Flying . . .

by the seat of my pants today. Up at dawn grocery shopping, then off to Bible study, back home to feed Noelle and her stay-at-hom-Dad, church work from 1-4 p.m., off now to clean house before people invade.

We're off to Memphis for the next two days for a familial get-away - back home Friday sometime. See you then!

Noelle is such a Daddy's girl. :-)

I've had no motivation today. None at all. Could it be the lack of caffiene? I'm out of Diet Coke . . . Hmmm. I feel guilty when I don't check much stuff off of my to-do list, but I know sometimes I just need some down time. I guess it's a good thing I laid around today . . . tomorrow is going to be busy! Travis has the rest of the week off starting tomorrow (yeah!) and I'm going to take advantage of that and go grocery shopping early tomorrow a.m. before my Bible study. (Early + Walmart = good). Then Bible study at church, and since Travis is off, he's going to keep Noelle for me. Then clean up around house for our Community Group tomorrow night, and also do my layout of the bulletin and as much stuff as I can for Sunday. We're planning on taking a mini road trip to Memphis on Thursday and Friday just to go away for a few days. They have a Chinese Panda exhibit at the Memphis Zoo now and we may check that out. The part I love is that we really don't have any plans - other than just family time. :-)

More later . . . off to motivate myself towards making dinner!

Not much...

Quizzes have broken out amonst the web like a plague . . . so of course, I did several. But before you get to that, I leave you a quote from my 6 year old neice from this weekend. To set this up, she was playing in a soccer game Saturday morning and got hit in the face with the ball. (No injuries, thankfully).

Me: So what happened when the ball hit?
Jordan: Luckily I wasn't wearing lipstick or the ball would have stuck to my face.

You have to realize, this kid wears a lot of Mary Kate & Ashley sparkly lipgloss lipstick. I laughed. :-)


Beretta92fs. You're good. Almost as good as a Sig
but are cheaper. Thats why the US military
chose you. You're kinda scary.


What handgun are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


YOU ARE CATNIP


What herb are you?
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Wendy. You are kind and respectful. You enjoy fun
and games, but you know when to take things
seriously. Your best qualities are your
motherly nature and your youthful maturity.
Your biggest flaw is that you are conflicted
about whether or not you want to grow up.


Which Peter Pan Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The New Me

I've changed the name of my blog - I'm now "Olive Tree."

"Why the change?," you ask.

"I'm so glad you want to know," says I. :-)

The verse at the top of my blog is my favorite verse. It's one that I latched onto during a Bible study I did on David (Beth Moore's Man After God's Own Heart). I want to flourish for and in the things of the Lord, like an olive tree - so the new title is symbolic of that. Plus, the whole "Sticky and Messy" thing was not really me. It was a phrase that I had heard a friend use regarding having young children and it doesn't really apply to me . . . yet. :-)

Anyhoo, happy weekend all. Just wanted you to know that you haven't accidentally stumbled onto the wrong page - still me!

Inspired by . . .

Noelle is loving this cooler weather and the chance to go outside a bit more. We've added into our morning routine some time for her to wander around on the deck in the back before her morning nap. I put her baby gate up so that she can crawl up and down the one step from the back door to the deck, but she can't crawl down the 5 concrete steps to the grass. The dogs usually lay out there while she plays. She is having a ball stomping around on the deck in her shoes and looking at the trees and grass and the other houses and cars.

Request: Does anyone have any good homemade bread recipes? The kind that are tried and true and that I won't be able to mess up? I LOVE making homemade bread and would like to move past only making it in my bread machine, but I'm always hit or miss with the success and I hate wasting it. (The last batch I tried of Oatmeal Bread was really and truly inedible.) Suggestions?

Response to Comments:

Mrs. Darling: Hi!! It took me a bit, but the new names are catchy. :-) Very clever!!!

LeeAnn posted her daily routine on her site yesterday and I thought, "Wow!" I'm inspired to try and get my routine on paper - I know it would help me when I stop for a minute and think about what I should do next! Here's a start on it (all times are approximate) . . .

