Becoming "Vanderburg"

New Year's Adjustments

2012-01-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

As usual, I'm a little behind the curve. Most people did New Year's Resolutions long before they were a glimmer in my eye. In fact, most people did them YEARS ago.

I have never done New Year's Resolutions. Something about them has never appealed to me. This year though, with nothing "big" on the horizon, I feel like I ought to make some small, attainable goals. The last couple of years, I had some big milestones I was looking ahead to. I rang 2009 in in Amsterdam, doing a job I loved (but didn't appreciate fully!) knowing the upcoming year would bring with it lots of excitement (engagement, marriage!). When 2010 rolled around, I was looking forward to the first full year of marriage and figuring out what daily life together looked like. 2011 brought with it the knowledge that we were about to pack up our lives and move across the country to Colorado.

2012 thus far, holds no major milestone. Nothing life-altering is on the horizon, so this is the year, I think, to make small adjustments. Small habit changes make life changes, right?

Adjustment #1 - Work out one day a week in January. Up it to two days a week in February. (Adrian said if I keep going at this rate, but year's end I'll be up to 12 days a week. What an accomplishment.)

Adjustment #2 - Put my clothes away at bedtime. If I'm done wearing it, hang it up or throw it in the laundry.

Adjustment #3 - Spend more time in community. On Sunday, Bryan spoke about the early disciples truly getting community. We moved out here to be part of a community, but it's really hard to find the time. I'm starting to realize that in order to live life with others, it doesn't have to be hosting meals every night or calling a certain number of girls everyday. It's an adjustment, so I'm starting small by being more intentional with conversations, less structured with my "community" time and more open with relationships.

So, that's that. Start with small, manageable amounts and see what happens, right? I really just want to learn to be content and disciplined in this new year. I'm thankful for the upheavals in my life over the past several years, and I hope I can learn to be thankful and content without any upheavals this year!

What about you? Do you do resolutions, or goals, or adjustments? I'd love to know about them!

P.S. - Adjustment #4 is to get a cat ;)

It's Christmas time in the city...

2011-12-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

As it's Christmas Eve and as it's been a couple months (??) since I last posted, I thought I would make this a short and sweet update.

Life is busy, snow is on the ground and Christmas time in the city is a whole different ballgame than the tender Tennessee Christmases I've been used to :) No matter - tonight we're heading south to celebrate Christmas Eve w/ Adrian's family and tomorrow we'll do our own celebration at home with his parents. Tomorrow night is a potluck w/ our church family and then the holiday is over - it goes SO fast! We've had a good couple of days off together, including seeing the Denver zoo lights last night and catching up with a friend from college.

Since time is short today, check out a guest post I did on Kristel's blog while she's in Miami! It's been a while, but finally - another long(winded) story about our mishaps as Vanderburgs!

And until next time....Merry Christmas! May it be a blessed celebration of the gospel and the numerous other blessings in our lives.

Turkey terror

2011-11-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, my first-ever Thanksgiving turkey has been bought. It's currently staying frozen on the garage floor of my in-laws house as a mild winter storm keeps the room at a cozy 24 degrees.

It's a little intimidating to be thinking about cooking my first turkey for a Thanksgiving meal, I'll admit. All my life, I have been surrounded by fantastic cooks at the holidays. My mother, grandmother, aunt, mother-in-law....all are whizzes in the kitchen and can seriously produce a delicious meal. For the last 10 years or more, it has been tradition for the Tuercranians to gather together and feast at Thanksgiving. Those ladies lay out a spread that allows us to feast for days upon days. I. Love. It.

When college started drawing to a close, and then when I was on my own in Raleigh, I was able to still enjoy these family feasts, thanks to a willingness to drive 14 hours so I didn't have to cook. A month after Adrian and I got married, I had a mild panic attack at the thought of having to conjure up a Thanksgiving meal for my brand-new husband all on my own. The panic fueled us to drive 6 1/2 hours to ride with my parents 9 hours to St. Louis, just so we wouldn't miss family Thanksgiving and so I wouldn't have to learn to cook a turkey.

Last year, our second Thanksgiving together, we were blessed to be invited to join friends from church and their family, so again, I was spared the horror of hosting Thanksgiving. I contributed a pumpkin cheesecake and called it a day. We enjoyed the week of Thanksgiving feasting on soups for the two of us and watching a Harry Potter marathon.

This year.....I've got my game face on already. As we've settled into our new home and our new life in Denver, we've had the opportunity to meet a TON of people who are as far from home as we are. Recognizing that it's way more fun to be alone together, Adrian and I are throwing caution to the wind. I'm rising to the challenge. All these little Thanksgiving "orphans" will be extended an opportunity to come and experience first-hand a potential Thanksgiving meltdown at he VanderHouse, courtesy of yours truly. Denver friends, if you need a place to spend Thanksgiving, consider yourself invited to the fiesta!

I have no idea how to thaw a turkey, cook a turkey, clean a turkey, stuff a turkey...I'm turkey-illiterate. But, with a week and a half to learn the ins and outs of turkey-making, I'm confident something will get figured out. Right?So....umm....any tips?

Either way, everyone knows the best part of Thanksgiving isn't the turkey. It's the family, friends and thankfulness, but mostly the stuffing and mashed potatoes and pie. I'm confident my friends will pull through :)

This is how my body feels...

2011-10-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Oh wait. It's because I almost DID get hit by a bus.

So, on Tuesday morning, Adrian and Ben were walking me to work like they almost always do. Ben was being a neurotic idiot like he always is. If I haven't mentioned it, he has picked up several new bad habits since the move - namely jumping on the walls chasing lights and reflections, and barking and lunging at buses.

Living in the city, buses are a fact of daily life. On Tuesday morning, Ben saw one such bus and went crazy - to the point of tripping me as we all walked through a construction area. I thought I would catch myself but....I didn't. I hit the concrete. Hard. I hit the concrete hard right next to the bus that Ben had gone crazy after. Adrian said I was maybe a foot away from being hit by it as it turned the corner and as I rolled (unintentionally) the wrong direction toward it. I ended up with a swollen, bloody knee and scraped-up palms. Oh and tears. Lots of tears.

That was Tuesday morning. After work Tuesday, in addition to being sore, a migraine began. I ate Ramen noodles and drank a glass of wine and called it a night, hopeful that the much-predicted snow would hit and that the much-guaranteed migraine would not.

Wednesday I woke up to a snowy day and a splitting migraine. Back to bed I went for a few hours to sleep and ice it off.

Thursday, the migraine was gone and the knee was feeling better but I realized my ribs hurt pretty stinking bad from when I fell. They were tender to the touch and PAINFUL when I sneezed.

Friday night, as we were getting ready to go hang out with our refugee family, my back suddenly spasmed up and brought me to tears. A couple hours later, we were fed some traditional Nepali foods in honor of Deepawali - a big Hindu celebration they were having. Although tasty, it. was. freaking. spicy. I'm ashamed to say that though I consider myself semi-cultured and well-traveled, I most certainly was not prepared for the heat or the amount of food they offered, and well....I hid some in my napkin. That junk was screwing up my mouth, my stomach, my body's natural heating and cooling system....

Fast forward to a couple hours later and as I'm trying to, *ahem* get rid of the spicy food, my back spasmed up even more and left me hobbling from the bathroom into bed where I cried over the miserable state of my human flesh. My body is a temple that feels like it had a wrecking ball taken to it every day this week.

So, here I sit in Adrian's chair. I have the computer on my lap, a heating pad on my back, indigestion in my stomach, a throbbing knee and sore ribs. I'm feeling peachy.

Did I mention that on Wednesday, Ben jumped on Adrian's face while he was working out and scratched his eye? Needless to say, the dog has not been enjoying lots of praise and cuddles this week. Why should he, when we both suffered at the hands (paws?) of his neurosis?

So there you have it - THAT'S how my body feels this week.

Anniversary traditions?

2011-10-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

When I sat down to write this, I saw that my husband is a more consistent blogger than I am. What? Adrian blogs? Who knew?

Actually he doesn't, except for one time a year: our anniversary. Last year he hijacked my blog with a sweet video to me. This year, he tried to do the same, except that the video was huge and couldn't be uploaded. Thus, he is a more consistent blogger than I am - even if it didn't actually end up on the blog. He recorded the video and tried to upload it to share w/ everyone - that's what matters :)

Seeing his blog post in the queue reminded me that another anniversary tradition that is not consistent at the moment - OUR anniversary video. All growing up, my parents and grandparents used to get together and do a video at Christmas about what the previous year held. I wanted us to do that same tradition so our kids could watch us someday and be inspired by the wisdom we possess at such young ages....or laugh at our style, whichever. But, as I sat down to write this post and saw Adrian's video post in the queue, I was reminded that WE DID NOT DO OUR UPDATE VIDEO!! I reminded him of this the day before our anniversary, on our anniversary, the day after our anniversary, both days of the weekend after the anniversary...you see how it goes. Today is Monday. This ordeal started LAST week at this time. I just mentioned doing our video to Adrian (as we have friends over to watch sports), he's working tomorrow night, so perhaps Wednesday. An entire week after I wanted to do it.

Have I ever mentioned we procrastinate sometimes?

On the subject of our anniversary, we had a lovely time celebrating last weekend, thankyouverymuch. We had a little weekend getaway to Monument/Colorado Springs. This year, it was MUCH more difficult to find a good deal on a hotel. We knew we wanted to head West or South - Estes Park and the Rocky Mountains or Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods. Due to the fact that the places within our budget in Estes Park were ALL decorated like a pioneer museum, we opted to go for the nicer hotel in Monument. We stayed at the Sundance Mountain Lodge and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was quiet, they gave me free margaritas :) and our little patio looked over the pretty waterfall and creek in the courtyard.

During the days, we went hiking at Garden of the Gods and worked through some ministry assessments with the hope of figuring out what the rest of our lives hold....Um. That didn't happen. Monday, as we were leaving the hotel and starting out for breakfast and home, reality hit like a bucket of ice water. Literally. It went from beautiful and sunny to about 38 and sleeting. Kind of reminded me of the week before our wedding when the weather was nasty and depressing and not encouraging for an impending outdoor ceremony.

Our actual anniversary dawned lovely and sunny and...early. I had to go to work (boo) but Adrian and I had a lunch AND dinner date together - pizza, a cinnamon roll and then Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Also in honor of our 2nd anniversary, Adrian wore his wedding suit, during lunch we heard the song I walked down the aisle to, and we got a flat tire - just like the first day of our marriage. It was a nostalgic day :)

So, now that we're into year 2, all I can say is - I. LOVE. THAT. MAN. The Lord has blessed me SO much with an amazing husband, an amazing marriage and a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful example of the Perfect Husband and Perfect Marriage to aspire to.

Now, if we could just aspire to making these traditional anniversary videos actually HAPPEN, then we'd be set...

Sleep-crabby thoughts on rest

2011-10-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm noticing a pattern to my life here in Denver. When we still lived in Raleigh, I blogged about the "rhythms" of life and not knowing what kind of beat our Denver life would have. To tell the truth, I don't know if there is a specific beat yet - but I'm beat.

Busy is the beat, which leaves me beat, which leave the VanderHouse messy and things not done and sleep not slept....you get the picture. On the surface, it seems as if things should be steady and sure. However, between work, church, City Group, date nights, missional outings, family and catch-up-phone calls....things remain crazy. What looked like a stable schedule has morphed into one that changes day-to-day. For example, I go in at 9, but do I actually get to leave at 6? Not usually. This week I stayed late 3 days, and worked Saturday morning. Goodbye schedule. Cooking - what should be a regular (and welcomed, relaxing) occurrence, has only happened maybe once this week. Between dinner with our City Group, date night with (a new couple) friends of ours (!) and Adrian cooking dinner because I'm not getting home until 7 or later, one of my most relaxing rituals has gone out the window this week.

I actually love coming home and making dinner for us. I get to work with my hands, create something and have a visible, tangible and tasty finished product. I like being able to stand and move around and not be sitting in front of a computer. And, let's be honest, I like being the chef instead of Adrian :) I miss cooking meals.

Walking to and from work leaves me beat too, although I'm starting to just walk 4-5 blocks to the bus and then grab it to the office. Leaves me less sweaty and frantic in the morning - a good thing all around. One day this week, there were lots of mini adventures on my walk. On my way TO the office I found an iPod Nano on the sidewalk. Judging by the kind of music playing and the 4 people who may have walked past that spot, I found the owners and returned it. On my way home, I lost a shoe and didn't realize it until a block and a half later (one of my heels had fallen out of my purse). By the time I noticed it was missing and turned around, a guy had just grabbed it from the middle of the street where it had been laying and thrown it to safety on the sidewalk. Miraculously - it had not gotten run over. Thankful for that little blessing.

Because of the late nights at work, travel (to my cousin Andy's wedding in St. Louis!) and random schedule....the house is a mess. The turtles want to eat, but in the meantime they're enjoying basking on the log Adrian set up for them. My laundry wants to go in the closet, but instead sits folded on various surfaces in the bedroom. I want sleep, but instead I woke up on MY ONE DAY OFF listening to the thumping of my neighbor's bass music through our bedroom wall....grrr.....

All in all, I'm thankful for how God is sustaining me in the midst of an exhausting period of life. I'm thankful he's given me a husband who cares for me so well and in so many ways. I'm thankful for reminders of why we do what we do. And I'm thankful that next weekend, Adrian and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary with a little mountain getaway. Right now, I may be most thankful for that - and the promise of extra sleep that it brings. Amen.

A short list about life.

2011-09-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

I wish I could come up with some clever way to say, "I'm a fair-weather blogger and I'm sorry. Please still read me? :) "

As it is, here's an update and some thoughts on life in Denver.

1) Fall is here. It is GLORIOUS. We woke up two Saturdays ago (the last before I started my job) and discovered it was only going to hit 70 degrees and there was a delicious, fall-like bite in the air. The day before, we had laid in the sunshine and played in the river in the mountains and enjoyed the end of summer. That Saturday (the 3rd of September) ushered in a new season - literally and figuratively.

2) The Tuesday after Labor Day I started my new job at Ashford University. It was exactly four years to the day that I had started at Southeastern in 2007. Although I was excited to start back to work (let's be real: to start getting paychecks again!) I was sad to see the summer go. From the end of June to the beginning of September, we had a fantastic summer. We moved out of our first home in Raleigh, spent time in my hometown, did a cross-country road-trip, found a new home in Denver, spent some time in A's hometown, hosted both of his parents and my mom (all separately) in the span of three weeks, and explored and got to know our new city. And then: work. Hello mornings, computers, offices and bosses. It had been a while. Although the transition is/was rough, it's been good and a good growing experience for me. I think the Lord is using my job to teach me self-discipline in new ways, as well as to teach me to rely on His strength and not my own.

3) Friday was the last day of training with Ashford, and although I was glad to see "real-life" start - you could not have told that by my face! I cried for a while as soon as training was over and I was on my own at my desk....I blame it on being overwhelmed and on having slept poorly most of the week. I think I freaked my new boss, my trainer and most of my teammates out. Good thing I had brought homemade brownies to bribe them into thinking I'm actually cool.

4) Sleep is becoming more and more important to me. I walk to and from the office, about 2 1/2 miles round trip, and while there, I'm being mentally challenged and stimulated. Not to mention, I get to eat lunch with A most days, as I work in the heart of downtown (where food is expensive) where he spends his mornings studying. That means lunch is no longer watching TV shows but studying with him and going over what he learned that morning.

5) I've been able to meet some fun people already through work - something I'm super-excited about. We went out for drinks after work Friday, although I did not partake. A) Vodka shots. Yuck. B) Dill pickle vodka shots. Quadruple yuck. I was not interested in that! A couple of my new coworkers came to the VanderHouse for dinner, drinks and football last night. Good times :) I'm looking forward to getting to know them and my new teammates more!

6) We have also started volunteering with a Bhutanese refugee family. As our City Group's intentional, missional project, we are mentoring this family for their first 6 months in the States. So...after work/non-drinks Friday night, A and I went to their house to help them create a budget, learn to use/fix some kitchen appliances and start them on the journey to learn English. It's also mentally tough, but exhilarating. I'm thankful the Lord has paired us with this family, and thankful for the friendships we're developing with them!

I think that's about all I have to say for now. It's been a hard, but good, few weeks. I am learning more and more about my identity in Christ, his love and grace and my response to the generosity He has shown. I'm exhausted, but thankful for how He is stretching me and deepening my faith. What's going on your world? We only have internet via my phone/tether to the computer, so I'm not as free to read blogs as I used to be!

Hello, Denver

2011-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirlwind of a month. When i think about the fact that exactly a month ago today, we woke up in our new home for the first time, I got my first Denver parking ticket and went to the new IKEA Denver for the first of four (that's right, FOUR) trips this month - it seems crazy.

Since I last blogged, we have gotten nearly settled, had all our parents except for my Daddy :( visit, been to church a few times, joined a City Group, gone to a few weddings (I've been to three - one of them I crashed without A, tehe) and gotten jobs.

That's right folks - we're technically employed. Although neither of us has yet gotten paid, I went to my new office today, and Adrian is at his workplace now. It was the first time we both went "to the office," although not for any regular kind of a schedule! Starting September 6, I'll be working at Ashford University with their online division. It's in a building that is technically 1.2 miles from our front door, which means that as of Sept. 6 - I'm a walking/bike riding commuter. Seriously, I feel so big-city!

Adrian will also be commuting via bicycle to a brain training center where he will be a brain trainer - a coach for the mind. It's a crazy cool position, and I'm excited to see how much smarter we all get from this experience :)

I know there is so much to say and stories to tell, but the evening is waning and I need to get going. In the meantime, check out the album I just posted on FB of our trip West!

FINALLY an update...It's a doozie!

2011-08-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Late-night entry into our new home state.

After repeated attempts to sit down and blog – here it is: I’m blogging - from Colorado!

The task has seemed overwhelming and undoable since about a week into our time in Tennessee with my family. There was so much to share and tell, even at that point. I wanted to describe, in detail, our 5-hour late start leaving Raleigh, how I got us lost so that after more than an hour on the road to Maryville, we were only 25 minutes from our now-empty apartment. I wanted to tell you about Benny’s first hotel stay in Asheville, where we had to stop because we were too tired to drive any more, and our attempts to see the Biltmore without paying (That was unsuccessful).

Once we got into Maryville, I wanted to blog about seeing dear friends, celebrating the 4^th of July at a parade and fish-fry in the tiny town of Greenback, and whiling away our afternoons snoozing in the hammock. I wanted to tell about how Adrian broke that same hammock the first time he laid in it :) There were meals with my parents, afternoon bike rides to the Greenbelt and Vienna Coffee, time spent swimming at the river and getting a free dip-cone from Two Dips and a Scoop in Townsend. Then there was that disastrous hair-dyeing experience when I tried to dye Grandma’s hair brownish-red and it turned out fuchsia. Whoops.

And then….the trip west. It was an adventure through Americana and a physically exhausting four days of driving. Because we had to get both cars out here, A and I drove separately the entire way from North Carolina to Tennessee to Kentucky to Illinois to Missouri to Kansas and eventually to Colorado. I wanted to tell you about stopping to see Stephanie and baby Amos, spending the night with my aunt and uncle in St. Louis and how the turtles escaped, not once, not twice, but three times throughout those visits. I wanted to tell you about our wonderful date night in Kansas City, where we saw the final Harry Potter in a theater that outshines every other theater. I’m talking leather recliners, waiters, Vanilla Dr. Pepper, unlimited popcorn refills – including on their cookies & cream popcorn – bathrooms with life-size paintings of actresses and Harry Potter cocktails. It was seriously awesome. I wanted to tell you about Meg, our wonderful waitress at dinner that night who gave us a free piece of chocolate cake, in addition to free garlic fries.

If I had blogged sooner, I would have mentioned how I almost ran someone over on the interstate as they walked across it in the rain the last night of our trip. After that, I was in such a panic, and we were so tired, we spent another night in a hotel, a couple hours outside of Denver. By the time we got into Denver on Thursday morning July 21^st, we were (more than) a day late and a few dollars short. We began looking at housing options immediately, and had appointments with several places that seemed promising.

They weren’t actually promising. If they weren’t clean, they were in a bad area of town, and if they were available the day before, they weren’t the day we looked, but no one bothered to call and tell us. As we were sitting in an amazing bookstore called Tattered Cover, trying to figure out where we were going to stay that night, how we were going to be approved for an apartment without any jobs yet, and where else we should look – the Lord moved in a big way.

That morning, as we were driving in, I had been praying at the Lord would make our housing obvious. We were in a Mexican stand-off, caught between needing a home to find jobs and needing jobs to get a home. As we were sitting in Tattered Cover, an apartment complex I had contacted MONTHS before called to let me know that A) They had an apartment available B) It was ready for immediate move-in and C) It was part of a government program that decreased the rent and let us count projected income as actual income. Also? We could see Coors Field from the balcony. Ah-mazing. That afternoon, after looking at a few more places, we went to see the apartment at Diamond at Prospect, hopeful they’d let us look at it that day so we'd have first dibs. They did.

We loved it, we wanted it, so we began our paperwork. Because it was a government program, there was lots of paperwork to fill out, so between Thursday night and Saturday morning, we gave them access to any information they could think of. Meanwhile, we moved our stuff out of the ABF trailer it had been shipped on (which we, mercifully, were given an extra week of storage in at no charge), put it all in a Budget truck, and parked it a mile from the apartment, where we were allowed to leave it locked up safely with no mileage charges and no storage fees.

After staying at my cousin Angie’s for two days – another huge blessing as we were out of hotel funds – we left for Wyoming and a several-day stay with A’s family while we awaited news of our approval/non-approval on the apartment.

It was a sweet time with his family and a sweet time of trusting the Lord for our housing. He had opened the door already, and he was faithful to walk us through it. On Tuesday of last week, we got the call that we were approved and could move in! I.was.ecstatic.

With the help of friends, we moved all our stuff in Wednesday and have been getting settled since then. I have since been to Denver’s brand-new IKEA twice (didn’t buy anything though!), we went to the wedding of one of our pastors and a girl from our church and have continued searching for jobs.

So there we are. We are amazed at the Lord’s faithfulness, throughout this whole process, but especially this last month. We have been blessed by random people providing us free food along the way, blessed by family who housed us when we needed it, blessed by the office managers who worked with us to get us moved in so quickly, and blessed by the Lord for providing all of these things in abundance. We’re so excited about our first week in Denver, excited about the ones to come, and excited to see how God is going to provide for us through jobs! Please be praying for those to happen quickly and obviously, as we have bills to pay and I’m growing tired of PB&Js and popcorn :)

Thank you, friends, for praying for us thus far, and please continue lifting us up!

"Season by season I watch him amazed, in
awe of the mystery of his perfect ways.
All I have need of his hand will provide.
He's always been faithful to me."

PS - Once I get done editing some more photos, I'll throw some up on here. until then, here's a link to the Facebook album of our final few weeks in Raleigh and our time in Maryville.

Final thoughts from Raleigh

2011-06-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

I cried last night saying goodbye to some of my dearest friends here. I cried this morning listening to Brandi Carlile on the way to work ("I'm warning you, we're growing up"). I cried because I got a chance to talk to my husband uninterrupted for a few minutes today, something that has been difficult in the midst of moving craziness. I hope all this weepyness doesn't become a thing for me.

Today though, I'm cutting myself some slack. I'll probably cut myself some slack tomorrow too. And maybe the day after that. Even though LOTS of people make cross-country moves and even though lots of my friends have already done it and are doing it and have done bigger (and more frequent!) moves, it doesn't make it any easier on my little fried brain.

There are lots of questions swirling around in my head, and with very little sleep to go on, they seem overwhelming. The future looks scary sometimes without a home, or an income or insurance, but I was reminded today of the Lord's provision, protection and steadfastness.

One of my very favorite songs is called "Painting Pictures of Egypt" by Sara Groves. If you've been around my blog for any time at all, you'll probably remember me mentioning it, oh, 1,000 times before. It's just always so accurate when I'm in situations like this. Just like the Israelites, I'm terrified of the wilderness that lies ahead. I'm realistic that the "place I was wasn't perfect, but I had found a way to live." Russell Moore, the author of Adopted for Life, spoke at Summit this past week. He tells of how when he and his wife adopted their two boys from Russia, the first time his kids experienced sunshine, or fresh air, or a car ride was when they pulled away from the orphanage. In fright, they turned back to the only home they had known and cried out. Likewise, I find myself turning and looking longingly at Egypt, at the orphanage, and crying out for the familiar.

