Panty Party

Today was the bridal shower for my almost sister-in-law. The theme was "panty party" and all in all, I think it turned out pretty well. There ended up being somewhere between 15 and 20 people. I've never had that many people in my house at once, and shockingly, we all fit! It was so nice to have my mom and step-mom helping. I think I would have felt a little lost without them! I realized I've never hosted any event besides small dinner gatherings for friends and family, but that is usually 6 people tops. I really like the idea of entertaining, but this morning, I did have a brief moment of panic when I realized that not only had I never hosted this many people, but also, most of the people that would be coming were complete strangers to me (her family, friends, etc). So having my mom and step-mom here was a really nice way to ease my way into things and not feel totally freaked. And having Jesse's support was great too, because not only did he help me clean the house and get the backyard all cleaned up nice, he also took Horton and Abe away for the day so that I didn't have to worry about dogs trying to eat people's cake or generally rubbing up against people who don't love dogs as much as I do. So thank you Jesse!!


I made another fondant cake. I wish I had more special events to make cakes for, because I really like playing with dough. My piping didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but I will keep practicing!


We decorated in pink and white. Pink is my sis-in-law's favorite color.


One of many funny gifts...

Nothing in Particular

I cashed in some of my points from our debit card reward system, and got an itunes gift card. Today, I downloaded In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. I now have "monkey monkey me say, monkey monkey me say, why you kissin' my pole" stuck in my head (though I am quite sure that is not what they are saying...it's Swahili maybe? I don't know. Some parts are English, some are French, and I'm not sure about this other language.)

I only have one week until summer classes start. Not ready for that. At all. I'm debating about dropping a class or two. I'm nearing burn out stage, which means I probably need to take a break, but also means I want to push even harder to just get it done. Not that I don't enjoy it. For the most part, I do, but my brain is completely ADD when it comes to art. I get really into some medium, go insane with it, and then get bored, toss it aside, and want something new. Right now it's sugar art. And talking to me right now, I would say I love it and could do it forever. But, it's like those junior high girls. But, with him it's different. I mean, I've never felt this way about any other guy before, and then three months later they are saying the same thing about another guy...except insert acrylics, printmaking, or any other type of art for "guy". Oh well. For the time being at least, I am basking in the world of sugar art and planning to marry it.

Next weekend, I am having a bridal shower for my soon to be sister-in-law. I'm hoping the weather is nice enough that we can be outside since our house is tiny. I still need to get her a gift. It's a "panty party", so maybe I can find some cute pajamas or something. Speaking of, every time I go into the lingerie section, I am baffled by 18 hour bras. I have never understood the concept. When I was a kid, I would see commercials for them, and I always thought it must be like Cinderella...when the clock strikes and those 18 hours are over, poof - saggy. Needless to say, I'll never buy one of those...

Other than the bridal shower, it's just work this week. OH WAIT! I forgot, Jesse and I have couples massage on Wednesday. I'm so excited. Remember how I told you my boss said he was giving me a bonus, well he gave me a much bigger than expected bonus in the form of gift cards to this nice spa, as well as Lowe's. (He knows me well!) Anyway, so Jesse and I are getting massages and with the Lowe's, we decided to get some new light fixtures. My boss would be very happy with that, as he insists that lighting is "the jewelry of the home". We've been really blessed with these "extras" popping up here and there that have allowed us to make upgrades to the house or just go out and have a relaxing time together.

Which actually, we have a slight crunch in the vacation plans. Our "Bush bucks" were less than expected. Figures...should have read the fine print before assuming we'd get the full amount! It was either $1200 (which would cover vacation and leave us some spending money for while we are there) or our "tax liability", whichever is less...and we got the less. =) So, we will need to decide if we should change the vacation plans, delay them, or if we can save up enough to cover the shortage. We have talked about it, but so far the only conversation has been "Hm. We should decide that." I imagine we will either find a way to come up with the money, or just push back the dates to give us some time to save up. Either way though, I'm still holding out to see Mickey at some point this year.

All in all, that's about it...

The End

I talked with an old friend from Mercy Ships today. Haven't talked with him since our last day there. It's so timely, because last week, I was really thinking through our time there again and just trying to get some sense of closure or some sense of clarity about what exactly happened and what exactly I feel about it all. So, today was a nice test of sorts when the opportunity to chat with him came up randomly. I got to say some things I needed to say, and it ended up being really good. I've come to realize, the only thing I actually regret about our time there was not having the strength to stand up for myself, or not having someone in my life who would stand up for me when I needed it so desperately. I was so young (not that I'm terribly old and wise now), but I really didn't know any better during that time in my life. I took what was piled on me, and I trusted that when the weight was too much to bear, it was my fault, not anyone else's. Now I know better. And all the stuff that happened that hurt not just me, but others in a really deep way, wasn't anyone's fault in particular. There are things that I could have and should have done differently, and things others could have and should have done differently. It's a shame that it all went down the way that it did, but it's not beyond repair, which is maybe what I had confirmed today. And somehow, more than five years later, I finally feel free about the whole ordeal. I really didn't think I would ever have that. It's weird. It's like part of my future is opened up again. I don't quite know how to explain it. I know this whole paragraph is probably odd to most, as neither Jesse or I have shared with anyone the full on details of everything that happened during our time with Mercy Ships, but for those who saw us walk through it in any capacity, I think you know that it killed something in each of us and very radically altered our entire life path. In a sense, it defined so much of us as individuals and as a couple. So, to have any piece of whatever might have been lost during that time back, is very sweet and I find myself having trouble putting words to it...the only way I know how to explain the feeling is by imagining that you had lost something that you loved so dearly - a child, a person - and had made as much peace with never seeing it again as you could, only to have it show up again one day. The return is sweeter than honey from the comb. So this, my friends, is finally how the Mercy Ships story ends.

