What I'm doing this weekend :

Painting.

Dear People of the Internet, I have not been abducted by aliens, taken hostage by humans, admitted to the hospital, or any other such dire thing. I've just been really...well...busy. That's a terrible reason to neglect one's blog for so long, and I really wish I had time today to tell you all about my birthday weekend and all the goings and comings since, but I'm in the middle of taking all the electrical outlet faceplates off so we can wash and then paint our cobwebby condo. I had no idea how many cobwebs one can accumulate in ten short months. Many. Many, many, many.

All this is to say that my fervent hope is to be back to regular blogging very soon. This weekend is going to be awfully interesting, what with Mike and I tackling bedroom, bathroom, living room, and dining room {ceilings + walls for all} and neither of us has ever painted before. I take that back. I once helped friends paint a bedroom wall. And we've both helped paint the exterior of a house once. But that doesn't really count. The bedroom I helped paint was empty. Here, we have to somehow cover our entire lives in plastic and dropcloths and still manage to live and eat and sleep and shower! And it's cold and rainy {so apparently, Courtney, I wasn't waiting for sunny weather!} so I'm hoping that lots of coffee and happy music and entertaining comments from my husband to keep me warm as we fling open all our windows. I'll post the before and after photos as soon as I can. Promise.

Now, where did I leave that screwdriver??

{ this weekend: 27 }

Happy Birthday to me!

I hope you all have a perfectly beautiful weekend. Sunshine and laughter and flowers and time with the people you love, that's what I wish for you.

I expect I'll be pretty busy, with the "Day of Relaxation" Mike has planned for me tomorrow and a birthday party on Sunday, but I can't resist posting this lovely image. I wish I could claim it as my own...ranunculus, I love thee!

{image from Design*Sponge}

{ i am blessed. }

last night we were going to have another couple over for dinner.

the mrs. is 8 months, three-and-a-half weeks pregnant with their first child. she had a rough day yesterday and they had to cancel.

i stopped at the farmer's market near work on my way home. they just re-opened after the winter and i was pleased as punch to find all sorts of fresh, local goodies for much less money than i would have paid in the grocery store. i was seduced by giant stalks of rhubarb and jolly pee-wee avocados, four for $1.00.

as i drove home, husband called me to suggest we invite two of my former roommates {who are still roommates themselves} for dinner instead. i had been thinking exactly the same thing. with so much good food ready to be cooked, it was a shame to waste the evening. i called, they were delighted, and we had a new plan.

husband ended up missing dinner because a client had an emergency, so it was just the three of us girls. we had a lovely time. the cinnamon-paprika lamb {i'd never made lamb before} was delicious--thanks to the recipe in real simple's april issue--and we sipped strawberry lemonade and marveled at what dried apricots and an onion can do to dress up couscous and chatted about our lives and hearts. husband got home in time for dessert, individual molten lava cakes, and we ended up having a sweet, mellow evening all around.

i love having people in our home. having a dining table, and chairs, and good lighting, makes such a difference in my ability to express hospitality and enjoy the act {which is really a kind of work} of expressing it.

{awesome recipes from real simple help, too.}

i'm so glad that i'm married to a man who enjoys being hospitable even more than i do. a man who also wants to open our home and work with me to make it a warm, inviting place of fellowship and safety and dialogue. A place where Jesus is Lord and King, loved and honored and a friend. i'm glad i'm your wife, mister mike!


this morning i was awakened at 6:34 a.m. by husband kissing me goodbye, heading to a pastoral training conference. at 7:08 a.m. i was awakened again by the sound of dishes being washed and the smell of coffee brewing. groggy and somewhat confused, i stumbled out to find pastries on the table, fresh coffee, and husband cleaning up the last of the enormous mess left from the night before. the training had been canceled. he fried bacon and eggs while i showered, and we had a sweet little saturday morning breakfast, joined by our friend sunshine who streamed through the windows with all his might.

when our tummies were nice and full, husband pulled me to the couch and we analyzed paint chips taped on the walls and narrowed down our choices by a good bit. we both laughed at the number of colors we described as "too poopy"--i've changed too many diapers and husband, well, he's a guy, and i guess that makes him an expert!


we laid on our bed, heads at the foot, me in the crook of his arm, pointing with our toes to the chips we liked or disliked. we fell asleep to the sound of michelle's blog playlist, my favorite background music. {picking paint colors is exhausting.} when we woke up, i called work and discovered that i probably won't have to work today--o happy day!

being married lovers in springtime is so much better than being engaged lovers, or dating lovers. you can do things like decorate our home together, and wake up together, and make breakfast together in your pajammers, and even laugh at poopy jokes that you would be way too cool to make until that man has promised to love you 'til death do you part. it means catnaps in the morning together to recover from breakfast he made for you, and meal planning for the two of us, and having friends over to our house, and being host and hostess together, and making all those little daily memories together, day in and day out.

yes, springtime is for lovers. i'm still one of them.

ranunculus from the plants i bought when i was looking for a new thermostat...i never thought i'd be so easily tempted in lowe's, of all places!

