Happy 4th of July!

From the mountains....

To the prairies...
To the oceans white with foam...
(photo taken by my sister, Jacqueline)

God bless America. My home sweet home.

Happy Father's Day!

The Father's Day card Holly and Adam picked out. The Ten Commandments of Dad. I accidentally deleted the picture of the front of the card.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

If I had only consulted the calendar

I would have found that Mother's day isn't until next week! But 2 people told me that Mother's day was today so last night I stayed up and made a card for my mom. The only thing about this card I don't like is that I wrote Happy Mother's Day on the front. I don't like my handwriting, but I was having an awful time with my stamps last night and besides, I don't have one that says Happy Mother's Day. I would have had to use multiple stamps to print it and there wouldn't have been enough room.The most important thing is appreciating my wonderful mother, even if we are a week early! That means we can do it all again next week. :)

I love you, Mom!

Happy Easter

A day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Who gave his life as a ransom for ours. What a precious gift!

John 15:13 (New International Version)

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

We celebrated over at the Frey's house. It was nice to see them again as well as the Curtis family. I can't believe how much their kids have grown.

I did some baking for the occasion. I tried the Strawberry Sugar Bread recipe from My Messy Thrilling Life's blog. It was good. It tasted a little like a zucchini bread. I would make it again.

I got this idea from the same blog. Rice krispy treats on popsicle sticks made infinitely better by dipping in melted semi-sweet and white chocolate and pareils.
They were rather awkward to transport. They were drippy and sticky so I stuck them in the freezer hoping to harden the marshmellow and chocolate enough so they wouldn't fall apart or make a huge mess. It was fun, but I wouldn't recommend making everything the morning of whatever occasion you are taking them too. I cut it very close to making us late because they were more labor intensive than I thought they would be.

I hope everyone else had a happy Easter.

Happy Valentines day!

Yeah, it's March 1st. I know I'm late in posting these photos. That's okay with me though. :)

These are flowers from this weekend. The shower flowers. Aren't they gorgeous? They weren't for Valentine's day, but they look like they could be, so I'm going to leave them up and we can pretend they were for Valentines day.This is what I got from my dad. :) He says he isn't into Hallmark holidays, but I think he really is. Either that or he's into chocolate.
This is what he got my mom. Very pretty huh? It was good too. It's from a local chocolatier who apparently has a huge online store that is popular throughout the USA.

Happy (late) Valentines day (or Single's Awareness Day...whichever you prefer).

Looking back on 2008:

What a crazy year! It was so fast! I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on some of the major events of the year (cause I'm sentimental like that.).

Some of the highlights:

• Blogging. That's probably a funny one to start off with, but I really am thankful for this blog. I have 178 posts from last year to look back on and remember. I'm so glad that I can go back and read those posts and remember the little and large things that happened last year. So much changes in a year's time.
• Bringing in the 2008 with Cheryl and the Tyners and Beidlers and Josh. I begged and begged my parents to have a party and they agreed and I ended up SO tired that I felt like I was going to fall asleep the whole night. It was still a lot of fun. I'm glad we had a party.
  
• Tuesday night Bible studies. These came at a time when I really needed it. The importance of fellowship with believers can't be underestimated.
  
• Finding out that I am going to be an aunt. That is actually some of the most exciting news I've had ever. Life is so precious, and this new little life has me so excited that I can hardly contain myself.
• TEXAS! Need I say more? Maybe not, but I will! I love that state, and I love Cheryl! I had a great time down there.
• My new job with my old boss. :) It's nice to be back with Dr. H and Pam. Even though work really stresses me out sometimes.
  
• Visits with friends. Friends are truly one of God's greatest gifts! Each of my friends are a blessing and I love them and the time we get to spend together whether it's at a Bible study, sewing-get-together, movie night, annual Christmas shopping trip, holiday gathering, etc., it is always a precious thing to spend time with your friends.
• Going back to school. While I don't particularly like my school or enjoy my classes, I am glad I went back and that I finished the requirements for my 2 year degree. At least I got that much finished.
• Campus Crusade for Christ. It's been frustrating and discouraging at times, but I'm really glad that I get to be a part of this group. All in all it's been a real blessing.
• Sneak Peek. A free weekend in DC and an opportunity to meet new people. Fun fun fun!
• Cheryl's visit in October. Cheryl is one of my favorite people. Hands down.
• Phil Keaggy and Fernando Ortega concert. Those guys knocked my socks off. They were A*W*E*S*O*M*E!!!
  
