The Austin Blog

Okay, okay! Here is the Austin Blog everyone (Cliff) wants to read!

As you probably read from the wedding blog, I was very tired and stressed from work. I had no idea how a vacation could change my mindset so much! This is probably my first real vacation since I've been out of school. It wasn't at family's house or on the way to family. It was just vacation, with our favorite couple, Cliff and Teresa!

After the wedding, Jon and I got home, dropped our bags on the floor, and crashed. The next day we got up to lead the weekly worship service at a rehab center here, then we dropped off the tux, and headed to Austin! We met up with Cliff and Teresa in Waco, and drove to Bee Cave, a very nice suburb of Austin. We stayed in a beautiful home, the home of Cliff's dad, Tim. Tim and his wife Laura had stocked the pantry for us, and we had no expenses but a couple of meals out! It was great!

We slept late, worked on a crossword puzzle (yes, one crossword the entire time), read, watched movies, and then did touristy stuff like going to the LBJ library and the state capitol. Thanks, guys, for going to those! I wasn't as impressed with the LBJ library as I was with the Bush library. I would highly recommend the Bush library to anyone heading to College Station. The capitol is always fun to see, and it was fun to freak Jon out when I wanted to take a picture over the balcony of the floor.

It seems I took lots of pictures of the house. First, it was a gorgeous house, and I wanted my mom to see every detail, because she would appreciate it. Second, I kept forgetting what pictures I had already taken, so there are lots of duplicates. Sorry about that.

The whole vacation was perfect. The house where we stayed was better than any 5 star hotel, the food we ate was great, and our only real expense (when we went out to eat), and we got to kick back and have fun with Cliff and Teresa, whom we don't get to see as often as we'd like. I came home completely relaxed and no longer unreasonably consumed with work. My life kind of evened out over those few days, and I came home much happier, which I'm sure Jon appreciated. :) I would recommend that everyone go on vacation. :)

Here is the link to my Family and Friends page. If you have bookmarked it before, I've changed the link a little, so you might need to re-bookmark it. It has pics of our Austin trip, birthday pics (we celebrated that the weekend after), and wedding pics. I've had some trouble getting all the captions to work, but I hope I've got it all figured out now.

In other news, since it's been forever since I posted, here's an update on Friday:
He got really sick last week, with a very high fever and generally not feeling well. It turns out that because of his heart murmur, he had several small blood clots, which caused the inflammation which caused the fever. He is now feeling much better, and will be getting Aspirin for the rest of his life as a blood thinner, just like for people who are susceptible to clotting. He's still a wild and crazy kitten, but is starting to mellow out into an adult cat a little. But only a little.

This was my view from my window one day:
Yep. A squirrel found the bird feeders, and he was pretty determined to get some yummy sunflower seed. I missed the shot with his back feet on the pole and his front feet on the feeder. He fell too quickly for me to get it. Acrobatic though he may be, he never got any seeds.

And this is what my husband brought home last weekend!
Jon won Best Composition at the Warhammer tournament he and Dave went to this past weekend. Best Composition means Jon had the best painted, best looking army. He got a unanimous vote! And no, I did not paint it all. Warhammer is Jon's hobby, and he does a great job with all that stuff. I like painting the army men with him, but it's his thing, and he's really good at it.

I've made some changes in the sidebar. Now that Dave and Karen are married, they've combined blogs. Cliff and Teresa have also combined blogs. And as I said before, I've changed the link to my Family and Friends page slightly.

That's all for now! Hopefully my next blog will no be so long in coming. It just took awhile to get all the photos up and captioned.

A new sister, fondue, and dancing with abandon

I am writing at the end of a long day--a long three days, in fact. Dave and Karen are now officially married! It was an absolutely perfect day, today, and I wanted to write my thoughts about it before I went to bed and forgot anything important.

The "event" began Thursday night with a bachelorette party for Karen. I had experienced an awful week, was trying to get things finished for work (so I could go on vacation this upcoming week) and also get ready for the wedding. By Thursday evening I was very physically and emotionally tired, with stress of work weighing on my shoulders.

