The Bill Built House

This is the house my dad is working on right now. This was on Monday when it was being textured inside. It's hard to tell right now, but that second story front (where the funny looking posts are) will be a balcony porch thingy. And this is the house that we just might (Lord willing) move into when it's done this spring. There would be many advantages for us, so pray that if God wants us to be there, He'd cause all the right pieces to fall into place! We're excited just thinking about it, though the down side is being farther from Lori and Chris who are now only 10 minutes away. :-(

Ice Skating

Aren't these kiddos getting so big?? Zach will probably pass me up in a couple years.

Good things!

Ah, yes, there are good things happening, despite my melancholy Scotch/Irish tendency to see the hole in the donut! Oh, I'm not really that bad. So what has been happening since weddings and Valentine's Day and the touch of spring on Saturday? It rained. Bummer.

When you seek the Lord, He can be found! As I've sought the Lord more diligently lately regarding life direction and various struggles, He has given me verse after verse that is perfect for me. Or I'll read something in a book, or the Holy Spirit whispers a stunning truth, or a friend or cousin sends me an encouraging email. He opens and closes doors. He is good. He is sufficient.

Today I took Zach, Jessica, and Zoe ice skating. They'd been begging to go since I took them for the first time last year. So I took Zoe as part of her birthday present, and of course the other two had to come along for "support." Heh heh. Fortunately, the rink wasn't too busy, so I didn't have to worry about running into too many little kids. To be honest, I haven't been very eager to ice skate since last time because I fell down hard on one of my knees, and my knees already have accident-related issues. So this time I was ready with my big ol' volleyball knee pads! Turns out I should have worn shin guards because I didn't fall down, but Jessie accidentally kicked me in the shin with her skate! Aaaargh! Nothing a bandaid couldn't cover, though.

I got over the yucky bronchitis bug, but my mom has been pretty sick the last few weeks. She finally got some antibiotics on Saturday. She got some fancy shmancy cough syrup which she said knocked her out and probably de-coughed her for life! But now Lori's and Jill's families are sick, too. Poor little Jackson is still in the hospital with a respiratory virus, so be praying that he can come home pronto (hopefully tomorrow).

Goodness gracious, it's almost midnight! I'll write again when I have more interesting stuff to report.

Signs of Spring

Look! A hyacinth! Today the sun is shining, it's in the 50's, and the bulbs are popping up as fast as they can. My camera is having autofocus issues, but at least you get the idea.

Valentine's Day

Angelo and I went to a restaurant last night for our Valentine's Day date. We made lovely music together for lots of couples. It was rather interesting observing the couples nearest me. Some married couples appeared to be there cause that's what they were supposed to do. They didn't converse much and looked like their minds were elsewhere. But some older couples still seemed delighted to talk and laugh together. One couple (I don't know if they were married) looked like they were about 20 years apart in age -- she in her 20s and he in his 40s, but maybe they don't look their age. They were a little too affectionate.

I played for nearly 4 hours, so my fingers and back were pretty shot, but I figured it was more interesting than staying home with a book and feeling sorry for my single self. :-)

What a Week!

I can't believe this week is almost over! My friends Rachel and Jeremy got married yesterday, and we were involved in many of the events leading up to that great event. It started Monday night here with a party for the bridesmaids and bride. We had a lovely Italian meal, prayed together, played games, made our fake flower bouquets, and did a great deal of laughing. Rachel's the girl in the bright green sweater.

Tuesday night was a personal shower for her. Wednesday night I went to a symphony rehearsal, and Thursday was the wedding rehearsal dinner and rehearsal. Check out the long pink table of people! There were seven pairs of attendants, plus a ring bearer and two flower girls, so much of the rehearsal was spent just trying to situate us all on stage.

I think I was one of the only attendants who got enough sleep Friday night. The bride and groom got only a few hours, which is most unfortunate, because they looked quite tired all day. I left at 6:30 to meet the girls at a salon where Rachel's stylist was doing all 8 of us girls plus moms and grandma for free! That took a long time, though, making us late to the church for pictures. But despite all the rushing around, the wedding started pretty much on time. Here's a picture of me with my escort/groomsman, Nathan, with whom I also sang a duet. Fortunately, the Lord healed me from bronchitis in time to sing!

Here's a picture of me with the bride and groom at the reception, plus the beautiful cake made by my poor, exhausted mother. Rachel is a cake decorator herself, and had very specific requests, so my mom stressed out more than usual. But of course it turned out fine, and got rave reviews!

As you can see, Jeremy is a pretty tall guy. I was about 6' tall with my shoes. One of the cutest parts of the ceremony was when it came time for The Kiss (their first). Rachel's dad, the pastor, fetched a little stool from behind the curtain for Rachel to stand on so she could be a little closer to Jeremy's head! But they seemed to manage well whether they had a stool or not! So happy for this couple. Jeremy has waited a long time, not knowing all that time that his bride would be 11 years younger than he is. They'd known each other for awhile, but God "woke him up" at the right time.

This evening I played in a symphony concert. It was all Spanish music -- yeah! I played in all but one piece. The finale was Ravel's Bolero, that repetitive piece that audiences love, but musicians tend to hate because of the 15 minutes of absolute concentration and monotony. I still like it, even if the harp part wasn't great. The poor snare drum player, who has done great at every rehearsal, cramped up at the beginning and took a few measures to get into it. Hate it when that happens.

So life quiets down significantly now. Ho hum.

Note: Sorry the pictures didn't post in the order that I put them on there, but hopefully you can still attach the description to the picture!

Great movie!

If you haven't seen Facing the Giants, you must! I watched it with some friends last night and was so impressed. Definitely one of the best movies I've seen. It's been shown in theaters, which is pretty amazing because it's a very Christian movie. The storyline and the message were dynamic. This would be great for any family, church, youth group...you get the idea.

Who Am I?

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Following Lisa's link, I took the 100 Acre personality quiz. I'm not sure who I thought I'd be, but I was a little surprised at being Winnie the Pooh. Probably because I don't neatly fit into any personality type. I can be outgoing or bossy at times, and I can also be the melancholy loner. One time I filled out the EHarmony personality profile just for fun. I didn't spend a super critical amount of time on it like you're supposed to, and it was really difficult to pin down specific answers. They basically turned me down as a candidate for the program because my profile was so inconclusive! Does this mean I haven't "found myself" yet? Ah, well, at least I have friends who love me, even if I am a personality jellyfish (or is it chameleon?).