{ Snow Day }

March came in like a lion... A roaring lion.

















Enjoying the beautiful snow!
















My wonderful husband battling the elements












Our car is under there somewhere












Snow Bunnies













Pulling snow off of our roof


Happy March 1st

{ Treasure Hunt }

The very best kind of adventures are ones that I did not purposely set out on, but then find myself up to my elbows in. This was my evening. Down in our basement, where the walls are the original foundation, circa 1875. They are the kind of walls that look a bit like castle walls, according to one of the little boys who came to our wedding rehearsal dinner, hosted in our backyard, who said, "Mr. Tim must be a king he even has a dungeon!" Down there we have a storage room. I ventured in there this evening to look for picture frames for the stairwell picture-hanging project that I am officially undertaking, and told myself that I ought to be scared of the dark, of spiders, of who knew what lurking in the shadows. Fact is, I love old dusty rooms with boxes lying about full of who knows what. After finding some really great frames and going into a bit of creative overload scheming up several other projects, I began looking through the various totes and boxes scattered around. I unearthed some photo books that my husband had compiled years back when he traveled through Germany, Italy and Switzerland. He had sent them off in hopes of selling them to jigsaw puzzle makers. They were sent back, unfortunately, as those publishers had "thousands of pictures already". I was impressed, nevertheless. I found another rug he purchased in Afghanistan. My mind is busy now finding a room for it. I surfaced a little while later, my fingers dusty, my imagination satisfied for the present, and put my Tiny Bear to bed. Now I am reading blogs and thinking about the visit I had with a friend this morning, when we talked, among other things about our literary interests and aspirations. Jane Austen came up. No surprise, when talking about great literature. It wasn't until just now, though, that I made a profound discovery. I feel a little silly to admit it, but I honestly had to idea that Jane Austen wrote several other works besides her well-known novels. Speaking of treasure hunts and treasures found. I've stumbled upon one! If you look for me in the next couple of days, you'll find me with dusty fingers, somewhere between the 18th and 19th centuries.

{ 27... With a Year of Experience }

I am a year older. It happens every day, all year long, it just doesn't sink in until the day I wake up and have to accept I have a different number. The older I get, life gets better though, so I really don't mind. This year I did decide I like the sound of 27. I think I want to be forever 27. Tim decided I could be 27 with a year of experience. I like that.

My birthday was perfectly happy. My husband planned a fun day and we were so blessed with beautiful weather. The first blessing was just that Tim had the day off for President's Day. It's kind of cool when the country declares a national holiday for your birthday... okay, I know it's not for me, but it worked out perfectly this year!

The best thing about the day was that we were busy and accomplished a lot, but we were able to savor each part. There was no rushing. I think that's the recipe for a perfect day.

We headed out to the mall around noon and we all shopped for my gift together. It was perfect... a new outfit and the shopping experience. Much to my husband's relief, I found what I wanted in the first store.

After we left the mall, we headed out for a drive. I didn't know the destination, but Tim had been doing research on the computer in the morning and smuggling things out to the car. We headed out toward the mountains, over the beautiful snow-covered farm fields, lit up by crystal- clear blue skies and bright sunlight.



We arrived here: Cordelia Lutheran Church. With a name like that, I immediately thought of "Anne of Green Gables" of course!



Now, I have to say that this was like a dream come true for me. Anyone who knows me well will tell you that nothing thrills me more than finding a little piece of history and getting to step into it. When we came up to this little church, Tim was busy photographing. I started exploring.

I walked all around it. I tried the windows to see if the shudders would open so I could get a look inside. They wouldn't budge, but then on the far side, one shudder was open and I got a wonderful peak inside. Tiny little benches and even a pump organ.



Tim has always wanted a pump organ. I just roll my eyes. He had told me that these little congregations that came across the country to settle the west brought organs with them, not pianos, because they didn't need to be tuned. Well, when I saw this one in the window I knew he would be excited. He was, which prompted him to try the door, novel idea, but I was afraid to hope... and found it open! I was thrilled down to my toes. It literally felt like walking into a page of history, like we had to whisper or we would interrupt the service.


There was a guest book inside and an invitation to play the pump organ. I also found a pamphlet that explained the history of this lovely little church.

"Cordelia Lutheran is the oldest Lutheran building in the state, established in 1883. The church was home to the first Swedish congregation in Idaho, organized in 1880 by Rev. Peter Carlson... The cost of the materials used in construction was $72.83.
Lumber: $31.26
Wooden flooring and ceiling: $5.45
Wood for the pews and trim: $4.50
Paint: $16.00
Broom: $0.62
Nails: $1.00

{In 1995, the church was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.}

As I posted recently, remembering back to our "January Picnic", this kind of exploring is becoming a habit with us. True to form, my husband had smuggled our picnic basket along and surprised me with it. It was too cold to eat in the church, however, so we enjoyed our snacks in the warmth of the Jeep, looking on at this beautiful little spot. I was convinced all over again that God sure blessed me with the perfect man for me!



We drove a little further on and found the old school house that served the community of 1887 until the 1940's. These are all that remain of the once-thriving community.



Our evening was punctuated by dinner at the restaurant Tim took me to on our first date, complete with Oliver watched by friends for a quiet dinner "just the two of us".

It is a birthday I will remember forever, with experiences I will always treasure.

{ Valentine's Day }

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you experience love in a special way today.

