Welcome September!

I love the month of September, and not just because it's the month my birthday falls in!

But because, for me, it always feels like a good time to organize and renew for the last few months of the year.  There's just an all together feeling of starting over- maybe its back to school, I'm not sure! (Although back to school here was 2 weeks ago, but September is back to school in my mind, I guess because that's always when I went back to school).  And summer is un-officially over.

So in light of my renewed feelings of organization and starting over, I thought I'd look at my resolutions from the new year and see how I'm doing! And maybe make a few new ones for the rest of the year!

1. Start and keep a blog- I think I've done very well with this one!

2. Spend less time on Facebook- eh! I've done okay with this one- I "try" not to spend so much time on FB, but sometimes my work gets really quiet and boring.  But I generally do not get on Facebook (or the computer for that matter) at all in the evenings or over the weekend.  I spend too much time on it at work during the day.

3. Health-  I kind of added to this one at the beginning of the summer when I decided I was going to start running, unfortunately I haven't hit the 3 mile mark by the end of the summer as I had hoped, but I am okay with that because running 3 miles takes a long time and a lot of energy, but I am well on my way to reaching that goal! I run for about 30 minutes and I can usually run 2.6 miles and then I do a 5 minute cool down, so I usually on the treadmill for about 2.8miles. I think if I can run for 35 minutes I should be able to reach that goal!  In terms of other health- I have done great! Still drinking lots of water and eating plenty of fruits and veggies! I've even lost a few pounds over the summer, so I am pumped about that! And now that Brayden is here, I am even more active than I was before! He keeps us busy- I think I've lost 5 pounds since he's been here!

4.  Personal Quiet Time-

•  I am trucking along in my 180 day reading that that has taken me a lot longer than 180 days, but I am almost done! I am thinking and praying about what I want to tackle next in terms of a reading plan (I like to have a plan- it keeps me focused!) 
• Memory verses- Okay, so I have done SO BAD with this.  I think the last verse I memorized was in March! So very, very bad! Confession- I am really bad at memorizing verses- not that I can't memorize, but its the act of doing that I am so bad at.  I need some hard core diligence.  

A few new ones...

5. Organization- Our house is pretty organized- or it appears that way- don't look in the closets! ha! But I would really LOVE to change that!  All of our closets are FULL of junk (yes, junk) that I would love to go through and get rid of!  So my goal is go through everything and decide what to do with it- trash, Goodwill or yard sale it! We have tons of clothes and stuff that we never touch (mostly because something might eat you if you try to get it from the closet! ha!) A little extra closet space and a little less stuff never harmed anyone! I think Metochai is hosting a yard sale in October, so that will also help with my next goal...

6.  Start saving and planning for our trip home at Christmas-  I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! Ahh!!! I always intend to start saving earlier, but it never works out.  But saving even $10/week will help and buying things whenever I can will also help.  General goal, I know, but I need to start thinking about this- yesterday! 

So really I am only adding two new goals, mostly because they are both big goals and a few of the other ones still need some work! 

About the boys-

Donald is back to school and he has survived the first couple of weeks! This semester he is taking Hebrew, Preaching, Evangelism, and New Testament.  He's got a full plate for sure- with working, going to school and taking care of B after school and work, and making sure to spend time with me, he's one busy guy! I am so blessed by him and his hard work! 

Brayden is doing awesome!  The adjustment has gone so well for us all! We've gotten him into a good little routine (and we've adjusted to our new routine) so that's huge! I am a BIG fan of routines! He's talking like crazy and sometimes we even know what he says! ha!  His favorite words are: Mine, No, Go, Cow, kitty cat, and dog.  And he can say the sounds moo and meow.  He will repeat everything we ask him to say: he's working on outside, shoes, bath and Amen (he says them or says something that sounds like them!) He's very good at identifying things- if we say shoes, stroller, outside, snack, books, cup, etc. he can go get it or go to it.  Also, when we say "lets take a bath" he runs to bathroom wanting to climb in; when we say "do you want to brush your teeth?" he runs to the bathroom and takes out his paci; when we say its time to eat, he stands by his highchair and if we say "where's your paci" he can find it and sometimes 3 others.  We are also working on "where's your..." he knows "where's your ears", but when we ask him wheres your mouth, eyes, nose, etc. he points to his ears.  (The boy knows where his ears are!) He loves watching Yo Gabba Gabba and will dance and clap his hands when it comes on.  

