our week

I've heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So --- instead of offering you a verbal novel this week, I thought I would give you a visual one. Here's to the week we've had here on Woodburn Drive. Enough said.

But - on the much brighter side - I have pre-purchased my Twilight DVD. I'm all ready for my party. All is well with the world again.

The three parts of the whole are complete again.

Brian/Daddy is home... and we are so glad.

Maya Angelou : "The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed."

What a difference 5 years makes. Beautiful difference. Beautiful addition. Beautiful life.

never in a zillion years...

...would I have thought that my husband would be dreamimg about vampires. More specifically: Us as vampires. Who would have known?! No more exasperated eye rolls, thank you very much.

happy 2009

So, I was thinking today that I never wished you all a happy New Year. So - happy New Year. I hope you all have the best of years. That this year will be better than the last. That this year you will prosper. That this year will bring you joy. This quote has been running through my mind lately - I wanted to share. So, whatever your New Year resolutions or goals may be --- happy 2009.

Neil Gaiman : "I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."

walkin' in a winter wonderland

filling in the gaps

So --- it would be an understatement to say that we haven’t been busy. I would say, “…busy here on Woodburn Drive…”; however, we have not been “here on Woodburn Drive” very much lately. Apart from being busy --- it has been a long time since I have really posted. Putting the holidays aside for just a minute, I will attempt to fill in the gaps of the last few weeks.

I guess the last thing I really delved into much detail about was Ammon’s birthday. Apart from the holidays, we haven’t really done anything huge since then. But we have done lots of little things – lots of seemingly miniscule, but nonetheless meaningful things.

We got our Christmas tree before our trip, of course. A few days after we had it up in the stand, half the lights got put on. A day or two later, the rest of the lights went up. And, yet another few days later, the ornaments were there. This sluggish tree decorating has never happened before – I toss it up to my lack of Christmas spirit – and because of it we only really got to enjoy our tree for a couple of days before heading out of town. Nice.

Also before our trip, we went on a double date with Shelby and Clay (our cousin and her boyfriend). We ate at Ruby Tuesday’s, wandered through Target and Best Buy, and went to a movie. You guessed it… Twilight. Shelby and I both wanted to see it again… and going with our significant others would be an added bonus. I don’t think that either of the XY-chromosome-types would have gone without the other, so it worked out perfectly. We had such a good time that night. And the movie was so much better the second time around. Truly – a different movie for me. I caught so much that I had missed the first time. And the boys both liked it! Or at least admitted that it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be…

We also went to look at Christmas lights with Brian’s parents and his brother’s family before heading out of town. We did it one night for Family Home Evening, and we had the best time. We drove through the Trawick’s lights in Enterprise. Then we went to a little Christmas village nestled amongst the pine and oak trees of Wicksburg. Truly, a Christmas wonderland full of vibrant lights. I fell in love with the lit stars and balls that seemed to hang from every tree. If I had trees… my yard would be alive with these lights. And the (for lack of a better description) beaded light strands just made me pure happy. We had such a good evening with our family – it was nice to feel that sweet, pure Christmas spirit just radiate from our niece and nephew. It was the nudge I needed to get out of my Scroogy mood. And by the way --- Ammon loved the Grinch, with his odd green face; however, he freaked out at good ole’ Saint Nick. Go figure.

Then this past Friday, Ammon and I went to the park with our pals, Kristy, Kate and Caleb. It was so, so very nice seeing them again. And it was so, so very nice catching up with Kristy. I missed that adult-girly-conversation while they were out of town. Ammon and I then went to lunch with my mom – where Ammon had black beans, cottage cheese and a hamburger for the first time. No more baby food for this little guy. That night, Brian and I went out for a date night… “date”, indeed. Grocery shopping is more accurate.

Other than all this fun, we have been spending a lot of time at home. Prior to Christmas, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off… trying to get everything ready to go (didn’t happen, by the way). And since, we have just been adjusting. A lot has been going on here on Woodburn Drive.

Brian is officially back in school… this time as a graduate student. Ammon is reacting exactly like I thought he would: Awful. For instance, on the first night Ammon sat in front of the door for 15 minutes, pounding on it and screaming at the top of his lungs, “Dada… Dada… Dada, Dada, Daadddaaaa, Daaaddddaaaaa, Daaaadddddaaaaaa!”. Double nice.

Brian’s last day at his current employer is the 19th of this month. He has taken a job with SpectraCare, where he will be a Case Manager. His main focus will be to assist mental health patients in becoming self sufficient. He will not be in an office setting – he will be travelling to their homes, and will be servicing both Henry and Barbour County (at least an hour away from home). Insert my panic here. He is very excited. I am excited for him. We know that this is a blessing from our Heavenly Father. And even though we are taking a huge leap of faith, we are extremely grateful for this blessing.

So --- needless to say, we have been busy. Healthy, happy and thriving… but busy. Stay tuned for all the details of our holiday escapades. I am getting closer to being done. Probably this week sometime. Bets, anyone?

patience

I know. I know. I've never been a patient person. Patience is one of those things that I so struggle with. So, I'll be the first to admit that I am not the one to ask for patience from anyone else. But, at this time... I am asking for patience. As most of you probably know, we currently don't have internet at home. So, I am having to do all of this in spurts at other locations. I am quite literally drowning in a sea of photographs... the 1,000+ that I took over the holidays. Not to mention the memories that I need to document. The memories that could span from here to Saturn and back. I am getting it done slowly but surely... until then, please bear with me.

I am working on this along with several other posts... and, of course, projects. I will warn you about those non-patience related comments... the kinder, gentler Stacy has gone the way of the Dodo. Sure... patience is a darn good virtue.

In the meantime, take a look at the right-hand side of our blog. I've made little changes here and there that you might be interested in. Stay tuned...

Ammon's first [speeding] ticket - received while cruising around on his Lightning McQueen. He takes his corners on two wheels...

decking our halls

This is us on lazy pajama days. We've been having a lot of those lately on Woodburn Drive...

Somebody digs the junk mail...