We went to Simply Fondue. I've decided that fondue is wonderful--but only for the dessert course. In an instant-gratification world, I'm surprised a place like that has even made it. In an hour's time, I probably managed to cook 6 bite-sized pieces of meat, 2 slices of vegetable, and two stuffed jalapenos. Surprisingly, it filled me up! But I still say that the chocolate fondue is really what it's all about. No waiting for anything to cook, and options like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and Tirimisu!

There were 11 people at Simply Fondue--mostly sorority girlfriends of Karen's from college. I am a person who has very few good friends, and meeting so many (and trying to remember their names!) was very trying for me. I felt very overwhelmed and inadequate. By the time we made it to bed (at 2 in the a.m.), I was grateful for the rest.

The next morning began with a brunch with all the girls from the previous night, plus several more girls, plus all the women in the family! It was another overwhelming time for me. All the girls were wonderful, but I felt very out of place. Not because of anything they did; I was still stressed about work, and out of my comfort zone with so many new people.

After the brunch, I helped Walter and Mary decorate for the rehearsal dinner. It took awhile to get the sound to work on the slideshow I had put together of Dave and Karen. I was so excited about the slideshow, and very nervous it wouldn't work! I left for the hotel dead tired. My head was in a fog, and all I could think about was getting some sleep. I had to e-mail some things to work first, and couldn't get the internet connection to work. I could have cried at that moment. Walter let me borrow his computer and get done what I needed to, and I stumbled to my room and flopped on the bed to take advantage of the little time I had left before the rehearsal. Then Jon knocked on the door. He had class that morning, and just made it into town. I set aside my hopes for a short nap, and it turned out I needed Jon more than I needed sleep. He listened to me express my stress, and he made me feel wonderful and capable. We went to the rehearsal together, and just having him there made me feel much more confident around those girls that I did not know. No longer was I the odd girl out. My husband was standing right over there, and I could look to him for support any time I needed it! There was someone there who loved me and accepted me, and I didn't need to worry about anyone else!

The rehearsal was fun, as they always are. Everyone moved to the dinner, my slideshow went off without a hitch (and people really seemed to enjoy it!), and then came the speeches. The speeches were filled with memories and tears, and they were wonderful. Mary spoke about how adding Karen to the family was like having another child. The others would be no less loved, and it would be impossible not to love the new addition just as much. I have been a Norvell long enough now that I cried through the speeches. The rehearsal dinner was perfect: a wonderful mix of fun, laughter, meaningful moments, and tears. I got to know Karen's siblings, Mike, his wife Rachel, and Sarah. They are all very neat people, and seem to be more "small group of friends" people like me, so we got along very well. I also found out I have a shy blog audience (ahem, Vendsels!) who need to now make themselves known in the comments! No fair reading and not commenting! And I'll try to do the same for you!

At the end of the evening, Jon left for the bachelor party, and I went back to the hotel for a wonderful 10 hours of sleep. The next morning I woke up not thinking at all about work, much refreshed and ready for a full day. And a full day it would be.

Bridesmaid plans started at 11 o'clock. Karen was the perfect bride: very easy going and willing to delegate. We all got ready with plenty of time to spare! The photos were fun, and all taken before the wedding, which I think is a fabulous idea. I felt much more like myself, not like the little recluse I had been the past two days. The wedding began at 5 o'clock, and it was beautiful. Karen looked gorgeous, Dave was in tears most of the time, and every song had meaning beyond the marriage of two people. Dave and Karen left in a white horse-drawn carriage to go to the reception location a few blocks away. We all met them there to enjoy barbecue, cake and dancing.

I love weddings with dances. I don't have any other opportunity to dance, and I enjoy it. I think lots of people who enjoy music feel the need to dance. I always thought that since I have no idea how to dance, I would like conducting, because I could still move with and respond to the music. However, I am not a conductor. So, despite my lack of knowledge, I dance. Normally at weddings, Jon and I dance a few songs, then we let others do all the funny stuff and look ridiculous. But tonight, in honor of Dave, we decided to make the most of every dancing opportunity. Jon was my first inspiration to enjoy every dance and not worry if I knew what I was doing or not. Little Sarah was my second. She was the flower girl, and at 7 years of age has no inhibitions or worries about how she looks. She twirled and jumped, clapped and rolled on the floor, and she loved it. It reminded me of the story my parents tell of me with the Junkanu dancers in the Bahamas when I was a little girl, and got to dance on stage in front of everyone.

