From Cheri. :-)

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video.

I think I counted up 68 DVDs. We don't have any videos - our VCR died several months ago and we decided not to replace it and have passed on our tapes to my neice.

2. The last film I bought:

It was either National Treasure or King George and the Ducky. We don't buy movies very often and save for the ones that we REALLY want. I keep a list of ones I want to add to our collection on the computer and watch for them on sale. I'm pretty picky about what I want to spend my money on.

3. The last film I watched.

If in the theatre, it was Star Wars III last weekend. If on video, right now, we've been on a kick of rented the early seasons of The West Wing and watching them.

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me.

Star Wars
Sound of Music
You've Got Mail
Cheaper by the Dozen
Finding Nemo.

Disclaimer: These are not the ones that I watch the most, however . . . the ones I am currently watching the most either are Veggie Tales or Baby Einsteins. :-)

Friday Felicites

A meme from the mind of Nattie Rose. :-)

Things that make me happy:

1. Feeling a bit better and not like I want to curl up and diiiiiiiiie. [ / drama ]
2. A new haircut that I luuuuuuuurve.
3. A husband that is off early today and all day on Monday.
4. Anticipation of taking our daughter to the zoo tomorrow.
5. And eating a picnic lunch.
6. Antibiotics.
7. Tylenol. Rocks.
8. So do lime popsicles.
9. And gatorade.
10. And Dad's that stop by in the middle of the afternoon with Sonic iced tea with loads o' lemons.
11. And lastly, watching my husband play bass last night in a band makes me happy. He rocks.

Catch Ya'll Later...

I'm not feeling so hot. I've been to the Dr. this morning and have a bacterial throat infection (could turn into strep). You'll find me on the couch if you need me, watching videos with my girl and reading Harry Potter.

Be back soon...

Photos Galore

A whirlwind of a weekend. Star Wars Friday night - totally rocked having a date night out. :-) The movie tied everything together really well and that's all I say about it so as not to spoil anything. Saturday was a staff/elder/deacon retreat at church - planning, praying, thinking about plans and future. Good meeting and has gotten me fired up about several things. More on that later probably. Then we went over to my parents for dinner and to watch fireworks. The subdivision they live in has an annual picnic and fireworks show that is pretty good. We went down to the picnic and there were rides and kid games and all sorts of booths. There were pony rides and we tried to get Noelle to ride a one of the little horses - Travis was even going to walk around the ring with her, but she would have nothing of it. She LOVED looking at them, but there was no way we were going to get her on them. :-) We took her and played on the big playground they have there - she has recently discovered the slide and loves to go down them. My Dad got a GREAT picture of her on the slide, but I'll have to post that one later . . . I don't have it yet. This is a family shot my Dad snapped at the picnic:

We've been in a picture taking mood around here lately so here are a few fun ones to share. :-)

Noelle's speech is improving so much - she's starting to put consonants on the ends of her words: "doh" is now "dog," etc. She can say cracker very clearly. She also says "back" when she is putting something back where she got it, "stop it" when the dogs are bugging her or are in the way, and "outside" which needs no translation. She would live in the backyard if we let her, I think.

Anyway, I suppose I should expound a tiny bit on our family news - we are pregnant and due January 22, 2006. (Probably that will be fine-tuned when I go to the Dr. in a few weeks). We're so very excited. I'm a little nervous that we are telling people so early, but God is soveriegn and in control of this little life and I am trying to be faithful to trust in that. We probably would have held on to the news for a few more weeks, but like I said before, we were part of a long-range planning meeting at church on Saturday and it would have been weird to go and discuss and plan and not divulge a need for maternity leave around the first of the year! In a wild coincidence, my friend that I co-coordinate our church music ministry with is also due in January! She's about 10 days ahead of me with her pregnancy . . . so much praying and thinking is in process as to how we will handle both of us being off and for how long.

