Learning to Write

April Showers...

2011-04-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Clint and I decided about 2 weeks ago that we needed some us time so we went to the Botanical Gardens here in Fort Worth. It is really beautiful there. It's more of a natural take, to me, on an arboretum. Instead of lots of landscaping, there are nature paths, ponds, wildflowers and lots of big, old trees.

This is in the Japanese Gardens. They had Japanese inspired architecture and native trees and plants throughout. Very pretty!

They had Koi fish in a lot of the ponds but these were actually in the Japanese Gardens. They were huge!

We also went and ate at Cafe Brazil that night and registered for baby stuff! All in all it was a fun day. Clint rarely gets whole days off so it was a blessing to reconnect.

Our New Addition Coming June 2011!

2011-04-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Clint and I are so excited about our new adventure we are about to embark on. With baby M being our first, there are many things that are easy to get stressed and overwhelmed about, but we are enjoying the ride and all the new things going on. From the nursery to doctor appointments, it all has been fun and new. We have been blessed with a healthy pregnancy and even when we hit little bumps I try to take time to worship God for all He has given us thus far on this journey.

God's timing is much better than our own, and I am learning that more and more. Right now, the plan is for me to stop working and stay home with the little one. I am very excited about that and once again feel very blessed to have that option. When the baby comes, Clint will be off from school. Once again, God's timing is just right.

Clint and I found out I was pregnant on a Friday night. We were just about to go out to dinner with some friends and I decided to check before they came over. I didn't expect it to be positive but I hadn't been feeling right and I was late. I took the test and couldn't believe it. I went in to the living room to show Clint with probably a pretty funny look on my face. I asked him if he thought it was positive. I don't think either one of us could believe it so I ran up to the drug store to buy another. Once that one was also positive it started to sink in a bit. I didn't cry or anything, I think I was just in total shock. We went over to our friend's house and told them. When our friends we were going to eat with came over, we told them as well. That weekend we went to Corsicana and told Clint's parents and my mom and grandmom. It was a lot of fun telling the family. I think Bill's reaction was the best. He just seemed completely stunned. Mom and Clint's mom had similar reactions; they both gave out a little scream followed by hugging. It's a lot of fun to get to share that joy.

I have been posting weekly pictures on Facebook. I think it's fun to see how I have changed. Plus, some weeks I don't think I have changed, but then I look at my picture from the past week and I can see it. I don't always think I look great, but that's not why I'm doing it. I have tried to really go with the changes and not be freaked out by gaining weight and all the other changes that happen. Women today get so consumed about their appearance and the outward things. I think it's another sign of God's creation. He makes women's bodies able to carry and grow a little human. That's just crazy when I really think about it. This is me at 24 weeks, so just a bit over half way there.

We started on the nursery in March. This is the before picture. Unfortunately, our diplomas had to go bye-bye. It was the only link I had left to my diploma since I am currently not using it in my job. Oh well, have to swallow the pride and move on.

This is the after. Well actually, it is all still a work in progress but this is the color and the crib. So exciting to start the nesting process. The crib was mine when I was little.

Here are the workers. Mom and Lacie came down to help with painting. Thank goodness they did because that was a job! Our landlord is going to be putting in new windows which is another big blessing. They are very, very old!

My man, working hard!

I can't wait to have the nursery done, but it will be awhile for that! I have my first shower (hosted by the women at Robinson Church of Christ) in 3 weeks. That will be the one with all the family and close friends from the past and present. It will be great just to see everyone. I can't wait.

I am now 28 weeks, which means third trimester! It has gone by really fast. It is truly amazing to feel the changes the baby has made. When I first felt the little kicks, they were tiny. That changed into full sporadic kicks. Now, I can feel little feet, hands and elbows move across my uterus. They feel more coordinated now. I can even feel the baby change positions. I'll get a really hard spot on my belly, where the head or back is. It's pretty amazing and something so unique. Pregnancy isn't the easiest thing, there have been times where I am ready to be done. But at the end of the day, it is a really beautiful thing that God has tasked women to do from the very beginning. It is a miracle to me!

The Super Bowl Comes to the Cowboy's Stadium

2011-03-04T12:04:00.001-08:00

This year, the Super Bowl was in Arlington. All of the media coverage was done from downtown Fort Worth. Clint really wanted to go check it out and see what all they were doing. It was actually fairly boring. But we could see into the set of ESPN and they had some stuff out that was interesting. We took a picture in front of the big Texas that had a football coming out of it. I'm really not sure what it meant but I think it was just celebrating football...in Texas.

We hung out downtown for a few hours, then we headed to the Pier 1 building. If you have ever been to downtown Fort Worth and noticed a huge building with top of it lit up, then you have seen it. It's hard to miss because the lights at the top are really bright. In front of the building they have a walk way that goes all the way around it with trees lining the sides. At Christmas and (I guess) when they are hosting the Super Bowl, they light the trees out front. It is really beautiful.

We told them just to act goofy and this is what we got.

Stephanie and I decided to jump. Stephanie has mad skills and I could barely get off the ground. The thing is after this, everyone was giving me a hard time about not being able to jump. In order to prove them wrong (and to show what a klutz I am) I ran ahead of them and tried to jump higher. Well, that didn't happen so instead I fell on the ground. It was the hardest fall I have ever had. It was one of those that went on for awhile, like I tried to catch myself but my head was in front of my body and I couldn't regain my balance. Not pretty.

I look like I haven't even left the ground. Meanwhile, Stephanie is taking up the whole picture! I don't think pregnant women were meant to jump. Something keeps up grounded.

Early February Snow Daze

2011-03-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

I am catching up on posts I should have done last month so please forgive me. The beginning of February brought snow and ice with it. It was a wonderful break from work (and school for Clint). I know we set lots of records for all the low temperatures, the ice and the snow. Our month's income definitely suffered but it was a lot of fun just getting to hang out with friends and enjoy the different weather. Here are Clint, me, Brad, Stephanie and Claire. We went out the school that is near our houses. They have a football field so the dogs enjoyed sliding around while trying to catch the ball and eating snow off the ground. We thought about Cherry a lot because she loved the snow.

What a cutie. The snow almost hit her belly! This is from last year when we had a ton of snow.

In order to make the most out of the weather we decided to go sledding. We made it a competition to see who could make the fastest sled. Clint and I with our game faces on. We were team Goggles (hence the goggles).

Clint trying out Stephanie's sled. Hers was the best out of all of them. Unfortunately we couldn't find a good place to sled but Clint was brave and tried a few places out for us. In the end, we grabbed the dogs and went up to the school again. Good times!

Ski Trip 2010

2011-01-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

Without further ado...Ski trip 2010!! We were very happy this past year that we were able to go on one last ski trip before baby M makes his/ her debut! When we made plans to go, I wasn't pregnant but we talked to Clint's dad and he gave me the okay as long as I took it easy. I was only able to ski one day. (And it was tough even then. I almost had to call ski patrol because my lungs and legs didn't want to cooperate. But luckily I had some good friends to encourage me!) We made some great memories with some good friends!

"Oh man, that was a loooooong drive here...."

"But I'm so excited!!"
The whole gang at Keystone. There was: Andrew Sullivan, Brad and Stephanie Barham, Clint and I, Joanna and Colby Brownlee, Claire and Daniel Townsend. (Two of our group had already bailed. Kaylann and Austin. They were dealing with a broken wrist.)

It was cold. Really cold. We all ran outside in our t-shirts so we could experience below zero temperatures. (Except Clint, he grabbed his jacket. Fuddy- duddy as we say.)

At night, we just hung out and played games. This is Daniel recreating a fall that Clint had when they went to take out the trash. The parking lot was pretty icey the whole time. The poor Vibe had a hard time on it. So did Clint.

My brave husband on the last day. Bundled up!!

And this is why he was brave. He took a picture of one of the billboards warning people to be careful.

It says the high was 6. No, apparently it never made it there. The high ended up being around 4 and that was in town. Not on the mountain! Yikes!!

And we got to celebrate New Years the last night! That was a lot of fun to get to do that up in the beautiful mountains! Everyone was really tired so it was pretty subdued but fun none the less.

All the girls!

Last but not least. The reason we enjoy skiing and don't mind driving so far. God is in the mountains. What a wonderful and amazing creation He has made. For us.

It was a great trip! And now, one of these days, we get to take our kids up there and show them the majesty of God's creation.

Those Eyes...

2011-01-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, our sweet dog Cherry is gone. We had to put her down January 3, 2011. I will always have a special place in my heart for her. I had totally forgotten that I had posted about her back in December. (See Dog Breath.) It turns out that bad breath was caused by something much worse than tartar or tooth decay. The vet believes she had cancer of the kidneys and probably went into full renal failure about a week or so before. It was unexpected and devastating. She was Clint and I's first dog and only animal before children. For that, she is special to us. We did everything we could with her from vacations to just strolling around the neighborhood. I thought I would post a few of my favorite memories with her.

Bath time. Cherry hated it. But it was fun for us because she would run around the house like a mad woman. She would jump all over the furniture and get her wet hair on everything. I think she did it to spite us. She was quite ornery.

We took her for lots of walks. She hated water most of the time but when it was really hot she would start looking for it. She drank a lot. When she happened on this puddle on a really hot day she just went ahead and sat in the water while she was drinking it. It was pretty funny.

Cherry also hated Duke. He was loud, high energy and playful. All things Cherry couldn't stand. If you look closely, Cherry (who weighed 48 pounds) is taking up most of the backseat while Duke (who weighs about 80 pounds) has a very small space to fit into. This was on the way home from Abilene so Cherry would go to sleep and Duke was just stuck standing there the whole trip. He tried to go to sleep but he couldn't get comfortable because of Cherry. It was pretty funny.

This was the only time Cherry ever (voluntarily) swam. Like I said, she hated water. This was on another one of our long walks on a hot day. It was probably high 90's that day and we had walked probably 2 miles or so. We were at the Trinity Trails so we decided to take the dogs down to the river so they could get a drink. Before we knew it Cherry had gotten in and was taking laps. She would swim and drink at the same time. Eventually, she got out and just sat on the shore. But that was a great memory because we had tried to get her to like the water the whole time we had her.

Well, it is the end of one chapter in our lives and the beginning of a new. I have mourned for Cherry, who she was in our lives and in our hearts and also for the life that we had with her. She represented our early, independent life together. Now, we begin a new chapter. I'm excited about it and look forward to it very much. But I will always have a special place in my heart for her and those sweet beginnings.

Basking...

2010-12-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

The laundry is folded and put away.

Dinner is prepped and ready to be cooked when Clint gets home.

Kitchen is clean and counter tops are reflecting the setting sun on their shiny surface.

Floors are all swept and cleaned.

Only have a few more gifts to buy for Christmas but other than that everything is done.

Basking....

Dog Breath

2010-12-07T19:28:00.001-08:00

Ahhh!! I can't believe it's been almost two months since I have updated my blog!! I am awful.

Okay, got that out of my system. Well since I have neglected my blog, I guess I better update before I get to why I titled my post "Dog Breath".

This month, we attended my cousin, Eric's wedding. He is my oldest cousin on either side so I don't know him as well but he is an amazing guy and has found a really neat girl. I'm excited for them as they start a new chapter in life. I've stayed busy knitting too. I have lots of gifts and things that I'm excited to show off. One of them I made for myself.

I love this pattern and am making it for one of my sister in laws right now. I think I might try selling a few of these but I'm not sure right now. I'm so busy with other projects for now that I'm afraid! Maybe next month while it's still cold, I can do it. We'll see.

So my title is really kind of silly but if you have a dog you might understand. For others you will wonder why the heck I'm even bothering talking about it. I have never been one to get all weird about my dog. I love her and she is definitely part of our lives but I'm not going to go out and spend tons of money on her or anything. Well, the other week I was petting Cherry and noticed her breath was awful. Like she had gone outside and eaten a dead mouse, it was soooo bad. I called our vet here and asked how much it would cost to get her teeth cleaned and a few hours later the receptionist sent me an email with the break down. $440 for the whole thing!!!! Yikes!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Well anyway I called the vet mom uses in Robinson and it was half that. Unbelievable. I never thought I would ever pay to get my dog's teeth cleaned. Ever. But here I am. I don't know why I will spend it now. Maybe because Cherry is a part of our family? Maybe because before I had never had an animal I was so attached to? Or maybe "city life" has gotten to me. Either way, Cherry goes to the vet at the end of the month for some serious debridement (deep cleaning). Dog breath is sure to improve.

October's Goings Ons

2010-10-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Goodness! It's been awhile since I updated! Obviously, it's been a busy month. Let's see what has been going on...

Clint finished his super busy surgery rotation and is currently working on his family medicine rotation.

I'm staying busy watching the kids during the day and various activities at night.

Some of our good friends, Lindsay and John McKinney, moved to Tyler. We will miss them!

Kara, Clint's sister, is pregnant with their second child. So excited for them!

The Rangers are in the World Series. Mom has gone to two post season games. Clint is jealous.

Jenna Lane had her baby. So happy and excited for them!

Began a new small group at church over the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. Awesome book!!!

Began singing with a group at a local hospice center. It has been a real blessing.

I am doing Threads of Love. Along with other women who make different things, I knit hats for premies in the NICU at local hospitals.

I recently made bread and graham crackers from scratch. Both turned out pretty yummy.

I got to see Jaxon (Bobbi's little boy) about 2 weeks ago. It was great to catch up with them.

What I've read: The Hunger Games trilogy (2 thumbs up), Dirty Sexy Politics ( 1.5 thumbs up),
The Glass Castle (2 thumbs way up), The Help (2 thumbs up) and Twelve Might Orphans (1 thumb up). I think that's about it.

