Books to consider

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to start getting into reading again. I'm not the best reader but I enjoy it, especially since it is winter time I have more time to read. So there are two books that I have picked up but I will talk about Shattered Silence first. This book is written by the oldest daughter of 'The Happy Face Killer'. Just knowing that kind of sends you chills but the book is a great read. She goes through her life from the beginning. The first chapter will put you to tears, well it did me. She talks about her precious kittens she has and how she loves to mother them and take care of them. A few pages into it she tells of how her father hates cats and loves to torture them. Now, not only does he like to inflict pain on the kittens, he does it in front of his children. WOW red flag!! For these four kittens she has ,he ends up hanging them up on a clothes line until they die. Now not only is that cold but it's the fact that this frantic 5 year old is clinging to her mother begging her to stop daddy from hurting 'my babies'. This book is, yes, heartbreaking but ends with triumph over fear and a broken heart.

The Blue Bottle Club is a FABULOUS book. A+. It's a story about a reporter who has a story she pursues about these 4 friends who leave behind in a blue bottle their dreams. The reason behind the reporter finding this bottle is the city had condemed the house the bottle was found in and was being torn down. She saved the bottle and began her search for the 4 friends. It's a great great story. I would highly recommend it.

Ok so in conclusion about my new book adventure, I bought another one to read. Costco is a great place to buy books for discount!!!! ANY ways the new book is

I'll be sure to let you know how the book goes!!!! I heard it was a book about Laura Bush and her life but in a novel sense instead of autobiography!? Not sure we'll see!

Coming Soon....

.....November 1, 2009, which not only happens to be the first day of Winter Sunday Market, but our first anniversary. Wow, almost a year?
There are these ladies who come in about 3 times a week, give or take, they both are married and know Chris and I. On Tuesday, Cori, one of the ladies, mentioned to me, 'Someones anniversary is coming up'. My first thought, 'wow that long already?' But my response was, 'Yeah, I know'. Pretty pathetic, I KNOW! Both Jen and Cori were talking about what they did for their first anniversaries and blah blah blah...O.K. so the events that are taking place on Sunday, November 1, 2009: first day of winter sunday market which means I am working (11am-4pm), and Chris's working as well, GAY! Now to explain what our plans are going to be. For our wedding gift from David and Heidi Fasteband (Chris's boss), they gave us a $250 gift certificate to Shelter Cove in Cresent Lake, OR. Which is to be used for our 1st anniversary. Here's another, POOP. We are unable to get work off until DECEMBER! So for Chris's work schedule his first weekend available is not until December 11th-13th, and for me, well none. From November 1-December 20th, Sundays, we will be open because the winter sunday market is being held in the same building that my coffee shop is in. I am pretty much booked every weekend until 2010! For our solution, since everyone has left and gone to college and I have no one to work, December 11th-13th will hopefully end up working. Shasia said she will we on winter break by then and told me she will work!! I am not sure about Henry's schedule but maybe we'll squeeze him in too! So our plans for November 1, 2009: if Chris is not working nights, go to dinner somewhere nice. Even though we will not be able to celebrate on the actual day, we will be together and celebrate in our own way! LOVE YOU GOOB!

Life, Love, Happiness

The more I am being committed to God, the more I see His perfect timing of everything. It's so amazing to see how important my job as a wife really is. Not only do I need to take care of home, obviously, but be in constant prayer for everything. Lately there has been so many blessings taking place and I believe it's all because of my relationship with Jesus flourishing and growing! In these past two months Chris and I have grown so incredibly close to each other, in a way I can't even begin to describe. Chris and I have completely broken ourselves in humility toward each other and to Christ. To be painfully honest and come together in love and friendship. I see troubled marriages around me and it hurts. Couples getting married for the wrong reasons, years and years of thinking someone else is the bad guy when in reality it's you the whole time, or couples who can't put down themselves to truly figure a way to communicate. It's hurtful to me, because no one should give up. I feel like a little high school girl sometimes with the way I feel towards my marriage. It sounds so silly but our infatuation has turned into LOVE, true love. Deep down intimate committed love for each other. I love you, Chris Bigelow, now and forever!