• Thanksgiving with the Freys. I got to be a Frey for a day and it was fun!
• The price of gas dropping to below $2 per gallon!
  
• Christmas with my family. It was one of the nicest and most relaxing Christmases I've had in a long time. It was 'loverly.'
• RADIATE 08. 5 days in DC with Cru and bringing in the New Year with new friends met there. It was a good conference. The speakers were awesome. But that's for another blog post, which will come soon!

So those are some of the highlights of this past year. It was a good year. Here are some of the not-so-amazing things that happened, but were still pretty big:

• Getting laid off at my job. Layoffs really stink. I feel sorry for people who go through them.
• My sister's miscarriage. It affected us all. Not only were we really sad that their baby died, it is just really hard to see the ones you love in pain and grieving.
  
• Gas prices reaching $4 a gallon.
  
• My job at Dr. C's office. While this wasn't totally bad (I mean I got paid to be there and it was experience and a reference) it wasn't my favorite job.
• The election. Not only was this one of the nastiest elections I've seen so far, I was also disappointed with the outcome. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
• Seeing all our Weimaraners leave. I miss my little Hank. And Dancer. And even Jumper. Goodbye forever.
• I got my first cavity and filling. It was quite an experience. I feel like I can relate to the patients better now. It sounds weird, but aside from the shot (which really wasn't that bad) I kind of enjoyed it. It was a different experience. And I wouldn't let any other doctor except the one I work for give me a filling because so far she is the best doctor I have worked with, and I've worked with 5 dentists by now.
• Grandma getting sick and losing her vision.
• The move, which never happened. I'm not sure if I should put this under the 'great' category or 'not-so-great' category. It made life a lot more stressful which wasn't great. It is not going to happen anymore so now we have some idea of what's going on in our life which is 'great!'
  

You know, even during the difficult times that tried us and discouraged us, I can look back and say Jesus was with us during the whole thing. And I can say that Jesus loved us through the whole thing.

So that is my brief recap on 2008. Here's to the New Year and all the joys and trials and opportunities and obstacles that will come with it. Here is to family and friends and to a Savior who loves me and everyone else more than I can even fathom.

Now I'm off to take a bunch of vitamins and cold medications (I got sick from my week in DC) and I'm going to bed!
G'night!

Merry Christmas!

This was definitely one of the nicest Christmases I've had in a loooong time. I started off feeling very non-festive. I didn't really want to listen to the music or watch the traditional movies or do any of that stuff. And it pretty much lasted the whole 'season,' but in the end, it was still really wonderful.

I didn't stress about presents or anything. I made a bunch of homemade Christmas cards (most of which still haven't been sent out...whoops, not stressing about things can be counterproductive.) and cookies for co-workers and friends.


We drew names for each other in our family and only bought our person a gift. I would recommend this for anyone in a larger family who is on a budget. The lower stress (that is key here) and ability to spend more on one person and all was a lot more fun than trying to buy everyone something. The only problem with this system was that every time I went out I could never find stuff that my person (Matt) would like and always found tons of stuff that every other family member would have loved. But in the end I was able to find stuff for him and I even got it wrapped in time for the big day.
I got to meet up with Courteney to do some shopping on Tuesday. We bought Christmas earrings! Hers were Christmas lights that blinked. Mine had bells that jingled. They were totally gaudy and totally fun. And they were appropriate for Christmas. You gotta have some fun!

We spent a few hours on Christmas at Harper's Ferry. You know, my happy place. :)




I pointed the camera their way and Adam said, " on 3, we'll make funny faces! 1...2...3!" and he made this goofy face and Holly just smiled normally.
Dad asked me to take this picture of him and Solomon. This reminds me of the pictures of couples in front of some grand scenery hugging or kissing...only it's Dad and the dog. It made me laugh. So very dramatic these two.

And they can be thoughtful sometimes.She's just so cute. She wasn't ready for me to snap the picture and Adam distracted her and she started laughing. I like candid shots.

