We're Back!

Technically, we've been back for several days, but I am just now getting around to getting our pictures off the camera. Yep, you heard that right, we took pictures! (I now feel compelled to confess that they were all taken at the same location and while we really wanted to get a family photo of all of us (Ian's immediate family), somehow it didn't happen. But, hope you still enjoy what we did get!)

So the weather was actually great in Colorado. Unlike the dumping we've been getting in So Cal, it was sunny with a blue sky pretty much every day. On Thursday, we had some snow flurries that were pretty fun, but otherwise, it was dry and about 40 during the heat day. Not too bad. Though seriously, dry doesn't even begin describe the lack of moisture in the air up there. Each night, it was like all the saliva was sucked right out of our throats. And whatever ailed us, we just blamed the altitude, which made for some pretty funny jokes. Well, funny to us.

ANYWAY, onto the pictures. About three miles from the cabin that Mom and Dad McCurry rented for us all, there was an awesome lake that was totally frozen over. The first time we walked around it, we saw people ice skating on it. They were having so much fun!



Then the second day we went for a walk there, we saw people ice fishing. I've never seen that in real life! They had drilled a whole in the lake and set up camping chairs and were fishing away. Very cool!



Here's Heather, Rob and Rowan (who slept through most of the walk that day), as we're getting a little exercise and enjoying the brisk weather. On this particular walk, it was about 20 degrees outside. Burr!



And here's us, standing by the frozen lake.



In addition to walking around the lake, here's a few other things we did while in Colorado:

• Read in the cabin
• Cooked Christmas breakfast together
• Watched a couple of movies
• Drove to Colorado Springs several times to see family
• Met about 20 members of Ian's family
• Visited with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousin's kids
• Sipped hot chocolate while eating popcorn (one of my all time favorite combos)
• Opened presents
• Monitored the temperature - I already knew this about myself, but I'm pretty obsessed with watching the temperature. Lucky for me (and everyone else), our rental car and our cabin both had thermometers, so I was never without a chance to announce, "It's 19 degrees out right now!" =)
• Found out a friend here got in engaged
• Slept in

All in all, it was a nice trip. It's probably not something we'll do again soon, but we were glad to be with the whole McCurry family for this special celebration.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

We're Off!

Well, pretty much. We're leaving in just a few minutes to head to the airport for our trip to Colorado. We're having the McCurry Christmas there this year. Ian's parents, sister (and fam) and us are all flying out from California. Then several other aunts and uncles are coming in from various other places, to join up with the folks that are already in Colorado. There should be a good group of us (maybe 40?), several of whom I've never meet before. It should be a fun, busy and cold trip! We're really looking forward to seeing his family and having Christmas with them - we feel a little like this might be a one-time adventure, so we're going to make the most of it.

We're also really looking forward to a change of scenery - we both love Colorado. Ian went to college there and my family went there every summer of my childhood to a family camp. There is just something about Colorado - it smells so...crisp. And clean. And it's so beautiful. We'll be in the mountains about 20 minutes from Colorado Springs. Surprisingly, the weather is better there than here, where it's been raining for 6 days straight. (If you're following this blog and you read the last post, here's the update: the leak situation has escalated from just towels on the inside ledge to a fan and heater on the damp carpet and trash bags and tarps on the outside. And we're leaving town! Yikes!) So we're looking forward to seeing the sun!

I'm also excited to celebrate and remember the first advent - for I know what it points to. Come Lord Jesus!

Merry Christmas all.

PS - We just bought a camera! So watch out, blog world - a whole new Esther is on her way for 2011!

Musings on the Rain

I'm sure it comes to no surprise to anyone that I prefer the sun. Just this morning I was struck nearly speechless by the whiteness of my legs. Yikes! Thank goodness I have on tights today with my skirt! Even given my love for the sun, though, I do still like rainy days. Yesterday, it rained all day (the third day in a row of that), and after we got home from church, we never went out again. I baked a cake, Ian did some writing, we both read, we watched Little Women (I consider this a Christmas movie, so I subjected Ian to it), we sipped coffee - it was LOVELY. I really enjoyed sitting in our family room with the Christmas tree all lit up, watching the rain trickle down our windows and listening to it on the roof. There are many nice things about the rain.

What is not nice are leaks. We currently have two. One is coming from a vent in the family room, the roof of which we JUST PAID $1,500 TO HAVE FIXED. They must have not sealed the vent properly. The location of the previous leak is fine, so apparently they did okay with that. I guess the vent just slipped off their radar.

