Fashion Forward

That is not how I would describe myself. I've always tried to look nice, but I've never been trendy and haven't ever tried to learn the latest look for the next season.

I was raised to dress nicely and appropriately for each occasion. That's what I've always tried to do. 

Inwardly, though, I've wished I was brave enough to try out new looks. Try a radically different hair style, maybe even get some highlights. Try a new style of clothing that wouldn't be something I'd normally dare to wear. I've always liked hats too and have thought they look good on me. Whatever the idea I had, I was never brave enough to venture out. 

Often, I'd think, "Everyone knows me, my personality and what 'fits.'" I thought it would be a mistake to get in touch with my more wistfully playful side that likes the fun that can be found in the latest fashion trends.

Now that I'm on Pinterest, I've seen a lot of the latest styles in hair and clothing. I've become a bit interested in learning more and becoming a bit more fashion forward. 

Please don't laugh when you find out about my first step in that direction. A while back I learned that braiding one's hair is "in" so I thought I'd see how it suits me.

These may not be the best pictures to show you, but it's as good as I can manage with the self-portraiture:

 
Whether or not these photos have convinced you, I like the look! 

Being in a new place has inspired me to explore new possibilities. Stay tuned for more...

Dinner with the Pastor

For those of you from our former church, the title of this post may remind you of the Dinner with the Pastor ministry Matt and I used to volunteer in as members there. We are attending a large church rather than a mega-church now, so dinner with the Pastor is a more individualized experience.

It is common at our church for the Pastor and his wife to go for a meal with newcomers soon after their first visit to the church. Giving this kind of personalized attention is what God used to bring this wrecked congregation to healing and growth over the last 15 years. The church was devastated by the poor life decisions of their pastor at the time.

When our Pastor came along, he knew his work would be to bring healing to hurting people, unity to a community of believers, gathering new people to build up the church and quite frankly, inspire continued financial giving to keep the church from going into receivership. What did he do? He went out and literally brought people back in to the church, person by person. 

The church is now completing the construction and furnishing of a new education building. The expectation, as I understand it, is that with this continued rate of growth, the current property will be outgrown with no more room to grow in a matter of a few short years. These are exciting times in the life of Rosedale! God is at work. 

Just before Christmas the Pastor mentioned an interest in getting together with us for dinner sometime in the new year. With a packed holiday schedule, we wouldn't find a time to meet any earlier. 

Matt and I enjoyed our visit with the Pastor and his wife. We learned more about them, the church and their family life. They learned a little more about us and where we are concerning service in the church. Our dinner with the Pastor was good. 

Our Pastor, his wife and their two children

Football Fun

About a year and a half ago, a common friend asked for a football themed birthday party. She wanted us all to dress in her team's clothing and watch the football game at Matt's house on her birthday.

Matt and I happily played along:

After we were married, I was looking through some old photos on my computer. Matt noticed this one, as he looked over my shoulder...

and said he thought I looked really good that night. He liked the denim skirt and preppy look. 

With Matt's team going to the Cotton Bowl this year, I decided I'd try to reassemble the look with the right team colors. :)

Matt was pleasantly surprised by my team spirit when he came home from work. He initiated me to Five Guys for dinner (It was fabulous!) and we sank into our seats in the man-cave for a high-def live showing of the game.

Rushed and Harried

You know the feeling. The day begins and you're already behind.

I can't tell you how many days I flew out of the door and rushed to get to work. Maybe that's why I understand and appreciate the occasional snags that happen in Matt's getting-ready process. 

From day to day, he's relaxed and methodical as he is getting ready. He has a target time each day for when he wants or needs to be out of the door. Like it was for me, he feels like he has plenty of time to finish those last things and be out on time.

Somehow there are days when those last few minutes seem to hurtle by and before he knows it, it will be tight to make it on time. (The only difference between us is that he gives himself extra time and isn't actually late, just later than he wants to be for what he plans to do.)

For me, when time suddenly ran short, the internal tension skyrocketed; but if everything went smoothly with gathering things to leave, all was well. The tension remained under the surface; Relaxation came only upon a timely arrival to work. 

