Happy Birthday Beejer.

I am once again married to an older man:)

Yesterday we celebrated with family over dinner.

Later tonight we will celebrate with friends over dinner.

And in case you were wondering this is what an almost 12 pound baby looks like.



His mother insists he was the most perfect baby. I think he was at least the cutest:)

Happy Birthday Babe...I just love ya!

Maybe I forgot to mention....

This guy rode 105 miles on his bike a couple of weekends ago....

I am immensely proud of him. He decided last year for his birthday he really wanted a road bike. He had never road biked before....but something told him he would like it.I saved my catering monies all summer without his knowledge and he picked out what he wanted. It was the best gift I have ever given. To see him do something that is his - that can bring him joy and peace blesses me almost as much as it blesses him. Biking to him is as running is to me. I so get it!

I am proud of you Brian Jager....you are my hero and my love!

Happy 30th Birthday Mr. Husband!

The love of my life turned 30 years old yesterday. I sent him a text that said I am so glad you were born! It was the only thing I could think of saying. Its seems so simple to say but really I can't imagine if his mom had not birthed a 11lb 12oz baby boy 30 years ago...by the way my MIL is a rockstar you should tell her that. My life would not be the same without him.

As you know we had a surprise party a little over a week ago but I think it is important to celebrate on your real birthday as well or it seems as it was forgotten so we celebrated with these two last night. Because birthdays should be celebrated with friends.

Again the double date was a complete surprise because I didn't want him to tell me not to go to the trouble. I told him after dinner there would be a babysitter coming in an hour. When the babysitter got here I drove to the Bajemas and told him we were picking them up. I am pretty sure that Justin and BJ could talk for hours and never get bored.

I love my 30year old man. He's pretty much the best husband in the world. Everything about him makes me want to be better. The way he treats people the way he responds to others, the way he advocates for and loves his children, the way he tells me I am "his best" everyday, the way he gives of himself over and over again without expecting anything in return. He's a good man the kind of man you pray for, I know I am blessed.

I watched him help a random stranger on a ferry boat a month ago with her phone. He simply overheard her telling her husband that her service was crappy. He turned around and said is it a Verizon phone can I help you with it. The woman was thrilled and surprised by his willingness to help. I watched him genuinely go out of his way to help her and he enjoyed it..it was beyond. I am sure this seems like a simple thing, but I thought it was neat in fact I was darn right proud to be that mans wife right at that moment. Later on we were walking back to the ferry and we heard people yelling," Hey Brian." It was the couple from the boat yelling from way up on top of a balcony of a building...hahaha we laughed so hard, it was totally random.

I realize more and more all the time how important it is to keep your eyes open for the little things that make you love your spouse. That way there are constant reminders...it keeps things fresh. God is so good to give us small things to delight in every day.

Not sure what this face is...but it makes me laugh.



Happy birthday babe, you are the love of my life and I am so glad you were born!! Three fist pumps for 30 more:)

What a Weekend!

I had been planning a surprise birthday party for Brian for the better part of two months...and this weekend the planning came to end and the partying began:) And boy did we have fun.

Backing up a bit I will tell you that I may never plan a surprise birthday party ever again after this but it was all worth it when I saw Brians reaction to the whole thing. He was so in the dark the whole time that it actually made the whole process harder...I am not sure how many arguments we had as result (nothing serious just disagreements).

I told him we were having a family reunion at my parents Saturday night, he totally didn't want to go for a number of reasons(couldn't blame him). Plus our friend Jordan is home from Med School right now and all Brian wanted to do was hang with his friends. So we settled on him coming for dinner and then he could hang with boys later on. This took some convincing and came with a bit of questioning and a lot of comments such as,"you are never like this about this kind of thing." Little did he know I was acting like this for him.

In the process of planing I got a catering call for the same day, a wedding for 40 people. Brian overheard it and insisted I take it even though I was trying to make up every excuse not to. I mean when you are planning a party for that number of people already taking a wedding doesn't seem that appealing. But since he didn't know all he could do was question my judgement and I broke down and took it. So on Saturday I catered a wedding for 40 at 3pm and threw my husband a surprise birthday at 6pm. On my way to my parents he called and said he was almost there it was 5:15pm ummmmmm....not cool. So I told him I needed him to go to the grocery and proceeded to call him every two minutes with something else he needed to pick up...we also staged my brother in law running out gas and made Brian rescue him. Lets just say at this point he was more than a little annoyed with me. But when he pulled in the drive and saw everyone standing there all of my craziness became clear and think he was thrilled.


