It's All Ours

The papers have been signed.

The money has been transferred.

The key exchanged.


We are now homeowners.


I feel like I just need to let that sink in. Seriously. We own our first home.

Well, technically, the bank owns it, but it's nice that they still let us call it ours. :)

Our first home.

I just can't even begin to imagine the memories and stories we'll have and create in this first house. It's exciting. It's fun. It's a time to dream and plan and hope and wish and work together on something that is ours. Oh, it's just so exciting. We can't wait to see how God expands our ministry, both in our family as well as the opportunities we'll have to welcome people into our home.


The front of the house

The Kitchen
Cute little built-in cabinet in the kitchen

The Living Room

I'll post more pictures once it's empty and we are moving in.

We move next Saturday.

Dang. We own a home.

Yes? No?

I feel like a 2nd/3rd grader again.

You know how when you were little, you created like/dislike documents for everything and anything?

For example:

To the new little girl in class:

Will you be my friend?

[] Yes [] No


Do you like horses?

[] Yes [] No


Do you like mean boys?

[] Yes [] No


To your mom:

Do you still love me after I broke your Lladro figurine?

[] Yes [] No


To your sibling:

Will you clean my room?

[] Yes [] No [] Maybe


You get the idea.

Anyways, I feel like I long for the affirmation need to do that here on this new fangled blog design.

You like new blog background?

[] Yes [] No

No, I'm not going to bring myself that low and beg for approval. I'm not needy like that.

Wait. Yes I am.

She turned 4

My first niece turns 4 today. 4 years old. I'm sure I know her parents must feel the same way but all that much more, but man, time flies by.

Mer - (or RME, as you write your name),

I sure do love you.

I'm so grateful that God placed you in our family and love how much joy you bring to all our lives. I'm sorry that you've had a tough few weeks but you are being such a brave big girl about it and handling well all the disappointments that having an ugly cast brings -- probably better than I would!
This is a picture of you and me, when you were just 3 weeks old. I was getting ready to spend a good amount of time in China and just had to fly out to California to hug and kiss on you before I came back home, one year later.

You make me laugh, little girl. Even when I look at these pictures, I just smile.


You were the best flower girl in the world, even if you did get a tad scared at the very last moment and asked Grandpa to help you down the aisle. I was tickled pink to get to have you in my wedding.

So, basically, I'm glad you were born, 4 years ago today, my lil' Meredith. I hope you know how much you are loved and how we all pray that God continues to mold you into a God-loving, God-fearing little girl.

Have fun with your California family. I feel badly that I'm missing your birthday (I've been able to make all the others!), but that's ok. It's called life.

LOVE YOU, MEREDITH GRACE!!
- Your Aunt Megan

4th of July Funness

This 4th of July weekend, we got to spend with my dear and precious friend, Katie and her little family. They originally hail from the great place that is called The Midwest, but have been transplanted in Houston for a couple of years. I hate, hate, hate, hate being away from all our families, but when one's best-friend from college only lives 4 hours away .... it makes it a bit more bearable.

We drove down on Friday night (after I got off of work -- grr....) and came back Sunday. We ate lots. Seriously. We ate lots of food. We stayed up very late, mainly listening to the guys solve all the world's problems. We slept in. We played/cuddled/held with a-bundle-of-cuteness, Miss Abigail. We had good times. And I'm SO glad we went. :)

Katie and Rodney and little, 5 month old Abigail, although, it appears that Rodney is also trying to be like his daughter by shoving both his hands in his mouth like Abs does.

Me and my Man on the 4th of July, enjoying their apartment complex's amazing pool.

Yah. I love him.
Abigail was thrilled to be in the pool. Wait. I lied. Maybe not thrilled. She was a good sport though, as long as Mommy held her. :)

I love, love, love her chunky legs and arms. So adorable. Kc said he sees now why people like to hold babies all the time -- they are so soft and smell so good!

We also got to see the fireworks in Downtown Houston, along with our friend, Alex Hollander. We were told that the fireworks in Houston were some of the best in the nation. I was a little leary, seeing how everything in Texas is better and bigger and just way cooler than the rest of the nation ... but, for this, I might actually agree with it. They WERE amazing fireworks. And being the lover of all things 4th of July, I was glad I got to see them.

Thanks, friends, for letting us come hang out with you for the weekend. It was a much needed respite.

-----------------------------
This week is pure chaos. Which makes our weekend in Houston all the more wonderful.

Kc is taking his 2nd summer class, but this time, it's a one-week intensive class actually on DTS's campus. Since we are a one-car family, it makes carpooling a bit chaotic. Let's just say that Megan gets to spend an extra 2 hours a day, driving in crazy Dallas traffic, while Kc attempts to read his required 300 pages of material on the drive. Ugh. It's only 5 days and we can do anything for 5 days, right? [sigh] I'm so glad that he finally gets to take a seminary class on campus. We've been wanting this to happen for a while and even though it makes for very long days this week, I'm glad for his sake that it can all work out.




