Thursday, April 30, 2009

things I love Thursdays!

You didn't really think I'd leave for the JBQ tournament without first making a TILT (Things I Love Thursdays), didja?! Surely not.

Today I got to go on another field trip with the high school in which I am placed. The rest of the school is busy testing, so the seniors get to go have fun! We went and watched a movie and then went to eat at the mall.

So, today I choose Earth as my TILT.





It's just like Planet Earth! Only.. a movie! It was great. You know, minus the multiple babies that get eaten. But they don't actually show anyone dying. It's just assumed.

When a herd of tigers jump on a little elephant and get on top of him, clawing him like there's no tomorrow, he doesn't stand much of a chance! Sigh.

Oh, and they show the cutest little birds taking their very first flight! Totally adorable. Also, Earth has an amaaaazing score (the music)! I really think you should go see it. And don't wait for it to come out on dvd - go see it in theaters!! It's so much cooler on the big screen!


And now I'm off to pack for my trip. I'll be sure to keep yall updated on how we do!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

children!

Psalm 127

1Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.


December 20, 2004:

3 months:

6 months:

9 months:


July 26, 2008:

a few weeks old! brand new!!


April 2009. all grown up.



can't believe I forgot to tell ya...

I forgot to tell yall...

I leave tomorrow afternoon to head to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the Junior Bible Quiz State Tournament! It's a long drive up there. We won't actually be quizzing until Friday. But, because we begin quizzing at 9:30am, we have to leave a day in advance!

We have 12 rounds on Friday, so we will be done around 2:30 (woohoo!). Only 7 matches on Saturday (from 9-11). That's a total of 19 matches!

I am bringing my laptop so that I can (hopefully) still have dates with PM. The hotel website says they have wireless in every room... but whether or not it works is another story!

Oh, and I will definitely be giving you updates on how we're doing! I'm hoping really hard that we come out in the top 4 in the region - if so, we can pack our bags, because we'll be heading to Nationals!

If you're interested, 20 teams will be at regionals. That's 4 per state. Wanna know who's coming form Kentucky? Of course you do:

Trinity Assembly of God - Georgetown
Living Hope Baptist Church - BG
Lexington First Assembly - Lexington
New Hope Full Gospel Church - BG


If you're wondering where New Hope is... it's between here and Scottsville. They are really really good. All of these teams are really really good. Ahh! I'm nervous already!


(ps. this Swine Flu better end because I'm headed to Texas in 23 days, and the first death in the US has just been confirmed. Lovely. I'll be flying right into the flu.)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

what's up with my teef?

today i had a dentist appointment. also known as: the most miserable biannual appointment known to man.

i went to a new dentist today since my old one didn't fully accept tricare. turns out, i love my new dentist!! it wasn't even miserable. granted, it wasn't anything near fun, but it wasn't bad! at all!

...until the dentist lady said there was a "problem" with "#3" ... and that is when my near-fun ended. the real dentist came in and confirmed it: half of a previous filling had come out.

lovely. just lovely.

they took a picture with this super duper high-tech camera to show me exactly how much of my filling had come out. it's minuscule. really. hardly noticeable. but it must be filled again. sigh!

in other news, my gums are great and my teeth are beautiful. i just thought you should know.

now I get to spend the entire night working on an IEP*



*Individualized Education Program: the big chunk of paper work that kids with special needs/disabilities has that states their annual goals, accommodations, services they receive, etc.

is there any cooler way to spend a tuesday night? i think not.



kidding, of course.


Monday, April 27, 2009

hard at work. and a little update!

I really never thought that this would be his job. Ever.
especially since he was a German & International Business major in college.



and how did I get paired with such a cool husband?


and, more importantly, how can i get a tan like this?


25 days to go! despite what that stinky countdown on my page says.
what does it know? i counted the days manually, and it's wrong.

that's 5x5.
by Friday, I'll be 3 weeks away from my big trip!

I forgot to tell yall...
It turns out that I picked the perfect weekend to visit --
Memorial Day weekend!

so, of course, they get off on Memorial Day. which means....
M's curfew on Friday is 10pm, so he can't spend the night with me Friday, butttt...
he can be with me exclusively from 6am Saturday until 8pm MONDAY.
that's like.. an entire weekend. uninterrupted. with NO check ins at his dorm.

WOOHOO!!!!

I'll get to sleep in the same bed with M.
...woah.. what's that gonna be like?
(I can tell yall right now: I'll be waking up every 2 seconds when he turns or moves)

haha.