For the last four years, the "familiar" has been a job and steady paycheck. It has been wonderful Godly women I could meet with, and terrain I have come to know. For the last 26 years, my familiar has been this small, "Southern" corner of the world. It has been a day's drive from my parents. Tomorrow, that changes. The familiar will become unfamiliar as we leave Raleigh and begin to journey into the wilderness.

The funny thing about the wilderness is this: In Exodus 13, we see that God re-routed his people into the wilderness to avoid taking them a way that would have them wanting to return to Egypt. He knew the proclivity of their hearts to not trust his provision and protection, and he wanted to show them how good he is by providing for them in a land of nothingness. Once I read that today, I really began to realize that God has orchestrated everything up unto this point to teach me trust him, even in the unfamiliar. Just like with the Israelites, he is already going before us. He may not be in a cloud or a pillar of fire, but he is taking us the way he wants us to go, in his perfect timing. He is steadfastly sticking with us, and for that I'm SO thankful.

Did you all know that I desperately tried to get a job in Denver four years ago, fresh out of college? I applied and applied and applied and missed the only opportunity that came up. Looking back on it from this point, I'm thankful for how the Lord worked things out. If I had gotten that interview, or one of those jobs, I likely would have not met some amazing friends, I might not have ever heard the teaching that has taught me to love the Lord and his church, I likely would not have met my husband. I don't presume to know about God's sovereignty, but I 'm so thankful for his provision in directing me East instead of West four years ago. I'm so thankful for his guidance to Denver now.

Lest you think I am just lamenting and crying and not at all excited, let me put your mind at ease. I CAN'T WAIT TO BE THERE!! When I think about decorating a new home, exploring a new city, building a new life with A, joining our community again (!!!), living missionally in a new job, going to IKEA in my own city (this might be at the top of the list ;) I about pee my pants with excitement. But even the anticipation of the future can't mask the sadness of goodbyes today. As my dear friend Heather told me, the tears are a sign that this stage of life meant something to me. It definitely did.

When I (and A and Ben and the turtles) pull out of our apartment tomorrow for the last time, I'm sure there will be lots more tears, because it's been a great four years. God has been preparing me though, going before us, making ready my heart and teaching me that even in the wilderness, his presence is a sure bet.

Next time I blog, from the other side of the mountains, I plan on sharing some of the more light-hearted pictures of this transition. Until then, thanks for praying for us, encouraging us and reading my massive, emotional blogs :)

A mess in transition

2011-06-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

Blogging? What's that? Something I used to do when I had free time, you say?

Things are Cr-AZY around the Vanderhouse right now. Granted, we knew that once I got back from a work trip to Arizona, life was going to pick up, but I don't think I realized how much. With exactly two weeks from the time my flight arrived to the day my car would pull out of Raleigh, there wasn't a toooon of time to do what needed to be done, but there was enough. Right?

Wrong. Panic is beginning to set in just a wee bit. Our truck arrives Tuesday (a week from today), and I still need to pack up the guest closet, the bathrooms and the kitchen. And we need to go through the bazillion piles of stuff sitting around looking for a home.

All that would be fine and dandy, except that I seem to have created a harmful environment around me. Case in points:

1) About two weeks ago, I made the mistake of wearing heels to work for the first time in a while. This was a mistake because A) I did it on a day I had to get blood drawn so I was weak and B) because regardless of my blood levels, I tend to be on the clumsy side. Put two and two together (or is it three and three here?) and the picture you'll see is me falling out of my car after leaving the doctor's office. The initial scratch wasn't so bad - it was the bruise that covered my entire calf a few days later that freaked me out. Coupled with the post-travel massage I got, and the bruise had turned black a week later. That REALLY freaked me out. Thankfully, I seem to be rebounding, slowly but surely.

2) Speaking of rebounding from car "accidents", I wish my bumper rebounded as easily after it uhh, bumped, a telephone pole on Saturday. After the aforementioned travel last week, I rode w/ A up to the auto mechanics shop to pick up his truck. He turned my car over to me, and literally, within three seconds of sitting in the driver's seat for the first time in a week, I back up and into a telephone pole. In the parking lot of the mechanic's shop. Irony, you are a cruel mistress.

There was a lot of new bird poop on the back window that I was, unfortunately, focused on. When I stopped staring at the dung and got out to look at my bumper, I immediately burst into tears. Thankfully, my husband is a wonderful encourager and reminded me that it's just a car and hey - the back door still works.

3) Fast-forward to a few days later (aannnddd....now I have Alanis Morrisette in my head), and I'm in bed, trying to fall asleep and soothing my aching muscles. My legs were super-sore from yoga and zumba over the weekend, so I was laying in the middle of the bed on my stomach, with my legs stretched out like a frog behind me. Basically, I was hogging the bed - a role my husband normally plays. As he maneuvered into his spot, which was really close to my spot, somehow his elbow connected with my lip. I yelled. Blood appeared. Tears began. Did I mention I had been to the dentist that morning for some fillings and still had residual jaw pain on the SAME SIDE of my mouth?

After panicking, and rinsing my lip in a bunch of water, and getting a lot of hugs from A, I began to bawl. Big, fat tears for all the pain and frustrations and stress of the last few days and the next few weeks. I began to cry, not because my lip was that bad (although it was), but because once again, I am a mess in transition.

Although I have a history of being a bit of a clumsy, crazy mess, I thought I was growing past that phase of life. Ha. That phase is my life, I'm learning. The Lord is teaching me that this mess is me.

I can't grow so old, or move so far away, or become so mature as to not be a mess. It's what I am. It's what we all are. And while sometimes it's physically painful to be reminded of that fact, I'm learning that the most pain comes from learning that it's my spirit that is messed up. Those are the hurts that last. The bruises fade, the lips heal, hopefully the bumpers get fixed, but the mess of our hearts continues to flare up throughout our lifetime.

Thankfully, there is a cure for those of us who are a mess. It's called God's grace. His grace covers the fact that on my own, I am a mess. His grace enables the Father to look at me and see - not my screw-ups and my crazy emotions and my blunderings - but the perfect, graceful, flawless, beautiful life of Christ. So while I'm a mess in transition on this Earth, there is assurance that one day I will grow out of this phase, when I am given new life and a new body in heaven. Until then, I think I'm going to try to see these mishaps, not as wounds to my body and my stuff, but as reminders of the wound to my soul that Jesus has blessedly healed.

Living Social movie deal

2011-06-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Not much to say this morning, except a shameless plug for you to go buy 2 movie tickets from Fandango for $9!

It's a great deal, especially with all the good movies coming out this summer. We bought ours last night - to be used either with Super 8, the newest X-Men or with HARRY POTTER coming out in July. We're pretty stinking excited to see that. We have no idea what our life will look like when it comes out in July, but we've got tickets ready to be reserved, thanks to this deal.

Anyways, if you buy today using this link, I'll be able to get our tickets free, thanks to the way Living Social works. Even if you can't support us in our move in any other way, think of buying two movie tickets for yourself as a way to sustain us throughout the summer ;) Myself, my lovable nerdy husband and Harry Potter all thank you!

Happy movie-watching!

Weekend photo shoot

2011-06-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Over the long Memorial Day weekend, I got a chance to take my new camera out for a spin and do my first-ever photo shoot! It was HOT, HOT, HOT (and I'm not just talking about the good-looking soon-to-be parents), and we were all melting a few minutes in. That's Memorial Day weekend in the South, I guess. Mid 90s (even at 7:15) and humidity thick enough to bathe in.

However, Anthony and Stephanie were such good sports. Steph and I have been friends since college, when she and I bonded over a love of boys and fear of heights one January. We lived together a semester, then she moved off and got married. When I got married, she was one of my bridesmaids, since she and her husband had moved to NC by that point. They have been such good friends to us, and I'm so excited for them to become parents to little Amos! They're going to do great. They're in a similar boat as we are (although, plus bebe, obviously). Like us, they're in a transition time as they're getting ready to move (before the birth? After?) to Murfreesboro, TN to help start City Church.

Before we move, and before they move, and before she doesn't feel like moving around as much, we all wanted to go out and have a little maternity session! Since it was my first time, I'm really thankful they were such good sports - going to an abandoned building, sitting in awkward positions and maneuvering around whenever the fancy struck me. I have a ways to go with my skills, but I was pleased with the results of this first shoot.Thanks for being patient with me, being flexible (seriously! You amazed me, Steph) and letting me try and capture these final days before Amos arrives in July.

Love you guys!

P.S. Check out their album I put up on Facebook.

Rhythms of life

2011-06-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Today marks the beginning of the end of one of my songs. Today is the start of the final chorus, if you will. This song of my life, though maybe not audible to anyone, is a blend of the rhythms, the patterns, that have made up my life for a long time.

Disclaimer: I once won a spelling bee in elementary school on the word "rhythm." Expect to see it a lot in this post as I continue to gloat about that win ;)

Where was I? Oh yes - rhythms. Rhythms rhythms rhythms. These rhythms are a demarcation of time. They can span seconds or a lifetime, but we all have them. Rhythms are those little things that we do that provide the outline for our days, our weeks, our months, our years, our lives. They are those little things that become habits and patterns we fall into, and together, they blend together in a portrait of our days.

For the last four years, one of my rhythms has been waking up, rushing to get ready and walking onto the campus where I work. The rhythm of my workday has defined how time has been spent the last four years for me. This demarcation of 8-5 (or 8:30 to 5:30) at my office has been a steady beat. More recently, I have grown accustomed to the rhythm of a bedtime routine with the man I love. For a long time, Sunday mornings at church was a rhythm of my life. Over the past year or more, that rhythm has changed to sound like Saturday evenings at church. It's kind of like syncopation :) These things are rhythms, patterns, and they make up the songs of our lives.

This time next month, those rhythms I've had will change. What is change, but a disruption in the patterns we've lived in for so long? No longer will I wake up and come into work on this campus. No longer will our bedtime rhythm have the exact same nuances. No longer will our syncopation be Saturday night church - it will change to Sunday nights. Those little traditions that we depend on to structure our days and our time and our lives will change.

Right now, we still don't know what that change will look like. We don't really have jobs (except A's contract professor thing). We don't have a place to live. We don't have a date our ReloCubes will be delivered on. We don't have a date we'll arrive in Denver. Without any rhythms to base our future off of, it sounds pretty silent to me, and silence often causes me to panic. However, Scripture teaches that it's in the silence that we are reminded that God is God. He is our creator, our sustainer, he is our treasure and prize, he is our substitute, and he is our Father. As our Father, we know he gives good gifts to his children. He is also our baseline. He is the drumline, the rhythm, the beat of the bass around which every other rhythm orders itself. My relationship with Jesus, regardless of the ebb and flow of every other rhythm in my life, should be and will be steadfast. It is that rhythm upon which we ought to base our life's songs.

So although things seem silent right now - there is a drumbeat. At this point in my life, I wish my posture was more one of excited anticipation over the rhythms certain to come, rather than anxiety at the silence settling around me. As believers in Christ, shouldn't that always be our attitude: Humble, excited anticipation at how the Master Conductor is going to fill our lives with beautiful music?

Rhythms can be and are a good thing, when properly arranged around the steady drumbeat of the gospel. I am learning, though, that when I base my existence upon those traditions, I settle into a rut that is more focused on ME than on the Conductor and the music he is creating. What rhythms do you have that keep you from hearing the Lord's rhythm for your life? How can we encourage one another to not grow complacent, but to be vigilant to orient our lives around the gospel?

I've been listening to Shane and Shane this morning, so, as I'm "sitting in this waiting room of silence, waiting for that still, soft voice I know, offering my words up to the rooftop to your heart, trusting that this closet's where you are," I'm reminded that "Sovereign Lord this time's from you. So I sit in the waiting room of silence because it's all about you."

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance...You make known to me that path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." - Psalm 16

The first "lasts"

2011-05-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

A wise country-music songwriter once said the only thing that stays the same is everything changes, everything chay-ay-nges... Last night, maybe for the first time, the impact of what's about to happen really hit me. Even though we've been thinking about and planning and talking about this move to Denver for months now, even though we've already begun selling things, and trashing crap and packing our belongings, last night I got a good strong sense of, "Oh my gosh. What are we doing?"

I had my last Raleigh hair appointment this weekend. When they asked about a follow-up appointment, I told them I was moving, so there was no need. I had my last teeth cleaning here in Raleigh yesterday. (Unfortunately, it wasn't my last time going - I need one more filling, they say.) Tomorrow, my Dad arrives in town for his last time to visit me in NC. Aside from this weekend with him, when we begin counting weekends on the calender, there are very few left in RDU for the Vanderburgs.

I'm not sad to be moving from our apartment, although it was our first home together. That makes me nostalgic, but it already doesn't look or feel like our home anymore. I'm not sad to be leaving my job here, although it has provided incredible opportunities for growth. I'm not even sad to say goodbye to this city - Raleigh hasn't really rung my bell in a while.

I am sad for the relationships I know are coming to an end. Despite my best efforts (and to be honest, some really, really crappy efforts on my part) dear friendships and relationships have already begun to change and wane. That makes me sad. For months, I've been able to believe that soon, I'll get to spend time with people I haven't seen in a while. Soon, we'll get to rekindle those friendships.

The reality is, though, everything changes. My friendships have changed. I've changed. And it's time to face the facts that things won't go back to they way they were, and that's a good thing.

They say in your entire life, you really only have a few close friends. Does that make anyone else sad? When I was in college, I thought a lot of those girls would be my best friends for life. Only a few years down the road, I realize how naive that was. Without physical proximity, it is so difficult to maintain those close bonds. Sometimes, even WITH physical proximity, it's really difficult to maintain those close bonds. I wish I could say that fact has made me fight that much harder for my close friendships, but the reality is, I haven't. And that makes me sad.

Knowing I'm leaving behind 4 years of my life in this place, 4 years of friends and bonds and learning and growth, 4 years of settling into a routine and a comfortable existence, makes me a little melancholy, but it also makes me really, really excited.

When we got married, A moved here, where I had been living as a single lady for 2+ years, from South Carolina. Since then, it often hasn't felt like this life was one we shared, but rather one I let him into. It's time to forge new territory. Our next home, jobs, city and friends will be ours together. We'll learn to adjust together.

People have begun asking me how I'm feeling about the fact that in a few weeks' time - everything will change. I'm OK. I'm sad to say goodbye, but I know the goodbyes began a long time ago. The hellos are about to begin, and it's an adventure I can't wait to take together.

Friday Funnies

2011-05-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Remember when I started this blog, it was mostly stories of our mishaps and general craziness that is my life? It's been a while since I posted much about those kinds of things. Never fear - today restored my confidence in my klutzyness (how exactly is that word spelled?). Here goes:

1. After enjoying my lunch and a small bar of Hershey's Dark Chocolate (my sweet husband knows exactly what and when to get me little treats to care for me and stabilize my moods! ;), I was going to run to drop off a movie at Redbox. I happened to look down and see two dark brown spots on my pants. Right on my crotch, to be exact. Thankfully, I whipped out my new Tide pen and dabbed it on. Between me and A, we go through those things super-fast. To say the Vanderburgs are tidy people might be reaching a bit. Soy sauce, chocolate, milk, fruit juice....the Tide pen takes care of them all. After I finished trying to clean the chocolate off my pants, I snapped this picture with my phone and sent it to A.

He promptly responded by calling me Choco-Crotch. Why do I have a sneaky suspicion that moniker could stick for a while? Blast you, chocolate. The love-hate relationship continues.

2) Incident #2 happened very shortly thereafter as I was getting in my car to go drop the movie off. AS SOON as I opened my car door, like, an inch, a big bee flew into the car. Thankfully, the Lord blessed me with cat-like reflexes (no comments from the peanut gallery!) and I was able to push the door back shut before it got into the car - effectively trapping it in the seal. Not knowing what to do, I began to open and shut the door (while still standing a safe distance away) in hopes of squashing the little buzzing demon. When I thought it would surely be dead, I grabbed a napkin to try and sweep it out of the door. Mis-Take. That thing fluttered up angrily buzzing, still very much alive, if not quite as mobile as it once was. I figured if I got in the car and slammed the door really hard, by the time I had to open the door again the bee would be good and dead.

How many times a day can I be wrong about the mortality of a bee? Too many, apparently. When I went to open the door at the store, having completely convinced myself there would be no more bug issues, it shot out of the door's seal, buzzing to let me know it was really pissed off at me and took to the skies. I screamed. Like a 5 year old.

So, there's my little Friday funnies for you. Tonight I'm meeting up with some of my sorority sisters from Union for dinner. It's been years since we last got together - some have moved away, some have had babies, some have moved in and some have gotten pregnant. I have done none of those things, so in comparison, I seem pretty boring. That's OK. I'm excited to see them all one last time before we go West!

For those of you who have asked, there's not much to update you on move-wise. We're planning on packing more this weekend and trying to nail down some details, but as always, we're watching and waiting for the Lord to provide for us! He is good to do that. Thanks for your encouragement - both about the move and the health goals I last mentioned! I appreciate every comment, idea or commiseration!

Thoughts on body stewardship

2011-05-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

This morning as we were leaving our neighborhood and feeling particularly self-righteous, we were criticizing a very overweight neighbor who neither picks up after their dog nor takes care of their car. "It's all about stewardship," we were saying, harping on the fact that this man obviously does not steward well his vehicle (the window was being partially held up with packing tape), his animal, his home (OUR home too) or his body.

When A pointed out how self-righteous we were being, I was reminded that none of us - apart from Christ's work on our behalf - are capable of taking good care of things. We treat our gifts as rights to be trashed rather than blessings given by a good Father. I include myself in this battle. Rather than looking at food as a good gift, I too often use it to satisfy my emotions or competitive spirit (surely I'm not the only one who sees competitive eating with my 6'8" husband as a legitimate sport?!).

After having lunch with friends this weekend who have been doing Weight Watchers, I've started looking a little more into the program. If you've been reading my blog long you know that A) I talk about food a lot and B) lament my weight gain frequently. So I started thinking that if only I could do a program like WW, which calculates points and how much I should be eating, I could get healthier. Then I started thinking that if only I would just cook with and eat more whole foods then I could get healthier. Then I started thinking that if only I viewed food - not as an idol and something to be obsessed with - but as a way to sustain this temple and worship the Lord, then I could be healthier...You see where I'm going?

I need help. I'm at nearly my heaviest point ever in my life right now, and I know I want to reverse that trend sooner rather than later. More than just losing weight, though, I want to have a body that does things I never thought it could do. I want to be amazed at how God created these earthly instruments to move and bend and work. I want my body and the way I treat it to be an act of worship, as it was intended to be. I've mentioned before that A has been doing P90X. As of yesterday, he started Phase III and I'm so proud of him! I occasionally join in with him (kenpo or yoga or stretching) but I am nowhere near as flexible or strong as he is, so I get discouraged easily. My preferred workouts are things like walking or Zumba.

What recommendations do you have for me? It doesn't have to be a workout program, or a diet, or anything specific. How do you think about your body, food, exercise in a way that is glorifying to the Lord and edifying to YOUR body? What tips do you have for me to be more self-disciplined? The woman we ate with this weekend said she knows a lot of girls that workout to eat, and we've heard the saying that Americans live to eat, instead of eating to live. I don't want that to be me. I'd love to hear your thoughts on ways to live, eat, workout and steward my body for the glory of the Lord!

A week of eats on the cheap

2011-05-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the month again - the time when things are tighter and moods are grumpier.

It's that week that always gets wives in a tizzy and leaves their husbands wanting more.

Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. It's the week before the big P comes to visit and then flits away again.

Surely we're not the only ones who act a little crazy in the days before Pay Day, right? When the budget is as tight as it can go and there are bills yet to be paid, we get a little grumpy. Ok, it's mostly me who gets a little grumpy. Without a solid plan of action for how to feed us for the days leading up to Pay Day, I get all fussed up trying to figure out exactly what the plan is for dinner every night, and inevitably, my last-minute meals of leftovers leave my husband hungry and wanting more to eat.

Thankfully, though we're broke with a capital B, the Lord has faithfully provided (as he always does) for us and our meals this week. Thus, here's our week's "eats on the cheap" plan. I apologize if you have no desire to read our menu for the week, but I'm proud of the planning and how it's going to all work out!

Monday: The seminary where I work provides free food from local grocery stores to seminary families on Saturdays, so while Mom and I were selling stuff at the yard sale this weekend, I was also grabbing some goodies for us to eat this week! I was able to grab a big hunk of beef for a pot roast, as well as some apples and mashed potatoes. While Mom was in town, we also took my first trip to Aldi, where I got a can of Cream of Mushroom soup for $.50. So, for Monday's dinner we had this pot roast with leftover mashed potatoes from last week. Yummy and filling.

Tuesday: Last week at Target, they had a sale ($.99) on eggplant, so along with our staples of pasta, parmesan, eggs and breadcrumbs, I'm going to be making some eggplant parmesan tonight. The only other thing I had to buy was a jar of pasta sauce for $1.40. Altogether, that's a cheap meal, and one that fills us up. One eggplant makes a lot of eggplant parmesan for two people.

Wednesday: I made a pot of black bean soup over the weekend, again, using leftovers and cheap buys from the store. At $.60 a can, I had bought five cans of black beans last week. I combined those with some diced red and yellow onions, some chicken broth, some white wine, a splash of white vinegar, an adobo pepper (for some smoky heat!), some garlic powder and cumin and a little taste of brown sugar. I loosely followed this recipe (you should know by now I don't use recipes as-written. Ever.) For a little added protein, I threw in some shredded, leftover rotisserie chicken. Top with a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese and it's delicious! Even my husband, who told me he only likes Panera's black bean soup, said it was his favorite black bean soup ever. We've already gotten one meal off of it, then we'll eat from it again tomorrow and hopefully have just enough left over for Friday.

Thursday: We're going to a conference Wednesday and Thursday and after it finishes on Thursday, A is meeting with a group of men from Summit for their regular church planting cohort. I'm meeting with our Summit Denver family group and hopefully going to Moe's to enjoy a $3 Cinco de Moe's burrito. Check and see if that deal is going on in your area. If it is, enjoy a $3 meal of chips, salsa, water and burrito!

Friday: When Friday rolls around, we almost always do Fajita Fridays. It's a tradition in the VanderHouse, but I always make them with chicken. Since we don't have any chicken (actually, I just remembered we have two breasts in the freezer), I'm going to use the leftover beef from Monday night, simmered in the remnants of the spicy black bean soup. From that, I'll make some other delicious Mexican-y concoction for our Fajita Friday.

Saturday: If the paycheck hasn't come in yet, I'm going to lobby for us to use some gift cards on ourselves. Thanks to generous family members, we're well-stocked with Olive Garden cards. Thanks to Noodles & Co. for taking a long time on a (free!) birthday order, we also have two cards good for free noodle bowls from there. THAT'S some excellent customer service. I'm going to lobby we go there after church and enjoy a free meal of pad thai or the like :)

So, if you're in the throes of the week before Pay Day, too, what are you doing for meals? How do you feed your family on a budget? While I'm proud of this week's menu - I always have room for improvement!

20 Questions: From Ginny

2011-04-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Whew - is the long weekend over all ready? It passed in a hazy blur of sunshine, sleep and sweet, sweet rest. Helloooo noon o'clock wake-up time! You looked lovely :)

It was a wonderful weekend of celebrating and remembering Christ's sacrifice on the cross. We went to church (like normal) on Saturday night at Summit and were so excited to see people getting baptized afterward! It was a great Easter Saturday (notsonormal). Sunday was spent in bed, sitting on our deck reading the Scriptures together and cooking a delicious Easter meal: flank steak, baked potatoes, deviled eggs, asparagus and cupcakes. Yummy.

So anyways, my friend Ginny tagged me to do 20 Questions last week, and because of the long, lazy weekend, I'm just now getting around to it! Here goes....

Rule #1: The tagged person must write their answers on their blog and replace any questions they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

Rule #2: Tag 5 people to do this quiz. The tag-ee must state who tagged them.

1. What is one word that can best be used to describe you?

Free. Cheesy - I know. When we're just coming off of Easter and I've been thinking about the gospel, I'm reminded that because of how deeply the Lord loves me, I am free. Because of his sacrifice on the cross, because he was my substitute, because I am no longer under the condemnation of sin - I am free.

Also, sometimes I am a free spirit, so it could apply there. Sometimes I'm not and I'm very, very particular, but I am free to choose every day :) Michelle, what would your word be?

2. If you could have a dream come true, would what it be?

I'd love to have the resources to adopt a bunch of babies from all around the world. I want our family to be a beautiful picture of the gospel. Also, on a lighter note - I'd love to win a vacation. Preferably a really awesome cruise (because A has never been on one!) or a trip to the Mediterranean. Maybe a cruise to the Mediterranean? That would be AH-MAZING.

3. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Pay off debt. Adopt several children. Make sure we have enough set aside for a family vacation and a Mommy and Daddy vacation every year. Give to our church. Help our parents out. Fund a church plant. A billion dollars is a lot of dollars, so I could do a lot of things with them! What would you do with that much money, Lindsay?

4. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

A hot bath, a good book, deep conversations with my husband, time spent in the Word, a getaway, laughing at the dog, a sad movie.

5. What is your bedtime routine?

Hm....exciting question. I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, sometimes use a face wipe, turn on my heating pad, put on my pjs and hop into bed. I'm half alive but I feel mostly dead...Sorry - got carried away in the music! (anyone? anyone?). We read for a while and then I often fall asleep and begin snoring and/or talking in my sleep before A has a chance to drift off into sweet slumber. True story.

6. What activities did you do in High School? If you could go back, would you do the same or something different?

I've recently started watching Glee and I have decided I'm A-Ok never revisiting my high school years. Like a lot of them that got slushies in the face, I was pretty nerdy. In reality? I still am. I rode and showed horses competitively, was in drama club (My Fair Lady and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were my favs!), was in Trebellettes - the girls show choir, did Forensics (speeches, etc. - not to be confused with examining bodies), played club soccer briefly...That was probably about it. How about you, Kristel?

7. What kind of books do you read?

More variety but less in number than I used to. I rotate between good fiction (Jodi Picoult) and notsogood-but-oh-so-addicting fiction, a la Twilight and Harry Potter, and Christian books that my husband recommends. Like Ginny, we have a library in our house, so when I have a spiritual problem there's a book for that.

8. How do you see yourself in ten years?

A stay-at-home mom and church planter's wife. I hope we have several kids and that I have even more spiritual children that the Lord enables me to pour into.

9. What's your favorite piece of clothing you own?

Since I've been feeling fat for about a year now, I'd have to go with either some new jeans that fit pretty well OR my two pairs of yellow wedding shoes. Regardless of my weight, they still work, and they are fabulous. Erin: I know you've got some favorite clothes! What are they?

10. What kind of skin care do you use?

Target brand face wipes and moisturizer w/ SPF, and Wal-Mart brand apricot scrub.

11. What's the first thing you do when you wake up?

Take my temperature. Then I usually try to ignore my bladder and stay in bed as long as possible.

12. If you could have any job, regardless of income, what would it be?

Either a stay at home mom, or something that enabled me to form relationships, tell them about Jesus and change the world together. I'd love to do something with international adoption!

13. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

I don't know if I would change my name. When I was in middle school, I wanted to change it to Melissa, because there was a popular girl with some great Candie's boots I liked, but....that's not really a good motivation anymore. I kind of like the ring of my name now!

14. If you had to choose between six months of sun or six months or rain, which would you choose?

Seriously? SUN. I was born in Florida after all. You may think I'm crazy to move to Denver because of the snow, but with the snow, they also have a crazy amount of sunny days. This is a fact I am very thankful for.

15. If you could only eat one thing for the next six months, what would it be?

Um.....baked potatoes? They're warm and carby and all my favorite things! Jessie - since you're an excellent cook, what would you choose?

16. What is the thing you enjoy about blogging the most?

I like the challenge of looking at life differently and thinking about how to best portray what's going on in my life and in my heart. Also, although I frequently fail - I like the challenge of trying to be witty and entertaining!

17. Do you prefer salty or sweet foods?

Salty, unless it's dark chocolate.

18. What items are in your purse right now?

Funny story: A couple of weeks ago, I was in my office and went to put my arms in the fleece jacket I had hanging on the back of my chair. As I stuck my hand through it, out came a pair of black, silky underwear. Don't worry - they were mine. But why were they inside my fleece?! The better question is: Why are they STILL inside my purse, weeks later? I apparently have forgotten about them for almost a month, so alas, hidden deep in my purse they remain. In other pockets I have..... (by the way - has anyone been reading my blogs long enough to remember this post from my old blog? I won't go into it as in-depth now) I'm currently carrying an umbrella, two wallets, lip gloss, Burt's Bees chap stick, hand sanitizer, prenatal vitamins, non-aspirin pain reliever, leftover antibiotics in case it does turn out to be Lyme disease, my cell phone and its holster, a bunch of gift cards for the new place (!), my sunglasses and my keys.

Me, Teran, Ginny and Paige on Pickens Nose!

19. What is the best memory you have of you and the person that tagged you in their 20 questions?

Probably best times with Ginny was the first weekend I got to know her when we went together to the Rankins' house in Franklin. We went hiking on Pickens Nose, played with sparklers for 4th of July and had lots of good talks. She has been a sweet friend and someone I'm really thankful to know. Even though we don't see each other often, it's always a good time when I do see her!

20. What do you watch on television that you know you shouldn't?

I should have written this before I started watching Glee! A lot of what I watch isn't junk, persay, but probably isn't beneficial either. I watch Modern Family, Parenthood, Biggest Loser and Bachelor and A and I watch HGTV, sports, 24, Chuck, Smallville, House, Office, Arrested Development....It sounds like we watch a ton, but I watch about an hour at work during my lunch break and we'll do an episode of something a night before bedtime.

Now, it's YOUR TURN! Have fun!

Once upon a train

2011-04-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

High-speed travel it was not, but a long slow day on the train was just what the doctor ordered.

Unless the tick that bit me and maybe gave me Lyme Disease was on the train - in that case, the doctor probably would have advised me to stay off the train. But I don't think it happened that way.

Last Thursday was Train Day. Although I didn't have a jaunty little hat, and although the train wasn't decked out in mahogany, it had a charm all its own. I felt like I saw a slice of Americana that I don't often see: tiny towns that are straight from 1950, historic theater buildings, family graveyards randomly set in the middle of a field, little bakeries with $.85 cupcakes (yum!) and people who ride the train - not on a whim - but as a way of life.

There was a dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl with her mother on the first train. As they settled in to eat the sandwiches they had brought, she whispered, "This feels like a dream. A lovely dream."

I agree. It was a little bit magical, with the sunshine racing between the trees along the tracks, the conductors who wore their blue hats proudly and the anticipation of an adventure, stretching out before us. Here's my attempt to share the lovely little dream with you. Enjoy.

Downtown Raleigh

All aboard!

On my way to Wilson.

This man had a jaunty little hat on :)

Graveyard on the homestead.

Wilson train station

Lovely mural inside the otherwise fairly ghetto station.

My Canon's battery died somewhere in the station and naturally, I didn't have my charger. I'm thankful for my phone, though, which allowed me to keep capturing the memories, albeit at a lower quality.

Historic theater in Dillon.

Off the back of the train.

Last but not least, a little video I made of the journey. Hopefully it loads :)

Denver anticipation

2011-04-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Like a dream, a lovely dream, my train ride and weekend in Charleston have come and gone, and I'm left with memories and mental images. Lucky for you, those mental images are accompanied by ACTUAL images of my train experience and time in S. Carolina. However, as I am in the process of trying to teach myself Lightroom and better photo-editing techniques, I'm not going to share the pictures juuuust yet. When I'm satisfied with the editing I've done, I'll post some here to show you, but until then - practice patience. It's a virtue.

Meanwhile, I just wanted to share some things I am excited about with the impending move to Denver. Although "impending" is often followed by "doom," that is not the message I wish to convey. Rather, I want to you to know that it's getting close and I'm EXCITED! Although we haven't really begun to pack (at all, actually) our things, here are some things I am mentally projecting I will be excited about when we land in the Mile High City. Because lists are always better in 10s, here are ten things (in no particular order) that I'm looking forward to!

I am excited about....
1. Not having to scroll through a gazillion state abbreviations that start with "N" anymore. No kidding - there are SIX state abbreviations that begin with "N" before you get to "NC." It is followed only by North Dakota's abbreviation - "ND." If North Dakota came before North Carolina in the lists, I'd seriously have to throw a fit - no one ever picks "ND," not a single person. They were paying people to stay in-state, so this is a proven fact ;)

2. Not having to deal with mold issues in our home anymore. Excessive humidity is a dastardly thing.

3. Going to eat at this place and this place, both of which were featured on Man vs. Food and look delectable.

4. Being so close to the beautiful Rocky Mountains and going hiking with my boys! That is, if I can tear A away from the Rockies baseball team to visit the Rocky Mountains. I guess I'm excited to go to baseball games too.

5. Learning how to snowshoe (Ang, teach me?)

6. Taking advantage of the proximity to fantastic ski slopes and hopefully skiing lots and lots and lots.

7. In general, I guess I'm looking forward to enjoying God's gorgeous creation.

8. Living life with this amazing community.

9. Being there with this lady and her husband for the beginning of baby Liam's life!

10. Living in a town with an IKEA come fall!!! I love IKEA with a fierce, shopping love and will have to restrain myself from shopping and filling our new home with lesser products until IKEA opens and I can shop till I drop :)

There you have it. If you've made a move recently, what things did you look forward to about your new city? If you're in Denver already, what things should I be excited about that I haven't mentioned?

Of shopping and scarves

2011-04-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday A and I went shopping together.

That may be a bit of an overstatement, since we actually just went to the mall together and then parted ways. He sat in Barnes & Noble and read and tried to use a B&N Groupon I bought him for V-Day. I went down to Express to try and use a gift card my Mom had sent me for $15 off a purchase. Alas, we are B-R-O-K-E right now, so I mostly wandered around the store looking at all the beautiful things I would buy if we had $15 cash to spend, in addition to my $15 off coupon. They had a GREAT clearance sale going on, but I wasn't able to use the gift card on those items :( Sad day.

When I was giving up hope and about to buy a solid-colored t-shirt for $5 out-of-pocket, I saw they had some great scarves that were marked 30 percent off. Score! I chose a lovely, shimmery, silver tube of fabric they called an infinity scarf. After getting overcharged by the computer, walking out confused and afraid to say anything and then returning with A for moral support on getting the right price - I was the proud new owner of a silver infinity scarf. It was pretty, and I could get it for cheap, so that was about the extent of my thoughts on my new infinity scarf.

Today, I decided to see what kinds of tutorials are out there on how to wear this thing. It's a bit of a novelty for me, so like any humble wanna-be-fashionista, I began browsing fashion blogs for instructions on the multitude of ways to wear an infinite scarf. My impression? It's like any other scarf, except that the ends are sewn together. What I found? This scarf is apparently the answer to the earth-shattering issue of ends. While I see this as a bit of a fun adventure (much like my bendy snake necklace) on how to tie it and wear it, most of the blog world sees it as the answer to the burning question of, "What do I do with my ends?"

"The beauty of the infinity or circle scarf is that you don't have to mess with the ends (something that always secretly drives me a little nuts with traditional scarves.)"

"One of my biggest complaints in regards to the scarf is that it has ends. Do I tuck them into my coat? How do I make them stay around my neck when the wind keeps blowing them behind me? Do I tie the ends if I don’t want to fold it in half and stick the ends through the middle? As much as I love scarves, they can be quite frustrating."

Seriously? Are the ends of a scarf that big of a deal that a plethora of blog posts have been written about how the infinity scarf is the answer to this problem? Is this really a huge fashion hassle? Silly me - I always figured I'd either secure the ends by putting a coat on second, or let the little boogers fly (figuratively, obviously. Real flying boogers would be really gross).

I recognize I'm not a fashion guru. My style is last year's markdowns, so I am obviously open to criticism on my sense of style, so you tell me: Are the ends of your scarves that frustrating to you? Would you spend $30 or more (the going rate for most of the scarves) on an infinity scarf, just to avoid dealing with that dire question of what to do with your ends? I know I poke fun, but I really am curious!

It's for the whole family

2011-04-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

My disciplined husband has been doing P90X faithfully for a month now. Each time he does it, he makes sure Ben is on the porch before starting, because Benny is a little bit...uh.....helpful.....anytime one of us is on the floor doing something that looks like it could be a fun game. He is both curious and overly playful.

The other night, I was cooking dinner while A was doing P90X stretching, so I left Benny in, figuring I could keep him out of A's way. I underestimated Ben's desire to be in the middle.of.everything. As soon as A got on the floor to do one of the exercises, Ben was there. I grabbed the camera to try and capture what it looks like when both of my boys do P90X together.

Exercise: Through Ben's eyes:

"Hey, wouldn't this be more effective if I provided a little toothy motivation?"

"You think you're flexible? Look at ME! I can stretch and balance at the same time!"

"I'll show you how to turn stretching into playtime!"

"No? Not helping?"


"You do your stretches. I'm going to sleep - what a workout."

So there you have it. P90X - it's for the whole family!

A train-wreck of an idea?

2011-03-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

I like to travel. This should not come as a shock to most of you, but for me, I'm learning the joy of the experience is not solely in the destination but in the adventure of getting there. This has become even more apparent to me in the last couple of years as A and I have become MUCH more well-versed in traveling together. While I was all "Speedy Gonazalez" to get places, he was more of a slow-moving creature, readily stopping multiple times for coffee, snacks and bathroom breaks (I know the abundance of stops for the first two causes the abundance of stops for #3. That's why I liked to stay starched and parched and plow on through).

However, since getting married I've mellowed. I no longer feel this insatiable drive to "beat" my last trip time. I'm all for breaks where we languish in Barnes and Noble, stretching our legs and getting some coffee. After a lifetime of long baseball trips in the car with no say as to the schedule, A has the art of taking trips at our pace down. And I like it. After months of impatience at how slow our progress was when we were driving somewhere, I've started to recognize the beauty of traveling together, making memories as we go and setting a decent pace. I don't feel the rush to get places like I did, so I'm A-Ok to stop for bathroom breaks when other people (or I) need them. There's no need to get stomach cramps just for a ten-minute-earlier arrival. That's just crazy. Furthermore, I don't like to be separated from him for too long - even if the destination is amazing. I think it's part of that whole "become one flesh" thing. When one of us has to be gone for a few days or more, it is about as fun for me as someone trying to pull my arm from my torso. Again - one flesh. Neither feels good.

So, all that to say, next week A will be working in Charleston. Originally, we were both going to drive down together (since we're such good travel partners now and since it would be six days apart) but then his work-shift got extended an extra two days - time I can't take off from my job right now. So...that left us brainstorming. Frequent flyer miles? Drive both cars down separately? Greyhound? A train?!

Like most world-travelers (do you like how I made myself sound like such a travel snob right there?), I am not unaccustomed to train-travel. In fact, one of my most memorable moments in Scotland involved a train, a toilet seat and some sheep...but I digress. I like trains. I like the ability to use the bathroom while still progressing and the option to read, watch movies or nap without worrying about my safety. I've met interesting people on them and have enjoyed being able to see the scenery. Until trying to figure out how to get down to Charleston cheaply, though, it's never really occurred to me to test out the waters of domestic train-travel with Amtrak.

Something about train travel has always seemed kind of romantic and nostalgic. I attribute it to the fact that I was that kid that read lots of historical fiction about the beginnings of the railroad, and I'm still fascinated by it. Go ahead and call me a nerd - I'll own it. So, in my head, thinking about taking the train to Charleston, I have visions of me with my camera, a steamer trunk and a jaunty little hat climbing aboard the Palmetto for a pioneer adventure.

Buuuuut, I know that's not reality. Trains don't look like they used to. I don't think this one has a dining car, or a coal engine or even the ability to make that "chug, chug, chug" noise of my dreams. These days, I know trains are a lot less mahogany wood and a lot more bright steel. The sepia-tones and steam-stacks of my imagination have been replaced by speedy silver bullets. Plus, I own neither a steamer trunk NOR a jaunty little hat. And yet....I'm really, really tempted to hop on a train next week by myself and take a trip to Charleston. In my head, it looks like a grand adventure, but A always tells me I romanticize ideas that shouldn't be.

So what are your thoughts? Yay or nay to a day trip on the Amtrak Palmetto to Charleston? Do you have experience with Amtrak? Recommendations or warnings? I'd love to know if I'm the only one who thinks that for $65 this could be a fantastic journey, or if I'm the only one who thinks traveling Amtrak by myself would be a train-wreck of an idea!

Here comes the sun...

2011-03-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

My how the time flies when you're.....really, really busy.

What? Is that not how the saying goes?

It's been over three weeks since I've posted, and that is a really long time for me. Generally, I find it pretty easy to write about myself and my life - I'm sure you've all noticed this - but isn't that what a blog is for? Lately though, I've been crazy busy, both physically and mentally. Not only have I not gotten a ton of sleep lately for being on-the-go, but I haven't had much of a mental break lately either. Life has been... interesting, and it's keeping my brain all twisted up and working hard.

So, there's my bucketful of excuses. Do you accept? Pretty please? A just read me a prayer about not seeking others' approval, so I'm not really trying to get back in your good blogging graces, buuuuut it would be nice to know we are OK :)

All that to say: I'm back in the blogosphere. We're in Florida currently for the my second time this month. This trip is INFINITELY more enjoyable for two reasons 1) I am with my husband. That makes everything better 2) On this drive, I am allowed to go to the bathroom whenever I need to - a luxury not really afforded me when traveling with a group of 18. We're here this weekend as A officiates the wedding of a friend and former teammate. It's been beautiful weather - sun, 70s and a breeze. Although we're sitting in Starbucks currently polishing his sermon, I have every intention of hitting the beach VERY soon for a wee bit of sun-worship. Ok - not sun-worship. I worship Jesus, but some serious sun enjoyment :) You know what I mean.

So with that said, here's a link (for you, Mom and Dad!) to some of my photos from the first Florida trip. I loved having my new camera and being able to get more familiar with my settings, lighting situations and movie mode. I am getting better with the technical aspects of it, so now I need to work on recovering my "eye." I've been shooting here this weekend already, so hopefully we'll be able to see some improvement soon!

Thanks for hanging with me, and hope you all have had an excellent March!

What lies ahead

2011-03-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy week of looking ahead. I'm sorry to say I've done a bad job of being all here and focusing only on what today holds. Instead, I've been looking a lot to the future and panicking because I don't have all the answers and because I don't always like what it looks like.

Here's a brief glimpse into what lies ahead and what consumes my thoughts this week:

Florida. I'm leaving in the morning for nine days for a trip to "the homeland" for work. I say "the homeland" because Florida is where I was born and spent the first nine and a half years of my life. Although I'm heading to Tampa (close to where I'm from), we'll also spend half the time in Miami - a city I've never been to. I'm really sad (REALLY) to be leaving my amazing husband and sweet pooch for so long, but I am excited to get to visit Miami before we leave the East Coast. Also on the Florida horizon is a trip two weeks later so A can officiate the wedding of a good friend from college. We'll be hitting up a different area of the state for that, so at least I won't be in the same place too long...I may see more of Florida than my own state this month! Ok, not really, 12 days versus 19 days, but it's close.

Also on the horizon - the move to Denver. I'm pretty bummed about not getting to spend the week with the rest of the team this week as 13 of them visit Colorado and look for jobs, housing, etc. and learn all about our new city. So, with that said, A and I have been looking together for housing options, and we've begun considering buying a house. Incidentally, it started with this awesome condo we both really like, but may have stopped with the awesome condo as the implications of not being able to sell it/having to be landlords has weighed on us. What are your thoughts on condo ownership? A good thing? A bad thing? Something worth looking into?? Thinking about buying has led us to take look after look at our finances and recognize that I NEED A JOB out there. Regardless of whether we buy or rent, I'm going to need a solid income in order for us to pay down debts and live on mission in the city. Please join us in praying for the Lord's direction on all things Denver.

To give you another glimpse into our life, April could be way busy too with trips to SC, my mom-in-law in town and a trip West to look for a home and a job (I suppose the order should be flipped). June I'll be in Arizona for the SBC and maybe moving our stuff.....So May, here's looking at you kid. Right now, you look like a welcome month of rest. So there you go. Here WE go. Hang on - it's going to be a crazy ride.

Swagbucks birthday

2011-02-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday morning :)

I may do another post later to share some of the fun things that happened in the VanderHouse this weekend, but for now, just wanted to plug one of my favorite websites, which happens to be celebrating its 3rd birthday today. If you haven't checked out Swagbucks before, now would be an excellent time to do so!

Swagbucks is a search engine (and SO much more) that allows you to earn Swabucks as you browse the web. As you collect these virtual "bucks," you can trade them in for tons of stuff, most notably Amazon gift cards and restaurant.com gift cards. Thus far, through Swagbucks we've gotten probably about 10 restaurant.com gift certificates and TONS of Amazon gift cards - which is now my go-to prize :) With the gift cards, I've gotten books, Jillian Michael's workout DVDs and a pair of boots from Amazon. I'm now stockpiling and saving for a new lens or something along those lines!

Anyways. Check out Swagbucks. If you sign up today (totally free), you'll earn 30 SBs just for registering. Plus, use the code HipBirthday at the time of registration to snag an extra 50 Swagbucks - only if you sign up today. That's 80 Swagbucks just for signing up!

In addition to searching (I recommend installing the toolbar and searching using it), you can also read their blog for codes, check out the Widget for codes (usually worth between 5 and 12 SBs), earn Swagbucks on your birthday, watch movies for Swagbucks, buy Groupons and earn Swagbucks, answer surveys for Swagbucks....There are lots of options. But today, they are releasing lots of codes worth127 Swagbucks, so sign up and start earning!!

Check it out! It makes days in front of the computer more exciting and web browsing a lot more rewarding :)

A culinary adventure

2011-02-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

A week later, and I seem to be nearly out of the woods. The congestion and fever that plagued me all weekend and the beginning of the week is slowly subsiding, and I'm thankful for that. It's still hanging out in a 3x3'' area of my sinuses and throat, but other than that, I'm jolly :)

This is something I have been meaning to share for a while, and since I need to actually be working on articles for work, but can't seem to get the creative juices flowing, I figured I'd share this and see where I end up! About two weeks ago, I attempted to make something that I've never done before. I've never ever tasted it done well before, although my husband certainly has. Having lived almost 10 years in the Lowcountry (Charleston, SC) area, he is quite particular about his shrimp and grits. And so naturally, I needed to prove to him I could do it, just like the pros.

Having only eaten shrimp and grits once, and not having been impressed at all (the Charleston establishment shall remain nameless...but let me just say this famous dish at the grill named after corn is NOT recommended by me) I had literally no idea what it was supposed to taste like. I was also at a disadvantage because I would be cooking with Quaker instant grits, which all the recipe sites said absolutely NOT to do. Whoops. However, considering that I don't really follow recipes, it should be no surprise I threw the rulebook out the window and walked on the wild side with instant grits. I'm a culinary rebel.

So anyway, I started with four packs of instant grits, donated to us by Kristel upon her pantry-cleaning before the move to Denver. I cooked according to directions, except substituting some half and half for some of the water for creamier grits. I would have used chicken broth in place of water, too, if I had any. As they cooked, I dropped handfuls of shredded cheese in to make them tasty and cheesy (the less-then-impressive grits I ate in SC had little to no cheese flavor to them, so you better believe I ramped that junk UP).

Meanwhile, I cooked about four slices of bacon. After the bacon grease incident several months back, I swore I would never cook bacon on the stove again, but alas, I did. Now you know how much I love my husband. And how determined I was to knock his socks off with tasty Shrimp 'n Grits.

Once the bacon was done (without incident, thank you, Lord) I drained it on some paper towels and began to make gravy, also for the first-ever time in my life. I threw a few pinches of flour, some black pepper and some skim milk in with the bacon grease and began to heat it up until bubbling, thick and well....gravy-like. (On a side note, have you ever tried to explain gravy to someone from South American in Spanish?!? No? I have. It's really difficult. Like, more difficult than just MAKING gravy, so I recommend you just go that route if you ever find yourself in that particular situation).

Meanwhile, in another pan, I began to saute some sliced onions, some fresh chopped mushrooms and some garlic in a wee bit of olive oil. Maybe it was butter. Alas, my memory fails me, but I'm sure either would be tasty. I cooked those things until they looked just about right and tasty, then added in a bunch of shrimp. The little shrimps (say that out loud in a funny voice. I just did. Isn't it fun?) had been cooked and frozen previously, so had been thawing in some tap water with a few squirts of lemon juice in it. I drained them, added them to the onion/mushroom mixture and cooked for three minutes. Three minutes because I learned that's the perfect amount of time for tender shrimp and who likes tough shrimp?

Then, assembly time. I threw some of the cheese grits on our plates, topped with some crumbled bacon, then the shrimp mixture, then a spoonful of gravy. To finish it off - a bit more cheese and crumbled bacon.

