The List

Yum!
Christmas crafting (is she getting big or is it just me?)

Hungry yet?

Look at me being all eco friendly and stuff..recycled magazine wallet

10. One of the most interesting things that happens when you are forced to say good-bye is you find out how people really feel about you. When I say this I mean either people are like..whatever, see ya around (i never really liked you much anyway) or then there is the unexpected people who are sad to see you go, but you never really knew they liked you in the first place (school office ladies? They have actually liked me this whole time? I wonder how they treat people they DON'T like?) and of course your bff's that you are really sad about leaving. For me, a country girl who has known most my friends forever, its just so amazing how you can really grow close to people in such a short amount of time. My church peeps..I never really started hanging with them til this past August, so thats what 5 months?? Seriously it seems like we have been buds for years, then there is Karen, Amy and Anna (in no particular order) My awesome AZ gf's..ladies I will miss you all so much and you have truly blessed me this past year!! I have said good-bye more in the past 18 months than I ever have my whole life, and really it's not getting any easier.

9. I'm not sure if you all know, but we signed a year lease when we moved only 4 (yes 4!!) short weeks ago. So we had to break lease..big time. Our landlords despite not being the cleanest people I have ever met are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I do have to say though it kinda blows having to show a house 3 days after Thanksgiving that you are not even trying to sell..but I'm such a rocking sales lady I think I rented it out to the first people that looked.. yes I'm just that good (and it does not help that this house looks better than it has in years!)

8. Zach left for Washington Saturday, I'm a touch lonely and a little sad about things in general right now.. and to make matter worse he took my laptop. I have been really wanting a Mac Book Pro..hmm I think this is the perfect time for one:) Nothing like a little retail therapy (shh don't tell Dave)

7. Speaking of my new BFF Dave Ramsey. My FPU graduation ceremony is Monday night, I think I will be selected valedictorian.. or at least most likely to succeed...or most likely to NEVER be able to buy anything fun ever AGAIN.. ok really I just hope I get a diploma:)

6. I have been crafting lots this weekend. I had a super fun morning with Anna (who posted a TERRIBLE picture of me!!..now go look) on Friday and Sunday afternoon Sissy and I crafted for a bit. Anna and I laughed very hard over our wallets from Sew Liberated. They did not turn out perfect but I'm hoping my next round will be better. The tutorial for the gumdrop wreath can be found here, simple, fun and tasty!

5. How was your Thanksgiving?? Ours was wonderful if I must say so myself. Very low key, good food and of course lots of laughs. I'm so glad I got to spend my last Thanksgiving here in AZ with some good AZ peeps:) (oh can I just say how AWESOME the food was..seriously, I soo impressed myself!)

4. How ya doing on Christmas shopping?? If you have not already seen this go check out Sew Mama Sew. They are doing a handmade Christmas and everyday they post new gifts ideas you can make. It has some SUPER ideas, even some recipes as well, and no it's not all sewing projects.

3. Starting tomorrow moving companies will begin bidding on the cost of moving the Strehle's from AZ to WA. This is my least favorite part of the whole moving gig. I hate having people look through my stuff, hate it. It makes me feel all exposed.

2. So I saw the rough workings of my new blog header today.. I LOVE IT!!! Can't wait!!Oh gosh I'm starting to feel all bloggy grown up:) Sara (the very talented lady who is working on my stuff) will be starting a blog of her own very soon..expect very cool things from this one!!

1. I really can't believe I'm moving back. Who ever said "Careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." was uber wise.

Give Thanks

As you can see the kiddos have been busy.

We have been so blessed these past few days, very few things in life bring such deep joy.

Now I know right now a majority of the ladies who read this snazzy blog are scurrying around like mad getting the turkey dressed, stuffing stuffed and mashing potatoes, but please, before the day gets away from you..think of everything YOU have to be thankful for. Then let your Creator know you are thankful, let your hubby know, let your kids know.. let anyone within a 10 step radius know, because at times (especially these times) we truly have so much to be thankful for:)

Here's what I'm most thankful for..

Bittersweet

bit.ter.sweet.
[adj. bit-er-sweet, bit-er-sweet; n. bit-er-sweet]
–adjective

both pleasant and painful or regretful: a bittersweet memory

What an 18 months it has been!

