Spring

I don't know about you, but I am ready for Spring. Today was under 40 degrees and raining/slushing/snowing and it was not what I wanted. I have been attempting to bring Spring on myself. Some daffodils have been blooming in our neighbor's yard. It is a vacation home for them and they are rarely there. Because of the cold weather, the news said to pick any daffodils because the cold temps tonight would kill them. So, I went over to my neighbors yard and stole their daffodils. I am so excited to be looking at a vase of daffodils as I write this. Daffodils are my favorite flowers. I love the color and the smell and they come back every year without any care from me. I plan on planting some in our new yard this coming fall so that next year I will not have to steal them.

Another way I am bringing in Spring is by shopping for Alina and Maria. Alina is a child that I met on my first trip to Moldova and I sponsor her. Maria is her older sister. Alina asked for a dress and so I went shopping for an Easter dress for her and I believe I might have found the cutest one out there. I can't wait for her to put it on and feel like a princess.

PS Thank you Mom and Gayle for helping with the funds for the shopping spree for these amazing children.

Long Week

I feel like I have been going nonstop since last week when I last updated the blog.

Thursday:
As usual, Thursday was a whirlwind with work, exercise and small group until the wee hours.

Friday thru Monday:
Friday, some friends came in town for the weekend until Monday day. It is crazy how we met and uncanny how similar we are. We met at a music store in Gatlinburg, TN. As we began talking we realized that maybe we should get to know each other better. They came out to eat with us that night. Some of the uncanny similarities are that they play bluegrass music, they got married one day before us in an outdoor ceremony, her parents are missionaries in Romania (next to Moldova and very similar in culture), she is an OT, we all love the outdoors. That is all I can recall right now, but that is a lot.

A not so good picture of us hiking a trail on Sunday.


Monday:
Then on Monday evening, Zach and I slipped into wedding attire and had our pictures taken by a close friend who will begin shooting with a wedding photographer and needs to build a portfolio. It was fun to be walking around downtown in my wedding gown and having people say "Congrats" to us as we walked by. It was very cold though, so several pictures were taken with my coat on. I can't wait to see them.

Tuesday:
I went with a few girlfriends to test a new Arbonne product line and to hear the president of the company speak. It was rather out of my comfort zone. I reminded that I do not have any kind of business sense. I really enjoyed hanging out with some girlfriends

Wednesday:
Zach and I went to a talk about trafficking worldwide including right here in TN. I had no idea how much slavery is occurring right here in the United States. I am excited about finding out more. If you want to find out more, check out http://www.notforsaletn.org/. Also, til the end of the month you can download an audio copy of a book about slavery today for free at http://christianaudio.com/notforsale. I am downloading it right now to listen to in the car as I drive around town for my job:D

Sheba's Licking Habits

Zach has been asking me to post about Sheba for quite some time now. Zach, this is for you (kinda). Our cat, Sheba, showed up at our door over a year ago now. She meowed and tried to get into the house every time we opened the door. Finally Zach gave in and let her in. I was not very happy about this because I didn't want a pet to care for. I told him we could keep her if we did not have to have a litter box. We showed her the dog door (that just happened to be in the door already) and she began coming in and out at she pleased. As things always go, she began sleeping on the bed with us. Not what I wanted, but once again a decision Zach made. We very quickly learned that Sheba likes to lick us. I don't know how many of you have been licked by a cat, but it is like being rubbed with smelly (bad breath) sand paper. She really enjoys licking our faces for whatever reason. Another favorite is our hair. The other day I was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed working on the computer when Sheba came up behind me and began licking my hair. Zach was laughing so hard watching her attempt to lick from the roots all the way to the end of my hair as she does to her own. Zach attempted to catch this moment on camera, but had difficulty. No worries, he was able to catch her at it the next morning.

I love how she has one paw against my head while she is licking my hair. Look at that tongue!

Cave Music

I spent most of today in the dark, because The Farewell Drifters played inside a cave today. Not having light around messes with your mind. Thank you God for light. Even though the thought of playing in a cave was cool, they have played in one other cave and at the mouth of another cave. But, there were additional crazies about this cave. They played in a large open room in this cave that had a very large (3/4 ton, 15 feet tall, 8.5 feet wide) chandelier hanging hundreds of feet above the audience and stage. It was a neat atmosphere, but strange at the same time. One of the strangest things to me is that we were inside this amazing huge room in a cave and there was a snack bar with Styrofoam cups for lattes, nachos and cheese, and chili dogs right next to me. It didn't mesh for me, but it was still a very unique and enjoyable atmosphere. Most importantly, the music was incredible!

I would suggest saving and opening this picture bigger, because it will give you a good idea of the room (thank you Erin for the wonderful photo)

Defeated by Groceries

I have become very frustrated with grocery shopping lately. I have had difficulty staying in budget with groceries the past couple of months which is very frustrating to me. I used to like to go grocery shopping, but now I just get frustrated not being able to buy things that I want to get. I don't understand what happened. For over a year I was able to buy groceries and stay in budget without much difficultly. What has happened? I also have become really frustrated with cooking. I have never been a cook (I enjoy working on my baking, but not my cooking). My tummy is happy with very simple meals that I don't have to think about. Zach's tummy likes more well balanced large meals. I try reading through cookbooks, but by the time I take out everything out of recipe that I don't like, I am left with the same stuff. So, I ask Zach what he wants and I get no response, leaving me frustrated. This past weekend, I made him help me come up with a menu for the week. So far, it has helped me some. I also have spent hours at 3 grocery stores writing down prices so that I know where to go for what. Tonight I put them into a spreadsheet that will fit on one page that I can carry with my coupons. Hopefully it will make a difference in my frustration level. We can hope.

He did it! We almost did it.

Zach is awesome. He completely installed a new garage door opener on his own! In addition, he brillantly added supports to our wall to allow the canoe to hang up on the garage wall. He had attempted to hang it last week, but when we went to hang it, the points of the canoe hit the wall less than an inch before the hooks would be able to hook on the canoe. We spent a good amount of time outside yesterday (Zach more than me) in the garage working on that space. Things are starting to pick up in there.

Sorry for the horrible picture, but it is done!

Zach testing the supports he built.

The canoe hanging on the wall instead of outside or on the garage floor where the cars belong.

After working on the garage, we had some friend over to hang out last night. We ended up playing Hoopla (like Cranium, but everyone is on one team racing the clock). After 2 rounds, one of our friends suggested not stopping the timer when someone guessed something correctly. We were so close to winning. We were able to guess 31 correct answers in 15 minutes. The time buzzed as Zach was getting up to act out the last card. Pretty impressive I must say.