If, however, anything wasn't where it was supposed to be or any hitch happened when gathering things to leave, being rushed turned into being harried. I hate that feeling. 

From this, I've learned that none of us is immune to the struggles of living by a clock. 

When I still lived at my parents' house, either Mom or Dad would be at the door to tell me goodbye when I was due to leave. If I was having a rushed morning, they'd always notice and would rush around trying to help me pull it all together to facilitate that smooth exit. Once I moved to my own house, I can't tell you how much I missed having them there for support on rough mornings. A more regular occurrence for me than for Matt...

Remembering how the morning so easily set the tone for my day (whether I'd start off relaxed or frustrated and impatient) is what made me want to be a strong support for Matt each day as he leaves. I look for anything I can do in his process so he doesn't have to spend the time. Make bed, pack lunch, fold sleep clothes and put in bin, pour coffee into travel mug, put everything he takes by front door and a new addition: check temperature and if freezing, scrape ice off truck windows. 

Today, I confess was an epic fail. We stayed up late last night because Matt was preparing for a meeting and I didn't wake up as early this morning. When he left, the bed was unmade, his sleep clothes were on the floor and I forgot to check for freezing temps! He had to take the time to scrape the ice off his truck himself. 

Matt doesn't expect me to do these things any more than I expected it of my parents, but he sure appreciates my help and loving-care. I'm the one who's disappointed when I offer him less. 

Somehow even with my shortcomings, for Matt, today was not one of those rushed and harried days. 

House Hunting

For a while, we've been talking about the possibility of buying a house this summer. We've mentioned our thoughts to a few people to see what areas we should check out. Matt had one area recommended from contacts at work and I had an area in mind from friends at church. I looked up a couple of addresses that looked good online.

We didn't have any real trouble finding the homes in the online listings, but we were not impressed with the neighborhoods or surrounding areas where the homes were located. Both of our leads were a bust. 

As we moved to our next task for the day (shopping at a nearby mall), I mentioned another area I'd heard good things about from church friends. The reason I didn't mention it before is because it appears to be out of our price range based on the online listings. Matt took a slight detour since we were right there. We liked the homes, neighborhoods and surrounding area. There was a mixture of relief and uncertainty. 

Relief that we found an area of town that met up with our expectations of where we'd like to live. (Renting is a bit different, but to buy, it's crucial for us to weigh the appeal of the total package. Resale value is important to us.) 

Uncertainty came because we didn't see any housing prices on the homes for sale. They weren't in new subdivisions and only one flyer was available (w/out a price listed). 

I've looked at enough homes to know that when a price isn't listed, it's expensive.

No worries though. We are just beginning to look and get a feel for different areas. We still have six months. The time will go by quickly, but we're not going to rush into any decisions.   

God has a plan and we will see it come together when the time is right. In the meantime, it's good to get an idea of what's out there. 

P.S. Apparently, the house above was a new listing and I just found it online. I was right: very expensive. Cost of living is a bit pricey here...in perspective, if we were buying where I grew up, it would be selling at about sixty percent of the list price here. Yikes!

Resurrection Needed

My cousin, Hayden, posted a link on Facebook a while back to an article entitled "The Death of Pretty." The author defined pretty as: 

"That [50's] combination of beauty and innocence..." which I think is typified in the celebrity realm by Audrey. 

Audrey Hepburn is a classic example of sweet, pretty innocence. That is the prettiness this author is mourning as having passed from our society's values. 

He stated and I agree that "It is ironic that 40 years of women’s liberation has succeeded only in turning women into a commodity.  Something to be used up and thrown out."

"Once upon a time you would hear girls talk about [the] kind of women men date and the kind they marry.  You don’t hear things like that anymore." Somehow it seems more and more moms and dads today think this is okay, even a good look for their daughters: 

This is not a teenager, she is a child. Not that it'd be okay for a teen either, but WOW!

Admittedly, I think parents who allow their children to dress like this and support it are the ones operating at an extreme. Most parents are not there; however, we need to be very careful about guarding our own mindset because the message is pervading. 

No matter what message our society sends,  "here is the real truth.  Most men prefer pretty over hot." 