~ 6 - 6:30 a.m. - Travis' alarm goes off; Noelle starts stirring
~ 6:30 - 7 a.m. - cuddle with Noelle, give her morning bottle
~ 7:30 - 8 a.m. - feeding her breakfast, making T. lunch, washing up any glasses/dishes/popcorn bowl from previous evening, feed puppies
~ Around 8 a.m. - say goodbye to Daddy at the door and wave
~ Between 8-9 a.m. - hose down the highchair after breakfast, get Noelle dressed, put her in her pack-n-play while I take a quick shower, get me dressed.
~ Vacuum our family room (the room with live in), sweep the kitchen, put in any laundry, quick pick-up and check off a few tasks on my Motivated Moms cleaning system.
~ N. goes down for a nap between 9-9:30 a.m.
~ After that I mix-up any bread I want to make or prep anything that is going into the crockpot for dinner.
~ Time to sit at my desk and get some church work done. Check email to make sure there is nothing that I have to tackle first thing. If there are no immediate fires to put out . . .
~ Work on my Bible study for 30 minutes - an hour depending on what I can done
~ Back to work at the computer for a bit. Make any calls I need to, send emails. I also usually try and blog during our morning nap time if I can.
~ 11:00-ish a.m. - Noelle is up from her nap and ready for her lunch. I make lunch for her and get her started, then make something for me and we eat together.
~ Run errands after lunch. Now that it's a little cooler in the day, we run our errands between lunch and afternoon nap. Exception to this is if we have to go to Walmart or Sam's. If we have to go there, we go first thing in the morning to beat the crowds! Also, I try to run errands on Tuesday and Wednesday only, and other than the library maybe on Friday, be home for the other days. Our days are so much better when we are not running from sun-up to sun-down!
~ If no errands, then we play at home, she follows me (and "helps") while I do some housework, fold laundry, etc.
~ Back down for nap #2 around 2:30 - 3 p.m. I try to work on church stuff for another hour if needed. Other possible tasks include prep for dinner, straightening our big room again, working on any paper crafts I need to do (if I need to make a birthday card or gift), etc.
~ Noelle up from afternoon nap between 4 - 4:30 p.m. Give her a dinner-time bottle and let her play while I finish anything I need to for dinner.
~ Travis home between 5:30 - 6 and we eat usually as soon as get gets home. (I try and stall Noelle until he gets home so we can all eat together - doesn't always work).
~ Family play time with Daddy after dinner and and then bedtime bottle by 7:30 and bed by 8:00 p.m.
~ After that, Travis usually works on the computer or reads, I read or journal or work on stuff around the house and we hang out.

Of course there are daily variations to this schedule and I can see where I need to flesh it out some, but it's a start. :-) Tuesdays, Noelle and I eat lunch with my Mom and sister; Wednesdays I have Bible study at church and we have our Community/Cell Group in the evening; Thursdays usually have music rehearsal in the evening but Travis and I try to alternate going so that we don't keep N. out too late.

Now looking at this, I realize this is a pretty boring blog, but it took too long to delete. :-)

Happy Friday, all. And check out my cool Women at Home graphic (down below) that Becky made me. :-)

Working Hard

I've been in planner mode today . . . several upcoming events coming up that I'm trying to do some pre-thinking on. Now that I've added some music team responsibilities to my plate, it seems that odd that I'm already trying to brainstorm about Christmas! Today, specifically, I have been thinking about a prayer day that our church takes part of every November - the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (November 14). I am at a loss for a song that would be an appropriate special music number for that day. If your church doesn't take part in this, I would highly recommend it. Although I know there are Christians out there who are still martyred for their faith in Christ, it's easy to not think about it. I appreciate the fact that our missions coordinator puts it in our face frequently! (And any song suggestions would be great . . . hint!)

I'm feeling the need for a thankful list today . . . it's been ho-hum and I need to remind myself "in everything, give thanks!"

~ My husband. I'm likin' him. :-)
~ Noelle took two great naps today - we're finally getting back on schedule after being topsy turvy since the weekend!
~ I have leftovers in the fridge and don't have to come up with something creative for dinner.
~ A friend returned to me my Indiana Jones DVD set, so I may have a veg-out night with Indy. :-)
~ We had our annual service call from the plumber today and for the first time in a looooooooong time, nothing has to be fixed!
~ Getting paid this weekend . . . a good thing.
~ Noelle can now identify the dogs by different sounds. Sam sounds like "zzzaaaaa" and Jenny is "eeejjjj." It's very cute.

