"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." ~ Ephesians 2:10
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Wednesday Report
Today we woke up to a beautiful, peaceful white blanket of snow. I think this snowfall was a little heavier than the snowfall we had in November. It was colder and and the sun didn't come out til much later, so it stuck around longer, too. Scott was supposed to go to school at ACU today (his first day of class), but we didn't want him to risk driving there and back, so he called his professor and said that he would not be coming. ACU had already delayed their first day of the spring semester by one day. When Scott got off the phone with ACU, we got an interesting phone call from the LCU Alumni Relations office. The main A.R. lady went to camp with Scott back in the day. She was calling to tell us that there was an LCU student who was stranded in Big Spring because of the weather. This student had taken a bus to get back to Lubbock and ended up in a motel in Big Spring last night and didn't have enough money for another night's stay. Would we take her in? Of course, we said. So we have spent the day getting to know Sarah, a senior psychology major. She had started her travels last Thursday from Wisconsin and got stuck for 3 days in Dallas--sleeping in the Greyhound station--and finally ended up here. At first, we thought she might not get back to Lubbock til tomorrow (Thursday), but there is a bus running at midnight tonight. I hope that she gets back home safely and can finally relax. What an experience!!
Speaking of good ol' LCU, we are planning on attending the festivities during Master Follies weekend. This year is our five year reunion, so we are planning on attending that function, club breakfasts, chapel, the afternoon show, and a couple of receptions for past big time award winners like Scott (that's sort of a joke--Scott was Mr. LCU and recieved a special award from the Bible Dept. his senior year). Anywho, we look forward to seeing all of our friends in February!
I really can't think of anything else to report right now, so I'm signing off. Have a great Thursday :)
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Back from the Dead
On to other things! It is freakishly cold here. So cold and treacherous, even, that our church services were cancelled on Sunday. I didn't think any amount of precipitation could cause our church to close it's doors, but lo and behold. I think most of the churches in our area cancelled; and I think it was a wise decision. You know some people (I'm mainly thinking of the elderly) will get out in whatever conditions to get to church. I'm thankful that they decided to just cancel so those people and the ones that live miles and miles away would just stay in rather than risk it. Anyway, it's been very icy and tonight it snowed! We have had a fire in our fireplace (not nonstop) for the last four days. It's been great! I looked at Scott at one point on Sunday afternoon, while reading my novel in front of the fireplace, wrapped up in my fleece blanket, and told him, "This is great!" And it was.
Our family was ill last week. We got "the bug" that has been going around. I got it Tuesday night and missed work on Wednesday and part of Thursday. Scott got it on Wednesday night. Will was also sick, but his was a sinus infection and then his antibiotic gave him bad poops. He had a horrid diaper rash, too. But, we are all much much better now!
Although computers crashing, ice and snow, and sickness is all very interesting and newsworthy, believe it or not, I have bigger news. At the end of July, Will is going to be a big brother! That's right, I am pregnant! We are very excited. Last week (Tuesday as a matter of fact), we saw the baby's heart beat and it was moving all around. When Scott can scan the sonogram pictures at work, I will post them for all to see.
This pregnancy has been quite different from my first. I was quite a bit more nauseous this time and it lasted much longer. With Will, I was nauseous about two times. This time, it was more like every day, all day. But, I never did loose my breakfast, so that was nice. I am now about 12 or 13 weeks along, so hopefully all of that is about over with. In fact, I have been really hungry the last few days. I have been eating quite a lot. Also, my "bump" is starting to grow. I have to rubberband my jeans. I did put all of my maternity clothes in my closet, but it will probably still be a while before I can wear most of them. It was just a good weekend to clean and do things like that :) Scott is laughing at me because I start the whole "nesting" thing really early. I feel like I have to get organized! Now! It's kind of important, though, because we are going to try to get Will into a big bed soon. However, we kind of need to know the sex of the new baby before we start really getting his room together. If the new baby is a girl, she will go in the guest room because it is painted pink. But, if the new baby is a boy, he will take Will's room and Will will get the guest room (repainted, of course!). So, until the beginning of March, it's just a waiting game.
Well, I have probably rambled on much too long. I have missed all of you and hope to hear from you that you haven't given up on me :) Love to all~~
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Surprise!
On Christmas night, we stayed in a bed and breakfast in Orange, Texas, which is almost in Louisiana. It was really nice. The best surprise of the B&B was that the lady had turned on the electric blankets on the beds so they were nice and toasty when we got in. It was really nice. It was also great to wake up the next morning and only have to drive 8 hours to FL instead of 10.
Anyway, things are going really well with us and we plan to be back home the night of January 1st. I will go back to work on the 3rd. I am definitely looking forward to that day of rest between driving and working :)
Merry Christmas and love to all!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
I know....I know....
Other than that we have been busy Christmas shopping, visiting doctors, studying for finals (Scott), working, and sleeping when we get the chance. Right now, I really need to be working on my Christmas cards, but they're already so late, who cares now? My goal is to get them out by Friday.
I do have some pictures to post, but I cannot find my card-reader. My house is an absolute wreck and therefore this desk is so piled with stuff that I cannot even see if it is hidden anywhere. So, I will just have to ask Scott when he gets home if he has seen it and we will go from there.
To close, I will share a little Christmas survey:
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer paper, but sometimes you just gotta use a bag :)
2. Real tree or artificial? I use the fake ones
3. When do you put up the tree? it depends on when I can get around to it. Sometimes I'm ready before Thanksgiving, but usually right after.
4. When do you take the tree down? I take the tree down after New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? Negatory, Ghost Rider. Pattern is full.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? One Christmas I got all kinds of Barbie stuff--the house, the car, the furniture...it was great!
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I have a figurine of Mary, Joseph and Jesus
8. Hardest person to buy for? the grandparents
9. Easiest person to buy for? Scott
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of one
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I love Christmas movies!! White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Home Alone--these are all staples at Christmas time
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? as soon as I think about it
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I have no idea...don't think so
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? my Grandma's candied pecans
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? even though I prefer white, I have colored ones on my tree. I have another tree that I have not put up yet (don't know if I'll get around to it or not!) that has white lights
17. Favorite Christmas song? Again, I love Christmas songs...Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, O Holy Night, Jingle Bell Rock...
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually end up travelling at some point.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph (although it has been reported that Donner was supposed to be Dunder and Blitzen was supposed to be Blixum...but who really knows??)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like stars, myself.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Open one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the crazy-busy stores!!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...





