On the iPod speakers today.........

This song is playing LOUDLY at our house today. The only thing better than listening to this will be hearing Jeff lead our amazing church body in this song as we worship together tonight and tomorrow.

I don't know what you are facing today. I don't know what you are struggling with or fearing. I don't know how big that trial or hardship may be. But I DO know for sure that our God is STRONGER than all of it. Enjoy!

"A" is for Alliteration....

Apparently, admiring adults attempted to annotate but alighted upon adversity alternatively. As such, this amiable, agreeable, and affable author will allow additional assertions of adoration until midnight ascends tomorrow.

Additionally, adept alliterative adulations will attain augmented entries for their architects.

P.S. Authors already addressing this blog author may affirm again (alliteratively, of course) for additional entries.

(If you aren't adept at alliteration, that means that through Friday at midnight you can enter again with a creative alliterative comment and get two more contest entries!)

And don't miss today's new post below!!

"A" is for.......

A is for Australia--the land down under where Jeff and I fell in love. It will always be one of my favorite places on earth. Maybe someday we'll get to go back as husband and wife.

A is for Amie and Adam--my sister and brother. I love them--and their families--dearly, and I am very thankful that, after the typical sibling angst and rivalry, etc, we enjoy close relationships and always have a great time when we're together. I wish I got to see them more.

A is for Autumn--my favorite season. But of course you all knew that!

A is for Attempt--that is, my first real attempt at gardening this summer. I have planted more perennials (love those things!) and annuals than I care to think about and even made my first attempt at container gardening--tomatoes, cucumbers, and red peppers. So far, they are doing well. Keeping my fingers crossed....

A is for Advice--a dear friend called today and asked me to meet her tomorrow for lunch. She needs to talk and wants some advice. I am humbled and grateful that she called. I am prayerful that I can be an encouragement to her--and maybe, just maybe, impart some "wisdom" or, at the very least, a hug.

A is for "Alleluia"--as in Mozart's famous piece. You can listen to a beautiful rendition here. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult piece I have ever performed, but I loved it! (Although the practice hours were not quite so lovely!) I still catch myself singing it often, and it's been 20 years! Good college memories!

A is for Anticipation--Jeff and I are going to the Hillsong United concert next Monday night with a group of friends from church. I can't wait!! If you're going too, we'll be the group of old folks praising and worshiping in Row 19!! Much to her relief, Brooke will be more than a few rows in front of us!!

And finally...

A is for Acquire--as in, I have acquired a few items for the contest prize and they are Awesome, Amazing, and Ample, too. I hope you entered. If not, I cannot be responsible for your envy and unhappiness!

Happy Friday everyone!

600--and a Contest!!

Better late than never, right??! We have been busy, busy around here and my creative juices are pretty much dried up so..........this won't be a hard contest.

To enter:

• Simply leave a comment. You don't have to wax poetic and I promise I won't correct any "grievous grammar" errors!! You don't even have to have a "Blogger" account. Just post as "Anonymous" and sign your name in your comment. Be sure to leave an e-mail so I can reach you if you win.
• If you have a blog, post about my contest on your blog and then come back and comment again telling me that you did so. This will give you an another entry!
• If you have Facebook, Twitter, or one of those other "social networking" sites, post there too, encouraging people to come enter the contest. This will give you another entry!
• Comments will be open until midnight on Thursday, May 28. Winner and prize will be announced on Saturday, May 30.
  

So..............there you have it. Easy peasy. If you are one of those totally "plugged in" people, you could get THREE entries! (Three is the max.) I haven't quite decided on the prize yet, but most of my ideas are leaning toward the "Summer Fun" category!

Finally...........please don't be afraid to comment. It doesn't matter if you've been "stalking" the blog for 3 years or if you just found it yesterday. It doesn't matter if I "might" know you or if we have never met. Remember..........the last contest winner found my blog on Blogger and lives in Arizona!! (Yeah Michelle!) Really, I'd love to know that there are some people out there who are reading occasionally.