So I decided that tonight I would dance with abandon. Who cared if I had no idea what the song was, or how to dance to it? Who cared if I was only one of two on the dance floor? Who cared if all I could do was jump and twirl? If I was at a loss of what to do, I looked to Little Sarah and followed her lead. We jumped and twirled together, and it was great. I had the most fun I've ever had on the dance floor. Sarah Vendsel (I would call her Big Sarah, but she is by no means big) was my lone dance partner at one time, and she wore me out! I could not keep up with her!

Sarah, along with her brother and sister-in-law, are very neat people, and I hope that somehow we are family now, because I would love to call them brother and sisters. I think I'll call them that, anyway.

And I can officially call Karen my sister, and I'm so blessed! I'm telling you, I love my brother, and am glad I had a brother growing up, but I sure like having sisters now that I'm grown up. They're so fun to talk to and do stuff with. And I just like the idea of adding to our family. I love my family (and feel very much a part of the Norvell family) and love being able to be a part of inviting someone new into it. I hope Karen feels as at home in the Norvell family as I have.

I have now officially used up the 10 hours of sleep I had last night, so it's time to head for bed. I promise to put up any pictures I took onto my website soon. Well, maybe after vacation. Good night, and blessings on Dave and Karen as they start out on this most wonderful adventure.

Morning Musings

The mockingbird has decided to grace us with his presence the past two mornings. I like him because it's like having dozens of different songbirds. It's nice to hear him in the mornings. But he just likes to sing; he doesn't eat anything from the feeder. And the he leaves mid-morning. I hope he comes back tomorrow.

Every fall there is a Hot Pepper Festival in my hometown of Palestine. Last year my parents complained that all the salsas in the salsa contest were pretty boring, and nothing as good as what we make at home. That has inspired me to try to improve on the recipe we have, and enter into this fall's contest! Leanna and I, two salsa officianados, will be getting together this summer for a salsa fest of our own, seeing what we can come up with in the kitchen. If anyone has any suggestions, post them here and we'll include them in our salsa experiments this summer. :) And if you just know what you like in salsa (taste, texture, temperature, etc.), let us know here so we can keep those in mind as well.

The parking meter

I got to use a parking meter on Friday! I had never used one before! I had to park near the courthouse for something for work. I drove around and around trying to find a place I could park without a parking meter, because I didn't have any change. I couldn't find a place, so I pulled into a spot and rummaged through the truck for any change I could find. I found a nickel and a dime. I thought it would only take quarters, but it turns out I earned myself 9 minutes of parking time with my 15 cents! Of course, I took much longer than 9 minutes, but I felt better knowing I contributed my part to the government....and didn't get caught when I shortchanged them.

Hooray for new experiences!

How do we recognize pain?

I consider myself a pretty transparent person. I'll be open about my faults, and most people know that I am not a neat, organized person and that I realize I will never be a perfect wife who makes beautiful casseroles. People know funny things about my cat, and if I've had a good conversation with you, you'll probably know what I'm struggling with at the moment, or what wonderful thing has happened. However, with all that transparency, would anyone ever guess I was an insecure person? Probably not. Or maybe the truly astute would realize that my verbosity about my life is a way to fill the void of silence.

The reality is that everyone hides things about his or her life. And maybe "hides" is not necessarily the right word. I think most people wish others knew the secret things about them; they just don't know how to express it, or they dream of a friend who will see them so clearly that all is understood without a word being spoken.

At the moment I am thinking about people who hide pain. So I suppose I'm thinking about everyone. We all push the pain we feel way down inside so no one knows about it. Sure, there are those who tell you every ailment that's befallen them, but that's not their real pain. The real pain might be loneliness, fear that their husband is cheating on them, or that life just feels like it's falling apart.

