An Open Letter to my Lovely Sister

Dear Carrie,

I've been thinking about you a lot lately.  It is probably because of the time of year- your birthday was last week.  I wanted to take a minute to tell you exactly what I think of you.

You are Wonderful.

That's right.  You heard me. With a capital W, too. Be complimented-- I dare you.

There are many reasons why I love you- among them are that you are smart, kind, gracious, and sweet.  But most of all I love your heart.  I love the fact that you are one of the most accepting and least critical people I have ever known.  I love your heart, and that you celebrate with people.  I love that I can talk to you about things and you get me.

I love that I got to grow up with you leading the way.  I have admired and looked up to you since I was a couple weeks old (yeah, you know the pictures, where my little eyes were bugging out of my head with you peering down at me-- how come you got to be a cute infant, and I resembled an insect???).

I appreciate your creative spirit and desire to be a Godly woman. I think you are brilliant and original- you inspire me to think outside the box.  I feel so blessed to be your little sister, and I am a better person for the time we have spent together.  I look forward to future times together, and to being mommies together one day  :)

Thank you for sticking with me through thick and thin (literally, ha). And thank you for being you.

Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Husband

Today (the 5th) was David's birthday. It was a pretty good day overall. We went to see a movie for his birthday- he chose Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed it very much. I had heard from some that it was horrible or got a bad review from somewhere, but I have never read the books, so was unbothered by any comparison with the original story. It was wonderful. It had many humorous moments, suspense, intrigue, mystery, and some beautiful camera work and editing. Plus, I think I have a thing for Robert Downey, Jr.

But I have a much bigger thing for my David. In the spirit of celebration of the wonderful man who was born 29 years ago today, I have decided to take a moment to make public my appreciation of him.

Things I like about him as a person:
1. He has a great smile, with dimples and squints.
2. He has a kind heart.
3. He is very gentle and loving.
4. He is brilliant.
5. He is compassionate and caring.
6. He is resourceful, responsible, and a hard worker.
7. He is very thoughtful and considerate.

Things he does well:
1. He makes a mean Gumbo.
2. He remembers every anniversary of every little thing
3. He goes out of his way to let me know how much he loves and appreciates me
4. He helps me feel so special, valuable, and loved
5. He is considerate and thoughtful- he does a great job of living and loving with meaning and purpose.
6. He is soooooo patient, accepting, and content- he really inspires me in these areas.
7. He, like his Biblical namesake, is a man after God's own heart, in that he wants to do what's right and give the praise and glory to God through it all.
8. He is a man of feeling, and shares his heart with me. Alot of the things he thinks about are so deep and insightful- he amazes me.
9. He is very talented in many respects. He can solve any logical or technical problem that ever could come up. He does a great job at his work. He is thorough and dedicated in whatever he projects he takes on at work and at home, and whenever he finishes something it's not only complete but a work to behold.
10. He is beautifully artistic and poetic. The other day he let my mom read a poem he wrote, and she cried. He's that good.
11. He is a technical genius too- he works as a systems engineer, and spends some of his idle time at home building his own computer and writing the software for it. I'm not even sure what it will do when he is finished; when I ask what his computer will do, he says "compute things". He's like Michaelangelo- until it is revealed, the work must remain a mystery. :)
12. He is very funny- he is always coming up with jokes, puns, and little comments that keep me laughing ( or at times smiling painfully).
13. He is great with children and pets. One of my favorites is when he does impressions of our pets and what they must be thinking. He even does the "Mackenzie Dance".

He is the greatest friend and partner I could ever ask for. I feel blessed every day when I wake up next to him, and I am so so looking forward to the rest of our future together.

I love you, David!

Digging Into the New Year

The last few days we have been busy as little bees around in these parts. Christmas/New Year's is always a busy time of year for us because of the proliferation of holidays and birthdays. this was our schedule this year:

December 18- Leave for Crockett for B--- Family Christmas
December 20- Drive back from Crockett to Dallas for Kylie's Birthday Party
December 24- Mc--- family Christmas
December 25- Christmas
December 28 - Mom's Birthday Party
January 1- New Year's
January 2- Carrie's Birthday and family party for her and David
January 5- David's Birthday
January 8-10 - David's family comes to our house to visit for his birthday, with many days previous spent furiously cleaning, sifting, organizing, and in some cases discarding our lovely junk from all the nooks and crannies in our sweet little 950-Sq. Ft. house.

This year is the first year that we are having David's family up for his birthday. Only one of his brothers (and his wife :) ) is spending the night, so that relieves some of the stress of trying to figure out where to put everyone.

Plus, it is the first year that we didn't spend the 25-28th on the road. Moving Christmas with David's family up to the weekend before Christmas made things so much more enjoyable, and less stressful.

Plus, we also chose not to go anywhere or do anything on Christmas Day or New Year's, so that also lessend the stress by quite a bit.

Now I just have to get my house back into a semblance of order, and we're all good.

