Grand Rapids mini vacy

Michegan, here we come! We are leaving on Thursday afternoon to drive to Grand Rapids, MI for a business conference. It's a 1100 mile drive, and should take us about 14 hours or so. We'll be driving overnight Thursday to arrive at our hotel Friday before noon. Grand Rapids and Ada, MI are the headquarters and home of our contracting corperation, Amway Global. We will get to tour the main factory in Ada, and shop at the Amway surplus store as well! We're totally stoked that this is the first business trip we've taken as a married couple.

In preperation for the trip, we were debating whether to fly or drive.... airfare to Chicago was around $250 round trip, per person. Which at this point, is out of our price range. Then we decided to rent a car to drive there. We didn't want to drive my car, my 2002 Toyota Celica, because it has 120k miles on it now. However, renting a car would cost $130, plus they pend an extra fee of $200 on your card/account for incidentals. ARRGG!! Soooo, we finally decided to take my car into a shop and have it maintenance checked. Two hours and $45 later, the diagnosis on my car was good. The left rear shocks and strut are wet, my battery cable is corroded, my spark plugs are wearing, and my brake fliud and coolant need a flush. However, nothing is pressing to be done before the trip! So we're clear!

Along with the check up, I realized how filthy my car was.... I hardly have time to clean it, so the trash piles up and it just gets gross. I drove to my parents house to use their shop vac and driveway. I decided to take before and after shots of the car.... what a difference!! It's so clean now!

BEFORE




AFTER




Well now Paqui is all ready for the trip! Now we just have to get ready and pack.

Name Frame

As soon as our finances catch up, I am planning on DIYing our very own "name frame". I first saw these about a year ago, and wanted to make one as a wedding gift, but never had the time and resources. Well, now we do so I have been playing around with different "photos" to make up our name. Here's my fav so far:



Here are some other ideas:


Brian really likes ones with stone or wrought iron. I'll definitely post our final project when it's done.

Stone paintings

Okay I have a new dream... to own on of these! They are stone paintings by Henry Lee from Taiwan. Absolutely amazing!
(source: http://cafeglace.blogspot.com/search/label/10%20MOST%20VIEWED)

Our Washington state wedding reception --Mini vacation

Wow. Wow is all I can say. I have the best in-laws in the world!! They threw an amazing party for us at my sister-in-laws and her husband's house. They live in orchard country in the Yakima Valley, in a GORGEOUS huge OLD farm house. There's a cabana out back, complete with a pool and natural grapes growing on trellises. They invited about 50 people, and we had 25 guests come to celebrate. There was catered mini BBQ ribs, chicken tex mex style, pasta salad, cesar salad, fruit, and ice cream for dessert. The weather was hot and perfect. We had a beautiful sunset, and I got to watch Brian catch up with old friends and family members. What an amazing day!

Here is Karen and Phil's backyard area with the pool and cabana:




We had a table set up with wedding photos for guests to look at:

Here's some BAD shots of the inside of the house:

Some of the decorations:




Partying!!








On our way back to Seattle, we drove over White Pass and through Mt Rainier Nat'l Park. It was STUNNING. The clouds cleared off and we got a PERFECT view of the mountain. We stopped by my in-laws cabin also.







When we got over to Seattle, we ate at Ivars on Pier 54. It's a tradition of ours to eat there whenever we're in Seattle. Amazing fresh fish and seafood!



We also went over to Pike Place Market to see the flying fish:

The Five Love Languages review

I just recently finished reading this amazing book, by Dr. Gary Chapman. I wanted to share an overview of the book and review.

In his many years of counseling, Dr. Chapman was finally able to put words to all the difficulties that many couples face during their marriage. He discovered that every person on the planet has, what he calls, a "love tank". Your love tank is simply a measurement of how "loved" you or your spouse is feeling. A full love tank indicates a fully emotionally complete relationship. An empty love tank indicates lack of feeling loved, and many times ends up preceding fights, unhappy couples, and even divorce.

