Things to look forward to

I always helps me muscle through these ugly, cold winter days if I keep in mind the exciting things ahead...

• Tomorrow- New York City! My brother is viting Pace University and Marymount Manhattan and Ashley and I are coming along for the ride.
• Next weekend- babysitting Kate- for the whole weekend! We are so excited (David is so cute... the other night we were getting ready for bed and he randomly started talking about where we will put Kate's high chair. He's really looking forward to trying out this "baby thing" for more than a few hours at a time.)
• March- puppies!! We are pretty sure that Bella is pregnant (with Harley's puppies, of course).  It will be so fun to have puppies to play with (and then to drive back to Chattanooga and not have to take care of them :) thanks, parents!)
• May- Greg's high school graduation (whoa. seriously? I know we're going to look at colleges and all, but it doesn't seem possible that my baby brother is graduating from high school.)
• August- David's MBA graduation (I'm so excited, I'm already planning the party!)

So now, back to the grind... just a handful of hours until the fun begins!

edit

Oops, HERE is the correct link to the Etsy store. Sorry about that!

(PS- let me know if you would like cards off-etsy... I'm sure we can work something out.
PPS- also let me know if they are outrageously expensive. We have no idea what we're doing! I just went off other etsy prices I saw for similar items.)

We're in business!

Per your votes, my mom is in the card selling business!

Check out her Valentine cards on etsy! (and feel free to BUY some :) )

swapping... and sweet friends

I participated in Blair's favorite things swap! I was a little behind and just mailed my package Monday (ok, my sweet husband did it for me), but it really was a lot of fun.

The names were randomly paired (as far as I know...), and I actually got someone I have a connection with! Tammy Harper is David McLeod's cousin, and she led worship at UCF while I was there. Kind of random, but fun that we were able to "meet" via this little swap.

So, what did I send, you ask?

My favorites (I cannot for the life of me get that silly picture to turn! I know how to do it, it just will not turn...):

• a deck of cards (we had 9 in our house!)- I love playing games!
• 3 of my favorite desserts (this, this and some peanut butter cookies from Better Homes & Gardens)
• a photo of my family (of course, my favorite favorite)
• original ChapStick
• a spool of cute ribbon
• fabric covered buttons
• a $1 picture frame (I love frames AND things that cost $1)
• post it notes
• Wint-o-green mints

The whole thing was supposed to cost less than $10 (including shipping), and I managed to stay well under that! The only things I bought were the buttons and the ribbon- the rest I had around my house!

What's even better...

I got to see Blair!

I drove through Nashville on my way to Memphis on Sunday, and we met up before dinner. I love this girl (and wish we lived in the same town). When I left, I realized that we didn't sit down and have to chit chat for a bit before we got to the real conversation. We dove right in to the things on our hearts- like we see each other all of the time.

I talked here about my group of best camp buds, and I'm seriously ready for a reunion. It still amazes me that God wove our lives together just so. Blair, you just get me! What a blessing you are!

week end thoughts

I'm mimicking Melissa's post today, because it works with where I am.

a few thoughts from this week...

• Cancer sucks, but it is so good to be reminded that God's goodness is not contingent upon anything. God is no less good when things don't seem to go our way.
• Sometimes you just need a good cry... in front of total strangers.
• Lynn Bryant is more than just a mom- she's a great friend, business woman and encourager.
• God's Littlest Angels is an organization worth supporting and these pictures make me want to go.
• I'm excited about sending Valentine treats to my far-away loved ones.
• Wrestling should be banned as a high school sport. Seriously? Singlets on adolescent boys? It must have been invented as a means of torture.
• We have a good, good puppy that we're glad to have home! He's no human baby, but he sure is a good next-best-thing for us right now.
• One of the things I love most about my husband is his thoughtfulness. Exhibit A) He offered to tutor Hayden in math (and is SO excited about t). Exhibit B) He suggested we have a celebratory dinner for Keith's new job. And he's cooking. (I emailed him with this comment, "you always cook when the Rochas come over and I'm embarrassed..." and he responded with, "I like making dinner and letting you play with Kate and Becca. It is my way of serving you!" love. him.)
• I'm leaving Sunday for 2 1/2 days at a conference in Memphis, and next Friday for a long weekend in New York City with my siblings!
• I considered not going because I'm seriously going to miss David.
• and Harley.
• Somehow a teeny tiny mole can cause all kinds of raucous... and it is hard to make myself sleep on my right side when I always sleep on the left.

Whew. Sorry for the randomness... thanks for checking in.

the juices are flowing

I'm not the most creative person ever, but lately I've really been enjoying using the right side of my brain.

