Why do they call it "Black Friday?"

I survived. This was my first year venturing out into the shopping world the day after Thanksgiving.

My friend Elizabeth convinced me to go to the outlet mall at midnight because many of the stores were 50% off. She came over and we hit the stores. We bought a couple things, met up with my sister Rose, and then headed to grab a quick bite to eat at Denny's before Old Navy opened at 3 am.

Once at Old Navy, it got crazy. We met up with our other friends, Ashley and Randi, as well as my other sisters, Heather and Bailey. The line was SO long to check out, we ended up waiting for about an hour. But it was worth it! The deals there were CRAZY! All jackets were 50% off for adults, all children's outerwear was only $15, fleece was $5, dress pants were $15, etc.

We then continued on to Best Buy, Jo-Ann's, and the mall. We didn't finish until about 8:30!!!! Needless to say, next thing on the list was a nap!

I got a ton of stuff, including a laptop for Saduq at a HUGE discount (it was a doorbuster), a free printer, a Cricut machine for my crafts that normally runs over $200 for only $75, and Christmas presents for the family. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and SO worth the savings.

Next year, we plan on going to Portland. No tax=more savings!

Count them one by one

I am counting my many blessings today. Here are just a few.....


1. My husband


2. Family
3. Church

4. My freedom
5. Friends



6. The ways my husband shows me that I make him happy.
I am so very blessed everyday, not just today. But I love having a reason to be even more grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you feel as blessed as I do!

Jamaica, Bahamas, come on pretty mama....

Saduq and his brother Rashid took a quick trip down to Jamaica about 2 weeks ago. They left Thursday morning and returned on Sunday afternoon. They went down there to check on Saduq's dad and his house. Saduq's dad (Cole) was hit by a bus a couple months ago and he hasn't been doing too well since then. Saduq and I are deciding what to do with his dad's house since Cole isn't really able to live on his own. Our top options are turn it into a bed and breakfast (the house has 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a pool, and a tennis court), fix it up and sell it, or sell it as is. If we turned it into a bed and breakfast, Annmarie, who has been with the family for 15 years, agreed to run it for us. I hear she is an AMAZING cook!The house is about a half an hour from Montego Bay so it would be a good location. Here are a few pictures of the house Saduq lived in for 6 years and his trip! (Most of these pictures were taken for my viewing pleasure but I thought I would share them with you!)

The dining room

The pool and back of the house (the pool needs to be cleaned)

The view from the pool deck

Pool and view at nightSaduq's half sister he met for the first time!

Rashid, Cole, and SaduqSaduq and his dad

Saduq and Annmarie, the nanny/cook/housekeeper who he grew up with who still helps out

Saduq was so happy to be home and said he would never want to fly so much in such a short time again. We are hopefully planning on making it back down there in the next 6 months or so!

Primary

I am already loving my new calling as co-activity days leader. We had an activity tonight where we made caramel apples and colored Halloween pictures. Can church get more fun? Next week we are having the girls bring pictures of their family and we will have them glue the pictures on cardstock and write why they are thankful for their families. Even more fun! I am allowed to participate, right?

Grateful

I love it when the missionaries stop by! Today I was especially grateful because Saduq flies out to Jamaica early
in the morning with his brother to go see his dad and I was feeling a little worried about him being gone. Then divine intervention! The missionaries stopped by on our way to dinner, chatted, and then said a prayer for family while Saduq is gone.

I feel much better now.

I'm obsessed

with Fall! Each season, I find new reasons as to why I call Washington my home. Not only is my family here, I am also in love with the scenery. Washington has everything from mountains to the ocean to lakes and everything in between.

Hopefully in this post, you will see part of what makes me love my state (if you haven't already).

Saduq and I took a walk to Tumwater Falls Park for Family Home Evening on Monday. Since I promised him we would be back before the big Chargers-Broncos game, we went a little before dinner. It was beautiful!






I know there are a lot of pictures, but I loved them all. I'm so grateful for a beautiful place to live and an amazing husband to share it with.

I wasn't even jumping on the bed...

Last night, I woke up at 1 am, on the floor. Apparently, I fell off the bed.

Really? Who does that? Well, what grown woman does that? Haha

Luckily, I didn't bump my head. I did however bruise my arm and broke my fingernail too far down. Not the worst thing that could have happened. To top it off, Saduq says my feet were where my head should have been. I was all turned around.