All of our friends and family were there, along with a ton of yummy food. I can tell you that the place was decorated and set up perfectly, thanks to my mom and my sister they really saved this whole party for me!!! I couldn't not have in any way shape or form have done this without them.


And what do you know? Jordan was there.
Thanks to everyone who lied, stretched the truth or fibbed a bit to pull this off! Its not easy when the honored person is trying to plan their own party for the very day the surprise party is planned.


I love all of these guys....they are like brothers to eachother and to me! Brian has gone to school with most of them since Kindergarten.


This photo totally personifies my mood for the evening, it was amazing that it actually worked and it was even more amazing to be surrounded by all of our family and friends in on place. It was more than fun!


Critter and her friend Andrea hung around for quite awhile.


Dave and Treasa...probably the sweetest couple we know. Not only are they our neighbors, they have become family!


Some of the menfolk shootin the breeze.




We were so blessed to have such great weather!! More about my wonderful husband later on his actual birthday!

The Most Random Outing, As Of Yet.

About a week and a half ago, Brian got word that there were going to be 4 tickets for a Soundgarden concert up for grabs at work. Now Brian and I both listened to this band heavily in jr. high and maybe even into our freshman year of high school. Before I go further you should know that my taste in music spans all genres and I know the words to way to many songs for my own good its embarrassing sometimes.But further more he heard about these tickets that someone was trying to win through work but it didn't look like the guy was going to meet the requirements to obtain his goal. Well to bad for the poor dude, he didn't win. Lucky us Brian snatched them up.

So woohoo we won the tickets. The catch was the concert was at the Gorge on that Saturday and we found out about the tickets on Thursday. To further the interesting situation, we couldn't leave Lynden until 2pm on Saturday and the concert was at 6pm. And further yet we had to come back home after the concert because we needed to lead worship at church and I needed to teach Sunday school. But we went. In fact Brian wasn't going with out me he said, and beings that I have made him do 100's of crazy things in the span of our relationship (and I did actually want to go), we went.

The tickets themselves were part of the reason we couldn't pass up the opportunity, Brian's employer actually sponsers the concert producers of the Gorge so they have a box there. So we had four VIP Box seats, which included a waitress and VIP parking, which means no field walking for us. This was a pretty kush situation, how could you say no.

The concert was great there were some bands that I had never heard that opened for Soundgarden and the overall feel of that was a bit harder than I would go for, but sometimes live music makes everything that much greater and it was. Plus it was about 98degrees out and the Gorge is absolutely beautiful, I don't care what music is playing.

On another note the people in the box next to us were totally into the concert and seeing that made the whole trip worth it ten fold. This guy had this dance move that resembled what one looks like when riding a Harley....it was great. We took our friend/neighbor Dave with us and he asked me on the way home if that guy made me uncomfortable and went on further to tell me he would have traded seats with me. That was kind but I can appreciate the culture around me. Most people are beautiful in their own way...and this guy was that in his unbridled abandon:)



By the way we got home at 4:30am and had to get up at 7am:) Yeah we aren't as young as we think anymore...it was mighty painful!

Dream Equipment- Husband Edition

About a year ago our lawn mower died. Normal people would go out and get a new mower and continue life as usual. Not the Jagers:) No MR. Jager decides he wants to purchase himself his dream mower with a hefty price tag, while Mrs. Jager talks to him about reality. Mrs. Jager goes further to tell Mr. Jager that if he can find his dream mower for under $100 he could buy one (of course thinking he would break down and by a regular more affordable model.)

Well its been a year and for the last year our neighbor boy has been mowing the lawn for a fee. This has been convenient in a number of ways...1- he comes same day every week I never have to remind anyone 2- they take all clippings away 3-I don't have to remind anyone (repeat sorry)

Well yesterday the waiting came to an end. Mr. Jager found an older model reel style mower on craigslist for half of his budget and got $10 off of that because he's Mr. Jager and paying asking price would be practically sinful.

