Q and A

A Week Review in Pictures

2012-02-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last week I forgot to do a week review in pictures so this one has a few pictures from last week. Warning: You are about to see A LOT of pictures. :)

Deci and her outfits:

On Saturday Q and I went out for Valentine's Day. We went to get super at a Thia place in Eugene then we headed on over to the Roller Derby Tournament. It was soooo much fun to watch. The middle picture is from our neighbors 2nd birthday party. And the picture on the right was our celebration after getting our taxes done. We didn't owe anything back! Whoohoo!!! Deci requested that we sing her happy birthday, so we did. Why not? :)


Monday night bible study. Marks on the wall from a 1-year-old. Yay for Magic erasers! That stinker little 1-year-old learning to wear a bow. Sisters. :)

Q (Click HERE to see his blog) took Deci on a Daddy/Daughter date last night. On Valentine's Day he came home with flowers and Chocolates!! Then we ordered my favorite: Stuffed Crusted Supreme Pizza from Pizza Hut! We ended the night watching Lost after the girls went to bed! It was a perfect day.

Journey wearing Deci's backpack and rain boots. My Valentine Deci made me at school. The Valentine's Deci sent to family. Deci and Raegan. The McKinney family came down to Eugene on Valentine's day to take Knox to a clinic. Breanna watched Charger and Raegan. Raegan went with me to pick up Deci from school. :)

So, I dyed/colored my hair twice in one day. The picture (above) on the left is after the first color. My new friend, Katie colored my hair the first time. She is amazing and gave me an AMAZING deal for her to color my hair professionally. The problem is that she has never touched my hair before and I colored my hair this dark brown/black color a few months ago. So, it's so not her fault that my hair didn't change much. By the way she said she would fix it for me but for us to not be rushed she would have to wait until Tuesday. Busy, busy girl who is spending the weekend in Portland with family. If you know me, you know I don't have patience and when I decide to do something I want to do it NOW. :) SO, I went out and bought hair color myself (pictured above Middle). Yes, I wanted my hair that red/orange color. Breanna (Her blog) put the color on for me and we left it on for 45 minutes AND she put the color on my ends first. Here's what my hair looks like now:

:) I'm thinking the problem is that dark brown/black color that I put on months ago will not absorb a lighter color. I've colored my hair a lighter red color before and it took but it was probably because my hair didn't have color in it. So...this is what my hair will look like if you see me in the next month or so...I'm not touching my hair again for a little while. :) I'm not sure this is the "different" I was going for but it sure is different.

*Speaking of Breanna (mentioned above) Please go read this post HERE about her and her upcoming trip to India and find out how you can support her by giving financially and praying for her! :) Thanks!

A Day in the LIfe of a Stay-at-Home Mom.

2012-02-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what a stay-at-home mom does all day? Well, I decided to journal on Friday, Feb 10, 2012 about all that went on in the Williams house that day. This day was pretty typical but do know that all stay-at-home moms are not the same. Also If I would have done this, lets say, a year ago it would have been completely different. My girls are at the age now where I actually can get things done around the house. :)

7:30 Journey wakes up, therefor I wake up. :) (Wake up time varies in this house. sometimes as early at 6) I go to computer initially to check time, since my phone is in a bag of rice at the moment. I dropped it in the toilet a few days ago. I hold Journey and check my blog, Facebook and email. Journey gets her books and reads. I write out my "to-do" list which has 12 things I need to do.

8:15: I fix Breakfast for Journey and myself.

8:30: Deci wakes up so I fix her breakfast. When I ask her if she wants milk or water she says Milk. When I hand her the cup of milk she says, "I didn't know what I was saying, I want water."

9:00: Put girls in the bath while I clean the bathroom. Then I put the first load of clothes in the washing machine. START COFFEE! Put dishes away that were drying on the counter top.

9:30: girls out of bath. Deci ask to wear a dress because she has to go to a party... there is no party, the girl just likes to wear dresses. I wash dishes until the hot water runs out. The girls play by themselves.

10:00 I sit down to drink my coffee and Deci starts her talent show that she does every single day. Today she starts out as "shoe girl". I fold towels while watching because I need to multitask to get everything done. I try to have a conversation with Breanna but Deci tells me that I can't take my eyes off of her when she is performing and I must talk in a whisper. :)
I play memory with Deci while trying to keep Journey away.

10:30: We are still playing memory but I take a break to put the 2nd load of clothes in the washing machine. I find Journey playing in the trash. Decided it was time to take trash out all the while Deci is still trying to play memory screaming "Your turn mom!" over and over until I finally make it back.

11:00: I sit down to do my Bible study. Its sad to say but this doesn't happen every day. The day before I actually sat down with the bible beside me while Journey was sleeping and she woke up before I even got the bible open. While I'm doing my bible study Deci is playing the keyboard and Journey the guitar...right beside me. Journey then starts bringing me books and Deci is asking me which is my favorite animal. I really should just get up early to do my bible study because it's almost impossible while the girls are awake.

11:15: I get lunch ready. Left overs from yesterday. I cooked 2 meals yesterday! Go Me! But today I won't cook anything. I've only crossed 2 things off my "to do" list.

11:30: Both girls are finished eating and I haven't even sat down to eat mine yet. I realize I haven't had any water all day. Journey is now covered from head to toe in pizza sauce. Outfit #1 comes off. When you become a mom, you learn to eat fast.

11:50: Get online to check Facebook and Twitter. I feel a little disconnected from the world outside without my phone... even though it's not a smart phone...

12:00 After flying thru FB, Twitter and reading a few blogs, I make myself get off @12. Start cleaning up toys in the den and getting Journey ready for nap.

12:30: Journeys nap time! Praise God! I work on a Valentines craft with Deci for the grandparents.

1:15: Wash 3rd load of clothes then finally get a shower. Then get the Valentines ready to go to the mail.

2:00: A battle within...whether to blow dry my hair or blog. I know I only have about 30 more minutes before Journey wakes up. Decided to blow dry hair.

2:30 Sit down to blog.

2:50 Wake Journey up. We usually don't let her sleep over 2 hours because she doesn't sleep well at night if she gets too much sleep during the day. I realize we are out of toilet paper. whoops!

3:15: I'm somehow accomplished writing a blog post. 6 out of 12 things are crossed off my "to do" list.
I give the girls a snack and I attempt to wash the rest of the dishes.

3:45: Finish washing most of the dishes. Put 4th load of clothes in the wash.
Q got home early! YAY! This doesn't happen a lot. We talk blog talk. Played with the girls and read them books.

4:30: Fold clothes. Deci goes to the potty and falls in because Q left the seat up. Q leaves to get us food. :)

5:00: I straighten my hair because I'm going out with Breanna and two new friends to watch The Vow. I drink my 2nd cup of coffee for the day. Who knew I would be the girl that needed more than one cup of coffee in one day?

5:20: Q's back with food. We eat. Then watch TV and play with the girls.

6:30 Journey's new trick: Taking her clothes off. She pees in the floor. I put Journey's PJ's on and start getting ready for a night out with some ladies! I think just knowing I was getting out later in the day made the day go by so much smoother.

7:20: Breanna and I leave the house. This part is totally not normal. I usually am home to help put the girls in bed but since our friends asked us to go out Q said he would watch the girls. :) Plus, we have plans to go out for Valentine's day the very next day.

At the end of the day I've checked off 8 things off my "to do" list. Not bad, not bad. It was a very good day in the Williams house. Some days are crazier than this. Some days I don't clean ANYTHING. Some days I sit and watch Biggest Loser while the kids play. Some days we do leave the house....not very often but it does happen. I hope you've enjoyed reading about a day in the life of this stay-at-home mom. :)

Just Q and A: Our love story in Pictures

2012-02-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to attempt to post our Love story today...about how we met and the years in between then and now...BUT it seemed VERY overwhelming to me to try and get that done today. This March we've been together 14 years. We dated 7 years and in May we will have been married 7. I'm so blessed to have this man in my life.

Me 15, Q 17 :) Q's Senior Prom

Our Wedding May 28, 2005

This picture is for Deci. She asked me the other day if we ever kiss. ha! :)

Our Honeymoon. A Cruise to the Bahama's

Our first (I believe) Vacation after being married. You don't see them here but we took this road trip with 3 single people...I'm not sure what we were thinking. But it sure was a fun trip. We went to Washington D.C. by the way.

This post was by far my favorite post I've done in a while. I Loved getting a chance to look back at old pictures of me and Q. I just wish I had more of our pictures before we got married online. I'll try and take a picture of a few of the one's we have...because I don't have a scanner.

Thanks Q for all the wonderful memories! I'm a better person because of you. I love you more and more everyday! I honestly couldn't imagine this life without you.

Guest Post: My missionary friend Breanna

2012-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Meet Breanna

If you don't know already, Breanna is from Alabama and moved out to Oregon 6 months ago to help with the Crash team. She actually lives with us and helps keeps me sane by watching the girls so that Q and I can go out of dates! :) She is a missionary. She has been to Mexico 6...or so times. You can read more about that on her blog. I'm excited about being able to help Breanna out by sharing her story below about her upcoming mission trip.

Hi friends of Q&A! Thank you, Audrey for letting me guest blog today! I'm just gonna cut to the chase. Did you know that only about 2.3% of the Indian population claim to be Christian? Out of an estimated population of 1,189,172,906 only 2.3% claim to be Christians. That equals about 27,350,977 people. If you subtract that amount from the population you get 1,161,821,929 people that will die and spend an eternity in hell without ever trusting in Jesus as their Savior. When you live in an area where 2.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS finding hope in the Lord is something that can carry them throughout all of the hardships of living life with the fatal disease.

I will be traveling with TREC, International in January 2013 to India. During our trip, we will be hiking A LOT, stopping at orphanages to work with the orphans, painting/decorating classrooms, training teachers and sharing the Gospel with a community of people desperate for hope. This will be my first ever (of many to come) over seas mission trip.

Now comes the awkward part. I always hate asking for money... from anyone, even my own mother. Let's just face it, though. Can one teenage girl with no income living away from home possibly pay out of pocket for a mission trip to the other side of the world? No. That's where you come in! The cost estimation for my trip is $3000 with the first $500 due on March 6. Yes, a little less than a month! Not to mention the other supplies I will have to buy such as hiking equipment and Visas! I totally believe that a donation can be a blessing from many different angles. Angle #1) You get to have the benefit of seeing life change in a foreign country that otherwise might not happen, and all because you gave up one cup of coffee at Starbucks(or JaMoka's!) and donated to help a missionary. Angle #2) I get to go to India in January and have you forever to thank for the opportunity! Angle #3) Our team could plant seeds or change lives in India. Seeds planted that will be fertilized by the Lord and later He will use those people to make an impact on their own community.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE:

-Write a check payable to TREC, International (send a note with the check saying that it's designated to Breanna Rains) mailed to TREC, International P.O. Box 242205 Montgomery, AL 36124 (tax deductible)

-Write a check to me and mail it(email me for the address) to me.

-Write a check/give cash to my mom at Lifepoint Church(if you know her.)

-Look for my mom at Lifepoint who will be selling knit hats/crocheted dishcloths to help me raise support.

-Check out my facebook page where I also am selling the hats!

-Pray. Pray. Pray!

-Donate online here.

So, all ways you look at it, there are so many ways you can be a blessing to me and to the people of India. I also want to add that this trip will not have an impact at all unless there is prayer... lots and LOTS of prayer! When you think you have prayed enough, pray some more! Thank you so much for being a blessing to me and to the Indian people whether it be prayerfully or financially. I know that the Lord is paving my way to India as I type this, and He will provide! If you have any questions, or want to contact me for any reason email me at breannarains@gmail.com :) Thanks so much!

Here area a few examples of the hats she is making to sell.

Here are some of the crochet wash cloths that my mom is making for Breanna to sell.

Marriage Letters: Patience

2012-02-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

Join me and Q, along with Amber@The Run A Muck as we write our Marriage Letters every Monday.

Q,
      How do I write a "love" letter to you about patience after a day of fighting. Our relationship takes a lot of patience. I don't even know what to say. It's Sunday so technically I can wait to write this tomorrow when maybe I'm in a better mood...when maybe you don't get on my nerves so much. I just said to you that if I can't say anything nice I probably shouldn't say anything at all. I guess this can be my transparency post for the week.

I have to have a lot of patience with you. You have to have a lot of patience with me. I'm not sure you understand the demands of a stay-at-home mom and I sure don't understand the demands of a being the chaplain of the Eugene Mission. We often plead our case to one another hoping one day the other will agree on who has the more demanding "job".

At the moment, it's your work weekend which means you are at work at 6 at night on a Sunday. You didn't get a weekend. I know, It stinks for me too. At the moment, I'm listening to music while Journey plays on the table...and when I say play I mean that she is digging in my bowl of random junk trying to find things that will fit in her mouth. I've already had to clean a whole bag of potato chips off the carpet in the den. I'm not exaggerating when I say whole, it was the WHOLE ENTIRE BAG OF CHIPS! You had to preach this morning. I had to get two girls ready for church without you...which I HATE. I'm not sure how single mom's make it. I couldn't imagine life without you. We don't have horrible lives. We are actually blessed. Sometimes I just let the little things get to me.

