Happy Anniversary!

Four years and it feels like it's been forever... in the best of ways! It's really hard to remember my life before being married to Mark. He has been the best friend I could ever imagine and it really gets better and better every day.



Today he surprised me with real florist flowers delivered right to my door (this hasn't happened often in our marriage)! It was a treat!

Happy Anniversary Mark! I love you!

Busy Bee

The busy bee built a beautiful bookcase for baby!

Fun Travels

There are two things that I really love about traveling. I really love to meet new people. We met a few nice couples while we were in Hilton Head. I also really love seeing funny things that you would not normally see.

Here are two funny pictures from our trip...

A stuffed deer hiney...really??

And of course a naked person statue in the middle of a pond. Why not?

In the same shopping plaza as the naked statue, we visited the Piggly Wiggly. You know how there are signs above each aisle that say what is down that aisle? Well, Mark was too embarrassed to let me take a picture but one of the signs read, "butt wipes." Again, why?

Anniversary/Baby-moon

This past weekend we went to Hilton Head for our 4 year anniversary and what a friend referred to as our "baby-moon." Our last little trip with just the two of us!

We enjoyed our time in Hilton Head since we had the pool all to ourselves...

and the beach too!

The weather wasn't the greatest beach weather but we made the best of it. We walked the beach in the rain and collected lots of sea shells. We also went on a alligator hunt. Mark took lots of good pictures of the wildlife, while I tried my best to stay far, far away.

Looks like postcard quality to me!

We ate at several good restuarants and enjoyed some time in Harbor Town listening to Greg Russell and picturing Caroline there singing in a couple of years. Greg Russell has played in Hilton Head every summer night for the past 33 years. He mostly plays music for kids, although the adults enjoy it too.

We really enjoyed our time away and look forward to more vacations in the future, although very soon our vacations will be much different. However, I think we may take a hint from our family members Joel and Misty and try to get off by ourselves occassionally too! Mark has already said "Our vacation is to be continued..."

Stupid Tests!

This is my face in the midst of several tests that I took tonight.

As you can see, I'm not very happy about these tests! I applied SEVERAL months ago for a position as an administrative assistant to a youth pastor at a church. After waiting weeks, I was called in for an interview. A few weeks later I called and asked for an update. They then asked for some references. A couple of weeks later, I called to check up again. They then sent me a link to this website, proveit.com. I had to take 3 tests, one on Microsoft Word, one on Microsoft Excel and another on "basic office" stuff. I must say I have never felt so slow or stupid in my life! Although I felt really stupid, I passed every test with flying colors. Mark says my 87% may not be considered flying colors but I digress. I only consider them flying colors because the global average was 70%. At least I'm smarter than the average bear and I'm consistent with an 87% on each one of the three tests!

I sure hope that they will review my measly 87% and get back to me sooner rather than later. I had hoped that if I did get the job I would be able to get in and get settled before Caroline arrives but I'm beginning to think Caroline may be here before a decision will be made! Obviously, they need an admin to keep them on track!!

Pride vs. Prayer

Sometimes God really opens the curtains (lifts the fog, turns on the light, blows my nose, whatever) and lets me see what He's been trying to get me to understand for some time. I was talking to Nicole about something Sunday morning and got upset. The goal of our time together at that point was so that we could pray together about our family. But as I sat there, I couldn't pray. It didn't feel right. I didn't feel honest about praying at that point. Later last night, God showed me why.

When I go out and play in the mud, I get mud all over my shoes and my jeans and maybe even my shirt. Imagine me walking into God's house to have a conversation with Him with all of that mud everywhere. I would feel like I was dirty-ing up God's house by bringing the mess from my life to God. That's sort of what I felt like. As a guy who is certainly sinful, I wanted the opportunity to try to clean up somewhat before coming to Christ. I wanted to show Him that I knew that I was muddy and sinful and that I wanted to attempt to clean myself as a way of showing God that I knew about how I'd messed up.

I think I was letting pride prevent me from communicating with my God, who I'm quite sure would welcome me with open arms, angry or not, muddy or pristine. God knows where I've failed Him and wants me to turn to Him daily. I'm still learning what it means to follow Christ. I suppose that's another post. I'm going to try to remember that God doesn't mind if I track in mud, as long as I'm headed in to see Him!

Sharp Top Cove

This past weekend Mark, me, Lindsay, Brad and our friends John and Lauren all went up to Sharp Top Cove, a Young Life camp in Jasper, GA. The camp is beautiful and holds a sweet spot in my heart. Although I no longer work for Young Life, I still love the ministry and am so grateful for the people who make Young Life happen. We attended a family camp weekend. While most of the people there had kids and we don't it was still a great weekend. I was so thankful that the thunderstorms held off so that we could play outside.

There were a couple of things that really stood out to me this weekend....

