Ethan & Shanea's Wedding

I had the pleasure of attending my long time friend's wedding this weekend. I grew up playing capture the flag and leaf tag in Ethan's neighborhood with my sister and brothers and the other neighbors. As we got older, having bonfires and hanging out at Crossroads Cafe. I became friends with Shanea a little later, she being 5 years younger than I. Dena and I helped out with the youth group at our church after we graduated from High School. I still remember the summer we chaperoned "the girls," Shanea & Amanda at Sonshine.

What a pleasant surprise when I found out Ethan & Shanea were dating and an even happier surprise when they got engaged! Thanks for letting me share in your beautiful day, Ethan & Shanea!

Don't Blame Others

As I was sitting outside during my lunch hour, listening to my co-worker blame her ex-husband for something, I thought "how easy it is to blame someone else." I stumbled upon an interesting blog post dedicated to this subject and wanted to share these quotes found there.

“We believe that to err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.” - Hubert H. Humphrey

"We seldom suspect faults in others that we don't possess ourselves."

The best of men is he who sees his own faults and does not see the faults of others.

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” - Albert Ellis

A wise man is one who forgets the faults of others, but always remembers his own.

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” - Moliere

“If you blame others for your failures, do you credit them with your success?”

“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy.” - Wayne Dyer

“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” - Dr. Robert Anthony

So, let's grow up and be 'the bigger man."

Smart Food Tip of the week

If you like to get the soup at Panera, skip the bread bowl. You'll save 560 calories. If the soup alone isn't enough to fill your tummy, get an apple (70 cals) or the french baguette (150 cals) as a side. My favorite soup is the French Onion - a bowl is only 220 cals. Can't beat that!

Tulsa, baby!

Darin and I had an excellent vacation! And we got to spend it with my dear friend, Katie. We decided to road trip it, old school, by driving down to the lovely southern state of Oklahoma. We wanted a chance to hang out - just the two of us - for a few days. There's no other way to do it than be cooped up in a car together for 20 plus hours round trip, right? Believe it or not, we hardly argued at all.

We left on a Wednesday morning and drove the 6 hours to Kansas City. We stopped near Grimes, IA for a pit stop and some Iowan "sloppy joes" known as "maid rites."


Upon our arrival in Lenexa (suburb of Kansas City), we checked into our awesome Motel 6 room, threw our luggage in, and bounded off to Chik-Fil-A... Darin had been craving a little chicken and sweet tea (we'll address his obsession later). Afterwards, we walked around the mall, and found a theater that was showing Star Trek. Thanks Tim for giving us directions after we drove aimlessly for an hour looking for it. After a good night's rest, we had breakfast at Chik-Fil-A again and headed south for our destination.

We arrived in Tulsa mid-day. Katie left work early and met us at her apartment. I wish I would have taken a photo of her all dressed up in her work attire - so professional. ;) We had dinner at a cute cafe not too far from her place (Forgive me if I give too much detail or mix things up). After dinner, we walked across the Arkansas River. Katie's apartment is across the street from some cool trails and a foot bridge over the river. I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera along to take some photos. The lovely Ben met up with us later that evening. Friday we went out to breakfast. It was already warm out, so, we ate outside! Then we spent the day walking around downtown and seeing the cute shops. I got my QT fix too. Nothing better than a Coke with cherry syrup. I got to see Katie's sister, Annie, and her cute baby, Arabella. Such fun! For dinner, we met up with Ben and his friend. We ate at a hoppin' place called McNellie's. My grilled cheese sandwich was almost as good as the buttery ones Katie made me in college.

I'm sure I looked like a tourist making a scene with this photo.

Saturday morning we made breakfast at Katie's. Ben got to try Aggkaka for the first time. I think he liked it :) After our tummies were full, we headed off in Ben's vehicle to the local thrift stores. Darin scored a true souvenir from Tulsa - one of those wolf printed t-shirts with the word "OKLAHOMA" on the sleeve. I picked up a couple pairs of clip on earrings that will make pretty rings for Heads Twogether. After a quick stop at a little fast food stand for a specialty root beer, Ben took us to a surprise stop -- the Casino he works for. We spent both of our $1 bills in less than 10 minutes (that's all we stayed). Now Katie and I can say we've been to a Casino, I guess! For lunch, we met a few of Ben's & Katie's friends at an authentic Mexican restaraunt. I can't remember the name of it. And then stopped by a cute little shop where local artists can sell their artwork. There was a rad mural outside of it.


After posing for the camera, we headed back to Katie's place. Darin and Ben spent some "quality" time together while I "helped" Katie with some paintings she was working on. Unfortunately by 7pm, we had to say our goodbyes and hit the road. I miss you Katie!

We made it back to Lenexa by midnight and checked into our motel room. Slept like a baby. Hit the road early, ate at Waffle House and cruised on through the morning and afternoon.

Darin with his totally awesome breakfast.

Six hours later, a finished knit scarf, and a book 3/4 of the way read, we arrived home, safe and sound. The end :)

Why can't all movies have happy endings?

Another movie to add to the "most depressing" list is Tristan & Isolde. You'll end up with some major cryballs by the end of the movie. Just like Romeo & Juliet, or many of Nicholas Sparks' novels ... The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe...they all end the same way. Depressing.

Food + Crafts = AWESOME

I'm super excited about the upcoming Fundraiser event that Dena and I are helping with. On Sunday, May 17th, there will be a Spaghetti Dinner and Bake/Craft Sale to help send our dear friend, Brittany, to Ukraine.

WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?
Brittany is an affiliate missionary appointed with SEND International to serve in the Red Window, an under-churched region in Ukraine. In January 2007 she spent time in Odessa, Ukraine with SEND International, where she saw God work through her in many ways and sensed God leading her back to that part of the World. In August, she will depart for her 4 year commitment.

WHAT WILL SHE BE DOING?
After one year of language study in Odessa, Red Window missionaries will form teams with Ukrainians to work together in encouraging the churches that already exist, evangelize, and plant new churches. Also during the assignment, Brittany will be working on a Master's Degree from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

HOW CAN I HELP?
If this is something you want to help support, you can do so in a few different ways.

Spaghetti Dinner/Craft/Bake Sale
Sunday, May 17th 4:30-6:30
Free will donation for meal
Yummy food and Live music
Lots of fun arts and crafts and baked goods for sale, all proceeds go to Brittany

Edina Covenant Church
4201 West 50th Street
Edina, MN


$5 iPod Shuffle drawing (ask me for more details)
You can enter to win an iPod shuffle by donating $5

Become a Prayer or Financial Partner
See me for details or email Brittany directly bmwiitala@gmail.com

Hope to see you all on the 17th!

Food Scale

I would really like a food scale that I can measure snacks out in ounces. This one is only $11, but, there are definitely more expensive ones that look cooler. My friend, the nutritionist, sent me a list of 100 calorie snack ideas that I want to start using. It'll be a lot cheaper than purchasing the prepackaged snacks.