For the sake of the future of our country, our society, our marriages and families, may the Lord resurrect this conception of beauty. The one that values sweet, innocent prettiness as the ideal. 

To read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-death-of-pretty#ixzz1iUxoz1nv

Quality Time

Matt was off work on the Monday after the New Year's holiday. Until he reminded me on Sunday, I had totally forgotten (I don't know how). It's rare to have a whole extra day at home to spend with Matt. I was SO excited!

We slept in, had a big breakfast, lounged around and finally got ready for our day around 11 a.m. 

A picture I took of Matt before we ventured out for the day.

We left around one o'clock for parts north of the City. We decided to go house hunting, shopping and to meet up with friends for supper. 

Our house hunting experience was productive and informative (more on that later). The shopping trip was effective although it took longer than the time commitment Matt would have preferred. Then, our timing turned out to be perfect to meet up for supper with our friends, Jordan and Hannah, and Jordan's parents who were here for a visit. 

After supper we went by the house for dessert and had so much fun. We talked and laughed and completely lost track of time. We didn't make it home until midnight, but we had a wonderful day with each other and with friends.

Naughty or Nice

Since he's been nice this year, Matt received this for Christmas: 

This is not the only thing Matt received from his Christmas List, but I'd dare say it is his favorite gift. He mentioned wanting one of these a few times since we were married. Let me say, it's not an easy thing to decide what model to buy for someone.

We both enjoyed the benefits to having XM radio on a few rental cars we've had this year. Those experiences left no doubt about how much I'd enjoy any opportunities to listen as well. 

Priceless

If you know them and how they live, it's no surprise to hear me say I am impressed with our niece and nephews. They have been taught to help at home (kudos to Tracey) and they do (kudos to the kids). 

What I love is being able to witness it firsthand. That was one of the joys of this season. When I go early for Christmas and have a few extra days with them, they go on with their normal way of life and I see things I wouldn't see otherwise.

One of my favorites this year was seeing this:

Zach pushed the empty hamper from the laundry room back to the Master bathroom by himself. (In the middle picture, he waited for someone to help him by removing the gate. After taking a pic, I moved it for him. HA!) 

The only thing that would have been better was if I had acted more quickly and taken a picture of Stephen and Zach working together to take the full hamper from the back of the house to the laundry room. Sadly, this was the best shot of that:

In this picture, Stephen and Zach just finished pushing the hamper into the laundry room. You see the back of Stephen's head over Zach's shoulder. The full hamper is just beyond Stephen.   

Stephen was in front pulling and Zach was behind it pushing. Tracey reported that this is a regular occurrence at their house. (With three loads of laundry to wash each day, praise the Lord for helping hands!)

From the hallway, I heard Tracey invite them to help. She said something like, "I could use some help. Stephen, Zach, will you help me?" I knew well enough that I needed to rush in there to peek at what they were doing. Two seconds later, they were in place and the hamper was moving to the laundry room. Priceless.

An Unexpected Guest

It saddens me to report that Harry and David did not visit us this Christmas season; however, on a happier note, we had an unexpected guest: Mrs. Fields. 

We like her cookies. As Cookie Monster mumbles gutturally as he eats, "Yum. Yum."

Fun and Games

Each year on Christmas Eve, my sister plans a couple of games for her children to build anticipation for the gifts they receive. Taking into consideration their ages and height for finding clues, she maps out a scavenger hunt for each child. This year Zach was included in the hunt.

He'll be 2 years old in February.

At the end of each set of clues, there is a wrapped gift for all of the children to share. The one she hides for each child is based on which one she thinks will be the favorite for that child. Since only one hunt happens at a time, the presents are saved until the end so they can all open them at the same time. 

The other game is not only entertaining when the kids weave their way through the maze, but it's entertaining to watch the adults wiggle through putting it together. 

This is Matt getting up after doing the military crawl through the obstacle course. :) Unfortunately the camera wasn't ready to get the shot any earlier.

Wish you could have seen Tracey wiggle through at 9 months pregnant two years ago. Ha!

What is this game? It's a yarn web. 

Each child has a color of yarn to unwind and at the end, they find their stockings. Overloaded and overflowing stockings, of course. :) Matt and I got into the yarn weaving process this year. Matt was specifically requested by our niece, Alison. He did a good job. 

