I Don't Know Squat

Movin'

2011-10-20T21:28:00.002-05:00

The hubs and I bought a house, and I will be writing about our progress here:

http://that70shouse.wordpress.com/

Follow along if you feel so inclined. :)

Things They Don't Tell You About In Pre-Marital Counseling

2011-05-17T17:01:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago Jono and I were on a weekend trip to celebrate our anniversary. We were all dressed up and on our way to see Les Miserables, desperately looking for a place to park. I was a little stressed out about making it on time, so I would point and yell when I thought I saw a space while at the same time trying to apply makeup.

Prepared much?

Anyway, despite the numerous other distractions I realized quickly that something in that mirror was amiss.

"OHMYGOSH! There is a giant, awful, gnarly black hair growing out of my chin!!!!"

"um, ok."

"Aaaaaaaah, Jono! Aaaah!!!"

"What?!"

"What do you MEAN 'what'?? I have a gnarly hair!"

"Ok. Is that a parking spot over there?"

"How can you be so calm! I am 25, what is happening to me? DID YOU KNOW I HAD THIS HAIR HERE???"

"Well, I saw it the other day, but I didn't think much of it."

"YOU SAW THE GNARLY HAIR AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? WHY?"

"Because it's not gnarly, and I didn't care."

"Ohmygosh, I can't get it out. I can't get it out!"

"It's not that long. Where should we park?"

"I CAN'T GET IT OUT. Pull it out for me!"

"Um...I could...but you won't like it. It would hurt."

"Are you JOKING!? Just get it out!!!"

A few moments later the hair was gone.

A few moments after that, I realized my pride was, too.

"Um...this probably isn't what you thought you were signing up for three years ago, huh?"

"I love you."

What a guy.

Blogging 2: The Return of Mediocrity

2011-05-17T16:51:00.002-05:00

For no reason in particular, I decided to try out this blogging thing again. I think mostly I want to chronicle things in my life a bit better than I do now. You know...not so much the "deardiarytodayistubbedmytoeanditreallyhurtanddoesheatherwanttobefriendsanymore?" kind of chronicling. Maybe more like the "this is the funny thing that happened" or "it took a gazillion years but finally I let God teach me this" kind of stuff.

So here I go. Read if you like it. Remove it from your Reader if you don't. :)

Before and...Now

2010-06-16T16:45:00.001-05:00

This is a picture of my darling husband and me in December.

This was a little before I saw a certain tv show with a certain character. And while I've always loved the beard, I thought maybe, just maybe, the hubbers could rock a new look.

So, here he is on our anniversary last month...

Personally, I think it agrees with him. :)

It isn't complete, though, until it's pony-tail-possible.

HP Love!

2010-02-24T17:19:00.001-06:00

You know that most magical of places? This place right here?

I get to go there.

And Magic Kingdom. And Epcot.

I might just pee myself with excitement, buy some souvenir Mickey pajama pants, then pee myself again.

Fake V-Day

2010-02-15T12:10:00.002-06:00

Jono doesn't like Valentine's Day (and I can't blame him so much), but I always want to cash in on an excuse to have a date with my hubbers. So we agreed upon a sort of compromise and went out on Friday, missing out on the true Valentine's Day crazy-busy-ness. :)

We headed to KC and went to The Melting Pot.

It. Was. Amazing.

Amazing!

At the end Jono deemed it his all time best eating experience. That will be a tough one to top, for sure.

Disaronno in white chocolate? Have mercy!

Just Dance!

2010-01-21T12:00:00.000-06:00

I love, love, love this game.

I played it at a friends house and then immediately bought it with my birthday gift card (thanks Mom and Dad!). It is seriously SO fun.

I'm not sure if there's anything better than watching my super white friends (me included!) trying to dance to MC Hammer.

Also, it's really good exercise.

Highly recommended. :)

A Good Cause

2010-01-14T13:39:00.002-06:00

Ree over at thepioneerwoman.com is giving away (2) $500.00 prizes to charities for relief in Haiti, to be chosen by the winner. Also, for every comment on her most recent post, she will give $.10 to one of three charities there.

Please take a moment to go and comment there. It's easy, and it helps.

Thanks, Ree!

In other news, please continue to pray for the safety of our team down there right now. They had planned to return home tomorrow, but obviously things have changed. They have been in contact with the US Embassy, and have been promised a ride home tonight or tomorrow morning. The perimeter wall to the orphanage has fallen down, leaving them open for looting by a people who are becoming frantic with fear (and who can blame them?).

God is in control, and I will try to force myself to rest in that.

Pray, pray, pray and (if possible) give.

Hurting

2010-01-13T10:34:00.003-06:00

I'm trying to hold it together today, trying to concentrate on my work. But mostly I'm trying to battle the burning in my eyes and tugging at my throat that comes every time I think about the people in Haiti.

It's been five years since I've been there. But I remember their faces. I remember leaving them in their all but hopeless country, and coming home to convenience and comfort and ignorance.

I remember how they comforted me as I was crying that last day. I remember the complete guilt of knowing what I was returning to. I don't remember crying that much before in my life.

And now another team is there, witnessing it all. I can't imagine what they must be seeing and feeling right now. God, give them strength and grace.

How can one people bear so many sorrows?

How can I live here, in peace and comfort, while they are counting their dead? While more orphans are being added to an already devastating number? What can we do to give them hope?

I find the only prayer I can get it out is "God, help them."

Things You Eventually Just Accept

2009-12-30T17:43:00.000-06:00

Like, for instance, the fact that I will never be as likable as my mother.

I have grown up happily not caring much for what most people think about me. Sometimes, this is very freeing and good. Sometimes, this makes you (mistakenly) assume other people must not care what you think about them, either. It's kind of a compromise.
My mom has spent (in my opinion) too much time worrying about what other people think, what other people will say, and feeling all manner of false guilt if she might have offended someone. On the other hand, everyone who's ever met her also likes her.

I think my way of life is a lot easier, but not necessarily better. I have examples to prove it, too.

One week I was counseling at the east campus of KBC, an all girls gradeschool camp. Mom was the activity director. We had a particularly difficult camper who was causing a lot of trouble, and bothering camper and and counselor alike. This girl's family had been attending camps for years, and the mother (let's call her Sue) lived fairly close to campus.

I should add that parents are not frequently called in to deal with a difficult camper. It is avoided until necessary. In this case, though, Mom had to call Sue and ask her to come by. This woman was not a particularly friendly person, and when she showed up it was very plain that my mom was going to get chewed up and spit out. They disappeared into Mom's room and we, the counselors, stood around looking at each other nervously.

Over an hour went by and we could hardly imagine what was going on in there. Then, an incident required Mom's attention, and one of the counselors had to sheepishly knock on her door and ask for her. She was invited to enter, and found my mom and Sue sitting next to each other on the bunk, giggling and spitting cherry seeds into a bowl on the floor.

Later, when questioned about this phenomenon, my mom just said what she always says, "a gentle answer turns away wrath."

I still think she worries too much about what people think of her.

Then again, she seems to be doing alright.

Winter Happenings

2009-12-14T17:47:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday night brought perfect snow for snowman building. I was so excited that we even had carrots in the house (not normally a vegetable of choice).

All you had to do was roll it along, and it picked everything up in it's path. Too bad we hadn't raked our leaves...

That is one adorable man, right there!

He was taller than me! And...maybe a little evil looking. But we love him anyway.

Catch Up

2009-12-09T12:30:00.000-06:00

Not having the internet at home makes posting difficult, so let me just catch up all at once.

At the end of October I got to visit my wonderful friend Amber. She is in her last semester of school, and will be heading out to the missions field in no time. I desperately wanted to spend time with her and see what she had been up to first hand, as my opportunities to do so are quickly becoming less and less. It was a great trip.
We celebrated my Grandma's birthday, and she told us a hilarious story we somehow hadn't heard before then. Let's just say I never expected to hear Grandma say, "and the next thing I remember was..."
We have been married for 1 1/2 years, and it has been a blast. Jono makes this whole marriage thing very easy.
I committed the evil sin of decorating for Christmas a week before Thanksgiving, and it was so fun. We even got lights up on our house for the first time since we've had a house together.
Thanksgiving snuck up on me completely. I felt totally unprepared, honestly, to be thankful. I started out stressed because nothing was happening on my schedule, and we left over 12 hours after we had planned to originally. Once we got to his grandparents' though, things really slowed down and I finally got my head on straight. :)
We got to sit front row at an Andrew Peterson concert, and had an amazing time. I felt like this guy a little bit, but no one ended up kicking us out of our seats. :)

There's lots to look forward to, too. This month is going to fly by with business, but I wouldn't want to change a thing. I hope your December is lovely!

I Am Not Snow's Biggest Fan

2009-12-08T12:18:00.001-06:00

I was not excited to see the pile of snow on the street (and the car) this morning. I would be perfectly happy if it only ever snowed on Christmas Eve. However, I live in Kansas, and really ought to make the best of it. This morning I was thinking about all the blessings that are made more apparent by unfortunate weather conditions.

My selfless husband who forced me to stay inside while he warmed up the car and cleaned off all the snow.
Our tiny house that has been keeping plenty warm with only the aid of a sweet space heater.
The sweet space heater that saves us money.
My new car that has HEAT (poor Rosalind, though I love her, did not).
Job flexibility for my husband, who ended up NOT having to drive 90 miles on sludgy highways, but rather gets to work in town today.
Hot Chocolate.

