Merry Christmas!

Paper or Plastic?

The other night, Nate and I were at Brad and Claire's to play games. Before we got started, Brad showed us his new Nintendo DS. (I think that's what it's called...) Anyway the more he showed us, the more I wanted one and kept saying so to Nate. You can use the stylus to write notes and doodle and if you are in the same room with someone else who has one, you can send these notes to each other. (Brad later demonstrated this feature by scrawling out, "Penny smells bad!" What a lovely brother.) Again, I greedily said to Nate, "I really want one!"
He muttered, "Why? You can do the same thing with a pencil and paper!"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We put up our tree on Sunday! We also put lights around the front windows along with those fake candles. We still have a little more that we want to do in the front yard, then we'll see if we can get a picture. But that might be tricky, so don't get your hopes up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nate and I are in Florida for the extended weekend. We just had a lovely feast with his parents and now the effects of tryptophan are setting in. We got up at 6 this morning to drive down here and decided to have our own Thanksgiving service at 9 when we knew our church would be meeting. So we prayed together and then we played the "When I go to Jerusalem..." game. Only we called it, "I'm thankful for..." Here are the results, some serious and some silly:

I'm thankful for:

Apple pie
Brad and Claire
our Cars that haven't broken down
Dads, grand and otherwise
Edibles all year
our little Family
Guns (because Nate's secretly a good ol' boy)
our Home
the Individuals that are our friends
Jesus' love
Pari, whose full name really begins with K
Labor that has brought in money
Moms, grand and otherwise
Nate's siblings
Open Door Chapel
answered Prayer
Quietness
our Rose bushes
Telephones, cell and otherwise
one nation Under God
Various music
the World Wide Web
Xtras
You & me (Nate and I, that is)
Zion

Peggy?

For some reason, people have often mistaken my name for Peggy. I guess it's sort of like Penny, but it has happened a lot. One of my new co-workers called me Peggy at first. My manager was quite astonished and said, "You don't look like a Peggy!"

Speaking of work, I'm really enjoying it so far. I know that people have been praying for me and I really appreciate it. I have a TON to learn, but it's going well. I'm even processing film now! And by the way, be careful what you take pictures of, people. Think about the poor person in the lab! Oh my word.

Nate is not working now. You can pray that he will find new employment, with just the right company. His last company was dumb. It's been nice having him home, though. I worked until closing on Monday, so he fixed dinner for Grandpa. Yesterday I worked until about 3:30, but he still fixed dinner for us without my even asking. AND, as we speak he is fixing breakfast. Not just cereal or eggs or something. Crepes! Without a recipe! Yum. Maybe he should become a chef...?

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho It's Off to Work I Go!

I got a job! At a camera store!!! It's the same chain as Brad's but different store. Brad recommended me to them and has been a huge support, answering all of my questions, dumb and otherwise. I have a feeling I've only just begun with my questions to my brother. Thanks Brad, for being patient. I'll just be working 20 hours a week and starting in the lab. I would appreciate everyone's prayers as I begin this new adventure!

Phoebe is growing like crazy, and driving ME crazy. Puppies are a lot of work. She's slowly turning into a lovely little dog, though.

Grandpa came to live with us a year ago yesterday. We've had our ups and downs. It's a challenge having to share your home with an elderly person. (To put it mildly). Next week, we are planning to move him to Brad and Claire's. Please pray for them and him.

I will leave you with another photo of the foliage, which has been stunning lately.

Meet Spike

Joshua's Birthday

Joshua's parents had a Time Change/Birthday party on Saturday. He and another woman in our church share a birthday, so Pari asked if I would make the cake. Here it is. Joshua loves trains, so I did the train for him and the flowers for Kyoko.

Puppy on the Brain

Phoebe is growing and learning rapidly. We've had her for three weeks and already she has wormed her way into our hearts. She keeps us busy! We discovered today, as you can see, that she loves water!

Our New Security System

Phoebe
She's an 8-10 week old Border Collie-Black Lab mix. Nate found her last Saturday being given away for free. She's quite smart and endearing. We are working on the simple commands of "Come," "Sit," "Fetch," and most importantly, "No."

 

Georgia Foliage

 

NewThought

I know in my head that God loves me, but it's not always something I feel or can easily understand. I probably never will fully grasp it until I get to heaven. I am thankful, though for this new thought I found in a Bible study book I've been doing recently:

God loves me because that's Who He is. He IS Love. You might say that He just can't help it!

Black/White

Melvin being cute.

