A God Thing

You know...I was about to change the spacing of the lyrics on my last post...and I realized they formed the shape of the cross.

I love God things. And I'm not messing with that one!

To my knees will I fall...

I Can Only Imagine...

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk

By your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes will see

When your face

Is before me

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel

Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still

Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall

Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

When that day comes

And I find myself

Standing in the Son

I can only imagine

When all I will do

Is forever

Forever worship

You I can only imagine...

-Mercy Me

Not a Good Kind of Grub...

I think it's safe to say we're finally onto PHASE TWO of our big backyard project. If you remember, we had some extra slab laid about a month ago. Lord knows how many "phases" there will be of this project...I'm thinking somewhere in the ballpark of 14 or 15!!

We've picked out slate that we're (Seth) going to put on the patio to make it somewhat more presentable and then we can finally move the grill out there and heck maybe I'll even get a little firepit or something. Really, the sky's the limit. We have so much LAND.

Note: I am a slighly sarcastic individual.

So after church we begin the backbreaking work of tilling up the soil to attempt to lay some more grass. We found many treasures such as concrete, large nails, clay, big sticks, coke cans (thanks builders of our house, you guys did a stand-up job cleaning up outside!) and...grub worms??

I ran inside to google grub worms (i.e. take a break) and suddenly everything made sense. I KNEW there was no way the dogs could have completely ruined all the grass in our backyard! I mean yes, they are responsible for quite a bit of damage, but this was over the top. And lo and behold, we have a reason for our mudpit. Those darn worms eat up the roots of the grass until it dies. And after further research into "pictures of grum worm damage" I found several replicas of our backyard online. After another trip to Lowe's, our backyard is now marinating in some highly toxic 24 hour grub worm killer.

Maybe I'll have some grass one day after all!

Warning. I am about to share some pictures I probably shouldn't. But now that I can blame the damage on grub worms instead of my poor ability to discipline my dogs, I think it's semi-acceptable. And really serves as a warning to all of you...be on the lookout for those little rascals!
We took turns with this thingamijigy. I was obviously on break. As I was a lot this afternoon...
See? Told ya it was bad. Just imagine it on a wet day outside...


Seth must've gotten bored while I went to Lowe's. That can be the only thing to explain this bridge of bricks??

Our poor poor backyard.

I also think it's time for me to retire from yard work...

I cannot believe it's Sunday night already. I cannot believe we have to go to work in the morning. Blech!

Success and an Overdue Ode

Taxes filed. Taxes paid. I can go to bed tomorrow night!

Is it bad that sleep was my overall motivating factor?

I did tell my doctor the other day that I was generally a bump on a log. He informed me that no, I was an INCUBATOR! That will be my excuse from now on. When Seth asks why I can't get off the couch, I will simply respond, "Shhh!!! I'm incubating!!!"

I really had to write this because someone is far overdue on their ode. As you may remember, I came up with a fun idea to write weekly odes to friends and family awhile back. As you may also remember, I quit after about 3 weeks because really, it took a lot of energy.

Or I just forgot.

BUT, today I really have to give Garrett a big shout out! He was horrified when he saw the pictures we posted of Tucker's haircut earlier this week. Being the in-home dog groomer he is, he demanded we come over so he could tame that lion's mane. And tame he did!

Of course Tucker loved it.

What the heck?! He tried to bite our heads off when the clippers were around and he was practically in heaven when Garrett trimmed him up. Whatever. Kids always like other people better than their own family anyway I guess? :)

He also helped us paint our kitchen back in August. His wife, Kim received an ode and I thought that was sufficient. You know, community property. But I've never heard the end of it.

So here we go. An ode to GARRETT. And only Garrett.

(sorry you have to share your picture with Kim)

Garrett Erbele, you're a master of all trades,

You work all day and never play.

Actually, that's a lie because you love your Nintendo,

But at least you didn't drip any paint on my window.

