Point to Ponder

"What does it look like when the
blood of Christ governs the television and the Internet and
the iPod and the checkbook and the neckline?"

~Forward by John Piper

in: Maheney, C.J., "Worldliness." 2008.

Recipe for the Perfect Evening

Start with a good, home-cooked meal--one you know will be a hit!

Add some outdoors, 

and a table for two!

Then, spice things up with the one (or ones) you love, and you're good to go!

The Last 5 Days in 20 Pictures or Less...

Back in February, we decided to surprise my mom with a visit in March.  The plans were set, the tickets purchased, and then we just had to wait....But the time finally came, and she was just as surprised as ever when we showed up and sat down next to her while on a date with my dad. 

Following are some pictures from our trip.  Can't fit all 247 of them on here, but hopefully, this will give you the flavor of our time there.  

Wednesday, Day 1:

We took the train from Ft. Worth into Dallas.  Quite the sweet ride.

Dealey Plaza is famous for the location of JFK's assassination, but it's also where the very first homestead of Dallas was established.
Kevin in front of the second of two white x's marking the spots.

The crosswalk where history was made.

We couldn't take any pictures inside the 6th Floor Museum.  If you ever get the chance to visit, it's well worth it, albeit sobering.  By the end, I just had to leave the museum.  What a time in our nation's history...

Kevin's second time ever on a train on the ride back home.
We stopped to pay our respects to my biological father, who died when I was just a baby.  It was an interesting feeling to see the year of one man's death as the same year that gave me life.
Thursday, Day 2:

It seemed only right that the day after visiting where JFK was shot, we would travel through Austin on our way to San Antonio and stop at LBJ's presidential library.  

He is commemorated as a man who was forced into a job he didn't want, but in reality, he established many government programs that are still alive and running today (ever heard of PBS?).
We also visited the capitol building, where I met George W. Bush while on a 5th grade field trip. :)

Can't go on a vacation without a little Starbuck's!!!

On the streets of Austin.
Friday, Day 3:

After a day in Austin, we arrived in San Antonio late Thursday night and hit the ground running the next morning.

We took Kevin to the house I grew up in...funny, it seemed so much bigger back then....
He also got to see my old elementary school...which also seems to have shrunk.
And then breakfast at the Gunther House.  World Famous Sticky Buns and all home made (the flour is ground on the premises).
Long Live the Alamo--as well as the line to get in!

We decided to forgo the two hour wait to spend 15 minutes inside its walls, but we did get to see the museum on the perimeter.  

Can't visit good ol' S.A. without seeing the River Walk.  After a lengthy walk down it's bank, we had dinner at a little restaurant with...
...two of the most special ladies I know!!! I grew up with Leslie and Danielle right next door--and we spent hours at each other's houses playing anything and everything you can imagine!
With our Mammas.
Saturday, Day 4: 

Our last night there, my brother, Don, and his wife, Danielle, joined us for dinner.  It was the first time our family had been together since their wedding in November, 2007.  It was fun to see them!

And today is Day 5, of which I have no pictures only a sad case of let down that it's all over.  I'm so grateful to Kevin for allowing us this venture!  It was 100% worth the money, time, and energy put into it. :)

And that's it!

I would be lying to say that I'm glad it's over.  It's always sad to say goodbye to my parents, but I am very grateful to report that their house is sold and they are on their way to Pittsburgh, PA as of the beginning of May!  We're hoping our visits with them will be much more frequent! :-)

Hope your weekend was as fun as ours was!  

Now, it's time to recover... ;)

So Far Away and Yet...So Close!

I'm not a technology fan.  In general, I'd rather throw my computer out the window and revert back to the days when we walked from place to place (hoop skirts and all!).  Kevin has converted me somewhat, as our phone line is through the Internet and our computer has a little apple symbol on it. :)

But I'd have to say that yesterday probably took the cake.

From thousands of miles away, we spoke to and chatted with our sister and her five beautiful children!  It was like they were in the same room!  (except they're not quite so pixelated in person ;).  

Below are some pictures from the fruits of Kim and Kevin's roughly forty five minutes on the phone as Kevin talked Kim through the web cam setting up process.  

As I'm sure you'll agree, it was well worth it! :)

Kevin talking to Rachel:

Kevin waving at Caleb...who pretty much just stared the whole time. :)
The next picture actually came from last weekend.  Kevin and his college roommate, Josh, synced their Wii's together and played a game of MarioKart while having each other on their web cams...it was like college again!