We inherited this chair from David's parents, and it has made a home in one of our guest rooms. I finally made a pillow for it to coordinate with the bedding I made. It was an experiment in ruffles, and I learned a lot (ie- the next pillow should be better). I don't understand patterns, and I wasn't patient enough to read any tutorials, so I kinda "winged it".

(picture is pre-stuffing)                           

The corners need some work, but overall I'm happy with the result!

After taking all of the holiday decor down (except our Christmas card holder- I just love looking at it and don't want it to come down!), our house was a little sad... So, I made a "winter" wreath to hang on the front door.

1. I bought this wreath at Goodwill for $.10. The lady said it was "Christmas" decor, so it was 90% off. No complaints from me!

2. I removed the ribbon and covered it in leftover white fabric.

3. I covered it in felt "rosettes" a la this tutorial. However, I found it much easier to just use the hot glue gun instead of all those pins. (felt squares at HobLob= $2)

4. I added some ribbon and snowflakes ($.99) to make it seasonal, and I have hearts on standby for Valentine's Day!

$3.10ish wreath! Not to shabby...

company

For the past week and a half, our home has had a revolving door, and that makes us extremely happy.

Last Wednesday, Ashley and Jenn made a spontaneous trip to town for the night! I love having Ash + friends close enough that they can do that (plus, it helps that she has every other week off work!). We ate dinner and played several games of Pit (really fun game that David got for Christmas- off my wish list :) ).

Then, we took ridiculous pictures on photo booth:

Of course, the Rhineharts were here Friday-Sunday.

(and we also took some ridiculous photos:)

Sunday afternoon, my dad drove up from Columbus to collect Harley so he and Bella could spend the week together.

Sunday evening, Matt and Rachel came over for dinner (Rachel made it for dessert).

And this past Wednesday, one of my dear college friends came over for dinner! Susan has been living in Costa Rica for the past two years as a missionary with SonLife Ministries working with youth in a city called San Isidro. She is from Chattanooga, so we got to hang out while she was in town visiting her family for the holidays. The Lord is using her in exciting ways to minister to the kids in her town and all around central America.

Finally, my parents were here this weekend! They came into town last night for the Brian Regan show -which was their anniversary gift from the kids! We loved the show, and LOVED having them here!

they LOVE Grandy!

(two dogs, one face... Harley is using Bella as a pillow!)

Book review: Jesus Manifesto

Frankly, I struggled through this book. The authors of Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ seek to convey that the Church (universal) is at a crossroads in its views and beliefs about the importance of Jesus in our lives. Though I found there to be many poignant lessons imbedded in the text, I was overall dissatisfied with the book. This probably has more to do with my personal preference for writing style- the authors use a lot of alliteration, cliches, allegory and analogies which is just NOT something I enjoy reading, especially in a "devotional" book. Additionally, there were many times that I had a hard time following the train of thought through an entire chapter. I found it to be more of a collection of miscellaneous ideas than a consistent stream of thought. Though I certainly agree with the overall premise of the book (that the gospel is about Jesus and Christianity today has strayed far from that), I don't think this book is the best read.

ooops, I forgot one.

I listed some of my Christmas presents a few weeks ago, but I left out the biggest gift of all! We got a Kitchen Aid mixer! David surprised me with it, but it is definitely a gift we will share.

I've already used it a bunch of times (brownies, cookies, pizza dough and banana bread), and it is great. Here is my mom's banana bread recipe that does not fail! It is always a crowd pleaser, and I love it too:

1/2 c shortening/butter
1 c sugar (white or 1/2 white & 1/2 brown)
2 well-beaten eggs
3 bananas mashed (black is best!)
1 T sour cream (or buttermilk or yogurt)

sift together:
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 baking powder

cream (in the mixer):
- sugar, shortening, add eggs
- add sifted flour alternating with bananas
- add 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 cup nuts (nuts are optional)

Bake in loaf pan at 350* for 1 hour

And, the pizza dough recipe we came to through a trial-and-error process (but turned out really well):

3 c. flour
1 c. warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
1 package yeast

Dissolve yeast in the warm water, and let stand until creamy. In large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine (the dough hook on your mixer works great for this). Knead on a floured surface until the dough has formed. Cover and let rise until it has doubled in size (we usually put it out in the morning and let it rise all day, but you probably don't need that long).
After the dough has risen, roll into pizza shape (on a pizza baking stone) and cover with your favorite toppings. Bake at 350* for 20 or so minutes.

Rhineharts, pt. 2

The Rhineharts came to visit!

