Aren't weekends great?

We love just being home and away from the hustle and bustle of the city! This weekend was pretty typical for us...we cleaned, studied, cooked some yummy chili and cornbread, went to church, worked on the blog and stayed warm!! Check out the new additions to our sidebar :)

Steve is an excellent husband AND vacuumer!! I am so blessed!

Thoughts for today...

The following excerpts are from a Boundless article and I liked the thoughts contained therein:

"Even in its infancy the incredible power and pervasiveness of modern technology requires us to step back and reassess our generation's proclivity for multitasking. As life gets faster and faster and technology continues to advance, we've got to stop texting long enough to ask ourselves whether we're really more efficient when we multitask. How does this juggling show affect our productivity, our thought life, and our relationships?"

“The pursuit of maximum moments drives many a multitasking life and an often-distracted mind," writes Carolyn Curiel in her recent New York Times opinion piece. "We think of America as a sleep-deprived nation, but we are becoming deep-thought deprived, too. A closed door does not stop interruptions, because we are packing the weapons that can shatter concentration or quiet contemplation. Our fingers are always on a button."

And my personal favorite:

“No one seems to want (and no one can find) a place for quiet," wrote Francis Schaeffer, "because when you are quiet, you have to face reality. But many in the present generation dare not do this because on their own basis of reality leads them to meaninglessness; so they fill their lives with entertainment, even if it is only noise."

Hmmm…

Let there be LIGHT!

OK, so we have this little problem in our apartment. It's one long room with windows only at one end, which is sad because the kitchen (which is at the opposite end from the window) gets very little light. The kitchen also has one long flourescent bulb (which is wretched); but we felt like, well, we're only renting, so there's nothing we can do about it.

BUT, after a dreamy discussion about our "someday house", one important element became evident for me - A LOT of light. Well, since we can't have our "someday house" yet, Steve suggested that we still try to bring in important elements that make us feel cozy and at home in the apartment, so we can enjoy everything as much as possible while we are here...how smart! So we took a field trip to Home Depot, and for under $100, we did just that! Steve took out the awful flourescent light in the kitchen, and set up lovely, warm track lighting!!

Mind you, this all had to be done in the dark so that Steve didn't get electrocuted - hence the cute "head-light"!

The flourescent light comes down...

I happily handed Steve tools and screws and such.
The "track" goes up...

Adding the new lights:

Aaaahhhh.....LOVELY, warm lights!

Yay!! Steve is my hero - he always has the best ideas!! Thanks, honey!!

Our first SNOW of 2007!!

How beautiful!! And in celebration, we snuggled up on the couch and had hot chocolate with LOTS of marshmallows...and then we took a nap!! :) (how appropriate, right?!)

On a lighter note...

This is too funny...

KIDS IN CHURCH

3-year-old Reese:
"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little boy was overheard praying:
"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the christening of his baby brother in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied,
"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin,
the Lord's Prayer for several evenings at bedtime.
She would repeat after me the lines from the prayer.
Finally, she decided to go solo.
I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word,
right up to the end of the prayer:
"Lead us not into temptation," she prayed,
"but deliver us from E-mail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One particular four-year-old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
One bright little girl replied,
"Because people are sleeping."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old
brother, Joel, were sitting together in church.
Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud.
Finally, his big sister had had enough.
"You're not supposed to talk out loud in church."
"Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.
Angie pointed to the back of the church and said,
"See those two men standing by the door?
They're hushers."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan, 3.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
"Ryan, you be Jesus!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
"Did God throw him back down?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
"Would you like to say the blessing?"
"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a great weekend!!

Worth the read...

This is a forward that I received in the midst of Christmas craziness and forgot to post! It is a long read, but definitely worth it. Enjoy...and think about it!

Something Not To Laugh About

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary:

Here we are at this happy time of year, and I have a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. If this is what it means to be no longer young, it's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don' t feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about and we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not, then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

2 Rectangle chocolate cakes + a little creativity = A Penguin?!

Yep!! Instead of doing my homework this weekend like I should have been, I decided to have a little fun for my boss' birthday!!
He loves chocolate cake and penguins, so I decided to combine the two and make a chocolate penguin cake! FUN!! I started with two 9 X 13 chocolate cakes, trimmed the corners to make two big ovals, and used the corners to make wings and feet. A little food coloring and alot of frosting later, I ended up with a double layer penguin cake!!

