April 30

I was in the middle of making this Hamburger Helper for dinner, when I noticed this date. 13May03. Um, is that May 13, 2003? Because that's six years ago.

Evidently, it wasn't dangerous, because we're still alive.

April 29

It's awards night at AWANA! I must say, it seems to have come really fast this year! This is my little team of really sweet girls with me and my co-leader, Linda. I've so enjoyed working with these young ladies and I'm proud of how much they learned this year!

April 28

Tonight I got ready for the last night of AWANA, which is tomorrow, by making my girls some cards and end-of-the-year gifts (sunscreen for the summer!) They may not be as happy with these as they would be with candy, but at least they'll be protected from skin cancer and premature aging this summer! :)

April 27

This is what hard work looks like! Today, it had been raining, so I brilliantly decided that, since the ground would be softer, it would be easier to dig out the big roots that used to be the bushes in front of our house (we have to get those out before re-landscaping). It probably was a little easier to dig, but I ended up with quite a mess afterward - a very muddy mess.

April 26

Tonight, Sarah, Brittany, and I went to a Point of Grace concert. It was really fun, though a little funny that people got more excited when they sang an Avalon song than their own. Afterward, we had POG take a picture with a Stellan sign for Stellan's name gallery. Then, we had ice cream at Braums for Brittany's sake. It was really fun!

In the meantime, Jack and Owen had a play-date, which evidently means "sit on the couch for three hours and watch ESPN." At least they enjoyed themselves!

April 25

Today we went to the 6th Floor JFK museum in Dallas with the Wildmans. We had a lot of fun! As always, Jack and Owen read everything...


...while Sarah and I observed the surroundings and visiting. This is us in front of the awful, broken-down JFK memorial that has definitely not been taken care of over the years. Kind of like everything else in that area.

After the museum, we all went to dinner and visited for another few hours. It was a fun day!

April 24

Fridays off with Jack are pretty much the best things that have ever happened to our marriage. Sleeping in together. Getting ready for the day together. Playing with Maggie together. Doing anything we want. Together. And except for the time he's at private lessons, we get the entire day, which rarely happens.

Today we went shopping/walking around a nice little outdoor mall in our town that we absolutely love to visit. We walked around a while, stopped and got Starbucks, sat on a rocking bench together, watched some little kids run around in the grass near the little river, and just enjoyed catching up! (This picture is us sitting on the bench together with our Starbucks drinks.)

Later tonight, we had dinner together at P.F. Changs (yum!), then rented "Yes Man" and watched it together.

There's nothing like a perfect day with your friend. Nothing.

April 23

Tonight, Jared and Christelle came over with Rylan to hang out some, eat some dinner (Christelle even brought it to me!), work on her blog, and watch some Grey's! We had a blast together, and Rylan is getting to such a fun age!

Maggie was very interested in Rylan. I think it was a combination of the sounds he was making, the way I was talking to him (like I talk to her), and the fact that I was playing with him instead of her. She even barked at us a few times! What a little brat! But I think now she wants a baby of her very own to play with.

April 22

Tonight, after AWANA, I got the chicken that I had been marinading out of the fridge and grilled it with some sausage my dad actually made himself! Not only that, it was really good! Since it cooked faster than the chicken, we ended up finishing it before the chicken was even done! It ended up being a really good dinner night for us.

This is Jack trying the sausage out with sauerkraut. He LOVED it. "Hornbuckle" sounds German, right? Maybe that's why he likes it so much.

April 21

Softly call the muster
let comrade answer "here."

Unfortunately, for the second time in four years, I was not at muster tonight. Jack works on weeknights, so we couldn't go to the Dallas muster together, and I didn't want to go alone (or, like Amanda, pay a bunch of money for it).

Instead, I spent most of the evening designing some blogs that I was behind on. Because that's what I do after work.

April 20

Tomorrow is Stellan day, so my mom went out and bought orange shirts for us to wear in honor of his heart surgery. Stellan is my blog-friend Jennifer's sweet little baby boy, who's been having terrible . People from all around the world wore orange shirts today in honor of Stellan, praying for his health and healing.

