Memory Lane Monday #10-One Year Ago

One year ago this was the state at our house. On Memorial Day we had enjoyed a great meal made by our friends, had some great laughs and spent a relaxing time together just hangin' out. Little did we know that some funky bug was making his presence known in our tummies. At almost the exact same time, 3:15AM, PandaPop and I were running to the bathroom in hopes of throwing-up or letting out whatever demon had invaded our bodies! For the rest of the night and on into the next couple of days, he and I were literally paralyzed to the couch or floor when not hanging over the toilet or sink wretching our guts out. Poor PandaGirl had to fend for herself. I finally had to call someone to get her some food due to the fact that I couldn't even stand at the stove or counter to make her anything of value.

I called MommySpice to see if they were all OK and she said that around 3:00AM SHE ALSO was up and in her bathroom doing the same thing! We couldn't figure out if we got food poisoning or a stomach bug, but whatever it was only us three got it. PandaGirl, SpicyGirl and DaddySpice did NOT get it...until....Saturday night PG said she was tired and her throat hurtttttt.......RALPH....ALL OVER ME AND THE COUCH in mid-sentence! GROTY-GROSS-GROSS! Nice and chunky, too. The next morning PG got up, ate a bit of breakfast and then crawled in my lap for an hour and a half "nap". So much for church that day. I thought she was going to the bathroom because she seemed awake. I go in to look and see if she is alright (she was three years old) after about ten minutes of not hearing anything. These pictures are what I encountered. My sweet baby had fallen asleep (AGAIN!) just like this. She slept there for about 20 minutes before I woke her up and moved her to a more comfortable place. I just think these pics are adorable. Poor thing just had no energy left.

Needless to say, I am PRAYING that neither of our households experience this little episode EVER again! ; )

Where's The Beef?..er...Sweet?

This week I was thrown back in time to the 80's commercial from Wendy's hamburger joint and their famous marketing strategy of "Where's the Beef?". For you young'uns out there, in order to appreciate the humor in this, you have to had seen these hilarious commericials of the little old lady barking out in a rough 40-year-smoker's-voice, "Where's the BEEF?" when she discovered her burger's meat volume was almost nil. I felt her pain this week in my own kitchen. My mom had made some tub cookies a couple of weeks ago that were sooooo yummy and she informed me that they were new at WalMart in the little tubs. I can down anything with sugar and chocolate in very large amounts. Love it. Ususally eating several cookies at a time is my downfall. I wasn't stupid to think that these cookies were low in fat or calories, but I DID try to follow the serving size on the tub and bake what a normal size cookie should be. HA! I scooped out the suggested "rounded teaspoon", placed it on the pan and baked. The final product was less than desirable. The teeny-weeny little spot of sugar and flour that came out was nothing like what we call a cookie serving in Texas. The next batch I made OUR size...realizing of course, that we are eating a meal's worth of calories in one cookie now. I wonder why we can't lose weight?

Thursday Thirteen #18-Baffled and Blessed

Thirteen things that either BLESS my heart or BAFFLE my mind...

1. BLESSED BY: PandaGirl singing praise songs, hymns or making up her own lyrics all by herself while playing. M-m-m just melts my heart to a puddle.

2. BAFFLED BY: Automatic phone messages with electronic people in a box giving me options to "push #1 for English. Marque numero dos para Espanol". AAHHHHHHH! Then the contagion of numbers begins. Once I am to push number 53 to repeat this menu I have HAD IT AND WANT TO S-C-R-E-A-M!!!!! PandaPop actually does scream and make boy-like noises over the phone while I am on the floor laughing my head off at his attempt to get an actual human being on the phone. Wait! When the human DOES get on the phone...the BEST part....is when he/she says, "Hold a moment please" and you are RIGHT BACK TO "push #1 for English. Marque numero dos para Espanol."

3. BLESSED BY: PandaPop spontaneously giving me $$$ for a Scrapbooking Spree. I am like a kid in a candy store. All those papers, embellishments, stickers, 3-D's, rub-ons, stamps, an all night crop, etc. Makes me drool just to think about it!

4. BAFFLED BY: Ebay. It blows my little mind to think that at the EXACT moment that we put something ON ebay, that someone else (usually many someones) will be online at THAT same time, looking for THAT same thing which we JUST put on. Amazing.

