Today has been a good day. Most days are good, today just was fun. It was sunny and I sat outside on my best friend's deck and ate lunch while Noelle slept in the car seat and my friend's children and another friend's kids played on the swing set in the backyard. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this stay at home mom thing. Over the past two years, since we were married in August 2002, pregnant by January '03, and had Noelle in October '03, life hasn't slowed down. It is good to have easy slow days with the baby and just enjoy that nothing is radically shaking up my life. Does that make sense? I feel like I am still trying to get the hang of being married, with a heaping helping of motherhood on the side, and I don't get either right on most days.

But then I go to Bible study and we are studying Samson - someone who I REALLY hope they don't make a Veggie Tale about some day! - and I see how he erred time and time again due to his indepence, pride and blinded by his lusts, yet God sent the Spirit of the Lord to him time and again to give him strength. And at the end of his life, when he is being humiliated and shamed and mocked by the Philistenes, God, in his great mercy, sends his Spirit again to Samson. How wonderful to know that it is never too late for restoration with God! No matter what mistakes I am making, whether with friends, in my marriage, or elsewhere, restoration is always possible through Christ. Much to think on . . . hopefully I make some sense here as I type.

Now for something fun that I stole from my friend Allie's site . . . I know you go by "Lexie", but I met you as "Allie."

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 5. Write down what it says:
"Bibliology", Systematic Theology by Lewis Sperry Chafer (would you believe p. 18 is an index page?!?!)
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
Computer tower.
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV? Intentionally and committedly?
"Lyle the Kindly Viking," a veggie tale classic.
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:
9:15 p.m.
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
9:14 p.m.
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Travis saying "hi" to the neighbor outside.
7: When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
About 7:30, I took the dogs some dinner outside.
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
My palm desktop calendar.
9: What are you wearing?
Old Navy long sleeved t-shirt and blue jeans.
10: Did you dream last night?
I can't remember . . . .
11: When did you last laugh?
About an hour ago, at Noelle making faces.
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Family photos; a map of Franklin, TN; the Lacrosse schedule for Franklin Classical School; photos from a mission trip to Croatia...
13: Seen anything weird lately?
My sister and I tried on "formals" (I use that word loosely) for a church event this weekend. I was in my dress I wore to my Junior/Senior banquet in college; she was in a dress made entirely out of scarfs from New Orleans, circa 1968 - it was not a pretty site for either of us.
14: What do you think of this quiz?
Kinda random...
15: What is the last film you saw?
"Cheaper by the Dozen"
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
A mini-van!!! Then a piano.
17: Tell me something about you that I don’t know:
I had a pet ginuea pig (I can't even spell it right) in 6th grade named Fluffy. He lasted about 2 months because I was disgusted at the stench from his cage and I gave him away. Ick.
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Make Diet Coke as good for you as Water is.
19: Do you like to dance?
Yes, but I am VERY bad. VERY bad.
20: George Bush: is he (a) a power-crazy nutcase or (b) some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?
(b)
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Noelle Joyce (what a coincidence, that's Noelle's name!!)
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
John ("Jack") Lewis, maybe...
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?
England would be cool . . .
23: Will you pass on this survey?
I guess not, I just spend 10 minutes working on it.

Becky2620 hooked me up with this email question listserv and here are the ones I got today . . .

Would you be able to do these things yourself or have someone do it for you?

1. Fix a flat tire.
The one time I tried to fix a flat, some man stopped to help me - I must have looked like I had no clue what I was doing. I think I understanding in theory how to change one though.

2. Fix a tear or make alterations to clothing.
I can do some clothing repair. Most recently I managed to patch a hole in one of Travis's good sweaters when he was attacked by our fake Christmas tree last December. (He won.)

3. Unclog a severely plugged up sink or toilet.
No . . . eewwww . . . see Travis's recent Xanga post about how much we recently paid to have our plumbing repair. Ick.

4. Change the oil in your car.
Unfortunately, not something I can do. I do know how to add oil which is imperative with my car as it burns oil like crazy!

5. Put together an unassembled toy or piece of furniture out of the
box.
This I can handle - last assembly project? Noelle's highchair.

Speaking of sweet, precious, wonderful Noelle, the beginnings of tooth #1 is now barely poking through on the bottom. My thankful thought for the day - we stopped nursing a week and a half ago!

Some of my favorite things are purses. I've recently discovered these apple green purses. I had to put them up here - the Jonah day got more Jonah-ish yesterday so I went pretend shopping in my mind and picked out some things that were fun. I could use a new wallet, so I think that when I have a little extra money, I may have to get the tiny wallet.

oday has started out as a "Jonah Day" to use a Anne of Green Gables phrase. But I am DETERMINED not to let it turn into one. So what if one car didn't start this morning - the other one did so Travis could get to work. I'm thankful we have two cars! And it also means that instead of getting out and running an errand (that I really do have to run), I get to enjoy the morning at home with Noelle, she gets a good nap, and we can hope the car starts after lunch. (It does this sometimes - my car is 11 years old, it's time for some problems).

