A Request and Miscellaneous

Rainy Wednesday. Noelle is napping and I'm getting some printing done for church on Sunday. I'm hoping the rain clears up . . . we are supposed to meet some girlfriends for a friend's birthday lunch and it's not much fun lugging a car seat in the rain. I haven't figured out how to do it without getting mostly wet. I'm not coordinated enough to handle an umbrella and a car seat. :-)

Kara requested that I explain how Noelle got her name - I'm always in need of blogging suggestions and welcome them! *hints* :-) Noelle's full name is Noelle Joyce. "Noelle" is a girl name I've always loved for several reasons.

(1) It is French for "Christmas", which is one of my favorite times of the year. The songs, the lights, the get-together with friends and family, the meaning behind it all - it's wonderful.
(2) It's an old-fashioned name, which in my opinion, wears well. (No offense at all meant to those named Britney, Coco or Apple!)
(3) It's not a common name, but not so unusual that when I would tell people what we were going to name her they would say, "Hmmm, that's interesting. Why did you pick that?" You know what I mean.

The name "Joyce" is very special to our family. When my parents were young, have two small girls (I was probably 3, and my sister a few months old), my Dad was really struggling with life. Great job, lots of money (for 1973), but knew something was missing. There was an older married couple that lived across the street from them in Oklahoma City, Phil and Joyce Hubbard. Joyce invited my parents to church and on their first Sunday there, my Dad is saved. Mom accepts Christ several months later. My parents' salvation causes a large rift in the family, especially with my Dad's parents, and the Hubbards step in a surrogate grandparents for me and my sister for several years, until we move so that my Dad can enter Dallas Theological Seminary. One woman, inviting my folks to church at the right time and changes the entire focus of our family. Very cool. My sister and I always called Joyce "Kissy-Kissy". That was our nickname for her. She always said this silly rhyme when we saw her: "Kissy, kissy, kissy coo. Kissy, kissy, I love you," followed by a huge kiss. Joyce passed away probably 10 years ago, and Mr. Hubbard is now remarried, but her legacy in our family was remarkable and I wanted to honor her by naming my daughter after her. And, when I am asked why I chose that name for Noelle, I can pass on the story for future generations of how our family turned to Christ and the part one woman played.

(I'm definitely going to have to print out the text of this post for Noelle's baby book!)

In other news . . .
Mucho congratulations to my friends David & Amy with the exciting news that they are pregnant!! Also, to my friends Kip & Kathleen who are expecting #4 in January! I'm so excited for them both. I think I hear that clock of mine ticking somewhere.... :-)

Lastly, a recent family pic - this was in the church directory which was just printed. Noelle is only 6 months old here - she turns 9 months on Saturday! And took another step yesterday!



PS. Why do my dogs decided they need to be hyper and wrestle outside when it has been pouring down rain for 4 hours this morning? Why? Why? WHY? Nothing more fragrant than the smell of wet dog . . . must go find air freshner.

Tuesday's To Do's...

Monday was nice. Noelle and I spent the whole day at home not doing much of anything besides a lot of laundry and a little cleaning around the house. It was nice not to be in the car at all, especially after it seems I spent all last week in one. Noelle has been VERY clingy - she was held so much last week since we were in restaurants or at my Grandad's nursing home that she is having a hard time adjusting back to playing some on her own.

One fun thing we learned out of this trip - she loves toast. We were at a restaurant one night and handed her a piece of the garlic toast that came with my sister's spaghetti. She went after it like it was the greatest thing ever! Then, Sunday night, I made us a breakfast dinner - eggs, bacon, biscuits - and I gave Noelle a tiny piece of biscuit with butter and strawberry jam. A huge success! I made her a little piece of toast last night to chew on while Travis and I had dinner and she loved it. On our trip, she also discovered watermelon. She's definitely a girl that loves her fruit.


Noelle loves toast! 

Friday Feast a Few Days Late...

Appetizer
Briefly describe your living room.Large room, 20 x 20. Contains two big comfy chairs, one couch, one loveseat and giant coffee table. The room that we live in. In the four corners of the room - doorway, scrapbook/craft table, TV/VCR/stereo, and computer desk & printers. We love our big great room. :-)

Soup
List 3 things you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2004.
1. Finish a large portion of Noelle's baby book.
2. Read, in it's entirety (sp?) a whole non-fiction C.S. Lewis book. (I have a hard time w/ non-fiction).
3. Be expecting another baby...

