Well. THAT Didn't Go As I Had Planned

I had been looking forward to a hot bath all day. I showered this morning, so it's not like I wasn't clean. This was all about relaxation.

I started the water, and then distracted myself with various little tasks while waiting for the tub to fill.

Just before I turned off the water, I put my hand beneath the flow to check the temperature. It was cold. I forgot that we run out of hot water quickly. Hoping my bath wasn't ruined, I got in, and quickly discovered that I wasn't about to enjoy a hot bath, or even a warm bath.

Believe it or not, I stayed in for a few minutes, trying to convince myself that it wasn't so bad. Once I stopped being disillusioned about that, I found another reason to not get out of the tub: I had forgotten to bring a towel with me into the bathroom.

I HATE being even a little bit cold, so I suffered the lukewarm water for a while longer, and then told myself that I was being ridiculous. I got out and went to the bedroom, where my towel was hanging, and made quick work of drying off and getting dressed. But I'm determined; If I can't cook myself from the outside in, I think I'll settle for inside out: I'm making myself a bowl of soup.

"Oh Lord, I pray it pleases You to grant us more hot water than we are currently receiving. You, who change the seasons, know well that winter is coming. You, who created me, know well the limits of my tolerance for non-perfect temperatures. I thank You for listening to (and answering) my humble requests. Amen. "

Dilema Dilema!

One of the MANY things I love about living in WA is that it's a rain forest here. No really, it is. They get that much precipitation. So everything green practically grows all by itself, which is good news for a girl like me who doesn't know yet how good a gardener she is.

The house that Art and I live in has many beautiful plants already growing and flourishing. The most prevalent being rhododendron bushes. They practically surround his house. And they are LARGE (which isn't exactly surprising, considering the aforementioned rain and also lack of freezing in the winter).

These plants are SO large that they cover almost all of our windows. I can hardly see out my kitchen window (it doesn't help that I'm short). I can see out our living room windows, but the view is mostly trees. I can't actually see our front yard, or the street, if I'm sitting down on the couch (which faces the windows, and is where we spend a lot of time).

So I did some research on these plants. Knowing already that they bloom in May, I tried to figure out when the best time is to trim them. Apparently, I missed my chance. I'm supposed to trim them RIGHT after they finish blooming. If I wait any longer, they will already have formed buds for next years blooms. Which they have.

But I'm afraid that if I wait to trim until next year, they will be even taller, and will overtake the front of our house completely. On the other hand, the blooms are so big and beautiful, if I trim them now, I will have to wait almost 2 years to see them bloom again. It would be a disgrace to have these big beautiful plants in my yard, knowing that they're supposed to have flowers on them, but they don't.

It's like peer pressure all over again! Practically every house on every block has rhododendron bushes. When I visited last May, I saw neon pink blooms, bright red blooms, peachy-orange blooms, and many shades of purple.

Ours look like this:


I want to have blooms, but I don't want them to look as though I don't care about my yard.

I'm so torn!!

So, Whaddya Think?

New header, new blog title and description, new blog list set-up with a few new blogs. New "About Me."

Finally! I have seriously been wanting to make some big changes to my blog for a very long time. It's not a complete blog overhaul, but I think I can be happy with this.

I would like to credit my sister Elleah and my friend Mel for giving me a few tips. It seems their advice really helped!

Sleeping Beauty

I'm 4 for 4.

Since Thursday, I've slept every night, all through the night.

The trick is actually getting up in the morning, somewhat early, so that I'm tired at night.

Yay me!

So THAT'S Bellvue

Bellvue is in Seattle. Well, it's a part of Seattle. A sub-section. It's where the rich people live. Seriously.

It also boasts are huge mall, which is where Art and myself, and Wayne and Sozan spent most of our day on Thursday.

I've never really done window shopping. I always thought it was kind of dumb, looking for clothes you love, with no intention of buying them. But I was wrong. With the exception of some random stomach cramps in the middle of the day, I had a really great time.

The four of us actually circled the entire mall. Every store, both floors. It turns out that I'm really into coats, and these days, they're not hard to find. Of course, I was less inclined to buy some coats that I found. Don't get me wrong, they were gorgeous, but I happen to think that $6000 is a little steep. Take a look; isn't it nice?