"Both pleasant and painful" describes it perfectly. What started out as the worst time of my adult life, has gradually moved onto something very meaningful and much more a part of me than I ever expected. I can't put my finger on the moment it changed, but I can think back on MANY moments that have changed me. I think I can attribute my surprisingly sad state to my AZ peeps (guys and gals). I have met some of the most incredible people here in Arizona and I'm a much better person because of them. I'm wondering if this is why God even moved us here to begin with, cuz right now I struggling with the question of why..why 18 months? Why start a new life just to move on, truthfully I'm just so tired of saying good-bye.

Flip side.. I'M GOING HOME!! First thought..YAY!! Green, mountains,old friends,gardening,much better clothing,quiet country life.

Second thought..hmm..there are a few things I really did NOT miss..

So how is this displaced country girl going to react? Like I always do..at first a little flustered, maybe eat too much, cry, pray, ask God for clarity and direction and have faith. Then I will pull up the big girl panties and move on. Knowing we are a better family because of the time we spent in AZ.

Zach has been given another opportunity to continue his growth within C----o and we are taking it. He will be leaving AZ next weekend and we will be following him up around the 19th of December. The next chapter of our story has begun. My hope is to make it as meaningful as the last.

The List..(with a surprise ending!)

Why yes, it's perfectly normal to post pictures of your own boots on your blog..and it's even more normal to have a boot photo shoot:)

Pretty fountain we have in the backyard of 80's house (i'm listening to it right now!)

Another 80's house bonus..Tangelo tree.

10. Are you not sooo excited that EGG NOG is here?? It's actually cold enough in the mornings here that I'm going to go and get me a very hot Egg Nog latte from Starbucks this week..yum. Now of course this poses a little bit of a problem with my new no dairy policy..but I can have a few exceptions to the rules..right?!

9. In a blog I read often, the author refers to her house as "retro house". So I'm kinda stealing her idea and calling mine 80's house. It's not quite cool enough to be called retro..so I'm going with 80's

8. One good thing about 80's house is I have a fire place and really pretty mantle AND a nice staircase with a banister to decorate for the holidays.That should be very fun:)

7. Speaking of Christmas decorating..OH I'M SO EXCITED!! You know I never really used to be like this. The Husband and I used to mock people like this, so now he just mocks me..nice.

6. Last week Amy and Karen (AZ gf's) took me to the neatest new restaurant in town for my b-day. Our waitress was named Amber (she was beautiful, friendly and had good hair..must be the name) The ladies also bestowed very nice gifts upon this unsuspecting girl. They had made a secret trip to Anthro without me, at first I was upset that they did not invite me, but of course was won over by very sweet presents:) I'm a lucky lady to have such good AZ gf's.

5. So today I'm meeting with a very sweet artist who is going to spruce up the blog..YAY!!

4. Another AZ gf Jessica had a very sweet new arrival this past weekend. Her and her husband welcomed a baby boy into the world!We have been partners in crime during Dave Ramsey classes for the past 10 weeks or so. They are a great couple and we have had a blast getting to know them. They are going to make great parents:)

3. So THEY came!! Yipee!! What I mean by they of course is the boots..gotta love the smell of new leather:)

2. I'm going to have a few more chances to wear them cuz...

1. WE ARE MOVING BACK TO WASHINGTON STATE!!
(more on this to come, this has been a TOTAL SHOCK and we will be home by Christmas, really I will post the whole story very soon)