As far as actually being pregnant, I've had a tiny bit of nauseau the last few days and am extremely tired. My first Dr. appointment isn't until June 21 and I'll be 9 weeks, I believe, by then. After having Noelle in October and being pregnant through the hot, hot summer, I'm especially thrilled that this is a winter pregnancy, although I've already grimaced about how big I will be in Christmas card pictures. I need to do some maternity clothes shopping - with Noelle, I wore my friend Gina's clothes, but now that she is pregnant at the same time as me, I need to get what I have left back to her so she's have what she needs. I didn't buy many things before, so other than the whole spending money thing, I'm looking forward to getting a few new clothes. :-) Luckily I have a fairly big wedding card job in the next month so that will probably go towards a clothes budget.

Take the quiz: "Which Starbucks Drink Are You? (Great Pictures)"

Starbucks Frappucino
Starbucks Frappucino

Friday Tidbits

Friday Felicities from the mind of Nattie Rose. :-)
Things that make me happy...

My new overalls

Seeing Star Wars tonight with my husband

Getting REAL movie theatre popcorn

Being pregnant

Noelle is getting better from her ear infection!

We have groceries in the cabinets

Hamburgers

Diet Coke (although less of it now that I'm watching caffiene & asparthame)

Ummmm, lazy Friday afternoons. :-)

From Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per day do you spend watching television?
Lately more than usual, but it's not TV - we've been hooked on the West Wing and have borrowed a friend's DVD's of the 2nd season. It's great to watch it with no commercials.

Soup
Which colors decorate your kitchen?
White and white.

Salad
Name 2 brand names you buy on a regular basis, and what do you like about them?
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything brand name that I buy regularly. I do think that Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing is the BEST, but it's also the most expensive compared to the store brand . . . I usually buy Act II popcorn.

Main Course
What is your biggest fear?
Losing Travis or Noelle, a long illness.

Dessert
If you could wake up tomorrow and find yourself in another location, where would you want to be?
Umm, on vacation with my family - the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone . . . somewhere outside, not too hot, lots of room to walk and pretty things to take pictures of. :)

Bonus Birthday Question
What's your favorite flavor of birthday cake?
Chocolate!!

My Day...

We lost the key to Travis' car over the weekend.

One car family . . . that's doable. Specially since Noelle and I have been housebound for several days.

Take Travis to work this morning.

Run to get a few groceries.

Bring them home and then head out again.

This time to the car dealership to get a new key for T's car. And a backup key.

Seems we have to get it made from the dealership because it's got some computer chip in it.

But they tell me there is a possibility that because the car is so old, they might not be able to make me a key.

They make me one key (they aren't cheap) and ask me to try it before they make the 2nd key.

Sounds smart.

Noelle has a dirty diaper while at the car place.

Then she throws up a little.

Most of it ends up on me and my pants. Ick.

We head back home to try out key #1.

I am thinking about the gross-ness that is now my pants and get pulled over.

Apparently I didn't see a red light.

You have know, I never speed, run lights, miss school zones.

My friends complain because I am such a slow driver.

I was mortified.

And I got a ticket.

Then I cried because I had a ticket and I was puked on.

But when I got home I found out that key #1 worked.

And I got clean pants.

And Noelle had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car.

So off we went to get key #2.

There was no throwing up at the car dealership the 2nd time.

God is good.

Then we went to the library and played with the trains and this thing that has "frocks" in it (frogs).

Then we came home and Noelle is taking a 2 hour nap.

I'm actually getting a few things done.

Like writing this list.

Off to do a bit more work before she awaketh and we have to go pick Travis up at work.