5. BLESSED BY: God's beautiful creation. I am moved so deeply sometimes that I just can't take it. His magnificent artistry, intricasy, and detail are overwhelming while at the same time it is simple. For example, the magnificence of the galaxy, stars, and planets versus the simple beauty of the inside of a petal of a crimson red rose. It's all just breathtaking to me.

6. BAFFLED BY: Today's toys. At the Disney store a couple of days ago with PandaGirl I picked up this cute little personal fan with, of course, the Princesses on it. I thought she might "need" it for fun and to cool off when we go to Children's Camp in a couple weeks with PandaPop. I pushed the cute pink button on the side expecting the fan to blow cool air. Well, it did. And it also had these phenomenal magic light up letters appear ON THE FAN BLADES that said "princess", "too cool", and something else that was moving so fast that I couldn't even breathe because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. LOL! These little red lights were somehow programmed by a tiny computer chip to pop up and SPELL words while the fan moved. That is why those computer gurus are so darn MEGA-$$$-RICH. It takes more brain power than I will ever have!!!

7. BLESSED BY: PandaPop always encouraging me to pursue whatever I want in order to know who I am more fully. I "know" that I am a child of God and PP's wife, and PG's mommy, etc. He wants me to discover something amazing that is unique to me and is constantly prodding me to find that "thing" that is just for me. Thanks, babe.

8. BAFFLED BY: Why there is even a discussion about what a "marriage" is like. How it is defined. Who gets to be the mommy and who gets to be the daddy. It seems that there is a big swing from the mainstream definition of what defines marriage. Oh wait! Didn't GOD set those standards in place a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG time ago? Why, yes HE did. I am all for loving people and being tolerant and not hateful, but I will not succumb to the world's view of what defines a marriage relationship. One man and one woman. Duh. It seems so simple to me. Apparently there is a big fight brewing "out there" over how we can interpret this institution. Humph. I am not bashing anyone. I am just following God's commands. If someone is offended, well, it's not with me....it's with Him.

9. BLESSED BY: Standing by and quietly watching PandaGirl be so girly. I just love it when she is in her own precious world of putting pretend make-up on her stuffed animals, painting their nails, clipping bows on their ears, tying scarves around them and covering them in jewelry, and jabbering to them all the while being completely oblivious to the crazy nut-cake world awaiting her. I cherish these innocent days for her...my sweet baby girl.

10. BAFFLED BY: The extremes in Christian views and methodology. I have friends and loved ones who are Christians, but live life absolutely different from each other. I know where I stand, but get so frustrated with the vast differences in theology, or how to worship or books that are called "Christian". If we are calling Jesus our Savior and way to heaven then aren't we all on the same team? Yet there is yuckie bickering between us all. Crazy and baffling. There are the ones on the far end of the spectrum who believe everyone who is going to heaven is already predestined to go there, the ones who are all about health & wealth and name it & claim it, the ones who will have nothing to do with "traditional church", the ones who are into mantra chanting through contemplative prayer, the ones who say they are Christian but live like they've never even heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, the ones who think they can lose their salvation, the ones who attend church faithfully yet miss out on the personal relationship with God because somewhere along the way the lost their passion and focus, the ones who twist Scripture to fit their own agendas, the ones who believe they have to look and act exactly like the "world" in order to trick them into coming to know the Lord, the ones who build beautiful, sterile, happy little bubbles around their lives so no unclean thing gets in to taint their world, the ones who.....???? You get the picture. I certainly am NOT perfect and don't have it all together,but I do know what the Bible says. I am glad that we don't get to heaven on our own accord, because WE WOULD ALL MISS THE BOAT! Thank you, Lord for mercy and grace.

11. BLESSED BY and BAFFLED BY: the joys and frustrations of being a parent. If you are a parent you get this one. If you are not yet a parent, but will be someday....you just have to wait and experience this paradox personally. Literally from one moment to the next I can swing from sheer joy to complete frustration and back to joy again all at the hands of my darling little girl whom I adore. She is truly a gift from God to me and PandaPop.

