Just When I Forgot What It Felt Like

She sleeps through the night again!

Amen and pass the pillows!

Cute for a Cause

My new walking/slow jogging shoes came today!

They're cute and support Breast Cancer Research (thus, the pink).

They're not as cute as my favorite breast cancer survivor Aunt Peony.

But I'll be thinking of her every time I lace up!

Under Construction...

Excuse my mess while I search for a new look....

Do Not Disturb Mavis Beacon's Fortress of Solitude

My sweet one has not been sleeping well these past two days. At first I chalked it up to 4 month old angst but it's looking more and more like she is sick. The only place my little lamb will sleep is on my bed and I mean, the ONLY place!

Not in her carseat!

Not in the stroller!

Not in her crib!

I HATE co-sleeping. (I don't think it's wrong, I'm just a worry woman by nature.) It makes me NERVOUS that I'm going to squash her in a tired stupor or WORRIED that she's going to roll off the bed. So, when she sleeps, I've got her surrounded.

Praise the Lord for my pillow addiction--it's giving me a little peace of mind and M a little fortress of solitude.

*****Update*****

We've been struck again! The dreaded ear infection is back! Hopefully a few doses of Augmentin will lead to some better sleeping for all of us!

Ode to Wegmans

7 a.m.--no lines, no cars just me and the clack of my cart on the pavers

bright lights, yummy smells, wide aisles, perfectly situated shelves

if there were a heaven on earth, this is it

i leave with heavy heart, fresh coffee in hand

whipped cream on my lips

until next week!

Wouldn't It Be Amazing.....

To be this effortlessly beautiful all the time?

Thursday = Sick Day

Two Words: Never Again!

The End.

It's all coming back to me now....

We went to the zoo, for the first time this year, with some of our friends yesterday and had a nice time (even though the toddlers were ever so slightly grumpy). We got a good workout and entertained the kids for a few hours--woo hoo!

I love going to the zoo but it always stirs up a bit of my Alektorophobia. That's right. I'm scared of these:

And believe me, there are plenty of them at the zoo--running around all free-like. I get the chills just thinking about it. My fear of chickens started at the tender age of 4 when my parents procured a large Rooster. This stinkin' rooster roamed freely all over the large yard and used to chase my brothers and I while we tried to play on our swingset, or were helping with laundry, or were playing, or breathing--didn't take much to set him off! He was huge and horrible with a bite-y beak and those scratch-y toes--what a nightmare! I can remember my Mother laughing at us as we desperately tried to get away....*chills*

We moved to our farm when I was 5 and for some reason the rooster didn't come with us. My father did, however, start raising hens. It was my unlucky job to go into the hen house and collect the eggs in the morning. Now, collecting eggs doesn't sound that bad but sometimes the chickens don't want to give them up! Sometimes they are still sitting right on them and you have to reach under their huge white bodies, feel between their scratchy toes and avoid their bite-y beaks just to grab the eggs--not to mention all of their shifty eye movements and the clucking--Oh! the clucking! When chickens get angry they cluck different too--more like a growl then a cluck. I'm terrified just thinkin' about it! Well, not terrified, but deeply disturbed!

Almost as disturbed as I was when I found this picture on the internet when looking for a chicken picture:

This stirs up a whole new set of emotions that I just don't have the strength to delve into at this time.

Anyways, I would walk into the chicken coop in the mornings to get the eggs and every time I opened the door the nine million chickens inside would get scared and all fly right toward my face. It was like a tornado of beaks, feet and feathers. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Every. Single. Morning.

I think I finally convinced my parents to let me do some other chore but I've never quite recovered from the short time I actually did this. I haven't recovered from the time we went to our neighbor's house and his huge 3 foot tall turkey attacked my feet, or the time my goose pooped on me at show and tell, or the time I narrowly missed being attacked by a bird at an aviary, or the time the seagulls swarmed me and ate my fried dough at the shore or the time we slaughtered the chickens and their headless corpses were bouncing all over the farm for HOURS (yes, they can move for HOURS AND HOURS without a head)....

I probably never will recover and now my fear of chickens has translated to a mistrust of birds of all kinds. Aren't you so glad to know?

p.s. I smushed my bumper yesterday or I should say, re-smushed. My husband did the job nicely just a few months ago and now I've gone and re-smushed the smush. Bleh.

