Category Archives: Fave Five on Friday

FFF ~ Memorial Day Weekend

Time to think about our favorites from this past week. Please visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in this great exercise.

 

Canada celebrated Queen Victoria Day last weekend and we in the U.S.A. are getting ready for our Memorial Day Weekend. This is a time to reflect and remember those who have served our country in the past and who are serving our country now. I’m an American who is proud of what our country stands for and proud of the men and women who have courageously fought to keep us safe and free. My parents are legal immigrants who have become citizens of the U.S.A. Dear’s father, uncles and grandfather served in the military. Now I’ll get on to my favorites from this past week.

1. Spending extended time with my children. Before the Sounders game on Saturday Dear, Katie, Josh, Laura and I had brunch together and then Josh, Laura and I headed to the game. It was great to be together.

2. On Tuesday Katie had a minor medical emergency which ended up being a time we were able to spend 6 hours together. We went to the doctor, had a nice lunch and shopped. Things worked out well for her and it was encouraging to her for me to be there to support her.

3. Dear and I met some good friends for a meal together and it was nice catching up on our lives.

4. Our middle son Dan called this week and he was ready to talk and it was comforting for me hearing about the details of his life right now.

5. We are plugging away with the details of our garage sale on Saturday. I’m thankful that things have come together and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. In the midst of all the sorting and planning I was able to get some red, white and blue decorations up for our house to get in the spirit of this long weekend.

To all of you in the U.S.A. a very Happy Memorial Day weekend to you. If you know a veteran or someone serving our country give them a hug from me…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

 

FFF ~ A Few Of My Favorite Things…

A time to reflect on the past week and consider your favorites. Please visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story who is our hostess for Friday’s Fave Five.

 

1. We had a family taco night last Friday to celebrate my nephew Caleb visiting from California.

2. On Sunday before church Dear painted our guest room. He gets up real early. Then after church we re-decorated the room and we are thoroughly enjoying it! This is also the room where my computer lives most of the time. One of the great things about the changes in the room is the fact that the desk with my computer on it faces a window now and I get to see birds on the bushes outside the window.

3. These Irises have made me smile all week and they only cost $3.99.

 

4. Seeing the first ducklings of the season in our neighborhood. This mama duck and her little ones were crossing the street.

 

5. Last but not least, being a part of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog. I’m enjoying getting to know my Canadian friends more and more. Head over to the blog on Friday and see the ingredients I put together for my Mexican Rice Bowl…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ All Things Beautiful…

Time to think about the last week and come up with 5 favorites! Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in.

1. Mother’s Day was a wonderful day from the food to the weather to having most of my kids around for some part of the day.

 

2. Buying new plants and planting them in the ground or in pots was an accomplishment I feel good about. I’m not a great gardener but I love pretty plants around to enjoy. For years I’ve been wanting a Dogwood and this week I splurged and bought a Cherokee Chief Dogwood. Dear planted it on thursday and I can see it from my kitchen window and from our deck!! Update: The flower in the center of the collage is a Columbine!

3. Old established plants that are blooming in the yard. Boy I love this time of year when everything seems to burst with color.

 

 

4. A quick stop at the Japanese Gardens in Seattle to see if the Wisteria was in full bloom. Ahh, yes beautiful!

 

5. New visitors to my bird feeder. Oops that isn’t a bird!

Hope your weeks are going well. Have a great weekend everyone…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ There’s Light…

…at the end of my box tunnel!

 

I’m escaping the organizing and sorting and repacking long enough to throw this post together while I drink my coffee and hope it has some great reviving of energy effects on me! Boy, that was a long sentence! Here are my favorites in no particular order.

1. Seeing all the beautiful spring blooms around the Seattle area. Dogwood is so bright and pink this year. The wisteria is just getting nice. The lilacs are growing in everyone’s yards but mine.

 

2. Hearing that my daughter and her boyfriend are having a good time with my family in California. They were able to spend some time with the cousins and go to lunch with my folks and that makes me happy. They’ll arrive back here tonight sometime.

3. Reading this post about Nezzy and Nina’s hats at Jill’s World of Research blog. Nezzy and Nina were sisters and spinsters and friends of our family. Here I am sporting one of the hats at a Mad Hatter Tea Shower I attended where hats were mandatory!

