Little Blue Bungalow

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

2011 Pictures in Review

2011-12-18T08:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,
As 2011 draws to a close, we are extremely blessed to reflect on this past year. This year was a year filled with transitions, but through it all we have had tons of fun and laughter in true Britten style.

As always, we feel pictures are a great way to "view" our family's year without a long draw-out Christmas letter. (Even though you know I'd LOVE to write about it!) So without further a do I present to you...2011 Pictures in Review. Click on this link below to get a glimpse of 2011 at the Little Blue Bungalow.

http://bit.ly/tozRYZ

2011 Little Blue Bungalow "notables" include:
-Fiona loosing her two front teeth
-Keegan playing on an older soccer team
-Completing our garage
-Adding another vegetable garden
-Our August Roadtrip to Iowa
-Fiona transferring to a new elementary school, Maltby
-Drew starting a new job with Boeing as a Technical Analyst
-Both kids ditching their training wheels on their bikes
-Started attending Christ Church Monroe

From inside the Little Blue Bungalow,
Katie Jean

Hosting Fellowship

2011-12-11T15:51:00.000-08:00

As I loaded the car with boxes of decorations and fine china this afternoon a feeling of familarity swept over me. Even though I had a few jitters about hosting a table for our new church's Christmas party it felt oddly too familiar and fond memories overwhelmed me.

From Christmas parties to mother/daughter teas, I've hosted a few tables over my thirty-six years. In Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin and Washington we've shared fond memories of newly found friends and fellowship abound hosting events through our churches. Many of those individuals we've met around those "hosted" tables have become life-long friends and have shared in the "seasons" of our lives through prayer, laughter, and general life.

I've never forgotten any of those experiences and sometimes long to sit and reflect with some of those old friends around a table for just a few hours. To push the hours of time back and tranport myself to that particular season in my life...a newlywed, married with no kids, newly preganent, married with kids, etc.

Tears are streaming down my face as I think of those sweet times, each in their unique way. Knowingly I can't easily say one "season" is better than the other, but each piece together in my being, who I am today. I am better for having spent fellowhip with those that have surrounded my hosted tables over the years. Even with my jitters, I look forward to the new friends that will surround my table tonight. Tonight is another opportunity to share in fellowship.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

Many Thanksgiving Blessings...

From inside the Little Blue Bungalow,
Katie Jean

Christmas Family Traditions

2011-11-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you have vivid Christmas traditions that you continue with your present day families. Since I was a little girl I remember waking up Christmas morning to a big mug filled with egg nog and pumpkin and zucchini bread on the counter cut into big slices slathered with butter. It was always such a treat since the remaining 364 days of the year we ate cereal (no sugar cereal either folks!).

Though our family's breakfast is more varied now (Sorry Mom, no hard feelings.), we still continue eating pumpkin or zucchini bread Christmas morning as well as a few treats from my husband's past. In addition, my husband reads the Christmas story from the bible just as my father did year after year around our dining room table. I love having these moments of my past become my children's memories.

Over the past five years, we have also created a new family tradition special to just us. Each night before Christmas, I have a large basket over-filling with wrapped Christmas books for each child to pick as a bed-time story. Getting to open a package each night is such a thrill for the kids even though they know that inside contains a book about winter, snow, and/or Christmas. The excitement and anticipation for bedtime increases each night as we get closer to Christmas and Drew and I get to share a special moment with our kids reflecting on Christ's birth.

The cost has been quite minimal for this project and in less then forty-five minutes I can always get the books all wrapped after Thanksgiving. The first year my mom helped me (I was on bed rest with Mr. Keegan) purchase as many books as we could find about Christmas from Goodwill and other second hand stores. We were short a few that first year and borrowed a few great books from our local library. We wrapped them like the others but in a different wrapping paper so we could open them first to return them on time. (My mom would go crazy if she know I ever had a late library book!)

Over the years, I have added to my collection when I found a wonderful Christmas book at a garage sale or local second-hand store usually for less than $.69 a piece. I then store all the Christmas books with my Christmas decorations in anticipation for next years discovery. After several years of Goodwill collecting I'm up to 48 books...enough for both kids to unwrap one each night before Christmas. This year Fiona helped me wrap all the books and she eagerly read each title to me as we wrapped them together. I personally am excited this year as I know she will be able to read them herself this year.

I love sharing this tradition with my family each night as we head to bed. I hope that maybe this is one of the traditions my kids will "adopt" into their own family's traditions.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Pumpkin Fest,
The Little Blue Bungalow

An Impulse

2011-10-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Too often in life we are confined to our "boxes" and "normal routine" and don't look around for the unexpected. We are told, "keep your head down and keep walking". And for what? The norm.

