(: Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam :)

This has definitely been an interesting week. Monday was a sick day (except we did go to work).
Yesterday I rear-ended somebody and had to pay for a dent in their bumper that I am 95% sure I did not cause. Kyle was sweet about it though and didn't get upset, even when I mentioned the cost of the dent. But I guess, like he said, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. It sure was frustrating though, and the day didn't really get any better after that. It just sort of dragged along with the same sort of tone through the whole day:-\ I got home, and did not feel like cooking. Then Kyle suggested we grab some Taco Bell from around the corner:) He's so good to me:') We ate Taco Bell, and I went to bed around 8:30. I needed that, lol.
Anyway, so today, Wednesday, is Halloween. This morning was crazy. We woke up to no hot water. So I had quite an adventure trying to wash my hair. I filled the sink most of the way with cold water, boiled a gallon or so of water, and put it in with the cold water, and washed my hair in the sink. Yuck. Then my hair fought me while trying to get it curly for my halloween "costume" and I was quite nearly late for work!...But today is probably going to be a fun day. A lot of people in my office dressed up, haha. My 'costume' is pretty simple - it's a name tag that says "Pam." Pam is the receptionist on the TV show, The Office. I figured it was easy, and appropriate. Unfortunately, not everyone watches The Office, so occasionally people are confused as to why I am wearing a name tag that says 'PAM' lol. But a few people appreciate my costume;) lol. Too bad Anderson isn't working here anymore - he loves The Office, so he would get it, haha. Anyway, there are quite a variety of costumes in the office today:) We have (of course) a receptionist, a baby, a vampire, 'Global Warming,' an 80's aerobics instructor, a referee, a Hogwarts student, a pirate, a soccer player, and a few more that I can't think of, lol. It's pretty fun/funny:)
Tonight Kyle and I are going to hand out candy to any trick or treaters that come our way. We don't expect very many, but we have a little bit of candy anyway. Hopefully we'll get at least a few, lol. We definitely don't want all that candy sitting around waiting to be eaten, haha. So we'll see how that goes. Just in case we don't have many trick or treaters, we have our first NetFlix movie to watch:) Kyle doesn't have much homework, so we'll get some time to chill tonight:) It should be a fun evening:)

How I Entertained Myself Today...

Kristen Ezmirly

Christmas 2026

Okay, so it doesn't show up as well as it would in person, but there are wrinkles and shades of gray hair and such...and this is basically just my face now, plus a wee bit of weight, some smile lines (course we all hope all our wrinkles are from smiling...) and some gray hair. Who knows what I'll really look like at 40...

Happy Little Basket:)

Switch the liner on the napkin basket, and it's a Halloween Candy basket!


We're ready for those (few) trick-or-treaters!:)
*Notice the bags are not opened;) Otherwise I would eat it all! haha

Happy Monday!!!

Well, as expected, I woke up sick, trudged through my morning routine with a minimal amount of effort, and fumbled my way out the door. As I walked out the door I noticed it had rained since I'd seen Kyle off about 40 minutes earlier:) The sky was overcast and the hazey clouds didn't seem to be going anywhere. Yay! For those who don't know already, I love cloudy, rainy, "dreary" days:) Needless to say, this improved my morning a bit:)

As I walked down the stairs behind the building, heading for the parking garage, I heard rustling in the tree behind the wall. I stopped and stared up into the tree to find whatever was scampering around amongst the foliage (which also seemed glad for the rain). It was two squirrels, who must have been high on rain, because they were scampering around on the branches as if they had so much energy they simply had to get it out! haha. I dug in my purse and pulled out my camera just in time for them to jump out of the tree and scamper down the telephone wire that ran across the back wall:) They were so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the cool morning, perhaps as much as I would be if I weren't sick;)

The drive to work was smooth and easy, and traffic was surprisingly low:) The walk from my car to my office building was nice and cool, but not terribly cold, and I had my travel mug full of coffee (with cinnamon-sugar!) to keep me warm:)

So I woke up with a sore throat this morning. Why should that ruin a perfectly good Monday?