You know what would go perfectly with that coat? A $1000 scarf. And where would I put all the money I saved? In this beautiful purse, of course. Seriously, click on the link to see how much that bag is. Can you tell that I went looking for the most expensive item in that store? Or possibly the most expensive clothes in the mall? But the prices made a lot more sense when the lady at the store said, "it was on the runway." Ah yes. Some model touched for 20 seconds.

Well, enough about those insane prices. I actually found a few deals. I got this purse for $14! Apparently it had been in the store a while, so they were trying to sell it off. I actually asked the lady at the counter if the price tag was correct.

But I guess lust (for clothes) wasn't enough for the day. We indulged in gluttony as well. We ate A LOT. Lunch was Italian food (and none of us finished our meals). Dessert was before dinner, at The Cheesecake Factory, which offers an extensive menu aside from cheesecake. But their options for cheesecake are not few. I really like cheesecake. I really like that place. Again, none of us finished our desserts.

Then we drove 2 hours back home so we could go for dinner at this little-known, middle-of-nowhere restaurant, called the Black Forest Steak and Schnitzel House. Their food is amazing. Art had a full steak meal and Wayne had a full schnitzel meal, and Sozan and I had soup, and for the third time, none of us finished our meals. I wasn't hungry once that day.

So I think my prediction was correct. A little shopping and some good food did cheer me up.

Beautyrest My Foot!

Art cleaned the bathroom on Tuesday.

Then he cooked me dinner yesterday.

I love him. :)

Except when he's sleeping. Well, I love him then too, but I hate how I can't sleep.

Okay, it goes like this. So remember when I went on and on about how awful and horrible and uncomfortable our futon was? And I couldn't wait to get a real mattress? And then we got one and it is just heavenly and SOOO much better? Well, the fact that the mattress is better than the futon hasn't changed. But neither has my sleep (or lack thereof), apparently.

Seriously, Other Married Women Who Read This Blog, how long did it take YOU to get used to sleeping next to your respective husbands? Seriously! We've had our new mattress for almost two weeks, and I think there was ONE night in these past two weeks where I actually slept through the night.

Our lovely mattress was supposed to be the answer for light sleepers who spend the whole night being annoyed at their spouse, because their spouses move in their sleep and it keeps said light sleepers awake.

Thankfully, I don't really have to get up for important things like work, so I can afford to not sleep..........well, maybe not quite.

Anyway, enough of this post, I don't have time to be grumpy, because Art and I and Wayne and Sozan are spending the WHOLE day in Bellvue! (Wherever that is). By the way, anyone notice how I'm blogging at 9am?

Okay, I said I was going to end this pity party, and I am. I'm off to do a bit of shopping and, apparently, eat lots of amazing food. That ought to cheer me up.

Busy Like a Really Busy Anteater

Don't mind the anteater reference. It's an inside joke from a collage road trip to California for American Thanksgiving. Don't you love not being a part of this inside joke?

So, for once, I've actually been busy. I've been so busy that I can't even remember what I've been doing.

I was busy a week ago Monday, but I don't remember with what. **After I typed this, I realized that I blogged about Monday. Monday was the famous sushi day.**

Last Tuesday, Art and I ran all over (not literally) and once we were done that, we met with our immigration lawyer, who set us straight, and now we feel confident with our next round of paperwork. I'll share more about what he said some other time.

Last Wednesday, I hung out with Mari, Sozan, and Sozan's sister-in-law, Lydia. Basically, Lydia wanted to hang out, and we all had errands to run, so she tagged along on our errand-running. That was the day I got my Dust Buster. I also started my Beth Moore Bible study that day. We're doing 11 weeks on Daniel. I've been once, and I'm hooked. I'm really excited about the topic, and also to be a part of something at my church.

Thursday was the day of my haircut! Yes, I FINALLY got a haircut, and I love it. I have yet to take pictures and upload them onto the computer. Like I said, I've actually been kind of busy.
Also that day, I went to the Department of Licensing and picked up a little book to do some studying. Yes, I need to take a drivers test. Both written and driven. You can't just renew your license in a different country. You have to take (and pass) the test all over again. I hate it. I've been driving for seven years, I have never been in an accident, and I have never gotten a ticket of any kind. Which means I should pass with flying colors, right? I'm so nervous.

Friday......uh, Friday. Can't remember what I did that day.