Baaka Baaka and Mini Mouse

Nicole is not going to love me after this post. I'm sorry I just had to post these adorable pictures of her children. Last night I spent the night at the Brown's. Adam is away for the week in Atlanta and Chris is working nights, so we decided to have a wives evening! Anyways, the kids were crazy wild. VERY EXCITED TO SEE AUNTIE :) We read some books, I gave them baths and snuggle buggled. As we were all snuggled on the couch, they pipped up and wanted to show me what they were wearing for Halloween! Soren said, "Novie's going to be Mini Mouse and I'm going to be Baaka Baaka". I looked at Nicole, "Baaka Baaka". She explained the rubber chicken he loves so much (she has a post about the rubber chicken). Then they came out and showed me these outfits! Soren's outfit is from Old Navy and Novie is borrowing Fi Fi's old Mini Mouse! They are SOOOO ADORABLE!!! Soren's pants are backwards, the feet are just like chicken feet! It's so sweet :)

Trigger Man and LIFE

Soooooo, we have a new addition to our little Bigelow family, (no I didn't have a baby). He's furry, cute, lovie and Sophie's second brother! His name is Trigger. He is the second litter of pups. RC, Chris's older brother, and Nicole (his wife) have 2 kids and 2 large dogs annndd they both work. Sadly, they had to give up Trigger. So now Sophie has a play mate! Her and Trigger get along REALLY good. They play ALL day long. Although she can be quite the brat sometimes, they are buds. He doesn't go pee unless she does, he follows her around, he plays with her toys....and on and on. I wanted to post pictures up when I got him all shaved up but this are the ones I took when we first got him. We have had him now for over a month. He a huge sweetie. He loves attention, always wanting to please and most of all snuggles :)

The last two pictures are of the both of them drinking out of Synnove and Soren swimming 'cool' and playing tug-o-war with their duck! These are my children. They are cute, furry and cuddly!

LIFE UPDATE!

Now that we have the both of them we are desperatly in need of buying a new house with a fence. WE FOUND ONE! BUT we haven't heard anything more. We put an offer on the house August 31 and still haven't heard. The situation is kind of messy. The house actually isn't on the market, there is a divorce, bankrupcty and the house is in the process of going into forclosure. IT'S A MESS. So we are hoping to buy it before it goes to auction, obviously. I would post up pictures, but I don't want to jinx myself (I know silly). But I'm trying not to get my hopes up. The home is absolutely perfect. It fits our needs completely. But we are in the waiting period... AND IT SUCKS! So please pray for God's Will!

New hair!

Since I was about 16 years old I have had LONG hair. Here are a couple pictures of my hair before (through the years).
"Don't mind the weird photo"

I am standing on the left, in white. Notice how long my hair is!! This picture was taken, I think 2 years ago.

You can't really see it but my pony tail is LONG!

NEW HAIR!!!!

I love my new hair. In this picture I haven't styled it, you can't see all my cool razor layers :)

But I HAVE NO MORE HEADACHES! :)

Synnove and Soren

My niece and nephew. I would have to say they are the most adorable children you will ever meet. They are not only beautiful toe heads but extremely SMART and have the funniest personalities. Synnove is identical to her mother, tell it like it is and not afraid to. Soren has the heart of gold that melts in your arms every time he tells you he loves you. They both are very smart and learn very quickly. I am so happy they live in clatsop county now :)

Here are some pictures of them...

Synnove was a flower girl in my wedding. I think Soren felt left out since he wasn't in the wedding

So these are my little chickens. Everytime I call them Auntie Weesie's chickens Synnove says, "Weesie, we're not chickens". I love these chickies.

Josh Gracin

Saturday May 30 Josh Gracin performed at the Liberty Theatre in Astoria. Kent Easom and Lj Gunderson, who are good friends and colleagues of ours invited us to go. They informed us that they were sponsers and had VIP passes! Which meant we were able to meet HIM!! Now a little history, Josh Gracin was an American Idol and he is also a Marine! This guy can sing like you can't believe. Most artists that perform on stage usually sound nothing like their albums. Not Josh, he's identical. Pure talent. It was wonderful. Kent and Lj took us to dinner and we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. It was a wonderful evening!

Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend

Camping this year was an absolute blast. Nicole and I were ATV buddies and we had the greatest time. All the pictures and video's her and I took on our trips are on her blog. Ourlifeinthesticks.blogspot.com. But here are a few I was able to take. We had 8 travel trailers out there and 1 tent! HUGE crowd and a wonderful vacation from work!

