We're a whole new kind of crazy.......

So as you probably know by now, Dan and I lead fairly simple lives sprinkled with laughter and joy. We go to work in the morning, have dinner in the evening, occasionally go out to eat or see a movie, do our grocery shopping on Fridays, etc, etc.... There is certainly enough spontaneity to keep life exciting, but things are fairly low-key. Well, last week we shook all that up. Dan and I have been helping with the high school youth group since August and so far we've liked getting to know the kids and serving them, but last Friday night took this to a whole new level. We were two of the adult leaders who took the kids (about 35 middle schoolers and 35 high schoolers) up to Spokane for an entire night of laser tag.

We met at the church at 7:30 for games, a great speaker with a solid gospel message, and pizza. Then we loaded everyone into vans and headed North. Our scheduled time to play Laser Quest was Midnight-6 am and the kids played for a solid six hours. The middle schoolers would play, then the high schoolers and they just rotated games all night long. I was really surprised that I didn't get tired or anything during the games, but during the breaks, I would crash on a bench somewhere. I kept up with the kids pretty well and was complimenting myself on my youth and energy. Yeah, that didn't last long. The next day, I was pretty worthless. I was so tired, but only allowed myself to sleep for a few hours so I wouldn't get too out of whack. Regardless of our fatigue and exhaustion, spending that time with the high schoolers was definitely time well spent.

The Lucky Ones

Love runs so deep
Down in your soul
It hit me so high
All that I know
Baby the lucky ones
For a moment or two
Get to fall in love with somebody like you.
-Pat Green Lucky Ones















Since I'm no poet, I let the words of Pat Green speak for me. For an entire year I have been one of those "Lucky Ones." But I have it even better than in the song. I don't just get to be in love with Dan for a moment or two, I get him for life.

We celebrated our one year anniversary by spending the weekend in Orofino. We checked out the giant dam and the reservoir. We stayed in a hotel with a balcony overlooking the river.

The fall weather was perfect and I was able to get some great pictures of the dam and lovely trees and such.

Family Fun Weekend

We had a great time with all the family visiting this weekend. All eight of the Lenssen nieces and nephews got some much needed play time. Grant was so excited to have other boys to play with and I'm pretty sure Austin and Travis enjoyed being adored by Grant. Sadie and Allison loved playing with Holly and Averie and babying Kenzie.
On Friday night we had a big dinner, a small party to celebrate Sadie's 8th birthday and then the kids were off to the pool. Saturday was more family time and an awesome dinner in Moscow. To keep the kids entertained before we were seated, we headed to the arcade. Both Grant and Averie liked to "drive."
It was a great weekend of catching up with everyone. Sue got in some time with her east-side sons and grandkids and it was just really nice to hang out with family we don't see very often.


{nieces and nephews at Smokey Mountain Pizza}




{Grant "driving" with Kermit the Frog}




{Kenzie - happy
with her food}

{Averie likes to drive too}

Upcoming Family Fun Weekend

Dan and I are very much looking forward to this weekend. All of the Lynden Family is coming to the East side for a visit. That means tomorrow we'll get to see Sue, David, Heather, Austin, Travis, Holly, Dean, Lyndsey, Avery and little Kenzie. I'm looking forward to some niece and nephew time and I'm sure Dan is too. I'll take my camera along and post some pictures later.

Let'er Buck!

Last weekend was the world famous Pendleton Round Up and as an avid Round Up fan, I have an obligation to share this with my husband. It's okay, I think he liked it. Friday morning was the Westward Ho! Parade. It's really pretty neat. No motorized vehicles or rubber tires allowed. That means there are lots of wagons and horses. Of course there's the typical marching bnds and dance teams as well as political campaigners and universities. Here were a few of my favorites:

We also had a good time at the rodeo, but my pictures from the arena didn't turn out so good, although I did get a decent paparazzi shot of the calf roper, Fred Whitfield. The Round Up rodeo is always good and this year was no exception.

30 Thoughts for Dan's 30th Birthday

On September 6th, Dan turned the big 3-0. I was going to wax poetically about 30 things I love about Dan, but then I remembered that I am not a poet and a list of thirty things I love about Dan could turn sappy really quickly, so this is simply a list of thoughts about Dan, some kind of random, some short, some long, but they're all true.