:( *sniffle*...*sniffle* ):

Ugh...:( Looks like me and Kyle are both sick :( Pray that we get better soon :-\ We have too much stuff to do, to be sick :( Thanks, guys :)

The Pros and Cons of Fall

I have to admit, there are some things about fall that I don't particularly like....like Kyle getting sick:-\, all the neighborhood bugs migrating inside>(, and the fluctuating hot-then-cold weather :-p. I'd like very much for the weather to just stay cold, and for all the bugs (germs and insects alike) to die off a bit quicker. Poor Kyle is trying to fight off a cold, and poor me is getting tired of fighting the other kind of bugs. I'm sure he is not too fond of stuffy noses and fuzzy-head-syndrome, and I am not too fond of roaches and little wanna-be-roaches:( I hope all this goes away soon...
On the bright side, it's a nice weekend:) Today I need to go to the grocery store, do some laundry, and cook dinner. I also need to bake some pumpkin bread soon, as I promised one of the AGO guys that I would send a loaf of pumpkin bread over there with Kyle sometime this week. That'll be fun to make:) I haven't done any baking in quite awhile, before yesterday, and the holidays are coming, so I better brush up on my baking skills!;) Hey Kathy, wanna help??;);)

Homey Touches :)

We finally bought our much-needed bookshelf today:) We've been saving up for one and finally had enough money for one, only to not buy one for quite some time after that. They didn't have the color wood we wanted, they were out of stock, they were too heavy and there were no carts, etc. Today we not only finally bought one, but we bought it on sale! I guess it's a good thing we'd been prevented from buying one until today;) Seeing as we had a shelf on which to place some decorative little homey touches, I finally dug out some pictures and framed them:) And now our WillowTree figurine has a place to stand! (That is our cake topper, by the way;) Our apartment feels a lot more homey all of the sudden, with framed pictures around. And to top it off, we bought a cookie sheet and some mixing bowls today, and filled the apartment with wonderful cookie smells! It was a fun, homey sort of day :) :)

Ah, the Weekend

Hello everyone! I think it's about time that I post a blog, as we've had this for over a month now... Well, it's finally the weekend! This is very exciting for me, as my weeks are incredibly full of stuff. My typical day consists of getting up at the crack of dawn, getting ready for school/work, eating breakfast, taking two buses to school, going to 3 or 4 hours of class, working for a few hours at Coffee Bean, taking two buses home, doing homework, eating dinner, doing more homework, and going to bed. So naturally it's a relief when the weekend rolls around. Sure, I still have lots of homework to do, but I can spread it out and spend time enjoying my favorite activity, doing stuff with my wife :) It's funny though, because despite how non-stop my week is, my stress level is amazingly low. Last year, although it didn't seem like it, I had quite a bit more free time than I do now, and yet my stress level was the highest it's ever been in my entire life. Being married changes everything. Now instead of constantly missing my girlfriend and trying to worry about dividing homework time with hang-out time, I get to spend every night with my wife. I don't have to focus nearly as much on doing things with her; that just seems to come naturally with being married. Now I can focus much more on school stuff, and I have almost zero stress. I have to admit, I was kinda worried about what marriage was going to do to my grades. After all, they say that "marriage doesn't solve all your problems, it just opens up a whole bunch of new ones". Ironically, in the 4 months I've been married now, I've noticed that it's solved a lot more problems than it's created. One of the only "tough" adjustments I've had to make is budgeting, which really hasn't been a problem at all, since we planned well for it.

Anyway, we're about to go to Target to get a few essentials (well, stuff for making pumpkin muffins and bread and pie :D :D :D ). I'm gonna try to make blogging a habit, so hopefully another post will be up here soon from me.

The Ideal Survey

You can assume all my answers include Kyle, haha

The Ideal Survey
* * * * * * * * * * *

1. What would you have named yourself if you got to choose?
Hmmm...*thinks*...probably Lilly...I always thought that name sounded small, quiet and sweet.

2. If you could choose a new hairstyle every day, no matter the length, color, texture, etc. how would you have done your hair today?
I think today would've been a short hair day...

