for another post!
Wow, I can't believe I have left it so long in between posts. This doesn't mean that nothing has been happening.
So much has been happening! We've had lots of family visits, birthdays, holidays, time with friends, and fun! A lot of days, though, I put off posting because I wanted to be able to be at least a little humorous, and I didn't have the energy to do so. Then it became an avoidance of posting out of guilt. Now I have decided to just bite the bullet and go for it, funny or not.
I have spent every day of the last month crocheting stuff. I crocheted gifts for almost everyone for Christmas, and I was surprised at how well-recieved they were. I think I probably don't give myself enough credit for the things I make.
Also, Wonderful David is now 30. It's such a big milestone, but I'm not sure that the importance of it has sunk in yet. His birthday was yesterday, and we spent lots of time together and went out to eat at Freebird's- his favoritest restaurant. I also gave him several things. He got a few books, a couple of board games, and a couple of extension packs for Settlers of Catan- a game I gave him for Christmas. I absolutely adore Amazon wishlists. I have about 10 pages of things I want on there.
December was also a good month because we got to see our excellent brother and sister, Aaron and Amie.
Twice. The first time this past month was when we visited them at their place down in the Beaumont area of Texas, and that was super fun. Amie and I did some mall-cruising and lots of shopping. We also made lotion to give as Christmas gifts and stayed up until midnight to go to Walmart and get the latest release in the Twilight saga. I think it was Eclipse. We watched it together when we got home, and I have to say- it was enjoyable. I might read the books eventually. It was definitely interesting getting to hear the little details about Stephanie Meyer's version of vampires. I think, though, that Edward's self-deprecation, moodiness, and sulkiness were a little extreme. I did enjoy the lack of sexuality in the movie, and the special effects. The best part was listening to Amie explain the intricacies of the storyline that I needed to be caught-up on.
David went hunting with his brother Aaron while we were there, too. This gave Amie and I the time we needed to discuss Twilight in detail, shop, and make lotion. Plus, he was so manly all dressed in hunter garb! :)
On Christmas Eve we saw my family for a little while and opened presents. Shayce and Kylie were both incredibly adorable about opening their gifts. We didn't go as overboard getting them stuff this year, and they were still just as cute! I made them each their tradtitional Christmas hats from Aunt C (me), and this year I made their Mommy one, too. They all matched, and were the ultimate in cuteness.
Christmas Day David and I slept in and opened our gifts for each other. He got me lots of books from my wishlist, and a clock (as pictured above) and a few other things. I got him several books and a Dilbert calendar, and a couple of other things I can't quite remember. We actually put a tree up this year, and that was present enough for the cats. And then we sprayed it with bitter spray and spoiled their fun.
For the Br-- family Christmas (David's family) we drove down to his parents' on the 29th and stayed through the 1st of January. We drove back home in time for a New Year's party at our friends' house- Brian and Brandy. That was a lot of fun, and their sweet little daughter sent me home with a picture she drew for me. She was very excited to see us, and Brandy told me that her daughter feels I'm her special friend since I teach her in her Sunday School and Children's church.
It has been quite an adventure teaching the Children's church and Sunday school. For Sunday school I teach the Pre-K and Kindergarteners. The curriculum is very different from anything that I have ever seen before. I grew up going to a church that had some major theological differences from the church I go to now, and that is a long story in and of itself, but the biggest difference curriculum-wise is the emphasis on SIN and our utter helplessness to save ourselves. The last 12 weeks of lessons have been a skimming through of the major points in the Old Testament, with great focus on our fallen nature and the consequence of our sinfulness. It's a little odd to sit in front of a small sea of chubby cheeks, bright eyes, and button noses and deliver a message of hellfire and death. There's a huge part of me that wants to just be like, "but not really... we just make mistakes, it's not that bad. Jesus still loves you!" because that's what I was raised with. I know, though, that it will do them no favors in the long run to allow them to believe that sin "isn't that bad". Plus, these hard weeks will make the story of Jesus and salvation all that much better. It's pretty heart-rending to think of the generations of Israelite children before the time of Christ who grew up with only the hard part, and the knowledge that they couldn't measure up to the standard set before them.
Another big change that's happened in the last month is that I've been back to my OB/GYN a couple of times, and he put me on a medication to help me lose weight! I am so excited about it! I've lost about 15 pounds in the last month already. At the beginning of this week David and I joined a nearby gym, and we've gone twice together and I've gone once by myself. I have really enjoyed swimming laps in the pool, and it has helped me to refocus after the holiday celebrations. We'll see how it goes from here.
That's about all I can think of right now, but hopefully I will get into the habit of updating more frequently.