Responses to Comments:

Nattie: Rilla of Ingleside is so good. I'm right there with you about Walter. Another hard spot to get through is the scene between Jem and Dog Monday near the end of the book. That makes me cry too. :-)

Cheri: I ended up buying her House of Dreams for the birthday party! A friend investigated for me and found out that she already had book 4. I ended up writing a note about Windy Poplars but explaining I wanted to help complete her series! :-)

Birthday Cleverness

My friend Kathleen is celebrating her 37th birthday this week (today, actually!) This Friday, she is having a dozen or so of her girlfriends over for appetizers and dessert and asked for a unique birthday present from all of us. She asked that each of us pick our favorite book and present that to her for her birthday. New, used, kiddy lit or biography - it didn't matter. She also requested that we write in the cover of the book why we chose that particular book and what it meant to us.

Such decisions!

The question was never what author to choose - it was which L.M. Montgomery book! I settled on Anne of Windy Poplars - my hands down favorite. Why book 4? It was the first one in the series that I read oddly enough. My parents bought books 4-6 for me after we moved to Canada and so I started with book 4. I was so captivated by her letters to Gilbert - how real and alive she sounded in them - and as an avid letter writer, I resolved to be more transparent and real in my letters. Anne was also teaching highschool during this book (which was what I dreamed of doing) and I saw how she was able to impact her students in amazing ways.

The Anne series has always been my favorite - I usually reread them once a year just because. Currently, when I have a second to read (translated meaning not long enough amount of time to get into a book that I have to think about) I am rereading Anne of Ingleside. Memories of reading these books as a teenager and living them with Anne - going off to Queens and Redmond and being homesick for Green Gables, being so mad at Gilbert I couldn't stand him, crying when Matthew died . . . all memories of growing up.

What I Should be Doing...

I should be...

~ vacuuming
~ reading Sunday's sermon and thinking about the music
~ cleaning the bathroom
~ working on Bible study for Wednesday
~ working on the music team October schedule
~ putting away music from this weekends Missions Conference
~ cleaning some more
~ etc.

I'm pooped. This weekend was FULL, and then some. Our Missions Conference was fabulous. Our speaker this year was a man (formerly of our church) who is now on staff with FamilyLife Ministries. He spoke on Common Ground - how we can build relationships with those around us and point others towards Christ. This weekend was so freeing for me in my views on evangelism. After spending a terrified two weeks in a foriegn country back in 1998, feeling like I HAD to see someone saved or the entire trip was a failure, I have been shown a new approach to sharing my Savior with others and am excited about it!

The gist of the weekend was learning how to life the life of a sower. Not everyone is called to "harvest" souls. Lord willing, I will be there when my daughter (and hopefully future children) make a personal decision for Christ. But overall, there may not be many that I personally lead to the Lord. However, I have the privilege of being a sower! A sower moves towards individuals in a deliberate and intentional way, building relationships and trying to slowly remove the obstacles to the Gospel that a non-believer has. My best testimony is my life and through my relationships with others, I can let my faith in Christ be my testimony and speak through my actions and speech. Our missions coordinator encouraged us to look for those people in our circle of influence where we can begin sowing. Granted, right now my circle is fairly small as a stay-at-home-mom who works for her church. But then, I thought of my daughter. Already she is modelling some of her actions after me. Our neighbors, Kathryn and Tito - two children who visit us several times a week. How do they see that I treat my husband and child? Am I patient with them when they come or do I just seem like I am ready for them to leave so we can get back to our family time? What about my extended family? There are unbelievers on both Travis' and my side of the family.

But how do I get the kind of testimony and life that overflows with the Savior? How do I obtain an attitude that draws people to question why I love being a Christian? It's so simple. Be more like Christ. Commit to spending time on a daily basis with Him. How can there be an overflow of my relationship with Him when I'm only doing a half-hearted job at the relationship in the first place? Just as I need to be intentional and proactive in pursuing others, I need to be intentional and proactive about pursuing Christ. Wow. There should have been a sign in the missions manual that said, "Conviction Dead Ahead." Instead of being the bottom of my priorities, the Lord should be first, or I have nothing to work from.

