This feels like home

Baby debuts on Mom's Blog

2010-03-03T13:16:00.000-05:00

He's too sweet, so how could I not have posted any photos of him for so long? To quote Ellen Pompeo, like her baby Stella Luna, James is like a chicken nugget. So cute you could just dip him in sauce and nibble him.. or something of like that. This is photos of him on his first birthday. Yes, I have a one year old now. Wow!

Snow Falls in Collegedale

2010-03-03T13:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted ANYTHING in AGES, so I apologize. It snowed this week for the 6th time this winter, and for some reason or another I was inspired to take some photos outside, and to subsequently half freeze to death. Enjoy!

36 Week Update

2008-11-24T18:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't written on here in awhile, so I suppose an update is due! (excuse the pun). 12 days ago my midwife put me on bed rest because of hypertension. They were fearful of it becoming preclampsia, which is very serious, but thankfully they have now ruled that out. I just have pregnancy induced hypertension, which isn't quite as serious. I'm just taking it easy and trying to stay off my feet for the best part of the day. Fortunately, she let me go to my shower which was on Sunday, the 16th (a week ago). We had so much fun, even though I had to sit in a glider rocker the whole time. I'll post pictures from that whenever I can gather them from the people who took them.

Sunday my parents came over and Dad worked on putting up the wall that is going to divide the upstairs in order to create a bedroom for James. We moved our living room into the big room downstairs, thus making from for the baby. I'll post pictures of that, and of the nursery when it's all put together. It's reassuring to finally have progress being made.. for those of you who have done home remodeling, you know the progress can be so slow when you are low of funds, and have to work full time jobs. Anyway, but it's looking great, and I'm so grateful to my parents for their help.

It won't be long now!... I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to seeing friends who have come from far and wide, and of course it's not the real meaning behind Thanksgiving, but I look forward to some great eats. I have been very slow to put on weight, so Donna (midwife) gave me blessings to eat all I want this holiday! WohOoo! This may be the best Thanksgiving ever!!

Baby Shower (work) Photos!

2008-10-16T14:36:00.004-04:00

Cake for Hayden Herthel & James Mason

Me and Christal at our shower

CCU Got James a Car Seat!

My friend Elizabeth cross-stitched something for James' room :)

Charles and I opening adorable gifts...

Dear work friends--Donna, (me), Christal & Debbie

Cute picture Donna took of Charles and I (she's a professional photographer)

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

2008-10-13T11:48:00.002-04:00

I would like to send out special Happy Canadian Thanksgiving greetings to all of my friends/family who celebrate Thanksgiving on the wrong day (just kidding). I have been talking to Martha about the pros and cons of having Thanksgiving this early. One, is that the whole Christmas season starts earlier (which, if you enjoy this like we do, is a pro). You can have your Christmas decorations up longer, and you have more time to shop (and possibly more time to slow down and enjoy the actual meaning of the season). Another pro is that their Thanksgiving is on Monday, giving them a 3 day weekend. Many peopld could do this in America, but since ours is always on a Thursday, you may end up having to request Friday off work, and thus risk having that request denied. ha. A pro to the US Thanksgiving is that we get massive day after Thanksgiving sales which helps jump-start the Christmas purchasing. In Canada, they have Boxing Day, which is like the day after Thanksgiving sales, except you've already been expected to give gifts to your friends and loved ones by the time that this sale occurs. So thus for the purpose of saving money on presents, it's pointless.

Another side note related: I was on the phone with a member today at work, and mid-conversation he pauses and asks, "What part of Canada are you from?" and I of course said that I wasn't. And to curb his obvious confusion, I said that I was from TN but married to a Canadian. He said he could hear it in my voice. This just proves one thing.. I am a cameleon. ha!

Funny Camping

2008-10-07T18:30:00.003-04:00

We have wanted to go camping for awhile, actually, since we got married. Seeing as I am 7+ months pregnant now, I figured that it's "now or never!" So this past Sabbath we threw everything in the car and headed toward one of my favor places to camp--Gee Creek, on the Hiawassee river. It was a beautiful weekend, and thus, there were lots of people up there. On the way up, it struck me that this might not be a great plan, as there is only one bath house there, and a limited number of sites near to the bath house. We both prayed that we would be able to find a campsite near the bath house (since I have to visit places like the bath house a lot more frequently than when I wasn't pregnant). Fortunately, when we got there one of the only available spots to camp was right beside the bath house! First prayer answered...

We begin the task of setting up our camp for the night. After we fought with the tent and got it set up, I started dinner and Charles started inflating the air matress. After a little while, he informed me that our brand new air matress had a hole in it--not even on a seam. I was so upset and worried because I so needed a good night sleep away from my dogs (!). More prayers for answers to this dilemma. We prayed that someone would have duct tape. No one had duct tape. I was about to dispair, when Charles looked down, and right beside our car was a big piece of duct tape that had been folded in half and left by a previous camper! That would have to do for the night. Were it not for the duct tape sent from heaven, and my loving husband who pumped up the mattress every hour or so I would not have had a decent night of sleep. Still, it was rough, but better than being awake all night.

One other funny thing was that we forgot to pack cutlery. Fortunately, I'm married to MacGyver, and he was able to whittle us some fork/shovels to eat our eggs with the next morning at breakfast. Overall, it was an interesting and funny experience.

28 Weeks Have Flown By!

2008-09-29T13:09:00.002-04:00

Things are going well with the pregnancy–thanks to all of those who have asked. People are very kind and well-meaning, but sometimes I get tired of being asked how I’m feeling. I’ve been blessed to not have had much morning sickness (and have left that way behind since mid-year), and other than the persistent cold that no one wants to hear about, I feel great. I finally started to show a little bit around the 6 month mark, and now that I’m at 7 I finally have strangers ask me when my baby is due. (I guess they feel safe in asking now, ha!)

The baby is very active, and I’m sure he’ll be a handful once he enters the world. He occasionally gets the hiccups, which is weird. It’s like having the hiccups yourself, but not. It’s very difficult to describe, and even more frustrating to experience for more than a few moments at a time. Last night he woke me up with those about 3 am, and in addition to that, I think he was flailing all his appendages as well which created a very uncomfortable feeling. I was so wide awake that I feared I might never return to sleep with all his carrying-on. I prayed for deliverance and it worked! I somehow managed to fall asleep, and the baby did too. Sleep is a precious commodity these days.

On a different note, my dear friend Christal, who was two weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, had her baby September 20. It was very unexpected, as he was only 29 weeks, but the Lord was looking out for little Hayden. He is doing well, though in NICU. I’m so happy that he is ok. Please pray for them as they are adjusting to this event not going quite as expected–and obviously there are a lot of changes that having a baby prematurely can bring to your life.

I will post more pictures soon (as I keep promising). I have taken so many lately that I need to organize them all and upload them to here and there.

A picture taken with my phone while at work. Please ignore goofy expression on my face. :)

Random Recent Thoughts

2008-09-12T11:19:00.001-04:00

I can hardly believe I am well past the 6 month mark. The baby tracker on my emails says that today is 99 days till my due date. This is a little freaky to me, mainly because I don’t see things with the house progressing at a rate that will have things done by December 20. They are laying carpet in the office downstairs which will complete the things that the construction company had to do after our little flood back in March. Apparently we weren’t enough of a priority for them to get their acts together and finish the job before now, as it has been quite a protracted affair. Fortunately, we are almost done with them. Yay.

Things are going well with le bebe. I had my Dr. visit last week, and everything went well. I’m not gaining too much weight, and I don’t have gestational diabetes, which is comforting. Fortunately too, my iron levels are fine, which I say, “fortunately” because my grandmother has always questioned whether or not I am borderline anemic. Ha. I guess we can give the good prenatal vitamins the credit for that. That, and I’m trying to be healthier.