Adding the wings and feet:

Frosting it all together Vanilla frosting adds the tummy and eyes - and 2 baking chocolate rounds for eyeballs:
Vanilla frosting + Food coloring = Yellow feet and beak!

Viola! A penguin!!

And Steve would like to add that he thoroughly enjoyed the cake shavings and frosting leftover! :)

Happy Birthday, Carl!

And last, but certainly not least, from the (long-since over) NC visit...

Savannah's dad's family and the big 2-YEAR anniversary celebration!! Complete with shopping, more eating (can there ever be enough!?), anniversary cake, hot sauce and fun with the fam!

Yes, you may not be able to see it, but this cake - masterfully made by SAM and decorated by Miriam - says "Happy 2nd Anniversary!"

Steve with his HOT Sauce basket! (He is an addict...)
Happy anniversary to us!...

What a great celebration, thanks family!!

The annual high school girls reunion!!

Okay, so I HAD to post one more important Christmas picture!!

Well, I really should say middle (and elementary) school reunion!

My group of girlfriends of 16+ years (wow, is that possible?!) get together during the holidays every year in some form (in recent years for showers and weddings!), and this year was no exception! We had a great time catching up and exchanging gifts over lunch in Chapel Hill before Christmas...

Sarah, Sav, Allison, Alice, Karen and Laura

...Love the girls!!

Geez...are you still posting Christmas pictures?!

Nope...But, the tree was still up as we neared our 2 year anniversary the week after Christmas...more on that tomorrow!
More visits from our sweet friends from France, Lauren, Paul and the Bebe (not yet fully visible!!) before they left the US.

The guys jam in the music room
The loving looks of the soon-to-be mom and dad!! Too cute!!
Congrats to the Roys Family on their coming bundle of joy!! :):)

Christmas FUN, Part 3!!

Christmas eve dinner at our house with good friends and family...

(L to R: Sav's Mom Len; Steve, Adam, Savannah, Peter and Debby)

Before going to the Christmas eve service at our NC church...

My best friend from elementary school, Sarah, joined us with her family! (pictured above)

And SO MUCH FOOD!!!

More friends and family pictures to come...stay tuned!!

(Belated) Christmas FUN, Part 2!

We are so blessed to have a house in NC that we got to decorate too!!

Then, if you recall our visitors from France, my friend Lauren from college came back to visit before Christmas...we put on our aprons and had a crafty day!! So fun! (And soooo dorky!, I love it!) More to come...;)

Hiatus. Again.

Sorry (again!) for the long absence...I know you all were so worried ;) haha.
Anyway, I was SICK AS A DOG last week!!! But, I am feeling better now and hoping to get back on track!! More pics soon!! :)

Update on the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Just had to show you how cute the Charlie Brown Christmas tree turned out when it was finally decorated with YOUR Christmas cards!

Before (so sad...): After (so cute!)

Thanks for all the Christmas cheer!!!

Christmas FUN! ...Part 1

Oh, where to start?? I suppose with the cooking extravaganza that took place before we even left DC to head home to NC...

LOVE that dorky Christmas apron!! I don't think I took that thing off for like 2 weeks!!

Okay, I must give proper credit to STEVE for decorating each and every one of these Christmas tree cookies. Yes, men, watch out when you get married - your wife will ask you to do previously unfathomable tasks!! Way to go, honey!!
Our apartment was covered in toffee that we made for our co-workers...and cookies, EVERYWHERE!!

Oh, what fun it was!!

Stay tuned for more Holiday FUN!

We're baaaaaack!!

Happy New Year!!

To all of our faithful fans (Hi Dad, Hi Paige) we're sorry to have kept you waiting so long for an update on our (oh-so-exciting!) life...to most of you, the delay is because we were actually seeing you IN PERSON :0)
...And what a delight it was. We had a great time visiting friends and family, and celebrating the real reason for the season!! Our vacation was SO busy that we will have to post our pictures over several posts...stay tuned!! ;)