Two Things

I got this survey from two friends (Annie & Krissy) and thought I'd post my response here instead of e-mailing it back, just for fun! :)

Two Names You Go By:

1. Mommy (kids)
2. Sweetie (Collin)

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:

1. flip flops

2. ponytail

Two Things You Would Want (or have) in a relationship:

1. someone to laugh with

2. a "forever" commitment

Two things you like to do:

1. stamp/scrapbook
2. knit/crochet

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:

1. for Collin to get a job...
2. ...for that job to be in San Antonio

Two things you did last night:

1. made dinner for my family
2. continued knitting a prayer shawl for a friend

Two things you ate today:

1. Mexican Tortilla Soup
2. Craisins

Two people you Last Talked To:

1. Collin
2. Diane

Two Things You're doing tomorrow:

1. grocery shopping

2. going to the drive-in with my family

Two longest car rides:

1. Great Falls, MT to San Antonio, TX
2. San Antonio, TX to Vandenberg AFB, CA

Two Favorite Holidays

1. Halloween

2. Christmas

Two Favorite Beverages

1. Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper

2. Chai Tea Latte

Two jobs I have had in my life:

1. Database Administrator
2. Temporary Personnel Coordinator/Career Placement Coordinator

Two movies I would watch over and over

1. Princess Bride (and I have!)
2. 13 Going On 30

Two places I have lived:
1. Berlin, Germany

2. Crete, Greece

Two Favorite Foods:

1. Greek/Mediteranean

2. Tex-Mex

Two places I'd rather be right now:

1. San Antonio
2. On a Disney Cruise with all of my family!

There, I hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and just in case you haven't gotten your daily dose of cuteness, here's a couple of pics of Ian before and after his haircut today:

Waiting for his haircut... and doing the cha-cha?!

Riding the carousel at the dollar store as his "treat" for being so good during the haircut!

What plans?

I intended to have more interesting things to write about this weekend, with plans to go to a BBQ this afternoon and the drive-in theatre tonight - but alas, Ian has come down with the flu. I thought we were free and clear, since it was over a week ago that Moira came down with what's looking like the same bug, but I guess not. So, no fun weekend plans for us. We'll be staying home, taking care of a sick kiddo. I don't mind too very much though, it's sometimes nice to have a restful weekend at home, and I have many projects I need to work on around here - including finishing up several swaps I've been working on. Here's a taste:

This is my "February" page for the calendar swap I'm in. I made 13 of these in all.

Here's a view of the calendar "candy" I made to go with it.

Perhaps if I'm feeling very productive (or Ian's feeling better) I'll post more on our weekend later! Enjoy your weekend, all you readers in the blogosphere! :)

Salt & Light

Our Church just started a new 8-week study entitled Salt & Light by Jerry Sheveland. I noticed a few Sundays ago that the Women's Ministry was planning a study based around this book on Tuesday mornings, and that childcare would be provided for those that need it. "Really?!" was my first thought. In my 4+ years of being a mother, never have I had the opportunity to join in a women's bible study because childcare was always an issue - and here, provided for me, was the opportunity and arrangements, made for me, to be able to participate. I couldn't ignore God telling me "this is your opportunity, I made this available for you!" So I signed up, and I'm sitting here after the second meeting with my small group feeling wonderfully blessed! God is so good - He knew I needed Christian women right now in my life and He answered that prayer with 7 Godly women with whom to study His Word and fellowship. I must admit I wasn't sure how I'd fit-in with this group of women, as the youngest of them is 46, but I've been so blessed by this group of women! I'm just marveling in God's awesome provision for His children, and count myself blessed to be considered one of His! I just wanted to write and share my joy with you all. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

~~~~~~~

"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things..." -- Psalm 103: 1-5

Solvang

I absolutely love this little town about 30 minutes away from where we live. It's a Danish settlement that's kept it's heritage and has some awesome little shops and restaurants that you could spend a week exploring! We decided to head out there late this morning to do a little early Christmas shopping and had as great time, as usual. You feel like you're stepping out of California and into a little danish town in the old world. Here are some pics from our day...

Here's Moira stopping to make a wish at the fountain. Guess what she wished for. She said, with all the seriousness that a 4 year old can muster, "I wish we could go to Texas!" Us too, kiddo... us too.

Moira enjoying the "Solvang Restaurant"

Isn't this hilarious? Ian insisted on trying the mustard on his french fries - and can you believe he liked it? What a brave little boy!

My other "little boy" was not brave enough to try the mustard, but he did try a new beer from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Are vikings supposed to be this cute?

We're trying to enjoy every bit of California before it's time to go, and today was a good start. Next weekend is "Danish Days" in Solvang, so we may just end up back there again soon! And, I'm sure many more pics will follow here! :)

The birds of the air and lilies of the field

I know many of you were waiting to hear from me Monday, since that's the day we called Lucas Group and were scheduled to find out more about EAS and life on the job front, so let me update you now. We called Lucas Group on Monday, and it turns out that they don't have anything in San Antonio - at all. Bummer. They offered to market Collin individually to companies in San Antonio, which probably wouldn't hurt, so we may take them up on that. Meanwhile, we haven't heard anything back from EAS, although that's not really bothering us much, since we were starting to feel unsettled about this particular possibility, between workload and whether it would be something Collin would enjoy. We did hear back from the HR Director from Recall, telling us that she was still in Mexico on business, but hadn't forgotten about Collin and would get back to us, so I suppose that's good. In other good news, Collin found a few jobs with Harcourt Assessments that he's really interested in, and applied for those Monday afternoon, so we'll see where that goes. Collin's also looking into some headhunting firms that are local (in San Antonio) since they may be more involved in that particular market.

This is probably much more detailed than any of you care to know, so I may start limiting these updates to the "big" stuff. I've realized that God wants me to be focusing whole-heartedly on Him right now... not the job search, house stuff or any of the other (truly) peripheral things - just Him, and He'll handle the rest. No amount of worrying or wishing the perfect job into existence is going to make it happen, so I need to rest in Him and let Him take care of us in His timing as He's promised to do. Sounds great, right? Now, if only that was easy. Here is a passage from Matthew that I find myself reading and re-reading a lot lately...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown in the the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -- Matthew 6 : 25-34

Spilling the beans!!!

Okay, I can't wait anymore, I've just gotta spill the beans! In about 9 months time, we'll be welcoming two more little members to our big, happy family! (And, no - I'm not having twins...) We found out this weekend that both my sister Kim & her husband Tom, and my brother Neal & his wife Janice are expecting! Yea!!! :) Although, I must admit, this means serious trouble for Collin and me - Kim, Janice and I always seem to get pregnant around the same time, so we'll have to watch out! ;)

Anyhow, both little blessings should be arriving around the end of April 2008, and I'm just thrilled to death! I'm so excited that I'll be living in San Antonio this time around and much closer to Neal & Janice, not to mention I'll get to go to the hospital to meet Kim and Tom's new little one! There's a lot of change and new things happening in all of our lives - 2008 should be a very exciting year! Much love and many blessings to both families!

just for fun...

I'm such a dork. I decided to add a little "decoration" to my ugly, black medical shoe to pretty it up a bit! You know, to keep things feeling positive right now and all... here's a little peek.

tee hee!