Now, on to some pet peeves that have arisen. I must say that as a result I have become a little more outspoken than usual (yipes!) And have had to make very concerted efforts to not say everything that pops into my head (just ask Charles). On the flip side of the same word-coin is the words that people say to me sometimes get under my skin. Why don’t you try hearing, “Wow, you’re finally starting to look pregnant.” Before that everyone would say, “You’re not putting on any weight, are you sure you’re pregnant?” Comments like these are actually just as detrimental as the, “You’re so huge” type comments, as they make mothers worry about whether or not their baby is growing normally. Other comments like, “What a cute baby belly,” as they reach out to touch my stomach without even asking, are quite common. In fact this happens to me daily. I guess this is normal, although I have known lots of pregnant people, and never had the urge to reach out and touch their stomachs. Priscila made me feel her baby when he was moving around a lot in church, but at least I was invited. Oh well.

I need to post more pictures soon. Promise. I want you to be able to see how cute I am now. Ha.

Happy Tea-Day

2008-08-26T10:20:00.001-04:00

Today, I needed a serious pick me up. After not having much sleep due to reasons I won’t take the time to explain (unassociated with pregnancy), I arrived at work feeling like road kill. I must say that I usually have a general disdain for Tuesdays anyway, as they are always kind of bland and unflavorful, like rice with no soy sauce. The setting for today was no less inspiring, as Hurricane Faye has come to land over our valley like a tropical depression that won’t leave. Don’t get me wrong, we need the rain, but at the moment, what I need is some sun.

So I found a tea bag that I had saved in the back of my desk for longer than I’m willing to admit. It was one of those fancy ones you get at hotels, that are made out of some sort of fabric mesh, rather than the usual thin tissue paper. As it absorbed into the steaming hot water, the fresh tea smell (wow, it still smells fresh) helped me to feel more awake. I pulled the silken tea bag from the water, and it did a twirling happy dance, like a little ballerina. The re-hydrated leaves, now resembling tiny tree bark, are a symbol of a far and exotic land–-a place that I’d rather be at the moment. And, as a bonus, as English breakfast tea usually does, it reminds me of being in England, one of my favorite places int he world. Maybe this day will get better after all. We can only hope.

We're having a son!

2008-08-22T13:27:00.007-04:00

Well.. this is a little late coming, since we found out we are having a BOY about 3 weeks ago, but nevertheless, I need to put it on my blog! Charles, I and my parents were both really surprised because we thought we were going to have a girl. haha. Most people in our families have girls first, so we're breaking tradition. :) Not much else has been going on, other than the baby becoming stronger (as evidenced by the persistent kicking that has started :) ) We're having a yard sale this weekend to get more money for the nursery, and clean out the stuff we don't need from the house (since it's already getting taken over by baby goods). I'll keep you all posted on the name-game for now. His first name will probably be James, and the middle to be decided. :)

Here's a picture of me test "riding" the gliders at Target. yay. We're not buying a glider, as we have the perfect recliner to use, but it's a good excuse to sit down while shopping. This was two weeks ago, so I still didn't look big or anything, but if I was trying to hide it, I can't anymore. I will post more pictures shortly, of the ultrasound, if I could figure out how to convert a .pdf to a .jpg or other picture file.

Week 18--There IS a bun in the oven

2008-07-28T18:46:00.003-04:00

It was the morning of Friday, the 18th of July. 5 AM to be exact. I felt it. Very distinctly, I felt a little tiny someone flutter and then poke me from the inside. I have to say, especially if you haven't yet had a kid, this is a pretty amazing feeling. I said in a voice that was a cross between a yell and a whisper, "Charles.. are you awake??" He grunted, and I told him that I had felt the baby move.

According to the Rawsons, the baby will be born 5 months from the day I first feel it move. Charles hopes this is true, because he wants its bday to be December 18. That marks 5 years to the day that we first met, and also it is his parents anniversary. Very neat.

This Thursday we go to get the big major ultrasound. Yipee! We will finally know the identity of our child! I'm so excited.. it's like, you find out your pregnant, then have to wait 3 months to find out what you're going to have (or longer, if you're in the set that don't believe in finding out early. I'm much to impatient for that.) Oh well. Will post to share the happy news shortly...

4 month baby update

2008-07-16T13:52:00.000-04:00

I’m so happy now that Charles is home. It was no fun being alone for so long. I got married for a reason, darn it, and it wasn’t to be alone! :) He had a good trip to Canada though, and got a lot done, so that is good.

Things with the baby are going well so far–had my 3rd appointment last week, and am now over 4 months a long this journey. (Can’t believe it’s going by so fast!) Charles got to hear the heartbeat for the first time, which was really special. As of that visit I have only gained a net of one pound, mostly due to not feeling well for the past few weeks. But since Charles has gotten home, I’ve been eating better (haha) and my clothes are starting to get tight!

We get to go back on the 31st of July to see our baby for the first real time (the first actual time was when it was the size of a lima bean, so small it took the Dr. awhile to find it.. This time we’ll actually be able to tell that it is a growing baby!) We are going to be finding out what we are having, since I like to plan and have a nursery that is not just green or yellow. :) Some people say that they can just tell what they’re having, even before the big ultrasound, but I really have no idea. I could see it going either way, so I’m not going to speculate.

I and my friend and co-worker Christal, who is two weeks farther along than me, decided to conduct a baby poll at work, to see who can correctly guess the gender of both of our babies. We are going to bring strawberry or blueberry ice cream (pink or blue, get it?) for everyone on the 31st, and the person(s) who guess correctly we’re going to give pink or blue cookies from Piece of Cake, the bakery who has the awesomest glazed/decorated sugar cookies on the planet. Yay!

So my next update will probably be in two weeks when our baby finally has a real gender identity, at least in our eyes. :)

Tiny Wonder and Big Miracle

2008-06-28T19:57:00.004-04:00

My nurse midwife (who will from now on be refered to as my "CNM, or Donna my CNM") told me that I could hear the baby's heartbeat later on with my moms stethestcope. Today was a quiet Sabbath afternoon spent at my parents house, so I decided to give it a try. I've only completed 15 weeks so far, so I don't know what I was expecting to hear. But I heard something! It sounded like splashing, moving, and maybe even hiccuping. hahaha. Mom listened and was as interested as me. It was so fascinating. I can't wait till Charles gets home so he can hear this too. It was a very mesmerizing way to spend close to 30 minutes! (Ouch! Those ear-pieces aren't meant to be in your ears for that long!).

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Nova Scotia. Charles has been up there since May 28, so I was very happy to see him. We had a good visit with his folks as well. He'll be home July 9, so after that I will be happy happy happy (right now I'm just one happy).

Here's a picture of what our baby looks like at the moment (well, not specifically, but you get the idea).

Baby Update

2008-06-13T10:48:00.000-04:00

Wow, so I decided to write this post in honor of the two people who read it from time to time–Kim and Kieren, maybe Kristen and Katie too. So this post is dedicated to all of the “K” friends in my life. Ha.

I’m sure I will be starting some sort of new blog in the future, possibly dedicated to the new realm of motherhood, into which I will be entering by the end of this year. That’s right–we’re going to be parents. Charles and I have had the great “baby debate” almost as long as we have been married–him, wanting to get on with it, and me being resistant. At last, I came around to it and realized that there is never going to be a “perfect time” to start a family. Nothing else in my life is perfection, so I might as well let go of that notion as well. It’s hard, but freeing at the same time.

The baby is due December 20, but hopefully will come a little before that. We think it would be neat if it came on December 18, because that would be 5 years to the day that we met, and also his parents anniversary. We’ll see. I would never have picked December for a child’s birthday, but you can’t always choose these things (we didn’t think getting pregnant would be that easy for us. I guess you never know till you try).

Yesterday we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Cachoo, cachoo, cachoo, cachoo.. 160 times a minute. Very awesome experience. The doctor says I’m very healthy, and doing great–so far so good. I’ll post more progress as it happens. Thanks for reading. :)

You know it's a cold day when...

2008-01-21T16:58:00.000-05:00

10. You can go entire day in TN wearing a wool sweater without getting hot flashes.

9. Someone stands in the doorway of the restaurant too long and receives a hostile chorus of "SHUT THE DOOR--IT'S COLD!!"

8. You break out the long johns and have to wash the two pairs you own over and over because "it usually doesn't get that cold here."

