Pictures update: I did go through and update a few of the pictures I've taken over the past couple of months. Check it out over to the right!

I am up WAY too late. I can't figure out if it's because I'm more relaxed since I'm on "break" right now, or if it's because since I am on break, I try to fit way more things into a day than are humanly possible. And even though it's well past the time I should be awake, I am determined to see at least 80% of them accomplished.

You always have to take into consideration the things that come up out of the blue, too!

Jordan and I relaxed this morning, ran some errands, ate lunch at Costco...don't hate- appreciate! It was great! *smile*

We came home to do some housework-you know, the kind that you put off and off and off because it's tedious, time consuming, and you really don't see the results! Jordan mowed the yard while I worked on small paint touch ups. I also did things like meticulous cleaning of the blinds, and wiping baseboards. Don't you wish you were me today?!

I got some grocery shopping done. I really made use of some great coupons. Walgreens had extra virgin olive oil on sale for $3.50 for 17 oz, and I had two .50 off coupons, so I got two good sized bottles of olive oil for $3 a piece, among other things. At Kroger, I found two pumpkins for $3.49 (AWESOME!) and 2 bags of Starbuck's Espresso, already 30% off, plus my $1 off coupon, AND each bag is good for a free cup of coffee at Starbucks. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself. I also snagged some "manager's special" steak for our dinner, and it was tasty! I grilled it, made some salad and sweet potato oven-fries for a yummy meal.

For the first time since we've been married, I carved a pumpkin! I did a VERY basic design; actually, I don't know if you can really call it that. I will hopefully add more soon, but for now, the pumpkin boldly welcomes all to our home:



And then certainly last but never least, poor Jordan had to spend his evening after mowing, working diligently on the putrid-smelling dishwasher. A couple of days ago it shut off mid-cycle, and was obviously stopped up. I got as much water out as I could, and washed all of the dishes in there, then left it for my wonderful husband to deal with.

He worked VERY hard and thanks to him, we currently have a working dishwasher. I am very thankful, because it was neither a pleasant nor a fun job.



Okay, there ya have it! I am going to ignore every fiber of my being telling me to clean each last inch of that kitchen before I go to bed; I will use my better judgement and get some sleep before it gets early rather than late. Hopefully, you are all sleeping soundly and will read this tomorrow.

Sweet dreams!

Week (or2) in Review

So, I've been meaning to post on all sorts of things...but haven't found the time. And I've felt totally "out of it" for the last week and half, b/c I haven't really had a cell phone. You see, we are switching over to AT&T, and as a result, I put my old phone for sale on Craigslist, and when I had a lady last Friday who wanted to buy it, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity even though I hadn't ordered my new phone yet- so I sold it. So for the past week I've been using my old dinky phone that has about 5 minutes of talk time before the battery drains and drops every other call. So in essence, I haven't had a phone, but I digress....(and the new one is coming today- yay!)

So last weekend was great! We went to the Lakehouse with a group of our closest friends- so fun!! Jordan, Janelle & I drove out there Friday afternoon after work, oh and baby Ethan of course, too. (Kyle was coming after Frontline) We arrived within 30 minutes of Ferris & Robby and JT & Christy Hughes. We had SO much fun over the weekend, talking, eating, laughing, holding babies (Ethan & Rinah) TUBING, being out on the water- etc!! And although tubing was so much fun (Ernie couldn't knock me off!-ha) I don't know if it was worth the INTENSE soreness I experienced this entire week!! CRAZINESS!! We had a great rest of the weekend with CityPrayz, Uturn "Mexico Team" night, and a fun meal after church on Sunday with the congregation.

THEN- Jordan & I took off for Evansville! Whew! We stayed Sunday and Monday night with Adam & Sarah Hubert (Sarah, btw, will you email me those pics of Graham that you took?) and had SO much fun!!! We had dinner with Zach & joy as well both nights- 1st at Hacienda and then 2nd night I cooked at the Huberts for everyone. LOVED their house...it's gorgeous and the neighborhood is amazing!! We got back home Tuesday morning and proceeded with our week: working, resting, planning, etc.

So to end this post, (I think I did a good job of quickly recapping several days) enjoy a few pics of Baby Ethan, Baby Graham and our neighbor's daughter, Sadie, who I watched for just a little while Wed. afternoon.

RiDICulously cute!

Lakehouse Trip

We had a great weekend. We got to go back to the Lakehouse (I know we've been going there a lot!) But this time, we got to go with our friends, which was SO fun. We have some AMAZING friends, but unfortunately, because we are all in vocational ministry, our hang out time is significantly less than we might like. BUT, we are trying to change that. Anyway, we got a weekend away with us, the Owens, the Kellums's the Hughes, the newly-married Loera's and we greatly missed the Clingers....come on RINAH JOY!!!!