 

4. Enjoying the birds singing in the wee hours of the morning.

5. There are only about 5 more boxes to go through in the garage!! The end is in sight and my house is getting more organized in the midst of the chaos. Just as a note of explanation…many of the items we had in our one bedroom condo were duplicates of what we have in our home in Washington. We honestly did not need any of it to survive nicely. So I’m opening every box and re-packing all our duplicate stuff (blender, coffee maker, utensils, pots & pans, everyday dishes, glasses, etc. etc. into boxes for our son Dan to set up in his own place at the end of this year or early next year. We keep telling him he has got it “made in the shade”.  He chuckled when I asked him if he wanted a Christmas Wreath! I also told him it would be really good if he had at least 2 bedrooms!

Please visit our lovely hostess Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun!

Well I hope to visit your blogs during my box and organizing breaks today. Thank you for visiting me.

FFF ~ Family, Flowers, FDA, Funnies…

Time once again to consider the past week and choose 5 favorites. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in or see more Faves…

Here are my favorites and it was hard to narrow it down because of everything that happened last weekend…

 

1. Spending time with my family in Southern California. We packed so much into 2 days. Brunch at my mom and pops, Descanso Gardens with my sister and her family, Dinner at Tam O Shanter with the same crowd, rendezvous with my nieces and daughter at the hotel. That was Saturday! Sunday we met at Golden Skewer in Montebello for a wonderful Armenian lunch together.

 

2. Having my daughter Katie with me in Southern California for 2 days so she could spend time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. She also got to meet little Avery for the first time.

3. Enjoying the Rhododendrons blooming in my yard and other blooms that are a mystery to me.

 

4. Hearing the announcement and the cheers and happiness over Dendreon’s drug Provenge being approved by the FDA. It’s a cellular immunotherapy for men with advanced Prostate Cancer. It uses their own immune system to fight the disease. This is the company Dear is working for here in Seattle. This approval means he will still have a job on Monday. :0)

5. This next photo is something that made me laugh. We saw these signs on every tree on a street in Whittier, California this past weekend

 

Makes me wonder if the city got sued for sap dripping on cars or what???

My morning will be very busy because the moving van with all our stuff from the condo is arriving Friday morning bright and early. Here’s what I’ll probably be saying…no put that over there, those go in the basement, that goes upstairs, put that in the kitchen please, that needs to go in the garage…the joys of having more crap stuff then you need!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Outside & In…

It’s that time of the week again to travel to snowy Springy Alberta to visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and join in with your favorites from this past week.

Here’s Dear surveying his new wall… It should be finished today with a few more levels of block…

Here’s what added to my joy this week…

1. Getting the dreaded boxes from the attic project done. Whoohoo it feels great!

2. Having work done on our yard. Grading and a retaining wall. Work should be done today.

3. Enjoying pretty fancy tulips that only cost me $2.50.

4. Bringing some of the Apple Blossoms inside to enjoy.

5. Having a good meal fresh off the stove.

Psalm 63: 3-5

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Have a great day and weekend everyone!

Friday’s Fave Five! ~ Easter Edition…

Time to sit down, take a deep breath, and consider the blessings of this past week. Now visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in or to see some favorites. Thank you Susanne for hosting this great exercise…

 

Easter, Easter, Easter! I love Easter. I love that our Faith is defined by what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. The whole Lenten Season culminating on Resurrection Sunday and now the days leading up to Pentecost are great days to focus and be refreshed. So here are my 5 favorites from this past week…

1. Getting together with my sister Lana G! and keeping our Russian Heritage traditions going by baking the Russian Easter bread and making and molding the traditional sweet cheese spread. I have to get more cans to bake the bread in by next year. Someone at our Easter table let it slip that she might have some in her garage. Along with these traditions watching my daughter color the Easter eggs is always a fun time.

2. The night before Easter I went to the opening Sounders Soccer game. I went to a nearby park and ride that was offering special buses to take fans to Qwest field. My bus ended up being real special as I was the only one on it!! The bus driver and me. I thought of you Thom! This was one of those really big metro buses, too. I had to chuckle. Too bad our team lost…ugh. On the bus trip home there were more people but the bus driver recognized me right away…

3. Easter was such a nice day of celebration for us. We went to a baptism of 2 little sisters we know. So sweet. We came home to get ready to host our Easter meal with my DIL’s family. There were 12 of us and we had a good time eating, sharing and laughing.

