Alaska bound...catch ya on the North side!

Well the time has come. The movers show up in 5 hours to pack up our home and wrap up our life here in Washington. I am filled with so many emotions and stresses right now that its actually hard to express any one of my emotions. Have you ever felt that way? So emotional that you arent, or at least you cant focus on it? I think a good night's sleep will help. Tonight is our last night in our first home, the only home my son has known. We love our house, our town, our neighbors and our friends. It is going to be very difficult to leave them all behind. Usually I can combat the sadness of our moves with the excitement for our new home but I am finding that to be especially hard this time. There is just so much unknown. I have never been to Alaska and we don't have a house to move to and get excited about. We will be living in a hotel situation for up to 2 months while we search for our new home. While hotel living isnt always fun especially with a 2 year old, I am looking forward to the simplicity of it. No cleaning, maintenence, and endless projects to distract me. I'm looking at it as good quality time for us as a family and a great way to put what's really important into perspective. But, I also cant wait to get into a new house and start making it our home with projects that will undoubtably start filling into the pages of this blog. I am really looking forward to the spring so that our sweet Golden Retriever will finally be able to join us. He is staying with our family in Colorado until its warm enough for the airlines to allow him to travel. How crazy is that?

Anyway, so the craziness begins today and I am not certain what my internet access to this blog will be like for the next couple of weeks. I have asked six lovely ladies to help fill in for me and keep you company during this time...

I am so super excited and honored to have each and every one of these beautiful women here on FMA. I can't wait to see what they have planned for us! Meanwhile, I will still be popping in here every so often and I will be able to receive and respond to any emails and comments from my iPhone. Please keep my family and I in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this incredible journey!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a wonderful day filled with family, friends, good food, and football! Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays. I love how it refocuses us to look for positive things in our lives and to approach life with a heart of gratitude. Each year, as I am baking the pumpkin pie, simmering the cranberry sauce, or basting the turkey, my mind starts going down the list of things I am grateful for...

my Savior, my family and friends, our nation, and...

YOU!

Thank you for following me! I love my readers and I am so thankful for you and the great support you give me. I just started publicly blogging this summer, and it has been a major blessing in my life, one worth remembering on this wonderful holiday!

Starbucks' Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate...IS BACK!

It's back!!!!!

No, you are not dreaming or sleep-blogging...it's TRUE!! I saw it with my own eyes and sipped it my own lips! Starbucks has brought back the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate!

I am going to give that last sentence some time to marinate...

Today, while meeting with my gal pal for a cup of joe, my eyes caught a glimpse of something on the menu. It's odd I noticed it really, but there it was, down in the very bottom right-hand corner in humble print, "Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate". {Insert mind blowing, earth shattering, clock stopping SHRIEK!!!! here} My startled barista surely thought I was loony. I immediately ordered and then dialed my hubby to gloat, err... share the good news.

I am so glad Starbucks had a change of heart and brought my favorite drink back. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, says to Fall to me like a cup of this hot chocolate. I can deduce that this drink single-handedly makes up for at least 1/4th of the baby weight I gained in 2008. And now, post losing all said baby weight, I would do it all over again! This sweet, salty, chocolate, caramel, velvety beverage is worth every calorie.

If you are sitting here reading this and don't know first-hand what I am talking about...WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE? Seriously walk...no, RUN to your neighborhood Starbucks and beg your barista for a cup! Seriously!

I am fairly certain this is a nationwide drink now. Since I live in the Seattle area, sometimes they promo stuff in the local stores first. If you are so unlucky as to not have it on your menu, don't fret, you can turn your luck around. I used to work for Starbucks, so here's how you can still order it...

Ask for a Hot Chocolate
Have them add Toffee Nut syrup and caramel sauce.
If they don't have the fancy Fleur de Sel salt/Hawaiian turbinado sugar sprinkles, then I suggest taking it home and adding your own. Just like margaritas and body shots, it's just not the same without the salt. ;)

I'm still here!