The second leak is also in the family room - which does make our leak maintenance a little easier. We only have to man one room, though sometimes we do have to double team it. But seriously, I feel like we are baby sitting our family room. The second leak is coming from a ledge under a window that is partially outside our house and partially inside. I have NO IDEA what the original design was for, but it almost looks like a pass through bar from the family room to the patio (though why you would want that, I don't know). Problem is, when it rains, water gathers on the ledge on the outside portion. Then as it builds up, it begins to seep in between the ledge and the window sill so it comes through into the inside portion of the ledge. That probably doesn't make any sense, but the crux of the matter is that we have to consistently rotate towels to soak up the water. If we don't, it eventually spills down from the ledge/bar onto the carpet, which is obviously not good. Yesterday we went through three or four sets of towels - we even had to do TWO LOADS of towels (just the dryer part, so that helped) because we ran out. I had to go home on my lunch today to check the leak and switch out the towels, even though I had switched them out right before I left for work. It was all we could do not to get up in the middle of the night and make sure the towels were holding.

In truth, it's been more funny that frustrating - I guess we're still in the honeymoon stage with our house, where it can do no wrong. So we haven't been too bothered, in spite of my seemingly negative paragraphs above. =) I think I am ready, though, for this 4-day stretch of rain to pass by. And according to weather.com, we still have two more days of this!

My B-Day Weekend

What a wonderful weekend I had! Because I had the last week of my fall semester ladies' Bible Study at our house on Wednesday (my actual birthday), we didn't get to celebrate the big day until this weekend. But when we got around to celebrating it, we really went for it! Ian did such a great job and I felt very loved - not just by him but by all of you who also emailed, called, texted, sent videos, cards and gifts! Thank you, dear friends and family.

Here is the celebration run down. On Saturday, we had the family over for a joint party for me and Mary (whose birthday was actually that day). We had a great time. We played lots of awesome party games, such as musical chairs, Hungry Rabbit (a marshmallow throwing game into a cookie jar shaped like a rabbit), and pin the tail on the donkey (pictured here). We also ate great Greek food (catered from a Downtown restaurant), had cake and presents and really enjoyed the time together.



All the little black marks on our garage are the various attempts. Not pictured is Heather's (my sister-in-law) attempt, which is on the cement wall to the right, and Ian's, which is on the side of our house to the left. Guess the McCurry side struggles with the spinning effect. It was hysterical to watch everyone walk dizzily to the garage and attempt to pin it on there. Seriously, if you haven't played that game since the 2nd grade, you've got to incorporate it into your next event. Nothing says Christmas party like pin the tail on the donkey. =)

Then on Saturday night, Ian took me out to L'Opera, the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. It's obviously a favorite place of ours and we had such a great time. We enjoyed our dinner and talked there for over two hours, about the coming year and what I'm hopeful for and looking forward to. It was wonderful.

Here we are, by our tree, right before leaving for dinner. So fun!





But that's not all! For our wedding, the worship pastor at my dad's church gave us gift certificates to the Orange County Performing Arts Center and this weekend, we finally found the perfect way to spend them. We went to see Peter Pan in a 360 degree tent - they did this awesome thing with the sides/top of the tent, showing scenes and making you feel like the kids were flying all over London (and other locations). I can't do it justice; go see it if you get the chance. It was amazing. My parents came with us too, which was really fun. I am now a big fan of theatre in the round!

Whew! By the end of the night last night, I felt like a tired little kid after a day at Disneyland - worn out by all my fun! But I wouldn't have traded a minute of it. And there are still so many fun things to come, with our Gondola ride on Thursday, our Christmas Cookie Open House on Saturday and our trip to Colorado for Christmas just 9 days away! (If that doesn't hook you into continued reading, I don't know what would!)

Thanks again for celebrating with me.

Faith Muscles

You know how when you haven't exercised in a while, your muscles atrophy? Or if you don't work them out at all, they are small?

That's how my faith muscles are. My life, up until now, has been pretty easy. On the one hand, that is great - who doesn't want an easy life? But now that I'm being taught the very painful lesson that I'm not in control, I find that my faith and trust muscles are very small and very weak. It's hard for me to not look into the future and be worried. It's hard to feel that God is good. It's hard to trust his timing. My muscles are weak.

Thankfully, they have been put on a strict workout routine that involves daily exercises of patience and trusting. So they are growing. He is helping me to be brave. And just to throw yet another sports reference out there, it's true what they say: no pain, no gain. It's hard to have my faith muscles being worked out this way, and I'm fearful. When I'm honest with myself, I would rather have an easy life where everything goes the way I want it to and have puny faith muscles.

But that's not my choice. So, I'm sticking with the workout plan and pushing through the pain. I'm hopeful that the next time I am forced to remember that I'm not in control, my faith muscles will spring into action and be super strong.