Unusual for me to be home on a Sunday morning. However, I ended up having to take Noelle to the Dr's office on Saturday morning because her fever shot up to around 103 after running one for 2 days. She has an ear infection so we are on antibiotics and all that jazz. We're having a quiet morning. Travis is at church. The back door is open and it is beautiful out this morning. Cool and a little wet (rained yesterday evening). We've (Noelle and I) been laying low the last few days and watching a lot of Veggie Tales and cuddling under blankets. We haven't seen much of Travis this weekend - he worked on the yard a bunch yesterday before it rained and then had a rehearsal yesterday afternoon. He has a show this evening and will be gone, plus a lunch meeting right after church for our summer community outreach. I was supposed to go to the meeting, too, so I'm hoping he takes good notes. :-) We were also supposed to go over to my folks' house today and celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday, but are going to put that off for a few weeks because of Noelle's contagious-ness. My nephew doesn't need to catch it and my sister is still trying to get over an ear infection... No need to spread the germs more than necessary.

So before I'm off to change a load of laundry and put some soup on for lunch (and making homemade biscuits - yum!) From Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Whose intelligence do you find intimidating?
My husband's. Anyone with a large grasp of scripture and Biblical knowledge.

Soup
Name something you've done that surprised yourself.
Getting engaged as quickly as I did still amazes me when I think about it. From a planner-extraordinare, to get engaged in 6 weeks was so not me!

Salad
List 3 people whom you have only "met" online, but consider good friends.
Cheri - my twin!
Aleta - my Canadian buddy. :-)
Misty - another W@H pal!

Just limiting this to three was hard! Plus there are several others that I have met that I consider good friends. :-)

Main Course
Where is the dirtiest place you've ever been?
This trailer that my Dad was thinking about renting when he first moved to Nashville in 1991. My Dad took a new job as pastor of a church here in Tennessee and my Mom was going to stay behind in Arkansas, sell the house, and wait until my sister graduated high school before moving over as well. I came over with my Dad during my college winter break in January of 1991 to try and help him find a spot to live - we searched through several apartment complexes and houses to rent before we landed in a trailer/mobile home park in Franklin that had some units you could rent. First, the owner of the lot jimmied the door of the unit open with a screwdriver - couldn't find his key. (So much for security!) And then while we were inside the filthiest place I have EVER been (the center of one of the floors had this huge crater where it was rotting out), the guy spit - INSIDE - and that was it for me. I offered to wait outside and vetoed that place for my Dad on the spot. Sooooo disgusting.

Dessert
What is the best example of "perfection" that you can think of?
Diet Coke. :-) Seriously . . . things in nature come to mind - sunrise, the ocean rolling out and in, the beautiful of majestic mountains.Just as God created them.

Massive headache.

If you need me, I'm the one on the couch with my eyes closed.

Oh wait, Noelle has a fever and threw up. Change of plans...

Home-y Kind of Post

There are certain things that make me feel good. One of them is when I feel like I have made another step on my Proverbs 31 walk - you know, learning how to be a Godly wife, mother and manager of our household. Yesterday, in spite of much busy-ness, was one of those days. Grocery shopping, making some strides on cutting our grocery costs, help me to feel like I'm being a good steward of what my husband entrusts to me. Yesterday's lesson was little, but I think it's going to save us stress and money in the long run. :-) I love shopping at Aldi's, but until a few weeks ago, the closest one was about 45 minutes away, one way. A long haul there and back to buy groceries. So I've been doing our grocery shopping at Wal-mart early in the morning before the crowds descend. Well, yesterday, I went to a new Aldi's that opened up - still about 30 minutes away, and as I compared prices, I realized that overall they are about the same price as I can get at Wal-mart with a few exceptions. Plus, at Wal-mart, they have a bigger variety of fat-free items and healthy food. With the price of gas what it is, it makes me glad that I am making a good decision to shop at the close-by Wal-mart, instead of spending extra money on gas to spend the same money across town. Makes sense when I started figuring it out. :-)

Another thing that I enjoy that falls into the household management category . . . reading cookbooks! :-) I picked up Fix it and Forget-it Lightly last night at the library and read some of it last night, making notes of those recipes I want to get copied down before the book has to go back. I love using my crockpot and these recipes were so simple and healthy that I'm fired up to use it again. When it gets hot outside, I like finding good crockpot recipes to use so I'm not heating up the kitchen with the oven and stove . . . it takes forever for the house to cool off again. This is definitely a cookbook that is going on my wish list to pick up.

