Skamania Lodge!

Twice a year Michael gets to go to the WASWD (Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts) conferences. Last April, Michael's Dad watched the kids for us so we could go to the one in Yakima. This year He and Ruth watched the kids for us and it was such a blessing. Plus they had a great time with the kids. This time the conference wasn't in Yakima though it was down south in Stevenson at Skamania Lodge. 

I had never even heard of it before so I looked it up online and once I saw it I knew I wanted to go! Gorgeous!!! It's so fun that I get to tag along with Michael. He still has to go to conferences and meetings and such, but that doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy the alone time! 

We left on Tuesday, April 16th right around noon. Our first stop was in Tacoma to eat lunch at Red Lobster and then we made a quick stop at the Dollar Store because I forgot floss picks. I'm only addicted to two things...chapstick and floss picks! There are worse things to be addicted to though! The drive to the lodge was quite curvy, but nice since you follow along the Columbia river. 

We did drive right by the Bonniville Dam, but we didn't stop or go on a tour. 

Welcome to Skamania Lodge! 

Here's the view of the lodge right when we drove in. 

This is the picture from their website....it really is gorgeous!!! 

The lodge has so many amazing things to do....golf course, driving range, spa, zip line, ax throwing and an aerial course. 

That first night Michael and I went to the main conference room where all the booths were being set up. We met some people he knows and just stood around chatting. We then got invited to go to the bar onsite for drinks and appetizers. It was so nice! 

The next morning, Wednesday April 17th, Michael headed off to play in the Golf Tournament while I slept in a bit. Around 8:30am I got a call from Ruth...they were locked out of our house! It was a bit nerve-racking/funny, but we figured it out and her and Papa were able to get in the house. It was actually nice that they called since I didn't want to sleep in too much, but the black out curtains were amazing so who knows how long I would have slept for! 

My main goal this trip was to blog! I have been so horrible this year with taking the time to sit and write, but I've been trying harder! 

I ordered room service for myself and got a Steelhead BLT. It was SO amazing and so were the fries! 

After Michael got back from Golfing we went down to the visit all the booths. I  really enjoy seeing Michael in his element. Last year the conference was all new. He hadn't even started doing the job of General Manager yet. This year was completely opposite...he knew what to do. He got to talk with so many people and even if you think that it might all be messing around at these types of conferences...it's not. He got some great information on products they might use in the future and he got to meet people he'd never met face to face. It was really great! 

That night one of the engineering firms that Michael works with took us out for dinner and drinks. I especially enjoy getting to put faces with names so these events are great for me. I really do try to understand Michael's work as much as I can and I enjoy talking and getting to know the people he works with. I have always thought that I can be influential to a degree in Michael's career...whether it be painting or at the Water District. I try my best to be a positive presence and I engage in what he's doing and it doesn't go unnoticed. There were a few people that were impressed and even said..."Wow, you know about that!" Yep I listen and I learn! 

On Thursday April 18th, Michael had more conferences and meetings he needed to attend. So again I got to blog and I worked on my yearly online scrapbooks through Shutterfly. I didn't order room service though I just ate the bag of chips from the previous days lunch. I was starving by the time the booths opened. Thankfully they put out a bunch of appetizers so I was able to munch a bit. They also have an open bar and they give you drink coupons so I was able to get a couple of my favorite drinks...Cranberry Press! 

It was a gorgeous day outside so we decided to head out and look around at the grounds. 

Right outside from the bar where was a nice patio. 

We ran into some of Michael's fellow General Managers. These 3 guys call themselves the under 40 Club! 

There was this strange piece of art down by one of the trails so Michael and I went to look at it. It ended up being a different version of a sun dial. It was so cool and I don't know why it surprises me, but it was accurate! 

The view looking back at the lodge! 

Selfie....poor Michael was trying not to snarl, but the sun was SO bright! 

