Flirty Fun!

Happy Birthday to...ME!
Last year I had a hoopla of a celebration.
This year, well, I don't need to tell you how old I am.
(Though, if you're following along, it rhymes with the title of this post.)

I woke up with a husband this year for my birthday.
That's new!
And what a great gift.

It's necessary for me to give a shout-out to my birthday buddies, Bobby Marchessault and Becky Perry! Stop by their blogs and give them a virtual birthday hug :)

I'm off to start the day's festivities!
Have a beautiful June 8th!

Happily Ever After

...and it's all documented by the artful hands of Beth and Mike Hutton!
Beth posted a few pictures from our wedding on her blog,
but if you want to see the whole shebang, please visit www.pictage.com and sign into the guestbook!

Proof that God Loves His Children

Lately it's been storming and windy, chilly and gloomy.
I've been doing a lot of moping.
And the calls from CA saying "wow. That's too bad. It's 80 and breezy here!"...they don't help so much!

I found in a drawer yesterday a loaded Starbucks card that I had forgotten about.
If I'm going to have to endure "spring" in Duluth,
I might as well enjoy a free coffee!

:)
Happiness.

By The Way...

Yesterday Chris and I played volleyball outdoors.
I could see my breath.

Come on, Minnesota.
It's spring.

A Little Friday Inspiration For You.

Life equals risk-
just a reminder!


Enjoy your weekend, friends!

Summer Reading

Okay, okay...
It's definitely not summer yet. (I'm not so sure it's even spring here yet, but Chris gives me a dirty look when I say that.) BUT, being that I'm not yet employable by the great state of Minnesota, I have some* extra time on my hands. (That "some" refers to the minutes when I am not sifting through wedding gifts, writing thank-you notes, doing laundry or watching The People's Court.) I'm not usually a novel reader, but I thought I'd take a break from my typical Christian Inspirational choice to enjoy a no-brainer for entertainment purposes only. I picked up the following at the B&N a couple weeks ago:

and I finished it last week.
WOW. Not as no-brainer as I thought it would be...it's a challenge keeping up with the author's preference for flashbacks and such, but it sucked me in from the very beginning. With a weekend at the Stavenger's lake cabin, there was a lot of time to enjoy it. I thought I'd give another book by this author a try:

I've had the above novel for a week and have not made it past the first chapter. I don't know if it's because we've been busy with our Minnesota Wedding celebration, but it's doesn't have the same initial appeal. I give it a "meh" for now, but this may change.

I Interrupt This Endless Stream of Photo Documentation to Bring You...

my latest craving: Guacamole.

Last week I bought 5 avocados at the store.
I consumed one a day.
Today I bought five more.
Perhaps it's the California cuisine I'm missing?
Chipotle?
Friends eating with me AT Chipotle?
I dunno.
I don't make it fancy- I just throw in some lime juice and salt.
But with all my friends in Southern California,
someone must have an interesting twist I could try!

Here's your guacamole recipe forum...
What's YOUR favorite?

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our honeymoon. Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle Again!

Hi friends! Yep, I'm still alive! I had to dust off my old blogger program and get back in this game! I don't even know where to begin...there is so much to tell! I'll wait to post pictures of the wedding until we've got some professional shots to show you. If you can't wait to see some of the action, you can check out some pictures here, here, here, here, or on my facebook page.

Anyway, I think I'll attempt to quickly tackle the honeymoon, and then on to normal life in Minnesota! We spent 6 days in Victoria, British Columbia. It was a little chilly and rainy when we arrived, but cleared up by the end of the week. Our hotel was within walking distance from downtown Victoria and the wharf, so we did a lot of foot travel. Our room overlooked Fisherman's Wharf and the mouth of the harbor. It was fun watching the sea planes take off and land...not so fun listening to them at 7 in the morning, though.


Because Victoria doesn't demand a ton of sightseeing, we had lots of leisure time to explore. One of our favorite stops was the Sticky Wicket Pub, where we would play darts and pool before enjoying dinner on a couple different occasions.


Our evening walks led us right by the Parliament Building- it's gorgeous at night!

The weather was pretty yucky on our first day, so we didn't do much outside. However, there was a window of sunshine the next morning which we used to explore Butchart Gardens. It's a really spectacular arrangement of several gardens. Chris didn't find it particularly amazing ("they're just flowers..."), but he DID have the "best hamburger he's ever had" for lunch at the gardens. Best to go a little later in the year, when the roses are in bloom.


