Saturday, August 27, 2011

Harvest Time

"If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them." ~Zig Ziglar

This quote is an important reminder to ME that the hard work the Conrad is putting in now, and hopefully the work I'm doing outside of the home, will not be in vain. We are doing things now to set ourselves up for the future. Sometimes it's hard to look that far into the future when you (I) want things now.

Harvest time should be a happy time, right? Don't get me wrong, I love riding in the combine with Conrad and watching the wheat heads fight to get past the header and be separated out into kernels, leaving the straw behind in hefty rows. I can brag on my man...he is an amazing farmer. His crops are excellent, and beautiful. However, because of our teetering on the financial edge of being able to hire a full-time guy to help out, Conrad works hard. Too hard. He realizes this too, that not only the physical labor, but the investment of mental and emotional stress, cannot be a lifestyle that lasts too many more years without taking a toll. But it's only for a season, I have to remind myself (and he reminds me).

Sometimes I want to fast-forward a few years ahead to when we're able to hire out some jobs, though I know these trying times are shaping our [debt-free] future, and contributing to our growth individually and as a couple. So, today, I'm reminded of why harvest is not always "happy"...when the stress comes due to lack of help, the machines don't work right, and family jealousy runs rampant (this last one could be a whole post in itself, though I'll spare you the misery).

Lord, I know you hold our future in Your hands. Let us trust you, and may Your wisdom shape our every decision. We don't depend on other people to control our destiny...You control it. Give us patience and grace as we ride out this season.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Seattle--August 2011

My friend Andrea moved to Seattle in April to pursue her dream of working for a graphic design firm in downtown Seattle. She lives in a super cute studio apartment about 15 minutes from work. Our friend Steph and I went to visit for a long weekend recently and had a BLAST! The next two pictures were taken at Kerry Park. This is one of my fav lookouts in Seattle and is in the Queen Anne area. We went one day and it was too foggy to see downtown (reminded me of then I took Conrad to Mt.Rushmore for the first time...not impressed). On a clear day, you get a great view!



We went to The Locks in Ballard one afternoon (don't fret, we made it to happy hour on time...). The Locks consists of botanical gardens, live music on weekends during the summer, and, the reason they exist in the first place, to assist boats in the move from salt to fresh water, or vice versa. We watched the whole process and it was pretty cool.



One night, Steph and I walked a few blocks to the Space Needle. It was dusk on Sunday and it was bustling! We walked in circles in the gift shop and walked around outside a bit. Did I mention the weather was PERFECT while we were there? Not one drop of rain.


One afternoon, we went to Boehms's Candy in Issaquah. They have a chef who makes the recipes and they hand-dip all of their chocolates (only 200 chocolate-dippers are left in the USA!). We took a tour of the facility, Mr.Boehm's chalet, and the surrounding grounds. My only complaints: not enough samples on the tour, and a tour nazi that hung around behind our tour group with a scowl (someone needs to eat more chocolate!). We all bought some oh-so-good chocolate and we were happy ladies!



Though I enjoy my little town of 4,000 people and living out in the country, I also enjoyed living the "downtown Seattle" life. This included lots of walking, shopping, eating at awesome happy-hour restaurants (at least once daily...I am now a "happy hour" addict!), shopping at Pike's Place Market, eating yummy gelato and pastries (including an orange/chai cupcake from The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.), etc. The last picture in this section shows a vehicle that's preparing to shoot a VW commercial. There were lots of cops and street closures. We tried to get them to let us be extras, but they weren't interested...whatever! Glad we were on foot so we could snoop a bit, though we never saw anything too exciting.








On Saturday, we took the water taxi over to Alki Beach. It was soooo nice to be able to use public transportation to get around...we rarely drove. We walked around the beach for about 15 minutes then went and took our seats at Cactus--a restaurant with awesome decor/set-up/HH food/etc. After we got our fill of amazing Mexican food, we decided to rent a surrey to ride along the bike path at the beach. We became an instant ourist attraction. We had people laughing, staring, taking pictures, and looking longingly with jealousy as we rode around on this bicycle built for three...or so they said. It was a tight squeeze onto that seat since we're all post-adolescence! I haven't had a perma-grin or laughed so hard in a looooooong time!! This pic just shows Andrea, we have lots of other pics on Steph's camera. It was soooo much fun! The best part was when we'd go over the tiniest bump and a bell would announce our encroachment on the next victim, er, passerby:)



On our last night there, we met up with a couple of [new to Steph and me] friends for...wait for it...HH at Ruth's Chris (would never go there on my own tab if it wasn't HH!). From there we went to a little Irish pub close to the Pike's Place, and chatted a while longer, until leaving to hit up the infamous gum wall in Post Alley. This was the first time I was a contributor:) We ended our last night on the town with another ice cream/chocolate/pastry store...surprise! And I wonder why I have a quad chin in the above pic at Kerry park!!




Overall, the trip was a much-needed getaway for this girl. It was fun to hang out with awesome friends, eat amazing food, and explore Seattle. Never a dull moment!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Yes, I'm Still Alive

I haven't been a good blogger AT ALL lately.

Easy excuse=being short-staffed at work+working full-time+being worn out (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually).

Real reason=probably just being lazy...and not feeling like I have anything new to say.

Yes, I've done some fun things this summer...maybe I'll blog about those soon...

However, my emotions (which usually stir me to blog) have remained the same. The constant rollercoaster of; really wanting a baby and having faith it will happen--up! to trying to convince myself that I am just fine with my family consisting of just Conrad and me (and my cats, of course) for the rest of my life--DOWN:(

Maybe AF's arrival this a.m. indicating that we will be going on cycle 40-something is inspiring my writing? Maybe it was last night going to a "Girls' (plus their kids) Night" that turned out to be a "Adriane's the only one out of 10 women who isn't a mommy" night? Could be the half-finished project of the future baby's room that's sitting there because there's no need to rush. Who knows?

I think I will go for a ride in the combine with Conrad later to get away from housework/yardwork and my thoughts that take over when I'm in my quiet house on a whiney day like today.

I promise, my next post will be *happy*.