Please say it isn't so

My worst nightmare might come true.

It appears that this movie is making a comeback.

Oh.My.Word.

I'm sitting here at my desk, and when I look at that picture in the article, even as an almost 30-yr old woman ... I shudder and cringe.

What about that film makes me so upset? I don't know what exactly about it scarred me so badly, but it's not just me. My siblings all agree that it was the scariest movie when we were kids.

And they are going to re-make it?? Honestly? Seriously?

I for one will not be watching it. Nope. No way, no how.

Where we Live

New House

Picasa site for pictures of our new house -- click on the house to be taken to Picasa's website where I've uploaded a lot of pictures.

These are of the day we got possession, moving and some I took yesterday. I'll post more once we get pictures on the walls and possibly some new paint.

Enjoy!

Watering the Lawn

I really do love my husband.

And because I do, I share this short video with you all, in the hope that you will think that he's super cute.

Cuz I sure think so.

Or at least smile for a quick second. Both options are acceptable to me.




And that was our first Saturday in our new house. :)

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Clara,

I realize that your birthday has already passed in Indiana, but here in Texas, I still have 30 more minutes. :)

I guess I can't really call you my "baby girl" anymore, seeing how you are going to be a big sister ... but to me, you are still my little, biddy girl.

You are 2 years old! 2 whole years have passed since that Sunday evening when we got to hold you for the very first time. The day you were born was such a fun, fun day. We all played outside, and you vicariously helped your mommy play Croquet. She lost though (I'm pretty sure). And then we started to head for evening church and well, you decided you really wanted to come meet us all. So, as soon as church was over, we all headed to the hospital, including your almost-to-be-Uncle-Kc, and then you were born!

I loved, loved, loved holding you when you were only a few minutes old. You were so tiny and little and now ... you are a big girl!! You probably are too big for wanting to snuggle and get lots of loving from your Aunt Megan. You are too busy trying to keep up with Meredith. And trust me, I understand about needing to keep up. Cuz, you see, your dad is my big brother -- I'm a second-born too, just like you. Don't worry too much about it. We second-born kids stick together. But, if you aren't too busy, I'd take a hug and a snuggle whenever you felt like it.

Anyway, I love you oh so very much. I'm sorry I had to move away to Texas 3 weeks after you were born, but that doesn't mean I still don't miss you and wish we could spend so much time together.

You are loved, little "Trar-ra" or "Lah, lah" as you call yourself. You are very, VERY loved. I hope your birthday was everything you had hoped it would be. Those dreaded "2 weeks" are officially over.

Love you, my big 2 year old girl!
Love, Aunt Megan

It's such a joy to be around you and get to do fun stuff with you, like opening Christmas presents!

You are loved my dear ... all the way from Dallas, TX ...

Aren't you the most precious little flower girl in the whole, wide world?!?!?? I think so too ...

Love you, Clara Faith.

Presh

And this is her response:

Dear Megan,

I just read your blog. I love you so much. I miss you. You're cute as a hot dog. [Yes, I am typing this verbatim and I can't believe she just said that.] If you move another far away then I will still miss you.

Thank you for my dress. I like the flowers on it at the bottom.

I love you so much that I can't believe it.

I love you. Always in love.
Love,
Meredith

Wow. That was a good start to my morning!

One of my favorite blogs to read of someone I don't know is this woman right here. I think she's absolutely hysterical. My friend, Jen, works with their ministry on the West side of Dallas and I keep telling Kc we need to go volunteer there too. Their ministry seems like a great thing (President Bush just visited them the other week!) but it would also be fun to meet her in real life.

Anyways, my morning routine at work is to walk in, make myself a cup of hot tea with all the needed supplies that I drag to work every week, sit at my computer, and proceed to read blogs for the next 20 minutes. It's a hard life.

This morning, my cup of tea was hotter than normal, so I let it cool off a bit before carrying it back to my desk. It's a good thing that I did because when I went to A Long Way from the Theta House blog and read her most recent post ....

I promptly spilled half a cup of hot tea all over my keyboard. Seriously.

If you are brave enough to venture over to her recent blog post ... beware. And make sure you aren't jumpy or holding a cup of burning hot tea at the same time.

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.