Saturday was spent mostly at Joe and Mari's house. Except for when Mari and I went grocery shopping. You have no idea how exciting it was for me to go grocery shopping without Art. I got to decide which ice cream to purchase, and I used my new debit card. These things excite me. Later, we ordered pizza, and most of us watched Pride and Prejudice, because it was on tv. More boys than girls watched. Which resulted in all sorts of hilarious comments, and me asking them to be quiet a lot. I love that movie.

Sunday - we went to church, where the zipper on my jacket broke (the only jacket I have here). We had lunch at church and talked to a guy about missions, talked to a different guy about getting a mailbox at church, and talked to a young couple about going to their house on Tuesday evenings to hang out. I'm getting connected and loving it! Then we hung out at Joe and Mari's for a while, then Art and Mari and I went shopping for a new jacket (which I got in the kids section at REI - it's pink!) We had dinner at Applebees, went back to Joe and Mari's, and got home late.

It was actually a long day for me, and I was at the end of my social rope. I was ready for a day or two of not being busy, and not hanging out with people, and just being at home. Which I got to do today. It also gave me a chance to catch up on my bible study homeowork, which I was supposed to do in sections, everyday. Oops. I did it all today.

I potentially have plans tomorrow evening, and definitely Wednesday evening, and then Thursday and Friday are booked up. But I have two more WHOLE days to myself, and also? These plans I have? For later in the week? Are made in advance. That doesn't happen a lot. My new people are not plan-ahead type people. Considering how I don't like being busy, and I don't like not having a schedule, I think I've been coping pretty well.

Speaking of sleep, it's bedtime.

A Lil' Makeover

You may have noticed my new background. I must thank my lovely sister-in-law for putting it up there, she's brilliant.

I've been wanting a new look for my blog for quite some time, but I didn't really know how to go about it. It's still a work in progress, I want to do more changes yet.

But in the meantime, I hope enjoy the same ole' ramblins by me, but with a slightly new and improved look!

More Goals Completed

So I've complete a few more goals these last couple of months. The newest ones are:

Goal #7: Get a professional massage - completed on our honeymoon. Art arranged that one as a surprise to me. I heart him!

Goal #50: Get a new mattress - completed two days ago. When I wrote that one, I was still single, and I wanted a new mattress for my single bed. But when I got married, that goal was perfectly transferable, because we were sleeping on a futon until just a few days ago. Yay for our queen-sized Simmons Beautyrest!

Goal #53: Get married to my perfect match - July 19. Some pictures.

Goal #62: Try sushi and not vomit - completed yesterday. I can't believe how good it was!

Goal #85: Have a banana split - also completed on our honeymoon. (Yes, I seriously had never had a banana split before, until a couple of months ago).

Goal #86: Go to a Wal-Mart in the middle of the night - completed sometimes in August. I don't remember exactly what day, but Art and I saw a late showing of The Dark Night (which was awesome, by the way), and then went to Wal-Mart. It's surprisingly busy at 1am.

So, six goals in two months. Not bad! That brings the total to 26 (out of 112). Here's the post if you want to see the rest.

I predict that I'm going to accomplish #28 and #43 next.

Who Says Mondays Are Always Terrible?

So I woke up yesterday morning on a brand new, soft, and comfy-cozy mattress. And then I lay in it for a while, refusing to get up.

Once I was up, I showered (and I LOVE washing my hair), made myself a yummy breakfast (in other words, not just boring cereal), put on make-up (which I don't do often, so I felt extra pretty), and then we were out the door.

I blogged and had time to check my email and facebook at my bro and sis-in-law's place (from here on I will refer to them as Joe and Mari).

Then Mari and I went out to watch some of her old high school friends play tennis. I have never watched a tennis match before. It actually wasn't boring. Mari took lots of pictures. On the way down, we got some Jamba Juice. They have reeeeally good smoothies.

On our way back home, we met up with Joe and their roommate Phil, Art, our friends Wayne and Sozan, and Art's parents. We met up with them for......SUSHI. I had sushi for the first time yesterday!. Well, California rolls, but I did it! I'm really proud of myself. That's also another goal that I completed from my list (which I'll elaborate on in another post).

After sushi, we got ice cream at the mall (I got a cookie, because I heart cookies A LOT).

Then, when we got back, I went online and found a haircut that I want. So I'm going to call the place (hopefully tomorrow) to get an appt. (hopefully this week).

Pretty good day, dontcha think?

Reality vs. My Crappy Attitude

I have a confession to make: I had a pity party for myself yesterday.

People are asking me how my life is out here, and I'm glad that they care, but I don't really want to answer truthfully.

