i LOVE these things!

1) Last movie you saw in a theater? We went to see "Prince Caspian" for our anniversary. I cried.

2) What book are you reading? "Knowing God"--not far into it, but rearing to go. :)

3) Favorite board game? Probably Scrabble. I like Canasta, too, but it's hard to teach other people how to play.

4) Favorite magazine? I like several. Reader's Digest. Glamour (I know, I know...).

5) Favorite smells? Kevin has this cologne called "Good Life" and it smells SOOO good. :)

6) Favorite sounds? little kids laughing.

7) Worst feeling in the world? letting someone that I love down.

8) What is the first thing you think of when you wake? "That wasn't long enough."

9) Favorite fast food place? mcdonalds (yes, I agree with Jessica :)

10) Future child's name? We haven't settled on any specific names, but a few that I like, and some that we like, are: Grace, Isaiah, Cameron (boy or girl), Joel, Ruth, Renee...

11) Finish this statement - "If I had a lot of money I'd..." pay off our student loans.

12) Do you drive fast? faster than Kevin, so I get in trouble a lot. ;)

13) Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? I did all the way through college, then I got married, and Kevin won't let me. :)

14) Storms - cool or scary? I like good, hard lightning/thunder storms--none of the sissy constant drizzle that Seattle had.

15) What was your first car? 1992 Honda Civic--no air, no power windows, 4 cylinder all the way, baby!!!!

16) Favorite drink? Ginger Ale. (lame, huh?)

17) Finish this statement--"If I had the time, I would......" write my novel.

18) Do you eat the stems on broccoli? um, we generally eat frozen broccoli (after it's been cooked of course), so I guess so....?

19) If you could dye your hair any other color, what would be your choice? i've always wanted red hair, but not like liccorice red, like a pretty strawberry blonde red. :-D

20) Name all of the different cities/towns you've lived. Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Auburn (near Seattle), Maryville, Knoxville.

21) Favorite sports to watch. Basketball.

22) One nice thing about the person who sent this to you? I stole from a new friend's blog, and she seems pretty dern cool. :)

23) What's under your bed? this crooked little spring thing that supposedly supports us...it's strange. come see it.

24) Would you like to be born as yourself again? I'm not a big fan of this question. I've enjoyed my life so far, so I wouldn't mind living it again....

25) Morning person or night owl? I hate mornings. I get sleepy easily at night. Catch me around 6 or 7. I like the evenings.

26) Over easy or sunny side up? sunny side up. :)

27) Favorite place to relax? Does sleeping count as "relaxation?" It's seriously my hobby.

28) Favorite pie? Cherry.

29) Favorite ice cream flavor? butter pecan.

30) Of all the people you have tagged, who is the most likely to respond first? I'm not tagging anyone either...namely because I'm not sure how. :-D

"The Harvest is Plentiful..."

We've been in our new home a little over two weeks...I finally feel like we're settling. I think it's the pictures. My mom told me that when we confirmed that we were moving, the first thing I should do is take all our pictures off the walls. In the same way that I took them off our old home, I'm working to get them up in our new home. Pictures and wall decorations have a way of making a house a home.

And there's a burden that's on my heart, and I'm not sure where it's going to take me. Save the last year where we lived relatively remotely, I've always lived in the city. Moving back into the city confirmed that I am indeed a city girl.

I'm friends with, live near, and am related to so many who love the private, remoteness of mountains and farms. I appreciate that in them, but I am starting to accept that I am not one of them. Growing up in Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, and Seattle before coming to Tennessee cultivated in me a love for the metropolitan life. I love living four minutes from a Kroger (five if I miss the light :). I don't mind the sound of sirens at night. I like being able to walk next door to borrow an egg if I'm lacking.

My burden, however, is this: we've moved in to a mission field. Both my parents taught me that with all the neighbors we've had over the years. We live in a small apartment, not a dorm room and not a house. I've only seen a handful of the people who we share a building with, and I can only identify one of them by name. They are single, married, old, young, and some seem to be from different countries. I'd love to get into these people's lives and get to know them, develop a relationship.

The cynic in me scoffs: "How? They don't care. And you don't, either, really." And maybe some of that is true, but I can't escape that Jesus does care, and through Him, I can love them and Lord-willing develop relationships with them.

Pray for me on that, will you? It's a burden that I feel nearly every time I pull into our parking lot.

Eight units on our half of our building, times two halves to our building, times five building in our court, times two courts= a lot of opportunity. :-)

Thanks for all you mean to us! We love you all!

Quotable Quotes

Because you just can't make this stuff up...

[after a 4th of July potluck dinner]

Lydia: I think my chips were a real hit.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Kevin: You know what's getting on my nerves? Names that are two separate words put together for one last name.

Lydia: Oh, you mean like "Skidmore"?

[pause.]

Kevin: Oh, yeah, I guess that is two words, isn't it?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Kevin: With our new insurance, it will only cost $150 to have a baby.

Kevin's mom: You guys want a loan?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Move, Part 2: Relocating, Resettling.

So, we've done it.

We've scouted the apartments, signed the papers, packed our earthly belongings, and carted it all up here. Now, the fun part. :)

I'm not a huge fan of the hectic hours, the emotional turmoil, the stressful stacks of boxes, or the "how on earth are we going to arrange it all" questions. I do, however, like organizing, arranging, sorting, and (best of all) throwing/giving away--all of which moving is conducive to.

