Happiness is...

...a giant Rocky Rococo pizza with mom in Downtown Spokane! 

Thanks mom!

Christmas Time in Montana!

Tender Montana Christmas Poem (Roughly to "Jingle Bells" should you want to sing it...)

Walking through the hills along good ol' Swamp Creek,   

pictures we would take among the snowy trees,

  looking for targets to shoot, they coyotes and gophers dug in,

the Konrads and Eric killed some ice with lots of copper and tin. 

 (Chorus)

Oh! shoot the guns, redneck style, that's what we do for Christmas,

we would have shot something more fun but we chose to kill the ice.  

~~~~~

And some other decorative pics...

Christmas Tree Search and Decor.

We had the great debate this year about real vs. fake Christmas trees...What do you all think?

We both really like the real tree, but they are indeed messier and more expensive as we end up spending at least 40 buck each year instead of maybe a little more than that once...  We went and got a real one this year, but I think we might make the switch sooner than later.

So we got it up and it tipped over a bit and just jimmy-rigged it to stay somewhat upright...although it resembled a Charlie Brown tree so it looked more natural a kit off-kilter.  I love the colors that we have; it looks so warm and inviting.  I went for a bit more "glitter" this year but Matt didn't have any complaints.  I sewed the wall hanging next to the tree (Thanks Mom and Angel Miller) and the decorations on our tv stand are from PartyLite.  Love them too! 

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.  If you did not receive a card from us...below is the content of our card.  If you have kept up with the blog, you already know most of it.  Enjoy

Konrads' Top 11 of 2011

We have had quite a year and we are blessed to share the joy and LIGHT of this season with those we love and care about!
     ❶ We bought our first, little, starter home! (3 bed, 1 bath, 900 sq. ft. on ¼ ac. lot. It closed the beginning of June!)    
     ❷ Christina had a heyday making strawberry freezer jam for a day in July—3 dozen jars!  It is delicious. 
         Pray about coming to visit so she can bake you scones and you can taste it!
     ❸ Matt coached youth football in Woodinville (and our Young Life kids at Woodinville HS went to the playoffs with a
         great season of Friday Night entertainment).  Matt is praying about his role as a coach next year. Roll Tide!
     ❹ Christina lost her job, which was a HUGE blessing, actually. She is now able to do a counseling internship with the
         Union Gospel Mission and work part time. Pray that the hours count and God can make an impact using her.
     ❺ Matt has been working a tremendous amount of hours.  He would love to find something more predictable, but we
          are very thankful for the Lord’s provision!  Pray for him to find a new job and contentment in the interim.
     ❻ We celebrated our 1^st anniversary.  We went for a hike and ate yummy food.  We celebrated July with a
         few other wedding celebrations!  Pray for our marriage as we grow and face challenges together.
     ❼ We got internet at home! Pray that we not use it too much!
     ❽ Football season happened on time! We just aren’t ourselves when it’s not football season and the idea of no NFL
         season was a little scary. Still, it has been just as scary to watch our Seahawks during this “rebuilding year”! Pray!
     ❾ Lots of home improvement projects…some fun (painting/fire pit in back yard/refinishing old furniture)…some not so    
         fun (re-doing crawl space/leaky, rusty plumbing/etc.)  Please pray that we have discernment in prioritizing projects.
     ❿ Matt invested a good amount of time locating good spots and boat launches for fishing! Christina finally got
         a fishing license but we haven’t used it since the boat has a leaky hull! L Pray for the fiberglass to dry properly!
     ❶❶Christina attempted to start a jewelry making business…still in the works.  Pray for wisdom in how to proceed.

Fall Frenzie!

I got really behind in blogging this past year and I have a lot of ground to cover so I will condense the fall into this frenzied post...

1. Fall football! We love football.  We got to enjoy a Seahawks' game with Christina's family and she learned something about herself that day.  If you like funny, humiliating, resourceful stories...ask her later.



We went to the Cougars game against Oregon State which was played at the Clink as well.  It was fun for Matt to go to a College game for the 1st time (it was actually his 3rd, but apparently Whitworth doesn't count since it isn't Div. I, and the UW game we went to last year is easily forgotten as it quite possibly might be the worst memory of our married lives--crying children, freezing cold, incessant downpour. Stanford won though!). 

Matt also spent each Saturday coaching his little guys in Woodinville.  He comes to life in a way I haven't quite experienced when he's coaching.  It is brilliant.  We are hoping he can continue with this endeavor in years to come...

And, we spent many Friday nights enjoying our Young Life kids' football games.  They went to the State Semi-Finals.  They were stellar.

2. Pumpkin Carving/ Halloween!

Our first Fall in our new neighborhood has been a learning experience.  We learned that just because you live on a safe, little, quite street does not mean that you get trick or treaters... We bought 20 lbs. of candy and we had a total of 2 visitors that night!  So funny.

3. Continued home improvements...we put up new closet doors in the hallway and installed a heater!  We had baseboards originally and we replaced them with blower heaters...they work great!  We also learned that the BIG, beautiful trees in our yard make a great big mess in the fall.  Good job Matt.

Strawberry Extravaganza...

Some of us country folk like us some home made jams and jellies.  With a newly purchased home, I thought a good way to initiate the kitchen was to make freezer jam!  Yum!

I went to pick berries with Hannah Dockter and her girls, Devyn and Kenzie, out in Carnation or some of them those parts... ;) 

When I got home I started cleaning, chopping, mixing and pouring until I had this delicious, beautiful pile of jam that should last the year (especially since Matt doesn't like berries!).

New Wedding Pics...

So call me crazy (and Matt does, indeed) but I was not super pleased with our original wedding photos.  Well, a friend of mine volunteered to take some more for us so Matt and I put on our wedding duds and went out and got some photos taken.  Here are a few...

Thanks Rose and Patrick Joiner!

New House...New Fun Challenges

We have been in the new house now for about two months.  It has been such a blessing having our own place but also a challenge because it seems like every time we turn a corner, there is ONE MORE THING that needs to be fixed.  Matt is right now fixing our shower drain what was clogged with Chubacka (Sp?) and leaking into the crawl space.  We found this out when we had a team of men in the crawl space on Monday replacing our insulation as the stuff that was there was not doing it's job--it was as if there was no insulation. 

the bags and bags of gross, old insulation

I have been painting and fixing up the place to make it feel like "home"!  I love doing that stuff but we just now go summer here in Seattle, so it has been a long time coming.  I have furniture that I have been repainting and making ours! 

Kitchen BEFORE...

Starting the paint job...

a bit of decor...

and more...

almost done.  Not sure what to make the curtains for the shelving unit out of.  Red gingham, solid green or should I match the window drapes?

I have also been looking for work as I lost my job and decided to try to sell the precious jewelry that I have been creating for years.  Check it out on laluzcrafts.blogspot.com or at etsy.com/shop/laluzcrafts. 

Matt is working hard and staying pretty busy.  Thank you Jesus for provision!  And, he just got signed on to coach youth football in Woodinville, so he is stoked and we are looking forward to fall Saturdays filled with concession stands, football helmets bobbing on children's' heads and whistles!