Thanksgiving - Part Two

I know it's after Thanksgiving, but does that mean I can't finish my 2-part series? We should always be thankful!

We had a wonderful trip to Santa Clarita from Wednesday to Saturday. It was so relaxing to be with the Jensens, family away from a home that is away from blood family. :-) Linda outdid herself again with the perfect tasting traditional meal! We watched Batman Begins since they had never seen it. Then on Friday, I got to go shopping with Linda...I forgot what it is like to shop with only a woman, have money to spend only on what you WANT, and not be pressed for time. I got my Christmas shirt and earring -- it was exactly what I had in mind! I'll post a picture as soon as I can get it taken. Both drives (down and back) were uneventful and reminded us just how beautiful northern and southern Cali are. And man alive! Has anyone ever seen a wine vinyard in the fall??? A literal SEA of gold and cranberry colored leaves. Simply gorgeous!

Here is a list of 10 things I am Thankful for:

1) God - Sounds like a pat answer. I was thinking of what adjective to use to describe Him, but I can't choose just one. I am thankful for His sovereign control, His faithfulness when I am unfaithful, His nearness even when I am not near Him, His creativity, His goodness, His love, His holiness though I can not fully grasp it. How do you even say everything you are thankful for about Him except to say...just Him?

2) Life - Sounds like another typical answer, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I LOVE the life I have been given. So full of adventure, unknowns, but with a few key stabilities (to be named later). I love the joy that wells up within me when I ponder this abundant life I have been given...I just wish I would always remember that it is because of Christ, not just because.

3) Matt - Which aspect am I most thankful for now? His best friendship. His companionship. We have so much fun together, so much time together because of his schedule. It has been amazing to watch how quickly he has learned to be the husband that God wanted him to be for me. His patience is incredible. His humor keeps me laughing (or rolling my eyes). His love keeps me warm and fuzzy. He truly is an understanding and participating husband, something I need especially right now with being pregnant.

4) Family - My theme song this Christmas is "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Talk about joy overwhelming me! I can not WAIT to see all my family, including those who went to Little Rock from Arizona and Ohio. It seems the older I get, the more I love and appreciate my family. Perhaps it is different now because my own family is increasing by one. And it is fun to have those who've known me my whole life see me pregnant and with a handsome husband. We'll miss our Indiana family -- but part of becoming one is balancing two extended families! It's a little harder than we anticipated, but we are learning that wisdom with finances/time must outweigh emotions alone.

5) Church - I think we are going to start the membership process with GBC after the first of the year. We are SO thankful for the church. Solid teaching and a close-knit fellowship that has open arms is what makes you keep going in a place where lonliness COULD be all around. I am thankful that we are being fed meat every Sunday -- right now on prayer. I am thankful for the instant friendships God blessed us with the first Sunday we were here. Now if only we can do something about that 40 minute drive one-way.

6) Old Friends - In a life that is always changing stages and locations, I am thankful to have a few old friends to count on for unconditional love. I know I am blessed and consider it a rarity to have Rachel, Thea, and Julienne as life long friends. Rachel I've known since we were 3 or 4. Julienne since first grade, and Thea since seventh. That, in my opinion, is a LONG time in this day and age...esp with Rachel. I love how the four of us can still get together at the Coffee Beanery and chat it up like old times -- laughing and teasing with memories, bringing each other up to speed on the present, and dreaming of the future. Though we don't talk often and see each other even less often, to know that I've always got three anchors to my past and steadfast friends for the future is a feeling I will never stop being thankful for.

7) Provision - Back to God...He has provided more than we need to live a comfortable life here in California. A lesson in trusting Him, stepping forward, and then seeing Him do the work. We have a beautiful apartment with all the furniture we need, including Baby's. We have plenty of good clothes. We eat quite nicely for not as much as we feared -- we even had a steak/potato/broccoli treat last night! We have an excellent car, one that I'd wanted for years even. Insurance is good all around, especially the part where having a baby is virtually free! We can't wait to see how much more thankful we will be for Provision after the baby is here, and then when we move back to Maryland.