"I have heard through the grapevine that tomorrow many of you plan to wear orange to show your support for Stellan as he has his surgery. What a fantastic idea! I never would have thought of that. But there you have it! Wear orange tomorrow for Stellan! (Spit up on your shirt optional. But I usually opt in these days more often than not, it seems.)" -Jennifer

April 19

We LOVE Sundays! Today Jack and I had a TON of fun together doing mundane things, like grocery store-hopping to use my weekly coupons after church.

This blurry picture was taken as Jack and I were laughing until we couldn't breathe in the middle of Albertson's. Jack had just hopped onto the cart and held on as I ran down the aisle, pushing him and the cart wildly like a race car (a completely inappropriate show of immaturity in a public place). As I reached the end of the aisle, I tried to slow him down, but the cart turned instead, almost running him and the cart into the huge shelf of pickles. Fortunately, we stopped in time, but I'm sure the employees of that Albertson's will not be thrilled to see us walk back through the door next time.

Sometimes, you just have to act like a kid.

April 18

Today, Jack was supposed to compete at a taekwondo tournament down in Fair Park. Since I'm super-wife, I was, of course, going to get up at 7 a.m. to drive down to south Dallas to watch him compete at 9. On a Saturday. Because I love him. Ugh.

Jack left at about 6:30, and after he kissed me goodbye I knew I could sleep in just a little longer, so I hit the snooze button and rolled over.

Later, I was getting ready for the tournament. I put on jeans and a cute pink shirt, and I was about to walk out of the bathroom when I realized that I'd really like to wear earrings for my husband, so I walked back in. I looked around and noticed some music playing.

If I hadn’t been so stubborn,
Been so selfish,
Thought about her more,
Thought about me less...

Where was that music coming from? Did I leave the radio on?

Joked to make her laugh,
Held her when she cried,
A little more of that, maybe I...

"Funny, I don't remember having the radio on while I was getting ready," I thought, as I put the earrings on.

If I'd have loved her this much all along,
Maybe, maybe, yeah maybe,
She wouldn't be gone.

And then I woke up, clock radio blaring. I groggily looked over at the clock. 8:30.

Crap!

I jumped out of bed, ran to the closet, grabbed the jeans I had worn the day before off the floor and threw them on with a much less cute t-shirt than the one from my dream-outfit. I brushed my teeth, pulled my unwashed hair into a ponytail, and called it good.

Since the tournament was out in Fair Park and he had gotten a ride from a friend, Jack wanted me to take his truck instead of my car, so I grabbed the spare key from the hook in the back and ran out the door.

The plan had been to stop by an ATM on the way to the tournament to pick up some cash for the spectator entry fee, though now with a much tighter schedule, it would be more difficult. I stopped at a bank on the way out of town that I thought would have my ATM, which, as it turns out, has been shut down. Fantastic.

I got on the highway and typed the name of my bank into our GPS, and found one a mile away from the highway, so I exited and turned. When I got to the bank, I saw that they didn't have a drive-thru ATM. What kind of bank doesn't have a drive-thru ATM?

Fortunatly, it did have an outside-ATM, which was a good thing since the bank hadn't opened yet. I pulled into a parking space, turned the car off, and shut the door, instinctively locking the manual lock in the same motion.

Realizing the key was still in the ignition as the door was closing, I dove at the side of the truck clumsily to try to stop the door from shutting, but it was too late.

I had just locked myself out of the truck. At the unopened bank. And I definitely would not make it to Jack's tournament now.

At least it wasn't raining.

Except that it was.

So I did what any self-respecting, rational woman would do. I threw a tantrum and tried to open the obviously-locked door.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I yelled, and tried the handle about 20 times. The door stayed shut, and the inventor of the lock rested happily in his grave.

Darn my keyless-entry car that's trained me not to take a key out of the ignition!

Darn Jack's manual locks that have trained me to automatically lock the door when I exited his truck!

Darn the cell phone, purse, key to my own car, and camera, still in the truck!

Darn Jack bringing his set of keys with him to the tournament (even though he didn't need them!)

Darn Jack bringing the extra key MY car to the tournament too!

Fortunately, a really nice gentleman had also parked outside the bank, waiting for it to open. I asked him if I could use his cell phone, and he obliged. First I called Jack to see if he had possibly left his keys at home. Jack probably saw the unknown number and ignored the call. Next, I called and woke my Dad, who groggily answered the phone and agreed to get out of bed and come pick me up.