He was so proud when he pulled out of the back of the van. It needs some work he says but it starts;)

And just to prove to his wife he decided to show her how it started right up. So he pulls the cord and what do you know it starts right up and the cord disengages from the mower(this is not supposed to happen.) Mrs. Jager attempted to hold back the laughing which resulted in snorting which resulted in laughing. Mr. Jager proceeded to take the said mower for a spin around the yard;)

Mr. Jager says good news is he took small gas engines in High School and his father in law is a mechanic, they will have this thing running in no time.

Mrs. Jager would like to say she loves Mr. Jager and is more than proud to be his loving wife.

Dear Mr. Husband, the thank you edition

Dear Mr. Husband,

Thank You again for the one millionth time for being you!! I am reassured daily that Gods hand was in complete control when he brought us together. I am positive there is no man in this world that could ever love me like you do.

Thank you for breaking your back to create for me the most beautiful kitchen I have ever seen yet to date. Thank you for going further yet to tell me it would not be ready for company until it had a floor and since we had company planned for Sunday you have been painstakingly putting it in every night after work this week. I can see the exhaustion in your eyes every morning but know that it is your love for me that makes you do these things. I am a blessed woman.

Thank you for reassuring our children who have recently been introduced to the idea of divorce that you made a promise to me that will last a lifetime. I can not imagine the security they must feel. They are blessed to have a father like you.

Thank you for not calling the police when I am gone for two hours on a walk in the dark. Sometimes I need to be alone to figure things out. Thank you for knowing this. Thank you for not looking at me like I have a third eyeball when I tell you sometimes I yell out loud on my walk...I just need to get it out. Thank you for knowing I am an emotionally charged person and loving me for.

Thanks for telling me and reassuring me that I can handle all that is on my plate right now. Your belief in my abilities is amazing, I know your faith in God is what gives you faith in me. For it is Him who lifts my head every morning.

Thanks for understanding my love for my sister and my family. It can be cumbersome sometimes. Thanks for loving and worrying about my sister just as much as I do. Thanks for checking in on her without my knowing, this means more to me than anything in the world right now.

Thanks for reminding me that the dysfunction that is within my family is a part of me but does not define me.

Thanks for doing everything in your power to support me in all things.

Thank you for reminding me that sometimes my expectations for others might be justified but not realistic. I need the reality check, people are going to let you down, but God is always there.

You are my companion, my love and the truest friend I have ever had. And I don't say it enough but I am so thankful for you, it is beyond anything I can comprehend most of the time.

Love,
Your girl.

Romance

You know what romance is? Romance is toasting shots of Nyquil as soon as you get your kids to bed. That's truly romantic. Romance is even hotter when you are practicing synchronized nose blowing. Yep its real sexy around here. Bet your jealous (wink wink).

Hopefully that explains the lack of posting around here.

Where Did We Go For Breakfast?

Its Monday and that means it was date morning and that means I have a great review for you of a great little breakfast spot. And I will tell you that Brians first impression comment was classic. Smells like Hippies in here:) Gotta love that man, I swear sometimes my delight is his fear, but his breakfast made up for it.


And this is where we went. If you read my last review on Rocket Donuts, it would be easy for you to find Old Town Cafe, they are on opposite ends of the same block.

This restaurant is great they make the same pledge to their customers as The Angry Blueberry and that is they try to use the freshest ingredients possible, also utilizing local ingredients whenever possible. This speaks to my heart because fresh food is good food, in my opinion. I really have a hard time with boxed food and restaurants that claim to make things home made but that really means they reheated something from Food Services of America. But I will save this whole viewpoint for another soapbox.

Something I really appreciated about this restaurant was the prices. Most menu items were under $10 in fact my breakfast was $6.75. Fabulous!!!


I ordered Huevos Rancheros. I have ordered this dish many times in the past and let me tell you it can go all wrong so quickly. In my opinion this menu items success is determined by the sauce. Now some places take the sauce in the direction of a mole, this is not my first choice, it is thick and almost rich...don't get me wrong I love mole just not on my eggs. The other way to do is to make a almost a chile based salsa, this is my favorite and that is how they do it up at Old Town Cafe. It was smokey and fresh tasting and wonderful. The perfect amount of heat. The eggs were cooked over easy the traditional style and then they were laid on top of two house made corn tortillas. On the side were black beans that they also prepare in house. I loved this dish, it was the best breakfast I have had in a while!


