Lessons from baby plants!

I love how little seedlings grow. Mine are in a bright sunny window where they get lots of light, but still they all lean closer to the light, stretching to get more of it each day. How they know to do this, I do not know. They are drawn to it and get substanance from it, just as I should be stretching and reaching toward my "light", Jesus Christ.

I also love the new life that springs from nothingness. Baby plants sprout from a tiny seed that looks like it has no life in it at all into a tiny green start... just add water and sunlight. And then it is a joy to watch the plants change day by day, notice new leaves, or another one unfurling the soil above it. (And they are pretty cute little things too.) I am amazed by the care and detail God put into creating each of these little plants and how they know to reach toward the sun for their growth and strength. God is quite an amazing designer!

I think most of all, it reminds me of the God's promises to care for me and and the new life I have in Christ. If God cares for the tiny plants, starting from a seed, He must also, even more so, care for me, His precious creation who He sent His only Son. Perfect for the Easter Season, eh?

I love this passage, not only because it talks about flowers, but also because it speaks to my heart that worries often and God's promises in my life.

Matthew 6:30-34 (from the Message)

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers- most of which are never even seen0 don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep you life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

Day Trip to B'ham!

Today, Chet and I headed up to Bellingham with our good friends, Kevin and Faith, for a little bit of an adventure and a tasty lunch. After hearing about how good the Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro is from my brother, Adam, we finally had a chance to eat there. It was great... great atmosphere and great beverages. I had their delicious root beer and the only disappointing thing was that we brought our growlers with us and they don't fill growlers with root beer because they run out of it so fast!

Then, for a little outdoor time, we headed over to Whatcom Falls Park to enjoy taking pictures, walking through the trails and admiring the falls. It felt good to be outside and to just relax.

What a delightful day! I can definitely handle a little more free time now that school is over if we get to do more fun things like this!

I'm done!

This afternoon I had the opportunity to present my master's project (about asthma and high school athletic coaches)! It is called the "final oral examination" and I'm glad to say that I passed! As a result, I am officially done with my master's degree and on my way to being a full fledged PNP. Yay! It is a somewhat strange thing though to be done with school again and to start looking for a new job... and to not have homework anymore.

Anyway, just wanted to document the exciting news!

Spring in February...

Today I was out in the yard working for a bit and was excited to find things growing! Look what I found!

Rhubarb... can't wait to make rhubarb coffee cake and crisps!

Bleeding hearts

A lilac... getting ready to bud!

Heather... beautifully in bloom.

Vinca minor... creeping over from our neighbor's yard.

I love seeing things grow! My next project is to move a huge pile of gravel on the side of our house and turn it into another gardening bed. Then Chet's hops can have more space to spread out and I can plant more fun things! Now... to finish moving that pile of gravel...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone, especially to my dear husband! I can't believe we've been together almost 5 years and married almost 4 years already!

This was when we first "connected" 5 years ago at a friend's bonfire!

Our wedding day, June 23rd, 2006!

I'm so thankful for such a wonderful husband and love him so much!

February Weddings and One VERY Cute Baby!

The last couple weeks have been busy with two weddings, lots of get togethers and all sorts of celebrating! It was wonderful to celebrate with Mindy and Luke as they got married... and see all sorts of friends I haven't seen in awhile! The week before Mindy's wedding was filled with BBQs, a tour of Theo's Chocolates in Fremont and hanging out with Debbie and Steve (and baby Jakin!). Here are some pictures for our last couple weeks.

Denise, Mindy and I before the Theo Chocolate Factory tour... if you ever have a chance, this is definitely worth $6. An hour of interesting information and samples of more chocolate than expected! So yummy (and fair trade and organic!).

They take coco beans all the way to chocolate bar. Apparently, there are only 13 bean to bar chocolate factories in the US... most factories take semi processed coco beans and turn them into a bar.

This was the confection room where they form beautiful chocolate treats... this guy was cooling the chocolate on a marble surface.

The bachelorette party... tapas and drinks at the Black Bottle and then hanging out and silly games at a hotel downtown. Cheapest entertainment was bouncing on the bed.

Debbie, Mindy and me... I love these girls!

Chet with a very happy (and cute) baby Jakin! They stayed with us for a couple nights and we couldn't get enough of this little guy!

The adorable Isley family!

Mindy and Luke's wedding! Feb 6th, 2010

The guys at the reception

Us girls at the reception

The following weekend, we had the chance to go to another wedding. Mike and Lisa got married on Feb 13th in a beautiful ceremony. It was certainly another happy occasion. Chet is a little tired of weddings at this point... I think that 2 in month is about his breaking point. :)

Amusing myself during the ceremony (don't worry... I was also paying attention!).

Mike and Lisa! Feb 13th, 2010

Us at the wedding

Faith, me and Sam - good to catch up with these girls! Even though we all got to the same church we don't always see each other!

All of us with the happy couple! Fun wedding!

I think we have a break from weddings for awhile... most likely till summer where Adam and Brenda's wedding will head off a streak of about 3-4. I like weddings because they are such a joyful occasion but I'm glad Chet has a break so he'll enjoy them more!

200,000 miles!

My car rolled over 200,000 miles last night and for some reason I celebrated! Maybe it is because it has made it that long or maybe because I got to see so many digits flip over at the same time. Either way, I'm proud of my little 1992 Toyota Camry! Now I'm just eagerly awaiting the day we can trade it in and upgrade to a nice newer Subaru or something else fun!