Want #22

I want to take a nap, although I shouldn't need one.

Last night as we got into bed, I asked Stephen if I should set my alarm. Nahhhh. It's been forever since we slept past 8, much less 9 when we normally get up on Sundays. This morning, as I sleepily rubbed my eyes and asked what time it was, I knew it was bad when he just checked his phone and said, "Oops." It was 9:20 and we should have been leaving the house at 9:30 to get to Sunday school on time! Oh well. We actually still would have only been about 5 minutes late except we had an appliance incident. We replaced our water filter in the fridge yesterday and someone... okay, neither of us... read the instructions. So as we were walking out the door I started filling up my water bottle. But as I pulled the bottle away, the water just kept flowing!! I was sticking anything I could underneath the little faucet but we still had a big puddle to clean up. Turns out you're supposed to pump the air out for two minutes before using it, or things like that might happen. Word to the wise. So we waltzed into Sunday school twenty minutes late, which still isn't too bad considering.

We've eaten lunch and I've finished my paper that was due tonight, so I really don't have an excuse not to nap! Looks like I'll be making use of my massage chair again today...

Want #21

I wanted to come home with the grand prize tonight, but this is better than nothing:

Tonight was our annual Sweetheart Banquet at church - ALWAYS great entertainment!! We play the Newlywed Game, and this year's prize was a gift certificate to Tripps - yums!! Last year we "practiced" and still didn't win, so this year we didn't even bother quizzing each other. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Some of the questions were really easy (Who initiated the first kiss? When you leave the house does she party, clean, or sleep?) and some were way too tricky or too vague (What size shoe does she wear? What's his favorite food?). But the answers were TOO funny. We didn't win that, but I did win that big jar of candy for guessing how many were in there (I guessed 157, there were 158 in there), we won a pound cake for being married the least amount of time, and a coconut pie as a door prize. So we didn't walk away empty-handed!!

My stomach hurts from laughing so much. It was almost four hours of nonstop laughter. And great food. A local place, Jordan's, catered it, so we had steak, chicken, new potatoes, mixed veggies, salad, rolls, and some fantastic desserts. All in all we had a great time, but boy am I beat. I've spent every night since getting back from Georgia on the couch, on our massage chair, and tonight shall be no different. I won't be awake much longer but I'm going to grab a book, a blanket, and snuggle up to that heated massager while we watch Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh James Bond film. We are marathoning James Bond right now. And when I say we, I mean I am at least in the room.

Want #20

I want to eat all these Girl Scout cookies tonight!!

But I won't. For my heart, blood pressure, and baby's sake. Yums!!

Want #19

I want to get these pictures off my camera, so I'm putting them on here. Here are some belly pictures for you. Also, when we got home from Georgia tonight, we put together our new crib and the whole crib set and everything. I know, we're gluttons for punishment. I'm going to bed right after supper!!

Week 26:

Week 29:

Week 30:

New crib and our crib set:

Want #18

I want you to watch this video if you haven't seen it yet:

Kittens: Inspired By Kittens

I emailed it to a bunch of you, I know. I'd put the video here but I don't have time to do that. In about half an hour we're meeting Stephen's mom and sister for lunch at Zaxby's - YUM!! Then we'll head down to Chamblee for my grandmother's funeral and dinner with our family. Sorry about the lack of wordage in my recent blogs, but it's hard to blog away from home!

Want #17

I want everyone's family to be like mine. I honestly believe I have the best family God could have put together. I love our quirks, our similarities, our differences, our sense of humor, and our love. I am so blessed to be part of this family.

That's all you get for today.

Want #16

I want everyone to remind Stephen that he has said it doesn't matter how many times we have to stop tomorrow for me to go to the bathroom. The past few trips I've done really well, but I am being really proactive about staying hydrated so that I don't push myself into premature labor!!! Maybe that's paranoid but I don't care.

So call him and remind him of that.

(We are leaving for Georgia for Grandma's funeral, which is only about 6 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad.)

Want #15

We wanted to go back to Georgia soon to see our family, but not really for this reason. Our Grandma Loyd passed away last night in her sleep. I'm so grateful that she wasn't in any pain.

I'm one of those people that when I know that someone dies and is going to heaven, I like to think about what they're doing up there, based on what they liked to do down here. For example, I would imagine Grandma dancing, listening to someone play the piano, or playing cards. For some reason I always think of those three things when I think of her. But the truth is that I believe in heaven people don't care about those things anymore. I believe that your time is spent doing nothing but praising God. And the funny thing is, that's pretty much what Grandma spent the last year doing (really much longer than that). Since last April she had been in and out of the hospital, and whenever she was there, what did her visitors spend their time doing? Reading her scripture and singing hymns, mainly. I think she was just preparing for an eternity of that. I don't think she'll be disappointed with what she finds heaven to be like.

