29 weeks

I'll have more about our trip later (yes, Emily did sleep some better), but for now, here's her week picture.

28 weeks

We're in NYC...walked around a bit today, rode the Staten Island ferry and went to Ellis Island and went to the Manhattan CofC for a Christmas Eve service. Tomorrow we go to the Rockettes and the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Should be fun! Emily has done great...she's fallen asleep in the Baby Bjorn several times, which is great because we've been away from the hotel all day. It's about time to get Emily to bed so I'll sign off for now.

Oh, and pray for good night sleeping for Emily...last night was pretty bad.

Video

I don't know if this will work or not, but Blogger's not letting me add new posts the usual way. Hopefully, I can get this to work. Here goes!

27 weeks

I thought I'd share a picture of Emily in her new high chair. I love it because it makes her look so little again!

It's been a busy few days for us. Monday was just downright cold and Phillip had to work a couple basketball games. (Emily and I stayed home!) Tuesday was a doctor appointment for Emily and her first Christmas party. She tolerated the shots well, but was a little fussy the rest of the day. Seeing Grandpa and Pearlie last night cheered her right up though. She's now 25.5" (50th percentile) and 14 pounds, 3 ounces (25th percentile).

(I couldn't decide between these two pictures. They're both faces we see frequently!)

Hard work

Back here, I talked about my hard work out in our store room. I was told by Cara that I should take pictures of my hard work. I didn't take pictures right before I started working (who thinks of that when there's work to be done?), but I found some from right after we moved in.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

2008 Christmas Tour of Homes

Every year, BooMama does a Christmas Tour of Homes...an internet-based open house of sorts. I figured that, since I started reading her blog this year, I would participate.

BooMama also suggested we provide a snack. So, I'm sharing the recipe for Almond Tea...a favorite that we only have at Christmas-time and that I always get compliments on.

4 regular tea bags

1 1/3 C water

2/3 C lemon juice

2 2/3 C sugar

1 1/3 T vanilla

2 2/3 T almond extract

~1 1/3 quart water

2 L ginger ale

Make tea using the tea bags and 1 1/3 C water. Add lemon juice, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add water to make 2 quarts. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, add 2 L ginger ale. (makes about 1 gallon)

Now for the tour...

Because we are going to New York for Christmas (and we're not having a Christmas party here, as we have in the past), I just couldn't really get into the spirit of decorating a whole lot. Hopefully that will be different next year when Emily is old enough to really enjoy the decorations. (She does like the lights on the tree this year!). Anyway, all that to say...there are only a few decorations up.

This tree has been around a while (and the ornaments...some even longer than the tree!). My parents bought this tree in 1984 when we moved to Colorado. When Jenni moved to Dallas, she took it with her and they bought a new tree. I got it my second Christmas in Dallas, after Jenni bought herself a new tree. Now it's ours and I still love decorating it. As a kid, my parents would allow us to buy one Christmas ornament every year and my grandparents gave each of the grandkids an ornament every year. When I moved out, my tree was already full! Phillip and I have continued the tradition of buying ornaments every year and will do that for Emily as well.

Ah, the candy bell. My grandmother had one that always had peppermints on it. (My guess is they could have been the same peppermints every year since she never ate them!) Anyhow, the tradition is that you take one candy off each night of December and when you get to the bell (the debate goes on in our family whether it's the bell at the top or the small jingle bell at the bottom), Christmas is here. I remember doing that as a kid...Jenni and I took turns each night getting the candy. (Jenni and I each made a bell for ourselves when we left home.) Now, Phillip and I take turns. I'm not sure what we'll do next year when Emily's old enough to eat the candy too!

I love these stockings! My mom made them for us to be similar to the ones that my grandmother made for us when we were little. I can't wait for Emily to be able to open her own stocking! The best part right now, though, is that there are three!

Phillip and I bought this nativity in Germany two years ago.

Phillip bought this figurine for me our first Christmas...before we were married. I just love how Mrs. Santa is sitting on Santa's lap!

