We spent Saturday afternoon carving pumpkins with Mark, Barb and Dan.

From left: Annie's, Dan's, Barb's, Paul's, Mark's











Hard at work: mine took about 15 minutes, the rest worked on theirs for hours.














Paul's pumpkin (yeah, he's an overachiever)













Dan's pumpkin. I like the teeth.

Friday Favorites: Netflix

I will never go to the video store again. I love netflix. I used to have a strict one movie a month rule, but I found that if I chose the 5.99 plan on netflix, I can get two movies a month and don't even have to spend gas money driving to the movie rental place. Once I paid about 4.50 for the movie and spent gas to get there and back to drop it off, the difference is only a few cents, plus, I get two movies instead of one, and they have a better selection.

This is for my brother Dan, and all Christopher Walkin fans everywhere!

Here it is!!!! It may be unintelligable to you, but to me it looks like baby is just kickin' back, relaxing. Head is on the right, feet are on the left, side view. Paul can "tell" from this pic that baby is going to be chubby, but I think he's basing that more on the fact that both our families breed chubby babies. This is a pic of a pic, because we don't have a scanner, so it's not as good as it could be. Enjoy!

Ultrasounds, Sugar, and Bellybuttons

The ultrasound went really well. Paul's prediction, "He's gonna be a chubby kid - I can tell." I was actually farther along than I thought I was, but only by about four days. Everything showed that me and my baby are very healthy. Until I see my doctor though, I can't excerise. And I really enjoy that, so it's a bummer. I am going to put pictures on tomorrow, but right now my computer is acting strange. The baby was moving around ALOT! I asked the technician if the baby had hiccups, because that's exactly what it looked like. She said no, they just move like that sometimes, sporatically. I was surprised that I still can't feel the baby moving, it was seriously moving THAT MUCH. I'll get to see him/her again in about 6 weeks for my 20 week ultrasound, when we will find out the sex. I went right out to JoAnns and bought a few scrapbooking things so I can scrapbook the pictures. Seeing the baby made things quite a bit more real to me, and I am having urges to PREPARE, even though I know that birth is a long way off.

This is totally unrelated, today as I was driving home I heard a commercial for ......... sugar. Yes, sugar. What make sugar producers feel that they need to promote thier product? I would hope that they could gage by America's rapidly expanding waistline just how popular and addictive thier product is. Now don't get me wrong, I love sugar (my current craving being SweetTarts, yum!). I eat plenty of it, nothing artificial here. But come on, is sugar really in danger of extinction?

Another funny thing from my classroom. First of all I need to say that I am really enjoying sharing this pregnancy experience with my kindergarteners. As soon as I let the staff know I ended up telling my kids because, well, news travels fast in a small valley. So they've known for a few weeks.

Kindergartener: "you know Mrs. Robinson...

slight rabbit trail here. You have no idea the names that I will respond to... sometimes they just call me Robinson, or Robin, not out of disrespect but because they are trying to tell me something and the words just won't come fast enough. Also Wobinson, Teacher, Hey You, Mom, Grandma, and names of other teachers in the building, etc. anyway....

"you know, Mrs. Robinson, when you eat your baby eats." (this was right before lunchtime)
"Yes, I know, that's good thinking."
(the other students pondered this for a bit - you could see the wheels turning)
Another Kindergartener: "You mean it goes down your throat and then the baby opens up it's mouth and then he swallows it, right?"
ME: Not exactly.

Thus began a discussion about umbilical cords and bellybuttons, and before it got too graphic (and it CAN in a kindergarten classroom) it was time to go to lunch. Saved!

Because of some concerns I have with my pregnancy (really minor concerns, no cause for alarm) I get to have an ultrasound tomorrow! Please pray that my concerns will turn out to be nothing! The bright side is I GET TO SEE MY BABY! So I am really excited, but nervous too.