The world is painful, and everyone in it is in pain. Yet we've created an environment (a "Christian" environment, mind you) very hostile to pain, especially the pain of other people. To hold in pain means stress, sickness, and emotional suicide. To let it out means, sadly, much the same. How do we react when someone comes to us with a pain in their life? If not outwardly, inwardly we cringe.

"This is not what I need in my life right now! I don't want this complication of dealing with someone else's problems!"

Don't we think that? Admit it. You're selfish, and so am I, and we've made ourselves too busy to deal with our own problems, much less the problems of others. What a testimony to the love and sacrifice of Christ. Ugh. Sometimes I think of the depravity of man--of myself--and I want to puke.

So what should we do? It's true that "bearing one another's burdens" is a complicated issue. How do we know that people are in pain in the first place? Well, it's kind of like evangelizing; we dream of the day someone walks up to us and says, "You're different. How can I get what you have?", we explain the Roman Road (and remember all the verses) and that person accepts Christ on the spot. But that doesn't happen very often. And in the same way, people won't approach you about their pain. It must be proactive on your part. Truly listen to others with prayer and petition, that your heart could be open to hear their cries.

Realize that I haven't said, "Go out and get the dirt on all your friends." The point is not to be in the know, but to help someone fall on Christ. Be aware of your motives as you seek to help someone. Recognize also when God has laid a specific person on your heart. "Pray without ceasing" when walking the road of a comforter. After all, it's not you who is comforting, but Christ our Comfort ministering through you.

When you realize someone is in pain, how do you deal with it? Amazingly enough, all is not solved with a chicken casserole and apple pie (or more likely in my case, a sack of Taco Bell). Sometimes a meal is exactly what someone needs, and sometimes it isn't. There's not a hard and fast rule about how to deal with someone's pain. As a matter of fact, I'd be surprised if there were even two situations that could be dealt with in the same way. Every situation is different. But each can be approached the same way--with humility and grace. You have your own problems and mistakes, you won't be able to help others without the miracle of Christ working in you, and forgiveness is for everyone, not just for the ones with little sins.

One temptation is to pull out too quickly. Drop your casserole at the stoop and run. A note in the mail, a chat over coffee and then it's done. That's like taking a Tylenol for cancer. Healing is a process, and if you've been called by God to help a person through the healing process, then you're in it for the long haul. You are committed. When it gets tough is when you really know that it's not your strength that heals, but God's.

Of course, there are complications. We look to God's Word to learn how to deal with the unrepentant brother, etc, etc. But sometimes I think we use that as an excuse to give up too quickly. In my current experience with weight training, I have to rate how hard I push myself with every set of weights I do. I know from how I rate myself that I think I work a lot harder than I do. I think, "Whoo, ten pounds! That was a killer!" and then I watch others push and push until they can't push any more.

I want to be like that. I want to have that drive as a Christian. I want to push and push until the day I die. I want to be spent of myself so that there's nothing left but Christ, my Fulfillment. I want to sacrifice until it hurts, because there is no other kind of sacrifice. And if that means doing things out of my comfort zone, or sticking with a friend way after it got tough, then that's what I want to do.

Pain is not a personal problem. The pain of a fellow Christian is a call to heal the wounded. The pain of a non-believer is a call to save the dying.

This is our call. Are we listening?

Happy Birthday Jon!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband! I hope you have a wonderful day, and an even better year, filled with good things and great surprises. I love you!

Happy February!

Well, I don't have much to say, but I thought it's been awhile since I posted, so here's a new post.

I've been sickeningly busy for work. I have two big projects going on. One is my own project, and one is my boss's. Needless to say, my project needs to be ready by Friday, and it hasn't been touched in almost two weeks. So that'll be a fun Thursday night getting that ready. I thought I finished the all-nighters when I graduated!

I've been to several fun places lately, all because of my wonderful husband. We went swing dancing with some people from church, and then Jon was able to get me tickets to Broadway on Ice at the Bass Hall. Then last night, Jon took me bowling! Our combined score was...well, together we didn't break 200, but we came close. It turns out I've forgotten everything I learned in bowling class.