12. BAFFLED BY: The God of the universe choosing me to be His own.

13. BLESSED BY: The God of the universe choosing me to be His own.

Wordless Wednesday #13-Our Backyard Lake Swans

Sunday Picnic

This past Sunday night was our first church family fellowship. Our orchestra put on a beautiful concert on the square in our new city. The weather was perfect! The area that we were in is a fairly new establishment which was built to look like an old-timey downtown square with darling little shops, street lights, benches, a gazebo, wonderful green smushy grass and amazingly beautiful architechture. I can only imagine how cute and fun it will be all decorated at Christmas!!

We had our huge patchwork quilt, home-made chicken salad, chips, fruit and of course, cupcakes. And living in Texas??? We always must spray on the OFF mosquito repellant less we get eaten alive by the little suckers. (no pun intended...well maybe a little). Our friends who actually were the ones who got us hooked up with this church also have a daughter from China and the girls were adorable together! PandaGirl and her new little friend ran up to the front of the picnic area and were doing princess/ballerina dances to the lovely musical arrangements. My heart was so FULL! I just love my girly-girl and her love of being elegant and fancy. This was a wonderful night of fellowship and enjoying the fact that God has blessed us with a precious church family whom we can't wait to get to know even better in the years to come.

Memory Lane Monday #9-Ready?...OK!

Oh yeah, this is a big swing down memory lane. I graduated HS in 1989 from a very small school. My grad glass had 21 people in it. At least I was #2! LOL! Since it was so small all our classmates were very close no matter what grade we were in. Our Varsity teams were made up of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. I had fun being a cheerleader for 5 years. You'll have fun noticing the beautiful 80's "poof" for bangs in me and my friends. In both pictures, I am the one on the bottom in the middle..."the base"...a nice way of saying the sturdy one, the big thigh one, the base. No one ever asked ME to be a "butterfly"....but WHY? LOL!!!!!!! Though now I would give just about anything to be that size again!


When I met PandaPop he had just graduated college from Howard Payne University in 1991 and had been a "yell-leader"...I guess it's not proper to call a guy a "cheerleader". I just love these pics of both of us in our cheer-gear. Lots of fun memories for both of us. My that was a long time ago.


PP is the one on the bottom. His best friend from high school is actually on his shoulders. These guys were best friends in HS, went to the same college and then I introduced Brad to my friend a week after I met PandaPop, they hit it off and then we all got married within a couple of weeks of each other almost 15 years ago.

Just Because...

I didn't feel very bloggy the past couple of days. I just found these two pics and thought how very cute they are of my little fam and wanted to post them. PandaGirl took this pic of PandaPop and I at the hotel the weekend we went to check out our current church for the official "meet the congregation" weekend. She did great!

BTW: Whatever Blogger has done to "help" us by autosaving the drafts is really messing up! I can't preview my posts!!!! GRRR. Anyone else having this prob????????

Rally for Prayer

Please join me as I lift up my bloggy friend Jane at Much Ado
to our heavenly Father. She got news today that their Chinese adoption, which has been an extraordinary WAIT and was expecting to be in the very next batch of referrals, has possibly been extended for another YEAR!!! It is so hard to know God's plan when awful setbacks happen. PLEASE pray that God's will be done, but I do believe that as His children we can ask for our heart's desire. I am praying for God to open up doors that have been seemingly closed for Derek and Jane and their precious baby. Prayer changes things and I want to see God move in this situation!!!! Please be a part of helping interceed for a sister in Christ.

Thursday Thirteen #17-I Never Thought I'd...

Growing up I Never Thought I'd...

1. ...live in a metropolitan area. I haven't lived in my "hometown" since 1993. I love being in the Metroplex where everything is just at my fingertips and there is ALWAYS something new to explore!

2. ...eat mushrooms, onions & bell peppers. Love 'em in everything!!

3. ...devour guacamole!!!!!!!!! I was 29 years old before I liked the stuff. Now I make THE BEST EVER!

4. ...ever need to lose so much weight! ARGH! (it's probably too much of that guac! LOL!)

5. ...not be able to get pregnant. I used to stick pillows in my shirt and look in the mirror to see how cute I'd look pregnant. Oh well. At least I missed the yuckie parts of being pregnant that no one likes to mention. Whew!