{ Isn't this an fun little Valentine dress? I can't remember where I found it, but I love it }

I have felt loved in many ways this week. This difficult week. I doubt now that I had the flu, but rather an infection, full-blown mastitis. At 1:30 am on FridayI woke up with another really bad case. After trying various remedies, my wonderful husband went out at 3 am to buy a pump at Walmart. It was a sleepless and very difficult night. For the rest of the day, I knew I had to STAY IN BED. So I did. I did nothing. My mom came up for the day and spent the night. Both my husband and my parents helped me through. Thank you, thank you all SO much.

Since Friday I have continued to do virtually nothing. I am cautiously optimistic that I am on the mend now.

Saturday I missed the bridal shower I had been helping to plan, which made me sad, but couldn't be helped. Instead, we spent a wonderful day as a family. We read a lot, had some great talks, and my husband made this lovely cup of tea. I watched a chick flick in the evening.


My parents came up again on Sunday afternoon to watch Oliver so Tim and I could go out. Still didn't feel well, but it was nice to go.

{ Going out yesterday with the man who has stolen my heart completely away.

So excited to be able to wear the dress I wore in Nikki's wedding again! }

Although circumstances have been unfavorable to make this the best Valentine's Day ever, from an outside view, I might say that it is the best, because love abounds, and that is all that matters.

{ Here is a little look at the Valentine I made for my sister. I found the idea in the February issue of this magazine. }

{ Detour }

It shouldn't amaze me that life can be going along, nice and predictable, and then all of a sudden it takes a detour. That's been the definition of my life in the last week.

My "Someday Friday" plan is still on hold. I'm going explore that little town at a later date. Instead, I got out the camera and took some b&w pictures of you-know-who.

My husband came home for lunch on Friday, and after eating was hit with violent stomach pain. Not food poisoning since I ate the same thing, but we think an ulcer. He's better now, but boy was that scary.

Saturday, I got a stye. Probably one of the most painful things ever. From now on I'm replacing my make-up regularly!

Sunday we had a very fun Super Bowl party here. It was a lot of fun. I didn't even stress about it. A first. The baked potato bar was a major hit! Here is Oliver with Kevin, his surrogate uncle.





Monday I went to the dentist, it wasn't bad. Just a cleaning appointment. However, my eye was excruciatingly painful, and I'd woken up with mastitis... again. By the time I got home from the dentist I was crying. I finally went in to the doctor and got antibiotics and it is feeling almost all better now. Whew! By the evening the mastitis had also gone away.

But wait, there's more. I came down with some sort of flu bug last night. I had a fever, aches and chills, but no nausea. I am counting my blessings and feeling a lot better today.

A little bit too much adventure for one week, I'd say! We've had some good excitement too though. Oliver laughed out loud for the first time on Sunday. Now he is working really hard to roll over. I hope your week has been good.

{ Someday Friday }

I wish I could say this unique idea is original to me, but it's something I found over here, a friend of a friend. I enjoy her little spot. I hope to be even a little creative like her when my children {someday} are little world explorers.

The idea is "Someday Friday", a day with a "someday I'll do _____", checked off.

I'm eager to try this. I am plotting so far. Today I need to steal my husband away from work a bit early. See if I can. If I do, I hope my first some-day turns out to be a to-day.

Someday I want to ...

~begin learning to use my husband's intimidating but amazing camera
~surprise my husband with a baked goody at work
~create a book list to use in the future education of our children
~try a new candy bar
~host a "crafternoon"
~visit a new friend
~pick out paint for my kitchen
~hang pictures in my stairwell

.... to name a few

{ Snapshot }

This week has been delightfully productive and busy. There have been happy times, sad times, tired times, all the usual day-to-day. Would you like a little tour? Come with me.

{ Breakfast in my sunny kitchen }

A week ago Sunday Oliver and I made it to church for the first time in 3 weeks. It was so good to see our congregation again, to sing, and be with God together. As a family we spent the rest of the day quietly at home. Wonderful! For lunch I made French Onion Soup from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. One thing I have decided about french food is that is the quality of ingredients and the method of cooking more than anything. There really aren't that many ingredients, I will just need a lot of time to "master" it! The soup was really yummy, though I will try it again with homemade beef stock and I'm sure we'll be happier with the result.

The evening was spent watching Cougar basketball on tv. It was no small deal, let me assure you. "We" played our arch rivals and won. There was lots of cheering, Oliver watching his daddy wide eyed. I just laughed, "He'll get used to it"! From a friend who was at the game and has been going to the coliseum for over 20 years, he said it was the loudest he had ever heard it it there. It was a fun family time. For all of you who don't live on this side of the state, I'm sorry if I've bored you!

In other news, spring is springing. My snowdrops are coming up and yesterday I saw robins. I don't know if robins actually migrate from here, but I haven't seen any for a long time. This isn't the best photo (I took it through the window) but I had to get it, I was so excited to see them.


There are a few other things making my life a little cheerier. My new calendar



and this card from my sister yesterday. If I was able to choose any fashion for myself, this would be it.



Yesterday I successfully faced a fear. I am a little paranoid about taking clothes to consign. It is probably because I have been with my mom when she experienced really rude shop owners. Well, I ventured about yesterday to two stores here in town and both proprietors were very nice and they took everything! I'm excited about the prospect of selling some items.

Earlier today I took Oliver to story time, "Books and Babies". He enjoyed it and my body is sore! How out of shape must I be to come home sore from story time! All the getting up and down and squatting during "Ring Around the Rosy" turned my legs to jelly. Hurry spring, so I can get out and exercise again.

There is a little look at my life lately. I hope your week is going well.