So I sat out on the tailgate of the truck for a while in the rain.

Finally, I decided to walk to Starbucks, which was nearby, and get myself a coffee. I did, after all, have my debit card. Might as well use it. That made the situation exponentially better.

I waited another half-hour or so on the tailgate, then under the over-hang at the front of the bank, where it was more dry, when the manager of the bank finally came out and offered to let me come inside.

Since my parents would be there any minute, I thanked him but stayed outside so they would see me. Might as well just stay wet at this point. It appears that I wouldn't be going anywhere today anyway.

As I took the last drink of my coffee and watched the cars pass by in the rain, I couldn't help but laugh at myself and think one thing:

At least this will make a good blog entry.

April 17

Today, my friend Sharon asked me to take a new picture of her for her facebook profile picture. I ended up taking a few, and this one cracked me up because "it was the way God sees her."

April 16

**Don't worry, I have pictures for all the days between April 12 and now. I just wanted to get this one uploaded while I'm thinking about it.

Today was my boss, Donna's birthday, so we went out to lunch at Benihana. The food was fantastic and we had so much fun!

April 15

It's AWANA night again! These kids are so much fun. Tonight was "trophy club," a pizza party reward for the kids who completed a certain amount of bible memory verses in the time span of a few weeks. Needless to say, Aubree and her friend B had a great time!

April 14

Tonight, after I got ready for bed, I came out of the bathroom to find hubs and doggie spending some quality floor time together. Maggie's VERY cuddly when you lady down on the floor with her. I love my little family!

April 13

May I proudly present... the first crock pot dinner that I didn't actually screw up. Well, to be honest, the roast had way too much rosemary, so Jack wasn't a big fan, and I forgot to put it in the crock pot until I got home so I was afraid it wouldn't be done on time, but hey, it was edible. One small step for Man.dy.

April 12

MY HUSBAND IS 30 TODAY!!!!! Happy Birthster (Birthday + Easter) to Jack! (I said that many times today, and he didn't laugh, even though I thought it wildly amusing to combine the two words).

This morning, we got up and went to Grace Bible Church in Nacogdoches. The pastor who married us is a college pastor there, though it turned out he was out of town this weekend. It was still a nice service, though.

Later, we had Easter lunch with Jack's parents and grandparents, and then Jack went to his grandparents' house to help them set up their Tivo, and I got a nice picture of the three of them together on their new front porch.

After we said our goodbyes to the Nac family, we headed home and listened to Jack's new Blake Shelton CDs, one of Jack's many birthday gifts. The bluebonnets are in full bloom, so it's such a lovely drive this time of year!!

When we got home, Jack was completely thrilled to spend the rest of the day trying out all his new video games (he got Call of Duty and Tiger Woods 09 for PS3). I made him dinner and brownies, and [badly] sang "happy birthday" to him. It was a pretty low-key birthday, but I think it was pretty ideal for Jack. Besides, he got all his "wild" partying out last weekend at his surprise party.


Happy birthday, friend! I kind of like you!

April 11

Today was a nice day of visiting with Jack's parents and his grandparents. We went out to lunch, then visited the Nacogdoches arboretum. This picture is of Jack's grandparents, who have been married more than 60 years (and they're still adorable together).

Jack and his parents

I always want to pick a bluebonnet when they bloom. Not because I need them (though a bouquet on my table would be lovely), and not because I want to diminish the supply for everyone to see, but because Jack tells me that I shouldn't. Nothing better than doing something you're not supposed to do, right? So Jack always tells me that I can pick one from his land here in Nacogdoches instead of picking others along the road. I was finally in town when the bluebonnets were blooming, and I got to pick one from his land today!

April 10

Today was one of the best days Jack and I have had in a while. This morning, we got up and packed, then headed off to Nacogdoches, Jack's hometown, to visit his parents. Driving through Athens, we noticed a random historical marker in an empty lot and decided to stop and read it let Jack read it and tell me the summary. It's just so nice to have days when we can take our time on a road trip and enjoy each other's company.

Added bonus: the bluebonnets were completely in bloom, so it was such a beautiful drive! Glad we had decided to drive this morning instead of last night, I remarked, "I'm glad we're driving in the light-time!" Jack laughed and laughed and said he wished he had a twitter so he could tweet that. "I'm glad we're driving in the light-time too," he said.

