Garden Update

You may remember that I had shared a fantastic plan for our Square Foot Garden for this spring.  It was a tad  bit ambitious.

Well, that ambition has been checked.  It's really due to the need for our land to be graded.  Our back yard turns into a muddy bog when it rains.  And we're kind of afraid that one side of the house is sinking and making our drywall crack.

Cute, right?  I mean the garden.

And we have at least 8 pine trees that need to go before we feel that our roof is safe.

So, considering that all these yard improvement projects will cost us a small fortune, and because a truck would have to drive directly over our garden plot to deliver fill dirt, we have decided to hold off on the full plan.  It's probably better to start slower, anyway, considering what all is going on this summer.

Thus, our abbreviated garden.

Yes, my Texan friends, that is a Buc-ee's shirt.  Eat your heart out.

This is only 2' by 2' and it is actually only a leftover piece from a container garden that my dad made to surprise my mom for their anniversary.  There are two plants in it so far: one cherry tomato, and one cucumber.  They will need a trellis, but that isn't quite necessary yet.



There are 2 more square feet available, and I am debating what exactly to plant there.  I think I will start putting in a few lettuce plants each week for a little while, until I have a good little salad bar setup.



We also have 2 blueberry bushes, one of which has a handful of berries coming along!  I'm hoping rabbits and birds don't steal them before we get to them. 

Do you have a garden going?  How does your garden grow?



My New Adventure is nothing like Alicia's this week, but I suppose we're adventuring along the same lines this year. :) Congratulations to her growing family!

We're back! {Top Ten} April So Far

This has been a full month.  It has been wonderful.  I wish I had started a list of bullet points of everything that's happened in the past few weeks, so that I could put together an intelligent recap of our April.  Or at least so that I could remember things.  But I didn't, so this is the brief run-down of what we've been up to!

1.  Almost 3 weeks ago, my sweet and dear friend, Michelle, drove 800+ miles from Michigan with her boyfriend, Rob, solely to visit with us.  That is a good friend there. 

Rob, Michelle, and Lizzie, at the park

Michelle was my maid of honor in my wedding.  Whenever she gets married--which shouldn't be too far off now--she's already picked me for the position, though with the title Matron. 

Michelle & Cindy, all dressed up

We used to stay up until all hours, talking about all the things that girls talk about--school, boys, relationships, our spiritual journey, boys, and dreams for the future.  While they visited, we got our "late night" time in during the early morning, while Lizzie and Rob slept in. 

Having Michelle as a friend is like having a sister.  No matter how often we see each other, we can always pick up where we left off.  And I hope that my girls get to be such close friends, too.

2.  In preparation for having houseguests, we had to clean.  Their stay motivated us to rearrange our guest room and make it livable. 
Before:

(Yes, I do understand that the blocks and colorful toys add drama, and make it look worse than it was, but it really was that bad.  I found that I had not filed or even remotely dealt with paperwork since October.  October, people!)

After:

 3.  We ventured to the Southeastern Railway Museum.  Lizzie loves trains, more than I would expect a girl to love trains, and we are right around the corner from this surprisingly great "museum" of trains and transportation. 

 

4.  Sam has another job prospect lined up, and it starts at the beginning of next month.  It's a three-month internship contract, which we are praying will become a permanent position.  He is excited to get back on track with a construction job, since his most recent degree is in construction project management.  I am excited for him, too!  The retail place has been God's provision for us, however, it's only an interim job. I am also looking forward to the retail schedule coming to an end and having a regular work week, that starts with early mornings and early bedtimes.

5.  We went to Texas and back!  We put approximately 2500 miles on our truck, but it was worth every mile.  Along the way we stayed with friends in Hattiesburg, MS, spent several days with Sam's family in Houston, made a 24 hour trip to stay with more friends and make a cameo appearance at a home church in San Antonio, returned to Houston, then departed for Mobile, AL, for one final stay with more friends, before heading home.  

6.  While in Houston, we got to go to the zoo, which was so much fun.  We went during nap time, so even though Lizzie was slightly zombie-like, she did really love being there.  

7.  Lizzie adores her grandparents.  Both sets.  She was actually disappointed when we told her we were going home instead of going back to Yeh-Yeh and Ni-Ni's house.  