Because It's My Birthday and I'm Feeling Indulgent

In my 29 years on earth I've accumulated some strange habits...just thought I'd share a few.

1. I wear skirts every day of my life. I love skirts--I can't stress this enough. LOVE them! I started wearing skirts everyday because I ascribe to the theory that life is short so you ought to do the little things that make you happy EVERYDAY! My poor husband doesn't remember what I look like in pants and my poor students thought my husband MADE me wear skirts everyday because appparently, no one in their right mind would want to wear them everyday! You might even be able to blame it on the fact that I went to school in this town:

2. My other little "problem," (i.e. addiction) is related to my skirt wearing preference. I have a vast sock collection pictured here:

Now, these are not just ANY socks--they are all knee high or thigh high, striped, polka dotted or brightly colored socks. Since I wore skirts at college where it was often 20 degrees and sleeting sideways I had to keep my legs warm and since I despise stockings I took to wearing these extra tall socks. Sometimes I even plan an entire day's wardrobe around a pair of socks, that's just how crazy I am. I'll explain more about this addiction at a later date.

3. If it's above 50 degrees I am wearing these everyday and everywhere:

I just love 'em. It's the closest thing to bare feet a country lovin' city livin' girl can get. Amen.

4. I also collect chotcke's (i.e. knick knacks) from any special/meaningful occasion or event. My house is covered with little things from the houses of my grandparents, my own parents, things from college and dating days....You name it--I've saved it. My favorite things to collect to remind me of others are tiny animals--for some reason all my grandmothers had little figurines around the house--I love this elephant and I also have a little turtle and snail that I adore. Oh, and a lovely collection of blue bottles from my dad and my mother(s) in law.

The End....(for now)

Six to One, Half A Dozen to the Other

Things That Irritate:

1. That no matter HOW often you cut your baby's finger nails she can still scratch her poor little cornea--my poor sweet girl!

2. Cold Weather

3. Politics in the classroom

4. Luke-warm showers even when you're the first one to take one in the morning. bleh.

5. Being wet. I sure don't like being wet. Yuck.

6. People who make you feel like "less"

Things That Bring Joy:

7. Unexpected wind-falls from caring friends

8. Targets sale on summer clothes for toddlers--it does an eagerly-over-preparing mother's heart good to have summer shopping done by February

9. The delicious comfort of laying in a comfortable, warm bed with your husband and baby

10. A Toddler that sleeps through the night and is POTTY TRAINED!

11. All of our friends

12. The ultimate joy-bringer--Jesus!

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream!

Hello Lover...

I just can't seem to get enough of you!

Hay Bales to Highways Chapter 4

When we last left our story S and I had gone our separate ways and had only shared a few passing "hellos" and "goodbyes" on campus. My sophomore year I started working on Saturday mornings at the dining hall scanning students in to eat. One of the highlights of my mornings was scanning in S who never missed the ever famous Cedarville biscuits and sausage brunch (like so totally gross! gravy and sausage? for breakfast?!?). He would come on those mornings with his roommate Josh who told S later on that he "knew" something was "there" between us--it must have been in the "special" way I scanned S's i.d. card! Ha!

I had been in "like" all year with a friend-boy and had gone on dates but it never amounted to anything and I distinctly remember lounging in my dorm room with my friend Rachel and comiserating about our single status, "If I don't start dating someone soon I won't get married at the end of my senior year!" (Cause, THAT would have been the end of the world!) "The only person I even know who I could possibly see myself dating or marrying is S but I think he's dating someone else...." (See, S--I TOLD you that I always loved you!).

Spring quarter finally came and my friend Sarah, S and I all started taking a class called God and History. We weren't in the same section but it turned out that our schedules worked out in such as way so that we could eat lunch together and sometimes S would even CHOOSE to sit next to me *gasp*! I was so silly back in those days--goodness knows my cheeks are red just thinking about it!