One thing I started doing a couple years ago was reading this book. It's a collection of excerpts about the birth of Christ from Max Lucado's other books. I just reminds me of what we're really celebrating this time of year. More than ever, this year, it's important for me to read this because I need the "mommy" time!

Thanks for touring my home. I hope you enjoyed it!

The weekend

A fairly typical weekend, that's what this has been. We didn't have to go to the basketball game Friday night, so that was kind of nice. Yesterday, we met my parents in Winters so Phillip could get some speakers from my dad. He's going to be showing movies to the kids who are exempt from finals and needed some way that they could actually hear the movies. What a nice principal!

When we got home, I decided it was time for me to clean up the store room. We have an outdoor storeroom the size of a two-car carport. And, wonderful as it is, it had never been worked in since we moved in. So, yesterday (while there was daylight), I set out to organize it. After two and a half hours (with Emily crying for Phillip most of that time--she doesn't seem to like daddy-daughter time), I finally finished. All our empty, these-are-good-to-keep-for-a-future-move boxes have been nested and restacked to take up about a third of the space they previously were. All our item-specific boxes (it's always nice to have the box and original packing materials for that nice pitcher so you don't have to wonder if it will get broken in the move) are now nested as much as possible...though it's harder to nest those because of those pesky original packing materials! But, they are in a small section by themselves. We have paper boxes. We have a small section of boxes containing packing paper (5 dish pack boxes + a medium-sized suitcase!). We have a section dedicated to Christmas (this stuff will go into plastic bins after New Year's when that stuff goes on sale). We have a section for smaller, gift-type boxes...I never could find those before I organized, hence the reason for organizing! And, a shelf of boxes containing stuff we didn't unpack because there just wasn't room in the house. And, we've got the typical yard stuff, like a lawn mower, edger, blower, etc., also taking up residence out there.

And, in case you were wondering (I'm sure you weren't, but I want to share anyway), dirt daubers like to make nests in corrugated cardboard boxes. They also EAT cardboard, like termites eat wood. I can't tell you how many (empty, of course) nests I took out of these boxes. Just let that be a lesson to you...if you must store boxes outside in a storage building, be aware of dirt daubers!

Today, Phillip and Emily made cookies. He wanted to do something for the teachers at school and decided to make cookies. I had a recipe that makes 6-7 dozen and I already had everything for it, so he did it (with very little help from me). I'm so glad he's generous to his teachers!

We also have a new resident in our dining room...a high chair! I put it together tonight so that when we get back from New York (9 days til we leave!), it will be all ready for us to start feeding Emily cereal. I put her in it tonight and she loved it! I'm so glad!

Okay, that's it for my random ramblings. I just felt the need to post more than just weekly Emily pictures, even though that's what most of you come here for! 

6 months

I can't believe it. I know, I keep saying that.

Emily is doing so many new things that it's hard to remember what I should tell you about.

• In the past week, she's learned to sit up by herself if we sit her up. (She doesn't stay that way for very long, but she can at least do it!)
  
• She's reaching for and grabbing things.
  
• She can move around in a circle if she's on her tummy.
  
• She will chew on anything you give her, but she's not teething yet.
  
• She likes to "talk" when she's finished eating.
• She loves playing with her toes (or having you play with them!).

Today, she "helped" me wrap presents. She really enjoyed the wrapping paper tube!

It pays to complain...

I have felt the need to write something a bit more random, so here it is.

In the past few months, I've gotten on a kick of "complaining" to companies who offer a guarantee on their products (and had quite a bit of success with it). Now, I guess I shouldn't really call it complaining because they are asking for feedback. I've encouraged my mom and sister to do the same and they, too, have had good results with it. Here are some examples.

Oxo #1: A while back, my 2 cup angled measuring cup cracked. Yes, I had put it in the dishwasher; yes, I'd put it in the microwave. But, the package said all that was safe for it. So, I sent them a nice email asking what they could do for me. They replied and asked what the part number was (go look it up on our web site) and they would replace it. I sent the part number of the 2 cup measure and they replaced it with a 4 cup measure. A slightly more expensive product, but to me, it's just another measuring cup that I didn't have to buy!