The beautiful roaring fire that Scott made.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thankful
We had a great trip...it was much too short, but it was good. We enjoyed seeing family and it was nice to see a few family members that we hadn't seen in a long time. Good news is spreading...my youngest cousin is graduating high school this year and has chosen a university, another cousin is having a baby in the spring, and yet another is getting married in June. What blessings to be thankful for.
Monday, November 20, 2006
November 20th Update
We have all been slightly sick the past couple of weeks, too. I had a UTI (if you know what that means, great, if not, I'm not going to explain it here!), then the very next week, an ear infection. Not fun! Scott has tonsilitis and Will has been complaining of an earache (which means he points to his ear and says, "Hurt"). Scott took him to the doctor today and he wasn't really sick enough to give him antibiotics, but if it gets worse, she did give us a perscription.
Other events of note: my in-laws came through almost two weeks ago. We had a good visit. Will had lots of fun with them and quickly started calling them Papa and Granny/Grammy. It was sad when they left, he kept asking for them. Now, if we say anything that remotely sounds like the word "papa," Will begins repeating it and looking around. It's really very cute. They were able to stay with us for about 3 days or so, and it was really good to see them. We will see them again at Christmas-time.
Last Friday, Scott's uncle came through town. He drives a truck and sometimes comes through on I-20. Many times, it's in the middle of the night, but this time was right in time for dinner. It was good to see him again, too. He brought Will a flight jacket that is so adorable. I will have to post a picture of him in it soon.
This week, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with my parents and grandmother in San Antonio. We hope to leave early Wed. morning and make it there by the afternoon. We have tried to come up with lots of things with which to entertain Will, so hopefully it will be a very successful trip!
For, now, that is all the news I have. I leave you with a few pictures of the shop...Happy Thanksgiving!


Scott and Will dropped me off at work on Sudany, so we got a couple of pictures of him with the trees. This one is my favorite.

The "Western" section. I just love all the stars and such. Aren't those cool cowboy boot stockings?
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Mi Vida Loca
Actually, I guess you could say that we have bought a gift. For ourselves. Scott decided that this year, he was going to combine our presents to each other and his birthday present into one present and get this:

Yes, Friends, it's the U2 special edition iPod. I do have pictures of the actual iPod, but they aren't very good, so we'll settle with the box. It's a neat little gadget. We have already downloaded lots of pictures, music, videos, and backed up our computer hard-drive. It's amazing what these little things can do.On Thursday, my in-laws will arrive. It will be nice to see them and I know Will will be so excited to have people constantly giving him attention. We are also having a garage sale this weekend. It is long overdue. We should have done it months ago! But here we are, just now getting around to it. It was one of those things where I just said, "Okay, we're doing it this weekend. It's now or never!" I have had a box of garage sale stuff in the corner of my living room for waaaaaaaaayyyy too long. So, be praying for good weather this weekend!
Harmony, Abby and I went to Midland last Friday night. We went out to eat at Fazoli's and then saw The Prestige. Whoa, that movie was stinkin' awesome. It kept us talking the whole way back to Big Spring (about a 40 mile drive). If you like mysteries, somewhat super-natural type stuff, go see this movie!
That's all for now. On a patriotic note, I hope everyone voted today! It's our right and we should take advantage of being able to elect our own government leaders. Do you think Kinky will win?
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Sweet Treats for Halloween
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Pumpkin Carving Fun

Scott carving his first pumpkin!