"I'm at home day after day, cleaning and organizing."
"I don't have a greencard so I can't work, so Art and I are living on his income from his shift work job that doesn't pay much more than minimum wage."
"I don't have a car, and I don't live within walking distance from anything."
"I am completely tied to Art's schedule and his social life."
"I have two friends (aside from Art's siblings)."
"I don't know anybody in my church."
"I don't have a life."

That's not really the truth, and it isn't that bad, but yesterday it felt that way. I knew I was going to experience a lot of adjustments, but I didn't know how tough it would be sometimes. How could I have known?

In church yesterday, the pastor was speaking on "Significance." He shared a story about a woman who lives in the south, and she was out on the beach despite the wind and the waves from the most recent hurricane. People were shouting to her, begging her to get out of the weather, and under some shelter. She finally did, but she was distressed. She had lost the diamond in her engagement ring, and she wanted to be out there looking for it.

Seriously. There's a hurricane going on, there's water and debris and chaos, and she's hoping to find that diamond? Seems pretty hopeless, right?

Then the pastor said, "I bet some of you feel like that sometimes. Like you are a needle, and the world is a haystack, and you feel completely lost and unnoticed. Insignificant. You feel like God doesn't know where you are, and He doesn't know what you're going through."

Then he read Psalm 139, which says that you could go to the deepest darkest places of the earth, you could fly to the other end of the universe, and God would still see you and care about you. There is no place you can go to hide from God.

I really needed to hear that. I have been feeling so insignificant lately. God told me once that He has a plan for me out here, and I feel like God's forgotten all about it. He hasn't forgotten about His plan, and He hasn't forgotten about me.

So I was really encouraged by the sermon, but I guess that wasn't enough. After church the lead worship pastor talked to me and asked me for my info so he could get me connected in the church, and I could meet people, and maybe be a part of young marrieds group that he wants to start. THEN, right after that, my friend Sozan talked to a lady about joining the women's bible study, and we'd go every Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening.

Suddenly, I'm going to be involved in my church, and I'm actually going to meet people, and I'm going to have a life!

So just when I was feeling my lowest, God's like, "Aaaaaaaand I'm going to open up some doors for you."

Oh, and yesterday Art and I got our mattress. And today I'm going to watch a tennis game with my sis-in-law.

Life really is good!

My Updates Would Be Shorter and More Frequent If We Had a Working Computer

For those of you who don't get my facebook updates, our computer at home is now broken. We got the whole internet thing fixed, but now the computer is broken. Irreparable. Some wires (which used to be fused, and have recently been kept in place only by tape) fell apart.

Apparently Art's dad (who is a computer genius, and is also very helpful and kind) is getting us a desktop. I don't care which form it comes in, as long as we can have a working computer.

Regarding Joe: his recovery is remarkable. Two days after the accident he was already acting like his old self, and now that it's been a week and one day? His face and ear are completely back to normal, the swelling is gone, and he's even been working out! He was supposed to have a doctor's appt today, but he missed it, so we still don't know if he'll have to have plastic surgery. He's quite restless, and would be back at work, except his eyes are still quite bloodshot (as in, it looks like there's blood in his eyes). It's probably not in a hotel's interest to ask their bellman to come back to work and serve guests when his eyes are still bloody. But they're getting better every day.

Art is working quite a bit (obviously), so he's a bit stressed. Plus, a couple of bellman just quit (to go back to school), and another one is trying to move away, and a third is about to leave for military training in New Jersey. If Joe doesn't get back to work soon, then it will just be Art and the new guy. Things tend to slow down drastically once summer is over, but still, the resort needs more than two bellmen.

We still haven't sent the paperwork away to adjust my status. We have a few questions about how to fill it out, and which forms to include. Plus, it costs so terribly much. We're not destitute, but with Art paying rent, bills, and groceries all by himself, we don't exactly have $1000 extra just laying around (that's the cost for this next round of paperwork). It's easy to get frustrated and stressed when we think about how long this is taking. We definitely didn't see this coming.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Art got offered a part time job as a trainer at a crossfit gym in Bellingham. Crossfit is what he's into, those are the workouts that we're doing, and he wants to own a crossfit gym someday. So this is the perfect opportunity to get his foot in the door, so to speak. Before he can accept the job, he needs to get his certification, which he's going to jump on as soon as possible. But this is a real possibility, and he's so excited about it.