Mr. Husband ordered the Farmers Skillet Deluxe, for $9.25, if you skip the eggs and toast you can get the dish for $6.50. The portion on this dish was generous to say the least, Brian took have of it home and ate it for lunch. The potatoes in this dish were tastefully seasoned with fresh herbs, I tasted fresh dill even when I sampled. They use Great Harvest Bread at their establishment which I thought was interesting seeing as Avenue Bread has become the mainstream. However Brian got a Rye Blend Bread for the toast and it was awesome.

We ordered their coffee to drink and it was a little on the strong side(even for Brian) but good none the less. I also like that they have a self serve water station, just makes for less waiting and also gives that homey feeling.

I would totally recommend this place for a treat breakfast out with your kids, they even had a small play area/reading nook, for kids to play in while waiting for breakfast. The roomy booths also leave plenty of space for wiggling. And all of the items on the kids menu are under $4, actually most are under $3.

I would go back I will go back.

P.S. Iphones became available for employees, and since I was up for my nine month upgrade I traded up. So all of the pictures were taken with my iphone and if you ask me I am getting better at my photo journalism on these trips.

Monday Breakfast Date Reviews

Mr. Husband and I have a standing breakfast date on Monday mornings after the kids go to school. It is something I look forward to. The only rule is we have to go someplace different every week.

Now I see how I have left this great opportunity for a blog segment and I am apologizing that I have left you wonderfuls out of the loop.

I mentioned the idea of doing a weekly review to Brian and he thought it was a great idea, so you won't be intruding.

So we are going to go back and document the places we have already been. And then we will move forward.

This week we went simple and had doughnuts and coffee. Although simple, I must say they were from Rocket Donuts in Bellingham. And if you are asking me they are the best in the West! They are light and fluffy and if you get something frosted it isn't overly sweet. The establishment is decorated with old sci-fi movie posters and the like. I promise the experience will be out of this world;)

Mr. Husband had an apple fritter, which is his favorite.

This is where I wish I would have taken my real camera out of the car. This is a photo from my phone.

The apple fritter was so nice. It was full of cinnamon, and the apples were of good size. It almost had the flavor of apple pie wrapped in a doughnut.

I had the maple bar because I think you can judge a place on the quality of their maple bar. It was so light and airy, with the perfectly sweet slathering of maple frosting.....yum!


Rocket also serves wonderful organic free trade coffee in their own signature blend so make sure you get a cup if you go.

In the neighborhood you will find a row of wonderful antique stores, and although most of them aren't open on Mondays I have been in them before and they are all fun to browse through.

So make a date of it grab a doughnut and sit for a bit or take to go and browse around downtown for awhile:)

Public Service Pledge...From here on out I promise to bring my real camera in order to capture presentable pictures of the venue and the food:)

Dear Mr Husband,

Dear Mr. Husband, (I will save my more mushy nicknames for just me and you;)

Thank you for asking me to marry you 9 years ago this month on the 9th to be exact. I am not quite sure what I would do without you. I most certainly would not survive my two nights of no sleep due to much prayer over life, if I then couldn't spill my guts to you over a mommy and daddy breakfast date. Thank you for not going bug eyed and pulling your hair out because I am a bit cooky sometimes:) Thank you for singing to me in stores while we are shopping and not listening to me when i ask you to please keep it down, I secretly love it even though strangers stare at us with, what I think is, pity for me(just kidding). Thank you for smiling at me with dimples when I tell you I am frustrated...you have the best dimples in the world, and I must thank you in advance for passing them onto our children and teaching them how to use them on me, its helpful! Thank you for finding my engagement ring when it dropped into the snow atop the mountain you proposed to me on, I would be sad without it! Thanks for making this life fun!! You are the best friend I could ever have! Thanks for ultimately just wanting me to be happy, its the best having you be my personal cheerleader!! Thanks for attempting to set everyone we know that is single up with someone else we know that is single, it reminds me of your grandpa:) Your quest for others coupled happiness is sweet to me, lets just make sure people are really single next time:) Thanks for telling me to write down my dreams so we can get to all of them someday even if it isn't right now! Thanks for knowing whats important to me and trying your best to honor those things and apologizing when you can't!