 

When we did get back home, we got to visit with my family, too.  My mom is back in town.  She'd been in California for nearly a month, helping her sister care for their mother.  Her mother is still hanging in there, so she may need to fly back out soon, but we hope that her mom will hold out until after the book launch on May 3, at least.

 

8.  I arrived at my third trimester.  There are now only 11 weeks left before my due date of July 11 (Lord willing, no more than that!).  I am feeling quite large, my ankles are feeling quite larger, and whatever energy I had in the 2nd trimester is gradually leaving.  I'm glad we got to travel together as a family of 3 this month.

9.  Lizzie is making some "big girl" transitions.  While at Sam's parents' house, she went #2 in her potty for the first time.  That was a big deal.  She hasn't done it since, but she's put forth some good effort.  We haven't put forth a huge effort to push potty training, but we are giving her opportunity to try, especially if she asks. 

As of last night, Lizzie has decided she is no longer interested in sleeping in her crib.  So, she has slept on her crib mattress on the floor - which actually means, on the floor itself - for one evening and one nap.  The going to bed process has been a bit of a struggle, but once the lights are off and the door is closed, she has stayed in her bed like a big girl!  If we can keep this up until the new baby comes, then we'll only have to get one more mattress, instead of a whole new crib set. 

10.  Easter.   Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  That we have a resurrection and the hope of the gospel, the strength of the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead also in us.  It is truly indescribable.

Lizzie got to experience an egg hunt for the first time.  She was a little foggy on the details until she picked up a few eggs.  Then she got the hang of it.  And as soon as she got to what was on the inside (chocolate candy! stickers! bubble gum - we didn't know about that one until she gave me a very chewed up piece), she was pretty stoked to find more!

 

Those are our highlights.  How has your April been?

Camp of Champions Changed my Life

Next week my brother is borrowing our Suburban to transport youth from our church to Mississippi for Camp of Champions. As I was pulling the miscellaneous baby paraphernalia that had landed there over the past several months, I got thinking about the drive to and from, and about the weeks I've spent there, and about the many ways the event has impacted my life and the lives of hundreds of others. I let myself remember the giddy feeling of preparing for camp. What will it be like this year? What will God do? Who will be there?

COC was founded 21 (right?) years ago, with a couple dozen youth. Now registration is maxed out at 130, on a first come, first served basis. And that is only at one campus; there are COC TX and COC Lincoln (in Costa Rica). There has been talk over the years of a COC OH and COC PA and who knows how many others in recent years now that I have been out of the direct COC loop.

The first COC I attended was in 1997. I was 16. My family had just moved to Atlanta, and we had left all our friends up north. We started attending our church in May, and the youth group was going to camp in June. There I learned that I could make some awesome friends so I wouldn't have to be homesick. I also enjoyed a depth of the presence of God that I had never known. I had experienced moments in various meetings or encounters on my own with Him before, but there in southern Mississippi, the taste of the reality of God's nearness and goodness and His purpose for my life has affected me ever since. Worship became a joyful expression of gratitude and awe. Prayer was a conversation. The Bible had words in it that could pierce my very soul, bringing revelation and comfort. Unity in a community of believers was manifest. Purpose and passion for the things of God were lived out in the examples of the counselors and staff. My heart grasped hold of this hope: A life of faith that has reality in it is possible. And it could be my life.

The format is simple enough: junior high and high school students (and those going into college) are divided into teams with a captain and co-captain. There is almost a mathematical equation to the way the teams are constructed--from different churches, at different ages, and different athletic skill. Kids come from all around the region, most of them from a group of churches loosely connected through their pastoral leadership. During the week that team competes in sports, team skits, a talent show, memory verse quotation, and completion of tasks like cleaning the dorms or sports fields. Points are awarded or deducted, and the winning team goes home with a trophy. Every morning high value is placed on 30 minutes of quiet time, "one-on-one with Jesus," then followed by breakfast (along with announcements, cheers, and the typical camp counselor silliness) then a short chapel service and sports. Then lunch, more sports, and free time. Showering had never been so coveted as during free time when we could clean up and rest in the cool dorms. After that, we'd gather for supper, do our daily team clean-up project, and go to the evening chapel service. That is when the fire fell. We prayed, sang, listened, wept, and rejoiced; so many of us--campers and staff alike--were broken, delivered, saved, renewed, and challenged.

