Fall, glorious Fall...

Esther Short Park

Esther Short Park

Esther Short Park

Esther Short Park

Fort Vancouver Park

Forest Park

14 years of wedded bliss....

Okay, maybe it hasn't all been bliss. But it is true that it gets better and better each year. We enjoy each other immensely, and savor each and every date we get. My favorite date so far is the pedicab experience where we were pedaled around downtown Portland to a few breweries for beer tastings and dinner. I am so happy to say that after 14 years, we still like each other ;) For this anniversary,my day started out with a dozen roses and a sweet card, then in the evening we went to a place in Portland we hadn't been before called "Grain and Gristle". Great place. They had an interesting menu, and good food. Wasn't the most romantic place, but I guess they can't all be, especially if we are working within our budget! Then we went to Belmont station (beer store), for Chris to get his anniversary gift(s) :) And lastly ended up at Rimsky's coffeehouse for some coffee and dessert. Cheers to another year as Mrs. Curry!

Had to add this pic b/c it shows a great man who plays pretty, pretty princess with his girls, and isn't afraid to put on some pink jewelery. I love who Chris Curry has become :)

I just can't get enough red roses. Love them!

A Hoppy Passion

Well this man of mine has had many passions in our life together, and has pursued many hobbies. This is what happens when you are a lifetime student of learning anything and everything! Well, I have never seen Chris more passionate about any other hobby. Making beer completes him in a way no other hobby has. It really is fun to watch him do something he enjoys so much. He gets a chance to be creative and to create, and then enjoy the fruits of his labor! His first beer was a wheat beer, very light and crisp, which I also enjoyed! He just bottled his second beer, an IPA. I am sure our garage will slowly transform into a brewery over the next few years. But hey, it really is a small price to pay for a content and fulfilled husband :)

Look at that giddy man, stirring his first ever homebrew :)

Cooking the hops in our kitchen. NOT a good smell! He has now purchased an outdoor burner, and I am so thankful for that!

This is the pail it sits in while in ferments....in our closet :)

The little one is 5!

Well, our little one has hit the 5 year milestone mark! She had a very mac n cheesey birthday, with a big park party with all her friends, mac n cheese and hotdogs, rootbeer floats, and more mac n cheese for dinner, then we roasted some marshmallows to finish out a fun day! She still doesn't feel 5 to me. But she is my baby, and I am in a bit of denial. I am pretending like I am not gonna have to put her on a schoolbus in September! More blogging to come on those emotions. But for now, we will just party :)

Ella is enjoying her birthday cereal :)

Her friend Timmy got her mac n cheese for her birthday. What a smart boy....he knows
the way into this girls affections!

Makin a 5 year old birthday wish!

A birthday pic with her sis

A finish to a really great day for little miss Ella Curry!

He IS Risen!

Another great Easter celebrating our risen Lord with family. We thoroughly enjoyed a very worshipful church service, a delicious meal, egg hunting all over the house and homemade carrot cake.

The whole fam after church

Two very excited girls!

Sisters, walking down to check out their Easter surprises together :) My personal fave!

Annabelle checkin out the goods!

Ella...deep in thought about where to look for the next egg

Annabelle is wasting no time at all.

Uncle Kevin is playing a little Annabelle guitar :)

My Alton Brown carrot cake. Pretty delicious!

Ella finding treasures.

This girl loved the scalloped potatoes so much that she licked the spoon...

Me and my girls!

Refreshed!

So I got the privilege of spending a very stormy and wet weekend in the Coastal California Redwoods at Mt. Gilead's Women's Retreat with my mom for the second year in a row. It is such a blessing in my life, as I have shared before. The place where I grew up in my faith and met my husband. Gilead is the place where I am convinced that Jesus lives :) . So, I will try to go every year that God allows! This year was all about healing fractured relationships, accepting grace and believing the truth that God loves me just the way I am. The two things that were pounded into my brain were: "Jesus knows me, this I love", and to "get out of my own way", so that Christ can use me! I cannot do this life successfully without him. Some great reminders for me. I also was extremely encouraged by listening to women share their struggles and faith journey's. I got to reconnect with some old friends also! Mom and I had a wonderful time together too :) I feel refreshed, focused and incredibly grateful for my life and circumstances. God. Is. Good.

After a crazy storm on Sunday evening, somehow, these logs were picked up
and thrown up into the power lines!

More crazy storm aftermath....a tree branch pierced the dining hall awning!

Ruth Burch, Terah Lites and I, all former Mt. Gilead staffers.