Watch out, 2011, because a better Esther is on the way!

Ten Things I Love About December, In No Particular Order

1. This morning on my jog, I could see my breath. So fun!
2. Our house smells like Christmas trees.
3. Christmas lights - on houses, around trees, over fire places, in garland, in vases- our house is lit up (in a sober sort of way).
4. That I get to write my Christmas letter.
5. My birthday.
6. Disneyland is a winter wonderland - we were there on Sunday and it is so wonderful in December.
7. Parties - we have our Board holiday party, then our staff holiday party, then our open house, then our Sunukjian Christmas, then our McCurry Christmas, then a celebration with just me and Ian - so many parties and so many special treats!
8. Christmas.
9. Vacation days.
10. My husband cuddles with me all night, because he's cold too! Man, I love December!

What do you love about December?

Advent Focus: Rest

Our church observes Advent on the four Sundays preceding Christmas. I love it. I love the candles, the readings, the meditation time, the songs and so on. Each year, our leadership picks a theme for our advent reflection and this year, the theme is rest.

Very good theme for this time of year, don't you think? It's the Monday after Thanksgiving and I'm already exhausted! True, I have a cold, so that prevented me from sleeping well last night, but how could I be exhausted after three days at my parents house during which I did NOTHING but eat, rest, play games, cuddle babies (I blame them for the cold), talk with my family, you get the picture.

But we've also had house guests that last two weekends and will again this weekend, and while that's all lovely and I truly enjoy sharing our home, it does impact my alone time. Now, as I wait for the minutes to tick away so I can go home, get into cozy clothes and eat my homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner, I feel aware that this lack of alone time has affected me more than I thought.

How does one get alone time during the holidays? Don't the holidays mean exactly the opposite of alone time? And don't I want that? I love time with family. But with my birthday, Christmas, New Year's and our anniversary all in the next 5 weeks, I'm going to have to pace myself.

Rest. Yes, this is a great advent theme.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Not everything went according to my plan this year, but many things did. And many things I never even thought to hope for happened, giving me many things for which to be thankful. As Thanksgiving approaches (yay!! I heart Thanksgiving!), I wanted to share a few things that I'm grateful for.

• I am VERY thankful for my husband. When we got married, I had high expectations about how our marriage would be and how we would feel about each other. Our two years of marriage have WAY exceeded my expectations. I am pretty much daily reminded about what a good gift Ian is.
• I am also very thankful for our home. Without my parents' generous investment, we would not have this home, or perhaps a home ever, at all. And we love our home. We love living in it, entertaining in it, working on it, relaxing in it, cooking in it and more. If you haven't been over and you're reading this, GET OVER TO OUR HOUSE NOW! (Well, maybe not now. Ian's grandparents are coming in town on Sunday and will be staying with us for about 9 days, so we'll be a little full. But come soon!)
• I know everyone expects this, but the truth is, I am very thankful for my family. I get to see my sisters every Monday night, my Sunukjian sister-in-laws once a month for a ladies night, my McCurry sister-in-law every Tuesday morning for prayer, several of my nieces and nephews at church, and that's just the regular stuff. I am so happy we live so close to our family and get to be intimately involved in their lives.
• This year, I've gotten to see more of my college friends than in years past and I'm so thankful for that. I had such an amazing experience at Biola and made some really wonderful friends and it blesses my heart that I still get to see and be involved in so many of their loves. I love you girls!

I could go on and on (and will, in my Christmas letter), but I'll wrap this up for now. Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday!

I love Fridays. I named my bike Friday - Fridays promise fun, freedom, exploring and relaxation, everything my beach cruiser promises. Which reminds me, I need to go for a bike ride soon!

Anyway, as we go into the weekend, I'm looking forward to a little resting and a lot of fun.

It's been a busy week, with a large work event last night, so I feel my weekend is especially well deserved. Here's a few things I'm going to do:

• Cuddle on the couch and watch a movie with Ian
• See a college friend for tea and a lovely chat on Saturday
• Baby sit one of our nephews so my sister-in-law and her husband can celebrate their anniversary
• Shop! We get to fill two Operation Christmas Child boxes and get gifts for two Long Beach foster kids. So watch out Target, because here I come!
• Read
• Sip lots of coffee
• Sleep in

Happy weekend to everyone!

Waldo and Wenda!

On Sunday, Ian and I worked at our church's carnival. It's the great neighborhood event where 3,500 people come for a free, safe Halloween experience. We worked one of the game booths (a hockey game that was very difficult, but fun nonetheless) and then hung out after our shift with family and friends.