(when you were painting)

Tucker is so happy about his new 'do,

We appreciate your help and definitely won't sue.

We will keep you in mind for future endeavors,

As long as you don't turn us down...ever.

Thanks for your help, just down the road,

I hope you're happy about your ode!

Taxes our Taxes

Something about preparing a tax return has always been exciting to me. Maybe it was filling in all the blanks (I'm easily entertained by that kinda thing)...maybe it was the feeling of success when I finished...maybe it was that nice check back from the government...

...or maybe it's just that I'm a nerdy tax accountant.

Could go either way.

Needless to say, I used to get so excited once all the tax documents started filtering through the mail. The first year we were married, I think I had our return filed by February 2nd. The year before that, it was in January.

Last year I was so anxious to finish up and file that I almost missed that small print on page 2 that was on the "You OWE" line.

Suddenly filing a tax return wasn't quite as fun.

I mean really, who has time for this stuff? I do taxes all day at work...why would I want to do them at home? And maybe if I put it off a few more weeks I'll brainstorm more deductions! I'll find social security numbers for the dogs! We'll come into lots of cash to pay the tax bill!

Sigh.

Fast forward to 2009. Same song, different verse.

I told Seth that nobody is allowed to go to bed on Sunday until this return is completed and filed! It's been on my to-do list one week too long.

On a more positive note, I was actually able to ENJOY some strawberry ice cream tonight!!!! After having to ditch the turtle ice cream we already had, and having to pawn off my thin mint ice cream after gagging through a few scoops (was it b/c I bought Dreyer's instead of Blue Bell? Or simply my picky pregnancy taste buds? The world may never know) I think I've finally found something that will work. I am all about fruity things right now. Popsicles, fruit yogurt, lemon cake (maybe I've made it twice in one week...whatever), OJ, etc etc etc

And on a completely different note, I am being lectured by my husband right now on how much time I spend blogging. He is telling me that in all the time I waste on blogger.com I could've already had my book written.

Look, I need time people.

I have one, solid page that is a fantastic start and may or may not be a fictional biography of sorts. It's not like it has to do with a girl tired of sitting at a computer all day or anything.

If only I could get an advance from a publishing company...and a promise to publish it...and then I could really get started! Right now there are just too many books to read...

Lead Me to the Cross

I love the new version of this song by Chris and Conrad! You might have heard it sung before by Brooke Fraser or Hillsong United but I love this one and the lyrics. It's so new they don't even had a video out yet but here's a taste of what it sounds like. And they're playing it all the time on KSBJ so listen in!

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

11 Weeks Down...29ish to Go...

Here I am at 11 weeks. This is 100% no sucking in, for those of you who questioned the last couple of pictures! We just show it how it is over here. I have a feeling this might be growing in the next few weeks. According to the Anderle scale, I've put on a few pounds already...it's hard to tell...some days I am absolutely starving and other days I couldn't really care less about food.

The nausea is getting a little better but I still don't feel quite like myself. I've been able to eat a little more variety of foods, but cheese, other dairy products (except yogurt), chocolate, Mexican food, hot things (like temperature hot) kinda gross me out. The cheese thing is very disappointing. I was telling Seth the other day I'd really like some Lunchables but only the cracker and meat part!

Lunchables...one of the great inventions of our time.

The dogs are very excited about the arrival of their new sibling, obviously! Sometimes I wonder if Maggie can sense something because she spends a lot of time with her head on my stomach. Plus, she follows me around the house everywhere. She'll be a good big sister. Tucker will also be a great toy when our child is old enough to appreciate being pestered. :)

But otherwise, everything else is great! I was even able to run about a mile and a half today which felt really good. I've been getting a little more energy the past couple weeks so I hope that only gets better. For awhile at least.

This week starts a 3 week stint of doctor's appointments. Stupid, I know. I have a check-up this week, just with the doctor. We have our 12 week ultrasound next week, and then a follow-up appointment the week after that. Sheesh! I always said I loved doctors so now I guess my wish is coming true in full force!

