Business Endeavorers

     When we moved back to Spokane in August of last year, one of Joel's buddies from college asked if Joel would be interested in starting a property and casualty insurance agency with him. Joel knew nothing about insurance but business is definitely his thing and I think the challenge of starting a new company was intriguing to him. Getting this new company (SME Insurance Services) up and running has been more than I think any of us bargained for. Anyone who knows Joel, knows that he is an extremely hard worker and puts his full heart into everything. He has been working like crazy, staying up till 1 or 2 in the morning every night and then getting up at 7 and doing it all over again. I don't know how he does it. The business is doing pretty well they have a large company on board which should bring in a lot of leads.
     Joel has worn so many different hats throughout this adventure, I have realized just how many special talents he has. He created the company name Subject Matter Experts- (SME for short) designed the company logo and the entire website as well as created a CRM system for company use. He is such a hard worker and I feel so blessed to have him as my husband :) Below are a few pictures of the company logo that Joel designed and the finished products.

Moving Out

     Joel's parents have been kind enough to let us live with them for the second time since we've been married. We moved in with them in August when we moved back from Arizona and it was only suppose to be for a few weeks... 6 months later, we're finally moving out. I am sure they are grateful for that. We are so grateful they allowed us to live with them during this transition time in our life. It has definitely been crazy the last few months with Joel and starting the new business, but that's a post for another day!
     I started the house search awhile ago, we knew we wanted something with a backyard for Lucy which basically ruled out all apartments. Most decent houses were too expensive which left only condos and duplexes. We ended up finding a triplex we really liked. It has certainly grown on us. The area is not the best, it's pretty sketchy actually (trailer park across the street) but overall it is nice and secluded and right across the street from Winco which has been really nice.There is a tiny (and I mean tiny) backyard for Lucy but at least its something. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, perfect for us!
     I have loved spending the last few weeks decorating our new home. We basically sold all of our furniture when we moved up from Arizona so we've been hitting up a lot of thrift stores and garage sales which is perfect. It still needs a lot of work and there are rooms still stuffed full with boxes but the downstairs is pretty much finished so i'll include some pictures of it. I love our little home now!

Dining Room

Kitchen

Bathroom/ Laundry Room

More photos to come!

Spring Break in Utah

I recently returned from a wonderful visit with my family in Utah. Sadly, I am the only kid in my family that was left behind in Washington state when my parents made the move to Utah 3 years ago. So it makes me sad to know they all get to play together every day and I'm up here missing out. We try and visit as often as we can but still it never seems like enough.
My sweet husband agreed to give me up for a few weeks while I flew down to spend time with my parents... he had to work and wasn't able to come :( We had a whole lot of fun those couple weeks. We played hard. We went to Boondocks, mini golfing, bowling, arcade, the movies, shopping, to the delicious Cafe Rio. It was so much fun.

Sure am going to miss this stud!

One of the main reasons for my visit was to say my "goodbyes" to my older brother, James who is leaving on a 2 year LDS mission in May. I won't be able to fly down again in May due to work so with this week being Spring Break I decided this would have to do. (Plus, we could have fun and not be depressed the whole time with the thought of him leaving looming over us.) We had lots of fun together, it was so nice to spend some quality time with James before he leaves.

While I was down there visiting, I even got to go to Salt Lake City to have lunch with my best friend from high school, Lexi and her daughter. I haven't seen her in years and it was so nice to catch up. We had loads of fun at the City Creek Mall and shopped till we dropped! It was a wonderful trip the only thing that would have made it better was if Joel and Tyler were there..... 2 more years till that can happen :(

Any chance at a photo shoot we fully embraced, sorry for the photo overload!

Lunch with Lexi 

#pinkhairdontcare

Too much fun?!

25 years of marriage, still the cutest couple I know

We're gonna miss him!

We think we're cool with our stunner shades on!

Puppy Love

Time to share some Squishy Lucy Love with everyone!

Don't be fooled by that adorable face... she's naughty as they come!

Treats and Prizes for the pooch!

Nap time with Daddy!

