Venturing into the Unknown

8 months

2010-01-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our sweet Ruby Jane will be here in 8 weeks!
We did A LOT of traveling in the last couple of months.
Dad had heart surgery which he is recovering great from. Praise God!
We also went to Durango Colorado for Christmas and had an amazing time :)
This weekend will be our last trip down to Kerrville for a baby shower that my
Aunt Peggy and Mom are throwing for us.
I will be glad to not be traveling after this weekend it definitely is wearing on me.
So there is a little update.

Me at 8 months pregnantWell so far this pregnancy has been pretty easy on me. Except for the occasional migraine (which I found out is probably related to me being anemic) I have no complaints :)
She is head down and in position and growing at just the right rate.
My midwife is expecting this birth to be shorter than Adom's was, which I couldn't be happier about! Adom's birth was only 7 hours so we're looking forward to a quick delivery!
I have received chiropractic care this entire pregnancy and I cannot tell you what a tremendous blessing that has been.
We are so ready to meet this little girl I think I might bust!

*Funny Story*
This morning Adom and I were snuggling in bed when he got up and he always asks if Ruby Jane is kicking (he loves to feel her kick). Then he looked at me very seriously and asked how she was going to come out... I didn't know what to say so I just laughed. Then he asked, "is she going to tear your shirt momma?!"
Wow I just left it at that and hugged him for being so sweet!

25 weeks

2009-11-23T07:01:00.001-08:00

Here's me at 6 months pregnant with sweet Ruby Jane :)

I can't believe we're already at 6 months! This pregnancy is flying by and I haven't bought one single thing for the nursery or cute baby girl stuff. I know what's wrong with me?!

So at this point...

I've noticed that it's getting a little harder to get up and down from the floor when I'm playing with Adom.

I'm still able to wear my old jeans, praise God!

I'm feeling better at this point in the pregnancy than I have the entire time.
My energy is back to somewhat normal and I feel great!

She is extremely active, even more so than Adom was and wakes me
up during the night already.

I've gained 8-9 lbs so far which is awesome!

I'm having to drink protein shakes because I'm not getting enough
protein in my diet... I don't mind they're yummy :)

So that's about it we're going to be travelling A LOT this next month with the holidays, so please keep us in your prayers while we're on the road :)

Happy Holidays!

First Belly pics & a surprise!

2009-10-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the first pictures we've taken of me during this pregnancy so far :)
I am 21 weeks just a little over 5 months in these.

I have definitely noticed I am carrying her lower than I did with Adom at this point.
She is really active and already is waking me up during the night kicking me!

I started out a lot healthier with this pregnancy than I did with Adom's and I've only gained around 4 lbs at this point.
Plus chasing a 3 year old keeps me active :)

AND surprise, she already has a name! Greg decided on her name all by himself, and we couldn't be happier with it :)

Her name will be

Ruby Jane

The names together mean "A precious jewel that believes in a gracious God"

Adom gets so excited when he talks about his baby sister Ruby Jane :)

I would like to call her Ruby Jane instead of just Ruby... but we'll see when she's here with us.

Blessings & Happy Fall!

It's a.......

2009-10-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're so excited :) We can't wait to meet our baby girl come March!
Adom is sooo excited to be getting a baby sister. He has been saying all along that he wanted a baby sister and now he's getting one!

We have name ideas but not sure on anything just yet :)

Belly pics coming soon... I hope

15 weeks

2009-09-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

We had our 15 week appointment with the midwife on Thursday :) We love our midwife Christy sooo much! I can't tell you what a Godsend she is to us.

So the last appointment it was a little too soon to hear the baby's heartbeat but THIS time is came through loud and clear as soon as that doppler thingy hit my tummy!

The coolest part?! While she was poking and prodding on my stomach to get a really clear heartbeat I felt the baby move twice! It was the first time I had felt the baby move, it was such a special moment!

Adom and Greg were there with me and Adom was very curious as to what that noise was. When we told him it was the baby in Mommy's tummy he asked, "when's baby gonna come out?"
I think he's understanding a little bit more and more about the new baby :) He's going to be such a sweet big brother.

We also found out that we get to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl on October 20th! It seems like this pregnancy is going by much faster than Adom's did. I guess having a 3 year old to keep me busy helps.

I'm having to pull the old rubber band trick with my pants right now because maternity clothes are way too big still. But I am showing a lot sooner than I did with Adom!

Maybe... I'll get Greg to snap a picture of me soon... Maybe.

Whats been going on...

2009-09-11T06:41:00.001-07:00

Pictures of what we've been doing for the last few months :)

Our good friends Dustin and Jessica had their first baby boy! Hudson Daniel and he is oh so cute!
We went to Adom's cousin Landry's 4th birthday party and had lots of fun and sugar!
Adom got to play with Aunt Peggy's "Mr. Rabbit" which we just found out is actually "Missy Rabbit" haha :)
Adom started at a Mother's Day Out school last week and loves it (and so does momma)!

10 Weeks!

2009-08-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

So ya I'm pregnant... I still have a hard time believing it.

I can't believe Adom is going to be a BIG brother (he's my baby!)

I can't believe I'm going to be a mother to TWO children!

And I can't believe how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband who provides for his family and loves us so much!

Not to mention families that are so amazing, friends (new and old) that are so loving, and a heavenly Father who loves us unconditionally.

Does it get any better than this?!

I've been trying to count my blessings a lot lately, because with pregnancy comes pregnancy hormones... you know the poor me, feel sorry for me, I can't do this, feelings one minute then utter delight the next minute! Ugh, sanity where are you?

So I'm 10 weeks! Haven't been too sick with this one, I have my nauceous moments and have been extremely tired but other than that it's been pretty easy. I'm definitely thinking this pregnancy will go by a lot faster than Adom's did. A lot is going on with us right now...

Chasing a 3 year old keeps me busy enough, then recently I was asked by our Children's Minister at our church here in Fort Worth if I would consider taking over as the Nursery Coordinator. A good friend of mine who was the nursery coordinator is moving to Georgia with her family. So I accepted the offer, it was a total God thing! Plus I'm still doing my transcription work from home in the afternoons or evenings.

So with all this I'm trying to get Adom into a Mother's Day Out program probably one maybe two days a week.

Anyways, theres a little update into our lives at the moment.

Greg and I both are thinking this baby is going to be a girl, Adom thinks so too haha! We keep asking him if mommy has a baby girl or a baby boy in her tummy and he always says , " a baby grill" :)

No names yet, Greg will be naming this baby :)

I'll try to keep you posted on how we're all doing, we are using a midwife with this baby and our first appointment will be the end of this month when we get to hear the heartbeat :)

Adom's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Adom's 3rd Birthday party :) Just click on the play button in the middle of the picture to watch the video. I can't believe our baby is already three years old :( It has gone by WAY too fast!

Oh and for those of you that haven't heard we are expecting baby #2 :) Due March 8th!

I will try to get better about updating my blog. This pregnancy has made me extremely tired, so when I'm not chasing Adom around I'm usually trying to grab a nap. I'll keep you posted on how things are going around here.

To the beach

2009-07-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

GiGi and PopPop got to go with us to the beach!
haha PopPop!
being silly
On the ferry boat ride over to Port Aransas

Summertime

2009-07-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Josiah and Lydia are Adom's best buddies here in Fort Worth. Sadly, they are moving to Georgia in a few short weeks. We are really going to miss them :(
Adom "helping" Daddy in the back yard.
Cold water!

Popsicles after swimming :)

tractors and family :)

2009-07-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

The tractor pictures were taken at my Aunt Peggy's house while Adom and I were spending some time down in Kerrville last time with my mom and her.

My Aunt Derlene was so great to have a family dinner for us while Adom and I were in the area! We loved seeing almost all of my Dad's family :)

More pictures to come...

Growin' Up

2009-06-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

My good friend Jodi took these beautiful pictures while we were visiting in Kerrville this last time.

Adom is growing up so fast! I can't believe he'll be 3 years old next month. Why does it go by so stinkin' fast?!

We've been pretty busy here in Fort Worth lately, we've really started to get a lot more involved with our church and it's awesome the things that God is doing in our lives!