1. Two weekends ago, I came home from the farmers market and found this note on the kitchen table. Sweet, huh?

2. Last night at dinner, Dan did an impression of Rob Akey's Vandal football radio commercial and had me laughing so hard I though I was going to spew food all over the table.

3. Dan is no longer surprised when he walks in the kitchen to find me dancing to the radio.

4. Dan can come up with silly lyrics for any song. Country, rock, pop, even church hymns, just give him a few minutes and he'll deliver a new masterpiece.

5. I don't think Dan ever gets cold. It could be the dead of winter and I'm curled up next to the heater wrapped in coats and blankets and he'll be wearing shorts and a t-shirt, opening a window.
6. Dan is a fabulous uncle. His nieces and nephews love rough-housing and playing with their Uncle Dan.

7. I think Dan likes playing with the nieces and nephews so much because they let him have an excuse to play with trucks and hurl himself down a hill on a snow tube.

8. I like that Dan will happily spend half a day hurling himself down a snow hill and then carrying the sled or tube back up the hill, just because the kids are having so much fun.

9. I appreciate that Dan doesn't mind when I try out new dinner recipes on him. He's usually very complimentary and even if the new recipe experiment was a total flop, he'll still have something nice to say about it.

10. Dan has never once gotten mad at me for forgetting to do something.

11. I have been able to talk Dan into some new adventures, and so far, no harm done. Do you think I can talk him into Phantom of the Opera? Wish me luck.

12. I have more fun with Dan than any one else in the whole world.

13. Whenever I have a funny/sad/scary/weird/mundane/interesting/exciting story, Dan is the first person I want to tell.

14. Dan has accepted the fact that all my scrapbooking stuff will never be completely put away.

15. Dan doesn't like tomatoes, avocados or Blue Cheese. I don't suppose this is good or bad, just interesting.

16. Dan is a very talented picker of fresh produce. He picks us out the best fruit and has a knack for finding the best ears of corn.

17. Even though he doesn't really like them, Dan still helped me pick several tubs of raspberries this summer. He's a way better berry picker than I am.

18. Dan and I have a standing Friday night date at the grocery store. I look forward to grocery shopping with my husband all week long.

19. See these pretty flowers. Dan got them for me, simply because he knows I like pretty flowers.

20. Dan has a well-worn Bible he keeps on the table by his side of the bed. Know why is so worn-looking? He reads it, a lot.


21. Dan decided to help me with children's church. That means, about once per month, it will be me and Dan and 15 to 20 three to five year olds singing and doing crafts in the church basement. Wish us luck!

22. I appreciate that Dan doesn't mind that I go to craft night once per month. He knows I need my girl time.

23. Dan has never once commented on the lack of "fairness"when it comes to closet space or bathroom shelf space that I take up versus the space allotted for his things.

24. You know that Brad Paisley song "I'm Still a Guy?" You should really listen to the words. I swear it was written for/about Dan.

25. Dan hooked up his speakers to the tv to create surround sound. When we watch action movies, the apartment walls shake.

26. Since we've been married, Dan has faithfully taken out the trash and taken the big can and recycling to the street for pick-up. He's so good that usually he takes the neighbors can out too.

27. For Dan's Birthday Dinner, we went to BBQ & Blues in Clarkston. Once again, it was wonderful. They added to their menu and now have a tasty starter, collard greens soup. It's dang good. We'll be back.

28. We also went to the Wazzu football game. The best part was sitting next to Dan. The worst part was the ugly football game.

29. Dan sometimes tickles me so much I swear I'm going to hyperventilate or wet my pants. Fortunately, I have yet to do either.

30. And finally, the sappy love fest I've been waiting for. I love that Dan is so wonderful, patient and caring. I love that I get a kiss goodbye every morning and a kiss hello every evening. I love you Babe and wish you a very Happy Birthday.

