Halloween at Home

Happy Halloween from Oak Harbor! 

We started the festivities off here early with a Ward Hillbilly Harvest Hoedown! We all dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls and had ourselves a hoot n' hollarin' good time!

I was on the committe, so I designed the backdrop for our photobooth - as hillbilly as I could make it, of course.  It was fun to feel like I was living in the wild, wild west with a handsome cowboy to protect me!

Caroline, Taylor & Eli

Eli doesn't like his photo taken.

Of course, it was a lot of work, but these events are always worth the extra effort to make them special.  I also designed the invitation and we had a bigger turn out than expected.  We were asked to invite our friends and neighbors to the activity, so I brought Caroline, Taylor and Eli Phan, as well as Sarah & Don Cameron and their two sons Markus and Jonah (we didn't get a picture, sadly!).  Everyone enjoyed eating, but shied away from the dancing!

Brecken holds tight! 

Folks enjoyed the photobooth a lot.  I saw a lot of families get their photo taken, but my favorite was little Brecken (Dano & Jeremiah Church's son). Dano and I did a lot of thrift shopping for the event and she found him the cutest outfit!  He was the most captivating cowboy there!

My favorite part of the night was the country dancing.  We did some fun line dances and even learned some really cool hoe-down moves from a real caller.  I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves to dance with me.  I hope it's something we do together for the rest of our lives.

 


 

Laura & Henry Campbell

We both have felt welcomed in our ward here.  It seems like we get to know people better at every event and find even more joy in sharing the gospel with these fine folks.  My neighbor and friend, Laura Campbell has already helped me out more than once!

Pumpkin Pina Colada

After the excitement of the Hoedown, I decorated the house for fall and made a DELICIOUS pumpkin pina colada drink. It was soooo good, that it may need to become a family tradition!

We also had our inaugural Nederhand Pumpkin carving.  I love being newlywed because everything we do together for the first year is NEW (and a sign of many wonderful years to come!)  So far, we established that Anthonie is more patient at pumpkin carving than I am (no surprise there!)  He was so meticulous and took his time to make our pumpkin perfect.

Pumpkin guts are yucky!

Our owl pumpkin is coming to life!

I also have spent a lot of time working on my chalkboard art while working at the Purple Moon. Couldn't resist sharing on the blog as well!

 

When we got the pumpkins all lit, I decided to throw together a last minute costume -- just for fun!  I really am sad that the yellow duck costume has not survived all the family moves, but at least I have a picture!  

Then & Now Halloween Costumes

Don't miss out on hearing our funny voices!

Insta Halloween Art

Happy Spooking everyone!

Decisions, decisions...

The last few days has been crazy here in the Nederhand nest. We've been exploring a lot of options and have a major announcement to make!

As many of you know, I have been looking very hard for a teaching position here in Oak Harbor, but have had very little luck. My hopes were raised high last week when I found out that a local learning center was looking for a new owner. To make a long (and painful) story short, I worked all week to prepare myself to take over this new business with a lot of responsibility. I wrote out a company vision and mission statement. I gathered, organized and cleaned all the office tools I would need (most of which I already owned). I sold some of my old jewelry so that I could have some cash flow. I read--and followed the advice of--the most thrilling book on how to be an excellent leader, called EntreLeadership, by Dave Ramsey. I marched down to the city hall and got my business license, then set up my bank accounts and looked into getting a phone and a card reader. I was ready for my first day as a business owner and was totally stoked to go find my customers and get mentoring teachers. 

And then the owner decided to give the business to someone else... And I was devastated. For about 24 hours. Then a beautiful thing happened. My little brother, Dallas, sent me a link to an article about why smart girls quit when the going gets tough in school. I read it and realized that I shouldn't just quit! I should just do it better!!   (Too bad I didn't wait to post this before the deal was done!)

So hence my Facebook friends are all worried that I'm pregnant and the fact is, I'm having a business baby!! 

God has blessed me with a lot of insight while I have been job hunting. Here in Oak Harbor, it is hard for everyone to find a job (not just me!) and especially for teenagers. We have a huge untapped resource of teenagers. There is also a unique need in the area in that younger children in Navy families often have difficulties adjusting to deployment schedules, which can have a major impact on their school work and confidence. 