God has truly answered my prayers for new friendships :) It's wonderful.

Fort Worth is feeling like home more and more everyday :)

Our New Baby...

2009-06-08T07:48:00.001-07:00

Did I fool anybody with the title of this post?! HAHA!

Gotcha!

Meet the new addition to our family... Big Red :) We love her already and she is both of ours dream truck. It was such a God thing and is a huge blessing in our lives :)

And yes I've decided it's a she because she is dead sexy!

Botanical Gardens in the Spring

2009-05-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

My Dad and Barbara came up to spend the weekend with us here in Fort Worth for Memorial Day weekend. We took them to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens! It was beautiful and there was a nice cool breeze so it was a very pleasant day and it was soooo beautiful!
But judging from the picture of me with Adom, girlfriend seriously needs a tan! Yikes!

We had a wonderful weekend and I can honestly say that the gardens are my favorite place to visit in the fall AND in the spring :)

Random pics

2009-05-26T12:51:00.001-07:00

I've discovered lately that I would much rather read other people's blogs than update my own :) I know it's terrible but true haha.
So here's some random update pictures...

We've moved into "big boy undies" He's especially proud of his Thomas underwear!

Adom being a goofball

Before and after shots of his most recent haircut. That Mommy and Daddy did :)

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick shout out to all the beautiful, terrific, wonderful mommas out there! Happy Mother's Day!

I am very blessed to have a mother that is also one of my best friends and a mother-in-law whom I can same the same about!

Greg and Adom got me a two year subscription for Texas Highways magazine! Yay! I've been wanting that for a really long time :)

Watch out all you Texas German, Bluebonnet, Dutch, Pioneer, & Christmas fests (not to mention flea markets) here we come ;)

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust

Easter

2009-04-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

Alright so I know this is a little late but at least I'm getting them up. Every year we try to go to Leakey to my family's place and do Easter with my Aunts and Uncles and all the cousins. My mom is the youngest of 8 kids so I always had tons of cousins growing up so needless to say Adom has lots of cousins as well :) He had a blast easter egg hunting this year and ate gummy bears and jelly beans till he popped. We had a great time and look forward to it every year :)

Potty Update

2009-04-27T11:54:00.001-07:00

We have success people... my baby boy is officially potty trained!

Still wearing the pull ups only because we haven't made the special trip to the store for "big boy underwear".

Most nights he is completely dry when he wakes up and he is always dry after nap time, AND he goes in public restrooms!

So we rented Thomas the Train DVD from the library today for a reward for doing so well.

By the way he has a mild obsession with trains right now.... so right now hes happier than a tornado in a trailer park! (movie line)

Next step is to get him a big boy bed... not sure momma is ready for all this "big boy" stuff :(

Potty Time

2009-04-20T12:20:00.001-07:00

Excuse me... Little busy here.

Yes Adom is potty training! Hallelujah!

He is doing so well! He went for the first time in the potty last Thursday and went on and off all day Friday. Then Saturday morning him and Greg went to buy him some "big boy pullups" with Cars on them!

This kid amazes me, I thought potty training was going to be such a struggle but he hasn't peed (except for during the night) in his pullup since Saturday. He's almost completely dry when he wakes up in the morning too!

Church was a different story... I think it will take some time for him to be comfortable going potty anywhere but home for a while.

Today we went to the park for 2 hours and as soon as we got home he told me he had to go. His pullup was completely dry. He waited till we got home to go!

I'm one proud momma... in case you couldn't tell :)

Nana comes to the big city!

2009-04-16T18:55:00.001-07:00

My mom AKA "Nana" came to spend the whole week with us last week! We had an awesome time and got to do a lot of fun activities while she was here.
We took her to the Dallas World Aquarium which is the coolest aquarium EVER!

We went shopping, took her to the stockyards, she ate at Chick-fil-a for the FIRST time, and most of all we got lots of one-on-one time to visit and love on her :) And God Bless her she even watched Adom for us one night so Greg and I could have a date night :)

We had such a good visit and we love you so much Nana!!!!

The many faces of Adom and PawPaw

2009-04-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Party

2009-04-08T14:04:00.001-07:00

Last month I, along with others, threw my Daddy a surprise birthday party.
It was his 70th!
It was a wonderful evening surrounded by wonderful friends and family.
We are truly blessed to have this wonderful man in our lives :)

Only happens to me...

2009-04-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have a friend... don't laugh. I have many.

This friend, who shall remain nameless (or maybe not) makes fun of me mercilessly regarding my "stories".

I can't help it. Some people have "good stories with picnics and lemonade and noodle salad" (movie line, any guesses?). I have what I guess some would call absurd "stories". Many times in which I have told my "stories" and have been called a liar. But unfortunately they are the God's honest truth... no bull... ain't pullin' yer leg... not pullin' the wool over your eyes... truth.

Am I embarrassed? Quite often, yes. But I like to view myself as unique. Don't burst my bubble.

So to shame my name even further I've decided to blog one of my "stories".

No pity please, I am furthering my uniqueness (a word?). At least that is what I'm going to keep telling myself.

After graduating high school I ventured out into the "real" world. While I was thrilled to be in this new world of adult responsibility and sleeping in till noon everyday, I very quickly realized that there was a need for something called "income". I had to do something about this.

But what? Hmmm... a job ya that would probably work. I wanted a job where I didn't have to deal with drama. I had had enough of that stuff for the last 10 years of my life in the public school system. I wanted something where I could sit at a desk and look professional, answer phones, do reports, adult stuff.

So I got a job at the Beer Barn. :) Okay so not quite what I was picturing but it was fun and I made quite a bit of money, which was all I was really interested in anyways. I got a nice apartment, had a lot of friends, and had very little responsibility in my life. Soooo.... onto the actual "story".

While driving to my "non-adult" job one November morning it happened...

I was violently attacked by a deer (actually a buck). Either that or he was trying to hitch a ride.

Now I don't mean I hit a deer on the road like every other normal person in the Texas Hill Country... I mean I was attacked.

To further this whacked out event, I'll give you a little more insight into my life. I had lived on ranches my ENTIRE life! I had a custom grill guard put on my vehicle because I lived in the middle of frikkin' nowhere where it was an everyday occurence to hit these creatures. Not once in the very few years that I'd been driving had I ever remotely had to use this impervious grill guard.

Anywho... so on this blissful morning while driving my very safe "deer-guarded" vehicle I come to a stop behind a mall at a stoplight. In my peripheral vision I see a blur coming at me from the CAR WASH on my driver's side. I assumed it was a car. I thought to myself, "this is it Colleen...the end... finite...you've bought the farm... bit the bullet." Saw my life flash before my eyes (which terrified me more than the blur coming at me, yikes) and then it happened.

The blur hit my drivers side door, I turned to protect myself with my back facing the window, and something stabbed me. Then something was moving.... thrashing violently inside my car! I looked and low and behold this "blur" was not a car it was a deer.

Aghast I shrieked with horror then the next thing I remember I was coming to and hearing people yelling at me "Are you ok?" "Can you drive yourself to the parking lot?"

So I did where I proceeded to learn from many stunned witnesses that a 5 point buck had tried to hitch a ride with me. Wherein I was not amused.

The EMS arrived along with the fire brigade to let me know that they would require the help of the "jaws of life" to extract me from the vehicle because 5 firemen could not get my car door to open. That didn't sound good. Fortunately they eventually unjammed the door without the help of the "jaws of life" and started yelling at me NOT TO MOVE! I had complained of neck pain... big mistake. They strapped a neck brace on me put me on a stretcher and into the ambulance for a whoppin' 1 mile drive across the bridge to the emergency room... I kid you not.

Wheeled in the ER, past a friend of mine that shrieked in horror at the sight of me on a stretcher, and was told by a nurse that looked my age (keep in mind I am 18 when this happened) that she was not allowed to touch me until a doctor arrived. My shoulder blade is burning, it feels like I've been sliced with a razor blade inside the neck brace, and I just know my mascara is running since I'm hysterical at this point.