3. What is your ideal way to spend a summer day?
in the southern hemisphere, so it's not summer

4. What is your ideal way to spend a fall day?
Hmm...well ideally it wouldn't be spent in LA, so...going with ideals...sleeping in till about 8:30am, waking up slowly, enjoying a cup of coffee with Kyle, cooking a big breakfast in my exceptionally big kitchen, getting dressed in jeans and a comfy sweater, going to a farmers market, buying a lunch of fresh fruits and veggies, buying some flowers to arrange when I get home, driving home, enjoying a good book and a glass of tea on the big wrap-around porch for awhile, going out for dinner somewhere with hot soup, or yummy pasta, coming home, snuggling, and hitting the sack early!

5. What is your ideal way to spend a winter day?
Sleep in till 8:30 or so, wake up, enjoy a cup of coffee with Kyle, cook a big breakfast in my exceptionally big kitchen, get bundled up, go for a walk in the snow, come home, shed our coats, make some lunch, start a fire in the fireplace, make some hot cocoa, snuggle up on the sofa by the fire, read together for a bit, make some progress on whatever knitting project I have going, do some laundry (fresh-out-of-the-dryer laundry is the best on a cold day!), cook a pot of soup and bake some bread for dinner, enjoy a hot dinner, watch a Christmas movie, and hit the sack early!

6. What is your ideal way to spend a spring day?
Wake up around 8:30, blend up a smoothie, cook breakfast, take a shower, get dressed, curl my hair, tie it up with a springy colored ribbon, go prune the gardens out front, make a pitcher of sweet tea to enjoy throughout the day, pack a couple sandwiches and some fruit in a backpack and walk to the park, eat lunch, play on the playground, come home, relax a bit, go out for dinner, come home, enjoy some more sweet tea, and hit the sack early

7. What is your ideal guy/girl like?
Quite a bit like Kyle!;) no wait......EXACTLY like Kyle;)

8. What is your ideal place to live?
I'd say either somewhere up around Seattle, or somewhere along the Rocky Mountains, or somewhere along the Appalachian Mountains

9. What age do you think best fits your personality?
About 45.

10. Why?
I share the most interests, ideal pastimes, and opinions with that age group. And yes, as you'd probably suspect, I love hanging out with my mom;)

11. Who do you think is the ideal friend for you?
Kyle and my parents.

12. What do you think is the ideal hobby for you?
Hmm...not sure...some sort of craft that doesn't take long to complete one project...like...scrapbooking! But that requires a lot of space...

13. What is your ideal classy restaurant meal?
Caesar salad, garlic bread, chicken fettuccini alfredo, and either iced tea or white zinfandel

14. What is your ideal out-with-friends meal?
Chili's Carribean Salad and iced tea or a margarita

15. What is your ideal homecooked meal?
Nothing I know how to cook :-p

16. What is your ideal 'family reunion' meal?
grilled steak, twice-baked potatoes, fresh veggies and a good sized log to sit on to eat it off a paper plate on my lap

17. What is your ideal pillow like?
Kyle

18. What is the ideal temperature for your house?
about 73*F

19. What is your ideal vacation?
one that includes a lake, lots of trees, a cabin, a boat, a campfire pit, and my hubby and kids

20. What is your ideal age to have kids?
Not sure, but I'm hoping to get pregnant with our first when I'm 22-23, then maybe another when I'm 24-25...

21. What is your ideal way to spend Halloween?
handing out candy to all the cute kids (and no stupid obnoxious teenage boys)

22. What is your ideal way to spend Thanksgiving?
with Kyle's family and my family and a bunch of food!

23. What's your ideal way to spend Christmas?
NOT stressing about two weddings within the next 4 days!

24. What is your ideal way to spend New Years?
sleeping soundly, with no nearby parties waking me up

25. What's your ideal way to spend your birthday?
with Kyle, doing something that I didn't plan

26. What's your ideal way to spend Easter?
big early breakfast, sunrise service, big lunch, easter egg hunt for the kids, and a yummy family dinner

27. What is your idea of perfect weather?
cool breeze, lots of clouds, afternoon thunderstorms, snow at night.

28. Describe your ideal 'living room'.
Spacious; walls are log on bottom, sage green on top; big stone fireplace with a large mantle and hearth; big comfy brown couch with navy blue and sage green throw pillows and a homemade blanket on it; a coffee table made out of a split log; a big rug in front of the fireplace with a big dog sleeping on it; a recliner; immediate access to the kitchen...

