Goodbye Seattle....Hello Hawaii!

*Picture via Michelle on our AMAZING trip to Tahiti

Finally, the day we've been looking forward to for months is finally here....Hawaii here we come! Can't wait for the sunshine-relaxing-whale watching-wedding attending-lovely time to begin.

Aloha!

A quiet house...

Our little house is so much less exciting without Maxie to come home to...I will admit, it was quite hard saying good-bye to his cute face this morning....but thankfully I have a fantastic Auntie and Uncle who are going to watch him and give him lots of love in our absense. It just makes you realize how very much a part of your life your pets are...I love him.

The #1 Place for Fun!

For those readers in the Northwest, you have the tune in your head right now don't you?! yeah...sorry about that.

We had a friend's wedding this weekend at the Tulalip Casino a.k.a. the #1 Place for Fun and it certainly didn't disappoint...fun was definitely had by all. It was a lovely wedding and so fun to hang out with some people we don't get to see too often.

The FUN ladies in a lounge area after the wedding...in case you were wondering, no...there wasn't a large screen with Snoop Dogg or whoever that is at the actual wedding.

Caught on camera...the hands down BEST LAUGH ever! Meet Tim Kerns. He is a friend of Nicholas from his fraternity and has the most amazing, contagious, happy laugh I have ever heard. And what's even greater is he is one of those people that laugh ALL the time....it is awesome!
More laughing...see, I told you...#1 Place for Fun!

A Millonare!

(yes, I realize that is spelled incorrectly...but for any of you who have seen Slumdog Millionaire, you know what I'm talking about...)

I was extremely pleased to see Slumdog rack up so many awards at the Academy Awards tonight. Granted, I haven't seen all of the other movies nominated, but I have seen this one, and to me...it is brilliant.

I can't get this lovely little song out of my head either...


My other favorite part of the evening was, of course, the song and dance montage of musical show tunes! Very clever writing...

"Oh What a Beautiful Morning..."

"Oh what a beautiful day..."

It's true....I will take pretty much any opportunity that presents itself to bust out in show tunes...and this morning was no exception! It is such a gorgeous morning I can't help but sing the tune from "Oklahoma!"
We just got back from a walk around the neighborhood with Max and breakfast and coffee at Javasti (delicious savory crepes!)...I am loving this sunshine and cold weather, one of my absolute favorites.

"I've got a beautiful feeling....everything's going my way!"

Happy Saturday!

Ottoman...check!

Remember this post from a few weeks back? The one about some house goals? I'm happy to report one major item is now officially checked off the list...an ottoman in the living room!

We bought this a few weeks ago actually because it was on sale, but since it was backordered we had to wait to get it. Darn that non-instant gratification!

But I received a lovely message today from C&B that it had arrived and was ready to be picked up...hooray! Because our living room is pretty small with the piano in it, we don't have room really for any other seating, but this will work perfectly because it can double as a chair when guests are over...or be just as happy as a little coffee table.

Happy Heart Day!

Be mine! Aren't those chocolate lips enticing?! Ha!

We had a lovely Valentine's day this year...headed up to Oak Harbor on Saturday and celebrated with Nick's mom and sister Courtney and her fiance Chris. Whenever visiting Whidbey, it is a guarantee that lots of good food will be enjoyed and this dinner was no exception. The dinner consisted of shrimp, steak, lobster raviolli, crab, wilted spinich salad...divine!
Such fun to be celebrating for the first time as Mr. and Mrs.! Nicholas you are truly My Funny Valentine and I love you with all my heart! XOXO

Sweet good-byes...

Every morning when I leave for work, this little cutie runs to the window to say bye and watch me get in my car. Really makes me want to stay home to play!

Not sure..

If it was the Lady Gaga album...or the 1/2 protein drink I had before my run...but regardless I just got back from the most fantastic run! I love days when running is actually enjoyable and not just pure agony the entire time.