Rachel also came to visit for a few days this past weekend. Ah, to be young and on Spring Break. No responsibilities. What a life! I mostly drug her around on errands with me, we got a pedicure, and took her to dinner before she had to head back to College Station. Thanks for visiting us, Rachel!

Ok, that's all. I had to post twice today because I felt guilty for lack of blogging. Perhaps we'll do some gardening next weekend and I can take pictures of that.

Lame. We are getting very lame.

Splotchy Sunburn

It's hard to imagine that just yesterday Tucker was a normal looking dog. Granted, wearing a shopping bag as a necklace might not mean normal to all of you, but this was a result of one of his many daily trips to the pantry.

He's like a teenage boy.

If ever we can't find him, his nose is in the pantry. Luckily he never really gets into anything but he must think it's the absolute best room in the house. He spends more time in there than anywhere else.
While giving Maggie a haircut yesterday we decided we'd try to pull a fast one on Tucker. We've tried before but he gets very angry and snaps at us. Usually we put our lives and scar-free faces above the haircut, but the shedding was getting so bad it was worth a shot. We got about 3/4 of the way through before we felt we had to run for our lives.

The result? A dog that looks like his sunburn is peeling off. Who knew he might be a different color underneath??



Note the difference between his head/neck and rest of his body.

It used to all be the same.

Sadly, we may never get to go back and "touch him up".

At least he doesn't spend a lot of time in the mirror...

At Least I'm Having a Good Hair Day...

I laughed it off this weekend when Seth told me I just couldn't seem to take care of nice things.

This was after I spilled a liquid air freshener in my new car, which proceeded to take off some of the finish of one of the storage compartments. This was also on the way to a wedding where I smelled like Glade all night. Talk about things to make your nauseous!!!

But this morning I'm afraid he might be right.

I set my oversized mug of OJ in the not-quite-big-enough cup holder, turned left out of the neighborhood, and well...you know the rest.

Talk about a sticky situation.

And when I look back, I realize this is a common trend in my life. I've dumped bottles of nail polish on the carpet, spilled one of those reed diffusers on the dresser (oil and wood do not mix), broken casserole dishes, we're on our 3rd (or 4th??) coffee decanter, and that just scratches the surface.

Sigh.

Oh Baby Baby...

Well it's probably about time to add our latest news to the blog...

...we are having a baby!

It's been so hard to keep this to ourselves (well, and to close friends and family) for the past 6 weeks. And actually, it was kinda nice to have a secret all to ourselves...until I had to start making excuses to get out of bike rides, that Friday night margarita, why I couldn't eat anything besides graham crackers...

I decided to have a little Q&A session with myself on here so that maybe I can answer several of the things running through all your inquiring minds...

Q: Was this planned?
A: OF COURSE! Do I ever do anything unplanned??? You don't mess with a girl and her calendar. Actually you don't mess with God. And through lots of prayer we were comforted that we were making the right decision and couldn't go by anyone elses timing except His.

Q: Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl?
A: OF COURSE! I hate surprises. As un-fun as that sounds. We are both anxious to find out.

Q: Do you have morning sickness?
A: Yes! And I'd really call it "day sickness" instead. I'm slowly starting to branch out with foods but it's safer to stick with anything bland (who knew toast could be so good??).

Q: Have you had any cravings?
A: There was an instance where I really wanted a queso sandwich (I'm not even sure it exists, but it sounded good! Today that would make me gag). It's also bad for me to go to the grocery store because I've come home with foods I haven't had in YEARS. Oatmeal cream pies, Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits, cinnamon toast, sour cream & onion Ruffles?? I also really want some Whataburger chicken fingers but I've been able to resist so far.

Q: What foods gross you out?
A: Anything minty (yeah, goodbye gum, toothpaste, peppermints, BLECH!), Mexican food, Italian food, Chinese food, sometimes even desserts.