29. Describe your ideal bedroom:
Spacious; walls are log on bottom, sage green on top; small stone fireplace in the corner; rustic looking nightstands on either side of the bed; wood lateral blinds, dusty-blue curtains; access to a large bathroom with a jaccuzi tub...

30. Describe your ideal back yard:
Big, green grass, big trees, tree swing, evidence of children, large back porch with grill and porch swing and a small table and chairs.

31. Describe your ideal car:
I one day hope to have a minivan...I like the Honda Odysey (sp?)

32. Describe your ideal way to spend a Sunday:
Wake up, shower, coffee, do hair, wake up the kids, breakfast, get ready for church, church!, lunch, play with the kids, cook dinner, dinner, family time, put the kids to bed, finances update, snuggle, go to bed.

Repost as "The Ideal Survey!"

Morning!

Seven o'clock in the morning, I'm jostled awake by Kyle, half-asleep, fumbling for the light. "Huhng?" I mumble, wondering why he's getting up so quickly. "It's seven!" he informs me as he switches on the light and rummages through his closet. "Seven??"
I don't think I've made breakfast so quickly before. We're out of cereal, so I couldn't grab bowls and spoons and be done. But it sure woke me up! Well, long enough to make breakfast, pack Kyle a lunch and see him off. Now Kyle is off to school and my brain is shutting back down...I made myself some coffee, which is too hot to drink yet...good thing it's 'Casual Friday' at work...
So I'm not entirely awake yet, but it's actually a nice morning:) I don't have to get all spruced up and wear slacks and a blouse today, so I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to simply pull on jeans and a t-shirt, toss my hair up, and wait for the coffee to kick in;)

My Husband...:)

Whoever wrote this little prayer really knew what they were saying. My friend Kathy posted it in her blog, and it felt like the very words my mouth couldn't quite retrieve from my heart. She doesn't remember exactly who she got it from, but apparently God puts similar desires in the hearts of His daugthers when He temporarily "gives them away"...anyway...

Dear Lord, please help me see my marriage as a sacred thing. May I always understand that being married was not meant to just make me happy but make my character more holy. Help me remember being married is less about having the right partner and more about being the right partner. Shape me into the wife my husband needs and deserves. Help me to pause before I speak so I don’t react out of anger, frustration, or selfishness. Show me how to respect, love and give to this man in a way that honors You and brings joy to our home. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Things I love about my husband...
He is gentle with my heart.
He is careful with our money.
He encourages me in my walk with God.
He has godly desires and ambitions.
He will admit if he is wrong.
If he is wrong, he tries to make it right.
I always know he loves me.
Not a day goes by that I am not glad that I married him.

"I just cleaned up this mess!"

"Can we keep it clean for...for ten minutes??" I know I'm not the first one to think this. But...I don't even have children yet, and I definitely don't have a messy husband. How do things get so cluttered? Where did this spill come from? I did not use that many dishes for one meal, did I?? We don't go through that much laundry in a week, do we?? Where'd all the *insert vital ingredient* go? What am I supposed to cook for dinner now? Mom, how did you do it?!?!

The Wonderful World of Technology

Well, last night I fell asleep long before Kyle was ready for bed. Then suddenly I was woken up by a "fwump" as Kyle flopped down on the bed. I suppose I wouldn't really say I was woken up...I was "awake" enough to say, "hungh?" His reply sounded something like, "My stupid computer *mumble mumble* and then it *mumble mumble grumble* and showed this *mumble grumble* screen, and now I think it's dead." I'm sure it would have made more sense than that to someone who was awake, but considering I was not, and wouldn't know a thing about computers if I were awake, all I understood was that the computer died...which is probably how I would've put it too. In the morning I finally asked him what happened to his computer. His explanation didn't make much more sense to me then than it had when I was asleep, except that this time around I understood that if the problem was what he suspected, it would cost us about $700 to fix! I wasn't sure where we were going to get an extra $700, but considering Kyle is taking a computer programming class this quarter, it didn't seem like we had much choice but to fix it as soon as possible. I was prepared to give up my wonderful lattes to leave more of Kyle's tips accumulating, hoping we would miraculously acquire $700 in tips before the end of the term. Then after church today Kyle decided to tinker with his computer a bit more and try to actually figure out what the problem was before we spent money on fixing it. I'm not sure what he did but I think he somehow revived it! Well, it's working for now anyway. Kyle theorized that maybe he just wanted an upgrade so bad he jinxed it or something. I think maybe his computer knew he wanted an upgrade and decided to play dead for awhile so that we would be grateful to have it at all;) haha. Anyway, so for now we're not forking over $700 for computer parts but maybe we'll mention it in a letter to Santa or something;)