8) Talents and Skills - I am thankful for the talents and skills God has given both Matt and I. He is such a Renaissance man. He writes, draws, thrives on education, knows so much about technology, builds models, sings, plays sports (when given the chance), and can philosophise with the best of them. There really isn't much he CAN'T do, come to think of it. God has given me the ability to sew, cook, craft, find efficient ways to perform tasks, organize...things that deal with home and family. I think God knew what He was doing when He put a man with broad horizons with a woman of focused detail together -- Matt keeps us moving and broadens our canvas while I make sure each stroke is carefully taken, creating a beautiful masterpiece that will hopefully give glory to the One who chose the brushes and colors.

9) Technology - Not only does it provide my husband with education and a job, but I am thankful for technology because it keeps me connected. Who knew the day would come when a stay-at-home wife/mother would be kept "company" by people on the other side of a computer screen? Were it not for technology, I would have lost good contact with SO many friends and family over the years and even now. Days are lonely when I don't get to say hi to my mom, sister, and a few friends. How spoiled I am. Half-day with friends and family online, then the rest with Matt at home!

10) Until next post... You all will have to wait until tomorrow or Thursday for the 10th thing I am thankful for. Some of you may know, but I'll keep you guessing! ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving! - Part One

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting!" - Pslam 136:1

Now seems to be the time for thanksgiving posts to be popping up on everyone's blogs. Tracie reflected on where she was a year ago and how much God has blessed her with since then. My mom listed 10 things she was thankful for. I think these are the top two ways we should celebrate Thanksgiving -- reflection and praise. So, without further ado...

A year ago I was a part time secretary and had been married for almost 6 months. On top of melding our lives into one, Matt and I were learning lessons of contentment, patience, and faith as we lived in a small city with only 2 good pre-marriage friends, no good church (not until January), and a hard full-time job for Matt. We had not expected the job he got or the place it was located. I guess we thought we'd live in a big city with a more glamorous job. But, in Jackson at the university, life was financially comfortable, socially uneventful, and slow. We had no idea how we'd get out of there with a "better" job somewhere else. But we knew we did not want to stay ANY longer than 5 years. Our attitude stunk in reality.

THEN we found THE church in Jackson and fell in love. We gained several more good friends and felt like we had family near us again...because the Body is our Family. We got to help plan our pre-married friends' wedding -- and that friendship morphed into an even better one as our lives were up to speed with each other. We got a "random" letter from the DoD that began Matt's security clearance process...and job transition. Meanwhile, God saw fit to use one of our good friends who happened to be an OB/GYN to advise us on my eye/headache issues, and the result was an unexpected baby on the way! We got word that Matt was officially accepted as a DoD employee, and moved within a few weeks from Tennesee to California.

So this year, I am a full-time stay at home wife-soon-mom with lots of time on my hands to relax and do whatever I wish around the house. Matt is a graduate student with every afternoon off which allows us LOTS of time together. We watch my belly grow every week, and feel the baby move every day, knowing we will hold it in a few months. A completely different life than last year.

The lessons we've learned:

1) God knows what HE is doing...our responsibility is to fit into His plan rather than seek our own. Living in Jackson allowed Matt ample opportunity to gain management, customer service, and problem solving skills. It opened our eyes to the fact that even Chrsitian organizations are nowhere near perfect, a motivation to NOT be blinded by rose colored glasses. Jackson taught us that there is no such thing as the Bible belt. It is more of a religion belt. Which brings us to our next lesson.

2) Christ's Church is a precious NECESSITY to the Christian life. Without it, you slowly starve from lack of good instruction and understanding of the Word, fellowship with other Believers, and support in all walks of life. Once we found ECC, we realized that the Body keeps you afloat in the deep waters of life. It refreshes your spirit and restores your soul to spend time with Brothers and Sisters who are LIKE-MINDED, to hear from Scripture rather than a preacher. We learned to not assume there will be several good churches to choose from wherever we go.

3) After we found ECC, the contentment lesson slowly started to take shape. Jackson wasn't so bad after all, in fact, it was comfortable in many ways! The blinders were lifted from our eyes and we saw that we really did have good co-workers, that it was a blessing to work at a Christian place rather than secular, that we had more than enough financially, and life could be lived very nicely because of what God had given us in life. We were close to both of our families and could plan many weekends to visit them. And after we learned to be content with God's plan, we learned that life takes on a much happier and satisfied tone.