Me, doing the finishing touches

Fin...c'est magnifique!

All lit up!
Bunko, etc.
Since it's October, I did a very "fall" themed Bunko party. All the prizes were "fall-ish" and I got out all my Fall/Halloween decor. I also found some pretty paper plates and napkins. It turned out nice. I made baked potatoes and had pumpkin pie for dinner. When I went shopping for my potaotes, condiments, pie, etc. on Tuesday night, I decided it would be fun to get a great big pumpkin and carve it into a jack-o-lantern to sit on the front porch. So, when I got home at 11:30 from the store on Tuesday night, Scott and I carved "him" up. Scott had never carved a pumpkin before (or at least he doesn't remember doing it), so it was a fun experience. I hadn't carved one it a very long time either. I had forgotten how potent and slimy pumpkin guts are. We also separated out the seeds from the pulp and roasted the seeds. I had never done that so I had to look up the instructions on the Internet. It was really easy (I knew it would be) and they taste really good!
Today I subbed at the high school. I am so tired! I am just glad all that big stuff is over and I don't have to worry about my house being really clean anymore :) However, my in-laws are stopping through in a couple of weeks, so if we can keep it clean for a little longer...
As for other news, not much else is happening. So far, working at the shop again has been going well. I have had to refresh on several procedures, but it has come back to me fairly easily. The main concern right now is getting Christmas stuff out and looking beautiful. That is a long process which we will probably be working on until the day before our Christmas Open House on November 19th! Decorating for Christmas in the store gets me in the mood to drag all my Christmas stuff out and decorate my house. I want to turn on the Christmas tunes, drink hot chocolate, and watch Home Alone and It's a Wonderful Life in front of the fire. But, alas, today it is in the high seventies at least and it's not even Halloween! Christmas will be upon us though...soon enough :)
Friday, October 20, 2006
Week's End
Anyway, today I subbed at BSHS for the lady who replaced me. So, today was like old times. I got to catch up with the teacher I used to work with, which was nice, and I got two lessons of my Bible study completed and several chapters read in my novel. Quite productive...ha! It was nice though...some "alone" time and I got paid for it.
Today is also my good friend Harmony's birthday. I won't say how old she is, she might not appreciate that. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Harmony!!!
This weekend I will be doing A LOT of cleaning for my Bunko party on Tuesday night. Other than that, I don't have much of an agenda. Next week will be a pretty busy week. Other than my Bunko party, I will be subbing on Wednesday and Friday and working at Dakota's in the afternoons every other day of the week. I will also probably have to work on the Ladies Newsletter for November quite a bit. Ahh! Why does everything seem to pile up at once? That's just the way it goes, I guess. I hope you all have an wonderful, blessed weekend...Until next time...
Monday, October 16, 2006
Back in the Saddle
So, I am going to work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons and Wednesdays from 10:00 til 2:30 while Will is at Children's Day Out. I think I will enjoy it. I like having something to do (not that I don't have enough to do at home!). Christmas is right around the corner and it's time to start decking the shop out in lights, trees, and garland, and that is always fun :) Please pray for my new venture and that it works out for our family.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
More from the Fabulous Fifties
The Soda Shop
The Stage
Singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" while wearing our cowboy hats.
"Elvis"
Me, Abby, and Harmony
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Fabulous Fifties
My full outfit
This is an real outfit from the Fifties...look at those shoes! Vickie was one of the few who opted for the "fancy" look of the Fifties. When she entered, you would have thought she was Marilyn Monroe...everyone wanted her picture!
An authentic autographed picture of Elvis Presley
Shirley, Trissa, Me, and Harmony in our poodle skirts. There were about 15 total people that wore poodle skirts.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Weirdest Thing I've Heard All Week
Okay, I understand that this woman is proud of herself and secure in her own femininity and choices for herself, but is this not creepy weird to anyone else? Why not just have a huge 50th birthday party and go all out in that? No, she wants to commit to herself that she is going to take care of herself in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, in good times and bad, etc.
This is very strange to me. What do y'all think??
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
What's Going On...
The rest of the time Mom was in town was mostly spent watching the second season of Lost. My dad got hooked on it last year and got the first season on DVD for Christmas. He got us hooked on it, too. A couple of weeks ago when the second season came out on DVD, they bought it, so I asked her to bring it with her if she could. We ended up watching the entire season in three days! That makes it sound like all we did was watch TV, but we really didn't. I promise. But, it was so good. That show is so crazy. I just can't believe all the questions they keep posing and the lack of answers. My big question is, how are they going to tie all this stuff together/how will it all resolve?? Well, Scott and I are completely caught up now because we watched the first show of this season on the Internet. So, yea, we know everything that the rest of the world knows about what's happened thus far.
