House Updates

So there are a few new things about our house since my last pictures...
We painted and we have living room furniture!
The living room is beige, the dining room oak grove green and the kitchen a light minty green. It's always nerve racking to paint when you can't really see what it'll look like. But it turned out great!! I love it! Here's J painting...
He and S did a great job with a little help from my dad, friend A and M. Thanks guys!
In our living room we now have a sofa, cuddle chair, coffee table and two end tables. The tables have had some issues. When J went to pick them up we were surprised to find that they were in boxes so "some assembly required". The tables all have a lower shelf and some of them didn't fit! So we're still waiting for new pieces to remedy that problem. But in the mean time they work just fine. Here we are in the cuddle chair which also works great! :) I'm sure you can tell I haven't taken any of these pictures - they're so cool. J was being creative and of course he can get them all straight, unlike me.
We do have more paint in the basement for the bedroom and bathroom. But painting the other rooms took longer than expected so that will wait for another break.

Traveling

I get to go visit my sister at college this weekend! I can’t wait! I’ve been excited about visiting since my brother started going to college there. And if I had been more career minded I might have gone there too so I’m excited to visit classes with her. I totally miss the challenge of Bible College and constant learning and searching the Word.
It’s going to be a great girl’s weekend! We’re hoping to catch a basketball game, doing some shopping and go to the Creation Museum. I have been looking forward to going to the Creation Museum since I heard they bought the land and started building! Check out their website.
I don’t think I’ve traveled by myself since I’ve been married so I’m a little nervous about flying. You all know I am not good at flying. I either get motion sickness or am afraid I will. So hopefully the weather will be good and the flights smooth.
I hope I remember to take pictures and if so I’ll post some next week! :)

Sadness

I’m sad this week. Our good friends are moving away. This might be the first time I’ve really experienced this type of loss as an adult.
The McNairs unexpectedly came into our lives when they moved into our town and joined our flock at church. Justin and I quickly became attached to them and their beautiful baby girl.

Our weekend evenings quickly filled with food-filled bellies, board game playing, and great fellowship. Sam and Justin quickly bonded over their love of board games and video games and the need for some good guy time once in a while. -And biking! I can't believe I almost forgot that one.

Abby and I became fast friends in spite of our different personalities. It has been so encouraging to see her strive to be a godly wife and mother on a daily basis. Abby is one of the most observant people I know and she always knows when I need a hug or someone to challenge me to open up. I have never made a friend so quickly or easily and I will miss her greatly. Ali was such a joy to see grow from tow-headed toddler to beautiful sassy 4-year old.

I love Ali’s spunk!!

After a short time we welcomed Ava – sweet, purple mouthed Ava.

She’s the lover of the family and has always had a sweet wrinkle nosed smile for us.

Just last year we welcomed Aria and she’s such a doll.

I’m sad we won’t get to see her grow but I know we’ll see lots of pictures and hear her screams on the phone.

We have come to love the girls like they were ours and will miss getting regular hugs and kisses. Thankfully we live in a time of easy access to phones and the internet!

Updates

I finally succeeded in adding a third column to my blog! yay! As you can see I still have a couple details to iron out.

COMING SOON:
House updates - we have new furniture and painted walls. Pictures coming.
Google reader shared items.
New Poll.

I Wish Wednesday

I'm still thinking about winter and Christmas! :)

I wish winter was prettier in Nebraska.
I miss the beautiful snow covering the ground. I don't like seeing the dead brown grass all the time. Clean snow is so lovely!

I wish my excitement about Christmas would burn strong throughout the year.
This is more of a goal than a wish because, like I said, I think wishing is pointless if you're not going to do anything about it. I've been wondering... At Christmas time we have Advent to help us anticipate Christ's birthday. Why don't we have something that helps us anticipate Easter? (Lent doesn't count because it brings dread not excitement.) Because what Easter celebrates is a little more important and we should be even more excited about it. I love the songs and stories that talk about the veil being torn! It's such a vivid description of what happened on a spiritual level at Christ's death. And it means so much to me personally - because God no longer resides in the temple but in the hearts of believers!

I wish flying weren't so nerve racking.
I'm flying to visit my sister at college later this month. I've never been much of a fly-er. I usually get motion sickness or just really nervous. I'm not worried about the plane crashing (well maybe a little) but rather worried about getting sick. I really hate getting sick on the plane. I'm so thankful to whoever invented Dramamine.

Winter

Winter has been a little crazy so far this year! I'm not really a fan of the simultaneous snowing and blowing. I really miss the fluffy waist deep snows of the mountains. And I miss the road crews that could manage that. Our crews can't even handle an inch.
Anyhow, check out my new winter poll! If you have an opinion not listed, please write in the comments.

I don't really want to do a long in depth post about my Christmas, so I'll just say it was better than expected. I had to work more than I would prefer but some how all the driving back and forth worked out fine and wasn't too stressful. Justin had some gift mishaps, of course. But we loved everything we got! Christmas Eve service was great! I'm sad that Christmas is gone for another year. I love singing Christmas songs and feeling the excitement everyone has. I know most of people's excitement is about gifts or travel or Santa. But in church I hope the excitement is a reflection of their anticipation for the day of Christ's birth. Christmas is always so moving for me. All the songs we sing and the practices we have to prepare for extra programs remind me of the reason for the season. Christ's birth is so exciting! It's the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. The Messiah has finally come!! And that means that Easter is coming soon! That's my favorite part of anticipating Christmas - it's also looking to the promise and gift of salvation that was given through Christ's death and resurrection that we celebrate at Easter. Something about Christmas awakens my excitement! I hope I can hold on to it through the year. That's my New Year's resolution. :) I'm not really into those.

So that's my recap of recent days. Hopefully my next post won't be so far away!

Husker VB Pics

More and better volleyball pictures as promised!!

Set 3 win for us!

Go Blockers!!

Great scramble by Tara Mueller! And a great view of the sea of red that braved the weather.

Kori Cooper getting pumped!! She was great to watch! How awesome that she is so excited and supportive in spite of the fact that she's hurt on the sidelines. Also, did you hear the story about the camo jackets? Coach Cook gave a talk about fight or flight. The team chose fight on the court!

Just a neat shot of the Penn State blockers. Apparently they have a thing for crazy fingernail polish. I was amazed at how well their setter blocked. She was pretty tall and really feisty!

This is after the PSU v Stanford game which we all know PSU won.

And boy are they excited. :)