Today is World Kidney Day...so, here is a little video I thought I would share.
One Year Later
13 years ago
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Eat, Pray, Love
I saw this movie last week with Teresa, Rikki, and Kristen. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought it would. I am not sure if I would really recommend it to everyone since it is a somewhat tragic story of a girl who has a mid-life crisis and goes looking for God in all the wrong places....however it does have some truths that I thought I would share:
"You're going to have to learn to select your thoughts the same way you select your clothes every day. Now that's a power that you can cultivate. You want to come here and you want to control your life so bad work on the mind, and I don't think you should be trying to control a thing because if you can't master your thoughts you are in trouble forever."
This one is sooo close...and yet so far:
"So the holy truth of the whole adventure here in India, is in one line: "God dwells within you...as you." God's not interested in watching a performance of how a spiritual person looks and behaves. The quiet girl who glides silently through the place with a gentle, ethereal smile...who is that person? It's Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St. Mary's" – not me. God dwells within me...as me."
"Having a baby is like having a tattoo on your face. You kind of want to be committed."
"Do not look at the world through your head; look at it through your heart."
"You're going to have to learn to select your thoughts the same way you select your clothes every day. Now that's a power that you can cultivate. You want to come here and you want to control your life so bad work on the mind, and I don't think you should be trying to control a thing because if you can't master your thoughts you are in trouble forever."
This one is sooo close...and yet so far:
"So the holy truth of the whole adventure here in India, is in one line: "God dwells within you...as you." God's not interested in watching a performance of how a spiritual person looks and behaves. The quiet girl who glides silently through the place with a gentle, ethereal smile...who is that person? It's Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St. Mary's" – not me. God dwells within me...as me."
"Having a baby is like having a tattoo on your face. You kind of want to be committed."
"Do not look at the world through your head; look at it through your heart."
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010 Review
Hard to believe another year has come and gone. As previously noted this year was exceptionally noteworthy for our family. Here are a few highlights to list:
-Jonathan, Tonia, and I (although separately) went to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada
-Reuben graduated from Multnomah Bible College
-Teresa graduated from Corban University
-Reuben and I got married
-Reuben and I toured Ireland
-Abby and Joe got married
-Tonia gave birth to Baby Lynn
It has been a very eventful year for both sides of our family. We are looking forward to many family gatherings in the new year and can’t wait to see what exciting things 2011 will hold.
Goodbye 2010, you were good to us. You will be missed.
-Jonathan, Tonia, and I (although separately) went to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada
-Reuben graduated from Multnomah Bible College
-Teresa graduated from Corban University
-Reuben and I got married
-Reuben and I toured Ireland
-Abby and Joe got married
-Tonia gave birth to Baby Lynn
It has been a very eventful year for both sides of our family. We are looking forward to many family gatherings in the new year and can’t wait to see what exciting things 2011 will hold.
Goodbye 2010, you were good to us. You will be missed.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Lincol City
Earlier this month Reuben and I enjoyed a weekend away at Lincoln City. We had gotten a gift certificate to use at a B&B and we decided to put it to use. :) We had a wonderful time seeing the sites and shopping at the outlet mall. It was a great weekend away that ended too soon. :) Enjoy our pics.
The beautiful sunset we saw on our drive down.
THE B&B (AKA "The Coast Inn)
The view from our room:
Our Room...aka The Wildflower Suite
The Beach :)
The beautiful sunset we saw on our drive down.
THE B&B (AKA "The Coast Inn)
The view from our room:
Our Room...aka The Wildflower Suite
The Beach :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
November
I can't believe that the year is almost over. It took forever for May to get here and then the rest of the year flew by. :) Only a few short weeks until the year is over. These last weeks are pretty full though.
This weekend Reuben and I are looking for a couch. The one we have now is very uncomfortable. Hopefully we will find one we like. It is one of the things on our "to buy" list. We are slowly checking them off.