I pondered these things as I watched Jono cleaning off the cars through our front window. And, you know, I have it pretty good.

Happy Snow Day, friends!

Today...

2009-11-16T12:55:00.002-06:00

Today I am trying to dish out an extra amount of grace and understanding.

Today I am trying to forget past wrongs and forgive.

Today I am trying to ignore those pesky little things that have been getting me down.

Today I am trying to focus on what really counts.

Today...I am failing.

Undecided

2009-11-09T17:39:00.000-06:00

I can never make up my mind about this blogging thing. On one hand, it's a nice way to update friends on what's going on. I mean, I like reading their blogs and finding out what they're up to, so it seems fair.

Honestly, though, I sometimes wonder why I should bother posting anything. I hate that some of my best friends find things out about me only because of my blog. I hate that I really haven't done a good enough job managing my time so that I could spend more time with them. It's also a little weird to be open and honest when I'm never sure who reads this danged thing. Why write about things that don't matter? Why write about things that DO matter when you don't know who reads them?

And then, maybe I think too much.

Currently Coveting...

2009-10-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

Glass bowl? Yes, please.

Done!

2009-10-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, after months of car shopping (a task that is not nearly as fun as one would think), we have our "new" camry. I am SO happy to finally have found what we were looking for, and well within our price range. At almost 6 years old, it is still by far the nicest, and newest car I have ever owned. Also, it continues the phenomenon of my car ownership.

Recently Jono and I did the math of how many cars I have owned in my life, and it turns out that I have had as many cars as I have had years of driving. Adding this camry continues the saga as my 8th year of driving has just begun.

It drives like a new car, and I couldn't be happier with it. I feel so very blessed!

Now, to sell my poor Rosalind...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-10-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

Mom, you are by far the most amazing woman I know. I appreciate your honesty, compassion, patience, and authenticity. It freaks me out to put my feelings out there for people to see, but you are transparent and genuine at all times, to all people. I've never met someone who wasn't drawn to you because of your love and kindness.

Your children have grown up secure in your love and care, in a life more privileged with displays of selflessness and generosity than we maybe even know.

Thanks for everything you have done/do/will do. Thanks for being my friend. But most certainly, thanks for being you (and nothing else). May your day be blessed and oh-so happy. :)

I love you so much.

2009-10-02T20:00:00.002-05:00

When so many people told me that Mamma Mia was an amazing movie, I thought "well, that probably means it's a somewhat ok movie."

That was a mistake.

And poor Magen had to suffer with me.

It's a darn good thing we had our laptops and ice cream to get us through.

Did I Say "Practical"?

2009-10-02T12:04:00.003-05:00

I find it funny that I should write this post just after talking about practicality.

Jono and I made a deal. He desperately wanted to play the new Halo, which would require us to own an XBox 360. I desperately wanted a dishwasher.

He promised to buy and install a dishwasher by the end of the month if I let him buy his XBox today.

How could I say no?

A Story of Loss and Practicality

2009-10-01T12:13:00.001-05:00

There once was a very happy lady who was married to a very kind man. The happy lady adored classic VW Beetles, and always dreamed of someday owning one. The very kind man loved the happy lady so much, he bought one for her.

And they lived on even more happily.

Unfortunately, the man and woman did not really think about the implications of owning a car that could/should not be driven in the winter time. Living in Kansas, this was a difficult thing. But winter passed and the man and woman lived blissfully driving around town in their cute little car.

However, with this particular couple, practicality must win out in the end (plus, winter is coming!). The very kind man, though so sad to have to do so, is now shopping for a Toyota Camry for the happy lady to replace her little Bug. And the happy lady, though slightly less happy than before, understands that it is silly to own two cars plus a hobby car when you have a mortgage you would really like to pay off early.

So the happy lady got a call in response to an add, and will be showing her cute bug to a stranger/potential buyer this coming weekend. The happy lady feels lucky to have had her dream car, if only for a little while. And the happy lady will continue the search for that strangely elusive 2004 camry.

B-Day BBQ

2009-09-30T00:56:00.000-05:00

For Jono's birthday we decided to have a big grilling party in our backyard. Our house is really too small to comfortably entertain more than a few guests, so we were SO excited to use our backyard to be able to invite a bunch of our friends.

We spent way more time preparing than I thought would be necessary, and bought way more food that anyone could possibly consume. It was awesome. :)

Here's my sweet grill master birthday guy. He prepared 20 steaks, 20 hamburgers, 10 chicken breasts, and 15 brats. And...um...we invited around 25 people. Hehe.

Everyone brought a side, and we had sooo much delicious food. And now you can see our lovely garage. Jealous?

Next time around we might, maybe, possibly consider making less food. There were tons of leftovers. But seriously, we couldn't have people go hungry at our party!

This is where the men congregated for most of the evening. Surprise.

Family time :) Do you like the Pixar theme?

Here you can see some of our lovely guests as well as the tree trunk left from last year's adventure.

I don't think Beth was making that face because of the food...but it's so hard to tell with her. ;)

Some of my favorite ladies, all right here. Tricia always causes Elena to make those sorts of faces.

And then, to finish off the evening, we watched a movie projected onto the back of the house.

It was a really wonderful evening. We so much enjoyed getting to feed so many people that we love! :) Thanks to you all for making it a wonderful birthday for my hubby.

Happy birthday to my guy

2009-09-28T17:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my sweety's birthday. We celebrated a little early (which I'll blog about soon), so yesterday was just a relaxing evening of pizza, dessert, and Hot Rod.

Before church I was very busy playing Twilight Princess when I heard Jono call from the restroom, "Uh, oh. I need toilet paper."

"Ok, wait just a sec" Said I.

"Ok...fine. I'll wait for toilet paper...on my birthday!"

I love that man.

Happy Birthday, dearest. You're the most wonderful man ever.

For Dad

2009-08-17T16:57:00.003-05:00

My father is currently in South Africa. I never thought that a career in statistics would send one on world travels, but apparently I was too narrow minded. You see, before he returns home he will also be visiting Mongolia and Scotland.

When I heard the news I responded (as I always do) in a very mature manner. I pouted because I wasn't going to South Africa, too. Jono had the gall to actually...dare I say it...be happy for him. Even though we weren't going. Sometimes I just don't understand men. ;)

Dad has been updating us on his travels regularly, and we thought it would be more effective to respond in picture form. So we sent him these:

KC Day

2009-07-18T09:59:00.002-05:00

A few weeks back Jono and I took my two youngest siblings to KC for an evening. We visited Fritz's, which was fun and greasy enough to last us a while. We then took them to buy snacks in order to be well stocked for the drive in movie. They had never been, so we were excited. We had borrowed a mini van and just pulled down the seats, laid down lots of blankets, and chilled out.

Now, I know I have complained about movies. But even if I loved almost every movie I saw, this would have been a bad movie. We saw Transformers 2, and it had to be one of the most pathetic excuses of a movie ever. It was still a fun time, as we had snacks and a drive in experience, but nobody really thought the movie was any good.

Last time I went to a drive in (which was also my first time) I took Beth and my cousin. We saw Pirates 3.

I'm beginning to think I'm doomed to watch only crappy movies when I try drive ins.

Another day, another dollar

2009-07-17T23:06:00.002-05:00

Today my company held a meeting with some of the wonderful people who use our software. I was slightly nervous, but only because I really wanted it to go well. When I went to the restroom in the hotel upon arriving, I managed to mistake the free mouthwash for hand soap. As I took notes during the meeting, still easily smelling the spearmint scent, I wondered if it was some terrible omen of things to come. :)

Luckily, it was not.

2009-07-16T19:47:00.002-05:00

It's been a while. Oops.

I really do plan on posting vacation pictures. I mean, it's only been a month since we got back. I don't know what the big deal is. ;)

We've been a busy bunch of people. Things like

Jono working out of town an awful lot
Allowing myself to get a little too stressed out
Visiting with family
Celebrating the birthday of a particularly wonderful person
Taking an evening trip to KC with the sibs
Visiting some very dear friends who came from afar
Watching way too many movies
Spending a lot of time on craigslist looking for a camry
Ignoring my blog
Not being pregnant

Sorry. Couldn't resist the last one.

It's not my fault

2009-07-06T12:22:00.002-05:00

That I haven't been posting. My computer got a virus. And my siblings are staying with me for three weeks. And Jono has had to work out of town a lot (and we all know I cannot function when that happens). And things just tend to get really busy.

AND I'm really good at making excuses.

Sorry. I'll be back soon.

Here I Be.

2009-06-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

We got home from our wonderful vacation. Too bad.
Jono had to leave to work out of town early the next morning. It sucked.
I tried to think about the great trip and how thankful I should be. I failed.
I need to work on that whole gratefulness thing. I'm a butt.

Seriously, though. The trip was so great. Time with family, fun things, going places I've never been. I felt like I was in desperate need for a vacation when I left. Now I feel like that again. My sweetie being gone didn't really help my attitude.

That's just it though. I have a bad attitude. My life is good, and I have no excuse.

