I'd like to make an announcement...

...there is more to New York than NYC.

Take a look at a map...

Thank you,
Western NYer

Merry Almost Christmas!

Mike and I had our family Christmas together last night. It was nice, but was a huge reminder that we won't be able to spend the actual day together. I am thankful that until now we haven't had to miss to many things together because of his program. In the end, when he passes his exam, we'll be glad he stayed here for Christmas, but for now, it kind of stinks! He gave me money toward my new piano! Yay! I think I have enough now. So, I'll probably be spending January 1 and 2 at music stores playing their pianos so I can decide which I want!

In 22 1/2 hours I will be on the road. Car packed. Puppy strapped in. Snacks and books on CD at the ready! There's still lots to do to get ready to go though...
1. Trip to the mall for 2 things (both of which I can't say because they're gifts!)
2. Stop at Target (or somewhere) to get travel hairspray (I just ran out during our last concert last Sunday)
3. Fill up the gas tank
4. Clean out the car
5. Pack myself and finish packing Bella
6. Pack the car
7. Make sandwiches and easy-to-eat snacks

Lunch time will be utilized well today! :)

Merry 'almost' Christmas all!

The mad dash to Christmas...

This year I haven't had nearly enough time to feel prepared for Christmas. I've been squeezing in shopping/wrapping/gift making in every spare second that I have. I have 3 evenings, and 3 lunch breaks left to finish getting my last minute things, wrap them, make 10 more 'sand art brownie' gifts, do several loads of laundry, pack myself, pack Bella's stuff (not quite as daunting as traveling with a baby, but requires lots of extra stuff!), get books on CD from the library, clean out the car (and clean at least the windshield...it's bad!), pack the car, make sandwiches for travel and have a date night and mini gift exchange with Mike.

This week is going to fly by.

I'm hoping that on my drive to NY I'll be able to focus more on the 'reason for the season'!

Happy Monday before Christmas!

Christmas and guests

Christmas is almost here! Despite my hectic weekends playing with the Virginia Handbell Consort, I decided it was a good idea to make gifts for everyone at work and church! I'm not sure what I was thinking, because my time is very limited, but it's been fun anyway!

This year, I made Sand Art Brownies. They're the dry ingredients for brownies, layered to look like sand art. They're really pretty (I'll have to post a picture later) but quite labor intensive! It's taken me several days to assemble them, and I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to finish them all, but lo and behold, we had an unexpected snow storm and guest!

My brother-in-law had to come into town for work, so he stayed with us Thursday night. We were supposed to go to our small group Thursday night, but because of a pretty big snow storm, that got canceled...AND we left work 2 hours early! Yay for more time to get gifts made!

So, Mike made dinner (Thai Red Curry Chicken...so yummy!) while Jon helped me cut out circles from fabric to go on top of the quart size mason jars. My hand has been giving me some trouble as the bell season has gone on, so I was SUPER thankful for an extra set of hands. In just 30 minutes or so, we cut out 20 circles! After dinner, Mike helped me cut and tie the baking instructions on, and I was ready to bring my gifts to work today!

Now...I still have 13 more to do for church people. Looks like that's going to have to happen on Saturday morning.

Playing bells tonight from 5-8 at a local mall. Pray for my hands...and my feet! ;-)

Living in the future

I was driving to work this morning and in front of me was a car with a license plate holder that said, "Recycle Life, be an Organ Donor".

For some reason this struck me. I started thinking about all of the things around me that I never imagined would be reality. Here's a short list:

1. Giving of ourselves, even in death, through organ donation.
2. Children playing on landfills because there's not enough green grass anywhere else to play. (click here)
3. The internet
4. Skype - now you can keep in touch with anyone, anywhere...and even see them!
5. Segways
6. Flying - I know this isn't new, but every time I get on a plane, I marvel at the ability for that huge piece of metal, filled with people and all their stuff, to get up off the ground and fly!
7. Facebook - I have reconnected with some really old friends. Amazing!

