[erikavanhuis]

So, Mark's party on Saturday turned out great! I only had a couple of panicky moments. I had to figure out how to make sure I was home when people showed up, and at the same time pick him up from his class...it was interesting. Then, he called me to tell me that he was going to be late getting out of class, so I had to scramble and tell everyone to take their time getting there because I certainly wasn't going to be home when they all got there. Fortunately, everything turned out though, and we had a great time. His dad came out and a couple other friends came too. His mom couldn't make it because she was having car problems...it's a good thing we got together with her on Mark's birthday. In any case, we had a great time...the enchiladas turned out very yummy! After we ate, his dad left, and then we all went out to play putt putt golf, and then went to the batting cages. We were there for about 2 hours and got to hit a lot of free balls because they guy there said we could pick up everything right in front of us so the people in the morning didn't have to pick it all up. I guess they hate picking things up by hand there...that's okay it was great fun...we're all quite sore now, but it was fun nonetheless. After that, we went back to our house and watched a movie. Our friends didn't leave until about 12:30 in the morning! Then we went to bed, and got up Sunday morning for church. Church was great yesterday. We've been doing a series called "How to arrive at God's destination for your life", and it's been great. The basis for the sermon yesterday was that every believer goes through a time of famine...either they just got through one, are in one, or are going to go through one. But, we all need to go through them, or else we will never grow. One of the points was to be careful the decisions you make when you are in a time of famine because they will affect you when you come out of it. I wish I could remember more of what was said...it was really good.
Anyway, after church we went to another birthday party for one of our friends from church. They invited the whole church body to cram into a house that wasn't nearly big enough for everyone. We should have all just stayed at the church...oh well! Mark and I ended up leaving early because we were just too tired. It's been an exhausting last couple of weeks with Mark's classes and everything. Fortunately, he's halfway through them, so we're on the downhill side of that now. Oh, he brought up an interesting point yesterday when we were driving to church that I wanted to write down so I don't forget it. We were talking about church and how sometimes people get so legalistic and religious about things. Then we talked about the differences in our church...how we don't really have a set "schedule" for things that happen. We just let the spirit lead...we've had worship go for an hour on just one song...in any case, he described our church this way...as a group of people gathered together desperately seeking the manifest presence of God. I thought that was interesting, and a good description too. We should all be seeking after the presence of God.
So, anyway that's my deep thought for the day. I should probably get to work now. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Until later...

[erikavanhuis]

Well, it's been a while since I wrote last...not much has happened. Church was great yesterday! We're continuing in the series on arriving at God's destination for your life. It just keeps getting better. It is so relevant for me right now.
Anyway, I can't wait until Mark's class is done...3 more weeks. It's not been fun, but it's a season and at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Then, we can get our schedule back to normal. At least this weekend we're getting away. We really need it. We both were able to take Friday off work, so we get a long weekend away. It's sort of a birthday celebration weekend too since mine's next week and we both have to work that day.
Oh, this last Friday was interesting...we went to the football game here (the one and only game we've been to since we moved to Poulsbo - 2 1/2 years agoa). Could you believe that the one and only game we go to and the power goes out with 1:19 left in the 2nd quarter!!! Actually, the only reason we went was because Shelton (where we both graduated from) came out to play. Shelton is undefeated this year. Anyway, Shelton was ahead 14-0 and the power went out! It was funny. Then, the lights came back on after about 15 minutes and they decided to do the halftime show and pickup the game after that...5 minutes into it the power went back out again!! It came on again, but only stayed on for about 2 minutes this time and then we saw transformers blowing all over the place and we knew it was out for good! The most amazing thing though is that the band kept playing...in the pitch dark!! I was very impressed with the band...not only that, but they sounded pretty decent too. I've always liked the sound of a good band. Well, they decided to evacuate the stadium (it had been very rainy and windy the whole night), and we went home. The finished the game on Saturday evening (in my opinion, it should have been the afternoon in case the power went out again), and Shelton won 34-21. So, yeah we probably won't be going to any more football games for a while...I mean, what's the chance of that happening...the only game we've been to and the power goes out!!
Anyway, that's it for now. Time to get working...I've got a lot of typing to do today. Well, until later...

