Challenges

Sometimes life is hard and I think that is to be expected. I don't mind having a hard time hear and there, it's during the hard times I feel like I learn and grow the most. But, I think I may have jinxed myself a few months ago. Andy and I were driving one day and talking about life. I mentioned that aside from a few challenges that have been going on for several years now that I felt like life was pretty good. I should have just kept my mouth shut, I think that was the Lord's queue that I needed to experience some more trials. Boy, He sure does have a sense of humor.

I don't want to share all the details of my trials but they sure have been coming down lately. By coming down I mean, some crazy trial happens, I begin to come to terms with it in about 24 hours. 48 hours later another crazy trial begins. This has been the story of my life for about the past six weeks (medical issues, car problems, house problems, job scares, family problems and the list goes on). It's crazy! I haven't had a ton of time to process everything and I am somewhat confused as to what I am supposed to be learning from everything. This much I do know: trials help us learn and grow, we wouldn't enjoy the good times as much if we didn't experience that bad times, prayer works, peace can be found in the temple and through gospel study (scriptures, Ensign, etc.), it's important to try and keep a positive attitude, fresh air and exercise help clear the mind.

"Tough times don't last, but tough people do."

Raspberries & Cherries

If there is one addiction I am more than willing to feed, it is the addiction to fresh produce. Andy loves raspberries and Rainier cherries, if given the opportunity he will consume any and all in sight. The other day while looking in our freezer he noticed that the stash of frozen raspberries seemed to be getting low. I had heard about a nearby farm that has unbeatable u-pick prices and started looking into it-- the rumors were true $1.50 a pound for raspberries. Naturally we found ourselves at the farm picking raspberries. The weather was not very good that day, we said a lot of prayers that the weather would hold out long enough for us to get some berries. Thankfully the Lord was mindful of us and we came away with about 13 pounds of raspberries. And Andy left with a very full stomach.

After picking raspberries we decided to head down the way to another local farm to pick some Rainier cherries ($1.99 a pound). It took about 15 minutes for Andy to climb up the ladder and fill our bucket with about 7 pounds of cherries.

More berry picking will be in our future as the marionberries are now starting to come on. 

Pickin' Strawberries

Last summer we scored when we went to pick Strawberries! It was the last day of the season at this particular farm and they told us all the berries were free-- you really can't beat that price. We came home with about 40 pounds of berries. We made some jam and froze the rest of the berries. I'm not quite sure how we did it, but we managed to consume those 40 pounds of berries this past year.

Knowing that we were in need of some more strawberries, we started calling early to see how the berries were coming along-- we were hoping our timing would be perfect again this year and the berries would be free. Well, we failed at free berries this year. We are honestly lucky that we were able to even pick any this year. The weather got really hot and then it got really wet (the berries rotted in the fields) so the season lasted about 2 weeks and we weren't around during those 2 weeks. We made a lot of phone calls and found one farm that was still open. We spent about 2 hours picking and came home with about 40 pounds of berries. We feel so incredibly blessed to have some more strawberries in our freezer.

Memorial Day Weekend Getaway

Andy and I were able to sneak up to Eastern Washington for a few days over the holiday weekend. I honestly can't remember the last time we were able to make the trip, I would guess it's been about four years. Four years is a long time to not see your Nana!

We started driving Friday night after work and drove until we were too tired to keep going. We found a hotel in a small town and crashed for the night. The next morning we work up and hit the road.

We spent Saturday with my cousins Amy and Jesse and their kids-- all of the kids took an instant liking to Andy. They introduced us to Disney Ponyo, which is super cute! We went on a date that night with Amy and Jesse to a cute little Greek restaurant in Idaho. The food was really good! I think I ate most of the red pepper hummus. Mmm hummus!

Sunday we went to church with the cousins. The meetings were super good! I felt so spiritually uplifted. It was so nice to be able to go to Sunday School with Andy, our current church callings don't allow us to attend very often together.

That evening we went over to visit Nana. It was so good to see her! We stayed up way too late chatting it up.

Monday morning we went to a Memorial Day breakfast at the local park. I enjoyed stuffing my face, listening to the national anthem and veterans speak. We are truly blessed to live in this great country!

John waiting in line for some breakfast.

The temple had special hours for Memorial Day, we were able to meet up with a bunch of cousins and work on family names. It was a really neat experience, especially on Memorial Day to remember those who have gone before us.

Spokane, Washington Temple- I remember when visiting it when it was still under construction.

The afternoon was spent with Nana. We asked her what she wanted to do that day and she wanted to get some flowers for her pots outside. We went to several different nurseries to find the perfect flowers, it wasn't an easy task. Then Andy and I became Nana's hands, due to some medical conditions she doesn't have much use of her hands. It was so fun to beautify her yard and see her smile!

Me and Nana.

We ended the day with a barbecue at Jandre and Forrest's house. All of the extended family was there including my cousin Cade who recently returned home from his mission. Nothing like good food, family, and the making of memories.

S'mores in progress- Eli, Esme, Graye.

Esme and Jandre.

Graye, Logan, Forrest, Cade, and Esme.

Eli.

John.

Asher & Esme.

Jessica.

Esme and Amy.

Esme.

She sure loves s'mores.

Graye and Esme.

Esme and John.

Her future career: hair stylist.

Some of the crew.

Aunt Stacey and Aunt Renee.

More of the gang.

Party around the fire pit.

Rishel, Uncle Todd, and Andy.

I love the candidness of this photo!

Cade, Me, Eli, and Graye- I really am one of the shortest people in my family.

The next morning we said our good byes and made the looonnng drive back to Oregon. Hopefully we can make the trip again soon.

How To Win Friends & Influence People

Shortly after I graduated from BYU, I learned that the majority of majors required students to read the book, How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. For whatever reason my program did not require that I read this book. I decided that since so many students were required to read it I might as well pick up a copy and see what it was all about.

When I first opened that book, I quickly learned that they recommend reading each chapter twice before moving on to the next section--okay. I loved the first part of the book and found myself marking sections that stood out to me. I talked to Andy and my co-workers about the things I was learning. This book was great!

The excitement soon wore off and I found myself slowly drudging my way through the second half of the book. After what seems like foreveeeerrrrrr, I finally finished the book. I read it not just once, but twice. How I managed to get through it twice is beyond me.

I still find myself struggling with this book- I think this is a first for me. The first half of the book was very insightful and had all kinds of things that I felt I could relate to; however, the second half of the book was a struggle for me. I like to think that I am a sincere and genuine person and I felt like the second half of the book was more focused on how to manipulate people to get what you want and well that's just not me.

Has anyone else read this book? Did you find yourself struggling with the second half of the book?

Beehive Bike Ride

My friend Kirsten and I took these lovely ladies on a 6 mile bike ride tonight. The girls had a blast! They want to bike ride every week-- I wish!

My girls.

We found a great blue heron.

Eugene Is A Strange Place

Remember when we first moved to Eugene? We experienced a sort of culture shock. It's been nearly two years and they're are still things that catch us off guard. This was one of those things.

Bus meets van.