We had fun at the pumpkin patch on Saturday. I just wanted to let you know a little bit about it in case you wanted to go. I think they are only open on the weekends. They had amazing apple fritters, which I got the recipe for and will post on Food Love soon.


"Lattin's Country Cider Mill & Farm9402 Rich Road SEOlympiaPhone: (360) 491-7328A small, family owned farm and country market. A producer of wonderful, award winning ciders, freezer jams, frozen homemade pies, and syrups. Carolyn Lattin and her daughters, Debbie and Sherrie, has been perfecting all natural products since 1976. The Lattins' products are all home-made and remind us of a simpler time when our moms and grandmothers had time to freeze and bake. They also have strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry ciders, as well as fresh fruits and pies. The farm is also open for wandering around and feeding the animals, and children are welcome. Lattin's fresh cider won the 1998 National Cider Championships, chosen from 28 entries from 14 states. Their cider is pressed weekly, and delivered to accounts throughout the northwest. None of the cider is pasteurized; no preservatives or sugars are added.Lattin's products available online at Columbia Steppe"

from applejournal

The Pumpkin Patch

FYI:

An article on the emerging church in Portland

Sunday

Our waffle iron caught on fire this morning....luckily, we had already made enough waffles to satisfy our hunger. Yeah, of all the things to catch on fire. I am glad that I get to buy a new one. I could have pretty much lived on waffles when I was single, so it brings back good memories.

When we opened to barn door to let the dogs out, they took one look at the weather and decided they could "hold it".... Paul and I had a similar reaction to the idea of going to church this morning, we took one look at the weather, one look at our nice, warm house, and opted for the latter. We are toying with the idea of going for coffee and to the library later, but we'll see. It isn't often that my husband wants to take a "non-productive day off" so I take advantage and encourage it when he does. He works so hard.

From Babycenter:

"How your baby's growing: Your belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that you're expecting, but your baby is still tiny. In fact, he's only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably."

I finished The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and loved it. I love it when you finsh a book you love and then find out it's a series! I have the others on order from the library. The series follows a lady detective in Botswana.

just can't help myself: another Friday favorites

Watermark: A Grateful People

Mark and Barb got this for me for my birthday and I haven't been able to stop listening. Christy Nockels is ending her singing career with this album because she wants to "give her kids the best of herself". I admire that.

Friday Favorites: My Starbucks Travel Mug

About 7 years ago (that's right, 7!) I bought a travel mug at Starbucks. Little did I know how it would change my life. It befriended me in the store. It was marked down and just fit so nicely in my hand. It was stainless steal. I started falling in love.
Let me tell you a little about my travel mug:

-it fits perfectly in any car cup holder
-it keeps beverages hot until at least noon
-on cold mornings, I can leave it in my car, go work out in the gym, come back to the car and it will STILL be hot
-I have carried it through Multnomah, my master's program, to church, to substitute teach in scary places and my first job
-the mug has actually become a point of contention in our marriage. Specifically, Paul wants the mug (think Lord of the Rings "we wants it" "we needs it"). He even went so far as to tell me I had actually given it to him, but I don't remember this. Needless to say, the mug and I have a very special relationship. The unspoken rule is, whoever has to get up first, gets the mug. Most of the time that's me. So I'm OK with that for now. I can share, I'm a kindergarten teacher.
-I have tried to find Paul his own, equally special mug, but each one that I buy is lacking something, some quality, that my special mug has. It doesn't fit in the car, it leaks, it doesn't keep things hot enough, you get the picture.
-I actually think that there is something divine about my mug. I think it is a gift from God. It comforts me. It is one of the small blessings in my life. I think God DOES bless you with small, comforting blessings. It's OK to name them; to say that you enjoy this or that material thing.
- Our mug is certainly not the most expensive one we've ever had. That's not the point. It's because it's so perfect. It's because it's been with me through lots and lots of hard work. It's because my husband wants it so much.
-well, that's my friday favorites, if you looked at the time that I posted this blog, you would think, "Isn't Annie supposed to be teaching?". It's one of those state professional days, and yes, I do have a lot of work to do, but I am not neglecting my students. Have a great weekend!

