A couple random pics

Confession:  I am officially the worst picture-taker EVER.  I take my camera places and then never end up using it.  I am afraid to change the batteries because last time I did, it deleted all the pictures.  But this morning, I got up some courage and went on iPhoto and here they are in all their glory:

Here are Madalyn and Buddy.  Oh my gosh I love her name.  She's the daughter of our friends Aaron and Laura.  Laura is the best picture-taker I know, so forgive me for this one but I think it's cute.

Here is my ridiculous cat being ridiculous.  He's always into something.  Pardon the kitchen mess...I'm always doing about a billion things at a time in there.  And see that bread maker?  I scored that for 10 bucks at a yard sale!!

And finally, one that I can't take credit for because Reber took this one, but isn't it pretty where we live?  I love our neighborhood because it's full of life and kids are always playing.

Well, there you have it - hopefully more to come soon!

Lessons from a Road Trip

Last week, we drove to NC to help our friends Aaron and Laura move.  That was down and back to Greenville in 24 hours, and was really fun!  Here are some lessons from the road:

- When one lane is closed on a major highway, GET OVER WHEN IT SAYS THE LANE IS ENDING!!!  If everyone would just move over to the un-closed lane, everyone could keep going at a slower but steady pace.  But since some people decide to be jerkfaces and try to get in front of everyone, it ruins the whole thing and makes it stop and go for miles.  That is my non-scientific observation, anyway.

- My car has an adjustable seatbelt!  This is the best news ever because I am always trying to push the seatbelt over because I'm short and it digs into my neck.  Reber, being the wonderful husband that he is, noticed that I was always tugging at it and when I mentioned my frustration, he reached across and adjusted the seatbelt.  This also means that I'm an idiot because I've owned this car since July 2006.

- The Mayflower is the best restaurant ever in the history of the world.  It feels like you're at a seafood restaurant at the beach when you walk through the door.  The menu is extensive AND reasonably priced AND you get a ton of food AND it's delicious!!  Unfortunately, these are only in NC but I'm going back every chance I get!

- I still love my car and the 40 miles/gallon we got on the trip.

Yay for a road trip : )

Yard Sale Extravaganza

If you don't live in Harrisonburg, you've probably never seen anything like the Belmont Estates Yard Sale.  Basically, it's a huge subdivision of really nice houses, and twice a year they have a community yard sale.  I wish I had taken my camera.  Driving around is like trying to get out of a concert.  There are people and cars EVERYWHERE.

Why do I go to all this trouble, you ask?  Duh, the deals!  Today I spent about $60.  In the stores, the stuff I bought would've been at least $350-400.  I got a brand new hammock still in the box, a bread machine, bunches of clothes, a handheld game for my dad, a couple little household items, AND, the piece de restistance, a big painting in a nice frame.  Original price was $120 (the tag was still on the back) and I paid $15!!!  Woohoo!!

In celebration of Earth Day

Who doesn't love Sunchips?  And the best thing, did you know that in 2010, they are making FULLY COMPOSTABLE CHIP BAGS??  I'm seriously excited about this because I just ordered a composter (more to come on that later...).  Plus already they are made with whole grains and 33% of their energy is solar.

Foodie Survey

This was kinda fun...

On Kids and Eating

This was written by John Rosemond in the Daily News Record on Saturday, April 4.  Sometimes he can be a little harsh, but I liked this scenario that he gave today.  Kids come over to our house a lot  - and 2 specifically are picky.  Their mom says they don't eat anything but cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, etc. but they eat great at our house.  

Growing up, my family didn't let us eat separate things.  We ate what the family was eating, or not.  There were usually a couple parts to the meal, so if I hated what was being served, I could have veggies and maybe potatoes or something.  And guess what, my brother and I are some very un-picky eaters.  

I just find this interesting...

"Mom and Dad are eating roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans, but 11-year-old Che is eating a hot dog and french fries and 6-year-old Fidel is eating a grilled cheese sandwich and the only brand of potato chips he will deign to consume.

This may look like democracy, but as we painfully discovered, it is the tyranny of the Children's Republic.  Furthermore, someone ought to tell the parents in question that a family shares the same food at family meals.  That is one of the things that makes them a family.

"But John," the guilty protest, "my child doesn't like roast beef and green beans!"

That, my dear, is because you serve him a hot dog instead.  I'll bet there are no children in Darfur who suffer from roast beef anorexia."

Best Gift Ever

I gave this to Reber a couple years ago for his birthday and I was so proud of it (and still am).  It doesn't look that special upon first glance, but it actually took some thought and effort.  Maybe I even like it more than he does, but too bad.

The papers are Chinese for our names (supposedly!) and I got them from this guy at Pike's Place market in Seattle.  He didn't speak English and I had to repeat Reber's name like 3 times because I guess he'd never heard of it.  Anyway, that was really special because Reber's always wanted to go to Seattle but hasn't been yet - I was there for a death in the family so not under the best circumstances anyway.

So I wanted to do something special and give them as a gift, but custom framing can be out the wazoo expensive.  I went to the Frame Factory right up the road (a locally-owned store :) and asked what were my options.  The lady suggested a custom mat with a frame that they had in the store.  She went to a corner with the discount frames and pulled out this one - exactly perfect for what I needed and it was on clearance PLUS I had a 10% off coupon so the whole entire thing only ended up costing around $50.  I just love this thing.

Finally - Pictures from our newly designed room!

Here is the color - it's called "castle" and is a little darker in real life.  We went into the store and picked the first color we liked.  Reber and I always pick colors like that.

That is my favorite poster.  Everything in our room is pretty muted except that lamp (from my grandma - love that thing) and the poster, so they draw your eye to them.  Plus I like flowers but not really frilly girly ones so these are perfect.

St. Patrick's Day funny

Sorry I don't have a picture of this, but here's what my wonderful husband said to me first thing St. Patrick's Day morning:

"You look like one of those Irish pagan people who's all into fairies and shit."

Haha.  Though my green pants are really rockin...

YUCK, check this out

Sorry I've been MIA for a little while...if you know me, you know that I eat off the floor and generally am not scared of germs but something has had me under the weather on and off for a couple weeks.  But I've also been eating lots of fresh, cheap fruit courtesy of the Russian market Save and Prosper, which is pretty much the opposite of the food you'll find on this website...

THIS IS WHY YOU'RE FAT

This site is awesomely gross!!  It looks like food that Aaron and Reber would eat.  

Except for this...I would actually eat this but probably with only one type of meat at a time...and no sausage.

These people are awesome

Central India Christian Mission rocks!  Check them out here.  Here in America, Christians tend to be reserved and lukewarm about their faith.  They don't want to step on people's toes.  But in India and the surrounding nations like Nepal and Bangladesh, many Christians are being severely persecuted for their faith.  The people in this organization challenge and inspire me because they are not afraid.  They know that God is guiding their steps and they care about other people so much that they risk their well-being and their lives so that others may know the freedom and grace of Jesus.  Plus, if you read the Bible, Jesus stepped on a lot of toes!!

They run hospitals that are better than the government hospitals.  Actually, the doctors from the government hospitals send their family to the CICM ones!

Another cool part of the program is their child sponsorship program.  For $15/month, you can provide a child's needs including food, clothing, vitamins, school supplies and fees, personal care items, sleeping bags, and mosquito nets.  Notice that this is HALF the price of most child sponsorship programs.  That's because the money goes straight to the children and you don't pay for them to put those heart-wrenching ads on TV that some other organizations do.

So get on it!  We have all we need even if sometimes it doesn't feel like much.