15 updates on our life

The problem I have with blogging is that once I stop blogging (even for a short period of time), I feel like I have to give a detailed account of everything we've done since the last time I blogged - which is a rather daunting task since endless craziness has happened in the interim. And honestly, who really wants a detailed boring account of what has happened over the last few months (besides you mom ;D ). So to appease my nagging need to update everyone and to make it as minimally boring as possible, I'll update you in a list and if you want a detailed post about anything below, ask and you shall recieve.

1. We found Siku a doggie friend named Sadie and we love her. She's a sheltie.
2. We bought Elisha a pretty motorcycle and she crashed it. Twice.
3. Elisha now has stitches in her eyebrow from effect of event #2 and it makes her eyebrows uneven - grrrr.
4. We still haven't finished unpacking and decorating the house. Although I do have ideas which I will post later!
5. We both work a lot.
6. In support of event #5, wedding season is in full blow. However, we're avoiding it as much as possible, so if you want a glimpse of our recent shoots, you'll need to check out our lovely assistant/intern/friend's (Becca) blog - http://rebeccadryer.blogspot.com/. While the photos posted are entirely hers (isn't she awesome?!), they were all weddings that she has shot with us over the last few weeks.
7. We disappeared to Canada for 8 blissful days of sailing and mentally, I haven't returned yet.
8. I'm almost finished with my third quilt! I really need to take a photo of the last quilt I finished and show you. But that requires using a camera - and I'm tired of working. Sorry!
9. We sold the BMW. ::frowns::
10. But we bought a pretty new honda... I think that's what it is...
11. I love my baby grand piano.
12. I've been on a Mercedes Lackey reading binge. I believe I've read about 20 of her novels in the last 3 weeks.
13. I miss Mandi!!! Come home!!
14. Mandi and Ian got engaged!! Yay!! We will be promptly headed out to go wedding dress shopping when she returns.
15. Finally (although I'm sure there is more to write about that I've simply forgotten), the reason for this blog post is attributed to my darling and decor-inspiring friend, Lauren, who began her own personal/DIY blog which made me excited about blogging again. http://thelittlethingswedo.blogspot.com/. Thanks Lauren!

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Sometimes, the best things in life aren't free

While free is a very, very good price, sometimes it's just not worth it. Sometimes, spending the money is the way to go. Something I enjoy is surprising Elisha with the things she loves, and something she's wanted for a very long time is a baby grand piano. Hooh. That's a tough one to just pull out of the 'ol back pocket.

However, sometimes I forget about the amazingness of our awesome heavenly Father and how He loves to bless us in ways we can't imagine. So, Monday morning as I'm perusing craigslist (as I am wont to do...) I find a good price on a nice piano. Hmm. I go to the dealer's website and find an even BETTER deal on a perfect, used mahogany finish baby grand. My interest is piqued.

Skiving off work an hour early, I rush to downtown Portland to check it out, and it is beautiful indeed. Now, it has nothing on the $90,000 Steinways and $190,000 Bosendorfers (What the crap, pianos that cost more than a house!) that were in the store, but it is beautiful, and I know she'll love it. I say I'll take it. Delivery included? Fabulous. You say it can be delivered on Friday, while she's out garage-saling with her mom? Couldn't be better.

I really have to give some props to God on this one - it's a double blessing. Not just one person, but two (if you include Elisha's mom, 3) people got to experience great joy because of this. It's been Elisha's dream to have a baby grand since, I don't know, forever. And she thought it was 5+ years coming because of money. It was like Christmas for me on Friday morning, the anticipation of surprising her with it when she came home. I don't often get to do this, because she's so darn perceptive...

The surprise was totally worth it. Squeals of joy followed by exclamations of "no way!" and more squealing were heard, along with much piano playing, as I had thought it wise to purchase her favorite music (Les Mis, Phantom & Wicked) and have it displayed on the piano. Suffice to say, there is a video of the event, and it should be on facebook sometime in the next few days.