Isn't it funny how during our school age years we yearned to be "normal", to belong. Now as an adult the taste of "normal" in my mouth is bleak. I long for a break in my routine a blast of the unexpected, an impulse. Unfortunately with two working parents, young kids and the pace of life the impulses are infrequent. Sometimes I yearn for more out of my life.

As I age, my eyes have changed. Though my eyes haven't physically changed, (OK, they have changed some hence the reason I need bi-focals) my perception has changed.

I now notice the oddities. The things that don't "add up" in my daily routines.

On Sunday we enjoyed a slower Sunday afternoon strolling through a local apple orchard picking apples. And in the midst of all these loaded apples trees was a single white chair. Since the orchard we visited wasn't a heavily commercialized orchard it was even odder for us to be among this quiet orchard and then to see this random chair.

Though I walked by it a couple of times on the hunt for the best tasting heritage variety, it kept "haunting" me. What in the world was it doing here? To pick apples? Did someone need to rest while picking apples?

In the last minutes of our pick, I instinctively looked at the kids and said, "PHOTO SHOOT!" And in an impulse, I plopped the kids down and started shooting a series of shoots. No, they weren't professional, but it represented my kiddos in this "season" of their life. Keegan was mad, Fiona consoled him, Keegan was still mad...But in the last shoot (shown on top) I captured a moment in time...my kiddos.... Fiona with her toothless grin, Keegan with tear-streaked innocent cheeks. An impulse. A blast out of my "normal"...a random photo shoot in an abandoned apple orchard on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I need more random impulses in my life to help ease the normal, the routine. Like last night when I picked butternut squash in the pitch dark with my head lamp. (Seriously...don't ask.) I think these random impulses define us, not the norm. Whether planned or on "the fly" we all need something out of the ordinary in our lives, an impulse.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

Dreaming of Summer already...

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

I am Passionate About

2011-09-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

In the midst of everything we do in life it is easy to loose site of what makes up our core being. Our sparks, our passions...that make us who we are today. Though this list may not bring much meaning to you, it is a visual reminder of who I am and aspire to be. It has been a particularly long week and just writing these words gives me HOPE.

I am passionate about my family and the adventures that come with being a family unit. I am passionate about gardening and making my kids feel important by baking each of their birthday cakes. I am passionate about growing my own food. I am passionate about having urban chickens. I am passionate about making a difference in my job. I am passionate about blessing other families with gifts and hand-me downs. I am passionate about taking time to get to know people from all walks of life and share God's love. I am passionate about maintaining skills to restore, repair and make new life out of our home, furniture and furnishings. I am passionate about writing and desire to write my own book someday. I am passionate about genuinely smiling.

We all have passions. What motivates you? What are your passions? What brings you HOPE?

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

First Day of 2nd Grade...transferring to Maltby Elementary.
From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

On The Hunt: From Trash to Treasure

2011-09-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my daughter asked "when I'm I going to be old enough to have a dresser?" Old enough to have your own dresser? Hum. It really hadn't occurred to me that owning a dresser would bring a little girl the satisfaction of feeling older and established in the world.

For the past seven years of Fiona's life I have always hung her clothes in her closet and stuffed the other odd assortment of underwear, socks and pj's into baskets shoved under her bed. It had worked for awhile (OK seven years), but even I could see that Fiona was onto something. She was right. Fiona desired a dresser and desperately needed a make-over in her room.

Looking for a dresser proved to be interesting. At the mention to friends and family it seemed everyone had a dresser they weren't using that they were willing to give. (Thank you all so much.) But yet, each dresser didn't seem to fit her, my amazing daughter. I hunted Goodwill stores, on Craigs List, poked my head at garage sales but always came up empty handed.

I was on "a hunt". A serious hunt...one of those I know what I'm looking for, but not willing to pay what it is worth hunt. (OK, I gotta' be honest here.) Until...

As I was driving to the park one day with Grandma Bonnie and the kids, I spotted it. Seriously, could that beautiful dresser be sitting at the curb next to a random mismatch of furniture? (Well, beautiful in my eyes and it was the University District, so anything goes!) Was it just waiting on the curb for the trash? No way, I'm sure someone is just moving and waiting for the moving van. To make sure, I swung around and asked my mother-in-law if she had just seen that dresser. "What dresser?" she exclaimed as she knew I was on "the hunt". She too, thought it was odd and encouraged me to knock on the door of the house it was in front of.

In high heels and all, I burst out of my car and stormed up to the door. "Ah, excuse me sir? Is that dresser on the curb for free?"

Unbelievably it was FREE. Yes, it needed some minor repair and a lot of refinishing love. But, I could see purpose and a vision behind the old beauty. Best of all, my daughter was elated. As we pulled drawers apart and began stuffing it into the car (after I pulled the 50 lb bag of chicken feed while still in high heels) she couldn't stop telling the man, "This is going to be my dresser!".

