Like the rain

It's a rainy day in Seattle imagine that! I have my vanilla latté from Starbucks and a desk full of books and paperwork waiting to be done what’s more cliché than that. The truth is even though I have a deep love for the tropical shores of Hawaii I think I will always call Seattle my home. Listening to the raindrops and gusts of wind outside is so soothing and comforting. I snapped some pictures so enjoy...

P.S. I hope you caught my Clint Black reference ; }

A house full of memories

So I debated on writing this post or not as it is personal thoughts and memories that probably would be better off kept to myself, but then I don't think many people read this and if you do you can leave whenever you want so I guess I'll share. 

On Sunday evenings I usually go and visit my grandparents with Paul. We drive all the way down to Lakewood and have dinner with them and talk for a few hours. It is something we really enjoy. I love visiting my grandparents home it is so full of memories for me. Last week while we were visiting I started to just let my mind dance over the memories that floated on by and linger in some of them. While Paul was standing in my grandparent’s kitchen and I was dishing up some dinner that was sitting next to the stove I suddenly remembered a diorama I had made in 2nd grade out of an old shoebox that had sat in that very place. I remember that day like it was yesterday, I was so excited that I got to make a diorama of a dinosaur of my choice. I chose the Plesiosaurous because I had a figurine of one and it was going to fit perfectly in my box. My grandpa and I worked hard on the box making it look just right and I was so excited to go to sleep and take it to school the next morning. I was staying at my grandparent’s house at the time.

In the middle of the night I woke up with the stomach flu, it was miserable and I remember it to this day. My grandpa held me in his arms all night long I remember he held me by the window in the upstairs bathroom and opened the screen so I could hear the birds chirping in the morning as the sun came up. He said "oh would you look at that sunrise, and oh can you hear all the birds waking up" It made me feel so much better and every time I see a sunrise I think of that moment.

I put the fork down after dishing up my dinner and I looked over at Paul standing next to my Grandpa. I was filled with love for a moment the kind of love we share with everyone who has shown it to us one way or another. As if for a second God was saying your life may be filled with trials but love will always be present. 

I am not very good at a lot of things, but I like to think that I am good at love and I feel truly blessed that I have known so much love in my life that I am able to know how to give it back. 

Below are pictures from my grandparents home...

London Grammar - Strong (Official Video)

Another one of Paul's band finds that's growing on me!

Change in the New Year!

The sun has set on 2013 and the New Year has begun. I have set many goals for myself and I am setting out to accomplish them! If there were a theme for the New Year I would say that it is CHANGE for the better. There are a lot of hard decisions, and drastic changes ahead I think for 2014 but Paul and I are ready! I was looking at photos from our honeymoon on the Oregon Coast and remembering a promise we made to ourselves that we would not live our lives according to what everyone else thinks is "right" Paul and I promised each other that we would do "GREAT" things and push ourselves to be the best we could be. We actually bought each other sand dollars as a symbol of that promise we made at the beach that day. I am so excited for our life to unfold just a little more this year and to celebrate the things it has already brought us in the past few. 

I resolve to be happy!

Well it's 2014 and I am so excited! I can now officially say I graduate this year! (I am knocking on wood as I type) So what is my New Year resolution? It’s pretty simple actually it is to "BE HAPPY" I had a great head start on this resolution as Paul and I took a mini road trip, 25 minutes to be exact, to Snoqualmie Falls which is apparently very close to our house. I loved spending time with Paul and now a day I feel like we hardly get to spend time together that isn't on a short timer. Traveling out to the falls I remembered what it's like to have a weekend and time that is not spent worrying about the future. While standing at the falls what I kept thinking about is how we can see God through nature, how can you stare at something so beautiful and powerful and think that it was by pure accident and with no intent. I guess that is a tip to being happy reflecting on your life and realizing that just like the Snoqualmie Falls it is not unintentional or accidental. 

Anyways, here is to being the happiest self I have ever been in 2014! Enjoy the photos of the falls, Paul and I were trying out our photography skills lol lol with our new camera. 

DIY Coffee Filter Wreath

I wanted to create a wreath to replace our holiday wreath so I went searching for ideas and came up with a coffee filter wreath. Things you will need for this project are:

1. 300-400 coffee filters

2. Large straw wreath (Michaels)

3. Hot glue gun

4. Ribbon of your choice

Basically all you do is crinkle the coffee filter at the bottom and glue them to the wreath. It is really easy and you can do it while watching a movie, it takes little thought. I am thinking of making one that is dipped in paint or spray-painted. Happy Crafting!