Other things to be thankful for today!!
1. It's not raining and the puppies can be outside, although much supervision is needed so that they don't dig in the mud - we (meaning Travis) has had to hose them off twice in the past two days because they have been so filthy. But they have so much fun getting dirty...
2. I have a new Mary Higgins Clark mystery to read. I'm not sure when I am going to have time in the near future to read it, but it is there beckoning me. (I managed about 20 pages last night before I was falling asleep on the couch).
3. A huge scrapbooking project that I committed to was finished last night! I was asked to make scrapbooks for two girls in our youth group that are graduating this year. The hitch - I was hired by the Granny who wanted the scrapbook created like her's was in 1941 - with a handmade wooden cover that she wanted their school logo painted on!! FYI - I don't paint, I don't draw. I have good handwriting, and a good eye, but that's about where it ends. But they are done and when Granny previewed one of them last week she was happy. We give them to the girls tonight and I'm excited.
4. I get to start working back on my own scrapbooks one of these days . . .
5. I have 1/2 2 litre of Diet Coke that I have to drink before it goes flat.

Making that list (which could be much longer, but I have to get to work) definitely helped!

Okay, I've seen this on several sites so I'm going to put it on mine.

Everyone who reads this, ask me 3 questions, no more no less.

Ask me anything you want.

Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything. Ask your questions in the comment section of this post - they will also be answered there.

Stolen from SimpleGrace's Xanga.


This past weekend, I spend some time making a favorite's CD just for fun. All the songs I came up with ending up taking up three CDs! Here are songs 1-10. (And I sorted them alphabetically before I burned them so that it would scramble all the artists around...) Sometimes I'm tooooooo organized.

1. All Things New - Watermark
2. As Long as You Love Me - Backstreet Boys
3. Beautiful One - Jeremy Camp
4. Big Deal - LeAnn Rimes
5. Born to Fly - Sara Evans
6. Burn - Jo Dee Messina
7. Bye Bye - Jo Dee Messina
8. Deeper Than the Holler - Randy Travis
9. Every Minute - Sara Groves
10. Fly to You - Avalon

Sunday evening . . . youth group is cancelled for the evening and we have an unusally quiet evening at home ahead of us for a change. I'm looking forward to it. Noelle is practicing her standing in an exer-saucer, and Travis is outside taking down part of our deck. The folks who owned this house before us had had an above ground pool in the backyard. One of our first projects after we moved in was to get the pool taken out. Most of our friends thought we were nuts to take out the pool, but once we moved into the house, Travis spent a lot of evenings cleaning out the pool, learning how to clean the filter and manage all the chemicals, and it was turning into a costly headache. Besides, my folks live in a condo with a real pool - why pay for the upkeep of a little 4 ft. above ground one, when we can go over the Grandma & Grandpa's and swim in their real pool whenever we want?? Plus, if we ever want to get a swing-set or something, there was no yard at all for it to fit into.

All that to say, we now have this wierd deck that has been taken out in chunks at a time where it used to wrap around the pool. Travis wanted me to get out there an help him with the project, but I am not a hot/sweaty/get dirty kind of girl. I like air conditioning.

Another big event of the weekend - Noelle is officially on formula exclusively. I had been having milk issues the last week - mostly in the evening and after watching my supply for several days, we have concluded that I've pretty much dried up. I'm kinda bummed that I had to stop nursing at 6 months when I had really intended to go to a year. Praise the Lord that she seems to have taken to the formula well in the last few days - all I had were samples that we had been given (she never would take it before, or drink out of a bottle until recently) and she has drunk/guzzled everything I've given her with no apparent problems. Still it's weird to think that she just six months old and she isn't dependant upon me anymore for food. I think I'm having some withdrawal pains....

It's snowing today on April 13th in Nashville. How weird is that?!

A few new photos . . . my neice, Jordan, and Noelle in their matching Easter dresses - furnished by Grandma!



Noelle's 6 month photo taken by my Dad:

I just finished the "Glorious Appearing" book. I have to admit, there is a part of me that is thrilled that the series is apparently over. Each book got harder and harder to read and drained me when reading them. And I can't even comprehend trying to put in my mortal words what it will be like when Christ returns . . . the word "awesome" won't even handle the description. I have much to think about.

Off to take Noelle to the Dr. for her 6 month appointment when she wakes up . . . shots today. Bummer.

Noelle is 6 months old tomorrow. I had to go back and find a picture of her when she was brand new to remember how tiny (and still) she used to be. We have the wonderful privilege to dedicate her this Sunday at church and I'm very excited. Lord, thank you for this gift of our daughter.