{ Seabrook, part II }

Words cannot do justice to the joy, beauty, laughter, and tears that made up that weekend. It was so beautiful.

Each photo is an infinitesimally tiny slice of those extraordinarily beautiful days.

Andi's darling knack for standing on chairs to get people's attention, make announcements, take photos...I think that secretly, she just likes heights...

Heading to the beach: Katie the Wild Aussie Bike-Rider, Chelle and Sadie~Rose, Fairlight on another bike, and Leslie.

I love how all the unpaved paths are covered with crushed white shells. Shiny mother-of-pearl bits, bleached white bits--breathtaking and unexpected beneath your feet. The seaside version of the Yellow Brick Road, perhaps? The White Shell Paths?

The banner Chelle made for Katie's surprise bridal shower

Quinn the Heartbreaker with his two "girlfriends," Dawna and Aminta. This little man is the strong, silent type: Mellow, sweet, laid-back, never complains, totally chill. He is so, so dear.

I think the Seabrook Beach Camp cabins, kitty-corner to our house, are the perfect place for a rustic seaside/forest honeymoon!

The morning Dawna and I spent holed up in the playroom upstairs, putting together our surprise lolly bar and happiness boxes for dinner that night. It ended up not being so much of a secret, since nearly everyone dropped in the playroom sooner or later. We talked and ate Jelly Bellies and laughed and talked some more...such fun! I miss you Dawna!

Not only is Dawna the Queen Mum, she gives grown-up girls piggyback rides! Over brush and roots and branches and mud and soggy swampy marshland and puddles. This was not your ordinary piggyback ride. I am still impressed.

Jack.

Oh, Jack. You have won my love forever, small boy. Your million-dollar smiles, your snuggles, your growls as you power-crawl across the floor, your chubby thighs spilling out of legwarmers, your itsy bitsy toothies and the toothy grin you flash at everyone. How you spunkily crawl right into the middle of a kitchen full of fast-moving people just to hang out or chase a toy or peer up at faces, till someone scoops you up and loves on you. Those huge blue eyes. Your endlessly sunny disposition. I love you, Jackers, and I always always will.

Breakfast with Jack

Naptime with Jack--he fell asleep holding my necklace {a gift from Mike that says "i'm his favorite"}

~Ocean and Beach~

I took a stroll through Seabrook one bright morning and found many a house and cottage I loved. This one especially caught my eye, with its unusual windows and the round porthole by the front door. Do I sense a family vacation in the future??

A bicycle on someone's porch

A nearby street of sunny white cottages

How great is our God: That He knits together our lives in such beautiful ways!

Note: You can read more about our weekend here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

{ Cheeries }

Recently found increasing the smileage of my days:

Teeny-tiny desserts from one of our favorite restaurants. They have a wide and delectable assortment of miniature desserts, which I would love for their tiny-ness alone--but they are scrumptious to boot!

A few weeks ago, I walked into the living room relatively late in the evening and found Mike with an entire afghan draped around his neck. Only his neck. He said his neck was cold.

He makes me laugh so often and so hard! Do you think this could be the infancy of a new trend in men's neckwear?? See, I promised you a funny picture!

Daffodils! $5 for 30 stems at Safeway!

Need I say more?

I love love lovelovelovelovelove daffodils. Always and forever.

I wish their season lasted longer.

Forgive the crappy lighting, please? I wanted to show you my countertop corner of sunshine, even if the flourescent lighting makes it look like our kitchen is in prison. It's actually a very happy place.

I've repurposed some of the jars from our lolly bar at Seabrook and filled them with Easter goodies. Left to right: Cadbury's mini chocolate eggs {it seems Mike and I both have a terrible weakness for these}, Crunch bar chocolate eggs, coconute creme-filled Hershey kisses {divine!!}, and peppermint sticks. Left over from Christmas, but they look cute in the jar. I smile every time I see these on my kitchen ledge: such sweet memories of planning and decorating and filling them with Dawna and Katie...

New love: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Basil Countertop Spray. The Mrs. Meyers products were on sale awhile back, and I've been curious about them...I won't lie, the packaging is what snagged me...and ohmygoodness, the basil-scented countertop spray is sooooooo lovely! My heart hurts a little bit every time I use it, because I love it so much but really don't want to pay that much for clean counters. This whole anecdote probably tells you more about the carnal state of my soul than what cleaning products you ought to try out next, eh?

The Mr. and I spent over an hour at the paint store yesterday, eyeing all sorts of delicious chips of color. I'm busy taping on walls and cupboard doors and imagining all sorts of color combinations, come warm-weather-time.

{ He really is my KISA }

You, Dear Husband, amaze.