[erikavanhuis]

DANG FREAKING COMPUTER AT WORK!!!! AAARGGGHHHHH..... Ok, now that I have that out of my system, let me explain. Simply put, my computer hated me today. I had blue screen after blue screen and fatal errors and printers that worked 2 hours previous that no longer worked and not shutting down, and not starting back up....all added up to major frustration!!!!! I don't know how I finally fixed it, but by the end of the day everything appeared to be working finally. I eventually got everything to shut down and then start back up correctly and then it all seemed to work just fine...darn computers. Now, I've got a pile of paperwork to get caught up on tomorrow...oh, and to top it off, the phone kept ringing too. That's okay though because we're getting into the busy time of year, which is good for the company because then we make money. It kind of screws things up though when the computers go on the fritz.
So, now I'm at home watching the election coverage...oohh exciting...watching states turn red and blue. I remember watching that as a little kid thinking it looked sort of cool...now I just wish they'd get all the votes counted so we would know who won. Oh well, at least all the dumb negative ads are done with. I was getting sick of those. Honestly, they were really starting to wear on me, and would just put me in a bad mood...funny how something on TV can do that to a person.
Well, anyway I had to get out my frustration about work today. Now off to clean house and maybe hopefully get some scrapbooking in. More to come later...

[erikavanhuis]

Yeah!!! I'm back from an absolutely awesome weekend! Mark took me out for my birthday and we went to a bed & breakfast and did absolutely nothing all weekend. It was a much needed relaxing break. The food there was great too. Now, I feel engergized and ready to face the rest of the week. We had such a great time and met some pretty cool people too. It was a good first experience at a bed & breakfast for us and we'll definetely be going back. We're already planning for our anniversary trip now. Um, anyway, I should probably get to work now. Since I was gone on Friday, there was some stuff that piled up on my desk. I should get it all caught up in about an hour though, so I'm not too worried about it. So, yeah, that's about it for now. I hope anyone reading this has a wonderful week! Until next time...

[erikavanhuis]

Well, I wansn't going to do this, but I feel as if I will burst if I don't get it out...Happy Birthday to me!!!! I feel like everyone loves me today...I got calls from both my sisters (we don't get to see each other much and I miss them), my father in law called, Mark's grandma called, our swim team booster club president called, and Mark's such a sweetheart! He came by the office with roses for me, and coffee! His mom took us out for dinner last night, and then we visited my parents and they took us out and we had dessert (since we had already eaten dinner). Anyway, oh happy day!!
Ok, so I feel better now that I've got that out of my system. I should probably get back to work now...I needed to take a break from getting frustrated while trying to change page margins on Illustrator.
So, until later...

[erikavanhuis]

Ok, this is going to be short. But, I just wanted to say that I found out yesterday that Extreme Home Makeover is in my area this week. They're in Kingston fixing up the house a family's house that burned down earlier this year and insurance didn't cover it. Anyway, I thought that was sort of cool. Although, the most excitement has been from most of the women I know that just want to go out and see Ty! I'd just like to find the house to see what they're doing with it.
Well, time to get to work. I just thought I'd share the news. More later...

[henkie]

Guess it's never too late to say "Happy birthday".

Your name sounds real Dutch. Is there any relation with good old Holland as far as you know?

And who is Ty????

[erikavanhuis]

Thank you! Yeah, my name's dutch. It's actually my married name, but I've heard from my parents that I have a heritage from there as well. I'm not exactly sure how much, but I know there's some! Supposedly, on my dad's side one of our ancestors was the king of Holland, but he wasn't very well liked so he fled to America. That's only what I've heard...I don't know how much of it is true though.
Ok, and the thing about Ty...there's this TV show over here called Extreme Makeover Home Edition where there's a construction crew sponsored by ABC tv that goes and suprises a family by sending them on a vacation, and then they totally remodel their house. It's sort of like the latest in the whole reality TV craze over here. Some of the stuff they do is really cool, and the families they do it to really deserve it too. Ty is the lead guy of whole crew, and for some reason all the women think he's hot. He's like 40 years old or something! Anyway, if you're interested at all about it, you can check out information about it at abc.com and look for the links about Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
Well, anyway thanks for writing in my journal. Not very many people post in here. I get excited when people do though. I should probably get back to work now. More later...