Kung to fu

my new favorite meal is Healthy Choice's Sweet Asian Potstickers.


i know i've told some of you about these delicious little trios. if you like asian food, you'll love these. and they're only 7pts on weight watchers. bring em on, baby!

i've eaten about 20 of these now. until the other day at work when i decided to read the ingredient list. i scrolled over the list... rice, soy, carrots... then i stopped dead in my tracks when i saw it:

tofu.

wha wha whaaaat? i was sure that was pork in those little suckers. apparently not.



i don't want to eat tofu. it's like jiggly white stuff. it disgusts me. i ate the potstickers for lunch again today. now when i cut them in two, i see the "meat" come out. but now i know it's not really meat at all. it's pork-flavored tofu. excuse me while i barf.

it is a mystery to me how vegetarians do it. regular soy products are a stretch to me.

am i the only one who gets grossed out by tofu? really. i know it's healthy for me, but i want real meat. please.

melon.

If you live in Kentucky, you should get off the computer and go run outside. Seriously.

Today I am wearing my most springy outfit that I currently own. Blue jean shorts and a melon-colored tank top (only $10 at Gap!).

Here I am, faking a smile. Because I would rather be outdoors than stuck inside a library:

I'm pretty bummed about spending the entire day in class. Yep. Til 5pm. That's just wrong.

Blah.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

the difference between boys and girls

without sharing too much detail about our personal lives, i'm going to share with you something that i learned yesterday. the difference between boys and girls. now, i know that we learned gender identity when we were preschoolers. but once you are married, you learn a little bit more than you thought possible.

i'm sure you know that my husband and i have been separated for 3 months now. we have 4 months of separation to go. during this time, we've learned a lot about ourselves as individuals and each other. once you're forced into a "pen pal" relationship (Thanks, Skype!), you really discover one another again. in a new light. a new, refreshing light. kind of.

i can't really speak on behalf of my husband, so i'll just focus on myself. and then trail a little bit onto him. since being separated, i'm a little... emotional. scared. crazy. insane... and the list goes on. you know, because my soul mate is 870 miles away! & that's fine. but i find myself craving romance like never before.

what a fine time to crave romance, right? when we're on opposite sides of the country! way to go, shannon! i know :) i want to go on dates. i want to watch tv and cuddle. i want to lay on his chest and talk to him all night. then i want to go out to eat and to the park. all fun, romantic things! those are things found on every girl's list.

but those things are not-so-much found on my husband's list. sure, he is dying to go on dates with me. he is dying to cuddle with me. he would give his left arm to watch Law & Order SVU with me for just one night. we both genuinely love those things. but my husband has other things on his mind.

the 5 girls that replied to my previous blogpost said they would most miss: cuddling, having a support system, hugging (i'm counting that as physical), intimacy, his smell, and him being there at night.

what do I miss? the list could go on forever, but i think i miss having my best friend HERE with me. i miss being able to do the things we used to do together. i miss going to rent movies, going out to eat, going to the mall... he really is my best friend. alongside that, i miss cuddling. we are super cuddlers - to the extreme! oh, how i miss it.

if you asked him what he missed most...? the answer would be intimacy. for the past 3 months, i have been dreaming of love letters, romantic walks, hugs, and simply being together. a little light bulb went off in my head when i realized that PM has been dreaming about other stuff.

of course, i already knew this. but i didn't care. at all. because i was focused on my needs. i'm more interested in getting surprise flowers from my husband and being showered with romance from my prince charming. i've forgotten that he has other needs that have to be met, even though he's off in texas.

it's really easy to feel sorry for yourself and dwell on what you need rather than what your partner needs at a time like this. we talk all the time, so i am well aware of his needs. trust me. but i didn't really care about them until last night. it's easy to become frustrated with one another when you're yearning for two different things. i'm shouting, "write me love letters! romance me!!" he is shouting "I need my wife in other ways!"

:)

and i love that about him.

as wives, it's important to respect that men are different from this. and thank God they are!

when i was in high school, i bought this book from Barnes and Noble called, For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men. It's a Christian book that talks about what men really want. their real needs. their real emotions. the author polled thousands of men to get the data for her book. She covers everything from why men NEED respect (especially in public!!!!!!!! do NOT belittle your husband in front of others!), his need to provide for the family, sex, his visual stimuatlion, romance, the way his spouse looks, and what men wish we knew most but are afraid to tell us.

Here are a couple of polls:

Imagine that your wife offers all the sex that you want, but does it reluctantly or simply to accommodate your sexual needs. Will you be sexually satisfied?
Yes - 26%
No - 74%

Regardless of whether you are able to plan romantic events, or whether your wife appreciates it, do you, yourself, desire romance?
Yes, very much - 84%
I can take it or leave it - 14%
I don't care for it - 2%

Imagine your wife is overweight, wears baggy sweats when you are home, and only does her hair and make up to go out. She hates being overweight, but nothing much changes and lately you've seen her eating more sweets. What goes through your mind?
It doesn't bother me at all - 12%
It emotionally bothers me - 70%
I want her to make an effort to take care of herself - not just for herself, but for me - 47%
This question doesn't apply to me because my wife looks great all the time - 20%
(Multiple answers were accepted, so it is over 100%)

