Merry Christmas One and All!

Hope you enjoy this CHRISTMAS GREETING compliments of my friend Kakes.
It's elf-a-licious!

Where Does the Time Go??

I started this post a long time ago and figured I'd better post it before Christmas!

O Overnight Occupants. Tim and Katie were in town for a few weekends for weddings and school projects. It's always great catching up with them, I wish they weren't so far away! Katie and I watched the moon rise at the beach, it was amazing - more beautiful than the sunrise, I think!

C Cubbies... Yes we are in full swing on Wednesday nights. Be praying for the little munchkins and their families. One in particular on our team is a newbie, her and her family aren't church goers but they have been really interested in Awana and have been working faithfully on the verses with their kids. (It's an old pic, but isn't he cute)!

T a Tealight Treasure. My birthday present from James :) adds a little light to the living room.

O Out On the Open Road. James and I traveled up north to BBC, where sister Stacie is a Sr. We caught a few of her volleyball games and were able to see her teach a PE class. I was so impressed with her creativity - You're and outstanding teacher Stac! (I also got to stop by Hannah's house and visit with her family - their little guy is super smart)!

B Birthday Bashes! We celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday this month at one of his favorite pizza joints - Papas. And for my 26th birthday we celebrated with some good Friends ;) We love you Messers!

E Eating Exquisite Entrees. Hot juicy burgers (and nuggets) from Wendy's.

R Reformation Remembrance. As you all know, Halloween is also the day Martin Luther nailed up his 95 thesis, kick starting the Reformation. Thus, for 2 reasons it's one of our favorite holidays, for the spiritual significance and we just like to dress up! James had a great idea a while back to combine the two 'holidays' if you will, with a new tradition. Each year he picks a different reformer/church father, spends the month studying them and then carves their portrait in a pumpkin. And during the carving he teaches me all about them - I love it! This years selection was.... Augustine. But I included a few from past years because they are just soooo cool!

Augustine & Jerome

And of course - Luther!

Ahhh, Naples...

It's hard to believe summer is already over and everyone is back to school. I must admit having recently returned from a relaxing trip to Naples Florida, I'm still struggling with a bit of vacation hangover. But alas, life must go on...

Contrary to poplular opinion regarding 'mother-in-laws' (who came up with that term anyway?!) my mom2 - as she likes to be called, is one of the most kind and generous people I think I've ever met. She knows what things are important in life and that's part of what makes her so much fun to be around! It just so happens that one of the things most important to her is spending time with the family - and we have been blessed beyond belief in this respect - both of James' and my family get along so well, that when mom2 wanted to go on a family vacation she invited my parents to join us! After arranging all the accomidations and checking out travel books - flights were booked, bags were packed and one by one we began arriving on the gulf coast.

Our journey began on Friday after Stacie got off of work, and after driving through some intense thunder storms we arrived in Naples on Saturday evening where we were greeted by Mom2 and Pablo (James' brother Paul). After a relaxing dinner at Olive Garden the fun began! Pablo brought his xbox along and purchased this new game Guitar Hero - what a blast!

You can probably figure it out from the pictures, but it uses mainstream punk rock songs from Nirvana and just about everone else you could think of - and you actually play the music. You can earn starpower for everything from jumping up and down to playing with your teeth - it's pretty crazy! Just like the pros, you can go on tour and if your serious you can hook up with fellow band members and compete in an online battle of the bands. I think we'll have to look at getting Paul the drum component for Christmas :) We laughed so hard that night, you'd be suprised how much everyone gets into being a rock star! Once the crowd cheers for you, you're hooked.

Sunday we chilled at the pool and did some SERIOUS grocery shopping! Later that evening we picked my parents up from the airport and the family was complete!

August is actually off season for the Naples area, which worked out wonderfully for us. We were able to enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches without any crowds! The first one we visited was on Marco Island, it was a wildlife preserve complete with a lagoon and lots of birds - just beautiful!

Tuesday we stayed in to help those that needed to recover from their sunburns, played a little tennis, and went to see Bourne Ultimatum. That evening we broke out Settlers - you know it wouldn't be a family vacation with out it!

Wednesday was another day at the beach. This time we drove up to Sanibel Island, which is one of the top three shelling locations in the world - live shelling is prohibited, so unfortunatley we had to put back the coolest find of the day a sandollar! Dinner this evening was at Aurelios, a Chicagoland pizza joint, one of our favoirtes. Oh, it was sooooo good! I can still taste it!

Thursday, after some early morning tennis, the guys did some golfing while the girls checked our the winter estates of Eddison and Ford. What a history lesson! It's so neat to see how those brilliant men lived,worked and enjoyed life. They spent tons of time on thoses gorgeous porches, playing chineese checkers, reading and napping. Ford and his family were seriously into music and square dancing - they did it almost everyevening after dinner!

Still wanting to uncover some more sea shells we packed up the car bright and early and headed back to Sanibel Island. We also spent some time on Captiva Island that day (if we ever go back they have an amazing spot to watch the sunset, it's said you might be able to catch that flash of green right before the sun goes down from there. We'd like to look for it!) Here's just a few of our finds. Pablo had the best find of the day, by far! We finished the evening with dinner by the pool and a ferocious game of pool football - even the moms got in on the action.

Saturday we said our goodbyes and headed our seperate ways :( We already started planning the next get toghether... I hope it comes sooner than later! We loved being with all of you and miss you much!

