grace

A good article on GRACE. Click here.
A must-read.

praises and prayer

Just yesterday I was thinking of all of you. I was amazed at how many acts of love we have experienced from people back home. We've gotten mail, emails, phone calls, and more. If I mentioned names, I'd miss someone, but you know who you are. If you're reading this, you're probably one of those people praying for us. It is amazing to me how much love has been showered down on us this past month (even before we left). I was thinking how awesome you all are, but then I realized that it's not YOU. It's Christ's love shining through you. We can plainly see His light shining through you guys as He uses you to encourage and love us. It's another example of God's grace.

We are grateful for your prayers. They are being answered. One example: Prayer for us to get to know people... We are not social people, so I knew that it would have to be a God-thing for this prayer to be answered. Jared is getting to know people in his class (even if it be through him having to beg for a ride home when he locked his keys in the car). I met a girl at the pool who sells wickless candles. She might've only wanted another customer, but it's been good to talk to another mom for a couple afternoons now. Then this morning, I met another girl at the playground. Such a neat girl; she might even be a Christian. God hears us. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." He answers.

images

Our San Angelo apartment

A really thoughtful gift: 6 starred and numbered books accompanied with a CD. Lisa recorded herself reading every single book, along with directions to "turn the page." This has been used many times already. The kids love it!

If you've done every activity in the travel tub, just sit in it, I guess.

Lake Nasworthy, 5 minutes south of our apartment

Psalm 103

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children--
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

garbage disposals at your service

Garbage disposals are my friends. I've said before that I'd rather have a disposal than a dishwasher. It's true. I'll admit that in the first year of our marriage I stuffed bits of food down the holes in our non-disposaled sink. Trash stunk often, and I didn't quite know how to handle the situation. In our 10 years of marriage, Jared and I have never fully agreed on the usage of garbage disposals. Growing up, it seemed that Mom stuffed everything down those things. Grinding up canteloupe rinds was a blast, watching them go round and round until they disappeared completely. Wikipedia defines a garbage disposal as a device that "shreds food waste into pieces small enough (generally less than 2 mm) to pass through plumbing." Unless we have sheep to give fruit and vegetable peels to, I grind up most all of our food waste, including potato peels, carrot skins, and cucumber peels. (I don't do the canteloupe rinds anymore. And peach pits don't work either.) It's even convenient to crush egg shells in there.

When we first heard and felt this San Angelo disposal grind, we shuddered. It seemed to move the whole kitchen just turning that thing on. Jared warned me about it, as he warned me about past disposals. On Sunday, my thought was, If this disposal fulfills its purpose, we shouldn't have a problem if I just stuff these potato peels down. To my surprise, the pipes became plugged up with potato peels. This has happened before. Twice. Disposal running. Water running. Water not going down. Turn disposal off. Turn it on. Off. On. Off. Water is not going down. Frustration. I do the ever-dreaded thing of sticking my hand down into the disposal to see what potato peels are left in there. I brace myself, ready to pull out whatever yuck I find. There's nothing down there. Jared sits comfortably in the rocking chair, watching, but never telling me I told you so like I so deserve to hear.

I took the kids to Wal-Mart to buy a plunger. We were lucky this time; last time the plunger didn't work, nor did it the time before that. Obviously, this disposal did not grind up the potato peels to 2 millimeters or less.

My main question is: what are disposals for if they can't grind most everything up?

play

Carly announced, "We're going to church now."

finding a church

Six months ago, we started looking online for a San Angelo church. Pastor Casey suggested trying Mesquite Ridge Community Church. It is somewhat difficult to find a church online, but Casey indicated that he hadn't noticed any red flags based on Mesquite's website. We went there today. The church meets in a suite. We showed up on time but thought we were way early or way late or maybe just missed church altogether because there were only about 10 cars in the parking lot. Mesquite is a small church--probably similar in size to Ayore. This made us somewhat nervous, because we couldn't just hide in the back row. The church service was good. Songs and message. No fluff. Just meat-and-guts gospel. Isaac stayed 15 minutes in the nursery and then tried his I-need-to-go-pee trick to get out. The lady took him potty, and that's when he started wailing for Mommy and Daddy. But 15 minutes is good, especially in a new church in a new place. I remember hiding behind my mom's skirt in Illinois churches where relatives lived, dreading the moment where they'd make us go to Sunday School with kids we'd never seen before. It was grueling to have to even tell the teachers our names. Jared argues that it's good for our kids, and it was probably good for me too. He asked yesterday if I thought I benefitted from it. I told him that it took me 20 years to not mind stuff like that. Anyway, the Mesquite church was a blessing. We'll probably go there next Sunday and maybe even try Sunday School...the kids, too. :)

our temporary "home"

There's something about being surrounded by familiarity. It's not that our furniture and belongings are all that valuable; they're not. But ahhh, to sleep in our own bed, to eat at our own table, to lounge on our own couch (marker and slobber stains and all), to trip on our own toys,...it's just like home. Well, almost. Well, actually, not really, but it helps. The "big, white truck" (as we called it to the kids) arrived yesterday. The kids were so excited to see their own stuff that they played all day long, while Jared and I unpacked. This living room was clean. But the kids have been busily playing this morning. I just heard Carly tell Isaac, "We'll be good picker-ups." I think that's supposed to mean that they'll clean this mess up, right?!

