Kingston

Kingston is now 9 months old.

Most kids are crawling now. He is not. He'd rather take my hands and walk around the room all day.

He chews his breakfast, lunch and dinner, and takes good naps.

He has two pearly whites on his bottom gums.

We listen to music, play games, read books and sing songs.

Made in the image of God, he shines bright wherever we go.

I rest easy at night knowing my life is perfect with him in it.

To Love and Live

When I was in college I noticed our campus newspaper, The Reflector, was lacking readership. This is about the time that "Sex in the City" episodes were popular. I sadly envied Carrie. Not her as a person, good grief, but her career. How cool to frolic around New York in pricey outfits, meet random eccentric people for lattes midday and then spend an hour a week writing a column?

So, I put two and two together and kindly approached The Reflector's editor-in-chief and asked if he would allow me to be their Carrie. He told me to write three samples. I did and the new "Love vs. Hate" column was born.

Ahhh. My dreams had come true. Kind of. I had a blast writing that column. I was a partier and dated multiple guys at once (sorry in advance to those who were unaware of this), so it was easy to pick up inspiration. The only downfall was when I actually fell in love. Unfortunately, Kyle fell victim to my column. Not because I wrote about him and our carefree relationship -- I stayed far, far away from that storyline -- but because students would frequently ask him whether or not that week's column had anything to do with him. Especially when I wrote about the ugly relationship scenarios. Fortunately, however, The Reflector's readership increased dramatically. That could have been me, but it also could have not been me. I'll never really know...

With that said, I've decided to start writing about relationships again. But, since I'm married and have a son, it would be rather odd for me to write a column about my non-existent single and dramatic dating life. Instead, I've decided to write about love and life, the small pleasures we take for granted everyday. Basically, if everyone realized they were free, the world would be a much more serene place. Okay -- so people in jail and strict countries aren't really "free" per say, so I'm guessing the majority of my readers will remain within the U.S... Even then, however, those who are not physically free to enjoy life as we know it, their spirits ultimately remain free.

Through the words of Jon Egan:

Through you the blind will see. Through you the mute will sing.
Through you the dead will raise. Through you all hearts will praise.
Through you the darkness flees. Through you my heart screams I am free.


Enjoy toloveandlive.com -- my new blog about loving and living life. (Blog to be up and running here shortly).

Baby Kingston

Well, Kingston David Wiley is here! (He has been since 4/21!)

Although we had some complications at the hospital, Kingston seems to be doing well. Napping at the moment, actually. He is the awesomest baby ever (I am allowed to say that because I'm his mom).

Thanks again to all those who prayed for his swift recovery, as well as mine. I think the big man upstairs was definitely looking out for both of us, especially him.

I'm keeping this one short because my time is limited before he has to cling to my chest again and I have much to do before then! More updates to come again soon. For now, enjoy some photos of our new bundle o' joy.

I need a tracking number for my baby, please.

Well, I'm officially 4 days past my due date. Many women cringe at that thought while I'm still enjoying the time I get to spend with my husband before our lives drastically change (for the better) for the remainder of our days.

It's interesting how many people expect you to deliver earlier than your due date. It's like "oh wow, you're still pregnant?" um... "yes, yes I am and I'm 100% okay with that." It's not like he'll stay inside of me for another 9 months -- he has to come out.

To me, our baby is now completely developed, healthy and preparing for his arrival. Only 10% of babies are born on their due date and over 30% of them are born after their due date. My yoga instructor (who has been a doula and prenatal instructor for several years) said it's sometimes perfectly normal for the baby to be 3 weeks late.

Now, that's not to say my OB/GYN will wait that long. He thinks I'll deliver before he has to induce me but he also said he's not in a rush to get him out because I'm healthy, he's healthy and there have not been any complications.

Unfortunately, I've also had many people seem petrified that I'm going to try to endure a natural labor process (if I don't have to be medically induced). How do we think women have done this for thousands of years without drugs? It's sad to me how few pregnant women do their research on what potential complications and side effects that can arise for both them and their baby when automatically opting into drugs. Did you know that an epidural increases your chances of having a C-section by 50%? Did you know that drugs used to induce women like Pitocin (Oxytocin) can have some drastic, irreversible effects? (http://www.drugs.com/sfx/pitocin-side-effects.html).

