My Wonderful Husband

Saturday I had some serious baking to do....4 dozen cupcakes by the next morning. But, as the day progressed the cupcakes hadn't magically cooked themselves, and I had to go out - and didn't make it back till 11pm. As I was pulling into the driveway I was trying to calculate how long 4 dozen cupcakes would take to bake with only one cupcake tin.... I was ready for a late night.

But, as I walked into my house a wonderful aroma met me at the front door. The sweet smell of freshly baked goods. My wonderful husband had baked 4 dozen cupcakes while I was out - which I didn't even ask OR hint for. Now, part of the reason this is so amazing is the fact that Vince doesn't bake - I didn't even know he knew HOW to bake! When I asked him how he figured out how to make them, he replied, "You just follow the instructions on the box - it's really not that difficult." I underestimated his talent! Here's to a wonderful man who didn't want his wife to have to stay up late slaving over an oven.

I Love You Jars

Vince and I have come up with a project I am calling our "I Love You Jars." I don't know about you, but with the current economy date nights have been few and far between, and it has taken a lot of work to come up with new and unique ways of saying I love you without spending much money. This is exactly what we came up with I Love You Jars for.

We both sat down with strips of paper, a pen, and two jars in front of us, one labeled "for Vincent" and the other "for Lorissa." Each of us wrote down things we would want the other to do for us, things that are free or relatively cheap. Things like, "bring home Jamba Juice," "Send me a letter in the mail,""Have a picnic dinner in the living room" or "Leave a note of the top ten reasons you love me on my pillow." You can get as creative, practical or mushy as you want. Anything I wanted Vince to do for me I put in the jar labeled "for Lorissa," and anything I thought Vince might want me to do for him I placed in the jar marked "for Vincent," and he did the same for me.

Whenever we want to do something special for the other person we can just grab an idea out of the jar - the great part is Vince will now exactly what kind of things will make me feel loved and I will know exactly what he would like most, no guessing involved and no more having to hint around! And it all works on a tight budget, you don't have to spend a ton of money to say I love you.

I'll let you know how it works as we start to use the ideas we placed in the jars. As a post note, Vince had the great idea to make some slips up that say "write 3 new slips of paper and place in the jar," that way we don't run out too quickly.

Weekend Getaway

The cute little town of Astoria, Oregon.

There was an amazing view of the Oregon valley from a hill in Astoria.

Vince on a Coast Guard ship...no, he was not supposed to be there - he thought it was part of the Maritime Museum display!

One of the many amazing houses in this little town on the Colombia river.

Vince and I at the beach, a real-live-ocean beach in Seaside, Oregon.

Vince and I had the chance to go to a marriage conference a couple of weekends ago. We have been told by wise people that you should invest in your marriage at least once a year, whether that is taking a class together, going to a conference, attending a retreat, or reading a book together on marriage. I think it is great advice, probably something you think about more in the beginning stages of the marriage, so we want to be sure make it a practice now that we keep for another 60 years or so.

The conference was being held in a tiny town called Seaside, OR, whose claim to fame is that they are the end of the Louis and Clark trail - there are even plenty of plaques and statues to prove it! It was a beautiful town on the intersection of the Pacific Ocean and the Colombia River. The town is adorable, with tons of little beach cottages for vacation rentals, little shops, an very old indoor carousel and a beautiful beach full of sand dunes and tall grass - I loved it.

Just up the river from Seaside was the town of Astoria, population 2,000....for the past century or so. We visited a Maritime Museum, where Vince was kicked off of a Coast Guard ship, a museum on the history of the town, were we had our own personal tour (because we were probably the only guests that came all day, maybe all weekend!) and a look-out hill were you could see the most incredible views of the town, river and pristine valley.

It was an amazing weekend, we definitely want to go back again sometime when we can rent out a little beach cottage for a weekend. We are so grateful for the opportunity we were given to be there.