Still posting on the other site... http://runyenfamily.typepad.com/ through the end of October when I will decide which blog format to use permanently...
Trying Something New
For the next month or so, I will be posting regularly to this blog address:
http://runyenfamily.typepad.com/
I want to try it out and see how it goes. This type of blog allows more control over certain aspects of a blog that I am finding very time consuming to do on blogger. I can add photo albums of certain events, and I have greater control over the appearance of my blog with just a click of a button among many other perks. Also if in the future I see that we need a password protected blog this can convert to one....
So, see you on the "dark side." (you'll get it once you read my first post over there...)
http://runyenfamily.typepad.com/
I want to try it out and see how it goes. This type of blog allows more control over certain aspects of a blog that I am finding very time consuming to do on blogger. I can add photo albums of certain events, and I have greater control over the appearance of my blog with just a click of a button among many other perks. Also if in the future I see that we need a password protected blog this can convert to one....
So, see you on the "dark side." (you'll get it once you read my first post over there...)
It’s been a while, so I thought I should update this. Last week I didn’t feel like doing ANYTHING! I was sick the whole week. 10 days to be exact! (so about the same amount of time I have neglected the blog.) I had an awful sore throat, and a cough, almost lost my voice at one point. I went and got a strep test, but it came back negative, so I knew I just had to tough it out. LOTS of water and zinc lozenges, and I am back to good as new.
Life just shifted to high gear for us. David set up our trip to Alaska yesterday and we now have plane tickets for mid December. It kind of stinks that we will be moving during the holidays, but that time frame seemed the best. We’ll actually get there before the first day of winter…as if it makes any difference in ALASKA! Ha! We have less than 80 days left in the lower 48!
I am attending the overseas transportation briefing next week to set up a date for the movers to come and pack out our household goods, and set up shipment of my CR-V.
We know that we will be moving out of this house the middle of November (That’s only a month and a half away!). David’s dad has already opened up his home to us for the month we will be here before we fly out. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family! We get to stay in a newly decorated queen suite! (We’ve been helping him redecorate his home for the last few months…David and I picked out the bedding and new queen sized bed frame he now has in that room.)
I can’t believe how soon we will be moving! It’s right around the corner!
This past weekend was a good one. On Saturday we went out shopping and then to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream... NEVER go to Coldstone and order plain vanilla ice cream! That’s what I did…but in my defense I ordered it because Gwyneth ordered cake batter flavored ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and Oreo cookie mix-ins. I was certain one of us would be stuck eating her concoction, so I ordered the safe ice cream to give her when she decided she didn’t like her choice. She ate it ALL, save two bites for mommy and daddy. Next time I’m getting the cake batter ice cream! It tastes just like a yellow cake batter! Mmmm…. David got cheesecake with white chocolate chips. A pretty good storm came through just as we went to get ice cream so we got it to go (in case it brought hail), and enjoyed it at home.
Shortly after arriving home our power went out. It was out a total of 3 ½ hours!
Since it wasn’t bedtime yet we lit some candles and played Sorry by candlelight. After we put Gwyneth to bed David and I played Canasta by candlelight. It was kind of nice not having the modern distractions we have everyday. It was so quiet without the refrigerator, and A/C running. No TV, or computer….just us and a good old fashioned card game.
Of course I took pictures, silly!…
Bedtime stories by flashlight...
Sunday we went to church and had a lazy afternoon at home watching football, and each doing our own thing. Later that evening we went to “Pop-Pop’s” for our middle niece’s 11th birthday celebration. Gwyneth was asking all day “Is it time to go, is it time to go?” It was a nice evening, with more football, good food and cake, and family. Here's a couple pictures of the real party animals:
Yesterday it was back to the daily grind. I made it to the gym, for day 1 of 3 (hopefully) this week. School… washed all the bed linens… and mowed and edged the entire front and back yard! I had a little energy…but boy and I hurting today! Ha! The backyard had gotten too high for me to be comfortable with Gwyneth playing out there. I have never liked our backyard here. We have so many bugs, mosquitoes, spiders, and an occasional snake that leaves behind it’s skin (see this post.) Last night was the first night in a while we were able to go out and actually enjoy it. I lit the citronella tiki torches and the candle on the patio table. It was a cool 75 degrees or so. Gwyneth drove her Barbie car in the dark (the porch light was on but parts of the yard were still pretty dark.)
and David and I played darts.
We pulled the computer speakers out on the patio and had some music going too. It was really nice!