SHOCKER, I know. That has been the most disappointing thing so far - my PLAN was to crave ice cream 24-7 like normal!!!

p.s. this also includes cherry salsa. GAG ME. If you remember, I ordered 4 more jars of this stuff back in January. oops.

Q: Is Seth excited?
A: He is over the moon! He has probably shown outward excitement more than I have. He is anxious to start getting ready for this kid and I just want to lay on the couch.

Q: When is the due date?
A: We've been told 2 due dates actually...and I think we're just going to have to settle on mid-October! Seth's birthday is the 10th, mine is the 14th, and we've been told both the 12th and 14th. So regardless, it will be an eventful birthday month!!

Ok, that's all the questions I can think of right now. Now for some pictures!

This is me at 6 or 7 weeks (I've done a fabulous job of documenting things, haven't I?) And yes, these are the famous pj pants you might have seen me debut on the blog before. Yes, they're Halloween, and yes they're from high school, and yes I still like to wear them!!!

This is the 9.5 week picture. Sporting some springy pants. This was also taken after dinner so the stomach could be deceiving...baby or...pizza? You decide.

This is our baby at 9 weeks. Pretty cute, huh? We were a little concerned because at first it looked like a rabbit but hopefully we'll have some human-esqe features after all!

This is a shot of the new(er) 4-D ultrasounds they do now. Makes it a little easier to see the shape. Although I am convinced that is a second head in the background. If I knew how to make a pointer on here, I'd show you. But we have been assured it's only one baby.

Oh, and speaking of the doctor, everything is looking great! We have been blessed and this was actually our 3rd ultrasound (crazy, huh???). The first one was to check for cysts but I got to see a dot...then we had one at 7 wks, 9 wks, and will go back at the beginning of April for the 12 week appointment. So that puts me at 10 weeks today and I am hoping I'll feel 100% (ok maybe 90%) in the coming weeks. I'm ready for some ice cream...

So here's hoping we told everyone we needed to tell because I'd hate for grandma to find this out for the first time on the blog.

Kidding.

Please keep us and baby A in your prayers as we prepare for this scary, exciting, and unknown territory in our future!

They Call the Thing Rodeo...

On Thursday night we headed down to the rodeo to see one of my favorite country stars...Brad Paisley! I've seen him a couple times in concert before (including once at UTSA before he was a "big star") and he's always been fantastic. Thanks to our good friends, Matt & Georgia, we had ourselves some VIP gold badges to get into the event. Due to a minor ticket discrepency however, we ended up playing musical chairs several times throughout the evening. It sorta felt like we were teenagers sneaking into a rated R movie!

Not that I ever did that.

Anyway, even though it was freezing cold and rainy, we pushed on so we could get some of that yummy rodeo food (and we had this discussion...what is it about large public events that makes canned nacho cheese taste SO GOOD??) and enjoy the show.

Brad was waving to us!

We had to take the obligatory close-up bad picture. You know what I'm talking about...where one person always gets screwed because their face looks bigger than the others... :)

Garrett & Matt waiting on their brides to get back with ice cream

Ah, I love the rodeo and wish we could've gone back for more this year! Maybe next year they'll let me enter the calf scramble...

Bootleg Faith

I love the daily devotional I receive from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Lately there have been some that really hit home. I especially liked the one from today...if only I could write these words myself :)

by: Susanne Scheppmann

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)

A skeleton hangs in my family's history closet. It's very quiet. No one brings the skeleton to our family gatherings. It seldom rattles, but when it does, we all look at each other appalled. How can our family have a history of bootlegging?

During the Prohibition of the 1920's when the government forbade the making or selling of any type of alcohol, my forefathers saw opportunity. My great-grandfather and grandpa contrived a small distillery in a basement and bootlegged alcohol. The original term, bootleg, comes from the attempt to conceal something, usually whiskey in a flask, inside a high-top boot. However, during the Prohibition, the term "bootleg" was used to refer to brewing a drink that was a copy of the real thing.