6. ...be married to a minister. It never crossed my mind until right before I met my hubby! Now with the ups and downs of the "vocation", I can see that the "calling" is from the Lord and He has blessed us so much.

7. ...be on the complete other side of the world walking on the Great Wall of China....and..um let's see...what else? OH!ADOPTING MY DARLING DAUGHTER FROM THERE TOOOOOOOO! (Along with this has to be all the blessings I have experienced through PandaGirl being in our life just from herself, meeting other adoptive families, and the whole Chinese culture).

8. ...have a cell phone attached to my body all the time. I am so scared that if there is an emergency that I won't be able to call for help! What did we do before these crazy things???

9. ...cut my hair...up to my ears! Until ten years ago my hair was to my rear and pretty much looked like Barbie's. When I was getting it cut, up to my ears, I started heaving and bawling in the salon chair while the stylist was getting very worried about me and the whole situation. PandaPop had to hold me up while walking out to the car and I literally cried for about 48 hours STRAIGHT! It might sound crazy, but it was my identity and when it was gone it was like a death to me. Stupid, I know, but very real at the time. It didn't take long after that to get used to my cute short hair. I am just now starting to grow it out again just for a change. It actually is almost touching my shoulders! Big woop.

10. ...attend college at Baylor University. I was always a Texas Aggie fan, but grew up in Waco and ended up at Baylor. Very glad about that.

11. ...have so many amazing friendships all over the world! Being in the ministry and attending several churches where PandaPop has been on staff has allowed me the opportunity to make some wonderful lifelong friendships.

12. ...be completely addicted to my computer for this crazy blog-o-sphere! I remember the very FIRST time I saw someone else's computer "talking to network" to hook up for the internet. I thought it was the coolest most futuristic thing ever!

13. ...be a full blown Trekkie! PandaPop and I have watched these for MANY years and are so addicted to Star Trek that we record it constantly (well, that is until we lost our Direct TV since the satelite won't work on our apartment!). One of my most favorite sounds in the world is the hum of the bridge on The Next Generation's Enterprise and on Voyager. We even had two cats named Worf and Geordi named after Next Generation characters! Too funny....we are geeks and love it! ; )

Wordless Wednesday #12-Delicate Balance

I took this incredible photo at my in-law's land while PandaPop was burning brush and trash. There is such a delicate balance between the benefits of fire and its fury.

In Case You're Curious...

Just in case you always wanted to know what the President's Ranch in Crawford looks like, you can get a glimpse today. No matter your views on George W. Bush our country is certainly covered in prayer because of his family's Christian values and the many Christians who do support him. I grew up just a few miles from his Crawford ranch in Texas. In fact, my high school used the play the Crawford Pirates in sports events. My cousin did all of the welding on the wrought iron fencing that encompasses the whole ranch and he has his picture with ol' George in their work clothes! Love it! When all the media hoopla started over his ranch I just had to laugh, because Crawford is a little town in the middle of nowhere! My parents live close to it and now my in-laws have land very close to the ranch. Saturday we went to "see" his ranch. HA! As you can tell from the pics below there is NO getting even close to his home. There's no American flags blowing in the breeze. No huge presidential signs. No welcome banners. Just a big STOP barricade. There IS a little house area close to the property with all kinds of satelites and antennaes with all kinds of government looking vehicles. Probably Secret Service stuff.

Apparently, George and Laura have made a point to have their ranch as eco friendly as possible. They have planted GOBS of trees, orchards and other plant life and have the best kind of energy efficient "stuff" as possible. Very earth friendly ranch. Even after the STOP sign the ranch is another mile or so down the road, so no goofballs like us can get into any trouble!

Memory Lane Monday #8-Beauty

This pic of PandaGirl was in June 2005 when she was two years old. It was one of the first times I let her choose something to wear at home. Since I am a matchy-match sorta girl, it is hard for me to let her wear anything mis-matched, but we were just messing around and to see her pull this ensemble together was so worth it. I think she is absolutely adorable in this get-up! Kinda looks like a little ragamuffin!! ; )

Happy Mother's Day '07!