All in all, it was a lovely day. We came home and had Christmas dinner (indian curry, we balk at tradition!) and watched the end of The Christmas Story and a Dogs 101 marathon (they had an episode about Newfoundlands but it came on late so we watched all the episodes leading up to it while we were waiting.) and I fell asleep. I also watched a (slightly creepy) version of the Nutcracker and it made me sad because I miss dancing so much! And I miss being skinny so much! I'm not going to think about it. :) Maybe someday I'll get into some dance class again and it will be so much fun!

I made a new bag on Christmas Eve, but I didn't take any pictures of it. So I'll do that sometime and post about it! Until then, this will probably be my last post of the year because on Sunday I'm leaving for DC. I'm going to RADIATE! Wish me luck. Have a great New Years!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Happy Halloween~

The baristas at our local coffee shop. They're a fun group...as I'm sure you can see!

Happy Labor Day~

I had a perfectly LOVERLY day. Truly. I can't remember the last time I had a day so lovely. It started out with breakfast at Becca's with friends and my sister. I brought fruit, Jacqueline brought the bacon and Becca made the waffles (and chocolate cake...). Becca and her roommate Denise set the table outside on the screened porch and it was very beautiful. And the weather...was absolutely gorgeous. All in all, I enjoyed every minute of my visit there. Thanks girls for sharing in such a beautiful morning. I wish I could capture the weather and company and the friendship on camera, but some things can't be frozen in time like that. I wish I could bottle it up and share it out...but that's not possible either. I wish I could describe exactly what the day meant to me...but honestly, that's not possible either. I am not good with words like that.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we didn't just eat. We worked too. Kind of. Becca helped me make the body for a dress form! We have been meaning to do that for awhile and I am so happy that mine is finished. I have so many ideas for things to put on it and now I can use it to help with my projects.I am giving you all a rare glimpse of my true self: the frumpy and silly side of me. Actually, it's probably the side you always see. Oh well.It was a very awkward experience. A word of advice to anyone who may be considering making their own dress form, do not suck in your stomach just to make yourself feel better about your figure. You may feel better about it for awhile, but when you can't breathe anymore because there is no more room to inhale, you won't feel so good. Not that I did this of course...sort of. You can always say that it is the several layers of tape that makes your dress form look bigger. Really.This is the finished...well almost finished (it still needs to be stuffed and mounted...I think I may cover it with fabric too.)...product! Now I need to figure out a name for it. Some of the names I have seen people come up with on their blogs are Maude and Myrtle. I don't want to copy their names, but I think the name should have that same ugly feel to it. I don't mean ugly in a bad way. Just in a dress form way. So what do you guys think? Any suggestions for names would be welcome. I was thinking Hazel or Midge, but I need some ideas.

The rest of my day was great too. I didn't take any pictures though. I had my camera with me, but I just didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of everything/everyone. We (my family) went to a potluck cookout at some friends' house. We were part of a homeschool coop with this family and some of the other families that were there before we moved and fell off the face of the earth. I always enjoy visiting with these folks. They are just sweet people who love the Lord. I wish we saw them more often. The last time I was there was before Christmas. Every year before Christmas they hold another potluck get together where several families gather and fellowship and afterwards go out and sit around the (huge) campfire that the Dads build. Last year they went all pyromaniac on us, which was a little nerve wracking, but fun all the same. Then they make smores and sing Christmas carols. It's pretty much my favorite Christmas party ever. And the funny thing is, there is no one there that is my age. It's all adults, a bunch of teenage boys (and a couple of teenage girls, they are outnumbered), and little kids. I just love getting to see everyone. We usually meet a new family or two every time we go there. The Browns are very hospitable people. I want to be hospitable like them someday when I 'grow up.'

Anyway, tonight was a great time like it always is. The kids have grown so much. They make me feel really short. I can't say enough about how great the weather has been. I think it's part of the reason today was so great. Another highlight was stopping in to see my first bosses while we were on our way to the Brown's house. We stopped there to look at some stones they were trying to get rid of. Dad was thinking about using them in his landscaping, but they weren't what he needed. Again, they looked great. The kids have grown like crazy. Remind me to never move away and fall of the face of the earth again. You miss out on a lot. Anyway, the only not-so-great thing about today has been my neck. It is SO achy it actually hurts to swallow. We got home and mom felt it and it is very knotted up. I thought the chiropractor messed me up. Maybe he has. But I am pretty sure this has more to do with muscle than my spine. Having chronic neck pain is no fun. Avoid it if you can! Right now I stink like Biofreeze because I am covered in it and I am taking ibuprofen every 4 hours. I hate taking medicine like that, but I have some major inflammation in my neck and shoulders that I can't deal with. Hopefully this will fix the problem. If not I may have to go back to the chiropractor.