[erikavanhuis]

What an awesome weekend! Actually, it was too short, but it was a good weekend. Mark's mom came over on Saturday to celebrate my birthday. It was late, but it was still a good time. Then, Sunday was great. Church was good, and then last night, we went to go listen to Rita Springer play. She is good. It was just a night of worship with just her and the piano (our worship leader played guitar with her as well). In any case, it was so good.
Um, I do have somewhat of a prayer request...I heard from my sister yesterday that one of the RA's at her school died. The RA's went out on a retreat and this one went missing. They found her clothes, shoes and Bible on the beach, but couldn't find her. A while later they found her body. Apparently, she went to go wading in the water and got swept away by the undercurrent. So, anyway, prayer for the school would be great.
Well, this is short, but I should probably get to work now. More later...

[Epaphras]

Hi Erika. You talk to my girlfriend Sarah (ForgivenPix), so I just thought I'd say hi. HI .

In His love,
Sean

[erikavanhuis]

Hey! Thanks for stopping by to say hi!
Ok, so I've reached the epitome of northwest dork-ness...I was telling "You can tell you're from the northwest if...."jokes with friends this weekend. One of them was if you wear socks with your sandals...ok, so I do that all the time anyway just because I don't like the feeling of sweaty feet on my sandals. BUT...today it's raining, so what do I do!? I put my sandals on with socks. Why did I wear sandals, you may ask? Because I'm a lazy dork...my shoes were in the car...I left them there on Friday and didn't feel like going to get them and all I had in the house were my sandals...the ones I wear on the pool deck no less. In any case, I got to work this morning and still didn't feel like digging my shoes out of the back of the car...so, here I am with wet feet, all because of my laziness. I hate wet socks almost worse than sweaty feet in sandals... Ok you can all laugh at my expense now.
Anyway, everyone have a great day!!! More later...

[Icerose]

MY goodness, you post long posts. I never really have so much to say. That exposition on wet socks was really rather amusing. I can't say that I wear socks in sandles...because it looks.... Anyways!

How is the weather in Washington? I have been hoping that it would snow here, but 'tis all in vain I tell you! Alas, alack. My friend used to say that a lot. Good times....

Well I will talk to you later.

Icerose

[erikavanhuis]

I know, I know. I talk a lot, and I have no fashion sense. My husband laughs at me about the whole socks in sandals thing too!
Anyway, the weather here has been wet, wet, foggy, more wet, and cold! No snow yet, but I'm remaining hopeful. We don't usually get snow here until around January though, so it's still a little early. However, we did get some in November one year, but that was a few years ago.
Well...I think I might go put my shoes on now that my socks are dry...

[ForgivenPix]

Hey! usually you are the one posting in MY journal, so I thought it was about time I posted in yours! :-) Your whole sandal things makes me laugh hahaha One time, my aunt broke up with a guy b/c he wore socks with his flip flops! (crazy family) haha But hey, we are all dorks b/c I think we have all done it SOMETIME! (wear socks with sandals!) lol Welp, gotta get back to my work, have a fabulous day!!!

-Sarah

[erikavanhuis]

Yeah!! I have people visiting my journal! Thanks for stopping by Sarah!
Laundry day today.... I'd rather go home and take a nap. I'm tired. Oh well, I guess clean clothes are a good thing too. This is Mark's last week of his class. We're both excited about that! His last class is on Thursday...he volunteered me to be a victim. Oh well, I'm used to that though. My parents used me as a victim all the time when they were teaching first aid classes, and helping other people go through their EMT and first responder classes. I guess you could say I'm an experienced victim!!
Umm...anyway, that's about it for now...I decided that I would wear my tennis shoes today instead of sandals and it didn't rain...go figure!! Well, back to work for me. I wish the day would go by faster...more later...