Salad
When you're online, what do you spend the most time reading/playing/doing? Suggest a site for us to visit.
Mostly sending emails, doing stuff for my job at church. A cool website to visit . . . Dasya's Photography. My Dad started his own photography studio/business a few years ago. There are some cool pictures there.

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be?
"Inside the Clutter That is My Mind"

Dessert
What time do you usually go to bed?
Usually 10 p.m., no later than 10:30 or I'm asleep on the couch. So sad...

I'm Home

Sunday morning, 8:42 a.m., getting ready for church at a leisurely pace. I'm not on the worship team this Sunday and so I don't have to get there until around 9:30 as opposed to the 8 o'clock hour that Travis left at.

I'm tired. This trip was busy, fast, emotional, draining, noisy, and all sorts of other adjectives. Yesterday was 12 hours in the car home. Noelle did fabulous in her car seat considering she only got out for a couple diaper changes and when we stopped for breakfast. She was sure glad to see her Daddy last night. I'll post a few pictures from the trip later today.

Only other small thing to mention . . . N. took 1 step last night. It was pretty shaky, but it was still a step. :-) I'm so glad she waited to do it last night where Travis saw it instead of on the trip....

Quick Post from Guthrie, Oklahoma

Quick random thoughts before we go to visit my Grandad at the nursing home:

~I have a low tolerance for kids that act like animals in a restaurant.
~I have had SMALL amounts of sleep the last two nights.
~I need more Diet Coke.
~More details when I return.

A Cup of Coffee Before I Go

You're a Classic Cup 'O' Joe!


What Kind of Coffee are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Father's Day Picture

Travis & Noelle, Father's Day 2004 

We had a great Father's Day yesterday. My family came to our house for lunch - yummy taco salad - and hung out for several hours. The normal plan is to go to my folks (a.k.a. Grandma & Grandpa's) for Sunday lunch, but we've done that the last several weeks only to return home to mass destruction by the puppies. So, everyone came over here for the afternoon so we didn't have to leave the "babies" in their kennel all morning for church and then all afternoon. And they were so well behaved!

Anyway, we had a great time with the family. Got to see the ultrasound for my new nephew-to-be, Myles. (I found out that they are spelling his name with a Y instead of and I - that will take some getting used to). It was so fun seeing that video of such a tiny miracle. I had flashbacks to Noelle's ultrasound and made me excited about having another baby. I've been wishy-washy on getting pregnant again. Not because we don't want more kids, but because I just remember how utterly miserable I was the last 3-4 months I was pregnant. I really thought I would be one of those women that love to be pregnant and I did until I was about 6 months along. Then I swelled and tore a stomach muscle and was hot for just forever. And with Noelle born in October, it was a long, hot summer that include moving, several car trips, and other adventures. All that to say, I'm almost to the point that I'm thinking more about the baby than the pregnancy which seems like a good thing! :-)

Tomorrow Noelle and I leave for Oklahoma to visit my grandparents. I have two left that are living. My paternal Grandad and materal Grandma. This will be Noelle's first meeting with either one so I'm excited about that. It's a 12-hour car ride, so it will interesting keeping her entertained. I may or may not get online and update about the trip, but I definitely will when I get back . . . of course, with pictures. :-) Travis will be home by himself with the puppies for 5 days. I asked him what he was going to do while we were gone and he said "Guy stuff. Be a bachelor!" or something like that. Translated, that means eat lots of cereal (his favorite food I have discovered), read a lot, learn new software on the computer, and play music. Total guy stuff. :-)

And for my fun break before I go resume packing and cleaning the house before the trip, Fun In The Sun:

1. Do you prefer the beach or a pool?
Probably the beach. If I'm going to get hot, sweaty and wet, I'd rather it be someplace somewhat scenic so I can take pictures. And I can just sit and watch waves for hours...

2. What kind of tan are you most likey to get during the summer... a beautiful, bronze, laying out in the sun for hours tan; a gradual, few minutes a day tan; a "farmer tan" from working outdoors; or do you just get as red as a lobster and peel the next day?
Burn and peel. Repeat as needed.

3. Which summertime water activity are you more likely to enjoy the most... boating, jet skiing, waterskiing, swimming or floating down a lazy river on a tube?
Boating.

