Two Years: Feb. 26, 2012

Two years ago today, it was a busy Sunday.  We went to church, we had a CYS concert that night, and Joe wanted to get together with me in between.  I had spent the past 24 hours going in rather dizzying mental circles--as soon as I convinced myself that Joe was NOT going to propose that day my poor brain (and stomach) swung around and became equally convinced that he WAS.  

We took a walk at Standley Lake--it was cold, sunny and very windy.  We didn't talk much (unusual for Joe) as we walked along the upper path and cut down towards the water, whipped into whitecaps by the wind.  When we reached the beach, which was totally deserted, Joe suddenly dropped to one knee and asked me to be his wife.  He says I looked quite shocked, but fortunately I had the presence of mind to say yes!  He gave me a beautiful diamond ring...I kept pulling my hand out of my pocket for the rest of our walk to watch it sparkle.  It was a happy day.  :)  

Photo credit to Sarah

Three Months of James!

...And she returneth to blogging after a year-long break, during which many and varied things occured.  There is a post in the works filling in the major events of 2013, but first we'll jump right into the middle of now with some pictures of the biggest happening of all: our little James Albert.  One year ago today we found out that he was going to join us, and today he's three months and ten days.  We love him.  Photo credits to Auntie Sarah.  :)

About James these days:  

Happy boy--lots of smiles and even laughs sometimes!

Has a growing repertoire of noises.  Sometimes I wonder if he coughs just because he can.

Finding his hands, learning to reach and grasp things.

Not so keen on loud noises (vacuum, even loud sneezes on occasion).  

Has a most adorable pouty face when sad or scared.

Tummy time is not his favorite.

Wearing mostly 6 month clothes, and they usually aren't any too long for him.  

Pretty wild collection of facial expressions.  

Loves picture books and stuffed animals--gets all animated looking at them.  

Chews but rarely sucks on his fingers.  Prefers the pacifier when upset.

Losing the dark hair he was born with, on top at least.  Still has it around the sides and back.  :)

Likes to be with Mommy and Daddy (we like to be with him too). 

Quick post...

Hi! I'm trying out the Blogger app for my iTouch. It's fun that I can post this way, but I think said posts will be a bit more brief--though perhaps more frequent. This particular one will be filled with various randomness...

Let's see...life since I last posted has been great! I'm starting to feel a lot more settled, now that the initial moving-in stuff and all of the Christmas busyness is over. I seem to have more time and have even been able to start practicing violin again; I really enjoy that. It's good to feel the technique coming back, and to have a bit more confidence in demonstrating for my students. Music is such a gift. (Along those lines, Joe got out his bassoon the other day and played while I made dinner. I enjoyed that a lot. Picture below.)

Earlier this month Joe and I went to Nebraska with my siblings. We had such a great and relaxing time; it was really a blessing. Since then we've both been busy with life. God has really blessed Joe with great work right now, and I'm enjoying my teaching, cooking, and keeping up with the house.

Today I've been at my family's place for most of the day, spending time with Kristin and Sarah and working on a scrapbook project. It made me think about getting pictures printed and actually do a wedding scrapbook. :)

Now all the skiers/snowboarders are back and we've had a good time--eating yummy food and playing Scrabble, or more recently just playing with the scrabble pieces. Good times. (Picture below.)

I figured out how to upload pictures to a post, but can't seem to incorporate them into a post and caption them. So you get to take the clues above and make up your own. :)

Anyway...that's a little bit of our life. We're so blessed, and quite happy as well. God is gracious to us.

[first picture: roses from Joe last month]

Fun with the Siblings

The other night we had my siblings over for games, a puzzle and snacks.  I got a few very random pictures, and some other people got some even more random pictures...enjoy at your own risk.   :D

My sisters worked on our puzzle and we finished it before they left.

Michael was enjoying the spinney function of the office chair; hence the blurriness.  :D

And then he tried to hack my FB.  I caught him before he posted.

He was also quite bemused to find his ice cream in a crock-like dish 

(we don't have a lot of bowls out--small kitchen)

The boys hanging out and eating ice cream

Dutch Blitz!  A long-time favorite for both of our families.

At this point someone else grabbed the camera and the pictures got quite entertaining.  

Here Rebecca discourses upon something--I have no idea what.

And finally, Michael gets some assistance with his scarf before leaving.  

Looks quite professional, don't you think?

That's all the pics I have for now.  Hope your new year is going well!!

Rachel

Christmastime!

Hello folks!