While Jono was gone I spent time with some really good friends. I think my weekly canasta night with Magen is going to be a highlight of the summer. :) I also enjoy watching The Shat flounder about and cracking me up. Elena makes it better.

And, best of all, my man came home last night. Maybe 4 days shouldn't seem that long, but they did. With him back and 9 1/2 solid hours of sleep last night, my outlook on life is considerably improved.

Vacation pictures to come :)

Dr. Leo Marvin

2009-06-05T07:39:00.001-05:00

I'm going on vacation tomorrow.

I will visit Baltimore, D.C., NYC, and the Atlantic Ocean.

And there was much rejoicing.

Fun, Friends, and Fear

2009-06-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

Jono was working out of town this week, but got in last night at around 11:15. It's so wonderful to have him home.

I was able to have lots of fun passing his time away with some friends, though. After hanging out and playing Canasta, Magen decided that she wanted to revisit some memories from her childhood via the carnival that was in town.

There were some memorable moments.

Booths that were manned by men who were arguably more annoying than car salesman.
Millions of cigarette butts.
A cotton candy vendor who used her bare hands to glean the candy from the machine (and wiped it off her arms into the bag).
Rides that may not have been maintenanced since the 80's.
A lady demonstrating how to carry your cigarette box around if you don't have pockets or sleeves. (Didn't you know? The bra is an excellent place for this!)

We didn't end up buying a single ticket for a ride, but we were much entertained. :)

Friday Night at Up

2009-05-30T00:30:00.002-05:00

My grandma once told me that you could measure how good a movie was by how many kleenex you needed to use while watching.

I didn't have any when we saw Up, but I should have. I don't think I cried that much at Braveheart.

It was a wonderful movie. Sweet, touching, entertaining, thoughtful, and creative.

I'm not sure, but it may be my favorite Pixar film to date.

Also, the 3D was pretty sweet. Definitely worth the money.

I watched a movie

2009-05-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

This is going to be one of those posts where I ramble on about a movie. Feel free to stop reading now. :)

Recently I had been chastised multiple times because I hadn't seen Dan In Real Life. It hadn't really looked that appealing to me, but on a night in with nothing to do and Netflix Instant at our side, Jono and I decided to give it a go since we had been encouraged to do so.

I really enjoy Steve Carell, so I figured it couldn't be that bad.

I wish.

The main problem with this movie (as hard as it is to limit it to one), is that it is completely unoriginal in every sense. We start with that poor, down-on-his-luck guy who meets the "perfect girl" (A word which here means "good listener, but I don't really know anything about her"). He then finds out that she is dating his brother, who is freakishly obsessed with her.

Then, of course, throughout the movie there are various moments that cause him intense anguish because he cannot have her. Such moments include situations that are ridiculous beyond measure, and (hopefully) would never actually happen to a sensible human being. Most notable is the moment when he is hiding, fully clothed in the shower and she joins him (naked, of course) because she doesn't want his daughter to know he is in there and apparently can't think up a good excuse to NOT get into the shower. Brilliant.

As a result of this anguish, he decides to stab his little brother in the back because he "loves" her. Because it's relentlessly predictable, you see this coming. It's painful for the viewer, though, considering most of the time people will actually put family about someone they've known for one weekend. At least, you'd hope so.

Don't worry, though. His family is only angry with him for a few hours. And, of course, the brother rebounds instantly (slightly more believable because the character is played by Dane Cook). Thus, you have an entire movie of angst and immaturity wrapped nicely into a bow of love.

I place this movie in the following categories:

unbearable waste of time (that I'll never get back)
uninteresting
Dane Cook (eeek!)

Up!

2009-05-28T22:23:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow we are going to see Up! It will be the first time I've ever seen a 3D movie... and as long as I can get past using publicly used glasses, I think I will thoroughly enjoy myself. Despite my movie problem, I've never seen a Pixar film that I didn't like.

It will also be the first time I spend $12 on a single movie ticket.

Pain!

Thursday Haiku

2009-05-28T22:20:00.001-05:00

Oh, pistachio
I enjoy that tinkly sound
As you tumble out

Take off your shoes, stay a while

2009-05-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

When we got married and moved into our current home, it felt like a temporary thing. It's located very close to the college, has been well kept, and is pretty small. And by "small" I mean that it's not really any bigger than most apartments. We thought we could save up for a little while, buy a second house, and rent out the one we're staying in currently. I still love the idea of renting, but Dave Ramsey has caused us to change our plans.

Rather than take on a second mortgage (and just hoping we have a steady renter paying off the first), we decided that it makes a lot more sense to just hunker down for a while. With devotion to our budget we could pay that sucker off pretty quickly. As nice as it sounds to have a slightly bigger home, it sounds a lot nicer to not pay a mortgage. Besides, we aren't living a lower quality of life just because there's not an excess of space.

So, I think I'm ready to take a plunge of sorts. I'm ready to make improvements to our home. Thinking that the house would go to the mercy of renters, I thought I might as well leave the neutral tones on the walls, the stick-down tile on the floor, and the dishwasher-free kitchen as they are. But no more!

I'm kind of excited. And inexperienced. And on a budget. It's going to be great. :)

Because I know I have some exceptionally creative readers, I will probably be calling upon you for advice. For one: what colors make a room look bigger?

I just love knowing creative people.

Highlights of a Holiday Weekend

2009-05-26T12:15:00.001-05:00

Friday night spent with pals, unwinding after a looooong week.
Purchasing tickets for our quickly approaching VACATION. :)
Sleeping in on Saturday, doing very minimal housework, and eating m&m pancakes for dinner while watching Muppets.
Baking sugar cookies for the first time (on my own, that is) and enjoying my super cool cookie cutters.
Eating dinner with friends while being thoroughly amused by their offspring.
Having a late-night, date-night with Jono since we are alone in the house again.
Riding to the rose garden on Jono's motorcycle and enjoying a beautiful summer evening.
Sleeping in until ten-friggin'-thirty.
Eating lunch with wonderful friends, one that was home briefly from Alabama.
Enjoying the fruits of the grill (and other people's labor).
Much relaxation.

The makings of a lovely weekend!

Debi Pearl Would Not Approve

2009-05-17T07:17:00.000-05:00

We've had a busy week.

Two of my siblings are staying with us until it's time for them to work at camp this summer. I'm very blessed to have a husband who feels a true, brotherly bond to my family. He's been having a wonderful time with them.

As a result, though, he has been "busy" (playing nintendo) with them most nights this week. I haven't wanted to break that up (as it's truly adorable), so I've been cooking dinner and doing all the clean up in the evevnings after work.

Most of you will read this and wonder when I will start saying something interesting. I don't blame you. But the truth is that this never happens. I never *ever* have to make dinner by myself more than one night in a row. Since we both have jobs and no kids, we make dinner together and clean up together. While I know this would be considered "fair" by many, I also know that it shouldn't be too hard for someone to make dinner (like and adult) and clean up (like an adult).

But it's been hard. After day 4 of this routine I even felt...put out.

I believe this officially (as if you needed the official word) makes me selfish. As I was feeling discouraged coming home to a dirty house (that I have been constantly trying to keep clean), I somehow let myself forget how totally worth it it all is. I love having family and friends over. I love the fact that Jono is spending quality time with my siblings, making them feel welcome and wanted.

And tonight, as Jono forced me to stop working while he did all the cleaning and made me dinner, I knew that I was still a lucky woman, even if I let small things overwhelm me.

This is the part where all you mothers out there sigh and shake your heads at how wimpy I am.
I apologize. I'm trying to be better. :)

What Does This Say About Me?

2009-05-16T01:07:00.003-05:00

I got a new phone recently. I generally like Samsungs the most, as they seem to last longer. However, Motorola usually has a better layout. As I was discussing the pros and cons of my last few phones with Jono, I said, "I should get a job reviewing cell phones and pointing out all the faults so that someone could create the perfect phone. I would like that."

A few weeks later I was talking to Jono about a movie we had just seen. As I've mentioned before, I have a bit of a problem when it comes to watching movies. So, as I was dissecting every last bit of what I didn't like about the movie, I said, "I would LOVE to have a job where I reviewed movies and could be as mean as I wanted to about them. It would be the perfect job."

Now I'm just wondering why my ideal job seems to be one in which I am constantly critical.

I aspire to be a realist, but feel I am doomed always to be a pessimist.

Oh, well.

If you must know...

2009-05-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

No, I am not pregnant.

No, I am not planning on becoming pregnant.

No, I am not in a "phase."

No, I don't hate children.

No, it wasn't morning sickness.

No, I'm not forcing my husband to remain childless.

Just for the record, you know. I figured it was easier to just answer people all at once instead of continually repeating myself as I have been doing for the last month or so.

"have mercy!"

2009-05-11T21:32:00.001-05:00

We had to buy this onesie for the little nephew when we saw it at Six Flags.

I love baby thighs. :)

Where has the weekend gone?

2009-05-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

Seriously!

It was wonderful to see family, celebrate graduations and moms, and gather in large groups for food and fellowship. I absolutely did not get enough time with everybody, though.

As the work week begins again, I'm trying to look on the bright side (rather unusual for me, I admit). I've got a lot to be thankful for, though.

Two of my siblings are staying with us for the next coupla weeks, and hopefully in a month I'll get to see the 'rents again. :)

What did you guys do for your weekend?

More Mush!