Ready......set..........comment away!

Wordless Wednesday....almost

Our beautiful, beautiful Brooke!

Brooke and David

Brooke and her good friend, Sarah.
LOVE the smile!

A Little Linkage Love......

As promised, here are some fun sites I've found as I've traveled the world wide web lately. Enjoy!

• I am a recent and very proud member of SPOGG--The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. I don't know who ever thought of such a thing, but I wish it had been me! I might need one of those tee shirts.
  
  
• Clark Little's pictures are simply amazing. Be sure to go through all of them. Wow!
  
  
• Most of you know that Jeff and I started dating while we were in Australia on a mission's trip. Because of that, I have a definite soft spot for the "Land Down Under". You probably don't know that our retirement "dream" includes a loft apartment in downtown Chicago. No afternoons on the golf course or early-bird specials for us! We hope to live it up in the Windy City!
  
  However, when I stumbled across this blog, I actually reconsidered. Maybe a sweet cottage by the sea (gasp!) in Australia would be just the retirement ticket for us! Be sure to read her story and check out all her pictures. Her WHOLE house is decorated in WHITE! Unbelievable and beautiful too!
  
  
• Summer break is almost here!! No more packing lunches! No more laborious science projects!! But, oh, along about June 30, this might sound like a GREAT idea!! Click on your state to see participating theaters in your area. If you don't mind hearing screaming children and stepping on Cheerios while you watch a movie, this could make for a fun and FREE afternoon!
  
  
• And, finally, in the "Sad but True" category is this article from Newsweek. The really sad part is that this article was probably across the page from a Victoria's Secret ad or some photo-shopped, wafer-thin actress trying to convince you that you need eye lift cream or collagen in your lips (because that's always a "natural" look!). Heaven help us!

Accountability: A good thing!

Well, I've had several people tell me I'm not blogging enough lately so I am going to officially make myself publicly accountable by telling all of you (if anyone is still out there!) that the 600th Post Contest will be next Sunday, May 24! That gives me one week to make at least three posts and come up with some sort of fun, cutesy, innovative contest that will make one of you LUCKY readers actually WIN something (which is also yet to be determined) you won't be able to live without!

It goes without saying that we've been busy! We've had lacrosse, gardening, play practice and two play performances, more lacrosse, worship team practice, end-of-school-year events and projects, cast parties, more gardening, prom #2, oh and lacrosse!! Whew!! I am ready for a "break"--although our summer is shaping up to be quite busy as well.

I promise pictures of plays, proms, even puddles in the basement (ugh!) some linkage love, and maybe another inspiring post, if inspiration should strike in my current flustered state! So please stay tuned.....and all of you lurkers out there...and I know you're there, I met another "lurker" at church a few weeks ago (Hi Amy !!), please consider coming out of the "blog stalker closet" and entering the contest. First, and foremost, so you'll have a chance to win a FABULOUS prize. Second, so I know you're out there and reading! I've met some wonderful people just through this silly blog. Evidently, quite a few people care about our chaotic life! Or--they're just plain 'ole nosy, but I'm choosing to believe they actually care!

Thanks for your patience! Have a great week! And be sure to check back!

And Sawyer again..........

Tonight, much to my chagrin, Payton had a lacrosse game at 8 p.m. in Catonsville! Ugh! By the time the game started, it was very cool, and we were all wearing sweatshirts and bundled up in blankets on the chilly bleachers.

At halftime, Sawyer stood up and announced that he was going to the "bathroom" (term used loosely as this was a port-a-potty of the generic, bright blue, high-school-football-stadium variety. ICK!) I looked at him questioning because he had just been to the lovely facilities about 15 minutes earlier.

"Again?" I said "You were just there!"

"I know" he replied "But it's warm inside so I'm gonna go sit in there for a little bit."

I'm not sure which bothers me more--the fact that it was warm in there or the fact that he was planning to sit. GROAN!

P.S. Payton's team won 7 to 4! Their first victory!

From the Pen of Sawyer............