Oxo #2: Recently, my multi grater (like a box grater, but not quite as good) broke. Again, I'd put it in the dishwasher (who doesn't like to put a grater in the dishwasher?), but the packaging said it was dishwasher safe. So, I sent them another nice email and asked what they could do for me. They sent me a form this time and asked that I fill it out and return it with the broken product and I could get a new one (or something of equal or lesser value). So, for $4, I mailed my broken multi grater back to Oxo and asked if they could replace it with the box grater, even though I knew that was a few dollars more). I thought the box grater might be slightly easier to use. Much to my surprise, I received my box grater!

Great Value cooking spray: I buy generic food products and I'm not ashamed of it! Rarely can I tell the difference between the generic and the name brand product. I bought the Wal-Mart brand of canola oil cooking spray a while back and used it for a while with no problems. Then, one day, I got it out to use it and, in taking off the lid, oil went everywhere! I figured I had hit the spray nozzle when I put the lid back on so I didn't think much about it. When it happened again, I was a little more wary of the product. I left it sitting out so I could clean it up and noticed that the sprayer was bubbling. It apparently had a leak and that was causing the oil to leak out. So, I complained to Wal-Mart online and told them what had happened. I didn't hear back from them immediately, but later got a letter from Con Agra, the maker of the spray. They sent me $5 to reimburse me for the cooking spray, a great deal for me considering the cooking spray only costs $1.46!!

Sears Portrait Studios: In October, we took Emily to Sears to get her pictures taken. It was a pretty bad experience. Now, I'll admit, it was partly my fault because we went on a Saturday. (DO NOT EVER go on a Saturday!!!) We arrived about 20 minutes before our appointment time and stood waiting for about 20 minutes for someone to acknowledge that we were there. Once we got checked in, they told us they were running behind (big surprise) and that it would be 30-45 minutes before they got to us. (Remember, Emily was only 4 months old and babies don't really like it when you mess with their schedules!) So, an hour after our original appointment time, we were finally taken back. I was chatting with the (very young-looking) photographer as we got started and asked how long she'd been taking pictures. She said about three months. That made me nervous. So, an inexperienced photographer and a semi-uncooperative baby put together. Well, we got ONE good shot. The others weren't terrible, but they certainly weren't anything I couldn't have taken myself! We ordered our pictures and bought the Super Saver card and went on our way. I found out later that they were supposed to give us a proof sheet that had all the pictures on it and a link that we could use to see them online. After calling customer service and asking them to manually upload them, we were able to do that. Fortunately, that day's receipt had a survey on it so I gleefully filled it out and told them just how disappointed I was with my experience. They sent me a coupon for 10% off and 2 free portrait sheets, good with any other offer. So far, they've won me back. We'll see how our session today goes.

26 weeks

26 weeks...that means half a year! I guess that's about right because tomorrow is Emily's half-birthday! I can't believe it. Since today's a special day, I thought I'd do something different. I'll give you this week's picture then let you watch Emily morph from a newborn to a six-month old. (Mom, get your Kleenex ready!)

(Before you hit play, you'll want to pause the background music--in the right hand column.)

Snowbear

Thanks to Aunt Jenni, I won't be cold this winter!

Love, Emily

Ramblings & Thanksgiving & 25 weeks

I'm falling down on my blogging. Actually, I feel like I'm falling down on a lot of things these days. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, being a wife. The list goes on and on. There are just too many things I "need" to do and just as many I want to do. I'm struggling again with how to balance everything. I keep thinking, "Once X is done, then it will be better." But it never is. There's always that X that just keeps coming back. In some ways, I feel like I've lost me. I know I'm not the first new mom to experience this. I guess I keep trying to get over it instead of through it.  I guess there's always something in my life I'll be working on or through and this is just one of them.