I never said it would be healthy. But it sure was TASTY! And - my husband said it was LOTS better than the Shrimp 'n Grits from that Corn Grill (not difficult) and rivaled some of the best versions he had ever eaten. Mission accomplished :)

Do you make shrimp 'n grits? How can I improve upon this? Suggestions, thoughts, accolades, etc :)

Sick day

2011-02-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I stayed home with a migraine.

Today is our sixteen month anniversary AND Benny's 4th birthday! We've been planning all week on celebrating Ben's birthday together (the first time as a family - A would never admit before how much he loves our little mongrel, and therefore wouldn't agree to any celebrations) and on having a good date night out. Also? It FINALLY feels like beautiful weather and I wanted to go out and enjoy it!

Instead, I have what feels to be the beginnings of a yucky sickness, complete with a headache, super-sore throat and mild fever. And Ben....poor Benny. He woke up with a spider bite, one eye swollen shut, a swollen nose and itchies all over.

So today looks like this:
~~Beautiful weather + anniversary + Ben's birthday = a great day~~
Beautiful weather + anniversary + Ben's birthday + me sick (again) + Ben sick + an unexpected trip to the vet = a disappointing, wish-I-wasn't-always-sick-on-fun-days day.

On the bright side - Ben has pills to pop and I can find some for me too. I'm going to salvage this promising day if it kills me. Which it might. It really, really might.

Thoughts on the day of looooooooove

2011-02-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the day after Valentine's. Dare I mention it at all? I know the concept of Valentine's is a tough pill for many to swallow - I'm pretty sure it was for me when I was single. It's funny now, on this side of marriage, how my view has changed. Before, February 14 was a day of bitterness, when I imagined all the couples were happily celebrating their love by staring adoringly into one another's eyes and feeding each other chocolate mousse (of course food was on my mind ;) and a steady diet of kisses.

Reality? It's not really like that. Of course, my husband is an incredible man, so it wasn't that the day or weekend passed unnoticed, but on this side of the altar Valentine's seems like a bit of a cop out to me. He made me funfetti brownies with frosting, and built a fort (ahem* excuse me - a canopy bed) in our living room, and bought me Reese's hearts, and took me out for frozen yogurt at Sweet Spoons (!), but it wasn't the box of chocolates and fancy dinner and dozens of roses that culture leads you to believe define Valentine's Day. On this side of the altar, I can confidently say that when you marry someone who seeks to serve and love you well every day of the year, V-Day is fun.....but not much different than other days. We went out for Mexican (I promise - we were the ONLY couple in the restaurant, unless you count the Daddy-Daughter Date going on), I had a migraine, and we went to bed early. See? Typical.

To place so much expectation and hope on one day of the year as the day for TRUE romance is a recipe for disappointment, I'd say. When marriage and relationships are based around the gospel, we recognize that you can't go 364 days lacking love and wooing and expect that one day a year to make up for it. To pin such hopes on Valentine's Day is to crush it - and your husband - under the weight of immense pressure. When those expectations of passion and romance on February 14 aren't met, it says to me you either have seriously out of wack expectations or you have a seriously out of wack husband. Men - are you constantly loving your wives as Christ loves the church or are you expecting that one day of romance is enough to make up for a year without? Wives - are you creating huge, unattainable expectations of Valentine's Day or allowing your men to be slackers by not wooing you 365? Singles - are you bitterly viewing Valentine's Day because you don't have romantic love in your life? Jesus Christ is your husband. He longs to love and woo you FAR better than anyone can do. It's not Singles Awareness Day - it's a day to celebrate the love of the Father that he has lavished upon you in the sacrifice of his son. It's a day to celebrate the love you DO have in your life of friends and family (our man-child kind of freaked out yesterday when I wished him a happy V-Day. Seriously? Chill. We love you. Platonically. Accept it. Duh.)

Is Valentine's a huge deal for you? Why or why not? I recognize that I am often wrong and I'm entirely open to being corrected if you've found my assessment to be way off. Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying DON'T celebrate V-Day. We certainly did. In fact, if you were bitter and didn't celebrate - our fort/canopy is still up and there are still brownies to be eaten, so come on over :) Our door is always open! With that all said - I love Jesus. I love my husband. I'm thankful that my husband recognizes that Jesus is his example of how to love me well - he does a fantastic job, 365 days a year. I'm thankful we go on dates every week and I'm thankful he made this weekend's date extra-special with the brownies and canopy and presents and fro-yo....He's a stud and an incredible Valentine. Even though I don't deserve him, I've got him, and I love it.

Raleigh-Durham "Bucket List"

2011-02-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

With moving to Denver looming daily in my mind, I have to ask the Lord constantly to teach me to live here, right now. As one who often struggles with discontentment, I find myself longing for what's to come, rather than being content where God has me right now. So, in addition to trying to be more missional in Raleigh before we leave, I also want to experience some things before we pack up and head west.

Although it seems like a long time away still, it's really not, when I think about that fact that February is 1/3 over, I'll be traveling for a big portion of March (hello Florida....twice) and June (Brasil - excellent), that really only leaves April and May to cram stuff into. So, with that thought in mind, I started compiling a "Raleigh-Durham Bucket List," if you will. As far as I know, I'm not about to kick the bucket, so maybe this list would would be more aptly named the "Catch Ya Later, Carolina List."

Here's what's on it so far - don't judge me for the number of food-related goals ;)

Visit Duke - Campus, chapel, gardensEat at a fro-yo place (Yo-Po, done, but I want to try something in WF/Raleigh)
Go to the Biltmore houseEat at the Angus Barn or that 5-star Magnolia Something restaurant
Go to the Outer Banks (Where the wild horses and sand dunes are)
Go to a Hurricanes game (Anyone know how to get cheap tickets?)
Sample some good Durham food carts
Visit the Durham farmer’s market
Eat at Char-Grill for a burger/Try Snoopy's for a hotdog

I sampled my first Cookout milkshake this week. Oh my goodness - cheesecake chocolate chip deliciousness! So, even though it wasn't on the list, it should have been probably and now I can cross it off.

So, any suggestions? What things have you done in the area that are must-dos, must-sees, or must-eats? If you were creating a "Catch Ya Later, Carolina List" for yourself, what would you have on it? For friends that have already moved away, what do you wish you had done while you were here?

Help me figure out some great adventures for the next few months :)

When it rains, it pours

2011-02-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

The old saying, "When it rains, it pours," seems fitting today. After a night filled with rain, the day dawned cold and wet, with no respite in sight for several days.

Yesterday, I had my second appointment at the dentist for some fillings. Far worse than the first, this appointment is proving to be one of the many raindrops in a storm filled with them. I recognize my culpability in scheduling the appointment in the midst of a busy time. However, I can't help but think that were it not for a swollen cheek, a constant headache and pain, the other "raindrops" that have been falling this week would not seem so significant.

If not for the pain, there would not be a propensity toward tears. If not for the pain, I would better be able to rationalize things that should be minor annoyances as nothing more than a steady drip. drip. drip. However, as it is, I'm struggling to see those things as minor when they feel so major. They feel like an onslaught of a storm against us, though in my rational head, I recognize we are all nothing more than sinners saved by grace, hurting one another and throwing ourselves on God's mercy.

For "if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared." If the Lord sees Jesus' work on the cross in place of MY iniquities, why do I struggle to see Jesus' work on the cross in place of others' iniquities against us? Why, O Lord, can I not recognize that others' sins against us do not compare to the sins we have committed against you?

Far be it for me to cast stones - but I do.

Far be it from me to get hurt by others - but I do.

Far be it from me to punish them for their actions - but I do.

Far be it from me to forget Jesus already took the punishment - but I do.

Minor frustrations, they may be, but the consequences for those actions were major. The consequence was a cross. It was a crucifixion and a death and a pouring out of punishment on the One who is blameless.

So when I cry and complain and fret about life not being fair - please remind me that of course it's not fair. It wasn't fair that Jesus should die - but he did. It wasn't fair that he should take my place - but he did. It wasn't fair that I would be spared eternal punishment - but he did it.

"O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption."

Our little model

2011-02-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

In the absence of any babies or otherwise cute subjects in the house (kidding, my husband is cute, just not happy about being constantly photographed), you can expect to see one furry little model A LOT as I play with my new Canon T2i camera!

So, without further ado, a few of the first few pictures on my newest little gadget :)

A family shot to christen the new camera!

He was curious about the lights and beeping at the beginning of the photoshoot...

Then he got interested in the words I said to him, like "treat" and "fun" and "Dad"

All the excitement wore him out. With a toot and a groan....it was bedtime.

New Stuff: Cameras and....cows?

2011-02-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

*Blehhhh*

I had this grand idea to tell you about all the new stuff I'm getting right now: My camera arrived at home today, I'm waiting on some new earrings from Mom to come in, a movie ticket I bought for CHEAP should be here soon, and a great deal on my favorite perfume from No More Rack tells me I should have Cool Water in the mailbox veeerrry soon. So, I'm excited about the mailman and all the things he'll be bringing soon!

What I wish I could get brought to me? A MILKman with a new jug of milk. And a mental eraser.

I bought a new jug last night at the store, only to have it fall out of the back of my car in the parking lot at home, bust open immediately and spew milk all over my pants, socks and shoes.

It is in that vein that the "blehhhh" comes in: I was remembering that though I took off the milk-wet pants and socks as soon as I got inside the door, and although I put them in the washing machine I added neither water nor soap, so my pants and socks still have milk on them - only now - it's surely dry. Sour milk on my work clothes = blehhhhh.

What gets a "double blehhhhh"? Googling an image of a busted milk jug to be used on the blog ....There is no reason those words should have brought up a picture of a big-busted woman with her chest painted to look like a cow's udders. In fact, nevermind the Google picture - there is no reason to paint your bare chest to look like a cow's udders!!

I wish I had something witty to say, but I am so disgusted right now. All I can say to you, big-busted, heifer woman, is that that picture is udderly inappropriate. Oh, the things I go through for this blog...

;) That's all, folks. Happy February.

Cheap date night

2011-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Just an FYI for my Triangle-area friends:

Tonight (1/28) you can get a $.99 Joey Jr. burrito at the Moe's in the area. This deal is good for today only, so if you haven't eaten yet, go get a good, cheap burrito at the 14 Raleigh-area locations. While you're out, use this (MRC37H) coupon code for a free Blockbuster box movie rental. We both grabbed a Joey Jr., with chips and salsa, and Secretariat for a grand total of $2.16.

I don't know why my text is suddenly in bold, so my apologies on that. Maybe because it's such a boldly cheap date night? Yes??

Have fun and enjoy some cheapo things!

The Camera :)

2011-01-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that my amazing husband and parents and in-laws all pitched in for my birthday/Christmas present - a new camera. A, knowing how I love to bargain shop, put it all on a gift card so when I found the right deal, I could snag it.

Well, after a month of researching, consulting my good friend (and wedding photographer) Courtney with always.autumn.studios, I decided to purchase this steal of a deal on a Canon Rebel T2i with a 18-55mm kit lens for $649.95.

If you've been looking for a great "starter" DSLR camera that will be able to transition well into the "prosumer" market, check this out. It is refurbished, but from what I've read and heard, has been thoroughly checked out and "fixed" before being placed up for sale. Although the lens isn't the best, it's a good starter lens for me to get used to so I can determine what I like and need for future lens purchases. It's a great camera to grow into :) Although this is the newest model of Canon's Rebel series at the moment, rumor has it (over at Canon Rumors) that next month will see the announcement of a new Rebel, maybe dropping the price of the T2i a bit more around March, or whenever the new one is released.

If you don't want to wait till then (and who does? I didn't!), seriously, check out the deal I got from Adorama. All signs point to a great company with a good warranty (1 year return-to-Adorama) for a great little camera. In fact, I was so upset when I missed this deal a couple of weeks ago that I have been stalking their website ever since. Yesterday was my lucky day (as I was home sick.) I saw the deal back up on the site, ran into the bedroom for my giftcard and fast and furiously began the purchasing process.

Because I used a giftcard for a portion of the purchase, and Christmas money in the bank account for the rest, I had to call Adorama directly and purchase through them, which was fine. However, if you're going to buy the camera online and want to save even MORE, go through Ebates first for 2.5% cash back, bringing the grand total to $633.25 (free shipping and no sales tax, too!)!!! Seriously - a steal. DO IT :)

Once the camera gets in (next week!) and I've had some time to get used to it, I'll let you know my thoughts. Until then, happy hunting!

P.S. - Ebates is a GREAT site where you go before you shop online. Click through to the store you're going to buy from, and they give you a check for a portion of what you spend back. I've already gotten one check, and there's another on the way!

Life is getting more interesting...

2011-01-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, as of Monday night, I am married to a professor.

Did you hear me? A PROFESSOR. If that doesn't just SOUND interesting, I don't know what does. My husband is so distinguished :)

He had an interview Monday to teach Adult Education classes at one of the colleges in Denver, and it appears that whenever we move, A will gain the title of "Professor Vanderburg." What a stud! He'll be teaching communications and maybe some Biblical studies courses. Wahoo! What a blessing, what an answer to prayer and what a good God to provide for us!!

As for things in the here and now, we both want to be more intentional with our time. As such, I signed up for the (aforementioned) Zumba classes, with the intentional of a) getting in shape and b) meeting some new people to build relationships with so I can hopefully tell them about Jesus! Also, as far as our time, we're going to start spending Tuesday evenings down by one of the colleges with our new church "family groups" so we can be intentional about building relationships with some people.

So, boring as I have felt, things are picking up. I'm thankful God gives us seasons - seasons of rest and seasons of activity. I'm thankful for Jesus.

When did I become so boring?

2011-01-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to a lot of Pink's "Funhouse" CD this week - it gets me jazzed up for whatever adventure lies ahead - kicking butt and taking names or conquering the world ...or you know, it may just get me jazzed up for whatever my trip to the grocery store will hold. Eh, tomato, tomahto.

So anyways, as I sit here trying to write a blog post today, one part of Pink's song "Please Don't Leave Me" keeps echoing in my head. Except, instead of asking, "How did I get so obnoxious?" I just keep wondering, "How did I get so boring?" Instead of regaling you, my dear blog readers, with witty tales of this oh-so-exciting life I lead, all I can do is apologize for being so boring and beg, along with Pink: "Please don't leave me." I thrive off your blog-love and comments. (Don't judge me - I'm working on thriving off just Jesus.)

Although there has been lots of little victories at the VanderHouse this week, nothing is really blog-worthy. I think I am recognizing that two truly are better than one. In the beginning of this blog journey, I told you stories of how ridiculous and awkward our adventures as a married couple were. In the 15 months since we've been married, we have apparently started to tame both our individual and our collective ridiculousness and awkwardness. So, instead of stories of running into barriers or getting pulled over sans driver's license, all that comes to mind is to share about our meals or our activities, and that seem so....normal.

This used to be a funhouse but now it's full of evil clowns....(thanks for the just the right words again, Pink). So, rather than bore you to death with little ditties about where we went for A's birthday dinner this week, or how we were too tired at 8:30 to watch a movie to celebrate, or my first Zumba class that got me hooked (12 years behind the cool kids), I'll just suffice to say, "So what? I'm still a rockstar. I've got my rock moves, and I don't need you tonight."

J. Crew Warehouse Sale

2011-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

Once again the radio was a helpful shopping tool. No, I (unfortunately) did not win another $100 gift card by being on a radio program, but I did hear about a "secret" warehouse sale, full of great bargains as I drove into work Friday.

As soon as I got into the office, I Googled the location and warehouse sale and found out J. Crew was hosting a regional warehouse/clearance sale in Chapel Hill. Being the crazy, adventurous shopper I am, I ventured out there Saturday with my friend Stephanie. After waiting in line, we were issued shopping bags (giant trash bags) that we then hauled around like Santa with a toy sack for the rest of the day.

Standing in line for the sale...We waited about 15 minutes to be given a price list and shopping bag before going in.

All I knew was that stuff was supposed to be really cheap, it was last year's samples and that we'd have to dig. I had no idea that much of the stuff would say "sample" on it or HOW MUCH we'd have to dig. Seriously - boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff. To find anything, you literally had to dive into a row, stake a claim on an area and methodically go through every item.

Like I said - boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes full of stuff! Shoes up front and everything else, in no order, in back.

This entire empty store was filled to the brim with unmarked boxes packed full of J. Crew shoes, sweaters, shirts, pants, cardigans, dresses, coats, skirts and swimsuits. And that was just the womens' side. As we dug through the boxes, looking for good finds in our sizes, we'd occasionally hear a whoop and a holler from people who founds something they (evidently) had been dying without.

Stephanie and I spent about 4 hours going through the piles of stuff, looking for cheap treasures. I was on the hunt for some gladiator sandals ($10) or a replica of our bridesmaid dress (embossed cotton halter in a size 4 for $20) but instead I walked away with a new bathing suit ($6) and a pair of Tretorn tennis shoes ($10). I tried to buy a cute shirt for $10, but when they told me it was a dress (at THAT length?! At $20? I don't think so!) I said no thanks.

One more thing I did NOT buy. I don't care if it is J. Crew, it's ugly.

We had a good time though, pawing through the boxes and sharing a feeling of camaraderie with other bargain shoppers. However, I have to say, I think for the average "bargain" shopper, $30 for a pair of shoes or $25 for a pair of pants isn't THAT great of a deal - J. Crew or not. But, if you're in the mood for some adventurous shopping, with the chance of finding a good deal, you could probably have a rollicking good time at the J. Crew warehouse sale in Chapel Hill. Unlike one friend of mine, who went with her husband for a date night, I recommend going with a girlfriend - not your husband. It's enough crowds and chaos to make even a seasoned-shopping husband panic!

All that said, I'm not opposed to taking another stab at the sale to see what I can find. It's on until Jan. 23 and apparently, they restock every day as trucks continue to bring in products. If you're into extreme shopping and want to go, let me know :)

P.S. - I'm seeing a lot of people searching for details on the sale, so here's the facts: It's taking place in Chapel Hill at University Mall on Estes Dr. The store is directly across from Roses. The daily hours are 10-8, I believe, but don't hold me to that :) Also, it's here until the 23rd!

The end of a decade and beginning of another.

2011-01-03T08:32:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah....I realize I'm a wee bit late. My excuse box is full like my belly after two weeks of lots of food and very little movement. Seriously. FULL.

All I can say is that I'm sorry I have neglected this blog for 2+ weeks but now I'm back. In the office. Naturally, I post when I have time at work :)

So anywhoo - it's been a busy couple of weeks, full of food, family, laughs and snow. For all you East-Coasters who got to enjoy what was apparently a LOT of snow for the area, I'd like you to pause to recognize that there was already about a foot of snow on the ground in Wyoming when we arrived before Christmas and the good Lord decided to bless the area with another 8+ inches as we were trying to leave the Frozen Tundra, as I affectionately call my husband's homeland.

We enjoyed our break by spending time with my parents in TN, celebrating Christmas early, doing some last-minute shopping and birthday-celebrating, and of course - eating. Dad and I even got to ski for a day. It was a fun excursion, but a painful reminder that I'm getting older and that it's been a few years since I skied. My black and blue knee speaks to that!

On the slopes with Dad!

Christmas with my parents. Dad's checking out his new lantern.

We then flew west and spent a day with my father-in-law in Denver exploring our soon-to-be new neighborhood before we ventured north to the Arctic. Wyoming was nice, with sunshine and above freezing temperatures for most of the trip, although the snow and ice remained solid. We didn't get to go for walks in the mountains except for one time, but we did make sure to make eating at Su Casa (best Mexican food EVER) a priority - three times. We also enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with the family and Christmas day with Christian family at the Olsons' - the family that led my husband to Christ. I will forever be thankful to them for their spiritual legacy which has now affected MY family! They opened their home to us so we got to share in Bible study time, tons of tasty morsels and several rousing hands of Bingo, which won a new flashlight for my dear mother-in-law and a new 4GB memory card for me! It's good to be a Vanderburg. We win things.

On our one walk into the canyon with Sophie. Look - I needed sunglasses!

Christmas day at the Olsons' ranch.

Last meal at Su Casa this trip. Next time they'll be in a bigger building!

Once we made it out of the blizzard (literally) in Wyoming and Colorado, we decided to spend an extra night with my parents in TN so we could celebrate New Year's Eve with them before heading home to OUR home.

De-icing the planes in Denver before we could take off. First time for me to experience that!

New Year's Eve with my parents.

It is good to be back. We love and miss our family, but there's nothing like a lazy Sunday in your own bed, football on the big screen and dominos and cuddling with OUR dog. We shared a bottle of sparkling white grape juice, a pot of chili and lots of snacks supplied by my mother.

So.....all travel news aside, I'm thankful to be home. Even though today marks the beginning of the last semester in NC for us, it's lovely to settle in for one more season of the familiar before the unfamiliar strikes hard and fast. 2010 was a great year but I am so looking forward to all the Lord has in store for us in 2011!

News - NOT pregnant :)

2010-12-15T11:50:00.001-08:00

Apparently, my last few posts have hinted at something that makes you all think I am pregnant. I know this because I have gotten e-mails, messages and comments from you asking if I am with child. Let me reiterate: We are not having a baby. Not that we know of anyways, right now. :) All my sweet new mom friends keep getting so excited for us when they think we're pregnant, but we are not and we're OK with that right now. There's a lot of other big changes on the horizon....

So, since it's a slowish day and there's not much else to write about, I'll share the news that we've been keeping kind of hush-hush. We had not told our bosses until this week, but now that we have, I don't feel inhibited about telling you that we're moving.

To Denver.

I'm really, really excited and THANKFUL for the direction the Lord has given us. Some of you knew already, and some of you knew this was something we've been thinking about/praying about for months, but we committed about a month ago, so come July (yes, I know it's a long ways off) we'll be packing up and heading across the country.

We have been meeting with the team members of Soma Church, one of the first church plants of our current church, The Summit. While we LOVE Summit, Soma has become our small, tight-knit community over the last several months especially, so when they asked us to consider joining them, we eventually agreed. It took us a while, but we're so glad we've thrown our lot in with them! :) Many of you know we are passionate about seeing God change lives through the church, especially in areas where there are none to few Bible-teaching bodies of believers. That's why we want to plant a church in a few years in Salt Lake City.

This transition to Denver will be a great opportunity for us to live on mission on a daily basis, to be around a lot of people who need to hear about God's grace, and to learn and grow as church planters so that in a couple of years we will be prepared to plant another church out of Soma in SLC.

So - that's it in a nutshell. We're excited. Like REALLY excited. I'm so thankful for the Lord's direction in moving us purposefully forward into what he is calling us to do. I'm so thankful for my husband's leadership in this. I'm thankful for my church(es) - both of them!

P.S. - Here's the prayer card for our group. Please be in prayer for us and the leadership of Soma as we prepare.

Holiday Trifecta

2010-12-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

It's a cold, blustery day here and it feels like winter. In fact, it has felt like nothing BUT winter here for a couple of weeks. So....with winter comes things like Christmas, New Year's Eve and my birthday. It's the trifecta of great holidays, although A would disagree with me about New Year's Eve being a great holiday. He does not dispute that my birthday is a great holiday because he knows I'd beat him up for that comment.

So, it's birthday week, which means lots and lots of eating out, courtesy of tons of free birthday meals. Check out the bargain blog for that list. For lunch today I ate a dish from Noodle & Co. that was a birthday freebie - Japanese Pan Noodles with sauteed beef. All of the internet experts told me not to eat it, because it sat in our car yesterday for a long time (like 4 hours.....) but I did. I wolfed that food. And I haven't vomited yet, thankyouverymuch. I have an iron stomach. Literally, it's really hard right now. Maybe the noodles and beef aren't sitting as well as I hoped?

But all food talk aside, this birthday week is shaping up marvelously! On Friday, A gave me "a little something" for my birthday, which turned out to be a collective gift from both our parents and him - money for a new DSLR camera. Not so little at all!

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I am WAY excited about getting a good camera! He wanted me to get it now so I could learn from some excellent photographers I work with at Southeastern. So, I've been researching all weekend, checking out some deals, and I think I'm going to go with a package from Canon on a Rebel T2i with two lenses: an 18-55mm and a 55-250mm zoom lens. They'll be refurbished, but I'm OK with that, after having read up on what that means. With discounts and rebates, I'll spend under $700 - a stinking good deal, I think. So, any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

I am so blessed by the generosity of family, but recognize that human generosity is a shadow of
the generosity that the Lord has extended to me. In this season of gift-giving and presents, I want to remember the greatest gift ever given was a Son who sacrificed his life so I could spend eternity in His perfect presence. That is generosity.

So, in the spirit of the Lord's generosity, I am going to be generous and share some of my food coupons with my husband :) Moe's and Ruby Tuesday's - see you soon for dinner.

Poor thing.