On Monday, we ate lunch/dinner at On the Border for Mom's birthday. We shared a chocolate ice cream pie that was very yummy. After we dropped Mom off, we got Will's Halloween costume from Target. He will be going as a puppy this year and he looks so very cute. I also got some face paint because I am going to attempt to paint his face (we'll see how that goes over!). I will definitely post pictures of him on Halloween when he is all done up.
Yesterday I got my hair dyed. Again. But this was a redo, since the last time didn't work. So now my hair really is brown again. Whew. I'm so glad to get past all the dyeing...now when my hair grows out, no one will be the wiser :) Last night, I went to Harmony's and we worked on the appliques for our poodle skirts. After we got them all cut out, we started pinning them on and thinking about how to sew them. I decided to cop out and try fabric glue. I am still waiting for everything to dry to see if it actually worked. I hope it did. That's a lot of hand-sewing if it didn't work! We still have to attach sequins some how, so we'll see...but it seems to be going well so far. The big "Fabulous Fifties" party is this weekend; I will be sure to take pictures of everyone all dressed up. Fun!
That brings us to today...have a great rest of the week!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Busy Mama
Okay, I will tell you of my biggest accomplishment today...I cleaned my closet. I didn't just pick through clothes to throw in the donation pile; I mean I actually cleaned it. Vacuumed, etc. You can actually see the carpet now! It's truly amazing.
My other "fun" adventure of the day was to take both of our dogs to the vet. Yes, at the same time. It was interesting to say the least and we did survive :) Cracker is slightly overweight, but we knew that. So, he is going on a diet. I'm sure he's so thrilled. We are also going to have Frank neutered soon, I think. I am sure he is even more thrilled than Cracker at that prospect!
Yea for productive days. I hope yours was great and that you have a wonderful rest of the week. Now, I'm off to relax and watch Star Trek. Live long and prosper, my friends.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Wow, What A Weekend
On Friday morning, I finally interviewed that sweet little old lady from our church and her daughter for our Ladies' Newsletter. I came home and took over Will duty from Scott for a while and as soon as he went down for his nap, I got started writing the article. I finished it and sent it to my "co-editor" by 12:30. At four, we went to the BSHS homecoming parade (to see pictures click here). As soon as it was over, we went and ate dinner at one of our favorite barbecue places--which is now smoke-free thanks to the new city ordinance (yea!). We went home for a quick rest before the big game. Since Will hadn't been sleeping well at night (or for his naps) we only stayed through half-time. Even though they eventually lost, it was fun.
On Saturday morning we slept as much as possible. I got up with Will from 9:00 to 10:30 and then went back to bed after putting him down for his "nap." He decided to start making noise about 15 minutes into it, so Scott got up and played with him until 12:00 when he woke me up to eat breakfast/lunch :) We spent most of the afternoon trying to get Will to take a nap, which he fervently refused to do. During one of his screaming bouts, I finally saw the two little culprits...two little teeth (pre-molars) were peeking through his poor little gums. We had suspected this, but it was nice to have confirmation and a reason to all the sleepless nights and screaming fits he's been having the past few days.
At 4:15, he finally went down for a nap. We were supposed to go to the Malletts' at 6:30 for supper, but we didn't dare wake him up. Thus, we didn't arrive until a little after 7:00. When we got there, we still had to finish cooking supper and eat it. The main reason for going over was so that Harmony and I could work on our poodle skirts for our the Ladies' Fabulous Fifties party in a couple of weeks. Everyone is supposed to "dress-up," but we figured we'd have a little fun since we are singing in the Doo-Wop group. After a little sewing-machine/brain malfunction, we began the process of actually putting the skirts together. By 10:30, we had the skirts rudimentarily sewn together. Leland got some comical pictures of their cat trying to help me cut the pattern...hopefully they'll send them to me so I can share.
Today, we went to the St. Lawrence Fall Festival after church. St. Lawrence is a little "German" community about 30 minutes south of Big Spring. Every year they have a sausage festival at the Catholic church (really the only thing out there). It was a pretty fun excursion. The sausage and brisket were delicious. There was so much food on my plate that it didn't even really look like I'd eaten anything when I finished. They also had a little petting zoo, so we just stood on the outside and let Will see the pigs, sheep, goats, and llama. Yes, they had a llama.
Before evening service, I had singing practice for our 50's party; then, after church, our preacher and his wife had a bunch of people over for supper and fellowship. It has been a very good weekend, but a long one. I'm looking forward to sleeping (I hope!) tonight and resting tomorrow :)