It's got me thinking...maybe I could do a Half-Marathon?...possibly? maybe? hopefully?....maybe I'll sign up for this one...and hope that someone blasts some Lady Gaga!

An afternoon of Mozart...

For our concert yesterday, the orchestra and choir performed pieces by Mr. Wolfgang himself...it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon! This one here from Vespers that we peformed was by far my favorite from the day....the choir comes in at about 2:12 if you listen and want to hear that part :)

A thought for Sunday...

My sweet mother-in-law forwarded this prayer on to me.

*St. Theresa's Prayer:*
May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

I absolutely love these words.

Home Sweet Home

Dear sweet little house,

I can hardly believe that exactly 1 year ago we moved in and you became our home! Time absolutely flys by. We have definitely gone through a lot together this first year: experiencing our first winter with basically no insulation in the attic, dinner gatherings, wedding preparations, parties, a break in, finding out what having a yard really means (WORK!), experiencing winter WITH fabulous insulation, a rat in the garage, filling an oil tank!, adding a new member to the family (Maxie), more parties...we are so completely comfortable and cozy having you as our house! Thank you for making this first year so fantastic!

Having said that...now that we are all settled and have our first year under our belts...I've got some serious goals/plans for you for Year 2. Here are my top 10 for this coming year:

1. Window coverings for the Living Room, Dining Room and our bedroom. These three rooms shall be my focus for this year. I know, I don't know how we haven't done anything about the fact that our bedroom windows are wide open to the world...

2. I will paint the bathroom a lovely terra-cotta shade. Something like either of these two pretties:

3. Do something with the big empty wall behind the piano...a piece of artwork? painting? wall art? Not sure yet...

4. Switch out the office door (regular bedroom door) for a window pane door like this guy:

5. Speaking of doors...get a new front door too! I'd like a wood one with a window/windows for peeking purposes.

6. Create more organization in the laundry area by creating a "Laundry Nook"...these pictures give me hours of inspiration!

7. FINALLY get a chair cover for the old chair in the office...it is seriously an eye-sore.

8. Purchase an ottoman/coffee table for living room....hopefully at a steal of deal price! I'm thinking rectangular now...

9. Put up hand rail in the staircase to the basement.

10. Re-finish the armoir in the office from Nick's mom....it needs some serious TLC!

So wish us luck little house...we are excited for some new projects and plans to perform on you. Hopefully you'll just keep getting better and better as each year passes.

Love,
Court and Nick

Is it bad?....

That mostly I'm just excited to watch the commercials and hear Miss Faithie sing pre-game today for the Super Bowl??

Kurtis the Stockboy and Brenda the Checkout Girl

So I know this has been going around emails chains a lot recently so many of you have probably already read it...but just in case you don't know who to cheer for tomorrow...you'll know my vote after reading this story...

At a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a newvoice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4.
Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call.

As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful.

She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love. Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name.

She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left.

He looked at her card, BRENDA.

He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.

Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home.

He looked harmless enough, and she accepted.

When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work.

She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter.
Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.

That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him.

The baby-sitter had called and canceled.

To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us." She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed.

Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children.

She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair.

He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?"

Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done.

Kurtis was not ordinary --- he had a different mindset. That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies.

When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him.
When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back.

The kids loved Kurtis.

At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children.Since then they have added two more kids. So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl?
Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona, where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and his Cardinals will be playing in the Super Bowl.

Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person. It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super BowlXXXVI. He has also been the NLF's Most Valuable Player twice and the SuperBowl's Most Valuable Player. AND THE REST OF THE STORY:Today at church our minister mentioned that when Kurt, his wife and 7children go out to eat he has one of his children pick out a familyeating at the restaurant.

Kurt then tells the wait staff he is pickingup the tab for that family's dinner annonimously.

He remembers the days he was working nights in the grocery store and feeding his family on food stamps.Makes it hard not to root for the Cardinals IN THE SUPER BOWL...doesn't it?

We like dancing...