Later that night we attend a buffet that was headed up by another engineering firm that Michael goes with. It's always the highlight of the trip for me. I really enjoy the guys from the firm that work with Michael on a regular basis. In fact one of the guys even leant us the Maui Revealed book to use for our upcoming trip. 

On Friday April 20th, it was time to check out. We wanted to eat lunch at Joe's Crab Shack on the way home, but we weren't sure if we could eat there and get home in time to pick up the kids from school. We had originally told Michael's Dad and Ruth that they could go after dropping the kids off at the bus, but thankfully they were able to stay later. Again we are super blessed! 

Once we left we drove into the town of Stevenson to see if there was anything interesting. We didn't see anyplace that we had to stop at so we turned around and headed back on the main road. It was fun getting to see the lodge from far away. 

When we drove in we noticed this bridge called The Bridge of the Gods and we knew we wanted to cross it and drive back on the Oregon side. 

The view of the Columbia right before going over the bridge. 

The Bridge of the Gods...such an epic name! 

It was one of those open slatted metal bridges....I did not like it one bit! Thankfully it wasn't a long bridge. It did have a toll when we got to the other side....a whopping $2!!! 

Since we were on the Oregon side I thought it would be fun to stop at Multnomah Falls. We haven't stopped here since 2003! 

During that 2003 road trip we were with Michael's parents and my parents. We were originally supposed to fly to Washington DC, but then the terrorist level got increased to level yellow and it kind of messed with our plans. Instead we decided to head down the Oregon coast. It was a great trip....we went to Astoria and climbed up the tower, we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, stayed at The Inn at Spanish Head, went ATVing on the Oregon Dunes, saw family in Coos Bay and hiked up to the top of Multnomah Falls. And by hiked I mean Michael basically dragged me the last 10 minutes!!! 

The weather was gorgeous when we stopped on our way home. Nice and warm! 

We did end up walking up onto the bridge which was as far as I was willing to go this time, but we were sad to see that the trail ends right after the bridge now. Last year there was a major forest fire in this area and the trail has been ruined due to all the water and fire damage. I do hope they reopen it someday...it was really nice to get to the top of the falls even though the hike was brutal! 

After our little hike we went to Joe's Crab Shack and then headed on our way. We got home around 4pm and were able to chat with Papa a bit about his time with the kids. Everyone had a great time!!! I do enjoy these working trips with Michael and I'm happy that I got to go with him. There is another WASWD conference in September in Spokane and hopefully I'll get to go with him for that one as well. I do enjoy getting to be a part of his working world plus it's so nice for us to have that alone time together! 

Hard Decision!

After getting back from the Family Reunion in Oregon I felt off. I had just taken my 4 vacation days that I get for the whole year and I felt depressed. I decided to talk to Michael about it on the night of Monday, July 16th. I just poured out my heart. 

See the thing is I kept waiting to fine my normal. To find the groove between the words "working mom". To feel totally comfortable in my job at the church all the while feeling like I was totally taking care of my job as homemaker as well. 

I love my job....I'm great at my job. I enjoy working with the guys. I feel home when I'm at church. I don't want to disappoint anyone. 

But....I feel like I'm missing out. I feel like I'm the "no" mom. I'm too busy or too tired to say yes to anything. I barely feel like I'm keep my head above water in regards to keeping a clean house let alone an organized one. We don't need the money! But again I don't want to disappoint anyone. 

That was when Michael in his finest "I'm a man and I'm gonna solve this problem" skills said to me..."I think you should put in your notice" and then he promptly rolled over to go to bed.

 Dude....there is so much more to it than just saying that. There is emotion involved here!!! Then he basically said whatever decision I came to he would support me. 

That night I prayed and thought it through and when I woke up I knew what I needed to do...I needed to quit my job! 

The more I thought about it I remembered how I felt as a kid. My mom worked because she needed to so my brother and I could go to Christian school. I remember begging her to stay at home. I told her I would go to public school...I just wanted her home. Michael makes great money and we never needed more money and now that he's gotten a promotion we really don't need the money. How would I feel if 10 years from now my kids looked at me and said "I wish you could have been a stay at home mom". To think that I could and I chose not to was just too much. I need to be with me kids! 