Memories of a New Year

This time of year is a very special time for me and my sweetheart. Five years ago today I was nervously awaiting time to begin getting ready for a big, fun night- I was going to go with a group of friends to a new year's eve show and I had invited along this guy from church who very obviously had a crush on me. I wasn't sure about him, but he seemed sweet and I thought it would be nice for him to come along and I could get to know him better.

I wanted to get to see everyone getting together at my eldest sister's house that year, as it was tradition for all my family and our family friends, so I invited the group to come by and visit for a little bit before heading out around nine-ish.

The only person who showed up at my sister's house was David. It was a little awkward at first due to all the "knowing looks" we were being given, but I also enjoyed the attention. From David, and from everyone else. Plus, my wonderful youngest neice at the time quickly made a friend out of David and broke the ice. She wonderfully entertained him for the couple of hours before we left, and gave me an opportunity to observe his kind heart in his interactions with a very boisterous seven-year-old.

Well, at around nine, we decided it was time to head out. I decided to let him drive my car, since he was the boy, hehe. Plus it was a little icy. The car atmosphere on the way to the show was full of pregnant silences from what I remember, at least at first. Both of us are a little bit introverted by nature, which has grown into a nice habit of comfortable quiet in our home.

We chatted a little bit back and forth, and I discovered that this was the first time that he had ever been invited by a girl to a party on New Year's. I was glad to provide him with his first experience, but it was my first also, so I'm sure I did a super bang-up job. I was 21 at the time, and had never even been on a real date before. But at least I looked good, or at least I gather I did from the constant presence of a small bit of gathering saliva at the corner of his mouth for the entire evening. Either that or he was just malnourished like one of my parent's aging cats.

I don't remember much about the show, aside from a really really funny cartoon sketh they did about Zoloft, where they illustrated all the possible side effects of the medicine happening to the sad little blue blob. That and the very very awkward pause at midnight where neither David nor I were willing to kiss each other. First kiss ever on New Year's? I think not.

Then it was time to leave. On the way out I was almost assaulted by a very very drunk guy. Then, we chatted with our friends for a little bit, and I pulled my sweat-soaked 20 out of my shoe to pay one of my friends back for my ticket. Then we left. It was very very cold, and I was thoroughly shivering by the time we got back to the car.

I remember talking a little bit about what high school was like for each of us. It turns out that we didn't have such different experiences- both of us were very focused on scholastics, and spent little time outside of school with friends. Although I think I spent more time with friends and babysitting and parties than he did.

On the drive home, driving from the middle of central Dallas, and trying to figure out the 30/35 junction, we managed to get lost for three hours. I wasn't all that worried. I was enjoying talking to him. After we had figured out where we were, and were on the right track to get back home, I asked him the fateful question: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Do you know what his answer was? "Well, still at my job here in G--, married to you............ or someone like you."

I was floored. And highly complimented. I thought he was so. cute. And sweet. He said it like a blushing, shy, little boy. And I ate it up.

We got home about five minutes after that. We hugged goodbye. I went inside and told my family what he had said. They said to run as fast as I could. And I did- straight into his arms (figuratively speaking). We dated, and then got married eight months later. And five years to the day later, here we are. He is still at his job in G--. And he is married to me. And I don't regret a minute of it. He is my perfect mate, and has all my love and respect.

Winter

I have to admit something. Winter is my favorite season.

There is something so calm and peaceful about this time of year, when nature chooses to lay down its head, blissfully shut its eyes, and go to sleep.

My house is so much calmer and quieter when it's cold outside. We have a window unit in our living room to cool the entire house in the summer. Whenever spring rolls around, and we have to turn on the a/c for the first time in many weeks, the din is unbelievable. Because we not only have to turn on the window unit, but use a system of fans to funnel all the air around a corner, into the hallway, and into our room. It takes at least 3 fans. The white noise becomes deafening. Then, when the cats start shedding, we also have a round air purifier that sounds like our own personal jet engine with congestion. By the time all of those things have been up and running for about 10 minutes, I have a trickle of blood starting to run out of each of my ears, my vision is vibrating, David is fanning my pale face and suggesting I lay down and rest a bit.

Ok, that last part was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture.

So, during winter time, I get the blessed peace of quiet. I no longer have the feeling of impending doom due to the white noise in my house being so loud that I wouldn't be able to hear it if a plane fell out of the sky on top of my house Donnie Dark-O style. I can now hear every last syllable of the neighbor's conversation, delivered at the top of their lungs in Tex-Mex with a drunken lisp.

I also love that my house is finally a comfortable temperature in a completely natural way. No more worries about the house burning down due to the motor of a box fan burning out. Oh yeah, you heard me. David and I had the delight of welcoming a dozen sweaty firemen into our tiny little house last September, thinking there was a fire inside the walls because of ancient electrical wiring. They were there with their little heat-seeking devices for an hour and a half before they figured out that the source of the smoke was not the wiring or our demonic air conditioner, but one of the fans in our impromptu wind funnel. Go us.

But the best thing about winter time is hands-down the ability to wear over-sized, tunic-length sweatshirts. It's hard to feel fat or uncomfortable in a nice, soft, baggy sweatshirt. I love winter.

Zenzi the Keeshond

"But Mommy I don't want to lay on your cold cold feet!"