Hmm...fascinating

This is just from a bulletin forward thing on MySpace, but I thought it was interesting:) Probably not truly very psychologically accurate, but kinda neat anyway, lol...

1. You're walking in the woods, but you're not alone. Who is with you?
Kyle

2. You continue walking until you see an animal. What kind of animal?
a squirrel

3. What interaction takes place between you and the animal?
I try to get as close to it as possible

4. You walk deeper in the woods. You enter a clearing, and before you is your dream house which is...?
a split level log cabin with a wrap around porch

5. Is your dream house surrounded by a fence?
yes, but not very close to the house...we own the 3 acre lot, and there's a small barbed wire fence around the land, just to kind of discourage random people from exploring. there is a small fence around a "back yard" area that we fenced off while the kids were small.

6. You enter the house. You walk into the dining room and see the dining room table. What do you see on it?
well first off it's a table made out of a big slice of a tree. It's polished, but still it's natural shape, not a perfect table shape. On it is a sort of centerpiece I made out of long dried wheat sprigs, and a small pumpkin and some small gourds I picked up at the store.

7. You exit the house and a cup is on the ground, what kind is it?
one of the kids' sippy cups

8. What do you do with the cup?
pick it up and set it on the porch railing

9. You walk to the edge of the property where you find yourself standing at a body of water,what is it?
a pond/small lake

10. How will you cross the water.
I'll wade across, it's not deep. We filled the bottom with course sand so it'd be reasonably shallow...safer for the kids.
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The ANSWERS

1. The person who you are walking in the woods with is the most important to you. (duh)

2. The size of the animal is representative of your perception of the size of your problems in your life. (lol, apparently I don't have any major problems)

3. The severity of the interaction you have with the animal is representative of how you deal with your problems. (hm...with curiosity and a sort of love for them? haha)

4. The size of your dream home is representative of the size of your ambition to solve your problems. (sort of big, but manageable sounds about right)

5. A lack of a fence is indicative of an open personality. People are welcome at all times. The presence of a fence indicates a closed personality. You'd prefer people not drop by unannounced. (hm, yep sounds about right, I'm slightly closed and prefer to be safe)

6. If your answer did NOT include food, flowers, or people, then you are generally unhappy. (lol, does my lil centerpiece count as flowers??)

7. The durability of the material which the cup is made of is representative of the perceived durability of your relationship. (oh please, I think the fact that it's a kid's sippy cup shows something about the durability of our relationship)

8. What you did with the cup is representative of your attitude. (uhhhh...I don't get it)

9. The size of the body of water is representative of the size of your sexual desire. (uhhhh, this one's not real accurate but I won't explain)

10. The way you cross the water is representative to how easy or hard you expect your life to be. (hm, so I guess I expect life to be reasonably safe and easy due to previous choices I've made...sounds logical, but not true to reality)

Date Night :-D

Last night Kyle and I went out on a date:) Well, it was sort of on accident, but it was fun:) Kyle had to work late, so instead of making him take the bus even later at night, I drove to Westwood to pick him up after work. By that point, if we went home and I cooked, we would've eaten around 9:30, so we decided to make last night our monthly date night, haha:) We went to BJ's, which used to be a very regular thing for us. But having gone for a quite awhile with no BJ's, revisiting our old dinner spot was really nice:) Since it was our date night, we went all out and got appetizers, dinner and dessert;) Now, I love cooking, but it is definitely nice not to cook sometimes;) I really enjoyed going out with Kyle and just enjoying dinner:)

How can you say that?