Target has had its swimsuit racks out for at least two weeks, probably longer. I saw them a couple weeks ago. At first I thought they were still leftovers from last summer. I thought, "Great! I bet now is the time I could find a $2 swimsuit!" But no, I was appalled to find out that these were the new season of swimsuits. Are you kidding?? It's January!! I mean, we've all just managed to add the proper amount of winter padding around our waists, and we don't need to be reminded of bikini season, thank you!

Speaking of (winter padding, not bikini season), Jon and I have been working really hard to eat better and work out. I've really enjoyed working out with Jon; it's given us some time together that we haven't had before. And it's fun, in a my-legs-feel-like-Jello-my-arms-are-limp-noodles kind of way. I don't think I'll ever have a six-pack, but I'll settle for movie-star arms. You know, the really nice muscley toned arms that every movie star has. That would be nice.

Eating better has turned out to be an ordeal. What a lot of pots and pans! And for every meal! There need to be disposable pots like there are paper plates. No washing required. Just dump in the trash and open up a new one. Okay, so the world doesn't need more disposable items, but still, it would be handy.

In regards to world matters, I want to encourage you all to buy bikes and get really used to riding them, for when the world runs out of oil and scientists are stuck with their shoulders shrugged when it turns out they haven't come up with a replacement fuel source in time. I wonder if it could really happen. I mean, we all secretly don't think it could, otherwise we would start being more energy efficient. But then again, scientists were supposed to get us flying cars by year 2000, and that was a huge disappointment. At one point the Government gave tax cuts (or tax advantages or something) to people who bought hybrids, but the amount decreased every year so that it doesn't really matter any more. They should keep something like that going until enough people have bought hybrids.

I think hybrids are pretty cool. That was my car of choice when we were looking for cars. A Honda Civic hybrid. Turns out it was about $20K more than my Hyundai. It was a tough choice, but I picked the Hyundai, and now we already own it. Once hybrids are only $6,000, then I'll get one, I guess. What I think is funny are the SUV and truck hybrids. It's like you're trying to get the best of both worlds, and not really getting either. Sure, it's an SUV, but the pick-up-and-go stinks. And sure, it's a hybrid, but it still only gets 15 miles to the gallon. The idea is just a little too good to be true.

Where did the idea of solar powered cars go? Remember reading about those in school? That was the wave of the future, let me tell you. Sleek cars that looked kind of like a big playing card with four tiny wheels and huge solar panels on top. That's the way to go!

Now that we have a bird feeder, and about three types of birds (doves, sparrows and finches), our yard has become a regular playground of noisy birds. I don't mind, really. It's nice (and odd) because there used to be no living thing in our yard. Now there's constant traffic of birds, and the black and white cat that spends his day sleeping in the corner by the back fence. I'm looking forward to Spring when I can plant some flowers.

Well, I guess that's it. It turns out I had a little to say about a lot of different subjects. I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of February. Happy birth month, Jon and Teresa! And just think, after February is March, and we can leave this weird winter behind and head to spring!

For now, I have to get back to my projects....

New Bloggers!

We have some more bloggers on the scene!

I'd like to introduce my sister-in-law, Karen, the bold and the beautiful, and her blog, Prophecies.

Next is my brother-in-law, David, the young and the restless (sorry, needed a soap name, and you are younger than me, which I can't say about most people), who has evidently had a blog for awhile and I never knew. His blog is called Ramblings.

I've put the links to these under the "Links" heading in the sidebar.

I've been tagged?

So a few days ago, my future sis-in-law, Karen V., tagged me. I had no idea what that meant. Then I read her blog, and she had something about tagging, and answering a lot of questions, and then had my name at the bottom as someone tagged! So...not knowing exactly what I'm doing, I'm just going to copy and paste Karen's questions with my own answers and hope that's what I'm supposed to do. Is there a book on these blogging rules?