I told people at church today - I'm going to miss her, but I'm not very sad. I know she wouldn't come back here for anything, and I can't say I blame her. I do ask for prayers for our family - with travels, making arrangements and so forth. I always wondered how I would react when my first grandparent died, but it's been made unbelievably easier by the fact that I know she was a Christian, and also that I was able to see her more since last April than we usually get to in a year's time.

I'm so sorry to her children, her husband, her family and friends, including myself and my children, but it's all for selfish reasons. I'll be excited to see her again.

Want #14

I don't really want anything for Valentine's Day. Back when Stephen and I were first dating we did the whole date/gift thing but we put an end to that pretty quickly. Also, I think he did get me some really comfy pajamas our first married Valentine's Day, but other than that, he's pretty much okay with not getting me anything. Imagine that. So it makes sense that today hasn't been much different from any other day, except I did decide this morning not to go to work ("It's Valentine's Day!") and I convinced him to order pizza tonight ("It's Valentine's Day!"). Other than that, I'm glad I wasn't expecting anything, because this is all I got:

True, it says it's from Steve, but not my Steve. Steve from work gave me my only Valentine's Day present!! They were delicious, too.

We were lazy today. We slept in until about 7:30 and then decided we just didn't feel like getting up so we read for almost an hour. Then we immediately went to the living room and watched Thunderball, although I did get some magazines read and put away during that, and cleaned up a bit of clutter during the boring parts.

I need to insert a disclaimer here. Stephen, who never bothers to read this blog, just happened to read over my shoulder about our mutual agreement to not give each other presents. This is, in fact, a mutual agreement that we are both completely satisfied with! Let me make it clear that I do not want anything for Valentine's Day, nor do I expect anything. Except Papa John's with lots of extra garlic sauce and a Coke.

Anyway. Stephen took apart his car door this afternoon because the window on the passenger side gets stuck when you roll it down. It can be rolled up with a lot of manpower.

Done and done! He giddily took apart the door and did something to make the window roll up and down like a normal car. He's like a car surgeon. Now I can have my window rolled down anytime I want!

The main part of our afternoon was spent at our friend Bruce's funeral. We knew him first through our preacher's wife - he was her brother. When we moved back here after Charleston, he was doing the youth group. We started working with him until a few months later when he decided we were ready to take it on by ourselves, mainly because we wanted to and he had a vision to do a prison ministry and young adults class. Bruce really started the prison ministry at our church, and it was very close to his heart for a specific reason. For his whole life, he had struggled with drug and alcohol problems, and he had been in jail countless times. One of those times, a church came to the jail, and he was saved as a result. We didn't know him before that, but everyone who knew him previously said he did a complete 180 degree lifestyle change. About a year ago, he left our church and within a couple of months we found out why. He was back into his old habits, big time, and even had a couple of DUIs pending. To make a long story short, and spare the details, his whole family (including us - the church family) struggled to do for him whatever we could do to make him know that we loved him, that he was welcome at church, that we would do anything for him. In the end, the guilt from things he had done over the past few months just caught up to him, and he took his life last Tuesday night.

Since then, so many of us have struggled with questions - why did this happen? could I have done anything differently? That's been my main one. But the answer I know, is, probably not. Bruce felt like he had let so many people down that he didn't have any other way of dealing with that guilt. Our preacher Tony, his brother-in-law, had to preach the service today. The only good thing about the service was the fact that we truly believe Bruce was saved. Even though he was struggling with addiction and ended up losing the battle, none of us believe that a person can lose their salvation. I truly believe that the only way he could be set free is this way. As Tony said today, for the first time now, he's no longer struggling with addiction. He no longer feels the weight of that guilt. No, he didn't make a good decision, but his fight is over now. He's free. It makes me so sick to think that I'll never see him again on this earth, and it makes me angry that his family has to be put through this pain, but I believe he really is better off now. Please pray for his family - he has a daughter and many other family members that are going to go through a lot of phases of grief for a long time. I don't know anything other than time and prayer that will really make them feel closure, so that's what I ask for.

Want #13

I want to post tonight but I don't think I'll have time. So I'm going to post 25 random facts about myself that's been spreading like wildfire on Facebook. So #1 probably won't make sense to you.