We were Waldo and Wenda, his girlfriend starting in the second book (or something like that). It was very fun to be themed together and something most people recognized. We got quite a few, "I found you!" throughout the night, which was fun.



Sarah and Mary's families were also at the event. I don't have a photo yet from Mary's family (they were the Cinderella story past midnight) but here is one of Sarah's family. They are the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Sarah and Eric are Momma and Poppa Bear, Levi is Baby Bear, Caleb is the broken chair, Noah is the bowl of porridge and Hannah is Goldilocks, of course! (Though she does look a bit concerned about the whole situation, which I guess is fitting to the story!)



Happy Halloween!

A Few More Photos

My friend Sarah T. just sent us her reunion weekend pictures, so I thought I would post a few more. Thanks Sarah!

Surviving the Plague, Time with Friends

I'm back! After a terrible case of strep throat, which I barely survived, I'm back to the blog and able to report that I am a huge believer in anti-biotics. When you open your mouth to find that your tonsils are touching each other and covered in fuzzy white patches, it's enough to make you lay on your couch and cry (which I did). It's also enough to make you call in sick for two days (which I did) and run to the doctor (which I also did). But after 8 days (and two more to go) on antibiotics, I am my old self again. Thanks goodness for Alexander Fleming and his brilliant discovery!

Anyway, I was thankful to survive the plague and feel better enough to join my four closest college friends for a reunion at Huntington Beach. It's a great story, actually. The five of us met our first week of college at Biola, almost exactly 10 years ago. One of them was my randomly assigned roommate, one lived directly across the hall from us and the other two lived at the other end of the hall (though not together). Who's to say exactly what drew us together, but here we are, ten years later, still friends. We felt it was high time for a reunion, since we haven't all been together, when it wasn't some one's wedding, in a REALLY long time. And weddings don't really count as a full reunion, since someone is the bride and she isn't around as much. With that in mind, at the last girl's wedding in April, we decided we just had to schedule an official reunion. In college, we called our selves The Posse, so The Posse Reunion was planned for October 21-24.

We split the tickets to fly the two out of state girls in town and we had the best three days at our family's little place in Huntington (where the five of us have been MANY times before, both during college and after). We ate at the Sugar Shack (twice), walked on the pier, shopped at the new Forever 21 and talked and talked. It was such a wonderful time with ladies that I love dearly and know me very well.

In addition to lots of talking, we also managed to take a few pictures. We're silly, but we love it!

Every looking happy and nice. From L to R, it's Jess, Sarah S., Tali, Me and Sarah T.

This one is our first attempt at the "confused, what's happening look." Sarah T. had a hard time holding it together, which made me have a hard time holding it together!

Success!

And a victory picture for the brilliance of our photo shoot.

I love you ladies! And thanks, Sarah S., for sending me the photos!

McCurry Bi-Annual Walk

Last Saturday, we completed our 2nd McCurry Family Walk, making me feel confident in saying we have established a new family tradition. Twice a year, the McCurry family plans a long walk through an urban area. In March, Ian, me, Heather and Rob headed to San Diego for a 13 mile walk through Downtown San Diego.

This past weekend, Ian and I planned a 9 mile walk (everyone agreed 13 miles was just a bit too long) through Downtown and other parts of Long Beach. It was a great success. We had perfect weather, lovely company and ended at George's for some delicious food!

This picture shows Ian's aunt Carlene out front - she is training for the Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego - and the rest of us (even little Rowan in the stroller), except for Rob who is taking the picture.



And here is me, his handsomeness (aka Ian) and my in-laws strolling in Lighthouse Park. Doesn't it look like so much fun? It was!

Discount Deals

My friend Melanie in DC first introduced me to Groupon. It's a great, simple, noninvasive way to learn about deals. Every day, just once, they email you a special. If enough people in your area agree to buy the coupon (thus the Groupon name), the deal goes through. I've been a member (which is free) about two months. So I've seen about 60 deals. I've only bought two, so it's not like everything is amazing, but I did get $50 at the Gap for $25 (which is how I stayed on budget for Ian's b-day gifts) and $40 at the Auld Dubliner for $20 (I just took Ian there for a fun date this week). It's a fun way to try new things and save money!

The other thing I like is restaurant.com. They sell gift certificates for restaurants at a discount. You can buy low amounts, like $10 for just $4 or you buy much higher amounts, like $100 for $40. And they're good restaurants too, like Claire's at the Museum, Cafe Sevilla and others. Try putting in your own zip code and see what comes up in your area!

I wouldn't normally think of myself as a bargain shopper, but as we hope to some day go down to one salary, I think I'm going to need to be creative in our spending, especially if we want to do extra, fun things.