So, that being said, off to work on my Bible study for a while... :-)

And, stop by Women at Home - Grand Opening today! You go girls!

Noelle and I are watching the most adorable chunk of a little boy today . . . our friend, Ty.



This is the first time I've kept a tiny baby since Noelle has been born and she's not sure what to think about me holding him. At the moment, he's laying in her pack-n-play "talking" to the mobile and she's chattering at him through the sides. When she first saw him she said, "baby", too! Another word!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Appetizer How are you today?
Doing okay. Trying to mentally prepare myself for mission conference this weekend where I have to be "on" for 3 days.

Soup Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.
I don't watch any TV on a regular basis - the last thing I remember deliberately turning on to watch was Law & Order about 2 weeks ago.

Salad What's the scariest weather situation you've experienced?
Probably any situation where we have been in the car, driving, in heavy (the kind where you can't see anything) rain and hail. That's happened several times and I don't like it. However, I love a thunderstorm under any other circumstances. :-)

Main Course If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?
Israel - one of my dream trips.

Dessert What do you usually wear to sleep?
An oversized t-shirt and sometimes sleep-pants depending on the temperature.

New Noelle Tricks

Maybe it's the fact that her one year birthday is just a few weeks away, but she seems like she is learning something new every day! She just gets more and more precious. I can hardly stand how wonderful it is. :-)

~ Yesterday, for the first, she started spinning in a circle. She would go around about 3 times, then stop, put her little hands on her head, and make this goofy smile like she was enjoying the dizzy feeling. (She doesn't get that from Mama!) ~ In the last few weeks, she has also finally discovered books. I tried reading to her when she was younger to no avail - she wasn't at all interested in the pictures or sitting still in my lap for that long. But, in the last several days, she has started bringing me and Travis books to read to her and wanting to climb in my lap. I love it!
~ She loves coming up behind me and surprising me when I'm sitting on the floor. I sit with my back towards her and say "Where's Noelle?" I can hear her laughing as she "sneaks" up behind me and falls on my back, then peeks around my shoulder to make sure that I've noticed that she's there.
~ She has discovered the fun of being chased. Whether it's the dogs, or me, or Daddy, she loves us to chase her around the room and try and catch her. She laughs so hard that she usually can't go very fast. It cracks me up when she tries to play with the dogs - she takes their bone away from them and then scoots away as they try to get it back from her. :-)
~ She still can't say Mama yet (consistently), but "Dada" comes out loud and clear and you can tell when she is calling him or trying to get his attention. She says "hi" whenever we are on the phone (sounds like "haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah").

It's been mostly work, work, work around here today - I've been burning up the printers around the house this morning. All three printers have been humming at one point or another today. (Noelle took a 3 hour nap this morning and I got TONS done - so unusual!) The mission manuals are done - YEAH - and ready for pick-up by the folks actually assembling them this evening. Travis and I have a music rehearsal for the special numbers that our music team is preparing for this weekend so it will be a busy evening with trying to rehearse and keep an eye on Noelle at the same time. My goal was to have almost everything done so that Friday I could just have a fairly normal day with her other than preparing for our special Friday night service and potluck supper. I get to keep a friend's 3-month old for a few hours tomorrow while she goes to a work luncheon so that will be a nice change of pace from working on the computer.

End of the Day...

I never post this late . . . and it's not even really late. Women's Bible study this morning, printing manuels all afternoon, and Community Group (Cell Group) this evening. The dogs are on the floor wrestling and I am in the mood to watch my favorite movie of all time - Star Wars. My brain is ready to check out for a few hours.

So . . . in order to avoid the deep thoughts swirling and that I want to ruminate on internally for bit, something stolen from both Sara & Stacy. Can I also just how much I have recently been enjoying Sara's posts - especially this one.

I AM: tired
I WANT: popcorn, Diet Coke and a comfy chair
I HAVE: water on my shirt from washing the dishes
I WISH: my tshirt was dry :-)
I HATE: rudeness
I MISS: letters in the mail
I FEAR: displeasing others when I am honest with them
I HEAR: my dogs wrestling and yapping at eat other
I SEARCH FOR: righteousness
I WONDER: when we will be pregnant again?
I REGRET: not saying something to someone that I know I should have said
I LOVE: being home all day and not going anywhere!
I ACHE: in my right foot - think I'm developing arthritis... :-(
I AM NOT: wearing makeup
I DANCE: with my baby
I SING: soprano, loudly.
I CRY: a lot, very emotional
I AM NOT ALWAYS: crying though. Love to laugh.
I WRITE: to remember
I CONFUSE: my husband
I NEED: a back massage. No, I really neeeeeeeeeeeed one.
I SHOULD: get off the computer and put in my Star Wars tape.