Again, if it comes down to it I'll have to be medically induced and have to face those potential side effects. But I'm praying that isn't the case. Am I 100% sure I'll be able to go through labor without ANY drugs? No.

But when I get emails or texts with advice on how to "speed up going into labor" it's a little annoying. Only God and our baby knows when it's time. (Literally, the baby sends your body hormonal signals when he's ready to come out).

It's amazing... we've been reproducing for thousands of years and just within the last 80 years women have been bound to lay on their backs, forced to take drugs and deliver babies when it's convenient for the doctor, their family and even the couple themselves.

I'm thankful I've done my research. Thankful my baby is healthy. And thankful for the options nowadays should anything go wrong.

I would just like a tracking number for my baby so I have an inkling of when he'll arrive... that's all.

Snow is awesome... when you're not pregnant

I remember snow being exciting. The thought of it catapults me to the mountaintops in Washington and Oregon where I'd tighten my goggles, strap in my boots and glide down the white slopes.

Unfortunately, when you're pregnant, you can't snowboard. You can't really do a lot of things, actually. Instead, your husband (with such wonderful intentions), keeps you locked inside the house.

I slowly retreated like a sad puppy when Kyle angrily stared me down as I showered and dressed for work while the news anchorwoman in the background repeatedly said "don't travel unless it's absolutely necessary." Heck, work is "absolutely necessary" in my mind. But yesterday there was a sheet of ice over an inch thick on the ground. I agree. It's not worth trying to scoot my way out the door when I'm already off balance thanks to my enlarged stomach. One fall could be devastating. Thankfully, though, the Internet allows one to tap into work on icy days like yesterday.

One thing I'm learning quickly is that being a mom requires sacrifices before the kid even arrives. I like to think of myself as a career-driven woman with multiple dreams and desires. But I've seen the same scare tactic movies and know enough mothers to assume that my dreams will always be there but that I may take a few detours before I get there.

Well, last night it snowed over the ice. So Kyle sweetly cleared and salted a pathway for me off our back deck and out to the street. Here's one of the photos I was able to get as I sucked in the crisp, fresh air.

Ah yes. I remember snow being exciting. It still is (from the window). And although I don't live near mountains anymore, I'm guessing the snow will be much more exciting in the future as I get to build snowmen in it with my kids.

Baby Registry

Talk about a tedious and daunting experience.

Kyle and I went registry shopping. First, we hit up Baby's "R" Us. Not only did I find the breast pump decision confusing and scary but the bottle decisions are endless. I plan to breastfeed our little boy until 6 months if I can bear it. But, daddy's going to need to step in at some point. But, I hear you don't know what your baby will want in a bottle until they try them out. Needless to say, our registry contains more bottle options than anything else. A sterilizer, bottle brush, drying rack...? Holy crap. The list is endless.

Babies "R" Us ended up being the store we registered our "necessities" at. So, the receiving blankets, cloth diapers, onesies, medical and grooming kits -- you get the idea.

Then, we went to Storkland (a local OKC store). We found our modern crib and furniture, our German-made (ridiculously expensive) stroller with a reversible handlebar, hand break, custom fabric and "cool" wheels (so Kyle calls them).

Lastly, we found modernnursery.com. Hallelujah! Finally, some non-country, modern-looking patterns and earth-friendly options. Granted, the prices are steep, but it will be worth it to keep our nursery decor what we had hoped, a highchair that fits in with our new remodel (and won some sort of prestigious award in the Netherlands) and a sweet looking swinger and rocker. (see photos)

I know anyone who reads this who has children will think "it won't matter once he's here." But, please trust me, it will. I honestly did not find anything (pattern-wise) at any of the national chains that we can look at for less than a minute and stay sane. So, if you're reading this and you're coming to one of my three showers, please, please, please follow our registry. I know the plain white and tan outfits aren't as "cute" as you would have hoped, but unless we're desperate and our house burnt down and there was nothing else to keep him warm, we won't put him in any bunny-eared pajamas, choo choo train pants and tops or anything with bows.

I mean, we're parents! We finally get to call the shots for once!

Our crib


Bedding


High chair


My personal favorite, a sick rocker

Belly's getting big

Well, I'm about 26 weeks along and the heartburn is almost unbearable. I hear it's worth it though. Thank goodness.