Uncle Don bought some pink flamingos and Gnomes for Darryl and Jodie's trailer!



Good thing my husband doesn't read our blog. He wouldn't like this pic :)

Novie grubber :)

Whitney helping Novie with her helmet

Big girl rider!!

This is my sweet Sophie. She was like this as soon as she got into the truck to go home!

Kvichak Marine Industries

Above is a boat being built in Kvichak

Seattle, WA
Is where Kvichak Marine is located. This is where both the Columbia and Chinook are built. David Fasteband, Chris's boss, invited us last month to visit him and Kvichak. The Columbia was in the dry dock for warrenty work and maintenance. We were able to meet one of the owners of Kvichak and some of the workers there. Here are a few photos of Kvichak and some others.

This picture is inside the warehouse!! (The background is of the pilot boat Columbia!)

Chris is standing in front of the "Lusty Lady"

CAMPING!

Every Memorial, 4th and Labor Day weekend our family gets together and goes camping. Not just lame RV camping with man made spaces, fire pits and such. But back woods camping. My parents own 12+ acres just on the out skirts of Naselle. Beautiful, beautiful country. The property used to have a homestead and land (obviously). So there is an area for tents and the trailers circle around. The rest of the land is used for 4 wheeling or motorcylces! It is an absolute blast. This year is the first year Chris and I are going as a married couple!! OOOOOOOOOO!! So we can sleep together :) ANYWAYS, we are taking our tent and motorcycles! We are juiced! I'll post some pictures up, but here's a couple from previous years! :) Yes our family is very red neck!

Our dog Sophie

My sweet Sophie


This is Sophie when she was only a few weeks old. She was the cuttest puppy! For those who are wondering she's a miniature Schnauzer. Yes I know your thinking, little dog, Elise? My husband wanted a Mini Schnauzer since his mother had received one 4 years ago. So when Skipper and Mia (Vicki's dogs) had their first batch of pups Chris had his pick. Now, your typical Schnauzer: very yippy (barks), stubborn, hyper, ect... Sophie, complete opposite. She is defiant when she wants to be but she hardly makes a noise. The only thing she really barks at is the dark :) She's is more like a cat. It's really quite funny. She is due for a hair cut soon, so I won't put up her picture today but here's a puppy picture. Sophie Bigelow :)

Captain Chris

This is my husband at work. His first job. Capt. Johnson took these pictures and brought them by. The boat he's runnin' in this picture is the Chinook, the yellow one (for people who don't know the names, most don't). Just thought I would share some photos. I hope to get more, if he ever takes me out :)

6 months

Today is not only May day but our 6 months! I actually had for got, but my wonderful husband come home this morning after work, and said "You make me so happy, today is our 6 months!" and so on and so on. But I thought it was very sweet. So I thought that I should post up some wedding pictures so you all could browse, only a couple.




So cute, I know.

Heaven or Hell?

Ok, so this heading, a little differnent I know but let me go into detail. These are just a couple of books I have been reading about people's experience of "the after life". Oh my gosh, huge eye opener. Now before I begin I must tell all of you the absolute divine coincidence about these books before I read them.

As most of you all know (reading my sisters blog) my grandpa Henry passed away. His passing was absolutely and completely God's Hand at work. He was baptized one month before he passed away. That is just one huge blessing that occured while grandpa was still alive. He had strayed away from God in his younger years but God wasn't going to give up on answering our families prayer for grandpa to accept Jesus Christ. He was starting to go to church with grandma, quoted scripture and told us he was once sprinkled with water but wanted to be immersed in the water. He wanted to make sure he got ever sin washed away. AMEN! It was pure excitment to see him be baptized in Jesus Christ and to publically make it known. Grandpa passed while he was sleeping. It was absolutely peaceful and God's perfect timing. Now my grandfather is in heaven praising Jesus and singing his favorite song, "The Old Rugged Cross"!! Now why the books? My mother and I were talking about these books on a few days before grandpa's passing. Crazy!? But not just a coincidence!