7. The icy patch in the driveway doesn't go away for days.

6. You fear your dogs face might get stuck to the icy patch if he lingers there too long.

5. You give up shaving, since stepping out into the goose-bump inducing sub-freezing temperatures renders the shave-job useless. (this ones for Heather, since I didn't believe her for like 7 years, when she said this actually happens).

4. Flannel sheets, a wool blanket, and a down comforter all layered on the bed don't seem like an overkill.

3. You suddenly can empathize with the poor soul in your office who is always cold, even when its 75 in the office.

2. You start to imagine how cool it would be to have an ice skating rink in your front yard.

And finally... You know it is really cold when...

1. Your Canadian husband finally agrees, "Yes, this is really cold."

Feel free to add any of your own, these are mine!! --Amanda

No two alike..

2007-11-23T15:29:00.000-05:00

I really love fall, and we have been truly blessed this year by an extra long fall. For nearly the first time in my memory, all of the beautiful fall colors have remained intact up through Thanksgiving. Everyone predicted that we would have very poor fall colors this year since we are in the extreme drought area. They were wrong though, as it has been one of the more beautiful autumns in my memory.

One thing I love about fall are the leaves (duh). Throughout my life I have been on the quest for the perfect leaf. Yellow, red, orange--it didn't matter to me, as long as it was the perfect specimin. Recently, however, I realized that even though I was constantly searching for the perfect leaf, I could never find one that was exactly "right". There was always some mis-coloring, some hole burned into it, or some other sort of blight. This was a discoraging endeavor, until I learned to look beyond the blemishes on the leaves, and see them for their indivudal beauty. Now, rather than looking for the most perfect leaf, I admire each one for their uniqueness and personal beauty.

I'm trying to apply this principle to my interactions with other people, and I have found that, when I do, I feel less stress and resentment toward those that have caused me anguish or irritation in the past. It's just one more thing to let go of, which makes me an overall happier person. I know that *no one* else has this problem. :)

May Our Efforts Be Worthwhile

2007-09-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

So far my classes have been really interesting and fun, and I have been learning a lot. I am extremely overwhelmed on a day to day basis, so I would appreciate your prayers. I've been trying to get enough hours in at work so that my co-workers know that I still work there, and so that I can get enough money to pay the bills. I find that I look forward to Sabbath more and more because the true meaning of a day of rest has really come to hit home with me recently. I get discouraged with my life at the moment because sometimes it's hard to remember why I'm doing this in the first place. Even though I may say that it is so that I can get out of my current job situation, it has to be more than that. It is because I am trying to do what I feel God has called me to do for my life. It is becuase I want to do something that actually matters.

I have had a lot of doubts about this whole going back to school process. For example, my first two assignments didn't go that great, and it is discouraging to me. A lot of you who know me know that I am a perfectionist, if not an over-achiever, so not doing my perceived best is damaging to my fragile ego. :) This is also a lot of work, probably more than I envisioned it would be, and I hope that it is worth it in the end. In a prayer at the beginning of class this week my teacher prayed for "our efforts be worthwhile." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Another update...

2007-09-02T09:50:00.000-04:00

I guess that's what this blog is turning into--an update on my life. Things tend to go at warp speed sometimes, so it's hard to remember what I should blog about, but here goes...

I'm back to school! And unfortunately, I don't mean as a teacher (yet). Through the help and coaxing of one of my favorite SAU teachers, I am now enrolled again and working toward elementary certification. I have tried for over 4 years to get a high school history job (as most of you know, it hasn't been an earnest search for 4 straight years, as hiring is done only at certain times of the year). Someone once said that a good definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. I've decided to stop that pattern, and that's why I'm back to school. The job openings will be greatly increased, and I think it will be a fun and exiciting venture.. so think of me... please. :)

Greencard is still not on the way yet.. and we are becoming more and more frustrated. (another prayer request, please!) It's not that it's taking so long, but that they are supposedly processing applications from March of this year, and ours was December of last year. Also, that they keep transfering our applications back and forth between Missouri and California for "speedier processing"--what the notification letter says (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA that's so hilarious.. arent they funny?!?). Another frustrating thing is that each time we receive one of those notices A) I get excited because I think that it's our summons to interview for the greencard, and B) it says we can not contact them regarding our application status until 60 days after the notice is sent. Is that not crazy? It seems that they make it hard for the people who want to be here legally!! Anyway.. just pray for us, please.

We're still working on the house (and the slow progress is a test of my patience.. but it's still coming along). I'm tired of summer. This has been the most frying hot and draught-filled summer I can remember, and I'm ready for it to be over. I'm tired of fleas, flies, spiders, ticks, mosquitos, and yes, even the simple cricket I am finished with. All of the abovementioned creatures have made me their food, save for the crickets and flies, though they no less as pesky. They found some West Nile mosquitos not too far from our house, so I am extra-through with mosquitos. I wish them all a long and happy dormant winter.

Here's some pics for your viewing pleasure...

This is my friend Priscilia from church. We went on a picnic Sabbath with her and her husband Bob. They're having a baby in January and just found out it's a boy! :) Yay! Priscilia for Brasil tomorrow to see her family, so I wish her happy travels!

We had a birthday party for Heather last night. Much fun was had by all. :)

Kristen came up for the holiday weekend, so here's a picture of the three of us.

And finally, another picture of Halie, since she is the cutest dog in the world. Hahahahahaha

At last, the House...

2007-08-19T13:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I haven't updated my blog in two months. That is pretty sad, even for me. At Kieren's request, I am attaching some pictures I just took of the house. It's sometimes depressing to me the amount of time it is taking for us to get settled in and to get things how we want them to be. Even more depressing is how much money is required for this endeavor. Still, we feel that we are tremendously blessed to have this house, and we are enjoying living here. So here we go.. this is our life on Sunday...

Halie enjoys living in her new home, but agrees that moving is exhausting!

Charles puts together our new table saw.. for flooring, trim, etc. Fun!

Halie sits in the stair landing of the new house. She likes the light from the window...

Our room.. notice matching doggie bed..lol

At last--we have a walk in closet, complete with sunny window. :)

Pumpkins in our window.. I just thought this was a pretty picture. Enjoy! Comment! Return here again soon!

Much needed update

2007-06-12T09:47:00.001-04:00

I'm so surprised Kristen hasn't prodded me to update my blog yet. Maybe she's just given up on me, since I haven't posted in like 7 weeks. Maybe she's too busy on myspace to notice (j/k). At any rate.. here I am, with an exciting update:

We bought a house!!

You know how sometimes things you don't plan on happening are the best things that happen to you? We weren't looking for a house AT ALL, but this one seemed to just fall in our laps, pretty much. Charles & I both felt like God wanted us to get this house, so we did. Right now we're busy fixing it up and having a great time planning what we can do to it to make it look better. It's not an old house by any stretch, it just has some quirky things that we would like to change: flooring, wall-colors, lighting challenges, and curb-appeal. It's a lot of work, but has been fun so far. We have just a few more things to do before we move in--replace kitchen cabinets (arghhhhhh! They look like they're from a beach condo in the early 80s), lay down wood-flooring, and maayyybeeee fix lighting. I really like recessed lighting, and so we may do that before we move in. There will be less things to get dirty that way.

Other things have been happening too, like our immigration status. We are getting really really really close to getting the green card. Unfortunately, we have booked a flight to Canada on the 22nd of June. That's 10 days from now. If we do not have the green card by then we will have to re-schedule our trip. Sad. Charles is really looking forward to going home. He hasn't been there in nearly 2 years, thanks to the pending immigration status. The price for tickets sharply escalates later in the summer, so I am praying that we will have the green card in 10 days (the age of miracles is not passed, is it not??) Please pray for this...

Other than that, we are looking for teaching jobs, and just having a nice summer. We'd love to hear from you, so leave a message, email us or call. I will be posting pics of the house shortly. Bye!

from last Thursday

2007-04-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

Life has been going 90 to nothing lately, but I had to pause and post two adorable pictures of Samantha, and a couple from when we went to visit Charles' cousins up at Laurelbrook. My grandfather (aka "Po) keeps her two days a week, and so thus, I get to see her when I come home from lunch. Tell me--isn't she precious?? Also, the last few pictures are of Charles' cousins and second-cousins who we went to see up at Laurelbrook. They're pretty cute too. :)

My life has changed...