I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures from Alaska. This is Donna Erickson, we stayed with her while we were in Unalakleet. She is showing us her homemade parka.

Paul and Dan climbed the (once) mighty (and still active) Mt. St. Helens volcano on Saturday. The weather was good and they both live for the good views. I climbed this mountain once and then swore I'd never do it again. The rules say you have to bring a hard hat in case the mountain spews on you. Good job guys!

At the "top", the rim of the mountain. Dan is somewhere out there, I'm not sure which one.

Looking at the new dome with Mt. Ranier in the background.

Meet Baby Robinson (12 weeks)

Here's my belly picture. Within the past few weeks it's grown a lot. Actually, this pic makes it look a little bigger than it actually is. Or maybe it just looks bigger to me because I haven't seen myself at this angle. Sometime within the next couple of weeks I should be able to feel the baby move so I'm really excited about that. On Saturday I went to Old Navy and bought some maternity jeans (10$ off right now if you are in need of some) and some maternity sweatpants. And I've worn one of the two nonstop since then. Can I just say that I haven't shopped at Old Navy since I was about 20? But it really does rock my world right now. So much more comfy. My Paul is so great at taking pics. The baby is his new excuse for getting a digital SLR and I think it's a pretty good one. We will be making the investment before too long.

Check out this hilarious blog. It's a comic strip about a kindergartener who blogs via voice recognition. I love it because I work with five year olds all day. Believe me though, reality is stranger (and funnier) than fiction.

www.beingfive.blogspot.com

Friday Favorites:

I'm going to copy some other bloggers that I admire and start Friday Favorites. My current favorite thing is the Bella Band. I't my favorite because my jeans won't button anymore. This allows you to place a rubberband through your button hole and attach it to the button, you put the band over your button and zipper to hide and smooth out. In that wierd stage when maternity clothes are waaay to big and real clothes are uncomfortable, this is the BEST! I got mine on craigslist. If you pay full price it's 26$, but even at that I think it's worth it.

Yesterday Paul said, "It's definately time to take a belly picture."

Coming soon!

Now Reading: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

I have enjoyed the first few chapters of this book, set in Botswana. That's all I can really say so far.

Walking to the lunchroom with my class I passed a male teacher. He was wearing black. We exchanged hellos.

Kindergartener: "Is he a bodyguard?"

I'm back!

Sorry for the lack of blogs, another one of those blogging dry spells. Open house was a success! I actually love this part. Schmoozing with parents! I used to hate it and I've come a long way. What have we been up to lately? Paul started back to school, I had an all day math class on Saturday (glad that's over), we had a potluck on Sunday after church with some visitors from Alaska, had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, open house. We've been pretty busy. I've been pretty tired (going to sleep around 8:30 or 9) but everyone promises that in my next trimester (one week away) I will have more energy. The thing that's surprised me the most is how emotional I've been. Not normally a cryer. Now I cry about little things (like extreme home makeover). Like I read on one pregnant lady's blog, "we definately shouldn't be eligable for jury duty". And other things too. Paul's not so sure I should even be driving (judgement impaired, you know!). This book has been one of my favorites (my mom loaned it to us), especially for Paul, because he can feel left out sometimes, but he really loves the science part of it, and hearing things like our baby is growing fingernails. He's hooked on it. It's really more of a coffee table book, with real pictures inside the womb. It's probably really expensive.
I had better get my you know what movin' so I can get to the gym and watch Oprah. It'll probably make me cry.

This article claims three - D fetal scans are "dangerously misleading". I like what one commenter said, "These pictures show that babies in the womb are just that - and it's painfully obvious that abortion is wrong."