2009-05-06T17:36:00.000-05:00

Look how cute this guy is. Seriously.

Being his wife is a blessing every day.

Trip Pics

2009-05-05T12:10:00.000-05:00

St. Louis was lots of fun mixed in with lots of relaxation.

We saw the arch.
And rode this pod to the top.

From the top we could see the riverboats that we did not get to ride. Curse springtime flooding. Maybe we should change our anniversary to another date, since something similar happened last year, too. ;)We walked about downtown,

Ate at an outdoor cafe,

And saw a man eating chicken.

We are so dignified.

We went to the best free zoo ever. There were funny creatures there.

We only had 3 days there, so we didn't get everything done we had hoped. We might just have to go back some day.

This has been the best year ever. Everybody likes to scare people and tell them how hard the first year is, but I'm so happy to know that it doesn't have to be that way. Maybe it's just because Jono is so easy to get along with, but I can't remember having a single fight with him since we've been together. He's amazing.

Marriage. It comes highly recommended around here. :)

Winner!

2009-05-04T10:25:00.002-05:00

Yay, Dale!

I have to admit that I'm glad that she won the prize.

If you'll look at her last post you will see that their family car was recently stolen. I can't even imagine how that must feel. Sorry, Dale!

I hope my prize cheers you up at least a little bit.

Also, I'll post a few more pictures from our trip to St. Louis soon. :)

Clue #4

2009-05-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Clue #3

2009-05-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to bother turning it the correct way. I like it saying "Oon" :)

Next clue coming at 10am.

Clue #2

2009-05-03T22:00:00.001-05:00

The next clue will appear at 7am tomorrow morning.

Clue #1

2009-05-03T21:00:00.002-05:00

We were so excited to leave! We left Thursday night just before 5pm.And we saw this sign as we were driving.

Next clue coming at 10pm!

Home again, home again

2009-05-03T19:58:00.001-05:00

I'm baaaaaaaaack.

And it was loverly.

Clue number one (which, I warn you, will be of little help) will appear at 9pm tonight.

I wanted to keep the prize for myself...but Jono won't let me.

Stressful

2009-04-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

This has been stressing me out lately:

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Matt 22:35-40

I've been thinking about this for the last several weeks, and it only gets more stressful. I (and many of you) have grown up hearing these two commands.

Love God: Sure, check, of course I do.
Love your neighbors: Well, kind of. I love a lot of people. Basically a check, right?

What's truly bothersome is this, though:
"This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it"

And honestly, I've always "known" that, too. But I would really not like to demonstrate my love of God by how well I am treating the people around me. I happen to be failing this test.

Unpleasant.

Hotel: Check!

2009-04-27T17:31:00.000-05:00

Last week I officially booked our hotel at our anniversary trip destination. It felt really, really good. Once that was complete it finally sunk in that it was actually coming. So exciting!

We'll scoot outa town Thursday night after work, and it cannot come fast enough.

I hadn't been trying to keep the destination a secret, but when someone desperately wanted to know the details I thought it would be more fun to keep it a secret. I can't resist being difficult. ;)

She said that if she guessed the location correctly that I should have to bring her back a prize of some sort. When I asked what would happen if she was incorrect she said "you can do anything you want to me...within reason."

Hehe.

So, I will be posting picture clues on my blog during/after the trip and the first person to guess correctly will get a souvenir from our destination. I can't promise it will be fantastic, but I can promise it will be... a thing. :)

I will hide the comments so that no cheating can take place (and so that the people who I've already told about the trip can't give it away).

Since I believe I have one international reader I have to add a disclaimer:
I'm not going to ship a prize overseas (e.g. Peru). So if Eden wins, she can give her prize to someone else.

Hehe... you'd almost think I was taking this prize seriously. But you shouldn't. I like to keep standards really, really, really... really low. :)

Bad Movie Night Revisited

2009-04-22T07:24:00.002-05:00

I started a post about this movie I watched recently during another of our bad movie nights. I wrote about how it was arguably the most ridiculous excuse of a movie I have ever seen. I wrote about all the different things that didn't make sense or were just outright stupid. However, I decided instead to leave you with a short clip that basically says it all for me.

Feel free to laugh or scratch your face off. I'm not sure which is more appropriate.

(Sorry about the video quality. I was tired of searching through stupid youtube videos)

Sad Day

2009-04-19T21:27:00.002-05:00

On Friday Jono and I decided to take some excellent advice and find out if the nursery (to which we had the very generous gift card) would do a free evaluation of our little garden plot.

Upon driving up to the nursery, however, we discovered that it had suffered the fate of an economy in recession and gone out of business.

So much for our gift card.

And as we were not anticipating needing much more money than was on the gift card, we did not add a budget line for making our garden less ugly.

Boo.

I enjoy...

2009-04-15T07:27:00.000-05:00

working for what I have.

It's a good feeling, you know.

In Over My Head

2009-04-14T12:20:00.000-05:00

For a wedding gift we received a very generous gift card to a local nursery. I've been looking forward to planting lovely flowers all year, but now that the time has come I realize how little I know about...anything.

I know that I think daffodils and tulips are the cutest flowers. But I have a fairly large plot in front of my house that might look a little funny if it was composed entirely of those flowers.

All that aside, clearing that plot out will be work enough. The people who owned our house were trying to get something in there to grow fast to help sell the house, I'm sure, the ground cover is taking over everything.

But we have no choice. We have to plant something, because our gift card expires on May 3rd.

Ideas for a mostly sunny area are welcome!

Dear Amber,

2009-04-11T11:07:00.004-05:00

Thanks so much for coming to my house this week.

It was really fun to see you.

Also, thanks so much for taking pictures of yourself after I left for work so that I could post them on my blog.

Love ya lots,
Rachel

Thoughts. They are a-whirling.

2009-04-08T17:05:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the amazing women I know. And I know many, many of them. These people have shaped me and impacted me, moved and delighted me, and made me giggle til I almost wet myself.

And these women (while perfectly capable of living happy lives regardless of marital status) are single.

I should back up.

Most "normal" people in the world would say that 22 years old is a very young age at which to get married. But in homeschooled, middle America this is not the case. From 18 on there were comments and questions and oh-so-many "helpful" people looking to set me up. I'm not really complaining about that, though, because it was never a big enough thing to let myself be bothered over. However, I did constantly wonder why everyone in the world assumed that marriage was the only path to happiness. I swore to never be one of those people.

But I'm afraid that being married to the perfect man has changed my views. I know that I was a very happy single person. I thoroughly enjoyed the (perhaps) few years of my single, adult life. But now I am much happier than I ever was or imagined I would be. Therefore, I am an advocate of marriage (should your mate be perfect, that is).

Now, just because these wonderful ladies I know are not married does NOT mean I pester them constantly or even try to talk them into having relationships. I wouldn't dream of it. But I DO happen to know that these particular people want to be married (someday).

So, it makes me wonder. I wonder where all the wonderful guys are to make good on this opportunity? How can these beautiful, intelligent women and their singlehood go unnoticed? It seems slightly absurd. I hope all the respectable men of the world have not suddenly been abducted.

Dear men,
You are missing the best of the best. You're freakin' morons.
Sincerely,
Rachel

Out of the loop

2009-04-02T13:07:00.002-05:00

I recently watched Slumdog Millionaire with a bunch of friends. I guess I'm out of the loop because except for my friend (who arranged the movie-watching event), I had heard nothing about this movie. And until the evening I watched it I had no idea how many awards it had won.

I guess when you don't have cable, get the newspaper, listen to the radio, or read anything online other than your email and friends' blogs, you don't learn about these things.

Hmm.

I'm having a vision of my future as an old, hysterical, out-of-touch woman who makes handbags out of recycled cat sweaters.

Honestly, I'm good with that. :)

AP!

2009-04-01T07:07:00.000-05:00

This last weekend we went to KC for the Andrew Peterson concert. We had seen this same tour last year around Easter time and it's just an amazing time. He has been one of my favorite artists for a long time, but every time I see him live I am just so encouraged and blessed.

First things first, though, we headed out as the sleet started coming down on Saturday morning. It never got cold enough for the ice to stick on the roads, so it was no biggie. We spent some time with my cousin and made lunch, dessert and headed to World Market. I do love that place.

After that we went to see Jono's family who lives near there. We got to go with them to their church potluck before braving the blizzard that had developed outside. Seriously, I have never seen snowflakes that big in my life. It was probably a bit foolish to be driving around in all of that, but we couldn't miss the AP concert, dangit.

With all the visiting and driving from place to place plus the slow rate at which we had to travel, we probably spent a good 6-7 hours driving just for a weekend in KC. Kinda nuts, and tiring, but well worth it.

Plus, I now have a picture with one of my favorite people. Not a bad deal.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2009-03-31T07:41:00.003-05:00

Almost 1 Year...

2009-03-30T07:51:00.002-05:00

We are quickly approaching our one year anniversary. It's pretty exciting! I will officially be able to say that the first year of marriage is no sweat. :) (at least...when you're married to Jono, it isn't.)

We are trying to decide on what to do for our anniversary. The practical, FPU-attending part of us thinks we should save money. Yet, another part of us thinks that this only comes once and we could treat ourselves.