2010-12-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

For the last hour, I have been hearing this random "tap tap tapping" noise. Maybe it was more of a "drip drip dripping" noise. I could not identify what it sounded like, but even more frustratingly, I could not identify where the sound was COMING from.

I kept thinking that maybe it was my chair. My little office desk chair squeaks sometimes, but I wasn't moving at all. Was I leaning back at a weird angle, causing it to creak?

Maybe it was my shoes. I'm wearing sneakers today for "casual Friday" so maybe the new shoe choice led to some new sounds of my feet against the hard plastic mat my chair is on?

Then, I stopped and put my head down to just listen, and decided it sounded like it was coming from behind me - from the direction of my trash can. Being that it's after lunch, maybe my lunch trash was settling in the can and making an annoying noise.

After sitting with my ear to the trashcan for a couple of minutes, I realized it wasn't coming from there, either. But, lo and behold, I did find the culprit once I changed my perspective.

.....

(This would be much more dramatic if I had taken a picture)....

It was a beetle. A big, gray beetle/stinkbug kind of thing was making all the tappings.

Poor thing was stuck on it's back and tapping it's hard little body against the hard plastic mat and trying to roll over. Relieved to have found the source of the noise, I told my coworkers to come in and take a look.

Courtney took a look at it and said, "You need to kill that thing."

I couldn't do it. So he did. With one more little tap and then a big ole' cruuunch, its tap-dancing was ended forever by his shoe.

I feel bad for having written its death sentence. Ryan said he felt bad it spent the last hour of its life on its back. Courtney said we shouldn't feel bad but should figure out where it came from and how it got into my office. Ahhh....non-sentimental advice.

I figure, with a mating ladybug colony to keep me company, who has time to mourn over a dead beetle or where it came from?

My moods

2010-12-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Some days are more eventful than others. Some days have more blog fodder than others.

For example, yesterday I could have written a diatribe against hackers in Scranton, Pennsylvania and women who sit in the "ladies lounge" adjacent to the bathroom at work, but I didn't. It just didn't get written.

Today, I could write about things I'm excited about for the future, but I'm not sure I'm 100% ready to announce things in such a public domain.

I scoffed at someone for being too private the other day and not sharing happy news, but in reality, today I know how she feels. Some days I just don't have the energy to be excited, even when things are really exciting. Some days I just feel like weeping for no reason and a long nap and a glass of wine sounds like the best options ever.

Exciting news. Exhaustion. Weepy moods. Wine.

By this point, you were probably thinking that I'm pregnant and just hinting at it and then I probably made you gasp with the wine comment. No, I'm not pregnant. Yes, sometimes I find wine a delicious little treat. No, I will not mix wine with pregnancy whenever that happens.

So, there are some of my thoughts for the day. I think it's been too long of a week, but I'm still looking forward to a Christmas party tomorrow night. I'm sad to be saying goodbye to good friends this week, but anxiously awaiting Saturday morning when I'll get to sleep in. I'm looking forward to seeing family this month, but not relishing all of the driving, flying, money-spending traveling that it entails. Even in a dour, weepy mood like I'm in today though, I'm really really thankful for my Savior. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.

That's worth getting excited about. That's worth a toast ;)

Thanksgiving staycation

2010-11-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking with my blogging duties. I don't know why, except to say that I didn't figure a running commentary on our wonderful week-long staycation would be too intriguing.

Boringness aside, I'll just say that though I've missed seeing my family this Thanksgiving, it has been a pleasure to celebrate in a new and different way! We've been doing a Harry Potter marathon, eating chili, chicken corn chowder and tortilla soup, sausage dip, shrimp cocktail and more. We've been taking walks, hanging out with Benny boy and plotting our Black Friday attack, set to launch in one hour as we storm Wal-Mart at midnight.

We had a great time hanging out with our church family as we ate dinner with the Acevedos and the Metzgers. We learned a new game (Telephone Pictionary) that transformed simple phrases like "It's the most wonderful time of the year" into "The devil made me dance in front of a dung pile." Lots of poop and musical notes made their way into the game, but we laughed and enjoyed the evening with new friends.

So, as Thanksgiving winds to a close, I'm thankful for new experiences. Even though this Thanksgiving looks vastly different than ones I'm used to, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for new friends, for our church family, for our blood family, and for tasty food. I'm thankful for our dog who makes us laugh constantly. I'm thankful for quiet, foggy nights on the porch with my man. I'm immensely thankful for my husband. He is the best thing, aside from Jesus, in my life. I'm thankful for Jesus. He is the best thing. Period.

I hope you've had time to reflect on the goodness of God today, both his goodness in your life and his goodness to all people. The gospel is what today is about - being thankful for that which we didn't deserve, but were given anyway. We're reminded today (as we should be all the time) of God's goodness to us in giving us a renewed and restored relationship with him. I am thankful for the gospel. As much as I love food, I recognize that Thanksgiving is not about food, or pilgrims, or family, or fun, so much as it is about giving thanks and glad tidings and worshiping the One who makes all things possible and who gives us blessings abundant.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You may say I'm a dreamer...

2010-11-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

But sometimes I think I'm a creeper! Seriously.

Quick run-down of the last 4 night's dreams I've had:
-I dreamed I was being chased by the police in Mexico. When they caught up (which they obviously did, since I'm not that crafty, even in my dreams), they started to take me back across the border, but decided to detour and let our little band of convicts hang out with Miley Cyrus for the day. Oh wait. Miley is actually a very old childhood friend of mine named Kelsey. Psych. We had a jolly good time before I was pushed across the Rio Grande with the police car at my back and my arms spread in joy above me.
-Last night I dreamed I was in the back of a bus, watching our dog Ben standing in the open doorway! I wanted to get the bus to stop and shut the door so he wouldn't fly out, but they wouldn't stop, and he was so happy! There was water flying in his face from somewhere and he was loving it. Also, I got some free sunglasses. I can't explain that connection, except that it happened.
-A few night ago I dreamed I was fishing on a pier, when lo and behold, my hook caught a turtle. As I pulled the turtle up, I noticed it had something fleshy in its mouth....It was a *ahem* chunk of male turtle anatomy. Sick, sick, sick. Why?! After I tossed ALL of my catches back in the water, I met up with some old friends from high school. End of story.
-In another of my dreams this week, I spent some time with the Duggars. As in, 19 Kids and Counting! I went to a homeschooling session with them and saw their bedrooms, which basically consisted of each person having a twin bed and a cubby. Also - all the girls were now women. No one else aged except for them, but they were all grown up, all really large (height and size-wise) and all had multiple children of their own who were all living in the same house. In my dream, I also found out they are Pentecostal. Is that true? I have no idea.

So, since I'm no Joseph, I'm not going to even try and interpret those dreams, other than to say, I have a friend named Kelsey who - I guess in hindsight - looks mildly like Miley Cyrus, I have turtles, I saw pictures of a friend who went fishing, Ben loves car rides, I tried to get free sunglasses recently, and I have seen exactly 2 episodes of the Duggar's TV show.

Who needs TV when you have dreams like that though? Weird....but sometimes entertaining. I'm a little nervous to see what my brain will conjure up during a couple long sleeps this weekend!

Do you have really weird dreams? Do they seem to happen all at once? Do you remember them? Please tell me I'm not THAT weird!

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

Against my wishes, I heard Christmas music today. Now, don't think I'm a Scrooge - I happen to just really like Thanksgiving! I want to enjoy that holiday to its fullest before 5am on Black Friday, when Christmas season begins for the Vanderburgs with hitting up some great sales!

This year, though, I am trying to be a bit more proactive about Christmas, already thinking about gifts and Christmas cards so both don't sneak up on me at the last minute - leaving me semi-stranded while in the frozen tundra of Wyoming :)

So, since I'm thinking ahead, I wanted to share a great deal with you about Christmas cards so you can think ahead too! Some of you may not be a big fan of sending out Christmas cards, but I've found it's a tradition I really like doing. My family was never big on sending out Christmas cards, but when I moved out on my own, I decided it would be a great way to keep in touch with people who I don't normally talk to!

So, I was way excited this year when I saw a deal where you can get 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I'm listening....

I looked through their collection of holiday/Christmas cards (because, let's face it, I'm never going to be proactive enough for Thanksgiving cards, although they are WAY cute! It's a nice thought :) They have a TON of pre-designed cards to choose from, with the ability to customize them with your own text and photos, if you do one of their photo cards. Although we don't have any pictures done/picked out yet, I'm going to make a motion for a few cute new "family" photos with Ben. Last year A wouldn't let me include him on our Christmas card, but since they're such good buds now, I think it'll be a go ;)

So there you go! Hope you can take advantage of some free Christmas cards - send one to us! We love mail :)

Becoming "Zanderburg"

2010-11-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

True story. Here goes.

Sunday was the concert/shopping trip as a prize for being smarter than a 5th grader. My friend Stephanie went with me, and we had a grand time! We showed up at the new Tanger outlet store in Mebane, excited to get into the VIP tent and (me) excited to pick up my $25 gift card. After battling the thousands of rednecks who came from forever away at the mention of an outlet mall, we parked. I mean, we drove up over the curb and made a spot on the recently-laid grass.

Maybe the redneck tendencies affected me more than I realized.

Although it looks like it here, I was not the only one doing this. The place was packed so I just followed suit.

Anyways, we made our way to the customer service line to pick up my gift card only to find out they didn't have a $25 gift card reserved for Lauren Vanderburg.

They had the $100 Grand Prize gift card reserved for Lauren Zanderburg! Hey! I'll take it :)

When they told me my last name got messed up on the list of winners, I was a little worried. When they told me I was the grand prize winner (oh, nobody let you know?) I did a really excited squeal and a happy dance. Inside customer service. I may or may not have had the whole office cheering along with me in my excitement. I'd like to think my joy at the big gift card lifted their poor, overworked spirits just a little. After signing that I'd received the gift card, we took a few minutes to head to the Gap and spend a little before the concert.

Apparently, Zanderburgs are winners too ;)

VIP passes!

Seriously, so excited about my big gift card!

We got into the VIP tent with our handy little passes and marched right up to the front of the tent with our plates of snacks to wait on Sara Evans to appear. We didn't know what the situation would be, only that we wanted to be close. So, rather than waiting in the line that was snaking around the tent, we just plopped ourselves at the table closest to the front and waited.

When she showed up, everyone made their way through the line for pictures as I happily munched on plate #2 of snacks :) When the line was gone, we jumped up next to her for pictures and a friendly little chat. Actually, Stephanie did more of the chatting. I was so excited to meet someone famous I think I stuttered something like "I'm SO EXCITED. Really. Really excited." I'm smooth.

We don't have any pictures of us meeting her, because they promised they'd post the professional ones for free on her website. Last time I checked, free does not mean $5. Anywho.

This is how close our table was :) We just snuck right on up there!

The concert started shortly thereafter and we got to enter the special front row section where we stood about 3 feet from the stage. To say my ears were ringing afterwards would be a bit of an understatement. I knew pretty much every song she sang, which was fun, except for one which I'd love to figure out. Help? It's a slow song with the words, "I love you too much..." Any ideas?

All that to say, it was a delightful day, a great concert and a great time hanging out with Steph.

It pays to be a Zanderburg. And to be smarter than a 5th grader.

How sweet it is to be loved by you.

2010-11-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

I love my husband. Seriously. I love him A LOT.

I think he kind of likes me too, as evidenced by all the sweet things he does for me! ;) A couple of recent examples:

1) Sunday morning - Breakfast in bed. I was SO impressed by his perfect little pancakes, but then I saw sausage and biscuits and gravy and knew the cooking skills were those of a pro! Haha. He went out and picked up breakfast for me while I was still in bed Sunday morning. By the time I heard him rattling around in the kitchen, I was awake and had started making the bed. He came in and saw me up and ordered me back under the covers so he could serve me :) He cares for me so well!

Yummy :)

Please excuse the awful picture of me and my crazy pouf. It does not fare so well the morning after.

2) He takes Ben out to use the bathroom, pretty much every morning and night. They have definitely become best buds, a development that makes my heart sing! While he was taking Benny out this morning, he left a couple little notes on my windows for me to find when I left a few minutes later.

I am constantly amazed by him. In little, simple ways, he expresses his love for me and through that, I see a picture of how Christ loves me. Since a husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church, our earthly marriage is but a shadow of our heavenly marriage. This is why divorce and adultery are such an affront to the Lord - they basically say that there is something God's people (the bride) can do to warrant Christ (the husband) ending the relationship. That is not true. That is not the gospel. For as much as I know A loves me, I know my Savior loves me EVEN MORE and promises to never leave me. And as much as I enjoy being loved by my earthly husband, my eternal Husband is absolutely incredible in how He loves and cares for me.

Until that glorious day when I see Jesus face to face, I am going to enjoy the little (and big!) expressions of God's love in my life through my husband!

Free Friday

2010-11-05T09:45:00.001-07:00

I was all bummed the other night because we are so broke. SO BROKE. But, the Lord is good, even when I don't remember it.

Here are some examples:
1) Our truck got fixed. It cost a lot. BUT - the Lord had provided us with a savings account to cover things like that, so we're not in any more debt than we were.
2) Tomorrow, A will be doing a little bit of work for CBS (I think?) at a local football game, a job that - although it will not pay immediately - will pay well. It's great when he gets these opportunities, and I'm so thankful he got one this fall!
3) That radio thing I won last week? I have been a little worried, because the tickets still hadn't come in. Well, I got a call just a little bit ago that the tickets will be waiting for us at the customer service desk, along with my shopping gift card, and...even better, we get in to a VIP tent with free food! So, even though we are spending gas money to go to the concert, the Lord is providing some food so I don't have to eat out. EVEN cooler - We get to meet Sara Evans at this VIP tent. I'm pumped :) I've never met anyone famous, I don't think!
4) I have been seriously jonesing for some new jeans - you all know this. Specifically, GAP jeans, whether or not they're skinny jeans. I just love GAP jeans. Well, yesterday I found out about a special promotion GAP was doing: Show up early today at a GAP store with a smartphone that allows you to use Facebook Places, show them you've "checked in" and voila! You get a free pair of jeans, if you're one of the first. Despite AWFUL, heart-pounding traffic on the way down, and a very nervous me, I was able to get a free pair of jeans! MUCH thanks to my friend Courtney who let me borrow his iPhone for this occasion. I got to hang out with his great wife and cute baby for a bit too as she used the same deal to get a pair too!

While I'm excited about all of these things, these little blessings point me back to the gospel. I'm reminded that GOD IS GOOD. ALL the time. I may forget it. I may not see his hand of goodness in things and circumstances might suck, but despite my outlook, the fact remains that God provides and cares for us in a thousand little ways.

I don't just say this because we have savings, or because I won concert tickets or free jeans or because A has a good opportunity this weekend. I say God is good because of the gospel. Our perfect, holy Creator, who we have sinned against since birth, still sent a sacrifice (his Son) to die. He died and was punished so we didn't have to be. Because of Christ and his work on the cross, I have salvation and access to GOD. Amazing.

Fall fashion and skinny jeans

2010-11-01T07:45:00.001-07:00

It's Monday morning. I know I should be writing some articles, but at the moment, my brain is sicky-foggy and I'm having trouble thinking too much about work. That said, my brain is focused on one thing - clothing.

We went running a couple times last week, and I'm hopeful I'll keep it up and start to lose some weight. Marriage has caused me to put on a few pounds! It's just more fun to snack and eat out with your best friend :) Anyways, so with dreams of a new, leaner me, I'm also dreaming about some fun new fall fashions and trying to pull them off! Thanks to my sweet man who freed up some money for me to have a "shopping spree" and my Tanger gift card I won last week, I'm ready to shop and find some great-priced and great-looking items!

But, foremost on my mind right now are skinny jeans. I have a couple pairs, but as A doesn't really care for them, I tend to not wear them. To tell the truth, I only like the one pair when I have boots over the top, so I don't reach for them much. But, I love the look of ballet flats, skinny jeans, a longer sweater and a scarf - just need to figure out how to do that for myself.

So here's my assignment for you: Give me recommendations on A) The best places to look for some easy fall fashions and B) Your favorite brand of skinny jeans and what I should try.

The most-reached-for pair makes me look a bit like an ice cream cone whenever I wear them with anything but boots. They're just too tight, all the way through to my ankle, but I love the wash and ripped look of them. The other pair is too dark and stretchy, and maybe a bit too short, although they seem to fit better overall.

So, help. If you've got a great brand or a great look-book place, let me know! Thanks!

Breaking and Fixing

2010-10-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

After Tuesday's triumphant day of proving my smarts, yesterday was a bit discouraging. I know there's some kind of negative correlation between the two, but while Tuesday's theme was "Winning," yesterday's theme was "Breaking." Fortunately today's theme is along the lines of "Fixing."

Yesterday morning, on the way to a doctor's appointment, I discovered (shockingly! NOT) that my $5 Wal-Mart sunglasses were broken. They were a cheap-0 replacement after I lost mine on that awful day at Disney. Sunglasses with only one earpiece make me feel like I'm wearing a monocle, and while cool 100 years ago, just look dumb as I'm walking around campus. Plus, they don't exactly stay on well, thus rendering them kind of dumb AND useless.

Then, after the doctor's appointment, we went back to the apartment so A could get his truck before we headed to our work. Unfortunately, and ironically, it did not start. The engine may have turned over a time or two, but pretty much, we got nothing except some "uh oh" kind of noises. I say it was ironic, because the exact same day last year (October 27, as we were driving from my hometown back here after our honeymoon) the truck did the exact same thing. It resulted in A having to *ahem* run a few red lights, because without gasing the truck, it would die and we wouldn't have made it home. So, currently the truck sits, broken, in front of our apartment. He hates my Lily-car (my name for my white XTerra) because he doesn't fit comfortably in it, but all I'm saying is, "Thank goodness for reliable transportation."

Then, as I'm wearing the monocle, walking up to my office after seeing A at lunch, I dropped my phone. Blame it on trying to keep the monocle on my face, or blame it on the king-sized Reese's I had in my hand, but the little pink Razr just slipped out and hit the ground. No big deal right away, but when I realized I couldn't see anything on my screen, including phone numbers, texts or who was calling, it became a problem. What caused even MORE of a problem was my coworkers texting me non-stop because they thought it was funny how mad I was getting at the fact that my phone was blowing up.

Fast forward to today: My friend Allison gave me an old phone of hers. Thankfully, the nice man at Verizon didn't charge me a cent to transfer my contacts over to it. After that went so well, I decided to scrounge in my purse for the missing pieces of my sunglasses and put them back together with my ingenuity and my fingernails. Success.

The only thing left to fix is A's truck in the immediate future is A's truck. Any suggestions? Any words of wisdom? He wants to be a one-car family, as long as it's HIS car and not Lily....Too bad :)

Smarter than a 5th grader

2010-10-26T06:54:00.001-07:00

The local country station, in an homage to Jeff Foxworthy I suppose, invites listeners to call in and play a modified version of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" every morning with the chance to show off their intellectual prowess and win some fun things, too.

This morning, I proved to the radio world that I AM smarter than a 5th grader - contrary to popular belief ;) I credit the brown hair with increasing my smarts. Not really.

Ok, maybe a little. I wonder if they could tell by my quick answers that I'm a brunette now?

As I was driving into the office this morning, the announcement and phone number comes on over the radio to play. I decided that since I was sure I had heard the phone number correctly (always a fear of mine!), I'd give it a whirl.

First call: Busy signal. Second call: Lots of ringing and then a "Hello, who's this?" I told the morning-show host my name and where I was from, and he briefed me on the rules (answer 3 out of 5 questions correctly and win!). After a wait time of listening to the weather report, traffic report and "Red Rag Top" play, I was ready to go.

However, I will admit I was a teensy bit nervous. Like, hands shaking, heart racing, about to get your first kiss kind of nervous. I didn't want to blow it and have to admit on the air that I was NOT smarter than a 5th grader! As I was driving and waiting to play, I considered pulling off the road for several reasons: To be sure I had clear reception, to make sure I was focused on the game, and to ensure that I didn't have a nervous heart attack and drive an XTerra bomb into somebody.

Thankfully, I pulled into the parking lot of my office - with solid reception - turned the car off and got my heart quieted just in time to play.

So, here are my three questions. I wasn't asked questions #4 and #5 because I'm a smarty pants and got the first three right! Without looking them up at all, let's see if YOU are smarter than a 5th grader! Unfortunately for you, I won't be sharing my front-row tickets to a Sara Evans concert or my Tanger outlet gift card, but you can have share in the satisfaction :)

Here goes:

1) When all the words in a sentence start with the same sound, what is that called?
...................(No multiple choice options, just a long awkward pause while I wait for them to give me the non-forthcoming options! Whoops :)
2) True or False: The pistil is the male part of the flower.
3) Which of these is not a famous Beethoven? A composer, a dog, an artist?

So there you go - my winning questions. I'm still so giddy :)

Edit: People, I can see you looking at this. You're SUPPOSED to comment with your answers!

The blessings of marriage

2010-10-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! Thanks for the anniversary wishes - both here and on FB! We had a wonderful time celebrating an amazing first year of marriage, and if you're not on Facebook (or if you are but haven't seen these), here's a link to pictures from the weekend!

I love being married to that man - he is a blessing second only to Jesus! Since many of you saw A's reflections and thoughts on our marriage, I'll share a few of my own on here, although I have no illusions that they'll be as eloquent or sweet as his! I may be the "writer" but he is a wordsmith.

This past year of marriage has taught me a ton - both about myself, but more importantly, about my relationship with Christ. When we were engaged, together we worked through some pretty deep theology in regards to marriage. We looked at the reasons behind the institution of marriage - namely, that it is a picture of how Christ loves the church and the relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride the church.

1) Submission is a beautiful thing. For those of you who knew me when I was a bit more independent and headstrong, this may come as a surprise, but every day I love seeing how submitting to my husband is a picture of how the church is to submit (happily and humbly) to the leadership of Christ. I don't do it perfect, but I desire to do it better, day by day, by the grace of God.
2) My husband is an amazing leader. Never have I met a man more concerned with leading his family well than A. He spends hours upon hours reading his Bible and marriage books from other Godly men, praying for wisdom and direction for our family, and actively thinking about and working toward growing our relationships with the Lord and our relationship with one another. He is incredibly intentional, and I LOVE that. Although my submission is not based on his leadership, but rather my role as a wife, his leadership and servant-heart make it EASY to happily submit.
3) Earthly marriages are an amazing joy and blessing, but still just a dim reflection of the marriage believers have with our Heavenly Husband, Jesus Christ. This allows us to take joy in our marriage, regardless of what it looks like. The bad shows us how much better our eternal marriage will be, and the good shows us how much better our eternal marriage will be! As AMAZING as my marriage is, it is nothing compared to the joy and fellowship I have and will with Jesus in heaven.

I seriously could talk/write a ton more. In fact, this is the third and most concise time I've tried to write this down! Marriage is one of my favorite topics as of late. If you've got questions or thoughts, PLEASE let me know, but for now, I'm going to cut it off :) I'm getting long-winded here, and I don't want to do that. I want you to see beyond the big concepts and be able to see both my incredible love for my husband, but even more, my incredible love for my Savior. Jesus is refining me through A, and I love it. I love marriage because it teaches me that holiness - not happiness - is the ultimate goal, and I can see Christ refining me through my marriage, changing me into someone who looks more like Christ and less like Lauren. And that's a good thing. A really, really good thing.

I'm excited for year #2 and every moment God blesses me with by sharing life with my husband.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

2010-10-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've hijacked my wife's blog this post! This is "A" for those of you I don't know!. To those who know me well, you know that I'm not a huge blogger. I decided that in an effort to love my wife well, I would surprise her by posting a blog to her for our anniversary. As if posting a blog for everyone to see wasn't far enough out of my comfort zone, I decided to push completely out of my comfort zone by creating a video for her (techie stuff I'm not good at) that attempted to capture and adequately express my feelings for her (emotional stuff I'm not good at). So, here is my attempt to do something for my wife in the context that she knows and loves.

Now, for your assignment...

I would like all of you to post comments about what Lauren means to you and how she's impacted your life. Please let her know how much she's loved. Thanks.

Friday afternoon

2010-10-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

It's Friday afternoon. I'm yawning. Work is done for the week, and it has been a busy week! We had lots of guests on campus for BOT and BOV, which meant that in addition to my full week back in the office, I was BUSY.

So, as I sit here, sleepily, I am inwardly super excited about the next few days to come.

Tonight: Fajitas and maybe going to see The Town. I found a great deal on movie tickets the other day - 4 for $20.

Tomorrow: Hanging around the house, cleaning up some, making chili and watching some Nebraska football. My dear husband is SUPER excited to watch the game, and I'll be sporting my one and only football shirt - a Cornhuskers baseball tee.