Next Thursday some of my friends and I are going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. Since it gets out so late I am taking Friday off. Then on Saturday Teresa and I have a booth at the TRCS Bazaar. We are selling our crocheted items, sewn bags, and Christmas ornaments. :)
The following week is Thanksgiving! :) We are celebrating with Reuben's family at his cousins house in Portland. Looking forward to also celebrate Grandpa Larry's 80th birthday that weekend. :)
The first weekend in December Reuben and I are going to Lincoln City. We got a gift certificate for a bed and breakfast and are going to put it to use. :) I have only been to Lincoln City once, so it should be fun.
Somewhere in there we have to meet our new niece Lynn who will enter the world the end of November. :) Looking forward to meeting her.
Seems like there is an endless list of things to keep us busy and bring us into 2011. Can't wait to see what the new year brings!
This weekend Reuben and I are looking for a couch. The one we have now is very uncomfortable. Hopefully we will find one we like. It is one of the things on our "to buy" list. We are slowly checking them off.
Next Thursday some of my friends and I are going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. Since it gets out so late I am taking Friday off. Then on Saturday Teresa and I have a booth at the TRCS Bazaar. We are selling our crocheted items, sewn bags, and Christmas ornaments. :)
The following week is Thanksgiving! :) We are celebrating with Reuben's family at his cousins house in Portland. Looking forward to also celebrate Grandpa Larry's 80th birthday that weekend. :)
The first weekend in December Reuben and I are going to Lincoln City. We got a gift certificate for a bed and breakfast and are going to put it to use. :) I have only been to Lincoln City once, so it should be fun.
Somewhere in there we have to meet our new niece Lynn who will enter the world the end of November. :) Looking forward to meeting her.
Seems like there is an endless list of things to keep us busy and bring us into 2011. Can't wait to see what the new year brings!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Day at the Beach
The family headed to the beach this last weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Riedesel rented their usual beach house for us all to enjoy. Mom, Dad, Teresa, Reuben, myself, David and Tonia were there with Grandma and Grandpa. Reuben and I were only there for Sunday night and Monday. We arrived Sunday afternoon to a beautiful view of the ocean. The weather really worked in our favor. It was nice to relax with the family and enjoy the view. We went on a couple walks on the beach and played a round of pinochle. :)
On Monday we headed in to Cannon Beach to explore the shops. David found a toy store with trains and was entertained for about 40 minutes. Midway through the shopping trip most of the family headed back to the house leaving Teresa, Tonia, and I to finish exploring. We found a nice yarn shop and a bead store that we had fun looking at. We each picked out some beads to craft together at some point in the near future. :)
We took another walk on the beach, and ate dinner before Reuben and I headed back to Longview. It was a good trip, but too short. We will definitely have to do it again sometime. :) Enjoy some pictures. :)
On Monday we headed in to Cannon Beach to explore the shops. David found a toy store with trains and was entertained for about 40 minutes. Midway through the shopping trip most of the family headed back to the house leaving Teresa, Tonia, and I to finish exploring. We found a nice yarn shop and a bead store that we had fun looking at. We each picked out some beads to craft together at some point in the near future. :)
We took another walk on the beach, and ate dinner before Reuben and I headed back to Longview. It was a good trip, but too short. We will definitely have to do it again sometime. :) Enjoy some pictures. :)
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Country Concert: Jake Owen
Tonight, Teresa and I went to the county fair tonight and saw Jake Owen in concert. :)For those who listen to country he plays "Any 8 second ride", "Startin' with Me" and "Don't think I can't love you." It was an excellect concert. :) Two hours of country singing fun. lol Definately worth the $15! Enjoy some pictures:
Our view -- the pole wasn't in the way, we had a pretty nice view. :)
See Jake Owen walking on TOP of the stage!
Then he came into the crowd and was only 4 rows away from us! :)
There he is singing right in front of us. Fun times. :)
Our view -- the pole wasn't in the way, we had a pretty nice view. :)
See Jake Owen walking on TOP of the stage!