4) We learned that God's timing is not our own...His is better. Those who are close to us know how long we waited in between phone calls or letters from the DoD. Those were HARD times. We desperately wanted to know when something would happen, if anything. Then we all saw how QUICKLY things happened after the long wait. The time crunch seemed impossible with paperwork due and moving to California imminent. God can say "Wait....waaaait....now GO!" and it will happen regardless of how it looks to us. The fact that I'm sitting in a wonderful apartment in Salinas while Matt is at class is proof of that.

5) We learned that God will provide for our every need no matter where we are located. Tennessee vs. California? Yeah, I'm sure you all can guess which ones is less comfortable financially. Not only did we see that we would have to get used to a more expensive standard of living, but we also had the looming knowledge of a baby on the way...which means more expenses. Trust. That is what it takes to step out in faith. Trust that this degree/job opportunity came from the Lord and that He would provide everything we need to get it done, baby and all. And we are still learning this lesson -- but in an amazed way. I have no idea if I have done anything differently or what, but food seems to be stretching beyond belief which means our grocery bill is much lower than anticipated. Somehow we keep ending up with much more at the end of each month than we thought we would. Praise the Lord! We don't care if we never find out how it's happened!

And after those five lessons and seeing how fast life can move in one year...we know that it isn't over yet! A baby will bring all sorts of new challenges, lessons, and blessings. Life will never be the same because a child adds a human being to a family, complete with a changing and growing personality and soul. And we know that our time here is temporary, both a sad and exhilerating thought. Come September 2007, we will have to say goodbye to the incredible church family we already have here...but we will be pressing on in this adventure God has planned for our lives. Maryland will be yet another new start in life for us...which makes three fresh starts in 3 years. Now if that's not a fast paced life, I don't know what is! I am just thankful that the pace of each day is relaxing while the years pummel forward.

Give thanks to the Lord...for He is good -- He blesses when we deserve nothing.

His lovingkindess is everlasting -- and His sovereignty is eternal lovingkindess.

Thank you, Father, for not letting us be in control. Our messy lives would only have a pointless Thanksgiving if it weren't for You!

When It Becomes More Real

Do you ever see a big event on the horizon but not understand the full reality at first? Then something occurs, something visible, that brings reality full force? Well, that has happened for Matt and I. We put together the nursery furniture on Saturday! It was an all day task that brought a little frustration, a lot of humor at ill-written instructions, and a lot of contemplative baby thoughts. I've even caught Matt (as well as myself) sometimes walking back there to just look at the room. I think I have a eensy-teensy glimpse of why Mary "pondered in her heart."

We can now walk in the room and see the place where a baby will be laying in March. We can pretend we're picking up the baby, just to see how it will feel to bend over the crib. We can see the place where many dirty diapers will be changed...where many nights will be spent a few hours at a time nursing and rocking the baby. We know what kind of soft light will be cast by the light. I even did a little silly demonstration for Matt of what it will be like for me to drag myself out of our bed, pick the baby up, change it, sit in the "glider" and nurse it/rock it back to sleep, put it back in the crib, then crash in our own bed again. Good laughs together...but it is REALITY. So fun and WONDER-full at the same time.

We love the color of the wood. We also went with cherry, but I really think it would have been too dark for our taste. Notice both quilt options are hanging on the crib. Pray that we'll get to have a little removal ceremony on Nov 30th when we are to find out what gender the baby is! If it is a girl, we will use the lavender quilt and put butterflies on the walls. If it is a boy, we will use the khaki Noah's ark quilt and put a rainbow above the crib and other colorful designs on the other walls. We still need the crib mattress and glider as well as all the baby linens and goodies. But those will come in time. God has been so faithful to provide even this furniture by way of some very special people who have the gift of generosity. You know who you are. ;-)

Matt said that he thinks it is neat how we can relate what we have just done to what Christ said to the Apostles, "I go to prepare a place for you." We have just prepared a place for our baby, and now we just await the day when we will live together as a family of three. Just like we wait for the day when we all will live together with Christ in the place He's prepared for us!

