July 31, 2007
Laying Low...
Last weekend RJK and I had the awesome opportunity to go to the Kennedy Center to see Phantom of the Opera! It was incredible, and we had such a great time with our "girl's night out". The show was definitely worth the $$ we payed, and the seats were fantastic.
For those of you who have been dying to know - yes, my cherry tomato plant is doing marvelously... I plucked 12 bright red fruits from the thick vines yesterday and we ate them on steak kabobs. Mmm.
I promise to post something more interesting later.
July 20, 2007
"You Have Been Called"
Today I read an article by Bush Press Secretary, Tony Snow that was so encouraging. As we each reflect on how precious and temporary life is based on our own struggles, may we never forget the hope that we have. If you have a second, be sure to read the article.
July 19, 2007
Top Billboard Hits
Let's see, in other news, M's brother just wrapped up a two-week stay with us. He arrived on July 3rd, only a few hours before my parents pulled into the driveway for the 4th with their new puppy, Buddy.
No sooner had they walked through the front door than we all scurried to the basement for an hour to wait out a tornado warning. Due to the rain we didn't end up eating until late and weren't able to see any fireworks... but hey, I guess it was still a memorable 4th.
We finally got to see our 4th of July fireworks on the 7th, as we trekked up to Antietem Battlefield for the the Independence Day celebration with M. Joughon. Then on Sunday we all floated lazily down the Shennendoah River in canoes... stopping to rescue the dog out of the water from time to time.
The following weekend we went and saw Bodies... the Exhibition (of which you can read about our experience here). I would thoroughly encourage people to go - it's worth the time. Unfortunately, my poor husband, who already wasn't feeling too well that day, passed out about halfway through the exhibit on the circulatory system. :-) One water bottle later... he was feeling much better and finished the remaining exhibits like a pro. (Read: no, he was not squeemish... he was dehydrated).Then Saturday it was off to Busch Gardens with the W00SH.
All in all, it's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to a slower pace for the next few days, and finally, some alone time with my hubby. :-)
July 12, 2007
Something for a Thursday... or a Friday...
Also, for all you Virginia residents, have you signed the Virginia fines petition? I know you'll do the right thing. :-)
June 28, 2007
Muslims, Muggers, Maidens - Oh my!
June 25, 2007
Desperate for Prayer
June 18, 2007
June 9, 2007
Randomness
Random Fact #1: When opening a can of tuna I always drain the juice in a cup and drink it afterwards. Strange, gross, but true. It all started about 10 years ago when I happened to be draining a can of tuna in a bowl for my cat and some spilled on my finger. Curious, I decided to taste it and I've been hooked ever since. Yes, Matt knows this. No, Matt does not kiss me if I've been handling tuna.
Random Fact #2: I love office supply catalogs. It's true. I'm not much for clothes shopping, although shoes will get me excited, but I abolutely hate clothing catalogs. Office supply catalogs are an entirely different story, though. When a work day includes ordering more office supplies, chances are nothing else will get done. I have to look through the new Corporate Express catalog from cover to cover... just to make sure there isn't something new and handy I could use. :-)
Random Fact #3: As a school project I once took an entire tractor motor apart. It took me the greater part of a day, but I learned a lot. I never did get it back together.
Random Fact #4: I hate pet birds. I own two. I spend more money on said birds than I thought was ever possible. What's worse is that at the end of the day, those stupid birds are growing on me.
Random Fact #5: As a small child, I believed "life" was found in the heart. My childhood pet, a bunny, died and my parents decided it would be a great homeschool project to dissect the bunny. (Very disturbing, I know) But I found the whole ordeal very interesting until my Dad showed me the little bunny heart. With big tears in my eyes I looked up at him and said, "Daddy, you killed it!" I don't know if I've ever forgiven him for that.
Random Fact #6: I love to Scuba dive. But I think everybody knows that. Hmmm, well in other news I've been to 46 of the U.S. states.
Random Fact #7: I love to peel sunburns. Nice ending, huh?
Hmmm, maybe I should have made my random facts a little more appealing. (pun not intended.) Now everyone will think I'm a tunafish-juice-loving-bird-hating-sunburn-peeling nut. :-) Well, I guess it's all in how you look at things. :-)
I tag: Vanessa, Katie, Sarah, Michael, Janice, Susie, Rachel D.
