More Christmas

Yes, I know that is sideways.
I can't get it turned around.
The Christmas tree and gifts at
my mom and dad's.



More at mom and dad's.


Our favorite Christmas gift.
Thanks mom and dad!! We collect
Tiffany lamps. This is our first
torchiere.


This butterfly is from my sweet
mother-in-law, last Christmas!!

Christmas

Our tiny Christmas tree.




Mareth-Dale exploring the closet.

Brandon & me early Christmas morning

I look maaaah-vol-us!!

Sleep like a.... kitty?

25 hours. I was awake yesterday for 25 hours. I have no idea why. I thought I'd get sleepy yesterday evening, but nooooo. I went to bed at midnight, having gotten up at 11:00 p.m. the night before. After getting up at midnight and having my customary 2 (or was it 3?) cups of pumpkin spice coffee, I cleaned my house; I even ran the vacuum. At a 7 a.m. I got totally dressed for the day and headed over to my mother's for breakfast. Then later I went to a friends house; she is more like my aunt. We chatted for literally hours. Once I got home, I was just hyper, which I credit to it being Christmastime. I've been gitty about Christmas! I'm not sure why... maybe it's because I am home, home this year. "Home, home" is where I grew up, where Mama and Daddy are. The weather has been warm! 61 degrees today and sunny! There are presents under the tree! Gingerbread cookies... Daddy made home made candies... I'm catering a yummy Sunday brunch for my folks tomorrow: monkey bread, breakfast sausage balls, mini-stack cakes, gingerbread cookies, pumpkin bread pudding, and a breakfast casserole.... Yummy, good times!!

Now, about sleeping. I wish I could sleep like my cats. They sleep soundly and abandonedly. They curl up, even snore, and look so peaceful. Course it'd be nice to fit on the back of the couch, but I'll settle for just sleeping soundly.

My Sweet Holiday Addiction.

Which one, right?

The holiday candy, cookies. Ooooh, the cookie dough! (Gingerbread is my favorite right now. I used this, but did circles dipped in white bark and sprinkles for gifts.. Good stuff!) Don't forget the cookie dough! Or maybe cakes and pies and tortes, oh my!

None of the above. Well, ALL of the above, but for the purpose of this post, none of the above.

I can't seem to get enough of Pumpkin Spice coffee with International Delight Pumpkin Spice Creamer, topped with canned whipped cream and a sprinkling of raw sugar on top! Oh my! I had two cups in a row of that just this morning. Deeeee-lish!

3:00 a.m. Ramblings: The Chosen Life.

I believe that God very specifically CHOSE Brandon and me to live this crazy life we're livin'. We love being married, and have a truly amazing marriage. If we didn't, we could not do what we are doing.

We are odd ducks. I know some of you might have suspected that; now you know it's true! We do not both work full time jobs out of the home. Instead, Brandon works from home (on a third shift/quasi-international schedule), while I keep the same hours and assist him with office stuff and hone my Quarter Master skills of cooking for us and managing the household. We are in our 30's and don't own a house; we don't drive big SUVs or take big vacations. We live very simply, and for now, we live very leanly. However, we know that all this hard work will pay off, and one day soon, we will buy a house, take a big vacation or two, and have lots of children and critters! God is soooooo good. Brandon and I are sooooooo very blessed.

These third shift / quasi-international hours are really hard at times, especially when TV shows, family, some shops are on the usual or first shift schedule. We were doing really good, and adjusting nicely to our new hours last week, when the weekend hit, which would be ok, if it weren't for being football season! This week has been really tough trying to get back on that schedule, but we are pushing along and doing well.

If we were doing anything else, we would not be happy. In fact, we'd be miserable. God has chosen us to do exactly what we are doing. NOT doing what God has chose us to do would make us miserable. God has said in his word that we cannot please him with out having faith. Well, He has chosen Brandon and me for a Faith Life. And here we are. Living faith out loud every day. It's exciting, yes, and scary. But, oh so good.

December Summer

Can you believe this weather?? I took a long walk down town and enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, while wearing my sandals! I took pictures of the clock, date and temp so that y'all would believe me! And, these are a couple of the historical mansions here in town. I will post more random Williamsburg photos later!

Winter Wonderland?

I am LOVIN' this "winter" weather!!! It's suppose to be 71 degrees on Tuesday. It's almost the middle of December! (Don't mention it to Mother Nature!!) Whoo hooo!

We were in central Illinois for a year and then Warsaw for 5 years. It took me about 3 years to get use to the really cold winters with snow, ice and bitter cold wind. Now, we are in South Eastern Kentucky, almost 8 hours (400 miles) south of Warsaw. The weather is different. There are days when the weather is similar, but I didn't realize what a big difference I would feel.

It will get colder here toward the end of the week, but still not nearly as cold as up north. Did I mention that I am enjoying the weather? When we lived in Warsaw, we lived in a really old building, over 100 years old. We had to put plastic and quilts over the windows. It would get really cold. We slept with the heat down really low, but our electric blanket cranked up. Our heating bill and electric was over $200, for a small apartment. Our electric and gas here is about $60. Can you believe that? We are in a 3 bedroom, brick energy efficient house... What a difference. So far we only have the flannel sheets on the bed, and I have a feeling that tonight they will be a bit too warm.

