You've Got To Answer the question!

1. Go See Get Smart! Which was your favorite reference?
Mine was the nuclear vs. nuclar George Bush reference.

2. Read The Shack! What new thought is sticking in your head?
This book has helped me undertand how much I put God in a bottle, like a genie. I see more now how God is in everything and I need to be aware of that more when I make decisions, etc. I shouldn't just rub the genie bottle when I need something or when I see a pretty sunset.
Another interesting point was how the God character "Papa" makes the point that humans live in the past and the present but God knows the future as well. So, for humans, true faith is trusting God for my future. Then, of course there is the whole free will thing. It's something I already knew, I learn from my past and attempt to control the present so much that I can't put faith in the future, the book illustrates it well.

I am woman, hear me roar, if I want to!

Yes, I am back to the cyber world. We are hooked up and finally have all of the computer pieces out of the boxes. The moving truck finally arrived on Tuesday. As it pulled up, my mom and I left to go shopping. My feelings were I am paying them to carry the boxes and so I am going to let them do their job (we tip well). Later our job began, unpacking boxes. My mom, dad, dear husband and myself have climbed ladders, filled closets, made beds, washed windows, and slept like logs. To my chagrin, I have realized that some of this work may be in vain because when God gives us a baby, most of our knicknacks will have to be put or given away.
We have had fun buying furniture and not had fun with the phone people, newspaper people, trash people, or Internet people. But, e haven't made our first payment yet, so this has been tolerable. The weather turned beautiful, read it and weep Memphians, today it was 88! The one hard part of this mess was buying a vacuum. It took me three days to open the box. I don't want to be the kind of woman I think of who pushes a vacuum around (June Cleaver). I don't want my life to be wrapped up in cleaning a house every weekend (one of the reasons we bought a small house). Well, after several days of looking at the box and muttering under my breath as I passed it, I finally took it out of the box. The super duper, Consumer Reports ,highly rated Eureka, "The Boss" Smart Vac. Let me tell you friends, a vacuum is only as smart as the person pushing it. I grimaced at all of the unnecessary packaging (this thing would have survived a bombing -it's only a vacuum for Pete's sake). I connected the hoses and dohickey's then I ran upstairs for a moment, as I returned I heard the familiar, annoying sound of a vacuum. I thought to myself, "Oh, NO! The box was right, it is smart and it's alive!" but to my sheer delight I turned the corner to find my husband vacuuming the lint trap in our dryer. Yes, I love my dear husband. I have not used the new vacuum yet, but when I do, I will not be attached to it! Thank you, Betty Friedan. (you should google her)

Where are we now?

We have arrived in our new hometown. We close on our house tomorrow. It is 830 miles from our door in Memphis to our new front door. Needless to say I am glad to be out of the car. Thank you for your prayers. Now I have procrastinated on something I must do so I am going to do it now! We will not have tv or internet until June 11, so I am going to start a media fast tomorrow morning. The best way to communicate with me is via cell phone or angel mail (prayer!).

The Queen of the Swans

Cheerio Mates!
I am back on this side of the pond. I had a terrific time. We saw so much, spent so much, and learned so much I am still recuperating. We walked all over England and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved Oxford and enjoyed seeing all that C.S. Lewis called home. The weather was a bit colder than I expected and once I bought a warm coat I felt better. You'll see this purple pullover in most of my pictures.
Well I am going to share several pictures and exerpts from my journal over the next few weeks. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.
The first thing to know is the British (and most of Europe) put the day, then month then year so.. 13 May 2008
"We are in Oxford. We walked 8 miles today! The best part was a long walk along the Thames. We saw a lock, where the boats pass through. We saw the ruins of a nunnery. I learned that the Queen of England owns all the public paths and therefore they can not be barred even though they go through someone's land. So I came face to face with a cow, she was friendly. Also, the Queen owns all of the swans in Britian, they are a protected species and are everywhere. I wish I could draw because I would draw a swan with a beautiful golden crown and write a story about the Queen of the Swans."
This first day I did not take any pictures. I just enjoyed the moments I was there, the next day I began to be a tourist.

We are under contract!

Well, after a fretful afternoon yesterday, we heard that our offer had been accepted on our first home. We are both thrilled! Miraculously Rob's headache and my stomach ache have disappeared. We did have some competition on the house, but we won and we got the pot rack! (Check out the pictures it's next to our agent who is on the right of our pic and remember that is not our furniture in the house). Thank you for the prayers and keep them coming for all the final paper work. God's hand is so obvious in all of this that we are not anxious about anything. (OK, maybe a little bit). Tomorrow I leave for England. I will try to post some while I am there.

House Hunting

Well, we have been house hunting in VA. Our first day we were totally dejected. We would find a great, renovated house but it would be right next to a crumbling decaying building. Apparently it is illegal for the real estate agent to tell us if it's a "good or bad" area. But, when I saw a drug deal going on half a block from the house, I figured it out. But if you know my dh he was totally optimistic and said let's go on and look. Well, later on that night, he said "Oh no, we wouldn't live there, I don't want my wife shot." He is so sweet, caring about me like that! No, he is just southern and polite and didn't want to tell the agent NO!. But, finally we steered away from those areas and explored new territory. One of the things we have been really excited about is adopting a dog. We started the joke that we would have to get a pit bull if we lived in that part of town.
Well, today we were back to the sheltie variety of dog (for those of you who don't know a sheltie is like lassie thrown in the dryer and shrunk). We think we may have found IT! IT, the house is small, 1500 square feet, but it is charming. It has great curb appeal, low maintenance and big trees. So, y'all pray for us, that if this is God's will it will go smoothly. If it's not God's will let every door slam in our face! I hope tomorrow I can give you the address of our new house.

Birthday's in April are Awesome

Ok, I am going to brag. I have the best husband in the world. This is ok to say because I believe God created us specifically for each other. Now, my dh(dear husband) planned a surprise birthday party at the pottery painting place. Fourteen of my dearest family and friends painted pottery with me for several hours. I will post pictures as soon as they are in. It was so neat to watch my dh and his buddies painting pigs, smurfs, and owls. But, the fun did not stop there, my dh also had the BEST birthday cake ever. Chocolate with chocolate mousse filling. It said "Happy 30th my Lovebug" and it had ladybugs all over the cake...mmmmm!!
I received many other really thoughtful gifts including a book about Virginia, beautiful pottery, a mickey mouse watch, luggage, charms for my bracelet, and pajamas. The Kindergarten/First grade Sunday School class had cupcakes for me and made me a bracelet with my name on it.
When people found out it was my birthday they said "How old are you?" (just to use this blog as a tool for education; you should NEVER ask a woman how old she is). Everytime I was asked, I responded 30. The usual response was "oh, yeah 29 and holding, or 21?" And I said, "Nope, God has given me 30 years so far and I am claiming every single one of them, good or bad, they are mine!