We ate, laughed, talked WAY too late, played games, watched a movie, went to the park, got ice cream, ate some more, prayed, shared our hearts and stayed up way too late. It was awesome and SO encouraging. I LOVE these people and I am SO thankful for friends in ministry. Many people say that ministry/leadership is a lonely place, but I don't agree. God has provided us with wonderful people over us and beside us, and this weekend was living proof of how great it can be. We're looking forward to our next time away together.

Daniel & Drew

Look at these precious little babies!!! This is Drew & Daniel Gill, born on 3/4/2009 at 10:26 & 10:29pm. Parents Jason & Allyson Gill are doing great and Allyson was such a trooper and had them both fully natural!! I am SO proud of her! The one in the top pic is the slightly younger, slightly smaller Daniel (5lbs. 5 1/2 oz) and the one I am holding is Drew (5 lbs. 11 oz) I got to spend time yesterday with them and can't wait to see them more. Jason & Allyson lives just down the street from us and I will get the pleasure of being with them a couple of nights per week for the next few weeks, just helping Allyson adjust to life with 3 kids under the age of 21 months. (Big Brother Reeves isn't quite 2 yet)

I am so proud of this couple, and so excited to welcome these precious little ones into the world!

U-turn Shower

Great weekend! We are anxiously awaiting baby Rinah Joy Clinger any day now....Sarah's been having very spaced out contractions for a while now, so we'll see when Rinah decides to make her debut! Hopefully soon!

Another girl and I hosted a shower for Janelle this weekend- for the girls in the youth group and their moms. We had a great time- laughing, playing games, eating and watching Janelle open her gifts. So much fun. We have another one coming up this Sunday which I'm helping host as well. So, for the time being, enjoy some pictures of the festivities:

Updates

Jordan and I are enjoying a super relaxing day at a friend's lakehouse today.

(That's my view through the screen-not too shabby) We were supposed to come out and spend last night and tonight out here. We actually got out here last night, made dinner, and then ended up needing to head back to help deal with an issue with one of the girls who lives with us. Everything is fine, but Jordan and I felt we needed to be there. So, we ended up spending the night at home and after talking with her this morning and then taking her to school, headed back up here. We're relaxing and doing NOTHING!!!! Amazing...my favorite. Just made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch (I don't care how old you are...that's good!) and I am about to do some reading and might watch a little of my Pride & Prejudice miniseries my mom got me for Christmas! So exciting! :-) We are coming back in the morning but just needed a quick "breather!" We also got to have lunch with some friends- Jason & Allyson Gill, who are expecting twins in the next few weeks...and I enjoyed taking some pictures of their son, Reeves. What a cutie! So, enjoy:

Here's what happens when you have a freeze in Tennessee in October....


...oh well, we've got Christmas coming and decor will go up then!

My sister in law just made me laugh out loud! When we were in Florida last week, she and I were laughing one day because we were talking about driving around in high school, listening to Shania Twain....guys can't do it. And I can't do it for too long...but I have many memories of driving around with my friends, blaring it and singing it at the top of our lungs. Just something that made us laugh! So Erin treated me this morning to a voice mail and serenaded me! A great start to my morning! hah!

We had a great trip to Florida. I'm pretty pressed for time this morning, so not a lot of time to go into detail, but I can pretty much sum it up to say I love my family and my niece, Hope is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Enjoy my pictures and have a wonderful fabulous chilly day! :-)

I guess I have quite a lot to blog about. Last weekend was a fun one! Jordan and I went to see Janel play in her powder puff game, which unfortunately, despite a lot of hard work and a lot of spirit, they lost to the juniors, but it was still a good time! Jordan and I had a dr's appointment after that- and then the rest of the afternoon was spent setting up for the Spring Hill Country Ham Festival. New Song sponsored a "farmer for a day" booth where kids came through and got to do all sorts of fun "farm-themed" things. As you can see- the youth AND youth leaders had a good time setting up! Friday night, Jordan and I went to the game and had a great time watching IHS beat whoever they were playing...haha! We all went to bed and crashed- big day on Saturday. Saturday we woke up, all had breakfast together and then helped the girls get where they needed to go for homecoming. I made it over to take some pictures of Janel and her friends before they took off- and to help them with last minute getting ready...a flurry of hair spray, curling irons, mascara and bobby pins, but they got it all done and made it in time! Jordan and I took off for U-turn on Saturday night. It was a GREAT night, despite a really weird game that we played....not quite sure what to think of it....there is no noise, but here's a sample of what it looked like....
And then Sunday was full of friends, worship, teaching, fellowship, rest, football and fun! We finished off the evening (Jordan, Laurel and me) watching Iron Man- I LOVE THAT MOVIE! All in all- a GREAT weekend! On another note- I never posted my results of how I think the Grocery Game works and whether or not it's worth it. Here's what I came down to. The list itself that is published on the grocery game is not the MOST helpful for the types of things Jordan and I buy, so although the concept was very helpful, subscribing to the list wasn't the best for me. BUT- I did learn a lot through the 12 weeks of trying it about shopping sales, combining with them offers and coupons to get the best deal. So, here's what it looks like for me...I still shop on a "stockpiling" basis, so I am still looking to buy things when they are on sale rather than when I just NEED them. I check out the Publix, Kroger, CVS and Walgreens circulars each week, circle things on sale and go through my coupons to get the best deal. So far it's working great with each shopping trip averaging a 53% savings on every bill. It's become a challenge for me.....my favorite recently was a trip to Walgreens where I stocked up on 2 packs of Zicam cold medicine, 4 packages of duracell batteries, trident gum and sony CDrs for $25, when it would have been $65. That's exciting! :-) So here's to saving!!!