She loved the process of navigating Matt's web. 

Kevin and Tracey tag-teamed on Justin's after Kevin had it nearly completed. As he unwound it, Justin was very patient. 

Here Matthew is giving Justin an assist. 

They did such a good job of making for a challenging web that he was the last to finish. 

Zach smiled and laughed the whole way through his yarn maze. This was his first year, so Tracey wasn't sure she'd do one for him. 

At the starting line and ready to go.

She decided to make his really short and Kevin helped him navigate it. Zach stayed with it and even got down on hands and knees to make his way to the end of his yarn. It's always fun when they "catch" the excitement of the season for the first time.

Matthew untangled the web I weaved. It was especially challenging for two reasons: 1. This was my first year to weave a web and 2. Matthew has a reputation, along with his sister, for finishing quickly. That mixed with my overachieving self and it was a tangled web to unwind. 

Matthew did an excellent job.

Stephen's maze was woven by his mom as well. He's such a fun little man at 5. In a cleared room, he's got boundless energy. In a yarn-webbed room, he is surprisingly unmotivated. He seemed to prefer reclining with me on the couch, watching everybody else. 

Nonetheless, he was encouraged to stay with it and saw it through to the end. 

They loved opening their stockings to find all sorts of things. 

My favorite Matthews are sporting new raccoon hats given to young Matthew and Stephen. 

Tracey always puts a lot of time, effort and creativity into these games. It's always rewarded with smiling faces and good memories. They'll not soon forget all the loving-care their mom puts into the traditions, celebrations and family fun and games during this season each year.

A Truly Southern Experience

Friend's from my sister's church have pecan trees all over their property. I. love. pecans. And so does my Mom. My sister, not so much. 

Her friends scooped up a Wal-Mart bag full of pecans for her and they were waiting for me when I went South for Christmas. With all the goings-on, I forgot about them until my Mom arrived and made mention of them. I was happy to get started with hammer and thumbs.

As a child, I remember a few occasions of helping Mom shell pecans. As a meticulous, task-oriented person, shelling pecans is a surprisingly enjoyable experience for me. Laugh if you must. It does remind me of my Southern roots. 

If you haven't ever shelled pecans, it's not a simple task. Those of you who prefer the bigger picture of life would tire of it quickly.

The shell is hard enough that without a nutcracker, you should crack the shell with one or two somewhat gentle taps of a hammer. When you remove the shell later, it's more than just prying it open with your thumbs. You need to separate the pecan halves and pick away all of the stuff from between them and from the cracks of the pecan. It's important to get rid of all that so it doesn't make it into your cooking or baking. It is bitter.

It wasn't long before my prying thumbs were tender, so this is all I managed to shell:  

Nonetheless, I'm pleased. It's a few dollars worth of pecans, but the best part was the nostalgia of shelling them while down South with family.

A Fun Find

In a conversation with our good friends, Jordan and Hannah, we learned that not only had they never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, neither had they ever heard of it. Matt and I were surprised and then felt like our familiarity with the movie probably dates us. :)

Recognizing how hospitable Jordan and Hannah have been since we met them and valuing what God has done by giving us such heart-friends so quickly, we wanted to give them gifts for Christmas. We love the Fleshers.

As many of you experienced this holiday season, it's typically easier to buy gifts for women. I'd had my gift for Hannah for a couple of weeks, but Matt didn't have his for Jordan. While down South for Christmas, it became clear. The perfect gift for Jordan. 

You see, Matt and Jordan not only have an interest in many of the same movies, they also are able to quote movie lines endlessly, leaving the rest of us bystanders dazed and confused. To initiate Jordan (and Hannah) to the classic mischief of Bueller brings us joy this season.

Novice

For those of you who produce a beautiful Christmas card with pictures of your family each year...

For those of you who produce a wonderfully condensed letter of the year in review on pretty Christmas letterhead...

It's not as easy as it looks. It wasn't simple for me anyway.

I wrote a letter. Four pages long. There were plans to condense it, but I've always hated condensing what I've written. It's never been a simple thing for me. Procrastination set in.