Today is a pretty slow day, I did Pilates this morning (I plan to do that three days a week as well) school with Gwyneth, and we’re about to head out to the grocery store for some much needed provisions! Just to hold us over to the weekend, then we have to do some major shopping! (yuck!)
So since I have now written a book I will close for now. I need to post more often than once every 10 days to prevent long posts like this! I will try…
Update on my Mom: She had the endoscope and they did not find anything cancerous, but she did have a bacterial infection so they gave her antibiotics. She will however be having surgery to correct one of her bones in her foot on October 6th. So please keep that in your prayers.
Life just shifted to high gear for us. David set up our trip to Alaska yesterday and we now have plane tickets for mid December. It kind of stinks that we will be moving during the holidays, but that time frame seemed the best. We’ll actually get there before the first day of winter…as if it makes any difference in ALASKA! Ha! We have less than 80 days left in the lower 48!
I am attending the overseas transportation briefing next week to set up a date for the movers to come and pack out our household goods, and set up shipment of my CR-V.
We know that we will be moving out of this house the middle of November (That’s only a month and a half away!). David’s dad has already opened up his home to us for the month we will be here before we fly out. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family! We get to stay in a newly decorated queen suite! (We’ve been helping him redecorate his home for the last few months…David and I picked out the bedding and new queen sized bed frame he now has in that room.)
I can’t believe how soon we will be moving! It’s right around the corner!
This past weekend was a good one. On Saturday we went out shopping and then to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream... NEVER go to Coldstone and order plain vanilla ice cream! That’s what I did…but in my defense I ordered it because Gwyneth ordered cake batter flavored ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and Oreo cookie mix-ins. I was certain one of us would be stuck eating her concoction, so I ordered the safe ice cream to give her when she decided she didn’t like her choice. She ate it ALL, save two bites for mommy and daddy. Next time I’m getting the cake batter ice cream! It tastes just like a yellow cake batter! Mmmm…. David got cheesecake with white chocolate chips. A pretty good storm came through just as we went to get ice cream so we got it to go (in case it brought hail), and enjoyed it at home.
Shortly after arriving home our power went out. It was out a total of 3 ½ hours!
Since it wasn’t bedtime yet we lit some candles and played Sorry by candlelight. After we put Gwyneth to bed David and I played Canasta by candlelight. It was kind of nice not having the modern distractions we have everyday. It was so quiet without the refrigerator, and A/C running. No TV, or computer….just us and a good old fashioned card game.
Of course I took pictures, silly!…
Bedtime stories by flashlight...
Sunday we went to church and had a lazy afternoon at home watching football, and each doing our own thing. Later that evening we went to “Pop-Pop’s” for our middle niece’s 11th birthday celebration. Gwyneth was asking all day “Is it time to go, is it time to go?” It was a nice evening, with more football, good food and cake, and family. Here's a couple pictures of the real party animals:
Yesterday it was back to the daily grind. I made it to the gym, for day 1 of 3 (hopefully) this week. School… washed all the bed linens… and mowed and edged the entire front and back yard! I had a little energy…but boy and I hurting today! Ha! The backyard had gotten too high for me to be comfortable with Gwyneth playing out there. I have never liked our backyard here. We have so many bugs, mosquitoes, spiders, and an occasional snake that leaves behind it’s skin (see this post.) Last night was the first night in a while we were able to go out and actually enjoy it. I lit the citronella tiki torches and the candle on the patio table. It was a cool 75 degrees or so. Gwyneth drove her Barbie car in the dark (the porch light was on but parts of the yard were still pretty dark.)
and David and I played darts.
We pulled the computer speakers out on the patio and had some music going too. It was really nice!
Today is a pretty slow day, I did Pilates this morning (I plan to do that three days a week as well) school with Gwyneth, and we’re about to head out to the grocery store for some much needed provisions! Just to hold us over to the weekend, then we have to do some major shopping! (yuck!)
So since I have now written a book I will close for now. I need to post more often than once every 10 days to prevent long posts like this! I will try…
Update on my Mom: She had the endoscope and they did not find anything cancerous, but she did have a bacterial infection so they gave her antibiotics. She will however be having surgery to correct one of her bones in her foot on October 6th. So please keep that in your prayers.
One Year
One year ago today, a wonderful woman passed away from our world.
She was the heart of our family. She was always watching out for us. The Wife, Mother, Grahamcracker, Hugger, helper, confidante...… She loved her family with a passion, they were her world. She would rather go without something for herself, if she knew it would benefit someone she loved. She was such an incredible example of unconditional love and selflessness. I was blessed to be loved by her, as if I was one of her own children.