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD:

1. Trinity Valley Pools & Spas -- never sure what I did!
2. Texas Collection Library at Baylor University -- library assistant
3. Texas Life Insurance Company -- part-time graphic designer
4. Texas Life Insurance Company -- full-time graphic designer extraordinaire (really, it's on my business card)

FOUR MOVIES I COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN:
1. You've Got Mail
2. Shop Around the Corner
3. Return to Me
4. Princess Bride

FOUR BOOKS I COULD READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN:
1. Chronicles of Narnia (re-reading those now)
2. Bible (haha! Sunday School Answer!)
3. Pat of Silver Bush
4. The Indespensable Calvin & Hobbes :)

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Orange, TX
2. Palestine, TX
3. Waco, TX
4. Fort Worth, TX (Texas girl, through and through!...and I need a longer list)

FOUR TV SHOWS I WATCH
1. CSI: Miami
2. The Biggest Loser
3. American Idol
4. House

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION
1. Mount Nebo, Arakansas!
2. Colorado
3. The Bahamas
4. Ireland (again, I need a longer list)

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY
1. gmail.com
2. bodyforlife.com
3. google.com (always need to look something up!)
4. everyone's blogs

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. chips and salsa, the absolute greatest
2. cheese enchiladas
3. ice cream (vanilla, with all the fixin's!)
4. roast, evidently the only healthy thing I like

FOUR PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO BE RIGHT NOW
1. in bed
2. under a blanket on the couch reading
3. on a warm beach
4. with Jon, but not in his classes

FOUR BLOGGERS I AM TAGGING
1. Teresa - Harvesting Tulips
2. Cliff - Cliff's Blog, where he narfels the garflak
3. Margie - Margie's Blog
4. Leanna - Leanna's Little Spot of Cyberspace...because she needs to blog!!

So now...if I understand blogging etiquette correctly, I am to "tag" each of these people on their blogs, right? Well, if I'm not supposed to, oh, well. Who needs etiquette? :)

Day o' Fun at the Zoo

This past Saturday, Jon and I took a trip to good ol' Waco. It was the first trip back for Jon since we moved (which has been eight months now, can you believe it?), and we spent the day hanging out with our best friends, Cliff and Teresa. We have really missed them since we moved. It's a rare blessing to have such good friends, and that we all get along so well (at least most of the time)!


Anyway, so we went to the zoo to see the new Brazos section of the place, plus it was 5 bucks and a great day (although a bit chilly) to be outside. We got there in time to say hi to my brother and sis-in-law, who were just finishing up at the zoo. They let us know that the otter, ocelot, and owls were a must-see, and we moved on from there.

Here are some photos:

Here are the gibbons. They're very far away, but you can see on the right one gibbon hangin' out on the rope. He was pretty cool, and had an amazing ab workout going on.


An R.O.U.S.


A little birdie.


Here's a big pelican in a flap about something.



The great crocodile




The meerkat and his two poses. The poor guy is right next to the lions. That's gotta be a little unnerving. You can tell it's starting to wear on him.



And us! Wouldn't be a zoo trip without a look at God's really odd creatures!

Every time we go to the zoo, there's usually at least one funny animal thing that we will take away with us. This time it was the tiger. Evidently it was feeding time, and the food was a little late. The lions were making their hunger known by pacing in front of the door where the food comes out. The tiger, on the other hand, was above such displays, and sat where he was and...meowed is the best word to describe it, but it sounded more like a cow mooing. Anyway, there was someone in the crowd who could exactly imitate the tiger mooing (mewing?), and it was really funny to listen to the two "talk." I caught it on video:



Ladies and gentlemen, Cliff Lusk, the one who talks with tigers!

All in all, we had a really great time. Thanks, Cliff and Teresa, for letting us crash your Saturday on short notice!