Hope you had a lovely Christmas!  We certainly did.  Christmas Eve with the Langemanns was quite fun, with Chinese food, animated table discussion, lots of gifts, and various games/puzzle-building/random outbursts of song afterwards as the evening progressed.  We spent Christmas morning by ourselves, took a walk at Standley Lake in the snow that afternoon, and had Christmas dinner with my family--an evening of Lasagna and Italian Christmas soup, lots of laughter, games, gifts, reading of books, and much music.  I figure that someone was playing the piano at least half the time when we weren't all doing something together, and Michael, Rebecca and I read some amazing piano trio music.

Unfortuantely I don't have pictures of Christmas, having forgot my camera both days, but I do have pictures of our Christmas tree and a few decorations.  Joe and I went up to the mountains early in December to cut a tree and we found an absolutely beautiful one.  At least we think so.  :)

 Joe on the property--saw in hand, prepared for tree-hunting.

Here we are, in our cool hats!  Joe's is from Scotland.

Looks like Joe liked this one, but it's not what we ended up with...

Joe with the tree of choice

The tree comes home!  It was exactly the right height; 

we didn't have to trim it or anything.

Finished product (sort of--we kept adding ornaments).  

We went with a red/gold theme, with some fun gifts and handmade stuff thrown in.  

I love it and am not in a hurry to take it down!

We got this ornament for our wedding from some special friends in Scotland.

My little piano...

 This one was a wedding gift from my aunt.

And a special bonus: Joe models the latest and greatest in scarf-wearing techniques.  Reports state that it's quite warm and cozy, though not exactly recommended for situations where one desires to appear normal.  :D  I love my man.

Well, Happy New Year to all of our friends and relations!  We're sorting out our affairs today, after enjoying a great skate up at Evergreen.  There's a random assortment of Mexican food in the crock-pot for dinner (logically, if ingredients more or less fit together, you should be able to just throw them in and have it work, right?  It worked last time I tried it!) and our little place is looking quite cozy in the late afternoon light.  May Jesus fill you with ever more of Himself through the new year!

Blessings,
Rachel

Everyday Life

It's a quiet day for me and I thought that I would take the chance to write here a few thoughts (updates, rambles, what have you).  I don't have anywhere to go till this evening and I am in my comfy clothes, working on the Christmas decorations.  Actually right now I'm typing a blog post and eating leftover soup, but you get the idea.

General life first...God has been good to us.  We have a lovely little place to live, are close to both our families, and in general are so blessed.  Joe has no shortage of work, and I am enjoying my part-time job as strings teacher at a small Christian school.   I like making food and Joe likes eating it (he's so easy to please--doesn't mind eating soup half the time), and we both like chocolate and ice cream and spending time together.

Tonight we are going up to Ellerslie for Michael and David's Advanced graduation.  I'm really looking forward to it (rush hour traffic notwithstanding).  It's a busy time--Sarah graduates from the Ellerslie Basic program on Sunday, and Bold Reflection has 3 performances within a week.  Joe and I are still participating in that interesting and entertaining group and we really have enjoyed it.  

My mom is an amazing thrift store shopper--she found a cute little Nativity set and a tree skirt for us. Christmas decorating our own place has been great, and I think it helps it to feel more like home.  We went to the mountains to cut a tree last Saturday and it's been so fun to decorate it and sit together by Christmas-light.  (Pictures on the tree coming once I get it fully decorated, hopefully.)

Today, when I finish the Christmas decorations, I am hoping for time to sit down and crochet and listen to Messiah.  My fingers have been itching to do some creating again, so I brought my thread crochet stuff over from my family's place yesterday and have been looking up all kinds of patterns (primarily of snowflakes).  I am looking forward to it.
  
I love Christmastime and want to make the most of it, not just let it fly by.  I have a couple of Christmas books out and it's good to take little dips into them here and there.  My favorite is a little volume of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas sermons.  This quote caught my attention the other day:


"We have selected from the Christmas story only the pleasant bits, forgetting the awesome nature of an event in which the God of the universe, its Creator and Sustainer, draws near to this little planet, and now speaks to us."

Well, I am going to get back to that Christmas decorating.  Have a lovely day, all!

Rachel

One Year Ago: epilogue

Actually, this was a year ago yesterday--one day into our relationship.  I stopped by the L's house before a job, and Joe came home for 10 minutes during lunch break to see me.  Erin was in town; she and her camera kept popping up around corners.  Hence the picture, which is a particular favorite of mine.  :)