Sometimes I feel like I'm watching myself in one of those 'futuristic' movies...only, it's reality!

What's 'futuristic' to you?

We were home...for about 3 seconds

We arrived home from San Francisco at 8:30am on Sunday, November 21st. (You'll get more complete updates on our trip after Thanksgiving) Since my luggage was lost, I couldn't do any laundry on Sunday. So, I just forced myself to stay awake (after getting about 2 hours of sleep on the red-eye flight) by doing a little bit of cleaning. My luggage arrived Monday, so that evening was spent sorting the clothes and doing laundry. Tuesday evening was spent packing. And today...we drive!

The trip to NY the day before Thanksgiving is always a treacherous one. We hit traffic at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT), then it clears up for a bit until we pick up 95 after Richmond. Then, it's insanity until we pass DC. Many times we choose to go a different route that actually takes about 30 minutes longer, but it's MUCH less stressful.

We shall see what the traffic holds for us today. It should be interesting traveling with Bella this time! :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Quick update

Life has been full lately! We're headed to San Francisco next week so we've been busy preparing for that. Mike flies out on Friday morning to present a paper at the Religious Communication Association. I'm so proud of him! I couldn't afford to take Friday off, plus I have bell choir rehearsal on Saturday morning, so I'll be flying out at 5pm on Saturday afternoon. We fly back on Saturday, Nov 20 at 10 something pm, arriving in Norfolk at 7am...or something crazy like that!

While we're there, we'll be attending both the RCA as well as the National Communication Association. Some friends of ours will be attending as well, so I'm hoping to be able to hang out with Rachel and 'the girls' some while Mike and Andrew are at the conference. I may find myself alone though, in which case, I'll need to do some exploring on my own! I wonder if there's any good shopping... :) 

NCA ends on Wednesday afternoon and I have LOTS for us to do. Top on the list is Yosemite National Park.

That's all for now. I'll try to keep up to date while we're gone!

Normalcy...

Our house is finally starting to get back to normal. Today is the first day that hubby will go back to studying, preparing for his quals and working on other PhD 'stuff'. Tomorrow will be the first day back at church.

He got his Tysabri infusion on Thursday morning and could almost instantly tell that it was working on the MS symptoms. He still felt lousy on Thursday and Friday (normal Tysabri infusion reactions) but by Saturday he was well enough to go to the grocery store with me! This is the first extended trip out of the house that he's had since the relapse hit on Wednesday, September 22nd. Yay! We stayed home all day yesterday and spent time relaxing and getting housework done. I cooked some chicken in the crockpot and now have two 2-cup baggies full of chicken ready for quick weeknight meals (I used the 3rd bag for dinner last night!).

In other news...

• Bella has gone 3 nights in a row without having an accident all night long! Yay! Maybe we're done with the middle of the night potty trips?!?! :) She continues to be a LOT of work, but such a joy! I'm constantly looking at her doing silly things and smiling. I got some video last night of her running like mad up and down the hallway with her 'baby'. I'm hoping I can figure out how to edit it so I can post it. It's too cute!

• I have a follow up appointment with my endocrinologist tomorrow. All of my test results are in...so we'll see what the scoop is. Part of me is hoping that there is absolutely nothing wrong, while the other half hopes there is some easy fix solution to explain all of these sudden weird symptoms. Either way, I'll know soon enough...

• It rained from Monday through Friday of last week. It was beautiful and sunny on Saturday, and then started raining again on Sunday...and it's still raining/cloudy now. I'm looking forward to a stretch of sun! During all of the raining, our street flooded and I couldn't get out of my driveway Friday morning! It was really crazy!

 Well, I suppose those are the highlights for now. I'll post another update after my appointment tomorrow.

No, the MS is not gone...

My husband has Multiple Sclerosis. For years we've lived in relative bliss. After struggling for so long with relapse after relapse, hubby was finally able to go on the 'new' medication, Tysabri, in September 2006. Since then, he hasn't had a single relapse. His MRI's come back looking exactly the same year after year! We've been so blessed!