Saduq was so worried about my poor broken fingernail (which bled a little) I had an icepack and a towel within seconds. (Although now we can't stop laughing about it.) If only I could remember what made me fall off! Maybe a bad dream?

I love fall!

Fall is here and I love it! We have been enjoying the last nice days of the year.... We went to the Pumpkin Patch twice, once for a private opening before it actually opened for the year, but Saduq was at work and we didn't get to buy our pumpkins so for sure we had to go back! They have goats, horses, turkeys, pumpkins, a corn maze, and more! When we went the second time, we took Bailey, my friend Amber, and my nephew Tyson. We had so much fun. Of course I have a photo montage for you!

The first trip

Nate, Janel, and Audrey
cute Audrey
The view from the top of the bridge during the corn maze
Janel and I
Bailey and I

The second trip

Amber and I
Tyson and Saduq
Saduq wanted to be a "grouchy old man." I'd say he's got the look down!
With our cute headbands on (with the tags on them and also my new favorite sweater!)
The pumpkin patch had miniature horses that you could pay to ride in a circle. Here's Tyson!
Now, Saduq decided, since he's never ridden a horse before, he wanted to ride one so he asked the guy in charge if he had any that he could ride. The guy running the miniature horse ride said that Saduq could ride his horse, named Mickey. So Saduq sat on the horse while the guy led him around. haha
And here's cute Tyson!

When we got home, there was some football game on TV and Tyson wanted to sit down and watch it with Saduq. Well, Tyson kept yelling "Go, Go, Go!!!! Go Saduq!" because it was Saduq's team. It was so cute. Tyson loves to copy what Saduq does.

I'm so happy it's fall! And I'm so happy that I'm learning Photoshop so I could make a cute banner! Hopefully there's more to come!

my sister

In the last couple weeks, we have added a new family member to the house. My 13-year old sister Bailey has moved in with us! Bailey and my mom were having a hard time getting along so she's with us now! She had to switch schools and she has no bed, but overall she has taken things very well. (And we are in the process of getting her a mattress!)

However, being with my sister so much has lead me to wonder a couple of things:

1. Did I act like that as a teenager?
2. Was I that boy crazy?
3. Am I ever going to get time by myself again?
5. How does Bailey feel?
6. Schools make you do A LOT during work hours!

All in all, it has been fun to have Bailey. She will get to go to church with us, have family dinners, and basically get to be a teenager. Saduq and I were talking and he was saying how he had hoped to be the fun dad, but after dealing with Bailey, he's scared he'll be the strict dad! We love having Bailey live with us because she is so helpful and funny. Hopefully she loves living with us too!

Anniversary Part 2

The 2nd day we were there, we woke up to a blueberry french toast dish that was baked, homemade granola, and delicious mini muffins! We started the day off with a walk on the beach...

Our view from our B&B deck

We then went to a bunch of shops downtown, mostly antique stores. We browsed for a while and then we had our Whale Watching tour at 2!!!!! We met up with the marine biologist and her zodiac (aka a little inflatable type raft) and learned more about the gray whales that live on the OR coast. (She has a dog that comes on the zodiac everytime with her.) A PBS film crew was even on the boat filming a documentary about her! We had SO much fun and right at the end, a whale came within 5 feet of our boat! Even the marine biologist was so excited about that!

The view is beautiful!

The film crew and our marine biologist (in the middle)

The harbor seals!
relaxing!

A whale!!!!
We got "fluked" (Where they flip their tail at you!)

This picture is AMAZING! I didn't think I got the shot because I couldn't believe the whale was coming so close but I did! And when I showed the marine biologist, she wants to use it in her book!

After we got back!

The rest of the day, we just relaxed, went to dinner, and enjoyed the beach! We didn't want to leave the next morning. :-(

At dinner!

Saduq enjoying his breakfast

Us at breakfast the last day!

Enjoying the beach one more time!

Sad to leave....

We had a blast! I'm so grateful for a thoughtful husband who goes out of his way to amaze me daily.

P.S. I made him 12 little cards (since the 1st anniversary traditional gift is paper) that said things like "I love you because you are so sweet, so you can choose any sweet treat and I'll make it for you" and "I love you because you are so fun. Choose any fun activity to do together." Then I made him a big card that said "Another year of love" and told him he could use 1 card a month on our anniversary day to create another year of love! Not as cool as his but he still loved it. :-)

My creations