That first year, we drove home in a thunderstorm, and for the first time since early childhood I was so captivated by the majesty of rain and lightening. I was so grateful for air conditioning in that van. I was challenged by the driver's reflections on the week and what he saw in those of us who were riding home with him and his wife. I saw Atlanta's huge, sparkling skyline for the first time when we drove through at night. All of it was seen through eyes that had been given new lenses, with appreciation for the beauty and creativity of the world around me, of the life I had been given to live. I was so excited and peaceful at the same time.

Over the years, I attended at least 15 camps. Maybe 16, but I can't remember. However many, I have all but one of the t-shirts to prove it. I attended as a camper for 3 years, and as a staff member for the remaining 9. I was baptized in the lake where we had sea weed fights during the "Octathalon." While pacing the asphalt around midnight in front of the Bluebird Chapel, and after years of frustration and doubt regarding it, I finally received my prayer language. In the poor, dusty neighborhoods of Uvalde, TX, I got over my fear of offering prayer to someone whose eyes are filled with tears because of the kindness of a group of kids. I have made friends who are as close as family, and with whom I would be honored to call friends for the rest of my life. I met my husband while I was in Texas, meeting up with a group of some of those friends I had met and served beside at camp. Two years ago at the last camp I attended outside of San Antonio, Texas, God gave me Lizzie's middle name, Hosanna. I guess I should have known she would be a girl.

Many years ago, when "making the camp video" was a running joke among those of us in the greater camp community, there have been several celebrities who have been coerced to say on camera, "Camp of Champions changed my life!" so that they could be inserted into the annual camp highlights video. Those people never actually attended, but it was always fun to get them to make a cameo appearance from some dark backstage room, saying that their lives were changed. But in all honesty, had I not been given the opportunity to attend these events, my life would not have been the same.

Home Again, II

Sam is in the back yard with my dad, who is having fun playing with his chainsaw, cutting down crooked trees into firewood. And they just downed a pretty substantial pine tree; that was impressive. The yard has been so full of trees that the grass back there has had no real no chance to grow, so this will hopefully allow us to have more of a back yard and less of a wooded dirty area. We have plans of trying to make up a landscaping plan for back there, but we haven't really made any progress in that regard yet. Last year we focused on the inside of the house; this year maybe we'll get somewhere on the outside. Of course with a baby coming.... We'll see.

So, while we were gone....

My dog stayed with my parents for the 13 days (wow!) that we were out of town; a family from the church, who also live in our neighborhood, came by and played with the cats and made sure they had what they needed. All the animals were thrilled beyond their capacity when we came home. The cats barely allowed us to sleep the first night we were home; they spent hours purring and kneading and kissing us while we tried to get to sleep.

We took off the day after Christmas and went to Hattiesburg, MS, - a 7-hour drive - where we stayed the night with a family we knew from Texas. We don't get to see them very often, so any time with them is always fun. Their girls are skilled in basketball, and they hope - quite reasonably - to be given scholarships for college. Maybe we'll see them make names for themselves in a few years.

After that, it was on to Houston - 7 more hours - to visit Sam's parents and brother. We had a good time, and stayed there from Saturday night through Thursday morning, which is about the limit that either of us can graciously visit with his family. They love us, and they care deeply for us, and they are some of the kindest people I know. But they do tend to kill us with that kindness.

We ate very well while we were with them (more kindness), yet while we ate, Sam was constantly reminded not to eat too much, because he is "too fat!" and has a "moon-face". Sigh... he can't win. But they do keep us laughing.

Sam kept busy for a day painting some of the trim at their house and fixing odds and ends that they don't know how to take care of themselves. We were also commissioned to take as much of Sam's stuff out of his old room as possible, since Sam's brother needs more room. He's engaged, and his fiance' is due to come over from Taiwan this summer and they'll be married once all her paperwork goes through; odds are they will start out living with Sam's parents. Hopefully they won't stay there long and will be able to get a place of their own quickly.

We made it to San Antonio (a 3 hour drive), the home of the Alamo, the Riverwalk (there we are on the Riverwalk, the night before they drained the river for its annual cleaning to remove the chairs, debris, and lost tourists), and the best Mexican food in the world. Even better than the food in Mexico.

The best part of being in San Antonio was being involved with the Next conference, which was so much fun, and so rich in fellowship, depth of relationships (both relationships we have with others, and the relationships that you know are there between other people involved there), and the Word. We believe we needed to be there because it is important to stay connected with so many of the people who also attend, who have been involved in our lives, and who are a tangible part of the Body of Christ from all over the country - some from all parts of the world.