Oh- and no news yet of Baby Rachel- we are anxiously awaiting!

It's Homecoming Week at Independance High School, where Janel & Laurel attend. If any of you remember Homecoming week, it consists of TONS of ways to show your school spirit, including dress up days. I LOVED this week in High school, and I always participated in the dress up days. The girls have been getting into it, and I loved their theme this year, which was "Decades." So, they started with 50's on Monday, 60's on Tuesday and then 70's and 80's. I didn't get to see the first two days because I was in Florida, but here they are dressed up in their 70's and 80's wear! I LOVE Laurel's shirt today....I might have to borrow that one!

It's Friday, how exciting! It's a beautiful day here in Middle Tennesse. This morning, I was out watering my flowers (which are growing splendidly, by the way!) and marveling at the size and height of my pink impatiens. Mom & I planted several plants a few months ago and despite some plants having difficulty growing in my flower beds, these have LOVED it. I've never seen some get so tall. Here's an idea of what they look like when you buy them at the store:

Here is what one of the stems from my plant looks like....plucked out of the whole bush of them:



I think it's hilarious! Who knows why some grow the way they do...it's just the mystery of God's incredible creation!

Big news to announce: Baby NOAH is here! Scott & Courtney Ray's little baby boy was born yesterday around 2:30 by C-section at Baptist Hospital. He was 8 lbs. 6 oz which was a BIG relief to Scott & Court who had been told based on ultra-sound that he was swiftly approaching 10 lbs!! (They thought he was 9lb.8oz) Jordan and I will see him later tonight, so we'll post some pics of that, I'm sure! I got to talk to the new momma this morning and she sounds great! So, CONGRATULATIONS!!

All of you have a marvelous Friday and weekend! May it be full of God's perfect will for each moment :-)(That's what I'm shooting for!)

So now we're back from camp, and I have no idea how to begin!! Way, way, way too much happened to be contained in a tiny little post. I think what I'll do it tell a little about some of the funny and activities-related things, and then later this week tell about some of the transformation that occurred in many, many students' lives.

So, first of all, I must talk about my team! A few years back, we (the activities team- mainly Jordan) determined to have names for the teams that were consistent from year to year instead of having them come up with a team name on their own. We chose cherokee animal names like Yona(bear,) Soquili(horse,) Tlvdatsi(mountain lion,) and Uwohali(eagle.) Last year we had 10 teams total, but needed to add 2 more this year, so we added Wahuhi (owl,) and Ogana(groundhog.) I was, of course, a groundhog! My team was awesome!! I was so proud of them. They really worked together and we ended up going from placing 9th or 10th the first day to 1st the 3rd day and a VERY close 2nd the 4th day. They were SO much fun and one of my favorite teams ever!



My dorm was also a lot of fun. My group was about half of the junior high girls from Spring Hill and we were partnered with Marisha Wagner who had about half of the junior high girls from Cool Springs. Our evenings were complete with LOTS of giggling, creaking bunk beds and funny sleep talking. We had a lot of fun with dorm inspections, and made "stuffed people" the first day which was HILARIOUS. Click HERE to watch the dorm videos. They were really funny! We were Tefteller B.


Team competitions were amazing this year! Here's a run down of the days:

Monday: This was what we call "Name Discovery" where everyone finds out what team they're on, and who else is on it with them. We had 1,000 feet of twine per team, beginning at the center of camp and weaving all throughout. They had to follow it to the end, and then decipher some puzzles that led them to their next clue. It looked like a giant spider web and was amazing.


Tuesday: This game was called angle ball. It consisted of 4 seven foot tall posts with a basketball on top. The teams were trying to knock the basketball off, getting passed defenders and keeping their's from being knocked off as well. Again, will post pictures of this later.

Wednesday: This game is called tank. Basically each person is paired with another one on their team, with one person, the "gunner" being blindfolded. The gunner gets a mouthfull of flour, and then, while guided by the other, non-blindfolded person, walks around the field trying to "shoot" the other tanks. It's basically a game of annihilation and this is the one my team won. It looks something like this:

Thursday: this was a repeat from last year called "Storm the Mound" It is impossible to describe this game but let me just say it is one of the most incredible games I have ever played. My team came in 2nd by 5 points! Crazy!

And then I must just add a picture of some of my girlies being so fun and getting into it. I love these girls so much!



Well, if this isn't long enough for you, check back later for more stories and more pictures!

I can't wait for camp!! 10 Days to go! God's gonna do some amazing things this year- I know it!