We are pregnant.
"Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of life."- Maureen Hawkins

This picture is our baby right now. It is growing fingernails and toenails. It can kick and swallow.



This is a picture of what our baby's feet would look like. More info coming soon. I heard the baby's little heartbeat at the doctor's office this morning!

Paul and I want to get away for a nice, (somewhat cheap) weekend. I mean, we are willing to go to a hotel, but not an expensive one. Do you have any advice for us? Leave me a comment.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches


ME: What's your favorite kind of sandwich?
Student: Peanut butter and jelly...(pause)...and do you know where jelly comes from?
ME: Where?
Student: From a jelly fish. When you tickle it, it makes jelly...(pause)...and the jelly comes out of it's tentacles.
ME: Wow, I didn't know that.
Student: And do you know where peanut butter comes from?
ME: No, where?
Student: Ummm, peanuts.

I thought you might enjoy this picture. This is a project that Paul has been working on all summer. He is interning with a housing development and this is thier first "model" home. The one they sell to people. He has two quarters left until he is an official "construction manager". I'm so proud of him.

Still Hippy
"Teacher, you sound really sick."

"That's because I am."

"Maybe you should go to the doctor."

Yeah, I finally took their advice and went to the doctor yesterday. I am taking my first antibiotics in three years. I went naturopath a while ago and it has served me very well, but I am veering off that path for just a little while. Don't worry though, I am just as hippy as I used to be.

Finally feeling better....

On Thursday I came down with a pretty nasty virus. I spent most of Friday and Saturday flat on my back on the couch or bed. I AM going to work tomorrow, mostly because it's getting pretty boring around here. Yesterday Paul took me to the movie store and the Super Walmart to get some Top Ramen (the only thing that sounds good) and soft tissues. I am going to watch Akelah and the Bee today. By the way, I had a bit of a "thirtysomething" moment yesterday when I was in the video store (I know I'm only 29 but it's close enough). I was standing in a line to rent my video and it was quite long so I had alot of time to space out and watch those TV's that they always have previewing movies that they want you to rent. But this time it wasn't a preview, it was a Prince video, you know, the artist "formerly known as prince" that was extremely popular in the 80's and 90's. There were two teenage boys behind me.

"That guy looks freaky."
"Yeah, who IS that?"

Yeah, they didn't know who Prince was. Now let me tell you, I have never owned a Prince album AND I actually do think he is a bit scary AND we never even had MTV growing up (thank goodness), but, I COULD pick him out of a lineup. These kids had no idea. I am no longer YOUNG. Don't get me wrong, I am not sad about that, it just came as kind of a blow.
The mountain of tissues by the computer is getting high. I finally feel like maybe, just maybe, I could do a little laundry today. Paul is at church now, I'm glad because I think he was getting a little cabin fever with me not being able to go anywhere. He cleaned the whole house yesterday. What a guy!
By the way, this is my favorite product for fighting colds. You probably all have heard of it or have some at home. It's wonderful! It's called Emergen-C. Better than Airborne, I think.

post #602:

I noticed some of my students digging a big hole in the pea gravel under the big toy in the playground.

ME: "What are you doing guys?"
Them: (nonchalantly) "We're digging to find the devil."

I also have this little girl who goes around telling all the other kids that Santa isn't real. You can imagine the conundrum this puts me in. It's a very emotional issue for a kindergartener. She even uses logic, "Well, have you ever SEEN him riding around in the sky?" The other student thinks for a while, "Hmmmm, no."

Yes, and today was a tough day. We had a throwup, a painting mishap, and my nerves are a bit fried. About 40 Clorox Wipes, multiple hand washings and a fruit salad later I'm doing much better. You might think this is an easy job. Honey it's not.

This is a farming community. I'm reminded of that every day. You city folk may not know this, but to a boy in the country, the world is his bathroom. And....sometimes when they come to school they forget, you know, that the playground is NOT his bathroom. And I'm sure after my gentle reminder, he won't forget again.