2007-04-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

I find myself doing odd things lately, thanks to having Halie around. For instance, I put bows in her hair. Before I got her I always said that I would never do that to a dog. Poor thing. Thanks to my dog, I now know that 5am exists. I now know how difficult it is to go back to sleep after taking a dog out to pee at 5am exists. Thanks to Halie, I now do what I used to make fun of Becki Mcrae for--brushing a dog's teeth. Actually, she was right. If you're going to have a dog living in your house with you, they need to have good breath, right? Same goes for other humans you live with. But really, this whole puppy experience has made me realize how much work it's going to be to have children. Cleaning up after them, feeling guilty for leaving them in the care of others, waking up with them in the night.. And the best part is--it will be as much fun as having a puppy, and more! :)

Halie-Belle is here!

2007-03-11T12:42:00.000-04:00

So we have had Halie (Halifax) for a week now, and I thought you might like to see some pics of what my friend calls "the cutest dog she's ever seen" (Halie's trying to not get a big head..lol).
This is her curled up in my lap Friday night. We're buddies already...

Visiting my mom and dad's Sabbath.

Playing in the yard this afternoon

We're so glad that spring is here...

We're going to be dog owners!!

2007-02-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

Can words express the joy in my heart? Scarcely... I had given up the thought of getting a dog, since my grandparents/landlords are so against it. But when a friend of theirs decided to get a puppy she found in Texas, Po was the first one to say "do you think Manda would like one, too?" This was the shocking thing, because he's always been the one who is so anti-pets. (mainly for allergy reasons I think). So, you can imagine how quickly I said, "of course I want one!" Woohoo!

I'm so excited. One reason I think that this was meant to be by the Lord is that, a) I've been wanting a dog for over 3 years. b) It's the only one that Po has said I can get. c) I have read a lot about both of the breeds who parented my new puppy: The King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, and the Coton. Both are exceptional breeds, and ones I would have loved to have, but they cost way more than I could ethically and in good conscience ever pay for a dog. :) The mix of both of these has provided a beautiful and healthier dog than the Cavalier on it's own (that's the story at least). They're called Cavatons. Doesn't that sound snooty? Oh well.

So my next problem is finding a name. I will open it up to anyone who reads this: What should I name my adorable new pet? If you're nominated name is chosen, I will send you something cool in the mail (because most people who read this do not live in TN). I'll have to think about what that may be, but please send me your name ideas. I have less than 2 weeks to decide (that's when the plane comes). Thanks!

I put the FUN in Financial Education

2007-02-15T15:29:00.000-05:00

Financial education is fun, I must admit. I had the privilege of visiting a group of K-4 kids at a school 45 minutes away from here on Monday to talk to them about saving money and the like. Kids are so interesting to me, because they’re so spontaneous in the things that they say. I asked them what types of things they were saving for, and I was very surprised when a few kids said they were saving for college, and another girl said she was saving for her first car. The most realistic, or I should say, short-term goal-setter, was a girl who said she was saving for a pony. Impressive! I mean, besides my car, the most expensive thing I have ever purchased was my wedding dress. I was never a good saver. All of my money went to Southern anyway, so why save for other stuff?

Later I asked them if they had any questions, and boy did they. They wanted to know all about robbery, and if we had had one before, and what we would do if someone took all of our money and then customers came the next day and they wanted to withdraw money from their account. One kid asked me: “You know that thing where you put in your card, and type something with the numbers, and you get money out?” “Yes,” I answered, wondered what was coming next. “Is there someone standing behind there putting the money through, or what?” I smiled and told him it was run by computers, but people have to fill it up with money from time to time. I think they enjoyed meeting me, and visiting them was way better than what I do on a daily basis.

Making Winter Worth-While

2007-02-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

Last night we made the most wonderful hot chocolate ever. You must try Abuelita's hot chocolate mix sometime--it's in the Mexican food section of many grocery stores. I have had it several times before, but have never made it the way it's suppose to be made. Instead of being a powder, there are little chocolate triangles that you melt in hot milk. You're suppose to blend it all together in a blender, adding some sugar, but I always figured it wasn't worth the hassle to drag the blender out (I was sorely mistaken). When you try to make it without the blender, what results is small clumps of chocolate floating in warm milk--not so tasty. I usually make it with soy-milk too, much to Charles' disappointment, but last night we decided to use the real stuff. We took to blending up the hot milk with the chocolate and brown sugar until it had a layer of frothy foam on the top. Needless to say it was so tasty it made me sing (Charles too). Unfortunately, I drank so much of it that I almost lost it all while watching Grays Anatomy (this time it wasn't the blood and stuff that made me queasy). Needless to say, it was a nice evening, and fun was had by all.

An update on life.. with illustrations!

2007-02-05T17:42:00.000-05:00

Hello all.. I wanted to take a moment and tell you that we have added our first pets to our little family..lol. We're bird-parents now! I want a dog really badly, but alas, can't have one until we live somewhere more permanent (that will hopefully allow us to have a dog). So, then.. the parakeets will have to suffice for the time being. Granted, I would get more love and affection from a goldfish, but nonetheless, we have pets now. I'm happy.

Also, we had snow last week, which, if you live in Tennessee, is quite a big deal. I am going to post some fun pictures I took before I went in late to work. It was a bummer to have to go to work on the only snow-day of the year (so far), but I guess that's life in the adult world for you.

My pretty car in the snow...

Self-portrait, after just waking up... (scary I know)
I was so excited about the snowfall that I woke up at 5:00 in the morning to see what it looked like (it's been too long for us Tennesseans). I looked out my back patio, and guess what I saw? A raccoon eating some oatmeal we threw out the night before (composting project). He was so cute! Too bad I couldn't get a picture.. by the time it was light outside, all that remained was this...

Finally, me and Samantha. Is there anything cuter than a new-born baby? Well, a 70+ year old grandfather taking care of his great-grandaughter ranks pretty close. Po is going to be keeping Samatha on Tuesdays and Thursdays (guess where I'll be during my lunchbreak.. hee hee). She's so sweet...

That's all for now, but check back soon because I will post more pictures as fun things happen in our lives. :)

Waiting on the World to Change

2007-01-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

This morning I cried over a bowl of cereal. Not really over the bowl of cereal, but as I was eating breakfast I saw something on TV that pained my heart. ABC is going to be broadcasting tonight a piece on 20/20 that Diane Sawyer has been working on for the last year, called Waiting on the World to Change. In this piece she follows three children who are growing up in the poorest and most violent city in America: Camden, NJ. I was moved by the one child they showed this morning–4 year old Ivan who has lived on and off the street with his mom and his little brother. His dream was to live in a home with his family and to go to school to learn to read. They showed that their Pastor had rented them a room to live in for only $50 a week. The room was dimly lit by one lightbulb, and it seemed cramped and dirty by most American standards. The boy’s response, however, blew me away. He said, “I’m so proud, and I thank the Lord for giving us this home to live in.” This, from a 4-year old? How ungrateful am I?

The next scene shows little Ivan on the first day of school. He’s walking to school with his mom, and he’s scared. She tells him that it’s ok to be afraid, and that she won’t leave him in a place he is not welcome. They showed little Ivan working on numbers with a school administrator. He knew the number three, but was stumped when the man asked him how many meals we eat in the day. His family usually only ate once, at best. That broke my heart. I can’t handle seeing children in poverty without doing something about it, can you? How can we sit by and let something like this happen, not only in N.J. but in places closer to us?

Maybe that’s why there are TV programs like this, because there are people in the media who care about others, and hope to make a difference in what they do. I want so much to have a career like that, and maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to teaching. So this is my challenge to you: Do what you love in life, and make a difference to someone in need. Could there be any greater joy in life?

In Search of Something

2007-01-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

At the behest of a dear friend, I have decided to make another blog entry. I have taken a holiday hiatus, but I am now back. I hope that everyone had a very happy Christmas, and great new year. I can't believe it's 2007 already!