My last day here before going South for Christmas, I knew I had to finish my Christmas cards and get them in the mail. Procrastination had to meet its end. 

Since Matt read and liked the letter just as it was, it was just a matter of getting the printing, assembly and mailing done. I went online and found an option to make a Christmas card with a picture collage. The background selection was limited to a few solid colors. I wanted to seek out other card options. I wanted something nicer, but I waited too long.

With no printer set up at home, there wasn't the option of printing a test page of the letter to see if it was necessary to shift the text. With no office supply store close by and no mailing labels, all the envelopes had to be handwritten. 

Needless to say, producing this year's Christmas cards became an all day event. Matt even chipped in with the folding, stuffing, sealing and stamping in the evening so I wouldn't be up past midnight. We had to be up at 5 a.m. the next morning to get ready and go to the airport for my flight.

This was the end result (I used two different kinds of Christmas letterhead, only one appears below):

 A respectable result, I think. For a novice. 

The conclusion: Procrastination is not my friend, especially when I am new at the task. I will be starting the Christmas card process earlier next year.

Faux Real

Here are a few pics of Matt's and my new bathroom:

Here it is before,  

 and after.

These are pics of the base coat...

These are more pics of the final results...

This was my first attempt at painting a faux finish. I thought it best that my maiden voyage be in a small space.

When I first showed Matt the new paint job, he was sweetly complimentary. I knew he really liked it later when he commented, "I really like our new bathroom, faux real." :)

By Faith

The Women's Ministry of our former church offered a seminar and workshop on Chronological Bible Storying a while ago. Their aim was to teach mothers, grandmothers, children's teachers and disciplers of women how to share Jesus with others in narrative form. Dawn and I were in attendance... 

We met some women who'd already been trained in this method and one of them showed us how she depicted the 14 eras of Scripture in living color. In the picture above, you see the primary conference speaker, Mrs. Iva May, with Dawn and me. Dawn is holding the symbol that represents the first era, Creation, and in my hand is the symbol that represents the last era, the End Times. 

Dawn and I felt we learned a lot from this seminar and the workshop that followed it. We left eager to apply what we learned; however, I am reminiscing now for another reason.

Something Iva said during the conference resonated with Dawn and me. She reminded us that throughout Scripture God led His people to live by faith and not by sight. She reminded us of the amazing things the Lord did, such as giving Sarah a child past childbearing age. Dawn and I talked during a break that it was a timely word for us both...encouragement to keep believing by faith.  

You see, Dawn and I each had something heavy on our hearts during that season of life. Each of us were believing God and trusting, but sometimes doubt would begin to creep in and my faith would certainly begin to waver. 

Heavy on my heart was whether or not Matt would choose to pursue me for marriage. (I believed God revealed to me that Matt would be my husband, yet our relationship wasn't progressing in a way that appeared to have promise.) Dawn was carrying the weight of deeply desiring another child, while knowing her first pregnancy was miraculous. Being able to have another child, in the world's eye, would be highly unlikely to say the least.

About a year and a half later,

Here I am... 

Married to my sweet husband, Matt. And Dawn, well...

She is well on her way to having her second child, a son. Boaz.

It's always best to live by faith... 

A Nice Addition

My sister and her family gave Matt and I a gift basket full of thoughtful gifts. Due to our limitations of traveling by air, we had to leave the gift with my parents to ship to us. 

Our overall travel experience at Christmas was probably one of our best all year (Praise the Lord!), but on the return trip we did touch down an hour later than originally scheduled. The flight as scheduled was to arrive well past the time I prefer when Matt has to return to work the next morning. Unfortunately, it was the only offering at the best price we could find when we booked the tickets. We booked them knowing it wasn't ideal. All of the unexpected twists (delayed flights, tight transition to make the second flight, late arrival home) were a little distracting for me.

Since our layover was very brief, we stopped on the way home to pick up supper. By the time we actually made it to our house, it was about 11:15 or so. Not too bad. It definitely could have been much worse. 

After bringing in the luggage, my first thought was: "I need to figure out where I put the new snowflake ornament Tracey gave me so I can hang it on our tree." 