I'm not sure how much this was about patience.... My emotions are on my sleeve and running wild tonight. Days like today I need you to have patience with me. I need you to listen to me rant and rave about silly things that you can't fix. I need to be able to let out some of this frustration with you so that I don't hold it in and take it out on the kids when it's not their fault. If I can't be honest with you, who can I be honest with? These days I feel like I share everything. My kids, my home, my husband, my life...I feel like the boundary lines are so thin I can't see them anymore. You say we are living more like Jesus now than ever. I just want to be able to curl up beside you, and only you. I want to be able to tell you my secrets, only you. I want to lay in bed and giggle as we talk about the day after the kids are asleep. I don't want to lose all this as we search to find out what it means to be Jesus to this community.   I need you.
   -A

Nick Nick and Aunt B's last day in Oregon

2012-02-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

We took Nick and Brandi to the top of Skinner's Butte to see the view. They were so lucky to have such beautiful weather while they were here.

Q, Alec, Luis, Nick

Zach Gideon

We went to Sweet Life, a local bakery, to get dessert and coffee. I'm pretty sure this is where we met up for the day after Journey woke up from her nap...I'm just too lazy to move the pictures around so they will actually be in order. :)

Jeff, Journey, and Derrick

We walked past Alec's work and waved at him and Mike.

Then we went back to the base of Spencer's Butte so Brandi could take a few pictures since she left her camera at our house the first time we went.

If you wonder why Brandi isn't in a lot of these pictures it's because I'm pretty sure she would kill me if I put a lot of pictures of her on my blog. ha! :) But these next 3 pictures Brandi took with her awesome camera and I love them.

Side note: One night we got to go to Albany to hang out with the McKinney family. The husbands were supportive enough to tell us ladies to leave all the kids (all 5 kids!) with them to go get dessert at a local shop some of their friends own. It was such a fun night. For some reason I get away to Albany and have so much fun with April talking and catching up that I NEVER seem to remember to get a picture of us all. April is my friend here from Alabama that moved here to help with a Church plant. It feels like home when I get together with her. We can relate in so many ways. She gets me. She also has the son who has a heart that needs surgery that I asked for you guys to pray for a few weeks back. Keep praying. They have some hard decisions ahead to make.

Last blog post about Nick Nick and Aunt B for a while. I guess it's about time I get caught up in real life. They've been gone since Tuesday. Nothing much has happened since they left. I think we were so busy while they were here that we crashed after they left. Maybe they got an extra day off of work to recover. :)

Check back in tomorrow for Marriage Letters Monday, Tuesday I'm going to TRY really hard to do a post on how I met Q and our story...no promises...How do you write a post on 7(ish) years of dating?? Wednesday I have a post ready on "A day in the life of a stay-at-home mom." :)

Holleigh's Birthday!

2012-02-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

This day didn't start off so well...I still haven't decided if I want to share about what happened. Q says in all of my transparency I should...but the part of me that worries what others think doesn't want it to be so public. Okay, so I know you are all wondering now. Let's just say that Q had to leave for Church early and in the frustration of trying to get the girls ready I had a come apart. We didn't make it to church but it ended up being just what I needed. 2 hours of doing nothing but playing with my 2 favorite girls. Just me and them. ANYWAYS, that's how I started Holleigh's birthday. But don't worry, my day got better when Nick, Brandi, and Breanna came home with my favorite coffee drink!! Yeah, because the day IS all about ME, right! Who's birthday was it?? oh yeah, Holleigh's. So we loaded up and met Holleigh and Alec, along with a ton of other people, at a local Winery, Sweet Cheeks. (By the way I left my camera at home. I could have kicked myself. So all the pictures below are taken with my cell phone. But Brandi took some really GREAT pictures that I'm going to try and post tomorrow.)

This is how Holleigh put's her birthday candles out.

Always Dancing!

After Sweet Cheeks we drove about 10 miles to King Estates Winery.

This place is like a castle.

We went with a guy that knew someone there so we got the VIP treatment and they drove us to the top of this hill where you can see (kind of) King Estates in the background. It was beautiful.

I'm pretty sure Holleigh had a great Birthday. I know that it was such a fun day for me. After all this we had everyone over at the house to play board games. So much fun! :)

Aunt B, Deci and Holleigh

What should have been on my list: Spencer's Butte

2012-02-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

I made a list on a post a few months back of places that I wanted to visit in Oregon in 2012. You can see the list HERE. I should have added Spencer's Butte to that list. While our friends Nick and Brandi (A.K.A. Nick Nick and Aunt B) were here from Alabama, we decided to explore something new in Oregon. None of us had ever been here before and I can not wait to go back. We started off with a nice stroll through the woods.

Holleigh and Alec

Our family. Notice we are using the carrier for Journey. Best Thrift Store investment yet! $14.99!

It actually turned out to be a pretty good hike. We took the easy hike since we had the kids but it still was quite a hike. It was only a little over a mile but it got pretty steep towards the end. (The other path was 1/2 a mile but straight up.)

Q and Deci, mainly Deci, decided to take the road less traveled and this is where I called for Alec to take Journey off my back. When I got up and saw this view I got a little dizzy...plus my legs were like jello at this point from carrying the 25(ish) pounds on my back.

Holleigh

Deci, Q and Luis

We made it to the top and this was our view!

3 Sisters

Journey was exhausted.

Alec carried Journey back down. He said at one point her head hit his head. He didn't know what was going on until Brandi told him that Journey had fallen asleep. So funny. With her Raisin's in her hand. :)

I can not wait to post about the rest of the week with Nick Nick and Aunt B. (So check back in tomorrow! :) They are already back in Alabama now and WE MISS THEM SO MUCH!! I can't wait until they come visit again. I hope you enjoyed pictures of Spencer's Butte and if you ever come visit this will probably be a place we take you. I completely agree with Q, "One of the 10 top views I've seen in my life!" BEAUTIFUL!

Portlandia...and other things.

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

This post is going to be random. Consider yourself warned. My goal is to post a blog every day this week. Not because I want to blog everyday but because this past week SOOO much has gone on and I want to remember it all! I am so behind on blogging...how does that even happen? (1.) We had guest for 6 days. I've been busy. (2.) I want to blame it on editing. I've never edited a picture in my life until a few weeks ago and now I'm addicted. BUT now that I can see the difference It's so hard for me to put a picture on my blog that hasn't be edited, especially if it's from my cell phone. (Which if I haven't said lately, it takes HORRIBLE pictures. I miss my old phone.) Editing pictures takes so much time.

Random: Have you ever seen the show Portlandia?? It's pretty funny. Mainly because we live in Oregon now and get most of the jokes. They exaggerate a little...maybe... I want to do a post one day on the difference between Oregon and Alabama.

The picture below I took of the T.V. When we were watching Portlandia. Check out the Pillows!

Now check out the pillows below at our house!!

We have the same pillows!! haha! Ok, cheesy, I know! Gotta love IKEA!

Portland's IKEA is where I got our pillows. (and our curtain rods for $1.99 each and our curtains!)

Okay, I told you it was random. (and just think, I could have spared you guys this blog and actually wrote about something important! ha!)

Our Neighbors

2012-02-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

We have some really great neighbors. I've talked about them on my blog before. Here, where Joanna and the boys came over for our Christmas gathering and she took the pictures that were inside our Christmas cards...the very few Christmas cards that we sent out this year. Then Here, where I start back blogging and introduce her blog. You can read the story HERE from my neighbors blog, on how we met. One of the best things about where we live now is our neighbors. We get the chance to babysit our neighbors sometimes and I wanted to share a few pictures from the last time we kept Jedidiah and Matheson.

My girls are mesmerized by these boys. We say we are finished having kids. We dream of adopting older children one day. A small...and I mean very small, part of me, looks at these pictures and would like to have a little boy. I've always said that I would love a house full of girls. Even if we adopt, we talk about adopting girls. Nothing against boys, honestly I always thought I would have a boy first. I always thought that if you have a boy first you get the protective older brother to watch out after the other siblings. Then I thought I would love to have a house full of all boys or all girls. It just so happens that I had the girl first so that's where I say I want a house full of girls. I do realize the teenage years will be hard. Anyways, sometimes I wonder if I'll miss out on all the baseball games, football games.... building forts in the woods, playing cowboys and Indians... Who knows what God has in store for our family. I'm not writing anything off...even though I'm pretty sure I don't miss those sleepless nights with a newborn. :)

Jedidiah (sometimes called Jed), Journey, Matheson, and December.

Side story: JoAnna went into labor early with Matheson and her mother-in-law wasn't in town yet to help with Jedidiah so we got the privilege of watching Jedidiah for the night. :)

This one is my favorite picture. Jedidiah is trying to figure out what is going on. Journey is cheesing it up! Matheson is wondering when this mini photo shoot will be over and Deci is trying to keep Matheson from falling over. :)

In Alabama we had neighbors. We actually lived beside Q's dad's (and his wife, Hilde) house and on his 13 acres. So we could see houses around and maybe knew the people that lived in them, but we really could hide away if we wanted. The joys of living in the country. Here we are just a few feet away from our neighbors. It's been a lot of fun getting to know all of our neighbors. When my mom was in town we got to go out with JoAnna, Isiah and our neighbors across the street. We have plans to have a block party this summer in our neighborhood. I never knew living in a neighborhood like this could be so much fun.

Ok, this is getting long and I'm rambling...I usually try and post at night (or during Journey's nap time) while the kids are asleep so I can focus. Right now the kids are running around screaming... The good mom in me needs to get off here and spend time with them. I'm not sure if this post even makes sense but I'm WAY behind on blogging and really wanted to post these cute pictures. SOOO...if the words don't make sense, just look at the pictures. :) Off to play with the kids! AND MAKE COFFEE! How did I write this post without it?? That could be the problem!

Fighting injustice with fashion

2012-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we got invited to go to watch a fashion show. It was a fashion show raising awareness about sex trafficking, slave labor and soldier trafficking. I've heard a little about this before but never to this extreme. The fashion show part was amazing. There was a girl from Hawaii and Brazil showing the clothes they made (along with others). I ended up crying my eye's out in the in-between parts. One of the ladies that spoke is over Hope Ranch Ministries. Her name is Diana. You can read her story HERE. Holleigh has recently got to meet up with her about helping in this ministry. Hope Ranch Ministry is opening a house in the area for those women coming out of sex trafficking that have no place to go. We got to meet Diana after. I would love to be able to help out in some way. This whole thing becomes even more scarier having 2 girls. The statistics are heartbreaking.

"In today's world, there are 1.2 million children being sex-trafficked every year and 27 million in slavery."

"Portland, Oregon is the 3rd largest sex trafficking area in the United States."

"There are more than 30 million slaves in the world today,
more than at any other point in human history."

"Each year fans from around the country converge for the biggest sporting event in the United States, the Super Bowl. While the Super bowl is an exciting time for football fans across America, there is a dark side to the major sporting event as well. It is a time of increased exploitation for trafficked women and children. A staggering 100,000 – 300,000 people are trafficked each year in the US, and major sporting events like the Super bowl increase the demand for sexual trafficking up to 80%."

This happens to CHILDREN! I can not even think about it without being disgusted with these people that put children in these situations. I also can not just sit aside and do nothing about this. So, my first steps are educating YOU. It's not just over seas. It's here in the United States. Lets all educate ourselves and find out what we can do in our own town/state to help. Please Join me in praying for these women and children.

Slavery- Not for Sale: End Human Trafficking

Children of the Night/Rescuing Americas Children from Prostitution

24 hour Hot line: 1-800-551-1300

Marriage Letters: Opposites Attract

2012-02-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Join me and Q, along with Amber from The Run a Muck by writing Marriage Letters every Monday.

Q,
Those words couldn't be more true for us. Opposites Attract. In some ways more than others. I'm sure of it, that you're the one who has to compromise the most. I'm pretty stubborn and you are more laid back (for the most part). I say for the most part because just the other day we were trying to plan a one day road trip to the Redwoods. It's 4 1/2 hours there and 4 1/2 back. I said, "Lets do this!" and you said, "Audrey, that's 9 hours for the girls to be in the car in one day." Oh, yeah...that could be a problem. I seem to jump into things when you are the one to really think things through. I'm so glad you are the one who thinks straight. I'm sure I could have talked you into the adventure (because you love a good adventure) and then we would have been 4 hours away from home with 2 really fussy girls. At that point It would have hit me that maybe that wasn't a good idea. I would have no solution and you would come in and save the day. Thanks for thinking ahead, babe. (But seriously, lets plan a 2 day trip to see the Redwoods soon!)

I'm pretty sure I'm the paranoid one. Flying with our girls stresses me out more than anything in this world. Ok, maybe it's not the actual flying. It's more of taking that first step into the airport until we get on the plane. I'm terrified of what might happen if I take my eyes off either of our girls at any point in time. This tends to be a problem now that we have 2 kids. Before I could be the parent that was latched onto the one kid. Now, I stress you out by telling you not to take your eyes off the other kid. If she does take one step away from you SHE COULD BE ABDUCTED! ok, I'm VERY paranoid around a large crowd when it comes to our girls. You tend to bring us balance.

How about all the other little things like the fact that I would vacation at the beach EVERY single year when you prefer the mountains. It's our hot/cold issue. You are always 100 degrees and I'm always freezing. You always want the air on and I always want the heater. We really need one of those cars where we each can control our own temperature.

I'm glad I have you in my life to bring balance and stability. You're calm and I lose my temper. You're strong and I'm so weak. You're thoughtful when I can be inconsiderate. Thanks for being YOU!
-A

A week review in pictures.

2012-02-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Qwelf!