Permission to obsess please?

OK, I am ready to confess that I am obsessed with Alaska. I really can't put my finger on exactly WHY either. Most of a half hour car ride to Olympia yesterday was devoted to trying to convince Paul to move there. I got on craigslist this morning to look at real estate in Alaska (not as cheap as one might expect). I don't know what God has in store for us. I continue to teach this year with considerably less fervor than in years past (for many reasons). I have books checked out from the library on Alaska, and I am currently finishing this one, about life in small town Alaska. I am also in the middle of another one, Looking for Alaska, by Peter Jenkins (the man who wrote A Walk Across America). There is a chapter in this book about Unalakleet, the village we spent most of our time in last year. I even have Paul reading books about Alaska. He is more attracted to the ruggedness of it, but is still very skeptical about the feasability of a venture like this.
In other news, a Saturday stretches out before me! I love this feeling. There's nothing like working all week to really make you enjoy your weekends. I am really loving the personality of my new little crop of kindergarteners. I won't have to put as much effort in this year for many reasons, only one grade, only 11 students, an aid all morning. It took until my third year of teaching to finally feel like "this is doable". I have to say, I am in a very unique situation that most people would give thier right arm to be in. Class size and environment can make a huge difference. This year we are doing a "reading buddies" program, which I have been pulling for for a while. Older children are paired with younger, reading together and building relationships. I get to have contact with some of the rest of the kids, not just the littlest ones, which is really nice. My kids from last year have moved on, which is a little sad, but I still get hugs in the hallway.
Last night Paul and I went to Olympia, walked on the waterfront, went out to dinner at Ramblin' Jacks (we met my parents there) (Ramblin' Jacks is where we went out to dinner late at night after our wedding, we love it for sentimental and tasty reasons) After that we went to Barnes and Nobles to look at books. Sidenote: I was in the browsing in the parenting section of the store and my eye caught a book called something like "diaper free parenting". This involves holding your baby over a little bowl when you FEEL LIKE THEY ARE READY TO ELIMINATE. No thanks! What scares me is when I told Paul about this he thought it was cool. Anyway, we love B&N for the big chairs and coffee and the fact that you can stay there and read a whole book and no one would look at you twice. I fell asleep on the way home, it's been a long week.
I really should stop not because the laundry is actually piling up over the hamper and onto the floor, and I want to go to the gym too. If you've made it this far in today's blog, WOW, thanks for listening.

The first day of school:

10 am : "This kindergarten is too long for me."

1 pm : "When are we going home teacher?"

2 pm : "I'm glad you're my teacher."

note: this is not because I'm a bad teacher, but because everything seems long after preschool.

Camping: Alicia, Dan, Annie, Paul, Kyle, Anna

For Labor Day weekend Paul and I went camping at Ohanapecosh campground with my family. My brother Kyle (he's a youth pastor) baptized my brother Dan in the Ohanapecosh River.







We had a lot of fun, despite making reservations rather late and
getting a rather crowded campsite.








keepin' away those mosqitos (Mom and Dad don't really camp since the kids have grown up, they just came out for the day)









Wes and Anna








Reflection Lake

My brother Dan and his girlfriend Alicia at the Cricket Cafe this past weekend when we met them for breakfast. I asked Alicia if she wore contacts to make her eyes blue. Dan says, "No, they are naturally beautiful!"

Wesley and Paul in Paul's garden
Paul gives Wesley a wheelbarrow ride

Wesley helps Paul out by watering the garden.

It's coming along, the classroom, I mean. Paul is going to help me can pears tonight. So nice!