"I'd rather lay over here instead!"

"Aren't I cute?"



"Oh no, Mommy's about to get my belly!"

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 has finally arrived and then scampered away all too quickly. It has been a good year, and I got lots of stuff, but I enjoyed being with my family (and my husband's family, believe it or not) most of all.

This was a great Christmas for my side of the family. This year we had a two and four year old at the festivities- Kylie and Shayce respectively. They were brimming with cuteness, as well as a rotation of delight and impatience. Kylie still doesn't really talk, but she made quite a few garbled exclamations which were quite gratifying. One of the presents I gave her was a little knit hat, which she took great joy in modeling. When she opened it, she squawked, then put it on and started dancing around with arms held out straight, in swooping motions, airplane-style. Shayce was equally adorable, and was enthralled with the DVD collection of My Little Ponies that I gave her. When I wrapped it, I put several layers of paper and tape, so that when she was opening it, she kept exclaiming sounds of indignance and saying, "I really really want to see what's inside!"

One of my favorite parts of Christmas with my family was getting to play with my sister's SLR camera. It was fantastic. It is on my wishlist for Christmas 2012. We just bought a new camera for now that I will be enjoying until then.

Another great thing about this Christmas is that this is the first time since we got married that my husband and I have not been gallivanting around the week after Christmas. We had Christmas with his family on the 18-19th, and then we spent Christmas Eve with my family, so on Christmas day and since then we have been blissfully tucked away in our little house.

Plus, we had a White Christmas this year. Husband was especially excited because he grew up on the east Texas coast, and this is the first time he has ever had a White Christmas. Around 1:00 or so on Christmas Eve, we looked out the window to see sweet little snow flakes whizzing vertically by. It was a very powdery snow, but still managed to do in my little potted plants on the front porch. So, naturally we took pictures:

Zenzi was not a fan of the snow. She was quite confused and dismayed by it. She jumped on top of her house to bark at it, and to let us know that she was discontented with her status in the extreme.

Mackenzie was living it up inside the house whilst her big sister was filing complaints from the roof of her dog house. She had discovered a way out of the back yard and was taking every opportunity to escape and go on a rampage/ joy run around the neighborhood. I knew that no one would be as excited to say hello to her as she would be to say hello to them, so she got to hang out in the kitchen. We have since discovered the Achilles' heel of our fencing and my wonderful husband has fixed it.

Zenzi Playing

I decided to share a little gem that I taped last night of my dog and husband duking it out- one of her favorite pastimes. Enjoy!

Belaboring the Unexpected

Well, well, well- we shall see who still checks in on this here overdue blog, now, won't we?

I've been doing a lot of thinking today, and examining some of the reasons why I do the things that I do. I have come to the conclusion that I don't want to continue being motivated by laziness or anger.

For example, why is it that I see the same furball on the floor for three days in a row and do not vacuum it up? Reason: I am angry at the dog for having fur. And, I am angry at my house for being dirty. And, I am angry at other people for not noticing it and vacuuming it up themselves for a change. So, there you have it. I have been victimized by inanimate objects, so the world must be subject to furballs at my whim.

Now if only the world would comply with my irrationality.

Another example: why is it that I continue to have every dish in the house dirty so that each time I want something to eat I must first wash all the dishes, silverware, pots, and pans that I want to use before I can cook? The answer: greater forces are not at work, and my dishes refuse to be miraculously self-cleaning. Oh, rats.

So, in order for my life to get better I have to choose action instead of inaction. My response to the universe today was that I cleaned a dish. And then a fork. Ha ha! I have won!

I realized just how nice it is to be able to just grab a dish and make a sandwich.

But the furball is staying there, so nyah.

A New Joy

Okay, so I have been reminded more than once by my dear sister that I need to update my website. I have been told that it is too morbid. All right, I admit it. I have been a little lax in my attention to my reader.

I now have a new puppy. She is the most wonderful thing on four legs since Trinket. Mer name is Zenzi, and she is a purebred Keeshond. She loves to run around with other dogs in her backyard. She loves her kitty sisters, but they will only sort of tolerate her.

She loves everything living except for people under the age of 10 or so. Babies especially freak her out.

She is full of life and joy. She definitely lives up to her name, which means "to spring up, grow, thrive". She is one of the happiest dogs I have ever met. She has a great sense of humor too. She has about 50 dog toys around the house, but still prefers to make her own toys out of things she is not supposed to have. One of her favorite things to do is to sneak into our room, find the dirty clothes, and then grab a sock or undergarment and run.

This has led to several embarrassing events. My pest control guy now knows exactly what my underwear looks like because she took it upon herself to lead me on a high speed chase the

day he came over, waving them from her mouth like a victory banner.

She loves all foods that are eaten by humans. She will do anything for the all-powerful draw of a honey nut Cheerio.

She is the most beautiful dog I have ever owned, and is one of the best snuggle buddies you could ask for.

She is the only dog I have ever owned who didn't make me break out in hives from her spit and dander. She has become my best friend, aside from my husband, of course. Here's to Zenzi, my 'silly-pants':