I'd like to give you some Before and After pictures of our new apartment. Please keep in mind that these are semi-premature "after" pictures, as we've only been here very few days. We set our "let's get (sorta) settled" date at a week, and so here is our move-in-up-to-one-week progress. :)

Dining Room: Before. We had no chairs for our dining room table (we made a to-purchase list, and those were near the top), and my dad's old dresser is standing in as a pantry of sorts.

Dining Room: After. Initially, I bought only two chairs for our table (the light wood ones), vowing that we'd find two more "eventually." Well, I went garage sailing recently and found the other two at a smashing $10 a piece!

Living Room: Before. Those doors lead to our balcony--pretty spiffy, huh?


Living Room: After. Office/Guest Room: Before.

Office/Guest Room: After. Notice Kevin's new Mac. :)


Bedroom: After. We have no "before" pictures--Life was a little too chaotic at that point. :)


Last, this is a picture of our first real meal in our new apartment. After several nights of Taco Bell and left over Papa John's eaten on the couch because we didn't have any chairs, we finally ate some oven fried chicken and peaches. It was delectable.

The Move, Part 1: Packing Up, Heading Out

I began the moving process long before we actually moved. I'm not a do-it-all-at-once type person in that respect. I think it made Kevin laugh, but I started packing up the day he gave me the go ahead--about three weeks ago. The end result was we lived out of boxes until we officially began our move. Another result, however, was that when Kevin got the call offering him a job, we were moved to Knoxville a matter of days later.

Our living room. Can you find Kevin? :)

Our bedroom. There was a point where we both quit caring, realizing that it was only going to be moved and could be organized/cleaned up then. Indeed, it is slightly less sightly (try saying that five times fast. :)
The view from the bedroom. Since most of the furniture was not ours, moving from our apartment was a bit more simple of a task.
The kitchen. It is difficult to know when to move the food, because when the food goes to the new home to live, so, too, must we.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in this little home. As a first apartment, it was far above and beyond what we could ever have hoped for. The Lord blesses in His time, in His way, and for His purpose.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Farewell, Dolly and Rocket Evans!

Well, sadly, I'm going to have to back up a little bit and bring you to the present...

Leaving our old apartment also meant leaving some pretty cool young ladies.

This is Dolly. She the best Golden Retriever we know (aside from Shadow Borders), and we'll miss her lots. She never turned down a game of fetch--mostly because she couldn't help herself from Retrieving what was thrown. :)

This is her sister, Rocket. She was named after the sky. ("Because she's black like the sky," said Eli Evans when asked why he named her Rocket.) She's a little more on the slow (and lazy, it would seem) side of things. :)

This is Lydia with Rocket and Dolly.

This is Kevin with Rocket and Dolly.
(don't worry, Mark and Jackie--we used patented green screen technology to make it look like Dolly and Rocket are inside our apartment, but they're not... :)
We sure do miss being greeted every morning by these two smiling lasses....and their paws and slobber and sticks to throw and...

Here's to you, Dolly and Rocket Evans!

A Smattering of an Update...

I did not realize it's been so long since our last post...what can we say? We're not professional bloggers!

We do, however, have much to report, as several exciting things have come our way recently.

In an effort to be concise and not too wordy, I'll present them in list format. If you'd like more detail, please get in touch with me, and I'll talk your ear off. :-)

1) We've moved!!!! After one gloriously blissful year in the mountains of Tennessee, we've relocated to the hustle and bustle of Knoxville, Tennessee. Thanks to all the people who helped us relocate in the span on two days--we couldn't have done it without ya!

2) KEVIN GOT A JOB!!!! I'm proud to announce I'm now married to an 8th grade American History teacher. He starts August 4th!

Praise the Lord! Those are the biggies, but within each are blessings that I would like to share as a means of thanks, as God has provided (once again) above and beyond what we could have asked for.

Our move...

1) Brings me from a 45-minute each way commute down to a 3 minute commute each way. I will be able to walk once the weather cools off--it's half a mile. Can't beat that with a stick! :)

2) Our complex was having a special promotion for 12-month lease signers.
As a result:
a) We paid no pro-rated fee for the week of July that we've lived there;
b) Our first two months of rent are 50% off. We will not pay a full month of rent until October!

3) Is in a quiet, brick, tree-filled complex that's been around since the 70's. We love it and look forward to getting to know our neighbors. :)

Kevin's Job...

1) Is only seven minutes from our home.

2) Allows him to teach something he's both passionate about and enjoys studying.

3) Gives him his own classroom. While many first-year teachers are moving a cart of supplies from one room to another, Kevin's got his very own classroom with a window view.

4) Is at one of the best middle schools in Knox County.

5) Is at the same school as his guitar teacher growing up.

6) Is with several other Christian teachers where they have a prayer meeting once a week before classes begin.

Phew!

After a week of packing, moving, starting a new job, and trying to settle, we are both exhausted, but it's an exhaustion that only points us to the abundant blessings the Lord has LAVISHED on us.

Thank you for your prayers! I will hopefully be able to post some pictures in the next few days when the Internet at our house is set up. :-)

We love you all!!!!!!