There are five languages that everyone speaks. These languages pull at one's heart and without these, a person may emotionally die. They are:

• Words of Affirmation
• Physical Touch
• Acts of Service
• Quality Time
• Gifts

Each person finds that one or more of these are ESSENTIAL in their relationships. I will give a brief overview of each language.

1. Words of Affirmation: compliments, encouragement, positive comments directed towards the building of another person. People with this language are often found giving compliments to others, and are totally satisfied when they are given a compliment. These people require such phrases as "wow, I really appreciate you washing the dishes tonight", or "you are such an amazing speaker." They require "pick me up" words to build their self-esteem and confidence. One of Brian's primary languages is Words of Affirmation. He requires to be pumped up by my compliments and comments.
   
2. Physical Touch: hugs, kisses, sexual intercourse. These people require physical touch to feel loved. Anything from a simple hug, all the way to a full blown night of very intimate action. All the positive words in the world don't mean anything to someone who lives for touch. I definitely speak the language Physical Touch. I have to have small caresses and tight squeezes to keep me feeling loved.
3. Acts of Service: taking out the trash, paying the bills, making the phone calls, cooking dinner. Acts of service are any action that requires effort on one person's part in order to help the other person. People who require acts of service often appreciate small things such as clean sheets, a vacuumed floor, or the mail on the counter. Again, Brian finds that Acts of Service keep his love tank full, so I make sure I'm asking him often, "what can I do to help you today?" and make sure I do my best to make his lunch, have dinner ready in the evening, and do extra little things to surprise him.
4. Quality Time: Just as it sounds-- time spent together. This does not necessarily mean sitting on the couch, watching a movie. It may, but it usually includes time spent as a couple, doing something fun, PAYING TOTAL ATTENTION TO YOUR SPOUSE. Talking face to face. Eye contact. For Brian and I, watching a movie on the couch DOES in fact count towards my very important requirement of quality time. However, we also do have dinners together, talk about our days, and spend time listening to each other. For many, quality time is spending a day in the mountains, sitting on a hillside together, and sharing hearts. For others, it might be a hectic and busy day in the city together.
5. Gifts: Any act of giving to "gifts" people is a love tank filler. They are the people that still have the terrible little ripped up paper card, given to them by their children 19 years ago. These gifts to not have to be expensive or huge. Many times, it's the small things that count. If you spouse speaks this language, it's important to provide heart-felt gifts frequently. Leaving a small note on the pillow next to her, coming home with a single rose, or providing a small keepsake from your business trip are all great ideas in this category. Spouses who forget a birthday or anniversary or who never give gifts to someone who truly enjoys gift giving will find themselves with a spouse who feels neglected and unloved.

Many issues arise in marriages when one person is "doing everything they can to make him/her happy, but it's just not working". This is mainly because while one spouse may speak Acts of Service, and be contently washing dishes and vaccuuming, his/her spouse may speak Physical Touch, so the "acts of service" provided mean little or nothing to him/her. We have to learn to speak our spouses language, and learn to ACT ON IT, in order to provide the proper nourishment our spouse requires.

Dreams (part 1)

One of my goals with this blog is to spark a dream in others.... maybe someone needs a pick-me-up, or maybe these posts will light a desire for more in life. Brian and I are HUGE dreamers. In owning our own business, the tax code actually has a clause for deductions called "dream building". So, in other words, when Brian and I go test drive a new car, the gas that we used to drive to the dealership is a tax write-off! Legally :) It's fabulous. We go tour million dollar houses, test drive Mercedes and BMWs, and check out new marble and granite companies!

Over the past 3 years, we've melded our dreams together, creating a pin point focus vision for our lives.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Proverbs 29:18.

Here are some of our dreams, in the material world:

• Mercedes McLaren SLR
  

http://www.automotivehistoryonline.com/AUG07.htm



http://the-car-club.co.uk/Pictures-Mercedes.html

• BMW M6
  

http://www.ridelust.com/one-step-closer-to-driving-with-your-mind/

• Home design

• Airplanes/travel
  

P-38 Lightning WWII plane