Backyard Stuff

The pergola is all stained now and I am very happy with how it turned out. I still need to plant some wisteria to grow up it, but it is pretty much done besides cleaning up.

The lettuce is coming in very nicely. The spinach is coming in, but much slower and smaller (see back row in the photo). I am so anxious to have my first garden salad of the summer.
This is my herb bed. The chives are getting ready to bloom, and the oregano is looking really good. The lemon balm is causing me a bit of trouble. It's growing...but a bit too well. It has reseeded itself and if I don't stop it, the entire bed will be full of it within two years. See all the little green sprouts on the bed...that's all new starts of lemon balm. Not sure what I am going to do about that yet. It is a pretty plant, it smells nice, I can use it in tea and recipes, and it makes nice accents in bouquets, so I suppose having a lot wouldn't be so terrible, but I want space for my other herbs. I put in lavender this year and still need to add my basil.
Mmmm....those flowers will be strawberries in just a few weeks....

Day 2 Without Electricity

I like electricity. A lot. You never realize how much you count on it until it's gone. I'm using the little generator thingie again to blog, but odds are, it won't last too much longer. I really thought we'd have full power back by now. Oh well. Last night, I went to First Fridays with a friend. (First Fridays is each first Friday of the month, where all the galleries in the area stay open and let people browse through and what not.) On my way home, I went by the grocery store to get milk and a bag of ice. Jesse and I can do without most foods, with the exception of Frosted Mini Spooners. If we don't have those in the morning, the whole day is bad. So, milk was a must. Though, when I got up this morning to have mine, 90% of the milk bottle had leaked into the freezer. Hm. Anyway, driving onto the street last night was creepy. It was so dark. I'm so used to the street lights. I showered by candlelight, (though it definitely was not as romantic as many body wash commercials may portray it to be.) On the bright side, because all of our food is spoiled, and there is now milk all over the freezer, the fridge will get a really good spring cleaning! I am not sure what to do with myself the last day or so. Yesterday, both work and school were cancelled for me due to the storm. (My boss was flying in, but got diverted, so he wasn't around yesterday), and then there was no power at the university, so they cancelled all classes. I was supposed to work today, but my boss just called and cancelled again because obviously it's been crazy for them with his flights getting messed up, and since they also live in the storm path, they've got a huge mess to clean up outside also. Soooo....here I sit...hoping to see a man climb up the power pole soon.

Nikkel Adventures: Tornadoes and Mouse Revenge!

I am blogging with the help of a generator that Jesse has for outdoor photo shoots. Otherwise, we have no electricity in the house. Last night we had some major storms. We are really thankful that our house is still fully in tact, because just a few blocks north and to the west of us, there are houses that got completely torn to shreds. Most had the roofs and/or 2nd story torn off, but one house actually came completely off its foundation. We seriously missed it by less than a half mile. Thankfully, I don't think there were any deaths, just a ton of property damage. Our house didn't get any major damage...we do have a downed power line in our backyard, our swing blew over and got torn up a bit, and our neighbor's tree is down in on our front yard, but all things considered, that is pretty stinking good! Not sure when we will have electricity again. When Jesse called the power company, they said there are about 40,000 houses without power and they could not give an estimate of when things would be fixed, so looks like we may be in a long line for the time being! Anyway, so that was last night's adventure. Not much sleep happening around here!

Our other recent adventure, well, actually this was more Jesse's adventure at which I laughed and took photos while feeling terribly sorry for him. He went down into the crawl space to check out some wiring down there and things were all well and good....until I suddenly heard yelling, looked over at the hole in the ground, and saw Jesse fly up out of it in a single bound. (Trust me, no small feat.) He had seen something dead in the corner, which we instantly knew was a mouse. Jesse isn't a fan of mice or snakes, so I offered to go down and be the one to get it, but he insisted that he would take care of it. So, he began suiting up. He put on his work coveralls, then began duct taping every place where anything could get in his clothes and crawl up him. I was trying my best to hold back laughter, but didn't do a very good job. After getting all duct taped up, he put on his respirator and grabbed a shovel (to pick it up with) and a bucket (to put it in) and then quickly informed me that we would be buying a new bucket and disposing of this one. A few minutes later, and he emerged triumphant. I was very proud of him because this is seriously one of his biggest fears come to life and he handled it so well! Anyway, this, we figured, was the mouse's revenge from our escapades a couple months ago. We went through the house and there were no new signs of them being inside here, so we figured maybe the one that had taken up residence under our dishwasher decided to move into the crawl space after Jesse scared the crap of it by trying to shop vac it up when he saw it. Jesse made yet another trip to Lowe's to buy poison and spread a bunch more in the crawl space. He thinks they were getting in near a hole where the air conditioning unit stuff runs into the house, so he also put screen and boards over any little crevice he could find. Hopefully this is the last of our rodent ordeals.

Check out the man in action!!