I think Chris would agree that the highlight of our week was our massage at the spa. It was the perfect finale to an already relaxing week. Since it was so sunny afterwards, we grabbed a coffee and lingered around the Parliament Building for some people-watching.

We ended our honeymoon back in the great state of Minnesota, where Chris' college roommate was married just a week after us! We stayed in Minneapolis a couple days for the occasion, and had fun re-living our ceremony from the attendee perspective (though, we'd argue, ours was much more interesting!). And at THIS party, we actually got to dance! :)


The celebration continues with our "Minnesota Reception" this weekend in Fargo. I'm sure I'll have more on that in the near future. Meanwhile, thank you for having me back on your screen...
please stay in touch!

Until I Get a Chance to BLOG....

Enjoy this video...
compliments of Bobby, who did an amazing job of putting this together for our wedding!

It's HERE!

And....if you're not "here", please check out Bobby's mogulus webpage for a live video broadcast of our wedding ceremony! If you can't be with us at 2:00 p.m on April 26th, the webcast will loop continuously for 72 hours. Please don't watch it continuously for 72 hours...that's just silly.

Click here for the webcast

Thanks for being a part of our special day.
I'll catch ya on the other side of singledom!

The Latest

Just to clarify a few things....

YES! I am excited about SATURDAY!
YES! I'm ready for the big day.
YES! I'm stoked about seeing friends and family!
NO, I'm not nervous.

And YES, we will be webcasting the wedding (if all goes well)! Thanks to Bobby and his Mogulus account. Check this site on Saturday for a link to the webcast. I know there will be lots of you tuning in...thanks for all the e-mails and interest!

Let's get this show on the ROAD!

World Wide Wedding

Hi all!
Okay, so Bobby got me thinking as he introduced the concept of mogulus on his blog; a live broadcast, his own t.v. channel of sorts. What if we were able to to bring the Stavenger/Petersen wedding to the world wide web for live viewing on April 26th?? Certainly an advantage for the geographically challenged, the question is, is there enough interest to broadcast it for you? (Bobby says the best feature may be the chatroom to the side of the broadcast...)

Would you tune in?

Just tryin' to bring the love to ya.

Dumb 'Ol Luck

My dad and I have been playing a lot of Backgammon recently.
Know the game?
I lose a lot, but it's not because I don't have skill.
I've got mad skillz.
He's just lucky.
Why can't I get double sixes every once in a while?
For all you that are UN-lucky, like me, I thought you would enjoy the following montage for inspiration.

Feeling lucky now?

It's April ALREADY?!

I'm not getting married.

April Fools.

That was a pathetic effort, I know. Obviously, my mind is elsewhere.

Last year I said I'd stop blogging.

This year...I'm trying hard just to keep up!

I'm quite disappointed when I tune into my RSS reader and I have no new entry.

However, it's just another task at the moment.

I promise I won't keep you hanging for long!

New pictures to come...SOON!

Many hugs to all~

Jamie

The Nifty Fifty States

Ok, I haven't seen all fifty.
There are some I probably don't ever need to see.
But I think I've done pretty well for thirty years.


create your own visited states map

I'm kinda partial to a couple of those red places.
Thanks, Rachel, for the link!

It's a Dinner Party...

And you're invited.
Guaranteed awkward conversation.
I can't wait.
April 10th on NBC.

Pass the potatoes.

Organizational Overload

Hello, all!
Time is FLYING, as I'll be leaving for California on Friday and counting down 5 weeks 'til the big fiesta! Chris and I just returned this weekend from Moorhead, where Chris' mom and friends threw me a wedding shower. It was wonderful meeting some of the moms that have memories of Chris as a kiddo, and several women came quite a distance to join the party. I felt "showered" with love...and gifts. However, after a shower, one typically feels clean. I'm feeling quite dirty (or, at least the house is!) as I sit here amongst boxes, bags, tissue and heaps of envelopes. I suppose it's a good problem to have! Now comes the daunting task of finding space for everything- throwing out the old and replacing with new. We're seriously lacking some storage in the kitchen, which creates a dilemma when trying to two new sets of dishes, serveware, LOTS of glasses and the family-sized griddle that Chris HAD to have. Oy.

Do I look like a Stavenger yet? This is Chris' sister, Carrie, me, Chris' mom and Alissa, Chris' sister-in-law. She has beautiful eyes...you'll have to take my word for it. :)

Happier Things.

"Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Philippians 4:8

Here is my list of happy things for thought:

Commitment
Hugs
Love
Alice Springs Chicken at Outback
Hot Showers
Light Snowfalls
New Tennis Ball smell
Good conversation with girlfriends
Starbucks
(oooh...I shouldn't have gone there. Now I can't think of anything else.)
umm...
uhhhh....
A good haircut
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Disneyland
Pomegranate Mojitos
Brooke singing "Let it Be" on American Idol
Snow covered trees
Patience
California sunshine
The upcoming return of "The Office"
New Socks
God's Grace

Your comments.

Poor Choices

...leave those who love you bruised.
...leave those who love you confused.
...leave a wake behind you that will cause ripples for years and years.
...can shake the foundation of faith for those starting on their journey.
...WILL bring conviction that you will not be able to evade for long, like those credit collectors that call and call and call until you pick up the phone and take care of it.

Like other Revolutionaries (former and current) that have posted their thoughts about recent events, I am HURT and I am DISAPPOINTED by the personal decisions of this man. I remember this being posted on David's blog a couple months ago:

When you leave your family, your ministry, your life...
When you do so for another woman, a MOM who leaves HER family, HER life...
When you are no longer employed, have no support, no friends to turn to,
You are NOT THINKING. I thought this was a strength of yours.
And apparently 84% Judging was not enough, because it left 16% open for gruesome misinterpretation.

David, your poor choices have left a church family crippled.
You've left your children in tears.
You've betrayed friends who would have had your back in trial and confusion...
who would have walked through darkness with you.

You've traded it all in for the ultimate in selfishness.

There's a tattoo on your wrist to remind you of that...every day.

Family at Revolution, I am praying for your solidarity during this difficult storm. In many ways I wish I was there to walk through it with you. Christopher, Christina, and the rest of the lead team: may God anoint you with supernatural doses of energy and endurance so you can carry on His vision for this ministry.

Little Things that Make Me Happy.

Collecting change in a jar.
Dumping them out on the floor.
Counting the quarters.
Finding 40 different state quarters.
Arranging them alphabetically.
Making a weird face at Chris when he ridiculed me for the above.
Turning all of it in for a cool $78.00.

Hey...it's the only income I've got.

Calling All Word Nerds...

If you are the wordy sort and enjoy a good game of Scrabble or Boggle, then this game will be highly entertaining for you. A word of warning though: it's addicting.

http://club.live.com/spelling_bee.aspx?icid=spelling_bee_spotlight

JD- be warned.
I've been practicing and you will once again fall victim to my speed scrabble skills.
It's on.

Haven't Done This in A While.

Brrr...my ipod is cold!
The last 5 tunes to roll through:

X&Y- Coldplay
You Found Me- Kelly Clarkson
When My Heart- Matt Redman
Nowhere Man- The Beatles
Simple As It Should Be- Tristan Prettyman

I suppose I should start putting together a playlist for the wedding.
Any suggestions?

Reading Can Be Hazardous to Your Health.

There's a reason why I don't often read novels.

It's not that I don't read. I read friendly things like the Biography of Mister Rogers. Or I read introspective things like Donald Miller's deep thoughts or the challenging reflections of C.S. Lewis. But I steer clear of novels. To say that I don't have time to invest is usually a lie. For this reason only, I read a best-selling novel of the secular sort lent to me by a friend here. Having trudged through 300 pages of adultery and scandal, I am again reminded why it's dangerous for me to read.

I get nightmares. The kind that feel so real that you wake up in a cold sweat. It sends my brain into this superactive frenzy of imagination that I can't shut off at night. Consequently, I've lost sleep and fight the urge to be irrationally paranoid. I did laugh a lot as I related to the "heroine"s perspective on turning thirty (if you can still call her a heroine after she hooks up with her best friend's fiance).

The last set of novels I read were the LaHaye/Jenkins "Left Behind" series. Those books produced some of the strangest and scariest dreams I've ever experienced. I can still describe them in detail (and if you want a good story, ask me about the time I got in a fight with Jesus Christ). Most of the time, I prefer not to remember them. Nothing gets my mind active like reading a good story.

It's easy to see why reading does wonders to keep the brain agile.

Any other bookworms out there?

Spoken Like a Real Joker.

Desperate times call for desperate measures?
Blech.