Tuesday, May 24, 2005


 Posted by Hello

368 days and still going strong

on saturday, josh and i celebrated our first anniversary. i'm not really supposed to get saturdays off, but my boss swung it so that i could get both saturday and sunday off. it was a SPECTACULAR weekend! one of the best ever, in my books. and really, it wasn't unusually super amazingly wonderful, it was just really special and fun.

okay, so saturday morning comes around and josh says that he "has to go into town for a bit." well, he comes back with a bouquet of red roses and blue irises...my favourite. i had bought him the book "wild at heart" even though we both had said we wouldn't buy each other gifts. i adore getting flowers.

first off, we dropped my ring off at the jewelers to get cleaned and rhodium-plated (its white gold, so it wears easily). then we drove to la jolla, where all of the rich people live and shopped at an outdoor mall. it was the most gorgous, hot day, but la jolla is by the ocean, so it wasn't too bad. we had fun getting decor ideas in pottery barn and both bought something at american eagle..i got shell earrings and josh got a leather bracelet. from there we drove to the beach. unfortunately, we hadn't really thought ahead and because it was such a gorgeous, warm day, the beach was packed and there was not a single parking spot to be found. i was a little bummed because the beach was where we got married a year ago, and i wanted to walk on it and pick up a shell or a rock as a little souvenir, but ah well. it was pretty just to drive along it. we then went to a matinee in poway. we saw crash, which, though a great movie, was not the greatest date movie, but we still enjoyed it. came home and got all dolled up fancy and went to our favourite restaurant for dinner--carver's. they have the most amazing, melt in your mouth filet mignon that i always order and josh got the prime rib and lobster and we completely pigged out, and even shared creme brulee for dessert. we were so stuffed that we could hardly walk out of there (partly due to the fact that, as we got up to leave, i put my shoes on the wrong feet and stumbled through half of the restaurant before realizing it. i ONLY had 2 glasses of wine and stood up quite quickly. josh found this extremely funny and loves telling this story, so my hope is that by broadcasting it on my blog, there won't be anyone left for him to tell).

the next morning we were up super early, so decided to go to the early service at church and went immediately after to our new favourite place to hang out: walter anderson's nursery. it is simply a paradise. we bought a few new things (a sunflower being my favourite) and rushed home to plant them all and arrange them on our deck. we are seriously addicted. it was scorching hot, so we put on our swimsuits and jumped in the pond and swam around for a bit before our friends jay and dena and their 2 boys came over for a bbq. we had a great time with them..they were actually the ones who got us this place (jay's sister owns this place)

so, that was our wonderful anniversary weekend. i can hardly wait until july 8th, which is our second first anniversary date! my poor husband has 2 anniversary dates to remember. i'd love to tell you all about our wacky way of getting hitched, but i think i'll save it for another blog.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

our first dead pet

i have some tragic news. on friday, may 13th at some point in the morning, there was a death in the stewart household. Mr. Algae Eater passed away. Mr. Algae Eater was my favorite fish. he was completely white and looked sort of like a tiny catfish with whiskers, and all he did all day long was eat everything he could find at the bottom of the fish tank. if i had known him long enough to give him a proper name, i believe i would have named him Snuffalufagous because if he could have talked, that's the kind of word that would have come out of his mouth, i am sure. on friday afternoon, i noticed that Mr. Algae Eater was no longer eating. he seemed to be taking a break, but it looked as if he was napping on his side. it seemed a little odd to me, but i wasn't too alarmed because everybody knows that when fish die, they float to the top of the fish tank. then i looked even closer and saw that his gills weren't moving. that was when i called out for josh to "come quick!" and he did and confirmed that Mr. Algae Eater was, in fact completely dead.

after his death had been confirmed, josh and i had a lengthy "discussion" about who should remove the late Mr. A.E. from the fish tank. josh insisted that, since i had been the one to discover him, i should have to remove him. i insisted that, since i am a girl, and extremely squidgy about gross things, that josh should step up as the Man of the House and remove him. neither of us agreed with the other, and so the "discussion" ensued until i called josh a not very nice name and we stopped talking for awhile until i apologized and then we decided to drop the topic of Mr. Algae Eater's removal.

the next day, during breakfast i noticed that Mr. A.E.'s body was drifting around the fish tank and that one of the other fish was attacking it. this disturbed me, and again, i asked josh to kindly remove his remains. but josh is stubborn and so am i (i never used to be, until i got married) and so Mr. Algae Eater remained in the fish tank for yet another day past his expiration. i did, at one point, get the soup ladle out, but realized that the handle wasn't long enough to reach his body, which would force me to put my hand in the water, which i wasn't willing to do at that point.

last night i had the most horrid dream. i dreamt that i was forced to leave josh and go to college, and while there, i noticed that the drinking water had a lot of floaties in it. i examined the floaties in my glass a little closer and realized that they were actually little, mini goldfish, swimming around, and we HAD to drink them. so i did and i could feel them wiggling around on my tongue and down my throat. it was DISGUSTING! this morning during breakfast, i noticed that Mr. A.E.'s body was no where to be found. i assumed that the other fish had all taken a bite of him, but josh told me that that was not what happened. later, while washing dishes, i found the soup ladle in the sink.

what a wonderful man i have.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

our first pet(s)

josh and i have recently taken a huge step in our relationship. we have aquired our first pets. we have goldfish.