I took some garden pictures yesterday . . . I think these are the snap peas.

Leaf lettuce:

My cherry tomato plants that survived a quick frost we had a few weeks ago and are apparently thriving.

Note to self: Next summer, remember to write down what you planted and where it is in the ground! :-) We're having fun guessing what is what as it comes up!

I made this recipe today for our small group tonight . . . I don't know about others, but I prefer lighter desserts in the summer. I don't like eating heavy things when it's hot outside. I have two of these hiding in the fridge right now for tonight. :-)

Raspberry Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 tsp. oil
4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 chocolate crumb pie crust

Combine chocolate chips and oil in small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring twice during melting process. Cool for 20 minutes. Fold cooled chocolate mixture into thawed whipping topping. Fold half of the raspberries into this chocolate cream mixture. Place in crumb crust and top with remaining raspberries. Cover and chill 2-3 hours until set.

Life has been simple lately and I'm enjoying it. Quiet days, few errands, lots of evenings at home hanging out with Noelle and Travis. I'm enjoying the winding down of some of our "school year" activites as we head towards our summer schedule. Next Monday, I'm going to try and get Noelle signed up for a summer "Parent and Me" swimming class. I'm looking forward to it (hopefully she'll like it to!) :-) It's at the local rec center and I do have ulterior motives getting her in this class - her mother has never been fond of water (at least putting her head under it) so I want Noelle to learn how to swim EARLY and not have the fear that I did as a little kid. We live in the South - she needs to be able to enjoy time at the pool when it gets hot! :-)

Naming My Blessings...

1) Soveriegnty of God
2) His forgiveness and mercy
3) Travis
4) Noelle
5) Getting to be a stay at home Mom for Noelle
6) Caffiene
7) Sleep
8) The blessing of being able to work from home
9) Air conditioning
10) Being able to go to church on Sunday
11) Memories
12) My garden
13) Long-distance friendships
14) Short-distance friendships :)
15) Chocolate
16) Peanuts
17) The combination of 15 and 16.
18) Good movies
19) Hot popcorn
20) Inerrancy of Scripture
21) Going for drives
22) Black licorice
23) Star Wars tickets
24) New recipes
25) Ingredients in cabinet to make said recipes
26) Money in the bank to buy the ingredients needed to make aforementioned said recipes
27) WAH
28) Journalling
29) Deck chairs
30) Mondays where you stay home all day

Take the Quiz here!

If I Could Be...

I've been tagged by Nattie and Cheri so I guess I'd best get to work on this! :)

The idea is to pick 5 and complete the sentences, then pass this little meme on to 3 more of your blog pals! But no tag backs!

If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a backup dancer...
If I could be a llama-rider...
If I could be a bonnie pirate...
If I could be a midget stripper...
If I could be a proctologist...
If I could be a TV-Chat Show host...
If I could be an actor...
If I could be a judge...
If I could be a Jedi...
If I could be a mob boss...
If I could be a fast food restaurant worker...
If I could be a preacher...

If I could be a farmer . . . Travis and I always joke about "living off the land" but I think that would be so cool. Have a big farmhouse, with a wrap around porch, lots of rocking chairs and a huge garden. I would know how to can things, and make preserves, jam & jellies. We'd have a barn with hay and chickens - I love chickens. I would collect the eggs each morning.

If I could be a doctor . . . I don't know what kind of doctor I would be, but if I had unlimited funds and resources, I would LOVE to go to medical school for the sake of knowledge. Just studying about the miracle of the human body and the amazing way that it works and functions. Psalm 139:13-14 says, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well."

If I could be a psychologist . . . I would want to be one that works with young girls, teaching them about self-esteem and identity in Christ. Listening to them and being someone for them to sound ideas off of. Being someone they can trust with worries and questions about being a woman.

