1. I am trying to read through my "read through the Bible in a year" Bible. I have tried to do this for about 4 years now and have never ever made it...maybe this year will be the year??

Anyways, I read this verse from Ecclesiastes this week:

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. 7:13 &14

It is kind of humbling for me to read that...I often struggle and have the wrong perspective when times are bad...wondering if it is a result of something I have done or just plain not understanding...but God IS the author of ALL things...and knowing that SHOULD make dealing with ALL things easier...but they are not always easier and I am not always mature and wise in how I handle the bad times and let's be honest even the good times some times...Here is to making an effort at proper perspective this go around!

2. In Church this morning the pastor was talking about how children are a gift from God...and how a man with many is blessed as if his quiver being full...I wonder often what that means for me and Jon...

3. Washington still continues to be awesome...We went on another hike not far from our house today and really enjoyed it. I love that being here has allowed Jon and I to get out together often...I love my life with Jon right now...I love the intimacy that seems to be growing between us daily...

1. I LOVE Grey's Anatomy....Some parts of the show I could do without...but last night the show was awesome...intense...OK...there I said it...

2. I am really getting geared up for painting my picket fence white...Right now it is a mixture of old grayish looking boards and new boards they put up right before we moved in...I guess the last people who lived here must have done a bang up job in order for parts of the fence to be missing?? How does THAT happen? Anyway...it will not be perfect...b/c as I look out the window at it I can even see that the tops of the boards are not even even...but alas...after the paint job it prolly won't matter that much.

3. We have a pair of bald eagles that live in the trees in front of our house. They are pretty amazing...one of them was hunting the other day about 25 yards out into the field...and it was crazy...I read up on them b/c I am the geek who does that...one of the things that I found out that I like most about them is that they mate for life...and the only way they would ever choose a new mate would be if their mate died...I love that...I look for them every single day...and every single day I get all excited like a child when I see them...I am constantly taking pictures of them...hopefully one day I will get a good shot.

4. It is May and my heater is on...never thought THAT would be OK with me...but for now I find it charming...

5. Jon and I were thinking about getting a bird or two before we moved here...now we do not have to b/c I can simply look out my window and see them all over the place...I do not know what kind they all are, except sometimes those big nasty crows, but I love that about this place...for example..just now I looked out my window and this little blue bird with an orange chest was fluttering in the window and it made me smile.

6. My husband is a rock star. He has been making a huge effort lately to show me just how much he thinks about me all the time and it is a huge blessing. Things have changed A LOT in our relationship in the past year...I really feel like he actually listens to me now...is slower to anger...and works hard to understand me and my feelings...And in turn I am seeing how I am opening up more and am able to rely upon him more. I have big trust issues with people and as a result there are a very select few that have my confidence. I have been realizing over the past few months that while I have been married to Jon for 4 years that he has not had my utmost confidence. I do not trust men at all. Which is weird since I have had a ton of guy friends in my life time...but I guess friends are different than "mates". You can play sports with guy friends, goof around with guy friends, play games with guy friends and in none of that do you have to extend your heart totally to participate in the relationship...b/c for some reason that is often the dynamic of guy friendship...but with a mate you have to hand over your heart...and let's be honest...that scares me to death...Jon has been doing a really good job lately of looking out for me and it has been nice but what is funny is that he has been doing such a good job that I am starting to get scared...Sometimes I really just do not understand myself...but this is a new chapter and I am working on being open and sharing how I feel so I guess that will just have to be a conversation for this weekend...

Some random thoughts... I am trying to get back into blogging but feel pretty rusty...and let's be honest...I am a little flighty sometimes anyways!

1. I heard on a show the other day that studies are now showing that couples that do things together are more like to stay together than those who do not...I think that is an interesting statistic...and it is nice that now they are showing why couples stay together instead of why they break up...I am finding that a lot of things in life are all about our perspective...and a lot of things in life workout because we work at them...I think there is more joy and value in something we have to work for...there is more depth to something that we have had to labor over or put effort into...We are less likely to take those things for granted...life is not about magic and rainbows but about love and commitment and faith that God is going to work all things out for His good and His glory...sometimes that is pretty and sometimes not so  much...but in the end our perspective makes a lot of difference.

2. Today I was on my hands and knees pulling weeds as Jon was mowing the yard...It seemed adult to me...kinda grown up...like we were taking care of our home...together...Then after we were done with the mowing/weeding of the back yard we moved on to the way over grown flower gardens! For the first time Jon and I live in a house, with a yard, with places for flowers! So we labored and toiled and I think that we are almost ready to plant flowers of our own...I am excited about this venture and hope that we can actually grow some instead of kill them! I think I may have managed to kill a cactus in the past...really? Who can't keep a cactus alive?

3. Taco Bell prayers...Jon and I try to pray before meals...not because we really believe God can transform Taco Bell into being a blessing for our bodies...but more out of the idea that we do not want to forget that God has provided for us and we are thankful for that. So we took a few moments on Saturday to bless our food. We were excitedly chatting about our trip to deception pass during our meal when an older gentleman approached our table. He leaned over Jon's shoulder and said "it was such a blessing to me to see young people like you thanking God over your meal." I realized at that moment that sometimes in life we are used by God when we don't even realize it...The man came back a second time and said, "it speaks well of your parents." I thought, "it speaks well of my parents?" I guess we can also be a reflection of our parents whether that be an accurate depiction of the legacy of our spiritual state or not...I used to have huge dreams about the influence I would have on people and how that would happen...leave it to God to use the simple things in life to make an impact...not my hefty dreams...

4. Having a house with more room has enabled me to unpack my trunks from my time in India for the first time since I returned home almost 5 years ago. It brought back so many memories...It seems like it was a different life back then...Sometimes I hardly can believe it was my life for 2 years...I was almost over come with tears in the process...I am still not sure the root of those emotions...maybe one day I will sit still and unpack that...

5. Tomorrow's goal is to finish up a job application...I always get stuck on the section that asks you to "describe your duties"...I am terrible at that section...absolutely terrible...and then add on the fact that I have to do it for all the jobs I have had in the past 10 years??? Geesh! I only have to do it 8 times...sigh...
O.K. Hence the end of my blogging randomness for one day...hopefully I will be back soon...