Well, I think that pretty well sums up October. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It's been great though. We love Fort Worth and the people we have met here are wonderful. I still can't believe Clint is in his third year. One more year to go and then he begins residency. He would never say this, but I think he really impresses the doctors he is with. Clint tells me the compliments he gets from them. The last doctor he was with told him he was a great student and will be a great doctor and even asked Clint if he wanted a letter of recommendation from him. This guy went to Harvard medical school and is a well respected surgeon in Fort Worth so it meant a lot coming from him. Clint loves interacting with patients and trying to help whenever he can. I know he is going to be great. Okay, enough bragging about Clint! I'm just so proud.

God has really changed us these past 3 years. We know that with such great blessings comes a call to responsibility. Something that stays on our minds. We don't know where God will put us in the end but we know wherever we go, that serving others is what it is all about.

Relationships

2010-09-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago one of my friends from church approached me about being an accountability partner. At first, I really wasn't sure. I didn't even know what that meant. Honestly, I had some pretty negative thoughts about it because of how it was used in my youth group growing up but I knew there was more to it than that. We both prayed about it and I felt like it would be a blessing. It would be something new and different so I was excited. We have been meeting once a week at my house for the past 3 or 4 weeks right after she gets off work. It has been really wonderful, a huge blessing. We pray, talk about our lives and read the bible. Right now we are going through Matthew and I love it. Things that I don't pick up on when reading, she does and vice a versa. There is just something about having one on one time with someone who isn't your spouse. God has shown himself to us and it has been very powerful.

I think it's amazing all the different relationships God shows and gives us. I think especially now that I am older, I have a greater appreciation for those that are in my life. One huge blessing that I received from college and Aggies For Christ in particular is that I learned people are just people. We all want someone to talk to, someone to validate what we believe. That the guy with the funny looking nose and the girl with perfect hair ultimately want the same things in life. When I truly believed this, I found talking to people to be much easier. But I also think an important aspect to that is making yourself uncomfortable. When my friend asked me about being an accountability partner I knew I was going to have to let some of my walls come down. I couldn't put up the "I'm fine, we're fine, everything's fine" facade.

I found this to be true with my small group as well. There are 2 other couples in our group and we meet every week. They also live really close to us and drop by whenever so that if Clint and I have been arguing and they walk up to the door, they know somethings up (and this has happened). They do it on purpose though because we all agreed we wanted to live in community as much as possible. This means it's uncomfortable. We have seen each other super happy and excited and we have seen each other at our worst. But through it all, God has shown himself to us. We are growing and changing. We love each other and through that love, God has blessed us. We all go to different churches as well so one person's beliefs and values tend to be different from others but we all have the most important thing in common so I guess it all works out in the end.

I don't write this to be all (in the words of Cat from 10 Things I Hate About You) "Look at me, Look at me". I still have so much to learn, so much to do, so much to understand. I am messed up and wrong on so many levels. I know I have a huge mountain to climb, but it's good to know that the people around you have their own mountain to climb.

No Pics...Boo

2010-08-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I feel like a big loser because a lot has been going on lately but do I have any pictures of any of it??? Nope. Not a one. This is exactly why I've never entertained the idea of getting some super nice camera. I wouldn't use it. Ever. Oh well, hopefully my writing is full of entertainment and inspiration so people will keep reading it. Oh so where to begin??

My birthday/ anniversary were last week. We had a great time! We went to a local restaurant here called Ellerbe's. It was originally a gas station but they redid everything inside and it now it's modern and really beautiful inside. The food is amazing. The chef goes to the farmer's markets and also connects with local farmers to buy a lot of the food there. She changes the menu according to what is in season. Also, the wine selection is very unique because it is from mostly local wineries. One of "my mom's" gave us a gift card for Ellerbe's so we got to splurge a little more. On Friday night, we went to Dallas and stayed at the Hyatt that is right beside Reunion Tower. It was so pretty. We stayed up on the 16th floor and had a big window to out to all of downtown Dallas. I would definitely recommend staying there if you are visiting Dallas. Saturday we went to Cafe Brazil (YUMMY!!) and then went to the Dallas Farmer's Market. It was really big and nice but the only thing to me was that it wasn't all local. So we tried to be careful and only buy from the locals.

Back in October of last year, I made a few goals. I have pretty much reposted them here with updates of how I am doing on them.

1. Take a knitting class......Check! I just knitted my first scarf!

2. Go camping (like tent, sleeping bag, etc. kind of camping).....Check! We did this over spring break!!

3. Blog at least once a month.....Check...well, kind of I think I missed on month.

4. Pay off a student loan....Check...Actually we are dangerously close to having all my student loans paid off! Whoop!!

5. Train for a half marathon...ok, not so much...I can come with excuses but fact is I didn't do it. :( Oh well, I am still exercising so that's the most important thing.

6. Have my wedding pictures made into an album... In progress! I am currently working on one.

7. Volunteer at the Humane Society...Nope. I need to volunteer for something. I just haven't yet.

8. Get re-certified in CPR....Decided not to do this one. I know how to do CPR. And the class really isn't that helpful. especially when you remember how to do it.

9. Take a dog training course with Cherry...I originally wanted to do this because I thought I might be able to take Cherry to a hospital/nursing home but she has proved to me that that is not a good idea. She is a bit tempermental.

10. Make an apron....Haha! I bought one. Oh well!

11. Maintain my current weight or lose another 2-3 pounds....Check! Yay!! I have maintained my weight and Clint and I continue to try to make healthier choices.

12. Take a multivitamin everyday....Getting better. I still don't do it like I should but I am taking it more often.

13. Finish decorating my room and the guest room...Check! I'm pretty much done. There are a few things I would like to do but they take money to do those. For me, I did it and anything else I do is just a bonus.

Whew!! So, there you go! I would say I'm doing okay. Maybe in a month or two I will set a few more goals.

Boot Party

2010-07-12T09:43:00.001-07:00

For the end of second year, the whole class helps put on a party to celebrate taking their boards and finishing up the first half of school. This is in front of the tree in our yard before we left. There was a catered meal, wine and dancing. After wards, we had about 4 couples over to the house. We played games and just enjoyed the company.

Four of the guys battling through this thing with Clint. Brad, Daniel (the creepy guy behind Clint), Colby and Sam

The girls who help keep me sane!! Joanna, Claire, me and Stephanie. Thank God for friends like these.

July 4th

2010-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

It doesn't seem like that much time has passed but Clint is officially in his third year of medical school. Whoop! I can't believe the time has gone by this fast. Last week he started his internal medicine rotation and he says he is really enjoying it. His days aren't too bad yet. He usually leaves the house around 7 and gets home anywhere between 3:30 and 6:30. Luckily, he has had a good doctor who takes time to explain things. This semester will be the hardest of his third year because he also has his surgery rotation. I think he is looking forward to all of it though. This is the part he has been waiting for. He also got some of his boards scores back and he did well. So thank God for that!! Here are a few photos of the July Fourth weekend.

We went to Concert in the Gardens which I would recommend for anyone visiting Fort Worth. It is held in the Botanical Gardens and the Fort Worth Symphony plays different music each night. They usually have themes like the Beatles or music of the '60's etc. Of course for the Fourth it was all patriotic music. Also at the end of each show they have fireworks. Our friends that we went with, he is the stage manager for the symphony so we got backstage passes for the fireworks. It was really cool.

This was the program for the night. Everyone brings lawn chairs and comes early to have a picnic before the show.

Some of our Aggie friends. (Jordan was giving me the bunny ears and unfortunately it was the best picture I had of all of us.) Thanks Jordan...(Just kidding.)

This was on Friday night before the Fourth. Blair getting her hair did by her daddy. I think she liked it.

And the newest Gaines! Leddy Grace. She basically sleeps a lot but she is a great cuddler. Love it!! She kind of had the mohawk thing going.

Summer Vacation!!

2010-06-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Clint finished up his boards last week so we have been very busy celebrating. The Wednesday before last we left for Athens to see all of Clint's immediate family. Some of Clint's family owns a lake house there and so we spent a long weekend visiting and catching up with them. We went jet skiing, boating, fishing and eating. The weather was great so we spent lots of time outside.

This past Friday we left for another lake house. This time we went to Breckenridge Texas (between Abilene and Fort Worth) where some of our friends parent's have a lake house. Once again we boated, jet skied, and this time instead of a bunch of kids there were a bunch of dogs. The grand total was 5 dogs. Yikes! It was an absolute blast hanging out with friends, laughing, swimming, eating and playing. I think I could do that every day.

On Thurday, June 17, Bobbi had her baby. Jaxon Lewis Keese was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and has a head full of hair. I went up to Plano Friday before we left to see mama and baby. They are both doing well. I am so happy for them and I know they will be great parents.

And besides that, I am working on finishing my goals that I had set for myself last year. (I wrote a post on it back in October of last year.) I have a few more to go. Also, I am looking into becoming a lactation consultant. I have been thinking about it for a while and I think I would really enjoy doing it but I have to look into a bit more. I love what I am doing for now but it definitely isn't something I want to do long term. It is just a matter of logistics at this point. Clint has 2 more years for sure in Fort Worth and then he starts his residency where we could be moving any number of places. Plus we want to start a family somewhere in there so it could get difficult to add something else in the mix!

Sweet baby Jaxon. Just one day old.

Clint and I at the lake house with friends. The picture is blurry, I know. Darn you iphone...
Okay, this picture was supposed to show our friends but Clint decided to show off the poker set... I don't know. Anyway, in this picture is Clint, Claire, Colby, Stephanie and the back of Daniel. Stephanie made a fruit pizza (yum!) to celebrate Clint and Brad's birthdays.
This is one of the dogs at the lake house. He was being crated and I thought he looked like one of those dogs on the commercials for neglected and abused animals so I took a picture. This is Duke. He is an idiot but we all love him.
This was all the food we got at Sam's for the weekend. It was out of control. But really it was the cheapest vacation ever. We were gone from Friday to Monday and we each spent about $80. Pretty crazy.

Some Thoughts on the Treatment of Animals

2010-06-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to sit down and write about Clint and I's decision to not eat meat for us and maybe for others that want to hear about it. This weekend we went and saw his family at the lake house in Athens and we got a lot of questions about it. So here is what I have compiled from Clint and I's search.

Genesis 1:26 says "Let us make men in our image...let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the cattle and over all the earth...". The Message version says something along the lines of let us make man reflecting our nature... let them be responsible for the fish...the cattle...the earth.

So what is our responsibility when it comes to nature? For me, I don't fully know the answer to that but I do know God has charged us with this task. I also think it's something that we don't address much. I also know He has said to eat animals and that He has said that they are all clean to eat.

Romans 14:1-23 speaks to how I feel so if you really want to see where I am coming from I would look there. Specifically verse 14. I don't think meat in nature is unclean but we have exploited animals in our country to the point that I don't have a clear conscience about eating it.

So let me explain why I think animals are exploited. Most of my understanding of the treatment of animals comes from "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, the movie "Food, Inc." and interviews I have seen by the author of "Omnivores Dilemma".

I think the worst treated animal is the chicken. First of all the chicken we eat today is nothing like the chicken they ate in the 1950's. Chickens now (as in almost all chicken we eat) can't reproduce naturally. That is now done in a lab. They also can't survive outside in what should be their natural environment. And even if they could they wouldn't be able to walk around because their muscles are engineered to grow at such a rate that their bones can't support them. This is so they can harvest that meat sooner than ever before. Chickens now do not live very long at all because of engineering. And that is a good thing because their short lives are pretty miserable. Most are raised on a "farm" which is just a long building, usually with no sunlight and a very poor ventilation system so poop, urine and any other bodily fluid can be kicked up and inhaled by the chickens. Because these chickens are cramped all together disease is a real problem. This means they must be given antibiotics on a regular basis. I know one farmer that appeared on Food, Inc. got Lyme disease and she almost died because she was resistant to a lot of antibiotics because of her chickens.

Swine are also kept in cramped conditions and again disease easily spreads. For female pigs life can be pretty bad because the "farmer" keeps her pregnant or nursing piglets most of the time. I think my heart goes out to pigs more because they are more like a pet. They are very intelligent, on the lines of dogs. I would still eat a pig though...if I knew it was treated the right way in life.

According to "Eating Animals" cattle are probably treated the best, which I can see. Drive around a farm to market road and you can see how cows are treated. Open spaces, grass to eat and water to drink. Sure country life isn't easy but at least they aren't shoved together and forced to breath in each other's poop. Life is okay, until the last 90 to 130 days of life. That's when the cows are shipped off to the feed lots and eventual slaughter houses. The treatment at the feed lot is pretty bad. Here they are kept in cramped conditions, disease now becomes a problem, they are standing in their own feces and they eat corn and animal by product. The corn helps fatten the cows but it is also fairly indigestible not to mention the animal byproduct aka bits of other cows. They think this is where Mad Cow Disease comes from. It's cannibalism. Yuck, no thanks.

And I haven't even touched the slaughter houses. I don't buy grass-fed beef because: it is very expensive and I don't know how the cows were slaughtered. Half of my problem with meat is the slaughter houses. I won't go in to this part because it's pretty awful. If you want to inform yourself about it read "Eating Animals". The guy that wrote it I trust, to a degree. He did a lot of investigation on his own or with the help of people that know the industry but I think everyone is probably biased when they do this kind of work and he definitely has his opinions on it. But I also think something has to be going on or you wouldn't see video coming out every few years showing downer cows, cows so sick they can't even stand up, being shoved through slaughter. If a cow is that sick I don't want it on my plate.