Another part of the equation is that we are going to spend a week in Virginia with my family this summer, taking up all of Jono's vacation time from work and a good chunk of mine. If we went anywhere for the anniversary he would be taking time without pay.

All that said, we cannot decide where we might like to go. I've always wanted to go to Disney World (I don't care how commercialized it is. I want to go once in my life!). But we would also enjoy lots of other things.

Also, staying in the country is mandatory as I haven't updated my passport and don't think I have time to do that before the big day.

I would love to hear some ideas from you all! If you had about 4-5 days to work with (we're talking over the weekend plus 2 or 3 days off), what would you do? Would you fly? Drive? Go fishing? I'll take any advice you can give!

Clown Car

2009-03-30T07:06:00.003-05:00

I had a truly wonderful weekend! I hope you all did, too. I will post a little about that soon.

But first, I need to go back to last weekend, when we decided to invite some wonderful cousins over to our house. Most of them had not yet seen Wall-E, and we happen to have it on Blu Ray (deliciousness), so we gave them a ring.

Now, this was an interesting event because of two things:

1) Our living room is very small (as you will soon see).

2) My aunt and uncle have 10 boys, bringing the grand total of Wall-E watchers to 14.

It was wonderful to have them over, and despite the tight space we all had a great time.

This is why you should never, ever limit your time with people based on the space you have available to you. :)

I Also Ride The Air-O-Plane

2009-03-18T12:12:00.000-05:00

One of my dear friends posted this today. We have been discussing our different opinions of airports, so I decided to post my side of the story.

If there were such a thing as purgatory, I think it would be like an airport.

Let me give some history.

I have flown a fair number of times for someone who doesn't exactly live the most exciting life. I have flown to Chicago 5 or 6 times, I've flown to California, I've flown to Virginia and Maryland. I've flown to Florida, and then to Haiti a couple of times. I'm probably forgetting a few things, but that's the gist. During those flights I have encountered a number of unfortunate experiences.

When flying, you are at the mercy of both the weather and the airline. I personally find the latter to be much more terrifying. You have no control of when your plane takes off, how long you will be forced to wait, and how much money you will be forced to spend if you are unfortunate to be there long enough to need food.

I once spent the night in the airport in Atlanta. They lost our luggage, so we had to venture outside the terminal to discuss this problem with the powers that be. Once we found out that our luggage was in Miami, we wanted to go back to the terminal.

NO DICE!

The check in counters were closed for the night, and we spent part of the night (I kid you not) outside on the sidewalk. We then moved to the floors in front of the check-in. Overall, it was 13 hours of pain and 28 hours without sleep.

When I was flying home from Haiti once our airline had apparently over booked. They asked 5 people to get off the plane and wait for a later flight. No one was moving, so I went with my friend to wait. My poor family had to wait until the wee hours of the morning for me at the airport.

Last time I visited my family in Virginia our return flight was delayed. This wasn't as painful as other times, but the annoyance factor is huge. We spend this time in limbo, essentially, unable to be with our family and unable to be in our beds at home. Those are wasted hours of my life.

So, airports are just places between you and the place you are oh-so-anxious to be. You have no control whatsoever...so you just hope that those friends of yours back on Earth are praying their little hearts out to get you into Heaven.

Or something.

I will never love you, airport. Never. But, as you are still more convenient than driving, I will be forced to face you again and again.

I think this is the pessimist rising again...

I Heart Netflix

2009-03-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

I really do. And I love it even more since it doesn't cost me, personally, a thing. My sweet dad gave us a year-long subscription for Christmas.

Jono and I love to relax, eat dinner, and watch a movie from the comfort of home. It has become more fun to stay there and watch a movie than to go out (even to the cheap-o theater).

Also, I love watching stuff in Netflix Instant. You can catch up on tv shows and waste all kinds of time. :)

Sometimes, though, Netflix bites you in the butt. And I think that's what's going to happen to me tomorrow night.

In keeping with our tradition of watching bad, bad movies, Kristin is coming over and we are going to watch this. Elena, perhaps you should be praising the fact that you will be out of town and unable to subject yourself to the pain that is before us.

Did I mention it was filmed in 12 days?

At least we will have some bad drinks to help salvage the evening... ;)

Advice

2009-03-17T07:41:00.000-05:00

At church some girls (1st grade, I think) were giving me some serious advice.

Girl 1: Never, ever drink. It's BAD!
Me: You have to drink SOME things to survive.
Girl 1: No, I mean BAD drinks.
Me: What's a bad drink?
Girl 1: Like, you know. Drinks at a bar.
Me: What kind of drinks are bad at a bar?
Girl 1: I don't know.
Me: Well how can you tell if you're drinking a bad drink?
Girl 1: You read it.
Me: What does it say to make you know it's bad?
Girl 1: I don't know. You just can tell.
Me: What if it LOOKS like a good drink, but it's really a bad drink?
Girl 1: If it looks like water, but it's fizzy, that means it's Sprite.
Girl 2: She's talking about beer. Beer is the bad drink.
Me: Ooooh. I understand now.

As they start to walk away, Girl 1 turns and says, "Oh. And don't eat or drink or...whatever you do to marijuana. That's what Michael Phelps did."

Bad drinks. They are so tasty. :)

Reason #459 To Be Married

2009-03-16T12:03:00.003-05:00

As our one year anniversary is approaching, I've been thinking about the wedding, honeymoon, etc...and mostly wishing we could go on a honeymoon like that every year.

Anyway, I realized that I didn't really post anything about either of those things here. And as I am often being prompted to update this pathetic little blog, I decided to use this opportunity to tell a little story.

We went to the Ozarks for our honeymoon. It was a great choice, because all we wanted to do was hide. For a while we were staying outside of Eureka Springs in a cabin (being bothered by nothing and nobody). One day when we had ventured outside to walk around I had a special interaction.

Jono was inside a convenience store and I was sitting outside on a bench enjoying the weather. A guy came out (probably about 50 years old) and asked if the seat next to me was taken.

Me: No, go ahead
Guy sits in silence for a moment
Guy: So, do you need a ride or something?
Guy places his arm behind me on the bench
Me: No, actually. I'm just waiting for my husband. He's inside right now.
Guy removes arm suddenly
Guy: Oh.
We both sit in silence for another moment
Guy: Well, do you both need a ride?
Me: No, we have a car.
Guy: Oh, cool. I had to sell my car. I just take the trolly in a loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop.
Me: Ok.

Jono comes out and we leave.

At that moment I realized how much I like being able to say "my husband."

Also, there is nothing like being offered a ride by someone who doesn't have a car. :)

I am a pessimist.

2009-03-13T16:24:00.002-05:00

I have used that phrase at least 6 times over the last couple days, so it must be becoming increasingly true.

What are you?

You Got A Friend In Me

2009-02-26T07:30:00.000-06:00

Have you ever read these blogs? Because they are some of my very favorite people.

Tricia never seems to get angry at anyone. And after living with Elena and I and all of our terrible pranks, that is something to be said! We may have even been so terrible as to pull her pants down in a local grocery store...
but she still loves us. What a gal. T, I love you!

Elena is this crazy mix of intense sauciness and sweet sincerity. She can be as nuts as you want, but knows how to be a good listener when you need it. I love my little girl.

And now that I've written this sappy post, you two should feel very guilty if you don't hang out with me this weekend! That is all.

Content

2009-02-25T12:30:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was really fun. My dad and three of my siblings drove from the east coast for a short, eventful trip. Our church celebrated a big anniversary, my nephew celebrated a birthday, and there was much fun had by all. One of my siblings even stayed behind. For good.

Speaking of that sibling, she is currently at my house while I sit here at work. Jono had to leave town briefly, and as I never like being alone, she had a slumber party with me. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have a car yet. So, she gets to sit at my house and (hopefully) do the dishes.

Just kidding. Mostly.

Anyway, I am reminded a lot lately of the value of our family. Especially since there are so many we don't get to see nearly enough. Jono and I are very blessed to have immediate and extended family that we really love to be around. And once you add on all the not-really-related-but-loved-just-as-much friends, it's easy to see that we are leading a blessed life.

I have everything I need (and more!). If I can't be content right now, I'll never be.

Perhaps today we should all think about how lucky we truly are. Just try to be in a bad mood after that. :)

New Opportunities

2009-02-17T12:10:00.001-06:00

Last night my husband, brother-in-law and I were invited to a cousin's surprise 16th birthday party. We were happy to go, especially since we hardly ever see that side of the family.

Apparently the cousins have been getting into swing dancing, so the party had a lot of kids who had been learning all about it. It would have been lots of fun to learn, but since almost everyone in the room already knew how, there wasn't a lot of teaching going on. So, instead, the three of us spent the first part of the evening standing by the drink table, watching and feeling old. It has been a while since I have been around that many high schoolers, and I certainly felt a bit out of place. But they were all really nice kids, and soon the dancing gave way to some games.

All in all, I'm still glad we went to wish her a happy birthday. Not to mention the fact that (being a homeschooler) I've never gotten to be a wallflower before. It's good to try new things. :)

Remember me?

2009-02-13T12:37:00.002-06:00

It's been a while, but I think only one or two people have noticed. Everyone is actually busy, you know, living. I won't begrudge them.

Life is good. Better than I deserve, in fact.