I love Fridays

I love Fridays. I love the end of the week. Yet I'm always at a loss on Fridays. I usually have been in Waco the day before, which is always a busy day. So Friday I don't want to be too incredibly productive. As a matter of fact I don't want to be productive at all. And then when I have something to do or plan for the weekend, I really don't want to think about work! So today, with only ongoing projects on my plate, and a trip to see Cliff & Teresa tomorrow, I'm not feeling overly productive. Plus, I got to thinking about vacations today, and where we could go, and then about my friend's wedding, and what her dress looks like, and...well, and now I'm blogging. So I'm feeling a little guilty, but obviously not guilty enough to quit blogging and get back to work. :) The reason I don't feel that guilty is that I worked all day on Monday, which was supposed to be a holiday. So I figure maybe this morning I could take my holiday. :)

In the meantime, at work I'm going to be starting work on the external website! I'm excited about it, because at the moment I'm too embarassed of our web site to tell anyone to go there. And there's nothing really there, for that matter. So I'm going to work on it--make it look like it belongs in the 20th century, streamline the navigation, and maybe add some useful tools on there. I'm excited about it, and it really needs to be done, but I know I'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it all approved. It's dumb how no one looks at the web site--hardly even knows it exists--until I want to make a change to it. Then suddenly it's a really big deal and everyone has to have their opinion heard about the matter. So I've got a meeting set up for a couple of weeks from now in which I plan to "unveil" the new website. I've already got it started on my own server (is that the right word? It's on my website, whatever I mean), so I'll have it up on the web for everyone to see, and I can "wow" everyone with the amazing-ness of the new site, so there will be no discussion and they'll just let me do whatever I want to do with it--plus give me a bonus for my genius.

:)

Hey, I can dream!

But I guess two weeks isn't really that far away, so maybe I better do something today. There are only so many times I can check other people's blogs (come on, people, you gotta post more often!).

So...back to the grindstone. No more slacking for the day. I'll be good, I promise. :)

Photo Fun

Well, as mentioned in Teresa's blog, Teresa and I had a blast last weekend. We did lots of fun stuff, and one of them was taking pictures around Waco...well, mostly at the Suspension Bridge over the Brazos river. I've had web problems trying to get my pictures up, but I've finally done it, and you can see them here.

Thanks Teresa for a great weekend!

Friday's Progress

Well, I know my last blog was about Friday, but I haven't taken many pictures of him (memory card full, no batteries, and other high-tech difficulties) so I thought I should catch up. Then when I did, I realized how much he'd grown! So here's a few pictures to give you an idea of what's happened since the end of August.


Here is Aug 22nd:



And Sept 7th:



Sept 28th:



And Jan 4th:



Isn't that crazy?

Our baby's growing up!

Friday lost his first tooth today! Our little baby is becoming a little boy!

We are so proud!!

To my Husband

I am so thankful for my husband of three years (minus two days, at the moment). Jon is the greatest thing that happened to me since chips & salsa, and so much better!

If you know us, you'll know how opposite we are. I'm the brainy one, and Jon's the scatterbrained one. :) Well, okay, so maybe that's not exactly true. Without Jon, I wouldn't have someone to tell me where my purse is, and my phone (which mysteriously found its way out of my purse). He also makes sure I don't give into every hairbrained idea I have, yet he lets me be creative. He tolerates the cosmetics on the counter, paintbrushes by the sink, work stuff on the table, and shoes...well, everywhere. :) He asks me for all my receipts, which I stuff everywhere except my pockets or the checkbook (where they're really supposed to go). He reminds me of commitments I've made and dates I forgot to write on the calendar (I mean, really, what good is a day planner for a person who can't remember it to write it down??).

Jon likes to have things very planned out, and he'd prefer staying at home with his own free time over most things, yet he surprises me with an extra effort on getting the house cleaned, a special night out, or a fun time running errands together.

I, on the other hand, like rushing from one thing to the next. I like being busy on Saturdays. I enjoy working and running errands, as long as I'm doing it with Jon. I like making big plans, and coming up with ideas that sometimes scare Jon and make him want to hide the checkbook. I don't worry about money nearly as much as Jon does, and it helps both of us to see the other side.

Jon and I often laugh about our first 6 mos. to a year that we were married, and how much we butted heads on everything! Marriage was a huge adjustment for both of us, mostly because we were so different.

We've come to understand each other and how we think much better now. But even if we get more like each other each year, I don't think anyone will ever think we're just alike. But I think I like it better this way. It's more interesting.