I hope everyone else had a great Labor Day too. I have the rest of the week off, but I have a lot of homework to do so I'll probably be doing that a lot this week. I'd like to stuff my dress form too and get that all set up. We will see what I can get accomplished.

Day 3 of Texas~ Friday (Happy 4th of July!)

We tried to be out the door early on Friday morning to beat the heat. Actually, the weather wasn't too awful. It does get humid there, but I'm convinced that it gets more humid here. We reached the River Center around 9:30 am and the mall didn't open till 10 am so we walked over to the Alamo first. The Alamo is right in the middle of downtown San Antonio and is surrounded by sky scrapers. It makes it look like a small place. It's beautiful though. They make sure it stays green and pretty during the summer. I wish I had a picture of the actual walkway. This is a view looking out of the walkway at one of the buildings.Here is the front of the Alamo. They had some re-enactors there in booths and tents and they would talk to the visitors. In one of the courtyards a speaker was giving the history of the battle of the Alamo.
Here is a view of the back of the Alamo. We saw several trees that grew out of the ground sideways. I don't think I've seen that here on the east coast. The parts of San Antonio that I got to see (aka the Alamo and Riverwalk/River Center Mall) have a very definite Spanish/Mexican flavor the the architecture, etc. It is so different from what I'm used to. I loved it. And most of the houses are shaped differently because they are built to withstand the heat more than our houses are. Most of the trees are shorter too. It's very pretty though. I think if they had more rain it would be really beautiful.

Look Mom, we're getting along. :) Cheryl kindly took a picture of us at the Alamo for me. :)
On the stairway to the River Walk. You have to go down stairs from the street to get to the River. All of the plants along the river are very green too. Some of the plants looked kind of tropical almost.

This was our tour guide. I forget his name. You can take a little boat ride along the river and the guide talks about the different sights you will see. I'm pretty sure one of the requirements for this job is to have a talent for stand-up comedy, because he was really funny! He had someone else who worked there meet him when we passed under a bridge to hand him his breakfast in a paper bag. Then he tried to pass him the money for his breakfast but he dropped it in the river. Oops! I guess he'd have to pay him back later. :)

This is what I meant about the plants looking almost tropical here and how the architecture looks like it is Spanish-inspired. When you are on the river tour you see lots of bridges and stairways and things like that. A lot of them curve around and aren't just straight up and down, and some of them are made of stone while others (like this one) are not entirely made of stone.

Here is one of the sights he pointed out to us. When you pass it a certain way it looks kind of like a free-standing wall with windows. It's really kind of triangular shaped.
Some of the boats that passed us. I didn't get a picture of our boat. There were all kinds of restaurants and buildings along the river. Even an old hospital that Carol Burnett and Kenneth Star (and some other people I don't remember) were born in or sick in. I don't remember if it still functions as a hospital or not. There are also hotels and apartments and offices along the river. You can live in the apartments if you are wealthy. :)
Here is one of the bridges I was talking about earlier.
Cheryl got her picture taken on one of them. I think there were 2 of them. Or maybe I just saw the same one more than once.
There was even a craft fair going on. Cheryl and Adam would not let me stop to look around. :(

The meanie moes! Just joking. :)

There were lots of Texas stores in the malls in Texas. You go into most stores and you can find all kinds of stuff with Texas logos on them. In fact, just travel around Austin and you'll see more Lonestars, Longhorns, and Texas state shapes than you ever wanted to see. :) We got our picture taken in front of one of the Texas stores.I snapped this picture on our way out of the River Center before we got back in the car. The red statue is called the Friendship Statue (Cheryl, correct me if I am getting this wrong) and it was a gift from Mexico. I can't remember the name of the building behind it. You can see the tops of these from the Riverwalk, but you can get a better view from the street.

Adam and Cheryl getting their picture together in the River Walk Mall.