To me, the biblical definition of meat that comes from factory farming, and most of it is, is unclean. That is just me and I don't write this blog to tell others how they are wrong and I am right. I just want people to know where I come from. To hopefully convince others that I am not crazy. I once read that Leo Tolstoy went to a slaughter house and didn't eat meat after that. I don't know how accurate that is but it sure got me thinking. I know if I did the same thing, I wouldn't eat meat either. I am not a full out vegetarian. I consider myself a part timer. I don't eat meat at home. I just don't buy it. When we go out to eat, we will get it sometimes and when we are at other people's homes we will eat it. Also, we eat seafood and I will buy that at the store.

We try to eat organic animal products. For one thing, it makes me feel good to know that they don't give the animals hormones and excessive antibiotics. I love organic milk and yogurt. They taste so much better than the normal stuff. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks for it either. The money I don't spend on meat helps pay for the better quality fruits, vegetables and dairy products that I buy now. In general, from what I have gathered, organics products are about respecting the land, the animal and the farmer. I know this isn't always true but I would rather support that industry over the other. I am having my say by buying the products I believe in.

Eggs are another thing for me. The best is when I can get them from a friend of my mom who has chickens on her property. But otherwise I either don't buy eggs or I get the organic free range.

Another reason we cut meat is the health benefits. Saturated fat, which is found in all meat and animal products, is the biggest cause for high LDL (bad) cholesterol. It is also a major risk factor for heart disease. I just happened to get my cholesterol checked right before I started this and then again about 4 months in. Even though it was such a short amount of time my cholesterol ratio (good cholesterol versus the bad) had improved. Of course giving up meat for health reasons is only effective if done right. I make sure that we are getting enough complete proteins in our diet. Clint had a guest lecturer come one time who is a leading cardiologist in America. Based on his research he believes that people should eat meat in 5-7 meals out of the 21 they will eat in a week.

So here are some things you might try if you want to. For soups or stews, try substituting tofu for meat. It takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking. Break it up into small chunks and you won't even know it's there. Beans are great! I love black beans. If I am making a Tex-Mex dish, many times I'll replace the meat with beans and mushrooms. Speaking of mushrooms, they provide a great bite and portabello mushrooms have a good meaty flavor to them. They hold up well in shrimp or chicken pastas. Try meat substitute products. Boca chicken patties are the bomb. They taste just like a chicken patty.

You may not believe it, but my grocery budget has actually dropped since cutting meat out and I even changed grocery stores to the more expensive place where they try to buy local fair and offer more organic products.

Goodbye for a while..

2010-05-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Has it really almost been 2 months since I last posted??? We have definitely stayed busy the last few months and things are about to really pick up. Clint has just started studying for the COMLEX (the licensing exam for osteopathic doctors) and the USMLE (the licensing exam for medical doctors). The COMLEX allows him to practice as a physician and the USMLE he is taking to hopefully help him get into a good residency program. Another words, very important tests that he must do good on. For the next month he will be studying pretty much all day long. Also, this means my time with the computer (he has the only computer we own) will be very limited so I probably won't be able to update the blog as much as I would like.

Re-cap of the last month and a half:

Blair turned one. She is now walking and saying hi and bye and a few other words.

Easter was spent with my family this year. We went to church and mom made lunch. Once again Blair was the entertainment. It was fun getting to be with everyone and spend time together.

Bobbi had one of her showers and mom and I attended. She got lots of stuff. I'm going to see her on Saturday so I can't wait to see Jax's room.

I joined a book club. We are reading The Help right now. I'm not very far in so I don't know yet if I like it or not. I also read Julie and Julia finally. And I didn't like it. She annoyed me. I did like when she talked about actually cooking but the rest of it just kind of irritated me.

Clint and I still aren't buying meat. When we eat out we will get it but I don't buy it from the grocery store as a rule.

Alright, Clint is booting me off the computer now. So that's it for me. See everyone in about a month!

Road Trip 2010!!

2010-03-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

Clint and I headed out of town last Friday to go on our first vacation since he started medical school! We started out at about 4:30 and went down to a small town outside of Bryan called Calvert. We stayed in a bed and breakfast. It was a little weird but fun. The house is a plantation home built in 1900. It was huge by today's standards so I can't imagine what people thought of the house back then! That night we played games and opened a bottle of wine. It was so relaxing and nice just to sit, talk and not worry about a thing. Saturday they had a hot breakfast waiting for us. It was so good!

Then we left for College Station! We stayed in a historic hotel in downtown Bryan Saturday night. During the day we drove around campus. They have added 3 buildings and are still building more. We probably won't recognize it if we don't make trips every few years! Then we went shopping to restock on Aggie gear. In Fort Worth, it is hard to find sometimes. We went back up to campus after that so we could go to the George Bush Library and then we went to Research Park. We had never gone to the library before so that was fun. We learned a lot and the touring exhibit was interesting as well. It was was about the history of wine in America.
Bush was president when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq was oppressing and killing the people of Kuwait and the USA came into help push Iraq back. At the end of the Gulf War, Kuwait presented the US with this door. And why the door? There is an old Kuwait proverb that goes something like this: you give a friend the key to your door and for family you give them the door. Around the door there is gold plates with the names of all the US soldiers that died in the conflict. They also had part of the Berlin Wall and talked about Barbara's work with literacy.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day on Saturday so we spent an hour or so walking and relaxing at the park.

After that we went back to our hotel and got ready to go out that night. Our hotel had complimentary drinks so before we left we did that. Square One is an American Bistro restaurant that we used to go to when we had extra money so we went there Saturday night. They had changed it up some so we were kind of disappointed by that but the food was just as good as ever. We went to Sweet Eugene's to have coffee and dessert after dinner. Clint and I's first date was at Sweet Eugene's so it has a sentimental value plus the coffee is yummy. Sunday we prepared for our camping trip. We drove out to a small town called Richards. We hiked into Sam Houston National Forest about 3 miles and set up our tent there. It was so beautiful and we felt so alone out there. It was scary but a lot of fun too. I was okay until we heard what seemed like 20 coyotes less than a mile away. That was a bit frightening but all in all it was great to hear nothing but the bugs and animals. No cars, no people. We got up the next morning pretty early and started hiking out. We had one scare when we accidentally went off the hiking trail for about 20 minutes but we were able to find it again without any problems. We found our car, got loaded up and headed out late that morning and started back home.

Sunrise...

It was so much fun to get away for a little while.

Check Me Out!

2010-03-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I am blogging again in like 1 week! I'm so proud of myself! Anyway, Clint is over at a friends house so I thought I might update the blog while I had the computer. March has been awesome so far! Today it is 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! I am loving it!

Not a whole lot is going on right now. Clint and I went to a housewarming party for our friends on Friday. They have actually been there for about 3 months but this is medical school time so things happen much slower than in real life! We had a great time catching up with friends we hadn't seen and also meeting some new people. Sadly the next day I woke up unable to keep anything down all day and Clint woke up on Sunday with a fever so our whole weekend was blown! Sad but it did give us a chance to rest up. This next weekend we will be going on our road trip! We are so excited to get away. We will be going back to our alma mater, Aggieland. We both miss it a lot and I am so looking forward to eating at some of our old haunts, going to church at A&M C.O.C., and maybe seeing a few old friends. We are also going to go camping in Sam Houston State Park so that should be fun, too. I promise to provide pictures!

Well, I guess that is it for now. Oh and a little shout out: congratulations Jenna and Brenton on baby Lane. I am so happy for them!

Lyrics I love

2010-03-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

The other day I was listening to my ipod and started thinking how much certain lyrics affect me. So I thought I would post some of my favorite lyrics. Most of these are not because I necessarily agree with what they are saying but more about the images it creates in my mind.

Cat Power, Silver Stallion

I'm gonna steal a silver stallion
with not a mark upon his silky hide
Teach him he can trust me like a sister,
one day we'll saddle up and ride

And we're gonna ride,
we're gonna ride
Ride like the one eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind
We're gonna ride
We're gonna ride

I'm gonna find me a reckless man,
razor blades and dice in his eyes
Just a touch of sadness in his fingers,
thunder and lightening in his thighs

And we're gonna ride,
we're gonna ride
Ride like the one eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind
We're gonna ride
We're gonna ride

I'm gonna chase the sky forever,
with the man and the stallion and the wind
The sun is gonna burn into a cinder,
before we ever pass this way again

And we're gonna ride,
we're gonna ride
Ride like the one eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind
We're gonna ride
We're gonna ride

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus, Killing The Blues

Leaves were falling, just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire
Burning just like moonbeams in our eyes.

[Chorus:]
Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.

There are more lyrics to this song but these are my favorites.

There are lots of other songs I could have put on here but I've been listening to these 2 songs more lately. Maybe next time I will do my favorite worship songs!

Random Things

2010-02-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

I figured since I haven't kept up with my blog this year, I would just post about the highlights and the things I have pictures of.

These next two pictures are from this past weekend. We ended up having about a foot of snow fall in about 24 hours. It was so cool to have that much snow fall in our own backyard. I made a baby snowman and an angel! I loved it! Clint and I went out and played in it for an hour. His school was canceled and I didn't have to work either on Friday so it was fun to have a 3 day weekend.

For mom's birthday this year, everyone came up to Fort Worth to celebrate. We had fajitas and homemade banana pudding for lunch (yummy)! Then we went bowling. It was a lot of fun to spend time together. We got mom a digital photo frame which she loved.

I guess the other "big" things that have gone on were finding out that Justin and Kassie are expecting and they find out today the sex. They think she's due early June so that is really exciting. I can't wait to be an aunt again. Also, Bobbi found out she is having a boy so baby Jaxson will be here late June. All these babies! It is so fun, I love it!

Clint is staying busy with school. This semester he also has to study for boards on top of his normal school work but as usual he is handling it all in stride. He scheduled his boards for early June so he will have 2 weeks between 2nd and 3rd year. Yeah!

I am watching kids full time. I have 3 kids: Avery 9 1/2 months, London 7 months and Carter 5 months. As you can imagine they keep me pretty busy but it is so much fun seeing how they are changing and growing. I can also mark off one of my goals that I set for myself last year, I took a knitting class and have started knitting. I am working on my first dishcloth, so watch out!

Well, other than that I have been reading, as usual. I have read this past month:

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis (our small group is doing a study on this right now)
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer (great, informative book)

(3) Book Blogs

2010-01-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a lot of reading. So here goes...

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren (I think is his last name.) This book was basically talking about how we are transitioning into the Post Modern era and that the church has to respond to that. He (Brian) and his friend talk in this book about what the Post Modern church will look like. This book is pretty progressive I would say but honestly it is nothing I haven't heard or thought about myself. I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone that is searching for answers about church. Somethings that it addressed was: heaven and how it is not us versus them, that we shouldn't look at people who aren't like us as going to heaven or not, basically that it isn't our place to decide that and we need to stop acting like it. He also talked about how Jesus talks of the Kingdom of Heaven being here now and we need to start acting like it. We need to bring the kindgom to others, especially those that aren't as fortunate as us.

Larry's Kidney by Daniel Asa Rose (again, I think that is his name.) So the synopsis on the front cover is this, and I think it describes the book pretty well: How I ended up in China with my Black Sheep cousin and his Mail Order Bride, to try and get him a kidney transplant to save his life. The book is pretty funny and his cousin is probably one of the worst, bravest, dumbest person I have ever heard of. Good book but just very quirky. Also, in the end, what eventually happens I don't agree with on a moral basis so that was hard to get over as well.

The Lassa Ward by Ross Donaldson, M.D. This was a good book. This book is about Ross (then a medical school student) who goes to Sierra Leone to help in a hospital ward that specializes in Lassa Fever. Lassa Fever is a hemorrhagic fever found in a certain species of rats. If a person eats or comes in contact with the bodily fluid of a rat that is infected, they can contract the disease. It is highly deadly and highly infectious. The people that work in the ward are incredibly brave for doing it especially since the facilities and equipment are outdated and poorly supplied. It was amazing to see the stark difference between medical practices there versus the US. It makes you grateful to live here. Death is a constant figure in their lives. I am very blessed to live here where medicine and health education is so widely distributed.

Whew! So that's it! I just realized how random all these books are! Something for everyone...

Christmas and New Years!

2010-01-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

This year, once again, was lots of fun. Clint and I traveled to Corsicana, to see all of his sisters and their husbands and kids. It was great to spend several days with them. We had great food and conversations. I think Christmas Eve, it snowed a little while we were in Corsicana. Clint and I were a little bitter because Fort Worth apparently got a few inches and we totally missed it! Oh well...We also went to Waco and saw my family and cousins. This year, my immediate family Christmas was pretty short. It made me sad, but sometimes that's just what happens. We came back from traveling the Monday after Christmas. I went ahead and took off that week from work to spend more time with Clint before he hit the books again.

New Years was alot of fun. My brother and Lacie, and some of our other friends came over. It was a blast. We talked, played games and then talked some more. It was a great way to bring in the new year.

So here are some pics:

Not a great pic. These are the desserts at mom's house. Yikes!!
Uncle Nathan and his namesake.
Snow! Okay, you have to look closely but I promise it is there.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

One of my most favorite things to do on Christmas is seeing Christmas lights! Clint and I made a date night out of it. We first went and ate at our favorite Tex-Mex place, then went to Starbucks and picked up coffee. I got the Hazelnut Latte. YUMMY! Then we hit the streets! The first neighborhood we went to was actually just houses around a lake. It was really beautiful because the lights bounced off the water and made the whole neighborhood light up. Then we went to the house pictured above. It was so cool! When we pulled up, we turned our radio to a certain station and as you listen, the lights light up to the beat of the music. It lasted about 20 minutes and was the neatest thing ever! We will definitely be making it a tradition to go see those lights. We had so much fun and it really felt like Christmas.