It came to be time for finals and Sarah asked me to join her and S at a local ice cream place called Young's to study for our exam. Sarah was dating a boy who she spent a lot of time with and at the last second told me I was on my own to study with Steven! I couldn't believe it! I told her there was NO way that he would just want to study with me if Sarah weren't there and then I begged her to change her mind and come! She didn't and I'm so glad for it!

S picked me up in his car *gasp* and took me to Young's where he bought me ice cream *gasp* and we studied. My husband always had the best sense of humor and kept me laughing all night (and he still keeps me laughing all the time!). After we studied he asked me to play mini golf *gasp* with him and we had a fabulous time where I totally beat him, although, I'm sure he will deny this ever happened or say that he LET me win.

We got into his car and headed back to campus talking about anything and everything and all the while I was thinking how much I liked him and that it was a shame he was graduating this year and that I wouldn't see him anymore and that there wasn't much of a future for our friendship. Little did I know he was going to stick around a bit longer....

The Family That Wii's Together....

Wonderful's family tradition dictates that the W boys and their ladies must play video games! We love having them all over on Sunday nights for a little Gamecube/Wii action. A loves playing with Aunt Micayla and Ali and running away from Uncle Jon and Uncle Ryan. It is a blessing to have family nearby--we love spending time with them!

When I took this picture S said it wasn't enough of an action shot!

Uncle Jon is very serious about his game playing (he's also the best of the bunch!)!

Watch out for Aunt Micayla--she is dangerous with a Wii controller! Ha!

A LOVES playing basketball with Ali and Jon (who are very good sports about playing with a bossy toddler!)!

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Micayla!

Don't mind Uncle Jon-- he's not as scary as he looks--he just likes to make funny faces when his favorite (ha!) sister in law takes his picture!

Nothin' Says HOTT Like....

A husband who organizes the cupboards, on his own, without being asked!

Long Lost Blogger

Pardon me, my fingers have been busy elsewhere....

I've been spending far too much of this:


Playing with them (when A isn't around of course, it's hard for a princess to share!).

And taking too many of these...

And these

And of course, these

For my own good!

And like it or not, I'm back now.

I promise!

Promises

While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And winter and summer,

And day and night,

Shall not cease.

Yep, the cold and winter sure aren't ceasing anytime soon it seems!

Meet My New Running Power-Walking Buddy

Isn't it Ironic?

Guess who I saw on a 60 degree day? That's right! The heating oil truck--filling up fuel tanks on the warmest day of the year....go figure!

What do YOU think?

Today in Sunday School we were learning about Evangelism and watched the most interesting video that dealt with ways in which we share our faith with others. I think a lot of time I approach sharing my faith by living a certain way, interacting with others a certain way and waiting for a door to open to tell them why I live the way I do. However, if you look at the Bible Jesus didn't wait around for people to become His friends before sharing His faith--He shared the truth without looking to be comfortable while doing it.

So many people think of themselves as "good" people. They compare themselves to others and think--well, I"ve never done something THAT bad so I must be good. However, If you look at the 10 commandments--something almost everyone has heard of--you can illustrate how everyone has sinned. The Bible says that liars, theives and adulturers will end up in the lake of fire. Here is a conversation based on this approach to sharing the faith--I'll use Bob and Larry for illustration purposes.

Bob--Hey Larry, would you say that you're a good person?

Larry--Well sure I am. I try very hard to be good to others, to be respectful.

Bob--Would you say that God thinks you're good enough to go to Heaven?

Larry--Sure! God would let me go to Heaven. He knows I try to be good.

Bob--Well, have you ever heard of the 10 commandments? The Bible says that anyone who has broken one of those commandments will end up in the lake of fire. Have you ever broken a commandment?

Larry-I might have before, but I try not to.

Bob--Have you ever told a lie? A little white lie? Or exaggerated something?

Larry--Yes, but everyone has.

Bob--And people who have told a lie are called?

Larry--Liars....

Bob--Right. And have you ever taken something that wasn't yours? Even something small?

Larry--Yes, I've taken things that weren't mine.

Bob--Well, then you might also be a....

Larry--Thief.

Bob--That's right. Have you ever looked at a woman lustfully? The Bible calls that adulturey

Larry--Yes. I have.

Bob--And do you think that God would let someone who has admitted that they have been a liar, a thief, and an adulterer into Heaven?