1. I've never written a note - at least not in the new Facebook, and I have no clue if I'm doing this correctly.
2. When I was in the fifth or sixth grade (my memory ain't so hot) I tried out for cheerleading. I had problems with the dance we were supposed to memorize because I kept mixing up my left and my right. Needless to say, I didn't make the team.
3. When I was in college I entered an air guitar contest at our local karaoke bar. I actually made it to the finals but lost to someone who was totally insane - I couldn't compete.
4. I'm pretty confident that I could eat Chick Fil-A every single day. And I'm pretty confident that Jenn would eat it with me every day.
5. My first job when I moved to Charleston, SC after college was working in insurance. I kept being called out by my boss for not wearing shoes around the office. It was a temporary position, and a year later he called me offering me a job at the law firm he worked at, so I guess the shoe thing didn't matter that much.
6. I am completely obsessed with getting mail and email. I wish I could check our snail mail as often as I can check my email. I even love junk mail!
7. I HATE to talk on the phone (just cell phones), but I also hate it when people text me. I'd rather them email me or write a letter.
8. My Wii Fit age varies between 21 and 39. Normally it's 26 though, which is my age, so that makes me feel better.
9. When I was six years old, I thought I was 10. Seriously. I have no clue what made me think this, other than the fact that I was in a K/1 combination in school and thought the first graders were all 12.
10. Even though we don't have kids yet, I have been the Tooth Fairy before. Emma lost a tooth at our house last year and of course expected money. Did I have cash? Noooo. I had to use the money given to me by Renee to exchange for her tooth.
11. The only radio station I listen to anymore is Air 1. If it doesn’t come in clearly, I pop in a CD or just sing to myself. I can’t stand regular radio anymore.
12. In college, my roommate Keely and I would run a mile or two, and then come back past the market on campus and get a pint of Ben and Jerry’s each, and reward ourselves for running by eating the whole pint.
13. Every week, unless one of us is sick or out of town, mom (and dad, now that he’s retired) and I eat lunch together. We switch off cooking for each other, and the recipe must be soup. We’ve been doing it since after mom’s liver transplant in 2007 and I’ve never made the same recipe twice yet.
14. I REALLY miss Boone. After four years of incredible friends, hikes, feet of snow, driving on the Parkway going nowhere, going on waterfall adventures, jumping off dams, doing cartwheels just because, frequenting the local pool hall until “last call”, swiping free hot chocolate from local hotels, looking at the stars from hoods of cars, riding bikes for 10-15 miles in no direction, photography hunts, jamming at Mike’s house, game nights, and so much more I can’t even describe here, I feel so so so lucky that I was able to experience true Boone life. I REALLY miss Boone.
15. If there was a way for me to bike to work, I would do it every day. Although, being pregnant, that might not be the best idea right now.
16. The real reason I complain about working my other job on Saturdays is because it hinders me from going to yard sales.
17. In January 2008, while listing reasons I like my sister more than pretty much any other person, one of my reasons was, “We can’t wait to have babies together.” Now, a year later, we are in the process of having babies together. This is one of the things in my life that makes me completely and utterly ecstatic.
18. I am completely… seriously… completely addicted to triple coupons, rebates, and reading. If any of those things ever left my life I honestly think I would go through withdrawals.
19. I have sent only one secret to Postsecret. It’s truly a secret that no one knows, but if someone found out, they’d probably think it was hilarious. I really want it to get on the website or in one of the books but so far, no luck.
20. Any type of racism, sexism, ageism, or other prejudice drives me crazy. I just can’t believe that we are living in the year 2009 and people still don’t treat each other as equals. I still have hope for the future but I have a very low tolerance for people who treat others as lesser humans. I want to smack people who use the “n” word, I don’t think all people of Hispanic descent are mooching off of Americans, I don't think all Asians look alike, and I don’t think white people are any less violent, stupid, or selfish than any other race or ethnicity.
21. I want to just get in a car and drive. I want to find towns that aren’t on maps, eat at restaurants no one else has heard of, and hike on trails that haven’t been discovered.
22. Every day I pray that I’ll be a better person than the day before.
23. One day, my best friend Sally and I were hanging out when we realized we had new neighbors. So, like any normal girls would do, we filled water balloons and put them in our bras to go welcome them to the neighborhood. I wonder what they thought. I wonder what we really looked like.
24. I don’t like mayonnaise – it makes me queasy – but I love Miracle Whip. ???
25. My baby is due in about 10 weeks and I think about her all the time. I can’t wait to have her. Stephen is going to be the best father, and I just am so excited about starting this new adventure with him. The next few weeks can’t go fast enough for me!!