Baby #2

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat today and we got one picture. It's the size of a grain of rice right now and I'm due Jan. 28th officially.

#2

#2 is on her/his way. We found out a couple of weeks ago and are really excited. It's hard to believe that Reagan will be a big sister. She still seems so little. I know she'll be great at it! Pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby again! Thanks!

NYC Part 3

Sunday, we woke up and went to a church on the Upper West Side of the City called Redeemer Presbyterian where Tim Keller is the pastor. Carl loves him and has read is book, so he wanted to go there and hear him live. It was very different, but a solid sermon on forgiveness. After church, we walked over to Tavern on the Green for brunch. Ooo, it was so good too. None of the places we ate let us down. We even bought a knish from a street vendor Saturday and it was yummy! After Tavern, we went back to the apt, packed up, and headed home to see our baby who we missed terribly. It was a much needed trip and it was nice to spend some quality time together. 5 years flies by when you're having fun!

NYC Part 2

Saturday, we woke up and went running in Central Park. It was a much nicer day and made for a beautiful run. After we got cleaned up, we had a reservation at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. Mmmm, it was delicious. I got a chopped salad as an appetizer and Carl got a smoked salmon quesadilla and we both got the Spicy Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash for our entre. It was amazing. We both loved it.

After lunch, we headed straight to Yankee Stadium. It was a blast because the fans were so passionate since they were all New Yorkers! The Mets ended up winning 7-4. Then, from the game, we went to the Empire State Building and stood in line forever even though we already had tix. It was worth it though, it was really cool to be up that high and see the city.

From there, we met up with our friend Becka and had dinner with her at Follow Me Caffe, another local suggestion (Becka chose it). We were exhausted from the day, and decided to head back to the apartment and hang out with Bec for a while before calling it a day.

NYC Part 1

We decided to do something fun this year for our 5 year anniversary, so we planned a trip to New York City. Our actual anniversary isn't until June 14, but the summer starts to get a bit crazy for us, so we went a month early. We had a blast! My mom came over for the weekend to watch Reagan for us. She got there Thursday night and we left first thing Friday morning. We got to NYC a little after lunchtime, and it was pouring down rain. We had tickets for the Subway Series (Yankees vs. Mets) game that night, which of course got canceled, but we ended up still getting to go to the day game on Saturday. Friday, we ate at this great European place for lunch called Le Pain Quotidien (the daily bread). It was soooo good. It seemed like something the Food Network would feature. Since it was still pouring down rain when we got done, we decided we needed to do something inside, so we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I had never been to a cathedral before, so it was pretty impressive. After that, we took the Long Island Railroad out to meet up with our friends Kevin and Liz who live in Forrest Hills (Queens). At that point, the Yanks game hadn't officially been canceled yet, so we had an appetizer with them (crackers with 3 different types of cheese, pistachios, and sun dried tomatoes). Kevin is such a good host. Then, Carl found out the game was still on, so we headed back into the city. As soon as we got back in town, the game got called, so we found this place called Serafina that Kevin had recommended and ate there for dinner. Rachel Ray would be so proud of me...we found out where the locals eat and went there! After Serafina, we went to see Baby Mama, since it had been months since we'd seen a movie.

If I Were...

(Topic courtesy of Kim)

If I were a kind of cereal, I'd be Cracklin' Oat Bran or Grapenuts. Though I realize both of these cereals are typically for senior citizens, I love them both. Plus, some of my earliest memories are of me sitting on my dad's lap and him feeding me Grapenuts! Mmmmm!

If I were a painting, I'd be Vincent Van Gogh's Church at Auvers. My husband is the art buff, and his favorite is Caravaggio, but I like Van Gogh's use of color. I chose his church painting because so much of my life has been influenced by church/God.








If I were a country, I'd be the Bahamas. I've only been in the Bahamas for 2 days, but would love to go back. Of course, the only parts of the Bahamas I've seen have been the touristy areas, but it was so beautiful, and the beaches are so relaxing! Oh, and I love the bartering in the marketplace!

If I were an animal, I'd be a horse...in honor of the Kentucky Derby. I'm not a huge animal lover, though I grew up having lots of outdoor cats, and a St. Bernard dog. I went horse-back riding with a friend in college on her farm in Indiana, and it was a lot of fun, plus, you gotta love the "fastest two minutes in sports!"

If I were a grocery store, I'd be either The Fresh Market, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's. I wish they were cheaper, but I guess you get what you pay for when it comes to good food! I love their produce, meat, and cheese. Unfortunately, I can't afford to shop at any of these for all of my groceries, but every now and then for special occasions, we'll treat ourselves! When we lived in Virginia Beach, my favorites were Harris Teeter (aka. Teets) and Farm Fresh (still on the pricey side, I'm afraid)!