Anyone out there have their own ways of saving? Please share!

Foggy Mornings

Aren't foggy mornings so great? True, sometimes they can give you the blues (especially on a Monday), but as I sip some hot tea this morning and look out my window, I love seeing the fog rolling around Long Beach. Even though the weather report says it's going to be high 80s all week, I am enjoying this moment right now.

It's Almost the Weekend

Is there anything better than Friday, late in the afternoon, when the weekend is just minutes from starting? I submit that there is not! (Name that comedian.)

This weekend, Ian's parents are coming in town for the 2nd go at a new tradition of long family walks. Last March, we walked a half marathon on a course my father-in-law created in Downtown San Diego. Tomorrow, we are walking a 9 mile route that Ian and I created in Downtown , along the waterfront and into the Historic homes of Long Beach. The weather should be nice and the company great, so we're looking forward to a fun time.

Then Sunday afternoon, we're off to the Pumpkin Patch with my sister, Mary, and her family and Ian's sister, Heather, and her family. Should be very fun, especially watching Sam in the petting zoo and on the giant slide.

Aren't weekends the greatest? I wish it could always be the weekend. Though I suppose we wouldn't feel that way about it if that were the case.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yesterday, Ian and I were feeling a little sad. So what did we do? We went to the Happiest Place on Earth. And did it work? You betcha! I love the Disneyland, for so many reasons. I've had a annual pass for probably a total of 8 years and I still did three things yesterday that I've never done before. That's just one of the things that makes the Magic Kingdom so magical - there is always something new to see or do.

Part of what was so fun about yesterday is that we went for 7 hours. We very rarely go for that long. And we got to be there at night, which is just so romantic. =) We got there around 3 and went right into California Adventure, hoping to get Fast Pass tickets to the World of Color. They only had tickets left for the 10:15 show, and even though we were there for the long haul, that was still a bit too late for us.

So instead, we went on Grizzly River Run (new thing #1). It was super fun! We did get pretty wet, but it was sunny and warm yesterday, so it was no problem. And you know what else was great? Even though it was a 40 minute wait, I got to talk with Ian every minute of those 40 minutes. That is another great thing about Disneyland - it's fun and it's interactive. Disneyland is truly a great way to really spend time with your spouse.

After that, we went to the Bakery Tour (new thing #2). Like the nerds we are, we watched the whole video on how they make sourdough bread. And like the food junkies we are, we ended our tour by buying a loaf of the bread. So delicious!

Then we went on Soaring Over California (thank you, single rider lines) and ended our stay in California Adventure with a trip to Burr-bank Ice Cream Shop (new thing #3). We split an ice cream sundae and it was delicious (Ian had lost a bet and the stakes were that the winner got to pick both of the special treats at our next Disneyland trip, so I was in special treat heaven!).

I won't go on to detail out the rest of our trip, but it did include a Fast Pass to Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (Ian's favorite D-land ride), a trip on Big Thunder, the Matterhorn and Ian's first full experience of Fantasmic. Side note - why do parents, who arrive at the very last minute, still expect that their child should be able to worm his or her way to the front, just because they're a kid? Maybe it's because I'm not a parent, but I got there first and I don't care that your kid can't see. If it was really important, get there sooner and wait like the rest of us. And I'm short too!

That part was a little crowded, if you can't tell, and I was a little disappointed because they replaced the AWESOME, huge inflatable Ursala with just a screen version joined by the two bad side-kick eels, and they weren't nearly as scary. But it's still a great show - nothing beats the part where the fire spreads across the river and even though you're 200 feet away from it, you can still feel its heat.

So we can home quite cheered up. Yay for Mickey and the Magic Kingdom!

Out of Sorts With Myself

Do you know one of the worst feelings in the world? To be out of sorts with yourself. It's so uncomfortable to not feel yourself. I'm used to feeling myself. I like feeling like myself. I like who I am. When I feel pessimistic or grumpy or lethargic, of course I feel I'm unhappy. Then I feel doubly unhappy, because I'm not used to feeling that way and I don't like it. I like to feel hopeful and cheerful and energetic. I like my usual self.

So, I'm out of sorts with myself, and have been for a couple of months. And I don't know what to do about it. Some days it's worse than other days. Today, I mostly just feel tired (I had a HUGE work event that's kept me away from posting and away from relaxing, but thankfully, it went well and it's over). So today's not that bad. But some days, I really feel not like myself. I don't know what makes one day different from the other - and that also bothers me.

I have a friend though, that would say those other emotions I'm experiencing are still me and that I shouldn't dismiss them. She would say they are just a different side of me. I ponder over that sometimes. Is it still me when I feel sad and doubting? Is it part of me to feel low energy and apathetic? Is it still me to feel unhappy with my body? Is it me, when I'm used to feeling confident and assured that everything will work out?