Is it just me, or does it seem like people are always looking or searching for something? Poor Charles has lost a valuable set of keys for nearly a week. After tearing apart the entire house, and two vehicles, we are at our wits ends to know where they might be. We have prayed lots about this, but still they haven't turned up yet. Our only hope is that they may've fallen out in my grandmothers car when we rode with them last Friday. It must happen quite often (the key losing) because I saw a friend in the post office this week who had also lost her keys. Unfortunately, she knew that she had lost them in the post office and was still unable to locate them. I don't know why these things happen, but regardless, they do.

I choose to say that people are looking for stuff, because it sounds more upbeat and positive. It sounds pessimistic to say "I lost something", because it seems like lost things aren't found as often as things that are being looked for. Just an observation.

People are looking for lots of other things as well, from the simple to the complex: The perfect dress for an important event, new shoes that have to be just right, the perfect pet, a great college or grad program to attend, a new house, a great job, or the man/woman of their dreams. Right now I am officially looking (once again) for a teaching position. I sent my resume and letter of interest to an Adventist school in an undisclosed location this week. The posting said they were accepting resumes until January 27. When I sent mine on the 9th, I got a reply back that they were interviewing someone that evening that they would most likely hire. I really wish that if they already had people in mind for this that they wouldn't even bother posting the position. Or, better yet, don't say that they're accepting applications when they really aren't. It's really hard looking for positions after all this time of not finding any. I find myself being sucked in to really negative feelings and self-talk, which casabotagely sabatoge me if I'm not careful. Please pray for me as I go through this process, and also please pray that Charles can get his greencard soon so that we can enjoy this process together. :)

Samantha Kate is here!

2006-12-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

Some of you know about my little cousin, Bryden, who is the joy of our lives--and now he has a little sister (with whom he is already totally in love). Samatha Kate was born Sabbath morning at 3:18am or something close to that. She's so tiny and beautiful, as you can see from her picture here. Send congratulations to proud parents Bekah and Jon, and little Bryden of course. I'm really happy for the little family. It's fun having babies around, no? Hopefully I'll get to babysit some. :) :) :)

Happy Holiday, of the Christmas Variety

2006-11-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the holidays have come upon us once again–more specifically the Christmas holiday. I read an article recently where, when greeted by someone with "Happy Holidays"! The writer responded, "Happy 4th of July!" When the original greeter looked puzzled, the writer explained his logic, "If you say ‘Happy Holidays", how do I know which one you are referring to?" In our efforts to be politically correct, we’ve gone beyond that and have made it almost so bad that people are afraid of wishing someone "Merry Christmas" because they might offend them.

I also found it funny that at the stroke of midnight, October 31st (I wasn’t actually there, but they were already putting stuff out the next morning–November 1st) the shelves in the stores were all cleared so that newly arriving Christmas items could be displayed. Poor Thanksgiving. It must feel so upstaged by Christmas. Just because people give gifts and turn into maniac-consumers during this time of the year, the retail stores pay more attention to Christmas–and it happens earlier and earlier every year.

I, for once, don’t have a lot to worry about in terms of Christmas presents. Most of my people are receiving either Mary Kay items, and/or wedding photos. There, I blew my cover. Oh well. I think people will still be surprised, because as the Kodak Gallery has proven, just because a gift involves a photo, doesn’t mean that it is predictable.

I’m at work right now, and my brain feels quite fried, so I don’t have a lot more to write about. I’m sorry if my blogs aren’t really interesting, or full of my philosophical ponderings. Perhaps that doesn’t make them worthy of a read, but maybe it does. Who knows.

PS--since this is my blog, and I did mention Mary Kay, and Christmas Presents in the same paragraph, I might as well do a mini-advert. If you need Christmas gift ideas I can help you!! There are some really great ideas for Christmas--please call. Would love to hear from you. Both of you who read my blog. Merry Christmas.

Reoccurring Dreams

2006-10-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

It happened again last night–my reoccurring dream. Unlike most reoccurring dreams, it was one that I enjoy having from time to time. The people in the dream often differ, but they are usually my close family. In my dream, I was traveling around London with people in my family–Charles, Mo & Po, Bekah, Jon & Bryden, Ben & Ashley, and Ashley’s mom. A random mix of people, I know, but it was still a lot of fun. In this dream, unlike real life, we traveled about the city at a fast pace. One moment we’re in Covent Garden shopping, and the next we’re gazing up at the London Eye, and the other we are in tour boat floating up the Thames. The funny part was when Bryden got tired of riding on the boat, and so he jumped out when we got close to the shore (there often is a "beach" along the sides of the river). It was a comforting & pleasant dream, but it was still just a dream. I suppose it’s cheaper than reality, at least.

Perhaps it’s this time of year, that causes me to really long for England. Maybe it’s the changing of the seasons, or just simply being away from there for so long (nearly 6 years!) that makes me feel this way. I remember the most incredible sunsets and sunrises that we saw from our brilliant view in our room in Moor Close. I loved our group outings to the town of Windsor–with the Crooked Tea House, Castle and stumbling onto a Guy Fawkes' Fireworks display at the castle while visiting for Deborah's birthday. I missed being able to visit London without prior notice. I long to see the Christmas displays in the store windows there, such as those at Harrods.

Someday I hope to return, with Charles, so that he can more fully understand this part of me. What a fun trip that will be. Until then, I will continue to visit regularly--in my dreams, of course.

A few more pics...

2006-10-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Hi! I keep finding these. :) Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-10-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

So Sunday evening I ask Charles, "Do you know what tomorrow is?"
Charles: "uh.... ann-i-ver-sary...??"
Me: "noo.... guess again."
Charles: "Um... garbage day?"
Me: "no.. more exciting than that.."
Charles: "I give up..."
Me: "It’s Canadian Thanksgiving!"

Since he was so obviously excited about this holiday, I made him a Thanksgiving feast on Monday night, complete with fake-turkey and dressing, and pumpkin pie. (This is the only real holiday I’ve found to celebrate that we don’t already celebrate in America–someone feel free to correct me, but I don’t understand the purpose of Boxing Day. Thanksgiving, yes, I can relate to that). Much fun was had by all.

After dinner, we went to visit our friends Lisa and Steve, and their new family addition–Mitzi the yorkie/pomeranian mix. I love her so much! It just made me want a dog even more than I already did. She is so much fun, and so well behaved. Of course, they also have the sweetest yellow lab in the world–Maggie, who is my buddy too. Overall, it was a nice evening.

The wedding pics are still trickling in...

2006-10-02T19:59:00.000-04:00

Happily Ever After... starts every new day.

Our Video is Done!!

2006-09-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

Yay! For all of you faithful blog-readers of mine (the both of you), I have pleasant news. Nay, exciting news. At long last our wedding video is done! If you'd like to watch it online, you can check it out on Brian's Myspace. WooHoo! Now if we can just get the finished photo album from our photographer...

A little louder please, I can't hear you...

2006-09-25T09:09:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in forever, so sorry. Not much has been going on, except that I have been battling some sort of sickness for the last week. I usually don't get knocked down by stuff so easily, but this time seems different. I'll spare you the details, but just say that my head is so stuffed up I can only hear out of one ear. This has proved to be a challenge, since my boss usually requests me to do things by using single-syllable commands, while walking away from me. Needless to say I have had to ask him to repeat what he wants me to do, just about every time.

The weekend was nice and mellow, basically because my energy and enthusiasm to do anything was just about nil. I did go shopping with Heather yesterday, so that was fun, even though part of our time was spent at the W-Mart, my store-nemesis. It wasn't too bad, thankfully, for a Sunday afternoon. I mightn't have had patience for shopping there if things had been more crowded and scarier.

I have been watching HGTV for an inordinate amount of time, among other channels like TBS (because it shows Seinfeld, Raymond & Friends). I have been inspired to clean up and reorganize/rearrange stuff in our apartment. We will be moving to someplace else in the future (that vague time-frame, though it is), so I don't want to go crazy with the re-doing of stuff, but sometimes it's a fun distraction.

I'll end here for now.. Talk to me sometime, but be sure to talk loudly!

Oh the insanity...