If I could be a writer . . . I would first and foremost want to once and for all be a journaller, someone who diligently takes the time to chronicle my thoughts on paper for better processing and prayer time with the Lord. I would want to write books about things I am learning from the Lord and to be an encouragement. I don't see myself as a writer of novels or fiction at all, but one that writes of real life and how the Lord works in it.

If I could be a Jedi . . . I would be Princess Leia. You know, where in Return of the Jedi she finds out that she is Luke's twin and then she realizes that she has Jedi powers, too! I always wanted to be Leia. She had that way cool hair and her cool flow-y white robe. She was and is my fav.

Me and Han Solo. :) Just to prove that I would make a GREAT Princess Leia. :)



All right, I'm tagging Lexie, BeckyA, and Beth!

I am in a serious funk. Bleah. One that I am convinced can only be solved by peanut M&M's. And I have none. Double-bleah. Right now I am babysitting a friend's son until about noon. I can tell you where Noelle and I will be headed after Ty leaves this afternoon - off to find peanut M&M's! And maybe some Good 'n Plenty. Ty is napping right now, and Noelle is sitting in my lap eating a graham cracker stick and being alltogether way too precious. We had Ty all day yesterday, too, and I think Noelle enjoyed having a buddy right about her size here for the day. Ty is about 7 months younger than Noelle, but about 5 pounds heavier - a cute chunk of a boy. :-) He's crawling like a maniac and pulling up on everything. I forgot what it was like when Noelle was this age (and it wasn't that long ago!) I had to close off the kitchen and the baby gate to the hallway/bathroom/bedroom areas to contain him. Busy around here.

Anyway, I'm not going to get into the funk-i-ness. Some of it is some legitimate disappointments in situations/people. Some of it is my expectations that are probably not in line with reality. But all of it stuff that I need to wrestle over with the Lord and work through it. My paper journal will probably be getting a work out later when there isn't an adorable sweet girl on my lap who would want to help with the writing. :-)

We have an unusual weekend ahead of us. Noelle is going to her Aunt Ka-Ka and Uncle Boo's tonight and spending the night with her cousins Jo & Bubbe. (I love all her nicknames for family!) :-) She has a big evening ahead of her - Uncle Boo's softball game, and then tomorrow she'll go see Jordan's soccer game and then (I think) they are going to the Smyrna Air Show. I don't know what Travis and I are going to do tonight. I think a trip to Target is planned - all together, "ooooooohhhh!" Seriously, I need a new nightshirt/gown. (Not THAT kind!) I've been sleeping in XXL t-shirts for about 7-8 years now and they are in serious need of burning. It's pretty sad. I've had them from when I was heavier, continued to sleep in them when I lost a bunch of weight, wore them through 9 months of pregnancy and now, 19 more months later, they are just worn out. I just finished a book that Nattie sent me and it was really good. (Note: it was non-fiction and I read it! *applause*) Anyway, one of the chapters talks about how the writer needed a new "boditude" - grasping the concept of making friends with your body regardless of the number on your scale or the size of your hips. That made total sense to me - while I'm working hard at slimming down, it's not going to happen overnight. I've been amazed at how much better I've felt about getting myself ready and dressed in the morning just from going to Wal-mart and buying 3-4 new $5 t-shirts that are the right size and don't have holes tucked away on them! All that to say, slowly but surely, I'm going to be doing some boditude overhaul - that may mean buying a new $2 lipgloss in a fun flavor, using my new heel smoother that either Cheri or Dana tipped me off to, drinking more water (drank some yesterday - woo-hoo!), and not being ashamed of needing at least 8 hours of sleep to function and being a nice person. :-)

Also, we have a wedding to go to tomorrow. This is the girl that I just finished doing wedding programs and change of address cards for. It's an 11:30 wedding and then followed by a fancy-schmancy brunch/lunch with a jazz band. Hence Noelle going to the Aunt & Uncle's - not a kiddie event. And Travis gets to wear his suit. I *heart* him in a suit.