February 2, 2004. What a significant day in my life. I tangibly became a mother. I had been one in my heart for a long time. My little PandaGirl was in my arms at just the right moment. This photo is within the first hour of holding her for the first time. So many years of wanting, hoping, waiting, crying, believing that my turn would come. It did. I am a mommy. By far THE most challenging, humbling and mind-boggling thing I have ever experienced. I am so grateful that God chose me to be this little one's mommy. We are a perfect match.

Happy Mother's Day to my own mother!! Thanks mom for a great time on Friday! Have a good day!!! ; )

Thursday Thirteen #16-Where We Are

Thirteen Things I Love About Our New City, Church and Home

1. Our church so totally ROCKS! I am so excited to get plugged in and get to know even more people, find the ministries in which the Lord wants to use and grow me, and start new ministries.

2. I love that I can look out most of my home windows and see the lake with ducks, a crane and turtles, plus all the birds that play around us and the amazing sky filled with pure beauty.

3. The public library is huge and half of it is BRAND NEW!

4. PandaPop and I have an enormous walk-in-closet which is wonderful after living in a parsonage (church owned home) for three years where my few hangers had to turn slightly sideways just to fit in with the closet door shut while the rest of the clothes found homes in plastic bins or stuffed in drawers.

5. Two-car garage.

6. Target is right across the street!

7. Most any store or restaurant is at our fingertips.

8 PandaGirl has adjusted amazingly well. Thank you, Lord.

9. We have two little girls adopted from China at our church and PG is right in the middle of their ages.

10. PandaPop is thoroughly enjoying his position as Children's Pastor and getting to know the parents and students.

11. I have been so opposed to public school after working in them, watching as the state tests have completely taken over and the behavior problems just get worse, but the schools here are apparently VERY good and well-spoken of. That makes me less leary of public school.

12. Our new couch, patina mirror, new kitchen towels, new red cups, new drinking glasses, new bathroom stuff (and TWO bathrooms!), best new master bedspread EVER!!!

13. After serving in several churches over the past 15 years (and making many friends along the way), THIS place seems to fit us like a glove. We are at complete peace that we are where the Lord lead us. This is home now. We hope to finally be able to dig in deep and let the roots grow for awhile. Thank you for the endless blessings, Lord.

I just added this pic because it is so cute to me. I used to love to match mine and PG's clothes alot when she was younger, but when PandaPop and PandaGirl came out in this duo I just had to click! You are darling my loves!!

10,000th Visit!

As of December 6, 2006 I have had a few visitors on this crazy blog! How fun this has been for me!! I look forward to checking it everyday and updating when I can. How can I be "friends" with these people whom I have never met?!...but I feel that I "know" some of these friends through visiting their blogs as well. If I have the same number of visitors as a typical day then today I should roll over 10,000...woohoooo! So silly, I know. There are gobs of blogs with tons more hits than I get, but I only started out doing this for friends and family to see pics of PandaGirl and keep up with us. I love the new bloggy friends that stop by and leave sweet comments daily! Those of you who don't comment, thanks for coming back day after day to see what bizarre thing I might decide to post. If possible, look to see if YOU are the 10,000th hit today and let me know....maybe I'll call Ed McMahan and he can hook you up with millions $$$! ; ) Be a blessing today!!!

Wordless Wednesday #11-Three Peas in a Pod! - PART 2: The New Place, The New Couch

The Common Thread

Last night I was so blessed to have dinner at the home of my new friend, our pastor's wife. Along with her were all the other staff wives. Any other minister's wife reading this blog will totally "get it"....how amazing this kind of connection is. Just as with any line of vocation there are characteristics and a way of life unique to that particular job. Being a minister's wife has is own unique joys, blessings and downfalls. We all can connect in a way that is common for each of us. PandaPop and I have never served on staff at a church where the staff wives met on a regular basis or at all. Our five year jaunt in Arlington was the closest thing, but there were only three of us and we are all still very close even to this moment. One is my best friend and the other is a mentor. Other than that it was like pulling teeth at our past TWO churches to get the staff wives together. Last night, however, we had the BEST time learning how we all met our husbands, what areas we are gifted in spiritually and just plain old laid back girl chit-chat over an amazing dinner that our pastor's wife had prepared for us. We know that our lives are very busy and to get all of us together again will be a task, but we know it will be well worth the effort. I think we all had a great time and look forward to getting to know each other better over the years. One of the other wives has only been at the church for a couple of months and me, just a week. The others have a bit more tenure, though I am not the young one anymore! I am smack in the middle of these women. Oh no! Does that mean I'm middle-aged?! AHHHH! Not yet, not at 36 anyway. Whew!
Thanks everyone for a blessed evening! ; )

