A Great Date Movie and Some Pictures

I'm just going to say a few words here, then I'm going to post a few pictures and hopefully a video (if it will work). My family has been begging for some pictures of Peyton, of course. They could care less what me and Arnold look like these days...the old tired people that we are now. :) But now for my comments... You HAVE to go to the movie Fireproof that came out in select theaters this past weekend. It is an awesome Christian movie...a tear jerker, a comedy, romance, and action rolled into one. Now granted, it's not going to be up to Hollywood standards, I mean come on, the movie was made for $500,000, but it's a great entertaining movie that presents the Gospel and gives hope for marriages that are failing. I recommend it! Please go see it with your spouse. Peyton loves to read books. She will usually bring us a book and then want to sit in our laps so we will read it to her. This time she decided to read the book herself. Notice her new kicks. We got her those cute little Winnie the Pooh shoes this weekend since she's walking now.

First Presidential Debate

Arnold and I watched the presidential debate last night, and I really thought McCain "schooled" Obama (in the words of Arnold). I thought McCain really sounded like he knew what he was talking about with the foreign policy and Obama really didn't have much to say of substance. But then I look at the news this morning on the internet and everyone says that Obama probably won the debate. So I'm wondering what's going on? Was I watching a different debate than everyone else??? By the way, I have become a political news junkie these days. This presidential election is so interesting. I've even been listening to talk radio while I work. It's probably a good thing that we don't have cable because I would be watching foxnews, msn, and cnn all the time! Have you been following the election? Who do you think won the debate?

Happy Birthday to ME

I had an awesome birthday yesterday! When I walked into work yesterday, my staff had planned a breakfast, and it was so yummy! We had a breakfast casserole, fruit with dip, and a cake. That started off the day right. I also got a cute picture frame and some stationary. Then of course Arnold took me to grab some lunch. No, not at his favorite Irish restaurant, but Jared’s favorite restaurant, Subway. Then about 4:30 yesterday Arnold came walking into my office with a beautiful vase of green mums and pink and red gerbera daisies. He always gets me gerbera daisies because we had them in our wedding, and they’re just beautiful! Then last night we went out to Outback and got a bloomin onion and my favorite at Outback, the alice springs chicken. Yum Yum! Arnold also ordered me a subscription to a magazine I’ve been wanting. (Like I have time to read!) All in all it was a great birthday, and I am now officially a year older…and you will just have to guess how old.

Prayer

Today an InTouch Magazine showed up in our p.o. box and I found one of the articles very interesting. The article talked about making prayer a way of life. The author described how when he first heard about Martin Luther praying for three hours every morning, John Wesley getting up at 4 am every morning to pray, and David Brainerd praying for so long in the snow that he melted it, he would become discouraged. Boy have I felt the same way! Then the author describes how he discovered that the Bible “shed a different light on prayer.” Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” And suddenly he realized that this meant talking to God throughout the day even in small little way, always pray. And then he gave some tips that I think are great. How many times throughout the day do we waste when we could be praying to God, praising Him, and thanking Him!? I hope the author’s tips will help enrich your prayer time. I plan to try these out!

1. Put your downtime to use. Pray in traffic, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, while cleaning up your house, taking a shower, exercising, etc.

2. Don’t just watch the news—do something about it. Pray for the needs you see, whether an earthquake just occurred, poverty in another country, or for the upcoming elections.

3. Respond to whatever comes at you. As soon as something occurs, such as a family member is in trouble, pray. And don’t forget to thank God for the little things, such as that great parking space so you don’t have to walk in the rain.

4. Make your own prayer cycle. Keep several prayer lists and rotate them so that you end up praying for a lot of different people. You can put celebrities on this list, sports figures, missionaries, musicians, etc.

5. Pick up a daily prayer shift. In the mornings on Monday, pray for your family. In the mornings on Tuesday, pray for your co-workers.

6. A-S-K: Ask, Seek, Knock. An example, the author prayed for a waitress at his favorite restaurant every time he would frequent there. Those prayers eventually led to an opportunity to witness to her and invite her to church.

This article was written by Mark Littleton for InTouch Magazine, October 2008. He has a book entitled, The Ten-Second Prayer Principle.

