just busy

well, I'm mostly posting because I haven't posted in a while. It seems that merely living itself is keeping us busy. We don't have to plan for things to do, they just pop up and we've got ourselves something written on the calendar. Honestly, I think nearly everyday from now until Labor Day has something scheduled already. It's good to be busy...except when you're tired and you just want to slow down. I think Andy even went and uncovered his old palm pilot just so he could keep track of where he needs to be, and hopefully keep from double booking ourselves. We've been busy with weddings, pictures, work, mowing, cooking, cleaning, driving, meeting with people, planning for classes at church, working with the people at church, playing our piano, planning our vacations, my discipleship time, lots of guests here at the house...and it's been wonderfully busy...and I'm quite tired. Maybe Andy and I can just take some vacation and secretly hide here at our house...that might be fun :)

happy half birthday!!!

My dearest Andy is 25 1/2 years old today...more than half-way to 50. I think so far he's done well living his life, and I'm really excited to be a part of it. I'm not sure yet how we'll celebrate this momentous event, but I've gotta think of something. I'll keep you posted -for now, I'm off to bed. I just finished working a night shift at the hospital and I'm tired...

my birthday...

16 years ago, on a thursday night I was at yellow creek youth camp. I heard for the millionth time that Jesus loved me and that I needed forgiveness for my sins. Finally that day I accepted His gift...16 years ago. I found out later that night that July 12th happened to be my grandfather's birthday which has made it an easy date to remember. Pappaw is in Heaven now, but I can imagine that he had a party because it was my spiritual birthday -and actually Timothy's too. So, that's happy. In order to celebrate I got a cake, flowers, and some ice cream. It was just me and Andy, but it was good and fun and very humbling to remember why we were celebrating.

Thank you, Jesus!

Busy with painting and people

Well, I have been busy since last week. I had my first experience on ebay, and I won a bid :) Then I was inspired to start painting one of the bedrooms upstairs. Monday I got the paint and I began painting both myself and the wall. It's not quite finished yet, but so far I think it looks cute.
On Tuesday I got a call from Aunt Beverly saying she wanted to come visit us. On Friday both she and my mom showed up later in the evening. We talked for a while and when Andy got home we all went out and ate at IHOP. On Saturday we had an excursion to Burden Falls Wilderness. We saw the highest waterfall in Illinois, although while we were there it was a small trickle of water. Apparently during the spring time it's quite impressive.
Sunday we went to church. Monday morning we went walking by the riverfront, and then headed to look at a piano that we heard about the day before. After unloading and reloading totes into a storage shed we were able to carry our very own piano home. In a few days it will be tuned, which will be exciting. Both Andy and I are really happy about having our own piano here at the house.
Today is of course the 4th of July, Independence Day. Mom left early this morning and Aunt Beverly wasn't too far behind her. Then, Gwyn (yes, the Gwyn that was in China) stopped by for a visit. She stayed for a few hours and then went on her way to meet up with some family in Kentucky. It was lovely to see her again, but she's headed back at the end of July for one more year of teaching in China. Oh, but she did write her Chinese name for me...and she promised to get me a Chinese name. So, that'll be fun.
Immediately after Gwyn left my neighbors started doing LOTS of fireworks, and these are HUGE fireworks. It's neat because I can see how big and pretty they are all from my chair inside our little office area. It's much cooler inside too.
So now I'm waiting for Andy to come home and hug me. (Yes, he had to work today.) In the meantime I've been reading some, blogging of course, and thinking about having to go back to work. Whenever I go back this week it will be the first time in four months that I'll be a nurse on the unit instead of reading lots of charts. I'm kind of happy and nervous about that. I hope that I can remember everything that I need to remember. But for now I'm having fun just smiling and being happy about life. I hope you are too.

Fun for the Whole Family

Well, yesterday was Father's Day, but it was also my father's birthday. So, Andy and I left Saturday morning (after a very small amount of sleep) to Anderson to see the family. The great thing about this trip was that Jon and Kristi were in town as well. The last time the whole family had been together at the same time was Christmas - and then it was only for about four hours. Anyway, everyone was very happy to see each other and just be together. It's fun and neat to see how our family has changed and grown. We played some chess, swam in the pool, went to church, bought some flowers...and shoes...and clothes. Sunday was great. Monday started a busy week for us all though. I was supposed to be at work at 9am, Andy went back to work, Jon and Kristi go back to Arkansas, Mom goes back to work, and Dad flies to Florida for the ABA meeting. Andy and I left kind of late Sunday night from my parent's house and ended up back home in Evansville around 1am...and we were tired. It was a great weekend though, and I hope that there are a lot more of them to come.

Indiana to Arkansas and back again

We went to Arkansas and stayed for a few days. It was fun and relaxing...but the trip home was long. We of course stopped at Lambert's to eat, this time on the way back to Indiana. It was good...and I still have some chicken in the refrigerator left over from that experience. Then, Monday came and our week started again -back into the routine of how things have been for several months. I'm not sure if the week seems like it's been really long, short, or just average...but I know that I've been tired nearly all week. For my birthday Jon and Kris gave me the Chronicles of Narnia, so now every night before I fall asleep Andy reads me one chapter...I hate how it leaves me hanging and wondering what's going to happen next, but I love listening to the stories. And...speaking of Jon and Kris they actually just left my house. They came last night and spent the night, and then they left just after we ate some lunch today. They're so much fun, and I really love having them around. Sometimes I wish we all lived a little closer to each other. Anyway, they seem happy and healthy...and I'm glad that they are able to come vacationing for a longer than usual time.

Hip Hip Hooray!

So, it's still kind of early in the morning right now, but today is the day that we get to embark on another Arkansan adventure. All the family (mine, anyway) is in Arkansas, and we're going to meet up with them. So, today I'll be busy packing and rotating the car tires. Andy was able to switch his normal shift to a day shift so we'll be able to leave a little earlier this evening. I'm excited!

This weekend we busied ourselves with painting. First at the church's new mission house, and then at our own home. Our bedroom looks pretty :)