Sunday we're off to the beach for a couple of days. 'Why?' you may ask. To celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! That is crazy. I have been trying to think of some inexpensive/significant gift ideas (we're going to the beach, that's enough of a gift, but I still want to do something for him!) and at the moment I'm coming up dry. However, as I've been looking back through this blog (which is almost a year old now, maybe I'll do a birthday celebration...) and looking through photos, it's amazing how much we've done in the last year and all the memories we've made. It's been fun reminiscing.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on marriage/anniversaries, etc. to write about soon, but as mentioned: It's Friday and I'm tired.

Have an excellent weekend! I know we will :)

Babies and brownies

2010-10-07T13:52:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, thanks for the encouraging words about this weekend's/week's situation! I am thankful the Lord's perspective and plans are so much more far-reaching than mine, and I'm thankful for how he accomplishes his purposes - both on the micro (my life) level, as well as the macro (whole world) level. He really is an amazing Father who gives such good gifts.

I'm celebrating a couple of those gifts tonight!

Tonight is a "Babies" and brownies night with this lady and this one. I got the movie on Netflix specifically because A) A was out of town and wouldn't have to watch a chick movie of this magnitude with me and B) I was supposed to be in Haiti playing with adorable babies but I'm not, so now I can at least see how babies in other cultures are raised!

I'm going to make some brownies and maybe spice them up with chocolate fudge pudding or Reese's Dark Chocolates...We shall see :)

After celebrating the gifts of friends, chocolate and babies, I'll be heading to the airport to pick up my HOT husband, who I have missed terribly. This whole "become one flesh" thing means I feel ripped apart when we're not together for so long.

So, HURRAH!! He's coming home!!! Ben and I are so excited :)

P.S. - Lindsay, I wish you lived closer to watch the movie with us since you were the one I first heard about it from!!

Change of plans

2010-10-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, as many of you know, this weekend/week was supposed to go something like this:

Drop A off at the airport
Pick a good friend up from airport
Go to the International Festival w/ her
Go to Ocean Isle, NC for a high school friend's wedding
Have lunch with my parents
Fly to Haiti for the week

Instead, plans changed. The only thing that stayed the same was my friend coming in and my parents taking me to lunch. I started feeling bad Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon, was at the Urgent Care getting a diagnosis of strep. Thankfully, my parents were about an hour away, so while my friend had taken my car to go to the wedding, they came over to take care of me and hang out with me while I was sick and weepy.

Yesterday I had to make another tough decision and decided that since I was still feeling so yucky, I wouldn't be going to Haiti. I was supposed to go to cover a mission trip for work, but with a 5am departure set for this morning, and an elevated temperature and sore throat remaining, decided to "bag it," as my boss said.

So, with that, I find myself with some time to sit and read, pray and study. A and I really wanted to make this week one of searching and praying and asking the Lord for guidance and direction on our future. We have been thinking about and praying about an opportunity for our ministry and our life, and really want to seek the Lord's face this week about that.

So with that, some thoughts from my crazy, weird and unexpected weekend:
-My husband is an unbelievable blessing, and I hate when we're apart
-I'm thankful for my parents, who urged me to go to the doctor and who came and fixed dinner for me, hung out with me, and took care of me when I was feeling so crappy
-A heartfelt "thank you" goes a long way
-I'm grateful for a job that provides opportunities like Haiti, but even more grateful for a boss who shows grace and understanding when I have strep
-Mostly, I'm thankful for my Lord who pursues me, loves me, showers me with grace, and has adopted me into his family. Jesus is my example of grace and through the Holy Spirit, I learn how to love others even when it's hard.

Book review

2010-09-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Thomas Nelson publishers sent me a copy of "The Hole in Our Gospel" by World Vision president Richard Stearns to read and review. Before becoming president of World Vision (a wonderful organization that aids the poverty-stricken around the world), he was a corporate climber and successful man.

I was interested to read the book because I recognize the need for believers to actively live out their faith by caring for "the least of these," something that is oft-neglected among evangelical Christians today.

However, I was a little disappointed in the book for a couple of reasons. Although it presented biblical truths (the need to care for orphans, widows and the poor), I felt it missed the fundamental truth. There is no "hole in our gospel." There is no good news, no gospel, but this: That a loving God created us in perfect union with Him. Our first parents - Adam and Eve - disobeyed and destroyed that perfect relationship. We have been disobeying the Lord ever since, but in his justness and mercy, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment WE deserve by dying on horrible death and placing on his shoulders the iniquities of us all. But, death did not conquer God - he conquered death and because he died in our place and conquered death, we are restored to a right relationship with our loving Father. He has adopted us as His children, with the promise that we will are co-heirs with Christ.

It is THAT reality that motivates believers to do the things Rich Stearns talks about. Because God adopted us - who were different and wicked - and shared Christ's inheritance with us, we are motivated to adopt children. Because God gave abundantly - his Son and his life - we are motivated to give abundantly to those who have nothing. Because we have a relationship with the Great Physician, we are motivated to aid others who are sick and in need of assistance.

The Gospel is our motivation for these deeds and more - not an imperfect theology with a hole in it. To say that there is a hole in the Gospel, and that Christians are "expected" to do these things shows that there is no Gospel understanding at all. If we accept the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf, that is all we need ever do. We are no more righteous before God if we sell everything and give to the poor than if we never do. However, because of God's great love and mercy to us, wicked sinners, we are motivated to image God to those who have never heard him. Social justice isn't the end-game - introducing people to Christ is. If I devote my life to feeding the poor and giving away my possessions out of guilt or a sense of obligation, but I don't tell them about the Treasure of the Gospel, there hasn't been a hole in my gospel, there has been no gospel at all.

The book is an interesting picture at the spiritual journey of Rich Stearns, and for those who want to better understand the plight of people around the world, it's worth reading. However, don't make the mistake of basing your worth before God by how much social justice you do - working your way toward God by doing good things makes your faith no different than people of any faith other than Biblical Christianity.

A brunette and baseball

2010-09-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last week was a baseball-filled week for us here in the VanderHouse. Thursday night, my husband and I recreated our first date: We went to dinner in downtown Durham, and then went and watched our friend (and roommate for this season) R.J. pitch for the Durham Bulls.

Two years ago, we ate at a cafe called the Sojourner Cafe that was filled with foreigners, including our Russian waiter, who told us it was his dream to move to Myrtle Beach. The Sojourner is now out of business, so I hope that was impetus enough for him to realize his dream!

Thursday, we ate at a restaurant called Tyler's (try their garlic fries!) in Durham, right along the little "waterfront." We got a perfect table - the water flowing right behind us, we had a view of the green and there was live music at the restaurant.

Afterwards, we went to the ballpark to watch R.J. pitch. On our first date, he was playing for the opposing team and we were in the minority cheering. Thankfully this time, there was plenty of cheering for R.J.'s team, spurring them on to a win in the final championship series.

It was a memorable night. I loved our first date, and I loved this one too. Thankfully, at the end of this date, there was no awkward side-hug and goodbye! I got to take him home ;)

Our dinner view.

At the ballpark.

The Bull blowing smoke after Thursday's win.

Friday night we took our man-child and a friend of his and went and watched R.J. pitch again. Unfortunately, it was not a winning night for the Bulls, and because it was their third loss of the series, their season was over. We still enjoyed the game and the fireworks that followed!

Watching him throw a "R.J. pitch." That is, a curve ball that clocks in around 48-65 miles an hour.

Enjoying the game...as a brunette!

Adrian bought the commemorative mug and he loves it :)

Friday night lights

Riding the bull!

So, there you have it - a weekend full of baseball and being a brunette. I got my hair dyed on Friday at the Mitchell's school in Raleigh. They did a good job, although it took a reeeeaaaally long time! Probably because I requested "no red" and so they had to take extra steps to deal with that request! A likes it though and I'm getting used to it, so, for those of you who have requested pictures of Brunette Lauren, there you go! If you're looking to get a cosmetology or aesthetics service (hair cut, color, nails, pedicures, facials, etc.) done and you're in the area, I recommend visiting the school! They charge much less because it's students doing the work, so for $50 I had done what would have cost me $100 at my regular girl! If you're not in this area but are feeling adventurous with your style, google "cosmetology school" and see what kind of deal you can get!

Pizza-Making with the Dough Boys

2010-09-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening, after (non)church we decided to try and make homemade pizza. (Details on "non"church later!)

A had seen a bag of pizza dough at Harris Teeter for like, $2, so we asked at the counter and got some "instructions" on how to cook it, and then we picked out a bunch of ingredients for our pizza and went to work. We grabbed some baby bella mushrooms, made some grilled chicken, put on tomatoes, black olives, onions, and some ridiculously hot banana peppers. Unbeknownst to us, there are two varieties of banana peppers - sweet and spicy. We, of course, accidentally ended up with the spicy ones , which A discovered when he started munching on them. Whoops.

One mouthful of peppers in, and he was demanding water and stuffing some bread in his face and covering his mouth with it to try and take the burn out! I'm glad I don't eat raw peppers :) Although, my fingers started feeling pretty fiery, either from the chopping or the cooking of them!

Anyways, we had to actually try and toss the pizza dough ourselves to get it shaped right and that was an adventure in an of itself. Naturally, Mr. Baseball Player did WAY better than I did (Hey, I only dropped the dough in the sink once!)

Ingredients

What a pro

What a scared face!

Layering our veggies

While we were having a good time throwing the dough, Ben was having a grand old time too! Check out the video below :)

After it was all said and done, although the pizza was good, we decided that for the $15 we spent on ingredients, we probably could have just ordered a pizza from somewhere and been just as satisfied with the food. It was good, just kind of bland. And yes, bland even after we put the peppers on (cooked). Any pizza recipes that you've found to be good?

All done!

2010-09-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the blog and thought, "Has it really been almost two weeks since I've posted?" That's crazy. Just goes to show how quickly time flies when you're having fun!....or just how quickly it flies, in general.

Since the last post, we've gotten our new mattress pad (still trying to decide if we like it...will we ever be happy with our bed?), I've had a a lot of emotional breakdowns, we've drafted several Fantasy Football teams in anticipation of the NFL kick-off TONIGHT, we spent Labor Day weekend sleeping in and spending time outside at the lake - walking/biking/yelling at Ben/reading, etc.

Poor little guy - he must have hurt his feet pretty bad on Saturday, either while sprinting around on the big rocks at the lake and jumping in and out of the water, or when A took him for a "ride" - Benny running, and A riding his bike. Poor little guy was limping the rest of Saturday and Sunday. He looked like an old man! We took him to the river Monday, then, to let him swim (he swims against the current happily, like it's his own personal exercise pool) and try and soothe his poor body. He limped around a little again after that day, but seems to have fully recuperated now. Good thing - he's going for a walk with me after work!

I'm getting serious about trying to get in better shape. Not only do I want to be a good steward of this one body God has given me, but I'm tired of how I look and feel the majority of the time. So, in that vein, I'm going to try to stop eating popcorn and candy after dinner, cut down on my coffee (ahem - cream) intake and start a routine of walking and doing some yoga videos. I don't actually have any yoga videos at the moment, so any recommendations would be great!

So....yeah. That's about it. To close out - here's a little video of Ben playing with the box our memory foam came in. The dog loves to run and make a toy out of ANYTHING!

Frugal Friday

2010-08-27T11:24:00.001-07:00

Michelle had a great idea - scrap the silly challenge.

So I am. Ahhhhh :) So liberating!

In lieu of that, thought I'd post about the great bargain I just got. You all know about the mattress issues. The new one (and the correct one we ordered) seems to be holding up OK now, but it is, as its name implies, FIRM. My shoulders often wake up feeling scrunched and achy. Plus, our bed frame is one of those metal ones that rocks and rolls every time A gets up or rolls around. So, with that being said, we decided we'd buy a memory foam topper to cure those issues and hopefully sleep like puppies.

I say puppies because, although not a mother, I realize that babies don't actually sleep all that well. Hence, all the rejoicing when they begin to sleep through the night. On the other hand, puppies, like our beloved Benny, knock out quickly and sleep hard. When he was young, I could pick him up and move him around and shake him without him waking up. Now, he groans with satisfaction whenever he lays down on his blanket at bedtime. I want THAT kind of sleep!

So anyways, I have been looking at Kohls for a memory foam topper and today was our lucky day. I got an e-coupon for 20% off AND it is $.99 shipping right now! Excellent. But WAIT! Kohl's allows you to stack coupons, so I also stacked another 15% off coupon and voila! A BARGAIN! The California King memory foam mattress topper that is normally $389 cost us - with sale price, 20% off, 15% off, and $.99 shipping - only $135! Is that a steal or what?! I think so. I got so excited I ran down to where my husband works to share the good news and while there, got my second lunch of the day! Bargain hunting makes me hungry :)

If you want to snag some great deals from Kohls, sign up for their e-mail alerts. Even better - if you sign up in-store right now, I think they'll give you $10 off a purchase. It used to be $5, but I guess e-mail addresses are increasing in value! So, there you go: instead of Thrifty Thursday, I'll call this Frugal Friday instead.

Speaking of Friday - tomorrow is Saturday and my long-awaited trip to the beach! I've only ever been to the NC coast once in the 3 years I've lived here, but tomorrow, Kristel and I will venture that direction for some sand, sun and SEAFOOD. Oh boy :)

Back in the swing of things

2010-08-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

I know I've been failing horribly at that 30-day thing. I may call it quits, although it seems super-lame to give up on something I haven't hardly done and something I'm not hardly even halfway through with yet. Dad always said I wasn't a quitter, but I don't know how good my staying power is with this!

Anyways, just to play catch-up:
Day 12: Whatever tickles your fancy
Ummm....?? What's tickling my fancy right now is dinner. We're going out with one of A's friends from college. I don't know where, but I hope they have burgers. Who doesn't have burgers?!?! Don't answer that.
Day 13: A fictional book
Any fictional book? Didn't I already answer "favorite book"? I guess for this one I am going to mention the Twilight series. I know they're crap and as a writer by trade, I should hunger for something meatier, I guess, but I sure enjoyed them. Mental candy - high fluff content, a sugar rush and a crash when it's all over.
Day 14: A non-fictional book
I love the Bible. Also, I am currently (slowly) reading Adopted for Life and it is fabulous. Seriously challenging and exciting. I so long for the day if/when the Lord allows us to adopt!!
Day 15: A fanfic
I have no idea what this even means.

So anyways, it has been a lovely slow few days, although we both remain perpetually exhausted (and broke, coincidentally). Gotta fix that. Saturday A helped one of our friend's sister move, so he was pooped all evening from that, and I cleaned and organized. That evening we had church and listened to our pastor preach on murder, i.e. anger in your heart toward another person. It was convicting, although didn't seem to stick for too long with my dear husband as he got slightly perturbed at the bookstore later on when they closed and we were still shopping ;) Me, I was just cranky from wearing high heels. It's been a while and dang, they hurt.

Sunday we didn't really do much of anything and it was great. We laid around, I cleaned the turtle tank, we enjoyed some fresh eggplant parmesan with fresh basil (I bought some veggies at the farmer's market) with tasty garlic rolls! Afterwards, our friends Alex and Kristel came over for some dessert and a rousing game of Aces and Faces. Ok, maybe it wasn't rousing, although we did get riled up when the boys cheated and we lost on the last play of the game.

So that's about it, here around the VanderHouse. We've been enjoying some rainy nights and though it's only Tuesday, I'm looking forward to (hopefully) a sunny day at the beach Saturday with Kristel and Megan! Anyone have any umbrellas and/or beach chairs they'd be willing to lend me for the day?

The table and more pictures

2010-08-20T12:52:00.001-07:00

Hurrah! It's Friday! This is the first weekend coming up without any major plans in a while (since my paintings for the bedroom and my table for the dining room are done). The only thing around the house I plan on accomplishing is resting, cleaning the bathtub and cleaning the turtle tank (yes, I have turtles. Don't judge). So, I'm pretty excited to get home and start this weekend! But before then, I'll share some pictures with you!

Here's the finished table:

It's not quite as green as it appears in this top picture, more along the lines of the photo below. The table is going to be a little desk/stuff/serving table.

Always a helper, that Benny boy.

What happened when I tried to take pictures with him - every time. He loves giving kisses when least wanted!

And now, for the "challenge" days for yesterday and today...
Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago

My brother, Brian, and I on the dock of our house in Florida. I was probably three or so in this picture, so it's more like a 20 year old picture. This one was taken nine years ago, so closer! I rocked that super-short hair for a reaaallllyyy long time :)

Day 11: A photo of you taken recently
This one wasn't super-recent, but it was taken in May with my husband. We were getting ready to commemorate the final episode of LOST with a LOST party I threw for us :) Good times!

That's all from me for now! Have a fantastic weekend!

Day #9, Month #10, and Project #4,397

2010-08-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Day 9: A photo you took

I took this photo years ago, while working at a medical clinic in Guatemala. The kids were supposed to be in class, learning, but since a bunch of what faces had set up a free clinic in the courtyard of their school - their attention went elsewhere. They were beautiful and hopeful and such a stark contrast to the hard life we saw and heard evidences of throughout the countryside.

In non-challenge news, you asked for "before" and "after" pictures of the table I refinished. I wish I could say I had the forethought to take pictures of it way back when I picked it up off the side of the road, but I didn't. Nor did I take pictures of it at any of the 12,000 points I took the plastic off to work on it. That was usually because I got frustrated so fast and went back inside angry at the table and angry at myself for grabbing it! Ha.

But, I will try to remember to take some good shots of it tonight (while there are some sunflowers Mom bought for us on it!) and post them tomorrow.

Speaking of sunflowers, which were our wedding flower, today is our 10-month anniversary! I can't believe it was 2 months ago that we were celebrating in South Carolina, and I can't believe 2 months from now will be a YEAR!! Crazy. We're trying to figure out exactly what to do for the anniversary (which A calls our honeymoon ;). Any suggestions?

Photo moments

2010-08-17T06:21:00.001-07:00

Maybe I can't do this every-day thing. I'm more of an every-other-day kind of blogger. Does that mean I can never go pro?

Here are yesterday's and today's: Photo days. These should be easier.

Day 7: A photo that makes you happy

This picture was taken on our honeymoon at the Valentin Imperial Maya in Mexico. It was an awesome week. This is what we did most of the week - although, we usually had separate beach chairs :) Reading on the beach, swimming in the pool, dressing up for dinner....You know, honeymoon things ;) It was the most time we had ever been able to spend together since we were long-distance our whole relationship and it was GLORIOUS! I love being married to this man.

Day 8: A photo that makes you angry/sad

This was taken after our ill-fated, terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day at Disney. If the picture doesn't speak for itself, and if you don't already know the story, check it out here.

Days 5&6

2010-08-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Crap. I forgot. Again.

Here are yesterday's and today's :)

Day 5: Your favorite quote
Maybe I forgot to do this yesterday because I have NO idea what my favorite quote is. Maybe a Bible verse? But how to choose just one? Day 5, I flat out refuse to figure you out.

Day 6: Whatever tickles your fancy
What tickles my fancy is this: www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com and www.awkwardfamilypetphotos.com.

In non"challenge" terms, it's been a busy weekend. My mom came into town Friday after work, so I feverishly cleaned and got stuff ready for her arrival. We had a good time having her in town. It was just Mama Crane, as Papa Don is on a cross-country camping trip by himself, although my brother - whose birthday is today - is with him right now as they're fishing in yellowstone.

But the weekend with Mom was really good. We enjoyed having some downtime with her here, and I really enjoyed getting to work on and finish a table with her! Y'all, I have had that table since JANUARY sitting on my deck and it's finally done!!! It's drying outside, and we'll move it in tomorrow hopefully and regain use of our dining room table to eat on :) This little gem (that I found on the side of the road and have since sanded, painted and cried over) will be the "work desk" where all our miscellaneous papers and such will go - allowing our dining room table to be for dining again.

So hooray for that! How were your weekends? Busy, fun, stressful, restful? Yes, yes, yes and yes :)

Day #4 of me

2010-08-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Your favorite book

Why am I doing this? I hate when people ask me to pick favorites, because I always really like more than one thing! It's too hard to choose.

The church-y answer to this question of the day would be "my Bible." And I do really love my Bible. It's the one book I can turn to for comfort, for wisdom, for truth, and to grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. But hopefully, if you're a believer, you already agree with me about that!

Thus, the tie for my favorite book would have to be between Timeline by Michael Crichton (SO GOOD) and Jacob Have I Love by Katharine Patterson - both based purely on how long I have loved them both.

JHIL was my favorite all growing up. For some reason, I really identified with the main character, it seemed, plus I loved her wit and adventures.

Timeline got me interested in medieval history and also made me a fan of pseudo-science-fantasy fiction. I haven't read it in a long time, so perhaps my current self would have different views of it, but it was a really good read.

Thus, those are my longevity favs. I also really like most John Grisham and Jodi Picoult and really loved reading the Chronicles of Narnia. So there you have it! My favorite.....s.

Oh blast. I really suck at picking one.

FAIL

2010-08-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

Day #2 of the "30 days of me" and I already forgot to update. FAIL. I totally thought about it yesterday and just forgot later! Whoops. And yes, Kristel and Amanda, you should definitely jump on board! I'd love to read it!

So anyways, here goes: Days #2 and #3, because I want to play catch-up!

Day 2: Your favorite movie
This is definitely a tie between two similar movies. I LOVE both Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias equally. Call me a sap, but both movies still tug on my heartstrings and make me tear up when I watch them.

Come on, Idgie, Buddy and the train in Fried Green Tomatoes? Or in Steel Magnolias - Meline, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine...I'm FINE! I can jog all the way to Texas and back, but my daughter can't! She never could!"

Tell me those scenes don't make you weep a little. I love it. So cathartic. Plus, I've always respected the dual ideas of these strong women that know how to hold a family together, but yet remain ladies through it all.

And in Fried Green Tomatoes, I confess - the mystery of whether or not Mrs. Threadgoode is actually Idgie has always held me captive. I'm scared to research it and find out for sure. Theories?

Day 3: Your favorite television program
This one is easy. LOST. I am still SO sad at the fact that it is over, and still a little sad at the ending. I loved the show so much and wish they hadn't taken such a crappy worldview as the final escape route. Nonetheless, the characters were like good friends after six years of faithfully watching and I was sad to see them go. The mystery of it all, again, hooked me, for so long, and I'm still struggling to understand it and let it all go!

Thus, since LOST is over, I'm in search of a new favorite. We currently watch House, Chuck, 24, 30 Rock, Smallville and The Office - depending on our moods :) I've also been known to like reality trash such as Bachelor/Bachelorette, Hell's Kitchen, Biggest Loser, etc. Sue me :)

Alright friends, jump on board the 30-day train! I won't judge if you forget some days, too. It'll just be fun to read your answers!

Launch day

2010-08-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the day. Our little man-child is about to sprout his wings and fly into the dorms.

Thanks for the offers of stuff to give him and encouragement about the situation. We had a successful day of yard-saleing and Share Shopping on Saturday and John walked away with a lot of good stuff for his new dorm room. I'm waiting to hear from A that they have his keys, and then I'm going to go be a good little Mom and take my camera and document the moving-in festivities.

Don't be fooled - I'm not planning on hauling stuff into the dorm, just documenting it :) I'm on day #3 of migraines/period headaches that make me sick to my stomach and just want to sleep, so unless my (unfortunately, still-sick) husband really needs me to help carry things, I think I may sit this one out.

After John is all moved in, I'd like to say we'll be empty-nesters, but alas, we won't be. Roommate and wife and baby are in town all week, then my mom comes in this weekend. I'm hoping my mother is game to help me refinish a table I found that has been sitting on our porch since LAST time she visited! That time, there was snow on the ground. Don't judge me for how long it takes me to get to projects. Anyways, I don't know how Mom will feel about that, but we shall see. Also on the docket? Some golf. It's been a while, and I'm excited!

Anyways, I swiped this idea from a friend's blog and wanted to see if I could do it. Thirty days of me. Sounds scintillating, right? I know. Anyways, I think it will be a good personal challenge to see if I can blog for 30 days straight, since, as my blog manager Kristel will tell you, all the good bloggers blog daily! Haha.

So, here goes with day #1!