Memory Lane Monday #7-Time with God

In the picture above (April 2003) I am quite giddy that I was able to capture a kodak moment with someone I think is walking what she talks....Beth Moore. For those of you who have done her Bible Studies...enough said. You get it. If you have never heard of her or have never had the opportunity to study God's Word in her style of teaching then you are missing out on an enormous blessing. There is no doubt that God set this woman apart to be a teacher of His Word. She so rocks! When we served at a church just outside of Houston, Texas for a couple of years I was so blessed to be able to drive into Houston for a semester for her Tuesday Night Bible Study with some coworkers. It changed my life. Not only were the studies incredibly awesome, but I was under Beth's direct teaching (along with a couple thousand other women!) She has prayed over me personally about infertility and I love how she is so personable and approachable. She would be the FIRST to say not to "camp out" with her by only doing her studies. She would also beg you not to be a "Beth Worshipper". Beth constantly points out her own flaws and points her students to worship the One True God.

On HER BLOG she showed us where she has her own time alone with God. Before having a daughter I had "quiet times" (time alone with God in prayer, worship, etc) very consistently and greatly enjoyed journaling my thoughts. Once the little one came along, that routine flew right out the window! It is a challenge to MAKE the time to rejuvenate with my Maker, but it is so worth it when I do. I am by no means consistent right now. I want to get back to that place, though. Back to the LPM Blog....Beth asked us to post where our favorite spot is to get away from it all and spend time with God. This wasn't to condemn anyone for NOT having a quiet time, but rather to see where other "sistas" were spending time. If you have a special place, take a picture of it and share it with us. If your special place is in the shower, please refrain from posting those pics! LOL! Maybe by posting yours, someone else might be motivated to make time to spend with God. He is waiting for us!


Since moving to our new home over a week ago, I have found that I get up early on purpose so that I can enjoy some quiet, alone time with my worship music, my Bible, my journal and the beautiful lake outside. I relish this time now. Yes, you do see a CD player. I still don't have an iPod, so I have to use this archaic form of musical interlude. HA! Thank God I live where I can freely worship Him. Can't wait to see your spot!

MOPS!

I had the MOST amazing morning yesterday!!! I knew that there had to be something "out there" to help moms with these little ones we love so dearly, but didn't really know or have access to anything (besides books). My new church has a MOPS group. It was heaven on earth! Soooooo fun, girly, froo-froo, laid-back and spirit-filled! Just my cup 'o tea! This was the next to last meeting, but I am most assuredly joining this group of mothers of preschoolers next fall. I NEED this! What a blessing. There were decorated tables, a huge breakfast/brunch spread, a darling craft with a really cool picture charm bracelet to make, devotional from our pastor's wife, a speaker on prayer from Moms InTouch International , lots of laughing, sharing, praying and getting to know other moms in my same boat all while the kids are in their own playtime. Three hours of glorious fun! What a needed respite. I feel like it is a huge present that God just put in my lap. Thank you, Lord. One thing I learned from yesterday was to write a letter to my daughter on Mother's Day telling her how much I love being her mother and why I am blessed by her. Instead of expecting a great present or to be treated like a queen on Mother's Day we can turn the focus back on our children. Just another act of love.


Some of you have asked about the fruit pizza. That makes me laugh that you think it was complicated! LOL ; )...all I did was smush out a large roll of refrigerated Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, bake it on a pizza pan until lightly browned, let it cool, spread some Cool Whip on top, then place your favorite fruit on top. Delish! (The original pizza had frosting on it, but we thought that was waaaaay too sweet with the cookie and the fruit.) Enjoy!

Thursday Thirteen #15-The Big Move

First, let me say I have had SERIOUS blogging withdrawals. Next, this is a long post, but well worth it to the end. Enjoy!

After a few days of fast food or whatever was left over at home we decided to have our first meal in our new home be a good healthy one. Thank God for microwavable everything...we had meatloaf, buttered corn and broccoli...great treat after all that junk we had eaten.