4. What is your favorite picnic food?
Hot dogs!

5. Do you know how to cook on a barbeque grill?
No. It involved fire and lighter fluid - two things that when combined scare me to death! :-)

I Can't Think of a Title

Random Thoughts:

~Isn't it disappointing when you watch a movie that you used to love and it's just not the same? For example, last night I checked out "The Firm" from the library (with Tom Cruise, based on a John Grisham book). I totally did not remember the HORRIBLE language that was in the movie. Ick. Probably the cause for the weird dreams I had last night . . .

~So I talked to my Mom last night as she was driving home from work. She just had to discuss her new grandson she is going to have. (In case you missed the update to yesterday's post, my sister found out that she is going to have a boy sometime around the first of October - Miles.) She is already thinking about some little outfits that she is feeling compelled to buy him . . . she's such a Grandma. :-)

~Funny Jordan (neice) story . . . she calls me yesterday to tell me about the ultrasound results and that it's a boy. I ask her how did she know for sure? Her reply, "The doctor saw his three legs." Cracks me up!

Something for Friday fun:

Appetizer
What kind of car do you drive? If you could make an even trade for any other car, what would you want to drive?
I drive a 94 (I think) Pontiac Bonnyville - a boat, it's soooo huge. In a heartbeat, I would trade with my husband for my original car, 93 Honda Civic, but it does not have air conditioning and I just can't make Noelle suffer in the back seat without any air... I would love to have a minivan!!

Soup
Take your phone number and add each number together separately (example: 8+6+7+5+3+0+9=38) - what's the total?
26

Salad
When were you last outside, and what were you doing?
Last night, I was hanging out in the garage with Travis watching him load up stuff for the church yard sale on Saturday!

Main Course
What is your favorite restaurant, and what do you usually order there?
Such a hard question . . . I don't get to eat out much so I'm usually thrilled just to go somewhere with free drink refills and someone to wait on you! (I'm not hard to please in the restaurant department.) My favorites I would have to say are Green Hills Grille, Logan's, Chili's and Las Palmas. (All but Chili's I think are just in this area of the country).

What I would order? Note: I like to eat, but I wouldn't order these all at the same time. :-)
Green Hills Grille: tortilla soup(!), BBQ Adobo Chicken Salad or Chinese Grilled Chicken Salad, Black Bean Queso & Chips, Coconut Chicken Tenders, Raspberry Sorbet w/ Chocolate Sauce
Logan's: fabulous Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, Buffalo Chicken Salad, any of their salads. (This is about the only place I will order anything with buffalo seasoning and not regret it later.)
Chili's: any salad, their pita sandwiches. I like Chili's because it's a little bit cheaper. :-)
Las Palmas: Nachos Palmas has been my standard there for several years, sometimes I get Nachos Fajitas.

Dessert
Name 3 things in which you occasionally indulge.
Slurpees/Icees (i.e. frozen cokes!); popcorn at the movies - I really feel that is a must, but I can do without; a bag of Chex Mix (or homemade) - I don't buy it ever because I can't keep it in the house and not get into it.

All this talk of food has made me hungry. I need to go find breakfast!

It's a . . .

Boy!

His name will be Miles. Yeah!

Boy or Girl?

Noelle and her buddy Sam 

We find out this afternoon if my sister is having a boy or girl! I can't wait. Her appointment is at 3:15 p.m. and my neice (age 6 1/2) is to call me with the news afterwards. This baby (whom the family affectionately calls BG for now) is going to be almost exactly one year younger than our Noelle. How fun that she will have a cousin close in age and location to grow up with. My neice will be almost 7 when her new little brother or sister arrives, too, and she is so excited. Here is her take on what they will find out at the ultrasound today:

Me: So, what do you think that Mommy is going to have?
Jordan: I already know.
Me: You do? Is it a boy or a girl?
Jordan: It's triplets.

I think my sister is praying that Jordan is wrong. :-) I will update with the news later this evening.

I am working like crazy today on church stuff. We just finished putting together our church's first photo directory and I'm deep into printing and binding and hoping to get it done before Sunday. It's very cool, if I do say so myself... I'm already on my 3rd Diet Coke.