If you haven't ever played this game it's SO much fun!

Alec and Holleigh.

We went on a walk with our neighbors one day.

Tattoo's!

Albertville, AL fire hydrant! (That's were I grew up!)

I was painting my toe nails the other day and Journey came up and pointed and said, "Draw!" so I decided to paint her toes! First time ever.

Eating at the Granary. Great atmosphere and best Pizza around, in my opinion.

Our friends Nick and Brandi came into town on Wednesday night! Yay for visitors!!!

Journey and Nick Nick.

Journey and Aunt B. :)

December

2012-02-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

and I don't mean the month... If you don't know this already, our oldest daughters name is December. We just call her Deci sometimes. She's 4 and in case you haven't been around her, or any other 4-year-old for that matter, I will just tell you that she says the most random things. For instance, a few days ago she asked, "Does God have superpowers?" and I asked her why she asked that and she said, "Because he can hold the whole world in his hand and see us all." :) I love the way her little heart see's God.

This girl seriously picks out her own clothes...almost everyday.

Then one day I told her she needed to clean up her dress-up toys and she said, "But God wants YOU to." Hummm....really??

this is one of her favorite dresses...it's a summer dress but as you can see she finds a way to wear it in the winter.


This is her Pippi Longstocking dress. She wants to be just like Pippi and I LOVE it!

When we went to Mount Pisgah she wanted to run way ahead of Q on the way down. I told her we needed to wait on him simple because I wanted us to stay together. I asked her what we would do if we saw a bear and she said, "It's ok mommy. I'll hold your hand."

I should add that I think all of these pictures where taken within the past month. :)

Just a few days ago Q was getting ready for work and he heard the girls wake up. He went to get them and fixed them breakfast. (yeah, I know, I was in shock too! ha!) Before Q had to leave Deci came in to wake me up and said, "Mommy, wake up! You've been sleeping for a whole minute! Mommy, get up! You've been sleeping ALL day!" It was 7:20. yep. No concept of time. :)

I think I picked this outfit...but it fits her well...and she picked the headband (below). Always got to accessorize.

All of these pictures were taken from my cell phone and it takes HORRIBLE pictures so excuse the blur...but I like it in this pic. :)

Crossing number 8 off my list!

2012-01-31T05:30:00.000-08:00

I made a list (here) of places I want to go see in Oregon in 2012. Mount Pisgah was #8!

(Picture Alert by the way!! Breanna has recently introduced me to Picnik. My sister-in-law, Kerrie told me about it a while back but I just thought editing pictures took too long but I LOVE it now!!! I'm addicted! (I may have gone a little overboard here) If I remember correctly, these are the first pictures I've EVER edited!! If you haven't checked out Picnik before you should! It's free...but the bad thing is that it will not longer be available after April 19th.)

Mount Pisgah is just a place to hike. There are lots of trails. We hiked probably 3 miles or so but most of it had gravel. Deci hiked the whole way. I was so proud of her. The view was beautiful!

Check out the moss on this tree!

My favorite picture and favorite edit: 1960's! :)

This was such a fun day! I can't wait to take Alabama visitors here.

Marriage Letters: let's just be honest

2012-01-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

Join me along with my Husband Q, and Amber @The Run a Muck, as we work hard to preserve marriage by writing marriage letters. There may be only a handful of us doing it, but if you’ve written a letter or a post for your spouse, link up on The Run a Muck and leave me a comment here. I would love to hear your story.

Q,
Let's just be honest, life is hard sometimes. You know me, and know that I paint the picture like it really is...I wear my heart on my sleeve, which is not always a good thing. I know I'm hard to love sometimes. I'm extremely selfish, and I know in a relationship I need to put you first. I find this a battle within, like Saturday when I turned down the radio when you were "singing"...even though I swear I didn't hear you. I just hated the song you so happened to love. Sometimes we are polar opposites. Sometimes we ~~fight...argue... bicker..~~ have disagreements in front of other people because I can't hold my tongue and you love a good debate. ;) I need to work on that...

Me pregnant with baby #2 :)

Let's be honest, everyone said that marriage was hard. We got married and thought "wow, this is easy." I think it's about expectations. We expected it to be harder. Maybe it was that we dated 7 years...or was it 8...I lost count. Dating was what was so hard. It isn't always easy now but we make it work.

On the other hand, it seems that I kept hearing people talk about the joys of parenthood. Parenthood is H-A-R-D! I will never forget those first few weeks/months after having Deci. I'm not sure how much of it was us not knowing what we were doing or having a colicky/acid reflux/strong-willed baby... but we made it! We even had child number 2! Let's be honest, having kids is a roller coaster ride, some days we want to get off and some days we can't get enough. It's challenging and rewarding. My favorite thing is Saturday mornings when you don't have to work and we all end up in our bed early in the morning. (Except this past Saturday when clearly we needed more sleep. Why didn't the girls get the memo?)

We are making it babe, living life 2,000+ miles away from Sweet Home Alabama....away from life as we knew it....away from friends and family.... We knew this would be hard and it is, but I am SO glad that I'm here with you!

-A

Why I blog.

2012-01-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

This is my life on paper. 23 Journals here and I'm missing one. I know this because it's my very first one. It's got to be around here somewhere. It's small so it's likely that it didn't make it on the bookshelf but maybe in a drawer or box somewhere. I started my first Journal in 1993 if I remember correctly. I was 11 years old. Some of these Journals are just ~~horrible~~ poetry. Some are mission trip journals. Two of them are more like scrapbooks with mostly writing but with pictures. I also have a pregnancy Journal and 2 "Mama" Journals answering questions about each of my girls and my life growing up. I love looking back on life. So, if you haven't guessed yet, (1) I blog because I want to be able to look back on life. It's my new Journal...in a weird public kind of way. Also I'm living 2,000+ miles away from almost everyone I grew up with. (2) Blogging is a cool way to let friends and family back in Alabama know whats going on here in Oregon with the Williams family. (3) It's my new "hobby". What else do you do when you move from a place where you knew a million people (not literally) to a place where you only know 10 people? Ha! Get out there and meet people, right? Yeah... well, also I'm enjoying my girls being at an age where I can blog. I remember having a 3-year-old and a newborn and wondering how in the world anyone with kids EVER blogs! Things are calming down now and I LIKE it, a lot! :)
So, been wonderin' why I've been posting on my blog almost every single day lately? Well, there ya go! Recording life online for ME and YOU! (and the fact that my mom's been here helping with the girls so I have extra help... and my little secret: I'm writing this post on Thursday night while the kids are in bed...but you won't see it until Saturday. But if you see things slow down it may be because mom is leaving in the morning (Friday)...which was yesterday...If that makes since...) Whew, ok so that last part was confusing. I think I need sleep! Thanks for reading my blog! Friends, family, strangers... I hope you enjoy!

A week review, in pictures

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

We, well actually Breanna, found this backpack/carrier at GoodWill for $14.99. I've been looking for one to carry Journey so that we can take the kids hiking with us. It reminds me of the one we had growing up. I don't remember sitting in it but I remember Kyle, my younger brother, riding in it a lot. Journey didn't care for it much.

Our friends, Josh and Marcie, got this dress from Mexico for Deci when she was little. While watching the movie "We Bought a Zoo" I saw the little girl wearing a dress similar to this but in yellow.

This is Deci's "Pippi Longstocking outfit" that she picked out to wear to school yesterday.

Mom and I took the girls to the park. One of the good things about having mom around is that I"M IN PICTURES!! :) haha! If you're a mom you know what I mean! I end up taking all the pictures and look back and wonder if I even went on vacation! ha!

Pinterest Rings!

2012-01-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

My mom brought a craft to do with Deci. She found this cute ring craft on Pinterest. They were so fun to make and very easy. Just start saving the top/closure pieces (not sure what these are called) from orange juice cartons. Then find cute things to put on top. Then glue away! We used a hot glue gun.

I thought they turned out really cute.

Pigtails

2012-01-25T22:23:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Pigtails on little girls! And I love that I randomly have pictures of both of my girls when they wore pigtails for the first time. Below is Breanna and Deci. Yes, that blond hair teenager fixing Deci's hair is the same dark hair Breanna that lives with us. :) We spent the afternoon with some friends at Cherokee Rock Village and Breanna wanted to fix Deci's hair. I'm not sure why I had never thought to put Deci's hair up in pigtails before but this started a trend. I still love Deci's hair in pigtails but she rarely lets me put her hair up these days.

Yesterday I was holding Journey and playing with her afro hair and realized it could go up in pigtails!! It took me and my mom to accomplish getting her hair up and entertaining her with my phone to actually get these pictures. Her hair was up no more than 2 minutes before she figured out she could pull them out and I doubt she will let me put them in again but look how cute!

Notice it took both of these girls playing with cell phones, which I rarely let them play with, to hold their attention long enough to get their hair up!

Recent thrift store finds.

2012-01-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

Minnetonka Moccasins for Deci. The price tag says 3.99 but they were 1/2 off so I got them for $2!!! :)

This is random but I wanted to share because I'm addicted a little bit to thrift store shopping. I once counted around 12 thrift stores about 10 miles (or less) from our house. Since we've been in Eugene I've only bought myself one shirt (that I can remember) from a chain type store. Not bragging on myself here but bragging on Oregon for having the coolest thrift stores around. I do most of our families clothes shopping at second hand stores. I found this purse below for $12.99 and it was 25% off!

liz&co.

For some reason in this picture it looks more yellow than gold...it's more of a mustard yellow/Gold color. Also I got this coat at a thrift store a few months back. To find out more about this picture, check out my friend Breanna's blog.

Marriage Letters: Q and A

2012-01-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blogs is The Run a Muck. Her name is Amber. Erin, her sister, and I were college roommates for one semester at The University of North Alabama. Amber and her husband Seth have started writing Marriage letters on Mondays and encouraging others to do the same. I LOVE the idea. So today, since it's Monday, I thought I would join.

Q,
Wow, where do I start... maybe just saying that I love you. I really do. What a wild a crazy (almost) 15 years we've been together. I can't believe I met you at 15. I remember holding your hand while we were having "prayer around the poll" and thinking that I wanted to marry a man like you. I actually wrote it in my journal. I don't think that at 15 I really knew that I wanted to marry you. I know that because we started dating when we were both very immature we had a rocky start but it makes our story and I love that. I love that you chose me. I love that through our hard times we learned what true love really is. I love that I can trust you 100%. You provide me and our family security. I know our relationship isn't perfect but I do know that our love is real. You are my best friend. I can tell you anything. I'm quirky most days and sometimes I get tired of being around people but you are my constant. I can't be around you enough. Yeah, you get on my nerves sometimes but I still want you near. Oh and I do need breaks from you occasionally but I always am excited about getting back to you. I love the father you are to our two girls. I love that you like taking them to work with you and on daddy/daughter dates. Thanks for putting up with me. Thanks for constant love even when I'm not so lovable. Thanks for listening to God and leading our family where He has called us. That is the man I fell in love with and the man I'm still in love with today. The man that follows God's voice.
-A

Date Day

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

Since my mom has been in town, Q and I took a whole day to go on a date. We started the day by touring a church then we went to lunch at Agate Alley Bistro which was so YUMMY! Then we went to eat frozen yogurt. Next we went to the movies to watch "We Bought a Zoo." Which was so good! One of my favorite movies I've seen in a while. It has just encouraged me and Q both to make sure we are having adventures with our family. We decided we needed a little adventure of our own that day so went out in the rain and mud and "hiked" Skinners Butte. I say hike but it wasn't much of a hike... but what is considered a hike after all?? A walk in the woods? well, we did that. Is there a number of miles you must go? Well, we didn't go far and it didn't feel much like a hike but we were in the woods. We went a little overboard on our date but we had to take advantage while we had someone that wouldn't care to keep the kids all day. It's been nice having my mom here to help with the girls. Especially so Q and I can go out. We have people here that help us with the girls but it feels less like a sacrifice when it's the grandparents keeping them. Here are a few pictures of our "adventure".

Skinner's Butte

Eugene, Oregon

U of O Autzen Stadium

Pray

2012-01-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you that read my blog know April and Neal McKinney. If you don't I'll give you a little back story. We met them years ago but didn't really get to know them until about 6ish years ago when we started praying about starting a church in Alabama. We did indeed start a church called LifePoint and Neal was one of the pastors along side Q, Nick and Matt. When April got pregnant with her first child, our due dates were only a week apart. I ended up having a miscarriage and I remember April being so thoughtful during that time and sending me flowers. April and Neal had a baby girl named Raegan and I ended up getting pregnant shortly after. Before Raegan turned 1 the Mckinney's moved to Oregon to help with another church plant. We kept in touch with them through the years and eventually God called us out to Oregon also. We always thought that since we were called to the same state that God had a plan in mind for us to work together in ministry again eventually. Over the years of them being in Oregon and us in Alabama, we of course have 2 girls and they have added 2 boys to the family. Now getting you caught up to date. 3 months ago they had the 2nd boy, 3rd child, Knox. Knox was born with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He has already had one surgery and is getting ready for surgery number 2. Here is April and Neal's latest FaceBook update:

We found out from Knox's cardiologist that after viewing the MRI of his chest that on a scale of 1-10...10 being high risk...he is a 10 and at high risk for the next surgery. His anatomy has compensated for some clotting in his arms we didn't know about by reversing circulation to a point that they don't think he can recover from the Glenn procedure unless they change the procedure which has never been done...so, we will hear more on Wednesday about a new strategy for him...right now he is a likely candidate for heart transplant...all of his blood transfusions put him at some risk for rejection of a heart because of the antibodies his body has produced. Today, he is stable and doing better with his Norwood recovery than most babies like him, they say. So, we are headed home. The one factor concerning his collateral veins and where they are returning blood is the obstacle. He is outgrowing his shunt and needs help within the next few months. We are backing out of the house we bought and may have to relocate temporarily for a transplant. Docs are consulting with other institutions for advice. We are tired.