(So... mom2 thanks for a great vacation!)

James and I had a few extra days before we had to be back so we spent some time visiting with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Orlando, then drove to check out New Tribes Mission. Wow, what an amazing place! James and I are looking into some options for future ministry and were just in love with their heartbeat and phillosophy. If you don't know much about them, check out the link, they work strictly with tribal people, planting churches and translating the bible - it's amazing stuff!

From there we drove to Savannah GA, had dinner in a restored grocery store and feed house - it was beautiful, strolled down river street, and went on a ghosts and legends tour at 10:00pm! We would love to go back there again, it was so romantic and there was just so much that we didn't get to see.

Here's a few more of our vacation memmories:

(Pablo, click on the pics to see some of the captions)

GIRLFRIENDS!

A few weekends ago James, Stacie and I were able to make a visit up to Baltimore to see Tim & Katie's new place. They are settling in well and it was fun to see where they shop, dine and do church (well at least a possible church - they are still shopping around).

We arrived late Friday evening and Katie, being the fabulous event planner that she is, found this local hot spot called The Paper Moon. It's a 24 hr. diner that we were pumped about checking out! However, upon arrival we became a little frightened by the large list of rules posted by the door, and if that wasn't enough we walk in and get seated in this bright purple and orange version of Sid's room (the scary kid from Toy Story...) there were dismembered and reassembled toys and manikins hanging from the ceiling and walls! But I must say, once you got over the "creepy" factor the food was great and we got some fun pictures (most of which are of the outside because we were too afraid to take many pics of the inside due to the "rules"), Katie has most of those pics - maybe this will help her put them up on her blog. ;)

(I also, for the first time in my life - laughed so hard, I started crying uncontrollably... I think I'm turning into my mom. It was kinda fun.)

Saturday after flipping through Tim's scrap book (yes, I said Tim's) and reading up on John Grisham we chowed down on some homemade waffles - which I haven't had since I was a kid (it brought back memories of when I was a kid - remember dad, how we found our waffle iron and then made an enormous amount of waffles to freeze?). Then it was off to the aquarium which was a blast! We watched some divers feed a sea turtle and sting rays, got splashed by dolphins and hunted by sharks - our favorite part of course. After that we grabbed a burger at 5 guys and walked the harbor. Strolling the harbor, a typically harmless event except for the costumed kitty cats, fairies and villains armed with 6ft long knives - it was OKATON! (NPR did a story on the festival for more info click here).

Sunday we had a refreshing worship experience at a new church Tim & Katie were wanting to try and the girls ventured out for some serious shopping! It was so much fun and I started missing Katie the min we pulled out of their driveway!

The following weekend was another great adventure with my college girlfriends. We decided that after graduation we would get together once a year just to keep in touch and well lets be honest - to be really crazy! You know, you act different when all the girls get together, everyone just gets goofy! One of the gals lives in DC and wasn't able to make it - but we love and miss you Rachie!

This year the meeting place was near Ocean City MD. Sarah, Jana and I hung out at the beach and of course the board walk - my camera batteries died before I got to snap shots of the Ferris wheel and all that so you'll just have to use your imagination! No trip to the shore would be complete with out Fishers Popcorn - you've got to check it out - there's none like it!

We were able to visit Jana's church - which was so refreshing!! The worship just really captured me, I haven't sung like that since college - I MISS THAT! And not just that, these gals really have shaped my heart, and taught me so much - they have and continue to sharpen me even though we're not packed into a dorm seeing each other every waking moment! Though I miss those late night talks and walks at BBC, it seems our friendships are as rich and deep as they ever were - despite the distance. You guys are my souls companions and I LOVE YOU!

And speaking of LOVE... that was one of the weekends hot topics - Jana has found the love of her life!! WOOO HOOO! We had such fun giggling and chatting about this budding romance and I even got to talk with Chad and share some really great "Jana Stories" as we like to call them :) He's wonderful! I could not be happier for her or more amazed that God not only gave her someone with larger calf muscles than her but also someone with all the things she ever wanted in a husband.

So that's my girlfriend news... how about your girlfriends? What do you do to keep in touch with your pals? Do you do anything fun together with friends who live out of state? Share you girlfriend memories!

PS - my great finds included a huge basket for shoes and frying pan, both from IKEA, and a super cute sun dress for 10$!! I can't wait to wear it on vacation!

My sis, Stacie, and I decided it would be an exciting adventure to go searching for mermaids in downtown Norfolk... We spent two days, maps in hand, traveling the streets in search of the maidens. It was a great way to see the city! From the waterfront to the historic section and everywhere in between! We met many a friendly "norfolkians" happy to share the tale of their mermaid. We have quite a few more mermaids to track - like Moomaid, Toga, Music Moasic, and many more. Some we know where to find but others are hiding - let us know if you spot any so we can add them to our collection!

It looks like some of the mermaids may have evolved or changed enitrely over time - for more info on their history or for infromation on starting your own mermaid search check out mermaidsonparade.com.

For that much needed nourishment on your journey sip a starbucks, grab a burger at Johnny Rockets, Doumars (not my fave) or dine at Amalfi! (They have the cutest covered patio.)

We're loving being downtown - any other places we should check out?

Sizzlin' Summer

Hey just a glimpse of what we've been up to lately... more to follow on the growth of my little seedlings...