Travis and I had a great time at the movie last night - it was weird doing something just us. Harry Potter was great - a much different take on the movie than the first two. It did seem like they cut a lot from the books, but I don't know how they could have fit any more into the movie without it running another hour or so! Noelle did fabulous with the grandparents . . . we arrived back at my folks to find her completely sacked out on her Grandpa's lap. She barely woke as we transferred her from Grandpa to carseat and from carseat to bed once we got home. And, she slept until 7:30 this morning! Unheard of!!

Date Night!

Travis & I are going to see a movie tonight - just us - and Noelle is going to the grandparents! I had to look on my calendar to see when the last movie I saw in the theater was - December 19 - "Return of the King." I get to see the new Harry Potter tonight! My life is way different than it was pre-marriage and pre-baby. It was nothing to go to a movie at the theater every weekend. Now, we're all about checking out videos from the library for free, and the occasional new release at Hollywood Video.

Although I wouldn't change where I am in life now for anything, I sometimes miss the time I had with girlfriends going to the movies on the weekends. That's who I always went with and it was a weekly time for us to connect if we didn't somewhere else. There were 4 of us who were single and usually did something together on Friday nights. Then one got married, and then I did, then #3 and now there is one who is still single. She and the married w/o children still go out, but now that N. is here, we're kind of out of that loop. Once you are out of one loop, it's easy to get overlooked for the next loop, and the next . . . I guess I've been feeling lonely lately. A couple hours at Starbucks with some girlfriends sounds pretty great to me.

Enough on that! I have way too much to be thankful for. :-)

Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Something fun...taken from craktpot's site:
If I were a _____ , I'd be a _____

Month: November or December
Day of the week: Wednesday
Time of day: 2:30 p.m.
Planet: Earth
Sea animal: Otter
Direction: left!
Piece of furniture, I would be: my big comfy date chair
Sin, I would be: forgiven
Liquid: Diet Coke!
Stone: Sapphire
Tree: Lilac tree
Bird: Canary
Tool: Duct Tape (not really a tool, but you can fix ANYTHING with duct tape)
Flower/plant: Daisy, "aren't daisies the friendliest flower?"
Kind of weather: sunny, hint of clouds, about 70 degrees.
Mythical creature: Pixie
Land animal: Giraffe
Vegetable: green beans, my favorite.
Sound: Noelle's laugh :-)
Element: h2o
Car: minivan
Song: a tie - "Lord Most High" (my favorite worship song) & "My Jesus I Love Thee" (favorite hymn)
Movie director: George Lucas
Book: Anne of Green Gables series
Food: Mexican
Place: mountains
Material: 100% cotton, all about comfort!
Taste: salty
Scent: smell of freshly mown grass & wild onions
Religion: follower of Jesus Christ
Word: content
Object: Tungsten E Palm
Facial expression: silly
Subject in school: History
Cartoon character: Bugs Bunny
Shape: Square

To Do's

I need to . . .
~fold clothes
~call about car insurance
~start making packing list for trip to Oklahoma
~take yard sale items to church
~write birthday note and mail it to my friend Chelle
~order some supplies from Office Depot
~call with pricing on wedding invitations I'm making
~clean bathtub

What I want to do . . .
~go to the scrapbook store and shop
~take a nap (hey, it's a rainy, cloudy morning - perfect nap weather!) :-)
~work on Noelle's scrapbook
~work on family scrapbook

Off to fold clothes and check that off the list! :-)
Happy Tuesday!

Manic Monday

Travis & Noelle 

Remember that song by the Bangles? Manic Monday? That's what today has been and it's only 8:41 a.m. as I type.
~Noelle woke up at 5:30 a.m.
~Went to the kitchen to find there had been an ant invasion in the night. Eeeewwww. (Which Travis killed and cleaned up . . . yeah!)
~Vacuumed the house around 6:15 a.m. - dogs loosing massive amounts of hair due to bath last night.
~Travis tries to leave for work around 7:15-7:30 and red car won't start. Takes green car.
~Makes one trip back to the house because he can't find something he wants to take to work.
~I leave the dogs alone for about 2 minutes to go to the bathroom and one has been sick in the kitchen. Double eeeewwwww.
~Both dogs locked outside on patio.
~Noelle napping.
~Mommy regaining sanity at now 8:44 a.m. :-)

This whole weeks looks like it might be like this. I have to put together something for the fathers at church for this Sunday - here's your reminder that it's Father's Day this coming weekend!! Plus, Noelle and I are going out of town next week with my parents, my sister and her daughter to visit my grandparents, so there is all the packing and planning for that. I'm also trying to get a quote to someone that has asked me to design her wedding ivitations . . . I dislike greatly having to mess with money matter. There are many other things on my plate, but those are the top three that I am going to try and deal with today. :-)

Yesterday at church, the sermon was about Ephesians 6:18, regarding prayer.