The doctor arrives proceeds to yell at this young, but very sweet, nurse that there is probably shards of glass under my neck brace from the accident and she should have removed it at once! She starts to cry, I start to cry, it's pandemonium for a few seconds. Until he shoots me up with vicodin... in which case I forgot to mention that I'm extremely sensitive to and proceed to vomit on myself. There goes whats left of my dignity.

Things calm down from this point on, they call my Aunt... she tells my Uncle Jay to get to the hospital and she'll be there as soon as she gets her makeup on. Nice. I tell them NOT to call my parents, I'm fine. In walks Uncle Jay, here come the waterworks all over again, mostly from exhaustion. In walks Aunt Peggy (with makeup), comes to my rescue and cleans off the gothic makeup which has acquired on my face from all the tears. AND finally, in walks my mother who is beside herself because apparently my father (I don't remember how he knew), whom she just divorced, called her and told her I was in an accident and to get down to the hospital. Talk about drama.

I am discharged from the ER with a puncture wound to the left shoulder blade (caused by being stabbed by the deer's antler,of course) & minor cuts to face and neck area (due to my drivers side window and front windshield being shattered). Oh and many thanks from the ER staff for givin' em' a good laugh for the day. Still not amused.

Worst part of the day? Ruined my favorite blue sweater and the deer walked away unscathed... of course.

This stuff only happens to me.

At the zoo with friends

2009-03-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got to spend the day with some of our best friends the Gossmanns.

We had a great time and Adom and Gabe had so much fun together! I will share more pictures later. Just wanted to get a few up now.

Snap,Crackle,Pop

2009-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

I couldn't ask for better gal pals than these two fine ladies.

I refer to them as my "kelli(y)'s". Cuz they're mine.

I don't think I could have survived this last year without our weekly chatting sessions on the phone.

We all went through a lot of the same life transitions at the same times. The three of us (and our families) all moved within a 3 week period of one another. We split in 3 totally different directions.

But somehow we've gotten closer through the separation. We've laughed hysterically, blubbered uncontrollably, and just talked about whats on the grocery list this week. All over the phone.

We were blessed in December when we all got to meet up in Temple for a whole weekend together. I can't believe I'm just now blogging about it. I really do love ya'll... I swear.

We are doubly blessed that our hubby's are great friends as well. What a God thing. I am amazed that he has put such wonderful people in my life that make me smile every time I think about them. Of course Adom and Gabe (Jeff and Kelli's little boy) love each other as well. Gabe is one of the very few little guy pals that Adom has... it's so much fun to see them play together. And very soon Adom will have another little guy pal cuz Kelly C. is due to have her little boy on March 10th!

They complete me... *cheesy grin*

Seriously though, they bless my socks off.

And that's saying a lot cuz I never wear socks.

rambling...rambling.... Okay I'm done. Good night.

Love,
The Ramblin' WOman

A Proud Moment Indeed

2009-02-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

Alright, this was bound to happen sooner or later so I'm going to get it over with.

Collective Soul.

No this is not some spiritual metaphor... it is the most awesomest (yes I said awesomest) band... to me (and Greg).

This band actually brought Greg and I together (well them and God).

We had mutual friends and one evening while chatting the subject came up about music and I mentioned Collective Soul. Ryan gasped. "You like Collective Soul?!"

Little did I know the next day Ryan and April had started planning our arranged marriage. See Greg is equally obsessed with this band. Almost.

It started in the 5th grade for me, this obsession. It allowed me to skip all the teeny bopper stuff. Puke.

One of the best days of my life was when Greg called me up from work one afternoon right after our 2nd anniversary and said, "guess who's gonna be at Stubb's BBQ in Austin?" I said, "what's a Stubbs?" he said, "thats not the point," anyways long story short... Collective Soul.

I think I may have screamed into the phone all I remember is waking up on the floor in our carport. not really. How pathetic would that me? haha *nervous laugh*.

It was so freakin' cool. It was a small audience so we were right up close to them. I had waited since the 5th grade for this moment. This band had a huge part in defining who I am today. Seriously.

And that night I felt like I was in the 5th grade all over again. I was a silly giggly girl who couldn't stop dancing like an idiot... and I totally couldn't have cared less.

Okay so to the point of my story... :)

The other day while listening the above mentioned band in the car I hear Adom in the back seat SINGING ALONG!

I couldn't have been a prouder momma.

Greg also beamed with pride when I shared the wonderful news with him later that day.

If you've never heard any of their music... that makes me very sad indeed.

Apparently...

2009-02-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

I'm already the annoying mother...

My 2 year old told me I was annoying today.

While watching the movie "cars" today I was singing along with the opening song (the one by Sheryl Crow) and Adom told me to "stop it".

So I did. For a while...

As I resumed my melody Adom looked at me again and said, "momma stop it, annoying."

To be told this by a child who watches the movie Cars probably 8-10 times a day says a lot about myself.

Of course I chose to ignore him and therefore "annoy" him even more.

And I wonder where he gets his little quirks from...

10 Minutes or less (sort of)

2009-02-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Lately my favorite blogs have been decorating blogs... what with the new house and all. By far my favorite one is The Nester! She is so incredibly creative and she does it on my kind of budget (She's a Dave Ramsey gal too).

I don't have any before photos but it was just a blank wall before. This took a little more than 10 minutes, just because I had to buy the scrap paper and take the time to get up to date pictures in all the frames as well. Plus, having a 2 1/2 yr old boy "helping" me with hanging stuff on the wall is always such a time saver!

It looks kind of blah against the white background... but that'll soon change! This wall will soon be Tobacco Road (The Nester's favorite color by the way).

All of the picture frames were ones I already had. I went to Hobby Lobby earlier this week and bought various black and white scrapbooking paper to add umph to pictures. The plates on the wall were all Goodwill finds!

This is just the beginning of the wall... I will definitely be adding splashes of color in as well. *hint* Orange you glad I did this? heehee!

Reminiscing

2009-02-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

This picture totally made me cry last night. In case you didn't know this about me I like to periodically torture me and my poor husband with hours worth of old picture reminiscing. He was so squishy! And he didn't go anywhere very fast. Now I can't even catch the kid. Look at that round squishy head and tummy... oh.

Then I found this picture... it made me cry too.
Ouch.

kooky kid

2009-02-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

Yes I have a kooky kid... he never had a chance.

Once in a while Adom and I get to go pick up Greg and have lunch with him. And it's always "chicken & Fwench Fwies" "Chickfiway" .

So about a week ago we were on our way to lunch and out of no where Adom starts hooting like an owl.

Can you guess which restaurant we passed?

I bet you can.
Ah, the joys of the city...

Some would be appalled... us? We laughed our rears off.

The message I was speaking of

2009-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.jamesavenue.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=1000006943&file_id=1000008216

Here is the link to the message I was speaking of that we heard at church. The man's name is Matt Bomhoff and he and his wife Sonia are leaders at our church's ministry school. It's kind of long but if you have the time to listen it will bless your socks off!

The Spirit of Poverty

2009-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes telling people about Jesus is meaningless when the abundant life isn't being lived out in front of them. --www.Spiritledwoman.com

I've been meaning to talk about this for a long time but a conversation with my wonderful mother-in-law inspired me to share it with everyone on this blog.

The Spirit of Poverty

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

God has done a lot of stretching in me this last year and one of the major things I've learned from him is that there are so many different seasons in life. Good and Bad. The bad is usually always for teaching purposes :) So... worship Him in good times and in bad, because seasons end, good or bad.

Greg and I made the decision to move a year ago this month. Move from everything and everyone we knew and loved because we felt with every bone in our bodies that this is what God wanted us to do. There have been many times since then that I've questioned if what we were hearing was God. It was.

Being an only child and growing up on ranches in the middle of nowhere my entire life I was accustomed to always being with family. Whether that be my parents or Aunts and Uncles. Then I married Greg... I inherited this wonderful family and friends galore. I experienced for the first time in my life how it felt to have a friend love you back as much as you loved them. That was powerful. So then God tells us, "move to Fort Worth". WHAT?!

You mean I won't be able to just spend the day at Verna's (MIL) anytime I'm feeling bored? I won't be able to pop in at friends house any time I like? Lord, I won't have any friends! You know I crave relationships!

So that's pretty much where I was at. For a long time even after we moved here. Before long though we found an amazing home church and started to feel a little more at home every day.