May 10, 2007
Around the House
So now that we have our time back, M & I are attempting to entertain ourselves by other means. Last night I think was the best of all. On our way out the door to go play basketball, we halted at the sight of our tiny grill in the middle of the driveway. Filled with coals from grilling out our salmon, it was just at the perfect stage for roasting marshmellows. Back into the house we went to get the sweet goodies and our kabob sticks. Needless to say, the basketball game was delayed. :-)
Ah, I love the warm, Virginia weather. :-) Did I mention that my husband took me on a sunset river dinner cruise for my birthday last weekend? That, too, was fantastic. We took a long walk through DC and got some great "spring-y" pictures, then off to the river!
May is such a great month. :-)
May 3, 2007
Just a little reminder
“The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.”
April 26, 2007
Virginia is for lovers...
The trees, the flowers - everything bloomed here this past week. It was beautiful, but what I thought was an easy spring for allergies has suddenly become a pollen wasteland. I've consequently been the worst wife in all of history. Every night this week I've crawled into bed doped up on Benadryl and promptly slept the night away, paying little attention to my husband or even waking up to say goodbye to him in the morning. Shameful.
Matt and I planted tulips in our front flower bed a couple of nights ago. They're so pretty - two white and two yellow. We actually ended up digging the holes with the help of a sturdy tablespoon. :-) I haven't had a chance to get to get to Lowes for real garden supplies.
I'll post pictures soon.
Last weekend we went home to Ohio for our second of three wedding receptions. It was such fun to see friends and neighbors who I haven't seen in years. Sometimes it's fun to visit your past. I was able to wear my wedding dress again. It's officially filthy now. Ick.
My list of "thank yous" to write has continued to grow. At this rate I'm almost positive I'll be finished by my 30th birthday. I better make sure not to have any baby showers before then or I'm out of luck. :-)
April 17, 2007
And then there were three...
Yes, we've added to our number. Yes, it's too early for a *real* family, but we've been enjoying this addition. Aside from a rough beginning, I think we've happily adjusted. We're on a two-week trial period with Hurley until we make our final decision to keep him. But for now, we're doing good.
And in answer to the questions, mhmm, I'm lovin' married life. The responsibility of managing a home is a serious one, and I've been making lots of adjustments to my previously "single" schedule, but I wouldn't complain a bit. I think I have the best, most loving husband and friend in the world - I guess every new wife says that. :-)
March 25, 2007
And what follows??? Bring on St. Lucia
We spent our week at the Anse Chastenet resort, which was a small resort (not touristy at all) on the more unpopulated side of the island. Our humble bungalow featured two solid walls and two completely screened walls, a blue sky mural on the ceiling, a canopy bed and no air conditioning. It was so perfect for us, though - just what we wanted. Our travel agent outdid himself in setting this up for us (and all for free, too! Anyone looking to book a honeymoon should definitely give them a call!)
Anyway, the resort featured two restaurants which served the best food I have literally ever tasted. Basic, but accented with multiple herbs, spices and coconut. I loved it. As you will see from the pictures, our bungalow set about 200 feet above sea level... that's 200 ft of stairs... above sea level, and possessed a fantastic view of the Piton volcanic mountains and the crystal Carribean sea. Breathtaking! Sometimes literally. :-)
The weather was sunny every day, with temps in the high 80s during the day. It was paradise. Enjoy the pictures. (To view larger images, click on the pictures themselves).
The entrance into our bungalow. 5C, the Cordia room.
A sunset view from the balcony of our bungalow to the right.
Our view of the Pitons to the left.
Here's a view of the entire resort from the water. It's all tucked away in the mountainside under the palm trees.
Scuba diving is our new favorite thing. We went twice and absolutely loved it! The second time we went we dove beneath the waters at the base of the Petit Piton mountain. It was beyond amazing. While make our way through the reefs at 50 ft below, we encountered a even more magestic sight - a giant sea turtle, calming making his way through the 80F water. There are not words to describe how awesome it was.