The first book I read was, "A Divine Revelation of Hell". I will not go into detail of the entire book (to give you more of an incentive to read it too), but Jesus had come to this woman and told her He was going to take her to every part of Hell. Her task was to tell the world the truth about Hell, and that Hell is a real place. This book is not only the most intense book I have ever read, but the most detailed. After reading it, it makes you want to stand on the sidewalk and tell everyone about Salvation. The first scene you get of hell in the book is the smell, the horror, the darkness and the pits that sinners are living in. Combine rotten eggs, human feces, spoiled milk, and the smell of dead people, that's the smell of hell. She witnesses these people crying out in sheer horror, with flesh falling off their bones asking for forgiveness. Jesus explains to her about each one and how and why they ignored Salvation. The book goes into detail that there are certain punishments for certain sinners. Such as devil worshipers, witches and warlocks. She explains that Jesus came to her every night for 30 days to show her that Hell is a very real place. Now after I was done reading this book, I was not only shook up but had to put in check my own Salvation. We have absolutely no idea when we are going to die or be raptured. A good example my grandfather, he simply went to bed on Tuesday night and did not wake up. He is in Heaven!! AMEN!

Now "90 Minutes in Heaven". This man tells his account of being pronounced dead at the scene of his 86' Ford Escort completely smashed by a semi truck. He tells of how the EMT's at the scene had never seen a man so dishelved. His limbs were barely hanging on to his body, blood coming out of his eyes, ears and nose. He had no pulse and was pronounced dead. A man who had come upon the wreck asked if he could pray for the man inside the car. The EMT told him, 'Dude, the guy is dead'. But the man felt a huge urgency to pray for the dead man in the car. He did. He said that he has never prayed that way in his life, his whole being prayed for the dead man. Next he was given the breath of life and started singing. The man who was praying was completely suprised, and screamed "He's ALIVE!" Now while he is dead for 90 minutes he tells his account of Heaven. I will not go into detail, (it's a must read) but I will share one thing. While he was standing in Heaven, he could hear the angel's praising His name in song. Everyone was singing all at once different songs, but it was not at all chaotic. He could hear every word of each song, and it was Beatiful. One of the songs he mentioned are "The Old Rugged Cross"! As I read I burst into tears knowing that grandpa is singing that song right now!!!! Now go buy both books!!!

The book I am currently reading right now is called "23 minutes in Hell". Another good book. I won't go into detail about that one, you have to buy it :) But those two books that are pictured up top are more than just books, they are testimonys of the truth about Heaven and Hell! It's real, very real and Jesus is coming soon. Are you going to Heaven?

Way to long...

Ok, my appologies, I have not been writing. I have not been good about doing this. I'll be better, I hope. Anyways. What's new? Hmm, work is still kind of slow. Although yesterday was absolutely awesome. I'm assuming since it was presidents day and it being a three day weekend for alot of people, that's why, but it was great! Our projects on the house are slow. My mother kindly donated some left over paint from my brother's room and now I am able to paint the guest bedroom. See our problem in our house, WALLPAPER! And I absolutely hate wallpaper. There are three rooms left with wallpaper so I will hopefully tackle one of them sometime this week!

So I'm starting something new. A few weeks ago, my mother had all of us over for dinner, BBQ Tuna! Oh it was good. Anyways, when we came home, I was about to take a shower and I looked in the mirror. OMG! I can't believe I have gained this much weight. I mean even when we got married, I was not at the weight I needed to be, but I have now got even bigger. Its bad. So I now, don't eat dinner and try to eat only 800 calories a day. And am completely religious about Pilates! I am feeling better. See I have always been the type of dieter that will crash diet and Yo Yo. So hopefully with a new mind set and being very good about pushing myself to exercise everyday, I'll be set. My sister and I are doing the Columbia Crossing in Oct. so that's my goal line. Which I hope to overcome way before, but I have to set myself a goal.

New with Chris:
Well he's doing well. He's taken on more clients with the yard work. The boat job is doing well too. He's learning more and more and loving it. Yesterday , him and I sat on the front porch and just visited. He was telling me some things that were going on down at the boat. He was asking my for advise on some situations. But to hear how much excitment and enthusiasm he has for his job is just wonderful. I am very proud of him. Things are really going well for him. I am so glad he now can have the life he has always wanted but never thought he could have! Our life together is absolutely no doubt sent from God!