I've got on here to blog several times in the past few days and have had a really hard time posting anything. We are an hour away from them and I feel so helpless. How can I blog about the good things going on in my life when my friends are hurting and going through such a hard time. I don't know what's next for baby Knox but please pray for him and his family. My heart just hurts for them now and if I can't do anything else I can ask for prayers for them.

A week review...in pictures.

2012-01-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

Date Night! Eating with the Woodward clan.

Monday night Bible Study. Alabama Crash team.

Our First Snow this winter!

Deci's self portrait.

The girls having a sweet moment. :)

CHEESE!!

Dress up!

Deci picked out her clothes for school this morning.

She fits in well here.

"I will NEVER let my kids..."

2012-01-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever said those words? "I will never let my kids"...and fill in the blank. I will never let my kids eat fast food, especially before they turn 1 (or 2 or 8 ha!). I will never let my kid fuss in a restaurant and disrupt other people while eating. I will never let my kids make me so mad that I scream. I will never let my kid sleep on their tummy because back to sleep, right? I will NEVER let my kids sleep with me! NEVER! Hahaha! I laugh at myself now at all the times I said things like these above. I took this picture below a few days ago.

These girls are in mine and Quinton's bed. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and when it comes to sleep I'm all about making that happen. When Deci was younger we were really strict with not letting her sleep with us. When she woke up in the middle of the night and climbed in bed with us we always took her back. We figured if we let her once that she would keep coming back. It's funny how when child number 2 comes along sleep becomes more important and you bend the rules a little more. These girls wake up often in the middle of the night and most of the time we encourage that they stay in their beds but sometimes it's easier to tuck them tight in the bed with us and go back to sleep. If you want to read a funny story about us switching Deci over to her "big girl" bed read HERE.

Baking Cookies with Dee

2012-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday Deci and my mom "Dee" made Cookies!

Side story: My mom wanted to be called Gram but when Deci was little she said a D sound instead of the Gr sound... put it together and you get Dam... not quite a lovely name for a grandmother huh? So her name got shortened to Dee. :)

This is her "secret" recipe so I can't share it with you but here's a hint of what goes in them...

Ha! Have you figured it out yet?? Yeah, me neither. I watched them make the cookies and I still don't know how to make them.

Deci loved making these and I loved eating them! :)

Mom's in town....

2012-01-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

and she brought Christmas gifts and she made lots of them! I shared a post a year or two ago of things that she made us. You can see that post by clicking HERE.

Here are a few things she made us this year:

She made the girls these blankets.

And pillows. When Journey started climbing on top of her crib bumper to escape I took the crib bumper out and sent the cover to my mom and that is what she used to make these pillows. I Love them! They match the curtain in the girls room.

She made Q this bowl.

And me this pillow for the couch.

Tomorrow I'm going to post pictures (and maybe a recipe) of my mom and Deci making "Dee's" favorite cookies! :) Yummy!

Meet Aimee

2012-01-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

Above is a picture of Aimee and her family. I met Aimee at my church home in Alabama. I don't remember exactly when I met her but I know that I've laughed more since I've met this lady. She is seriously one of the funniest people I know...especially on Facebook. Her status updates crack me up. I think it's because they are usually about her kids and her youngest daughter reminds me of my oldest. They both can get into trouble faster than any kid I know. :) Aimee loves the Lord. Below is Aimee's story, in her own words, about her upcoming trip to Africa.

"Let's see here. Why do I want to go to Rwanda? Well, I have always had a heart for Africa even before I came to Christ. When Chrystal went back in June my heart ached because I knew that was where I needed to be but didn't have the knowledge of the trip or the resources to make it happen even if I had. I knew the morning that we dropped her off at the airport that this year when she went, I would be with her. I have such a strong calling on my life to teach (which is why I am in school to be a teacher) and that is exactly what Land of a Thousand Hills is all about. They choose not to do things for people but to teach them to do it on their own. Kinda like you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or you can teach him to fish and feed him for life.

When I decided that it was meant for me to go to Africa I didn't care what it cost to get me there because I knew that God would provide if I were truly meant to go. The money has been coming in a little at a time thanks to some very generous and crafty people such as Audrey and Jessica Stewart. My mom was helping me make dresses to sell to come up with some of the money but then she passed away in November and I have no idea how to use her sewing machine. After she passed I almost didn't want to go anymore but then someone told me how proud she was of me answering the call from God and choosing to go on this trip and I knew that I had to go.

As of right now, I am still looking to raise another $2500. This will cover the cost of my trip minus the plane ticket, my vaccinations and money to leave my husband to pay bills. I don't get vacation time at work so I will have to miss work for 2 weeks to go. Any financial support would be greatly appreciated but even more than money, I need about 2500 prayers! I know without a doubt that this trip is was God has called me to do and I wont settle for less than He asked for. As I grow my relationship with Christ I find myself more excited about how this trip will change my life and the lives of my whole family. I am so excited for my children to see what it means to follow God and to go and make disciples as He has called us to do."

13 years ago I got the chance to go to Africa on a mission trip. Yes, my parents were brave enough to let me go to Africa at 16! (Again, so thankful to have supportive parents!) From then until now (and probably forever) I hold Africa in a special place in my heart and I am always so eager to help those that want to go to Africa. I was so blessed to have people to help support me financially. If you would like to help support Aimee and her trip to Africa you can email me at awilliams@discoverlifepoint.com to get an address to send money or you can help by buying something that I knit. 100% of the money I get from the things I'm knitting right now go to Aimee's trip to Africa. You can comment on here about something your interested in or send me an email.

Here are a few pictures of things that I can knit:

Ear warmers $7 (I'm not sure why this picture is blurry but maybe you can see enough)

head bands $5

Bracelet/Cuffs $4

Thicker ear warmer $6

Example of an ear warmer on.

Another example from a different view.

2 Ear warmers, scarf ($15), and headband...just to show you different designs and colors.

The yarn I have now.

If you have a specific color in mind let me know.

One Year Ago

2012-01-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Where do I start... I've been excited about writing this post for some time now...we've made it a year away from Alabama. I don't guess I ever doubted that we wouldn't but all the same it feels like a huge accomplishment just to survive here so far away from our friends and family. January 9, 2011 my husband drove me, the girls and my mom to a hotel close to the Birmingham airport to spend the night. The next morning we got on a plane and flew to California to stay with my cousin for a few nights. Q and the rest of the crew didn't leave for a few more days but they eventually met up with us in California. On January 15th, we made it to Oregon.

I'm not even sure how to recap a year of living here. It's not always easy but it's not always been hard either. We've each had our own struggles to overcome but in the process we are learning to seek God's guidance. It's been really neat watching God place everyone in Jobs and in communities where they can minister to people. My husband got a job in June working with the homeless. We are also getting involved in different churches in the community. We aren't a part of starting a church plant yet but I feel (pray, hope, believe) that it's going to be soon. That process has been slow here and sometimes it can make us feel like failures. I have not once doubted whether we are suppose to be here. I honestly have a peace about it and with that peace I know that God has a plan. Our friends told us that it would take us a year just to get to know the culture here. So we now have a years worth of knowledge about this culture. We have lived this year just loving on people...loving on our neighbors.

Below is a picture of our Crash Team from Alabama.


from left to right: Luis, Q, Journey, Me, Deci, Derrick, Breanna, Holleigh, and Alec. Photo by: Alec Woodward

Not in the picture: Jeff, Richie, Sharee, and Zach.

These guys really are like family now. Most...well all of them but Richie and Sharee, have lived with us at one point. We are so blessed to have a team here. It would have been so much harder to live here without them. We meet every Monday night at our house for Bible Study. It's so encouraging to hear their stories each week of what God is doing in their lives.

Last night we had the team over to celebrate Breanna coming back!

I want to thank all of you back in Alabama. Our friends and family. People who support us financially and by praying. We are so Thankful for you!! Living here would be so much harder if we had family that didn't support us. It would be so much harder if we didn't have the extra financial support because I wouldn't get to stay at home with my girls or Q would be spending less time with us and have to work a second job. It would be hard if we didn't have people praying and sending us encouraging text, emails and phone calls just to say they are thinking of us. I can't say it enough but THANK YOU!! We miss all of you in Alabama! That is the biggest sacrifice for me...to be away from you all. But I know it is worth it. I'm living in the most un-churched area in the united states. I know God has called us here to love on people and show them His love.

What a week!

2012-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we took the girls to a local indoor pool.

This was were Deci took swimming lessons last Summer but this was the first time that Journey got to have fun. We did take her once last year but she was so young I had to hold her the whole time. She LOVED it this time!

On Sunday we spent the afternoon in Albany with our friends the McKinney's. They are our friends that helped us start our first Church plant in Albertville then moved to Oregon shortly after. We love having them close to us now. Journey is not one for missing a nap...even when we are away from home...

On Thursday I went to Portland to pick up Breanna from the airport!!! We are so glad to have her back, especially the girls! Journey didn't want to cooperate in this picture. She really wanted to check the mail.

Today was beautiful...well, it wasn't raining and the sun did come out for a little while, so we took the girls to the park.

Then we drove around and explored Oregon. One of my favorite things to do. We found this covered bridge.

I have 2 really important things that I'll be posting about soon! One, my friend Aimee has agreed to let me share with you her story about her upcoming trip to Africa. I'm selling some of the things that I'm knitting to help her raise support. The second thing I'll share about on Monday...a post about leaving Alabama. On January 9th, 2011 I left Alabama and headed to Oregon... Check back in soon for both of these post. :)

Weight Watchers: Crispy Peanut Butter Squares

2012-01-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

These are pretty much Rice Krispie Treats with peanut butter in them...I never knew how easy it is to make them.

Here is what you will need:

3 Tablespoons light butter

Cooking Spray (I forgot to put in the picture)

4 cups miniature marshmallows

1/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies

Step 2: Find a helper.

Measure out your ingredients.

Next, melt butter in a large saucepan coated with cooking spay over medium-low heat. Add marshmallows, stirring until melted.

Add peanut butter, and cook until melted. Remove from heat.

Immediately add rice cereal, and stir until cereal is coated. Press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

Cool completely. Cut out 18 squares. Then ENJOY!

Weight Watchers points: 2 points per square

Per square: Cal 98. Fat 2.7g. Pro. 2.2g. Carb 17.5. Fib 0.7g. Chol 3mg. Iron 0.7mg. Sod. 137 mg. Calc 3mg.

Top 10 Places to go in Oregon in 2012

2012-01-01T20:50:00.001-08:00

1. Crater Lake. I've heard so much about this place. A good friend said that he was more impressed with this place than the Grand canyon....I've never seen either but that's hard to believe. The complicated thing is that this place is hard to get to during the winter because of the snow.

2. Redwood National Forest. From what I understand most of the Redwood forest is in California but I think it overlaps into Oregon...right?? Regardless, I can't wait to see these massive trees!

3. Cannon Beach, Astoria and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I put these 3 together because I believe we can mark all 3 of these off in one trip. Cannon Beach has the famous Haystack Rock. Astoria is where they filmed The Goonies!!! We love that movie. Also, I just found out today that, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Short Circuit, and Come See the Paradise were all filmed in Astoria also. I want to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory because they make the most amazing cheese ever!

4. The Roloff Farm. Aka "The little people in a big world" farm. If you know me, you know that I LOVE going to see places that I've seen on TV. I'm quite the reality TV junkie. This wasn't one of my reality TV addictions but I did see it several times. We wanted to take the girls there in October to get a pumpkin but we never made it.

5. Snow Tubing at the Willamette Pass. Actually just Snow Tubing...but the Willamette pass, I believe, is the closest place to our house. I really want to take the girls. I think Deci would love this.

6. Bend, Or. I've only drove through Bend. Some of our friends spent some time in Bend and their pictures make me want to go back and actually get out of the car. I hate to admit it but we haven't even been hiking since we've been here. It's hard with kids. I think Deci would be able to hike an easy trail but we don't have a pack were we could carry Journey. I think Bend would be a perfect place to go hiking.

7. The Oregon Zoo. Portland, Or. We went to the museum right beside the Zoo but it was too cold for the Zoo that day. We have been trying to plan a trip back since. The hard thing we are figuring out about planning outdoor activities in Oregon is that you have to plan them in June-September because of the rain. I guess after we've been here a little while longer we won't let a little rain (and cold) slow us down...I hope anyways...

8. Mount Pisgah. Our neighbors said this is one of their favorite places to go to hike that's local.

9. Ride a bike through town, around town, and on the bike paths by the river. This may sound silly. I live in a town where EVERYONE rides their bike. There are two-lane bike paths going through town. I love riding bikes but for some reason here it intimidates me to ride. Q rode his bike to work a few times. I would love for us to be able to ride together but then we have kids...which doesn't slow anyone else down in the city. I've got to figure this out...It's just as simple as spending a couple of hundred dollars on a bike trailer....that's all... ;)

10. Watch a race at Hayward Field. When we were praying about moving to Oregon I remember seeing the Olympic track and field trails on TV. It was here at Hayward Field. I remember seeing the blue sky (it must have been summer.) and the big white puffy clouds float over the bleachers and that is when I decided I must watch a race there. The 2012 Olympic track and field trails are being held here and I would love to get a ticket...from what I hear they are hard to get. (and expensive) Maybe I'll be a stalker and just go walk around close by and see what I can see.