Yesterday while walking the few blocks to my car after work, I got a good laugh. A young guy on a bicycle slowed down as he passed me, swung his bike toward me and said, "I love you," as he rode past. Sure, he was probably just being a dork, but I had to try not to laugh for the next block or so, so I wouldn't look crazy, walking down the street laughing at, apparently, nothing. Even though he obviously did not think himself to really be in love, lol, I couldn't help but think, "How can you even say that jokingly? You don't even know me!" Not that I found it offensive. Like I said, it was hard not to laugh. But as I neared my car, I thought, "How rediculous is it to say something like that to a complete stranger... ... ... ...I wonder how God must feel..." How often do we pray to God, telling Him about what's going on in our lives, asking for His blessings and His provision, and somewhere tossing in how amazing He is and how much we love Him, yet in reality have not opened His Word in at least a week. In our heads, we know He is worth loving, and so we tend to tell Him so, yet we don't spend very much time or effort really getting to know Him. That would be like that guy being kind enough to stop and ask my name before deciding to say he loves me. It would not be that much better than not asking at all! Yet we approach God and praise Him, while not caring to know much more about Him than His name! He has given us thousands of pages of amazing text, revealing Himself to us. He spent time on this earth as a man, and inspired His disciples to record His time here so that we could experience the gospel story. He shows Himself in creation, in the blessings we take for granted. And yet when we finally meet with Him, we would rather tell Him all about ourselves, our lives, our problems, our needs...then we say, "By the way, I love you, God." I couldn't blame Him if He's said to me, "How can you say you love Me? You don't even care to know Me."

Kyle These Days

Homework, homework, and more homework!

Kyle seems to be adjusting really well to the homework load given him so far this term. He's been diligently dividing his homework up so that he has a fairly reasonable amount to do each day. Sunday night he used me as a guinea pig so that he could practice explaining how to do the "problem of the week" from his Math for Teaching class. He is already really good at explaining things in ways that even I can understand. The problem of the week was a really confusing complicated algebra problem (at least, it was to me), but he helped me follow along really easily by the way he explained things, and consistently pointed back and forth between the relevant parts of the problem, so as to keep the whole problem from seeming huge! Now, I'm not terrible at math, but I do need things explained thoroughly. I also get easily frustrated and overwhelmed by complicated problems. I suppose I'm probably good practice for working with the average math student then, haha. Anyway, I just thought it was really neat to watch him practice teaching a bit:) He'll be a great math teacher:) He's already really good at explaining things clearly and effectively; and as long as he can get the girls in his class to focus on the problem instead of the teacher, I'm sure he'll be great;)

Home is Where the Heart Is

They say home is where the heart is. I've always taken this to mean that wherever your heart is, that is what is truly home to you. But lately, it's sort of been switched around. It's still true. Home is where my heart is. But rather than it being, "There is where my heart is, therefore there is my home," it is "There is my home, therefore there is where my heart is." I spend nine hours a day at work; at a job that I like! Yet I find myself visiting my own blog, to look at pictures of my own apartment, as if doing so will somehow teleport me home early. Now, there is very little that is "endearing" about where we live. It is not the location, the neighborhood or the apartment itself. It what I could be doing there...it's the possibility of real homemaking...
This past weekend, I spent most of my time and energy cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, washing dishes, grocery shopping, and doing a little bit of relaxing with Kyle. It was a really great weekend:) But it made me so impatient...I am so anxious for the day that I can be a full-time housewife. I love chores when I can really pour my time and energy into them, rather than doing them hastily after work and dinner. I could spend all day doing laundry, and would be perfectly content to wash dishes for a hour straight. I can't wait until I have all day, or even a full hour straight. I never thought that chores would be relaxing...and perhaps they aren't truly relaxing, so much as they are...fulfilling, on a small scale. I can't wait until I will be able to really put my time and effort into keeping a home that Kyle will love to come home to.

How Exciting!