We have stayed really busy this month, as most people do around this time. We've gone to a few Christmas parties, a wedding and a birthday party. It's been so much fun spending time with friends. This week is going to be pretty busy. I am in Fort Worth and working the next 2 days. Clint is in Corsicana shadowing a doctor for 3 days. Then we will meet up and begin our rounds of family stuff. I am looking forward to spending time with our families. It is always nice to catch up with people you don't get to see much of. I am also looking forward to spending time with Clint. Next semester is going to be crazy so I am going to try really hard to just sit back, relax and enjoy the next 2 weeks.

I hope everyone has a good Christmas. I think sometimes this is the most stressful time of year and can be pretty hard for some. So even though I hope everyone has a good time, I guess I just want to recognize that it is okay if it's not for everyone.

Here's to a good new year, full of learning, growing and loving.

Book Blog

2009-11-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

I finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" this past week. I can't think of the authors name right now... Anyway, to be honest I wasn't a huge fan. I think if you like that type of writing, it probably would have been really good but I just couldn't get into it. It is being made into a movie and I'm not sure if I will watch it either. The book is about a man who is able to time travel but he is unable to control when, how, or where he goes. But he generally only goes to his past. It is also about his wife and how they deal with his time traveling. That is really all I can say without giving anything away. It is a popular book so I'm not going to say never read it, but just saying it wasn't my "cup of tea".

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

The good news: Thanksgiving was great. The bad news: I didn't take any pictures!

I love anytime that I get to spend time with family and this year was no different. We spent a lot of time with my family this year, not really by design but because Clint's family didn't really do much because everyone was going to be out of town.

I thoroughly enjoyed having some good stress free time with Clint. That doesn't happen often, so we took advantage of it this weekend. Saturday I got to spend time with some of my friends from high school. Man, I forgot how much I miss being with those girls. I would love to go back in time and hear our conversations 10 years ago versus our conversations now. It would be hilarious. Those girls helped me through a very hard time in my life and am so thankful for them. They were a God send.

Sunday we were back in Fort Worth. We went to church and had lunch with some friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. It was great catching up.

Clint and I are at a really great place right now. God has answered so many prayers in the last month that have really weighed on Clint and I. It's like He is telling us that He is behind it all because so many things have happened so close together. Fort Worth in itself is a huge blessing. The friends we have met here are lifetime friends. In fact, the 2 couples that we have community with each week, both live less than a half mile from us (which was on purpose) now. It is so nice to know that we have a family here. God has been good. He has heard my prayers. What more can I ask?

Now on to Christmas!!!

First, update then , Book Blog

2009-11-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I am writing this blog entry at 10:45 at night, which is late for me, because I cannot sleep! It could be that cup of coffee I had at 7 but whatever....It was worth it! Tonight we had our small group at our house. I fixed manicotti with meat sauce, dinner rolls, salad and cookie cake for dessert. It was yummy! And as usual the conversation was great. It's really cool because there are 2 other couples and they are all about to live within walking distance of us. We have always joked about living in community with each other and now, I guess it's pretty close to it. Tonight we talked about a lot of different things and we also walked down to Daniel and Claire's potentially new house. I love those guys!

So I just finished Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. I read Blue Like Jazz back in college (with everyone else!) and I have started this book several times but just couldn't get into it. Finally, I think my spiritual journey led me to this book. It helped answer a few things. I really enjoyed this book a lot. Clint and I were just talking to Bill and Jennee (Clint's parents) about what we felt like church should look like and lots of other things and I think this book helped me with those things. I love Miller because he is a lover of literature and stories. He relates, in this book, how the relationship we have with Jesus is more like a relationship between two lovers (namely Romeo and Juliet). He also talks about how since the Fall, we basically are walking around looking for acceptance, love and intimacy from others because we are separated from the One who provides that for us in a perfect form. I am no expert on theology or theologians but I feel like his ideas are very original. He relates things in a way that is easy to understand even though it is not the easiest concepts. I would recommend this book for sure!

New Goals!

2009-10-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend Kayla's blog and she was talking about some goals she has set for herself to complete before she turns 25. I thought that was a great idea and came up with some of my own. So here goes!

1. Take a knitting class
2. Go camping (like tent, sleeping bag, etc. kind of camping).
3. Blog at least once a month. (Hopefully more, but lately that has been difficult for me.)
4. Pay off a student loan. We have paid off some of them but we have the 2 biggest left. I am hoping to knock out at least one of them.
5. Train for a half marathon. WHAT?? Yes, you heard right. I have been running since June pretty consistently and the other day I was thinking, why am I doing this, I have no goal. Clint is running a full in the Cowtown (the Fort Worth marathon) so I thought, what the heck! Jokingly I have said that I will run a full when I turn 30 just to prove to myself that I am only as old as I let myself be. So, I am 5 years away from 30 so I better prove that I can at least do this much!!
6. Have my wedding pictures made into an album. At this point, I really don't care about it being fancy or anything. I just want an album that can at least prove that we are married!
7. Volunteer at the Humane Society.
8. Get re-certified in CPR.
9. Take a dog training course with Cherry.
10. Make an apron.
11. Maintain my current weight or lose another 2-3 pounds. I have lost like 6 pounds this last year and I really want to be sure I don't gain that back. And, if I can muster some more self control, I want to go for another 2-3 pounds. This would bring me down to my high school weight!
12. Take a multivitamin everyday. I take them some times but not very consistently like I should.
13. Finish decorating my room and the guest room.

Well, I hear a crying baby so I better go!

Oh, and why 13? Because it is half way to 26!

From Texas Medicine Magazine

2009-10-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Clint gets this magazine now that he is in medical school and sometimes I will read them. Here is a little excerpt that I found interesting.

"Evidence shows hospitals with policies supporting exclusive breastfeeding are realizing multiple benefits for patients, the communities they serve- and themselves. These hospitals report improved infant health outcomes, lower infant readmission rates and less infant time in the NICU. Mothers recover more quickly from birth while also receiving protection against type 2 diabetes and breast and ovarian cancers. Overall patient satisfaction is increased and hospital costs are reduced...Despite the compelling benefits, the majority of Texas hospitals still lag behind in assessing and updating their breastfeeding policies...The reality is that the short and long term benefits-to both the hospital and your patients-far outweigh the initial costs.

Update

2009-10-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, Clint and I are still alive. It has been too long since I posted last!! So, what has been going on, you ask? Well in September I opened my own business. Okay, that makes it sound fancy but I started watching a few kids at my house. I have 2 right now and will get a third in November. I absolutely love it! It can be really hard work and sometimes I want to cry right along with them but it is so rewarding. One is about 5 months and the other is 3 months. There is lots of bottles, diapers and rocking to go around! I never thought I would be doing this in a million years! But my thoughts on it are, I knew I could do it because I did it throughout high school and college, I found moms who needed it and I know that one day I can pursue the "professional career". It isn't at all what Clint and I thought up for me but I honestly am content with it. No bosses breathing down my neck, no commute in the morning, I can get stuff done around the house during the day and I am not totally wiped out at the end of the day. I am really thankful to God for giving me this. I have had to swallow some pride. But, you know, I got a great education, something that will be a launching point for me when I decide to jump back into the "real world" one day. And I wouldn't give for that.

Clint is doing well. He is full blown into second year. He is really enjoying this year because he doesn't have class as much, it is more self study so he likes that much better than lecture. He is playing soccer again and he is training for a marathon with a friend. And sometimes he helps me out with the babies. He stays pretty busy but recently things have really calmed down so I get to see him even more which is awesome. I think the third year of marriage is one of the better ones. We are really enjoying our time spent together and have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite his demanding schedule.

I have posted before about some of our friends starting a small group. It is 2 other couples besides us and they both came to us from med school. We are so blessed to have them. Being in medical school is a very unique experience, one that makes it hard to identify with other couples. Not saying we isolate ourselves because we do have friends from church but these 2 couples have been amazing. We have laughed, cried, prayed and shared together and it has really helped Clint and I with our own walks. We meet with them once a week for community but we also see each other almost every weekend.

Things I like about living in Fort Worth/ medical school: lots of stuff to do, not too much traffic, finding more and more local places to eat, meeting new people, our house, indoor soccer (this one is for Clint), being able to walk to museums and ice cream shops, downtown, lots of rain (so far)

Things I don't like: even with little traffic, it still takes at least 15 minutes to get anywhere, things are generally more expensive, I don't feel as safe, learning how to get around Fort Worth and finding places, can be really overwhelming sometimes (though this is getting better)

Oh yes, and I can't forget about Cherry! Cherry says: I love: that mom is home all day, my doggy door, my grass outside (also known as a backyard), my new bed and getting attention whenever possible. I don't like: getting a bath, having my nails trimmed, or being scolded by mom.

Well, I guess that is it. It is supposed to rain tomorrow. I planted some garlic. 3 in the front beds and 3 in the back. The back beds get a lot more sun so I am going to see which ones do better.

Now It's Time to be Serious...

2009-09-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I said a few posts ago that I have been really thinking about what I believe, why I believe it, etc. This all started well, I guess really, when my dad died and nobody had a good answer for me. But my spiritual journey really got interesting this last year in unemployment, starting med school, etc. I picked up a book called Soul Survivor in August and didn't put it down. I loved it. Suddenly, things that never got answered, things that I just couldn't fit together, did. Here is the analogy I have for all of it, and excuse me for using science, what can I say, I am a nerd. In organic chemistry lab, we would go into class, not really knowing what to expect. Many times we had to take something like a Zantac, and using what we knew about what made up the Zantac, we could eventually isolate some compound in the pill. So we would spend probably 2 hours doing that and then we would be expected to perform experiments on that compound. Now, if we isolated the correct compounds, it should melt at a certain temperature, it should look a certain way, when analyzed, it should come out pure, with no other compounds present. (Now, was that the case for me personally, many times, no. Maybe if Clint had been my o chem partner...) Anyway, I guess that's how I feel my religion should be. I want to isolate it. I want to try to take out all the stuff and be left with what is pure. I want people to be able to test me and analyze me and find nothing extraneous. Just me and my God. I know that isn't possible but that is what I want to strive for. Mainly, I want to provide answers to sceptics and love and peace to everyone. That is what I want. At the end of the day, it comes down to faith. I can't reason with people about God if they don't want to open their minds to the idea of him but if nothing else, I want to love them. I also am questioning our role, as Christians, in war when Jesus preached nonviolence. I am tired of relying on a government to take care of the poor when Jesus told us to do that.
Something else I have been struggling with lately is...meat. I know, sounds weird. So here it is. I just finished The Lion and the Honeycomb by Leo Tolstoy. Great book even though he is a bit off, I think. One thing he talks about is that he gave up eating meat. Not because of Christianity or anything but because of the treatment of the animals. He talks of going to a slaughterhouse and how horrible it was. I asked myself if I went to a slaughterhouse, if I could keep eating meat and I decided I couldn't. I would probably go running off crying. Honestly, I think it would really mess me up. I can't stand the thought of animals getting hurt. I told Clint this, and I stand by it, that if he killed a deer, I would eat it. My reasoning is because that deer had a good life. He ate in the fields, maybe fought and won over some cute does and then one day, it was all over. That I can handle. Cows being left to walk around in their own poop, being fed a diet of corn (which is not their natural diet and probably makes them sick). Chickens that go their entire life in a pen that is so small, they can't flap their wings. I can't do it. Sigh. So for now, I am not eating meat. I don't know when I will start eating it again, we will see.
Well this is plenty long. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Pics of August

2009-09-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Since I have badly neglected my blog, I thought I would go back and post some highlights from August and September. On Labor Day Weekend, we went to Joanna's parent's lakehouse. It was an absolute blast. All the dogs came. Here is Cherry on the bridge that goes down to the dock.
This is Duke, Brad and Stephanie's dog. He loves the water. We were hoping that Cherry would see how great it is, but she never got close to the water. Duke could fetch for hours in the water. He loves it.

This is the back of Brad and Stephanie and Clint and Daniel are on the tubes. Apparently real lake people have tube wars and they try to bump each other off the tubes. I have never heard of that. Stephanie and Joanna represented the girls on this one. They both were able to puch their husbands off the tubes. Way to go girls!

This is Daniel. He has a bug in his fingers. He ate the bug. Yes, he is in medical school. Do I need to say anything else?

This is the new addition to the gecko family that lives in our mudroom area. Welcome, Susie! I hope you don't get eaten by the family of garden snakes living in the grass. Good luck!

Like I said in my last post, mom and I went and saw Paul McCartney. Unfortunately, we were so far away, Paul couldn't see my beautiful mom, fall in love and propose to her right then and there. Oh, well, maybe next time mom!

Yes, that's right, there were actual fireworks that went off INSIDE the Cowboy stadium. This was the part of the concert where everyone was on their feet, clapping and dancing. And during one of the songs talking about peace, I put up the peace sign and went right on with the crowd...I am not ashamed to say it!

Look at the size of that place! And this was by no means the whole building.

Okay, my one picture of Blair. Isn't she so cute! 6 months on Thursday.

Update

2009-08-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about updating this thing for the month of August, so here is an abbreviated version.

August 17, 2009 mom and I went to see Paul McCartney at the new Cowboy's stadium. He was awesome. The music was awesome. The company was awesome...It was awesome. He played for 2 1/2 hours. And he really did sound good. It was great to hear these songs that I have heard since I was born, played on a live stage by one of the most talented musicians ever.

Clint and I and 2 other couples formed a small group of sorts. We meet every week and eat dinner together, pray, talk about our week and discuss our strugles and victories. It's like going to the gas station. You start running on fumes after being bombarded all week and all you can think is, I just have to make it to small group. Then my needle slowly goes back to the F and I can make it through for another week. It has been such a blessing.