Well...that was a long post. Who's coming out to visit me in 2012?? Who wants to help me check off my to-do list?? :)

Oregon: These are a few of my favorite things, 2011.

2011-12-31T22:16:00.000-08:00

I've been dreaming up this post for quite some time now and I thought New Years Eve would be the perfect time to write about my favorite things about Oregon. So.... Here goes.

Top 10 Favorite Things:

1. The Oregon Coast! This by far is my most favorite thing about Oregon.

We've lived here for a year and I think we've been to the coast 6...or 7 times... hey, it's just an hour away so why not!

2. The Sand Dunes in Florence, Or. This is practically the coast also but it deserves it's own number because it's by far the most entertaining thing I've done this year.

This picture doesn't even do the dunes justice by the way. They were huge and our driver was CRAZY! I thought we were going to flip several times but he assured us that he has never flipped one.

3. Camping! We took the girls camping for the first time and they loved it. We went to Cottage Grove. Baker Bay... but Camping anywhere is FUN!

4. Learning to Knit. Ok, so I know this isn't a place but it's definitely something that I am SO thankful that I was taught how to do.

5. Multnomah Falls. Just because it's BEAUTIFUL (and I love waterfalls!).

6. Lowell, Or. This was our first hometown when we moved to Oregon. I still take people here when they come to visit. Lowell is on Dexter Lake and has a cover bridge. It's a small town of 1,000. You can drive up to the dam (a mile from our house at the time) and on a clear day see Diamond Peak.

7. Sweet Cheeks Winery. For mine and Q's anniversary we went here for wine tasting.

There are 2 or 3 other vineyards close to this one that I want to check out in 2012.

8. Saturday Market, Eugene, Or. This is only in the Summer and it's downtown Eugene. It's a place where locals can sell things that they make or grow.

9. PARKS! Lots and Lots of parks in Oregon. I've never in my life seen so many parks and so many playgrounds!

10. Oregon Country Fair. This was quite an experience. We were warned not to take the kids...and if we had to take the kids we should go as early as possible on Sunday. Luckily our friends Richie and Sharee got Q tickets for his birthday so we could go in early. We did see a few nudest but the girls didn't seem to notice.

Deci dancing with the Hippies! She fits in so well. :)

10 +...ok so one more.. Thrift Stores!!! I counted today and I could think of 12 thrift stores within 10ish miles from my house. Here is a picture of one of my favorites:

In the summer the huge blue garage door is open. This is the store where we got our Couch. Our house is full of thrift store things and I LOVE IT!

(By the way, if my husband had a say he would have added Sisters, Oregon)

Check back in tomorrow where I'll add a list of places we hope to visit 2012!

I need a break

2011-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

What? I need a break? Didn't I just come back from vacation?? YES I did and let me tell you that I need another break. The weather has been yucky the past few days...WHAT? It's December in Oregon and the weather is yucky! Ha! (Did you know that it rains from October until June here?) It's actually not been that bad here this winter so far but this past week it's been bad. Here's what we've been doing lately:

When it gets this cold and rainy I don't leave the house. Am I the only mom that HATES going grocery shopping? (unless you are alone and then it's only slightly less painful.) 1/2 the battle is getting both kids dressed and with shoes on then into the car....the other 1/2 is trying to keep the 1-year-old from screaming and the 4-year-old from going home with a stranger. Seriously, she disappears faster than any kid I know....and I'm a little paranoid...

So last night my lovely husband let me go to the local craft store for 30minutes to buy yarn. Then he cooked supper! Steak and Veggies! Yeah, I'll keep him. The thing you may not realize is that when we lived in Alabama it was so much easier to get a break. Once a week, at least, Q's mom would come over and get the girls and take them for a few hours. I could always call my mom to meet me at Wal-mart so she could help with Deci while I grocery shopped. I was SPOILED! Q and I could go on as many dates as we wanted because we had so many grandparents to keep the kids. It was so nice and we are so thankful for that time. Here in Oregon things are so different. I'm learning to appreciate the little things...and the little breaks...even if it's 30 minutes in a craft store.

I wanted to share this photo with you. We've played dress up this week. Deci was "Super Power Wand Girl"

She had me dressed in a Batman mask and cape and I was "Super Batman Girl". I know you're dying for a picture but it didn't happen. ;)

I love these girls!

I love them so much that I need a break! So thankful that my mom is coming up Jan 9th and staying for 3 WEEKS! Yes you heard that right 3 WEEKS! Q and I are already planning our date nights, over night getaways, thrift store shopping, ministry opportunities, and sleeping in...but Shhh! Don't tell her or she may not come.

Losing weight

2011-12-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

I'm obsessed with The Biggest Loser T.V. show...I'm currently wasting my time away re-watching all of the seasons on netflix now. I'm at the end of season 4 now. I love the finale....I love seeing the changes these people have made in their lives. I've always been a softy for makeover stories so I thought I would share with you a little about my weight loss story. When I got pregnant with Journey I think I weighed 145ish... I gained about 40ish pounds when I was pregnant so I ended up being around 185 or so... This picture was the day Journey was born, August 31, 2010:

(I've stolen all these pictures off of Kerrie's Face Book page) I Hate this picture of myself but it gives you a good idea of how big I was then. (and it's such a cute picture of Deci.)

These next few pictures are from our move out to Oregon. January 2011. We were in San Francisco, CA at the time. I believe I weighed 151. A week before we left I was still in maternity pants.

We started Weight Watchers a few months after this and I lost around 10 pounds after a few months. I stayed around 140-144 for a while and just a few months ago Q and I decided to start Weight Watchers back up. This morning I got on the scale and weighed the lowest I've weighed since we've been in Oregon. 135.6! I've lost 16 pounds since I've been in Oregon! Here's a recent picture...I don't have a full body shot but I believe you can tell from my face.

I'm pretty proud of myself. I know it's only 16(ish) pounds and I realize that most of the weight was because I had a baby but that baby is 16 months old now! It's extremely hard to lose weight. I'm extremely proud of Q also. Over the past few years he has lost somewhere around 70 or 80 pounds!

Now, If I could just get someone to give me a makeover! :)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas in Oregon. Our first Christmas away from home...or what has been home for me for the past 29 years. Yesterday was the first morning since I've been alive that I didn't spend at my grandparents house. It was hard being away from family but I really have enjoyed making new traditions with my girls. We started the day off opening presents:

We don't usually get them a lot. This year all Deci asked for was a Hula-hoop or a"hoopdeloop" as Deci calls it and a locket. She said she wanted one because of the movies Annie and Pippi Longstocking. I don't think she realizes that the reason they have a locket is because they are have lost one or both family members (Does Pippi Longstocking even have a locket?? I can't remember but Deci thinks she does.)

At 12 we had our Crash team over to eat lunch. Here's a picture of Deci, Derrick, and his friends Tonya and Maribel.

This poor girl got an eye sty.

If you like looking at gross stuff just Google: Eye Sty and look at pictures. I wanted to make sure it was an sty and not something else. I about lost my lunch.

Our neighbor (also photographer) JoAnna came by with her two sons. Her husband had to work. She grew up in Florida and doesn't have family in town either.

We played dirty Santa.

Below, our newest Crash member Zach and Luis. Zach moved up here from Alabama a few weeks ago.

Later in the afternoon, Q had to go into work for a few hours to help with giving gifts out to the guys there. Over all it was a very relaxing day. Q shared more about our feelings about being away from family at Christmas and you can check that out by clicking HERE.

Here are a few pictures our neighbor JoAnna took for our Christmas card. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Ornaments

2011-12-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

I wanted to add the finished products of the ornaments that Deci painted yesterday.

Homemade Ornaments

2011-12-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

About 2 weeks ago I decided to let Deci make all her grandparents homemade ornaments. I remember making paper mache balls with balloons when I was younger and thought I could Google how to make an ornament and it would be easy and fun...well fun, yes but not as easy as I imagined. I thought this would be something I could let Deci do all on her own but it ended up that I did all the hard work. To make Paper Mache Ornament Balls you will need:

-Newspaper

-Small Balloons

-Glue or white flour

-Vaseline

(Optional- Paint and yarn)
First start by blowing up the balloon the size you want your ornament. Then coat the balloon with Vaseline.

Next cut newspaper into strips about an inch thick and about 3 inches long.

Mix either: 3 part water, 1 part flour

or 2 parts white glue to one part warm water.

The flower/water mixture didn't work well for me. After 2 days the newspaper was still wet and soft.

Dip the newspaper strips into the mixture and remove excess liquid with fingers. Place strips onto the balloon. Make about 6 layers. Set aside to dry for at least 24 hours. Ours took almost 48 hours to completely dry. This part by the way was the hard part. I let Deci do the first one, but she has 4 sets of grandparents (not counting great grandparents) so I ended up making the rest.

After they are dry, paint away if you wish. This was the fun part for Deci.

Let the paint dry and then cover with a layer or 2 of Mod Podge. (This is optional) It goes on creamy but drys clear.

After this drys, pop the balloon and pull it out. Then figure out a way to hang them on the tree. This was another hard part. Ideally it would be good to use what most ornaments are hung on the tree with as pictured below:

I had a few extra laying around from broken ornaments. For the other ones I used thick yarn. I just looped it and tied a really thick knot at the bottom. Then pushed the knot in the hole at the top where the balloon was sticking out.

I think they turned out really cute but like I said, they took me a while to complete...it's just lots of steps on waiting for it to dry. I mailed these out yesterday so grandparents, don't put up your Christmas ornaments just yet. You will have a late Christmas gift that should be at your house by December 29th. :)

If you are looking for an easier homemade ornament to do with your kids check out my friend Bryan's blog HERE and follow these instructions from his guest blogger. We started making these ornaments this morning.

Mix flour, salt and water. (I didn't have the alum the recipe calls for)

Roll dough out and use cookie cutters to make shapes. Use drinking straw to poke holes in the top for string. Then bake in the oven for 2 hours at 250.

These were so easy to make and Deci had so much fun. She even said, "This was a good idea mom!" She loved playing in the left over dough after. These take 2 hours in the oven though so ours are still baking away. I'll post pictures soon after we paint them. (oh and leave more room on your baking pan than we did. They swell in the oven and ours are starting to stick together.) I only wish I would have found this recipe earlier...I guess I can save them to mail next year. :)

A must watch Christmas video

2011-12-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Me and the girls have watched this video 3 times this morning and I can't get enough of it! My favorite video of the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas!

Seattle: Day 4

2011-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

Our last day in Washington we went to see the Fremont Troll and ended up passing this statue on the way.

This is the statue "Waiting for the Interurban" which was created in 1979. People often dress the statues. Click the link above to see more pictures of them dressed up. I wish we would have realized we would be passing this and brought something to help decorate them.

We walked up the street to the Fremont Troll, located under the Fremont Bridge.

Kerrie took a group shot of all of us here maybe she will post it in a few days.

After the Troll we stopped to eat lunch then took Wade, Kerrie, and Rick (Hilde stayed to spend time with her family) to the airport on our way back to Oregon. It's always hard to say goodbye. I think Q drove most of the way home silent. I immediately start thinking of better ways we can impact Oregon. If we are going to live 2,518 miles away from our friends and family then I don't want to just "live" here. Luckily we cut 2 hours off our trip back and it only took us 5 hours to get home so we didn't have long to reflect on leaving our family to fly back to Alabama without us. We are so thankful that they got to come up to visit us! (and help make it possible that we could even afford a trip to Seattle) To see some pictures and 2 funny videos from the first part of last week click Here. I'll leave you with this sweet picture of Aunt Kerrie watching Cartoons with Journey and Deci.

Seattle: Day 3

2011-12-20T13:53:00.001-08:00

Q and the girls figured out that the Seagulls loved to be fed pancakes... $15 dollar pancakes from room service... I guess if we weren't going to finish them we shouldn't let them go to waste.

I don't have a lot of pictures from this day. My camera battery can only be charged in the car and since we didn't get in the car the whole trip after we arrived (until we were leaving) I didn't get to charge the battery. We started the day by walking to the Pacific Science Center. The girls loved getting to run around there. Next we walked to lunch where we met our friends The Buckley's who are originally from Washington but moved to Alabama a few years ago then moved back to Washington where they live now. They have 2 older sons and recently adopted a 9 year old little boy named Luke who we got to meet for the first time. We all went to the Space Needle which was my favorite part of the trip...minus my fussy one year old at the top plus a sometimes claustrophobic mom (Me!). I love going to places that I've seen in Movies all my life. I told Q that we must watch Sleepless in Seattle soon.

I'm pretty sure this is the best family picture we have from our trip...My camera was dying at this time and Deci was refusing to be in pictures. She was trying to grab her jacket to hold over her head. I think Kerrie took another picture after my camera died so maybe it turned out better than this one.
The picture below (from right to left) is Q with Hilde's daughter Michelle, holding Journey and then Jan and Steve Buckley. It was so nice getting to see them again.