Reflecting the next morning, all I can say is "thank you Lord!!" for the joys and blessings that He bestows upon us. We don't deserve them, as is sure. But I love the way He loves us.

Victory! (And another year of life for NBC/ABC execs...)

I just want to express how truly excited I am that both NBC and ABC have made stellar decisions, albeit a little late. Despite their almost-epic-fail of not choosing to re-up Chuck(NBC) and Castle (ABC) at the beginning, they have restored my faith in humanity for one more year. While not avid tv-watchers (we don't even have cable/satellite/antenna) Elisha and I are rabid fans of Chuck (best tv show ever) and Castle. Thank you internet, for providing me with the TV shows to watch at my own leisure at no cost. If you haven't watched them, you should. And if you have watched them, you should be rejoicing about the next year of awesomeness that we will be able to partake in.

Nathan Fillion is awesome.

Oh, and by the way...Fox execs, I'm coming for you. Because you killed Firefly. I know this is in the past, but didn't you know there's no statute of limitations for murder?

Motorcycles, Mortgages & Mutts

It's been a while since I've penned some thoughts and observations on this blog, but I implore you, hear my fabulous excuses, which will also suffice for updates on our life (to be explained.)

1.) We bought a house.

2.) Did I mention that we bought a house? That is a lot of work folks. Moving, decorating, getting another job so that the mortgage can be paid, all those sorts of things add up!

Okay, so that's it as far as excuses go, but for those of you that have gone through the process, you know it's about as simple and painless as differential equations. Despite all this, we are extremely excited, as it is our first home and we got a stellar deal, and we're loving it! We're now residents of Damascus, OR (Oddly enough, it's where my parent's first house was...) and the proud owners of a 2,452 sq. foot home. Yeah, we don't really know what to do with all the space since we've upgraded from an 800 sq. foot apartment!

So the last few weeks (we closed April 27th) have been a whirlwind of activity, moving and organizing and throwing away those things that you haven't used since you last moved...and God has been generous. Things are a little crazy, but He's never stopped blessing our efforts and showing us just how amazing He really is. In light of the new place, Elisha has decided to upgrade to a full-time job at the bridal store, and has been hired/promoted as the manager of the alterations shop. We're excited, as it means another steady paycheck, but it also means less free time together. Sad. More on this later as we see how it's really going.

I mentioned other things in my title, and I suppose I must hit on them as well. Motorcycling season is hitting full swing, as the weather 'round these parts is hitting well above 70* each day (whoo hoo!) Lane and I have been taking advantage of this and hitting up the backroads for fun. We also coerced Matt into buying a bike, so now the crew is up to 4. We're looking forward to many rides this season, as all 4 of us will be in P-Town all summer long. All this to say, I am extremely excited about my current lack of "chicken strips." (see ref: Chicken Strips)

This means I have pushed my motorcycle to the limits of it's abilities as far as tire-contact goes, which is a pretty big feat for me. It's also kinda freaky, seeing as I'm at the point of needing those fancy titanium knee-pucks so I can drop my weight off the bike even more. Crazy.

On a complete subject change, I think God is really continually teaching me patience. Because holy toledo I wanted to strangle Siku this morning. How a dog is able to do what he did is beyond me. Since Elisha is now working, I decided it would be nicer to take him to work with me than to leave him at home in the backyard. Wrong. He decided, through what method I don't know, to use this as an opportunity to drive me bonkers. Training forgotten, he proceed to take not one, not two, but THREE ginormous dumps inside the building within the span of an hour. Luckily no one else was present to witness this, but it is not really nice to spend your first hour of work cleaning up poop. Oh, and I gave him 3 separate opportunities to poop today as well. Did he poop outside? No, oh no. He ate some grass and looked at me funny. However, God is gracious and he is now being the perfect dog, resting behind my chair as I type this. Lord, give me patience.

That's all for now kids, I'll be back soon. I hope. Amidst my house-things, motorcycle season and dog pooper-scooper duties, I might just be too busy.