My Labor Day Weekend

I happily spend the end-of-summer three-day weekend sleeping in, relaxing, shopping at the farmer's market and getting caught up on some projects that needed my attention. Dan was busy with harvest (see next post) and I did visit him three out of four of the days to bring him food and keep him company for a while, but mostly I just locked myself in the apartment and got to work.
First project: Barn Windows. I haven't totally decided what I'm going to do with these, but Dan dug them out of his Mom's old garage and I thought that surely I can do something with them. Right now they've been cleaned and sanded and I applied wood stain to one of them. Current Project Status: In Progress
Second Project: Do something creative with this paper. I sketched out some ideas but have been having problems actually executing these ideas. I got one page nearly done and another one about half-way done and a third still being formed in my head. Current Project Status: In Progress

Third Project: Turn this wonderfully fun fabric into something usable and cute. In theory this was supposed to be an easy project. The fabric was already cut out, all I had to do was sew it together. This is always easier said than done. I have materials to make six "items" (to be revealed at a later date) and I fully completed two of them. Current Project Status: In Progress



So, as you can tell, I did and I didn't get a lot done this weekend. I made headway on three projects, but didn't get any of them totally done. Oh well, I'll just keep working and hopefully have something done that I can post soon.

Dan's Labor Day Weekend

While I was busy sleeping in and getting caught up on my projects, Dan was spending all weekend working harvest on the Palouse. He left early and got home late Friday-Monday. He mostly drove grain trucks, but did spend a bit of time helping to fix a combine.
I visited him and rode along a couple of the days. Mostly to keep him company and bring him necessary provisions.

{Dan working hard and trying to ignore the camera}















Harvest on the Palouse is really amazing to me. These fertile hills produce so much. It's quite astounding when you think about all the food that is produced on the farms in the area. I get really tired of hearing and reading the opinions of people who one day decide they're environmentalists and want to accuse farmers of being greedy land-abusers. If that is your opinion, I would encourage you to actually meet a farmer and tell me what part of him is greedy to you? What part of the hard-working, faithful stewardship of his land do you take offense to? What part of feeding millions of people do you think is wrong? A popular bumper sticker a few years back read, "Fed your kids today? Thank a Farmer." That's one slogan that should make a comeback.












{Soft white winter wheat, ripe for the harvest}











{after the combine has been through}

So even though Dan worked all through his "vacation" weekend, after work today he'll be back out there again and will continue to do so until the harvest is over. Before you start to think that it's too bad Dan couldn't do anything fun over Labor Day, you have to know that my dear husband is a worker by habit and by nature and he enjoyed every minute he was out there.

Lentil Festival

The National Lentil Festival was this past weekend. Dan and I headed downtown on Friday night to get a bowl of genuine lentil chili. It's actually pretty good and they make it in a really big pot that's carried on a flat-bed trailer. I made Dan stand in front of it for a picture.





The next morning was the Taste T. Lentil 5k fun run. Well, I can tell you it was definitely 5k, I'm just not sure how fun it was. But I did it. I entered and ran and finished with no injuries or mishaps to report.



Dan took pictures. See, there's me happy and relaxed and excited for the race.

Then there's this one. This was near the start and it was really crowded. Pullman is a town of hills and the race organizers had us run up the longest one of all. I was a tough course, but I'm glad I did it and will hopefully go again next year.

Summertime food is the best

When Dan lived in Lynden, he grew a big garden with peppers, tomatoes, beans, squash, zucchini, corn, peppers and other fruits and veggies. Before we got married, he loaded me up on all the butternut squash I could eat. But, this year, we live in a small apartment and growing a big garden just isn't possible. We did plant peppers and tomatoes and herbs and I am so very excited that finally we are picking and enjoying the fruits of our labor.


These are some of the first peppers and tomatoes. We have 5 different varieties of tomatoes and 3 varieties of peppers.

My parents grew quite an onion crop this year and shared a large bag of Walla Walla Sweet onions with us, which is great because 75% of my dinner recipes start by sauteing an onion and garlic.

Dwayne and Angela have been quite generous by letting us visit their fruitful raspberry bushes. We've been over twice so far and have been enjoying raspberry shakes and smoothies. I think we might even go back tomorrow to pick more.

So, as you can probably tell, there's not a lot of exciting things happening in Newlywed Lenssen Land, but we are eating well and certainly loving all the fresh food of summer.