After we left the Space Needle Kerrie and I walked back to our hotel with the girls so they could rest while Q and the rest of the crew went to the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum. We all met up again at the hotel and walked down town to eat at restaurant called Local 360 which had the most random menu of Rabbit, pig ears, and other random but yummy food. I'm not big on trying different things but Q loved it. :) My steak was wonderful! Once again we left the restaurant early because of sleepy kids. I'm impressed at how well our kids (and me. ha!) did on this trip with all the walking and eating out, but by the end of the day they were tired and getting fussy.

A confession. A not so perfect stay-at-home mom.

2011-12-20T13:02:00.001-08:00

When I decided to start this blog up again I had a discussion with Q about how one problem I had with blogging is that sometimes when you blog your life can seem almost perfect or make believe. We only write about this good things and post pictures of smiles. Sometimes you never see the kids screaming or the parents fighting. You can read another blog and wish your life was like that when in all reality their life may not be so "perfect". I've noticed this can also happen on Facebook. I understand the opposite of this is the annoying people on Facebook that complain about anything and everything. I often have the habit of being negative and I hate it. When I was talking to Q about this he said that I should write about the good and the bad...be transparent.

So, I'm going to try to be transparent without being negative or complaining...I just want people to know that we are not a "perfect" family...whatever that may mean. I let my kids wear their PJ's all day long...not because I'm a cool mom but because sometimes it's easier then trying to find something for them to wear. I get really excited that my 1-year-old now takes a 3 hour nap because I know that it means I can let my 4-year-old watch TV while I shower, knit, read, and blog when really I should be folding clothes or washing the dishes that are overflowing in the sink. I was just thinking this morning that life was so good and in a minute all that changed as me and the kids were covered in paint and I wanted to SCREAM! Ok, maybe I did scream... Life is still good because God is good. I'm learning everyday that I can't live this life without Him.

I wanted to share a text I sent my husband this morning:

"Started the morning singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas movies, playing Barbies...all was perfect in the Williams house. Then disaster hit. Tried to paint ornaments. Paint everywhere! Both girls screaming at the moment with snotty faces. Journey eating a marker while crying. Deci not wanting to clean up...funny how a day can change so fast! On top of all that I think I just burnt the soup that I was cooking on the stove for lunch. Oh the joys of being a stay at home mom. :)"

Seattle: Day 2

2011-12-19T14:08:00.001-08:00

We woke up on day 2 and went to Pike Place Public Market.

Sea creatures everywhere!

Deci tried Strawberry Bubble Tea. It had tapioca pearls at the bottom. I wasn't a huge fan but Deci loved the strawberry taste.

We walked to the original Starbucks and got coffee then headed to Beecher's for the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had!

Next stop: The GUM Wall! Deci had to add her gum to the collection.

In the afternoon Q's dad and Hilde offered to keep the girls so Q and I (along with Wade and Kerrie) could go explore the town. We stopped at the Pioneer Square where we ate at the oldest restaurant in Seattle: The Merchants Cafe and Saloon.

We walked A LOT... I think at the end of the day Q said it was 10 miles.

We ended the night at The Lava Lounge where Hilde's sister works. We also met up with Hilde's youngest daughter Michelle there then headed back to the Hotel to get the girls in bed. It was so nice to have a few hours with Q, Wade and Kerrie to explore!

Seattle: Day 1

2011-12-18T21:39:00.000-08:00

Quinton's Brother Wade and his wife Kerrie flew into Oregon on Monday night and spent a few nights with us then we drove up to Seattle, WA to meet their dad and his wife Hilde for a little Christmas vacation. Q and I had never been to Washington before so this was an extra special trip for us. I have a silly dream of visiting all the states before I die. One more State checked off the list! I have quite a lot to go. We got into Seattle. Q drove and I hung my head out the window to take pictures. We got to our hotel, Edgewater, which was AMAZING! We were right on the water and within walking distance of everything downtown. The girls loved the room. Deci found this bear in the room that she loved along with a bear stool (that by the way was really cool) that cost $425! YIKES!

This was our view from our room!

After we got settled in we walked to Ivars to eat. The girls were a little fussy. It was getting close to their bedtime by the end of the meal plus they had been in a car for 7 hours that day so we headed back to the hotel early. I've decided to blog day by day about this trip because it was so much fun, so many pictures, and It may be a while before we take another trip like this. So check back in for Days 2, 3, and 4 of our Seattle trip!

Christmas Goodies!

2011-12-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year we mailed home goodies that Deci made. Breanna found the recipe above on Pinterest. Stick pretzels with a Hersey kiss on top in the over for 3 to 5 minutes on 225/250. When they are soft take them out of the over and press one M and M in the middle of each.

We also made Peanut Butter Munches that we got out of the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

These were very easy to make. 3 ingredients:
1 Cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together.

Roll into a ball with hands.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes on 350. Press with a fork while still soft. Makes 30 cookies.

Santa Fe Soup Recipe

2011-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

My mom gave me this recipe years ago and it is my all time favorite soup! Here is the Recipe:
- 2 pounds hamburger meat
-1 Large Onion (Diced)
-2 envelopes of ranch dressing mix
-2 envelopes of taco seasoning mix
-2 cans (11oz) of white shoepeg corn, drained
-2 cups of water
-1 can black bean
-1 can pinto beans
-1 can red beans or chili hot beans
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can Rotel (or a can of diced tomatoes with chilies)
Optional:
-Sour Cream
-Chedder Cheese
-Green onions
-Cornbread
-Tortilla chips

-Cook the hamburger mean and diced onion in a skillet on the stove top until the meat is brown and onions tender. (Drain if excess grease)

-If you are cooking in a crock pot (which I always do) Then add all the ingredients (except the optional ingredients) into the crock pot and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or low 8 to 10 hours.

-If cooking on stove top: Add remaining ingredients (except the optional ingredients) to the meat and onions. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 2 hours.

-Top individual servings with with grated cheese, sour cream and chopped green onion.
Serve with Tortilla chips or cornbread. (Makes 3 Quarts) ENJOY!

How Do you pick out a perfect Christmas tree?

2011-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

You pick a perfect Christmas tree by letting your 4-year-old pick it out, because if you leave it up to your husband you will bring home a tree that looks like the one pictured above. Seriously, this is the tree Q wanted to take home.
Quinton has met a new friend named Ethan and this is his family's Christmas tree farm. They are in the process of trying to sell the farm but this year they were selling the tree's to help a group to go Uganda Africa to work with the invisible children ministry.

The only problem with letting a 4-year-old pick out a tree is that it may take FOREVER! I think we walked around for 30 minutes before she (with a lot of help from me) found the perfect tree.

Q cut down the tree. I love this because I remember as a child going to the Christmas tree farm in Alabama with my family and I loved it. I hope this can be a new family tradition for us also.

Q tied the tree on top of the Jeep...which I say it's the wrong way because the wind will blow all the branches the wrong way...Q says it's more aerodynamic... I'm not sure who is right but the tree made it home in one piece.

Deci loved getting to decorate the tree...and Journey is loving pulling off all the ornaments. I have a feeling before Christmas the bottom of the tree may be bare...

A Year Update. Part 2

2011-12-06T20:06:00.001-08:00

June: We started off June with another visit from Q's dad, Rick and his wife Hilde. She is originally from Washington so it works out that they get to come out for a visit more often than most. It just so happens that we found a house about 5 minutes outside Eugene so we moved while they were here. Convenient huh? We loved having the extra help moving! Pictured above is Deci playing on our sidewalk! We've always lived in the country so Deci has never had sidewalk to draw on and she is loving it!

Also in June, Q's best friend from High school, Jason and his wife Brittany came out for Q's birthday. We loved having these guys here. If you can't tell we LOVE having visitors! It makes us less homesick.

July: We took the girls camping for their first time and they loved it, especially Deci. She is such a tomboy for the most part...

Towards the end of July we flew home to sweet home Alabama! One of my best friends from high school was getting married and asked me to be in her wedding. I was so excited and jumped at the opportunity to get to fly home. Q got a new Job at the Eugene Mission this month so he could only stay for one week, but the girls and I stayed two weeks. There were so many pictures I wanted to post for our trip home. We crammed in so much in those two weeks. Deci loved getting to hold her chicken Sarah.

We also played in the water a lot!

It was such a fun trip back for so many reason. We got to see family. We got to celebrate with our friend getting married and saw our high school friends. We had grandparents to babysit so we got to go out on dates with friends to Huntsville and stay up way too late. We visited our home church, Lifepoint and saw our friends who's support and prayers for us are unbelievable. Life would be so much harder here without their support.

August: We flew back home to Oregon August 2nd and Breanna flew back with me and the girls to stay with us! We are so blessed to have her with us. She came out to be a part of our Crash team here but she also is the best babysitter in the world and we are so thankful that she is here to help us. The girls love her so much. Journey calls her "Nana." :)

Journey's had her first birthday August 31st. Here is a picture when she was about a week old. Look at all that DARK hair!! I thought she was going to be the child who would look like me but over the year it has lightened up so much. She is so much fun! Who knew having two kids could be this fun? She is so spunky and dances with her shoulders, which I love. She takes life slow. She LOVES her sister. I can't believe it's been a year!

Q's Mom and her husband Alan got to come out a week for Journey's birthday. We loved having them here to celebrate with us and also for the great Southern food she cooked for us all week! One night she cooked enough for a Thanksgiving meal and we invited the Crash team and our neighbors over.

September: Q's Dad and Hilde got to come back for another visit! Yes again and we LOVE it! (Have I said that we LOVE having visitors!!) They took us to Florence to ride the dune buggies on the sand dunes. This was SO much fun!

We went camping again. This time it was a little bit colder, but most of our Crash team got to come out. We celebrated Derrick's birthday.

October: Deci turned 4 this month! I honestly can't believe I have a 4-year-old. This girl keeps me going...honestly she never slows down. I love her so much and she has taught me so much about being a mom. She is little miss independent. She is so much like her dad it's not even funny. God has truly blessed us with her!

Halloween!

November: I think November passed without me realizing it...I'm not sure much happened in this month. I guess we rested most of this month. Of course we spent many Saturday's watching football.

We had a few pretty days and we took a walk to the park.

And we spent Thanksgiving with some friends here. My wonderful husband made the chicken and dressing which neither one of us realized how much his mom did to make....seriously, homemade biscuits, corn bread, toast and all sorts of goodness.... we are slowly learning to appreciate how much our family (mostly moms) did to make the holidays happen!

Whew, that was long...That pretty much gets you caught up to December.

A Year Update. Part 1

2011-12-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

Last December we lived in Alabama still. We spent most of the month spending time with friends and family but for one week we got the opportunity to fly out to Oregon. This was my first time to visit Oregon. Q got to go a few times the months before this to check it out before the big move. In November Q got to meet a man named Jim who was in the process of planting a church in Springfield, OR. He is the one who invited us out to Oregon in December to stay at his home with him and his wife. Jim has a blog you can read about here. We also met a couple, Richie and Sharee Powell, who are some of the best friends we've made here that we still see at least once a week now. While we were in Oregon we also got the chance to visit our friends the McKinney's (Pictured above) in Albany Oregon. Neal and April lived in Alabama and helped start our Church in Albertville called Lifepoint. but moved to Oregon (3 or 4 years ago) to plant a church in Albany called The Shift.

January: We made the big move to Oregon in January. We have a team that moved out here with us. I'll post later more about them. Q and a large group drove the cars and a Pinske truck across the country while me, the girls and my mom got on an airplane. We all met up in Napa Valley, CA where my cousin Claire and her husband live. Their house is easily the coolest (for lack of a better word) house I've ever been in. The picture below was taken from their house.

Below is the group of people that helped make our move possible.

The house below is the house we moved into. Jim and his wife, Karla rented this house to us the first 5 months we lived in Oregon. I loved this house and so did Deci. She still talks about this house. This house was in a small town of 1000 people called Lowell. Lowell is what I picture when I think of Oregon. Our house was right beside the lake and we could see snow covered mountains 1 mile from our house. The only problem was that this house was about 25 or 30 minutes away from Eugene.

Dexter Lake, Lowell Oregon

Sometime either late January or early February, Q got a Job at a place called Jasper Mountain working with kids. Holleigh, who moved out with us and lived with us the first few months, worked at Jasper Mountain also. For the first month we also had 3 guys living with us in our den and storage room. It was a crazy month but looking back now it really was fun. I think it helped us grow together. Nothing like living in a house with 8 people with only one shower! (the upstairs bathroom just had a bathtub.)

February: a lot happened in this month. Journey started eating baby food for the first time. We got snow for the first time at our house and my brother AKA "Uncle Kyle" came to visit for a few weeks. The picture below cracks me up every time I look at it. We decided to drive up to the ski resort place to let Deci play in the snow. When we were almost there we started sliding all over the road. I got scared and decided we needed to turn around. We didn't have chains for the tires. We thought we could pull over and let the girls play in the snow but it was so cold all Deci could do was cry. Needless to say we got back in the car and drove home.

We also celebrated Holleigh's birthday this month by going out to eat at Papa's soul food kitchen to get some Southern food! Then had some friends over from Q and Holleigh's work and cooked them Southern food. (We must have really been missing Southern food at this point.)

March: Deci learned how to write her name. I started making my own baby food...which was actually a lot of fun. I started a new hobby: Knitting...but even after almost a year later I still don't know how to do anything that's not a square or rectangle. Quinton's Dad, his wife Hilde and her daughter Michelle came for a visit and we spent some time in Portland. Below are pictures from Multnomah, Falls.