We'll be starting the final phase of our remodel (master bath and bedroom) so we can move out of what will be the nursery room and start sleeping where we should have been sleeping since we moved in over a year and a half ago.

We also finally purchased our dining room table and chairs. Of course we had to test it out with a formal dinner with candlelight and soft music while sitting on opposite ends of the table like in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I can't believe we're 3 months away from having our son. It's amazing to think how much our lives will change from that day on.

Well, Kyle promised he would rub my feet tonight if I cut up some fresh celery. Sounds like a deal to me so I'm cutting this blog entry short!

Happy New Year!

It's true... I'm pregnant!

The rumors are true. Crystal and Kyle are pregnant. Well, mostly Crystal. I'm at week 12 and I've had morning sickness since week 6 (although I strongly recommend society modify that title to "all-day sickness").

Kyle and I told his parents last week by putting an "I'm a big brother" t-shirt on Spaz -- since he already IS a big brother to Sparkz -- and an "I'm going to be a big brother 2!" t-shirt on Sparkz. Bill's jaw-dropping face was priceless. Connie was focused on making dinner so she was the second one to see the shirts. Hugs all around.

So we then flew out to Portland to tell my mom and dad. My mom screamed and my dad just sat in shock. Hmmm. Three shocks and one scream. No one was expecting this news!

Kyle and I went off to tell our sisters. Ronda (my 22-year-old sister) cried, and so did Kara (Kyle's sister). She said she had to reapply her make-up before heading to work. We thought it was odd that our sisters cried but our parents had that deer-in-the-headlights look. To top it off, Angela (my 19-year-old sister) just looked at us like we were crazy until she realized that was probably a rude thing to do, so she congratulated us. Oh well. What can you expect from a girl focused on boys and college and more boys...?

We know everyone is excited, but I think they were all more in shock when we told them. See, we've positioned ourselves as being on the "5 year plan." But, our purpose in doing that was so if we decided to take 5 years before having kids no one would be disappointed. Then, if we decided to have kids before that 5 year span was over everyone would be happy.

I think Kyle is more excited than anyone, though. He bought "Mozart's top 100 songs" so he can place headphones on my little, what I call "pooch." How cute. Here are a few photos of the dogs' announcement t-shirts...

Oh yeah, our kitchen is about 95% complete at this point... but who cares about that now anyway? Kidding. You can kind of see where we're at in one of the t-shirt photos Kyle took. Yay kitchen almost done!

Stilts & Cabinets

Every day I come home something changes in our kitchen. One day, I came home to a circus - well, a man on stilts plastering drywall. The next day, our living room was full of wood. Pieced together wood. Cabinets...

Today, I was happily surprised with the cabinets suspended in mid air, placed in their new home. Yay. We are almost half-way done. (Don't worry, we're staining them a dark, dark brown to match our existing trim throughout the house -- don't lie, you were worried).

Then, we proceeded to look for and test MORE paint samples. We have finally nailed down two colors we like. You'll get to see our masterpiece hues when we're all done.

The last photo is just a random photo from the World Championship Softball games. Wimgo.com, one of my company's products, sponsored the tournament. These are the alien-ish girls who worked for us to help promote the website throughout the USA vs. Italy game. Yes, they look bizarre. Get used to it. Weird IS my life recently.

Kitchen Be Gone!

Ok, here are a few updated photos from the past week, where our contractor took out our crappy old cabinets, put up a wall to separate the laundry room from the kitchen and started to sheetrock everything. Then, you'll see our lovely paint sampling... Our house is mighty dusty at this point, and we've stayed off-site the past three nights to get away from it all. We are totally having a blast with this remodel, though, and can't wait to do it to more houses in the future!

Piece out sucky cabinets!


Hello two-by-fours


It's magic -- white walls appear out of nowhere!


Trying out paint colors. Disliked the puke green we thought would be, um, fun. So, back to Lowe's it is!

Days Like Today

Days like today are few and far between. Where we consciously realize we're in the midst of our lives. It's real. It's raw. It's life.

Days like today...

Started out wonderful.
Got bad news from doctor.
Not so wonderful.
Make appointment to see doctor again, under the knife.