Quiet Wednesday

My sister is moving, so she won't be online until Friday. My mom is probably doing school with my little sister. Jaclyn hasn't e-mailed yet to say she's in a chat room. I'm not interested in the news this morning. I don't feel like listening to music. And I'm kinda tired still. Hence the title of this post.

Yesterday was a Titus 2sday at church, when alot of the women get together and fellowship. It was Christmas-oriented with a cheap/excellent gift wrapping demonstration and then a devotional on why we should make sure our Christmas traditions are meaningful. I think I said this in my last post. But I'm going somewhere with this. Well, three places actually.

1) I ride to and from church with Diane, the wife/mother of one of the three Salinas families that attend GBC. So we always have lots of time (1.5 hours) to talk while driving. She gave me a picture yesterday. It was one pose of Rachel (her adorable daughter) for her 1 year birthday mark. I was in shock. Remember back to the post I had about the doll I made her? Look. CAN NOT believe they actually had that doll in her milestone 1 year pictures. My mom was right when she said it is "such a compliment." Diane told me all over again how much Rich (her hubby) adores homemade stuff. God has been good to relieve my fears that they might think it was dumb or not treasure it as much as I hoped they would! It's humbling at the same time it boosts pride in what my hands have done. Humbling because I thought it was just a simple thing to do to save Matt and I money, try my hand at something new, and give a present to a sweet little girl. And now it is a cherished item. All I can rely on is that God knew what He was doing when He put the idea in my head to hand-make a doll specifically for a girl who's father considers things like that priceless. God cares about the smallest things!

2) One of the traditions the devotion lady talked about was how her family has collected Christmas books, one to be read on each of the 24 nights before Christmas. Not secular books...ones that speak of Christ's coming and our need for the Savior. She read one of her favorites to us called If You're Missing Baby Jesus. I think we were all fighting back tears by the end. It is a precious story...one I am considering adding to my Christmas list. It's about a family that buys a nativity set that has two baby Jesus' in it. The mother had the store owner post a sign saying "If your set is missing a Baby Jesus, call 7162." The set was never found, but a woman who had five children and a husband that left her (taking most of their belongings with him) called on Christmas Eve asking for help. She just knew that anyone who would post that sign would be "Good Christian people" willing to help her. So they went over to fix her furnace and ended up giving them blankets, cookies, milk, and the baby Jesus...then the dad goes out and gets some of his friends and they truck over a Christmas tree, some furniture they found, and clothes and linens from their own households. Punch line: "They need Baby Jesus just as much as we do." Find it and read it if you can!

3) I talked with Matt about Christmas traditions that I want to see implemented in our own family. That led me to think about when we will stay in our own home with our own tree ON Christmas Day. I see that day as a VERY long time from now, and I think that is because we are close to our families and our families are young. Therefore we will have somewhere to go for Christmas for quite some time. Doesn't bother me one bit! It makes me have a twinge of sadness to think of not going "home" for Christmas someday. But maybe by that day people will be coming to us for "home"! Anyway, I thought I'd tell you all the two traditions I treasure most from my family's Christmases. It might shock my mom...and that, agrees Matt, is exactly why I should let the world know! So she will know what she started in me though she might have thought I saw it as silly.
~ For as long as I can remember, we only got three presents every year. Why? Because Jesus got three presents from the wise men. As I thought about this, I realized that it really helped keep the materialism out of Christmas. Sure we enjoyed ripping open the packages and bows, seeing what new item we could play with or use. And the gifts got more expensive the older we got. But I never wanted more. It was an accepted tradition, and I always remembered the reason behind it. Because Baby Jesus only got three gifts. Why should I have more? I thought it was fun to get just three...not to mention it didn't take FOREVER to open gifts. I enjoy the family dinner JUST as much, if not more, than opening presents.
~ This will shock my mom, maybe. The other tradition that will be a must is the Pancake Birthday Cake for Jesus. My mom didn't start this until Autumn and I were pretty old and Hope was old enough to understand. Sure, it seemed silly on the surface. Having three pancakes that represent the Trinity, red hearts for each of us, red syrup for Christ's blood, white whipped cream for sins washed away, even lighting candles off of Christ's big white candle and singing Happy Birthday. But you know what? (All of the sudden I feel like I've told her this before.) I loved doing that. Even as a 23 year old with a husband and baby on the way, I'd love to do it this Christmas morning...extra family of Bruckmans and all. It is such a good way to set the tone of Christmas Day, of why we are even having a special day. As I look back, I remember how nice it was to get up to my mom making the pancakes knowing we were going to have breakfast as a family and read the Christmas story from Luke. We never RUSHED right into ravaging packages and going crazy with excitement, only to have it be over just like that and have to wait longer for family to arrive. It made the day seem much more relaxed and even-keeled. Contemplative in a way. It's hard to explain.