30 Days of ME
Day 1: Your favorite song: Painting Pictures of Egypt by Sara Groves
I don't know if I can honestly say I have ONE favorite song, but this one would be darn near the top of the list. Not only do I love Sara Groves' music, but I love this song for the myriad of times it has reminded me that, like the Israelites who wandered in the desert, longing for Egypt, I have a tendency to romanticize the past rather than running confidently and with faith toward the future the Lord has promised me. I too often yearn for the mediocre and the comfortable, rather than trusting God's promises to bring me into sweeter fellowship with Him and to do good for me. Sometimes the current situation seems so rough, and the unknown future seems even more bleak, and this song is a much-needed reminder that the Father in Heaven desires to bring me into a land of milk and honey, if only I'll let him lead me into the inheritance he has prepared for me.

Day 2: Your favorite movie
Day 3: Your favorite television program
Day 4: Your favorite book
Day 5: Your favorite quote
Day 6: Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 7: A photo that makes you happy
Day 8: A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9: A photo you took
Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11: A photo of you taken recently
Day 12: Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13: A fictional book
Day 14: A non-fictional book
Day 15: A fanfic
Day 16: A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17: An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18: Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19: A talent of yours
Day 20: A hobby of yours
Day 21: A recipe
Day 22: A website
Day 23: A YouTube video
Day 24: Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25: Your day, in great detail
Day 26: Your week, in great detail
Day 27: This month, in great detail
Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

A dry spell

2010-08-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the dry spell, dear friends. It's been a long, slow week at the Vanderburgs', and not necessarily in the best ways.

A got sick on Tuesday (or earlier, that's just when he really started hitting rock bottom) and so I've been trying to help get him well again. This is by far the sickest I've seen him - he missed work three days this week because he felt so awful, and that's been the second time he's called in sick in about 6 years he said. Luckily there are no perfect attendance awards in grown-up world, or I think he would have tried to push through just to say he did. However, with a 100+ degree fever, a horrible hacking cough and lots of headaches, I'm thankful he has been given a chance to rest.

Our little man-child John showed up yesterday. He's a former youth of A's from the church he was at in SC, and now, John's been accepted into the school where I work to go to college. He is so excited to be here and start. However, unlike most college kids I know, there is no big "move-in to the dorms" weekend for John - he's staying on our couch with some clothes and books until he talks to housing and gets moved in.

Tomorrow morning, hopefully, we'll go garage saleing and find some necessities for him before he moves into the dorms - pillow, sheets, bedding, lamps, folders for school, alarm clock, etc.

I've been a college student (not too long ago!) but honestly have no idea how to begin helping him shop for things for his dorm room. A) He's a boy, and boys and girls are fundamentally different in their decorating tastes B) We're starting from ground zero with stuff for him.

We joke a lot about John being our man-child, but honestly, I've never been that great with kids, and suddenly finding myself playing "mom" to someone that is 19 years old is kind of baffling. How do I translate my college experience: Two carloads of stuff, parents, color-coordinated sheets/bedding/decor, tearful goodbyes, etc., with helping this great kid start this phase of his life off right? He's not going to have his parents here to help move him into the dorm. He won't have carloads of stuff to move in. There won't be family with him at the family events, and my heart just breaks for the whole situation.

Pray for us this weekend as A recovers (or tries to) and as we try to figure out how to help this kid with this huge transition in his life. I am thankful that our Lord is bigger than sickness and bigger than college and that he cares for these two guys infinitely better than I will ever be able to.

In love and sushi

2010-08-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Swagbucks, I have been earning Amazon.com gift cards and stacking them up, waiting to redeem them for this little beauty - a sushi kit of our very own, at NO cost to us! :)

I figured, sushi is delicious, but SO expensive for how little you often get! So, why not get a kit and try to make some at home? So we did. It comes with everything except the fresh fillings and chopsticks!

Saturday afternoon, I started out by cooking the included sushi rice, a semi-confusing process that left me a little worried I'd screw it up big time. However, I finally figured out all it really is is boiling the rice, turning the temp down, turning the burners off, fluffing and re-covering with a towel. After cooking and cooling, the rice gets mixed with some really strong-smelling vinegar. Then, we covered it with a wet cloth and went to worship at our wonderful church.

When we came home - it was on.

A chopped the cucumber and avocado for California Rolls, and some cream cheese for Philadelphia rolls. He's so tough, with that knife and all.

Our first roll didn't look so hot! Here's why. First, the instruction booklet says to "Toast the nori (seaweed sheets) over a medium flame"....Um. We don't have any flames except scented candles. I didn't figure that would be wise. Instead, I put it in the toaster oven on about 200 for a few minutes to warm it up - no idea if it actually helped or not!

Secondly, they tell you to cut the nori in half....however, the "cut in half" dimensions matched the size it already was. So, with our first roll, we cut it in half and rolled it wrong. Thus, we didn't have enough to wrap the rice/fillings. It looked more like a taco shell. We're multi-cultural, even with our sushi.

However, it was delicious!! After watching some ever-helpful YouTube videos and getting frustrated about the mechanics of it all, we finally got some decent looking rolls!

When we finally sat down to eat our feast about an hour and a half later, we had a curious onlooker. Silly dog, sushi's for people.

Maybe he wanted some of our homemade egg-drop soup instead. (Who am I kidding? It wasn't homemade, unless you count dropping an egg into a boiling pot of pre-packaged mix as homemade!)

In the spirit of culture, we mixed some wasabi powder with water and a LOT of soy sauce (that junk is SPICY!) in our honeymoon mug from Mexico! And voile! Our sushi feast!!

We had enough left over rolls for lunch the next day, and enough rice left to make one more roll with some salmon, avocado and cream cheese. That was my favorite.

So, for those of you who have made sushi - tips for next time? Because there WILL be a next time!

Around the House

2010-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's like two steps forward and three steps back with our home life. Seriously.

A finally talked to a different supervisor at Sam's yesterday who told us they have no idea where our new bed came from, only that our actual order is still in progress. Meanwhile, we have a more expensive bed than we ordered sitting in our room. If they don't ask for it back, I am not ashamed to keep it and sell it. We discussed it seriously, and then my Dad told me to not do anything that would make me feel bad, but after all of this, I won't feel bad about selling a bed they didn't even know they gave us. Not. At. All.

On the phone yesterday, A explained the situation - again - and the supervisor had no solutions, other than telling us we'd be getting our actual, ordered bed after the order finished processing.

If we get charged for two beds, you can better believe hell hath no fury like a woman pissed at Sam's. Amen.

In other home-news, we had to decide by yesterday if we wanted to stay in our mediocre apartment or figure out someplace else to live come October. After thinking about it and talking about it and contemplating moving in two months....we re-signed our lease for another year.

The wasps are gone, we have a new dishwasher, we haven't seen any arrests lately and the rent didn't go up at all. Plus - NO MOVING. Sounds like a deal to me! ;)

In anticipation of staying in our place another whole year, I am in a decorating fever. First - paint some art for behind our bed to serve as some color and a focal point in an otherwise blah room. Second - I want to buy some blue curtains to bring a pop of color into the blah room. Third, I would like to go through and clean out some stuff - organize, you know. We have too much crap. Fourth - I would really like to finish (start?) sanding and repainting the table I have had sitting, covered, on our deck since, oh, February. It would be really clutch to have a little desk for all our stuff, other than the dining room table. Fifth - curtains for the living room, to bring some more color and style into the space. Sixth - I may paint a wall. Who knows?

This is where my lovely lady friends are needed. You all have skills. I have seen them. Help me organize? Help me decorate? Pretty please?

They screwed up. Again.

2010-07-23T05:27:00.000-07:00

I should have started a file months ago when we first had issues with Sam's. It would have helped me to keep track of all the ways they have screwed us.

Like sending us the wrong mattress set.

I was right to not fully believe they'd get the order correct. I just didn't expect this.

After the guys picked up the old, awful Sam's Club mattress set, the Fairmont Eurotop Firm, they proceeded to put down the new set, the Edgebrooke Eurotop Firm.

Oh wait. THAT'S NOT WHAT WE ORDERED.

I checked the online order. I checked the packing slip. Instead of bringing the set we ACTUALLY ordered - the Fairhaven Firm set, they brought us the exact same bed we just got rid of, only under a different name because of all of the bad reviews attached to the one we had.

Unbelievable.

So, sitting in our room is our deceptively, nice-looking mattress set, that is neither what we ordered nor what we wanted. And again, we are left without a comfortable mattress.

I am so over Sam's - their products, their customer service and especially their online ordering. Friends, where else can we buy a quality California King Mattress Set that is returnable (We're gun-shy now) for around $900???

Things are coming together & Thrifty Thursday

2010-07-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, things are starting to come together, little by little. It's been a long, slow process, but it seems like things are looking up.

First of all. Tuesday I was home when maintenance at our apartment finally came by to look at the dishwasher. Although he blamed it all on our soap, he decided he'd replace our dishwasher "just in case." Uh-huh. Just in case you're wrong and the dishwasher actually does suck, you mean?

We arrived home yesterday afternoon to a hand-written note on our door that said, "I came to install dishwasher. -Ed" There was no indication as to whether or not he actually did install it, but we knew he had come by! Thankfully, as we soon ascertained by the bike in the middle of the living room (why there? We don't know. It wasn't blocking the dishwasher) he had actually installed a new one. We haven't run it yet to see if it works, but my hopes are high.

Also, after several more conversations with incompetent Sam's employees (and one competent one) our bed is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. TOMORROW. That is super exciting for us :) Here's to our backs and our bodies waking up pain-free and refreshed! Although, the process included another several e-mails from Sam's saying our order was about to be canceled again, A talked to the one helpful supervisor, who assured us we were on schedule for delivery tomorrow. However, when we then called back (because of the order-threatening emails), we were told our order was for "a twin bed to be delivered to Illinois, right?" Uh......WRONG.

My hopes are a little less high for the ease of the bed transition than they are for a working dishwasher. Sam's has proven to be a slippery little sucker to pin-down, and to have horrible customer service, to boot. We shall see.

In other news: Thrifty Thursday! I'm all about finding some deals, so whenever I can find things I think would be helpful or of interest to thrifty people, I'll share. So, here's your Thrifty Thursday tips:

Next Thursday (7/29/2010) McAlister's is giving away free tea. Now, I don't care for tea myself - I think the stuff is nasty - but I have been told numerous times how magnificent McAlister's tea is. For my Raleigh peeps - the McAlister's I know of is in North Hills. Plus, on Thursday evenings, they have live music and shag dancing in the square at North Hills, so go get some sweet tea and then head over to the square for some dancing. What a lovely summer evening :)

Next Friday (7/30/2010) is National Cheesecake Day. Thus, the Cheesecake Factory is doing 1/2 price cheesecake all day. I CAN attest to the deliciousness of CF's cheesecake! Every flavor I have ever tried, in addition to their incredible whipped cream, is FANTASTIC. Anyone want to make it a date and hit up CF at Crabtree with me next Friday? I'm game!

Making pies takes too long.

2010-07-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the perfect rainy day for baking. My Mom always bakes on rainy days, and it just seems the most appropriate time to be in the kitchen, whipping up something tasty to eat.

I did not bake on Saturday. I baked on Sunday, when it was a perfect day to lay out by the pool.

Also, there was no "whipping up" involved. The pie-making process took FOR-E-VER.

Our roommate brought back a whole bunch of fresh-picked peaches to share with us, and A mentioned several times how much he loves his mom's peach pie. I figured it couldn't be too difficult to make a peach pie, and while I was at it, why didn't we just make two and share one with our small group?

It was not my brightest idea.

First, we have a very tiny kitchen with little counter space. Second, our dishwasher isn't working, so we have to wash everything by hand. This makes baking and using a lot of utensils a less-brilliant idea, currently. Third, I was not in a pie-baking mood - not in hour #1 and definitely not in hour #4. Fourth - Superfluous trips to the grocery store for eggs when the recipe doesn't actually call for eggs are annoying.

Anyways, here's a few photos of the pie-making process. My sweet husband wanted it to be a fun activity we did together, so he peeled and sliced all the peaches. That was a HUGE help, and if he hadn't done it, I'd probably still be trying to make those pies. I'm that stubborn.

First, quadrupling the recipe for the crusts and making the dough.

Whoops. Forgot we don't have a rolling pin! A sheet of wax paper, my fist and a can of frosting was a nice improv.

Prepping the peaches - boil them first for a minute, then plunge them in ice-cold water. It's supposed to make them easier to peel, but A said the jury is still out on that.

The fruits, literally, of his labor! Look at all those peaches.

Ben was exhausted from all the hard work.

My first attempt at making a lattice pie. I thought it looked decent.

The finished products!

A few reasons I am ready for heaven

2010-07-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

This post could also be titled: I'm tired of dealing with everyone's crap.

I made the mistake the other day of saying I hated everything Walt Disney ever came up with, including Disney World, Wal-Mart and Sam's. One of my coworkers gently pointed out that Sam Walton was behind Wal-Mart and Sam's, not Walt Disney.

Duh. I had wondered where the name "Sam's" came from. Too much "Wal" going on. You can see how I would get confused.

Anywho. You all know about the Disney debacle. Here are the reasons the other two, in addition to my apartment complex - Falls Creek - are on my blacklist.

1) Wal-Mart is inevitably out of so much of my shopping list every time I go to the store. I swear, are things like skim milk that hard to stock? It's not the middle of winter with snowstorms looming, for goodness' sake.

2) Sam's has the worst company trainings I have ever witnessed. I can say this, because we have literally spent HOURS on the phone with at least 8 different representatives from Sam's Club - all of who have different "definitive" answers on solutions (or the lack thereof) to our problem. Train your people to HAVE THE SAME ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS.

"Our problem" is the defective bed they sold us in December. "Our problem" has since blossomed into a defective bed that we can't return without much screaming and gnashing of teeth, and a conspicuous absence of a new bed that we have tried, unsuccessfully, to order several times. After having been told completely different things by people at corporate, other people at corporate, at our local store, and other people at our local store, we hate the entire Sam's Club. If it wasn't for the fact that we talked to one sweet girl who is giving us a discount on our new bed (which we still have been unable to successfully order), we would totally take the crappy, defective mattress and sell it, and take the (finally) refunded $900 and go spend it on a bed elsewhere.

You can better believe whenever we do get the new bed, I will be leaving some very negative feedback about the whole transaction. Who knows when that will be.

3) Our apartment complex is progressively getting worse. In addition to never taking care of their buildings, Falls Creek is on the black list because for MONTHS we haven't had a functioning dishwasher. It takes over a week to get a maintenance person to come and look at anything. Even then, he only says he doesn't know the problem, but will talk to his supervisor and return. That was months ago. No return trip, and still no dishwasher-cleaned dishes.

After resubmitting a work order about it several days ago, now our shower inexplicably clogged this morning. Fan-freaking-tastic. That will probably be a problem for the next year.

Speaking of the next year, we got a note the other day saying we had to decide whether to stay or move within the next 2 weeks. They want a 60 day notice, but only tell us our rent increase amount with 2 weeks left to decide.

In addition to the dishwasher problems and drainage problems, we have also dealt with toilets that don't flush completely, a bathtub above us that leaks into ours and brings the ceiling down with it, wasps in the apartment for months, noisy neighbors and stairwells that are covered in trash and never cleaned. Oh, did I mention the cops that now patrol the complex because of arrests and people getting jumped?

The worst part is, we're actually thinking about renewing our lease because we're too exhausted to think about moving in two months.

*Sigh* Sorry about all the complaints. I think I just needed to vent.

Thrifty Thursday

2010-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of the delicious-looking recipe ideas and the recommendations on Pioneer Woman! I'm definitely excited to get back into the swing of cooking. Tuesday, when I asked for requests on dinner, I ended up experimenting and trying to recreate an idea I had seen on Kraft Foods - Bruschetta Chicken.

We ate dinner with an "autentico Italiano" last week, who informed me that bruschetta should be pronounced bru-sketta. In her honor, I tried some Bru-Sketta Chicken and parmesan asparagus with a Caesar salad.

It was tasty, although if you try and do it, don't do what I did: Place chunks of raw garlic in the mix. Woo-wee - was our breath strong! I diced a Roma tomato and mixed it with fresh garlic, some chunks of mozzarella and some fat-free Italian dressing (which I cook with A LOT), then put it on top of some baked chicken. Instead, saute the garlic in some olive oil first, then add it into the mix. This keeps the garlic flavor more subtle and palatable. Unless we're trying to ward off vampires (and since I'm Team Edward, I'm not) we won't be partaking in raw garlic again!

Tonight is date night, or I'd be plotting exactly what I can do for dinner and trying out some of those recipes!

Since it's date night, I wanted to try and look cute for my beloved, so I threw on a new skirt I hoped he might like. He did. I like it for this reason: It was less than $4.

Those of you who know me know I LOVE a good bargain, and I like the thrill of the hunt for them! Before Montana, I had gone to Goodwill to find some cowboy boots (no luck) and instead walked out with this skirt and genuine leather purse - $3.59 and $4, respectively. Ann Taylor Loft and Gap, respectively. I was pretty delighted and still am. This thrift store kick may stick around for a while! If it does, I'll try and institute Thrifty Thursdays, since I love alliteration!

Do you like bargain hunting? What are some of the best spots to snag a good deal? We are all about saving some money here at the VanderHouse, so let me at 'em!

Rival recipe sites

2010-07-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

As we're trying to get back into the swing of things, I am trying to get back into a cooking groove - you know, enjoying it and making things actually taste good.

Last night, figuring A would want something homecooked and being slightly hungry after all the stomach issues, I made what is normally an old faithful: tuna burgers with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

It was obvious to me I'm not quite back in the groove yet. The meal tasted OK, but it was just so-so. Kind of bland and kind of dry.

Tuna burgers are always a hit around the Vanderburg house, but last night was a bit of a flop. Blame it on my timing or my taste buds.

So anyways, at lunch I watched Hell's Kitchen, which always inspires me to be a great chef, and started trying to figure out tonight's dinner menu. I hit up my two favorite recipe sites, Kraft foods and AllRecipes. Although there are pros and cons to both, I favor one over the other, and always get excited about trying their recipes.

Ladies, if you use these sites, do you prefer one? What are some of your favorite recipes I need to try from them? Also, let me know if you have any dinner suggestions as I keep searching ;)

I'm going to try not to use a ton of dishes, since our dishwasher is broken. Again. I don't know how many times now I have emptied the dishwasher and we have washed the dishes by hand, but it is one time too many.

Whirlwind West trip

2010-07-12T12:49:00.001-07:00

Talk about whirlwinds. In addition to the (literal) strong winds that whipped my hair into all kinds of crazy knots while we were away, the past week and a half has been a crazy whirlwind too.

Since I already told you about the unsuccessful prairie dog hunting, let me recap the rest of the critters I encountered during the Wild West Trip.

On Monday, after finishing the final trash- pick-up of the rodeo, we joined one of the pastors and a few other guys to head into the mountains to fly fish. They fished. I read my book. As we drove back toward town, one of them spotted a black bear and we were all on the alert. We saw it in the brush to the left of the road, then it disappeared. As we looked for it, I happened to look back down the road and see it scurry across to the right side. I quietly motioned to everyone else the bear was on the road - thus provoking one of the men (the same who held my gun for me, incidentally) to yell, "He's on the road!" in a not-so-subtle attempt to help us find the bear again. Thanks, buddy. I got it.

The next day, A drove up from Wyoming and picked me up and we drove from Livingston, MT down through Yellowstone and into Idaho and then Utah. On the way, we saw more little "critters-" lots of buffalo, an elk, antelope, a cat riding on the side-view mirror of an RV (REALLY wish I had been quicker with my camera for that!), chipmunks/rodents of some kind, and lots of microorganisms that changed the springs in Yellowstone to all shades of pretty colors.

Yellowstone Day was probably one of my favorite days of the whole trip - it was gorgeous weather, gorgeous scenery, and absolutely wonderful to enjoy the Lord's magnificent creation with my magnificent husband, who I had been missing while we were apart!

The final creatures we experienced on the trip were those that attacked my stomach early Friday morning in Salt Lake City. I woke up feeling really restless and nauseous, and quickly started losing everything I had ever eaten. It was not a pleasant experience, let me assure you. Makes me re-think my "I want to be pregnant" thoughts! If that's what morning sickness is like, no thank you.

We're not sure if it was a mono relapse, the flu (I had a fever Friday), a stomach virus, food poisoning....Does it matter? It's not fun.

So while the trip, overall, was good, it was beyond tiring and brain-straining once we got into SLC. Needless to say, we are thankful to be home, in our own (still-defective Sam's Club) bed. I'd rather be sick and tired here than anywhere else right now. We're still seeking the Lord's direction on where he would take us and have us plant our lives. If we are called to move to SLC, I'll also be praying that whatever creatures I experienced this last time will be held at bay for the duration of our time there!

Thanks for those of you who have been praying for our trip - we know it would have been much worse, spiritually and physically, if not for the mighty hand of God protecting us. Thank you for interceding on our behalf :)

P.S. - Check the last post for the album link for pictures of the trip. More pictures have been posted!

Of dust and prairie dogs

2010-07-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a dusty day here in Montana. I wanted to say Oklahoma just now, for some reason, but no, I'm definitely in Montana. It may be because the dust is picking up and kicking up my allergies a lot at the moment, but it is otherwise gorgeous and very Montana-like here.

We got here around noon on Thursday after an early morning leaving RDU. As soon as we stepped out of the airport, it was a breath of fresh air. Literally. The air was cool and crisp and so clean. Big Sky country made an immediate good impression.

Since getting here, we've been in a pattern of early mornings, slooooow afternoons (complete with a nap for me today), and long nights of wandering around the rodeo. Although really interesting - especially the people watching - the days are long and generally slow and a bit boring. It's kind of weird - it feels like we have a lot of time to do nothing productive.

Today was the best day here, thus far. We went prairie dog hunting. It was great fun! Although I didn't actually shoot anything (not for lack of trying) I still had a good time. It was a bit frustrating, as I didn't have any time to really do my thing ;) First, one of the guys held the barrel of the gun for me and pointed it for me, even though he was not exactly helping. The second time I got the gun, they made me stop shooting because of fear that I'd hit one of the guys that was walking. The third time I got the gun, I fired off some shots and almost hit it. A rock, that is. I kept shooting and shooting, but unfortunately, wasn't actually aiming for a prairie dog. If it had been one, and he had run toward my bullets, he so would have been dead.

So anyways, we're at the rodeo now, waiting for some more opportune moments to capture and conversations to have!

Here's a link to the photos I've taken. Not great, I'm having a lot of camera trouble, plus, we have a professional photog with us, so my motivation is "notsomuch."

Hope everyone is enjoying their 4th of July weekend!

Gearing Up: More travels

2010-06-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling very eloquent or funny or witty today. At the moment, I just feel like I have a headache and I want to be home with my husband, making dinner, watching a movie, cleaning the apartment and playing house.

It's been crazy busy with little down time, it seems, since we got home from SBC. We were dog-sitting last week for friends of ours (who watched Benny boy for us while we were in Florida). It was fun having him there, but exhausting trying to corral two dogs! I'm thankful the Lord worked it out so that I didn't go get another dog a couple years ago when I wanted to have two! I got a couple pictures and videos of them playing, but unfortunately the one time they laid down together (literally: ONE TIME) I only had my phone and it's crappy camera to capture it.

Incessant playing...

Ben and Maddux, who looks slightly less alert than our bouncy pup.

Then, we had a house guest this weekend, John - also known as our man-child :) Add to that our roommate coming back into town this weekend before he left to be with his wife as they have their first baby. All in all, it was a full house. A and I got our butts kicked by the boys in Scene It - twice. We worshiped at our church again for the first time in two weeks and the last time for two weeks. We enjoyed some wings and I washed my car for the first time since buying it almost three years ago....It was nasty, and it is still not completely clean, but it's infinitely better than it was.

So, all in all, super busy and we're super tired, even at the BEGINNING of a long week.

Wednesday, bright and early, A heads to his parents' in Wyoming for a few days while Thursday, bright and early, I head to Montana for a few days for work. I'm looking forward to being reunited (I hate being apart for days!!) as we drive to Salt Lake City and prayerfully seek the Lord's will for our life.

Please be in prayer for us during our trip(s) - that the Lord would make things clear in relation to SLC. Also, be in prayer for rest as the next section of time looks busy and mentally straining. May we look to the Lord, who is our shield and rest, to be our portion in all things.

Our Disney debacle: The longest day ever.

2010-06-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I mentioned that A and I had volunteered with Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. We hung out with kids at the Special Olympics Basketball Tournament, and in return, each got a pass to a Disney park of our choice. Deciding we'd do the quintessential Disney experience, we used them at Magic Kingdom on Thursday.

It is NOT the happiest place on Earth.

Another myth we heard: That it never rains at Disney.

Lie. It definitely does.

We got up Thursday in Orlando after a long and busy, but good, few days at the SBC. We packed our bags, planning to drive to halfway back that night.