Then he came into the crowd and was only 4 rows away from us! :)
There he is singing right in front of us. Fun times. :)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Married Life
We are settling in to married life. The house is feeling more like a home as we get more and more of our stuff unpacked and put away. Reuben has been working hard to clean out the spare room. I was able to set up my sewing machine in there the other day. Now I have no excuse as to why my projects aren’t done. Lol
We have been keeping busy with family and friends. We have had friends over a few times to help us enjoy our large back yard and our new tv. We need to set a few dates so that the rest of our family can see the house. I think it may finally be presentable.
We enjoyed 4th of July with family at the Lake. It was good to have everyone together. The lake never disappoints me with its activities. This year we once again enjoyed the cardboard boat regatta as well as the TRCS shaved ice and the evening fireworks. Good times were had by all.
The festival of Laura has pretty much come to an end. It was good to celebrate with family and friends. It seems weird to me to be 25. It might take some getting used to. Heh.
Anyway, that is the happenings with us.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Greetings from Ireland!
We are having a great time in Ireland. :) We have seen lots of beautiful scenery. I can't believe it is already Friday. Time is flying by. We have met lots of friendly people, both local and fellow tourists.
We left Sunday morning and didn't arrive in Ireland until early Monday morning. It was a long day of travel. We left the Dublin airport and headed south to Nire Valley. We admittedly weren't fully enjoying ourselves that first morning since we were sleep deprived and had dealt with a small amount of stress at the airport trying to figure out the best way to get foreign currency. Reuben was still adjusting to driving on the left side of the road (a task made more difficult by sleep deprivation and busy Dublin roads). However, we finally made it to our first B&B a few hours later and went straight to bed.
Once we rested for a bit we were able enjoy a cup of potato bacon soup. We went to bed early and woke up the next morning well adjusted. We went for a beautiful walk around the countryside of our B&B (Glasha Farmhouse). It was located in Waterford County in the Nire Valley.
We took a trip into Clomnel nearby and toured the town. We found an internet cafe since we had to go online and pay the toll road fee before 8 p.m. (we made use of the internet time other ways as well. lol)
This first B&B was pretty amazing. We had a nice room downstairs kinda off to itself (there were more rooms upstairs, and only one other one downstairs with us).
:)
We had a small jacuzzi bath, which was especially nice after 24 hours of travel. The hostess, Olive, was very kind and her B&B had tons of awards she had one (best B&B breakfast, 5 diamond accommodation rating, etc.) We spent three nights there. We went down to Waterford, one day and toured a museum that had some interesting Ireland historical information. The place we wanted to go there had delayed their opening by a few weeks, but we made the most of it.
The food at the B&B was amazing. The breakfast left you content until dinnertime. :) It was kinda sad to leave, but we knew we were on to more Ireland adventures.
We left Glasha House to head to the Kerry Peninsula. Along the way we went through Lismore and saw the outside of Lismore Castle.
It is very impressive and has nice trails for walking by it. Then we headed on to Blarney Castle.
This castle allows for complete tours and the option of kissing the Blarney stone at the top of the castle. The castle was really cool. It looks like they are in the state of repairing it so there was some minor scaffolding around it, but not enough to block it's beauty too much. We climbed all through it and made it to the top.
We watched a few people kiss the stone, but neither Reuben and I really felt up to it. It is rather an intimidating process (see pictures below).
They have you lay down on your back and then a man helps support you while you suspend yourself and lean over and kiss the Blarney Stone:
This is the view from the bottom of the castle:
This is how tall it is. Not a view I want to see hanging upside down:
After the Blarney Castle we headed onward to the western most point of Ireland. We arrived at the Beach Cove B&B at about 8:30 p.m. last night. It is beautiful as well. The B&B is right across the street from the beach and we have a nice view from out our window.
Today we had a pretty restful day. We got up and ate breakfast at our B&B. Not quite as amazing as Glasha House, but still very good. Then we headed across the mountain pass (a very narrow two lane road that cuts across and over the hills) to Portmagee and Valentina Island.