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

The gist of what I got out of it was that it is my privilege and my responsibility to pray for the believers that surround me. I never thought about it that way. Specifically, I am to pray for spiritual alertness - that they recognize God in their lives and what He is doing; that they are faithful to Him in their lives; that they are fruitful; that they encounter opportunities to tell someone this week about Jesus, and so on. It is a blessing from God when another is allowed to share a need that I can pray from specifically. And it is a blessing to another when I share a specific need that someone can pray for me about.

It was very moving for me. I'm not good at sharing the personal, the stuff that makes me really upset, mad and/or sad. At the end of the sermon, we actually had a time where we were asked to find another person and share a specific need that we would like prayer for . . . and then commit to pray for that person consistently for the week. I'm pretty excited to see what happens this week in my friend's life as I pray for her and in mine as she prays for me!

Busy, Busy Weekend!

Those of you that didn't think I was Lamentations, thanks. I did take the quiz again and it came up as Psalms the 2nd time - I liked that answer much better. But, I was always told in testing in high school/college that your first gut-reaction answer to questions was usually the correct one so I feel I have to stick with Lamentations. Oh, well...

Last night was the 1st study in the book of Ruth. Very good. We spent a lot of time discussing the hopelessness of the situation which Naomi and Ruth found themselves after their respective husbands/sons passed away. Because they had no men in their family, there was no one that could hold onto property or inheritance while they were in the land of Moab. Whatever material possessions they had there were lost completely. And, as a Jew, Naomi would have had limited privileges/rights in Moab. Naomi feels that she is being punished by God (cp.1, v.20-21), but she does what she needs to get right with God - heads back to Israel. And the journey to Israel was no stroll. About 50 miles, dangerous territory, bandits & robbers (see Judges 5:6) and she was going to do this ALONE. Ruth gave up everything to go with Naomi. She was willing to give up everything comfortable about living in her homeland and the likelihood of ever remarrying (she was lowest of the low in Israel) to be with Naomi. This impacted me - the testimony that Naomi must have had on Ruth, her young daughter-in-law, who is watching her mother-in-law grieve the loss of both her husband and sons, but still pursuing the Almighty. Someone at the study commented that the way we might minister to another in our suffering may show more of our testimony & walk with the Lord than when we are in a time of blessing. Much for this "Lamentations" to think about. :-) I need to start pondering upon chapter 2 . . . unfortunately I will miss that study night because of Travis' family reunion (I think). And MissBev is leading!

In other news:
~ Tomorrow is Travis' birthday - yeah!
~ Tonight, surprise birthday party for him at Las Palmas (the BEST Mexican restaurant in Nashville!)
~ Not so much of a surprise, because I accidently sent him the email inviting everyone!!! (He knows there's something going on tonight, but doesn't know where).
~ I have been banned from participation/set-up of surprise parties indefinitely.
~ Tomorrow we have a staff meeting at church and the annual church summer picnic. Woo-hoo!
~ I have to go pick up Travis' birthday cake and the paper supplies for the cookout.
~ Noelle walked all the way across our big room pushing her little toy car that Daddy got her. She's amazing! Burst of love!!!

Quiz for the Day...

You are Lamentations.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I have to say this surprised me...

Briefly...

Lost 2 1/2 lbs today at Weight Watchers - woo-hoo! :-)

Kara, you had asked me about my Ruth study . . . our first meeting is this Thursday night so I've just been reviewing chapter one and trying to become familiar with it (again.) I think you were dead on - this book is such a tangible way that God showed his blessing when life was falling down around this family. Famine, multiple deaths, moving back home with no way of support. And, how God chose to use this "insignificant" woman to be a part of His lineage - a non-Israelite, and her husband Boaz, the child of a harlot (Rahab). A wonderful picture of His redemptive nature.

Do Over's

Last night Travis and I watched Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore. If you aren't familiar with the movie it's about a young reporter who gets her big break by getting to go back to high school for her senior year as an undercover student. It was so important that she had this chance to do-over her senior year, and from the movie flashbacks you could understand why - the first time 'round was terrible.