My Voice

Tuesday the kiddos were off of school, after a fun morning at the Phoenix Zoo we were heading back, trying to avoid rush hour. As I was merging onto the freeway I was suddenly struck by the shear number of people that were on the freeway during the middle of the day. Traffic was not stopped but all 8 lanes were completely packed, I could see for miles either way, there were for sure hundreds if not thousands of cars surrounding me..
I had one of those moments..you know what I'm talking about right??
That smallish feeling, insignificant, which is always followed by this overwhelming feeling of selfishness, like I really matter or something. For that few minutes with the HSM 3 soundtrack blaring and children bickering in my hot momma mini-van I saw a little glimpse of humanity.
Then me being ..well me, start in with all the really big questions..
Why am I here, what is my purpose, how can one women/mom/wife/lover possibly make a difference in this world, I mean the world is a really really big place, just Phoenix alone is stinking huge!
Then I thought about you all, about blogging, about being narcissistic and why I sit and write this stuff and furthermore why the heck do you read it!!
Truthfully if you are women/man enough to admit it, we all are prideful, just a touch full of ourselves (some more than others, yes?).
I almost think it has to be a coping mechanism to actually bring a little validity to our lives. Its hard to think of little me in the grand scheme of things. Is it not for you? When I pray, why would God listen to me when he also is listening to...oh a martyr in Darfur? How does that make me feel?
Smallish..
So I have this blog.. and it gives me a voice, yes it might be a small voice, yes I might have bad grammar and incorrect spelling and yes I have on occasion made people mad. I believe this is one of the reasons people blog, to bring a little bit of largeness to their lives. To give an average momma of 4 (well..almost average) a voice, a place to be heard, whereas otherwise she might not.

The List...

The new bff's

What a man, what a man, what a mighty mighty good man!

Breakfast at the new house pool side, pumpkin spice scones.. just like Starbucks!

10. So let's talk about cleanliness..what is your definition?? I know I'm a bit of a clean freak but REALLY when you move out of your house, PLEASE clean it!!! Seriously the reason I have not blogged is because my newest BFF has been the toothbrush and a bottle of bleach..nice.

9. The new house..hmm what can I say, I do like it..well now that it's clean it's better, much better. It's just different than our last house and a country girl like me is just not used to people being able to look into your back yard.

8. Fall has FINALLY arrived here in AZ..seriously this is by far my very favorite time here. The weather is absolutely PERFECT!!

Now please point me back to this post come April..thanks;)

7. My blog's "look" right now is very boring to me. This is making me frustrated, so I talked to a very sweet artsy gal at church this past Sunday and she is going to do some work for me!! Yeah! Does anyone have any fab ideas to pass along???

6. Are you ready for Christmas?? Our new house is on a Christmas parade route..seriously we are going to have to step up our outside game. We have never really done much outdoors, just a wreath and maybe a few white lights..Clark Griswold look out!

5. Last week Anna and I were able to go to lunch for our Birthdays..of course it was cut a little short by a call from the school about a sick kid, well with 7 between us one of us was bound to be called! But none the less we did get a quick visit into our local Anthro to check out the new Christmas stuff..TOO CUTE!!

4. Speaking of B-days and Anthro..the hubby, taking great pity on me, did the most non-Dave Ramsey thing EVER and got me these for my birthday..sorry ladies but he's sooo taken;)

3. **UP COMING CHALLENGE ALERT** Ok fellow bloggy peeps I'm going to be issuing a new challenge..self portrait Tuesdays.
What you say??
This coming Tuesday I want us all to take a picture (or use a previous) picture of ourselves to post on your blog.This pic needs to be able to describe a certain aspect of yourself..Get it?? I already have mine picked and no I did not think of this on my own so I'm not taking any credit;)
More info on this to come.

2. So I started discussing some bloggy things in snack shack this Sunday, found out about this blog..PLEASE do yourself a favor and go check it out. It will make you think, next it's time to act, maybe our 30 days of nothing challenge should go here.

1. Speaking of snack shack and bloggy discussions... A new found friend (ok it's was C.J. more on him later!) at church and I were talking about blogging. He mentioned that he had visited my blog in search of the very funny video I posted a few weeks ago. He then informed me he does not "get blogging" of course I have heard this line many times before..but what he said next really (and still is) bugged me... He said that, "blogging seems narcissistic" then he added, "and that really is saying something coming from me." Which I might add is very true.
Ok C.J. that whole comment has been bugging me all week!!
What do you guys think?? Am I and this whole bloggy circle a bunch of narcissistic people?? Please stay tuned for an entire post on this..it's brewing in the brain:)

The List..American Style

I'm feeling pretty patriotic today. This morning I decided I was going to change up my list a little, so here is Amber's 10 greatest things about America:)

10. Freedom.

This nation was founded on freedom, men fled from a monarchy to taste true freedom. Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the freedom to chose who runs our country. Without freedom, America would not be..well America!