Sunday afternoon we spent a few hours visiting with Beth and Thomas, who live in San Antonio, catching up and soaking in the encouragement that they are to us. Then we headed back out to Houston for one last night with Sam's parents, packed as much stuff from his old room into the car as we could cram in (believe me, it was an engineering feat), then headed to Mobile, AL, (about 8 hours in the car) after a noon breakfast at Denny's.

In Mobile, we stayed with probably the most brilliant couple that we know, both lawyers, with teenage kids who are just as bright as their parents, just younger. They used to be youth leaders for about a year when I was in youth group, and are strong and bold believers. Again, it was an encouragement to be able to spend time with them, too.

That is the outline of the trip; we put a little over 2000 miles on Sam's car, dropped off the office furniture and files for Boy With a Ball in San Antonio, brought back nearly as much as we took to Texas, ate very well, got food poisoning and got over it, and reconnected with some really wonderful friends. There are more things that can be said, but for now this is plenty long; and I need to find some lunch.

Oh, Baby!

Coffee's on!

I am actually quite ready for a 2 PM cup of coffee, since I haven't had a cuppa in several days. I will even make it half regular, just to spice things up! I also have a variety of Christmas cookies (complements of the friends who participated in the 1st Annual Great Cookie Bake on Monday). This sounds like a perfect coffee break.

First Peek!

Yesterday afternoon we got to see our first sneak peek at our little one! I was relieved to find that there is only one, even though we have joked about how it would be sort of a great deal to get two for one. The severity of my morning sickness made me think I was dealing with twice the hormones, so it must be more than one. But just one. Everything looks right, too.

We found out that my due date is May 31. I'm actually a week farther along than I'd thought, at 15-1/2 weeks.

Sam got to come with me for the appointment, so he got to see the ultrasound, too! He was almost as much fun to watch in the process as the baby, because he was so awestruck by the reality of this little person! Sam couldn't believe how much the baby moved - he or she was waving little arms, and we saw a little bit of a sucking motion while watching its little face, and even got to see it hiccough! A few times in a row it sort of jumped, like a hiccough or a sneeze. It was unbelievable! The technician even got a shot of its little left foot, clear as day, with all its little toes!

All the way home, Sam couldn't stop marveling at how real it seems now. It's not just in our imaginations anymore - this is a real little person, whom we will meet in about 6 months! We promptly scanned the pictures they gave us and sent them to our parents, so they could see their first pictures of their first grandbaby, too.

We were very happy with our impression of the office we went to for our care. It was very peaceful and cheerful, and everyone that we interacted with was very friendly and kind - except for the people who worked for the lab - they don't work for the practice, though, so I can't hold it against them. (The lady who drew blood for a couple tests hardly cracked a smile the whole time I was in there. I think she resented having to work at 4:50 PM while we were there. Heaven forbid....) There were pictures on the walls that had scriptures, and a lot of the nurses had taped verses and notes and encouragements in their personal areas. It is clearly an office full of believers.

Anyways, it's a group practice of a few doctors and five midwives, plus a handful of nurses, too. The midwife we will see primarily, June, was very professional, kind, and practical, plus has a good sense of humor, too. I really like her. I was grateful to have had such a good first impression and experience with the people there. We'll meet the other midwives at every other appointment, so that we'll know everyone by the time we actual go in to deliver.

And Next...
http://www.boywithaball.com/next

We have to register for Next soon. Now that we have money in the bank again, we can do that. It has been a relief to finally see money come in from unemployment!

We will also head to Houston around Christmas to spend several days with Sam's family. It will be good - we haven't seen them in quite a while. We just have to make our plans and then get in touch with people we can stay with on the way to and from, and who we just want to make time to see as well.

We're looking forward to going out there. It is always good to be in San Antonio, too. Especially around Christmas, it's beautiful - they decorate the Riverwalk and it looks so festive and beautiful. The conference will be great, too. I hope we are able to get out of it all that we can, and that what we bring adds something that lasts, too.

Back again

I'm back again!







Camp of Champions Texas was wonderful, and it was such a privilege to be involved there last week. I am grateful that I flew instead of being part of the road trip gang, though the road trip has its place.