It's funny to notice how what I call "exciting" changes. When I was six, it was something as simple as a teddy bear (a light blue teddy bear to be precise). When I was ten, it was my birthday, Christmas and every-holiday-in-between wish, to have a horse. When I was twelve, it was the fact that a boy told me he liked me - a seventh grade boy! When I was fourteen, it was my new hairstyle...or color...whichever was new and bizarre that week. When I was sixteen, it was driving. When I was eighteen, it was graduating. When I was nineteen, it was going off to college. My definition of "exciting" seemed to either get bigger, stranger, or more expensive as I grew up. Then I got married. I suppose you all know what a newlywed budget is like:) My definition of excitement has changed once again...here is my excitement for the week:-D

We finally bought coffee, and used our coffee maker:) And...

...Kyle bought me a napkin basket!:)

This Blog Has Been Removed By Owner

Hm, I think I'll keep my stalker count at "1," lol.
Fortunately a friend stalked me, not a foe. Thanks John, lol.

Wedding Planning

Well, it looks like we've finally gotten the ball rolling a bit with the wedding plans. Invitations are on their way out, and the ideas are kind of snow-balling (in a good way). At first it was driving me nuts just to think about the wedding! I'd no idea what sort of anything I wanted. I finally got a cake idea in mind, and much of the decor kind of grew from the cake. I'm not sure if the cake idea will actually work, but at least I have some mental pictures coming now:) We're going with sort of a frosty foresty theme, since it's in the middle of winter:) Our colors are sage green and frosty blue. It's a bit of a challenge, finding bouquets that don't look too springy for a cold winter wedding. This bouquet in the picture is the best I've found so far. But we're not buying one today, so I'm keeping my options open:) Next time Kyle and I are in town, we and my parents are going to spend most of our time meeting with, and potentially reserving, some of our vendors for the wedding. Fortunately, we picked a sort of "off season" for the wedding, so we shouldn't have too much competition;) In the mean time, I'm day-dreaming like crazy (sometimes successfully), and gaining tons of resources from my friend Apryl who is a wedding coordinator:) She's very helpful! I don't feel quite so much like I'm fumbling around in the dark for vendors now, haha. Thanks Apryl! I am getting a bit more excited now that things are at least falling into place in my head:) (I'm particularly excited about the prospect of cake-tasting!;)) Anyhow, that is pretty much all the updates. We haven't had any great and daring adventures to write about, but wedding planning is adventurous enough for now;) Pray that it goes well!

Fall is Here! And so is School...

Well, this past weekend was probably our last regular visit to the Antelope Valley. During the summer we spent nearly every weekend visiting friends and family up in Lancaster. But since Kyle is starting school, and already has homework(:-p) we are guessing our visits may have to become more spaced out. :-\
We're both glad to see that fall is coming, and have seen little hints of it, even deep in Los Angeles:) We have had a couple of rainy days(!), and it has been cool enough for layers, sleeves, and sweaters (though not all at the same time yet). It probably won't get very cold, but we're glad it is getting cool enough to consider it Fall:) I've decided that it may be cool enough to make it worth my while to finish the scarf that I started knitting last year. Knitting makes it feel like perhaps the seasons will speed up a bit to keep up with me;) We've also added a couple of fall touches to our apartment, thanks to our happy little pumpkin and some leafy placemats and napkins that my mom gave us :-D. We may not be in the most "seasonal" area of the US, but we're enhancing it as much as possible;) Pumpkin Spice lattes(Starbucks)* and Pecan Prailene (sp?) lattes (Coffee Bean) help a little bit;) Hopefully soon it will be cold enough for hot cocoa and blankets;) We love winter:) Meanwhile, it is getting darker earlier, which means Kyle often gets home via bus and walking, after dark:-\ I'm beginning to think maybe God fixed our schedules this way because I talk to Him a lot more when Kyle is out after dark (*sheepish grins*). I try to busy myself in the kitchen though, rather than worrying. Hopefully this will expand my kitchen knowledge;)
This is Kyle's first full week of classes, so please be praying that it goes smoothly:) He got 'introduced' to his classes last week, but this is the week where he'll really start diving in and seeing what the semester will look like. So far he seems to like his analysis teacher, whom he has taken classes with before, and is quite interested in his C++ (programming) class. Hopefully the C++ class will feel more like an elective than a class, and make the semester feel a bit lighter:) In the mean time, I suspect I ought to go buy some mixing bowls and ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, just in case he needs some;);)

*(Disclaimer: I am not advertising for Starbucks. Coffee Bean is much better;);))