G'night!

EDIT: I have 6 invites for gmail email accounts if anyone is interested. If so let me know . . . free to the first 6 requests! :-)

To Do:

~ Finalize layout of mission manual
~ Print response card
~ Bank
~ mail birthday package to Noelle's cousin
~ give the dogs their heartworm pill (forgot this yesterday - ick!)
~ clean out fridge
~ lunch with my Mom and sister at Captain D's
~ email music team re: Thursday rehearsal and our October schedule Done!
~ check church voicemail Done!
~ make grocery list
~ finish lesson for Bible study tomorrow
~ work on music for mission conference!!
~ start printing mission manuals

I had a chance yesterday afternoon to spend about 45 minutes working on my 1 Samuel Bible study for this week. The lesson I was in covered 1 Samuel 2 - Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving after she gives birth to Samuel. Out of her entire prayer, I was most struck by two lines:

For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and with Him actions are weighed.
1 Samuel 2:3b

As I was laying in bed last night, unable to sleep (Starbucks with Gina + large coffee after 9:00 p.m. = awake late at night!) and spent some time praying about some of the stuff we were talking about. That verse came back to me and it made me stop and think about some new responsibilites I am stepping into and decisions that I have been making lately - God knows everything and He knows my motives behind my actions. A sobering thought for me! I mean, I know God is omniscient - that's one of those big "holy" words that are drilled into you as a child in Sunday School. But last night I was struck with the fact that God is not just omniscient, but He knows my motives. Yikes. It made me do a double take and really start thinking about why I choose to do some of the things that I do - is it to promote myself? Is it my pride? Am I trying to manipulate something/someone to get what I want, or am I acting in a way to bring God the utmost glory possible in my actions and words? Big time NO! It shouldn't be amazing how self-serving I am, but there it was.

Deep thoughts... :-)

It's raining outside at the moment and I'm taking a break from cleaning. I spent most of the morning laying out the mission manual and I think I have most of it done with the exception of a few pictures which I am waiting on. You would think that I would want a break from the computer now? :-)

Comment Responses:

Tammy, our church has (according to the last directory we put together in the spring) around 165 attendees (adults and kids). We couldn't fit them all in our auditorium if they all came on the same Sunday, but that is how many claim us as their home church. :-)

PWChick, I think that book would make a good women's study . . . I saw on Amazon that it also has a study guide available, although the book itself has all sorts of questions to ask yourself and journal about as you read it. PS. Happy mattress shopping! :-)

Allie, it can be Fall by the calendar and that doesn't have anything to do with the temperature. Not to mention, you are just a little bit nuts to go running in 90 degree weather in the first place. :-)

Heaven_is_my_home, thanks for your sweet comment . . . looking forward to getting to know you, too.

I'll end with a song that we sang on Sunday . . . I love the chorus to it and the image of resting in our Savior.

Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my sou,
For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.

O, how great Thy lovingkindness, vaster, broader than the sea
O, how marvelous Thy goodness lavished all on me
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise and have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart.
Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings; Thine is love indeed.

Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with Thy grace.

Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

Happy Fall Ya'll

I'm back . . . It was good to take a couple weeks off, but I was surprised at how much I miss writing here. :-) I spent the time reading a FABULOUS book called Fresh-Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson. The title alone pulled me in. It had so much to say to me about how I was living my life, but not LIVING it, you know?

All my longings lie open before You, O Lord;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
Psalm 38:9

I've been trying to hide my deepest aches and hurts from God when He is really the only one that can meet them and comfort me in them. I've known this for a long time, but it's been head knowledge - the past two weeks have made it heart knowledge.

Now for the news...