That Monday & Tuesday my parents were watching the kids for me at our house. They got here early so we were able to chat before I had to run off. That's when I told my mom I was putting in my notice and that's when she started crying. I was taken aback..."why are you crying"? That's when mom told me that she had been praying and God had been telling her that I was supposed to be with my babies. She said we prayed for years for those babies and other people were having to watch them all summer and it wasn't right. Of course that's when I was saying..."why didn't you tell me"? If God gives you a message for someone else then you should pass that along. 

I went to work that day planning to tell Pastor Andy, but then the day got a bit crazy. Wednesday is Pastor's work from home day so the next opportunity was Thursday, July 19th . The timing of it all was such a God thing. Of course my stomach was in knots with the thought of disappointing him. That's when I got a message from a friend asking if she could come in and talk for a minute. I said yes and then I knew that couldn't talk with Pastor Andy until after she came in because I didn't want us to get interrupted. When she got there we chatted and then she let me know the reason she needed to talk. She was dealing with the same sort of situation of having to step back from her role at the church due to family. Right then I told her my news and we prayed together. Once she left my office Pastor Andy was at the reception desk working and he started chatting and she told him her news and this was his response..."Well...family's family"! I knew that this was the perfect time to talk. After she left I just walked into his office and told him I had some news..."I'm putting in my notice". Of course he asked why and that's when I started to cry and told him my reasons. At the end of it all he told me how much he appreciated me and all the work I'd put in and that he understood and then he said, "Family's family"! 

Oh my word it makes me tear up just typing this. So much grace! 

The next week we told the guys and they were sad to hear it, but they totally understood as well. 

I decided to give 5 weeks notice. I know that sounds like an extraordinarily long time, but I knew I wanted to give as much time as I could so they would be able to find someone to replace me. Also I had a babysitter lined up for the kids and I wanted to keep my word with her so she could gain experience and earn some money. I decided that my last day would be Wednesday, August 22nd. I picked that day because the next day was when we were leaving for our vacation in Oregon so it just made sense. 

My last day of work ended up being on the same day that Ron & Brian were taking the youth kids to Wild Waves. Also since it was a Wednesday Pastor Andy would be working from home so I was going to be all by myself. I was fine with that, but then when I got into work Pastor was there. He didn't want me to be alone for my last day. So nice! He even helped me out to my van with all my boxes of personal stuff and I didn't even cry. 

This is what I posted on FB. 

First day / Last day! Both equally happy days! I loved my job, but my babies come first!!

That statement really is true. I was so happy to start working and I am so happy to be done working. Do I feel like I wasted a year by working...NO WAY! I feel like I grew and learned so much. Plus I just love serving others and when you work at a church that's what you do...serve others. :) 

 I did actually return to work for the first week in September to help train the person that took over for me, but now I'm just volunteering every Monday. 

I'm so very grateful for everything that happened this last year. I have so many wonderful memories and honestly I don't have any regrets. I feel like this was just another chapter in my story.

To celebrate my last day the kids and I stopped at 7-11 and got Slurpees on the way home. The kids they are SO happy that Mommy is a stay at home Mommy again. I'm so blessed to be able to stay at home and I will do my best to never take it for granted! 

Work Conference!

Almost right after Michael got the job he found out about this work conference he was going to in Yakima at the beginning of April. They encourage spouses to come so he asked me if I could. Of course I wanted to, but my parents were away so who was going to watch the kids for us?!? He decided to reach out to his Dad and see if he would be willing to watch the kids for us from Tuesday - Friday. For never having watched our kids overnight that was a big ask, but Papa Martin was up for it!!! I was able to work it out where I could take the time off work and make it up later. 