But diving did have it's costs. Here you'll see my scuba diving boo boos. That's what you get when you run into a coral wall. Stupid.
And this was a very pleasant surprise. We were on our way back from diving when our guide pulled us up to this ship. Turns out it's the "Black Pearl", the ship used in the filming of the movie Pirates of the Carribean. Sweet!
M loved the sailing we got to do. But I didn't feel so good. *Sheepish grin* But being out on the water for the sunset was great and we ended the evening on the boat with a toast of champagne.
During the day we spent our time lounging around under the cous cous hut, or...
On a hammock in the shade of a palm tree. Yes, life was rough. :-)
In the evenings the local fishermen brought in their catches of the day! Time to eat!
Our beach.
Our beach table. :-) Nothing like eating your dinner while the waves come up to you.
Two of the many friendly birds we encountered on our trip. In fact, M & I have a video of me feeding one of them by hand. The two friendliest birds were brown finches and bananaquats.
Needless to say, it was very difficult to leave such a beautiful island. It was the perfect getaway for a newly-married couple.
The Time Has Come... The Wedding is Here
M & I were blessed with such a beautiful day. And the number of friends who turned out to help make our special day so great brought us to tears (of gratefulness and amazement) on several occations. We are so grateful to be blessed with such priceless friends.
March 10th, 2007 looked something like this for all of us... Note: I've only gotten a few of my pictures back, so you will have to settle on seeing more pictures of our honeymoon than the wedding right now... not that I think you will mind, right? :-) I will certainly post a link to all the pictures as soon as I have them.

The Bride and Groom. So happy!
Our lovely wedding party... doing what they do best: create awkward moments, and awkward pictures. They're all fantastic!
(Our flowergirl and ringbearer wrestled with that pop gun the entire time during our pictures. It was darling.)
You gotta love the "boy band" ushers. Priceless... and bored. :-)
The ceremony was so meaningful to us, and our pastor did a fantastic job!
Afterward the bride and groom made a rather unique recession down the aisle. Hey, we were just adding a little CA charm. :-)
And of course, what wedding would be complete without a *H* picture?! There's a couple missing, but hey, getting everyone together is kinda like herding cats.
And after a wonderful reception, it was off to our honeymoon... by way of the trashed car. :-)
February 22, 2007
Soulforce comes to my alma mater
Let's hope it doesn't get too out of hand.
For an interesting debate about this, check out: http://thepoint.breakpoint.org/2007/02/when_the_missio.html#trackback
January 16, 2007
Around the US... just another weekend
Moughon appreciated Karl's story about
Robert the Rose Horse
January 12, 2007
December 14, 2006
Welcome to the Holidays
You will find that nothing fills your heart with more holiday cheer! Give the gift of recognition and acceptance, when you care enough to give the very best.
December 1, 2006
I'm thankful for....
Matt and I are doing well, although flying by the seat of our pants. In the midst of our busy life we decided to push the limit by travelling to Ohio for the Michigan/Ohio State game the weekend of the 17th...and then turn around three days later and drive back to Ohio for Thanksgiving. Insantity!
The Buckeyes played a great game, BTW, and we were glad we went home. The energy flowing in the city was incredible. No, we didn't actually get to go to the game... but it was the next best thing. Rachel got to come along and the best part was... we built a leaf pile!!!! It was so much fun.

Thanksgiving was really nice, althought Matt spent a lot of it studying for law school. But we made the most of it and and Matt was sure to spend some time wrestling with my little cousins in the leaves.
While we were home my Mom and I were able to tackle some wedding details and also decorate the house for Christmas. The weather, though, has been absolutely so warm that it doesn't even feel like Christmas. Gosh!

Coming back after the holiday was kinda hard, but it was nice to get back in the groove of daily life. Matt finished his last day of classes yesterday, so it will be nice to have him around for a month or two. We're looking forward to taking care of some wedding details that have been ignored for too long. And yes, I know many of you want to hear our engagement story... I will post it soon. I want to do it justice when I do, so I guess that's why I've been procrastinating.
We finially found a reception place! The Middleburg Community Center will be our location for the great affair. I am really looking forward to that day and know I will see many of you there.
I need to run, but I will try and update again soon.