...until now...

He had, what we're calling an 'episode', though it's been two days and he's still having MS symptoms. We think this might be a relapse. I've found this 'episode' or relapse (whichever it turns out to be) to be particularly unnerving. Maybe we put our hopes too much on a man-made drug and not enough on our creator? That's not to say that I haven't prayed or been faithful enough. It's just sobering to go from relatively no symptoms for so long, to such a strong display of MS (for lack of a better word) 'junk'. Yes, he still has MS and yes, it can rear it's ugly head whenever it wants...even at the most inopportune time.

It's been so long since we've had to deal with this that I've forgotten how emotionally taxing it is. What a good reminder to keep turning to the One who is the ultimate healer?! He can handle all of our frustrations, anger, tears, confusion, questions...He can take it all. It's refreshing to know that I serve a God who is big enough to take all of that and even conquer MS!!

Hubby is doing alright, but we appreciate your prayers right now as we're navigating through this new change. Please pray specifically that this is not a relapse and that he will not have to go on steroids. Also, as always, pray for healing.

It's going to be a low-key weekend at home with the puppy for us! Maybe that's not such a bad thing...

Bella's 2nd week with us - 10 weeks

Bella has been with us for 2 whole weeks now. Wow...that first week was rough, but this second week has gotten so much better! We went for Bella's 2nd set of shots tonight. Bella did wonderfully! She was so brave! :) When we brought Bella home, she weighed 4lbs 3oz. Today, she weighs 5lbs 13oz!! She gained 1lb 10oz 12 days!!

We also had our 2nd training session tonight with Nancy from Applause for Educated Paws. She's fantastic! I can't say enough good things about her and her training methods. Bella is going to be an excellent dog, in part because of her breed and temperament, but also because of the training that she's getting!

This past Saturday, Mike and I grilled out and spent some time outside with Bella. We got a bunch of great shots with her. Here are a few:

That's all I have for now...

Endocrinologists, thyroids and hormones...oh my!

I finally went to see an endocrinologist. I've been having weird symptoms (related to hormone imbalance) for about a year now and after some prodding, I finally decided to go to the doctor.

I had a nice appointment and she did a TON of blood work, as I suspected she would. Then, during the exam she said, "You have a nodule on your thyroid. I'm sending you to get an ultrasound.". What?!

So, I'm off to get an ultrasound this afternoon. I'm not worried...after doing much research, I don't have any of the symptoms and they say that 95% of them are benign. But still...it's a little strange.

I don't expect to know anything for another two weeks or so, but I'll be sure to update.

Life changes...

How do women with infants...or new puppy parents find time to do anything?!?!

So far in the last week, I've managed to do 3 loads of laundry, on three separate days, with help folding from my wonderful husband! Though the housework has been slightly lacking, I have found it's much easier to cook and keep the kitchen tidy. Why? Because we can lock the puppy in the kitchen with us and she can't get into trouble! Hooray!

Having Bella has caused a radical life changing shift for us...in lots of good ways!
1. I now go to bed at exactly 10:00 every single night. Bella goes out and in her crate and off to bed I go.
2. I get up promptly at 6:30 every single morning. Woah...I know! Gone are the days of hitting the snooze button for 30 minutes to an hour! The alarm goes off...and I get up.
3. I watch far less television. Though the TV is on almost all the time, I rarely pay attention. Why, you ask? Our little Bella is a bundle of energy from about 5-7:30, takes a short nap and then plays again from 8-9. So, unless I want to sit in the kitchen all night, I have to keep my eyes on her the entire time. Oh, and did I mention I'm sitting, crawling, running after her and kneeling on the floor the entire night!? :)
4. We eat at at home every single night. Now, we have ordered in a couple of times, but this is a MAJOR life shift for us. We're used to eating out numerous times during the week. This is one of the more interesting changes for us. While I love being at home and sharing our meals together there, I do miss some of the freedom to be able to just head out the door to grab a bite to eat and see a movie. I have to say though, this change has been good for our budget! ;-)
5. I don't go anywhere in the evenings...at least for a little while. Bella has to be restricted to being in our back yard or a small area at church until she gets her second, and more likely her third round of shots. We can take her places and hold her, but where is she going to go to the bathroom? So, I stay in. I also stay in because I don't want her sleeping all evening and then being wired all night. If you know me, you know I need my beauty sleep! :)