April: We had to take Deci to the doctor for a weird smell in her nose. :/ Turns out she shoved paper in her nose and didn't tell us. After a few days it started to rot. The doctor pulled it out and the smell went away. Deci confessed after that she was putting a paper map in her nose. Also in April my dad and his wife, Debbie came to visit.

We spent our first major holiday away from Alabama in April, Easter. We went to a church service with some of the homeless in Eugene. Went to the church "The Branch" and spent the afternoon with our Crash Team at Richie and Sharee's house.

May: This was the busiest month so far. My birthday is in May so my mom, my brother and his girlfriend came out to visit. Me and Q were excited to have a babysitter to go out for my birthday. We also took them to the coast.

Also in May, Q's brother Wade and his wife Kerrie came to visit. We also took them to the coast. We have spent the first year here taking all of our guest to the coast because it's so beautiful. If it's not freezing and raining I could spend all day there...but most of the time it's cold and rainy... It's so different from the gulf coast. You can't lay out or swim at the beaches here. (which I miss a lot) Next year I guess we'll take all our guest to the Mountains.

Below is Breanna and the girls. We had a picnic. She also came out with Wade and Kerrie to decide if she wanted to move out to live with us. Find out later if she did. :)

I'll post again soon June-December 2011.

We're back!!!!!

2011-12-02T20:47:00.003-08:00

I am sooooo excited to say that I'm back!!! My husband recently started a blog ( qcrashing.blogspot.com ) and has been on me about starting this one back up. One of the reason's I stopped is because I got pregnant, tired, sick, had a newborn and haven't stopped yet. Wow, things have changed a lot and I actually have a little time to spare to blog. Honestly I wish now that I never would have stopped. I looked back over my blog today and LOVED that I documented some of that stuff because I forgot about some of it. A lot has changed since I've blogged last....2 years of change... one thing my husband has short hair!! Yipee! He cut it to give to locks of love but if I'm not mistaken it's still in a zip lock bag tucked in a box somewhere in this house. Also we have another family member. Journey Claire Williams. I can not even begin to explain how blessed I am to have to healthy beautiful girls. Journey turned one on Aug 31st. Also we no longer live in Alabama. We moved to Oregon. That's another reason I felt it was important to start this blog back up. It will be easy for family and friends to keep up with us on here. I know I'm not going to be able to catch all of you up on the last 2 years but I'll try and do a catch-up post soon. Here is my neighbor's blog. Her latest two blogs are about us. www.crazyjojames.blogspot.com Also it has a few pictures from our photo shoot with her. We are blessed to have neighbors like them.

Snow!

2010-02-16T14:46:00.005-08:00

Ok, so I couldn't decide if we were cool parents or horrible parents... We let our sick child play in the snow! :( Deci begged all day to play in the snow. She ONLY has a cold... So after nap we went out but this first picture was the last picture of the day because you can see by her face that she wasn't feeling good so we went inside.

I know, I know, so we are probably horrible parents but how often do we get snow in Al...wait don't answer that. This winter we have got a lot of snow and I am sick of it! Yes, I said it sick! I'm ready for spring! :)

We used her sandbox lid as a sled!

Snow ball fight! She was coming after me!

Pops and Hilde came out to play with us.

I'm Pregnant!

2010-02-16T14:29:00.004-08:00

Yes, I'm pregnant. I guess a better title of this blog would be "Where have I been?" I haven't posted a blog in a while. I do realize this and I'm sorry for all 10 of you who read my blog. :) I'm sure most of you know by now that I'm pregnant. I'm 11 weeks now and finally feeling a little better. I found out early on at 4 1/2 weeks. We have been trying since last February which seems like it took forever but I know some of you that have been trying for years and so months really isn't that long. I started getting really sick at 6 weeks. I don't remember being like this when I was pregnant with Deci but Q and my Dad both say that they remember that I was....I argue that at least it wasn't as bad as this is! :) The heart rate was 148 and Deci's was 167 so If the old Wise Tale is right then we maybe having a boy. I will be happy with either. It would be fun to have another girl to pass everything down to and to have them grow up together but I also know I would like a boy.

I know all that doesn't really explain where I've been for the past month except for the fact that pregnancy sickness/exhaustion has made me not want to leave the house. Have I told you blogging world that I don't own a computer! I know, it's crazy that I blog and have Facebook and don't have a computer. I don't really mind except when I want to upload pictures I have to go next door to my father-in-laws house. Q brings his work computer home some too. With this Winter weather I really haven't wanted to leave the house...so there it is...for the past month I have locked myself inside. I am past ready for Warmer weather!!!! :)

Atlanta, Ga

2010-02-16T14:05:00.004-08:00

A few weeks ago Me, Q, Kerrie and Wade went to Atlanta, Ga to spend the weekend. It was a much needed getaway for me. I didn't take a lot of pictures but here are a few from the Museum we went to.

I love Q's face in this one! "And they call this art?!" :)

This trip was so much fun but I was around 7 weeks pregnant here and very sick. :(

What to do with a toddler on a cold or Rainy day?

2010-01-13T13:40:00.011-08:00

Last week was the longest week of my life. I was stuck inside with this sick child of mine. She had a cold, a really bad cold. She had a fever and for the first few days all she wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch T.V. After that we got VERY bored and I struggled to find things to do inside.

We did manage to get out one day because I promised my child (the day before) that we would play in the snow.... well, as you can see in the next picture we didn't get much snow. We walked out to Pop's and Hilde's house and 1/2 way across the yard Deci started yelling for me to pick her up because it was soooo cold. We were very bundled up but my face was freezing! It was below freezing here in Alabama for over a week. I was miserable.

This picture is sideways but I got out a baking Sheet and let Deci play with her letters on it instead of the fridge.

One day we made a craft. It's a snowflake!

This is her sticking the blue paper onto contact paper. She used her new scissors the Gram, my mom (Dee as Deci calls her) got her for Christmas. A few days later we made a Sun hoping the sun would come out. :)

Dress up and a fort! Can you see the fort in the background over the table?

I let her make a mess and I didn't care!

I discovered Nutella this week. Which I can't look at without getting nauseous now!

We both Painted! (Which makes a big mess) She was still very snotty at this point and had paint all over her face from wiping snot. :/

She was so proud of her picture.

That's all I took pictures of but we also pumped up her baby pool from a few years ago and let her play in it. She pretends it's her home and gets ALL 10 of her babies and puts them into her pool and reads them books.

Also we played with the classic play-dough.

Not this week but in the past I have got dried noodles and let her play with them in a bowl with a spoon like she is cooking. She started throwing these all over the floor though and I kept sweeping them up and throwing them away until they were all gone.

Please share with me ways I can keep sane these next few winter months with a Toddler! :)

Post Christmas Party.

2010-01-13T13:23:00.006-08:00

A few days after Christmas we had a post Christmas Party with our LifePoint College and Singles. We went to Arab to Holleigh's house then to the Arab park to see the lights. Deci loves these girls and she thinks she is their age. Notice Brittany is teaching Deci the "Peace" sign. :)

We played Dirty Santa with gifts under $5. These were the gifts. I'm wearing the dress Q got.

Things my Mom made.

2010-01-05T14:19:00.005-08:00

My Mom always made clothes for us growing up and she was so artistic. I'm still trying to figure why neither me or my brothers are artistic. Every year for Christmas we exchange gifts at my Mom and her husbands house that we either make ourselves or something used from our house. In other words we don't spend a lot of money and I love it! Here are some things she had made me and Deci over the past few years.

This is an Oven Mitt/pot holder...what are they called? :) Oh well...you see it right?

Our Christmas Slippers from this year! :)

Curtain in Deci's room.

This is what she made Deci last year for Christmas. This is called The Claw. At that time Deci loved to chase people around with her finger curled like a claw. :)

This was for Deci's first birthday. Also with this she got her a mat to go under her high chair. We have carpet where her high chair was so it helped with clean up. She painted it with dots. It's really cute but I didn't get a picture of it.

My Mom made the bag and my cousin put the initial on it. My Mom's husband made the blocks for Deci last year for Christmas.

Stockings! This is my favorite! I love them.

I know I'm forgetting things. When Deci was younger she made her a few dresses. Also she sowed a "D" on a shirt for Deci's 2nd birthday.

Christmas Week!

2010-01-05T13:44:00.007-08:00

I did it once again...I posted pictures backwards. I was so excited that I was finally getting to post something that I forgot.

The day after Christmas we went to my moms.

This next one is my favorite of the week. My mom made us all hats, gloves, and Slippers. :)

Making French Toast with Paw-Paw Bo.

Playing Peek-a-boo with Uncle Kyle...she made Kyle get in the box with her I just didn't have my camera ready.

Uncle Lee got Deci a Barbie Doll

We got my dad a deer feeder for his back yard. It's like a small water tower.

It took all of them to put it together.

Santa Brought Deci Chapstick! She loves it!

Making ornaments with Maw Maw and Paw Paw Crow and Kerrie.

Uncle Wade and Aunt Kerrie! They got her Skates!

Hilde and Pops.

Deci skating...My lovely Husband took the picture. He took 5 pictures trying to get a skating shot and her skates were cut off in ALL of them! This was the best. :)

Debbie, Deci and Jenn

Uncle Lee and Deci

It's begining to feel a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-16T12:08:00.006-08:00

Here are some pictures when we went to the Christmas parade with the Stewart's.

Deci and AnaRuth.

I Love Snow. If it's going to be cold I would like it to snow!

Making a Snowman

This is the picture I promised from my last post. This is Jessica, Deci and Holleigh in their brown boots. They danced around the living room to Christmas music. I don't know where my child got her love of dancing from but it sure wasn't me! I love it though! If we could all be as free as kids to do stupid stuff and not to care who is watching... like dancing in our pull-up and boots!

Oh, How He loves us so!

2009-12-13T19:53:00.009-08:00

It snowed last week. Our first snow here in Alabama for the Winter and maybe our only snow. I think last Winter we got 2 snows. The snow is usually gone in hours. We built a snow man this year. This picture was taken the next day.

Deci was so proud of her snow man. I have better pictures on my camera. This is just from my cell phone. This morning we walked outside to leave for church (which was sooo good by the way) and Deci said, "Where's my snowman?" Did I mention that was a week ago.

Speaking of Church have I told you that my child thinks that Q lives at the Church. We pulled up at Church this morning and Deci screamed "Dada's House!"

So after Church is fun time with Holleigh and Jessica. I love Sundays so much (I use to hate them...if I can be honest) for so many reasons and now even more because I know after church I get to hang out with these two girls. This picture is a little blurry...ok, it hurts my eye's...it's a lot blurry but I like it.

This picture was from last Sunday when we spent the afternoon at my house and then went to Marvin's. Today we went to the Dairy Queen play ground and got ice cream then we went to hang out with my sister-in-law Kerrie. Oh, I almost forgot. First at my house Deci woke up and saw Jessica and Holleigh here so she turned on our musical Christmas lights and made them dance around the living room with her. They both had on brown boots so Deci went to get her brown boots. I took some pictures I'll post soon. All 3 girls in their brown boots.

Can I just tell you that I'm loving life right now. I'm just waiting for something to come out of left field and smack! Maybe I'll take a step back and see whats going on... My bible study last week was about how this world is not our home. I don't want to get so comfortable here that I forget that. I also know that we can enjoy this life that God has given us. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 I also was reminded this morning that “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." Matthew 7:13-14 I know this life is can be difficult especially if we are on the narrow road but I know God wants us to enjoy following after Him. He is my everything and I know I am nothing without Him.

Ok...I love blogging. I know I'm random a lot...I know I post a lot of pictures...I know I have bad grammar....I just love blogging. I love reading other blogs too so if you follow any good one's let me know about them.

Next: My new favorite song that I can't stop singing!
"How He Loves" By: David Crowder

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane,
I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us, How He loves us all Yeah,
He loves us, Oh! how He loves us,
Oh!how He loves us, Oh! how He loves.
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way…

Going to Maw Maw's...

2009-12-12T07:37:00.004-08:00

We had Date night last night and went with some friends to Huntsville. Quinton's mom (Maw Maw) offered to let Deci spend the night with her. Deci was so excited she couldn't sleep. I'm serious. The one thing that came to my mind was when I was younger and couldn't sleep the night before Santa Clause came. It was this same anticipation. Before nap I asked her if she wanted to go stay with Maw Maw and Paw Paw that night. She was so excited. Well, I told her that she needed to take a good nap and when she woke up that Maw Maw would be here to get here. I realize this was my first mistake. I laid her down at 1:00, which is a little later than usual. We did the whole nap-time routine. Read 2 books and then I laid beside her for "2-minutes" as she says but it's more like 30 seconds or 1 minute. I gave her a kiss and left her awake. Usually she reads to her babies then falls asleep after a few minutes. Yesterday at 1:30 I went back in there because she was screaming. She had ripped pages out of one of my favorite books!! Oh, I was so mad because we just went over not ripping pages out of her books that morning! I got on to her, took the books away and left. I reminded her that she needed to take a good nap so she could go see Maw Maw. She said, "Otay". 2:00 She is up playing in her room.... I go back in lay her down leave. 2:30 I go back in her room and realize she doesn't even look sleepy. How can this be? I ask her if she wants me to lay down with her. Another mistake, I know. She says, "otay". I say "Ok, then if I lay down with you, you have to be still." Deci: "Otay". Me: "You have to stay quite." Deci: "Otay." Me: "You need to take a nap". Deci: "Otay." silence....... Deci: "Where's Dada??" ahhhhhhhh!!!

