Photo 365, Photo #32

I know this is a bit of an odd photo, but I just need to share how excited I am for Rob's and my date this evening. So excited that I went ahead and laid out all of our clothes for this evening. (and even went ahead and ironed Rob's shirt). I honestly can't remember the last time Rob and I went out on an actual fancy dinner date. Sure, we do Thursdays (not this week) and I adore Thursdays.. I'm convinced that Thursdays are what make our marriage so special. But we usually try to keep the Thursday tab to a minimum.

We just don't do the fancy dinner thing, and have NEVER done the fancy dinner thing for Valentine's Day. Ha ha, even when we were dating... That first February of 1997, I was fasting from sun up to sun down because it was lent (kind of ironic because I've been on fasting kick again). Anyway, Rob picked me up and I was starving. He didn't make any reservations. He did bring me a gift, flowers, I think. And we went to Red Lobster. I was really concerned about the cost, because we'd only eaten there on the lunch menu after church. We were seated and got our menus out and were floored by the cost. He was trying to be manly about it, but I was all, 'You can't afford this and it's not worth it' so we eventually decided to evacuated before we ever ordered. I bet that waiter was left wondering why we left. :) So we got in the car and drove around Sioux City looking for some place good to eat. As usual, we couldn't make a decision, and wound up having Pizza Hut about an hour later. I was so hungry I didn't care anymore! :) So, we've never really had a good history with Valentine's Day. I think that kind of set us up for a rough start.

Two years ago we did go out with our church to Sartins Seafood and had all you could eat crab. But believe me, if you at all remember the photos, it was far from romantic. And last year, we put on a hugely romantic Fireproof Dinner, but we were both working the kitchen and the details through out. It was beautiful, but not at all for relaxing or romantic for us.

Rob and I are just too cheap to go out for dinner big and fancy just the two of us. But this year, the church has organized a dinner to Pappadeaux's, the sister restuaraunt of our very favorite place in Kemah that washed away in Ike and is no more. We've never eaten at this location, but Pastor promises that it is as good as the Kemah place, only minus the incredible view and ambiance. So we are going tonight and I am making it a big deal. We going to get all cute, have a babysitter coming, and I rented Love Happens for when we get home, all fat and happy. I can't wait! Happy Valentine's Day!

PS - I'm the official photographer for the evening, so you know I'll have photos to share!

the Not-So-Thursday

So, bummer of a Thursday today. Sarah's got strep. Rob's under the weather, but doesn't seem to have strep. Eli just told me his throat hurts. total loss on RobnAnna day. Oh well, we have a date tomorrow, if everyone isn't sick that is. Pappa's Seafood with 35 of our closest friends from church. Should be a wonderful time. and I found a new red sweater at Target while I was waiting for Sarah's prescription to be filled. AND it was on clearance. Yay! Pictures tomorrow. And hopefully, LOTs of productivity!

Photo 365, Photo #31

Coolest Valentine ever. Totally going to have to store this puppy in my brain for next year. :)

Photo 365, Photo #30

very uncooperative child yesterday. This is supposed to highlight her necklace, my cheap knock off of a necklace she spied in Fredricksburg, TX last July. It cost $58 and mine cost under $10. Needless to say, it's big and clunky and she loves it!

Photo 365, Photo #29

Sarah prepping her valentines for her class.. We made these special flower valentines out of scrapbook paper hearts, pencils and straight pins. She's pretty excited about her big day.

Photo 365, Photo #28

gotta love the timer button and a tripod! These ladies are part of the book club at Trinity. We've been meeting for almost 2 years now, and read so many good books along the way! This was Mrs. Linda and Grandma Betty's last book club, as Pastor and Mrs. Linda have announced their retirement. I felt the need to document the evening. :) I've learned a lot from these ladies the past two years!

Heart Treasure

(images from the book, 'the Other Side')

I found the coolest book at the library on Saturday. It's called "the Other Side" and features pairs of drawings throughout, each featuring one side of a two sided story. I was fascinated instantly, and had to check it out and bring it home. Rob and I both have studied the book. It's such a cool concept. One example is a girl looking out the window, studying the world. You flip the page and see the world looking at the window, studying the girl.