My idea is to match up the two needs to solve the problem. I will train high schoolers, who have good grades, attendance and skills, to mentor younger children who need help with reading and math. I'm also looking into ways to teach all ages, any skill they want. For example, yesterday I had a cute little old lady tell me that she wants to know how to work a smart phone so that she can have the confidence to go buy one.  

To start out, I will be the one doing the tutoring and child care, but once there is more interest and demand, then I will be able to bring more people on to my team. I am starting out slow, but I hope and pray and believe that it will be big someday!!

To find out more, you can visit (and like!) the facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ohthelearningplace

Soon i will update the business blog at: http://ohthelearningplace.wordpress.com

Of course I started working on the logo right away (see below). Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for the support I have already received. I feel so humbled to be so loved and blessed.

Don't Stop This Train

Anthonie's home from his DET!! We didn't think he'd make it home in time to get to the John Mayer concert, but he did! Two days before he left, he came home with two free tickets to the concert from his LPO. We were so excited (even though we weren't sure he'd be back in time!)

The day arrived and I had spent all week packing up for our little camping trip four hours west of here. Anthonie called in the morning and said that he'd be getting in way too late. But I felt that we should at least try. So I went to lunch and decided to let it go. Then before I knew it, he arrived! We got in the car and booked it out of town! The drive to The Gorge was beautiful and relaxing.

So happy to have husband home!

The Road

Windmills are so calming!

I love driving with Mr. N. it's so relaxing to listen to music together, hold hands and talk about whatever comes to mind. I've always loved that we can cover any topic under the sun and still learn and grow from each other. 

When we got to the campsite, it was very windy!!! We had to work extra hard to put up the tent, but we got it up and then rushed to the show! We missed all the opening bands, but got there just in time for the real deal!! John Mayer was soooo good live! I loved hearing some of our old favorites and cuddling to some new ones. I fell in love with the new song "Don't Worry" -- or something like that. It was really well done and the lyrics were awesome. Anthonie and I took a walk and ended up right near the front and it was fun to watch JM from closer up. He really is unique.

Waiting for John Mayer to come on.

So happy to be together again! 

Looking West 

Still waiting...

Panorma View at The Gorge Amphitheater in WA

Happy Faces!

After the concert we went back to camp and tried to get some sleep in the wind! Halfway through the night, we had an unexpected visitor... An ant flew into Anthonie's ear!  Anthonie said it felt like a weird tapping and vibrating noise on his ear drum.  He woke up to this noise and didn't know what it was, so we were worried we'd have to make a trip to the ER.  Luckily, as soon as I shined a light on his ear, the ant found its way out.  (I made a video of Anthonie telling this story, but somehow it has disappeared.)

Then we drove home. Perfect weekend getaway and celebration of the end of ten days apart!

See!  We really do love to drive! :)

There's No Such Thing As A Good-bye

Anthonie left for a DET yesterday. I'm not excited about it and have been in denial that it was really coming all week.  It was hard to say goodbye and I'm the only wife who came to the terminal to kiss my sailor goodbye.  After he left, I immediately wanted to go home to Utah and even spent half of a day learning about Space-A travel in the hopes I could fly home for free.  (No such luck -- he has to be with me, or on orders of 120 days.)

Last photo together... on Anthonie's new phone

 I spent the late night before he left writing some LOVE NOTES for him to find in his luggage!  He had a hard time finding the V and the N, but he was sweet enough to take a photo for me!

LOVE NOTES

My hubby loves me so much, he even made an antique version of the picture!  (His new phone is really cool!)  I love that Anthonie knows how to make me feel special and appreciated.  I hope that my efforts to keep his spirits high helped him to feel as loved as he makes me feel.  We're so happy to be married!

Antique LOVE NOTES

Now that hubby's away, I'm going to be working on a lot of projects in the next few days!  Stay tuned for photos and a tour of our cute house!

xoxo

Hot Sabbath

 Today we went to the beach after church.  Being Mormons, we tend to avoid recreation on Sundays, in order to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  That being said, it is lovely to spend time as a family together enjoying one of God's creations: the ocean.  It was so nice to lay in the sand next to Mr. Nederhand and read our book.  We love reading together.  I loved hearing his gentle voice mix with the sound of the waves as they caressed the shore.

A nice and shady little hut we found on the beach.