4. Whoohoo! I finally got to meet some of the Mennonite Girls from MGCC face to face on Tuesday. Five of the Canadian Mennonites had a field-trip down to the Skagit Valley to see the tulips and we all met up for lunch in La Conner. It was like we were old friends. Each gal is so unique yet so cohesive in the group. I don’t know if that’s the right word but I hope you understand what I mean…

5. Tulips, tulips, tulips! I love tulips. To see these lovelies like the sea before your eyes is absolutely amazing. I praise God for creating tulips and I’m so glad those immigrants from Holland settled in the Skagit Valley and grow them for our pleasure and for their livelihood!

Keep scrolling down to the next post if you’d like to see some tulips in the fields…

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Tis the Season…

…for the beginning of MLS Soccer 2010!

 

I was so pleased to get my Season Ticket Holders 2010 Package. I’ll be sporting the new scarf to all the games. Last night was the season opener and my son, DIL and I went together. Our friends Beau and Bridget met up with us there, too.

 

And the best way to start a season off is with a win and I’m happy to say we beat Philadelphia 2-0! Way to go Sounders!

I just have to share one more photo from the game last night. This was a Seattle Motorcycle Policeman that we spotted during the “March to the Match” Love the fact that he’s sporting a Sounder’s Scarf!

 

 

And now to the other favorites!

~My pear tree blossoming.

~Strawberries being in season.

~ Duplicating at home the Fried Polenta in Creamy Gorgonzola and mushroom sauce that we had at Nell Thorn Restaurant in La Conner. I’ll share my recipe soon.

~ Making my mom’s rice with raisins. It’s been so long since I had made it and it was good to have that taste treat again. Recipe will be at the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog soon.

~ Finding a great purse at Goodwill, a $45.00 baggallini for $5.95. It was perfect for the Sounders game.

Now please visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in with your favorites or to see more. Thank you Susanne!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

FFF~ The Birthday Weekend…

…that didn’t end!

Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun!

My five favorites for this Friday are all about Family, Food, Fun, Flowers, and Flying Geese!

 

Our weekend and week was filled with so much flavor and wonderful experiences. So here are some stand outs.

1. Our weekend away in La Conner, Washington where we saw so much beauty. I was blown away with the experience of seeing thousands of Snow Geese in flight.

2. All of our indoor experiences from the lovely Inn we stayed in with a tasty 2 course breakfast and the restaurants we ate at for lunch and dinner. We were not disappointed in anything we ordered and ate.

3. The birthday dinner my son and his wife prepared for us on Sunday night and our meal together on St. Patrick’s Day.

4. Cleaning and organizing the basement. I feel so good about that task being complete that I’ve been offering tours of the basement! :0)

5. Going to our favorite Mexican restaurant and being greeted by the owner. He asked us if we were just visiting from California. When we told him we were back in Washington state to stay he brought us a round of drinks on the house to celebrate!

 

And now that my birthday week is drawing to a close it’s time for E.L.E.M. (Eat Less, Exercise More!) That’s my plan and I hope to stick to it. Hope to get around to see all the FFF’s this week. As soon as the frost burns off I’ll be mowing the lawn…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

FFF ~ Home Sweet Home

Time for Friday’s Fave 5 hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. So what are your favorites from the past 7 days?

 

1. Being back in my home and going to sleep here and waking up here and walking in my yard have been great. I love the quiet of our house and not having someone living above me. The only things that makes noise above me are the rain or the crows on the roof. The street noise is different here. I love all the windows I have to look out of and seeing trees and greenery instead of cars parked. I’m a happy camper! That yellow bush is in my yard and the name escapes me but it is so bright!

2. Last Saturday Dear and I went to Mt. Vernon to see the daffodils. In a couple weeks I’ll try to go back to see the tulips. It was a fun morning trip with breakfast in town. We also saw trumpeter swans which I had never seen before.

3. Later in the day I went to the Japanese Gardens with my sister Lana G! We had a fun time. It’s great to be so close to each other when we are both in Washington. I’ll share more photos from the Gardens next week.

4. Yakima Fruit Market and Nursery! This market is closed in the winter so we always know Spring is around the corner when it opens. It opened the first week of March and I had to make a quick stop because I thought they’d have fresh brussel sprouts and they didn’t disappoint. Dear and I really enjoy them!

5. Thursday afternoon my son Josh picked me up and then we picked Dear up downtown to have a bite to eat together before the Sounders Soccer game against the Portland Timbers that evening. This was a friendly game and not a league game. Unfortunately we lost the game 1-0. Even though it was raining we managed to stay dry. I really enjoy Soccer and I have a season ticket for the Sounders.

So what were your favorites this week?

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.