Moved past the dark moment.
Wondering where it's headed.
Moments becomes stressful.
Loaded with papers, emails and phone calls.

Take a breath.
It will go fast.
Take it all in.
Because it could be my last.

Focus on lunch.
Food in helps the brain work.
Finish reading stuff.
Realize what still needs to be done.

Meet with people.
Laugh at a joke.
Make some decisions.
Sometimes I wish I smoked.

Take a breath.
It will go fast.
Take it all in.
Because it could be my last.

No time to go pee.
Makes my head hurt.
Move on to next to do.
I need my own cohort.

Day swoops to an end.
Where did it go?
To meetings, phone calls, emails and sort.

I think about the future.
To make sure I'm on the right path.
But who can say?
Only I can do the math.

Take a deep breath.
It will go fast.
Take it all in.
Because it might be my last.

Hearts & Hands.... & Tweets

I've never met a more inspirational person. His name is Ken Surritte and he and his wife started Hearts & Hands International (HHII) (http://heartsandhandsinternational.org/) as well as Water is Live (http://waterislife.com/).

We are currently counting down the days - 7 to go! - until we unveil Ken's Hearts & Hands new identity, brand and website, as well as with a few promotions to help spread the word (yes, including Twitter promotions).

HHII is a non-profit organization that travels around the world helping children at risk. The organization is desperately seeking individuals with any range of skills such as; electricians, plumbers, doctors, dentists, surgeons, nurses, general contractors, nursery attendants, people to teach English, and so much more.

HHIII also sells coffee to help save lives. If you already drink your daily cup of Joe then switch to Kenyan AA Blue Mountain Coffee. Proceeds from just one bag of coffee provide a Kenyan child the simple necessities we take for granted on a daily basis such as food, clean water, shelter, and clothing for one month.

Next, through WaterIsLife.com, Ken created a live-saving filtration straw, allowing those with poor water sources to drink clean water. WaterIsLife.com wishes to touch children, one by one, to save their lives from waterborne disease and work with partners to provide a sustainable long term water solution.

The straw Ken created is incredible. This straw actually filters any type of water for those who do not have the ability to drink clean water. Think dirty stream water with cows, feces...etc. These straws are a temporary solution, however, until his team can come back to these impoverished villages with enough manpower and finances to drill a water well- bringing fresh water to the village for the rest of it's existence.

These two organizations have inspired so many people to get up off their behinds and help those less fortunate. Please follow along as Ken, his wife and countless volunteers travel the world, continue to revolutionize solutions, bring hope to those who have none, and save lives.

All Hail Dave Ramsey

Not really...

Let me start out by saying that I like Dave Ramsey. He genuinely cares about America, our economy and the overall financial security of our nation's citizens.

I wasn't able to make it to the live, nationwide Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope webcast tonight. However, I was still able to get the same advice I would have received if I had gone, watched or logged on.

Yes, my friends, I found a secret. A secret that may blow your mind. Everything Dave Ramsey spoke about, other than his personal opinions, have secretly been stored in my head this whole time!

Why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait. I have! I just chose to ignore it. That particularly annoying sidebar of thoughts we call Common Sense is truly a magical human wonder. Just think. If I had listened in church, if I had payed attention in my finance classes, if I just didn't sign up for that shamanistic credit card once I was accepted into college - I would never be in the position I'm in: In debt!

This all reminds me of a book I read only 2.5 pages into: "He's Just Not That Into You." WOW. Chicks needed a book to tell them when a guy is ignoring them? How amusing.

Here's the funny part. When we all choose to ignore our CS detector we tend to value the advice and admire those who chose to obey theirs! We got ourselves in this crummy situation. Stop trying to blame other people. If you just worked hard, spent less than you made and didn't gorge yourself on super-sized McDonald's fries, no one would be committing suicide, or killing their families over money.

How much more clear should it have been for you when you first started really spending money and ignoring your brain? Don't tell me you didn't get that pit in your stomach when you signed the papers for a mortgage clearly over your head and ignored the red flags. Red flags like your salary barely covering the cost of your home, bills, motorcycle, baby formula, cool flat screen (on credit might I add)...etc.

The sooner people stop pointing fingers, take responsibility and own up to their own stupidity, the sooner the people who DO simply follow their CS detector can stop making money for telling us what we already know.