The following is from a card I gave her for her birthday in 2004:
"If it hadn'’t been for you, Mom, I may have never known how truly strong and courageous a woman can be, how welcoming and assuring a home can be, how beautiful and lasting a mother'’s love can be...… Your journey has not been easy, but your faith has never faltered and your heart has never surrendered...…You are my courage, my hope, and my inspiration, and I love you with a love I will never outgrow."
We miss her so much...
{one of my favorite photos of her, taken by one of her grandchildren in 2003}
I've decided to give the blog another two weeks, to monitor traffic and responses to the post below. If the results are favorable I will keep this blog, but if not I will have to convert to a password protected blog.
In the meantime, here is a cute image of Gwyneth from last night.
It was Kid's Night at Chik-Fil-A so she got a free kid's meal, a free face painting, and a balloon. She wanted a pink kitty cat and this is what the lady came up with. She was amazingly talented!
Gwyneth hasn't washed it off yet. She wants to keep it until after tonight. She has her first night of AWANA and starts Sparks this year. So she wanted to keep it on long enough for her classmates to see it.
Who even reads this thing???
We have had a stat counter on this blog from it's beginning. The counter records IP addresses and the city and state they originate from. For a while I was aware of who was viewing our blog and recognized the city and states of some family and friends, but now it is getting hits from states and countries we don't even know anyone in. I know that a couple friends have links on their blogs to our blog, so that may be generating traffic.
So to ease my mind and to get an idea of who visits this blog I would like to request that you all make a brief comment below. Let us know who you are, and please include your state or country if you don't think we already know that information.
Here are some recent places that people have been visiting from:
I am not certain if I will continue this blog if we continue to get this many hits and no comments. I may consider a blog that is password protected instead.
So, please take a minute to say hi!
Thanks!
So to ease my mind and to get an idea of who visits this blog I would like to request that you all make a brief comment below. Let us know who you are, and please include your state or country if you don't think we already know that information.
Here are some recent places that people have been visiting from:
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- California
- Ohio
- Washington D.C.
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Mexico
- Melbourne, Australia
- Sydney, Australia
I am not certain if I will continue this blog if we continue to get this many hits and no comments. I may consider a blog that is password protected instead.
So, please take a minute to say hi!
Thanks!
"Rainy Days and Mondays"
We are getting some much needed rain here today. It's always harder to get out of bed when it's raining. I just want to stay all snug under my covers and listen to the drops on the rooftop.But I got out of bed anyway...duty calls. Laundry and school were priority today. Gwyneth seemed to be less interested in school this morning than last week. I'm sure it's normal, but frustrating all the same. She loves Math. Could do without phonics. ha! She's learning all the vowel sounds and how to sound out short words. I just bought her a bunch of level 1 readers yesterday. They are cute, and easy enough that she could read a couple even now with what she has learned so far.
Happy Monday all!
(image taken this afternoon)
Married 8 Years
Then:
-We were both at least 10 pounds lighter. (Some of us more than 10 :o)
-We were blissfully ignorant of what it really meant to be committed to someone.
-We had no idea what "in good and bad times" would really mean for us!
-We could never have fathomed the amazing daughter God would give us!
-We never in a million years thought we would be moving to Alaska for possibly the most interesting next three years of our lives.
Thoughts Now:
8 years ago today, I was a ball of nerves. I was about to marry my fiance of 2 years. He was 20 and I was 18. We were SO young, much younger than we felt we were. We were ready to get married. I think of it now at age 26, and with a daughter of my own, and marvel at how crazy it would seem to everyone else! 20 and 18 years old. Just kids! So naive and inexperienced in life. David and I literally "grew" up in adulthood together. And has it been an experience! But never once have I (and I believe him) thought it was a mistake! We have the most blessed life. God and our family and friends have carried us through the last 8 years. I am happier than I could imagine, and ready for the next 8 years! We've been blessed with health, happiness, and the most incredible daughter we could have ever hoped for!
Laundry Day
Today is laundry day, and a school day, and then a relaxing night...as least Mommy is off for the night as "cook." We are having pizza like every other Friday for the past two years! ha! I love it though! I get a night off!
Gwyneth has been Mommy's helper today. I started laundry and then told her we needed to gather up all the towels. She wanted to carry them all herself...no child labor laws were broken today! ha! I thought she was too cute in her nightgown and slippers with her eyes just barely showing over the mound of towels.