San Antonio is a beautiful city. It is also a very large city. I am sure I would get lost a million times before I became comfortable there and then I'd still probably get lost afterwards. It is a fun place to visit. It is one of the most popular places in Texas to visit, I believe. If you ever get a chance to go see the Alamo and River Center, I would recommend that you go. It is a really pretty place.

We went back to Austin that evening and watched some fireworks from the Barton Creek Mall. It was a nice show. :) We were so tired! But it was a busy, fun day. :)

Welcome Springtime!

Now what says love more than a chocolate heart nest full of chocolate eggs? Ha ha. Now, in all seriousness, it was fun getting together with friends over break and putting together these chocolate nests with eggs (I got the idea from some of these wonderful blogs I read all the time) but the way people celebrate Easter is even worse than the way we celebrate Christmas. It's not about the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he had been crucified and died three days earlier. It's about bunnies and eggs and baskets...and I bought into it too. I got my family members chocolate bunnies.


Today we went over to my sister's house for church. My family is part of a home church. We meet with my sister and her husband and another family. Occasionally another family from the church we all used to go to will come too, but only so often. I really like it. I'm part of the other Bible study on Tuesdays too, but this one is more like family. Anyway, today we listened to a message by John MacArthur on the resurrection and it was really good. He covered a verse that I hadn't remembered:
John 20:21
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

What a commission! We are ambassadors! Do we live like we are representing the risen Lord? The only begotten Son of God? I don't. Not as much as I should. Honestly, it isn't always the first thing on my mind. But I want it to be.

Reading from the four gospels, it is amazing to see the different reactions from people in the Bible towards the resurrection. No one understood (even though Jesus explained several times that he must be sacrificed and raised again on the third day) that Jesus had to die. Even those who lived with him for 3.5 years and were taught by him all that time didn't understand what would take place.

Luke 24:45-47
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He (Jesus) told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

I think the most beautiful "Easter" celebration I ever saw and participated in was a Sedar (sp?) meal that was put on at my old church. A group of people from a Messianic Jewish church came and explained the Jewish way of celebrating the Passover and how it illustrates the way Jesus came a died for us. They even did Jewish dances and got a bunch of people to get up and do it with them, which was really fun. I love dancing. :) It was just a very interactive and focused way to celebrate the holiday. I'm not Jewish, but I would love to participate in another Sedar meal celebration if I had the opportunity. Especially with people who acknowledge Jesus as the only begotten, risen Son of God. It really was neat.

(My sister, me my friend Courteney)

So in answer to my question, what says love more than a chocolate heart nest filled with eggs? How about a God that loved us so much that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Some food for thought. But to finish up my day, it was nice. Quiet, but nice. Especially since my week was rather crazy. I'm not sure what was wrong with me this week, but I was being really...dumb? Yeah, that's it. On Thursday we had a surprise baby shower for a lady at work and I was sent out to pick up some balloons at a local florists. I got them and brought them safely back to the office, but locked them and my gift for the shower in the car with my keys and my dad had to come with the extra key so I could get in. I was so flustered that when I went out to meet him at the car he had already unlocked it and had my keys in his hand. He handed me the keys and I unlocked the car door and began to look for my keys before I realized he had actually already handed them to me.
And after that I kept confusing my words and forgetting what I was doing and messing up on things I haven't messed up on for a long time. I told my parents on Friday that my sister and her husband were planning to go to the Palm Friday service at church (I meant Good Friday, but confused it with Palm Sunday).
The funniest thing though is that on Friday night I stayed up late with my younger sister, Holly and we were watching a movie and around 12 pm a police officer rang the doorbell (scared me to death...I thought maybe some weirdo was creeping around outside or something). He said he was looking for a 223. Keep in mind that my mind was not working well and I thought he meant some sort of police code. I was like, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't know of a 223." He was actually looking for an address. We live out in the country and not everyone has road signs and numbers on their houses. They get knocked down and no one replaces them. Not a good system. I guess he saw our light on and figured we were awake so he stopped to ask us. After he left Holly explained to me that he was looking for an address and not speaking in code. She's so smart. And funny. She told me, "A man in blue is a friend to you!" What would I do without her? I should have let her handle it, but she's 6 years younger than me and my parents were asleep, so I figured I should get the door. I'm usually not this out of it. I really hope I do better this week. My mom told me to take more fish oil.

I better go to bed. Back to work tomorrow.