After much prayer and thought, I am going to be a stay at home mom....well, not really. I am not pregnant but I am going to start watching kids at our house soon. God has provided me with 2 moms that want to go back to work but don't want to leave their kids at a daycare. So starting Sept. 14 I will get my first little one. She is 4 months old and then in November I will take on a little boy of 3 months. This has been a huge answer to prayer. God is good. Sometimes, He just wants us to wait around a bit.

I just finished a book called Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey. It is and has changed my view on a lot of things. Many of them are controversial and I am very afraid to even put them down here so for now, I will leave it at that. I am not going to turn into an atheist or anything crazy, but it has some ideas that I think are wonderful but totally not at all what I expected to be thinking about right now, at this point in my spiritual walk. I know I am being vague, but these are things that are on my mind a lot, things I want to pray about and research more into but I even put them to paper.

I guess that's it for now. Hope everyone is well and had a great August. Today, the high was 90. What a wonderful blessing.

Frisbees Save the World!!!

2009-08-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Dallas Morning News today, and came across an article about global warming. They were saying that some scientists have come up with ways to reverse global warming. So here are their suggestions, and I am not joking about these.

1. Fling into the air, fribee-like-discs that will block the sun. They will be sent so high, that they will be pulled by the earth's rotation and suspended there. It will be like an eclipse all the time. This is to help block the sun's rays. Potential issues with this: hello, these are frisbees, how well can this idea possibly work? What happens if one falls out of the sky? It could kill someone!

2. Spray sulphurous gas into the atmosphere. Again, this blocks the sun's rays. Potential issues: I am reminded of general chemistry for this one, sulphur + hydrogen (H2O) = sulfuric acid!!! Acid = burn people, animals, crops, not to mention ruin water supply, acid rain destroying everything. And believe it or not, this is the most viable option. Also in the article, they said that the minute you stop spraying this stuff into the air, you will have reversed all of it, another words, this doesn't get rid of all the carbon in the air or anything like that. Basically, it will cause the planet to heat up very quickly because it hasn't gotten rid of the carbon. It's like putting a bunch of band aids on a deep, gaping wound. It will hold off the flow of blood, but you need antiseptic ointment and stitches to heal the wound. Also, I am confused why carbon is so harmful but sulphurous gas is ok?

3. Send big ships out into the ocean equipped with giant sprayers that will spray ocean water so high into the sky that they form clouds, again blocking the sun. Wow.

I am beginning to think our world is lost if these are the great scientists working to save the planet. I am so glad that God created this world and will have the ultimate say on what goes on around here. Otherwise I think our species would have long ago died away.

For a differing opinion on everything, I would highly recommend this article. It was sent to Clint, via his uncle. http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-ourenvironmentalfuture.html

I don't know what the answer is. Nor if there truly is one. I guess I try not to get too hyped up about anything, whether it is global warming or boyfriend cut blue jeans.

I do know, I will never look at a frisbee the same way.

Many Things In One Post!

2009-08-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible about updating my blog this month so I thought I would put lots of random things into this one post. The first pics are of my birthday/our anniversary. The next pics are of my adventures in making organic strawberry jam! So let us get everyone caught up!

This is Texas de Brazil, where many cows, sheep, pigs and chickens come to die. It is also where many arteries are clogged, full of saturated fat. Okay, that was a bit morbid but it is true. Men walk around with big skewers of meat and cut off as much as you would like! It's wonderful! The meat was cooked so well. Plus there is a giant salad bar with aged cheeses, olive oil, bread, sushi, salmon, vegetables, and of course salad. We loved it! This is one of Clint and I's favorite things to do. Eat at a great restaurant with even better food. We will splurge when it comes to eating! Happy 3 years to us!

This is the cake Clint got me for my birthday. It was the big 25 (a quarter of a century!) so I asked for a cake from a bakery (with lots of chocolate).

Clint sent me flowers at work. It was a total surprise! This was for our anniversary. I am so blessed to have Clint. He can be romantic! I got to tell everyone who came through the doors whose flowers they were and why he sent them. It made my day to have a reminder like that of my husband.
Now to totally switch gears... I made some strawberry jam this weekend. It was my first time but don't get too excited about my cooking abilities. This is the easiest recipe in the world. It's just 1/2 package of no cook, freezer safe pectin, 3/4 cup sugar and 2 lbs of strawberries (or any berries will do). You cut up all the strawberries into small chunks, then add the sugar and pectin.

pectin + sugar + strawberries = yummy jam in less than 20 minutes!

I ended up with 5 jars of jam. I used organic strawberries, bought at $2.5o a lb. So I spent a little over a dollar for 1 jar of organic strawberry jam. I was very proud of myself about this. Clint and I tried it and it is sooo good. Now we have jam for the next...probably 5 to 6 months.

It was funny canning all of those strawberries because it made me think of my ancestors that probably spent a lot of time canning their crops for the winter months (or month in Texas' case). In early spring I was all excited about summer. I couldn't wait to try my hand at gardening and really feel connected to my food. Now that I have done that and summer has gone on, each day as hot as the next, I feel more tired. It makes me think of all the hard work my ancestors must have put in. Planting crops, raising them, toiling under the sun to harvest it all, then preserving them, preparing them. After the hot months are over, I'm sure some of them started all over and planted things for the next spring or even that fall. I think it is wonderful that God has made us a time for play and growth and a time for rest and thought. It makes me very nostalgic sometimes, thinking how we moderns are so disconnected from the earth. We take for granted all the little things, like strawberries. I hope I am never too disconnected from the simple things in life. I hope I make time to enjoy a gentle breeze, the feel of damp grass or the subtle twinkle in a star.

Last Weekends Happenings

2009-08-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was super fun and busy. Friday, my immediate family all went to the Rangers game. It was lots of fun just getting to hang out with everyone. Justin, Nathan and Clint sat together to discuss the finer points of baseball and the girls talked and passed Blair around. It was good until it started pouring down rain! After waiting 2 hours for it to quit, we finally gave up on it. I hope it will become another family tradition because it was so great to be with everyone.

Saturday, Clint's parents came over to eat lunch. We went to this great local Italian/ Lebanese restaurant over near TCU. It was sooo good. They had a buffet so we got to try both types of food. After that we went to the Swiss Pastry Shop and ate dessert. They sell all sorts of baked goods and Grandma (Clint's grandma) loves their apricot pie. So Jennee bought her a pie and we got coffee and pie to eat there. Then we went back to the house and talked. Clint's dad is a man of many talents. He is not only a doctor but an electrician! So he also fixed the lights in our fan which was much needed because we were down to one light in that room. That night we went to a pool party for all TCOM students. There were probably 30-40 people including doctors in the area/ professors. It was a lot of fun getting to meet some new people not to mention Clint won a scholarship.

Sunday, we went to church and just kinda took it easy.

Details of birthday/anniversary fun will come soon!

Book Blog

2009-07-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Clint and I just read "Same Kind of Different as Me". If you read another book this year, please read this one. It is excellent. We will definitely be buying (which is a big deal because we are so frugal) this book to read again and again. It is a nonfiction book centered around Fort Worth and a rich art dealer and a homeless man. It will definitely make you stop and think. Even Clint teared up reading it. It is so touching. Denver, the homeless man spends thirty years as a sharecropper in Louisiana then moves to Fort Worth where he meets Ron Hall at a homeless shelter. They go through a lot as friends. I think Denver has to be a modern day prophet, he is so wise and some of the things he says will really amaze you. If anyone has read this book, please leave a comment about what you thought of it. Clint and I read it within 2 days it was that good!

Book Blog

2009-07-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished "I'm Proud Of You" by Tim Madigan. Tim writes for the Star-Telegram here in Fort Worth and also happened to be a good friend of Fred Rogers a.k.a. Mister Rogers from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It was a touching story of true friendship. You find out Fred was a devote believer in loving people of all types. It made me cry at the end (of course) but I would recommend it to everyone. Tim talks a lot about his own struggles of depression and how Fred helped him through some really dark times. Two things that stand out are:

A story that Tim tells to Fred: Two men are walking towards each other on a shore. Between them are thousands of starfish that have been swept up to the land. The first man walks through them thinking what a shame it was that all these starfish will die. The second man is throwing one starfish at a time back into the ocean. The first man says " What does it matter if you throw these starfish back? There are thousands of them!" The second man proceeds to throw another starfish back and says "It matters to that one."

The second one, again of Tim. Tim's son, when he is five asks him why he never cries. Tim admits to the reader that he tries to bottle emotions. Sadness, joy, triumph, distress, he bottles it all. After that though, he begins praying that he will be able to really feel those emotions. Several years later, his son sings for the Christmas pageant at his church. Tim takes Patrick into a side room and with big tears in his eyes tells him how proud he is of him. Patrick says " Sometimes, life is so beautiful, you just have to cry."

There are lots of stories about Mister Rogers too. He was a great man. And I will definitely be buying his DVDs when I have kids of my own!

Overhaul of the Blog

2009-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Well, with much thought and consideration, I have decided to rename the blog. The name change came from the book "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I started the book about 2 weeks ago and am about half way through. It definitely isn't a light read but I would recommend it to everyone. It is challenging and has been a great boost to my faith.

Road Trip!!!!

2009-07-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Clint and I decided to take a road trip to Nashville to see his sister and her family and also just to hang out, because Nashville is a lot of fun. While we were there, the weather was amazing (except when it rained on the 4th...) but other than that it was perfect. So we loaded everything up in the car... Cherry included.
Our studly driver. Clint drove the entire way there. I get antsy after driving 2 hours. It took us about 11 hours with rests and all. The drive is really pretty after you get out of the concrete, aka DFW.

And what awaited us when we got there? This is Watson, our nephew. He is a cutey. We got to watch him on Monday and Tuesday while mom and dad worked. It was a lot of fun getting to know him better.

This is Jill and Jared. We had gone to a block party for the 4th. It's pretty amazing. In the morning, they have a symphony play the national anthem and then someone reads the Declaration of Independence. (We missed that part, but that's okay, they still had food!) All along the edge of the street they had canoes filled with ice and cokes. Of course we had the traditional hot dog and some delicious sides to go with it.

Clint and I. We never get pictures of us together. The last ones were probably at our wedding!

Oh fireworks, how I love thee. If you look closely, you can see the clouds rolling in the background. The fireworks had this strange fog over them, I think from all the humidity and also it had started raining. Jared has a friend that was able to get us up to this tall tower. You could see a lot of downtown from up there. Even though the fireworks didn't last long, they were still really pretty. It was fun to just be up there and see out. Quickly after this pic was taken, the bottom fell out and we were scrambling to find shelter, like the other half a million people there! Luckily the tower we were in was connected to the garage so it was easy for us to get out of there.

Uncle Clint and Watson sharing a laugh.

On Monday, Jill was able to come home for a bit at lunch. She is an Ob/Gyn resident at Vanderbilt Hospital (hence the scrubs).

I could have put a lot more pictures up here. Like the ones of Clint and I taking Watson to the park, scarfing down hot dogs at the block party, eating yummy homemade waffles in the morning, watching Cherry inhale Maggie's food and Maggie eating Cherry's food, or hanging out, drinking coffee at Bongo Java. But that would be a very long post. I think it's safe to say we had a really great time. It was great to spend time with Jill, Jared and Watson.

I also really appreciated getting to see a little snippet of residency. I have to say, I'm a bit nervous of not getting to spend much time with Clint. I know it's going to be hard and stressful but I appreciate them showing me how it can be done (even with a baby).

Thank you guys for all the hospitality and more than that, the love you shared with us while we were there. Oh, and Cherry said to tell you guys thanks for the bone and that she misses Maggie. :)

William Abay

2009-07-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 29th, Beth and Nick welcomed their 3rd child into the world. His name is William Andrew Abay. Everything went well and from what I hear, mom and baby are doing well.

HELLO WORLD!!

We are so happy for them. Congratulations you guys!

Year One...Check

2009-07-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Clint finished his first year of med school last Friday!! Yeah!!! I'm so proud of him for his self determination and discipline. There were many times when he had to choose between hanging out with friends or sticking himself in a quiet room and hitting the books.

I can't believe it has been a year since we moved to Fort Worth. We have had such a fun time meeting new people and finding dear friends. Clint and I have also grown a lot as a couple. Before he started med school, we spent most of our spare time together. We have now learned that isn't always possible and that's okay! Some highlights of living in Fort Worth: good Mexican and "hometown" food, lots of places to shop, our house and downtown.

Clint has done such an amazing job of taking care of me and his school responsibilities. He is truly a Christian leader in our home. I am so thankful that God blessed me with him. He is my psychologist, helper, best friend and husband! I can't wait to see what God has planned for us in his second year.

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-24T19:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to Waco. Nathan and Lacie and Justin and Kassie were all there just on different days. Nathan had his 10 year school reunion so we saw them Friday and Saturday and then Justin and Kassie came in for church on Sunday.

Happy Father's Day! Justin with sweet little Blair. She is 3 months now.
G and Blair. (That's mom's name. We started calling grandmom G-mom, so we shortened it for mom so that she is just G.)

Kassi and Justin say that Blair looks like me as a baby. I mean, I knew she was cute but wow, what a compliment for Blair! Just kidding. She is the cutest baby ever but I'm a bit partial.

I know, I know. If you're not an animal lover you don't know why I'm posting these. But that's ok. This is Bentley, my nephew until Lacie and Nathan give me a real nephew. Bentley and Cherry love to play...when Cherry will get up off the couch.

Here's Daisy. She is getting old but she's a sweet girl.

On Saturday, we celebrated Clint's birthday. Mom cooked ribs, black-eyed peas, cornbread, fruit salad and for dessert a German chocolate cake. It was quite yummy! Unfortunately Clint had to study a lot BUT he will be officially done with first year on Friday!!! YEA!!!!!