After reading, Anthonie asked me if I thought we were romantic.  "Of course we are!" I replied. What could be more romantic than sitting in the sand reading a good book?  Then we tried to list a few of our favorite romantic moments together.  Our favorite memory was of the Rosarito, Mexico beach where we went for a walk in the middle of the night.  I still remember the smell of the ocean and the feel of the cold air on my face as he kissed me.  That was over six years ago.  Whenever I think of the miracle that we are together--through all the time and trials--I am filled with the sweet knowledge of God's love for me.  We never would have made it without His help and His love guiding us.

Inside the hut

When we came home from the beach, it was still so hot in our little house.  (Not over 80 degrees, but we have no AC here!)  So I decided to run through the sprinklers.  Mr. Nederhand came running with me.  We played freely, like children, screaming at the cold water and teasing each other.  I hope our days can stay this carefree for a while.  It is a luxury to have so few worries.

View from the hut

Handsome husband reading

In other news, my friend, Caroline, came to visit our church with her son Eli today!  I feel so blessed to share my love for the gospel with such a dear friend.  I hope she felt the same joy that I did, listening to the members' testimonies.  It is a personal thing to share our beliefs, usually held so closely to our hearts, with others.  The best gift that one friend can give to another is to share a core belief, a kernal of truth, and hope that they feel similarly.

Happy Sabbath!

My Baby is Coming Home!

 I went and paid for the couch on Monday.  But our friends Dano and Jeremiah were not free to help us get it home until Thursday.  It's been the longest wait of my life.  Every day I just kept dreaming about lounging in my comfy sofa.  I was so excited that it was coming home that I took a million pictures of the process.

Anthonie, Jeremiah and the warehouse guys loading my baby up.  Dano's as excited as I am!

Did I mention it was raining?  Our friends are the best!!!

Sofa waiting for the feet!

 I wanted to get home and set it up IMMEDIATELY.  But we had made plans to play racquetball with Dano and Jer in exchange for hauling our sofa.  So we unloaded it at home, then headed to the Navy gym. 

Dano and I played a game, in which I lost horribly (but I'll get better, maybe?)  Then we watched and played with cute baby Breken the rest of the time.  After the boys played several games (and Anthonie lost them all--which serves him right for bragging!), we headed to Pita Pit for dinner. Yummmm...

By the time we got home, it was really late.  I was still excited about getting the feet on our sofa, but Anthonie wasn't too thrilled.  He was a good sport though and did all the hard parts.  I'm so lucky to have him!

Finally put together!

It feels so good to have a sofa!

Furniture Fever!

Vintage dining table in creme

 I'm going crazy! Somehow I didn't realize that after getting married we would have NO furniture.  We've been sitting at a card table for almost two months and people are noticing that we don't have a sofa.  The bishop came over to visit when we first moved in and he asked us if we needed anything besides a sofa.  It's pretty bad if your bishop is asking you if you ever plan to get one. 

The good news is that the wait is over!  We finally got our Navy benefits and a large check for our moving reimbursement.  So two days ago, I went and picked up this cute table.  I saw it on craigslist.org  a few days ago and luckily it was still available.  It fits perfectly in our space and now we can have four guests for dinner!  I am in love with the chairs.  Anthonie was very supportive of my decision and helped me clean them up.

Sofa in the Salesroom

Today, I convinced Anthonie to go with me to the furniture store on base, called the NEX Home Gallery.  I had heard that they don't charge taxes there and saw that they were having a 5 - 30 % off sale!  (Hopefully we're holding a lucky ticket for 30% off.) 

As soon as I sat on this sofa, I knew I wanted to take it home with me.  It's the exact color and shape that I've been wanting.  It's brand new and it's so cute.  Anthonie could see that I was falling in love, so he agreed that we would come home and "talk it over" and make sure that it fit in our budget. 

Sofa's chevron pattern in tweed!

Of course, as soon as we got home I started talking.  "It's the exact size, shape and color that I want.  We won't be charged taxes.  It's cheaper than some of the used sofa's I've seen on craigslist.  Plus you want a new sofa anyway.  It was comfortable..."  I was talking and thinking about how perfect it would be, when I realized that my lips were being blocked... Anthonie was kissing me while I was talking!  So for a while we kissed.  And then I started convincing again.  Finally Anthonie says, "Angela, we're getting the couch."  I was so excited that I wanted to leap for joy and shout YAAYYYY!!  But I was already being pulled into a steamy embrace that lasted for quite a while....  ;)

I'm so excited that we're getting a sofa!!  More details soon to come!  And maybe then I'll get pictures of our cute house up!