The movie made me think a lot last night about what things I would choose to do over if I had the chance, how I could go back and change the type of person that I am now:
~ I would have pursued the Lord more as a teenager. The church I was in had a fairly weak youth group (basically non-existent), but for too long I allowed that to be the excuse that I wasn't growing in my faith. I was depending upon them for my relationship with Christ - when it was my responsibility all along.
~ I would have practiced the piano more. 12 years of piano lessons, a piano major for 1 year at college. I sigh when I think what I could play like now if I had practiced more!
~ I probably would have gone to a state school for college rather than a small private Christian school. Please don't hear me say that I don't love the friendships and the memories from the small school I went to (student body approximately 1000 my graduating year). But I think I could have gained a lot more if I had been in an environment where I was challenged more spiritually and had opportunity to be involved in campus ministries like Campus Crusade, Intervarsity, etc.
~ Developed better eating habits and a desire/love for exercise in high school & college. Maybe I would like exercise better by now . . . or maybe not. :-)

And, a humorous story to tie into my "do-over" theme here: yesterday I was substituting leading our music at church since our music coordinator was out of town at a wedding. I wanted to do this cool medley I had come up with for two Twila Paris choruses and in rehearsal we figured out how to pull it off, and, although it was tricky getting from the first song into the second, we managed to do it several times successfully before the service. So, we get to the service . . . I welcome everyone, we stand and sing, we sing the first song of the medley . . . and then we crash and burn getting to the next song. Not just fumble into it. I had to stop the song so we could start over. Thankfully, our congregation is very laid back and they just laughed when I explained that it really did sound cool in our rehearsal. Then we just started song #2 from the top and went at it. It was a little awkward and slightly embarrassing, but I'm laughing about it on Monday so it can't have been that bad. :-)

Backup Baa's!

Noelle's favorite toy to sleep with is her lamb "Baa." Since she was about 2 months old, she has wanted to have Baa to go to sleep for naps and at night. She has her routine of how she lays on top of him and chews on his little ears and tail. The few times that we have tried to put her to bed with him have not been good. She fusses and fusses and fusses . . . you get the picture. The other day I had to pull him out of the dryer about 1/2 dry so that she would go to sleep after I let her fuss for about 30 minutes and try to go down without him.

Anyway, ever since we noticed this attachment, my whole family and some friends have been on the lookout for a backup Baa. We've checked department stores, gift shops, the internet and haven't found them. Then, today, when Travis and I randomly walk into a Hallmark store we spot three of these little lambs! We immediately buy two! I can already see the scrapbook page that I want to create about Noelle's attachment to Baa, so I took a picture today to save the memory. Our old Baa is the dingy looking one in the middle. :-)



The world lost a great leader today: Ronald Reagan.

Dog Days

Breaking News!!!
Travis found out today that he got a wonderful promotion at work. He'll be doing the same job, but with a new title and a significant pay raise. God is good! :-)

Today's news...

Girl dog is at the vet's today for a "procedure." Boy dog is VERY lonesome and droopy at home. They've never been separated. Boy dog is following Noelle trying to get her to play with him (which she is some). I think if N. would sit still for a second, he would curl up right next to her and take a nap. But N. sit still?????

Got this from this blog:

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?
My middle name is Diane - same middle name as my Mom's and my sister's. (My mom is the only one that goes by it). I don't know that I would change any of my names at this point . . . when I was in 6th grade I went through a stage where I wanted to change how I spelled my name: Stephani, Stefanie, Stefani, Stefany, etc.

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?
I love deep colors - dark reds, blues, chocolate browns. Fabric - cotton, all the way. Styles - comfy. Overalls, long skirts that you can tuck your feet up into, turtleneck sweaters.

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?
Cleaning the bathroom/scrubbing the tub. There really should be some way that the tub stays clean - I mean it's constantly full of water and soap!

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?I have always wanted to be able to ride a horse really well, but everytime I have ever tried to ride one, something has happened. The horse has run away with me clinging to it, I've been stepped on, thrown, run away with again, and so on. They are such big animals that I'm pretty leery around them now.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.I'm sitting at our desk. I can see my Weight Watcher journal, my digital camera, and a sweet baby standing beside me playing with a toy.

8 months!

8 months old today.

Having a major burst of love for my sweet girl.