I'm gonna make a public appeal to my Momma - I know Christmas is on a Sunday this year and church starts at 10:00 am. I know we'll have 5 extra mouths to feed because Autumn and I have families now. But, you have three grandkids you can remind in a neat way on Christmas morning why we are celebrating on December 25th. And a daughter who misses that tradition and wants her husband to see it. If we start at 7:00, we can be done by 7:30 so everyone can start getting ready for church. Sure it's early. But I think it would be SO worth the memories...and starting off the day quietly as a bigger family this time with contemplation of Christ's birth and a tasty breakfast.

What say you?

Just Joy

Do you ever have days when you are just light hearted and full of unexplainable joy that puts a hop in your step? Today is a day like that for me. The weather is GORGEOUS in the 70's with a crystal blue sky. I got to spend the morning with the ladies at church hearing about cheap but awesome gift wrapping ideas (from Doreen) and then about how to make Christmas meaningful in the way it should be. Spending time with the ladies and meeting new ones was also wonderful. Then I got to share some ideas with Diane on the drive home about what she could make for her husband for Christmas, and got to show her...oh wait. I can't say that on my blog yet. ::pouty face:: There's gonna be major picture festage after Christmas...I'm so excited about what's going on in my little apartment.

All that to say...the joy comes from knowing all of these blessings -- even life itself -- comes from a God who loves me. Like Jaclyn said in an e-mail to me, we have the PRIVILEGE of knowing Him, talking to Him, and writing "letters" to Him (if you journal prayers). The God of the universe and we get to take a pen and paper and act as if He is our dearest Friends. Which He is. Simply a beautiful reality.

Maybe I'll lay out today. That sounds relaxing. :-)

More Random Ramblings

Mmm, one more cinnamon biscuit roll left. Guess what we'll be SPLITTING tomorrow morning. ;-)

Here is another room completely finished...the other bathroom. (You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.) You notice I attempted to piece together a panorama, mostly for blog-formatting-headache avoidance. Hopefully you'll get the hang of it.









And then to continue being random, here are the results of a personality quiz I took linked from Aut's blog...

You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart. Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people. You tend to be always smiling - and making others smile. You are shy and intelligent... and a very hard worker. You're also funny, but many people don't see your funny side. Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.

Matt has already disagreed with the "dry humor." All I know is that I say things to not be funny and people laugh. I say things to be funny, and only I am laughing. Ya learn to live with it.

Well, I am fading quickly. I've done alot today - grocery shopping, Wal-Mart "Sheol Saturday" shopping (never again!), post office, crafting, cleaned both bathrooms, did a load of laundry, cooked dinner. My body is plum tuckered out and my back is sore. And church is tomorrow! I can't wait!

A Wonderful Day

So Matt had today off since he is a Federal employee and attends a Federal school. It was so splendid to have him here. We slept in until 9:00, and had a "brunch" of a new idea I had. Ya know? I don't know if it's pregnant creative brain or influences of Food Network, but I've been able to "wing" alot of things lately and it turns out well.

So this morning, I decided to "wing" cinnamon rolls. I call them Cinnamon Biscuit Rolls. I had a simple biscuit recipe that we love. Made the dough, spread it with a cinnamon filling concoction, stripped/rolled them, baked 'em, and then iced them. We LOVE LOVE them! They were not as sickenly sweet as regular cinnamon rolls, and the biscuit texture made them much lighter than the typical bread texture. For sure a keeper of a non-recipe recipe!

