Shout Out To Me

I'm taking a moment to congratulate myself on working hard.

I've lost FORTY pounds.

Most of you know I gained 60 with Emery. Not a good idea. And I don't recommend it to anyone who is planning on having a baby.

I will not do that with the second.

It's been really hard. It's been really slow, but it is coming off and I am beginning to see the results. I've got 20 more to go until I'm back at my pre pregnancy weight.

Yay me.

My First Roast

Us girls L to R: Angela Carter, Regina Carter, Jocelyn Kay, Me, Kelli Oliver, Dale Russel, Christine Sox


This past Thursday the women's ministry at our church had a "Ladies Night". It was a desert social with a time of question and answer. We all mingled and ate first, while ladies viewed collages of photos of the staff wives' lives.....

Then all of the staff wives were asked to move up front to sit. We were asked a WHOLE bunch of questions, so that the ladies of the church could get to know us better......

We were all very nervous at first, but it turned out to be really fun. There were a ton of women there. Hopefully they got to know us better and realize that we are all human and we all have many of the same hopes, struggles and fears.

We love our church. And I love the women who are married to the men that pastor the church.

I love Ange too! She's the lone woman on staff, she has to put up with at work all that us staff wives put up with at home. I feel sorry for her a lot of the time. ha ha.

Angela was one of the reasons I took the plunge and went to seminary while Benji did. She is an awesome girl, I have looked up to her since we lived here the first time and I know that it is such a gift that we are back here at Brushy Creek.

We are so blessed.

Cemetery

Some recent events have lead me to reminisce on our time at Southern Seminary. We are so happy and blessed to be back in Greenville. But every now and then I get a twinge of sadness, missing Louisville.

Our life just changed so fast that sometimes I feel like I haven't even had time to process it all, to reflect on what transpired over the last year.

Before we headed off to seminary there were a few....Well more than a few, but anyway, that tried to "talk" us out of going.

They told us we would come out "cold", "dead".....

"Why would you want to go to cemetery?" That is seriously what one person asked.

We also actually had someone give us an article that was written against seminaries.... Or Something like that.

Just for the record it was the best decision Benji and I ever made. The four years we spent at Southern were the best, and hardest four years of our lives.

I am so thankful that there is still a seminary that teaches The Truth.

Check out Dr. Mohler and Dr. Moore's blog. They're in my blog roll. You will be blessed, challenged, encouraged.

Greenville is my home, but Louisville has my heart.

Love One Another. Give Me A Break

As believers we are called to "love one another". I Think that this is such a loaded commandment.

There are many ways we can show the love of Christ to each other. I'm not going to take the time listing them all....But I think there is one way that is mucho important.

Let's all just give each other a break every once in awhile. Seriously.

Cut your spouse some slack if he doesn't take out the trash.

Cut your spouse some slack if she doesn't fold the laundry. Ever.

Cut your Mom some slack if she tells you the SAME thing 15 times a day.

We are all human. We are all sinners. God's grace is sufficient for us all.

I've been reading (again) Instruments In The Redeemer's Hand, and this is the basic message. Love your neighbor because God loves you. And you're pretty messed up yourself.

So let's just all chill out and give each other a break.

First Words

Emery totally said Dada today. Twice. I knew she would say it before she said Mama because Benji says it over and over.

He had JUST left for work when I heard her say it in the monitor. It was as clear as day..... Then she said it again a few minutes later when she was playing.

Hopefully she will start saying it when she wakes up in the middle of the night.... Then he will have to be the one to get up because she'll be calling for him.

Time goes so fast.

Hello, They Knew!

All I'm saying is that Washington KNEW that AIG had to pay out those bonuses before they sent the bailout money. Hello! It's Washington.

They Knew.

It's Official

This is our new home!!!!! We are so excited. We wanted to wait until every thing was final...well today was the day we closed and got the keys!

We took this pic last week when it snowed here in Greenville.

I am just glad Emery will have her own room before her first birthday.

There Is A Fountain

Sorry for all you religious folks who just read my title and thought this would be a post about the atonement.....

It's not.

It's about fountain drinks.

I have a problem. I realize that this post proves that I am truly a spoiled rotten American, but I make no apologies for it.

I am slightly addicted to Diet Coke. Not as bad as I am to coffee. But almost.

I like my Coke really really cold.

Those people who order their drinks with no ice confuse and worry me.

Since I like my Diet Coke ice cold I prefer it from a fountain machine with extra ice. BUT!.....

I am extremely picky about my fountain machines. And rarely is the ratio of syrup to carbonation correct in many fountain machines.

Like recently we were at Subway. We never get the meal deal thingy....but this day we did. I got my drink and realized the Diet Coke was flat!!! oh the horror!

This could not be!

I promptly (but nicely) told the manager about the situation. He came over to test the Coke.

He said it tasted fine to him. WHAAAAAAT!

I tried not to make a scene. You know because Benji's a staff member at our church and there were church members in the Subway.

I didn't want to be known as the "crazy youth pastor's wife"....

But this was serious.

As we were walking out with our flat Cokes the manager told Benji, "I guess you can grab one of the bottles of Coke if you want."

Benji, being the meek and gentle man that he is said, "no thanks, we are fine."

Uhh. No we are not.

I ran back to the counter and grabbed my bottle of Diet Coke. The ratio of carbonation and syrup is standard in the bottles just for people like me.

That was a close one.

I don't eat much fast food. But I do like to get fountain drinks from a drive in occasionally. I was driving back from Gainesville last week and got a Diet Coke from McDonald's.

When I took a drink of it it tasted like Diet Coke and Sprite together. gross.

Today at the gas station I decided I would try something new and buy a bottled Diet Coke and a cup of ice.

The ice was dirty..... like real dirty. I kept getting more out, thinking it may have just been a few pieces. nope. it was just dirty ice. gross. gross.

So I wait. And search for the perfect fountain machine. One day....

One day.

Four Years For This

This weekend was our first Disciple Now. It was our first big weekend event with the youth.

Benji did an amazing job (along with Angela and Cindy) planning a great weekend.

It reminded me of why we spent four years in seminary studying our brains out.

It was worth it.

We are having the time of our lives. We love our church. We are so excited about what God is doing in the lives of BCBC high school youth.

Peas Take Two

So finally. Emery likes peas. She doesn't LOVE them like she loves sweet potatoes but she likes them. Better if they are chilled.

We are having a great time trying new foods. I am having a great time making them. Today I made a batch of green beans. For 2.09 I made the equivalent of around 12 jars of baby food. I have now made batches of sweet potatoes, peas, carrots and green beans. I'm making peaches tonight.