We toured the Island by car, driving around its perimeter. It is very beautiful.
We also drove into a slightly bigger town to get gas and use the ATM. We bought some Irish wool yarn so I can make a scarf or hat out of it. We ate lunch in town before returning to our Beach Cove B&B. We are taking it pretty easy. We walked around the beach and looked at the local sheep (so cute!).
We plan on having a restful evening before we pack up and continue our travels tomorrow. We are headed to the town of Dingle. Dingle is pretty authentically Irish and we hope to be able to soak in the local pub and music scene while there.
Not sure if I will be able to blog again before I return. Thought I should do so while I had the chance! :) Reuben is going to post our pics on Snapfish...we will post the link if we get a chance.
We left Sunday morning and didn't arrive in Ireland until early Monday morning. It was a long day of travel. We left the Dublin airport and headed south to Nire Valley. We admittedly weren't fully enjoying ourselves that first morning since we were sleep deprived and had dealt with a small amount of stress at the airport trying to figure out the best way to get foreign currency. Reuben was still adjusting to driving on the left side of the road (a task made more difficult by sleep deprivation and busy Dublin roads). However, we finally made it to our first B&B a few hours later and went straight to bed.
Once we rested for a bit we were able enjoy a cup of potato bacon soup. We went to bed early and woke up the next morning well adjusted. We went for a beautiful walk around the countryside of our B&B (Glasha Farmhouse). It was located in Waterford County in the Nire Valley.
We took a trip into Clomnel nearby and toured the town. We found an internet cafe since we had to go online and pay the toll road fee before 8 p.m. (we made use of the internet time other ways as well. lol)
This first B&B was pretty amazing. We had a nice room downstairs kinda off to itself (there were more rooms upstairs, and only one other one downstairs with us).
:)
We had a small jacuzzi bath, which was especially nice after 24 hours of travel. The hostess, Olive, was very kind and her B&B had tons of awards she had one (best B&B breakfast, 5 diamond accommodation rating, etc.) We spent three nights there. We went down to Waterford, one day and toured a museum that had some interesting Ireland historical information. The place we wanted to go there had delayed their opening by a few weeks, but we made the most of it.
The food at the B&B was amazing. The breakfast left you content until dinnertime. :) It was kinda sad to leave, but we knew we were on to more Ireland adventures.
We left Glasha House to head to the Kerry Peninsula. Along the way we went through Lismore and saw the outside of Lismore Castle.
It is very impressive and has nice trails for walking by it. Then we headed on to Blarney Castle.
This castle allows for complete tours and the option of kissing the Blarney stone at the top of the castle. The castle was really cool. It looks like they are in the state of repairing it so there was some minor scaffolding around it, but not enough to block it's beauty too much. We climbed all through it and made it to the top.
We watched a few people kiss the stone, but neither Reuben and I really felt up to it. It is rather an intimidating process (see pictures below).
They have you lay down on your back and then a man helps support you while you suspend yourself and lean over and kiss the Blarney Stone:
This is the view from the bottom of the castle:
This is how tall it is. Not a view I want to see hanging upside down:
After the Blarney Castle we headed onward to the western most point of Ireland. We arrived at the Beach Cove B&B at about 8:30 p.m. last night. It is beautiful as well. The B&B is right across the street from the beach and we have a nice view from out our window.
Today we had a pretty restful day. We got up and ate breakfast at our B&B. Not quite as amazing as Glasha House, but still very good. Then we headed across the mountain pass (a very narrow two lane road that cuts across and over the hills) to Portmagee and Valentina Island.
We toured the Island by car, driving around its perimeter. It is very beautiful.
We also drove into a slightly bigger town to get gas and use the ATM. We bought some Irish wool yarn so I can make a scarf or hat out of it. We ate lunch in town before returning to our Beach Cove B&B. We are taking it pretty easy. We walked around the beach and looked at the local sheep (so cute!).