New Camera

2009-06-24T19:23:00.001-07:00

Clint decided with his birthday money that he would buy a new camera. Here are some random pictures we have taken with it.

I took a picture of this flower because it actually came from a small tree. The tree was about the size of a crepe mertyl. I thought the flowers were so pretty and unusual to come from a tree. It had these flowers all over it.
This is the middle school that Cherry and I pass on our walks on our way to the track. It's a beautiful old school. It used to be a high school. It isn't institutional looking like they make them now a days.

Our pretty tomatoes!

This is the side our house. It has a beautiful old magnolia tree in the front. Beside the crepe mertyl, is the side of the house and you can also see a little of the front porch.

Alright so there is some random stuff. We love our new camera so much! We figured out our other camera was 5 years old which is like 40 in technology years. :)

Clint's Birthday Party

2009-06-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Clint and Brad's (one of our friends from med school) birthday last night. Clint is turning 24 and Brad will be 25. This was at our house. Everyone brought their own meat to grill and then Stephanie (Brad's wife) and I made some sides for everyone. We had a great time. Clint is in his element when people come over and hang out. I think it's one of his most favorite things to do.

This is Clint and Daniel. Another friend from med school. They were showing us their mad fly swatting skills. Clint had the fly swat and Daniel is using is hands...(yuck!)

Chris and Brad giving one another a high five. We went outside once it got dark. Luckily, we have a light outside so that we could sit and hangout.

Brad lining up his next shot...

Nathan got to come over. Unfortunately, Lacie was on call so she didn't come out.

These are all the wives. (L to R) Claire, Joanna, me, Stephanie. These are some of the girls that help me keep my sanity while Clint is off studying and what not. It's nice to have people who know what you are going through! Most people our age are getting established but for us, things are a bit delayed. That's okay though because Clint is doing something that is going to make a difference in people's lives one day. He may even save a few lives! I think he is awesome for doing what he is because not many people are willing to work as hard is he has. I'm so proud of him for having the courage and determination to go after what he most wants in life.

The FURminator

2009-06-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

If you don't have a dog, you may not have heard of the FURminator. It is the best thing that has happened to Clint and I since our Roomba. It looks like a comb and it pulls the under layer of the dog's coat out. Because it has been soooo hot here, Cherry has been shedding really really bad. We have hardwood floors throughout the house, and so Cherry's hair forms tumbleweeds that float across the floor. I vaccum at least once a week and it still gets bad. But not anymore!

This is all the hair we combed off Cherry during one sitting! It was just as big as Cherry! I can't believe that would have been all over our house. Now, when Cherry gets off the coach, there isn't a bunch of white hair left behind! Yeah for the FURminator!

This Weekends Happenings

2009-06-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Friday, Clint took one the harder tests he has taken. I didn't see him most of the week because of this thing. He has only told me a handful of times that he was nervous about a test and this was one of those times. He ended up doing fine on it. Friday night we went to some friends' of ours' apartment. They fixed their signature burritos (yummy). And then we ended up just hanging out and talking til pretty late. Saturday we went to N8 and Lacie's house. N8 had smoked some chickens and then we went and swam in their apartment's pool. It was the first time I've been swimming this summer so needless to say I was quite pale. But that's OK because it got dark pretty quickly. Sunday Clint did a very romantic thing. We had planned to clean house, go grocery shopping, blah, blah, blah. But I was feeling pretty down because I hadn't seen Clint much and we just weren't in sync, if you will. So around 1:30 he comes into the living room and says hey, get up, were getting out of the house. I asked him where we were going but he wouldn't tell me. He ended up taking me to the Galleria mall in Dallas. We really didn't shop (it's waaay out of our price range) we mainly just people watched and went in to some of the fancy places and looked around. Then he took me to Campisis which is a very authentic Italian food place in downtown Dallas. It is so good. I had only been there one time and it was back when Clint and I first started dating. Then we went to a used CD place and we each got a CD. It was so much fun. We got home around 7 or so. It was really short and nothing fancy but it was probably one of the sweetest and romantic things Clint has ever done. He knows just how to help me de-stress. Thanks Clint. I love you.

More Food...

2009-06-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

This is one of my okra plants. I grew this one from seed and it looks the healthiest. I will probably grow all my okra from seed from now on. If you look back at my old post about my plants, you can see how big they are getting. One is producing a few okras but they are so small, I think they are probably inedible so I haven't picked them yet.

These are my tomato plants and then my bell pepper plant on the side. My tomatoes got a fungus (one hazard of planting them in pots, I think) so they look a little ragged. But they are doing well now and are getting new growth everyday. Again, look at my old post to see how big these guys have gotten.

So this is the momma. It's my biggest plant. This is spaghetti squash. It has really taken off...in every direction. Soon, I won't have much room to plant anything else on that row or the row next to it! But it does have some buds so I should be getting some squash soon!

This is from my tomato plant with the larger variety of tomato. It has also taken off. One day there were flowers, the next nickel sized tomatoes. I definitely have an appreciation now for people that had to do this everyday in order for their family to eat. Pretty amazing.

Food, Glorious Food!

2009-06-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything about my babies in quite some time. So here is an update. I don't know why this text is underlined. (Sigh) This is the first of the harvest. It isn't quite ripe, but I can tell you it will be a big day around here when we finally get to eat it! This one is from our grape tomato plant. We counted it up and there are about 20 tomatoes on the plant but they are a lot smaller.

These are the green beans mom sent us home with. Mom's garden is really awesome. It puts mine to shame. But that's okay. It's been fun calling her about my plants her calling me about her's. I don't know how many times I called saying "Mom, I think my plant is dying!" They weren't.

These are the bell peppers. This was the funnest plant to grow. I had no idea how they grew or what would happen. First, the leaves are large and dark green. Little white flowers start blooming and then the flower starts to die. Behind the flower, a little green bulge emerges. Within a day the little bulges are quarter sized. A day later, they are golf ball sized. It was amazing to see how quickly these guys grew.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend, all of Clint's sisters were in town. We went down to Corsicana to see them all on Saturday. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, again! Basically, we hung out at the house. It was good to see Jill, Jared and Watson. They live in Nashville, TN and only come down a few times a year so this was a real treat. In July, Clint and I are planning a road trip up there so that should be lots of fun. Beth, Nick, Connor and Lillie were there also. They lived in El Paso but actually moved back to this area over Memorial Day Weekend. We are excited that they have moved closer. Kara, Keith and Annabelle were there. Annabelle is so precious. She spends most of her time eating or sleeping. Oh what a life! Monday we went to Waxahachie to see my family. My aunt Becky and Uncle Johnny had a huge cook out. Chad and Donnita's kids were sliding down this huge blow up slide with water sprayers on it. It looked like a lot of fun. They played on that thing all day. Justin, Kassie and Blair were there. It was good to see them and to hold Blair. She is so cute and so far has kept the blue eyes (Justin is the only one in the family with blue eyes). We got home around 4:30 and went and hung out at a friend's house and then Clint had a soccer game at 8:30. It was a pretty busy weekend but we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the family. Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Book Blog and Some Random Stuff

2009-05-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be aware that the new Harry Potter movie comes out in July. I cannot wait. I've been looking on the web for all the trailers they have released and it looks awesome! So anyway, that leads to my book which is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I read it when it came out but I re-read it because I had forgotten a lot. It is such a good book. I love the whole series.

I also have been meaning to write about some of the funny things I have experienced while working at Calloway's. Calloway's is a nursery and is one of the nicer nurseries in Ft Worth. So it tends to attract a more "uppity" crowd. With that in mind, here are a few funny stories.

When I first started working there, a lady came in with three very dead shrubs. She told me how she had tried everything to revive them, but nothing had worked. I said that was fine and asked if she had her receipt. She pulls out this old carbon copy receipt from 1997. Yes, that's right. She had kept that receipt for 12 years! The plants had been just fine for about 11 1/2 of those years. I told her I would have to get my manager to approve the return. My manager asked her at what point she thought it was the plants fault and not Calloway's? I don't think the lady appreciated that. She got all her money back.

Another time, a lady came in and bought probably $150 worth of plants. After she paid, she began removing all the price tags off the plants. She told me, her husband didn't need to know how much they all cost.

At Calloway's, it isn't surprising to see BMW's, Lexus', Range Rovers' etc. out in the parking lot. In fact, there is usually at least one of those cars out there. The women come in with huge diamond rings, expensive clothes and huge hair. The men carry themselves with an air of importance. But they do not mind fighting you tooth and nail for $1 off of a purchase! "The sign says these are on sale for $3.48 and you charged me $4.59!" (This was an actual quote.) I guess that's why they have so much money, they are so mean to people, they end up getting whatever they want.

So anyway, I really enjoy Calloway's but I thought these were just some of the sillier things that have happened to me. Have a good week everybody!

Superwoman

2009-05-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Mom has inspired me to try growing my own vegetables. I first started with 3 buckets (see the 2nd pic) but soon found that I would need something bigger so...This is the before pic, except I had already started (oops). So this is the closest thing I have to before.
This is in my backyard. You can't tell from this pic, but basically our entire yard is weeds. I was very encouraged though because I found earthworms, ladybugs, rolly pollys and spiders in the yard. (They are all pretty beneficial bugs to have around.) In the soil I also mixed some organic mushroom compost.

My babies! Okay, I know that sounds weird, but when I got these guys they were all pretty small and now they are really starting to grow. I have become pretty obsessive, worrying that bugs are eating the leaves, they aren't growing right, etc., etc. The 2 on the left are tomato and the right is a bell pepper plant. I will definitely post when I get a tomato (if the squirrels or birds don't get to it first.)

AFTER! I was really proud of myself for this. All I had was a shovel and spade to dig up all this earth. It's about a 4X4 area. You can just make out the 3 rows from the pic. Cherry has decided that she likes this area and has taken to stepping through it. In fact, if you look at the row to the right toward the top of the pic, you can see paw prints. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that... I just planted 3 okra seeds and it has been raining like crazy here this whole week so I'm hoping they will emerge soon. My future plans for the garden are: carrots, spinach, garlic, red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I really felt like superwoman after this. Even though Clint had to pull out some of his med school training and massage my neck the next day!

RCC 50th Anniversary

2009-04-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Clint and I went to Robinson because Robinson C of C was having its 50th anniversary. I really didn't expect how cool it actually was. I know some who read this will not know who I am talking about so sorry about that. It was really neat to see Mike and Priscilla Jones, Zoe and Terry Rascoe, the Olivers, the Hunns, the Richardsons and their girls, etc. It was like a flash back the '90's and, for me, a much simpler time. I loved that Terry and Rob led singing, Dale and Mike preached, and Billy Joe led the closing prayer. I think for me, it showed how even though people who came today had maybe left on not the best terms, they came back for just one day. Billy Joe's prayer really said it all, that even though people are different, they still love one another. Sometimes the only thing we will have in common, is that we all love Jesus Christ. And sometimes, that's really all you will ever need to have in common.

I am so thankful to have gone to Robinson and when I really think about it, it has shaped a lot of who I am today. Rob's and my dad's passion for music, has made me passionate about music. The girls that I ran around with then have helped shaped me into the friend that I am now. My devotion to prayer comes from the Tuesday evenings at Rob's house doing Power of Prayer ( and all the gallons of cookie dough we consumed, thanks Becky) and the prayer time we had at Iron Springs and Trek. And my bible study time, that came from having two parents with worn, highlighted, written on bibles. I couldn't tell you what my hair looked like or what the styles were back in high school. But I can tell you who my friends were, whether that was the year we went on trek and some of the songs that we were singing in youth group. I will never forget going to San Antonio with Kayla, Krista, Jessica and Stephanie. Or going to Dallas with Kayla for Ann M. Martin's autograph. When it comes right down to it, family is more than blood. It's friends that have sat and cried with you, it's a group of people that saw you grow up and it's the people you haven't even met but that share your love and passion for Jesus Christ.

Today, during church, of course a few people mentioned dad. And we sang "There's a Stirring" for the last song so you can imagine it was a pretty emotional time. But I love the part of the song where it says " I will rise up". I thought of it in a different way today. There are times when a church is divided, friends get in fights, spouses cheat, family's walk out and people die. But as a Christian, we know we will have that time when God will raise us up and things will be okay. That's the hope we will always have. And that's the hope I felt today.

To those that read my blog, like Sallie, Kayla, Jenna, mom and anyone else who may happen upon this blog, thank you for being there for me growing up. You have helped shape me and have left your permanent mark on me. Thanks.

Thank you God, for the people you placed in my life then and now. Thank you for the experiences I have gone through and how that has made me who I am today. Please continue to put people in my life that challenge me and also help me.

Book Blog

2009-04-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today I finished a book called "Animal, Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. She also wrote "Poisonwood Bible". In it she documents her family's lives for a year of eating only local food. In their case they were able to make alot of the food and also they went to the local farmers market and bought from some of their neighbors directly. The reason they did it was to 1)prove that they could 2) raise awareness for the need to return to producing our own food. She brought up a lot of good points.

1) There is 2700 calories per person per day being produced in this country. Most of it comes from corn and soybeans. With 700 extra calories per person, that means they have to sell it. If you go by BMIs of Americans, you can tell they are definitely selling it. ( To hear some disturbing things about this epidemic of corn, corn, corn, watch King Corn. It's a documentary about corn production in the US)

2) She talks about the idea that everyone feels that they have to buy food cheap. Her feeling is that since we are consuming it, we should know where it came from and what all is in it. Sometimes this means buying more expensive things rather than always trying to save a dollar here or a dime there. (This one is hard for me, especially since we are on such a tight budget, but I think she does make a good point.)