If it is me, it's a me I'm not comfortable with. Then that makes me wonder if I should work on being okay with that? Or just being present to it and waiting for it to pass? Or something else?

I can see the post isn't going to lead to any answers. And if my mother is reading, don't worry Mom - it's not as bad as it sounds. I'm doing fine. Just sorting out my selves.

But, I'm sure tomorrow will be better. =)

Baby #13 for Our Family

Ta-da! Daniel Travis Sunukjian made his grand entrance on September 8th, 2010 (he shares a birthday with Aunt Sheila!). Gina and Daniel are already home and doing great. Ian and I got to see him last night and he is so cute! He looks like a grumpy old man and has so many awesome wrinkles. I laughed and laughed at all his faces last night. Congrats to David and Gina!

And yes, you read that right. Daniel is our 8th nephew and with our 5 nieces, we have 13 precious children to call us Uncle and Aunt! How blessed we are!

Our First Family Gathering

It's official. Our house is a home. We've had my whole side of the family, plus Heather, Rob and Rowan, over all at the same time (that's 26 people, little people included). I feel like the house has been christened. We had Labor Day at our house to celebrate Ian, Sheila and Eric's birthdays. It was a great time and it gave me tremendous joy to have all my people over to our house at the same time.

I was a tad worried that the kids might be bored, since there isn't as much to do at our house as at Grandma and Grandpa's, but I believe we bought our way to success, with the pool, sidewalk chalk, balls and our real ringer - the swing.

Here are some of the darling children lined up (they organized this themselves) to wait for Paul to give them a turn.


Here is Kara, so excited to be next in line, and Sam, just getting off from his great adventure.

My mom said we needed an age limit, but I didn't want to keep any of the kiddos from using it, so I assured her it was fine. But then we saw this:

Maybe an age limit would be a good idea...but it seemed to hold Eric no problem. And it was his party, so how could I tell him no?

All around, it was a great day. However, I will probably go down in Sunukjian Family Lore for one of the most unromantic birthday gifts (up there with the steak knives my dad gave my mom and the toilet seat Peter gave Sheila). I gave Ian a trash bag holder - you know, the kind you can set up in your lawn and put the big black plastic trash bag over so that your bag stays open and upright while you load leaves, grass, etc. It's really a very handy tool, but yes, woefully unromantic. But he also got movies, a satchel, and very cool loafers from me, which are more in the acceptable realm of b-day gifts. So say what you will - it was a good gift.

So Excited for a Birthday That's Not Mine

Monday is Ian's birthday. As always, I'm WAY more excited about it than he is. I love birthdays and I love thinking of ways to show Ian that I love him. We've got lots of fun plans for the weekend and I can't wait. I'm also really excited about the presents I found for him and hopeful that he likes them.

So, here are the big 3-Day, Birthday Weekend plans:

Saturday:
Riding our bikes to the Aquarium, going to the Yard House for lunch, then taking the Metro back. The Metro is now one of Ian's favorite things, as he takes it to work everyday and has discovered that unlike when he's sitting in traffic in his truck, he can read while he commutes!

After all that fun, we're headed out to Sam's birthday party at the Pirate Park, which also promises to be great!

Sunday:
Church, naturally, and then to see a movie. This was the original plan to celebrate his birthday, as we rarely see movies in the theatre. The Aquarium plan came as an afterthought because we have free tickets. Anyway, after the movie, we're off to dinner at La'Creperie, a great romantic place on 2nd Street, with beer that Ian loves.

Monday:
Having the whole family over! It will be the first time that my whole family comes over at one time (we're also celebrating Sheila and Eric's birthdays), and with Ian's sister and her family coming as well, it should be a great time! I got a little pool for the kids, we'll grill and eat lots of chips (another Ian favorite) and have a super fun time. I really can't wait. Well, I can wait, but I'm very excited!

I will try to take a picture or two, so as not to lose the interest of my faithful readers, so stay tuned!

Opposites Attract

You know how they say that opposites attract? Well, for Ian and me, that wasn't really the case. We're both pretty low-key people who like to do a lot of the same things. We both make decisions with our intellect, not our feelings, we both like to make quick decisions and don't need all the options, we both like to be home most of the time, etc. Of course, we have our differences. Ian likes to be indoors and I love the sun. He always tends toward grace and I tend toward truth. I think 5:45 is 5:30 and he thinks it's 6.