Someday I will...

be a homeschooling mama.

maybe be closer to grasping the concept of the submissive wife.

have enough pens. :-)

have a housefull of little ones.

be out of the Bob & Larry phase and stage of life! :-)

This meme compliments of Swonderings at Women at Home. If you haven't come by and mingled with these fabulous, Godly women, you are missing out. :-)

I've been buried under card making projects the last few weeks . . . maybe that's why I haven't been posting as much? I finished some bridal shower invitations a couple weeks ago. They were a pain to get laid out right. The design is not original to me but they turned out cute. Now I need help! I was assigned 4 p.m. as my "time" - what do I get a bride for 4 p.m. in the afternoon? I'm stuck... I also wrapped up some baby shower invitations this weekend (this is front cover, but it was purple) and some wedding programs and change of address cards for the bride and groom. I think I have a window now with no pending jobs, which I'm thankful for. It's time to put my energies for some other things.

As I've mentioned (I think), I'm the administrator for my church (read: pay bils, buy toilet paper, church calendar, print bulletin, etc.) I'm also one of the music coordinators. I'm praying through and seaching where my role needs to be with our church music team. It's a busy job - even when shared by two people. Gina and I (the other 1/2 of the team) met a few weeks ago and have been processing where we are now that we've working together for 9 months or so and what do the next few months look like. Our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other so working together has been a huge blessing and helped share the load. However, she's got a little one that is nearing a pre-school homeschooling age and we're wanting to add to our family. Personally, I go back and forth to wanting to jump in even more with the team, to being ready for a break from being in charge and wanting to hand it off. I'm trying to seek and discern whether this is where the Lord wants me to be serving or should we be praying and seeking the next person to step into this spot and so far I'm just doing a lot of waiting. That's probably the answer for now, but I admit it makes me feel anxious that I don't know what's coming up. We have an Elder/Deacon/staff retreat coming up in a few weeks and it's the first one that I've been part of so maybe that will help clarify some of my feelings. Having some direction from where we think the Lord is leading our church . . . all to say, I'm looking forward to the get-together.

I think some of it, also, is the tiredness that just comes with several activities winding down for summer. We have 4 more weeks of women's Bible study and two (maybe 3?) more of Awana and our small group that meets concurrently. I'm looking forward to free evenings where we can sit out side and watch Noelle and the dogs run in the grass and watch my garden come up. (Speaking of which, I think we lost some of the cherry tomatoes in the frost we had last week. But there is other stuff coming up!) :-)

Just a couple pics of my girl to end. I am amazed by her vocabulary still . . . today she told me she wanted some "pack-kie" (popcorn) and told her Daddy that she saw a "frock" (frog) yesterday.

Is she a budding artist? (A rare picture of her actually using the crayons instead of eating them.)

Or a musician like Daddy?

Productive Monday

I love Mondays. When I was working at the job I was at before having Noelle, I loathed Mondays. I was struggling so much at my job and dreading Monday mornings, especially because of staff meetings. But now, my perspective has totally changed. Mondays are great! A fresh week. A chance to get back on track with house cleaning and with eating poorly over the weekend. Back to Noelle's regular routine instead of the one that we creatively come up with when Daddy's is home and we want to hang out with him! Monday means recovery from Sundays around here. A Sunday morning playing hard with the kids in the nursery, and then Sunday lunch at Grandma and Grandpa's means Monday is a good day for Noelle and I to stay home all day and get back to a normal routine. I'm thankful for Mondays.

That being said, we are having a great day at home today. Laudry is happening - the last load is in the dryer right now. I made a new recipe for lunch - Szechuan Chicken w/ Peanuts. Very. Good. W@H mail is going out tomorrow to Skipper, Amanda, Tammy & Annemarie.

Noelle is up from her nap now . . . I'm off the computer!