~ Travis was supposed to be gone all this week in Houston. HE CAME BACK EARLY!! Yeah! His class that he was leading got finished early and he was able to get an earlier flight last night and come home to surprise us. I had a special music rehearsal last night at church and my Mom was at the house babysitting Noelle. He ran by the house and dropped his stuff off and then came over to the church. I was looking towards the front of the church so I didn't see him come in the doors at the back of our auditorium, so I was somewhat surprised when everyone stopped playing/singing and shouted "TRAVIS!!" I about freaked out. (Okay, so I did freak out a little!) It was so fun to be surprised like that - I was not expecting it at all. He did have to go into work today, but he's planning on being home early this afternoon so we'll get to see him for a bit before he heads out to a wedding rehearsal that he is playing for. (The original plan had been for him to go straight from the airport to the rehearsal without coming home so it would have been late tonight before we would have seen him). *heart*

~ We have our Missions Conference at church next weekend. The theme is "Common Ground" - emphasizing finding common ground with those in our day-to-day life and how to share the gospel with them. I'm pretty excited about it. As far as I can remember, all of our past conferences have focused on overseas missions or big, broad themes. This is the first time it will really focus on how we can impact our community.

~ With that said, I am also in charge of the music for the weekend. *stressing*

~ I have taken on some new responsibilities at church regarding our church music/worship team. My best friend, Gina, and I are co-coordinating it for the time being, and conceivably, the long term. While I am a little stressed about the upcoming Missions Conference (Gina has had an out-of-town trip planned for a long time and won't be there), I'm thankful for the opportunity to work closely with Gina again. Daily phone calls with my best friend, excuses to get together for coffee (not that we need an excuse), and a chance for adult conversation and brain stimulation at the same time. You can't beat that! :-) She is undeniably more gifted musically than I am at arranging instruments and parts. I can do it, but it takes me soooooo much longer and I am never terribly confident in what I've come up with. And, I have a leg up on her as far as organizing the team, getting music picked and pulled for each week and the maintenance of keeping up with a dozen and a half musicians. Travis is also going to be pulled in to help a bunch, too, as he is gifted like Gina is - arranging, writing parts, etc. are all his strengths. He will actually be doing most of that part of the planning for the Missions Conference music which thrills me. :-)

Now, because it's Friday, and to celebrate being back to writing....

Appetizer - What movie soundtracks do you own?
Most of the Disney soundtracks, Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Footloose, Star Wars - the original, American Graffiti, Annie, Pure Country *blush*, Phantom of the Opera, Singin' in the Rain, When Harry Met Sally

Soup - How much cash do you usually carry with you?
I never have any - we are debit card people.

Salad - Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why?
I think my comfortability level is about even - it depends more on how well I know the person as to how comfortable I am whether man or woman.

Main Course - What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child?
Off the top of my head, opening a birthday gift that my Grandma sent me and then trying to rewrap it so no one would know. Unfortunately, I known for my horrible wrapping abilities and was promptly busted.

Dessert - Who is the funniest member of your family?
Hands down my neice Jordan. She's almost 7 and knows everything! 'Nuff said. :-)

Now, off to do a load of laundry and get a few things done during nap time . . . See you Monday!

Stopping By...

Not officially back yet, but just came by today to post a picture of my 11 month old girl . . .

Noelle and I both have a virus and are homebound for the next several days, but I managed to get a smile out of my sickly girl to commemorate the day. We're trying to get well soon - Travis heads back to Houston next week for work and I am hopeful that we won't be still housebound while he is out of town.

The past two weeks have been rough. I'm not going to say more (Prov. 20:19; 1 Tim 5:13), but my heart is heavy and tired.

But "Rejoice always!" (1 Thess. 5:16) . . .
~Noelle can now say "hi." Sounds more like "haaaaaaaaaaah," but it's a "hi." :-)
~It is 4 weeks and 3 days until my new nephew will arrive - according to my niece who's counting the days.
~I've been asked to print some save-the-date cards for an acquaintence's wedding, as well as the eventual programs and some change of address cards for her. Yeah!
~A good friend just found out she's pregnant - so, so, so, so excited for her and her husband.
~It's Friday night, and I have no plans other than to pop some pocorn and maybe talk my husband into watching a movie with me . . . *heart*
~I did the first lesson in the 1 Samuel study we start on Wednesday. I love opening up a new Bible study with blank pages waiting for me to fill them in.