An Irish Restaurant

Arnold and I went out on a hot date today for lunch. He likes to say that he's taking me to a famous Irish restaurant. The name of this restaurant--McDonald's. Now, I am normally one to complain about the service at fast food restaurants in the area around my house, and normally I have justification. The food is usually cold, the service slow, and the help not very friendly. But I must praise this Irish restaurant for an unusually fast drive through line, hot food, and pretty nice service. In fact, we usually go there over other places because of those reasons. I was disappointed that they didn't have apple pies today though.

I have a friend, and former co-worker, Stephanie, who is desperately wanting to have her baby that was due a few days ago, and I feel so bad for her. I totally remember that feeling of desperation like, "Won't this baby just come on for crying out loud!!!" Do those of you who have had babies remember that last week or so? Misery!!!

Poop and other reflections

We are taking Peyton back to the doctor, again, today. She's got a really bad ear infection still,and we're hoping she doesn't have to have tubes. But then again, it may not be a bad thing if it helps her get better. We are so tired around here from such little sleep from everyone being sick. I think we just need to air out our apartment and go to the beach for a week to get away from this sickness!

Yesterday, we had donuts for the students at my work. This was the first event that I planned since taking my new position, and perhaps I went a little overboard. I ordered 18 boxes of donuts thinking that would be what we would need. Well, we had quite a few Krispy Kreme's left over, and I ended up eating WAY too many. Maybe I should have ordered a fruit tray instead.

Poop has apparently become an integral part of my life these days. Last week, me, Arnold, and Peyton were standing outside our apartment talking with a friend. I felt something warm run down my leg and turned around to find out a bird had unloaded on me. This bird must have taken some ex-lax that morning. It was running down my leg, onto my shoes, it was on my skirt and on the back of my sweater! It was everyplace but my hair. What did I do to make this bird so mad at me? That was the first time I've been "attacked" by a bird, and I have to say that it was so incredibly nasty. Then this morning, I was letting Peyton run around in the bathroom naked after her bath, and what does she do but squat down and poop on my rug. Gross. It's not fun having to scoop fresh poop off your bathroom rug. At least I can throw it in the washing machine.

This has been a totally random blog, but I am so tired that I can't quite think straight. Hope you're getting some rest!

Check These Pics Out...Hilarious

Here is a picture of Peyton from her yearbook.


Here's Peyton's mommie from her yearbook.


And her dad.



My mom from her yearbook. Don't you love the jerri curl.


Here's my sister, Janna from the 1950's. There's a forty year age gap between me and my sister. haha


And my other sister Keri, who likes to dress like a man and is channeling Joe Dirt and the mullet. (see picture below).

New Orleans, Peyton and Starbucks Coffee

Well, we made it back to New Orleans Sunday night after ten days in Monroe. What a nice vacation! And the best part is, there was no damage done, except losing everything in our fridge. Who knew catsup, mayo, mustard, jelly, and soy sauce would cost so much to replace?!

We had a great time in Monroe though, except for the part where Peyton got sick again. It was so awesome to spend so much time with her and Arnold. I really enjoyed getting to watch Peyton try to walk so much, and the babbling she’s been doing lately. I tried to catch a video of her babbling, but of course she stopped the minute I pressed record.

This is totally off the subject, but I’ve been wondering something…has Starbucks changed their coffee making skills? Because if so, it stinks! I went to a Starbucks in the Cinncinatti airport this summer, and not having had Starbucks in a long time thought I would order a grande, or whatever the big size is, white chocolate mocha. It tasted like nasty burnt coffee, but I didn’t complain and just decided the girl probably didn’t know what she was doing. Then in Monroe this past week, I went to Starbucks and ordered a tall white chocolate mocha decaf, and it tasted like burnt coffee too! So I went back in the store and told the girl making it. She made me another one, this time a regular, and it tasted the same way!!!

What is going on here? I was too embarrassed to tell her it stunk too, so I just drank the darn thing and walked out. Have you guys had the same experience at Starbucks? I do not like paying a premium, and I do mean PREMIUM, price for a drink and then it tastes gross. I’m really sad about this.

Thanks

Here's a quick update for everyone. Thank you for all the prayers, offers of homes, and questions about our well being. We appreciate it so much! We learned that the campus suffered minimal damage, but the big issue now is no power and sewage. So, we are still in Monroe waiting to go back to campus. We think we will be able to tgo back this weekend, but we'll just have to wait on the update from the seminary. New Orleans really dodged a bullet! We give thanks to God for that.

In other news, please pray for Peyton. She's sick yet again. But she's been taking a lot of steps since we've been here. We have a cute video of her taking a few steps.