Oh. Did I mention we are also closing on our house this week?

Oh, choose me!

So, I read on Amy's blog that Bible.logos.com is giving a way an ESV Study Bible. 12 each month for the next 6 months.

And that's super cool.

So, by linking to it, I'm entering myself in the giveaway. You see, we have the great debate going on in our house -- ESV or NKJV? I own an ESV, having purchased it as my "China Bible" when I went overseas and I love it. Kc, on the other hand, is quite skilled at remembering where a passage is on a page and he knows his Bible backwards and forwards that way. So, he bought himself 3 exact copies of his current NJKV bible several years ago and now feels obligated to use each one until it wears out one day .... and so we debate as to which version is "the best".

Like either of us really knows. And seeing how my last "debate" worked out for me, I'm likely to never convert him.

BUT, maybe if he gets an ESV study bible as a giveaway, he'll use it ... and I'll finally win in a debate with my husband.

So, consider this an entry, Bible.logos.com.

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

It's just not the same

Yesterday Kc called me while I was at work. I could hear banging and clanking and many loud noises coming through the phone. When I asked him what in the heck was going on, he said that the maintenance men were replacing the stairs in our building.

Replacing the stairs. That's a huge big ol' deal.

And I thought, if we were in China, it would've been hysterical, I'm sure. We would've rushed out to take on-the-sly pictures of the little Chinese men, attempting to put up the new framework of the stairs and then the concrete slabs that became the stair treads. There would've been huffing and puffing, and many, many grunts coming from said Chinese maintenance men. A lot of communicating of how to accomplish the job, and not a lot of accomplishing, meanwhile smoking an entire pack of cigarettes.

It would've made a great story to blog about and post pictures and be generally amused by such a story.

But, now, it's old news. It's boring. And why ever would I want Kc to slyly take pictures of the men replacing the stairway outside our front door? Who cares?!!

Sometimes, living in America isn't nearly as funny as living in China. Even though the people there did the same jobs and fixed the same type of things, it just isn't the same.

And that makes me sad. Simply because I used to enjoy blogging about boring, everyday stuff that mysteriously became absolutely knee-slapping, hysterically funny when overseas.

Little things

I got to work yesterday morning, and to my immense pleasure and excitement, there was sitting at my desk, a new chair.

My rotund backside is quite appreciative!

Seems that my wonderful co-worker, Michelle, sat in my chair while I was away in Pittsburgh last week, and decided that it was the most awful chair in the world and that I needed a new one.

Amen, sista.

I am the proud owner of a chair, with arms!, a cushiony back and seat. I currently have no room to move about in my tiny little office space, but you know, that's ok. Cuz my butt is happy and that makes the rest of me happy.

It's the little things, I tell ya. All about the little things.

Reminders to myself

"Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is
nothing
on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail.
but
God
is the strength of my heart
and my portion
forever."
~ Psalm 73:25-26


"The steadfast love of the LORD
never ceases;
his mercies
never come to an end;
they are new
every
morning;
great is your faithfulness.

'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul,
'therefore
I will hope in him.'
The LORD is good to those
who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him."
~ Lamentations 3:22-25


"Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet
my unfailing love for you
will not be shaken
nor
my covenant of peace be removed,
says the LORD,
who has compassion on you."
~ Isaiah 54:10

And I thought it would never happen

A glorious thing happened yesterday. It truly made my little heart happy. I believe it made my husband's heart even happier.

Our upstairs neighbors moved.

I'm not even joking.

We fell asleep, in our own bed, for the first time in nearly 11 months, without upstairs noise. It was absolutely divine.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones complaining and being generally annoyed with our upstairs neighbors. Seems that the woman who lived across from them also found them terribly obnoxious. So she's been complaining. And so have we. And the office people decided to do something about it. And moved them to another apartment in the complex. On the lower level. With a bunch of college kids who live above them.

Seriously. I thought this day would never come. Our last month in our apartment will be filled with much joy and happiness.

------------------------------
If I had known what it would take to get 36 comments on one blog posting, man, I would've done something much sooner! I never realized that a wooden barn-like structure would cause so many opinions. I do realize that most of the comments are between my sweet brother and my sweet husband, but still, 36 comments? That's dang impressive.

In case you haven't been keeping up (cuz I know you all are dying to see which spouse is winning!) you should read the comments. They make me laugh. But mostly because it's my brother and my husband, both of whom I find to be quite amusing people.

And so, because of that, I can't call a winner. I mean, of course, naturally, I'm the winner, but dang, there were an awful lot of people who called those things "sheds". Shoot, man. It also appears that all Spiehlers call them a "mini-barn". So, a tie then?

How lame is that. A tie. But, I just can't do it. I can't.

However, I shall be thinking of another semi-silly controversial question to ask that will illicit even more comments this time around.