when we moved in, the owners had left quite a few things here that they no longer wanted. one of those things was a fish tank, complete with a few fish, alive and dead. (if you look at the photo posted below, you can see the fish tank). at first, i wasn't sure what to think. my older brother and i had goldfish when we were young. i named my fish sally, and i distinctly remember my mom flushing both fish down the toilet after an unfortunate incident involving enthusiastic over-feeding. the fish tank in this house seemed to be in the way, so we moved it over to a corner of the kitchen. i didn't pay much attention to them, so josh began to feed them. one morning, he woke me up early because he had spotted quite a large fish in the tank that must hide all day because we never see her. we decided to call her nessie, after the loch ness monster. since that discovery, i have slowly become more and more attatched to the fish. josh named the others, i think they're denny eddie and moe, or something like that. he sometimes accidentally refers to them as "his" fish, but i am always quick to correct him. my mom sent us a bit of money for a house warming gift and, after much discussion, we finally decided to buy some more fish with it! so we now have the prettiest little neon tetras swimming around in there, as well as an algae eater, who is the biggest pig i've ever seen..he NEVER stops eating! josh really wanted to buy a little turtle for the tank, but we were told by the lady at the pet shop that only teachers are allowed to buy turtles. what's up with that?

speaking of turtles, rob and jessica found a snapper turtle near there house awhile ago. they brought it inside and were attempting to house it for awhile, but she didn't seem to be doing too well. so, on mother's day, they brought sandy (the turtle) with them and came to our pond to release her. i wasn't here, but apparently, she was thrilled and jumped in the water right away! yesterday morning, to relax, i went out in the canoe and paddled around. i wasn't really looking for sandy, but i heard a little splash and turned just in time to see her head go back in the water, right next to my boat! she did a little flip and a corkscrew dive and disappeared. she must think she's in heaven out there!

today is the first day off i've had since last tuesday. i have direct orders from my husband to VEG. and that's it. so i am about to go have a luxurious bath in our fantastic new sunk in bathtub and read, which is something i rarely have time to do anymore. i am currently reading a book called "captivating" by john and staci elderidge. i'm enjoying it a lot.

the bath is beckoning!

-heidi

moving into our new house Posted by Hello

Saturday, May 07, 2005

work

i still cannot seem to figure out how to post my most recent pictures on my blog, so i posted a couple of relatively recent pictures that have nothing to do with moving or our new house, but i thought they were kinda nice.

today is saturday and i leave for work at noon and get home past 10pm. then i go back to work tomorrow (mothers day!!??) from 11-6. i don't actually feel as depressed about my weekend hours as i used to. part of it, i think, is just getting used to working full time again and not seeing josh nearly as much. but i also find that i am actually beginning to enjoy my job more and more. a few days ago i was helping a middle aged man find a bible for his wife for mother's day. he thanked me for helping him find one, took it, and was about to walk away when he stopped short and turned towards me. he said, "you know, i've seen you working here before and there is just something i have to tell you. there is something different about you. whenever i see you, i can see God's love shine right through you. i just thought i should tell you that." i was dumbfounded! it was one of those days where i wasn't feeling that great, and was really just counting down the hours until i could come home. i told him that that was the best compliment i have ever received. since that day, working has been a lot easier. to know that God can work through me, even when i feel so low, is amazing! i used to think that it was only during the times of actually being mindful of His presence and asking Him to use me that i was being used. but now i suppose it makes sense that because His Spirit dwells within us, we can be lights to the world no matter how we may feel on the inside. i am so thankful that God uses cracked pots.

golfing with uncle stew Posted by Hello

kaylee with her aunt heidi Posted by Hello

Thursday, May 05, 2005

abs...what abs?

i have tried, to no avail, to post pictures of the inside of our house on my blog. for some reason my hello program can't seem to locate the pictures, even though they're RIGHT THERE! has anyone else ever had a problem like this?

i am not a buff girl. this probably has something to do with my phobia of gyms, and of exercise in general. i have never been able to figure out how to do a proper sit up (one where my lower back doesn't scream out in agony), so i don't have a clue what it feels like to have sore abs. i like to take walks and, when serious about walking, walk very fast up very large hills. in the past my enthusiasm for exercise has prompted me to take up jogging. the only problem is, jogging hurts after awhile and i am a wuss. so. all of this preamble is so that you can empathize with me when i tell you that on tuesday, i was invited to a friend's house to do a pilates video. sara warned me that the day after she did it, she was a little bit sore. excited at the prospect of a relatively painless way to snap my body into shape (and add a little definition to my spaghetti-thin arms), i agreed to join sara and zandra.

the video itself wasn't too bad. there were times i had to swallow giggles as we all attempted to be as flexible as the perfect looking woman on the screen. we completed the 50 minute video and rewarded ourselves with coffee drenched in flavoured cream. it really wasn't so bad, and at that point i was contemplating buying my own pilates video to do at home. i was quite proud of myself, really.

fast forward to the next morning. i needed to get out of bed. my bladder was telling me so, and yet, for some odd reason, i couldn't manage to get myself into a sitting position without sending waves of pain throughout my midsection. i finally managed to propel myself forward and get out of bed, only to discover that my thighs really didn't want to hold me up that day. neither did my arms want to cooperate with what i wanted them to do. my whole body was just SCREAMING at me! thanks to pilates, i now know what it feels like to have sore abs.

as if that wasn't enough, my throat really hurt whenever i swallowed. nevertheless, i hauled my miserable heap of a body to work, only to discover that my manager was extremely sick with strep throat. lovely. i went around and disinfected all of the phones, but am afraid that i was too late. this morning my throat hurts just a little more. i am doing my best to fend away any illness with an assortment off pills--vitamin c, zinc, eccanachia...whatever it takes. i simply refuse to become sick.