Not Nice Glue

Now I've done some dumb things in my life, but today's event might top them all. I super-glued my hands--both of them. Here's the story: I was about to fix a pair of earrings that a stone had fallen out of (obviously fake). As I tried to squeeze the little bottle of super glue, nothing would come out, so I assumed it hadn't been opened yet. After realizing that it was open, I squeezed harder to break the dried up glue that was stuck in the opening. The glue gushed out and I tried to catch it all in my hands because I was doing this over our nice dresser--smart, I know. Luckily, the dresser is okay. My hands, however, are a bit raw. I tried soaking them in nail polish remover (has to have acetone in it) for about 15 minutes and that seemed to help, but not enough. In addition, I used my pumice stone to scrub my fingers and nails. This pryed them free from each other and I'm still working on making them look like normal, healthy hands now. This incident reminds me of a time in high school when me, Jenny, Stephanie, Michelle, and Susan all taped our fingers together for the day. Whoever could withstand it until the end of the day won. A couple of us had presentations to do, and I remember presenting a posterboard or PowerPoint with my fingers taped tightly together. Quite funny then and now. Super glue is not.

Susan Was Here

It was a great visit having Hu here this weekend. It meant so much to me that she made the time to come down to Texas. She's my first friend from back home I've had visit since we moved here nearly 2 years ago. We packed in the fun in just 3 days. Now she's off on her 'Around the World' tour in just 7 weeks!

Growing Up

Marlow is almost 5 months old. This is him this morning taking a nap...with a smile on his face.

The Guest Room Remains Full

Last weekend was a blur. I got off from work on Friday, stopped by the grocery, and when I got home I had about 30 minutes to speed around the house, picking things up before our company for the weekend arrived. It was Curtis's birthday on Friday, so we went to a steakhouse and ate dinner. The rest of the evening consisted of me prepping and cooking for Saturday night's meal, which would be his official birthday dinner. I even stayed up until 4am waiting on the créme bruleés in the oven! Such is my life. Many times I've stayed up to crazy hours of the night cooking away or going to the grocery for something last minute. But it's sort of fun. Saturday morning we went hiking on the Greenbelt again. The water was higher than I've seen it in the past, so Marlow had a good time swimming about. He's really learned to love the water.

It was a quick weekend, but we loved having our guests come. This weekend Susan will be here! Susan is one of my closest friends. We first met in kindergarten and we joke how we remember both liking New Kids on the Block. We reconnected in middle school and have been great friends ever since. She just graduated from IU in Fashion Apparel and Merchandising, and after her visit this weekend with us, she's off on her tour of a crazy amount of countries in just a few weeks around the world. She will be the first of my high school friends to come visit, so I'm looking forward to showing her our life in Texas.

Currently I am reading "Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney...not to be mistaken with "Feminine Mystique." :) I'm only a few chapters in so far, but it's been really convicting me of thoughts and behaviors in wife hood. It's been saying things that I've needed to hear for awhile, so definitely a good thing. It reiterates the importance of mentoring and being mentored as a woman, and the entire book talks about the verse in scripture out of Titus 2:3-5. I'd recommend it.

Funny Little Guy

Outside our kitchen window this morning.

Our Puppy is Growing!

Look how big he's getting! Almost too big to hold. :( So sad.

Good Books

I have been reading a lot lately. I joined a Book Club, so that was the starting motivation in reading, but I'm hooked now and am loving it. I think this is the first time since I started college (5 years ago!) that I am finally reading for the pure pleasure of it. There was always something to read in school, especially when I was studying Education, so I didn't really have much time for extracurricular reading. Recently I've read "Cry, the Beloved Country," "Catcher in the Rye," and "The Hiding Place." I am now reading "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. Reading "The Hiding Place" really woke me up and convicted me of some things in my own life. But man, it was a good book. Here are some of my favorite quotes from it that I wrote down.

"Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do."

"But our well-meant words were useless. In front of us the proud face crumpled; Tante Jans put her hands over her eyes and began to cry. "Empty, empty!" she choked through her tears. "How can we bring anything to God? What does He care for our little tricks and trinkets?" And then we listened in disbelief as she lowered her hands and with the tears still coursing down her face, she whispered, "Dear Jesus, I thank You that we must come with empty hands. I thank You that You have done it all--all--on the Cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this."

"Our wise Father in Heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need--just in time."

"It would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

"Lord, You turn the wheels of the galaxies. You know what makes the planets spin and You know what makes this watch run..."

"If God has shown me bad times ahead, that's enough for me that He knows about them. That's why He sometimes shows us things, to tell us that this too is in His hands."

"We must go everywhere. We must tell people that no pit is too deep that He is not deeper still. They will believe us because we were here."

"The truth is that God's viewpoint is sometimes different from ours--so different that we could not guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us such things."

"If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love. We must find the way, you and I, no matter how long it takes..."

"Surely there is no more wretched sight than the human body unloved and uncared for."

"More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie."

"In darkness, God's truth shines most clear."

"There are no 'ifs' in God's Kingdom."

"And so I discovered that it is not on our own forgiveness anymore than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself."

Another Date Night

Tonight we saw Spiderman 3 and had ice cream. What a disappointment the movie was...but not the Blue Bell.