It was so sad to see Dave Ramsey as one of the most searched topics this evening on Twitter. The best part is that he doesn't follow anyone! Nope, not one person. He also has yet to post at the date of this blog's publishing. Does Dave really care about how he's affecting your life? Does he care about the other "free" tools online that could help you become financially secure? Or, just his book and DVD series? Just something to think about.

I actually admire Dave. He's one of the most honest guys in public speaking, he's a disciple of the Lord and he isn't ashamed to be fearless in a world full of incapable people. He saw a weakness 95% of our citizens and took advantage of the most obvious opportunity. Telling people how to listen to themselves. Miraculous.

Weekends are like Bowling with Beer

Weekends are like a really bad game of bowling because you drank beer. Just like any other game involving alcohol like pool, darts and cards, bowling gets worse the more you drink. 1st to 2nd beer: You get really excited at first because you knock down some pins and it looks like you're going to score a 280, maybe even a 300. 3rd to 4th beer: You bright ball gets acquainted with the gutter and you can't keep a spare streak. 5th-6th beer: You better have a ride home because screw even trying to hit the pins, you're just trying to not crush your toe, let go of the ball on your backswing or bowl in your neighbors lane.

Basically, this is how I view weekends.

I never cease to amaze myself with my time idiocy. Leading up to the weekend I always make a mental list of what I'd like to accomplish come Saturday. Considering my weekdays never allow time for the usual laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc., I leave those to my "boo" weekend to-do list and include other "fun" activities I need to do to keep my sanity during the work week. This is my first level of excitement (my 1-2 beers).

Saturday morning rituals include Kyle and I enjoying breakfast out at some rinky-dink diner, unless we have other plans. If all else fails and we can't decide on a random new place, IHOP or Beverly's Pancake House it is. By the time we arrive home, clean the house, pay bills, get some work done, catch up on emails, do laundry and so forth, it's 6pm before I get to what I longed to do on the weekend in the first place. My usual weekend excitement quickly diminishes once I look at the clock on my stove. (3 to 4 beer level of reality setting in). It's like I went to work today and just got home! NOOOOO!! Time for dinner, more emails, more painful loads of laundry and so on.

No more reading the new book(s) I bought, now collecting dust next to my nightstand; No more heading out to the lake to rollerblade, bike or run (something different than my usual yoga routine); No more joyrides looking at new real estate (a pricy hobby of mine). My night is fast approaching so I better take a shower (yes, if you see me on a Saturday afternoon I'm usually not fresh, sorry to disappoint).

If you were wondering what we spend our Sunday's doing, it's no surprise there. Work, work and more work. Sometimes, if it's a "really good weekend," we'll catch an early afternoon movie. (Here's the 5-6 beer step in the process because I just realized I have to get up and my workweek starts all over again).

This is why I think weekend excitement parallels that of beer drinking games. First, excitement of the never-ending weekend awaits you. Then, reality sets in and down you go as your weekend starts slipping away. Finally, you're waisted, mentally and physically because the weekend was supposed to refresh you, not kick your ass.

Oh well. Life goes on...

This analogy probably only makes sense to me, and that's okay. I'm cool with that.

Taxes are our friends

Hello April 15! Tax Day. Ooohhh, that icky feeling just crept back in my stomach just thinking about how Uncle Sam is shaking his head at me right now...

My day started out fairly calm until noon when I quickly tried to log in to my TurboTax account online in the hopes of filing a last minute extension. Before I really get into this (for those who filed back in January- I admit my life seems a bit backward. I freak about deadlines at work, but procrastinate with the government. Something's not right with my head, I already know this, thanks).

Back to TurboTax.com. I failed to remember my username, password, email account assigned to the site and then couldn't, for the life of me, remember the name of my first pet, car, favorite color, where I was born and all other security questions. My childhood must have NEVER happened. So, my account locked up. Fail #1.

Then, I Googled "tax extension." H+R Block popped up. I signed up for a 7pm appointment at a temporary taxing office 5 blocks from my house. Amazed at the convenience of online appointment-setting on a day like today. Email Kyle with the time/location...etc.

Kyle picks me up after work (that's another story in itself- the whole "car" situation). Go get dinner at Panera, otherwise we'll be 45 minutes early to H+R Block and I'm starving. Forget to pick up tax paperwork at home before heading to our appointment (fail #2).