Then came the revelation one Sunday after hearing a message at church. It was about the Spirit of Poverty and how our tithes were never ours to start with! It was like a light bulb went on in both mine and Greg's spirit. It all just made sense and why the heck had we not thought of it like this before?!

Webster’s Dictionary defines poverty as: Dearth, scarcity or lack, lacking in money or possessions, inadequate.

If the enemy can keep you in bondage to the spirit of poverty, keep you in debt, physically and spiritually barren, then he is able to stop the flow of blessings in your life and keep you from being a blessing to others.

From then out Greg and I felt a desire, not a "ok well I guess I'm supposed to do this", to give back to God's kingdom what was not ours to start with. So we did. And it has been a GOOD season ever since.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

We have also been admirers of Dave Ramsey's for about 3 years now. He has an amazing Financial Peace University that we have gone through and would recommend to any person in any walk of life. It really taught us how to manage our finances in alignment with the Kingdom of God. He teaches you to "live like no one else now so that later we can live like no one else." Learn more on the I'm weirder than you sidebar to the right.

So I felt it was my responsibility to share with you our experiences in this area. We've only scraped the surface and I wanted to share with you the shavings.

A friend explained it well this last weekend. He said, "I want to be able to say to my children's children, I followed and listened to the Lord to the best of my abilities."

Me too.

quick update

2009-02-05T06:49:00.001-08:00

We are officially moved into our new home here in Fort Worth! We love it!

We have had a few plumbing issues but God is good and is working all the kinks out for us in his perfect way.

We are up to our eyeballs in boxes needless to say and it seems like we're never going to get unpacked, much less fill this huge house with furniture. I'm sure we'll get there.

There's no way in Toledo that I would post pictures of the house in it's current state even if I could. Which I can't.

Can't find the flippin' cord to download any pictures.

Adom is loving "our new home" as he calls it. The first couple of days he got a little scared when he couldn't find his way around but now he's warming up to it. The back yard is great. Just having a backyard is great! Our neighbors are sooo nice and have lived in the same house next door for 30 years. I see many mornings at their home having coffee at their breakfast table :) I love it!

We also joined Costco... which I LUHV! (I love it that much)

Lot's of work to be done around here but it's gonna be a lot of fun. Thanks for all the prayers sent our way, I know they counted with the big guy!

I might be posting pictures soon... don't hold me to that.

Like father or mother?

2009-01-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

I love these pictures.

We're all pondering the mysteries of life.

Busy Busy

2009-01-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

Soooo... did I mention we bought a house? Yes I think I did. Did I mention we move in a week? Ha! Let's just say things have been moving fast.

Since Thanksgiving it's been crazy busy around here. We travelled a lot to Kerrville and looked at a lot of houses and we actually bought one!

Thought I would share a few pictures that have been taken over the last couple of months since I haven't been posting many.

Adom and PawPaw during Christmas

Greg and Ben playing sticky hand wars...boys!

Adom and his best friend Brookie.

Christmas at Nana's house.

Showing off his cowboy boots that Nana got him.

Greg and I got him a guitar for Christmas... the boy hasn't gotten a hair cut yet. haha

Playing with baby Emmie

She is so cute!

There are a lot more photos that I could share but I'm a little frustrated with the loading application for my pictures. Overall we had a great Christmas and we got to see lots of family and friends!

Not sure how much I'm going to be able to blog in the next few weeks so if you don't hear from me in a while you might find me under packing peanuts tangled in a web of duck tape.

Cedar Choppin' to Window Shoppin'

2009-01-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Most of you that read this blog know that I was raised in the country. Middle of nowhere blessed Texas Hill Country ranches to be exact. In the past few months though I've realized that people that stop by my blog don't know anything about me.... they just see cute pics of my family (which is great)!

I'm starting a new thang... I mean thing. Just hang in there (here) with me.

This is the Nueces River. This is where I grew up.

The mountain (ahem...hill) is where we would turn off the highway to go to the ranch that my Daddy ran. It was a beautiful ranch. 4 guest houses, 1 dance pavillion w/commercial kitchen, 3 man made fishing ponds, stables w/ numerous horses, gravel runway for private planes, helicopter pad.... This was not your typical 100 acre ranch. More like thousands of acres.

There were many other ranches that we lived on...more about those some other time.

This is where I live now. Fort Worth. Theres a difference. A big dad-blasted (my favorite new word) city. It's growing on me though. Especially now that we're going to own a home in this whoppin' metroplex.

It helps that Fort Worth is known as "Cowtown". I'm not quite out of the country yet. Perhaps it's the countriest (real word?) city in Texas. I like to think so anyways.

Don't burst my bubble.

I'm going to attempt to share with you exerts from my "cedar choppin'" childhood. As well as my ventures in big city "window shoppin'".

Get it?

Cedar Choppin' to Window Shoppin'... clever right?

Don't answer that.

Stay tuned... if you dare! Muahahaha!

Love,

The raving lunatic (ME)

Seriously?

2009-01-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

Alright people... it just hit me. Just now. It's 2009!

2009... as in flying cars, people living on the moon, drinking Tang!

At least that's what I thought of when I was a kid and someone mentioned the year 2009.

Okay, so a new year. Hmmm...

Perhaps I should share what I remember about 2008.

Greg got a job in Fort Worth

We moved to Fort Worth (actually Arlington but who cares right?)

We found an awesome home church

I lost weight (but who cares)

Adom turned 2!

Our good friends Ryan and Marissa had their precious baby Emery

A lot of homesickness (is that a word?) on my part.

A Growing relationship with the Lord

Started looking into buying a home
I remembered why I hate living in apartments
I accepted a transcription job that I can do from home

Okay so I remember a lot more but those are the things that come to mind right away. It was a very busy year. As all years have been since Greg and I were married.

So in 2009 I'm thinking that we will buy that house I mentioned in my previous post. I'm totally psyched by the way. It's a whole house bigger than our house that we owned in kerrville!

I think I'm destined to wander the rooms of my future home haunted by color choices and fabric swatches... muahahaha!

*That was a good evil laugh, in case you were wondering*

Rambling...Rambling... ahem so anyways.

Back to 2009, I don't know what's gonna happen this year but I'm looking forward to it. As my wonderful Aunt Peggy says quite frequently, "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!" Sorry menfolk.

I shall leave you with a few pictures of our soon to be family abode.

Are they laughing at me?!

2009-01-03T14:29:00.001-08:00

So for Christmas my Dad gave me money to get a manicure and pedicure.

Thanks Daddy!

I used to love getting to do this kind of stuff... I still do don't get me wrong. But sometimes I wonder, are these ladies laughing at ME?

This lady that gave me my mani and pedi was VERY nice. I asked her where she was from and she said South Korea. So I'm minding my own business reading a magazine, watching the Martha Stewart show on the flat screen when she suddenly starts laughing! They all spoke Korean of course so I couldn't understand anything of what she was saying to her friends. And then it occured to me...

Are they laughing at me?!

I mean gosh, are my feet weird, do they stink, is there something hilariously wrong with me that they would roll in laughter at the thought of me?!

Probably not... but I do wonder.

Then of course when it's time to pay I'm thinking to myself, "man I should've taken all this money and gone Goodwill Hunting,".

I can guarantee you that that thought would have never ever occured to me before I was married and had a child. Good thing is though, I still had $20 left over.

Guess what I did...

I got a "new" pair of pants and shirt AND paid my library fines.

What a day... phew.

What can I say I've turned into quite the frugal gal. And.... I like it :)

God's Perfect Timing

2008-12-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

See this house? That's gonna be our house at the end of January! Ya that's right we bought a house!

It hasn't quite sunk in yet... I mean we just started looking a couple of weeks ago! It's all fallen into place perfectly so far. We still have surveys and home inspections to go through but it all looks good.

It's a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house w/ 2 car garage. It's more house than we know what to do with.... I mean we don't even have enough furniture for the blessed dang thang! (notice I say that with total affection)

As a result of this whirlwind week or two we have to return to Fort Worth from Kerrville earlier than planned. But it worked out great because Greg has the rest of the week off so that we are able to be around for the inspection.