After lunch on Tuesday we headed out for Yakima! We were staying at the Hilton. We got checked in around 4:30 and then we went over to a nail salon so I could get my gel nails done. I had wanted to do them myself before we left, but I just ran out of time. It was so nice actually having my nails done. That's not something I do often! 

That first night we were taken out to dinner by an Engineering Firm at the Yakima Steak House. Oh my...can you say yummy! 

My whole goal of this trip was to 1. sleep in and 2. blog! I love my blog. I love blogging and I love having these memories, but it is always something that just gets put on the end of my to do list and then usually gets cut from the list altogether. There are only so many hours in a day and by the time I get done with all the things I need to do I'm too tired to blog! 

Wednesday morning Michael went golfing and I slept in until 9am!!!! I got out of bed and went right to my laptop to start blogging. I didn't eat any breakfast....I wasn't even hungry after the dinner we had the night before. I did start to get hungry around noon so I ordered room service!!!! 

I posted these two pictures on Facebook! 

Doesn't that salad look amazing?!?! It was!!! 

Michael got back from golfing around 2ish and I was still in my jammies. It was a dream! 

I did get showered though and we headed over to the convention center to peruse the vendor booths, have a bite to eat and get a drink. After that we drove out to the fairgrounds where they were having dinner for all the water and sewer workers. It was catered and they had 3 different buffet lines....Italian, American and Mexican. We went with Italian! 

They had these fun beads to wear when we first got there. After dinner they had some prizes for the golf tournament that was played earlier in the day. Then they had a raffle drawing. Michael ended up winning a ball retriever which will come in handy when he plays golf! :) 

After the raffle one of other managers announced that this would be Dick's last conference and Dick got up and spoke a few words. 

On Thursday I slept in again! Michael had a breakfast to go to and then one class. For lunch Michael and I went out to Cowiche Canyon on a friends suggestion and it didn't disappoint.

After lunch we came back to the hotel so I could blog some more and Michael could have some down time. Around 4:30pm we headed over to the convention center where they had a reception with some finger foods and drinks. For dinner that night we went to the Red Lion for a catered dinner with a different Engineering Firm. 

It has been great getting to meet and chat with so many people that Michael has talked about and it's been such a treat getting wined and dined as well! 

It's also really nice seeing my hubby's name with General Manager listed under it....even if it does say  'In Training' next to it! ;) 

My Office!

Just for fun I thought I'd share pictures of my office. 

It's funny because I have actually moved more things around since this picture was taken. The black printer on the left wasn't hooked up and I really didn't care for it to be so I took it out. I'm connected to the big printer/copier so I just use that instead. I found a really nice file organizer so I put that in the place where the printer was. I love my window and keep the curtains open all the time. There is a huge tree right outside my window and it's been so fun watching the leaves change colors. 

The first picture and the picture above are taken right when you walk into my office. I had to bring in some decorations from home. I love sunflowers...they make me happy! I also love the word Joy so I brought in my Joy craft that I made for MOPS last year. This cabinet is the same one we have in our home office. I'm still trying to make the best use of it. Some of the stuff in the boxes isn't even stuff I use. Soon I'm going to be doing a major overhaul of the storage room in the office so I'm sure even more stuff will get moved around then. 

This is the view I see when turn around while I'm sitting at my desk. I was so excited to see that night big wall. I had been wanting to print out my favorite picture of the kids on canvas, but I didn't really have room for it at home. I love that I get to turn around and see my babies. It really is a big picture 16 X 20, but that wall is big too so it doesn't look as big as I thought it would. I really would like Michael to build me a barn wood frame to go around the picture and that will help bulk it up a bit.

On a side note: I had never used Mac products before and was quite nervous when I found out that was what was in the church office. Pastor Andy assured me that I would catch on quickly and end up loving them. He was absolutely right!!! I love my Mac computer at work! I'm not going to rush out and purchase one or get myself an iphone, but it nice to not feel completely inept. I'm still learning for sure, but I definitely feel more confident in my abilities now.