Past, Present & Future

Recently, I've gotten a picture of these three time periods through pictures. All things considered, I'm really looking forward to the next few months as we progress into summer. I've enjoyed (to some degree) Oregon's weird and wacky winter, as we've gotten hordes of snow (yes, hordes - the snow was mongolianlike in it's ferocity and size) compared to what we normally get - it's April and it's still dumping buckets on Mt. Hood. However, I recently got a taste of summer when the weather turned to 70*+ for a scant few days, and it gave me a chance to reflect.

Past:

I was digging through old pictures and found these. Dang, our puppy has grown a ridiculous amount in the last 4 months. These pictures are of the first time we took him up to the snow last December. He's now big and no longer cold (he was shivering that day.)

And then I got to pictures of the present - Lane and I got to go on our first "real" (read: not freezing cold) motorcycle ride this year. We've been out a few days, including a good trip with Ian in Corvallis, but I was still numb by the time I got home. This time, it was warm and enjoyable - plus, when you're comfortable, it's easier to push the limits. We doodled around Clackamas, then headed up Highway 224 into the mountains, turning around at Ripplebrook Ranger Station.

And as far as the future goes, we have so much to look forward to. Barbecue (yes, in the good weather I enjoyed a dinner progression of bbq'd chicken, bbq'd ribs and bbq'd steak. heck yes!) I look forward to more of this favorite pastime of mine (food) slathered in Bullseye and smelling good, accompanied by some corn on the cob (when it gets cheaper, holy schmoly $1.25 an ear in the grocery store now.) We're also getting ever closer to closing on the new house (continue praying that it goes through) along with more motorcycling and more fun with friends. I can't wait for spring to shoo and summer to come in!

epiphany

Ever have one of those? One of those moments where things just become clearer? Well, I just had one.

You know what? I'm sick of myself. This is going to deviate from my previous happy-go-lucky posts that seem to be uplifting or something, but it's real, so there you are. I'm sick of worry, self-doubt and whineyness, something that I seem to be adept at, despite my loathing for said attributes. I deserve to be on this:



That said, I can get off the dang failboat if I just can get around to changing things. Luckily, who I am can only be changed one way. By me, and by God. Okay, so it's up to me. Just me, not anyone else. So me, what are we going to do? We're going to change. Yeah, it's nicer to sit back and complain, but it's better to do.

I'm going to realize that my life is pretty freakin' amazing. I have good parents, good friends and an amazing wife. I've got a job. I live indoors. When I stop and look around, I don't have anything to complain about. So why the rant? I really hope that this opens not only my eyes, but some of our readers as well. Far too often in life we're complaining about something and we hear from a friend "Well, look at so-and-so. Your life isn't that bad." And I always hate that - because I know that I'm being irrational, but having someone tell you that does no good. Well, here's me telling you that my life isn't so bad, and maybe you'll think for a minute that hey, yours isn't so bad either.

With this newfound epiphany, what am I going to change? I'm going to change my outlook, and start changing what I'm doing. I need to start enjoying the simple pleasures in life that I used to love but have forgotten in the drudgery of work, death and taxes (the unavoidable things in life, reference Reliant K.) I need to be childlike. I need to stop seeing things that bog me down and start seeing the things that lift me up. And you, dear reader, please feel free to whack me upside the head with a large trout if you don't start seeing this blog filling with my joyful, youthy adventures.

Insomnia

Insomnia is what happens when you forget that your body is super sensitive to caffeine and you drink two sodas at dinner. Then while insomnia takes over your exhausted brain, this is what you do to entertain yourself. '

1. Surf the web for hours researching quilting patterns and ideas.
2. Pathetically attempt to convince men everywhere to donate their unwanted ties to your quilting projects.
3. Message your other sleepless friend about funny things you've found online (please note the image that Becca messaged me earlier displayed below).



4. Fart around on facebook and look for more insomniac buddies.
5. Edit photos
6. Blog about how you're farting around on facebook while your photos are exporting.
7. Think about trying to go to sleep.
8. Realize your mind is too awake to sleep, and then go back to "stumbling" around the internet.

Happy sleepless nights!