My Birthday

I had a great birthday on May 9th. Aaron and I turned 23 years old. I was actually in Atlanta for the week, but I got back yesterday afternoon. Chris had made reservations at a restaurant that was on the top of my "Must Eats" list--Aquarelle. Wow, what an amazing dinner. I would venture to say that it was the best I've ever had. I wonder if it's because I didn't have to make any of it. It's interesting eating food now that is prepared and made in just the same way that I could do it, but I am by no means an expert chef yet, so I always enjoy getting to eat out. Aquarelle serves classical French cuisine, what I studied in culinary school. It's fun to look on the menu and know exactly what every item was. We chose our appetizers and entrees before we selected our wine for the evening--a very nice bottle of Domaines Schlumberger Gewurztraminer, 2002. This particular one was a dry one from the Alsace region in France and had a particular spicy flavor with floral aromas, as well as petrol and pee...yes, it's true. But man oh man was it good with our dinner selections of a Pan Roasted Gulf Red Snapper and my Rabbit Loin with Artichokes. With an amuse bouche, demitasse, and dessert, we had a total of a 7 course dinner. I'm used to making these for other people, not actually being served. It was a GREAT gift to eat such a great dinner! Thanks, husband! :)

Also, thank you to everyone who called, emailed, text-messaged me, sent gifts, and left messages on my "wall." I felt very loved on my birthday this year.

Remodeled Guest Room

Doing the guest room was one one of my favorite projects. I think I had so much fun because I learned to be creative and make a comfortable place for our guests to stay out of little or no money at all. There are a ton of paint cans in the garage. Some were left by the previous home owners. Others are some that we have used, and I found two cans of some that we had bought that we didn't end of liking for a different room. I totally forgot about it, so it was a great surprise when I ended up liking the color for the guest room.

This was the full sized bed that we had in our queen frame ever since we got married. When we finally got a mattress to fit our bed, this one got moved to the guest room, which was perfect because we didn't have a real guest bed before. I got 4 cinder blocks for $1.20 each, and that's what it's sitting on. A dust cover takes care of hiding it though!

We had a closet full of picture frames that weren't being used (mostly mine from college and growing up), so I picked out the black ones and that's what initiated this room having black accents. In the 3 by the window, they are all photographs that my big brother took at a family reunion in Missouri. One is of my dad playing his guitar, another a close-up of a cousin playing banjo, and the other is a picture of an elderly lady's hand holding a hymnal. One of my greatest memories is getting together at the farm and playing and singing to bluegrass. I love incorporating them into the room.

The red blanket was a gift for our wedding. I just found other items to compliment it to make it a better looking bed. I made the head board (although positioned a bit high) by covering a chanvas with fabric and securing it on the back with a staple gun.

We had the shelving already, but didn't like them in the room we had originially bought them for. I found the little Singer sewing machine table on Craig's List and hunted it down.

I think the last thing to do in the guest room is to find some kind of dresser, and that will go under the single shelf. We are expecting a lot of company this summer (which we are so excited about!), so getting the guest room done was a priority. I think it's so fun to decorate a house and make it a home.

Last Night

We have gone hiking for the past several date nights we've had. I think since it's beens such nice weather outside and since we have Marlow, we just enjoy being together, doing something active, and allowing Marlow a place to run, swim, and play. It's our favorite thing to do together. This is us last night.

A Little About Me

I haven't worked much this week, but I have kept busy with my never-ending To Do list. I think that's a sign of a Type A person, for sure. I enjoy checking things off my list. It gives me a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. I like living by a schedule and love looking to see what's on the day's agenda or what is coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm a planner, too. When people come to visit or when we take a vacation, I have a list of ideas to go, places to see, etc. I've learned that this isn't a way to help Chris enjoy vacations. He is the opposite in liking to have no plan, no agenda, no schedule. We'll see what we see and do what we do. Such open-endedness, but we've found a way to coexist and enjoy vacations together. I also like consistency. I'm fine with change, and in fact, I love spontaneity, but normally for life, I like to know what's going on and to be able to count on something consistent. I'm not really into personality tests, like the Meiers Briggs, but I do remember that I'm an ESFJ. I think that means I'm an extrovert, sensory, feelings, and judging??? You probably notice my personality even in the way that I write letters or emails or blog, even. I love bullets and paragraphs. I like to organize my literary expressions in such a way that is clear and consise as possible.

Thunder

A thunderstorm woke me up. It was so loud it sounded like it was on top of our house. I went to check on Marlow and he was really scared and shaky, so I took him to the guest room with me and layed down. (That's the bed we occasionally let Marlow on.) Chris came in to find me, which was sweet, and we listened to the rain and thunder. In its chaos, it is still somewhat peaceful to listen to. I couldn't sleep, so I just decided to get up and read a book, then it turned into checking my email, and now this. :)

This weekend we are looking forward to visiting with Matt Clinger and Andrew and Whitney Jones. They will both be in town and they're stopping by to see us. Also, for a week, we will be keeping Jackson, Marlow's friend. Jackson's parents are going on vacation, so we'll be watching him while they're out of town. Marlow will love having a companion to play with.

Next week I'll be going to a children's ministry conference in Atlanta with a team from my church. Plane ticket, hotel, and registration fees are covered, so it will be a fun mini-vacation. I'm really looking forward to getting to know some others from our huge church just a little better.