Just a few months ago we (not God) were set dead against purchasing a home at the time. We wanted to rent because it seemed to be the better option at the time. Of course God had other plans. He usually does. So we close on the house the DAY BEFORE our lease is up on our apartment! Thank you Jesus! Any of you that have been involved in apartment leases of any kind know how hard it is to get out of them, we were very blessed that God provided this house for us at exactly the same time that our lease was ending.

To top it all off I accepted a job offer this week (actually today). Yes, me! I am now officially a work from home mom with a home based business! It's doing transcription. Anyways, more on that later. I'm a busy gal!

More pictures to come soon of the new digs! Thanks for all the prayers that I know were sent our way!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

1 John 5:11
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Let's remember what Christmas is all about, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He blesses my socks off every day and I pray he does the same for all of our loved ones. Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Sheesh!

2008-12-20T15:16:00.001-08:00

Leave me alone! Ugh... now she has 2 cameras to torture me with!

Alright.... now I'm mad!

Christmas lights

2008-12-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last night we took Adom to see the Christmas lights in Arlington. There is a neighborhood that sections off one side of the street just for people that are driving through to see the lights! It was amazing... I've never seen a neighborhood that did as much as this did. It took us a good hour or more just to see them all. Adom was sooo excited. His new favorite word is "Awesome!"

* note: These pictures were taken with my new totally rad Canon Powershot XS110IS camera. Greg and I both got our Christmas presents from each other early this year so that we can use them at Christmas.

Adom's girlfriend

2008-12-10T11:15:00.001-08:00

Adoms favorite person by far is our best friends Ryan and Aprils daughter Brook.

AKA Brookie.

He even announced to Greg, "Daddy, Brookie girlfriend!"

We didn't teach him that.

While we were in Kerrville we got to spend a lot of time with them.

It was wonderful.

Although I must say, my son needs more guy friends.

All of his friends are little girls, who love High School Musical and dress him up and do all sorts of girly stuff with him.

The only thing he's been doing since we got home?

Playing with dinosaurs, tractors, machines, fire hats and swords(thanks Uncle Ryan) I think he desperately craved "boy stuff".

Simpsons, we love ya'll and miss you terribly!

I'm Hip....

2008-12-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm Cool....

I'm with it...

technical difficulties

2008-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

More like mental difficulties...!

I can't figure out what I want my blog to look like right now so please be patient with me while I work on making it look as good as I want it to look!

Ugh...

Christmas Tag

2008-12-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

I was tagged my my SIL Amanda...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags I hate wrapping!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial because of allergies
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving preferably or when we get a chance.
4. When do you take the tree down? Until Greg begs me to take it down.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes but I always end up regretting it... it's so rich!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a beautiful babydoll carriage when I was around 7 or 8( I wonder whatever happened to that)
7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad
8. Easiest person to buy for? Adom and Verna
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes my Dad got us the Willow Tree collection I LOVE it!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm gonna try to mail some this year :)
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know
12.Favorite Christmas Movie? Of course theres Christmas Story... You'll shoot your eye out! And Miracle on 34th Street.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I tell myself I'm gonna do shopping early every year but I always end up shopping at the last minute...
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? probably but nothing big
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fried Turkey and my moms turkey dressing
16. Lights on the tree? white and multicolored
17. Favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bell Rock among many...
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? home on Christmas morning then go see family
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Uh, Rudolph, Blitzen, Conor.....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? star! Adom helped put it on this year!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? My parents always let me open 1 on Christmas Eve then the rest on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People going nuts at malls!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have little wooden carved piano ornament that my Grandfather carved, its very special.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My Uncle always brought over Ribeye Steaks! Yum!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A digital camera that I can carry in my purse :)

Merry Christmas!

I tag Lisa & Marissa!

Tardiness...

2008-12-08T06:43:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my tardiness. Adom and I were in Kerrville for the last 2 weeks! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to visit with all of our friends and family. I will be posting pictures of our trip throughout the next couple of days, even though I didn't get a whole lot of them. Oops.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

As soon as we got home on Saturday I started decorating the apartment for Christmas. Then last night we had our friends Dustin and Jessica over for apple cider (thanks kelli!) and Christmas tree decorating! Pictures to come soon.

Me around 2 yrs old

I truly love this time of year. This is the first year that Adom is really enjoying Christmas as well. It's so neat to see and hear him when he sees Christmas lights. He says, "Wow, Mommy look!" He even got to help Daddy put the star on top of the Christmas tree last night. I can't believe he's so big so soon.

Adom Christmas 07'

When I was little teachers would always tell us to write about our favorite holiday ( I swear I wrote 20 of these kinds of papers). Everyone would write about Christmas and although I did and do love Christmas I always wrote about the 4th of July being my favorite. There was always a big get together with my mom's family in Leakey and I just loved being with all my Aunt's Uncle's and cousins. I guess being an only child, anything where lots of people got together was special to me.

Adom with GiGi and PopPop Christmas 06'

This years Christmas will be a little different, we will be spending it here in Fort Worth. Just the 3 of us. I don't mind though. I'm going to attempt to make a small yet very fancy Christmas dinner and I will be able to totally focus on my little family. I also want to find a book for Adom that tells the story of Jesus' birth to read to him on Christmas Eve. If you have any suggestions send them my way.

Me around 3 yrs old

These next couple of months are going to be very busy. Going to visit friends, amusment parks, Christmas, New years in Kerrville, and thats just December. We'll be packing in January. Our lease is up here at the apartment January 30th so please be praying that we will be able to find the perfect house (with a nice yard!) by then.

Happy Holidays!

Husband Tag

2008-11-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

What is your husbands name? Gregory Charles Richards

How long have you been married? Little over 3 years

How long did you date? we dated 4 months and were engaged for 2 months before we got married!
How old is he? 27 years old

Who eats more sweets? ME
Who said "I love you" first? I think we both blurted it out
Who is taller? uh.... let me think.... me ;)
How tall is he? 6 ft
Who is smarter? Tricky very tricky

Who can sing the best? He can even though he won't
Who does the laundry? I do

Who does the dishes? We both do
Who pays the bills? Greg but I do it if he tells me to
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does... maybe I do guess it depends on how your looking at the bed

Who mows the lawn? He does (when we have one)
Who cooks dinner? I do! But he does breakfast on the weekends
Who drives?Both of us, I don't do well on long car rides unless I do the driving.
Who kissed who first? We both kissed each other first

Who's the first to admit they are wrong? Me definitely
Who asked who out first? Greg emailed me and awkwardly offered to buy me dinner haha (love you honey!)
Who wears the pants? He does. I like it that way :)

What are his hobbies? Playing the drums, playing the mandolin, disc-golf, computer stuff, playing with Adom, annoying me. They didn't call him "the mosquito" for nothing when he was little.
Favorite Food? Steak and barbequed ribs, cream corn, fried catfish
Favorite Dessert? Leah's cookies from the Peach Tree
Favorite Movie? Dumb and Dumber (Same as Carl haha)
Favorite Kid? So far Adom ;)
Dream Vehicle? The car that Matthew McConaughey drives in "Failure to Launch" it's a classic porsch.

Favorite Place to Visit? Colorado... Oregon too.

I tag Kelli G., Amber, Kristi, and Susan!

Kitchen Ramblings- Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

2008-11-19T14:03:00.001-08:00

I was in the mood for baking today... that's been happening more frequently lately. hmmm I hope my new jeans fit after Christmas :(

Oh well.

These turned out really yummy!

*tip* I put parchment paper on my cookie sheets to prevent the cookies from sticking. Worked really well!

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, white sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats and the butterscotch chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-9 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown.

Cloud Comfy

2008-11-17T18:21:00.001-08:00

I've always had this saying, "Cloud Comfy." Its what I say when I'm oh so comfy in my bed... you know that feeling when you just DO NOT want to get out of bed because you could not possibly get any comfier (I dont think thats a word) than this!

I think this picture of one week old Adom and his GiGi perfectly portrays my description of "cloud comfy".

A day doesn't go by that I don't miss this wonderful woman. When I married Greg I got two best friends and I'm very blessed to say that my mother-in-law is one of them (Greg is the other haha).