It took me a couple of minutes to realize, then my shoulders slumped. I left the ornament with the rest of the gift basket. Mom has it. I have to wait.

For those of you who quickly take down your tree, ours will be up for a while. Matt and I haven't celebrated "our" Christmas yet. I thought a good time for our celebration would be New Year's weekend, but Matt had a short week and that was not only month end, but year end for him at work. He had some late nights to wrap it all up. (His assistant happened to be out too.) Needless to say, I totally understood the need to wait for our celebration. 

All of that is to say, it's not too late to enjoy our new ornament this year! When the gift basket arrived, our new snowflake ornament made a nice addition to our tree. 

And in case you're wondering, we will celebrate "our" Christmas this weekend!! :)

Extreme Makeover

The week before Christmas, I was inspired to begin an extreme makeover of our house. You see, I've had several painting projects planned for a while, but sort of grounded myself from proceeding until I settled a few other less interesting projects first. All the while, I knew I wanted to finish my painting projects before Christmas. 

Time ran a little short and I wasn't able to complete all of them before heading South for Christmas. I was, however, able to finish a couple of rooms. 

Here is our half bath off the living room downstairs:

It used to look like this...

Now it looks like this...

This may not qualify as an extreme makeover on Ty Pennington's scale, but after painting two coats to finish two rooms in 2 1/2 days along with other errands and chores, it sure felt like it to this one woman labor crew. Stay tuned to see how the other room turned out.

A Great Day

Our T.V. and DVD player do not fit near the existing outlet in our living room. We considered adding an outlet elsewhere. We sought approval, since we're renting, and received the go-ahead. The cable company came out and informed us an electrician would have to run the line because it's too complicated for them.

Matt knows an electrician from work, so he came out for a consultation. He says it won't be worth running the line to our alternate location, but works out a workable option with Matt. Mounting the T.V. on the wall and running the cables to the DVD player that will sit on the shelf of our end table.

During this process I rearranged the furniture to give every seat a view of the T.V. It actually works but we still don't have room for a T.V. cabinet on that wall, so we went ahead with the plan for wall mounting it.

After two trips to H.H. Gregg and two trips to Best Buy to get the correct hardware and new cords that will be long enough to connect the T.V. with DVD player, the electrician came back and did all the work to mount the T.V. and make all the connections. Since our studs in that wall are metal, it was good he was here to use the right hardware to get it all to work. Toggle bolts were needed. 

Now, our living room looks like this: 

An improvement to be sure, but we never have found the right length cable for our DVD player (which is why it's sitting on the chair). Once we find the right cable, we'll also use a cable cover and paint it the color of the wall.

You may ask, why do we care so much about having a T.V. in our living room? That's the only room where we have enough seating for guests. A T.V. will be useful on movie night or game day. It's about time to invite our new friends to come over and play at our house :)

A Warm Welcome

After years of hearing stereotypes about the relationship between a wife and her in-laws, it has been refreshing to be so lovingly received by everyone in Matt's family and their family friends. We were overwhelmed by the crowd of people who attended our reception in Indiana a couple of months after our wedding.

With all of the interest and attention from our guests and our eagerness to engage in conversation with each of them, there was little thought given to picture-taking.  

As we drove out of the church parking lot after dark, Matt and I noticed this for the first time:

It's a wonderful life.

Hibachi Memories

As I was going through some of our old photos, I found this one of us from my birthday in October. Matt took me to a local Hibachi restaurant and it was fantastic.

While there, Matt and I fondly remembered the last time we ate at a Hibachi restaurant. We were with our good friends the Rockholts shortly before we were married. 

We enjoyed a rare couples outing with Chris and Dawn that night. We miss spending time with them and we miss our sweet little Lorelei.

Wild Life

A tradition of Matt's is to pose with any kind of statue or figure that if alive would be menacing. Here is a sample of some favorites: 

 Being pawed by a ferocious tiger in Memphis

Precariously near a hungry alligator in New Orleans

Being headbutted by the Navy goat in Annapolis

Occasionally, Matt has the desire to pose with an otherwise innocuous character. 

Power pose with a Greek god in Jamaica

On occasion, I play along. 

Leaning lady in New Orleans