No I'm not missing in action, just busy, busy, busy trying to get this dang classroom ready for the first day of school. I am one that gets overwhelmed by the emormity of a task, skipping from one thing to the next, whatever sounds good, without ever finishing one thing completely. So you can imagine what my room looks like right now. Sometimes I even forget mid-task what I am doing. Blogging sounds better right now.
Paul and I spent the weekend in Portland visiting with friends. We saw Letha, Kara, Jason, Dan, Alicia, Dan and Rebecca and Will. Whew! No wonder I'm tired. I also got to make a trip to my favorite store, Trader Joes! I truly miss cheap, healthy food. Letha took us to Mothers and we had breakfast with Dan and Alicia at the Cricket Cafe. Remember the disgusting house that Kara and Jason were remodeling? I can not even believe how amazing this house is right now. It's beautiful.
I promise not to disappear again.

Wesley is growing up so fast. We babysat him the other day. I also took him swimming last week and he put his face underwater! I taught him how to blow bubbles, but I think he ended up drinking a lot of pool water. 

Paul and I took a trip to Mt. Ranier this past weekend. It was just beautiful weather. 

ThE LeWiS CoUnTy NeWs

Right now, there are 28 jars of dill pickles resting on a table on my deck. I am so proud! On to the next. I'm not quite sure what I'll be preserving next. In a cruel twist to my summer plans, it turns out that canning zucchini (sp?) is not recommended by the Ball Blue Book. RATS! I think I will make some Zucchini Bisque and freeze it for the winter. I will post the recipe on Food Love soon. Turns out that zucchini brownies are also very good, we took some over to my brother's house last night, a good way to slip the zucchini in when they least expect it. Muahahaha!

In other news, my Dad called me the other Friday morning (as he often does on Friday mornings, mostly because he is at a garage sale and sees something that I cannot live without) and said that he had found a brand new canoe for a mere 125$. Tempting as it was, I passed, seeing as we already have a canoe that doesn't leak. He bought it for himself anyway. Then I was driving later on that afternoon listening to our local news station, KELA, to a particular program unique to countrified folks called "Best Buys". If you don't have something similar in your town, it's a shame. People can call in, say what they have to sell, their phone number, etc. like the classifieds on the radio. Well, who do I hear but my dear father on "Best Buys" trying to sell his 125$ canoe for 250$ (it is not uncommon for me to hear my Dad on Best Buys as he is prone to this type of deal and wheel behavior, my grandma frequents this programs as well, a family monolpoly, if you will). I had no doubt that he would, in fact, sell the canoe because, well, that's still a really good price for a canoe.

In still more news, my husband just came home. Bye!

For about a week now I've been vacationing,vacating, and I mean really relaxing, because if there's one thing I'm good at, it's kickin' back like a princess. But I'm sorry to tell you that I'm... bored. Officially bored. Now I can't really go back to work because they haven't shampooed the carpets yet and I can't really do anything in my classroom until then. So I'm going to have to find some things to do, which won't be hard. Tomorrow is pickle day, I'm making pickles all day. Yesterday I took my nephew swimming. I'm beginning to be a productive member of society again.

One of the things I have been working on is "beading". I learned how to make this beaded star pattern in Unalakleet. It is a Unalakleet pattern. Beading is very popular there. It's not done yet, when it's finished it will be about three times the size.

Now Reading: "Crunchy Cons: How birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mama, right-wing nature lovers, and thier diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the republican party)" by Rob Dreher

A Baby Story...

...should come with warnings. "This program contains graphic images that persons contemplating pregnancy should avoid." or "Viewer discression advised" It's my new favorite show to watch while I am working out at the gym. I think it's good birth control. But we've been married for five years and it's time for us to start thinking about children. So we've been trying for the past few months. It took me a long time to decide that I WOULD give up my job when I had kids. It's wonderful to have a job that you love, and teaching will still be there some day when I am done being a full time mom. But I still think I will bawl my eyes out on the first day of school when I don't go back. In case there is any confusion here, I am NOT pregnant yet, just thinking about it.