April 9

Today, after work, I went out to get the mail with Maggie and she ran off toward my parents' house, as she normally does, because she always thinks we're going to visit them when we go outside (I'm not really sure she knows where she lives). I yelled at her to come back, and then I noticed that my mom and her dog were outside too, so I went to visit with her for a while while she raked leaves. It was a completely perfect day - 77 degrees and beautiful! Plus, it was the beginning of my holiday weekend, which was an added bonus!!

April 8

Joel started it.

We got an e-mail yesterday at work that said we would be having a fire drill this morning. This kind of notification kind of defeats the purpose of a drill, in my opinion, but whatever. 

I walked into Joel's office at some point this morning and found him wearing a bright orange vest and holding a plastic sword and nun-chucks. I just looked at him inquisitively and cocked my head to the side.

"It's for the drill," he said. "I want to be prepared." A lot of the time, Joel is kind of like a little kid, finding ways to entertain himself when he's bored.

And thus began the process of gathering all the things we would "need" to bring along with us when the fire alarm went off. We ended up being the "most prepared" group out there, and joked that we put Chuck [Swindoll] in the suit of armor to protect him from the fire. (He is, after all, pretty important here). 

I definitely feel safe now.

April 7

Today, after work, my mom and I went on a 45-minute bike ride around town (we're trying to get ready for BikeMS). While we were out, we passed a Sonic Drive In. Neither of us had any money with us on the ride, so we couldn't stop then, so we headed back to Sonic in the car after we got home.

We decided to bring Tia, my parents' dog, because she absolutely loves Sonic corn dogs. I've been taking her to Sonic since I was in high school and first started driving. When she was younger you could just say "Sonic" and she would go nuts. When we would pull up she would whine, jump around, and go crazy every time a car-hop would walk by. This time, it was a little harder to get her excited about it, since she's deaf (and therefore couldn't hear us offer her a "ride in the car" or "corn dog at Sonic"). We actually had to pick her up and put her in the car because the dumb dog couldn't figure out what we wanted. However, when we arrived at Sonic, she started shaking and seemed pretty excited about her corn dog. Some things never change.

April 6

Today, Jack got up when I did and went to the living room to do some work on his computer. When I finished getting ready for work, I came into the living room to find this scene:

Evidently, the sun was in his eyes, so he had to shield his eyes in order to see his computer screen, or anything else for that matter. When I asked him why he didn't just move to another seat so the sun wouldn't be in his eyes, he responded, "because this is my seat!" Wow. Obsessive compulsive much?

April 5

We spent most of today with Jack's parents until they had to leave to go back to Nacogdoches. It's always fun having them in town and sad when they leave, but the good news is that we'll get to visit them next weekend for Easter, so we won't have to wait too long to see them again!

April 4

First of all, today marks 4 years without Colin Joseph Zeitler. It seems like just yesterday that he showed us how to pray and how to fight with his powerful little life. He is remembered, loved, and missed. Always.

--

The first surprise of the day was the back yard. Since we took out our above ground pool a few months ago, we've had a big hole in the middle of our yard. Not pretty. This week, my parents have been redoing their own back yard, which meant a bunch of digging, which meant a bunch of extra dirt they needed to get rid of.

Supply. Demand.
We had a few of the workers head on over to our yard and they filled in the hole and moved our new/old hot tub (also inherited from my parents) into the backyard. It was a good day for our backyard!

--

And then, it's the moment I've been waiting for for weeks.

Jack came home from a day of classes and a tournament to find...

...a very large crowd...

...yelling "SURPRISE!"

...and he was actually surprised!!

I can't believe everybody pulled it off. I thought surely someone would ruin the surprise! But they didn't. And even better than that, his parents being there was a huge shock to him as well! How fun.

Here are a few more pictures from the evening.

Jack turning 30 means that he will be moving from the 17-29 year-old division to the 30-39 year-old division the next tournament season in taekwondo. He's actually very excited about this. This cake was also awesome because his weapon is actually a walking cane. Yep. You can do taekwondo with a cane. By the way, the lady who made this cake also made our wedding cake.

This is us learning that trick candles were a bad idea.