What would you call it?

Fellow readers:

What would you call this structure that I have pictured below? My dear sweet husband and I laid in bed last night and "discussed" what these structures are called. The house we made an offer on has one in the backyard and Kc was drooling over how wonderful it would be to have said structure. I sweetly informed him that he called it the wrong thing ... and it was determined that I'd find a picture on the internet and ask the blogging world. [I won't tell you which name I used to google these pictures but I think that, in and of itself, answers my question!]


So, do you call these structures:

A) Tool shed or B) Mini Barn

Leave your comment and may the best spouse win! :)

If your name isn't Colin Koons, then please disregard this post

I wanted to send these to my brother via email, but it was being stupid so I have to use this venue. Many, many apologies for the poor quality of the video and of my appearance. Having worked out till I thought I was going to die and then chilling in my home for a Friday night, doesn't lend itself to extreme beauty.

Colin - this is for you.

Dude.

Thank you for including me on your amazing night last night, when you got to see Coldplay in concert, again. Even though you were with your cool law school friends, you still wanted to include me. You are da bomb. I loved answering my phone and then listening to screaming for the next 10 minutes, and occasionally getting to hear the actual music. In case you couldn't tell, I was weeping like a baby, while listening to the concert, via a cell phone. Seriously. Big ol' tear drops were rolling down my cheeks. It wasn't so much because Coldplay's music was moving me (which it can, trust me) but rather because I wanted to be there with you. And I remembered how much fun we had 4 years ago, when we all went to our first "real" concert together.

And I just missed you. A lot.





So, anyways, I just wanted to say thanks. For remembering me. For including me. For making me smile. And for making me cry.

I love you a whole, whole lot and am so stinking proud of you and how hard you are working to finish up your law degree.

I can't wait to see you sometime soon.

Love, Meg

An update on the house-hunting:

We decided to terminate the contract on the house. After all the inspections and engineers got done doing their thing, it was estimated that there would be about $20k worth of repairs that we didn't want to deal with but felt the Sellers should take care of. They felt differently about the matter, and so we walked away.

I'm bummed. And disappointed. And true to my word, I knew I was probably jumping the gun by showing a picture and all.

Rest assured, I'll wait until it's ours and we've moved in before showing the next picture. :)

We are going house-hunting again this Saturday. Now, it feels like we are suddenly in crunch-time with the searching. Our lease ends on July 14, and even though we can pay extra to stay longer, I'd just rather move out then.

Cuz I'm seriously starting to hate our neighbors. I know it's wrong to hate, so maybe I'll say I'm really starting to greatly, with much passion and vehemence, dislike the people that live above us.

It appears they bought a yippee dog.

And since I'm such a dog-lover I can easily overlook this new addition, as it's simply delightful to lay in bed and listen to the yippings of a dog that sounds like it's a plastic squeaky toy. Seriously. I can overlook that. But, it's really hard to enjoy listening to the thump-thump-thump of a washing machine, that sits almost directly above your bedroom, running at midnight.

Wait.

Did I say I was a dog-lover?

I lied.

The yippee, squeaky sounding dog is terribly annoying. As well as the running of a washing machine at midnight.

And before I get in trouble for sounding so negative, I'll change the subject. :)

We saw Pixar's new film, "Up" over the weekend. And if you haven't seen it yet, you need to cancel all plans for the weekend and make sure you do! It's precious. We thought it was one of Pixar's best films yet and they've made some great ones. We saw it in 3-D and the little man sitting next to me, reached out and "grabbed things" the whole time. So cute. It really was a great movie. You laugh. You laugh some more. You cry. And you walk out just feeling great. I'm not sure that it's good for little ones to see though -- I felt that it was scary in some scenes that a young child might be frightened by. But as a 27 and 29 yr old, we handled it just fine and enjoyed ourselves.

On Sunday, Katie and Rodney (and Abigail) spent the day with us. They were driving through Dallas on their way back to Houston and called to see if we could hang out. It was great to have some face-time with them and to love and kiss on Baby Abigail. She's 4 months and just starting to smile and be interactive with those she's around. Simply precious. She's got fabulous chunky thighs and dimples in her elbows that made me just want to kiss and kiss and kiss on her. Unfortunately we were having too good of a time together and didn't get any pictures. [sigh]

Remember that time when I lived in China and carried my camera everywhere I went and took pictures all the time?!!? I always had pictures to post and stuff to talk about? Yah. I vaguely remember that time too.

Anyhoo, it's back to work for me. No more goofing off. :)

Guilt complex?

If you were to discover, one unassuming day, that there were random mint leaves growing in your apartment building's landscaping, and you sporadically or maybe all the time, snipped some of those leaves for your own personal homemade iced tea, and maybe even possibly pulled some shoots up by their roots and then promptly planted them in your own personal pots, watering them and begging them to grow and flourish ....

.... would you feel bad?


Yah.


Me neither.