Our garden. If you come see us, you'll go home with produce (whether you want to or not). This year we are experimenting with pickling cucumbers. So far I have canned 3 quarts. I'm finding that they don't come fast enough at the same time to make it worth canning. So I ordered some from the produce stand. Also, we have spaghetti squash right now. This vegetable really does not get the credit it deserves. I love it with spaghetti sauce on top.

oh...yes...

Five Years!

On my husband....

my husband is reading a book called "Awakening The Financial Genius Inside You"

just what I need. if you got to know my husband very well, you would know that he regularly refers to himself as a genius. i love this self confidence. he inspires me to think the best about myself, the very best, the very best possible. and when I do something genius-like he says, "whoa...lady".
when he and his brother, Dan, were in highschool they decided to start using the word "cheap" hoping that it would catch on among thier friends. it did. "that's so cheap" can mean good or bad. it really all has to do with the voice infection and context.
my husband loves all my friends even if they are wierd. he gets along with almost anyone. except people who throw plates into the street. hey that reminds me of a story:
one time when we lived in portland there was a lady across the street who was throwing plates into the street. yeah, it was a halfway house and she was off her meds. we lived in a apartment on the third floor with a balcony. we shared the balcony with the johansens. it was hot and paul had his shirt off. oh, and I was on the phone. all this to set up the scene:
so this lady is running in and out of the house pretty much hurling every plate in the place into the street. she would run in, get some plates, run out, and chuck them into the street, creating quite a mess.
Paul: "HEY!" (yelling from the balcony) STOP THROWING THOSE PLATES!
Lady: "WHY SHOULD I?"
Paul: "IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO OBSRUCT THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY!"
Lady: "ARE YOU GONNA MAKE ME? YOU THINK YOU'RE SO TOUGH UP THERE WITH YOUR SHIRT OFF?"
we had many laughs about this (otherwise unhappy) incident. paul went down and helped the other people that lived there sweep up the plates in the street. paul doesn't mind confronting people. and this is a true story. ask the johansens. they witnessed it all.
he grows vegetables because I like to eat them. he takes care of me. i missed him so much when i was in alaska that swore never to leave him again.
anyway, tomorrow is our five year aniversary and this is my tribute to him. he is a man who knows who he is and I love him. right now as i am writing this he is singing a little jibberish song to me.

Pictures from Alaska

I think I am going to have to blog about Alaska in parts, because the whole is just really too much for me to digest at once. Really, where do you start talking about a missions trip and how God worked in a certain place. It's too much.
I actually had never been on a missions trip before. Anyways, I really can't even think of where to start, even now. I guess you'll have to wait.

for more pictures click here

I saw a moose!
This is in Unalakleet. You can see the fish dying in the buildings.

I saw a mountain goat.
I went imprompu sledding on someones coat, in July.
Dad really likes flying in these little planes. Whenever he had a choice he chose the ones with the most stops. We saw some amazing things on the way back from Unalakleet.

I was reminded of a story that I meant to blog about at the time and didn't. My mother in law said she sent it in to reader's digest:)

OK, My friend Sarah bought us Tshirts that say "I love Paul" on them because we are both married to someone named Paul. Our Pauls have Tshirts that say "Paul" on them. It's very cute, I should have a picture of all of us together. Anyway, I happened to be wearing this T-shirt one day when I was walking into Wild Oats (a grocery story)and there was a person outside giving free samples of Silk Soy Smoothies (or something similar). Well, I got my free sample and I was chatting with the young man about his product and then I said goodbye and turned to walk away. THEN - I hear him call out from behind me, "Who do you love?!?" Now, I had totally forgotten that I was wearing the shirt and hadn't the foggiest idea what he was talking about. His product? was it a pickup line? I turned slowly and said, "ummm, silk soymilk?" He gave me the weirdest look, "No, you love Paul!" he said laughing. At this point you would have thought that I would have figured it out. But no. I'm Annie, remember. "How did you know that?" I said. This man was cracking up. Anyway, you can guess how the rest went.

This is kind of fun:

www.praize.com/sgifts