Larry--Well, no.

Bob--So, do you think if you were to die and you stood before God, would He let you get into Heaven?

Larry--I want to say yes but I guess He shouldn't.

Bob--It's like this Larry--what if you unknowingly went 50 miles an hour through a school zone while they were holding a convention for blind children and the speed limit was only 15. And a policeman came up to you and said--you've broken all of these laws and even though you did it unintentionally there is a $25,000 fine. The good news is that someone, who you don't know, loved you enough to pay that fine for you. They have saved you from the punishment. Wouldn't that be amazing news?

Larry--That would be!

Bob--In the same way Jesus has paid your debts for you. You have sinned and when Jesus died on the cross He took those bruises for you. All that you have to do to accept payment for your sin-debt is to pray to Jesus. You can ask Him to forgive you for sinning. Read your Bible everyday and learn about God and what pleases Him. If you do these things you can be assured that you can spend eternity in Heaven. Isn't that amazing?

Larry--The Bible makes a little more sense now when I realize that Jesus died because there were sins that needed to be paid for. You've given me a lot to think about.


Well, what do YOU think?

Awkward Moments Define My Life: College Years

Time for the next installment of Awkward Moments--I had actually forgotten (repressed) this one until this morning when it popped into my head while I was exercising!

So, Cedarville was a strange new land and I was a gregarious, overly-confident, adventure seeking freshman with purple hair and a new freedom away from home. During my freshmand year I remember running up and down the sidewalks with my friends singing songs loudly and skipping (little did I know I would see those people the next year and think disdainfully, "urgh, freshman!"). We did everything and lived every second to the fullest! We were so totally not going to miss out on the big event of the winter quarter--T.W.I.R.P. week. T.W.I.R.P. = The Woman Is Required To Pay--this is supremely important b/c that means the GIRLS had the right to ask out the BOYS--it was a school sanctioned event!! And believe me, in a Christian school with a bunch of scared boys you HAD to ask a boy out to get a date (or so I thought =-).

My friends and I spent HOURS planning who we would ask! We went through the pictures online of all the boys at school, thought about the boys in our classes...the boys on the sidewalks, the boys in town--just boys in general until we came up with our list:
Patty was going to ask Jason Malone (THE head student pastor and BIG stuff on campus)
Rachel was going to ask Greg Fleury (a cute boy who lived in the same dorm as our friend John)
Diane was going to ask...well, I can't recall who she was going to ask--but believe me, she was going to ask someone--that Diane LOVED her some boys!!
Michelle was going to ask Eric (I don't know his name).

Oh. My. Word. I was 18, fresh off the farm and thought he was sooooooooo dreamy. It didn't matter that we didn't have classes together, we had never formally met and he had NO idea who I was. I knew who he was and that was ALL the mattered =)

So, we asked out the boys with varying results--Patty didn't get the date with Jason (he had a girlfriend), Rachel god the date with Greg but we had to double with some boy whose name I don't remember--we dressed like twins--it was SUCH a disaster!! Diane asked her boy and didn't get the date and with this blazing track record I decided to call my boy.

However, I didn't have the guts.

So, being the good friend that she was, Diane decided she would intervene and called this boy for me, pretending to be me and asked him out!!!! Well, later that day she came and told me what she did and what he said (no!) and I figured that was the end of it. It wasn't....

Fast forward 2 years!

I was sitting at the lunch table with my friend Jenny Lynn and she took me to sit with her music friends. Sitting at the table of music friends was the boy who was roommates with Eric during my disastourous twirp invite. Worse still, he KNEW who I was! Apparently they had looked up my picture when Diane called pretending to be me and found out who the crazy girl who asks out complete strangers was. He remembered this and started to grill my IN FRONT of my friends about why I asked Eric out etc...

I was MORTIFIED! I told him all about how it was Diane but he didn't believe me! He kept saying, stop lying! You know you did it! This went on foreverrrrrrrrrr--like for an hour until I got up and left the lunch table! From then on everytime he saw me on campus he would laugh at me! It was humiliating! Now everyone kenw my dirty little twirp secret. Urgh.

Oh. My. Word. I so totally never asked out (or had a friend ask out) a boy like ever again.