We started taking an FPU class, which has been interesting. It definitely puts Jono and I on the same page as far as our spending goes, and I think that is a huge relief to my husband. While I am not a believer in wasting large sums of money, I am a believer in excessive generosity. However, one cannot be excessively generous when one does not make excessive amounts of money. Go figure. We have a plan, though, and it hasn't even been that hard to stick to it once we figured it all out.

Another new thing has been our eating habits. 'Bout time, I suppose. We picked up the South Beach diet and have been doing that for about a month. Jono doesn't really need to lose anything, but I feel better knowing that we're both eating healthy foods. I have managed to lose 15 pounds, so I'm slowly admitting that it's worth it.

The one catch to this is that we have been creating the most monstrous piles of dishes that you can imagine. When every bit of counter and table space in the kitchen was overrun, we decided we had better get on top of it. Whoops.

Other than that we are the same, old, boring married couple who are more busy than we like, but unable to cut anything out at the present.

What an exciting update...

Dare I Title A Post "Good News"?

2009-01-15T12:10:00.000-06:00

My insurance called today and things seem to finally be looking up. She said that they will go ahead and pay the bill from the city, but will take further action against evil (my words, not theirs) American Family and see if they can transfer the fault to them after all.

So, at the very least I don't have to pay that ridiculous bill. And at best, American Family is found to be at fault and I may actually get money for my poor, dead car.

I know a lot of sweet people were praying for me. Thanks, guys. I appreciate you all.

Inconsistent (or Screw You, City)

2009-01-08T17:53:00.001-06:00

That's what my blogging has become.

When it turns into more of a chore than a pleasure, I just don't do it. But since I know that at least one person will get on my case if I don't update occasionally, here I am again.

The most annoying thing in my life right now is probably not that much fun to read about, but since it's becoming quite a little monster of an issue, I might as well share for those who might care.

Remember that car accident I had back in September? Well, that has turned out to be one of the biggest butts of a situation that I've been in during my short life. You may also remember that in this post I detailed the fact that the (other driver's) insurance company wasn't being the most helpful. Well, my insurance did their thing and denied the other company's claim that I was at fault. Since all this takes about a million years, I just figured that by the time it was all resolved they would both come down to a 50/50 fault, and I would get nothing.

As it turns out, getting nothing would have been a good option.

Instead, the day before Thanksgiving I received an itemized bill from the City letting me know that I owed them $7,000 for the fire hydrant I hit.

I will skip a detailed description of the various words and phrases I may or may not have used after reading this letter.

Anyway, my insurance wrote the City a letter stating that I was not at fault for the accident. I didn't hear anything more from the insurance or the City, so I didn't do anything. Then, a couple days ago we got a delinquency letter.

And, OF COURSE, my contact at the City is absolutely worthless when it comes to ANSWERING THE PHONE OR RETURNING PHONE CALLS.

*deep breath*
Maybe I should work for the city. You don't have to do anything.

So, I have multiple calls into this lady (who will remain nameless though I have no intention of protecting her), and my insurance adjuster has a call in, as well.

I'm trying very hard to understand what lesson I should be learning right now. I didn't do anything wrong, and I may be stuck paying 7 grand and losing $2,200 worth of car. In the end I realize it is "only money," but it feels like the most unjust thing in the world.

I wonder why the City is so willing to use my tax money to erect statues on top of buildings and construct $5,000,000 round-a-bouts, yet is unwilling to use tax money to fix a friggin' fire hydrant. I also wonder why it costs so much when I actually saw the "labor" that went into some of it. I swear, one of the men was standing there smoking while watching another guy do the work. Again, maybe I should work for the City.

I'm pissed.

(End of rant)

Goodbye, Holidays...

2008-12-30T00:31:00.000-06:00

Hello, January depression.

I want Derek Webb to come to Kansas. You can help me! :)

2008-12-29T12:07:00.001-06:00

View all Topeka events at Eventful

I Love My Family

2008-12-26T16:55:00.000-06:00

My crazy, creative family.

We decorated sugar cookies on Christmas Eve, something I hadn't done since I was really little. Jono's extended family is small, so we were all together.

While the parents and grandparents played games, we decorated quite a few cookies. At first they looked normal (Trees, Stockings, Stars, Snowmen, Bells)...but with this highly entertaining group, the cookies began changing.

Here is my brother-in-law thinking about how much he likes his newly acquired sister.

Cousins!

Manly men decorating cookies!

At first the creativity was still holiday themed. The Rudolph is simply a stocking shaped cookie upside-down, and the penguin was made from a snowman cookie.

Then came the TV and video game themes.

The Little Mermaid has seen better days, I'm afraid.

A Bullet Bill, for all you Mario lovers out there.

My husband made this tribute to pac man. The two on the left are bell shaped cookies that he decided to turn into bad guys. :)

Mario above, Goomba below.

Another Mario enemy...

This fish was made from a sideways Christmas Tree

Cute bell-turned-mushroom

Rocket ship (formerly Christmas tree)

Can you see Australia?

Then things got a little deranged...

Vampire thing and a Tornado (both upside-down snowmen)

By the end there was a giant mess and a slew of cookies entirely unrelated to the holidays.

*sigh*

I love my family.

100th Post!?

2008-12-22T16:49:00.001-06:00

I logged on to write about my birthday this past weekend, but noticed that this would be my 100th blog post. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to do something special for this kind of thing (like write 100 things about yourself). However, I think I would have a hard time coming up with 100 things that a) are interesting and b) you don't already know.
Since this post was going to include how wonderful that guy I'm married to is, I could write 100 things about said wonderful guy. However, I think that might embarrass him and disgust most of you. So, to find some kind of middle ground, I'll write about my birthday weekend and include little "how wonderful this guy is!" tidbits. Fair?

If that sounds absurdly uninteresting, feel free to stop reading at any time.

Friday was the start of breaking many a budget rule. First, many people at my work were going to lunch together, and I really wanted to go. Jono came along, since he didn't have to be at work. We try not to eat out a lot, but he's a wonderful guy, and didn't object to some yummy thai food. That evening we went to eat Italian with a bunch of friends in an early celebration of my birthday. I invited quite a few people, but expected most of them to have plans this close to Christmas. We ended up having 15, though. It was a lot of fun, even if the table was a bit too big to get to talk to everyone. Also, even though my wonderful guy had plans for my birthday the next day, he bought me dessert to go (as I hadn't saved room for any). Who pays attention to the budget during birthday weekend, though? ;)
Saturday, to my disappointment, I couldn't sleep past 7. So my wonderful guy made me breakfast while I played Nintendo. Then we hung around doing nothing until I fell asleep again. Until noon (whoops!). Then we bundled up with many, many layers and headed to KC. That wonderful guy had planned a whole day for us. We started with ice skating, something I hadn't done in a few years and he hadn't done since he was little. By the time the cold wind made us decide to stop, Crown Center's pretty Christmas lights started to turn on. My wonderful guy then drove us to the Plaza, where we put our name in at the Cheesecake Factory. We got to enjoy the pretty lights there, too. During the first part of our wait, he took me to my favorite place. It is so intensely wonderful, you should all go there some time. Then, that wonderful guy bought me my very favorite kind of cheese (unfortunately pricey...for cheese). After that we met up with Matt and Shelsey and the cutest nephew in the world, who had been shopping in the area all day. After a brief waiting period (in which we loitered quite comfortably) at Barnes and Noble, we had dinner at the CF. I must say, it was my favorite meal I've had there. Mmmm.
By the time we left it was after 9pm, so my wonderful guy and I drove to the airport to read and wait for his brother to get in. All in all, it was a very fun day.

Men...

2008-12-17T17:00:00.001-06:00

I once looked out my kitchen window to find my brother-in-law doing this.

We had to give it one more go before we cut that tree down.

One More Thing To Add To The List

2008-12-05T12:31:00.002-06:00

An unfortunate thing happened at Bible study a few weeks ago. It's really ruined a lot of things for me.

I became convicted.

I really hate it when that happens.

But, I earned it. I spend too much time holding on to things that people have done to me. I spend too much time thinking of how I would confront someone with these things should they be so foolish as to accuse ME of wrong doing. I spend too much time being offended on others' behalf. And while I know this is terrible, I really hope I'm not the only person to fail like this.

My mom is a crazy cool lady. She is one of the most kind and merciful people I have met. And when people treat my mom unfairly, she is much faster to forgive than most people. But I take it upon myself to be offended for her. And, of course, this kind of behavior is true for anyone I care about. It's my "noble" duty.

The reason this is particularly frightening is that I'm sure that I'm practicing to become a really bad wife. I don't hold things against Jono now, but why wouldn't I get to that point at this rate? I really enjoy my marriage, and I'd really like to keep right on enjoying it.

And, of course, each little transgression that I add up takes me a step further from being like Jesus.

So, I had to give it up. When I think about something that used to make me so upset at that person, I think "I forgive them." And when a few hours later their name comes up and I get all riled, I think "I forgive them." It seems way too temporary to be authentic. But I figure if I do that long enough it's got to work eventually.

At least, I have to try.

And as I write this I'm thinking about how several people who might read this have every reason to be upset at me for past offences. So, I guess I'm hoping you'll practice forgiving me, too.