Okay, I know you didn't come to hear me complain. I'm sure you'd much rather hear about our Thanksgiving!

This year, for the first time in, I think, six years, all of my mom's family was together for Thanksgiving. It was a little more interesting this year because we had 4 munchkins age 4 and under. There was lots of activity the whole time we were all together, but we did manage to continue one Thanksgiving tradition...taking a family photo. (I love how Emily & Andrew are looking at each other!)

Emily got to try out the "new" old high chair. This high chair has been in my dad's family for, well, I'm not sure how long. My parents had it repainted for Emily so she will have a place to eat at their house.

Friday, my dad started a new tradition (I think). When Jenni and I were growing up, he would occasionally make bread--a 10 loaf recipe--using his grandmother's recipe. I've pared down the recipe to a 2 loaf recipe and have made it several times. He decided that he and Emily would make bread on Friday. She missed out on the first part of the mixing, but she got into the kneading!

On Saturday, we went to Phillip's parents' house to enjoy our traditional Thanksgiving meal...steaks & baked potatoes! Emily enjoyed playing with her cousins Kaily & Baily. (Grandma's in the background.)

Sunday morning, we were blessed to have a baby blessing at Highland. Emily brought her aunt, all her grandparents and three of her four great-grandparents with her to share the blessed event. Afterward, we got a great picture with Phillip's family, although I think Emily was more interested in Grandma Palma's hair!

As I close today's long post (happy to see that you're still reading!), here is today's weekly picture. Emily seems to be dealing well with her runny nose.

Works for Me Wednesday & 24 Weeks

Every Wednesday, Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer does a post called Works for Me Wednesday. I've always wanted to post something, but have a hard time coming up with something. As I was packing today, I thought of what I should post.

I don't remember when I started doing this (probably sometime in middle school or high school), but I have a master packing list for me, Phillip and Emily. It has evolved over time and I also have one for things I need to do in the house or with Oso to get ready to leave. I really only use it when we're going for a long trip (for me and Phillip, anyway), but it is so helpful in not forgetting the important things, like underwear. (Yes, even I forget to pack that sometimes!) I use Emily's every time because, although we've travelled with her quite a bit already, there are still some things I would forget every time! The other benefit is that when we're going on a big trip (like New York and Tennessee at the end of December), I can print out the list and start adding things as I think of them. And, one day, when I get my household notebook up and going (thanks for the reminder Lynley!), it will go in there.

Anyway, that's what works for me. Hope it can help someone else!

By the way, here's Emily's week picture for this week.

Food and more

Because Phillip handles the paperwork for the free and reduced lunch program at Panther Creek, he can have a free lunch any time he wants it. Occasionally, he'll come home for lunch bearing lunch. Today was one of those days. It was also the annual Thanksgiving meal the school serves for the community so he had spent time with community folks too. Here's one (of TWO) of the containers of food he brought home today. He also brought 2 16oz cups of marshmallow, whipped cream fruit salad and a 16oz cup of gravy and an 8oz cup of cranberry sauce and 6 rolls!!! This was food for the two of us. Can you imagine?!?

Here are the leftovers after we had a generous serving for lunch today.

On another note, I'm migrating away from my PDA because I just don't use it anymore. But, my address book is in it and I've yet to find a good replacement for that. I want to be able to manage my address book on the computer and be able to export out of it so I can print labels, print an address book, etc. If you keep your address book on the computer, would you let me know what software you use?

23 weeks

Emily told me a couple weeks ago that she wanted to come visit Aunt Jenni's house. So, Aunt Jenni and I figured out a time when we could come. Emily and I drove to Dallas on yesterday and met Aunt Cara (and Zachary & Jackson) for lunch at Chick-fil-A, then went to Babies R Us to kill some time. We finally got to Aunt Jenni's house about 4 (after taking a l-o-n-g detour up Central Expresway--don't take the HOV lane unless you're going to north Plano!) and waited for Aunt Jenni to get home. We made waffles for dinner and played with Emily for a while before putting her down to bed.