Since we moved to Chattanooga they have been talking about coming, and we finally found a weekend that worked for everyone. Because of the wintery weather on Friday (thank you, snow day!!!) they got off to a later start than planned, but they made it into town just as David was getting home from work. We had been looking forward to their visit for weeks. We took them to a gourmet dinner at... Amigos. Ok, so it's a far cry gourmet (more like you-smell-like-the-food-you-eat-when-you-leave kind of place), but it is our favorite :). And we spent the rest of the night hanging out and chatting (kids: playing DSi)... the Rhineharts have always been late night people (ok, later than me... not saying much), and it had been so long since I had been able to just chat with them. Denise and I stayed up until 4am catching up and talking about anything and everything. It was SO fun to be able to talk about marriage and husbands and family with her- Denise has been so instrumental in my life and I look up to her so much.

Getting out of bed on Saturday was not so much fun. Especially when we realized our pipes were frozen! The time we have 5 extra people in our house is NOT the best for one of our bathrooms to be out of commission. David was superman and learned how to take care of the problem and fixed it as quickly as possible. However, it pushed the events of our day back by a few hours (and I had to make the pancakes...).

We did want to do a couple of the Chattanooga "musts" while they were here (though they've all spent lots of time in Chattanooga over the years). We went to the aquarium and did the River and Ocean Journeys. David and I love going to the aquarium, but it is wayyyy more fun going with kids. Not to mention, these kids are smart so they tought us a lot along the way! We spent nearly as much time between the two gift shops as we did the displays, but each kid ended up with a much-needed snake/eel stuffed toy (with which to terrorize Harley we later learned). We also went to Ruby Falls. Craig and Denise had been before, but none of the rest of us had been (that we could recall). It was really cool and even better because David had free passes.

Saturday night we made pizzas (the homemade kind- more about that later) and hung out at home. Actually, we decided it was a perfect time to break out Rock Band. Like I mentioned yesterday, the Rhineharts love music (Craig is in a band at church and all of the kids take piano lessons)! Thus, it should be no surprise that they loved Rock Band. Especially the boys. It isn't easy to get the hang of that game (especially the drums!), but Parker and Wesley killed it. We unfortunately didn't have any talented singers in the bunch, so Craig, Denise and I embarassed ourselves thoroughly. We had a blast though!

They left Sunday morning to continue their vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, NC and from what I've heard, they had a blast (except that Denise spent most of the trip sick!).

We were SOOOOOO glad to have them here! I didn't take many pictures, but here is sampling of our fun weekend together:

Love you guys, so so much! Hurry back!

Rhineharts, pt. 1

You've heard me mention the Rhineharts before. I met Craig and Denise when I was a skinny twirp in the 7th grade. I thought she was cool right away, and I asked her to be my "mentor" for confirmation. We became fast friends, and it was no dumb luck that we were paired together. In the years to follow, I would experience many things she had already been through: both of our dads have had battles with prostate cancer, both of our moms have Multiple Sclerosis, and I followed her path to Samford University.  The year I met the Rhineharts, they had their first baby boy, Parker, and I was his first babysitter (I was 12, the age he is now!). I continued to babysit for their family as Wesley and Amy Grace were also added over the years. I was kind of a social misfit through high school, but Craig and Denise took me in. I spent many-a-nights hanging out with them long after my babysitting duties were complete. I became Craig's special education project because of my lack of music knowledge. The Rhineharts have been one of the most consistent and wonderful parts of my life (besides my own familia, of course) for 12 whole years now.

I love them like they are my own.

Fortunately, they've adopted David into their circle of family lovin' too. When we started dating, the boys thought he was awesome because he would let them climb all over him and play whatever they wanted. Over the years, we've all continued to make spending a time together a priority, and have loved growing closer together- even though distance has separated us.

So, here are some pictures just from the past few years of togetherness. These are just the ones I had on my computer, though I know we have pictures going back 12 years! I'll have to find some to scan and share.

Summer, 2004

August, 2005

 September- October, 2005

Easter, 2006

April, 2006

May, 2006 (AG's 3rd birthday- modeling my gift to her!)

October, 2006

December, 2006

Easter, 2007

October, 2007

August, 2008 (such a horribly organized picture... makes me so sad!)

The Rhinharts have been a part of every major event of my life (starting with confirmation), so of course our wedding was no exception. They threw us a fabulous Entertainment Shower (such a great idea!! we ate off of gift cards for more than a year after our wedding!) before our wedding, and Amy Grace was one of our flower girls!

Another special part of our wedding was that I wore the Denise's sixpence in my shoe. That tradition completes the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe" ritual. She wore the same one to her wedding.

So why the Rhinehart-lovin'?? They came to visit us last weekend!

Stay tuned for Rhineharts, pt. 2...