Busy Weekend = Buttload of Pictures

2008-11-26T08:23:00.012-06:00

When Jono bought our house there were many things to be thankful for. One of them was a fun tree in our backyard. Said tree was fun because it a) had a tire swing and b) had a Boo Radley knot. I love tire swings and Boo Radley knots. They make me so dad gum happy.

Want to know what doesn't make me happy?

I'm sure you do.

What doesn't make me happy is when the Boo Radley knot is so big, so round, and so rotten that the structural integrity of our tree is in jeopardy. Because when that happens, apparently, the tree could topple right over onto our house (or our neighbors). In fact, when Elena's dad (the talented arborist) looked at the tree, he gently let us know that waiting to take it down was flirting with disaster.

Oh, how I mourned that tree.

Until I remembered that it's an huge, ugly elm that drops branches all over our roof and yard.

Then I made my peace.

Unfortunately, it costs (approximately) a buttload to have a tree of that size taken down. So, my strong husband enlisted the help of his generous father who came into town just to help us with our tree predicament (chainsaw in tow).

So, Saturday morning, when I walked out of my house I found this in my backyard:

As you can see, there isn't a lot of room for a tree to just be fallin' over. Most of the limbs hung too close to various roofs to just hack away at them.

My brother-in-law came to help, too.

The big limbs were tied carefully, cut, and then lowered to the ground.
He's so manly :)

And, of course, my mother-in-law and I helped.

Which of course means that we watched until we got bored.
But before we got bored we made sure to sneak into cab when Jono wasn't looking.

Back to business.
This guy...he's good. Look at him.

At the end of it all, our yard looked like this:

And here's a peak at part of that rotten Boo Radley knot. The tree was basically innard-less.

And they finished by sun down. Aren't they great?

The Special World of Homeschoolers

2008-11-21T17:40:00.000-06:00

Somewhat recently I was introduced to a board game called Generosity. Making it's debut in 1985 it is "an exciting, action-filled game uniquely designed to reinforce Christian values through real-life situational play. A thrilling challenge for the whole family."

Essentially, it is the Christian version of the slightly more popular "Life" game.

You go about pro-creating like mad and (hopefully) doing good deeds so that you can store your treasures up in Heaven (once described by my brother as an "Heavenly 401(k)")

This game is, in a word, hilarious. And though good deeds are nothing to laugh at, it's impossible to not enjoy a bit of irreverent behavior while playing this game. How could you take it seriously when you land on spaces like the ones below?

If you would like to learn the fascinating rules of this game, go here. It might just make your day. :)

And though I personally never played this game while being homeschooled, I did challenge my siblings to other intense, morally friendly games.

My Guy...

2008-11-20T12:15:00.000-06:00

Is working out of town today. He got up early to drive down to the lowest depths of Missouri.

This morning before work I received this text from him:
"Just stopped at our first honeymoon lie!"

Ah, memories. :)

More Trip Pics

2008-11-19T00:23:00.000-06:00

We spent one of our days here on our trip east. It was a really cool experience. Unfortunately, it was a gloomy, drizzly day. This made it hard to take pictures outside, and it also made the stained glass inside less glorious. Still, it was a sight to behold.

Here is a shot Jono took as we descended to the parking garage. He had a little cover, but you can see by the rain drops on the lens that it wasn't easy. He was trying so hard to get a good shot of the outside. Stupid rain.

Everything was amazingly detailed. It's a huge work of art that has been many decades in the making. They still aren't finished.

Here's another rainy shot. I suppose the gothic architecture along with the gloomy day makes some kind of somber statement. Unfortunately, our photography "skills" just didn't do it justice.

Here is one of my many attempts to photograph a stained glass window. Some turned out better than others. This window in particular was one of my favorites. Apparently that small circle in the middle is a moon rock.

I'd like to think my pictures would turn out better had the sun been shining brightly outside. I can pretend, can't I?

Here's the entry into the main room.

One of the many, many, many rooms. Perhaps too orange-y. I really need to learn more about my camera...

This was up in the observation tower. It was fun to look down on all the beautiful trees and gardens. Too bad the pictures didn't work.

We have tons more pictures, but I can't imagine you'd want to go through that many. It could potentially be like those situations where your great aunt Myrtle went to the Precious Moments Chapel and wants you to sit for 5 hours through her amazing slides.

*shiver*

Not Cool!

2008-11-13T12:23:00.002-06:00

No, I'm not talking about me.

I'm talking about the guy who rear-ended me yesterday as I was waiting to turn left at a light and then promptly drove away.

My sweet little car, not even two months mine, needs a bumper replaced. Arg. Why are people such *insert strong language of choice*?

There were several witnesses, though. One couple pulled over and gave me the plate number and make and model of the car. Another lady followed him and called it in on her cell phone, then turned around to come tell me.

The bright side (if you wanted to force me to search for silver lining in situation I prefer never happened) is that there was almost no damage to the actual body of the car. The back bumper is out a few inches from the body (see former beauty below).

So, it looks like I'll be replacing it myself because the police officer I spoke with is pretty sure the guy didn't have insurance.

Surprise.

I've had some bad luck lately. I'm seriously thinking of never driving again. Anyone know of a free chauffeur service (other than my mom)?

Day Trip To Gettysburg

2008-11-10T12:28:00.005-06:00

Visiting my family in the east made for a wonderful weekend. Here are some more pictures from our trip to Gettysburg.

I love seeing so many leaves changing.

Here is another example of my brother entertaining himself. At least this time he's not eating anyone's brains.

Ah, the little things. :)

I Betray My Brother Once Again

2008-11-06T17:11:00.000-06:00

My Normal Family

2008-11-06T07:49:00.003-06:00

Recently we headed to the D.C. area to visit my family.

We did many things, and many pictures (to be posted soon) will prove that fact.

The morning after our arrival we set out for Gettysburg. Many of my family members, however, had been there already this past summer.

Perhaps that is why they came up with other ways to amuse themselves...

My brother, unfortunately, became a zombie during our excursion.

We had to call in the professionals...

Please Direct Your Attention...

2008-11-04T12:38:00.000-06:00

...To The Poll On The Right.

This is something I have recently wondered more about, as Jono and I reached our 6 month anniversary yesterday.

People started talking to us about having kids long before we walked down the aisle. I was greeted at our reception with several "may you have many, many, many babies" comments.

I know that I am not alone in this. I am curious, though. Do you secretly expect some couples to start with the baby-making right away? Or do you feel like waiting is pretty normal? What (be honest, now!) comes to your mind when you meet a couple who has been married for over 5 years and has no kids?

Uh...hypothetically speaking, of course.

Please participate in my poll.

My Blog Is Useless

2008-10-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is use sitemeter to see how different people have found my blog. I love looking at the hilarious things they search for when they happen to stumble upon my strange writings. And, not so surprisingly, almost 100% of the time I am not what they were truly looking for.

Here are some strange searches that have brought people here:

"When did you stop wetting the bed?"

"yellow penguin team"

"I Survived a Japanese Game Show and retarded and audience"

"Jono Ness"

"photos beginners squats"

"dear journal i can't sleep"

"Rachael Mills fashion 2008"

"i don't like musicals"

"most surprise thing"

"why can't i just be happy"

"honesty box on blogger"

"beverly bernardi post 2008"

"my most embarrassing moment"

"Pioneer Clubs"

"things to know about musicals"

"spank OR spanks OR spanked OR spanken OR spankens OR spankin OR spanking OR spankings OR spankins -brand -mtv -monkey site:blogspot.com"

"hobby lobby mistletoe"

"Kristina Fazel"

"WHY CAN'T I JUST BE HAPPY"

"don't give a squat"

"Things that happened August 1998"

"she didn't know squat"

Sometimes, though, I can tell that people are looking for something very specific, and end up on my blog completely by mistake. Remember that time I poked fun at Magen for not understanding facebook? That one post brought people via the following searches:

"facebook can't comment on posts to my wall"

"Tags one of my photos"

"Comments after me in a photo"

"tags me in a photo"

"what does "comments after me" mean in facebook?"

"facebook Comments after me in a posted item"

And, of course, "Facebook for beginners." Times 50. Seriously, at least 50 people have tried to get actual help with facebook, but have found my mocking entry instead. Isn't that a beautiful thing? ;)

Another entry that brought people here was this one.

"i can't have a conversation with someone, i never know what to say and then i feel stupid"

"know what to say to people"

"don't relate to people"

"likes to relate to people"

"how to relate to people book" (times 10)

"I don't know how to relate with people, nothing to say"

"i don't know how to relate to other people"

"how to relate with people you don't know"

"how do people relate to children"

And "how to relate to people" (times 30)

Once again, I'm am useless to them. And it makes me giggle.

Just a few times, though, I think people may have actually searched for me:

"don't know squat blog rachel"

"don't know\squat blogspot"

Only twice? Ah, well. It figures.

My blog is useless.

What's To Like?

2008-10-24T10:39:00.000-05:00

After reading this post Joanne asked me why I hated my wedding so much. Since I often struggle to come up with things to blog about, I figured I should take the opportunity to respond.

First of all, I hate planning events. Especially parties. I want no part of it. But since it was my wedding, I knew I had to bite the bullet and just do it. The truth was that Jono and I both would have preferred to elope and then have a reception after we got back. Neither of us enjoy events where we are the center of attention, and neither of us enjoy spending money on things that are silly. However, because we love our families dearly, we went ahead with it. They didn't insist we have a wedding or anything, but we knew it would make them happy.