For dessert (and to keep in tradition with our regular Friday night slumber party!) we made a fruit pizza.

Miao discovering the new fireplace.Hopefully he'll not go in there with FIRE next winter....I think that would use up all of his 9 lives in one shot!

From our very first home together (ELEVEN moves ago!!!) this little bluebird has found his home on a window in our kitchen or living area. I never intended for this to happen, but it is kinda nice to see that he has lasted this long

PandaGirl had the priviledge of placing our gingerbread family on our doorstep. She always loves placing the "family" in respective places, i.e., daddy facing work; mommy and baby going to the store, etc.

Our stunning new patina mosaic mirror from Pier 1 that I am totally in LOVE with!

You can tell that Miao has really had a tough time adjusting to his new home...wink. ; )

Though we are living in an apartment it is the BEST place we have ever lived. The lay out of the apartment is great and huge, plus we have a two car garage, a pool and no mowing!! This beautiful lake is right outside my bedroom kitchen and dining room windows. Amazing! I wake up to the sun shining on the water, with several mallard ducks swimming by quietly. I really think we are going to like it here!


And now for the Thursday Thirteen!

How to Move in 13 Easy Steps!

1. The night before your move, TOSS & TURN and get no real REM sleep. This helps the next day.

2. With what little sleep you do get, have REALLY bad bizzare-o dreams that freak you out.

3. The day of the initial move get into a big fat fight with your spouse over what boxes and things get to travel in the car and not in the moving truck....all in front our your four year old child.

4. Notice that at the BOTTOM of the huge stack of large boxes in the living room there is your box clearly labeled, "CAR ONLY!" "FRAGILE!".

5. Once all items are in the two vehicles which will be arriving at the new home first, start the 45 minute drive out by following your spouse since he can't see out his back window and watch in fear as he hits the curb going up on two wheels, freaking out the van next to him. Call him to find out that he had a mondo SNEEZE that caused him to accidentally turn the wheel causing the whole commotion.

6. Now that you are frazzled just a bit get on into the heavy traffic of a metropolitan area and view a massive wreck of a crunched up truck which JUST wrecked a few seconds or minutes earlier than your own car driving by.

7. A mile or two down the road, with your nerves now edgy from the last scene, slam on your brakes so that you don't hit all the other vehicles slamming on their own brakes trying to avoid a huge, oh let's say 8 foot, carpet roll that fell off a delivery guy's truck right on the highway.

8. For lunch swing by a fast food restaurant (AGAIN!) and bang your knee smack into the table leg. This will help you bring in boxes later.

9. Whew! Now time for beddy-bye...put in those EAR PLUGS due to the upstairs neighbor's loud party music while his parents are away.....until 2:00AM!!!!!!!!!!!!! (This place is NOT supposed to be this way!)

10. Here's a good one!...since you just purchased a contract with Direct TV a few months prior to your move you can cancel it for a FINE since the satelite dish can't face south in your new place causing you to have to go with cable.

11. Since you are now in your new home, the unpacking and decorating begins. Let your four year old child REALLY start to grate on your nerves by asking 100 times for you to play with them. This makes you really feel like a GREAT parent.

12. Be friendly to your new neighbors. Meet their pets, even. I met our neighbor's dog, Bailey. A quite large African Ridgeback who liked PandaGirl and apparently my crotch. Yes, she sniffed it while I was meeting her owner....a man. Yeah, this one was a great howdy-do.

13. And finally, to make your new move just as special as possible make sure to change your clothes, ALL of them, in the privacy of your new spacious bedroom.....only remember to CLOSE THE WINDOW BLINDS of your child's room across the hall!!!!!!!!

Getting Ready to Move

I couldn't wait until Thursday to post, so here goes a few pics from before our moving day. First is PandaGirl messing around in her room while I was trying to pack her things up. I would pack and she would find new things to play with which she hadn't touched in forEVER! Next is PG "helping" us label the boxes. Number 3 is Miao getting used to his new carrier and of course, the last one is Miao "helping" as well.

I'm BAAAACKKKKKK!!!!

I can't post now, but stayed tuned for my Thursday Thirteen all about our move! Thanks for keeping on checking back....see you tomorrow!!!!! ; )