2006-08-31T15:16:00.000-04:00

I'm researching luxury transportation for a work-related project. Evidentially Chattanooga isn't upscale enough to have a dealer that rents anything other than Durango's, but still, that didn't keep me from having to call each one. How do you like this too: There was a listing under "car rentals" in the yellow-pages for Prebul Infiniti. I got excited because I envisioned renting a new QX, which definitely looks like luxury to me. Apparently though, they don't rent these at the dealer. I told them that they are listed under "car rentals" in the yellowpages. They had no idea that they were listed here. After I hung up, I wondered what advertising genius came up with that. Someone wants to rent a standard vehicle for about $300 a week, and stumbles across the Infiniti ad. They must think, A-ha! I'll rent an Infiniti! only to learn that they don't rent them here. Sadly disappointed, they decide to just go ahead and purchase one outright for $49,800.00. Marketing sheer-genius.

On a lighter note, last night I went to Cafe Mi Aroma for a girls night out. It was much fun. So much fun that I wasn't able to go to sleep until after midnight because of the chai latte I had there. It was ok though, because Charles and I just laughed and talked until we both drifted off to sleep. It was a pretty good evening, overall.

PS--thank you to Deborah, again, for the great icon pictures. :) She's a creative genius, she is.

Yet another fun-filled website...

2006-08-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

I ran across this site, thanks to Kristen. It's called Let's Say Thanks, and it's a site dedicated to sending uplifting mail to our service people. Kids submit their artwork, and that is what you can choose as the back of your postcard to send to the troops. Once you submit your postcard the peple at Xerox, I believe, print it out for you and mail it to the service people. It's cool because they get a piece of actual mail, and you don't have to pay for postage. :) Another neat thing--they have a set selection of messages you can send that are surprisingly not cheesy, or you can write your own. This is good for people who don't like to sit there wondering what the heck to write, but want something that is actually laden with heart-felt thought. It's a neat site. Go check it out. Go on now.

Weekend events

2006-08-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

This weekend was much needed, as this past week was very stressful and emotionally draining. Fortunately, it was a great weekend, full with lots of rest and fun, as all weekends should be. I was a little nervous on Sabbath morning, because I was to do the children’s story at church. I don’t know why I always get so nervous about being up front. Once I’m up there, I do ok, and don’t appear nervous (I am told). Fortunately, this week was not an exception. There were lots of kids, and my harrowing story about the Dare to Care Camporee back in ‘94 made them smile.

After church we went up with some of the fam and friends to Tellico Plains. This joy of this experience was increased because my seat buddy for the nearly 2 hour drive was Bryden, my crazy 1st cousin, once removed. (He even admits that he is crazy). He is such a hilarious little 3-year-old. He likes to make people laugh, but hasn’t quite grasped that you can “do a joke in” by telling it over and over. He kept turning around and asking Charles, “Everything alright back there, Charles?” Too cute...

We had a nice time up by the river. There weren’t too many bugs, and it wasn’t hot at all. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The food was great too. It was a lot of fun wading in the water, even though some in our group saw a water snake. (I didn’t see this, all I saw from the picnic area was Ben throwing a rock the size of Bryden into the water, apparently at the snake). Later, as we were coming home we had the air conditioner on pretty much full-throttle. Finally, Bryden must’ve been near freezing for he said, “Jay, the air conditioner is making my eyes dry.” How’s that for logic? There is a place on the way home that has miniature ponies and donkeys for sale. We HAD to stop to see the little cuties. That was a lot of fun too.

Later that evening Bryden stayed overnight at our house. We had fun, despite the challenge of having a messed-up DVD player, and a computer that wouldn’t play DVDs properly (so, no Clifford movies). As he was drifting off to sleep he said, “Manda, going on the picnic was fun.” Ahh... I agree. It’s fun giving my maternal instincts a work-out every now and then, since we aren’t planning on having kids for a long time. I either need to babysit more, or get a dog. I don’t see any of the above happening, so I’ll just have to move on...

Smell the Snobbish-aire

2006-08-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

Well, after much contemplation, we at last have an address to call our own. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you read my recent
feelings on this matter, you would know that it is a big deal to me. :) If you are a friend, I will be emailing you our new post office box number soon. It was really fortunate, too, that I rented the box when I did, for this week and last, thousands of Southern students have descended on the town like a flock of locusts, and they may have rented every available box at the post office.

This past weekend was nice, although it was so busy, it feels like I need another break! Does anyone else ever feel like that? Charles & I drove down to Adairsville, GA for the annual Herod Family Reunion. It was a lot of fun, even though I don't know 80% of the people who go, because they are my grandfather's cousin's family. It's still fun to get together with our side, since we don't see eachother that much. It's fun to see my grandpa and three brothers get together. Cute old me. ha.

After that we drove out to Barnsley Resort, which was formerly known to me as Barnsley Gardens. I'm sure that Godfrey Barnsley would be pleased to know that his estate is now a golf resort for the new Southern gentry. We could almost feel the snobbish air(e) as we drove through. Oh well.

Wow, I got kind of hyperlink-happy in this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I did. I wish you all a great week. --AHM

It's always getting better

2006-08-14T19:18:00.000-04:00

I haven't made a post in so long, I feel bad. I do have a good excuse though. Let's see.. well, first my laptop has been crashed out for a month, and probably indefinitely, since it needs a XP disk with a serial number which no one, including myself, seems to have (it came installed on my computer--anyone have a dissimilar experience, I'd love to hear.) So then my grandparents computer upstairs has been crashed out too, so that's pretty much why I haven't been "around" lately. I even had to start keeping a regular check-book again, which is akin to torture, but may in fact have a positive impact on my fiscal health. When I stop and think about a purchase, because I'll have to physically write it in my checkbook, it makes me think twice about buying something. Nice.

Since I've had more free time at home, I have been doing things I don't normally do, like read, and watch too much TV. The first new passtime is good, I will admit, since I haven't read much in forever. It's nice to actually have freetime for once, now that the wedding is behind us. I read a really great book that everyone should look into: The Travelers Gift. It's an inspirational story that chronicles seven decisions for a successful life, as given to the hero of the book by 7 famous people. It's all a hypothetical-dream-type book, but the information it contains is life-altering. So if you need something that will pick you up and get you out of a rut, I highly recommend it.

I guess that's about it for now--hope you're having a nice week. Gotta run--2 hours of old Friends re-runs begins now. :) BTW--I wanted to say Yay! Because yesterday we went down to Atlanta to visit Deborah before she went back to school in Florida. We took a nice trip to a really great store , and after that ate at one of my favorite restaraunts which needs to open francise in Chatt-town. Good friend, good shopping, good food--can it get any better than this?

Somewhere permanent, maybe?

2006-07-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

One of my many jobs at the bank is to change addresses when people have requested them, (or we hunt them down when they move). Summer seems to be a major time that people move, because I'm averaging about 50+ a week--and we only have about 5,700 members all across the globe. So a lot of people are moving quite often.

Today, the thought struck me as I was making my 5th address change of the morning, "I really want a permanent address." I haven't had one in nearly three years, and I can't begin to describe to you how much I want one. I even dreamed the other night that we got a post office box in Collegedale. We were box #3, isn't that great? It's not just the address I want though--it's the security in belonging someplace at least semi-permanent. I know that life can suddenly change, and there is very little security to be had, but having an address would be a nice change for me, for once.

I used to be picky about addresses. I have seen some really scary ones since I've been doing this job in the past year. I used to not want to live on a street unless it sounded poetic or homey, or even quaint. Now I think I could even be quite happy living on something generic like Main St, USA :)

--Amanda of Loblolly Ln., for now.

We thought pink, and it worked!!

2006-07-24T08:25:00.000-04:00

I would like to give congratulations on my blog to my cousin Jon & his wife Bekah who just found out that their second child is going to be a girl! You'd have to know my family to understand the true excitement of all this. We had so much fun with Bryden, their first child, that we eagerly look forward to him having a little sister. As I was leaving this morning, he was coming to the house and I told him congratulations that he's going to have a sister. He asked me if I was going to come and see her, and I said that I would, once she was born. Her expected arrival I hear is January 1, so it will be a happy New Year in the Spears clan. :)

Ahh....Sometimes I just need a mental break from work (i.e. before I have a mental breakdown) and so I look for funny sites. I found this one on Kristen's friend Valerie's blog: Cats that Look Like Hitler. It's a really funny site. And similar to that one, a friend showed me another funny cat site: Stuff on my cat. So there you go, something for the cat lovers (and even those who can't have them, like me!)