Snuggle time with Mommy!

Lucy's Birthday toy... she had the duck's foot torn off and swallowed within
3 minutes. She then threw it up this morning... ON MY PILLOW!

Yep! She's simply adorable! We love her so much and wouldn't trade her for anything... (most days)

Love is in the Air

This year, I decided it would be a good idea to show Joel just how much I love him by doing the 14 days of love for him. So starting February 1st, and every day leading up to Valentines Day I would leave him a special treat or do something kind for him. It was a great idea but in reality, it was a lot of time, energy, planning and just plain work. I loved it, he loved it and I will probably never do it again!

So yeah, it was great! I've included a collage of some of the different treats or prizes. Enjoy!

Best Gag gift ever!

Don't get me wrong. I love Valentines Day and I love the opportunity to show my husband and the people around me how much I appreciate them but there are other less time consuming ways! Which I will partake in next year!

Christmas in the Northwest

The holidays are always my favorite time of the year.
Spending Christmas in the warm Arizona sun last year was...different to say the least. So this year, I was excited to be back in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for Christmas. It was our year to be with the Manchak clan so we spent it with Joel's parents and his sister Joy. It was a lot of fun.

Pillow cases we made

Christmas is such a special time of year, spent with family, serving others and remembering Christ's birth and we really tried to focus on that this year. We decided as a family that we wanted to set aside some money to create baskets filled with some different "treats and prizes" to deliver to a few local women's shelters. The weeks leading up to Christmas we collected all of the items we would need including toothpaste, shower gel, soap, socks, hair ties, paper plates, tin foil etc. We also spent many hours sewing Christmas pillow cases to deliver to the shelters. After making about 20 pillow cases, we are definitely pros and I think if I never made another one for the rest of my life it would be too soon! We had such a good time doing it though. When we delivered the baskets to the women's shelter they were all so grateful and happy it was such a good feeling to know we could help make their Christmas just a little brighter. The fun didn't stop there. We had also decided that we would all help Meals on Wheels deliver Christmas meals to some of their families.

Santa Hats

We decided to start the day of right, we got up early Christmas morning and went to breakfast at iHop. After breakfast, upon request, everyone put on their Santa hats and we delivered Meals on Wheels... It was wonderful and a lot of fun! The people we delivered Christmas dinners to were so grateful and sweet. It was a wonderful experience I will always remember.

Around noon, we went home to have our Christmas morning It was wonderful and I loved elongating the magic of Christmas. We opened presents, face timed with my family, built gingerbread houses, watched Christmas movies and skyped my baby brother on his mission in Peru. It was an unforgettable holiday season filled with lots of love and laughter!

Gingerbread Houses 

Elder Woodburn from Peru 

A festive Puppy!

End of the Year Recap 2012

I cant believe another year has already flown by. I wanted to do a quick recap of some recent events:

November:
You've just won a new CARpet! I wish...We purchased another car, meet Willow! Up to this point, we have somehow made it work with just the one car but recently it has been getting really tricky to coordinate and with the other car paid off it seemed like a good time. Enter Willow, she's a 2010 Hyundai Sonata and we really like her.

Joel's 26th Birthday:
Man we are getting old! 26 already, I can hardly believe it. We had a crazy night out on the town. PF changs for dinner, that's as crazy as we get...it was delicious! PF Changs is one of the few places that is gluten free "friendly" so we seem to find ourselves there often, which isn't such a good thing because they really aren't cheap. It was a fun night though and a good birthday for Joel. We opened presents and I even got him to pose for a picture. What a good boy. He might be getting wiser with age!

 December:
Jocylin and Arylnn came to visit for a bit. We had a lot of fun. It was Arylnn's first time playing in the snow. Isn't she the cutest?

 Can't forget this sweet puppy. She is so dang cute which really has saved her many times in her short life so far. Like when she ate a pair of my flip flops or destroyed my homemade photobook or even the time she ate the TV remote! Yes, she is one of a kind that's for sure. Joel and I often ask ourselves how we got quite so lucky!

The remote, after Lucy partook