If I were a food, I'd be home grown tomatoes. If I were a beverage, I'd be a Zinger (fresh squeezed oj, fresh squeezed lemon juice, lime juice, club soda and sugar, with lots of ice) in the middle of summer.

If I were a cartoon character, I'd be Sully from Monster's Inc. I just think he's really funny and has so much compassion...I'm not that funny, but strive to have more compassion for people every day.

How about you?

Cherry Blossom Festival

For those of you who don't know why Washington D.C. is so famous for it's cherry blossom trees, here's a tidbit of info...in 1912, Japan gave D.C. 3000 cherry blossom trees as an act of friendship. President Taft's wife decided to plant the majority of them around the tidal basin which is between the Jefferson Memorial and the National Mall (with the other monuments). We went down Sunday and had a lot of fun even though it was freezing. We had been to all of the big monuments before, but we had never walked over to see T.J, so we did that and we also saw the National Cathedral while we were driving down. It took something like 100 years to build...it was just completed in 2007. For more pix, you can look at Reagan's blog.

The Butterfly Pavilion...

So I'm in this mom's group through meetup.com and I get several emails a day announcing different events (the group is for MD, DC, and northern VA so there are tons of events). I started cracking up tonight when I got an e-mail announcing an event at a Butterfly Pavilion. The event didn't apply to me because it is for parents with toddlers, but it was announcing a meeting at this local butterfly pavilion where the kids could "make their own butterfly garden" by coloring, painting, stenciling, etc. The reason I cracked up was because I was reminded of this bit from my favorite comedian, Brian Regan. Check it out below.

Mourning March Madness...

My favorite month of the year is March for several reasons...we start to taste Spring (which leads to Summer!), but more than that, I love March because of March Madness. Today is Selection Sunday, and though it's an exciting day, it's bittersweet, because my favorite team, the Fighting Illini just lost to Wisconsin in the Big 10 tourney. They have no hope of making it to the big dance. They made an impressive trek through the Big 10 tourney, but just ran out of steam. So, I'll have to resort to cheering for my second favorite team the Louisville Cards.

Mosaic Christian Church

We finally got our website up and going this week. We're really proud of it and think Irene (our friend in VA Beach) did a great job! Thanks Irene!

MeetUp

So I went to a mom's group last week through BaltimoreMommies, but I had also joined another mom's group through meetup.com. We met at a place called Air Mania in Columbia (about 10 minutes from me). The toddlers could play, and the moms with babies just talked and got to know each other. It was great! I met some really nice moms and I even met one mom that has a gym membership where I go, so we're going to try to get together at the gym soon. It's always a bit awkward showing up at events where I know no one, but this one was a lot of fun today because there were so many new moms there...I think 14 of us. Continue to pray that I make friends here!

Baltimore Mommies

I joined a few "mommies" groups to try and meet some other women around here and I have my first "event" this Wednesday. I'm meeting up with some other moms at Barnes & Noble for some coffee while the kids "play" in the children's section...though Reagan is talking in complete sentences and can count to 100, she still can't read, so she'll probably just hang out in her stroller while the moms chit-chat. Pray that I begin to cultivate some meaningful relationships through these groups!

"Lifetime Snob..."

Now that my baby is 7 months old, I decided to do something about the weight that I still have lurking around since she was born. I joined a gym a week and a half ago and am really enjoying it. It's called Lifetime Fitness and it's really nice...so nice that people often become "Lifetime Snobs". One of my sister's friends admitted that she had become one not long after joining. I hope this isn't the case for me. I'm hoping to not only lose "baby weight", but meet some more people in the meantime. Since I joined, I've just been running on the treadmill, but I'm going to try some Group Fitness classes this week.

Happy 2008!

We went to our friends' Chad and Gina's house for New Year's Eve this year and had a blast! There were 9 of us there partying it up! Every year, Carl talks about how NYE is over-rated, but he admitted this year that it was quite fun. We ate, played Cranium, watched the ball drop (and Dick Clark...yikes!), lit sparklers and cracked up all night. Here are some pix...oh, the drink is SPARKLING CIDER by the way! Happy New Year!

Can't Sleep...

