Need a referral...

Anyone know a good plumber, electrician or general contractor? If you have a name, please email it to me. Looking for people who are dependable and reasonably priced! :) Thanks mucho!

One year for JT!

Today is a celebration--JT (my brother-in-law) has been sober for one year. Check out his blog post from today--it is awesome!

http://jontowey.blogspot.com/2008/05/then-and-now.html

We gained a pound this weekend....

a Heidi Pound, that is! :) Jake and Heidi were wed on Saturday and it was wonderful! They were probably the most relaxed bride and groom I've ever seen. Getting ready for pictures was totally chill, no drama at all from them. Heidi looked radiant and beautiful. Jake looked so handsome and grown up! That was the part that struck me--in my head, Jake is always about 13 years old for some reason. On Saturday he really looked like a man. Heidi's dress had a gold tone to it and Jake's tux was dark brown--the coloring was so perfect! Pictures were really fun--the wedding party had some crazy fun people in it. The ceremony was amazing--one of the best that I've been to. The highlight was definitely the music. Jake and Heidi are very talented musicians (he rocks the guitar, she sings) so the music selections were very important and very personal. She walked down the aisle to a Sigur Ros song that started me crying right away--the effect of the music and watching Jake look at her was just too much! :) They had worship time during the ceremony as well. Their band was made up of talented friends so it had a personal feel. The musicians were incredible--one vocalist named Brooke had the most interesting sounding voice--almost sounded like she was Irish at times. I loved it. Granted, I took my shoes off for the worship time so that definitely enhanced my enjoyment. :) The rest of the ceremony was great--no shenanigans for the giving of the rings. I was surprised, given the crazy guys Jake is friends with.

Their reception was at the Minnesota History Center. Beautiful place. They had great passed appetizers--no seafood! :) Dinner was tasty. Jake stood up and gave a shout out to his musicians which I thought was a classy move. Meanwhile, Em, JT, Jay and I were getting insane mileage out of saying "That's what she said", courtesy of Michael Scott and "The Office". It was quite hilarious!

Dancing was THE BEST. We danced our pants off (if we had been wearing pants). I think we were dancing for about 2 1/2 solid hours. Josie and Em and I were fixtures out there--we only missed a few songs. We were dancing fools--that is the best thing about wedding receptions. The more uncool you look, the funnier it is! So obviously I had a lock on that. :) When I got up on Sunday morning I could barely walk! As I write this on Tuesday, I am finally able to walk close to normally. It has felt like my calves were one step away from a major cramp. I'm still slow and rather hobbled but it was totally worth it!

Jake and Heidi Louwsma (crazy!!!) are off to British Columbia for their honeymoon to go hug some trees or something. :) Congrats to them and welcome to the family Heidi!

Carrier

Anyone catch the 10 hour extravaganza of Carrier on PBS a few weeks ago? We DVRed it--filled up the DVR to 96%! Jay and I watched it last week--fabulous. The documentary is about life on the USS Nimitz. It follows the stories of sailors during their deployment, detailing both life on the ship and life at home. Some stories were heart warming, others were heart breaking. Regardless of your feelings on the military or the war, you should watch this show. I think it coming out on DVD soon, if it isn't already.

I was struck by the fact that the majority of the people defending this country are 18 or 19 years old. Some of them were very mature, others seemed surprised that they were on a ship headed to the Persian Gulf. It quickly became apparent to me that life on an aircraft carrier is what you make of it. The sailors with terrible attitudes had a terrible time. The sailors that tried to make the best of it fared much better.

The part that affected me the most was when people talked about their kids. Many of these men had missed their child's birth, birthdays, other milestones during their lives. A few men came home after this deployment to meet a child that wasn't there when they left--can you even imagine that? Crazy. Made me so thankful that I can give my kids a hug and kiss anytime I want. Also made me realize that I need to constantly adjust my attitude and try to maintain a positive outlook even when it feels impossible.

My dad was in the Navy (yes sir, Lt. Commander Louwsma!). He was an aviator and landed on aircraft carriers. It was so interesting to see a glimpse into what life was like for him as a Navy man. The aviators really put their necks on the line--and they are dependent upon those 18 and 19 year old kids to get them on and off the carrier safely. Talk about trust in the system!

Bottom line: even if you don't particularly care for the military or feel that the war is unjustified, you still have to appreciate the sacrifices that are made each day by the people who felt called to enlist.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Most folks think of Christmas as the most wonderful time of the year. I personally think it is spring in Minnesota! Yesterday was a glorious spring day, warm temps, lots of sun. I took Ethan out in the bike trailer in the afternoon. We went to the park and then rode around the neighborhood saying hello to all our friends that were outside playing. I just love that as soon as it warms up we all throw open our windows, drag our toys outside and socialize after the long winter.

We've had a new experience already this spring--little boys coming to our door to see if Ethan can play! We've been outside a lot and there are quite a few boys right here around us. Jay has been going out and playing baseball with all of them in the evening. Most of them are older (between ages 4 and 6) so they don't totally get why Ethan still pitches a fit once in a while but they still want him to come out and play. They play in the backyards of our houses which is great because we can still see him from inside the house even if they aren't in our yard. Should be a fun summer for us!

A few updates:
*The furniture is gone--many thanks to Lee Peterson for hooking me up with a trailer!
*We've been doing good with the discipline for Ethan. We've been much more consistent and have given him boundaries. He isn't too happy about it but he obeys anyway. Also, we've put our foot down (to an extent) on his eating habits and he is starting to do much better with eating more healthy foods. Okay, he had chicken nuggets for breakfast and waffles for lunch today but at least he is eating more than just Goldfish! :)