So, our "family wealth" expanded from the illegal activity of making "liquid gold" in the form of moonshine. Though it may have looked like the real stuff - whiskey - it smelled like oil and tasted like acid, according to those folks who remember the brew.

Sometimes our faith is bootlegged. We try to imitate the appearance of faith we see in others. We copy or fake their faith so we can feel or appear spiritual. Or, like my "family wealth," perhaps our faith is passed down to us. "Family faith" feels comfortable, like a well-worn leather boot. We may participate in rituals, celebrations, and prayers that we don't understand or even care about. Bootlegged faith is never authentic growing faith. It's fake.

I want my faith to be genuine and not a hand-me-down, don't you? Let's pledge today to grow our own faith by reading God's Word, praying and attending a Bible-based church. Let's show our communities an authentic faith that glorifies God.

Dear Lord, help me not to "bootleg" my faith from others, but to walk with You. Grow authentic faith within me. Thank you for the privilege of glorifying You through my faith. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

1 Peter 1:6-7, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Silent Clock

I think I might have cried for the first time ever during 24 last night. Now I won't reveal anything for those of you who haven't watched it yet, but one of our FAVORITE characters got the silent clock (i.e. died, blown up, gone forever)

Well, technically that may not mean gone forever because if he was given a secret injection prior to death so that he could be revived shortly afterward, ala Tony Almeida style, he COULD be back.

Doubtful though.

I was so upset. I told Seth at the beginning of the season, "He BETTER not die, I LOVE HIM!"

But nevertheless, tears were shed.

Oh the pain.

Like I have been saying for MANY seasons...WHY NOT CHLOE? WHY NOT KIM BAUER? Two prime candidates to be killed off. Instead, they chose to take the life of someone who was just trying to serve his country!

Ok, I'm over it.

Speaking of silent clocks, you would've thought ours was this morning. Who knew 7:30am could look so dark outside? My apologies to anyone who sees me today. Your assumptions are very correct...I did not have time to shower.

Zoom Zoom

Yesterday we lost a very important member of our family. She was old. She made inappropriate noises. She had a lot of miles on her.

Yes, we finally, finally, finally, said goodbye to the trusty 2-door 1998 Honda Civic and got ourselves a new(er) car!

::APPLAUSE::CHEERS::MORE APPLAUSE

After what felt like months and months of research, spreadsheets, heated discussions, and quizzing our friends, we finally made a decision to take the next step.

So...presenting...

ME! With my 2008 Mazda CX-7!



Now, I can comfortable tote around 5 people instead of 1. :) She has black leather, a turbo charged engine (I don't even know what that means, but it's got it), low mileage, and I can even play CD's!

The Civic didn't even have a CASSETTE TAPE PLAYER. So this is big folks.

I can name about 35 of you who are breathing a sigh of relief right now saying, "THANK GOODNESS WE DON'T HAVE TO HEAR HER COMPLAIN ABOUT HER CAR ANYMORE!" And good news - this one doesn't rattle on the highway! :)

This upcoming week is also Spring Break 2K9 for Seth! He has lots of wild and crazy things planned such as NOT spending his Monday and Wednesday evenings at school...and maybe even working on the backyard. Oh, how I remember those carefree days of yore. Good news is that by the end of summer he'll finally have all his pre-requisite classes finished and can finally actually start the MBA coursework (trying to think positive here people). That graduation in 2011 seems within arm's reach...

Well, for me at least.

I am tempted to complain about how it's already Sunday afternoon and I can't believe we have to go back to work tomorrow. But I am also thankful we have a job to go to come Monday morning. Scary times people.

"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

Psalms 31:24

Have a great week!

You Can't HANDLE the Drama!