We haven't met our neighbors yet, but there are about 5 apartment doors that face our front door. Pray for boldness as we get to know some of these people, even when our personalities are non-social.

Good things about this complex: it's pretty quiet, the people seem friendly, it's pretty clean. The complex is only 5 minutes away from Wal-Mart and the mall. Our particular apartment only gets the morning sun, which should help with utilities. We haven't checked out the pool yet, but the playground is nice.

The strangest thing we've encountered yet is our refrigerator. It sounds like a very muffled saturn missile battery firework. And somewhere in the move, we (or the moving truck) lost Isaac's box of shoes. We checked the weather last night for Sabetha and San Angelo. Sabetha was 84 degrees with 72% humidity. San Angelo was 86 degrees with 37% humidity. I guarantee that it felt much better here. ;)

We love you and miss you all!!

images

Our first breakfast on the trip:






Crossing the border...


Our first night in Dallas. Out at the lake.


Goodfellow AFB temporary lodging: the little one-bedroom apartment we lived in Week 1.


One of several parks on base.




The kids found it fun to slide down the slippery slides into huge puddles. Surprisingly, they didn't mind walking the mile back with wet pants. They needed a bath.

first impressions

Day 1

Moving company shows up at 8:30 a.m. Packers ease into the job by looking around, whistling, and calling, "Here, kitty kitty!" to Patches who probably has ringworm on her neck. Stuff is packed and loaded by 2:30. We pick up the kids and leave for Wichita. Isaac starts saying, "I wanna go home..." The Marriott discount was quite a blessing. And the Marriott restaurant was quite convenient, but who would pay $4.75 for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich kids meal?! Do you know what kind of a PB&J sandwich I could make with $4.75?

Day 2

We travel to Dallas. Praise God for safe travel and cool temperatures. Our car A/C usually works in mild temperatures but not in hot ones. Isaac keeps saying, "I wanna go home..." We arrive at sister Carrie's house by suppertime. They feed us and we all head to the lake to swim and watch fireworks. Carly had her first encounter with two fireant bites on her big toe.

Day 3

Saturday. Day of relaxation. Carrie and Kyle took us to a park with nature trails and a huge playground. There were lots of families there, only one who spoke English as their first language. The multi-cultural experience was quite interesting, and I found it much easier to strike up a conversation with a Hebrew woman than it would've been to speak with an "Americanized" white woman. Why are white people so stiff, anyway, afraid to look dumb?! (I guess I don't want to look dumb either, but I often do anyway.) :) We topped off the night with frozen yogurt cones and shakes. It was unfortunate that Carly's cone fell up-side-down as soon as the lady handed it to her. No harm, though; 5-second rule. She ate it anyway.

Day 4

Sunday. We headed to Ft. Worth. The kids were sad to leave their cousin, and we were sad to leave Carrie & Kyle, but we needed to head west. After going to Aunt Phy and Uncle Harold's church, we stuffed ourselves at Ryan's steakhouse. The hot rolls with honey-butter are hard to beat. Travelling on...going west...we found ourselves on a 70 mph 2-lane. Surprisingly hilly. We pass the World's Largest Wind-Powered farm. We pull into San Angelo around 7:30 p.m. and manage to book a suite on base fit for a chief.

Day 5

Monday. 6:00 a.m.

A bugle-boy-recording has the audacity to wake us up with Reveille. Jared rolls over and mumbles, "You've gotta be kiddin' me!" We move to Goodfellow AFB's temporary housing. Homesickness sets in.

Day 6

Carly normally wakes up cranky, but today she woke up with a revelation shining in her eyes. She said in a sleepy but cheerful voice, "I think Isaac would stop saying 'I wanna go home' if you gave him a rub." We'll try that--not that we haven't already. Tuesday. Commissary, here we come! All I can say is: Garrett's Country Mart is over-priced and Sara Lee bagels rock! We sign a lease with Encino Apartments and plan to move in as soon as the moving truck gets here Friday. We're excited to get settled.

We miss you all!

set the cruise

The mapquest maps are usually white with a few city names in between the destinations. This mapquest search revealed a brown map with states on it and lots of cities. I decided to use Google instead.

