Fly With Me

One of my co-workers is a pilot and at our my company Christmas party last year Kevin and Mark(the pilot) hit if off.  So, every once in a while, when Mark isn't work he has asked Kevin and I to go flying with him!  Amazing, right? (Thank you, Kevin for being so awesome, and thank you Mark for thinking of us!)

On our first flight Mark flew us to a small town close by, we ate lunch and then flew Kev and I took our turns soaring through this sky.  A couple of weeks ago, Mark had the idea of flying to Seattle to check out an Airplane museum.  Very fitting if I do say so myself!  Below are the pictures from our little Seattle flight!

Kev checking out our ride.

Co-Pilot, Tiff.  Watch out sky!

Mark. doing his pilot thing.

We had a beautiful view of fog...

Even with me as the co-pilot, we made it!

When we landed we took care of the important stuff first, food!

Rachy- look what was in the cafe!

After a quick bite to eat we headed to the museum!

Flight Museum

Kev doing what he does best, reading.

Reading some more.

I got bored of reading so, I took a picture of Kev's butt.

It was nice to have Mark's wealth of knowledge to teach us about the airplanes.

A real Concord!

It was really small is that Concord!

A real Airforce One. We were pretending to be the President.

All finished up! The flight Crew!

Pilot Kev.

Kev did great, especially when the engine shut off and we plummeted towards the ground.  OK- we didn't plummet but it felt like we did for about 1 sec.  

Sigh... my man and a sunset.

They who dwell in the ends of the earth, stand in awe of thy signs.  For thou dost make the dawn and sunset shout for joy.  Psalm 68:5

Thank you Mark! We are looking forward to our next lesson and adventure.  Go easier on us next time, the near death experience was a little advanced. Mom and Kathy, I am kidding!

Thank you!

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from Ashley at Sunshine.Life.Love letting me know she was nominating me for the Liebster Blog award! Of course, this made my day! I was bouncing off the wall excited!  Ask Kev, it is true.  I am so flattered that Ashley thought of me and my little blog.  

A couple weeks ago, Makaila from Distinctly M also nominated me! Seriously girls, this means so much to me!  I always tell myself that I don't care if the only person that reads my blog is my hubs, but in all honesty it is nice to know other people get enjoyment out of it also! 


Thank you Ashley and Makaila for thinking of me and the encouragement you have given me to keep on blogging!


Liebster Blog Award Rules

 

Liebster in German means dearest, beloved, or favorite, and it is for bloggers with under 200 followers.

The rules are:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.

4. Reveal your 5 blog picks.

5. Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now that we know the rules- my top picks are:
1. Pippa w/ More Precious Than Pearls

I enjoy reading Pippa's blog but I also enjoy her as a real like friend!  I love reading about her love for her husband and copying her adorable style!

1. Makaila w/ Distinctly M

Right back at ya, chica! Thank you for the nomination and I nominate you back!  Makaila is newly engaged and it has been so fun to follow her wedding journey!  Plus check her out on Tippy Tuesday, she's full of good stuff!


3. Ashley w/ Sunshine.Life.Love

Is it bad that I am nominating the two girls that nominated me?  Great minds think alike!  You can feel Ashley's enthusiasm and spark for life through her writing and her stories suck you in!

4. Brittany with Daily Bruski

Brittany is one cool gal!  Being a newlywed myself, I often relate to her thoughts, stories and adventures with her husband.  I imagine she writes the way she talks which makes me feel like she is a good friend!
5. Nicole w/ Cultivating Homestead If you want to learn more about eating healthy,  organic eats, pasteurized vs. unpasteurized this girl has got the answers!  Her passion for all things natural make you think twice about what you put in your mouth!  
Go check out these blogging honeys and make sure to leave them something sweet! 
Thank you again to Ashley and Makaila! You have made my week!!

Baby Patrol- Day two

So, we survived our baby patrol, and Bug survived being under the supervision of two people who still view themselves as kids.  Christian arrived with nothing but smiles for us at 6:45am on Sunday morning.  He then decided to sleep in until 9:30am, woke up for a quick diaper change and a bottle and then decided to hit the sack again until 11:30am.  Dan said Christian only sleeps that much when he is bored.  I would like to think that he slept that much because he was so relaxed. 

It was fun to get a little glimpse into parenthood for Kev and I.  I can already tell Kev is going to be an incredible dad and extremely helpful. We learned the importance of walking on your tiptoes.  The excitement of a bowel movement, and that after the fuss the cuddles are worth it.  

We have been blessed by good examples in both sets of our own parents.  Even though we had a good time with Christian, I mean it, we really had fun.  Baby making is still on hold for us. We are going to enjoy loving and practicing on our Bug and Little Lu!

We don't mess around when it comes to story time.

Christian Adventures- Day 1

So, we survived day one of our babysitting duties.  It wasn't the birth control I was hoping for.  Christian was so good, as always, and Kev and I really enjoyed our day with him. 

This was our day with my little bug...

I think the fear was mutual when Dan first dropped him off.

First thing Christian decided to do was take a nap.