But the place where the old adage "opposites attract" is the most true for us is in prayer. Last night we had an epic conversation about the purpose and power of prayer and it was a classic case of a Calvinist verses an Arminean (in this case, the Armenian is the Arminean). It was a good conversation, but it made me very aware that we approach the subject quite differently. The questions of "Is God able to change this situation" verses "Does God desire to change this situation," went round and round, with the question "What role does the human will have in all this?" added on top. Ian believes God does all the pursuing and I believe free will is somehow involved. If God does all the pursuing, why do some situations not change? Did he not want to restore that area of brokenness or answer that prayer? But why would he not want to? Or was it that the people involved weren't willing to bend? But isn't he also the one who softens hearts?

Did we come to a solution? Of course not. How can we solve what 2,000 years of scholars have not resolved? But this we know - the Bible calls us to pray, and so we will. And we should pray with faith, even if we aren't sure God wants to or will change the situation.

Date Nights for Childless Couples?

Ian is taking me on a date tonight. We are going to Kamal Palace (super yummy Indian food) then we are walking over to the Pier 1, which is a very special treat for me. That place is my Mecca. We are in need of some new wine glasses, so hopefully being specific will keep me from going crazy.

Anyway, back to the purpose of the post. Last time we went on a date, I mentioned it in passing to a co-worker. That person said to me, "You guys don't have any kids...why do you need a date?" Of course, I declared that we do need dates, but now that our next one is rolling around, I found myself thinking more about her comment.

And I'm more convinced than ever that even childless couples need dates. I know, I know, I don't really know how much parents must need them, but isn't it good to build into your marriage and set aside time to celebrate each other even when there are no kids? In fact, won't our dates now someday make our parenting easier, as we discuss ideas and theories over dinner that we hope (if the children don't thwart us too much) to implement when we someday do have kids? Yes. I'm convinced of it. And I won't let parents talk me out of it!

Also, how can you not go out and celebrate when the United States government gives you $8,077.44 just for buying a house before July 31st? Isn't that amazing? I somehow doubted that it was really true, but the check I deposited today does not lie. Thanks Uncle Sam!

Family Vaca

This past week, Mom and Dad took us all on our annual Sunukjian Family vacation, this year to Lake Arrowhead. As always, it was great. We laughed, we ate (a lot), we played games, went to two lakes, went hiking, had an epic talent show and generally had a great time.

Highlights from the week for me were:

• Playing games (see photo below of our poker night- we hit the table the first night we were there - we don't waste anytime in taking each other's money!)
• Having so much time with the nieces and nephews (these pictures don't even begin to represent how many pictures of them there were, but since this is my blog and not one of their parents, I'm not required to put up every single picture)
• The couples' dinner out - last year, my parents started this awesome tradition where they keep all the grandkids, give Peter a wad of money and all the couples get to go out together. It was a highlight last year and this year again!
• Talent Show - I dragged Ian into doing an entry with me, called "Dance Off." It basically entailed really bad dancing and he was so good at it that I pretty much laughed the whole time instead of dancing.

Poker night - David ended up the big winner.


Family Photo - with two new additions this summer, we had to do one!

Hiking in Deep Creek.

We were responsible for Joseph on the hike and Uncle Ian watched him very carefully.

Us, before couples night out. Aww, we're so cute!

Look at those two! I couldn't resist posting this photo. That's Hannah, Sarah's girl, and Samuel, Mary's son. That's just one of the MANY boxes we used to cart our massive amount of food up to the mountains.

One last comment - for me, the big hit "special treat" wise was the fruit roll ups. What are those things even made of?

Thanks Mom and Dad! We had a great time!

A Backyard Transformation

Due to popular demand, I am posting some before and after pictures of our backyard transformation. Drum rolll please...

Before:

And now....

Doesn't it look so great? Once again, a HUGE thank you to all our friends and family who helped us do it! (And Hector's Lawn Service, who did an amazing job.) (Okay, and the many other contractors who also did an amazing job.)

An Interesting Tension

I find myself in an interesting conundrum these days. There are two situations in my life that have recently occupied my thoughts and have caused me to ponder my own power. One is a decision that I have all the freedom and power to make - but I feel torn by the pros and cons of each side and seem unable to make a decision. And so I'm frustrated by my inertia.

The other is a decision that is not in my hands at all, a choice I can't make for myself, and so I am frustrated by my lack of control and the forced patience I'm required to exercise.

As I think about these two situations, I find it interesting that with the one, I have all the power but can't make up my mind. With the other, I have none of the power and yet know so completely how I would like the situation to go.

Is that irony? Or a classic case of juxtaposition? Or just life?

