Last Days of a Good Month

April has been a month full of friends and sun. I really needed both so I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and ready for May and all it holds. The last two weeks have been exciting. First Ben and I have been researching Virginia and deciding weather to buy or rent. It is always fun to think "Where in the world will we go next?".

Last weekend I had my good friend Viv come to visit. It was so nice to show her Seattle and just catch up. She lucked on the weather and got to see the city at its best. I have a picture of us at the UW.

Ben was away that weekend taking his Professional Engineering test. It was an 8 hour test he has been studying for since January. We are both relieved to have that out of the way. He got back in time to spend some time with Viv too. I was living with Viv when Ben and I first started dating so it brought back good memories.

This last weekend was all about Jessi's baby shower. I spent Friday and Saturday shopping and baking. It turned out well and nearly everyone we invited could come. She got lots of great stuff and I learned some great new recipes. One I even made up which everyone liked so maybe I have a new career in front of me:). These adorable little shoes belong to the little boy Jessi nannies for. He was the inspiration for part of the shower and happily modeled his shoes for me. I do think he thought I was a little odd taking shot after shot of his feet.

That is it for April. I hope to be finishing a book in May so maybe I'll have some posts about that.

Friendship one of life's sweet joys

We got a phone call last week from our friends Heather and Terrel. They were on a road trip camping along the West Coast. As it was raining they decided to come visit us for a few more days then they had planned. Ben wasn't able to spend at much time with us because of school but the three of us had some adventures. They wanted to go up to the Tulip Festival so we went there one day. I was able to get some great rain shots of the flowers which are surprisingly different from the sunshine ones I took last week. We also went out to Whidbey Island for lunch and explored an old camp and light house.

I put a few shots of Heather and Terrel's visit. Notice the sign in the one picture of them on the cliff. It really is ridiculous what can get posted sometimes.

The last picture is of Lori and I. We went to school together in Africa from 1st through 12th grade. We haven't seen each other in 7 years so we had a lot of memories to relive. I think poor Devon, her husband, was bored stiff of our chatter and laughing. One of the kid's books I am working on this year is about the adventures that Lori and I got into growing up. We were best friends but she was REALLY tough and a bit of a bully and I was a complete WIMP. We made an interesting combination.

Tulip Festival

By now some of you probably think I am obsessed with flowers. I think it is more that after months of rain and gloom the spring flowers are shouting out to me that sunshine and summer are on their way. In fact this Friday was incredible. I woke up to a clear blue sky and decided to kidnap Jessi. She was going to work on papers but I convinced her to go to the Tulip Festival with me. We did this together five years ago so it was even more fun to go with her to the same place. It was warm and the flowers were spectacular. We had a great lunch and had time to visit two tulip farms. We got so hot that we ended the day drinking blended drinks in the shade of a tree. It was such a perfect day that even the two hours of traffic on the way home were not a hassel but rather more quality time with Jessi.

April is Beautiful so Far

I like April. How can you not like a month that starts with a day that you are encouraged to play practical jokes? I had decided to be good this year until I got inspired by my niece Cherith. She chose unwisely to play one on her mom who does not have a sense of humor for them at ALL. Cherith found that if you put a rubber band around the nozzle of the spray in kitchen sink you can get an unsuspecting person completely soaked when they turn the faucet on. I am sure she learned this from me or her grandmother as we both think it is hilarious. My sister on the other hand was all dressed up for church and was so mad she started crying and screaming. This sent all four kids running for cover. They had a family meeting later that day to say that this joke was never to be played again on penalty of......you fill the blank.

After hearing this I decided to call my mom and tell her we had been scheduled to move to Japan. She started shrieking, "Japan!!! Japan!!!". Not that my mom or myself have any issues with Japan, it would just be rather radical for us to move there at this point and it is expensive to travel there for visits. When I told her April Fools, she said, "But Moria you're the fool because you did this after 12 O'clock." I had never heard of this tradition before but I assumed it was British and reminded her we were in America. The ironic thing is that the next day we got a call telling us we were moving to Virgina so when I called to tell my mom I am not sure she believed me right away.

Anyways, I am enjoying April. I have played jokes, found out where we are going and enjoyed warm weather.

I have added some pictures of April 3rd. There is Ben in the library studying AGAIN. There is Mount Rainer peeking through. Finally there is Kate my co-worker. We work at night together and she is makes my job 10 times more fun. If you look at the board behind her you can see all the drinks I can make and then some.:)

Virginia Here We Come

Ben and I FINALLY know where we are moving. We will be moving to Little Creek, Virginia in July. That menas Ben has less than four months to finish his Masters and pass his PE but he can do it. He will be an Aide to an Admiral out there so it is a good job for him. It means a lot of travel and long hours but it is just for a year so overall we are really happy about it. We still would have loved the first job we almost got in Ventura CA, but we both trust that this is God's plan for us. I am thrilled just to know something about the future as it was the weirdest thing to tell people you were moving but you had no idea where you were moving to. I can now job and house hunt. I will probably finish my Barista career at the end of May and head back into the real world of teaching in August. But maybe kids will come into the picture and all my plans will change. Just wanted to share our good news.