This book got me really thinking. About how life is all about perspective.

In worship, on Sunday morning, we were singing about heaven and I started thinking about this book again. I pictured us, our church, worshipping the Lord, reaching towards heaven in faith that God is up there soaking it up. For a moment, I felt like I got a glimpse of the other side of the story, all of heaven, reaching down towards us, ministering to us. (shudders) How cool is that?

Went home after church, picked up the book again and started talking to Rob about what a great illustration it would make to teach our students a bit more about worship. Then I started thinking about life in general and how here, in this world, we are stuck on just one side of the page. There's a whole other side that we can't even flip! Do you know what I mean? We can't even see the rest of our story! It makes so much sense. Of course we struggle when things don't go our way, when heartache comes or disease or even death. We can't see why we wrestle with problems or addictions or rough relationships. But the reality is, we can't see that other page, and I trust that it will make a lot more sense when God reveals it. For sure I've seen enough 'hindsight' in my own life to see God's hand of protection all over it. I can't even imagine how much moreso it will be when He can clearly paint the entire picture for me. What a glorious day that will be!

Honestly, I personally feel a little like the book right now...

So much going on in my heart and my life again. And ironically, I'm not in much of a position to share it. I laugh at that, because years ago, when I started this blog, it was supposed to be my place to vent. (oh, and I did, it's not pretty!) If you were to go back to the beginning, you would read my rants and raves about trivial nonsense every day stuff. Lots of posts about lack of space and lack of money and all that I was not happy about in my life at the time. I've grown a lot since then. (five years ago already) One of the biggest changes has been in becoming a pastor's wife. I've learned that I can't just vomit my feelings all over the world wide web for every one and their brother to read. I do leave those first few months public though, because I believe it's a testament to God's grace and His ability to grow us.

It's a little strange to me, how often as a pastor's wife I'm required to hide things away in my heart; information, hurt feelings, injustices, etc. In my youthful niavety, I thought that being a pastor's wife would mean being completely transparent and utterly honest. Please note, I am not condoning lying in any way, shape or form... I have, however, learned a lot about discretion. And wisdom. (I have a long ways to go in both those departments) I am always surprised at how many things I just have to hide in my heart, and store away until I can work it out with God, or until He chooses to reveal it. I often think of Mary, in Luke 2:19 "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." I can relate to her, knowing some of God's great secrets, His treasures, and not being at liberty to share it all with the world. There is a secret joy in sharing your heart only with the Lord. Another verse that has taught me a lot lately is Proverbs 25:11 "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." I have always struggled with holding my tongue. Not very lady like and certainly not very godly. I'm excited that God has been working on me in this area of my life.

It certainly is journey. And I am always grateful that He hasn't given up on me just yet. :) You either, in case you are wondering.

blessings.

Photo 365, Photo #27

Youth Life Group Super Bowl Party. We had a lot of food and a lot of fun! Love my kids.

Photo 365, Photo #26

Caught this precious moment today at lunch. Love how she's squeezing and he's not that into it. :)

New Layouts

Ok, so technically a bunch of these are old layouts. A few years ago I attempted a scrapbook calendar. Yeah, not my thing. I think I got as far as about 6 pages and never finished it. But I did really like those 6 pages, so as I've been organizing and cleaning and pitching and I thought I needed to add these odd-sized 9x9 pages to the family scrapbook. So I tweaked them a bit to fit in my 12x12 book.

And then the piece de resistance' --- I love the way this page turned out! I had started it while my mom was here a few days ago and I was thrilled to have a chance to finish it.

I also completely cleaned out and organized my office area today. Now I need to get my act together and start working on taxes. (blah) I've never been a big fan of February, but doing your own taxes really bums out the whole month. I tend to get a bit crazy while I'm figuring out our taxes, but don't feel like we can afford the $300 or so to hire a professional.