1) This weekend made me so excited to have little Caroline here. Sometimes it's hard for me to think about having a family because I realize that our life will be so different. Mark and I have created our own life together, our own routines and our own friends. We don't spend a ton of time with other families that have young children so it's hard to imagine what it will be like. Seeing all of the families interact this weekend and getting to hang out with the little kids was so much fun!! Mark and I both love children and it is really fun to get to play with them and care for them. I am especially excited when I get to see Mark hanging out with little kids. Friday night there were just a few of us standing outside the dining hall when a little boy that we had never met, went up to Mark and said, "Hi, Mark. Will you play tag with me?!?" It was the sweetest/funniest thing ever. As I said, we did not know this little boy but he wanted to play so he read Mark's name off of his name tag and asked him to play! Mark was quite the sport and chased him around for several minutes. I am really excited about Caroline being here and being able to love her, teach her and play with her together!

2) I also thought a lot about our priorities this weekend. Seeing all of the families interact, made me think about the things that are important in our life. I hope that our family will continue to seek after God, to pray, read Scripture, and go to church together. I hope that we will place a high value on laughter, serving others, and adventure (Mark did the Quantum Leap-he climbed a large telephone poll and then jumped off). We were able to witness and experience many of those things this weekend.

3) While those are some of the priorities in our life, I was also reminded how important it is to surround yourself with others who are like minded. If we are to continue on this path, we need others to support and encourage us and some wiser families to help us along in the rough patches.

Several times throughout the weekend we would see one parent ask another parent or a child, "Have you seen my son/daughter?" My initial reaction is always, "Oh no, your kid is missing." However, after spending a great deal of time at Young Life camps you realize a couple of things. First, camp is camp. Yes, it is in the moutains and there are lots of trees/forests around but in reality they are not going to get too far away. More importantly, there are so so many loving folks around. More than likely your child is being loved on and entertained by another adult or some new friends. In church when children are baptized we promise to support and encourage them as they grow up. I believe that this happens in the church but it is so clearly evident in little moments throughout a weekend at camp! It's neat to see children trusting other adults and the relationships that are built. Being a family is not a time to seclude yourself and be alone but a time to value the love and relationships all around.

I am really thankful for a sweet weekend and for time with good friends/family!

Sharing life

Even though we do our best to share life with others, we often don't share our full hearts, even with those to whom we are closest. It's too easy to put on a show and pretend that everything is just fine or to give shallow answers in response to genuine questions. We worry that no one else will understand, that they do not struggle with the same problem or any problem or that there will be some embarrassment. However, those deep places within our hearts that no one knows exists remain and only on rare occassions will we allow them to seep out. It is an honor of sorts, when someone allows themselves to break down and share their deepest thoughts and struggles. I wish that it would be happen more often...me included. I pray that I am a good sharer of life and even more than that a good friend.

Babies are like...

pocketbooks...or so my friend Nan told me today! I was talking with her about the possibility of me going to my 10 year high school reunion two weeks after Caroline is born. She said, "Babies, younger than about 4 months are like pocketbooks. You just pack them up and go and if you are breast feeding you really only need yourself and the baby!" I realize that it may not be exactly how it is going to be but it sure made me smile and realize what a sweet time it will be with a newborn.

Poor husband

What happens when your wife works really hard on a project at the house...

but doesn't complete it?

She leaves a nice pile of leaves for her husband to pick up when he gets back from out of town!

Our back yard was a forest when we moved in and we have done our best to "clean it up" a bit. However, there are so many trees and so many leaves, it is really hard to keep up with it all. Today I mowed the yard, blew and blew and blew and raked and raked and only made it half way through the back yard before I tired out. There is now a large pile of leaves that I have covered with a tarp so they will not blow away in the rain this week. At some point in the next week or so I'm hoping that Mark and I can work together to care for the rest of the back yard.

Yard work is definitely my least favorite part of owning a home. I love looking at a weedless, freshly mowed lawn but it is very hard work to get it to that point. One day when we are super rich, we will hire yard people for sure!

It's a great day to be alive...

Today was a great day! Our Sunday School class played in the softball tournament at church. Although they didn't win a game, the team looked good. Really. They didn't make any major errors in defense, they just had a hard time getting on base. Lindsay and I were good cheerleaders and tried to practice being good mammas. Overall the weather was not too hot and the rain held off for the games. It was a good day! Mark and I always enjoy spending time with our Sunday School friends.

Lindsay had her hands full with the sweet babies from our class! And I don't know why the picture is sideways. I tried to flip it several times and have given up for now!

When we got home I was dirty and exhausted so I took a shower and then a nap. Mark worked in the garage for a bit on the bookcase he is making for Caroline's room.

Then this evening we went down to Vinings. It's such a cute little area and I had a wonderful time walking around looking at the shops with Mark and checking out all the restaurants. I feel so grateful for a sweet husband that loves me and I am especially grateful sometimes. You know those times when you think that a person should be bored out of their mind, but they are smiling and "entertaining" you anyway. As we were wandering through the stores tonight, I kept thinking, 'Mark must be bored out of his mind.' However, I would look at his face and his demeanor and he seemed happy as could be to be walking along with me. Was he really happy or just showing his love for me by putting on a smile when he really wasn't thrilled? Honestly, I don't think one is better than the other. I would be glad to know if he was truly happy but even if he was being happy for my sake I think it's just as good. Really. It shows a selfless love. On nights like tonight, it feels like we are just starting to date again. The fun feeling of just enjoying being together!