9. Diversity.

No matter what you hear or read via the biased media, America is THE place to be. People want to live here, and we let them, with out expecting them to become like us..how cool are we?

8. Giving.

We are such a generous nation. Did you know that over the past 8 years we have tripled our humanitarian aid to Africa? People of the highest income (Gates&Oprah) to the lowest income (kids!) are givers, we put others before ourselves..makes me all choked up inside.

7. Optimism.

On 9/12/01 (and after Pearl Harbor) America woke up, pulled up the big girl panties and said, we CAN recover, we CAN be stronger, we will not let you defeat us.

We are a hopeful bunch, always on the sunnyside.

6. Equality.

Jon O'Neill (Amy's hubby) is a pilot. Recently he flew Metallica. The Husband and my boys were asking him a bunch of questions about it. They were thinking it was a pretty big deal to be flying these legends of rock! Jon said something simple yet profound, "You know they put on their pants in the morning the same way we all do."

Regardless of background, race, creed, religion, sex, class or even being a rock-star we are all have the very same opportunities, anyone can be a rock-star..I mean if you can sing..and have good hair..you get my point!

5. Free Market.

Bill Gates the Harvard drop out, takes an insane idea, builds a "personal computer" in his fathers garage and became a zillionare. That is pretty incredible stuff..gotta love free market.

4. Religion.

We are a nation of faith, many types of faith. It gives America a moral compass, it makes us a stronger nation, and whatever you want to call it, the Golden Rule, Karma, Reincarnation..its beautiful to see our faith in action.

3. Pop Culture.

Some will differ with me on this one, but I love pop culture. The fact that you sitting here right now reading my blog is totally because of pop culture and the fact that I can write anything I want to stinking write is also distinctly American, no censorship here.

2. The American Dream.

You say it's lost? No way!!

This election season alone perfectly embodies the American dream. Think about the diversity of candidates..African American, former first lady, war hero, former southern baptist minister, LDS member and a hockey mom, just to name a few.

Who said the American dream is not alive??

1. The National Anthem.

As I get older, there is now hardly a time I don't get a little teary when I hear our national song. When you look over at the vet taking off his ball cap and bowing his head in honor of our country, does not something deep inside of you stir?

So fellow bloggy folks..what is your favorite thing about America?

Go.

People have died for this day. This is what being an American is all about. Regardless of your candidate, regardless of the outcome. Go.

Surprises..

**I wrote this the other day**

So right now my house is mostly packed, I have a million, plus one things I should be doing but I had to stop for just a second and post..
Last night I received my swap package from Wendy. I was not going to be in the swap this time only host it, but when Wendy emailed me and said she had been sick and since I have known her for many a year I knew I could make just this one exception:)
Wendy's swap gift was very special to me for a few reasons..first I have seen Wendy change so much over the past few years that it makes me smile really big inside myself:) Secondly, the gift..It is a picture of The Sister and myself as youngsters, we don't have many pictures of this time in our lives and it seems like we were very happy, another elusive item at that time in our lives... I was not at all expecting such a thoughtful, personal gift. This really is the very best kind of gift, and in my mind embodies Swappy Ladies perfectly. It proves that we don't need to spend a ton of money to impress people, nothing flashy or fancy just simple in nature and huge in heart.
Thanks so much Wendy for your very special swappy gift, you really did make my week.

Oh and here are some pic's of my Swappy goodness (I had fun!!) and if you want to see a picture of Wendy's hubby Brad modeling an apron go check out her blog..

Moving..and a little humor

So we are here..our new place.

Yes Zach's back slipped out on literally the second box of the move, yes this happened once before at work while reaching into a file cabinet and yes this was a VERY stressful week!!
BUT...I have some SUPER AZ friends..whose names are..
Karen, Amy, Anna, Andrea C.J.,Jeff and some mover guys
They really saved our bacon, thanks so much guys;)
I'm hoping after church tomorrow I will be able to post..thanks for the prayers and support:)

Oh and if you want to laugh really really hard, like I was crying I was laughing so hard please watch this (some of it's a little harsh) and who ever sent it to me please come forward cuz I need to buy you a coffee or something..seriously I was crying so hard..too good:)