I imagine all of these changes happen when you have children, so we're just making the adjustment sooner. I suppose once she gets a little bit bigger, we'll have more freedom again, but for now, life has changed dramatically!

We absolutely love our little bundle of fuzzy puppy! She brings joy, smiles and laughter to everyone that sees her and these life changes are worth it for her! :)

Pictures of Bella

I don't have a ton of time and I'm exhausted, so I'll keep this short. They're not the best, but here are a few pictures of our new puppy!

Exhaustion sets in...

We've survived night number 3 with Bella! Praise God!

We went to the vet yesterday afternoon and the vet shed some light on Bella and her breed. Apparently cockapoos are very (what I call) 'clingy'. They want to be wherever you are, touching you if at all possible. This describes Bella exactly. So, I asked her about crate training and what we should do because I think she was crying all night long. Vet asked where we kept her (in the kitchen) and she strongly recommended moving her to the bedroom with us (NOT in the bed!). She suggested that we always allow her to sleep in our bedroom because that's where she'll be happiest and without much hesitation, Mike agreed! I'm completely amazed - but he loves her so much so I know he just wants to do what's best for her.

For those of you with infants - I have a new appreciation for what you do! It's not easy running on too little sleep and having little to no time to unwind before doing it all again!

Bella is a joy, but I'll be glad when crate training is over! :)

Starting training with Nancy at 'Applause for Paws' next week. Can't wait!

Pictures coming soon!

Bella is here!

I don't have any pictures uploaded yet, but we brought home our beautiful chocolate cockapoo, Bella, yesterday! She's 8 weeks old today -born July 13th. She's super smart and so so sweet!

Our first night was rough but we made it! She cried when we put her in her crate. I need to continue to do training with her so she doesn't associate the crate with us leaving her alone. I think I'll work on that some tonight. Mike stayed up and took her out at midnight and I got up to do the 3am shift. She only cried for 15 minutes and then went to sleep. I'm hopeful that she'll keep getting better. It's SO hard to hear her crying for us!

Bella is a very 'cuddly' puppy. When she sleeps, she must be touching one of us. Her favorite is to put her head on a foot! This makes it so hard to leave her when she's crying.

We're reading the Dog Whisperer's new book, "How to raise the perfect dog". It's been really insightful. I'm looking forward to using his techniques with Bella.

Sorry no pictures. I'll get some up soon! Stay tuned! :)

All I really want for Christmas...

...is a snuggly, fluffy, gentle, loving dog.

I've wanted a dog for years. First, I couldn't have one because we lived in an apartment and besides...I was too practical to spend money on a dog when I knew we'd be having children in the next year or so.

Well...clearly that hasn't happened. So, I continued to want a dog, but now my desire for children started to really kick in. So, we started on that path only to discover it isn't as easy as we thought it would be. While we tried...months (and now a year) went by and nearly every single friend got pregnant (and have since delivered) while I waited for my turn.

Again, clearly...that wasn't in the cards for us yet. So, while I yearn for children, my desire to have a dog has not gone away.

Bare with my while I share a story...

I had an interesting conversation today with a woman who is quite a bit older than me, and whoes husband is also in a PhD program (he's in the dissertation phase). She reminded me that even though Mike and I are working together toward the goal of having his degree complete so that I can stay home with children, I should not let my dreams and desires fall by the wayside.