Today, we got up, took Emily's picture (see below) and started running some errands. There are just some places you have to go when you visit the big city. Like JoAnn and Bubba's. Neither of which you can get in Abilene. So, errand running we went and got plenty accomplished. We finally got home about 4:30 and ordered Chinese for dinner. Now, we're just playing and hanging out before bathing Emily and putting her to bed.

Here's the 23 week picture.

Rancho Loma

Since this year was a special birthday (yes, I turned 30!), Phillip wanted to do something special for me. He made reservations at Rancho Loma and arranged for my parents to babysit. We'd heard about the restaurant (mainly due to its proximity to our house) and were curious about it. It was incredible! It's one of those places where your reservation is for the evening and the menu is set. I think the dining room would seat 22 people.

We started the evening with a Pine Nut, Currant & Fontina Cheese pizza with a balsamic vinegar. A nice light appetizer. Then we moved on to the second course...Fresh Pasta with tomatoes and basil oil. Yummy! The salad was a spinach salad with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic chips and warm garlic dressing with bread with goat cheese. I'd never had sun-dried tomatoes or goat cheese, but both were wonderful. The main dish was Akaushi Beef Short Ribs and polenta, but it was more like roast...incredibly tender roast. It was one of the most tender cuts I've had in a long time. (Akaushi is a Japanese breed of cow raised in south Texas.) Then, dessert. Ah, dessert....Chocolate Panna Cotta. It was a lot like chocolate pudding, but thicker and no after-taste, like some chocolate desserts leave.

It was an incredible evening of wonderful food, wonderful company and a wonderful atmosphere. The best part, though, was that it was all free. When Phillip originally made the reservations (for 11/8), the owners comfirmed them, but then realized they would be in New York that weekend and wouldn't be open. So...because Phillip had a confirmed reservation, they gave us our next meal on the house. It was incredible!

(And, Emily did just fine with her first babysitters. She played for a bit, got a bath, had a bottle and went to bed. Thanks, Mom & Daddy!!)

The weekend, 5 months and 22 weeks

I am a little slow in getting pictures up. This past weekend, my parents and sister spent the weekend with us, to celebrate my birthday. We had a good time, but you know how it is getting your house back to normal after people have come. (Not that I would trade the time with them for anything!)

Before they came, I tackled a project I'd been wanting to do for a while...hang our travel pictures. Eight years ago, I went to Oxford, England, with ACU's Study Abroad. I bought a picture there and have been buying pictures on vacation ever since. The challenge is always to arrange the pictures so they look good. An even bigger challenge this time was to arrange them in a way that won't be changed until we leave here. (All our walls are just paneling so we have to use wall anchors to hang anything substantial and, unfortunately, they leave 3/16" holes in the wall.) I took the "advice" of my dear sister and used butcher paper to decide where they were going. (Here's another tip from her that I used...I just didn't take pictures with my yardsticks on the wall.) Here's the progress and final result.

Then, Monday was MOPS (and shopping) so I wasn't home all day. Yesterday was long and Phillip had something at school for most of the evening...so pictures just didn't happen. But we did get them taken today.

22 weeks

5 months

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next installment of life in God's country.

Our story, part 4

Mary over at Owlhaven is challenging her readers to tell their Love Stories for October. Since this was something I'd been meaning to write down and get into our wedding album for three years now, I figured this was just the motivation I needed. I don't want to overwhelm you (it's kind of long), so I'll put it up in installments. Here's the part 3 of our story! (See part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.) (Yes, I know it's now November, but I started late in October and there was just more to tell than I could fit in October!)

August 10, 2004...the big day! Well, that’s when Phillip proposed. We were spending the night apart, as we did on most Tuesday nights. But, he called me and said he was sick and would I come over? I grabbed some medicine and my sewing project that I was starting for my mom for the wedding and headed over. He had told me that he might be in the bedroom when I got there so I should just let myself in...he’d leave the front door unlocked. I went on in and found him in the bedroom all right! He had the lights off, candles everywhere and he was standing there in a suit. I just about fell on my knees, I was so in shock! He had dried the three daffodils I brought him back in March and gave those to me. He also told me this story (or something close to it).