3) Americans have forgotten how to sit down at a nice dinner and just enjoy the food. To savor th flavors and the company. So many times we rush and dinner is just one more chore to get done. She points out that in many cultures (even ones where women work outside of the home) people still take their time in preparing and eating their dinner. (I had a professor in college actually talk about how terrible it is that college students don't take the time to sit at a dinner table and enjoy the food they have prepared. I thought it was kind of strange at the time. Now, I think I know what he was talking about.)

4) The funnest part of this book was that she spent a lot of time talking about different vegetables. When they are ripe, what they look like when they flower, different cooking methods and even how to make your own cheese. (Some of the cheeses actually look pretty easy.)

How has it changed me? Well, I decided that I would try to buy more things that are in season at the time. Also, I have tried to do this in the past, but I try to check labels more on produce. If it came from anywhere other than this continent, I don't buy. One time I found oranges from Australia. Wow. Also, I decided to be more devoted to our farmers market. Lacie and I went last week so I am hoping to make a return trip soon.

Yes, all this stuff is a bit hippy-ish. (Mom would be so proud :)) But, I do think it is true. Our country was started on people that grew their own food. Now, more and more small time farmers are being bought out by the big guys. Plus, I really don't like the idea that chemicals that can kill birds and grasshoppers are being sprayed on the food that goes into my body. It's a big problem and I'm sure with people like Barbara things will improve. I would recommend the book. Even if you don't care about the politics. If you like food and want to learn just about the food itself. This is a great book.

A Few Rantings...

2009-04-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post is going to be a downer because it's about a lot of things that have really been bugging me lately. Also, this one is political so if you don't agree or if you have heard otherwise feel free to comment so that I can also hear other viewpoints.

Yesterday I was listening to NPR and they were talking to a lady who is on Broadway but is also a voice-over on some adult cartoon show. She plays a Christian science teacher. The character displays her Christianity by putting a giant Christian slogan on a bumper sticker across her windshield so that "she can't see". The host of NPR and this woman than went on to say how ludacris and crazy it was that this woman was a Christian science teacher. Apparently, when you are a Christian, you don't believe in science. I mean, come on! How stupid do they think Christians are? Yes, we run around telling people that gravity is fake and the sun is a giant lamp. I am an intelligent person. And when something has been thoroughly researched and shown to be a viable probability, I will believe, unless it conflicts with the Bible. Just because I don't believe that life happened on the back of a crystal (yes, this is an actual theory) or that aliens came and put life on Earth (another actual theory) doesn't make me crazy. In fact, I think you have to be a bit crazy to believe in those theories. I also believe that my God knows more than any scientist sitting in some laboratory. And that makes me very happy. I usually like NPR but this story really upset me.

"Politically Correct" will be the end of us! Apparently, there was a video released in Pakistan of a Muslim woman being beaten. They could only show a snippet of the video on tv because it was so disturbing. The part I saw, they were holding her down, beating her with a stick, while she cried out in pain. So America, democracy, freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equal rights for all, a city on a hill. What did our president have to say about this?!?!......Well, apparently nothing. Not one word from the White House. What? Are you kidding me? They put this video out there on purpose and nothing????

Don't get me started on the bailout. One word for everybody: local. Bank local, buy local if you can. I'm doing the Dave Ramsey thing on this. I'm not participating in the recession. I'm not going to whine and fret. We got ourselves into this, we have learned some valuable lessons. While I think the car companies need help (in a different way than Government is doing it) the big banks can go belly up for all I care. It's called capitalism. They took advantage of people who couldn't pay their mortgage and now they are paying for it. If I took money from people and then complained when they started running out, I would be one sorry excuse for a human being. But for some reason, they are now going to take MY money that I worked for and give it to the poor billion dollar corporations? By the way, for those that didn't know. Guess who is buying all this debt that we are wracking up? China.

Annabelle Grace

2009-04-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, April 13, 2009, Annabelle Grace made her debut! This is Kara, Clint's sister, and Keith's first little one. Unfortunately, I got pretty sick the same day so I've got no pictures to share :( BUT I promise to post some as soon as we get to see them next. She was induced Sunday and ended up having a c-section but mom and baby are doing well now!

Today, Clint and I met grandma, papa, Beth, Connor and Lillie at El Fenix. Afterwards, papa and grandma had to go back home but Beth, the kids, and us went to the Museum of Nature and Science (I think that's what it's called) in Dallas. It was a lot of fun.

Connor making a huge bubble. There were two big pans with soap, water and these bubble "blowers" in them. It was really cool. It brought me back to 5th grade science class when my partner and I won some award for our science project- making giant bubbles.

This is not a good picture but I am so bad with this thing and trying to add, delete and move pics. Anyway, this shows the big pan they were in. Connor was about to attempt another large bubble.

Lillie and Connor playing in the giant "sandbox". They dug up dinosaur bones
using shovels and paintbrushes. The museum is really cool. They've got exhibits on the human body, communication, DNA and genetics, dinosaurs, and gravity.

Easter Weekend!

2009-04-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend Clint and I went to Corsicana because both of his sisters that live far away came in. Beth, who lives in El Paso, with her 2 kids, Connor and Lillie and Jill, who lives in Nashville, with Watson. They came in this weekend because they and Keith's aunt were throwing Kara a baby shower. It had to be moved to Hillsboro where Kara lives, because Kara was on bed rest. Right now, they are inducing her in Hillsboro. She is going to have a little baby girl named Annabelle Grace Stewart hopefully sometime tomorrow. Clint and I are back in Fort Worth tonight because he has a test tomorrow :(

We had a great weekend. Friday we hung out at the house. Connor had a late birthday party at lunch time. We went over to Sonic, the fast food place, because they have a playground. So he, Lillie, and Watson played there for awhile then we went back to the house so he could open presents. After that Clint and I ran over to Justin's to see Blair. She's a cutie! (Justin calls her "don't shoot" because sometimes she'll jump and put her hands above her head. It's funny.) After that, we just hung out at the house.

Saturday I had to work up here in Fort Worth, then we went to Hillsboro for the shower. Kara got lots of cute things for the baby. Annabelle has many cute clothes to come home to now! There was also yummy food and drinks. After that we went on home and had an easter egg hunt.

Sunday we went to church and ate dinner at Keith and Kara's house. Pretty quickly after that Clint, Cherry and I loaded up with Jill and baby Watson so we could take them to the airport.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to meet little Annabelle.

Book Blog

2009-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

First, as a disclaimer, my book choices may sound very strange to some of you, but keep in mind that my major in college was nutrition and also that I worked for WIC and counceled women on breastfeeding.

I read two books that were very similar and I just got done reading them. They are both by William Sears, MD and his wife Martha Sears, RN. The first is "The Family Nutrition Book" and "The Breastfeeding Book". When I was at WIC, I found that I had a passion for breastfeeding. The way it works, the benefits to mom and baby and the bond that it creates are truly amazing. This book goes over the basics of breastfeeding like benefits to mom/baby, correct latch on and positioning, problem shooting, weaning, baby wearing, etc. The other book I read was pretty self explanatory. Basically, Dr. Sears goes over the 3 main energy sources: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. He explains things in a way that anyone could understand. He goes over how these are digested in your body, good sources of each of these, and which systems in the body require them. He also goes over vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Sears puts a lot of focus on natural, hands on parenting. He believes first and foremost that good health begins with proper nutrition and an active and fulfilling lifestyle. I will definitely be reading both of these books again especially when Clint and I start a family. Dr. Sears also has many other books relating to children, babies, pregnancy, and high need babies.

I promise I am not pregnant! :)

It's Spring!!!

2009-04-02T20:11:00.001-07:00

I really don't have much to say here, so if you are in a hurry, this would be one of those posts that are pretty pointless. Some of you know that I have been working for Curves for about 8 months now and that I also recently got a job at Calloway's nursery which will probably be just for the summer months. I will, hopefully, have something lined up for me in the fall if everything goes as planned! But anyway I just had to blog about the fact that it is spring! Around here it's been pretty cool for spring so I can't wait for those very short months where it's 75 as the high and sunny! I think it's my favorite time of the whole year. It just makes me happy. Anyway, I have high hopes for my flower beds and garden this year. What is awesome about working at a nursery is when people kill or damage plants and they bring them back, we can take them home and try to revive them. Today we were supposed to throw out a bunch of perfectly good plants because they were for display and they had been up for several months. I took them home with me and got 2 free plants out of the deal, plus lots of good potting soil. So here are my plans:

1.) lots of free or cheap native plants for my flower beds. One thing I have learned from the experts that work there is to buy native plants. They will thrive in the harsh temperatures and sometimes drought conditions we have in Texas better than anything else.

2.) again, native vegetable plants. For example, tomatoes, squash, onions, bell peppers, and okra when they come in season. I know right now we have tomatoes and peppers so I guess it's a bit early for everything else.

3.) depending on my harvest, I would really like to can my own okra this year. I have recipe for it that I have been wanting to use but buying it from the grocery store seems like cheating.

We shall see how it goes. I'm hoping to put some pics up of some of the flowers and things that I've got going on right now. Anyway, like I said, not a very interesting post but I'm really excited about it!

What Could Go Wrong?

2009-03-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Clint and I bought a fan in College Station and just recently decided it was time to hang it before it got hot.

What could go wrong?

Clint (an Aggie) asked John (a Wildcat) to help him hang said fan. It was to go in the living room to replace the existing light fixture which couldn't be more than 30 years old or so.

They began by taking the light fixture down. Unfortunately, the hole was too small. No big deal, John has lots of tools! So they make the hole bigger. Oops! Some of the ancient sheet rock cracks. Once again, no big deal! We can fix that easy!

Issue number 2: The existing brace can't take the weight of the fan. No big deal, Clint can get into the attic and put in a new brace.

What could go wrong?

Well, apparently, when you are in a dark attic, it is hard to tell the difference between the joists and the ceiling. So, if anyone would like a sky light, Clint can help you out! Clint decided that while he was up in the attic he would put a sky light in our bathroom.

So, we now have a fan, with no light (because the wires are so old, electricity isn't running to it), no blades (because they need rubber washers that fell out at some point during the move) and a sky light in the bathroom.

What could go wrong, apparently a lot.

Thank you John for having the expertise and tools to help patch the ceiling AND area around the fan. Your experience in handy man work was invaluable! Thank you also to my lovely husband who keeps it interesting around here (and will also eventually get the fan working).

This experience also proved that an Aggie and a Wildcat can get along just fine! Just don't ask them to put a fan up together.

Blair Lee Gaines

2009-03-19T18:07:00.001-07:00

Blair Lee made her debut March 17,2009! She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 inches long. She was about a week early. Kassie and Justin got to the hospital around 12 in the afternoon (with family racing there soon after) and she had Blair around 9:20 that night. Kassie was so amazing and I think Justin did pretty well himself. I only took a few pics but hopefully will have more tomorrow. Unfortunately, Blair had some problems breathing, we only got to see her through the nursery window that night. Around 3:30 in the morning they transported her to Baylor in Dallas and that was really scary. That was a very emotional and sleepless night especially for Kassie and Justin. Luckily, she improved so well the next day they took her out of the NICU and was moved to the normal nursery. Justin called me tonight and she may be going home tomorrow. I'm soooo excited for Justin and Kassie. They are going to make great parents.

(Disclaimer: The pictures are out of order, obviously, I wanted Blair's pic to be first but that didn't happen. And also, Kassie didn't want her pic taken so that's why mama isn't in any of these.)

UNCLE Nathan, talking to Pierson, our cousin's little boy. At this point we were waiting, waiting, waiting....

Can you tell mom is a school teacher? They had a dry erase board in Kassie's room, so mom decorated.

Justin had just told us that Blair had come. You can't tell from this pic, but he definitely had that "new dad" look. It was so precious!

BLAIR LEE!!!! The nurse was putting her under the oxygen hood. She hated that thing. She kept scooting out from under it. Like I said, she was having problems breathing so she was under that thing almost all night. Thank God for nurses and doctors.

The nurse was having to do a lot of work on Blair. She was with her for probably 2 to 3 hours straight. She gave Blair her first bath. Blair was really not happy about that! You can also see some of that dark hair. When I finally got to hold her, I just wanted to hold her forever!

I can't wait to see her again! Sure no one got any sleep Tuesday night and we all missed a few meals (Kassie more than anyone!) but it was absolutely worth it. I love you Blair Lee! Thank God for little babies.

Book Blog

2009-03-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished "Leaving the Saints" by Martha Beck. It is about a woman who grew up in a conservative Mormon household. In fact, her father was a very prominent member of the Church. She left Mormonism later in life and found her own faith. She writes how she grew up in a very dysfunctional family. There was abuse and sexual abuse. When she got older and had kids of her own she began a search for what she truly believed and when she researched some of the Mormon beliefs she felt that they didn't check out. She now believes in God but doesn't attend any type of church and doesn't prescribe to any religion. It was an okay read. She is a little weird for me. It did get me thinking about all the things that I truly believe in and why that is. So in that way it was a very good book. Also, she talked about how she believes God is in everything and I really loved that. Sometimes I get so busy and forget to see God in the little things. A sweet little lady from Curves, rain, my husband's smile, singing to the radio at the top of my lungs...