After a lengthy conversation, I realized that I had been putting my life on hold because I kept thinking...we'll be done soon...just another 6 months...or another year. Well, unfortunately PhD programs are quite a bit more challenging than I think either of us realized and the program is taking longer than we thought.

So, after some heartfelt conversation with Mike, we've made a desision! While it doesn't make the most sense to have children at the moment (even if we could), what's stopping us from having a dog?! So, we're going to talk with the property manager and see what it would take to change our lease so we can get a puppy!!!

We'd like to get a cockapoo...

                                                                              

Aren't they the cutest little guys you've ever seen?!

There are still some hurdles to jump. The biggest is that we have to convince the owner to let us have a dog. I'm praying that this process will go smoothly since we'll be able to tell him what kind of dog we want (he should be less than 20 lbs) and that he's even hypoallergenic.

If you think of it, please be in prayer for us. I would just be so blessed if we could bring one of these little furbabies home with us soon!

While we can't have kids yet...at least I can have a dog! (hopefully...)

We built a shed!

For those of you that have asked. Here are pictures of our adventures in shed-making!

Step one: Make a level foundation. I don't have any pictures of this, but it took a LONG time to do!

Step two: Put the sides up:

Beautiful sunset...

Step four: consult the directions... (see all of our lovely plants?!)

Step 5: DONE! Now we're putting together a shelf that we had to go in it.

"Which end is up??"

This is all of the junk that had to go in the shed:

And finally the finished product! We need to fix the one corner that has a piece of wood sticking out, but other than that...it's perfect!

Sick...

Just as I got on a roll...I get sick. I've been down with bronchitis for almost two weeks now. After a full weekend on the couch, I'm starting to feel a bit better.

My voice still sounds really funny though.

Someone told me I sound like a teddy bear today...

...what does a teddy bear sound like?! :)

TTFN...

Project complete!

I love to start new projects! Unfortunately, I rarely complete them. So, I'm so proud of myself that I've managed to start and finish one whole project!

After we moved into our newest place, I purchased a small round kitchen table from someone on craigslist. It was the perfect size, but the fabric on the cushions really needed help and it had a fair amount of paint splatters and imperfections on it. It was something I knew I could do, so I got it.

First, I used some wood refinisher to brighten the whole thing up and give it new life. I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but if you're interested, I'll get the product info. The previous owner reupholstered two chairs. Here's what it looked like post wood refinisher and pre-new fabric:

The one on the left is 'new fabric' the one on the right is the original fabric. You can't see it from the picture, but the stuff is naaastaaay!!

Second, I removed the seat from the chair, took off the old fabric and cut a piece of the new stuff making sure to leave enough room on the edges so it would fold properly.

Next, I got out my staple gun and made nice neat corners! I'm so proud!

Finally, I re-attached the seats to the frame and enjoyed the fruits of my labor!

Excuse me! You have something on your face!

Have you ever gotten home from a particularly busy day at work...or out running errands, or ministering at church only to find that the amazing lunch you had has made itself known to everyone you meet. Each person you have spoken to...or smiled at now knows that you had something fantastic with lots of spices in it! They smile, say hello, perhaps have a lengthy conversation with you and say NOTHING!!

How is possible to go through the entire day with a big huge hunk of food stuck between your two front teeth and no one has said a WORD!?

I was walking across campus this afternoon to get some lunch and I passed a young woman, probably around my own age. She was a bit heavier set, but dressed very nicely for her first day of classes. As I got closer to her, I noticed that the bottom button of her beautiful plumb blouse was undone, showing perhaps a bit more skin than she had anticipated. I casually walked past and thought, "Oh, poor girl!" But since I was a stranger, I did nothing, said nothing and simply walked on to get my lunch.

This got me thinking. What if that was ME?! What if I was the one walking across campus with my pooch hanging out? Wouldn't I want someone to stop and tell me? Wouldn't I be thankful for the stranger that cared enough about me to stop, be a bit embarrassed for a moment, but save me hours of humiliation?