I hate to admit it, but I've been a little uninterested in The Bachelor tonight. Perhaps because I've read 80,000 spoilers in the past week and really won't be surprised by anything short of a surprise pregnancy, Bachelor assassin, or an all-out brawl.

However, I do have one comment.

Is Molly wearing an old bridesmaid dress???

Really Molly? Is THAT what you wear when you're hoping to be proposed to on national TV? Maybe I'm being a bit cynical here but my first thought was not "wow...gorgeous!"

She should have consulted Jillian on style before stepping out of the limo in that purple number.

Now we're watching Jason and his gut-wrenching cry over the balcony. Boy, you better calm yourself down before you propose to Melissa...and then break up with her later tonight...and then hook back up with Molly!

Commercial break comments:

As a sidenote, you can sorta tell by looking in my pantry that I might have MAYBE gone to the grocery store hungry after work today. This is always a mistake. As a key, you should ALWAYS grocery shop after a meal. That way you don't come home with oatmeal cream pies, cinnamon swirl bread, turtle ice cream (thank you HEB for my free ice cream coupon!), and goldfish galore.

Back on. Here's Melissa. Pre-engagement/break-up drama.

AGH, PLEASE DON'T LET THE RUMORS BE TRUE!!!!!!!!

Musical Chairs

I just get the biggest kick out of this Chili's commercial and wanted to share!

Hmmm...Oops

So I came across an article this morning about things to never EVER feed your dog. I saw the first one and panicked because we are very guilty of it! So here's some info in case you didn't know. I think most of the others are common sense but grapes I did not know!

1. Grapes and Raisins. Contain a toxin that can cause kidney damage.

2. Bread Dough and Yeast. Can expand in the digestive system and cause severe damage.

3. Chewing Gum. Sugar-free gum sweetened with xylitol can be deadly. (Same goes for any food containing xylitol.)

4. Macadamia Nuts. Can upset the digestive and nervous systems.

5. Chocolate. Contains caffeine and theobromine, which affect the heart and nervous system and can be toxic.

6. Onions and Onion Powder. Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. (P.S. Keep garlic out of reach for the same reason.)

Let's Make a Deal

There is a reason I'm not a huge fan of shopping for cars...especially used ones. It's because of guys like this:

For real.

We spent part of our weekend looking for cars (finally - for ME) and it seemed like every place we went, before we could even get out of the car, some shmuck is knocking on the window ready to make a DEAL. And no, don't tell me a 2005 4Runner with 50K miles is a steal at $26,000. Because it's NOT!

And most of them, unfortunately, perfectly dress the part. Don't they get it? I don't want to buy a car from a sleazy pest that wears big shades and a leather jacket!

I digress.

Unfortunately, I did not drive home this evening in a new car. But I'm still on the prowl. We have a few more places to hit on our list before we make a decision. And to be honest, I'm getting a little sad about saying farewell to the Civic. We've gone everywhere in that thing! I get sick to my stomach when we have to make big decisions like this. However, if I got to come home showing off the SWEET Hyundai Veracruz Limited Edition I test drove yesterday...I might just get over that sick feeling...

And I just happened to google "used car salesmen" and came across a website that shows their 25 "top tricks". Number 5 "My Wife/Sister/Mother drives one". Dang - they got us with that one! The guy actually told us he just bought his fiancee the same car we test drove. I believed it at the time...now I'm not so sure...I'm a sucker!

We also saw Slumdog Millionaire last night and loved it!!! Now I usually don't like movies that win Academy Awards but this was the exception. Fabulous acting and a really good story line. And the theater was packed! Everyone else must have had the same idea as us and wanted to find out what the movie was all about.

Now we have to focus on catching up on 24 this evening. Embarassing, but we are 2 episodes behind. At least watching almost 3 episodes in a row will be better than waiting a week!

And who's ready for the finale of The Bachelor?? I just hope Jason makes the decision that is smart for him AND his son. Almost 24 hours left until we find out if the sleazy ABC rumors are true...