I daresay that most college-age young men in America are content with choosing from a fairly limited number of options regarding their immediate future: Get a job, quite possibly of the grocery-checker/McDonald's-burger-flipper variety. Take a few college classes. A road trip, maybe. Girlfriends. Minimal effort for maximal enjoyment, you could call it.

Not so my Knight in Shining Armor.

You started an IT company while you were still in high school. After graduation, you continued working at your business full-time and took a 2/3 or full load of college credits simultaneously.

Your business grew to the point where you had to hire an employee.

You've always wanted to get married young, and during your single days you were looking for a wife, not a good time.

{That's the Space Needle, not a UFO, behind us}

You started pursuing me with the intent of marriage at the fresh-faced age of 21. You decided to try out the corporate world and spent a year working at Microsoft before deciding that you really are an entrepreneur at heart. You're now re-launching your business with a fresh perspective, sharp focus, and the kind of knowledge and experience that no classroom can provide.

You not only decided to marry me, you decided we should start out our married life as homeowners. Multiple acts of God got us in our condo just a week before our wedding.

And now, at just 23, you are hard at work running your own technology company. You are married. You are a homeowner. You lead a serve team at church.

And you have completed your associate's degree. You did it!!

It's something I cannot fully wrap my head around: working {let alone starting a business!} and taking college classes. I could barely handle community college and a very part-time job.

But for you, my Knight In Shining Armor, my KISA, it's all in a day's work.

P.S. I love you. You are my Knight in Shining Armor in every possible way.

{ Today }

Today I had a dental appointment. I chipped a tooth last week, just a little bit; a few seconds of grinding and it looks {and feels} good as new! The really exciting part is that our dentist is mere minutes from home, so by the time I was done there was no point in driving back to work for 15 minutes...so I got home early! It's a brightly sunny afternoon with a nippy breeze, and I went on a walk. We've lived here eight months {today is our eight-month wedding anniversary! O happy day!}, and I've never once gone on a walk. Well, Mike and I went on a walk that one time, but it doesn't count. It was a date. Point is, I'm a lazy bum and I finally pushed all my other priorities aside and took off on a jaunt.

This is the water feature behind the community building. You can see the golf course on the other side. We've learned that walking on the golf path isn't exactly kosher. But we're not Jewish, so it's okay for us to do it, right? The sign in front of the lagoon cracks me up:

This photo is for you, Mom. Be kind to our ducks. Especially your Duck. For the good of wildlife everywhere, but especially in the protected wetland next door to your eldest child's home, be kind to your Duck!

The golf course is on both sides of a fairly major street, so the golf path winds its way under the street. I wound my way under the street, too, and was completely delighted with how secret and hidden this tunnel seems. I think I'm going to start calling it The Rabbit Hole, as in "Alice in Wonderland." I like the book and the old cartoon--the new version looks scary.

Look what I found on the other side of The Rabbit Hole!

Immaculate streets lined by immaculate yards situated around plush mansions with views of the Puget Sound, Whidbey Island, and the Olympic mountain range.

Gaw-juss!

'Cept I didn't technically find these neighborhoods, 'cuz I know they are there--Mike and I have even taken the occasional Sunday afternoon prowl to pick out homes we like and grab fliers for houses that are for sale {the latter is always followed almost immediately by gasps and shrieks of horror, followed by a discussion of whether or not we ought to buy lottery tickets}. Sometimes I forget, in my rut of work-housework-church-etc., that we live across the street from a lot of really posh digs. They are too McMansiony and cookie-cutter for my taste, but the ones that have views of the water--oh my! I'd take one in a heartbeat, even if it's not quite my dream home.

Mmmmmm, sexy!!!

I didn't realize how cold the wind was, and even with my hood up, my ears were so cold they ached. Note to self: The world on the other side of The Rabbit Hole is still stuck in winter. Wear totally unflattering headband/earcover thingy next time you go on a walk, even if it dents your forehead semi-permanently and wreaks havoc with your curlies.

I saw lots of interesting people along the way, too: A pack of high school boys jogging. An older-ish lady wearing a shirt about marathons, running like the dickens. Two standard-issue Mormon boys in suits and wearing backpacks. Dogs of every shape and size. {I really felt rather naked without a dog. It seems that exercise or dog-walking are the only legitimate reasons to be afoot in these parts.} I even learned that we're almost smack-dab across the street from a middle school. Imagine that! It is the direction I don't normally drive, but still! I didn't know!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Nikki Nikki Timbo's life. I have some funny photos you will want to see. But I may post something else next. I have to keep us on our toes, you know.

P.S. For those of you who are confused about the whole duck thing, my Mom has called my Dad "Ducky" for as long as I can remember. So much so, that a number of people actually refer to him as Ducky, instead of Steve. Which is all fine and good until your younger cousin calls your Dad "Ducky" instead of "Uncle Steve." That is a little funny. I wonder what Dad thinks of all this?