A must Go-To, Cantinetta

Last weekend some friends of ours took us to this restaurant up in Seattle. Not your typical "Olive Garden" variety Italian food. The Hartman's son, Tim is the Sous Chef...the second in command...the under-chefling...the almost Grand PooBah! Whatever you want to call him, he is an artist. The food was DEE-Licioso! Fresh, creative, a marriage of flavors and textures that would bring the Chopped judges to tears. And every course was plated to aesthetic perfection. Seriously.

This place is in the artsy district of Wallingford. It's actually in what looks like a residential area. You drive down the street and see this incredible view of the Seattle skyline over the water, and there it is on the corner. This little old brick building that looks like it may have at one time been a neighborhood bodega. But don't let this unassuming facade fool you. We got there about 6:00-ish and it was pretty quiet. Although it's small, there were plenty of tables to choose from. We sat directly across from the chef's station ( we had to see Rick & Tracie's son at work! ) By 7:30 the place was hoppin' and there were people waiting outside for a table. Would I go there again? Definitely! Would I suggest it to others? GO!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter

me and shannon

Thirty one years ago today my sweet baby girl was born. The miracle of being a mother is you can remember each little detail of giving birth, but you forget about the physical pain. ~one would have to forget, or no one would have more than one child.~ Shannon was one of the Lord's tender mercies in my life. She came to me when Heavenly Father knew I would need to turn my attention from myself, and the deep sadness I was experiencing with the illness and inevitable passing of my own mother, to the care and attention of one so tiny and innocent. Shannon was then, and continues to be a great source of strength to me. I've watched her grow from a happy little girl to a valiant young woman who made wise choices in her youth, to a beautiful, strong, attentive wife and mother, teaching her own children to "walk uprightly before the Lord."  Could any mother ask for anything more? Happy Birthday Shannon.

This man has me, heart & soul

OK, after last night's post it's time for something a little more warm and fuzzy.
I'm finding these little notes...

 

On the front seat of my car

 I found this in my  cart when I came
out of the restroom at the craft store.
I was shopping alone. Or so I thought!
 

On my lesson manual when I sat
down for my Spanish lesson




On my bedroom door when he had gone to a meeting

You know, it may be just a little thing to him, but the thought of him even taking the time to write these little notes then posting them around for me to find... not to mention the sentiment on the note, and well, who wouldn't be crazy in love with a man like this? 


The Family Proclamation states: HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibilty to love and care for each other...Husbands and wives...will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

Pretty powerful, right? I love the Proclamation. It's simple and direct.

 I love this quote from one of my favorite Prophets:
"I am satisfied that a happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one's companion."
~Gordon B. Hinckley.

Yes, romance isn't the most important element in a happy marriage. But take a happy marriage and add that romance and you have a blissful marriage.

WARNING: This post is not Rainbows & Butterflies

Ugh! I just came from the movie theater. We saw the movie/documentary 2016: Obama's America, by Dinesh D'Souza. It was informative, but more importantly it cleared up some issues for me that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Remember back in '08 when everyone was eagerly awaiting the "change" with "hope"? I blogged about it in 2009... read this
While I did NOT vote for the guy, I'll admit I did find him to be intoxicating with his acceptance speech at the DNC and his inaugural speech. (And weren't we all eager to show the world how far we had come from the racist generation of our parents and grandparents?) But smooth talking can only get you so far. At some point you have to have "product" to back up your sales pitch. And I'm afraid America is no longer buying what Obama is selling. watch here.  Sad. No leader, be it of our country, or otherwise, should be serving the people who voted for him/her, with any kind of personal agenda. The idea of giving America "hope" under the guise of "change", when you know the change you are talking about is not to make America better, but to fulfill some personal askewed dream from your immoral Johnny Appleseed father, is just that...a guise. And a guise by any other name is still a lie.

Loved this column and this couple!

Go here to read a refreshing story of a newlywed couple

Logan scores....A whole bunch!!

 

I love to watch little kids play sports. Tonight we watched one of our grandsons play soccer, and their team was really good! I mean, little kids playing soccer usually look like a big ol' constant group hug running around the field. But these little boys were playing actual defense and everything. Kudos to their coach (Jon)! Another thing I love about watching little kids play, is their lack of inhibitions when it comes to expressing pure joy! It's both hysterical to watch and heartwarming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

ET can't phone home

We've cancelled our home phone. We had a phone in every room of the house. Literally. But they were in sad shape and would on occassion just hang up while we were talking to someone. Which was embarrassing because it was usually like the Bishop or Abuela, or someone else you really didn't want to hang up on in the middle of a conversation. I hadn't memorized the number (which I'm sure was an easy one, I just hadn't committed it to memory) because I never had to. I have, however, memorized Ron's number. Finally. I think.