And me? Well, I bought a puzzle last week, and completed it a few days. I love puzzles, and I was so happy to be able to put one together again. I am forever cleaning and organizing, and re-organizing, in effort to always keep out house tidy, and also to find smarter ways to store everything. Plus, my mom and sister (and niece) are coming to visit in October, so I want to make our house guest-friendly before then.

What else can I update on? Oh, the new bed situation. So we bought our mattress and box spring, and then we had to wait 7-10 business days for the box spring to come in. Well, it's been that long, and we just learned the box spring we purchased won't be in for another two weeks! Last night Art and I didn't get ANY sleep, and it occurred to me that we could have taken the mattress right away, since that is the most important part. I'll admit, I'm getting impatient, and I couldn't care less about a box spring. I want to sleep on a real bed!

Hence the frantic organizing. I guess I'm trying to convince myself that if I prepare the bedroom for a new bed, then we'll get a new bed in there sooner. Of course, that also means that we have to figure out what we're doing with the furniture in the guest bedroom.....

*Big sigh* So many things to figure out still. Do other brides take this long to adjust to their new homes?

P.S. I've been told where I can go to get a fabulous haircut. My sis-in-law offered to take me, because Art will probably be working, and she and I will take any excuse to hang out. :D Maybe next week?

P.P.S. Today I discovered a bottle of worcestershire sauce in our house today? What IS it? Do people actually eat that stuff? Does my HUSBAND eat that stuff? And how to does one pronounce "worcestershire"?

Family Matters

The emergency room was not where I thought I would be spending most of my night last night.

Art's brother Joe, and their friend Wayne went hiking on Tuesday. Well, hiking is a bit tame. They went mountain climbing. They decided to climb the north face of the Twin Sisters all the way to the summit.

They spent all of Tuesday and much of Wednesday summiting, and they began their descent around 6pm on Wednesday.

Joe made part of his descent much faster than planned. He slipped over a ridge and landed on packed snow four feet below. Not a terrible drop in itself, but he kept sliding and tumbling over packed snow (read: ice) and rocks for about another hundred yards (football field length). When he stopped, he was a little surprised that he wasn't dead. When Wayne reached him, he thought Joe was dead.

Apparently, head wounds bleed like crazy.

Miraculously, Joe and Wayne hiked the rest of the way down, and Joe taught Wayne how to drive stick as Wayne was bringing him to the hospital. Joe never even lost consciousness. They got to the ER around 1:30am, and Wayne called us around 2:30. When we got there, Joe was just getting back from his first round of x-rays.

At 7am, after numerous x-rays, a cat scan, some staples and a few stitches, they released Joe and we drove him home.

The extent of his injuries? A small gash on his head (thus the staples), and cut up ear (stitches), and some fractures in his cheekbones and eye socket. He didn't break one bone. He didn't even have a concussion!

His face is pretty swollen, his whole body is bruised and scraped, but he's okay! ("Okay" in the sense that he isn't dead, and he's not even in the hospital. He doesn't need meds, just a lot of rest). He's probably going to have plastic surgery in a couple of weeks for the bones in his face, but even that is pretty minor. It really just looks like he got into a fight. You would never guess that he went flying down a mountain.

Even more miraculous is his attitude. While we were sitting with him in his hospital room, he kept telling us how amazing the experience was (minus the fall), how beautiful the view was, and how we need to get his camera to look at all the incredible pictures he took. And he wasn't really concerned about his pain, he just wanted to drink some juice and eat something. I have yet to hear him complain.

He's handling it extremely well (even better than Wayne). I think Wayne was a little traumatized by the whole experience, not to mention that he is also sore and tired. I think today's agenda (for everyone) is rest, rest, and more rest. Art will have to work a lot more, and if Joe really has to get plastic surgery in two weeks, than he'll be off work for at least a month.

But really. This whole thing could have been SO much worse, but he's basically fine.

Praise God.

Wedding Pics! (finally)

We finally got our internet working again, and I've been DYING to put up our wedding pictures. So, here they are!

My hair (I love how it turned out!)




















Looks easy, doesn't it? I was actually quite uncomfortable


I love this!





The church





The kiss. That we didn't practice. I had no idea what was going to happen.


Again, I had no idea he was going to do this





My flower girl


Me and my sister


Me and my bridesmaids


Art and his groomsmen


Me and my niece Kiera


My family


Art's family