After about six days of stain, varnish and sanding (all items we've had on hand from previous projects.) The hunt was over. As we placed the find into Fiona's room she exclaimed, "it was like the dresser was made for me, thank you mommy!" And it was...it looked amazing in her room.

I couldn't help but sigh a sigh of relief knowing I fulfilled a wish of my daughter's and that "the hunt" was over. It was a short sigh of relief of course when Keegan looked longingly at me and exclaimed, "Mommy, when are you going to get me a dresser?"

The hunt continues...

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

God's Economy

2011-09-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Shopping Saturday afternoon it truly hit me that our economy had gone astray. Why it finally took me Saturday to realize it, I am unsure? From pork to graham crackers to a can of corn, everything was nearly $.10-.80 higher then it had been three months ago. Maybe it was the combination of hearing another friend lose a job, acquaintances losing homes, or another small business throwing in the towel. Whatever it was...I left FEAR creep into my heart on Saturday.

God has always provided for me...clothes, food, water, shelter. I have never gone without. Sure, there are things I've "wanted" in my life that never came to fruition, but my basic needs have always been supplied. Sometimes marketing and social society get the best of us and skew our ideas of "wants" and "needs". We begin to live in today's economy instead of God's economy.

After my shopping experience I came home and chatted with Drew about the higher prices. He, too, was surprised but thankful I am a smart shopper and purchased only the items we needed. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that FEAR was creeping in. We've had always been smart with our money/blessings...saving where we can and buying only the necessities, making or growing our own things. However, Saturday I couldn't stop thinking that maybe it wouldn't be ENOUGH. Fear was turning into WORRY.

As I continued along my Saturday and Sunday I continued to worry about things around me...would our jobs change, would we have unexpected expenses like hospital or car bills, would the market crash. WORRY AND FEAR had settled into my heart. It wasn't until I harvested tomatoes Sunday evening that the FEAR and WORRY went away.

As I begin to pick tomatoes and pick tomatoes and pick tomatoes (get the picture here...), I begin to see that the small basket I had brought to the garden wasn't enough. Not only was it not enough, it was INFERIOR. God had provided an ABUNDANCE, an abundance so big my normal basket was not enough to carry the weight of the produce. Each fruit wasn't fair winning but instead represented a meal, substance to sustain our family through the long rainy months ahead. God had provided ENOUGH.

I can't control what the world is doing around me...inflation, markets crashing, friends loosing jobs. But, I can control the worry and fear in my life. Worry and fear are not necessary in God's economy. He takes care of every need. We need to learn to TRUST him...I was reminded in my garden.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important then food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Fishin' with Grandpa in Iowa...
From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Testing...one, two, three

2011-08-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Testing...one, two, three. Ahem. Now that I have your attention.

I have so many things to write and share, but I'm honestly at a loss today as to where to start. So instead I leave you this sweet picture of our kiddos while camping at Deception Pass in mid-July. I hope in the next few days to share you some of our adventures on the road back home to Iowa and some of the regular happening at the Little Blue Bungalow.

From inside the Little Blue Bungalow,
Katie Jean

Let the Adventures Begin...

2011-07-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

Road Trip to Iowa...I am certain the first two hours of the 30 hour car ride is going to be great. I'm just not positive on the rest of it. Pray for safe travels as we venture back to the Midwest.
From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Look what packages arrived today!
From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yippee! I can't contain my excitement...the last cedar shake. After some quick finishing touches with some trim work the painter's should be here next week. Hooray!
From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Divide and Conquer

2011-07-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our life is busy at The Little Blue Bungalow. It is not necessarily a pace I'd recommend for every family and sometimes it is downright messy, literally and figuratively. Between two full time jobs, kids in activities, building a garage, trying to grow and preserve much of our food, chasing chickens and taking in family adventures, we definitely have to lean on one another to push through to the next day. Our lives are FULL.

It is funny how life's lessons can be applied to everything...even marriage.

By now, most of you probably are reading the title of this post and wondering, "Huh?"...Divide and Conquer = Marriage? Yes, I definitely can say our marriage is all about dividing and conquering TOGETHER.

Because of this crazy pace Drew and I often lean on our strengths to complete the daily tasks. For example, I am excellent at budgeting so all the bills are my responsibility. Drew is amazing at packing in the every last dirty dish and has become the expert dish wash loader in the house. Drew is allergic to grass, trees and almost every living creature (well, almost) so the yard work falls to me. However, Drew is amazingly patient and talented at building and not to mention the best toy "untangler" you could image. (Well, if "untangler" is a word.)