There was once a beautiful young girl named Heather. She had met this boy. One day she asked him, “Do you like me?” He said no. She was a little puzzled, but asked, “Do you want me?” Again, he said no. Shocked, she asked, “Would you cry if I left?” Again, he said no. She turned and ran off, crying. He ran after her and said, “Wait. Let me finish. I don’t like you; I love you. And I don’t want you; I need you. And I wouldn’t cry if you left; I’d die.”

At this point, he got down on one knee and asked if I’d marry him. Of course, I said yes. We went to Sonic to get an Oreo Blast to celebrate.

Fast forward nine months (the events of those nine months really aren’t that exciting...lots of trips back and forth to Abilene) and on June 4, 2005, we were married at Chapel on the Hill at ACU. Phillip planned the honeymoon and surprised me with a trip to Italy. We went to Florence for 4 days and Venice for 2 days. It was a wonderful trip!

I hope you've enjoyed reading our story. I sure enjoyed writing it, both for me and for Emily (and any other kids we may have in the future)!

(If you choose to participate, leave a comment below so we can all read your story!)

Country life

Tonight there is a junior high football game in Cherokee, located about 2 hours away. Due to the distance, Emily and I decided to stay home and just let Phillip go. He was planning to ride the bus down there with the kids and they were leaving at 2:30. Or so they thought.

Phillip got on the bus and was deciding which seat to sit in, behind the driver or the seat across the aisle from the driver. He, wisely, chose the seat behind the driver because the sun would be coming in on the other side. Just as he was sitting down, something spooked the racoon that was sleeping on the floor of the other seat he was considering. Yes, that's right...a racoon! The bus mechanic had a pellet gun and shot it, but unfortunately, a good amount of the racoon's blood ended up on Phillip's leg because the racoon was just about to go up Phillip's leg. So, when Phillip came in about 3:10 with blood on the leg of his pants, I was shocked, to say the least. First, he was supposed to already be gone. Second, there's blood all over his pants! Everything ended well (for everyone except the racoon, I guess), although they didn't leave until about 3:15. The pants are now in the washer and I think all the blood came out!

Exciting times out in God's country!

Our story, part 3

Mary over at Owlhaven is challenging her readers to tell their Love Stories for October. Since this was something I'd been meaning to write down and get into our wedding album for three years now, I figured this was just the motivation I needed. I don't want to overwhelm you (it's kind of long), so I'll put it up in installments. Here's the part 3 of our story! (See part 1 here and part 2 here.) (Yes, I know it's now November, but I started late in October and there was just more to tell than I could fit in October!)

By Phillip’s birthday (May 9), we had decided that we would be getting married one day. We didn’t know when, but we knew that each was “the one.” On May 20, Phillip told me he loved me. It was the best feeling in the world.

Memorial Day 2004...Phillip finally met my parents. We had a picnic (of hot ham & cheese sandwiches) in the park before watching a concert by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in the park. Everyone seemed to like each other, which was very fortunate!

We had talked enough about getting married that we knew we needed to go ring shopping at some point. June 26 was the day. We went to several different jewelry shops and “celebrated” by going to Steak n Shake. We had a lot of fun that day!

July 2004, I went to Branson, Missouri, with my family. The week apart was miserable, but we did get to talk on the phone a couple times and we gave each other gifts to be opened each day. He gave me cards and I gave him pieces of a puzzle I had made.

Part 4 to come later!

(If you choose to participate, leave a comment below so we can all read your story!)

21 Weeks

Not too much to report this week. Emily does love her toes though. This was the only picture in the shoot in which she wasn't holding her toes!

Blinds and Halloween

I finally finished a project I've been working on for several weeks (and wanting to do since we moved in). Some of the windows didn't have miniblinds or the ones that were there were broken enough to warrant replacing. So, that's what I've been doing for the past several weeks...one window at a time. I finally got all six new miniblinds put up and I am so glad to have that behind me. If you ever need miniblinds hung, I'm your girl!