Like I said, I'm not a tech fan, but it's sure brought some family and friends who are far away close....and that's pretty cool.

The Fam Came to Call

I know this is my second post today, but we've just had such an abundance of excitement over the last twenty-four hours, I had to write about it, and I'm not great at posting things in a timely manner, soooooo you get two posts today. :)

Our Fowler Family gave us the incredible blessing of making breakfast--

and they even let us eat it with them!  

I'm a little un-practiced in regard to en-masse cooking, so it was probably quite the site to see Kevin and I scrambling around the kitchen before they got there.  But we did it!  

He took on the eggs and I made the bacon and sausage.  Our guests arrived right on time, and there were (thankfully) no hungry bellies by the time we were done.

The Ladies got the table:

Since we only own four "real" chairs, the men took the couch:

And since a plain ol' breakfast just wouldn't be exciting enough, 

we asked Dad to close the porch door in just the right way so as to cause our power to go out.... 

okay, so that's not true--but the power did go out at the exact moment he came back inside.

So, the rest of our meal and time together was had by candle light:

Or, more accurately, this is what is looked like:

And then our visitors left, their bellies full, and their traveling to the Big City done--for now.

We'd be happy to have them again.

They are, after all, very pleasant company. :)

It is more blessed to give...

What a humbling evening it was.  

Kevin had some dermatological procedures done on Thursday which took him out of school for both Thursday and Friday, and last night some of his co-workers (like the entire 8th grade staff) chipped in and dinner was delivered to our doorstep.

Check out this spread from Buddy's BBQ:

BBQ, Beans, Coleslaw, Buns, Cookies...The Works!

And if that wasn't enough, they also brought along two gift certificates for Puleo's and Aubrey's!

We were both incredibly humbled by these gifts and grateful for the Lord's provision.  We're excited for the next time around when we can bless someone! :-)

Hang 'Em High!

We've all got hang ups. Admit it! There are those things that just get your goat like nothing else, regardless of the fact that you neighbor, spouse, or best friend could care less.

As a full-time interpreter, full-time home maker, and full-time wife, I'm learning that not everything that I hang up on needs to be hung. I'd like to share with you some things I'm learning are, at the end of the day, not worth sweating about, and then some things that I believe are worth making a priority.

Things to lay down, not hang up on:

1. A Perfect House. Neither one of us are slobs, but neither are we the most tidy of people all the time...and that's okay. I'm learning to not let a book off the shelf or a remote control on the couch bother me.

2. Kitchen/Bathroom Floors. I know--that sounds disgusting, doesn't it? But it's the truth, and it really doesn't bother us.

3. Dusted House. No, I'm not a fan of those bunnies either, but in the end, I'd rather live with them than kill myself daily trying to annihilate them. They reproduce like bunnies, anyway! I've settled on a good dusting about once a month.

4. A New Meal Every Day. It's very noble to never eat the same thing twice--it's just not very practical.

5. Time with Everyone! I would love to exist in a perpetual state of fellowship (It's what I like to imagine Heaven will be like!). In reality, it's just not possible. We try to make time for Sunday lunches after church with some people and then maybe one or two other get-togethers during the weekend.

Things to hang high:

1. Order, not perfection. Keeping the floor empty of stray items and the clothes hung up can only take a minute if not put off until later.

2. Clean Kitchen Counter Tops and Sinks. It doesn't take much time to wipe the counter and rinse the dishes (even if not wash them), and the lack of pesky pests flitting about will be thanks enough.

3. Clean Clothes. Wash, fold, and put away. There's nothing like having to wear old, dirty, wrinkled clothes. It colors the whole day.

4. Meals. No, we're not health nuts--far from it! But at the end of the day, the last thing I want is to have to scavenge for something to eat. It's helped a lot to plan out our meals week by week. Sometimes I can even prepare dinner the night before.

5. Time with family. There are two of us right now, but we love the idea of adding to our family. And should the Lord allow us children, we're excited about making time with family important and priority.

I hope these encourage, not discourage you. It's a learning process, and I'm excited to be learning alongside some of the best! :-)

Wisdom During Economic Turbulence

"...All the perplexities , confusion and distress in America arise, not from the defects in their constitution or confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation..." -- John Q. Adams

A Place To Hang Your Hat

Welcome to our Home!

Come on in!  Kick you shoes off and stay a while.

Would you like something to drink?  

I know, I know--things probably look a little different than the last time you saw them.  

We just like to keep everything new and fresh.

Hope you enjoy your stay and, please, come back.