I always thought I was the friend that could be counted on to tell someone if they had food in their teeth, a smudge on their face, lint on their backside. I think I am...but now, maybe I can become the stranger to do the same for those I don't even know.

That's my own personal challenge. I will be a friend to the stranger with food in her teeth!

Dear lady with the pretty purple top,
Your bottom button is undone. You might want to fix that!
Love, A caring stranger

PS- I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner!

The Blindside

I finally watched it last night. Man...what a powerful story. And to think that it's REAL!

It got me thinking. What if we ALL took the time to get to know a child who needed support because he/she didn't have any at home? What would the world look like if every single Christian family took the time to invest in someone else's life? What would MY life look like if I found just one child to pour my life, and God's love into?

You may be thinking, I could NEVER do what she did. I don't have the money, the space, the time or the energy to take someone into my home and care for him/her as my own. That's ok, because I certainly don't have the space or the money to care for anyone else right now.

So, what can we do? What can I do?

For now, I'll be praying for an opportunity to give back to those that are less fortunate. I'm excited to see what God reveals!

The best of times...the craziest of times!

Will life ever slow down? I'm beginning to think not!

Gone are the days of childhood when an afternoon felt like a year, and math class felt like and eternity. Now, an afternoon seems to happen in the blink of an eye, and a year flies by faster than I could have ever imagined it would.

We moved two months ago...and we just finally got the last of the organizing done and all...well, most, of the pictures up on the walls. Where has the time gone? It seemed like yesterday that we were making the millions of sweaty trips from the car to the house and from the condo to the new townhouse.

Our summer has been quite full. We moved, we went on vacation, we got sick on vacation...in a tent (story for another time), we've started a monthly Wednesday night dinner and worship service, made new friends, visited old ones, I went on a women's retreat and somewhere in the middle of all of that I've found time to go to work!

In an effort to keep the pace of life going at the rate it has been, I'm searching for jobs for Mike. This is quite the undertaking, as there are few places where faculty positions are posted centrally. I've started casually looking, but in the next month or so, I'll begin 'the spreadsheet'!

So...for today...my heart is thinking about next summer...but my brain is enjoying every moment of this rainy day in August!

Old friends lost

I have a friend that I haven't talked to in years. She used to be a great friend. I was the maid of honor in her wedding...we'd been friends since second grade. I spent many years calling her, leaving voice mails, sending e-mails with very little, if any, response from her. But even after several years of no contact, I am still grieving the loss of this friendship. She's pregnant with her first child and hasn't contact me once directly about it. I'm a little hurt, but mostly just bummed about the loss.

I think it continues to work in the back of my brain because every once in a while I'll have a dream about her. The most recent was a variation on all the rest - somehow I manage to fly out to visit her (she lives across the country) and she completely ignores me. I spend the entire dream following her around, trying to catch up with her (she knows I've come to visit) but she doesn't want to spend any time with me. I'm hurt and frustrated. I always wake up wanting to reach out, to make some kind of contact but I convince myself that I've done all I can. It's over.

Am I foolish for feeling this way? Why does it bother me so much? I'm not lacking for friendships. I feel completely satisfied in that area. Maybe I'm overly sentimental...who knows?!

To my readers: cherish your friends and family - don't forget to reach out.

To my friend (if you ever read this): I miss you.

The World of Blogging...

So...I've decided to enter the blogging world. I've always been slightly opposed to it...until recently. I'm not sure what changed, but now I have a desire to place my mark on the blogging world! I don't really have any goals or groups of people that I'm trying to reach. I guess I thought I might have something to add to the world...if someone happened to find me. I just plan to write on every day things...life, God, health, friends, family...and whatever else strikes my fancy.

I'm not a writer, and I don't ever plan to be. My English may be poor, my spelling may be bad and maybe I'll offend you (unintentionally), so you'll just have to forgive me.

Welcome to my blog...