Rain

The topic of this week is rain, and lots of it. There has been storms passing though California since Monday, and that means that the kids have been inside all week, and I am having to find new ways of keeping them quiet.

With that though, God is so good in how the rain comes. Early in the week, when I was driving myself, there would be tons of rain throughout the day, but not in the morning or afternoon when I was driving.

Wednesday, Blake decided to drive me to work because he knows I hate driving in the rain, and it was not really rainy on the way there, but he figured it might be after school, and MAN am I glad he did. When it was time to pick me up it was pouring! Totally, completely, scary to drive in pouring down.

Today he drove me too, but it wasn't really needed because the rain wasn't falling hard on any of our drives (to work, from work, to Bible study, from Bible study).

When we got home from my Bible study, we decided to take Roxie on a short walk, and we had decided on the route. It was windy, cold and we knew the storm was coming (I brought an umbrella and rain boots in case it came back during the walk) but we decided she deserved the chance to get out. So we go, no problem, no rain, and then we reach our door, he is getting out the key, when we both turn because it sounds like rain. We look back, can't tell for sure if it is rain or wind, he walks out a bit... sure enough it started raining LITERALLY right when we got home. I was shocked! But I really shouldn't be because God is so good. (not that it would be a big deal to walk in the rain... but for it to stay dry for the exact length of our walk, considering all of Roxie's sniffing and everything... crazy!)

We're told that there are only a few more days of this before it lets up, and it is none too soon. But it is good for the plants, so I am thankful for it.

Laundry Room

Over Christmas break we completed the Laundry room, another long standing project. I had no cupboard doors in there for over a year because it kept on getting past over for more urgent projects like the garden or the bathroom.

But now it is done, and I LOVE it! It is really cute, actually probably my cutest room in the house, which is sad because only Blake and I go in there, but it makes doing laundry better, and that's worth the effort in there all by itself.

The only thing we might add later is a window covering... but again, its just us who go in there, so why bother?

Bathroom Remodel... Part Two

So... after months... and months... of not posting, here is a new year, and I want to get better at chronicling my life... because I should. I don't want to look back on my twenties and have NO idea what went on during this time.

First things first, we did get the bathroom done. It was done by Thanksgiving 09, which was our goal. I really like how it turned out, and it feels like there is tons more space in it, which was our goal.

I LOVE the furniture we found for the corner. Its big enough to fit what I wanted on/in it, but still small enough that it feels big.

The toilet is a special water saving toilet, which scared me at first, but it works great! We are actually planning on putting another one of the same toilets in our master bathroom upstairs.

The mirror was a great find. I was looking at "shopping" websites all over the internet, but was not finding the large oval wood mirror that I was looking for. I ended up going to ebay and buying this antique one, and I couldn't be happier.

Although I don't love WHY we had to remodel this bathroom, I am really excited that it finally got done, and better than we imagined. Yay!

Bathroom Remodel... Part One

For the last few weeks we have been working on our bathroom remodel. This was not a project started by choice. This came about because our toilet leaked... a really bad leak... that spread into our living room and into our garage.

We had to pull up the flooring and get the vanity/sink out to dry out the area so that there was no chance of mold. Now, we had intended since moving in that we wanted to remodel this bathroom.

This was for many reasons. First, their molding and paint job was only okay, and that is being generous. Also, the toilet was a long toilet, and it was a small bathroom. You barely could clear your legs when you tried to close the door. Also, it had a full counter and sink on one side of the room. Being a half bathroom, that design made it seem extremely small.

We wanted to redo the paint, and the molding. We wanted to replace the toilet with a circular one, instead of the oval. We wanted to put a pedestal sink instead of the big counter and sink that were in there already.

With the need to rip out the flooring and the vanity anyways... we decided now was the time.

Above is where it is currently at. The room has been painted, and the flooring put in. I also included a picture of the sink (still in the box, that picture is from the side of the box) and the main artwork that I want to go in.

This corner table is what I picture in the corner for our little storage place in the room, since we are losing the cabinets with the pedestal sink. We will also be finding a toilet paper roll holder.

Our new pets?

We had quite the treat in our garden today... lots and lots of these little tomato caterpillars, and one of them was not so small.

So what did the scientist and the teacher decide to do with these bugs? Kill them... no. Spray them? ... no. We put them in a glass container, put foil on top, and poked holes in it so that we can observe them over the next few days/weeks depending on how long they live.

Why?

Because we really don't like killing bugs, but we obviously can't leave them to eat our tomatoes, and we do like observing nature... so they are, for the time being... our new pets lol.

Summer

Many people are curious what I do during the summer. When I answer nothing, some people (like my dad) are concerned. He always wanted my summers to be filled, and usually they were with either a job, or summer school (to get ahead, not to make up for past mistakes) or both. During the time I lived at home, I only had one nothing summer that I remember, and it was one that I insisted on having between my senior year of high school and my first year of college. I wanted to do nothing. And I did, and I liked it. When I became a teacher, I had to make a choice about my summers, and so far, I haven't worked during any of them. And I like it.