Ladies Night

2009-03-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I said goodbye to the hubs and met up with 2 of my two girl friends. We decided to go to Granbury and shop, eat, etc. We went to a tea room first. I had a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup (yummy) and tea. We then walked around the town square. It's a really pretty town, very historic looking. The shops are all very unique, some were pretty "touristy". We went to a gourmet kitchen accessory shop. It was soooo cool! I could spend a lot of money in there. They had everything you could possibly need for a kitchen. I thoroughly loved it! We also went to D'Vine Wine. They actually make the wine right there in the building. We decided to do a wine tasting and Lindsay was going to buy a bottle of whatever we liked best. The guy that was serving us was an older man and we found out he actually owns the place. He taught us the "proper" way to taste wine. It was really neat because doing it the proper way, made you take a long time drinking each glass. The owner started talking to us and it turns out he is a DO in family practice. He told us he went to TCOM. I told him how Clint is at TCOM and wants to do family prac. Anyway, we were talking so much, he ended up giving us like 5 or 6 wine tastings when we paid for 3. Also, he gave us a full glass of almond champagne. It was soooo yummy! He also gave us 2 bottles of wine for the price of 1. It was really nice of him and we spent probably an hour and a half in there. (Don't worry it was just a tasting so we were fine!) Anyway, I had never done anything like that before and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. We then went on home, cooked dinner, watched The Secret Life of Bees, talked some more and went to bed around 3. That was the latest I had stayed up in a loooong time. The next day, all the husbands came over and we ate breakfast. So much fun!

Book Blog

2009-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

I decided that when I read a book I'm going to post it here. My mom used to (I don't know if she still does) write in a notebook the title of a book when she read it. I remember being amazed at how many books filled that notebook. I thought it was a pretty good idea and have tried to do that in the past. Since this forum is more permanent and convenient maybe I will keep up with it better here.

I just finished "The Prison Angel" by Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan. It is about a woman who grew up in Beverly Hills and later in life decided to give it up to go live in a small, cold cell in La Mesa, a prison in Mexico near Tijuana. She grew up Catholic but never liked the many strict rules it imposed. She decided to pave her own path. After 2 divorces the Catholic church would not let her become a nun, so one day, she made her own habit and went to live in the prison. Later on, after many years and hearing of all the amazing things she had done, a bishop let her become a nun. Her main goals were to love and care for the prisoners no matter what they had done. She fought to improve conditions for them and the guards within the prison. She met with everyone from the pope to some of the top men in the drug cartel world. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone. It really shows how pure Love can and should be, free of judgement and misconceptions.

El Paso Trip 2

2009-03-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

I'm still new to this blogging thing so I was unable to post all the pics under one post. Anyway, we went to El Paso for Jennee's ( my mother in law) birthday. (Okay, grammatically I know I messed that up, I'm feeling a lot of pressure knowing that an editor, Kayla, reads my blogs.) Anyway, we flew up there Friday afternoon and returned Monday evening. We had a great visit and enjoyed getting to talk and catch up with everyone. Clint and Nick went to shoot guns Saturday morning so I would say that was one of the highlights for him. He also got to play soccer with Connor. Rumor has it Connor whooped up on Uncle Clint...

We went on a walk one day. Lillie and Papa Bill went to go look at a dog that was barking.

Grams showing Lillie the first signs of spring...flowers on the tree.Connor showing Papa Bill the hopscotch he made. I think only Nick, Clint and Connor attempted the hopscotch... It looked pretty hard for us short legged folk.

4 generations

Lillie playing with Grandpa.

The view from Trans- Mountain Road. From up here, you could see into Mexico and New Mexico. We went by the border fence one day. El Paso is right next to Juarez. Nick was saying that the population is like 3 million people. Pretty crazy. It was really great there because there is hardly any humidity. So when it was 75 it really felt like 75!

El Paso Trip

2009-03-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

Blowing out Grams' birthday candles. Yea for birthday cake! (Beth told us that Lillie was really excited about cake because Elmo had birthday cake.) Before this, Nick had grilled steaks, asparagus and corn. It was very yummy!

Getting a ride in the Radio Flyer. Lillie loved for Papa Bill to give her rides around the backyard. It was such nice weather we spent many hours sitting outside playing and talking.

Connor and Clint playing a little soccer. Friday night when we got in, we immediately went to watch Connor play his soccer game. His team won! Afterward, we celebrated and went to a local Mexican restaraunt. Lillie taking a look at her shadow. Grams would run a little ways and then Lillie would run to catch Grams' shadow. It was so precious. Don't you wish part of your day was to find your shadow and look for other people's shadows? What an easy life!

Connor and Lillie in the Radio Flyer.

Some Random Comments

2009-02-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to just say some things here that have been on my mind lately that are totally and completely random...

1. Why is that billboards NEVER have all the letters needed, for example, here are a couple that I have seen over the last few days:
" 44 cents - Amy fountain driwk" I guess buying 5 "N"s was entirely too costly.

"Al on sale" Al is on sale?!?!?

2. I LOVE the not so new CD by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. It's called "Raising Sand". It's a blend of bluegrass, "old" rock and also acoustic all mixed in. Mom, I think you would like it. He played with Steve Miller and you can definitely hear some Zepplin/ Beatles in the music (at least to me.)

3. I'm obsessed with blogging. I think about it entirely too much during my day. This could also be another sign that I need a job.

4. Flying is finally growing on me. We went to El Paso this weekend( pics and blog to come I have to use Clint's laptop to upload pics and he uses it for school) and on the way home I wasn't nearly as scared. Seriously, every time I get on a plane, I assume I'm going to die. I pray and pray before we get on, then when we take off, I look the other way, grip the armchair and Clint's hand, and literally sweat a little until all I can see are clouds. Once we are up that high I'm okay because my theory is we are more likely to survive once we get up there because we can "coast" down. I know this is totally irrational but it's the way I look at it. I hate landing the most. It's bumpy, loud, and fast. This time we sat near the wing and it's way loud when the wing parts start preparing for landing. I always think a piece of the plane is falling off, Clint has to remind me every time that it is supposed to make that noise. Also, once you land, you realize how fast you are going and that's pretty creepy too. But this time I did really well. I just decided that I'm not going to be scared anymore and actually taking off is kind of fun because you go so fast!

5. I think Obama should forget about being president and go into selling cars. He is so well spoken and suave, he could probably sell me just about anything. Also, he would make way more money. The president makes like 100k or something like that. By now he could own like 5 Ford dealerships. He could be the person keeping Ford afloat. I truely believe he could sell a huge diesel dually to an 80 year old woman.

Well, that's it for now. I promise to post pictures tomorrow!

2009-02-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

This is the main course. Off to the side were all the meats. Watching Clint, during this part, you could tell he would make a good doctor. He was so thorough with cooking the meat, checking the meat for doneness, preping the next meat to go in the pot, etc. Quite the multitasker!
The amazing flowers my amazing husband gave me.
Uno mas...

Beautiful downtown Fort Worth (it's still weird that we live here!) If you haven't been to downtown it is absolutely worth seeing. (Forget Dallas) There are tons of places to eat for all budgets, hotels, Bass Hall, places to shop, etc. Plus you still get the small town atmosphere if you go about 5 miles down the road (which is where we live.)

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

This year, Clint and I decided to do our favorite thing...eat. We went to a place called Simply Fondue in downtown Fort Worth. Our reservations were for 8:45 on Friday. They called us a few hours before to confirm our reservation but also to tell us they had a complementary valet. Which was awesome because we were thinking we would have to leave really early so we could find free parking (if we even found that). So we got there early and we checked on our reservation and they weren't ready for us yet. We went upstairs (because the restaurant was in the basement of this building) and there was an art gallery with sculptures, impressionist paintings, vases, etc. It was really beautiful (and really expensive). So anyway, we spent 20 to 30 minutes up there and then went down to the restaurant. We were seated around 8:45. The waiter came and we ordered our salad and our first course which is the cheese fondue. We picked a Mediterranean cheese fondue so it had pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic along with the cheese. Our waiter made the fondue at our table and then brought us our sides to dip. We had different kinds of bread and also lots of veggies, it was so yummy. Then we had our main course. For our meats, we picked shrimp, tuna, Jamaican jerk and teriyaki chicken, beef tenderloin and beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Also on the plate with the meat were more veggies, like sweet potatoes and mushrooms. He also brought us dipping sauces which included cream cheese to stuff the mushrooms and a batter to fry the mushrooms in. It was delicious! And then, finally, we had dessert. We picked the dark chocolate fondue. So we had 2 plates (I'm sorry to say!) of marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cake, cherries, and brownie to dip in our chocolate!! It was awesome. When we got in the car, it was 11:20. We had been eating for over 2 hours! We were absolutely stuffed. But, it was so much fun just getting to talk and eat with no other distractions. I took some pictures and I'll post those when I get a chance. We didn't really do gifts or anything but Clint did buy me some flowers and he got me some sconces off the Internet (what husband buys sconces... I don't know, and truly he does a better job of picking things out like that than I do). Saturday we woke up at 10:30, which is really late for us. And we didn't eat until 4 or 5 that day. We were still so full! That night we made stew and watched a movie. It was a good weekend!

Oh One More Thing...

2009-02-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

So, in January Clint and I finally broke down and bought an iRobot Roomba. It's probably the best invention ever! It's a small, round vacuum that rolls around the floor. It's battery lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. We have all wood floors so it picks up dirt and Cherry hair so easily! I used to vacuum every other week. To date, I have yet to pull out my bulky vacuum. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has a dog that sheds. Probably one of the best investments we have made!

Blessings

2009-02-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

So this week has been really amazing. I have been looking for temp jobs lately and trying to get my name out there about nannying/babysitting. Clint and I and our small group at church have been praying for me to have clarity about what I should do. Well, this week I had 3 separate people ask me about keeping their kids. I was really shocked. It was like God was saying ok, you want an answer well here it is. I mean, I can't tell you how many places I have applied and how many times I have questioned what I'm supposed to do. Clint and I have prayed and prayed for God to steer us. I have always felt that God has a special purpose for me I was just missing what that was exactly. But I don't know, ever since Alisha ( she is one of my good friends in our small group who is having a baby in August) asked me about watching baby Ward, I have felt a since of peace about it. I haven't felt that way with anything else that I have tried to do. Clint and I had a real heart to heart about the job situation this week and he was totally amazing about it. I don't think he knew it but I had a real "wow" moment when he started talking to me becuase the exact things I had been praying about, Clint brought up and talked to me about them. It was really amazing. I know he has questioned my sanity (and so have I) over the past 7 monthes that I have been unemployed. But he has just stuck right there with me. He has always been so supportive of me even though I know he gets stressed out he never takes it out on me (though I can't say the same for myself). I don't know what I would with out him.

God has been incredible to us these past few weeks. Before we need anything he gives us help. One of the girls in our small group, when I was telling her how God had provided for us, said that God knows we are being faithful to Him and He is rewarding us for that. I hadn't thought of that way, but it is true. It took me awhile to put my total faith in Him. Like most people, I wanted to figure it out on my own. I can find a job..in this huge city..with limited experience.. all by myself! Yeah, right. He has taught me a lot of hard lessons since then but honestly I would do all of it again for how close I feel that I am to Him now. And I know it wouldn't be possible had I not gone through it. (Not saying I'm out of it yet).

So anyway, thanks Clint for being such I wonderful husband, I love you. And thank you to everyone else who has prayed and is still praying for us!

Our Cherry Dog and Saturday's Goings On

2009-02-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

So most of you have met Cherry. She's our little beagle- basset hound (bagel). Bobbi came over today and made fun of me for loving her, but that's okay, she's just jealous! Cherry and I went walking yesterday and on the way back she acted like she wanted to lay down in the middle of the street. I had to pull on the leash to keep her going. But normally she can run/walk with me for 2 miles or so and she's really ok. (People don't believe me when I tell them that but it's true!)

Like I said Bobbi came over today (she's my BFF from high school and we also lived together throughout college) and we got caught up. I love getting to hang out with her. It's so fun because even if we go a few weeks without talking we can immediately pick right back up where we left off. She's one of those people that will do anything for you. I have always felt like I could tell her anything and know that it was safe with her. Anyway, we went to Half Priced Books and then to the mall. She had to get some makeup and I wanted to see if Gap had any sales (they didn't) and then we went and ate a cookie at Great American Cookie Company. (YUMMY!) We came home and Clint was here, he had been out with some friends for the afternoon, and we ate dinner. Thank you Lacie for the tip about e-mealz. We had roast from the crock-pot that was delicious. I spent $52 at the grocery store (which is really good for food up here) for 5 dinners , lunch and breakfast. Plus, I spent no time having to plan out any dinner meals! And now I'm sitting on the couch, a sleeping dog beside me, watching tv with Clint. It was a good day!

My Very First Blog

2009-02-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

So, this is my first blog entry. We'll see how long I can keep this up! I'm not very good at these things. I don't know how many notebooks I have from when I was young where I wrote a few entries and then soon gave up on it. But maybe this will be different!! Anyway, so yeah I'll try to update ever once in awhile with stuff Clint and I are doing. Most of Clint's pictures would be him sitting at our kitchen table, leaned over his laptop with his iPOD earphones in so he can listen to lectures that he missed or wasn't listening to while he was in the class. Right now they are doing renal so...yay for kidneys! He has a test Friday..and a test Monday...and then a test Friday...and a test Monday. So he's kind of busy. Me...well...hmm...what am I doing? I've been reading some good books lately. I just finished "In the Presence of My Enemies" by Gracia Burnham. It's about the 2 missionaries in the Philippines that we're kidnapped and weren't released until a year later but not before her husband is killed. It was an amazing story and really makes you think about what is most important in life. Other than that, I'm still looking for a job. It can be quite frustrating but I think God has His reasons for all this. He has definitely taught me alot thru this experience. And that's a whole other blog that I won't go into. But Clint and I are doing awesome. Sure money is tight but we have met some amazing people here, we are getting to do lots of new and fun things and of course, we have each other...(and Cherry)!

p.s. I wasn't being sarcast about the blog title. I'm not a creative person so it may take me a while to come up with a title.