We got to the park, parked in the Daisy lot, and took the ferry boat over to the park entrance. Once inside, I have to confess, I just didn't see what all the fuss was about. We had fun, but mostly because we just wandered and did our own thing and did all the stupid little rides/attractions with little to no lines, i.e., climbing the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Not exactly the most thrilling of activities, but oh well.

We were one our way to Space Mountain (the only "real" ride we were going to do) for our FastPass time at 3, when we saw that the ride wasn't running, because of "technical difficulties" we were told. So, we decided to just head out and get on the road. There were storm clouds gathering, and we didn't see any point in hanging around, hoping Space Mountain would open again soon.

As soon as we started walking toward the exit, we heard the announcement that they canceled the parade for the afternoon, due to inclement weather and not wanting to harm the actors. It wasn't ten seconds later that the skies opened and a flood rained down. We sprinted out of the park and tried to decide how to get back to the parking lot: ferry boat or monorail? Apparently Magic Kingdom is surrounded by a moat, thus rendering it impossible to return to your car if neither of those options is available.

In fact, that was the case Thursday. The monsoon that forced us and about 200 other people into a small compact line for the monorail rained down on us for about 35 minutes before we EVER heard from anyone at Disney. As we stood under the barely-there lean-to, lightning struck the roof, thunder was booming and we were all getting wet. Meanwhile, the monorail wasn't running. At all. That means no movement in the line, just waiting for something. Finally, someone came on and told us operations would be back up in a few minutes.

Lies. A few minutes later, said person came back on the PA and announced that buses (to the resorts, not the parking lots) were running and the monorail was down indefinitely.

We took off toward the ferry, which, although stationary, had at least left once since we had been sitting at the monorail, taking people to the Magic Parking Lot of Dry Cars. Although standing in the line we got wet, it was manageable. When we were forced to switch to the ferry option we. got. soaked. The rain was still unbelievably strong, and the whole area was flooding, so our tennis shoes and everything else became drenched almost immediately.

I probably don't need to mention it, but I will. Aunt Flo was in town, so when I say everything became drenched, I mean EVERYTHING. It was miserable. To make things worse, the only option on the ferry was the completely open top deck, where A tried to shield me from the rain, but we only got more wet (was that possible?) After about 40 minutes of sitting on the boat, trying to get warm and out of the elements, the boat took off to the parking lot - hallelujah.

We were so excited to get to our car, that when the attendant told us all the trams to the lots were shut down for at least 45 more minutes (lie) and we were parked in the farthest-away lot, we didn't even care. We walked. In the downpour. Saturated already, so why not? No sooner did we get to the car and start stripping off wet clothing than the tram pulled up with a cartload of people.

If this seems like the longest story I ever told, imagine it in real life. It took us over 2 hours from the time we left the front entrance until when we got to our car. TWO HOURS.

Does this seem crazy to anyone else? In Florida, a state that gets rained on pretty much daily, why does Disney have no contingency plan for storms? Just shutting down all forms of transportation does not seem like the wisest option. Then again, building a theme park that is accessible only by boat or monorail doesn't seem like the wisest option either, but nobody asked me.

I don't even know what to say, except that it was laughably horrible. We will NEVER take our children to Disney, nor do either of us have any desire to ever go again. I know some people LOVE Disney, but to us, it was a great analogy for hell: Seems like a great idea when you're making the plans to get there, but when you're trapped with no escape and miserable, you wish you had made different decisions.

Little did we know what was to come....

The line in front of us to the monorail.

The line behind us for the monorail.

A's sad face...before the dash to the ferry. Still relatively dry here.

....On the ferry boat, completely saturated. I was disgusting, but it's an accurate portrayal of how bad it was.

DONE!

2010-06-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was A’s last day as a Bruegger’s employee. I, for one, am thankful. Actually, make that “for two.” He’s pretty delighted to be done.

After four months of 3-4 mornings a week waking up at 4am, returning to a normal schedule will be absolutely wonderful for us. However, to commemorate the last three months of life as a Bruegger’s employee, here are my top three stories from there.

1) A’s standing at the cash register ringing up a lady with a little girl. He looks at the lady and says, “Aw….She looks just like you,” to which the lady replies, “It’s not my kid.” Classy, babe. You always know just what to say to make a girl feel good!
2) My husband has graduated from college, spent a year working on a Master’s of Education, and then earned his Master of Divinity a year and a half ago. Needless to say, working at Bruegger’s has been a humbling experience for him, what with his background and all. So anyways, one day he is talking to a collegiate-aged colleague of his and mentions that something at Brugger’s was “crazy.” She looked at him and said, “You want to see crazy, you should go to college! THAT”S crazy!” Ha.
3) This past week, A realized that an uncooked lump of pumpernickel dough looks a lot like poop. He twisted a lump of it around, spritzed it with a little water, and dropped it on the floor of the men’s bathroom – right next to a toilet. He then tried to make one of the employees clean up the bathroom, but when he refused, A went in there with him and picked the “poop” up in his bare hands. The kid flipped out.

So there you go, some of our favorite stories from Bruegger’s. It wasn’t a bad job, but just really hard on his body and on our schedule.

This week we’re in Florida for the Southern Baptist Convention, because I’ll be covering it for work. I’m kind of excited, because we get to spend the week together and do it in Florida! Fun times. We’ll be visiting my friend Jenn in St. Augustine tomorrow and then heading into Orlando. I’ll work Monday-Wednesday, Thursday we’ll hit up one of the Disney resorts (Any recommendations, from people that know us? We’ve both been before, but not together). Then Friday, we’ll start the journey home.

So pray for safe travels for us, if you think about it. Pray for the leaders of the SBC as big things (GCR) come to pass and new leaders come to play. If any of you will be around this week, I’d love to see you!

Blond moments...

2010-06-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, A and I were watching "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" It's a cutesy romantic comedy in which the main couple witnesses a murder and gets put into the Witness Protection Program.

After seeing this man murdered, they're informed they'll be protected by the U.S. government, and they're introduced to their protectors - Marshal Lasky and Marshal Henderson.

(Cue blond moment) I laughed and looked at A and said, "Ha! It's funny they named both of them Marshall!"

He looked at me and shook his head and said, "Babe. It's not their names. It's their title - U.S. Marshal...."

Right. I knew that.

I think it's been a while since I've had just obvious blond moments. Hopefully, they won't stick around for much longer, since I'm going to dye my hair dark very soon! We're heading to Florida for the Southern Baptist Convention next week, and after that, I'm going in to get acquainted with my dark side ;) There is a Mitchell's Salon school in Raleigh, so I'm going to take advantage of their $30 color and $8 haircut. If it looks horrible, blame it on a student!

I've had my hair dark a couple of times before, and I'm ready to do it again. Bored and needing change, you know? Plus, my hubby thought I was a brunette for the first 6 months he was pursuing me and he liked me dark, so we're full-steam ahead in the Vanderburg house!

So this is romance...

2010-06-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

Granted, we have only been married for a little over 7 months. I am by no means an expert on marriage, nor do I bring anything to the table that hasn't already been said by somebody, somewhere. However, a few encounters this weekend got me to thinking that maybe the kind of marriage A and I strive to have is maybe more unusual than I thought.

As we were visiting my parents' church in Maryville this weekend, the pastor who was preaching had everyone stand up and hug two people before he "preached hard words." I hugged the two people sitting next to me: my Mom, and then A. As my husband was giving me a big hug, a lady behind us said, "No fair! You get to hug her all the time" to which my dear hubby said, "And it's never enough."

She looked shocked for a second and then said she wished her husband had heard that. Is it really that novel of a concept that married people should want to touch and hug each other as much as possible? I adore my husband and we try to take any chance we can to hug one another.

The next day, my parents, A and I drove up to Gatlinburg for a delicious Italian lunch and some fudge :) As we were walking along the street, some man yelled out to us, "Hey! Are you guys married or happy?" Always quicker with the responses, A replied, "Both!" Again, another silence greeted us. Is it so surprising that people can be married AND happy with one another?

We believe marriage should look like the Bible portrays it: An amazing gift of the Lord. It is a spiritual union that brings two souls together for the glory of the Lord and the betterment of the husband and wife. Marriage is about our holiness - that is, becoming more like Jesus - than our happiness, and through marriage, we are brought into a deeper relationship with the Lord as we understand Him as our eternal Husband. Marriage is a portrayal of Jesus and the Church: Jesus loves His people desperately, with a sacrifical love, dying so that His people could become righteous. The Church, then, submits to Jesus, recognizing Him as the leader and the one who knows best.

My job, as the wife, then is to submit to and respect my husband as the church should submit to and respect Jesus Christ. I don't do it perfectly, or even well, sometimes. A's job, as the husband, is to love me sacrificially, and provisionally, leading me and discipling me. He doesn't do it perfectly, either. However, within our marriage, I have seen how A tries to love me in very tangible ways, such as leaving me notes in my lunch box (yes, I carry a lunch box), teaching me hard spiritual truths or doing other romantic things for me.

Last night was one such occasion of romance gone awry. After a long weekend in Maryville, we didn't really have any groceries, so rather than asking me to go to the store and shop and then make dinner, my sweet husband offered to make dinner for me!

Here goes!

This is the "main course" for our meal: Cheddarwurst brats with Dijonnaise and saurkraut. Tasty? Yes, surprisingly so. However, in the midst of cooking this, he left two eyes on on the stove. One was empty, the other had a pot lid sitting on it....

One of the eyes on. However, even after shutting off both eyes (and the running water in the sink which was just going....and going....and going....) we still noticed the apartment was getting smoky. We turned on 3 fans, opened the windows, sent Ben to the porch and fanned the smoke alarm as it got smokier and smokier. Then, we realized the smoke was billowing out of the oven, where A had forgotten about this:

Burned nachos. Burned. To. A. Crisp. They smoked foreeever. Literally, they're probably still smoking today! They were charred.

He had set a timer but when it went off, forgot it was for the brats AND the nachos...Oh well. Our eyes burned all night and Ben sneezed all night, but no biggie ;)

So there you have it: Marriage and romance with the Vanderburgs. We may not get it right even half of the time, but it sure is fun along the way, and I'm thankful for God's grace and mercy that gets us through!

If you're interested in reading more about our views of marriage (which are apparently quite different than a lot of other people's views of marriage) can I suggest a reading list?

A) The Bible, specifically Ephesians 5:21-33
B) Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

Check 'em out. I pray the Lord uses them to sharpen A and I in our marriage, and I pray he uses them in your marriage too!

Summer is here!

2010-05-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Crazy day here in Vanderlife. A had to work this morning (hello 4 a.m. for the fourth time this week), I have two graduation services to cover for work, we're trying to get packed up for a trip a mi casa this weekend, A's getting the oil changed in my car and we're trying to figure out our dog, Ben's lodging options for summer trips.

Like I said, busy. I'll be happy to be in Maryville tomorrow and go floating down a Smoky Mountain river with my hubs and dear friends!

So, if you live around us in Raleigh or on the way to Florida, we could sure use your help dog-sitting Ben, one of two times over the summer!! We'd be happy to throw in a home-cooked meal and some Durham Bulls tickets :) He's a pretty easy keeper - comes with his crate which he's fine to stay in, or will happily lounge in a yard or on a porch all day. One meal a day, no meds...He likes to play and go for walks. Basically, this is a personal ad for a dog-sitter. You'll like him and he will LOVE you! He's looking for companionship one week in June and a week and a half or so in July.

Also, if you will be in Maryville this weekend, then I am planning on seeing you and hanging out. This means YOU, Mrs. Iles and Mrs. Bledsoe ;)

Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Media on my mind

2010-05-24T11:29:00.001-07:00

Last night was the LOST finale. To say I (we, haha) both boo-hooed would be an understatement. Out of respect for blog readers that haven't seen it, all I'll say is that each flashback had me tearing up and crying, and the final LOST that flashed on the screen brought on the crocodile tears. It felt like I had lost a lot of close friends.

Although I disagree with the direction they took the show's worldview, it is a beautiful thing when you think about it: the stories of the lives of people who are flawed and in need of redemption find it through love. Just like the Lord's love for us frees us of our sinful pasts and allows us to move forward with purpose for the Kingdom, the characters' love for one another forgave past sins and gave them a purpose for life: sacrificial love and service for one another.

Anyways, it's weird (and sad) how much a part of our lives that show has become. In order to commemorate the ending of an era, I threw a little LOST party for A and I. He doesn't like theme parties usually, but I told him he didn't have to dress up at all. I took care of a few decorations, some themed food and a few party favors! If you watched the show, hopefully you'll understand! Namaste :)

Get it? Instead of Devil's Food Cake...

Our "boarding passes."

"Namaste! Welcome to the Dharma Initiative" :)

Benny stayed awake with us, all with the hopes of being given a leia too! He loved it.

In other media-related things, I am almost done with book #4 of the Eclipse series: Breaking Dawn. I'm not sure what I'll do when I'm through with the series, as I have enjoyed them immensely. I keep wanting to talk about it with my husband, but as he has sworn to never read the books, I'm at the mercy of the release of the movies. Speaking of which: June 30 is the next one. Woot! I'm pretty stinking excited :)

My thoughts, then, lately have seemed to focus on LOST, Twilight movies and Breaking Dawn. I have found myself getting caught up in these silly, make-believe stories and roaring through them. What is it that makes these stories, and others, so attractive? It shames me that as much time and energy I have put into reading reading about vampires and watching about island-dwellers, I have devoted less time to the greatest story of all: the Gospel.

There are, of course, parallels: The struggle of good vs. evil, alliances with those who are fundamentally different....the startling realization that people are all people - the same at the core, sacrificial love, redemption, the afterlife, and purpose.

So as I lose myself in these fictional stories, why do I forget to lose myself in the greatest story of all, the story of Jesus? It is THAT story that holds the answers to all the questions. It is THAT story that can capture my soul every day for the rest of eternity. What an incredible story: A perfect King with perfect motivation to destroy me for my wicked heart, but instead, loves me and sacrifices himself for me, so that I might find joy in Him and live forever enjoying the richness of his mercy.

What a beautiful story. What a beautiful ending to that story. What a beautiful Author and Creator.

Of beds and ball games

2010-05-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

You all probably remember me posting about our bed, with which we have had a love/hate relationship in the last 6 months since we bought it.

Initially, it was heaven, and we LOVED it. I still tend to think it's pretty great, but, thanks to the foam topper on it (part of the mattress), we're returning it. The top section of it has already developed dents and sags in it after only a few months. A has been waking up in pain every night pretty much since March or April. In fact, I found some reviews online, and it seems this is a recurring problem with this particular bed. However, for a bed that has crappy reviews on the website, has a no-holds barred return policy, and cost close to $1,000, you'd think we'd have a little more assistance getting it returned and exchanged.

Four employees of the particular place we bought it from have told me 4 different scenarios on what we can do to get it returned:
1) Bring it into the store ourselves and they'll refund us (it's a California King....). We will then have to order something new from their website, which will take approximately 3 weeks to get in, leaving us bed-less.
2) We can work out some kind of exchange where they bring us a different bed, pick up our old bed, and credit us/charge us for the transaction all at once (the ideal).
3) We pay shipping back on the bed, wait for a refund, then pay shipping on a new bed. By the way, on the website, it clearly states there is NO SHIPPING FEE. This same gentleman, helper #3, also never actually looked up my order or the beds we had been talking about - he only wanted to talk in terms of hypotheticals. Lame.
4) This was #3's supervisor b/c he was ticking me off. Supervisor tells me that what #1, #2 and #3 told me are all incorrect. Although the bed is defective and they don't sell it anymore, they can only do a straight exchange for the identical product which has been recently released with a new name and a clean slate. He then tells me if we want anything different, we cannot return it to the store ourselves, we must have Serta come pick it up, tell the store to credit us, and then order a new bed. In this scenario, we're looking at about 3 weeks without a bed. Fan-freaking-tastic.

I really just wish everyone could get their stories straight. That would be SO helpful.

So anyways, tonight, we're heading over to the store to ask them to order our desired bed to the store for us, without us paying for it, and we will then call for a pickup and refund of our old bed, hopefully leaving us bedless for only a night or two.

Thus, after a stressful day of phone calls about our bed, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we now have a pro ball player living with us, and get some free tickets to go see his game and watch him pitch. However, after dinner, we drove to the ball field, only to find out the box office had some sort of problem and didn't set aside the tickets for us :( Sad day. He definitely threw, too, and we missed it because we were too cheap to pay to get into the game. Ha. We salvaged the night by walking around downtown Durham in the old tobacco factory area, looking at the fountains and hanging out. Right before we got in the car, I was admiring some pretty flowers and A went to cut a chunk off for me.

Whoops - turned out they were roses with some pretty nasty thorns. He laid a finger right into a big thorn! Sorry, babe :( So, no flowers, no baseball game and no comfort in sleep. I'm glad the Lord is sovereign and that these are INCREDIBLY petty issues in the big scheme of things. I'm thankful that even when our backs hurt, our plans are foiled and our fingers are stabbed, that the Lord is who he is and that we are his.

Mother's Day for a non-Mother

2010-05-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

A typical Mother's Day when I was growing up included my Dad grilling steaks and us having a wonderful lunch feast. Maybe we'd rent a pontoon boat and go cruise the lake, lay in the sun, and swim till we were exhausted.

Yesterday it became apparent to me that I'm "not in Maryville anymore."

Granted, no kids for the Vanderburgs yet. So, I'm not a mother yet. I understand that. However, whenever that day comes, I hope my body gets treated differently than how it did yesterday.

We had been planning on doing a bike ride all week. Yesterday morning we woke up and hit the streets atop our two-wheeled death traps, hearts all a-flutter (Who am I kidding? My heart was all a-flutter at the thought of exercising. My sweet husband had already ridden the route 3 times this week, so he was fine).

So anyways, we hop on and off we go - down Capital (one of the busiest streets in Raleigh), cutting through the Hardee's parking lot, until we're on a road that is one long continuous up-hill climb. We detoured off that road and took a lovely little bike path that I will now call "The calm before the storm."

After the bike path was the final push, aka a really big hill. Ok, it wasn't that big, but for me, it was brutal. In fighting terms the trip was like this: jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, SUCKER PUNCH. Seriously.

The good news is that we were at the end, finally. We arrived at Starbucks, I downed some water, we read for a while, and when the gnawing hunger in my body finally got strong enough, we climbed back in the saddle. Fortunately, the return trip was a lot easier on my heart and lungs and legs, as it was mostly downhill. Unfortunately downhill=speed=jostling, which, to my already incredibly sore butt muscles/bones, was not so pleasant.

When we got home, I slaved over a hot stove for a long time and produced a delicious meal of chicken parmesan, parmesan asparagus, salad (not on the stove) and bruschetta. It was a lovely feast. A did clean up for me, since our dishwasher is broken and I hate hand-washing dishes.

You'd think it would be time for a rest after that, right? Nope. I then did a good old-fashioned butt-kicking kind of cleaning job - scrubbing toilets, bathtubs, floors, sweeping, shaking out rugs, vacuuming, organizing, etc. We have a friend of A's moving in with us today, so I wanted to make sure everything was spic and span for his arrival.

Thus, the brutal body day. I treated myself (after a horrible ending to The Amazing Race) to a hot bath and an early bedtime. *Bliss*

In all seriousness though, we may try to make the Sunday morning bike ride a regular thing. We tried the Saturday night service at our church and really liked it a lot, so we'll probably make Saturdays our day of rest and worship, thus enabling us to do more bike rides on Sundays. Since we want to be church planters, I think it will be really beneficial for us to be out in the community when most believers are in church - trying to form relationships with non-believers and getting me out of my legalistic mindset that "Sundays are for church and if you're not at church on Sunday mornings, you're a heathen." I apologize for thinking that. I repent.

Hope all of my lovely friends - mothers and mothers-to-be alike, had a fabulous day. Praise God for the gift mothers are, and I praise God that mothers are merely a reflection of the character of our heavenly Father.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." -James 1:17

Tennessee flooding

2010-05-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hi friends - Just wanted to share a link to some pictures from the flood in middle and west Tennessee over the weekend.

I went to college in Jackson, TN and spent a lot of time in Nashville, so it really saddens me to see parts of both cities so devastated by water. Makes you think of the flood God sent so many years ago - the greatest natural disaster in all of human history. When we see pictures of this flood, let it be a reminder to us of God's mercy and grace - first to Noah and his family for sparing them and using them to bring forth the Deliverer. Secondly, let us remember the mercy and grace of God in his promise that "He makes everything new," and he will, once again, give new life to His people, even in the midst of tragedies.

Here's the link.

Let's remember to pray for Tennesseeans, that God would open their eyes to the opportunity they still have to turn to him and cry out for mercy.

How is it MAY already?!

2010-05-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been a while, huh?

We have had a whirlwind couple of weeks, it seems like. Three out of the last four weekends, A has been in SC working. Thankfully, I was able to go with him these last two weekends! We drove to Walterboro (where he used to live and work) last Saturday morning and then drove back last Sunday afternoon. A grand total of 24 hours, but packed chock-full. We stayed with one of the families at his old church, who added our two (three with Ben!) bodies to an already full and boisterous house. It was fun to hang out with them and grow in understanding of what life pre-marriage was like for my husband :)

When we got back, Monday and Tuesday we went to an excellent conference on church planting and revitalization of churches in the new South. It was held at our church, The Summit, and featured several topics, all centered around the need for the gospel to be faithfully preached in church in the South and around the world. Without the constant exposition of the Bible and the constant teaching on the gospel - central to our faith - our churches will continue to wither and die. We must do away with teaching "quaint moralism" and start teaching the gospel once again. It was refreshing for my heart, as a product of churches in the south, to be reminded that church is not primarily a moral training ground, it's the body of believers who have been radically saved by his grace.

On Wednesday, I returned to the office, while A went to a bootcamp held by the Acts29 church planting network. It was a great time of spiritual renewal and direction for him, it seems, and I can aleady see how the Lord is working through that church-planting training in our lives and futures.

Friday, we skidaddled back down to SC for another weekend (A was preaching the last two Sundays at his old church). We got in about 9:45 or so, after what seemed like a loooong drive. We were thankful to be staying with friends Cory & Jessie, and thankful that though they weren't there to meet us, they had left a key for us on their deck. Smooth-hands-Vandy that he is, A dropped the single key when he tried to unlock the door. It fell to the mat, bounced off, hit the deck, fell between the cracks, hit another board and landed in the dirt below. After about 40 minutes of searching with a flashlight, he finally found the key and tried to McGyver it by sticking some duct tape and a stick in between the boards to snag the key. No luck. The key is still snuggled into the dirt, but thankfully, Jessie came home and let us in :)

Saturday was a full day of sermon prep (for A) and a walk on the beach (for me), chicken fajitas for lunch, putt-putt, go-karts and arcade games at Frankies, and Hyman's for some tasty seafood! We were joined by Clay and Mikalah, former youth of A's who wanted to double date. It was great!

After church on Sunday and listening to my hubs preach, it was lunch witht the pastor and his family and then home.

I'm exhausted. I was tired this morning, and even more tired trying to write about it all. Conciseness is not my strong point. Anyways, if you're tired from reading the recap, I apologize. Go take a nap and think of me ;)

Giving thanks

2010-04-22T11:59:00.001-07:00

I often complain on here about little things that go wrong, and I shouldn't. Although they may be funny, I should spend more time talking about the blessings the Lord has given me and how I evidently see his hand working in my life - for my good and his glory. So, a few little things that happened recently:

1) We had gotten a $700+ bill from the lab that did my blood work and diagnosed me with mono. That was not good. I was fretting about it and quite worried we would have to pay it, but resubmitted it with my insurance provider. Yesterday I got the new bill, post-insurance. $81. God is good. I am so thankful for taking care of that burden and enabling us to continue paying off debt!

2) Last night I also realized God has provided for me providentially, timing-wise. I have doctor's visits once a week, usually on Tuesday afternoons. The other day, A realized next week's visit was on Thursday. I was initially irritated at the interruption to the normal schedule, but last night I realized that Monday and Tuesday, A and I will be at the Advance the Church conference at our church. Praise the Lord, we don't have to leave the conference early to go to my appointment - we'll be able to attend the whole conference!

3) We have been planning to visit SC and go see a former member of A's youth group who will be home on leave for a couple of weeks. After A got home Sunday night, we realized how financially strapped we were this month after the week away. Monday morning, the pastor at A's old church called and asked if A would preach the next two weeks. They'll pay our expenses as well as pay him, so a trip that was going to cost us even more is now taken care of, plus A gets to preach. Plus, we're going to go to the beach and eat some seafood. Praise God ;)

How has the Lord been providing for you?

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night." - Psalm 92:1-2