Whatever the task we come up with a game plan and get to work...divide and conquer! Hence, the City Solve race is and has been one of our favorite "adventure" races. Two weekends ago we participated in Seattle's City Solve race. If you haven't heard about City Solve, it is worth a quick browse on the computer. It truly is a race where brain collides with brawn. Armed with wit, your cell phone, feet and mass transit teams solve clues around the city and prove they have completed a task or visited a check point by taking their picture. Trust me, it gets kinda' wild running all over the city, but worth the fun.

This year we relied on our skills as a couple and tackled the clues dividing the sheets when we received them. This alone was the key to our great success in which we shaved off 50 minutes off our first race. We still ended up getting lost in a park for 20 minutes, laughed it off and got an amazing workout up and down those stairs. (Seriously Freeway Park...you are crazy!!!) We also befriended many strangers (ahem...ok...I befriended) along the way asking for help. Drew was the expert navigator and mass transit user. Seriously, he knows his way around maps and navigating on this phone. Nothing like a little trust when Drew says, "OK, this way 10 blocks." I have no choice, but to trust and run even if it is up hill...both ways.

Though we didn't earn any amazing awards or qualify for nationals with a time of 2 hours and 47 minutes. (Close, in the early 30's for placement against 100 or so teams.) However, we did have fun and got some great quad work up and down the hills of Seattle. The race was a testament to our daily lives of dividing and conquering, because together we are unstoppable.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Weekend View

2011-07-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

My view this weekend...staring up at a garage, up and down on a ladder, cutting cedar shakes for my husband with the miter saw. Ah..ahem...I am a woman of many talents. I've even come up with a great title to my work on the garage "Material Specialist". Yeah, that's me...Material Specialist, one who hands their husband materials during projects.

Though it pays to have personal confidence with power tools and a skilled husband too.
I'm super proud of our entire family who has helped in making our project possible. Even the kids were "runners" on the ladder to deliver cut shakes to daddy. And Drew and I have gained a new appreciation for folks that side their entire house with cedar shakes. Seriously, to you we bow down.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean

Adaptive Gardening

2011-07-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Disappointed. I've been more than dismayed at how difficult it has been to get things going in the garden this year. Though we don't rely completely on our gardens to feed our family, we do reap the benefits of having healthy choices throughout the year and lowered grocery bills.

The Northwest had an exceptionally wet and cold spring almost into mid May which hindered my early plantings. Things I did plant in April literally rotted in the ground. Nothing new for me the last two years, but a hard act to follow when in years past I've been planting in March and reaping the goodness out of the ground in April.

Our goal this year was to really expand our vegetable beds and work with our climate more to maximize production. In April we ordered 3 yards of dirt and added an entirely new garden (approximately 18 feet by 20) behind the new garage. Yes, I realize not just a some pile of dirt, but an investment on our family's eating.

I knew I would be pushing this new garden's capacity as we hadn't "worked" the soil yet, but I had seeds in hand and it couldn't hurt right? Or could it? Though the soil appeared to be rich I've noticed in the months after that it clumped in my hands. This soil texture has caused few tender seeds to push through the hard soil or if they did survive they die days later. Where as my new garden should be bustling with tender greens and plants, it is surely lacking.

However, there are bright spots. My tomatoes (a Northwest variety) are doing quite well as well as my potatoes and squashes. I am excited about these "wins" but I know these items won't be ready until later in the season. My established garden of course is doing fantastic. I did have some minor set-backs with the green beans as they were some of the seeds that rotted in the ground. In addition, I finally had to replant the pumpkins in pots away from the garden as the chickens pushed the garden gate over four times and ate the pumpkin seeds. (Seriously girls!) My girls only have access to the gardens late October through February so naturally any chance they can sneak in they make their entrance.

But all in all, our original garden is going gang busters especially our strawberry patch. In
the past I've tried to contain or control the strawberries as I had limited garden space. This year I decided to let the strawberries take over an entire patch as I wasn't' worried about space. Over the past week we harvested over 2 baskets full of beautiful, fresh berries from the garden EACH DAY! A huge win in our family, but again we are missing our fresh greens.

Though I am disappointed, I will adapt. This weekend I plan on planting some new sections of greens (peas, lettuce, endive, spinach) into the established garden where the pumpkins should have gone. I will plant the pumpkins into the new garden after they sprout as vine type plants seem to be doing OK at this time in the new garden beds. This Fall I will start working the new garden by adding all of our compost in the months to come and turning the soil as often as I can with these added nutrients. In addition, I plan on bringing "the girls" (aka the urban chickens) to help. They have helped my other garden each year by scratching the soil, spreading nutrients (with their um hum waste), and mixing the compost with the soil.
Though it isn't my gardening dream this year, it is what it is. I learn things each year about gardening and I adapt and hope for the best next year. I still have time to salvage this year, I just have to work harder. Of course, my flowers in the front never seem to mind and always look amazing. I will simply have to stop and smell the roses from one of my 13 rose plants.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean