Observations and Highlights

• We just got back from celebrating my cousin's wedding. True to form for all of us VerHoeven's...it was an amazing party! It was fun to see everyone; only a few of us weren't there and boy did they miss out! It was a red-letter night, too...Becky and Laura got none other than the elusive Sean on the dance floor for something besides a slow dance! It was so much fun...and Jonathan will make a great addition to our family!

• Did you know that dogs are more than dogs?... We have three babies and I didn't intend to speak of them that way when I became their mommy; but now I look at them sleeping on the floor and just love them so much. They bug me from time to time and it sure is easier to leave them for a weekend than find childcare for actual kids...but they're my babies. I won't pretend that their life is more important than your human child's is...or that they are more important than any actual human children we may have. But until then...they are my babies!

• All things Disney are great! Whatever...don't emal me about it:-)

• My house is a mess!...Sean once said to me (and I intend to scrapbook it one of these days)... "we are educated people...why can't we keep our house cleaned?" I am telling you...it's SO frustrating. In fairness to us... there are parts of the mess that cannot be dealt with until the whole office remodel issue is finished...but I have no excuse for the breakfast nook debacle:-) Plus...now that I've seen a demonic mouse scurry across our kitchen floor I'm even more frustrated...I just wish I was also more motivated. I am slightly more motivated...but I'm too distracted by everything else...like blogs...or to-do lists.

• Yogurt and granola parfaits are amazing!

• I believe myself to be a "Producer" type of late person. I learned this in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I am constantly making to-do lists...constantly trying to press more events into less time... ugh... to-do lists are great, but what about when those lists don't get accomplished?

• I have a renewed interest in eating more healthfully...is that a word? Many things led to this revelation AGAIN:-) I read an article about women's 2-4 year sagas of getting in better shape/losing weight. It's inspiring...because they were far more out of shape than I am and some of them had far more obstacles than I do or did. Plus...I saw my aunt this weekend and she lost 45 pounds and she looks amazing! Hmmm....I wish I wish Coke was healthy! It's a sickness:-)

• I am going to school tomorrow to work on my classroom again. I am moving classrooms this year. Many of us are moving because we have 8 new classrooms being built. Some of us are moving to new rooms and some us...me...are moving into existing rooms left empty by the other movers. So...I worked two afternoons last week and still am not done! I declared to Sean that I would go to school one more day but this time leave at a more normal school day time...like leaving at 7 or 8. So I'm thinking that if I can leave the house at a decent time then I'll have several hours to finally finish putting my room back together. Then I won't worry about school stuff again until August.

• I happened upon a local photography website today and discovered that the photog is using the catchphrase of a well-known scrapbooker on her website and I'm not quite sure what to do about it...email her?...email the photog?...hmmm...more thinking will be done.

• T-minus 9 days until we leave for Creation Fest! I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back!

So, in conclusion of these highlights and observations... life is good!

This is what I think...

when finding someone to marry. Try to marry someone you laugh with! Yeah, yeah...love is great too...and I suppose thinking they're cute as a button helps, too. But I must say one of my most favorite things about our marriage is how much fun we have together. My husband is a big goofball and I'm sure he'd say the same about me. I know he'd say that...because several times a day he'll chuckle and say "you are so adorable"...which is his way of saying I make him laugh. I'm telling you there is nothing better than laughing till you can't breathe...laughing about something so silly...an inside joke that only you two think is funny...a funny thing that reminds you of a funny thing that reminds you of a funny thing...all with the love of your life!

This is a picture of Sean at the beach...it's called Sean VS. the Ocean. He was hunting for agates and that darn ocean kept getting closer and closer...at the end of the day Sean figured it was Sean (4) vs. Ocean (2). It's okay if you don't laugh...we will...by ourselves...we'll laugh until we can't breathe...with each other!

Life's A Beach

Mark used to have a poem and it went something like this..."Family reunions, aren't they great? Spending quality time with the people you hate." We are at the beach with Sean's family and I guess that poem would be a little strong in this situation. But it betrays the essence of family vacations. The older we get and the more of us there are the harder it is to do a family vacation. When it's just the two of you then you can come and go at your own pace. When it's the 12 of you figure to add on 20-40 minutes to any task during said vacation. You are either waiting for someone else or you are hoping they'll wait for you...you start to the walk on the beach you wanted but are held up by making sure everybody who wants to go goes. You stand in line or you clean extra dishes or you have sand all over the bathroom. But then there are those moments when you remember why you went on vacation altogether. You are all in the ocean at the same time laughing until you can't talk because you are trying to brave the waves. You encourage each other to go further, you laugh when you bite it in the surf, and you hold on for dear life when you think the wave is too big for you. That's what life is like with families isn't it...encouraging, laughing, and holding on for dear life in the rough parts. Because in the end the memories we will laugh and cry about aren't the super long shopping trip at Safeway or who's towel was in who's way...it will be that one time we all played in the surf at Gleneden Beach in the summer of 2007:-)