I did feel like I accomplished a ton today, so that's pretty cool. And tomorrow I have a photo session with a 5 year old boy. I can't wait! I've missed working with people outside of my family. :) January was very slow and I'm ready to bust out of my slump.

photo 365, Photo #25

I have a thing for salt and pepper shakers. If you've seen the movie Fireproof then you'll understand why. If you haven't seen Fireproof, well, you need to. :)

Photo 365, Photo #24

Yesterday went by very fast and I literally only took 2 photos. But I've been meaning to share this artwork over our bed for a while. These photos are from last years anniversary pictures. I placed them on painted brown canvases, and then embellished them with Prima flowers and metal paper trim. Very simple, but it's some of my favorite art in the house. :)

Momma Visit 2010

Eli and Sarah were invited to sing at Goldenaires last night. And we showed the photos from the 90th anniversary. It was a pretty special evening.
Our two oldest (yet young at heart) Goldenaires.

And now our time with Mom.

And these are in no particular order...
Scrapping at the kitchen table.
Rob practicing with the kids for their Goldenaire singing last night.
The inside of the Fiesta store...
Beautiful blue-eyed boy in front of the blue door.
Saying goodby at the airport...
The cookbook I learned to cook out of. All my work with the 90th cookbook inspired me to ask Mom to bring it so I could copy a few recipes out of it. This cookbook is well-loved, right?

Finally got to check out the Fiesta store in Galveston. Pretty cool. Got a new mixing bowl and Mom gifted us with some ramekins.
Mom snapped 2 really great family photos for us.
Saw this blue wall and it was absolutely inspiring. I'm dying to do a family session down in Galveston now. There are so many cool spots!!
LOVE this one. best pic of mom and I in YEARS.
beautiful, albeit COLD day at the beach. We literally hopped out so Mom could say she'd been and to snap a couple photos.
Cute pic of Mom and E, same side booth sitting. :)
LOVE this photo of me and Rob. Eli took it. He's really developing his photographic eye. (yay!)
And we so enjoyed Saturday lunch at Cheddars. Yum. (kids were annoyed by the sun in this photo)
Grammy loves By Design. Don't we all?
One of the highlights of the weekend, everyone sprawled out at the kitchen table with their bibles open, sharing favorite verses.
playing games as a family on the living room floor.

spent a lot of time in the car. Good snuggle time with Grandma.

Sarah got her fair share of snuggling too. :)

Looking at the family scrapbook. Such a sight for sore eyes, my mom loving on our kids.

enjoying some green grass again here in Baytown. It's such a good sign!

Sarah wearing her oh-so-diligently-sewn-on-one-at-a-time button shirt for 100th day of school. Can you guess how many buttons I sewed on her shirt? :)
Mom being all crafty at the kitchen table.

Scrapbooking With Mom

I purposely tried to slow down a bit with Mom this time around. I really didn't want to send her back to 8 below with a sinus infection. So we hit a few scrapbook stores, but we also found some time to actually scrapbook. I finished 4 pages and am heavily into a 5th. Now I can't wait to get back to it, but my house is a disaster and I sit here blogging. (I did meal plan and grocery shop already this morning, so it's not a total loss).

But here are my efforts...

This page cracks me up because it's a saying we use in our house all the time... "You know apples don't fall far from trees..." And we are constantly realizing how dramatic our daughter is, but the reality probably is she's a lot like Rob and I. :) So this picture just screamed for something about apples and trees.

A fun page about my crazy world view and the effect it has on my photography. Thought the picture was well suited. Way to use up mismatched alpha stickers too!

Eli came home with this acrostic (Rob LOVES acrostics, he's such a 6 personality type like that) and it was just too sweet to not scrapbook. Worked pretty well with our blown out, forgot to re-meter-when-the-sun-moved, on the tripod in manual Thanksgiving photo.

And last but not least, this is my favorite page from the weekend. Esp. the pleated skirt!

Photo 365, Photo #23

Getting ready for the day this morning, I was praying about the Holy Spirit. I pumped my face lotion onto my hand and it came out in this shape. Cool, right?

Photo 365, Photo #22

saying goodbye to Grammy at the airport. such a lovely weekend, we hated to see it come to an end.

Photo 365, Photo #21

Monday's Photo of the Day. Eli's bible verse box. It has little cards in it with his favorite verses written on them. He decorated the outside himself, but my favorite part was what he wrote on the bottom of the box. This kid is pretty special