Then I hemmed a final pair of maternity pants, so hopefully I'll be done with chopping 3 inches off pairs of pants and then hemming them one more inch for a while. Then I went to Michael's to pick up a few things for a special present for Christmas. Wish I could tell you about it and post pictures. I'm so excited...but the recipients read this blog. ;-) While I worked on "it" this afternoon, Matt began working on his Enterprise model ship. It's gonna be so awesome! We're both excited about it! I can't wait until we have a house with an extra room to have an office. I've already told Matt it will be decorated for HIM...and that way we can have a place to display all of his cool models and satiate our futuristic side of style.

Then we went to Blockbuster (rented Center Stage 's cause Matt's never seen it and he said because he loves me, he'd watch a straight up chick flick) and Starbucks. Wanted to order a sugar-free low-fat decaf EGG NOG latte...forgot the sugar-free part. Tasted like it wasn't low-fat. Maybe it even had caffeine. Oh well. It was TASTY anyway! Matt said Center Stage had a good plot and helped it be a good movie even though it was all about dancing. ::sigh:: I love that movie! Totally took me back to high school. After the movie, we just kinda lounged around, read, and now I'm posting quite the detailed un-important post. But I feel like rambling. You obviously felt like reading. So it works out.

Oh, and during brunch and late-lunch, we watched deleted scenes/documentary on our Star Wars III DVD that we got for our date last week. It's amazing how much goes into a 1-minute fighting sequence. And did you know that some of the lava geysers in the fight scene between Obi and Anakin was REAL footage from Mount Etna going off in Italy? Cool.

Is it bad that I'm trying to think of something else to say just so I can keep "talking?" Maybe there was caffeine in that latte. But I had that hours ago. Now I've got indigestion from the hot dogs Matt and I just had as our very-late-dinner/snack. Oh, that's one more thing I can say. I think I've officially discovered that tomato products give me indigestion--from pizza to tomato soup to spaghetti. Tum-tum-tum-tum-TUUUUMS! Speaking of...

Ok fine. I leave you now. ::still thinking of something else to say...::

Thanks for Tagging me, Tracie

Ok, so Tracie tagged me with this blog game thing. This is going to be a brain cramper...I'm not very dynamic or weird in my opinion.

5 Weird Habits I Have

1)

::five minutes later:: Ok, I'm still thinking, I promise. Hey, Matt?.....

1) Is it weird to eat whipped cream and chocolate chips as a small snack?

2) Is saving original packaging and boxes for future repacking weird?

3) Is sticking my thumb in between my pointer and middle finger with my hand in a fist when I am emotionally disturbed weird? Thea has done that since she was a baby. If I got it from her, does it qualify as weird?

4) Is cooking nearly everything at home weird? Matt said if people who don't do that read this, it is weird to them.

5) HA! Is not HAVING any weird habits weird since apparently most people have them?

Please, if you read this and can think of an honest-to-goodness weird habit I have, let me know. Enlighten me to myself so I won't be stuck in the doldrums of "normal and uninteresting"...what with my lack of weirdness and void of hobbies.

By the way, this post took me 10 minutes to think through. And now it's got my heart all beating fast...or maybe that's the peppermint tea...or the cool whip and choco chips I just had.

Picture Requests

There've been several requests for certain pictures, so I thought I'd start fulfilling them as I can. Not gonna do too much as far as posting today. I'm feeling exhausted and it's only 9:15...in the morning. So I post, and then I nap.

This is the only picture I got of the pumpkin pie fiasco. Just the first batch so I could send the pic to Gramps and make sure they looked right. Now, imagine 24 more mini-pies, and then 24 regular muffin sized pies...which were all successfully eaten/doled out at last night's BBQ. But we still have about 36 mini-pies to ourselves. And like 2 and a half tubs of cool whip. :-P


This is a picture of our fall centerpiece. The older I get the more into decorating for the seasons I get. Maybe because I have a place of my own? Or maybe just because I enjoy it more? This was great because all we had to buy were the leaves and pumpkins, and they were on sale. I can't wait to create a Christmas centerpiece. I've already got several ideas I have to choose from...vase filled with ornaments like last Christmas, tiered candleabra with an ornament in each holder, a white basket full of ornaments and greenery, ornaments and candles... As you can see, the ornaments will mainly be displayed on the table. No sense in having a tree if we'll only be here for 14 days in December. But someday, by golly, we'll have our VERY OWN tree that we can decorate all our own and then have egg nog together. Hmm, just had a thought. Maybe we should have a tree next year even though we won't be here for Christmas...it'll be baby's first Christmas. But then, our families always have trees. ::sigh:: Someday. I'll have a tree to call my own.