Now, to start, planning a simple wedding is not simple. I would say that compared to the majority of other weddings, ours was very low-key and "inexpensive." (Some of you were there, so you can back me up on this) However, it was still a lot of work and a lot of money. My dad paid for it, and we really didn't want to waste a bunch of his money. Also, my family lives half a country away, so even though they were so, so willing to help, there were many things they just couldn't do.

We had 4 months to plan the wedding. If it weren't for extensive help from immediate and extended family, it wouldn't have been possible. But even with that help, I was busy all the time. And my sweet husband-to-be had to work out of town, meaning that his weekends at home were entirely filled with wedding stuff.

For people who hate event planning, this was a very unpleasant time in life. All we wanted was to be married. We didn't want to stand up in front of everyone saying the same lines that have been said in millions of other weddings. We didn't want to worry about who we should invite so that we didn't offend anyone.
We just wanted to be together forever. Why is that so difficult?

The wedding itself wasn't horrible. My grandpa officiated...and took some liberties (he's an ornery booger). But all in all, it was just another wedding. We took a multitude of pictures to remind us of a day we never really want to revisit (mostly to send to relatives), we stood around in uncomfortable shoes all day, we tried to enjoy the fellowship of the wonderful people around us, we got a ton of gifts from people who are more generous than we could ever understand.

And as we pulled away from the church, finally married, I couldn't understand all the feelings inside of me. Part of me was so unbelievably relieved that it was all over. Everything I had been working on for 4 months was done. DONE. On the other hand, we were driving away from a building that held almost everyone we cared about in this world. People came from all over to be there, and we didn't even get to talk to all of them.

Despite all the whining I do about this, there are two things I always remember. One is that we did it for our families, and that is the absolute least we could do for people who have blessed our lives so much. I really believe we have the best family anyone could boast of, and I'm so thankful. The second thing is that I would go through a lot more to get to be with Jono. If you think I'm ever too mushy on this blog you should realize that I'm holding way back for your sakes.

So, that's it. It's over and done with. And that's the best explanation I can give.

And just so you know, I did NOT bother to write this all out while on my short vacation to the east. Ah, I love scheduled posting. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

LEAVIN'!

2008-10-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight we're getting on a plane.

When we land, we'll be here:

I can't wait.

Confessions

2008-10-22T07:32:00.001-05:00

Having distanced myself from my homeschooling days by about 5 years, I feel like now is the time to start writing about some of the pros and cons (as I see it).

This could easily turn into a series of embarrassing stories and strange examples, but I doubt that will scare off any of you who have been reading for long anyway.

One interesting thing about making a pro/con list is that sometimes it's hard to categorize things in that way. Maybe being sheltered is good, and maybe it's bad. It all depends on...things...lots and lots of things.

Oh well.

Here's a start:

Pros-

Finished lesson plans with plenty of time to goof off
At home all day, therefore, I didn't realize my clothes were out of style
Thought everyone was nice

Cons-

Got spanked by "the principal" when I spent too much time goofing off
The clothes that were out of style were actually hand-me-downs. From my brothers.
Had to learn later that not everyone was nice.

Been Tagged... and stuff

2008-10-21T07:31:00.000-05:00

So AnneMarie over at Root Beer Love tagged me.

Generally, this would mean that I do absolutely nothing in response. But I'm starting to grow quite fond of RBL (AnneMarie, am I allowed to call it that?), and thought it was nice of her to think of me. So, in the meaning of true blogger sisterhood, I will follow (most) of the rules. :)

Here they are:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

We may be running out of weird/random things you don't know about me, so I'll do my best.

1) As far as I can tell, I dream constantly. This often results in me waking my husband out of a sound sleep to tell him about something that I absolutely believe is real. Generally, by the time I have his attention, I've realized it was only a dream.

2) I'm not a huge fan of transparency. Because of this, I can never decide whether or not I want people to read my blog. Sometimes I think seriously about deactivating it. Other times I let myself enjoy saying whatever I the heck I want. I just want to be me...but I'm not always sure if I want people to know me.

3) I am not a dog person. At all. And I'm lucky to be married to someone who feels the same way. Frankly, I don't want to spend that much time and energy on an animal.

4) I'm unbelievably tired of everything related to the election. November 4th can't come too soon.

5) I've been married for almost 6 months, and have loved absolutely every moment of it.

6) Even though I love being married, I did not love GETTING married. To be honest, I can hardly look through our wedding pictures because of how much I didn't like having a wedding. I've heard from my family and many friends that they enjoyed it, though. We did it for them, so I can't complain.

7) Thinking of seven things of interest about myself was really hard. That must mean I'm either terribly humble, or terribly boring. I'm sure you can easily guess which it is ;)

Now, for the tagging:
Tricia
Elena
Beth
Magen
Joy
Eden
Dale

I'm going to break the last rule and not comment on these fine peoples' blogs, as I think they will read this eventually anyway.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2008-10-20T12:39:00.003-05:00

Mondays are so annoying. This Monday, in particular, is causing me considerable annoyance.

So, in a brief moment of positive thinking, I am going to share with you some of my favorite things in picture form.

Card Games :) I just can't get enough.

My late Grandpa built this for me when I was 3. I really miss him.

Inside is a fading note.

I don't know that I've ever gone an entire year without carving a pumpkin. This one is fresh from last night.

What is better than your wonderful husband giving your wonderful car a thorough wash?

This is Penelope. She loves to fly.

I eat this almost every day.

Soon this will be full of 125 gallons of water and pretty fishies. It will be so fun!

Jono won this for me at 6 Flags last year. It is so much better than those lame teddy bears.

:) My man and my nephew. They're so cute.

I hope your Monday passes quickly!

Thursday Sea Shanty

2008-10-16T19:49:00.002-05:00

What shall we do with a drunken sailor?

Take The Cynic Route

2008-10-15T17:12:00.000-05:00

The Brief History Of My Life, Volume II has taught me that when it comes to Christian books for women, I should NOT take advice from...well, women.

I try, I really do! I love books, you know I do. But when it comes to some things, there's only so much I can take. Generally I pop them open, get the gist of the book after chapter 1, force feed myself repetitive paragraphs til about the middle, then leave the book on the shelf until the end of time.

Yes, I know that there are a lot of women who like these books. And maybe a lot of you were really helped by them. All I know is that they don't do a thing for me...so I'm going to state my opinion (it is my blog, after all).

Is it bad that I thought of having giveaways on my blog that include these unfortunate purchases I have made? I just want to get rid of them, but don't think they would sell for much. Then I thought that I probably shouldn't give away something I can't stand as a "prize."

Probably.

Maybe.

But then I had an idea (an apostrophe, if you will). What if I got rid of books I don't like on my blog in return for books YOU don't like? It would be almost the same as donating your books to the library and then buying some from the library book sale...

...only without any benefit to your local library.

Of course, it would only work if our tastes are complete opposites.

...I think I have good chances, here.

I bring you this video...

2008-10-15T07:29:00.002-05:00

...because I have no loyalty to my brother.

Is it terrible that I think this is hilarious?

My Love Was Slain

2008-10-14T07:54:00.003-05:00

Generally I try to save money. But sometimes, when you have a Panera in your city, that is hard to do. I proudly report, however, that it has been over two months since I last ate there. My diligence is so...so...diligent.

Look, there it is. So glorious. But wait... what's that?

That... above the entry...right in the EIFS.

Oh, dear. Nothing brightens my day like a modern day Robin Hood.

Something Disturbing To Start Your Week Off

2008-10-13T12:35:00.001-05:00

As winter slowly approaches we are being reminded that there are many things we want to get done before its cold, snowy fingers grasp our house. The weather is pleasant now, but let's not forget the tortuous cold of last winter. And Jono and I cannot forget the way that cold seeped up from below the house, causing frozen feet where ever they were bare.

Can you tell I hate the cold? Because I really, really hate the cold.

Wonderful Husband has been researching insulating underneath our house. The walls are fine, and overall our house stays warm. However, the cold really does seep through the floor, so that your feet are always cold, no matter the overall temperature of the house.

To get things started, WH decided to clean out the crawl space beneath our home. He had peeked down there before, noting scads of beer cans and spider webs (the latter ensuring that I would not be helping him clean). So, last week, he donned jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and gloves, and took the plunge.

He found...

Many, many, many beer cans.
Chicken wire
A small hay bail
Old, broken, window shutters
Millions of spider webs
Various types of trash
Leftover insulation
An animal's feeding bowl

I think I'm forgetting some, but you get the point. He spent several hours at his task. It seems like one of the previous owners liked to use the crawl space as his own personal lounge. He consumed many a beer down there. He also used it as a storage space for things that aren't useful.

To be honest, this seems to me like the kind of guy who's wife didn't appreciate his drinking habits (or his pack rat habits, while we're on the subject). This guess is backed up (somewhat) by our neighbor, who has known at least 3 of the previous owners. It's still just a guess, though.

The most disturbing thing found down there was not mentioned on the above list. It was found next the the feeding bowl. It was...

A cat skeleton

Those are the facts. I could speculate (as I did above) about the reasons for this skeleton and food bowl to be under the house, but I don't really want to. It's far too disturbing and confusing.