To Do's

List of today's to do's:

Scold dogs for chewing on things.
Buy bones for dogs.
Laundry, laundry, laundry.
Play with Noelle. :-)
Shaving creme for Travis.
Return books to the library - do NOT check out any more fiction (remember New Year's resolution to read more non-fiction.)
Birthday present for Travis - go buy *******.
Pick up music for Sunday's service from Laura.
Office Depot - notebook for church finances.
Start on my Ruth study for Bible study next Thursday...

There might be something else, too....

Post-Memorial Day

We had such a great long weekend. Yesterday I literally laid around all day. It was fabulous. I don't know the last time I had a day like that. I laid on the couch and read a fun book, Noelle played a bunch and took a huge 3-hour nap in the afternoon, and Travis mowed the yard and got to play guitar and practice music. Very relaxing for all of us! Some newly married friends also had a cookout last night that we went to - and I didn't have to take anything so I was able to just go and enjoy that as well. We topped off the day by watching the Return of the King - I made it through about half of it before I went to bed. I may try and finish the rest tonight.

I also went back to Weight Watchers this morning - yeah! I really like WW - I was on their program for over a year right before I got married and lost a bunch of weight . . . however, pregnancy has done a number on me. All those folks that said "You'll lose all your preg weight while nursing!" Not so for me anyway. I need additional help!

Saw this on a site and it made me think:

You are given a gift of 1 million dollars (kindly adjust for currency in your location). There are some restrictions on how you can spend some of the money, as follows:

$100,000 must be donated to charity. What charities will you support? Family Life ministries/Campus Crusade, Navigators (my friend Beth is on staff with them in Texas), probably an Alzheimer's organization (my Grandma had that), Mercy Ministries.

$100,000 must be given to one person that you know. To whom do you give it? What would you expect him/her to do with it? Would you put any restrictions on its use? Would it make a difference if you could make the donation anonymously? I have friends that have a two children with some health problems. Their son is a high functioning autistic, and their daughter is severly handicapped. The mom stays home and juggles family life, doctor appointments, insane amounts of medication, etc., etc. I would love to be able to give them some money so they would have help with their daughter in whatever way it could best be used. I would give the money to them anonymously so that they wouldn't feel there were any strings attached.

$100,000 must be given to someone who has recently been in the news. Who gets it? Why? I am so out of touch with the news - I know nothing of what is going on . . . maybe to someone that has lost a family member in our current war.

$100,000 must be spent on a public beautification project. You can build a park, commission artwork, etc. What do you do, and where do you do it? That's easy - bicycle trails all around the city of Nashville. Not just little lined off sections of the street next to cars, but huge sidewalks that go all over. Calgary, Alberta has these and when we lived there my sister and I could get anywhere on our bikes without having to worry about cars. It was great.

$100,000 must be spent on a memorial to someone/something that you have loved and lost. What form does the memorial take? Who is it for? My neice Dasya died at birth. Maybe something for her like a playground.

$50,000 must be spent studying something you have not formally studied. What will you study? Dallas Theological Seminary takes a group of students to Israel every few years and lectures and teaches the entire trip - my husband and I would definitely do that first! Right now, if there was anything left, I would take some counselling classes.

$50,000 must be spent establishing a scholarship. What's it for and who will you name it for? I would probably, again, give the money to someplace like Dallas Seminary to help with the cost (seminary is EXPENSIVE!) I'm not sure who I would name it after.... I'll have to think on that. But if I could just give it to someone, I'd give it to my husband so he can go to seminary some day.

$50,000 must be given away in a contest. What kind of contest do you hold? I'm so lame - probably an American Idol type contest with Christian music.

$200,000 must be spent doing as many things as you can on your "lifetime to do list." Always wanted to see Alaska? Take a boat trip on the Rhine? What things would you do first? Trips to go on: Israel, safari in Africa, Englad/Ireland, Alaskan cruise, California (I've never seen the SW US), Disney World!!!!

That leaves you with $150,000 of mad money. If the rules say you can't spend that money on things that might be termed "practical," what do you buy on your spending spree? PURSES!, scrapbook supplies, PENS!, music, a piano, a swingset for Noelle, new clothes. Pay to have my hair professionally straightened (because with $150,000 I can pay for a perm if I hate it!) An Odyssey minivan, guitar toys for Travis, Finale (music software)....should I be worried because my list is so long??