"There you are Peter."  Get it?  Anyone?  Hook!

Then we went on a walk around our neighborhood.

We met Sarah for Lunch at Laughing Plant

Then Christian decided to take another nap.

He helped me with the laundry.

We walked down 23rd and bumped into Nancy Mattison

Christian had so much fun he forgot to eat...

Oh, and we washed the car, cleaned the house, made dinner, read a book, and blogged.  I am serious. We did all of that while we watched Christian.  Do you see now why this was the worst birth control?

Being an Aunt and Uncle to Christian and Lucy makes Kev and I not so opposed to becoming parents.  

Baby Patrol

Kev and I are watching Christian for the weekend while Dan is in Bend and Sarah is at work.  Good luck to this little guy being in the hands of two inexperienced baby watchers!!

I will let you know how the adventure goes!

Lots of Fun

I am in an unusual position where I have a TON of things I want to blog about but I don't have the time!  So, I thought I would give you little glimpses and sneak peaks today and do a full post of them when I can give them the attention they deserve!

Several weeks ago Kev and I went flying with a friend of ours who is a pilot!  Kev flew us all the way home, pretty cool!

Robbie, Pip, Kev and I gave ourselves the nickname of ES.  OK, maybe Pip and I named us couples that.  But, we started a little log/diary of New Years goals and happenings.  I think it will be fun to look back at the log years from now.

Me waiting for my girlfriend Katie at Arawan! Seriously the.best. Thai.food! It is crazy yummy! Worth the wait!

Kev-0 making me dinner after a LONG day at work.  Best Tuna Melt I have ever eaten! Thanks babe!

Beating the winter blues by taking our vitamins!

An ES Adventure! Snow Shoeing for Rob's birthday!

The sweet balloons Kev surprised me with when he picked me up at the airport! Can you see the raindrops on them?

More to come soon! So many fun things going on right now!  Enjoy your weekend!  We will be watching my little bug(nephew) all weekend! Wish us luck!

Food for Thursday

I haven't been cooking a lot lately.  Maybe it is because I have been traveling for work and before that I was busy with work and before that I was sick... or maybe it is because I really like going to restaurants.  I try and convince Kev we need to go to more restaurants to so I can do a Foodie Scale for Food for Thursday, he doesn't buy it.  So, forced myself to cook tonight.  But, I am easing myself into this whole cooking thing again.

Let me introduce to you,  my dinner!

I was inspired by a recipe I saw in last month's Cooking Light, but I made it the way I wanted to!



Ingredients: Serves 4 (or 2 if your husband eats like mine).
4 Slices of Bread ( I used Dave's Killer Bread)
8 slices of Bacon
1 Tomatoes
Washed lettuce leaves
4 Chicken Breast

2 Limes (divided)

1/2 C. Cilantro (divided)
4 Ripe Avocados
1 White Onion (chopped)
1 Jalapeno (minced)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Fork and Knife





Directions:
1.Cook Bacon
2. Take the juice of one lime 1/4 C. of Cilantro salt and pepper and marinade chicken breast.  Grill, bake or pan fry chicken breast until cooked all the way through. (I wrapped my chicken in parchment paper and baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes).
3. Prepare Guacomole.  Combine Avocados, juice of one lime, chopped onion, minced jalapeno, 1/4 C. cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. (these ingredients are variable, add more of the ingredients you like best!)
4. Toast Bread.
5. Stack it! Starting from the bread- guacamole, lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, bacon and little Salt n Pepa.

Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man!

It was delicious!  But crazy messy!  I also talked to my good friend Megzies while I cooked! It made cooking a lot easier, thanks friend!

Why I Blog

I have been wondering lately why I blog.  Actually, I have been struggling with that question since I first started blogging in October.  I initially started blogging because I had a dream and I thought it was a message straight from God.... could this be possible?  Yes.  Could it be possible that I dreampt about blogging because I spend so much of my day looking at other people's blogs?  Yes. 

Daily I wavier back and forth with these questions: To blog or not to blog?  Why do I blog? What do I  blog about?  Is it a waste of my time to blog?  Does anyone even read my blog? I know, exhausting right? Ugh...

Me, "borrowing" WIFI from the neighbor. 

So, to ease my pondering mind I decided to write out the reasons why I blog.  Then when my crazy mind starts going blog bonkers I can re-read my blog "mission".  This is what I have come up with so far...

I blog to write.  To write about my life, my marriage, my thoughts and my God.  To remember these things at the moment I am writing about them. I blog to share.  To share about my life, my marriage, my thoughts and my God.  To document the secrets and hardships I have learned about these things in the moment I am experiencing them. I blog to write, to remember, to share and document. 

Blogging while in Bend for New Years

I am blogging for me but I hope that as I grow and learn that some of you will come along on the journey with me.  Maybe a few will only stop by once.  Maybe a few will stop by often.  But, my hope is at whatever moment you drop in, you leave with something to write, remember, share or document! 

Blogging right now, 23:00(we use military time in our house).

Now, to figure out what to blog about next...