 

Blue

 

Another Red

I know, we're only supposed to do one photo a day, but I found this Cardinal feather on the deck this evening and couldn't resist. 

Red

 

Green

I love green glass, so this one was easy!

 

Monday - Yellow

Color Week has begun. This little guy works as a soap dispenser when he is not being a model. 

Stay Tuned

This is Color Week, starting tomorrow. Inspired and organized by Liane. I plan to participate and I would encourage others to do so as well. I had so much fun walking around with my camera yesterday looking at color and trying to decide what to do each day. You can go to Liane's blog here for more details.

I Still Don't Like Bugs

A little piece of advice: don't kneel in the grass without looking first. I have more than 50 bugbites on my legs from doing so. No, I'm not exaggerating.

Oh, the itchiness.
Oh, to just give in and SCRATCH!
Oh, lead me to the Benadryl!

Before

After

I Don't Like Bugs.

Well, it has been awhile. I've been busy!

I've been teaching/tutoring my cousin's son Joshua two days a week. He is three and already knows all of the letters of the alphabet and some of his numbers. We've been working on what the letters say and some counting. He is quite the mimic, often quoting lines from Thomas the Tank and repeating big words that he hears adults say. Tuesday, when we were assembling our "number snake" he said, "Simply splendid!" It's not very funny in writing, but when you hear a little three year old pipe up with those words in a cute sing-songy voice, it's hilarious!

I've also been busy painting our living room in preparation for the arrival of Someone. There's nothing like the knowledge of company to kick me into gear when I have projects to do! I will post some before and after pictures soon. Brace yourselves.

If our neighbors happened to look toward our house this morning, they would have seen a crazy lady brandishing a floor lamp (the kind with the shade pointing to the ceiling) and waving it outside furiously. The reason for this insanity is that when I walked into the living room this morning to survey the paint progress and evaluate what still needs to be done, I saw a HUUUGE cockroach on the CEILING!!! Nate's at work, so I called Brad and told him in as pitiful a voice as I could muster of my plight and he LAUGHED. He said that maybe if he had time he would stop by and help. Thanks for nothing, pal. So, I hung up and told Grandpa about the creature and we stood there contemplating the best way to get it down when I thought of the lamp. After a brief struggle, I caught the hideous thing and yelled to Grandpa to open the front door and, as the neighbors probably saw, furiously shook the lamp outside until the bug plopped out into the ivy. Eww. I still shudder thinking about it.

And here is a picture I took when we went to Savannah and Tybee Island for our anniversary.

Do you have the wingspan of an eagle?

 

On the way home from church...

Claire and I had a good talk today. I came away with this:

If our lives were easy, would we appreciate heaven as much?

Happy 4th of July!

 

More Sewing...

I was inspired by Liane when she made her bag to make one of my own! I did some searching online, combined a couple of ideas and came up with this. I used material from a couple of old skirts I had kicking around the closet. 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

The Red Sox are in town playing the Braves and WE'RE GOING! I'm so excited! Brad, Claire, Nate and I will be headed out this evening armed with signs, so look for us on ESPN! We'll be in the outfield. We are trying to think of ways to get on TV! Any ideas?

Our Roses are Blooming!

 

So thirsty...

Melvin likes his water fresh!

 

I'm a Happy Little Homemaker!

I just finished sewing together these kitchen curtains out of kitchen towels...



...on this machine!

A Not So Typical Meal in Our Home

The other evening Nate, Grandpa and I were sitting down to dinner. The rain was falling and sounds of thunder rumbled in the distance. As Nate sat down and started to say, "Let's pray," BOOM! The chair he was sitting in split in half and he tumbled to the floor! Grandpa and I were startled and checked to see if Nate was okay! While we were surveying the damage and recovering from this unexpected shock, the room brightened with a FLASH of lightning and BOOOOOM!!!!!!!! Thunder right over our heads literally made us jump! Well, at least Grandpa and I jumped, nothing really rattles Nate. Oh, my word. It took a few moments for our hearts to settle back down so that we could eat! Thankfully, Nate is fine. The chair is not, though, and will be used for firewood next winter.

Eww.

Nate went out to the garage this evening to find an item for tomorrow's object lesson at church and spotted, much to my dismay... A COCKROACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yuck!

Ooooh, a Plant!

Some of you will recognize this plant from our church.
When the sun hits it just right, it's breathtaking! I love it.
Let's hear it for simple joys.

 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you!

Eggs!

Here are a few of the eggs I did at Brad and Claire's for Easter!