Am I not the luckiest gal? :)

And this is me in all my chubby cheek glory... I look like I was attacked by bees!

I love my mom we've always been the best of friends and I know I can talk to her about anything and everything. We've been through a lot together and I like to think that we're both strong women because of one another.

My mom is the youngest of 8 children! 6 girls and 2 boys in her family... so you can imagine how spoiled I was by all of my aunts! I had many amazing women in my life that contributed to the woman I am today.

Ya I think I am a lucky gal :)

Kitchen Ramblings- Caramelized Baked Chicken

2008-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

This recipe is extremely easy and VERY tasty! Just remember to thaw the chicken out the night before and marinade the chicken all day before cooking it. Also, when the chicken is done baking I take the sauce that is in the baking dish put it in a saucepan and thicken it with a little cornstarch to make a gravy for dipping the chicken! It's a lot better when you make the gravy to go with it. :) ENJOY!

I usually use 3-4 large chicken breasts with skin and bone for this recipe. You can also use chicken wings (about 3 pounds for this recipe) or chicken thighs with bone and skin.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken. Let chicken marinate for AT LEAST 2-3 hours, all day is better:)
Bake in preheated oven for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized.

Tagged

2008-11-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by my friend Jodi...

So I went to the sixth picture file and the sixth picture in that file was....

Ya he's had a rough day.

This picture was taken at the Fort Worth Zoo (which rocks!) right after we moved to Fort Worth.

Where was I?

2008-11-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by my friend Susan...

1 minute ago: I was thinking, "crap my computer screen is breaking".

1 day ago: I was at church.

1 week ago: I was looking forward to library time with new friends.

1 month ago: I was in Kerrville with my Dad during his knee surgery.

3 years ago: I was a newlywed AND we were about to find out that we were pregnant with Adom! CRAZY!

5 years ago: I was a junior in high school. Taking all my junior plus senior classes so I could get the heck out of Camp Wood!

7 years ago: I was a freshman in high school and getting into all sorts of trouble...

10 years ago: 1998? I was in sixth grade I think completely hating school as usual.

I tag Kelli, Jodi, Cari, & Amanda.

The only thing I liked about school was being on the flag corp.

Big bows and all! HAHA!

All Better

2008-11-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

Today my baby boy is sick :(

I hate it when he is sick... I've mentioned this before I'm sure.

He is being such a trooper though, just chillin on the couch watching "carcoons".

He thinks when I give him Medicine (he calls it Memes) he should automatically be better. He says, "All Better" and gives me a big grin.... Only to be dissapointed when the "memes" don't work right away.

I have to say though it melts my heart on days like this when all he wants to do is hold onto his momma. Sometimes I think my heart will literally burst with love when he looks up at me with tears in those big brown eyes.

On another note...

This past weekend we went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, it was breathakingly beautiful! The pictures are on our family web album. Here's the link

http://picasaweb.google.com/therichardsalbum

Happy Birthday Bella!

2008-11-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Beautiful Bella! We love you!

October

2008-11-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

I'm terribly behind in posting... sorry. Seems to be the case lately :)

So these are pictures from the month of October. It was a very busy month. It was mine and Greg's third anniversary, we went to Kerrville for a week for my Dad's knee replacement surgery, we went to Adom's cousin Savannah's 4th birthday party at a pumpkin patch, I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and it was Halloween. Whew!

So my brain isn't working right today sooo....

To explain some of the pictures, Adom was scared when we carved our longhorn pumpkin. He's a major scardy cat! Or as Sam (Jodi's son) used to say, he's a little chicky baby! hahaha! We still use that one.

The little girl with the butterfly is Adom's cousin Savannah and her party was at the pumpkin patch.

And the last one is when we were in Ktown. Adom LOVES sitting on PopPop's stool in his office and chatting with PopPop.

Sorry about the choppy post Just wanted to get some pics up here :)

Please Vote

2008-11-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

Please vote today! If you don't vote you don't have the right to complain!

You owe it to your future generations...

Pray for a rightous leader for our country!

Egg Drop Soup

2008-10-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that the Egg Drop Soup that I made the other day turned out good.

If you would like the recipe please let me know and I'll post it.... to be honest I'm so sick of Egg Drop Soup right now! I instructed Greg yesterday on how to make some twice baked mashed potatoes and thats what I've been eating. They are really yummy! But I'm tiring of those quickly as well.

The only thing I can think about right now is Fried Chicken :( Oh man I would love me some fried chicken right about now. Oh well, bring on the mushy stuff! ugh....

A little fuzzy

2008-10-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Glad to report that everything went really well, didn't feel a thing during the procedure.

I've been in some pain since I got home but the pain killers are helping in that department ;)
My mind is kind of fuzzy (can't put thoughts together) but I don't mind.

Thanks again for all the prayers I know they worked!

Love and Blessings!

Thanks!

2008-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for your comments! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

I've decided to make Egg Drop Soup, I'll let you know next week if it was blog worthy. My mom used to make it for me when I was younger and Verna has made in the past before also. So I figured I could have broth and eggs... Egg Drop Soup!

Thanks again for all the prayers, just knowing so many people are praying for me helps me to know that I'm going to be just fine.

God Bless!

On another note...

My good friend Jodi who I've recently added to my fellow bloggers list (Handprints on the Window) started doing pictures of the day. Well sorry Jodi but I'm stealing your idea! I also have sooo many pictures on my computer that no one ever sees that I would love to share with you! They may be old or new but they will be ones that I really like.

Greg took this picture of Adom while I was out of the house one day.

I think it captured "little Boy" perfectly.

Need your help

2008-10-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

I need recipe suggestions!

This Wednesday I'm having my wisdom teeth removed... ugh!

I know I'll make a soup but I'm having a hard time deciding on what kind of soup to make. Also if you have a good pudding or chocolate mousse recipe that would be great.

I can't eat anything with small pieces in it (nuts, oats, rice, etc.) so anything mushy, brothy, and yummy!

Also, if you've gone through this and you have any suggestions about the healing process and what to do and what not to do would be greatly appreciated as well.

Hmmm.... can you tell I'm nervous?! I had a really bad experience with a dentist when I was a kid and it traumatized me. I'm having conscious sedation performed because all 4 of my wisdom teeth have broken through the skin therefore, I don't need actual surgery. They say you don't remember the procedure at all but it still makes me nervous when I think about being awake during this. *breath*

Send your yummy recipes my way!

Pray

2008-10-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to ask everyone to be praying for my mother-in-law Verna for the next 10 or so days. She and a friend are in Indonesia for a women's leadership conference in Bali.

She told me that everytime Adom whines I should remember to pray for her.

I've been praying a lot haha!

Thanks and God Bless!

Nope

2008-10-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Pumpkin Soup was not blog worthy.

I don't think it was the recipe so much as the cook :(

Oh well I've got a Pork Chop Feta recipe thats really good.

Recipe coming soon....

Stay tuned...

2008-10-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

For I am making Pumpkin Soup tonight for dinner!

I'll let you know how it goes and if it is blog worthy.

Happy Fall!

"Home Again"

2008-10-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

So here we are "Home Again" I say that in quotes because I'm still working on seeing Fort Worth as our home.

I'm trying I really am.

I'm sure any of you that have been through this similar transition know what I'm talking about, it takes time.

I'm just trusting in God that He will help me to see this place as home and not constantly want to be back in Kerrville.

Anyways, enough about that.

Our trip to Kerrville was a whirlwind, I feel like I didn't get to see or visit hardly anyone, sorry. But the trip was much needed and I'm so so so glad that I was there for my Daddy.

The knee replacement surgery turned out to be a much bigger deal than we had anticipated and he needed my help a lot while I was there. I am so happy to report that he is doing great! He is well on the road to recovery and the pain is pretty much not there!

I am so grateful for my family, Verna and my mom kept Adom for me a lot while we were there. I ended up having to stay the night at the hospital a few times and I don't know what I would have done without these wonderful women. Thank you both soooo much! I can't even express in words how thankful I am!

So we're back and it's always hard getting back into the swing of things but we'll get there. I didn't take one single picture the entire time I was there. I know shame shame! I think Verna did get a couple of pics and I think Greg got a few with Adom and PopPop at the computer haha! I'll try to get my hands on those, but like I said it was a whirlwind trip and I'm so glad we were able to go.