As I read about everyone else's Halloween's, I realized that I hadn't posted about ours. Well, that's because we really didn't do Halloween. When Halloween falls on a Friday night (football games!), you're not part of a church yet, and you live in an isolated area, there's really not much reason to do anything. But, Emily did have a couple "costumes." She had a pumpkin bib and a ghost onesie. So, she was our pumpkin ghost. (And, yes, we enjoyed our time at the football game, even though we lost.)

(I forgot to mention, the bear in the pictures above was a gift to Emily from my mom's cousin Kathy. Thanks, Kathy! Emily loves her bear!)

Music Fun

I found this on Jenni's blog and thought it would be fun!

Directions:
1. Put your iTunes/Ruckus/Napster/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 11 friends who might enjoy doing this.

Here are my answers:

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
"I'll Always Be Right There" - Bryan Adams

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Be Glorified" - Chris Tomlin

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Visions of a Sunset" - Shawn Stockman

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"I Will Be Here" - Steven Curtis Chapman

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"Come, Let Us Return to the Lord" - Dick & Mel Tunney

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"I Got a Woman" - Ray Charles

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Selwood Farm" - Bebo Norman

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"Heaven in the Real World" - Steven Curtis Chapman

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Sing Your Praise to the Lord" - Rich Mullins

WHAT IS 2+2?
"40 Days" - Third Day

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Rise and Shine" - Andrew Peterson

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Every Man" - Casting Crowns

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Heat of the Night" - Bryan Adams

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Deep Calling Deep" - Margaret Becker

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Take My Breath Away" - Berlin

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Tell Me Again" - Geoff Moore & The Distance

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"I Will Carry You" - Michael W. Smith

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"In Christ Alone"

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Listen to Our Hearts" - Steven Curtis Chapman

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Jump, Jump, Jump" - True Vibe

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Through the Fire" - Larry Greene

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Awesome God" - Rich Mullins

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Canon in D" - Dancing on Strings

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"I Know Your Name" - Michael W. Smith

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Cuts Like a Knife" - Bryan Adams

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Beautiful" - Detour 180

Our story, part 2

Mary over at Owlhaven is challenging her readers to tell their Love Stories for October. Since this was something I'd been meaning to write down and get into our wedding album for three years now, I figured this was just the motivation I needed. I don't want to overwhelm you (it's kind of long), so I'll put it up in installments. Here's the part 2 of our story! (See part 1 here.)

On March 9, 2004, Phillip cooked for me for the first time. I arrived a few minutes early (as usual) with three daffodils in hand. What I didn’t know was that Phillip had been dealing with a crisis just moments before I arrived. He had been preparing the table, taking out the leaf because he wanted to be as close to me as possible, when the legs fell apart. So, he’s standing there, about 15 minutes before I was supposed to arrive and had to figure out where we were going to eat. He got creative and set up the coffee table with pillows around it for us to sit on. We had spaghetti that night and it was wonderful!

At this point, we decided to make it official...we were dating. But, I laid down a ground rule...we would not kiss until we married. Fortunately, Phillip grudgingly agreed to it. Then, he went off to West Virginia for Spring Break with his parents to visit his dad’s family. His dad encouraged him to call me and I’m so glad he did!!

Over the next couple months, we continued seeing each other, going on dates, etc. By Easter (April 11, 2004), we were dating and had bought each other a small gift since we wouldn’t be together. (I was going to Abilene and he was going to Bronte.) I bought him a small stuffed bunny/duck with jelly beans attached and he bought me a Beanie Baby bear named Harmony.

part 3 to come later!

(If you choose to participate, leave a comment below so we can all read your story!)

20 weeks

Sorry this post is so late (for those who have been waiting for it). Emily took a five hour nap this morning/afternoon so I couldn't take her weekly picture. Here it is and here's another recent favorite with her newest obsession.