Charles Graduates--All Celebrate!

2006-07-21T15:31:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are a few photos of Charles' Graduation last night--woohoo!!
This is him walking down the aisle...

And getting up to leave gym after grad... (note the happy expression on his face!)

Still leaving the gym..

Us with my grandparents after the ceremony. It was so nice outside (shock!)--probably because it was fixin' to rain, but the wind was blowing and everyone was happy to be outside (for once).

And finally...

The newly graduated, and newly married happy "us". hee hee

Summer fun

2006-07-21T08:32:00.000-04:00

I'm really sad--I typed I blog I thought was neat, I think on Wednesday, in between different things going on, but the internet system crashed. What a bum deal.

Anyway, I just talked about how it is so swealtering hot here, and how on Sunday Bryden came over and swam around in his new splashing pool Mo bought him. I was wearing street clothes, but "somehow" ended up completely soaked. But really, I didn't mind it so much because it was so hot outside. We ate watermelon out by the pool, and felt like we were livin' the high life. haha.

Every day this week has been in the mid-upper 90s. There's a weather advisory outside, with something to do about the air quality. They said to not go outside if you could help it. Pretty sad, huh? So it dawned on me that you know it's really hot outside when you start fantasizing about your little cousins splashy pool in the middle of the afternoon. It's that hot now.

Stay tuned to pictures from Charles' graduation last night! I'm so proud of him!

Monsoon--Not Just a Store in the UK

2006-07-16T13:23:00.000-04:00

So since I have last blogged, I have noticed that our area has been overtaken by what I call "Monsoon Season". I used to not think that we had that in our hemisphere, but the weather channel has recently proved me wrong. We have already received more rain this month than El Paso gets in a year (I'm probably not exaggerating that much). Nice. Well, Thursday night we had one particularly bad storm. You never know these are coming though, unless you're glued to the weather reports, and that's the sad part. We had to go to town to get groceries and pick up a few things at the mall. When we went to come out of the mall though, there was torrential rain, and a flock of people standing by the door in utter amazement. Most people waited it out, and we did for awhile, but the evening was getting on, so Charles decided to make a break for the car. Needless to say he got soaked. He drove around to pick me up, and even though he got as close as he could, I still had to run fifty feet in the rain. Fortunately, I was wearing the crocs that Jay gave me as a wedding present (isn't he great?), so my feet were well equipped. Unfortunately, I was wearing a white t-shirt. Sad.

Later, while shopping at Walmart, we were getting some bottled water (yes, I've started doing that, because I fear city water is poisoning us all slowly). I heard a noise, and looked up to actually see a STREAM of water coming down from the ceiling. I had visions of the roof collapsing in on us being seen by all on the nightly news. Fortunately that made us shop faster so that was a good thing.

Our watered out evening was nothing compared to my friends Irma & Alba (work ladies). They were walking on the Greenway when the storm began! They had to run to nearby apartments and wait out the storm. Just then, Irma realized she had dropped her keys when they had started to run! Fortunately, the rain started to let up, and she was able to find them when they were running back to their car! Wow.. she is so funny too--she was just laughing about it when she told me (Irma). She's pretty laid back like that, although she did admit to being frightened by the rain.

Since getting married we've been working on compromising with each other. I think we're getting good at it :) For example, he wants to buy a gun. I said, "If you're going to buy a gun, I will get an iPod after that." That works. The other night I wanted to watch a chick flick, he agreed, but I compromised and let him watch "Gunsmoke" first. It worked out well. :) That's what marriage is all about--compromise, oh, and love too, of course.

I have officially dubbed today "Round-to-it" day. Our room has been so messy and disorganized since we got back from our honeymoon (actually, back when it was still "my" room it was a mess, it just got worse after the wedding). I've been cleaning our under the bed, dusting, throwing out trash and organizing stuff. It's looking mucho-better so far. And it's just 1pm! I decided to take a blog break... but now I must go back. Wish me well. :)

Healthy stuff

2006-07-06T10:48:00.000-04:00

I feel like being healthy. I have gone back and forth over the years whether or not to be vegan. I just like cheese and ice cream too much. Probably the ice cream even way more than the cheese. Does anyone else agree? They have excellent milk-substitutes that I can easily live with. Even the cheese substitutes are quite good these days. But the ice cream? I just can't be fooled. I know it's soy or rice or whatever non-dairy substitute they can concoct. Oh well. I guess all in moderation, right? If you're interested in a neat blog that features a healthy lifestyle, check out: The Vegan Lunchbox. They have good recipies and other inspirations. I think I'm off to lunch now.. gonna get a healthy VM salad. :)

I Want to be a Farm-girl too!

2006-06-28T17:01:00.000-04:00

I found this neat-o site when I was on blogger one day. I haven't explored it fully, but wanted to draw attention to it incase I forget about it later. It's about a girl on a farm in Missouri. That's pretty much all I know, but it looked to be something you should check out for fun. Farmgirl Fare

2006-06-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

Standing on the edge of possible change is never something I have fully enjoyed or embraced. I don't think I sat down and really thought about how my life would change after I got married, and thus my wedding was not as overly emotional as it could have been. I have since processed a lot of those emotions and the changes, and I am feeling better about them. We are enjoying life, as every day together is truly a gift.

I would like to request prayers as we continue to seek out where the Lord has in store for us to be next year. Immigration status changing is the thorn in our sides at the moment, but through all of this we know that we have not been abandoned, and that there is still a plan...I'll let you know when we figure out what that is.

2006-06-18T10:51:00.000-04:00

I wanted to post a few pictures on here from our trip to Nebraska at the end of May. We went there for Charles' nieces wedding. First picture is of Naomi & Talitha before the wedding (sisters, Charles' nieces):

The next picture is of Charles' nephew Ben & fiance Martha at the reception. We're hoping to go to their wedding sometime around New Year's way up in Alberta.. I hope we can:

What happens when Charles' crazy nephew Daniel gets ahold of my camera:

Charles & Naomi at the reception:

Finally, and I always love these pictures, is Naomi and Robert leaving the wedding. I think I like these photos because they always seem to really capture the blissful moment.

2006-06-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

Near indignation.. thus, this is the expression on my face. Does anyone read my blog? Is it boring and not noteworthy? Sometimes it's like talking to a brick wall, you people. I appreciate that Kristen adds comments, but she's the only one.

:( Just because I save the juicy stuff for my personal hidden blog is no reason to not read this one. This one is good too. Right? Actually, the reason for my rant is that I really wanted to use this icon. It's such a great expression. Thank you Deborah (www.livejournal.com/users/maplest) for letting me steal icons. Love ya.

Thankfully, it's the weekend, and fun will be had by all.

2006-06-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

Speaking of something that feels like home, I ran across this blog today, and though I only read a few posts, it was nice to "hear" from someone posting in England. Check it out: Unique British Gifts

2006-06-13T15:55:00.000-04:00

I'm up to photo collaging again.. Here are some of the flowers I shot on our honeymoon in Williamsburg, and at Monticello, Virginia.

2006-06-09T12:56:00.000-04:00

So I know this is just a random thing to write a blog about, but I couldn't resist. Sometimes humorous things happen from day to day, and if you don't write about them, you'll forget.

Wednesday I went to go into the restroom at work (or washroom, for you Canadians) and there was a huge cockroach on the floor (are they ever little??). I yelped and went to get a faithful co-worker, Donna, who rescued me from the terror of the roach. I thought little of it until the next day when I see two guys from Cooks Pest Control standing in the lobby. One of the tellers, Princess, who has humor akin to my own, turns to me and says with a slight smile, "Amanda, could you please describe the purportrator for us?" Of course I laugh out loud, because I know she's talking about the cockroach incident from the day previous. The Cooks man evidentially did not find this exchange amusing, for he said (and I am not making this up), "Ma'am, this is a serious matter. It may seem humorous, but it really is a serious situation." How in the world he could say that with a straight face, I don't know. I went into graphic detail, as prompted, of all the roaches characteristics I had committed to memory from that horrid incident, with all the skill of someone describing a burglar or robber. I squelched the urge to say, "Well, last I saw him he kind of looked like this: [mime of squashed roach]". It was probably a good thing I didn't.