Sit in nice little temporary H+R Block office and wait.... Twitter. Text. Play "Pocket God" iPhone app game, stare in amazement at the 90-yr-old receptionist who looks like she's going to keel over at any moment. Tax advisor greets us with glee- no, not really. But he's nice. Sits us down and by the end of our conversation he tells me that 1) I no longer exist in the IRS eyes because after getting married my label is now "Spouse," 2) Kyle has until 2011 to file his delinquent 2007 tax return and 3) We can still make it to the post office downtown and postmark our extension!

Kyle and I rush home, spend a good hour trying to figure out how much we would like to "estimate" owing the government (call H+R Block to confirm we didn't listen the first time on how to fill out the form- (fail #3)). Finish the file, grab a stamp and run out the door. Thinking we can wing-it by hitting up the Fed-Ex near our home didn't cut it (they can't postmark your envelopes at 9:30pm at night) (fail #4).

Alas, we hurry downtown and throw it in the mail. YIPPEE - we make the deadline. We cross our fingers the whole way home hoping the box of receipts stacked to the ceiling in our bedroom will make up for anything we DO owe the government. (We're convinced this is the future fail #5).

Then, realized I could have actually filed immediately at H+R Block if I had skipped a growling stomach steering me to Panera and swung by the house to pick up our paperwork. (Major fail #6).

I need to stop talking about taxes, now, or I'll be sick.

This photo depicts how I feel after recapturing the essence of tax-time. Yes, this is a photo I actually took and will explain later.

Been a while

So, it's been a while since my last post. I apologize. In fact, I've probably lost all my followers as a result. For that, I need to apologize to myself, I guess.

We are still at the "finally took down the walls" phase in our home remodel excursion. However, we've managed to maintain our composure despite the absence of "real" furniture, a kitchen we can cook in and the office (instead of bedroom) that we sleep in.

As we approach one full year in this lovely home, Kyle and I have discussed our plan moving forward.... Which is- "Just get it done already!"

Our remodel continued to be postponed because we were too busy. Literally. Kyle works full-time on our EIGHTDAY Studio business (www.eightdaystudio.com if you haven't already checked us out); Work, school and working on the sidelines for our company with Kyle has been keeping me busy. Now, after our first year anniversary, maybe we can start focus on finishing it rather than ignoring it.

First year anniversary, you say? Ah yes. That was a delight. Kyle surprised me by taking me back to the Skirvin Hotel (where we had our 2nd wedding reception). We stayed in another honeymoon suite, at chocolate covered strawberries, watched "Marley and Me," drank champagne, meandered over to Red Prime Steakhouse for dinner and laid in bed forever. It was delightful. But, now back to work...

So, the picture in this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with our remodel but is a reminder for me of how lucky I am to have married my best friend.

Hopefully next time, you'll see something happening on our home. But, I can't promise anything until my contractor calls me back!

FINALLY

We took down some walls!

Albeit I probably lost most of our audience due to our lapse in blogging time, however, the re-mo-del has finally begun.

First day: See walls.

Second day: See inside of walls being torn down.

Third day: See no walls.

(I uploaded the photos backward, so please start at the bottom photo and work your way up-- otherwise it looks like we put a wall up).








All in time for Christmas.

Our place feels like a loft. Instead of walls separating our entire kitchen from our living and dining room, the new opening will become a bar top area. What it was destined to be in the first place.

I'm completely happy where we're at, it feels like a different home. But our contractor told me it might be a good idea to put in some countertops, cabinets...etc. So, after the 1st of January, that's our plan! (And by first of January I mean anytime between the first of January and December). Say goodbye to savings, say hello to recapturing the essence of a 1923 house in modern times.

Don't mind the yellow/green paint. The lovely gentleman who lived here before us either killed one of the Oregon Ducks or was obsessed with the sun and grass. (grass...??) Yes, we might think so.

Camping in Oregon!

Kyle and I flew up to go camping with the fam... unfortunately, Ronda couldn't make it, but we had a great time nonetheless. Kyle only brought flip flops, so his poor feet were freezing! We headed up to Timothy Lake near Mt. Hood. It was gorgeous! Now, Kyle wants to purchase a tent to put in our living room :) He's so cute... Hopefully there will be more camping trips in the future!!!

