Eight

Looking back at eight of the craziest most wonderful years of my life.

Here's some interesting highlights.

Year 1
*Skillet meatloaf is a dish that is best left in the recipe book. It was my first attempt at cooking a meal as a wife. Let's just say it ended badly.
*you're not really living unless you're living in a 450 square foot concrete apartment.
*How do you break your toe, playing with a rabbit?

Year 2
*hey look, we're pregnant.
*you're not really living until you have all your baby gear crammed into a 450 square foot concrete apartment
*Baxter can catch spit up in his mouth
*We make a pretty good mom and dad team.

Year 3
*Hey, let's move to Missouri on a whim to open our own business
*You're not really living until you live in a neighborhood infected with black mold
*Why can't we get a business loan?
*We still make a pretty good team.

Year 4
*Hey, we're pregnant
*Hey, let's buy a house!
*Hey, let's sell a house
*Hey, let's move to Texas!

Year 5
*Baxter's still pretty good at catching spit up in his mouth
*A man really loves you if he'll chase your dog in the backyard, in his underwear to shut it up.
*Hey, Baxter, why don't you switch careers?

Year 6
*Life is good
*What an awesome family
*Goal: convincing my mom and dad to move to Texas
*Goal met.

Year 7
*What the... we're pregnant!
*Youth ministry? Sounds great!
*Ella in the hospital total = 2 weeks.
*Baxter has taken up a new hobby, driving into things, and over things.


Year 8
*Youth ministry right now? yes!
*Back to school
*3 beautiful girls
*1 awesome husband
*1 crazy beautiful life

Saying Goodbye

It's a hard day when you realize a certain part of your life is over. The time to move on creeps up on you and you're paralyzed for a moment until the momentum sweeeps you away. We've finally said goodbye to the church that has been home to us for over 3 years. A call to ministry has really claimed us sooner than we had ever expected and we are in pursuit of finding out exactly what God has in store for us. For some people who don't attend church, this may not seem like a big deal, but for me it is. This is a place where we have met friends, shared lives, built community. We totally sold ourselves out to what God wanted us to do in our ministry there, and it's very sad to look back and realize that we have to move on now. I want to give thanks for everything that God has taught me during my time there, which is just more than I can even fathom, and I hope and pray for the future of the church. The end is a beautiful beginning.

fun with photoshop

Our American Culture

I have a friend who had to write an essay about our American culture. What is the American cultural experience? Here's the two cents I gave her. Is there anything that was left out?

well, if you look at the country as a whole, and not just through the lives of individuals, we do have a distinct culture. We (Americans) are fiercely patriotic, impassioned about open debate and free speech, our country as a whole is religious, (not everyone is a Christian but most people participate in one), our country is a capitalist nation, our economy pretty much determines how we see our country's health, and we work A LOT. In countries such as Europe, they take the whole afternoon off, everywhere. Everything closes from like lunch to dinner. Our society is the society of workaholics, and 24 hour business.

Our country is the "melting pot", where everyone is supposed to assimilate to our society, but bring flavor of their own culture. We are also celebrity obsessed, entertainment overloaded, and technologically advanced. Think of all the gadgets we think we need to survive, cell phones,ipods, mp3s, video games, dvds..the list goes on and on.

If we think of just ourselves, it tends to look like we just live our lives and don't have anything in common with people beyond our bubble, but we do., That's what makes us a strong nation, and one that has flourished as a democracy when so many other countries have failed.

Thoughts?

Job Update

Yesterday, Baxter started his new job. We eventually decided to switch companies. We prayed hard about all of the circumstances surrounding both jobs and just decided we needed to make a change. This job will allow for more family time, which is a necessity for us at this point. That was the major deciding factor. So, yay for us. Baxter seems to like it a lot thus far.

Just as funny everytime...

If you don't know Conan, you're missing out. If you do, here's a treat.

School Update

Well, as my first test draws closer, I feel more and more apprehensive. I've forgotten just how much information you're supposed to take in with each lesson. My filtering abilities have somewhat waned over the past few years, and I find myself furiously highlighting paragraph after paragraph. This weekend I'm going to spend a lot of time just studying the material I've covered and working hard to filter out the extra stuff. It should definitely be interesting to say the least. I hope my head doesn't explode.

The Bidding War

Baxter is in the middle of a tug of war. Two companies vying for his employment. We have waited so long for economic stability it almost seems unreal at this point. We need to make a decision about which company we want to be with. In the end, we're really just biding our time until we are in ministry full time (hopefully), but right now, we're basking and wallowing in the blessings being heaped upon us financially. We want to make the right decision for our family and for God. It's praying time.