On the other hand, we have in common the things that really matter. I'm so thankful that I have a husband who reaches out to others and wants to be involved in ministry wherever he is. And I'm glad I get to be a part of that ministry. I'm excited by the calling that God has given us, and we have our whole lives together to see that calling fulfilled.

Happy Anniversary Jon! I love you!

Signs you're still a child at heart

1. You wave to cows in trailers as you pass them on the road.
2. You tell dogs (that you don't even know) hello.
3. You spend a quarter at the store to get a humongo super ball out of the toy machine, and then bounce it all the way out to your car in the parking lot.
4. You ask for map colors for Christmas.
5. You still wake up early Christmas day.
6. You quote Veggie Tales without realizing it.
7. You could stay in the children's book section for hours at Barnes and Noble.

Feel free to add to the list. I know some of you are still children at heart, too! Don't forget to read the previous post from this morning!

New bloggers!

I wanted to welcome Margie into the blogging world! If you stop by her site, don't forget to play with her pet penguin, Petunia! I'm adding her to my list of links, as well as Karen V., my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Karen's been blogging for a little while, so she's not exactly new to the blogging world, but we just figured out that we both blog. :) The Ode to her Peacoat is a must-read.

Mystery Photo and other news

It's time for a game of Mystery Photo! I've taken a close-up shot of something around the house, and you get to guess what it is! Put your guesses in the comments, and then go to Teresa's blog to find out the answer! ONLY go to her page once you've guessed! No fair cheating!


In other news, I think we're going to pay off our car tomorrow! I say "I think" because we were supposed to last week, but somebody forgot to take the checkbook to Waco. ...Okay, it was me... It will be nice to finally own my little car! We've had it a little over a year now, I guess. What's really fun is changing my car from a debt to an asset in Quicken. I like to play with Quicken. I don't know what everything means, but I do know that when we paid off the truck it really made our financial situation look a whole lot better. Quicken tells you that the assets you have are just like money. So despite almost $10,000 in school debt, we might actually be in the black after tomorrow! It's amazing!

Next we tackle the rest of our (my) student loans. It'll be so nice to have those taken care of!

So one of my life goals is to get a song composed. I have had a song in my head for several years, probably pre-college and maybe even before that, that--throughout the years--I've grown quite attached to. It sounds really great in my head--lots of strings, a good balance of high and low, lots of layers, but sadly not many French Horns (I've got to find a way to fit them in). Anyway, I decided that since no composer was coming to my door to create a great work out of my song, I should at least try to do it myself. My only tool is Garage Band.

I'd like to mention that not many symphonies are composed in a garage, and therefore Garage Band is probably not the best tool for the task. When I try to find an oboe, all I find is jazz-playing trumpets. French Horns are nonexistent. I'd also like to mention that I have no idea what I'm doing in Garage Band. I had almost decided to post what I do have of the song so far, but decided not to do it. Instead, I'll just hope that a great composer happens upon my blog and is inspired to do great things with the song in my head. :) Either that or maybe I'll post it later. After all, a great idea isn't great unless it's shared.

On the other hand, it is a life goal, not a by-the-time-I'm-25 goal. So maybe I won't worry so much about it, and just wait for that composer to come along.

Announcement: The answer to Teresa's mystery photo is...the top of a computer monitor!

It's finally cold enough

We finally turned on our heater for the first time last night. It was odd not to have to walk around the house in a hat and coat, and to sleep with less than three blankets on the bed. Perhaps we should have turned it on sooner. And yet, now that it's on, I've noticed that it rarely turns off! It's like we've finally let it do it's thing, and it's getting back at us for waiting so long by running as much as possible! I may have to turn it back a notch and put on an extra layer. Right now it's nice and toasty in our house. I heard it was 30 degrees outside and couldn't believe it! And I heard it might snow tomorrow!! What an exciting time to live. :)

Life's Little Pleasures

Want to know a great thing to do? Stick your socks onto the end of your blow dryer, one at a time. Turn the dryer on Low for a few seconds to warm your socks up before putting them on. It's warm goodness for your feet. :)