Caving In Already

Someone who reads this blog (and there's only a few of you, so I won't name names) told me that I must have pictures. See? This is exactly why I was worried about starting a blog. She had the nerve to tell me that some readers (meaning her) are growing restless...should I even say - bored?! Terrible! How can that be? Leave it to a good friend to tell you the truth, even when it hurts. =)

To appease the masses (ha!), I'm posting two pictures. They're all I have, sent from a friend who took pity on me and Ian and took our picture.

This first one is of us at a gourmet Food Truck event in Downtown Long Beach. The food was very yummy, but we mostly enjoyed being outside with our friends.

And this is us at an Angel's baseball game with our friends Keith and Chanda (who supplied the photos).

These photos are evidence that contrary to our feelings that we spend all our time on the house, we've actually had quite a lovely summer!

What this blog is about

It's Monday again, which seems to prompt my musings. As I mentioned before, I told a few people that I was starting this blog and when I did, several asked me, "What is the blog about?"

And maybe it's because I'm not too trafficked in social media, but I didn't know a blog had to be about something. Does it? If it does, do the thoughts of my day count as the thing it's about? I don't know if that qualifies, but that is what this blog is about.

So, thoughts for today:

When we were having dinner last night, my always thoughtful husband asked me if I had the "my weekend is over" blues. I responded that I didn't, really. Which then made me think, why is one Monday so different from the next? Why was I blue and listless just a mere seven days ago and I'm not today? Nothing has really changed, which you would think might in fact make me even bluer. And yet, I feel different; better, somehow.

I guess that just goes to show you can't trust feelings. I knew I was a T on the Myers Briggs Personality Type indicator for a reason.

Becoming Home Debtors

Two months ago, we bought a house (with the investment of some very generous parents). It was a very exciting, very scary process. We absolutely love our new house. For the first month, we had about twenty conversations that started with, "What is your favorite thing about the house today?" It has been such a fun journey of making the house our home and it is truly a wonderful feeling to know it's permanent.

It has also been a lot of work, mostly of our own choosing. And since I know have this great resource with which to chronicle my life, I thought I would keep a running tab of what we've done so far to the house (some of you may be thinking - "Wouldn't here be the perfect place to insert some photos?") And yes it would, but alas, I have not taken a single picture of the house since we started working on it. Other people have, so if we're lucky, one of them might have pity on me and send me a picture of my own house. Until then, words will have to suffice.

So today, here is what my husband and the faithful folks we've hired are doing:

• Scrapping adhesive off our cement where Ian pulled up gross red tile
• Stuccoing the side of the house where there used to be a room (it's funny, when you pull down a patio, then one of your inside walls because the outside of your house and then requires LOTS of work to be outside ready)
• Fixing the roof where we pulled down the above mentioned enclosed patio
• Laying down sod (that's right! Our patch of dirt will soon be no more)
• Planting drought-resistance plants

This may not get all done today, but it's pretty exciting every time I come home from work and see the progress that was accomplished that day. It certainly makes you think twice about switching to a career with measurable results.

If you look to the right, you'll see projects we've already completed.

At first we were worried when we bought the house because we thought it would consume us and become the topic of all our conversations and the place all our money went. Now we don't have to worry because we already know that is the case, and we're strangely okay with it.

Next up, completing our patio furniture!

Why I didn't blog sooner

When I told a few people that I had been wanting to start a blog for a while, several asked why it took me so long? As I thought about it, I realized it's because so many blogs are full of pictures. And I never take pictures.

So, consider yourself warned. There will be very few (if any) photos in this blog.

Why am I starting a blog?

Why am I starting a blog? I've thought it about it for a long time. I frequently read other people's blogs, even people I don't know. Why? Because I like to read, because I want to stay involved with my friends' lives, because I like to hear other people process and because I like to take a break from work.

But why am I starting my own?

Well, on this particular Monday, I feel listless and blue. In the spirit of my usual cheerfulness, I'm sure it's nothing serious. But today, as I sit at a computer for 8 hours, I wonder about my purpose these days. What am I doing? What should I be doing? What if I am doing just what I should be - is this what that feels like? How will I know if I'm "being about" what I should be about? Faced with these questions, I thought having a creative outlet, a place to muse if you will, might help.

On the one hand, I've never been happier - being married to Ian is wonderful, I love our house, we feel really happy at our church, our family is overflowing with the blessing of babies, and Ian and I are both healthy. On the other hand, life feels a little monotonous.

Does this mean I should shake things up? Or wait for God to shake things up? Or just carry on, waiting (for what?), trusting, seeing the blessings that are so evident in my life.

Hmm, I didn't really intend for my first blog to be so serious, but my mood today prompted its inception, so I guess that makes sense.

The experiment has begun - we'll see how it goes.