Mom and I :)

A blessing to me

So, as you all know, I like to run, and have been doing so for the last few years pretty consistently. Running to me has been my release, my exercise, my breath of fresh air, and a challenge when I run in races. But it also is time away from my family when I train for a race. This has been a spot of contention in my marriage over the last couple of years, and mostly because my husband did not understand what running means to me, and was not happy with my absence. So as we worked and talked through this rough spot, Chris began to let it go, and at least partially understood why it was so important to me, and became less angry with me for taking runs. This year has been even more amazing, as God has now given my husband a desire to be more healthy, and he has lost 40-50 pounds, by eating healthier and RUNNING! I had secretly hoped that one day I could run with my husband, that he would see the joys of exercising outdoors and that we could do this together. It is hard to get away for runs together with small children, so when my mom came to visit in June we went on our first run together, and I must say, I got a little emotional. I feel like I have a new husband, and it is so wonderful to enjoy running together! Pics of weight loss will come soon :)

Growing.....and cutting

Annabelle couldn't take the excruciating hair brushing I put her through each morning, any longer! She has been asking for short hair for quite some time, and I kept saying , lets wait until summer. Well summer came. We have a neighbor who is a hair stylist, and offered to cut Annabelle's hair. Annabelle is the most excited that she has bangs. I have never done bangs on her before. It also just so happened that we went over and did the hair cut at our neighbors house on the last day of school, so watching that haircut was almost more than my heart could handle. Last day of Kindergarten, and a haircut. Not only all that, but now all she wants to do is run around the neighborhood park, playing with all the neighborhood kids. We have entered a new phase of life. It is bittersweet to say the least. I made a last day of school cake for Annabelle, congratulating her for a job well done. I am so amazed at how academically inclined she is! It is so fun to see her love to learn. She tested off the charts in all things with words/phonics/reading this year, and is in a summer reading program through the library. New beginnings are good. God is good. Amen.

Before

During

After

Ella turns 4!

Our baby is no baby. It is unbelievable that I have a 6 and 4 year old. Where the heck have the last few years gone? We celebrated our spunky little monkey last weekend. My mom and Dad and Andi and Kevin came to join in the fun, with a family BBQ pizza extravaganza, complete with margherita pizza, BBQ chicken pizza and mac-n-cheese pizza, courtesy of the birthday girl. Not to mention she had mac-n-cheese for lunch. She can inhale that stuff. I really need to start making it homemade, and freezing it. Then the next day I teamed up with a good friend whose 4 yr old had a birthday a couple days before, and we did a joint birthday party for Logan and Ella. It was a big carnival party at the park, that would have been awesome, but it of course downpoured, so we did it indoors, and it turned out great anyway! A glimpse into who Ella is at age 4:

- LOVES mac-n-cheese
- chews off her finger nails and toe nails with her teeth (she has nubbins for fingers)
- loves to play dolls and loves any dolly accessory.
- her best friend is another little girl named Ella.
- she still enjoys a good cuddle with her mommy.
- she continues to be a shoe thief and is especially attracted to high heels.
- she really does say the darndest things, alot of the time.
- she has a tender heart and can be very nurturing.
- she loves to be read to.
- candyland is her favorite game with go-fish coming in as a close second.

Easter Sunday

We attended a newer church Easter morning as a way to support a church that our church has helped plant out in Battleground called Daybreak. It was a good experience, but definately reaffirmed that even with all the changes going on at Compass, it is still where God has us, and we are happy to be a part of it, changes and all.

Blessed weekend

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to go back to the place that I hold near and dear to my heart, Mt. Gilead, to attend their women's retreat with my mom. I could talk your ear off about this place. It is a wonderful place where I grew up in my faith and met my husband, and sometimes I wish I could live there (retirement!). It is in the heart of the California Coastal Redwoods, right outside Santa Rosa, Ca. Those form-able teen summers were all spent there, and I constantly realized my need for God. I came across a quote that I just love speaking to this exact thing:

"Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaken need for an unshakable God."
- Maya Angelou

Mt. Gilead was that for me. The people during those years at camp gave me hope and showed me I needed God in my life, and I truly believed it! Not only did wonderful people invest in my life but God met me there, every time. And when you meet God, you are changed. I am so thankful for having Mt. Gilead then, and now! Going back there was such a treat for me. The whole time I was there I could just feel all the distractions melt away, and I could just be with my God, and amongst other godly women. It was like needed therapy for me! I was in an complaining, un-thankful place when I left home, and just escaping to Mt. Gilead for 2 days, gave me the perspective I needed to see that my focus had shifted off of my Father and onto my circumstances. I was a much needed drink of water for my soul. Can you tell? I am getting poetic on you :) Anyhow, I soaked it all in, and am in a good place, and am admiring a good God, who is faithful. I also had some really wonderful, much needed time with my mom, got to see some old friends, and climbed the rock wall all the way to the top. Yay for taxes that allowed me to do this wonderful weekend!