This is another hilarious story, written by Sawyer. In order to understand it though, you'll need a little background.

Last month, Sawyer was chosen as an alternate in his class to attend the Math Olympics. As an alternate, Sawyer would have to be ready to go, just in case one of his classmates couldn't participate on the day of the competition. As luck, would have it, Sawyer DID have to go this year.

However, when they arrived at the Olympics, they were informed that the rules had been changed, and they were no longer accepting alternates in place of students who had qualified. In addition to being VERY disappointed, this meant that Sawyer (and two other students who also went as alternates) had nothing to do for the entire day!! So...........Sawyer made LOTS of paper airplanes and wrote the following story. You'll realize that he is projecting a bit as he writes! :-)

The Day my Head Exploded
by Sawyer VeStrand

Well, it was NOT pretty. The title's right. My head did explode. It all started Friday morning at 6:15 a.m, rather happily. I was going to the Olympics - my lifelong dream. We got there, and it was a three-hour wait until the 600 meter run. So I made a lot of paper airplanes and got a whole bunch of paper cuts. Then I had lunch. Then it was finally time for the 600 meter run. KABOOM! The gun had been SHOT! I had a great start. I ran and ran and guess what? I came in last place. So, my lifelong dream was torn to pieces. I felt VERY depressed! And then my head exploded. So this story is done. THE END

Isn't She Lovely?

Saturday night was Prom #1 at Liberty High School. Brooke and David (her "friend who is a boy", according to Jeff!) were invited to go to prom at this local high school with a group of their friends from church. They had a lovely dinner before at the home of one of their friends, then they went to prom at the Waterfront Marriott in Baltimore, and then enjoyed a prom "after party" at the home of yet another friend! They had a great time and they looked wonderful, if I do say so myself! Prom #2 in two weeks!

Where has the time gone? Brooke has grown into a beautiful and amazing and talented young lady. We are very thankful and proud to be her parents!

A Day in the Life............

Of a lacrosse mom! This is what I found in the kitchen sink last night. Evidently, soaking the stick a mixture of water and fabric softener (with the ball held in by a ballpoint pen contraption that I failed to photograph!) makes a nice "pouch" for scooping. Who knew?

Also, stay tuned. I have almost reached 600 posts, and I think that calls for some sort of celebration, which of course, in blog terms means "contest". Keep checking back for details. Last time, the prize was pretty sweet, if I do say so myself!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Show Us Where You Live Friday....Kitchen Edition!

Kelly is hosting this blogosphere fun today and, I thought, since I actually have a kitchen I LOVE, it would be fun to share. I realize many (most!) of you could probably care less, so this post is mostly for my family and friends who haven't been to visit yet and have asked for pictures!

But, first, a disclaimer: I am SOOO not a photographer (as if you haven't guessed that by now) so these are not the greatest pics, and then I messed with some of them in iPhoto, which only made them worse in the end. But, because spending hours "editing" them won't make a difference, I decided to just post them and hope you'll love me anyway! Welcome to our home!

umm....this is the kitchen! The previous owners remodeled it completely, and while I don't know that I would necessarily have picked everything they did, it sold us on the house, for sure!

Just another view.

View across the kitchen into the eating area.
The door straight ahead is the entrance from the breezeway/mudroom.

View from family room into eating area.
Door and windows look out onto our lovely deck and back yard.
(Hopefully, this summer that table and buffet are getting a paint job!)

Just another view.

And another view. Notice the beautiful tulips!
They are my favorite!

My amazing pantry! Had to show this because it's almost my favorite part of the kitchen!
Except for the doors, which are on my list to replace!

And I had to show this nifty rolling spice rack that
the former owner added! I love it!

Another one of my favorite spots is this little built-in bookcase.
They were very wise with use of space when they did the remodel!

And, just in case you forget who we are when you come to visit or want to know when we got married, this "stick 'em" is on the bulk head between the eating area and the family room!
It was a housewarming gift from the Ferbers, and we love it! Thanks guys!