This is our guest bathroom. Our bathrooms are the only two rooms that are completely finished (though we may not do anything else to the kitchen). I am so excited to have a bathroom with a big enough counter (and no towel rack above the toilet) to display my fishy stuff. Those who've known me a long time know that I had a fish themed room ever since the summer after 6th grade. I still have that bedding too. It's in good shape and I STILL love it! Now I can have a piece of it displayed all the time with our brightly colored bathroom. Autumn, I again thank you so so much for the set of colorful towels. I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do when they wear out. They match perfectly in color and design...and you can't find towels like that anymore!

Ok, so I wrote more than I thought I would. But now my heart is beating fast again and I feel like I could fall asleep right here at the computer.

So off to drink some water I go, and then a nap where crazy dreams will show.

Pumpkin Pie Fiasco

Ok, so this grand idea I had a few weeks back to make mini-pumpkin pies is...um...taking over my kitchen. So far I have made 48 mini-pumpkin pies, got desperate, and put a dozen regular muffin sized pies in the oven. I still have 2 inches to go of pumpkin batter in my LARGE mixing bowl.

These were supposed to be for Sunday night's small group BBQ. There are only about 10 of us. We'd all have to eat approx. 5 mini pumpkin pies and at least 1 small pumpkin pie each to take care of what I've done...........so far.

Note to family members who hold Gramps' pumpkin pie recipe - 2 regular sized pumpkin pies (which is what his recipe makes) will make enough mini or small pumpkin pies to CATER A FALL PARTY...or something! :-P

Perhaps this would be a good time to bless our neighbors' taste buds??? Oh my gosh. I just remembered these have to be refrigerated too.

::distraught:: Good thing Matt and I don't have a packed fridge since it's only two of us. But I still don't know if I'll have enough room..............

ADDENDUM - After one more batch of pie crust, I have perfectly finished off the pumpkin batter. Gramps' recipe makes 48 mini-muffin sized pies and 24 regular muffin sized pies. Glad I opted to start making the regular size...otherwise I'd have almost 100 mini pies sitting in my fridge! And I've only eaten four mini pies today... ::avoids eye contact:: And I'm sure Matt and I will have a regular one each after our date tonight. ::clears throat and nervously walks away::

Indian Summer

We're at the end of our Indian Summer here in Monterey. And the temperatures have risen to make it go out with a bang. Apparently this is what the weather is always like. One week it's sweaters, the next sleeveless shirts. And in the summer, it's usually overcast and cold in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon, and cold/overcast by 5:00 again. Diane said you can't go anywhere without a sweater that you may or may not need. :-P Should be fun.

Well, here's a recent pic of my growing belly... There is not much to update by way of pregnancy. The only issue I've been having is lower back pain, which several of us KNEW would happen because of family history and my loose joints that are now more loose because of pregnancy hormones. People have begun praying for more restful sleep at night, and that has happened the past two nights. Of course, the three hour nap Matt and I got yesterday afternoon helped with being rested! I had a girl tell me yesterday she thinks I'm having a boy because I'm carrying low for even a 5 month pregnancy. Don't know if that's true or not, but it was fun to have someone "predict with a reason." Jaclyn says it's a boy just because that's what she "feels." I used to "feel" it was a boy, but then sweet Rachel came into my life and now I think I secretly want a girl. Maybe I should just start thinking, "It doesn't matter as long as it's healthy"? ::sigh:: November 30th seems like so long from now!

Speaking of Rachel, her first birthday is tomorrow and we were invited to her b-day party last Saturday since I carry a future play mate. :-) I decided to cut down on cost, give myself something to do, challenge my skill, and most of all make something quite meaningful as a gift. Here are the results...

First is a picture of Diane, her daughter Rachel (the baby), and her grandaughter Lysette (Lee Lee for short).

Second is a picture of sweet Rachel. She has the LONGEST curled eyelashes, soft curly jet black hair, very dark eyes, and wears pink better than any other baby!

Then there are a few of the doll.























Hope you have a pleasant November day! Enjoy the gorgeous trees for me if you can!