I do look forward to snow here. Snow in the South is romantic. Life comes to a halt. There are no big plows or salt trucks. Schools are closed. Some businesses close if their owner can't get off his mountain and drive in. Here, snow falls and then melts. It doesn't stick to everything and linger all winter becoming gray, dirty, crusty and stale. Snow here is a holiday.

Not So Greyt Day

She ate a cat.

Ok, well, not really, but she chased a cat and the encounter was not good. So, that is not our Ziva. There are more hounds in Florida, a sister group that GRFT works with, that will be headed up this way in January. We are told that several of those hounds live with cats. As sad as we are, we think it may be a blessing in disguise. We want complete harmony in our house, so we are willing to wait.

Greyt Day!!

Here is our new girl! We are about 99% sure we are going to adopt her! She is called Motion, but we plan to call her Ziva Dora Rhenn, mainly Ziva. (I'll explain the meanings in a different post...) Ziva has not been officially "cat-tested." We've said that unless she eats a cat, we'll take her! When we went to the Meet and Greet today at PetsMart in Knoxville, she came straight over to us and laid into our legs, melting our hearts!!! She has a SWEET face; this photo does not do her justice! She is a small female, only 58 lbs. She just turned 2 on December 5th, so she still has some puppy issues, which I am sure will iron out as we work with her. Since Hubster and I are home 24/7, we will be really good for her, to be with her so much and work with her. (I don't think that sentence had any grammatical structure...) We will most likely get her next weekend! Before Christmas! Thanks Santa!! I will keep y'all updated with pictures and fun stories, so stay tuned!! I am looking forward to the story about how our cats will react as their dog-free world comes crashing down around them...

My Best Friend Gave to Me...

I have the best friend in the whole world!!! This post is for Cindy. Cindy, I don't know how many little days of Christmas you are doing, but this is fun. So far I have received cards for the 2nd and 3rd days of Christmas. I am posting these pictures of me sporting the gaudy garage sale earrings. I looooove them!! Merry Christmas, Sis!! I love you and miss you tons!!!

So far, so good.

This third shift house-wifin' business is not so bad. It is taking time and mild sleeping pills to make it work. (No, I am not addicted to the sleeping pills. No, I am not taking an "upper" to stay awake during the day. Though I am addicted to Pumpkin Spice coffee with Pumpkin Spice creamer. YUM!... and NO, to any other nonsense about sleeping pills...) There are advantages to being a third shift house wife:

1. Telemarketers do not call at night. In fact, no one calls at night.

2. If I want to run to Wal-Mart and get groceries, etc. at 10 p.m. or 2 a.m., then there are plenty of places to park, no waiting in line to check out, and the shelves are being stocked...

3. AND, while I am at Wal-Mart at 2 a.m., I am less likely to see someone I don't want to see...

4. I shower more often. Seriously. I realized this yesterday. I showered because I could not remember if I had showered or not. When day is night and night is day, did I shower yesterday or today? or was it two days ago? So, I err on the side of clean instead of greasy.


I have to say, it is odd being in the kitchen and cooking at 3:00 a.m. But, life is very good. God is blessing our giant JUMP! of faith. We are completely trusting him.

(I'd like to send a shout-out to my cousins in Houston, Rick and Shelli! Thanks for reading! Love y'all! Come see us sometime!!)

Third Shift House Wife

I quit my job.

Yep, just up and quit.

Originally, I was planning on quitting after Christmas; that's what Hubby and I decided, and that's what I told my boss.

But, I could only take so much.

For the sake of maintaining my integrity, I will not give a detailed report. But, I will share this much: We took 6 days of holiday to Warsaw, IN, celebrating 2 Thanksgiving meals and a Christmas brunch, complete with presents. Time away gives one better perspective. I went back to work after much time off. The day back was horrible. I cried all the way home, then cried on Hubby's shoulder. Three weeks ago I thought I was pregnant, but wasn't. When I went back to work, I had a realization: Now I know why I thought I was pregnant... I haven't felt stress like this in a very long time. Work was making me sick. I felt nauseous, queasy, and my heart rate was up.

After a long chat, tears and prayer, we decided that I would quit, that we would trust God and JUMP!

This time last year we faced a similar event. Brandon was, well, not really let go, but left out of the scheduling at Ivy Tech, where he had been teaching math. (I taught English there, but left the year before for public school... long story...) We were upset, but felt that God was giving us baby birds a kick out of the nest... And now, yet another KICK!.. It's a bit scary, but very exciting!!

Brandon is working 3rd shift at home because that is when the major currency exchange markets are open and moving. He will be "day" trading (during our night). Please pray with us for 10 pips a day. That my not mean much to you, but to us it is what we need and are believing God for!

Because Brandon is working 3rd shift at home, I have committed to keep the same hours. We believe strongly in working together and sleeping together, which is much simpler if I become a 3rd shift house wife. And, yes it is odd to do household chores at 4:00 a.m. We are still working out the weird hours, but are believing God that HE will take care of those details and bless us for our hard work.