Now I'm going to go collapse on the couch with my son and my coffee and try to get my bearings again! God Bless!

Daddy update

2008-10-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well my Dad had his surgery yesterday afternoon and everything went great. I spent the night last night with him up at the hospital *yawn* and he is doing really well. I Will let everyone know more when we know more. Thanks for all the prayers! God Bless!

My Daddy

2008-10-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Adom and I are leaving today to stay a week in Kerrville. My Dad is having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday so please keep him in your prayers.

Can you tell from this picture that I love him so much?

I thought so.

Future Linebacker

2008-10-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Game Day

2008-10-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Adom during the UT Longhorns game in which they BEAT the OU Sooners! I think I mentioned that before... He wasn't as into it as we were so he found things to entertain himself. But we're thinking with the way he is growing certain friends and family members will have him on the Longhorn football team in no time! :) Happy weekend everybody!

O WHO?!

2008-10-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

Thats right my Longhorns beat the Sooners! Oh ya! Pics and video to come soon of our future Longhorn linebacker!

3 years!

2008-10-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday (Oct. 1st) was our anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for 3 years, I guess having a kid made it go by extra fast haha!

That evening Greg surprised me with a beautiful flower bouquet with all my favorite flowers in them.

And I made him one of his favorite dinners, fried catfish, fried potatoes and corn on the cob. Oh and Cinnammon cookies for desert. It was a very nice evening.

But then our friends Dustin and Jessica were so nice to offer to babysit Adom Saturday night so we could go out to dinner! We went to Texas de Brazil in downtown Fort Worth and it was amazing! They had a huge salad buffet with exotic cheeses and imported olives and oh my gosh all sorts of stuff! Then these guys come around with these huge scewers of meat with big knives and you get to have all sorts of meat. Of course we had desert! It was really neat and we had a great time!

Kitchen Ramblings

2008-10-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite "special" recipe.

I say "special" because it was fabulous! It tasted like something you would order at a really nice restaurant.

I'll also include the side dish that I made to go with it because it went really well with the chicken!

Cayenne Chicken w/ Pecans & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup chopped pecans, divided in half

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

4 tbls. butter

2 cups milk, heated

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped or julienned

Mix 1/2 cup chopped pecans, flour, cayenne & pepper in gallon ziploc bag. Dredge chicken breasts in mixture. Heat 2 tbls. butter & 1/8 cup olive oil in deep, wide skillet. On med/high heat, brown breasts on both sides. Remove to paper towel & keep warm in oven.

Reduce hear to medium, add remaining pecans, and sun-dried tomatoes until heated through. Stir in 1-2 tbls. of dredging mix. Slowly pour in milk to make gravy of desired consistency. Return chicken breasts to pan, spoon sauce over & serve warm.

Roasted Fall Veggies

1 whole yellow onion sliced

1 head of cauliflower seperated

1 large sweet potato cubed

2 tbls. olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large pyrex baking dish combine sliced onion, cauliflower, and cubed sweet potato. Drizzle olive oil, salt, & pepper over vegetables toss to coat. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 min. Uncover and bake an additional 15-20 until nicely roasted and onions are really soft and potatoes are tender. (I tossed in a little bit of italian seasoning with the olive oil as well).

ENJOY and let me know if you try these out!

Kitchen Ramblings

2008-10-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted any recipes...
I've tried a few new ones that I'm really excited to share with everyone.

The first I can't take any credit for whatsoever.

I got the recipe from one of my favorite bloggers who is Kristi's (my SIL) friend. Her blog is Blue Yonder and it's great you should definitely check it out! Thanks Stefani for the recipe! I think she actually got it from a friend as well :)

Cinnamon Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

cinnamon sugar

Directions:
In a mixer bowl, cream together sugar and butter; beat in egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

Add to butter mixture.

Blend well.

Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or till firm enough to roll into balls.

Shape dough into small balls about 3/4-inch in diameter.

Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

Set cookies 1-inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or till the edges are lightly browned.

Cool slightly on pans, then remove to racks to cool completely.

These cookies were amazing! They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside... the taste reminds me a lot of cinnamon toast that my mom would make me when I was a kid on cool autumn mornings! ENJOY!

Can you tell...

2008-09-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

That our son is amazed by all musical instruments?

It started with Daddy's drums.

Then his little "weeano" (Piano) on GiGi's back porch.

Of course he mastered PopPop's keyboard....

Now it's Daddy's guitar.

Greg just bought a really nice mandolin that I'm sure Adom will love as well. Pictures of that to come soon...

Goof!

2008-09-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Ya he's got some big shoes to fill...

Have you noticed how big Adom is getting? None of his clothes fit him properly, kids resale here we come!

Whole Foods Market

2008-09-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, granted I can't afford to shop here but some day I will!

I love trying new recipes with different kinds of ingredients, so what do I find?!

A Whole Foods BLOG!

They've got all sorts of great videos and recipes on this blog and I am so excited I found it. It's called Whole Story and it's under my fellow bloggers' list.

The challenge now?

To find the ingredients that they call for (or similar) in my friendly family neighborhood grocery store!

The search is on...

Curious George

2008-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while I was browsing at Target... which I love :)

I found Curious George the movie on sale for $10!

Brought it home put it on for Adom and let me tell you he loves it! But so do I!

It's just about the cutest kids movie I've ever seen and bonus it has an awesome soundtrack by Jack Johnson!

So if your kids haven't seen this one, go rent it or better yet buy it while it's on sale!

I love it when Adom likes movies that I don't mind watching, cuz let me tell you I'm soooo tired of Baby Einsteins I could... be sick!

Seasons

2008-09-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

So apparently fall is here... really?

There are little clues everywhere that something is changing but like the saying goes here in Texas, "If you don't like the weather, stick around."

This picture to the left was taken in Ireland I love the contrast in it. The vibrant green and then the beautiful autumn leaves.

So seasons aren't just about weather... life has seasons as well.

As I'm sure most of you know.

I've talked to a few friends in the last couple of weeks that I had lost contact with over the last few years. All we could talk about was how fast time goes by now and how things just don't slow down!

It seems like the minute Greg and I met God put us on hyperdrive. But certain seasons seem to go by as slow as molasses then you look back and think, man that time in my life went by so fast and I learned so much from it.

Graham Cooke came to our church about a month ago and I've been transcribing that conference for the church office. So I've been typing everything that Graham spoke to the church and it's really been ministering to my heart. He spoke a lot about resting in God's peace and using God's peace as a weapon against the enemy.

Everyone has circumstances in their life that may be hard to go through at the time but God is teaching you through these circumstances. This is how Graham put it, "Somehow what’s happened is the circumstances become bigger than anything else but the circumstance is there to give you a bigger revelation of who God is. So sometimes we need to turn our back on the problem so that we can face who God is and what He wants to be for us because what He wants to be for you is who you get to become." I love that God is always showing us a part of Himself so that we can discover through that more about who we are in Him.

Most people are going through some kind of transition. It's hard. But it's a stretching time for us and God is revealing things to us about ourselves that we didn't know about ourselves before. He is always making us stronger. He is always good. No matter what.

I hope this makes sense, I tend to ramble sometimes but I wanted to share my thoughts with my family and friends.

Graham said that our hearts are always engaged with the Lord's eyesight! I had to think on that for a while but it truly amazed me.

It's torture!

2008-09-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Adom obviously hated getting his haircut but he stopped crying long enough to answer what color the car was haha... I think he was over exaggerating just a bit with all the crying!

Haircut

2008-09-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

The "before" shot.

This weekend we took Adom to get a haircut...

in the past either Verna (GiGi) or I have done it.

But we figured the place down the road that is just for kids would be alright with him since they have cars and cartoons playing the whole time.

We were wrong.

He screamed the whole time.

During...

TADA!

The Dreaded Pea

2008-09-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, the dreaded pea... you shall surrender to it's power!

After Adom and I got back from Kerrville we started THE FOOD WAR!