But, I think that's a long enough post! ha! 

Life with a toddler...

In the almost week that we've had Brayden, there are a few things to be noted:

1.  The boy LOVES to be outside! As soon a you get him out of his crib from nap or bed he points to the door, wanting to go out.
2.  We have to hid his shoes because as soon as he sees them he wants to put them on and go outside.
3.  He loves to stroll in his stroller.  The boy would sit there and be completely content for hours at a time.
4.  We have to hid his stroller because as soon as he sees it he wants to sit in it and go outside.
5.  We will be taking him camping as soon as it cools down- he'll probably be the happiest kid in the world- wearing his shoes, sitting in his stroller and being outside.

6.  He loves to eat- oatmeal, waffles, watermelon, applesauce, yogurt, fruit snacks, goldfish,etc. If you give it to him, he'll eat it!
7.  He loves to feed himself.
8.  He is usually wearing more than he eats.  This morning I found oatmeal in his bellybutton- how did that happen?!?!
9.  If there is something he doesn't like (or doesn't want anymore), he will throw it at you, the wall or the floor- I was standing too close on Saturday and got a good showering of mac&cheese!

10. He usually doesn't like to be held- except for when he's tired or hungry.
11. The only time he wants me to hold him is when I'm fixing dinner- which means he's usually hungry.

12.  He's a great sleeper, even with boring seminary books!

13.  He is such a goof-ball- sometimes he'll just be standing there and start laughing at himself.  Makes you wonder whats going on in his little brain!

14. Our life is not the same- it's full diapers, flying food, YoGabaGaba, sippy cups, diaper bags, carseats, strollers, too many pacies, goldfish squished into the carpet, toys, and saying "no, no Brayden"- but it's good and we're having a ball!

It's been a while...

...I know!

But honestly, there really hasn't been much going on. Its just been so stinkin' hot that you really can't do ANYTHING outdoors- not even get the mail. We've pretty much watched LOST and a bunch of movies we had been wanting to see.

But we did go to a Fort Worth Cats game a few Saturdays ago. The Cats are a local minor league baseball team.  We had a really good time.  One thing pretty cool about the stadium was that they still use an old school score board.  At the end of each inning a man walks down and puts up the sign for the runs.   I was more fascinated with that than I was with the game! Ha!

We got some new neighbors over the weekend.  We were excited about that since we've been without one for a while. Donald helped them unload their truck Friday afternoon, so they invited us to dinner with them and their family as a thank you to Donald (I just got to enjoy the food/fellowship without the hard work!)  We went to Uncle Julio's, a Mexican restaurant. We had never been so we were excited to try it, and we are please to say it was very good! We had a good time getting to know them and telling them all about SWBTS!

We got a crazy hair on Saturday and wanted to re-arrange some rooms, but we can't change our bedroom, the living room or the kitchen because there is pretty much no way to change things. That left Donald's room, so we spent a good majority of the afternoon moving furniture and cleaning (always feels good to clean under furniture).  There probably isn't any more room than there was before, but it feels like it, so we're excited.

My cousin Julie's wedding is coming up in a week and half, so I will be heading up to NJ for all the festivities! I am excited about seeing family and being a part of her big day, but Donald will be staying here so that a little of a bummer.

School goes back on the 25th and Donald is ready to get back to the books! (I'll do a post later with more on that, I am not sure of his schedule and all that fun stuff!)

I will be starting a new job in about a month! On Friday (August 5) I interviewed with a school about a tutoring position, and they gave me the job on the spot! (How cool is that!) I will be an in-house tutor for reading.  I'll be given a set of students that I will pull out of class and work with them individually on their reading skills.  The tutors generally start at the end of the first marking period (which would be around Oct. 1), but the principle is hoping to start sooner, like maybe the third week of September.  I am really excited about this opportunity.  It's not teaching, but it is working in a school with kids and will be utilizing my degree. And hopefully this will give me some good connections!  I'll keep you posted on definite start days and how it's going!

P.S. Don't you love how you thought there was nothing going on here in TX except for a baseball game and a room change! Good thing you read the whole thing huh!?!?

Saturday Morning Traditions

Besides sleeping in, my favorite thing about Saturday is sitting on our front porch.  We generally wake up as we please, one of us will make a pot of coffee and when its done we take our cups and sit out front.  We sip our coffee and just chat. I love it!