You are the best Mr. Husband!! I am the luckiest Mrs. Wife in the world! Lets be together forever!

What do you want?

I was able to sum up what I wanted in life in a hour the evening I had my first pseudo unintentional re-date with BJ. After dinner with Kristin he somehow invited himself over to my apartment, asked me what I wanted out of life, what my ten year plan was and if I wanted to date him again. I gave him long answers to the first two questions and a simple no to the last one. It is funny now but I thought it was odd in the beginning.

What I told him is what really makes me happy, because over the last few days I realize what I wanted has been given to me by the grace of God, and all I want to do now is say Thank You.

When he asked what I wanted out of life I answered with....I want to find my best friend get married make an agreement to never even mention the "d" word, and make another agreement to raise kids that can be happy because their world is happy and at the end of the night go to bed thanking God for everything I have because he is the one who has given all of those things to me.....and that was that. My answer to the 10 year plan is the same answer I would give today...whats a ten year plan...doesn't a ten minute plan sound much better?

We have been part of a Sunday School class over the summer titled Love and Respect. It addresses the whole battle of the sexes topic from a christian perspective, talking about our differences being just that differences and not as positives or negatives. The pastor talks a lot about how women need love and men need respect and how the two things react to each other in a unique cycle. That is all the explaining I will do on the subject, however I will say if you haven't had the joy of being a part of one of these classes you should do it, it has been life changing. Anywho...last weeks session I found very intriguing in a few different ways...he spent a lot of time talking about heaven and our salvation in relationship to our marriages and I suppose it could apply to most any relationship in your life actually, well I am a daydreamer...and I immediately started thinking about heaven. I must admit that heaven has become much more real to me in the past few years. I have actually experienced death in our family in many ways especially in the last year which has led me to think of it on a personal level. Not that I haven't done this before. But I have been more worried about being ready and what that entails and what it doesn't. Well the pastor from the video series asked what would you say to God? And immediately I thought, Thank You. And then not right at that moment but later I thought about why that phrase popped into my head and then I cried and then I thought of the following list.

Thank You for giving me all my hearts desires and then some. Thank You for hand delivering to me my best friend who is my greatest companion on this earth. Thank you for being ever so present that I can see you moving throughout my every waking moment. Thank You for lending me two beautiful kids that I can watch grow and see learning to love and trust you, children who are happy because we are truly happy. Thank You that I am able to be happy. Thank You that I can go to bed every night praising you for all that you do. Thank you for all that I am sure you have planned for me yet to experience. Thank you for your grace so I can continue to move forward and not look behind.

Thank You.

I don't know how it will actually be when I get there or when any of us get there but if I do get to say something, Thank You will be it!

What I want out of life now is much the same....happiness is a common theme, I could write a whole post on that topic alone. Its what I grew up wanting and its what I have........

The Picture In My Mind...

Forgive the picture scanning once again or lack there of. And disregard whatever is happening in the right hand side of the picture. Not much to say about that.

I woke up with this picture in my mind this morning. And the picture represents both things that I hold dear today. My precious baby boy...now not so baby as he officially turned 7 today. And my amazing husband who became a Father 7 years ago on this day. Both events require celebration.

Elliot turning 7 is surreal. I can very vividly remember the day he was born. I remember looking into his tiny face in complete awe of what God used my body to create. Elliot is the most loving, fun, smart, brilliant in more than one way and a complete lover of Gods world and his little life. He teaches me daily of about what is important. He told me the other day his heart was to big for his body...wonder where he gets this from. We have had the nicest conversations lately and not all of them have been life changing but they have all been tucked in my heart because it is so nice to hear him talk about what he feels and thinks and enjoys and detests. Its just nice to conversate because we can because he is 7 and 7 is a pretty big deal. I get the complete joy of hearing him pray before bed every night, much of what he prays about is the same from night to night but he always has a key point, sometimes it is a thanks God for loving me or please be with Grandma because Grandpas gone, or thanks for making me so good at legos (classic at least he is thankful), or please forgive us for damaging your world (a new favorite), but the other day he chose to pray for me as I was laying next to him on his bed. He thanked God for me and asked Him to be with me as I cooked for for lots and lots of people:)

What a blessing you are to me my monkey....Your mom loves you more than you know. And7 years ago I had no idea what a blessing you would be to me in so many ways.