I can't sleep! I went to bed tonight at about 10:45 and nothing...I kept looking at the clock...10:53, 11:14(Carl snoring), 11:51, 12:07, 12:15 (went in and looked at Reagan...still cute as ever), 12:38(Carl STILL snoring), 1:07...and at this point, I decided to get up. As I laid there in bed, for some reason, my mind was racing with all kind of things, so I got up and wrote everything down that was on my mind...well, I typed everything that was on my mind on "stickies" (a great mac feature for those of you with pcs...they're desktop Post-it Notes). Here are some of the topics of my stickies: People to send Christmas Cards to, Family Christmas Ideas, Friend Christmas Ideas, Areas of Discipline to Improve, Prayer List for this week, Personal Prayer List, Possible Weekly Schedule (for when we move), and House Stuff to Save Money For. I've completed all of these lists, blogged about this problem, and it is 1:45 and still don't feel sleepy. I'm soooo tired, but not sleepy. I wish I had some Tylenol P.M. on my hands!

Our New Home...

We got back from Baltimore today after spending all day yesterday looking for a place to live. We found a place and signed a lease this morning! I love it and we can't wait to move in. It is a townhouse that we are renting and it is 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It's the biggest place we've had since we've been married. The first level is the garage, laundry room, half bath, and a great room (we don't know what it will be used for yet). The second level is the kitchen and family room. I love the kitchen...it even has a pantry (we haven't had a pantry since we've been married). The upstairs is three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Here are some pictures...

Michael Miller Madness...

So I'm at a consignment shop with my sister this weekend and found the cutest little thing while I was there...a "taggie"...it's a small square security blanket for babies/toddlers with tags (ribbon material) all around the edges. There was one that was a really cute brown and teal pattern that I wanted sooo bad, but since it was $16.99, I decided against it. When I got home, I decided to look around on ebay and I found out the pattern I loved was by Michael Miller. Since I never go to fabric stores, I had no idea who this guy was, but the more I researched, the more I found of his stuff that I love! It's turned into a bit of an ebay obsession. There are so many cute patterns and I found a taggie that was $7.99! I realized that I'm watching all of these auctions of cute patterns by MM for a yard or two of fabric, but the problem is, I don't even know how to sew! Maybe I can get my mother-in-law to sew me something cute with this pattern for Reagan!

Only One Left...

For the past 9 weeks, I've been going to a Bible Study at church on Wednesday mornings for Moms. We meet from 9:30-10:30 in a large group and from 10:30-11:30 in a smaller group of about 15 moms. I've really enjoyed being challenged in my walk with God not only as a mom, but as a wife, sister, daughter, and friend. Next Wednesday is our last study before Christmas break and it starts back up on Jan. 16 for another 10 weeks. We are moving to Baltimore the week of Jan. 11, so this upcoming Wednesday will be my last study with this group of moms. I'm really going to miss it. I have met some strong, encouraging, Christian women that have really taught me a lot about life. I pray that I'll find a group of moms/women in Baltimore that will be as open to sharing life as the women in my group have been here at Southeast.

"The Oak Tree"

A mighty storm blew night and day.

It stole the oak tree’s leaves away.

Then snapped it’s boughs and pulled it’s bark

Until the oak was tired and stark.

But still the oak tree held it’s ground

While other trees fell all around.

The weary storm gave up and spoke,

“How can you still be standing, Oak?

The oak tree said, “I know that you

Can break each branch of mine in two,

Carry every leaf away, shake my limbs

And make me sway, But I have roots

Stretched in the earth,

Growing stronger since my birth.

“You’ll never touch them, for you see,

They are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn’t sure

Of just how much I could endure,

But now I’ve found, with thanks to you,

I’m stronger than I ever knew!

Road Trip...

Well, we are in the middle of our 12 day road trip to raise money for Mosaic and it's been a blast...we started the trip on Sunday when we drove from Louisville to Cincinnati to have a fund raiser there. At 6:01, Monday morning, we pulled out of Mason headed to Virginia Beach and arrived at 3:32 that afternoon. Reagan did really well and slept most of the way. Of course it kind of jacked up her schedule, but she did great for her first road trip. Being here since Monday has been a bit of a whirlwind...we've had 3 fund raisers in 4 nights and have been trying to see friends and eat at restaurants that we don't have in KY. I love being back here to visit. I guess I take for granted the close friendships I made in the short 3 and half years that we lived here. Tomorrow is our last day here and we'll try to fit the beach in as well as a big dinner with our "family" the Jenkins before we head up to Baltimore to "house/apt hunt" on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon, we'll head up to NYC to hang out with our good friends Kevin, Liz, and Over, and of course do Manhattan things with Reagan like Central Park, eating Kinishes (sp?) from the street vendors and ride the subway. Sunday night, we will head out to a Young Life camp about 2 hours outside of NYC for a retreat with the Orchard Group (the church planting group that is sponsoring us) until Tuesday morning when we'll venture back home a crazy 13 hours! Though it has been exhausting, it has been so much fun to catch up with friends and for Reagan to see a bit of the east/northeast! Happy trails...!