New Job, Olympics & Friends Lost

Hehe... I caught my hubby in the middle of our endless weekend work. He's so cute :)

Sorry for the delay in posts... I began a new job as marketing director for a rather large regional builder and started last Monday. Maybe I wasn't using my brain to it's fullest capacity, because when you step into a fast paced world after being "comfortable" your head tends to hurt-- if you know what I mean. Meetings, information overload, feeling helpless because you're not set up yet-- by this I mean I'm in a temporary office until they build my suite (yes, it's going to be pretty cool), my computer (a Mac of course) was ordered, but not shipped yet, and the network files are not accessible without my computer!

So, Monday my brain went out on me about noon, Tuesday 1pm (insert Advil consumption here), Wednesday 2pm (and here), Thursday 3pm (and here) and by Friday it didn't matter because it was Friday! It's funny because in a position like this you have plans to move into the company, preview internal and external variables, research some of it's past marketing history, what's working, what's not...etc. However, by the third day I had over 50 emails of information, marketing requests, suggestions...etc. In a perfect world, I would have time to wrap my hands around everything and smoothly begin working on my new plan for the company. But, God obviously did not make this a perfect world so I am happily knee deep already! Nonetheless, I am absolutely loving it.

Anyway, wasn't the Olympic Opening Ceremonies amazing? I might have been dead to the world Friday evening after "hurt head week" but I was blown away by the Olympic production and the hard work that went into such an incredible performance. I was sweating at the thought of putting something like that together-- being in marketing-- and Kyle was hoping he'd get the chance someday to take on that feat. Funny how two people differently view the same thing.

Lastly, I say "friends lost" in my blog title because I mean that in two different ways. I will list them chronologically: First, Kyle and I, in our side business, picked up a client who was also a good friend. Unfortunately, you can never predict these things will turn out badly. But, things did go south with our friend/client. I guess we learned our lesson that "you can make friends out of clients, but not clients out of friends." We will be taking that to heart moving forward and be a little smarter about choosing who we work with or take on as clients in the future.

Secondly, I heard last night that one of my good girlfriends from high school died on Saturday evening. An accident at a family gathering. It's tough living 2000 miles away from old friends. It makes attending funerals difficult and impossible during new employment.

Our church is doing a 4-week series titled "You're dead so now what?" Last week was pretty good because it talked about your body and soul separating. This week, however, our pastor discussed Hell.

Not knowing whether or not my friend had excepted Christ is something I'm struggling with right now. To know I could have done something long ago to prevent an eternal life of torment is hard to swallow. Since I can only move forward with those thoughts-- I'm hoping I can change my daily views more in the direction of an "eternal perspective," as our pastor stated. Because, as far as I'm concerned, everyone I come in contact with will know where my heart stands and where I pray theirs stands too.

As a side note, if you'd like to check out our church's message on "You're Dead So Now What?" The video message Kyle and I watch can be viewed at LifeChurch.tv. Happy watching!

Stumped (literally)

This is a hoot.

Kyle and I were gone this afternoon working on a project and upon our arrival home I noticed our neighbor shoving branches into his garbage bin. As we pulled closer to our driveway we noticed he had actually removed a bush from our yard! You can see a distinct property divide between ours and his, by our grass mowing.

Kyle and I looked at each other dumfounded... We've never been in a situation like this so we both were like "what are we supposed to do?"

We decided to go over and ask him why he decided to remove a piece of our property, but he beat us to the punch. He knocked on our door and said "I'm asking you after the fact if it's okay for me to remove your bush." Kyle then asked why he removed it without our permission.

"Well, its roots were soaking up all of my yard's nutrients and it's difficult to keep my lawn green."

So, we were responsible for this? A small bush near our property line? (Actually, it's about a foot West of his yard to be precise).

Anyway, after a petty discussion and him offering to "pay half" for the stump removal, we just kindly asked him to get our permission BEFORE removing anything else from our yard.

In the end, really no big deal... but, if anyone is reading this... please tell me your opinion on what your reaction would be or help us recover with a past similar story of yours.

God says to love your neighbors. Well, that may be a difficult thing to do!

Till next time- here's our gorgeous stump.