I yi yi! Sorry I have been MIA this last week. Mid-week I decided to stop procrastinating and host a moving sale. I have been dragging my feet about getting ready for our big move to Alaska, mostly because moving is such a hassle and because I really don't want to leave our beautiful home. I loooooove our house! It's the first home we have owned and I love every detail about it. I love all the little finishing touches here and there, and I really love the location. We have all the small town country charm with the river literally in our backyard and the produce farms literally across the street. Our neighborhood is straight out of a storybook, filled with families, block parties, the most intense holiday decorators, and the best neighbors I could ever ask for. How could that get any better? Well, add in that its only 10 minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city with all its shopping and restaurants and it just gets better and better! Are you beginning to understand why I am having a hard time packing up and being proactive about the move? We are learning just how spendy it is to live in Alaska and I know we could never afford what we have here. There are so many logistics that go into moving but this move has taken that to a new level as I learn it will take 5 days aboard a ferry, that we need to bring negative degree sleeping bags in case the car heater stops working, and we need to leave room in the car for gas cans because once we get to Alaska we will still have 700 more miles to drive in the dead of winter through stretches without gas stations!  In short, I AM FREAKING OUT! I keep telling myself it will be ok. I know it will. I have faith that it will be ok, because we have been blessed with the clear understanding that we are meant to go to Alaska. Without a doubt in my mind, God wants us there. He has made that very clear every step of the way so far from how we received this assignment to solutions for the details of the move itself. I still don't know how it is all going to work logistically, but everytime I start to wig out I get a clear sign to have faith in God and to hand it all over to Him. Need an example? The other day we were on our nightly family walk when I came to the realization that we would have to leave for Alaska a whole month and half before I originally anticipated. The ferries don't run often in the winter and to get there by my husband's report date we need to leave 6 weeks early! This creates a whole slew of problems ranging from scheduling movers, to finding renters, to missing the holidays in our home. I quickly felt the stress welling up inside of me and just as I was about to burst into tears I looked down and saw this...

Isn't that incredible? It's a sign written in sidewalk chalk covering the width of the street and says "Have faith in God!" WOW! It instantly brought me peace and reminded me to stop and just give all the stress and worry to Him, and let Him make it perfect.

Last Tuesday I finally pulled myself up by my bootstraps and threw together a moving sale- materializing the fact that we are indeed moving. I had no idea how much work it is to put together a sale! Rummaging through everything, weeding out what we no longer need, cleaning it all up, organizing it, and the hardest part...putting a price on all our things, things with memories. Like our couch, the first piece of furniture my husband and I bought together. Young lovers in our first apartment, that couch was the only thing we had to our name and that was enough for us! As hard as it was, I pulled it off and it was a pretty successful sale. When all is said and done we made close to $1000! Craigslist is really a wonderful thing! Now I am left with empty spaces in our home. I will be busy this next week rearranging so that some of the rooms don't feel so lonely and taking pictures so we can list our house for rent. {sigh}

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I am still here. I have missed my blog and all you readers! I know it has only been a few days, but what can I say? I'm addicted! I cant wait to peruse my favorite blogs and see what everyone is up to, especially as people pull out all their fall decor! Fall is my favorite season and since I wont be able to decorate for Christmas this year I have decided to go all out for Fall!   Today, I started to work on transforming the front porch. Here's a sneak peak into what's to come...

Thanks for hanging in there! I promise this week will be full of fun (probably Fall themed) posts! :)

Happy Independence Day!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

 

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend! Do you remember I said I was training for my first 5K? Well, it's today. Starts at 7:30am. Wish me luck! I'm nervous! Here's to conquering fears and insecurities!

Happy Father's Day

A special thank you my husband and all the Fathers out there who repeatedly put their children and families before themselves.

Father, give me the strength

To be everything I'm called to be

Oh, Father, show me the way

To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands

To stand up when they can't

Don't want to leave them hungry for love,

Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight

And give them the best of my life

So we can call this our home

Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Lead Me by Sanctus Real

Introductions

Hawaii is my favorite place on earth, but that statement doesn’t distinguish me from the throngs of tourists or people who dream of going to Hawaii. I love Hawaii not only for the rhythm of its warm turquoise waves, swaying palm trees, baby powder sands, nor solely the intoxicating scent of its flowers, or its succulent fruits, or its golden warm weather. No, because that could describe just about any tropical place on earth. I love Hawaii for its aloha! Aloha is commonly known as a Hawaiian word of greeting, farewell, and love. It’s also known for meanings such as affection, peace, mercy, and compassion. But the true meaning of aloha and the aloha spirit, encompasses much more than that; it’s a way of life. Aloha is a way of living and treating each other with love and respect. Its deep meaning starts by teaching ourselves to love our own beings first and afterwards to spread the love to others.

I am on a personal quest to seek out joy, beauty, and serenity in each day. I am going to do this by focusing on all the things I love; my family, children, sewing, interior design, photography, organizing, gardening, food, and travel. As I discover my own creations or stumble upon those of others, I will share anything that makes me feel joyous, inspired, amazed, thankful, or peaceful. I am doing this for myself and anyone else I can reach and I am going to document it with this blog. Welcome to the treasure chest of all my favorite things!

My highest hope for this blog is that it will inspire you to find your aloha, to look for joy in every day, and scatter it!