we were kinda dramatic….

Jill got over our plays as a kid unless they were just dance showcases. (our poor parents watched and recorded all of them) BUT Jill didn’t forget how to turn things into sweet head pieces… introducing, my pirate nephew, Tucker.

If you try to kiss a pirate, he will bite your face.

Jill took us on a hike we had to walk up a ski slope for, it was beautiful.

For some reason I wanted to take ugly pictures of the lake that was drained, probably because everyone was just gushing over how pretty it would be, then this is kinda what stuck out for me… the missing water.







Overall, the hike was FABULOUS!

Just for sticking through this whole post, here is a baby giraffe.

…. and their little dog too.

I went to college with Jaime, she is one of my dearest girlfriends. She has a great husband, Mike, who I liked the day I met him… the day before their wedding. (phew! jk)

I love Jaime, she is a beautiful friend.

Iris is 2.5yrs old and Tucker is 5 months old. I get to watch Tucker while my sister works, while I’m home. I just love these babies, they make me so happy!

The heritage is amazing and the barn itself is beautiful, and that’s all I have to say.

Cori grew up on a beautiful, huge farm in Northern Idaho. This is a beautiful family who opened their home to me, fed me, let me crash a family wedding and shared their life with me. For anyone who has had the opportunity to visit and didn’t, You Missed Out!! Visiting the Wittmans is like visiting a slice of heaven, it’s a oasis from the crazy world I know.

Cori and I met in DC, in a bible study that I feel saved me from a lot of loneliness and brought accountability into my life. Anyone going through a tough time needs a Cori! She is a ball of joy, a great listener and a shining example of living in obedience to our callings. I’m not exaggerating when I say Cori is full of compassion, she is a peaceful and ENCOURAGING woman!  She has a work ethic only a Wittman could have and I’m blessed beyond measure I can count her as a friend.

When Cori left home, she followed her parents footsteps and started her professional life in DC. She was incredibly successful there. Then she gave it up to answer a calling to move to Thailand. Random? I think so.

Cori’s going to be working with ‘The Well’, an organization that helps women get out of the sex industry. Go check out her blog, she’ll tell you all about it! http://coriwittman.com/

So while I was in Ohio visiting Cori, we drove up to Coeur d’Alene, where Cori’s sister Marci lives, to celebrate Cori’s birthday. Marci and her husband Jason have a sail boat which I think should be called the fun ship. We spent the morning at Art on the green before getting on the boat.

The saddest/most hilarious thing happened, in an effort to secure the beautiful cake Marci made, she set it on the floor while the winds picked up…. In what turned out to be the funniest part of the trip, the huge 5 gallon water jug flew off the ledge it was on and landed right on top of the cake! It was decided that we were traveling faster than the speed of cake. After laughing for about a year, we scraped up the cake and ate it! It’s how we do.

Fun facts you may not know about Cori…
-Cori just finished grad school and has officially NEVER received a B in her life. Straight As people!
-Cori plays the piano awesomely (and guitar) and can sing while doing it.
-Cori worked on the family farm while growing up and knows how to drive tractors and combines that are bigger than my house – fact.
-Cori broke her tailbone when she was 5 by falling off a latter in the barn. She said 5 was a rough year.
-Cori is a “real” cowgirl and therefore was too legit to compete in rodeos (that’s hard core and funny)
-Cori still wears her ropers (boots) from when she was in jr. high, when her parents bought them a size too big… they are STILL a size too big.
-Cori has her own horse!
-Cori can dump on the go, which has nothing to do with pooping… ask her about it.
-Cori didn’t learn how to use a gas station gas pump until she went to college.
-Cori calls her cousins her “little cousins” even though they are at least a foot taller than her.
-Cori admitted she was afraid to come say hi to me at an Indigo Girls concert before we really knew each other for fear I would think her sister was her girlfriend.
-She has a six pack, I saw it.

I love Cori Wittman, I’m so excited for her move to Thailand next week. She is an inspiration and we will ALL miss her. I probably have 3 blog posts worth of photos from her house, so you are going to get to love her too!

I want a car like this!

It was an amazing trip to see Marci and Jason, they are cool people.  The best send off though was coffee over a song Marci wrote about her friend’s chickens who were killed by a dog. Amazing and sweet of her.
Marci, if you read this, thank you so much for taking us in and being so fun!