We generally don't talk about anything specific, we just chat and enjoy each others company.  But we've reminisced about the going to Nags Head, talked about the kiddos back home, and have even planned a few day trips.  We've talked about more serious things like where God will take us after seminary and have shared our hearts for the those who are hurting and for the lost.  I love that we can be totally serious and goofy all in the same conversation. 

We've been fascinated with the clouds (there are some pretty cool clouds here in TX!) and we water our basil plant.  We've seen a few neighbors walking their dogs and watering their plants. 

In 20 years when we are serving in a church and we think back to our time in seminary, I am almost certain that these Saturday mornings, just the two of us on our front porch, will be filed under some of our most favorite memories.  When the hustle and bustle of life is put on hold and for 30 short minutes its just us...and our coffee!

Thank you for sweet memories!

Texas Heat

Now I have experienced lots of summers in my life and I've even survived 2 summers here in Texas.  Summers are suppose to be hot, that's how seasons work.

This summer has topped them all- hot just doesn't describe the temperature- brutal may be a better word. Including today, we have faced 18 days of 100 plus temperatures with NO end in sight, yes, brutal is the best word. Every single day in July, with the exception of July 1st, have been 100 degrees or hotter. Its been miserable.  That's a good word to use as well- brutal and miserable- that sums up this summer...so far.

Now this is not a "lets bash Texas summers" post, because lets face it- it's summer and it's Texas. But there are a few things that I have observed and have experienced.

• You lose 10lbs. just walking 10 feet to the car and another 15lbs. once getting into said car because its black and its even hotter in there- well, we could all use to lose a few pounds now and  again, so I guess that's not all bad.
• Hanging clothes on the clothes line (and then taking them down) is just as much of a work-out as running 2 miles- lots of sweating happens in both of these events.  However, the clothes dry in 2.2 seconds, so its worth it right? The things I do to save $0.75 a load on laundry day...
• It gets so hot in our kitchen while cooking that its pretty much unbearable to eat in there, so most days we opt to eat in the living room where we don't have sweat into our food. So we've managed to watch a lot of LOST so far this summer! 
• Things melt, i.e. book bindings and calculators.  I left my library books in the car for a long time and one of the books binding melted and fell apart. The calculator Donald bought from CVS at least 8 years ago (which was like the best calculator we have ever owned) actually melted in our car. 

Proof:

Ironically enough, the calculator still works! HA! 

But in all seriousness, not sure how much more I can handle.  The heat is physically exhausting and its exhausting my checkbook... 

Jury Duty, Running, and other happenings

Jury Duty

So, I survived my first experience with jury duty.  Honestly, it wasn't all that bad, but of course I couldn't go through the day without some type of DRAMA.


First, I was a little nervous because we had to park in a parking lot, then take a city bus to the courthouse.  I've never really ridden a bus like that, so I was just a little unsure of what I was suppose to do.  Thankfully there were other people there who seemed to know what was going on, so I just followed them.  Literally, I followed this one lady all the way to the courthouse. 

Second, you had to go through a security check point (like at the airport) to get in.  So, I put my shoes and purse in the little plastic bin and made my way through the medal detector.  I went to go get my stuff and the lady tells me that she needed to put my purse through the scanner again.  After it goes through the second time, there is now a man looking at the screen and he tells me that there something weird in my purse and then dumps everything out.  There was an Alan wrench in the bottom of my purse.  Donald put it in there the day before and I forgot.  So, now everything is out of my purse and they have to run it through the scanner AGAIN.  By now everyone is looking at me because I am holding the line up. 

So, I find my assigned courtroom and there are a bunch of people, like maybe 30 or so.  The cop comes out and collects our paperwork and tells us what is going to happen.  Then we sat there for an hour and a half, in the hallway.  Finally, they call us into the courtroom and the judge tells us that the lawyers on the case came to a plea agreement and they didn't need a juror.  So, I didn't even go through the process of being selected.  I just went and sat in the hallway and then collected my 6 bucks!

Running

In the early part of May I went to a fitness boot camp with my neighbor and I loved it.  However, one of the things we had to do was run around this field and I didn't like that nor could I run the whole thing.  And after I finished, I couldn't breathe.  I was a little frustrated because I am an active person and I go to the gym 3-4 days a week but I couldn't run a short distance.  So, after that I decided I was going to start running on the treadmill rather than on the elliptical.  (The elliptical is more like a bike motion and therefore a lot easier.)

So, I set a goal for myself for the summer- to run 3 miles on the treadmill by the end of the summer.  Once it cools down, I am going to start running outside and start working on my time.  My ultimate goal is to run a 5k sometime in October or November.  Well, I more than halfway there!!  I had been doing about 1.5 miles, but on Monday I ran 2 miles.  I was so proud of myself. I was very tired that night; not sore, just tired!  Yesterday when I went I just ran 1.6 miles because my legs were still a little tired for the day before.  I am so excited that I have been able to run this much.  It really is addicting.  I am actually looking forward to my next run on Saturday.  My goal on Saturday is to run 2 miles again.  The only problem is I have had my gym shoes for a long time (like several years) and I have started to feel how old they are when I run.  So if I am going to keep this up, I am going to have to invest in a new pair of running shoes. 

Other Happenings

The bug situation has gotten a lot better.  Donald saw one on Monday morning.  But on Monday, the people from SWBTS came out and fixed our door (there was a gap between the door and the frame along the bottom).  We haven't seen any since then, so we are hoping that was how they were making there way in.  We are still a little paranoid and get a little nervous at night and first thing in the morning when we walk into the kitchen.

A few months ago I broke my camera and so we have been taking pictures on our phones! But yesterday my wonderful sister in law gave me (us) an early birthday/Christmas present- a new camera!! It is SO nice.  Its a Nikon COOLPIX L120 and it's pretty much the nicest camera I have ever owned! I am looking forward to really learning how to use it and taking pictures (especailly taking pictures of all those little people that I love and miss so much!)  Donald and I took a few cool shots last night and the pictures look great!

Adventures with Flat Stanley

A few weeks ago Donald and I got a Flat Stanley is in the mail! He traveled all the way from Virginia to Fort Worth, Texas! We were so excited and couldn't wait to show him around.  But before our adventures could begin, we had to dress Flat Stanley.

We dressed Stanley like a Cowboy because we wanted him to fit in! He is also holding the state flag of Texas and is wearing a Texas Ranger Badge! The Texas Rangers help to keep our community safe!

Here's Flat Stanley...

Now that Flat Stanley is dressed, he's ready for his adventures to begin!

First stop: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He had great time checking out where Donald goes to school and taking a few pictures!

Next, we took Flat Stanley to a Texas Rangers Baseball game! He had such a good time watching to Rangers play! Here's a few pictures of Stanley cheering on the Texas Rangers! (We changed his hat just for the occasion!)

Lastly, we took Flat Stanley to the Fort Worth Stockyards (You can learn more about the Stockyards here ).  Here Stanley got to see cowboys just like him!

Overall, we had a GREAT visit with Flat Stanley! Thanks to Nicholas for sending Flat Stanley all the way to Texas!

Camera

Do you ever wish you could take back and replay a large chunk of time? When you've done something, said something that you regret?

Well, that's me for the past 12+ hours. 

Last night we were having a nice quiet evening.  Donald was reading and I was getting settled into my nightly routine.  It was a nice night, so Donald was reading outside.  We had previously noticed that flowers had bloomed next to our front porch, and I wanted to take a few pictures of them.

I got out my camera and went to go sit it on a table, but it didn't make it on the table all the way and it fell.  The lens was open and it fell directly on the lens.  I about died. My precious camera, that we have only had since November, fell and broke.  My first reaction was to cry, but then I remembered that we had a warranty!! So we get out the warranty and quickly realized that such incidents are NOT covered by the warranty! (What is the point of spending the extra money on a warranty if it doesn't do any good???) Now I am so mad because not only did I break my camera, but there is NO way I can get it fixed and we can't exactly afford a new one.  Donald quickly got to work to see if there was anything we could do.  We chatted with someone at Sears and then called and talked with someone at Sears and then we went to Sears.  All with same outcome...DOOM!

By now my emotions are all over the place, I went from crying to anger, back to crying and then anger again.  This morning both of those emotions have surfaced again.  And to make it even worse, I've taken it out on my poor husband, who has been nothing but sweet and helpful and I was a complete jerk to him.  I now feel as though I deserve to have no camera because I was so mean. 

So for now, this shall be a photo-less blog, unless I can find my old camera and pray that it works for a little while longer or find someone who can fix my camera.

So long camera...I will miss you and all the memories you help me capture...