Want a warm vacation? Come visit us! It only takes 20 simple steps!!

Here are the directions from Google.
Driving directions to Encino Apartments, San Angelo, TX 76904:
Trip: 735 miles, about 12 hours and 11 minutes

1. Travel south on US-75 (54.2 mi)

2. Take the I-70/US-40/US-75 exit toward Salina (0.3 mi)

3. Merge onto I-70 W/US-40 W/US-75 S (2.0 mi)

4. Take exit 355 to merge onto I-470 E/US-75 S. Continue on I-470 E (6.8 mi)

5. Take exit onto I-335 S/Kansas Turnpike toward Wichita/Emporia (50.2 mi)

6. Continue on I-35 S entering Oklahoma (230 mi)

7. Slight right at I-44 W (signs for Amarillo/I-44/Lawton) entering Texas (146 mi)

8. Continue on US-281 S/US-287 S (0.7 mi)

9. Take exit onto US-277 S/US-82 W toward Lubbock/Abilene/US-277. Continue on US-277 S (127 mi)

10. At W Ct Plaza, take the 1st exit onto Commercial Ave/US-277/US-83. Continue on US-277/US-83 (24.6 mi)

11. Exit onto S Clack St/US-277 toward San Angelo/S 14th St (1.1 mi)

12. Turn right at US-277 S (78.6 mi)

13. Take the ramp to US-277/N US-67 (469 ft)

14. Keep right at the fork to continue toward US-277/N US-67 and merge onto US-277/N US-67. Continue on N US-67 (11.0 mi)

15. Take the exit toward Southwest Blvd (0.2 mi)

16. Merge onto Loop 306 (390 ft)

17. Turn right at Southwest Blvd (0.2 mi)

18. Turn right at Green Meadow Dr (0.4 mi)

19. Turn right. Destination will be on the left (26 ft)
20. Joyfully arrive at destination: 4022 Green Meadow Drive, San Angelo, TX

Meals and lodging provided.

Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

After 10 years of marriage and many batches of cookies, I've found a legend recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They are best straight out of the oven.

Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

3 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

3 sticks butter

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. creamy peanut butter

2 large eggs

2 t. vanilla

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 c. Hershey's mini kisses (in a silver bag in the chocolate chip section of store)

1 c. chopped pecans

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and peanut butter in large bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press down slightly to flatten into 2-inch circles. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 or until edges are set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 4 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 6 dozen cookies.

Tip 1: I carefully scoop my flour, not spoon it.

Tip 2: While many cookie recipes don't list the correct amount of flour, this recipe really does need 3 1/2 cups. Eat hot and cold. Yum.

gratitude

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow."
Melody Beattie

blog favorites

A collection of my favorite blog posts:
A Touch Crazy
The craziness of motherhood.
This post introduced me to Ann Voskamp. She is a good woman of God.

The Ugly-Beautiful
Seeing the beautiful in the ugly. A beautiful post.

Knowing
Knowing and resting in that.

A Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe

What You Really Want For Christmas

I Am From
Sister Carrie's heritage

The Pioneer Woman
A blog page I want to explore more.

GOOD PROJECTS:
A Family Thanksgiving Tradition
Making Everyday About Thanksgiving
Homemaking Journal

walking worthy

Our Sunday School teacher, Steve Campbell, came up with a new bracelet acronym besides WWJD. WWWWLLL: What Would Walking Worthy of the Lord Look Like? As we make a temporary move to San Angelo, pray that we walk faithfully with Jesus, striving to live a "life worthy of the Lord and [pleasing] him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..." (Colossians 1:10) In these next few months, we make this our goal: "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27). You can pray these verses for us, especially as we find a church, a grocery store, a library, a playground, things to do, and hopefully some friends.

blog purpose

What is the purpose of blogging? That was Jared's question to me the last time I started a blog.

Oh, there are so many good blogs out there. I'm a faithful reader of only three: passage, intensely trivial, and holy experience. I encourage you to check out those blogs, but realize that this blog will be somewhat different for the following reasons:

1) My knowledge and wit are limited.

2) I am not a writer.

3) Blogging is not something I'm really passionate about.

I deleted my last blog a few months ago because it was a chore to update, and I didn't really have a reason to blog. What wisdom do I have? I would rather spend time with our kids than sit at a computer thinking of things to write.

This blog has a different purpose.

Starting this week, our family will spend six months in San Angelo, Texas. Jared has training at Goodfellow Air Force Base. We decided our family would go on an excursion and move down there with him. This blog is for grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, sisters and brothers, and friends to keep up with what we're doing. It's exciting to think about a six-month "vacation," but we will dearly miss every one of you, I know that already.