house is never long"

.sneak peek.

This weekend while we were over in Spokane visiting Nick's family, I was able to sneak in a family session with the Cox's. They are such a wonderful family and we had fun hiking out in the dirty field :) Here are just a few of the images from our shoot!

"Always laugh when you can; it is cheap medicine. Merriment...it is the sunny side of existence."

.fall.

I LOVE summer and the hot weather and sunshine but I also love the fall. I am so thankful that we had such a beautiful summer here in Seattle and I enjoyed every minute of the sunshine that we saw. But with it being September now and the feeling of fall right around the corner, I can't help but get excited for all that fall brings. One of the things that I love about living in the northwest is the fall's are absolutely beautiful!! I am constantly in awe of the beautiful mountains and colorful leaves. Here are some of the wonderful things I cannot wait for...

*crisp mornings and evenings*

*pumpkin patches*

*crockpot meals*

*spiced cider*

*pumpkin candles that make my house smell glorious*

*football*

*leaves changing*

*comfy sweaters and sweats*

*fall decorations*

*feeling cozy*

*moving into our house and making it our home*

.keeping up with the jones'.

I had a revelation yesterday and decided that social networking sites and blogs kind of stress me out! It is a major guilty pleasure of mine to look at pictures on facebook or follow someones blog, but i decided that it kind of makes me a little discontent.
I am so extremely blessed and Nick and I have been so fortunate to have accomplished so many things at our age and be as successful as we are, but I find myself comparing our lives to all the people around me. Instead of looking at how lucky we are, I tend to read someone's status update or see pictures and wish that I had what they did, or was able to do what they can. I think it puts a little pressure on me to always be "keeping up with the jones" as the saying goes... to always have the coolest new items, or the biggest house, or to start having kids.
I love being able to keep up with friends and see what is going on with their life, but a lot of times it is only the fairytale aspects of life that are shared and it makes for an easy comparison.
I hate that it makes me feel this way but I am glad that I realized it. Instead of looking at what everyone else has, can buy, is doing; I can now realize that we are blessed and God has given us more than we deserve!!