One other SUPER exciting thing from today....I found a swimsuit!!! Part of our excursion in the Vinings included a stop at a maternity store. The first suit I tried on was the winner! I actually feel like a normal person in it! I love it and am so excited to go to camp and the beach very soon!!!

Pregnant Shopping

I'm really not sure where I got such a love for clothes. Many people may not realize my love of clothing because my love for nice clothing far outweighs the stylishness of my closet! Buying nice clothing is too expensive for our budget but... I still love it. Therefore, when I can't find what I am looking for I feel very frustrated. Maternity shopping has been such a bummer for me. The clothes are either really expensive or really cheap looking and feeling. I just don't like it. There is also not a ton of selection. Many of the stores (Old Navy, Kohls, JC Penny, Target, etc.) have just a very few items to choose from. The stores that do carry all maternity clothes are, like I said earlier, either too expensive or cheap. There is no middle ground. In the midst of my shopping dilemmas I have been trying desperately to find a swim suit. There are three stores in the area that actually carry swimsuits in the store. I have tried them on and can not find one that looks decent. Either the belly looks good but the top half is falling out the top or the top half looks good but the belly is ridiculous! It really is kind of amusing!

I really don't mean to complain or sound whiny it's just not what I thought it was going to be! Our world is so consumer driven, and there are always so many options to choose from when shopping, I never expected to have such a hard time. I would like to say that from this experience I have realized that I could make Mark and I rich by starting our own maternity clothing line/store. However, I have a feeling that the reason there is such limited selection now is because the demand is not that great. Bummer!

Well, I am off to do some maternity shopping. I do teach water aerobics twice a week, I am going to "camp" in one week and the beach in two weeks... a swimsuit is a must!! Wish me luck!

paid in full

I'm hoping that our $52 cup of ice will be paid for in full after all of my hard work this morning. Several months ago I wrote a post about the mistake that our insurance company had made. To make a long story kind of short, they eventually admitted that there were problems and we have since been trying to get a refund. It turns out that they have decided to send our refund money to each individuals doctors office. How sweet of them. I have spent the morning writing a letter to each doctor, documenting the date of service, money owed, etc. Yuck. I'm just hoping to hear back from them!

While this entire situation has been very stressful and annoying (I'm still not even sure that the insurance company or doctors are giving us all the information that they should) I'm trying to be positive about it. I'm going to go ahead and take claim for finding this mistake not only for Mark and me but for many other families. The insurance lady told Mark that all of the families that use the same contracted company as us, had the same exact problem. I'm choosing to believe that the insurance company would have come to us with the problem had they or another family noticed it in the two years prior that the mistakes had been made. However, no attempt was made to correct the problem in two years, until I, the official whistle blower brought it to their attention. My dad made me feel pretty stupid by saying, "Shame on you, you should have noticed it earlier." However, there are obviously many other families that are now dealing with the same issue because I brought it to their attention. Congratulations to me!

Now if we could just get all of our money back...

$52 cup of ice

Apparently, that's what is costs to get ice in our casa. Our ice maker had been broken since February. I had been a good wife and not complained about not having ice. However, the weather is getting warmer and I've been craving some ice cold smoothies and drinks. So, Mark worked and worked and finally figured out the problem. He bought a new piece that cost $52 dollars and put it in last night. This morning we awoke and wala, ICE! I'm so glad!

Another project finished

...well almost.

A little of this...

A little of that...

And a new picture frame is made!

Now we just need a new picture...

I think it may stay empty until Caroline is here though!

Mark and I saw picture frames made of old tin ceiling tiles a year or so ago at the Roswell Arts festival. I fell in love! I don't know what it is about them. I just love the look. The ones we saw were actually colored and some of the paint had rusted off. They were beautiful. Ever since then we have been looking for old ceiling tiles. There are difficult to find!! Mark has stopped in antique stores all across the country looking for them. When we would run into some, they were extremely expensive. Of course, it would be that I finally found some right down the road from us at a fabric store. I bought two and now they have been turned into picture frames. One is complete and the other is halfway done. I will finish it this week. I'm so thankful for Mark's handiness and all of the tools that he has. Even though working on projects takes so much time and I get impatient, it really is neat to be able to dream up a creation and then actually make it!

Let It Be Finished, Let It Be Done

So it's finally done! We bought the (third set of) screws for the knobs this evening and they were long enough and wide enough. The first picture looks like the thing is sitting on a cloud or something. It's exactly the way Nicole's new camera saw it. Whatever.
This is a picture of me holding in my gut next to the very thing that I bled for multiple times. No more bleeding for this piece. For the record, this is all S2S 4/4 red oak with two coats of Minwax Red Mohagany stain topped with a sprayed-on Minwax Poly. Other than the metal screws, the clips to hold the top on and the four wooden knobs, I made everything myself. Up next will be a chair-side table to hold a lamp, glass of water, and a book.

Tada