I was sick and tired of having to make seperate dinners for Adom everynight when I was making such nutritious and yummy dinners for Greg and I. Not to mention it was quite a strain on our budget having to shop for seperate groceries for him.

So it was hard....

really hard.

He is a very strong willed child and I knew this task was not going to be an easy one. But I had to keep reminding myself that I know whats best for him he doesn't.

So after a couple of days of whining and fits and screaming ( I could continue with this)...

He broke!

He is now eating things that he would never have touched before! Before he wouldn't eat many fruits, but now hes eating raspberries, grapes, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, and so on and so on. Hes also eating vegetables!

Hallelujah praise the Lord!

He loves Peas, who knew?!

All that said the War is far from over, we've just won a few battles.

To those of you who gave me so much support through all of this (you know who you are) THANK YOU!

Disney World or Bust!

2008-09-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know if he's getting ready for Disney World or School...

Finger Painting

2008-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Adom loves to Finger Paint!

On the way home

2008-09-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough to be able to stop and see our good friends the Gossmanns'. Sadly Jeff was not there but we got to visit with Gabe and Kelli for a couple of hours. I miss these people sooo much and it was such a blessing to get to see them for a little while. We love you guys!

I don't think Gabe was too happy with Adom being in HIS chair! LOL

Happy Birthday Ben!

2008-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ben! We love you!

When I think of Home...

2008-09-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

I think of my Aunts and Uncles.

Specifically my Aunt Pat Pat and Uncle Whimpy and Aunt Peggy and Uncle Jay. I don't think I have one good memory from my childhood that doesn't involve one of these wonderful people.

Yes I grew up in Camp Wood but when I think of home I think of Leakey. I spent so many weekends and summers here running barefoot through sprinklers and feeding baby goats with Dr. Pepper bottles :) Aunt Pat Pat would wake me up in the morning and bring me coffee (milk with a little drop of coffee) in bed. Then for dinner she would make me Rice-a-roni and brownies.

Ah, those were the days!

My Aunt Pat Pat and Uncle Whimpy ( I called him Uncle Whoopy) raised goats and so everytime a momma goat would leave her baby I got to feed it and name it. I still remember every single one of those goats!

That being said, I love taking Adom there now. So thats what we did last Sunday we drove to Leakey. We went to church with Aunt Pat Pat that morning then went back to the house for pot roast and mashed taters and macaroni salad :) Then Adom's cousin Sydney came over to play with him and he sat on the porch and talked to Uncle Whoopy for a very long time! haha!

It was so nice we had such a nice visit. I still feel like a little girl when I'm at their house, and I love it!

When I think of the country I think of dirt roads,

And cattle guards,

rusted machinery in fields,

water sprinklers and clothes lines,

And of course the Frio River!

Reunion with Cousins

2008-09-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday while we were in Kerrville my Aunt Peggy hosted a swim party reunion at her house for the grandkids and great grandkids. Every summer and Christmas when I was little all of my Uncle Jay's grandkids (who were around my age) would get together for slumber parties, swim parties, tea parties, you name it we did it. We also went to Fiesta Texas every Christmas for their "Texas Christmas". Some of my favorite memories are from these times. So Saturday's swim party was for all the great grandkids. It was actually a swim/slumber party but because Adom was the youngest kid and the fact that hes 2, well I thought it would be better if we didn't stay the night :) But we had a great time getting to see everyone and Aunt Peggy throws an awesome pool party with 50's rock n' roll and everything!

Nana got Adom a bubble bar-b-que pit! It was soo neat and it made tons of bubbles!

Action shot of Caleb

Catching up...

2008-09-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Warning: Lots of pictures to come in the next few days!

I know I haven't posted anything in soooo long! It's been kinda crazy around here the last couple of weeks. Adom and I made a trip to Kerrville last weekend to see some family that we hadn't seen in a while. It was a very busy trip and we didn't get to see everyone that we would have liked to see :( But it was a good trip!

So I'll be catching up on that weekend with pictures of what we did and everyone we saw. Stay tuned for more information...

On the way down to Kerrville we stopped in Georgetown and had lunch with Aunt Kristi, Uncle Ben, Bella, and Landry. It was great to see them and the kiddos got to play for a little while, and it broke up our trip very nicely.

I'm really blessed that Adom is such a good little traveler the trips are usually very easy. Except for the occasional wardrobe changes caused by unlimited amounts of juice! Juice keeps him happy when we're in the car and when I'm alone with a 2 yr old on a 5 hour journey I like to keep him happy :)

Remembering

2008-09-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

I remember the look of panic and terror on my high school spanish teachers face.

She wheeled a T.V. into our classroom and turned it on as plane #2 hit.

I was a sophmore in high school and I know it didn't affect me then like it would affect me now.

I now understand why parents rushed to the school to take their children home. I understand why they let school out early. And now I understand why my parents wanted me to be home and with them so badly that night.

Since that dreadful day 7 years ago I find myself more and more affected by it as I get older. Especially now that I am a parent myself.

God Bless the brave people that risked their lives for other lives that day, God Bless the families that lost loved ones my prayers are with you all.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Ethan and Amanda!

This picture is from 2 christmas's ago, sorry... we seriously need new pics of all of us together!

Hope you guys have a great anniversary!

Love ya!

Cheese!

2008-09-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Everytime Adom sees a camera now he says CHEESE!

Happy Birthday Kristi

2008-09-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Kristi we love you!

I hope it's ok that I used this picture from your blog I don't have any recent pics of you!

Have a great Birthday Week :)

Museum Trip

2008-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just a few more pictures of our trip to the musuem. We found Adom a Rodie (if you watch Scrubs you know what I'm talking about) stuffed dog at the gift shop. And of course pictures of ourselves and as always Adom thinks we're completely insane when we do this haha.

Museum of Natural Science and History

2008-09-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Monday we went to the Musuem of Natural Science and History in Fort Worth. They had an amazing dinosaur exhibit with lots of hands on experiments for kids. They also had an entire room dedicated to a play area for the kiddos. There was a child size ATM and mail drop box. They are renovating their entire musuem so this exhibit was temporarily in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame museum. I would have like to see that part of the museum but Adom was really tired and cranky by the time we left. Needless to say we had a lot of fun this past weekend and can't wait to take all our friends and family to visit all these wonderful places when they come to visit ;) Hint Hint!

More Aquarium pics

2008-09-01T20:22:00.001-07:00

Just a couple more pictures of our aquarium trip. There was a tunnel that you could walk through and the sharks swam all around the glass tunnel... this picture was taken above the water tank looking down on the glass tunnel from above. I couldn't handle the glass tunnel... I'm terrified beyond words of sharks.

Fun Family Weekend

2008-09-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Our Labor Day weekend was pretty busy and a lot of fun! Saturday we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It turned out to be quite the zoo as well! It was awesome, and it was air conditioned! The exhibits were absolutely beautiful and we were very close to all the fish and animals. They had HUGE fish that we had never seen before and lots of cute little monkeys and it was all very natural. Anyone who goes to Dallas you've got to go here it is well worth the money! More pics to come...

New friends

2008-08-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a playdate with Adom's new friend Josiah. Josiah's parents attend our church here in Fort Worth. His mom Jessica and I had wonderful fellowship and a yummy lunch together! We can't wait to do it again soon!

Eggs!

2008-08-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Yep Amanda you were right.... I forgot 3 whole eggs! It was the only ingredient I needed out of the fridge so that's my excuse ;)

Have a Blessed week!

Kitchen Ramblings

2008-08-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

When I started these "Kitchen Ramblings" of mine I said I would share the good and the bad. This breadlike cake tastes wonderful don't get me wrong. But I did forget an ingredient that would have made it more of a cake probably than "breaklike". I was very busy and distracted when I up and decided to bake this cake (please keep that in mind). Can you guess which ingredient I forgot? Post your guesses and I'll let you know soon.

Jamaica Cake

2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 bananas, peeled and diced
3 eggs
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together sugar, vegetable oil, pecans, flour, and bananas in a 13 x 9 inch pan. Stir in the eggs, pineapple (with juice), vanilla, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix well. Do not mash the bananas.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 60 minutes or until cake tests done.

Drummer Boy

2008-08-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

My drummer boy......... Sort of.