I wanted to write a post about this summer, especially since, if things go according to my plan at all, it will be the last summer that I can spend like this, with blissfully nothing to do.

I am not bored. Definitely not bored.

I wake up, and I start the coffee (decaf) and I sit down with it for a while while I either read a book or watch tv. After a good bit of this, I decide I would like to see what is going on my message boards (I love ivillage, and everyone should join such a community). Then I look at random things on the internet such as facebook, and the other blogs I read.

Eventually, I decide I should eat breakfast (we are on this healthy eating thing, and breakfast is very important... but I would probably skip it if I didn't know, logically, that it is a wise thing to do).

I usually do a devotion about now, because I have time for it, and because I always mean to do one, but I usually am so crazy in the mornings during the school year, it unfortunately gets neglected.

After the devotion, I go back into my book world, which is very addictive to a veracious reader like myself. Around 10:30 or so, I decide that since I have still not gotten dressed yet... I probably should... So I head upstairs.

At this point, I should just go get dressed... but why not check my message boards and other internet stuff first... its not like I have a deadline I have to get dressed by after all.

I finally end up dressed by 11ish, and then I decide that it is time for lunch, with my book again. (I read much more than I watch tv, I like it better).

At this point I do something productive, so that no one (like my husband) can say I am not productive and helpful during the day. It usually involves cleaning the kitchen, and one or two other things that he asked me if I could get done today (today is laundry and cleaning the bathrooms).

Once I get these chores out of the way, I go back to my... book! (Bet you didn't see that coming).

This I proceed to do until Blake gets home, and then I spend the evening with him, making dinner, going to the gym, taking Roxie for a walk, and more of the same leisure activities (like a book, or the internet).

This glorious summer routine is broken up by lunch with friends, a Bible study and lunch with my mom on Fridays, errands that come up (like taking Lily to the vet because she hurt her eye), and my realization that it is almost August, and August is almost September, and I actually do need to get my classroom ready for next year at some point.

I have no idea if anyone reads this blog, or cares what I do during the summer, or if people who do read this will just be jealous of it, but I am recording this for prosperity. So that one day, years from now, when I have two or three kids running around the house during the summer, and I don't have a moment's peace, I can look back at this blog entry, and laugh at myself for once having such a calm summer, and wishing that I could add kids to it.

Hawaii Trip

This last weekend we went to Hawaii from Friday to Monday.

It started out rough with a 4 hour delay at the airport before taking off. We amused ourselves by playing games etc. but as you can imagine, we were beyond bored before we got on the plane. By the end of the 5 hour flight, I was so antsy, I was DYING to get off.

When we got off, it was already really close to the time we needed to make it to our only scheduled event for Friday, a sunset dinner cruise. The beginning photos on my video are taken from the cruise. Blake and I always enjoy boats, and this was no exception. This was our first realization that Wow! we are in Hawaii! The food was only mediocre, but it was a great boat ride all the same.

The next morning started out really early since we had a 6:30 scheduled shark cage encounter. Yes... I went in the cage!!! It was really fun and an amazing experience. I would totally do it again. I can only compare it to my trip to the Grand Canyon in which you know it is real, you know you are seeing it with your own eyes, but you still can't believe that it is right there in front of you. I took the great picture of Blake, but somehow I wasn't turned around when he tried to take a picture of me... but it was my back. :-) We got a lot of pictures of this because it was so cool.

We went from there to the Dole Plantation, where they used to grow massive amounts of pineapple to ship out. It still has some pineapples growing on display, a maze and a great gift shop, but is no longer really the plantation. It was fun to do the maze, although my brother and dad quit before we finished. We looked at many different varieties of pineapple, and ate a TON of pineapple products (frozen yogurt, fresh, juice etc. )

After this we were supposed to go on a submarine to the reefs, but unfortunately, after the boat ride to the sub, they decided that the conditions were bad, and they would not be able to take us. It was also too tightly packed of a trip to go another day. It was okay though because I really was nervous about being claustrophobic in there, and was kinda happy I didn't have to take that risk.

The next morning, we started with snorkeling in the bay. It was really fun seeing all the different types of fish. I have always compared snorkeling to swimming in a big fish tank. We got oodles more pictures of the fish, but decided to spare you most of them.

This afternoon we had a dolphin encounter. It was actually really educational as well as fun. We learned that you can tell dolphins apart from their dorsal fins which are as different as our fingerprints! We got to learn how to have them do tricks, but we also learned that they are treated as pets there. They are not forced to do any tricks they don't want to do, just like with Roxie, our dog, she does them because she wants the reward. Also, they change up the activity all the time so they don't get bored. The other interesting thing is that last time I swam with a dolphin, I was pulled along, but here they made a point of us swimming alongside the dolphin so that it really was a partnership, not making them do all the work.

Once we got back to the hotel we enjoyed a luau that had great food and great dancing. The last dance was with lit torches. It was incredible, and I was amazed that no one got hurt.

Overall it was an amazing, fun, unforgettable trip and I hope you all enjoy the pictures of it.