Josh's Dream Come True

A couple of weeks ago, Josh got his favorite gift of all time--his brand new, shiny, Benelli Super Black Eagle II (aka shot gun)! My mom and dad surprised him with it...for his birthday of 2009, 2010 and 2011...as well as Christmas of 2009, 2010 and 2011! Haha!

He was totally shocked...as was I. I guess my dad felt sorry for him, because his wife wouldn't let him buy one :) Here's a little home video of Josh and Dad talking "hunting/guns"...

(Mom...not sure why you are the "picture" on the video. :) Enjoy!)

Love of Reading

I've currently been reading the Shopaholic series. I read the first three, and there are three more to go. I thought I would enjoy some light-hearted reading. The first book was OKAY...but after the second and third, I got SO BORED!!! I barely finished the 3rd book, out of pure boredom with it...however, I really HATE abandoning a book, so I skimmed, and read every other chapter until the end. I felt like I was wasting my time! The series is very predictable and quite annoying at times. I realized I was "hungry" to read something with some meat (as far as novels go) :)

So I started in on "The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters"...LOVED IT! I finished it in two days (thanks to ISAT testing week)!! It was a sad, yet witty story about two sisters, and one of their battles with Leukemia.

Now I'm kind of on a roll, and I can't put my books down. I started "A Thousand Splendid Suns", lent to me by Rachel, and I'm currently half way through. (I FINALLY got to it Rachel!) I'm really enjoying this one too! I realized that I like a more serious, involved story :) "Chick Flick" stories are best left on the screen, not in a book. I just LOVE reading a good book!

Funny story...Last night it was past our bed time, and Josh and I were heading upstairs. However, I needed some closure with my book, so I brought it upstairs with me. I just needed to read ONE LAST chapter...anyone know what that's like? I knew Josh would scoff at that, so I kind of hid it on my way upstairs--smuggled it, if you will :) He saw me hiding it and he said, "What is that!?! It's after 10:00! I thought you were 'tired?'" I told him--you just don't understand...you haven't read a book since "Master Sniper" in 2005! -ha.

You Can't Beat Free!!

So last night, a few friends and myself went to a "VIP" event at the Starplex Theatre. It's grand opening is this weekend. It was a mad house!! People really came out of the woodwork for this event! The lines for food were insane, but hey, it's free right?? What WOULDN'T you do for free stuff? We knew we were going to get free popcorn and a drink, but we weren't sure what a "movie preview" meant. Well, we got to go to a movie of our choice!! We were so excited!! I love FREE!! FREE is my favorite!! :)

So we got a girls night out compliments of the Starplex Theatre. We ended up going to "Bride Wars' which was pretty good. I'm always up for a chick flick :) Thanks Starplex! And thanks to Jamie and Rex for the ticket!! (although it turned out we didn't even need it...go figure)

Valentine's Weekend Plans

To answer many of your questions, yes! we finally did decide what to do this weekend...thanks to my friend Courtney D :) She basically gave us the idea for Saturday night, and then reinforced our decision for Sunday morning. The next day, I made reservations. Ha! I'm really not a good decision maker--I love when others make them for me :)

So...We are going to go to PF Chang (A Chinese Bistro) for dinner on Saturday night. We ate there once in Florida, and really loved it.

On Sunday morning, we are going to the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues. Supposedly it is "award winning" and well, Courtney says it's awesome :) So we're excited for the experience.

I'll let you know how it goes...until then, Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Welcome Eva Elizabeth!!

I am so excited that I am a new auntie to a baby GIRL!!! Rachel & Nick (and Asher & Colin) welcomed Eva Elizabeth into the world at 9:14 pm on February 9th, 2009. We are so glad you are FINALLY here Eva! You arrived in true "Eva-Diva" fashion...I knew you had to be a girl!! :)

Evangelism by Steve Timmis

I saw this post/link on a friend's blog, and thought it was an excellent view of evangelism, and living out the gospel daily. What do you think???





If you ever want to make other Christians feel guilty, get them to listen to a talk on evangelism. For the majority of us, evangelism is a bit like base jumping—sounds like a great idea, but most of us don’t actually have the guts for it. Whilst it might be true that only a relatively few people are gifted evangelists, all of us can make a significant contribution to the evangelism process. What we need to do is change evangelism from “me doing the gospel thing with my mates” to “us doing the gospel thing with my (soon to be our) mates.” It’s a simple transition, but it makes a world of difference.


Make Evangelism Communal
In that context, I then introduce my friend who’s not a Christian to my brothers and sisters (a.k.a. church). My friend gets to see us hang out, laugh and cry, forgive and serve. He sees the gospel in action and he hears the gospel as we apply it to one another. Evangelism is going on all the time, and all I’ve done is bring my friend into a context where he’s going to be exposed to the gospel. Evangelism done this way changes it from being a big scary monster that makes us want to run and hide into a cute little puppy that we all want to hug.

25 Things About Me

...inspired by many on facebook:


1. I believe in Jesus and his sacrifice for me on the cross.
2. I desire to grow in my knowledge and understanding of Jesus and the gospel
3. I am NOT a morning person or a night person.
4. I love Broadway!!
5. I broke my L2 vertebrae in high school
6. Also broke my front tooth in college (or should I say my mom did…ha)
7. I frequently have nightmares about my teeth falling out
8. I love reading a really good book
9. I love chic flicks (I guess we differ there Rachel)
10. I think I may have the best husband in the world
11. I enjoy a good debate…as long as I stay on top
12. I love sleep (see #3)
13. I love to laugh until I cry
14. I HATE to workout, but really need to do more of it
15. I have to have my morning coffee…favorite brand-Starbucks
16. I HATE wearing socks.
17. I have a second job as tech-support to my tech-savvy mother
18. I enjoy getting good deals and saving money
19. I love to look through “home” magazines and brainstorm ideas for my house
20. I like to “dream” about the future with my husband
21. My feet are ALWAYS cold!! (*no connection to #16)
22. I love to hold babies and spoil them
23. I can’t get motivated on Mondays…which explains why I’m doing this instead…
24. I don’t enjoy public speaking. It seems to affect me more now than it has in the past.
25. I like when people comment on my blog!!