Stuff on my mind lately:
- Alaska...only about four months until we transplant our family to one of the coldest regions in the world! What were we thinking??!! Just kidding. We're all excited for the adventure, it's just the technicalities I could do without. (Pack-out dates, plane tickets, will we get a house right away, etc...)
- Photography...I sleep, eat, and breath this craft! It's borderline obsessive. I wonder if I should really pursue it as a business...who knows.
- Fall...it's just around the corner and I CAN'T wait. I am anticipating pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pies, pumpkin soup...and yummy smelling pumpkin Yankee candles! I LOVE Fall!
- My mom...she is having a couple health issues that are uncomfortable for her. Mostly her back. She's had back problems before, but this time it feels different. They have done an MRI and she is seeing an Orthopedic surgeon next week. But the thing that concerns me the most, although her back is the most painful thing right now, is a mass they found at the bottom of her stomach. She is having a gastrointestinal endoscopy done next week as well. It's a suspicious mass, and the doctor mentioned cancer. I try not to worry too much about the unknown...and I think I'm doing o.k. with it, but every once in a while it will creep to the front of my mind, and I just have to stop and pray. If you pray, would you mind saying one for my mom?
- David and I have been married 8 years on Sunday! 8 YEARS! We've been together 11! Gwyneth is spending the night with her cousins Saturday so we can go out and celebrate. Still haven't nailed down plans, but I know they will include dinner somewhere nice.
Random Happenings...
We enjoyed this past 4 day weekend. David had Fri. Sat. Sun. & Mon. off!
- Friday we spent here around the house, cleaning, and David was making his car
ready to sell. We actually put it on Auto Trader last night. We'll see how that goes. Pizza Night later that evening. David helped his Dad and bro-in-law put up new lattice around his shed and electrical box in the backyard. We had torn down the old lattice the previous Monday. - Saturday I woke up early to prepared Gwyneth and I to go to gymnastics. David had to stay home with the repair man who didn't show up till after we got home anyway. So...back to gymnastics...yeah, it might be a good idea to check before hand if they are actually open on a long holiday weekend! We drove all the way out there and found the note on the door saying they were closed. I was a little miffed to say the least. Mostly at myself for not being aware of it. It was o.k. though because Gwyneth takes gymnastics really close to the only Krispie Kreme doughnut shop in town. We stopped in there on our way home and got a dozen yummy doughnuts. Gwyneth got to see the assembly line of doughnuts being fried and glazed right in front of us! She got a hat too!
- Sunday we had a Labor Day BBQ at David's dad's house. Breaking in his new enclosed patio in the backyard. We had pork ribs that I slow cooked in the oven all day long and then we grilled them the last 15 minutes. Mmmm...I made macaroni salad, English pea salad, deviled eggs, and pineapple upside down cake...Late on we played a game of Golf. (it's become sort of our family game.)
- Monday I went out with my photographer friend Steve for a senior promo photo shoot. I got to watch him conduct a session downtown in urban settings...alley ways, doorways, walkways, street corners...
It was fun and I took a few images that I will probably put on the photo blog. Later that day we relaxed around the house, I scheduled Gwyneth's first week of school. David and I watched a movie called "V For Vendetta." Interesting movie, not a happy-go-lucky movie though, not sure I'd recommend it.
Last night David's dad took us out to dinner for our upcoming 8 year wedding anniversary. He is going on a trip tomorrow so he wouldn't be here to celebrate. He took us to the restaurant of our choice. (Olive Garden of course...Gwyneth and I's choice really.) I thought it was very thoughtful of him and we really enjoyed it.
Better wrap this up....this could very well be one of my longest posts....and if you are still reading...God bless you! Ha!
reason for my absence
I have a good reason for not posting in a week! I finished the proof album for the wedding I shot in July and mailed it out yesterday. Editing 100 pictures, ordering prints, a nice album, and then assembling the album after everything arrives is a LOT of work. My work there is still not done though, as I am including at least 50 more images on the CD I am sending her! So I have 50 or more images to edit. It has been a great experience though! The wedding was for my sister's best friend Heather. I shot it while home on vacation. You can see a few of the images here: James & Heather
I also shot my first official maternity session two weeks ago, and finished proofing all her photos. This is one of my favorites to date. My friend Steve so graciously opened up his home studio to us for this session. He has been an amazing encouragement and is a great teacher! He is a High School teacher by trade, and a photographer as a part time business.
Since it's been so hot here lately, the air conditioned studio was much appreciated. More so I am sure by the girl I was photographing!
Here is the link to her album. Megan