But on a serious note, if you want serious extermination of any sort of pest (of the bug and vermin variety, of course), these are definitely the guys to call.

2006-06-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

Benevolent Director

I found a really awesome personality test online. You should check it out. Here are my results:
My Personal Dna Report. Let's take a poll, who thinks this is a good summary of me? Thanks for your input.

2006-06-05T10:28:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of Betty & I. Betty is my buddy from Newbold, a short-term roommate actually, who is over here from England taking classes at Wildwood. We randomly connected this weekend, after not seeing eachother in over 5 years now (has it been that long?!?!). We went downtown for a bit and walked around. It was great to see her, and I hope to see her again before she takes off across the big pond. :)

2006-05-23T09:38:00.000-04:00

At long last we are married! The wedding went by in a blurr, but was absolutely wonderful. We had a great time visiting with friends and family from all over. The honeymoon was great--maybe someday we'll live in Virginia, we loved it that much. :) I will be posting more photos probably on my flickr site, but here are a few for now. Thank you for your love and support as we made our lifelong commitment to each other.

2006-05-13T07:50:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone who thought I wouldn't blog until way after my honeymoon! Here I am, with a moment to think, and even though I should still be enjoying sleep, I'm wide awake. I haven't gone to bed before midnight (well last night was 11) in 6 straight days, and haven't slept in past 7:45 either morning either. Just a few things rattling around in my head that keep me awake.

This week has been utter and complete pandemonium. We have all, in my family, been running around like crazy people from sunup to sundown (I first typed that the other way around and then realized that was wrong.. haha). I had a to-do list a mile long at the end of last week, and this week I finally learned how to delegate, or "let go" as some people call it. My nerves started the healing process after I finally got the invitations to the printer. That was definitely something I should not have saved to the last minute. What else did I do? Shopped some, that was the fun part.. I like shopping, especially when I have money to do it with. I painted birdv houses, decorated my flower girls' basket and hair barett, made welcome baskets for Charles' family, picked peonies in someone's yard, and all of this with getting 50+ phone calls a day. Yay. On Friday I treated myself to a massage (but unfortunately it was only 1/2 hour, since time was so valuable yesterday). I have never had a massage, but I highly recommend one--especially at my friend's salon "A Better You." Very nice atmosphere.

The rehearsal yesterday was a little stressful. I just felt really unorganized. We didn't have everyone's gifts together (the guys', mainly), I forgot to bring the flower girls' basket, a copy of the wedding program for the coordinator & organist, and I forgot to put out these little cards on the table where people were suppose to write their marriage advice for us. I was too rushed. Oh well. The show goes on.

I would like to ask that you continue to pray for us as we take this exciting step in marriage. :) Hope to see you tomorrow! I will leave you of a picture of me wearing my moms veil.

2006-05-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

Before I blog about my crazy pre-wedding life, I want to send a huge congratulations out to Bekah, Jon and Bryden for they have just received the news that they will have an addition to their family!! Yay!!! I'm so excited for them. They have chosen as their new motto: Think Pink! So, say that three times and maybe they'll have a little girl. J/k This is a picture of us taken right before my Bachelorette party a few weeks ago. :)

2006-04-20T15:01:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know how to make a "subject" or "title" for these blogs? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Today my students were absolutely crazy... maybe it's the storms, maybe it's the alignment of the planets, but they are so ready for a weekend (me too!). These 4 boys in my class today are obsessed with one of the teachers. It's really sad. I'm like, you guys are gross.. you need to look at girls your own age (or none at all, since they're only in 7th grade.) It's sad. The unfortunate thing was it was raining today, so we stayed inside to take photos. You can only guess where the guys went.. That's right, straight to this one teacher's classroom to play paparazzi or however you spell it. Teacher crushes. hummmp.

So I'm dog sitting for these people again this weekend, which I don't really mind, except it's kind of weird to plan your whole weekend around a dog. He's a mini-Schnauzer named Bowser, and is cute as a little old man (that's what those dogs remind me of, with their gray hair and beards and all). The only thing I don't really like is that they keep him in a wire cage thing during the day when no one's home. When I let him out, he is all wobbly-legged, and I can't help but wonder "does this border on dog abuse??" I let him run around as much as possible when I'm there, just so he doesn't go nuts.

I'd like to send a Happy Birthday out to the Queen. Her actual birthday is tomorrow, but I know I'll forget to blog about it. She invited everyone who has her exact birthday to the palace for dinner. How cute is that? She called them her twins. One lady said it was the happiest day of her life. So sweet. Anyway, she also had a meet'n greet at Windsor today and I think tomorrow. Wish I could be there, but I missed my flight.

2006-04-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

The weeks are really flying by! I can't believe in 3.5 weeks I'll be a married person. So much to do .. wow. So anyway, the Bachelorette party went really well, so Thank you Heather, Kristen, all who were involved. I appreciated it a lot. My nerves were put to rest the moment Rochelle turned her car around on Brainerd Rd. and started heading back toward Ooltewah. She and Fern were told to stall, but they just told me that they were taking me someplace "special" that I had never been to before. As we were driving in that general direction of the downtown I thought "nothing good can come of this." But it did.. Thank you to all the girls who came, it was a lot of fun. :) I may post pictures, I haven't yet decided. Probably won't, for I wouldn't want anyone's "professional integrity" to be challenged.

I had something I wanted to write in a blog, but I can't remember what it is now. I would write these things down when I think of them, but I need more lists like I need a hole in my head. Right now I am trying to format the menu cards for the reception. The paper I bought for this is 12x12 scrapbooking paper (don't ask why I did this). I cut it in half, and still, the printer doesn't like me for doing this. It's like trying to fit something round into a square. Sad.

I made a sad discovery yesterday while I was doing some spring cleaning. I found where my canister of paint brushes had fallen behind the sofa, un-noticed. When I retrieved them (about 30 in all) they were covered in cob-webs and dust. It made me stop and try to remember the last time I painted, and it made me so sad. I'm hardly an artist these days, for an artist is one who does art. I haven't done art in so long I don't feel like I'm worthy of the title. Oh well. Maybe later in the summer.

I will leave you with a happy note: Spring is here, and the weather was absolutely beautiful this evening as I walked up at SAU with my mom. There was a cool breeze blowing, and the mourning doves were cooing, and the azaleas were blooming. Makes me want to be a poet.

2006-04-14T10:57:00.000-04:00

I have decided to start using this blog, rather than the Angelfire one. For some reason I always have the hardest time logging into the angelfire site. It's getting quite frustrating, so I give up. This format is simple and easy and I like the fresh way it looks, so I'm going with it.

Friends have complained because it's been eeons since I posted anything, so this is for all my friends out there, who would faithfully read anything that I happen to type on my blog, whether or not it was interesting. :)

These past few weeks have gone by so quickly, I hardly know where they went. I was super-industrious and got most all of the invitations out (with the help of Heather & Mom) by week 5-till wed. That was the most time consuming exercise--I'm glad to have it behind me. Now I just have lots of thank you notes to write to people who generously gave us wonderful things at our shower. The fun thing is that the gifts continue throughout the week. Also, I get response cards back in the mail every day, so I feel like I get fun mail now (rather than catalogues or bills :S).

I don't know what else to report, other than that I am looking forward to this Easter weekend. We're signing in a cantata at Church Sabbath, which will remind me of the last Easter Cantata I was in--at Newbold, so many years ago. Has it been 5??. Wow. Also, my Bachelorette party is going to be Saturday night, so that's something exciting to look forward to. Katie is going to be down from Andrews, Kristen and Fern will be here from Florida, and Rochelle's coming up from Atlanta. And those are only the out of town people. :) I hope it's not too embarrassing. :)

I will leave you with our Engagement photo, April 2006.

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