Regardless of how successful you are in your current job, which statement most closely describes your feelings about your work life?
I try to perform well and look as competent as possible, when inside I sometimes feel insecure and am concerned about others' opinion of me and my abillities - 67%
I always feel secure in my abilities and rarely consider what others think of me - 33%

Think about what these two negative experiences would be like: to feel alone and unloved in the world OR to feel inadequate and disrespected by everyone. If you were forced to choose one, which would you prefer? Would you rather feel....
Alone and unloved - 74%
Inadequate and disrespected - 26%


these are a few of my favorite polls. these polls really shed light into the secret minds of men. you know, because some of these things are hard to verbalize. men need to be wanted by their wives. most of them do desire romance, even if they try to hide it. or even if they aren't "good" at it. our appearance does matter, even when he says it doesn't. they are constantly being watched and sized-up by fellow men. and, most importantly, they would rather be un-loved than feel disrespected.

what i want to leave you with today is the importance of respecting your husband. respecting ALL of your husband. since being separated, it is easy for me to focus solely on my own needs in order to "get by" for the next 4 months. but we are a two-person team. each of us must have our needs met - one way or another! being a wife means respecting my husband as the leader of our marriage, by taking personal pride in my appearance, providing him with the kind of romance he desires, and supporting him in his career! throughout this book, the author shouts at us that if our husbands are disrespected at home, then they have no shot at feeling like an adequate man. nagging your husband, refusing intimacy, and slouching around are not ways in which to build romance in a relationship.

men are different than women.
and, while i can't speak for all men, this certainly represents the vast majority of the population.

God designed us differently - and i am so glad that He did. together, we form a perfect union. keep in mind that what you desire might not be what he wants. his idea of romance might be to go to a sporting event together, go camping, or go hiking. you have to figure out what your husband needs. he probably won't come out and say it.

i'm sorry to say that i've been irritated at my husband for constantly bringing up certain subjects. ahem. but i need to stop that attitude immediately. we are different, and i need to accept that graceiously.


to end this ridiculously long blog post, i'm going to share some of my favorite "Things I wish my wife knew..."

"I wish she knew how much I look up to her for ALL she is - intelligent, beautiful, capable, sexy, creative, generous, and kind. It seems that not a day passes when she doesn't feel insecure in one of these categories (or sometimes more than one). I wish that she had the confidence in herself that I have in her." -- wow!!!

"I love her with all my heart and would do anything it took to keep that love alive."

"That I am a sensitive man who loves deeply and wants to be loved deeply. And that I want to serve her if she would just let me."

"I love you. Please understand me. Make hte leap to try."

"After so many years, I hope my wife knows that she is the best hope in my life. We don't have everything that we desire material-wise, but there is so much more to life than that. I hope my wife knows that I love her and cherish our friendship forever."


So in the interest of understanding... the top 5:

10% -- "I need her to understand my burden to provide/how draining my job is."

10% -- "I need more sex."

15% -- "I need more respect, in private and in public."

18% -- I wish she'd make more of an effort to take care of herself.

And number one...

32% -- "I want her to know how much I love her/there's nothing I can't tell her"


... men aren't so bad after all, are they?!


:)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

craaaaaaaaaaving

Hello, all my fellow female bloggies! I have a little scenario I would like you to read and provide me with your answer. I know. I'll only get 2 blog replies from the only two brave women who will comment on my blog. Ahem. But if you're feeling super spunky, you can hit the "Comments" button at the end of my blog, hit Anonymous, and just sign your name. Or don't.

Scenario:

You've been separated from your husband for two months. You talk daily on the computer and the phone, but you haven't been together in person. You know you're going to see him in 27 days.

What's the one thing you're craving? As in... what do you miss most about your husband/boyfriend being gone? Go ahead. Be totally honest.

Sample answers include (but are NOT limited to...)
-dates
-cuddling
-having your best friend around
-physical intimacy

...etc..


I had a revelation tonight. I might post what it was tomorrow afternoon. Maybe. Depending on what my husband says about it.


I'm 99% sure that no one will reply to this. Haha. Oh me. If you're totally scared, just do it anonymously... seriously!!!



Little Kickers














cutest toes on the block.



tempting, thick, tasty toes.

more to come later.

Friday, April 24, 2009

prince m at work














auntie love

Today I came home from work and ate my Subway sandwich. In the middle of a bite, the doorbell rang. I jumped up and ran to the door! A man handed me these:


thanks, dear husband!!
my very favorite color!!! he knows me so well.
..it's hard to keep the romance alive when you're 870 miles apart.
but he seems to keep it goin strong!


today was the best weather we've had all year.
which calls for going outside for pictures. right?


these are for PM
(note that me & H are matching!!
wku shirts and plaid shorts.. we didn't even plan it!)


YAAAY! It's finally hot in Kentucky!
I thought this day would never come.