The second part of the picture in my mind this morning was my Husband. I can still remember the look on his face this very first time he held Elliot in his arms. It was as if the whole world had stopped and every fear he had of being a dad just melted into a puddle on the floor. And this is the moment that I knew for the rest of forever there would never be anything that would get in between our little family and this man. My children have a dad that loves more than they ever could imagine and it is an amazing and beautiful thing to be able to witness!!

Babe you are an amazing Dad are kids are blessed to have you. And I am blessed to have as a partner in the crazy parenting universe.

This Love

I was 15 in this picture which makes Brian 16. Oh young love. What babies.
My scanner still isn't working so this will have to do.

This love is many things...but it is not perfect by definition. We argue, we complain, we don't always see eye to eye, we agree to disagree regularly, we forget to be thankful for what we have at times. But it is absolutely perfect by my definition. It is all the things I mentioned above and so much more. It is loving one another no matter what the day holds, it is looking at each other and recounting stories of our marriage that only we can relate to, only we can know every feeling each memory holds, only we can know all we have made it through. Only we can look to the heavens and thank God for carrying us through the last eight years.

I love my husband with every fiber of my being. I am thankful that God delivered to me the most perfect partner for my life. I lay my head down at night knowing that I will fall asleep laying next to the man I love most nights for the next 60 years or more maybe. It's fabulous, it's warm, it's safe, it's HOME.

It doesn't seem to matter how we spend our days, we need not do anything special by average standards. We can admire our children's sidewalk chalk drawings or laugh at the days elliotisms, we can talk for hours about how God is unrolling years and years worth of hopes and dreams right in front of us. It is completely wonderful!

This year has been full of hurts and a lot of sorrow and pain that I wish we could have done without. But it has also been so full of love and support from a man that loves me more than I deserve at times. He laughs at me when I am crabby and when I am really out of control he wraps me in a hug that I can not escape from until I agree to show him some sort of smile which usually turns into laughing. He smiles when I smile and laughs when I laugh. He reminds me when I forget to look up and I remind him as well. Team Jager has never been stronger and I know that it will only grow stronger with the years to come.

So this love is not perfect form the worlds standards but from mine it couldn't get any better. And today I feel like the most truly blessed woman on the face of the earth.

Happy 8th Anniversary Babe, you are the greatest Husband I could have ever dreamed of or imagined you are my prince charming and knight in shining armor.

What We Jagers Won't Do For Some Fun....

It all started with a noise. I heard for the first time 30 minutes or so before we actually identified where it was coming from. I chalked it up to the washing machine because it was running and the noise sounded like rushing water. The next time I heard it was about 30 minutes later as I laid down on the couch to watch some Myth Busters with my wonderful husband, "Is it raining?" I asked. Nope.....So I walked back to the laundry a second time because I thought to myself the washing machine can't still be running. Nope...it wasn't. But I could hear the sound of rushing water coming form the heater vent which means there was rushing water in the cellar and there should never be rushing water in the cellar (except for that one time....).

And the pictures show what we found. I may have said a few inappropriate words although at the time they seemed very appropriate. I can't tell you how much I love my husband in times of stress though, he and I make a pretty good team. He never yells or gets frustrated or stomps around really. We have this odd way of almost silently just getting down to business and taking care of whatever disaster has occurred at the time. And then after a few minutes we usually look at each other and laugh really hard and say it could have been so much worse. And it could have! Thank goodness I cleaned the cellar last summer for fear of this very thing happening and there were only a few cardboard boxes left. Nothing was severely damaged....I take that back a bit, the new flooring for the new dining room maybe slightly damaged we will see.?

So what happened a pipe burst, ruptured really and proceeded to dump hundreds of gallons of water into the cellar and there is no drain people. I found a hole in a corner so I created a push of sorts to shove water into the hole and eventually the water went away. When the push didn't work anymore I used a mop that worked pretty well too.

I am not sure there is a moral to the story. I did recite Romans 5: 1-5 out loud over and over during the clean up. It felt better to do this:) What can you do really?

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the waterfall in our basement before we shut it off. It was quite the sight.