Impressed by my Mocha :)

The beauty of living in a rainy land is the local coffee shops who put so much into their coffee! 

How We Celebrate

Our usual, sharing an order of Chicken Fettuccine

Lemonade

Shrimp Appetizer

Lots of tasty food on a night out to celebrate His goodness! Love these dates with my hubby.

Homemaker Gone Pro

This has been me, the barrista, for a year and a half. Many espresso shots later I am moving into a new season of life. I am thrilled to pieces about the change of schedule. I was so thankful at the time to get this job when I did, the Lord's timing is good in both coming and going. Now after a short and wonderful time of being married I am "retiring" to focus more on home.

Even though it will probably be just the two of us for a while still, one of the reasons for me quiting the coffee shop was to be able to enjoy this season to the fullest, just "us" only happens once! 

 A disclaimer for my fellow younger married ladies is that I really think there is nothing wrong with working outside the home before kids, as long as you have your husbands support and encouragement. For my friends with more energy, and for those who love their jobs, and to those who are being great helpers to their husbands by working a bit...I think you guys are pretty awesome.

We are looking forward to being more flexible to: attend family gatherings, go camping, and do more outdoorsy things over the summer! Wes is excited at the thought of having me here when he arrives home from work, what a joy that is! We are also looking forward to getting to work on projects and ministries together, with me bugging him or helping.

Ask me about the adventures I have planned if you are curios, they will probably include some form of canning, biking in our beautiful Northwest, soaking up sunshine, walks with Wes, visits with grandmas, coffee with friends, meals with family, some scrapbooking (requested by Wes, boy what a hard request), a bit of sewing, and keeping our home a clean and welcoming place! 

 Come for a homemade espresso...I will probably be here smiling away.

Cheers to Woods, may you do well, I will miss my Cedar Iced Americanos with White Chocolate!

Nikon D7000

 This past weekend we got to take the ferry to San Juan Island. It was partly for fun, party for the purpose of looking at a camera that was listed on craigslist. I was glad we were able to arrange it so that I could go along after getting off work! We were thankful we made the ferry, barely made it would be more accurate! We were running down from the upper parking lot hoping we would make it. Thankfully there were a lot of other people getting on too, slowing down the ferry, so we did make it.

While on the ferry we got to enjoy the view (the itouch photo does not do it justice!). We went through some of Wes' flashcards for his last test on the roads of Ferndale. We were blessed with the ideal day, it was sunny and warm. After meeting up with the man selling the camera we got to walk around town and admirer the cute shops and the harbor. We even ordered one of our favorite things, Pad Thai, and shared it in the sun on the ferry dock.

What a nice afternoon! The "fun" of the journey was great, and we even accomplished the mission and got the camera. Wesley has been very patient with upgrading his current one. He has been eyeing this particular one but did not have any extremely important reason for putting out that kind of cash. We decided to invest though, in the one he has been looking at, with the realization that it also takes high definition video! I am excited for him to have a project that has such beautiful products. Anyone needing a wedding videographer? ;)

A photo from the new camera as we were landing.....

Jalapenos N' Pizza

     I had a craving for pizza last night, one of the girls at work ordered one and got it right there at the coffee shop! That got me really thinking. So after I got off work I did the quick "google trick" for a whole wheat pizza dough recipe. I tried this recipe for the dough and really liked it. I let it sit for about an hour while going to the Y, it doesn't say to do that, but it worked. I liked how it snuck in some wheat germ, who knew? I also pulled out some jalapenos from a jar, boy, what a kick! We dipped it in a lot more ranch than was healthy I am sure, but it was good. I was proud of the fact that mine was much healthier and cheaper than the delivered one, 15 plus a tip for delivering it, for a tiny thing...this lasted us two meals! My fun in the kitchen from yesterday. :)

The toppings:
left over spaghetti sauce
sauteed onions, red pepper, jalapenos, and garlic
a little bit of sausage that we had left from a breakfast at the fire station (my excuse for eating it and enjoying it;)
cilantro
fresh tomato
and lots of mozzarella and parmesan cheese
so good!

Almost There

Life feels full, a very good kind of full. Especially right now as I watch Wes work on wrapping us his probationary project. We are one rotation, three shifts, and eight days from his finishing the first year as a career member with the fire department. We are so thankful for the work he has been given! I tagged along to see him put up photos at one of the stations, they will look extra snazzy now! I have chicken cooking in the oven. The yummy smell of chicken and rice is helping me prepare for dinner with Wes' sister and brother-in-law. It is such a neat thing to have siblings that around here, and even cooler that they don't mind putting up with us! We got to hang out at a little local Chinese good restaurant last night with my brother and sister-in-law. Truly a fun season, so thankful for days like these.  

 The chicken recipe, a healthy flavorful one!
Chicken Marabella (Sandy Thomas's recipe)


6 chicken breasts (I used less)
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
6 giant cloves garlic
1/2 C cilantro (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can pears (with one whoop of juice :o) Sandy's words!)
1/2 C jam (black currant, black cherry, apricot, etc.)
6 bay leaves


Marinate overnight (or for the day), and bake with the sauce.  It is good to drizzle over the rice!  Bake at 350 for an hour.

Kids and Careers

     Wes got an email from one of the other "probies" at his work a few days ago wondering if he could do a short presentation at a career fair at WCC. He had been asked to do it, but it was his work day. Wes got to do it instead! I got to go along for the ride. He is so nice to let his wife tag along to things, I am glad he enjoys it because it is fun to get to see what he is doing! It really does make me feel more part of his world, hearing things from stories later is mostly what makes up for not seeing him for 24 hrs when he is at work, but whenever I can tag along I think it is awesome! He did great getting down to the high school kids level, and encouraging them to work hard towards a goal. It is so interesting to think about where these kids will be down the road, who knows, Wes could have planted some advice that will help them practically later on. I thought he looked pretty sweet in the teachers spot, and no...I didn't bring my camera and no one was watching when I took this. It was just a quick snap with his itouch, otherwise he might have second thoughts about bringing me along next time. *grin*