We plan on having a restful evening before we pack up and continue our travels tomorrow. We are headed to the town of Dingle. Dingle is pretty authentically Irish and we hope to be able to soak in the local pub and music scene while there.
Not sure if I will be able to blog again before I return. Thought I should do so while I had the chance! :) Reuben is going to post our pics on Snapfish...we will post the link if we get a chance.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A few pics
Here are a few pics from my Seattle Shower for those that didn't see them on Facebook. :)
A picture that shows most of the attendees. :)
Me and the presents. :)
Signing the wedding quilt
Janelle and I...and the food. :)
A picture that shows most of the attendees. :)
Me and the presents. :)
Signing the wedding quilt
Janelle and I...and the food. :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
New House
Here are two pictures of our new house. Reuben moved into it this weekend! :) It is nice to have the keys and begin to settle in...but it isn't helping the next month and a half pass any quicker. lol.
It is a cute 2 bedroom house with nice attic for storage. It has a covered parking area and a big back yard. :) I like the front porch. It is cute. We hung up the bird feeder yesterday that JonTon gave us. It looks super cute. :)
It is located off of Westside Hwy. It the turn right before the carnival market. We will have to get it all cleaned up and then host some dinners or something so that people can see it.
Anyway, Enjoy the pics!
It is a cute 2 bedroom house with nice attic for storage. It has a covered parking area and a big back yard. :) I like the front porch. It is cute. We hung up the bird feeder yesterday that JonTon gave us. It looks super cute. :)
It is located off of Westside Hwy. It the turn right before the carnival market. We will have to get it all cleaned up and then host some dinners or something so that people can see it.
Anyway, Enjoy the pics!
Friday, April 09, 2010
An Old Bet...
Tonight I made good on old bet. :) A long while ago (either late high school or early lcc years) Megan and I made a bet. The one who got married first had to buy the other one dinner. So I finally paid off my debt tonight. lol. Megan and I went out to dinner in Seattle. The restraunt was called "Crow." It really good food. I made sure I paid my debt to the fullest and went for drinks, appetizer, entree, and we split a dessert. :) It was fun to get together and eat good food. We have both come a long way since the bet was made. It's nice to see how far we have come.
The wedding day is approaching quickly. Only 1 month 20ish days! Tomorrow I have my Seattle shower. Megan is throwing one for my seattle SPU friends. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. It is has been a while since I have seen some of them. Bonnie, my old roommate will be there, I haven't seen her since Reuben and I first started going out. I will have to post pictures or something later.
Anyway, that is the update for now. :) ~Laura
The wedding day is approaching quickly. Only 1 month 20ish days! Tomorrow I have my Seattle shower. Megan is throwing one for my seattle SPU friends. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. It is has been a while since I have seen some of them. Bonnie, my old roommate will be there, I haven't seen her since Reuben and I first started going out. I will have to post pictures or something later.
Anyway, that is the update for now. :) ~Laura
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Jeremiah/Sarah Wedding 2-13-2010
Yesterday was the wedding for Reuben's best friend Jeremiah. The wedding was at The Villa. It is located at Little Cape Horn near Cathlamet. It is a really beautiful space for small weddings. I didn't really take any pictures that display this though.
It was a really nice simple ceremony that was filled with excitement after the groom almost passed out. lol. However, with the help of the groomsmen he recovered and the ceremony continued without much of a hitch. I think that is the whitest I have ever seen anyone....I told Reuben he wasn't allowed to do that at our wedding.
Here are the pictures I promised, we clean up pretty good. lol. :)
It was a really nice simple ceremony that was filled with excitement after the groom almost passed out. lol. However, with the help of the groomsmen he recovered and the ceremony continued without much of a hitch. I think that is the whitest I have ever seen anyone....I told Reuben he wasn't allowed to do that at our wedding.
Here are the pictures I promised, we clean up pretty good. lol. :)