I try again, I hold her still. I "pet" her face. I trace my fingers over her eyes to try to get her to fall asleep. She says "Pet me!" Then she starts giggling and "pets" my face. Ah, this isn't working. I warn her that I will leave if she doesn't be still and try to sleep. She starts arching her back, rolling around, talking... that's it! I leave her once more to scream. 3:00 I realize she isn't going to take a nap, for the first time in her 2-years she isn't going to take a nap. I open her door and let her come out of her room. 3:15 Maw Maw calls and saves the day and says that she's coming to get Deci early, if that will be ok. YES! I tell Deci and she jumps up and grabs her new strawberry shortcake suitcase and starts throwing stuffed animals in there. I help her pack and she rolls her suitcase to the door and waits for 15 minutes at the door for Maw Maw. When Maw Maw got there she rolled her suitcase out on the porch. First she gave me hugs and kisses. Closed the door herself. She didn't want me to follow. Lovely, it's starting already. She rolled her suitcase to the car, with no help. Maw Maw tried once when Deci hit some rocks but she shoved Maw Maws hand away. They got in the car and drove off. I'm still not sure if she got a nap or not. I left for my Date Night fun a few hours later relaxed knowing that my child was happy. She loves her Maw Maw. That makes date night easier! As much as I need breaks from her sometimes, I realize she needs breaks from me just as much! :)

PIctures of the week!

2009-12-02T17:43:00.004-08:00

Me and Deci went to my mom's today to make Christmas Cookies!

We are trying to stay busy this week keeping our minds off the fact that Q is out of town for the week. :( Earlier this week we went to stay with my dad in Springville. He took us to see Santa but Deci wouldn't sit on his lap to get a picture. Then we went to buildabear workshop. Deci picked a cat to build, of course. She named it "Kitty Cat". We can't wait for Q to get home! We miss him. Today I asked Deci where she wanted to go. She said "To see Dada." I told her he was in Mexico and she said, "Yeah, to see Dada." I wish it was that easy.

Me and Hilde took Deci on her first Hike at the Guntersville State Park.

These next few are a preview to our Christmas cards. Me and my mom took Deci out to try to get a good shot for our Christmas card. I think I have a few picked out. I'll post them on here when I send out the cards.

Deci fell asleep the other day during her nap reading "Where the Wild Things Are." :)

Living a GREAT life...

2009-11-29T11:23:00.008-08:00

"Every life is a story. Whether it is a story worth telling and talking about, though, is up to you. People set out with grand dreams of changing the world, falling in love, doing something amazing. But the drift toward the merely acceptable happens almost without notice. That does not have to be our story." -Donald Miller A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I am at the end of reading this book, A Million Miles In a Thousand Years By: Donald Miller. I love it. It has reminded me of so much of my life and the times in my life where I think, "This is the best day of my life." Do you ever do that? Do you ever have one of those days you don't ever want to forget. One of those days that you are doing the exact thing that you want to do. Most of mine happen outside. I think I'm a little weird about this. I try to explain it to people some times but I'm not sure they quite get what I'm saying but I live for these moments of thinking "this is the best day". I will tell you a few....

One of my younger ones was when my parents dug a pond in our back yard. I remember me, my mom, dad, and both brothers were outside and our parents let us wade out deep in knee high mud. I remember a year or so later going swimming in that pond. I would jump in and the catfish would nibble at my toes. I remember pretending the creek that ran into the pond was a slip-in-slide and sliding in the mud. We found a crawlfish that day...

I remember the first time I slept outside in our fort me and my brothers made. My older brother and cousin slept in their fort and I slept in a tent with my cats. I caught my hair on fire that night...

I remember being on a house boat with friends jumping off the top and being pulled on an inner-tube with all 5 (or 6) of us girls on that intertube at the same time....I remember thinking that was a good day....

I remember spending the day in Mentone with Q before we were dating thinking that I didn't want the day to end. I remember we found a Frisbee on top of a shed and Q held me up to get it. I remember taking a hike though the woods and laying beside Q leaning against a rock talking about life....

I remember playing ball in the streets of Ireland. I remember standing up in front of hundreds in Africa telling people about the time I asked Jesus into my heart. I could go on and on of memories that are the "this is the best day" but the sad thing is the older I get the less I have these days. I need to change that.

In Donald Millers book he talks about people who have made their stories great because they do great things. Their life is not their own. They live for their creator who makes their story what it is if they listen and obey. These people in the book do great things that impact other people. I want to impact other people, positively in a huge way. I borrowed this book but I wish it was mine to highlight parts and underline. I feel like I'm rambling and not making a lot of since. I wish I could share with you every story in the book. I wish I could share with you how he writes and makes me want to have an adventure everyday. I just think that life is worth living... We should have something to live for. I do. Go read the book! A Million Miles in a Thousand Years By: Donald Miller

"I like those scenes in the Bible where God stops people and asks them to build an altar. You'd think He was making them do that for Himself, but I don't think God really gets much from looking at a pile of rocks. Instead, I think God wanted his people to build altars for their sake, something that would help them remember, something they could look back on and remember the time when they were rescued, or they were given grace." -Donald Miller

"We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off, we have to bow up the inner-tubes and head to the river. We have to write the poem and deliver it in person. We have to pull the car off the road and hike to the top of the hill. We have to put on our suits, we have to dance at weddings. We have to make altars." -Donald Miller

Pictures of the week...from my phone!

2009-11-27T21:28:00.005-08:00

Wednesday We took Deci to Chuck E. Cheese. She loved it!

First we went to the Early Works Childrens Musem.

One day Deci told me she wanted to nap in her box....so I let her...nah, Just kidding I didn't let her but she wanted to.

Bubbles! I love this picture.

I love this tree!

Fall Reads!

2009-11-27T20:34:00.004-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I've enjoyed not having the computer home the past week or so and I've picked up more books while Deci is asleep instead of spending all my time on the Internet. It's been quite nice and I'm really in a reading mood now so why not post my fall books...even though I guess Winter doesn't literally start for a while...you know me and my seasons. It's almost December and It just seems like in my mind December is Winter. :)

1. Just Beyond The Clouds By: Karen Kingsbury
This was one of the first one's I read this fall. It wasn't one from a book club or anything. I just Love Karen Kingsbury and wanted to read more of hers but this book is probably my least favorite of any I had read of her books. I think maybe the main thing is that I couldn't relate to the book. It was about a girl that had a down syndrome brother who was a teacher. She fell in love with someone who has a down syndrome sister. Very predicable ending.

2. A time to Dance By: Karen Kingsbury
This one was good. I recommend it if you are are struggling in your marriage and thinking about divorce. It starts off with a couple with kids that have lived together for years and they are wanting a divorce. It's sad because they really are in love but over the course of their life they start putting other things between their marriage and looking to feel loved by other things and then one day they wake up and realize they don't love each other anymore. It was good to read and remember not to let my marriage get to that place.

3. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God By: Francis Chan
This was one of my Favorite books I read this fall. It's about the Love God has for us and how we are to have that love for other people in our life. Very convicting.

4. Murder on the Orient Express By: Agatha Christie
This was a book club book. I meet with a group of girls that have been my friends since high school once a month to have book club. I LOVE this time with them and it forces me to read books I wouldn't pick for myself. This one was pretty good. It wasn't predictable at all which I like. I was surprised by the ending.

5. True Believer By: Nicholas Sparks
This one I listened to on the way to the beach. It was insanely hard to listen to. It was my least favorite by Nicholas Sparks. I usually love his books but this one was sooooo slow! Very predictable. I didn't like the story line. I guess it didn't help that it was my first book to listen to.

6. Through Painted Desserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road. By: Donald Miller
I liked this book..but that's about it. This book is about Donald Miller and his road trip. He tells some interesting stories but the whole time I'm wondering who this guy is to think that people want to read about his life. My husband loves him and has read most of his books and says this one he didn't like. This was my first one of Donald Miller books so I'm hoping that I'll like the next one.

7. South of Broad By: Pat Conroy
Oh, I feel so negative about my Fall reads but I have to say that this one was VERY disturbing. It bothered me for at least a week after I read it. I'm very sheltered I guess you can say and things bother me. I loved the characters and I liked the story line for the most part. There were just a few surprises in the book that took me for a loop! This was another book club pick.

8. The Rescuer (O'Malley #6) By: Dee Henderson
This one I wanted to read because it finished the O'Malley series for me that I struggled to read. The first 2 books I really liked but after that they were pretty much the same. A Christian character falls in love with a non-christian character and by the end of the book they are both Christians and they live happily ever after. I do love the other story line besides the romance part. The characters all have very important jobs and something is always going on and you can never predict whats going to happen with their jobs. Glad to be done with that Series!

9. Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America By: Mike Yankoski
Ok, now to the positive! This is my favorite book from the Fall! My sister-in-law recommended this one to me and I'm so glad. It really changed the way I look at homeless people, well, people in general. It broke my heart to have more compassion. To really treat people the way they deserve. To try to see people like Jesus sees people. To see inside their heart. To take time and care, to really care for people. Man, I have a long way to go. I probably should read this again and again and again.

10. Shades of Blue By: Karen Kingsbury
This was my pick for book club and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Maybe because all the reviews were giving this one a 5 out of 5. Saying it was Karen Kingsburys best book. I personally like The Redemption series by her. This one was slow and very predictable. I was on edge too because it was my pick and I wanted it to be good and my expectations were not met. I did cry though in this book. It's about a guy about to get married realizes that he needs to go back to his high school girlfriend and ask forgiveness for somethings in his past. I won't give too much away. I know some of my book club girls are still reading.

Currently Reading:

11. A million Miles in a Thousand Years By: Donald Miller
I actually just picked this one up today. I can't wait to start...my second Donald Miller book.

12. Hoping for Something Better By: Nancy Guthrie
This is one that I'm doing with My mentor Lisa (www.lisa_writes.blogspot.com) and my friend Jenifer. We are a little over 1/2 way. It's a study of Hebrews. It's been challenging and the questions are sometimes hard to figure out what exactly she is asking but it's been good to be challenged and to dig deeper into the Bible.

Q's hair!

2009-11-07T19:36:00.007-08:00

So, Q is growing his hair out for Locks of Love. Awesome thing to do and maybe one day I'll be patient enough to let my hair get long enough so when I cut it off my hair won't be really short. (I look horrible with short hair) Q says that ladies come up to him all the time and say that women would kill for his hair. I would like to meet these ladies because if I can be honest his long hair drives me crazy! He knows it drives me crazy and he is doing it for a good cause so I try not to complain about it too much. The other day he said that he was going to keep growing it out even after it got to the 10 inch requirement length. I would like him to cut it as soon as possible. So I came up with a poll. Do you think that Q should keep his long hair or cut it off? Which do you like better? Here is a picture of how I like it best...keep in mind that He is extra cute here holding Deci when she was a newborn. :) The poll is on the top right side of the blog. Let us know what you think! (In the post below there is a picture of him now with longer hair and just to let you know when we measured it last it was at 9 inches!!!)

In Everything Giving Thanks!

2009-11-05T12:26:00.010-08:00

My Friend Lisa is giving Thanks everyday this month on her blog to Celebrate November/Thanksgiving. (She got the idea from her Friend whose blog you can get to by Lisa's blog.) http://lisa-writes.blogspot.com/ I don't get on here enough to do this everyday but I thought I would do one big Thankful Blog. so here goes...

1. I am first of all Thankful for Jesus being my rock and comforter. The one who knows my flaws and loves me anyways. I could go on and on but I am very thankful that He is in charge over my life and I don't have to be!

2. My WONDERFUL Husband, Q! I chased this man for 7 years and I can say today that He loves me more than I love him! He has more patience with me than I could ask for. He puts up with a lot from me but He still loves me and I am very thankful! It's a comforting feeling to know that I can trust my husband 100%. I am so glad that he works hard, 2 jobs, so I can stay at home with Deci. I am thankful that He loves our daughter too!

3. I am so thankful for our daughter, December who we prayed almost 2-years for before she came into our lives. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful child that came out of two people who look like we do! I am so thankful for all the hugs and kisses she so freely gives now because I know one day she will be "too cool" for that. I am so thankful that I get to stay at home with her everyday!

4. I am so Thankful for my family...all of you! I am thankful for how I was raised and all the great childhood memories I have. I think I had the best childhood of anyone! I am Thankful for the family I married into, especially because I have a sister now! I am Thankful for grandparents that Deci has, especially when they keep Deci for me so Me and Quinton can get away! I am thankful for my brothers who taught me how to build an awesome tree house when I was younger and for teaching me how to enjoy the outdoors! I hope Deci always loves playing outside more than she does inside!

5. I am Thankful for my Church and Church family! I Love having a church to go to where I don't dread Sunday mornings. I'm actually very excited about going! I love the people there, they really are like family. I know they have our backs and I know they will help us out if we ever need them.

6. I am so thankful for my friends! New friends and Old friends. I know I am not a very good friend. I'm dramatic and over the top at times. I love to talk and sometimes I talk too much. I can also be very selfish and my dear friends you love me anyways and I am sooo thankful for that! There is nothing better than to have an hour/night/weekend with girlfriends. I need you in my life to keep me girlie! I love y'all!

7. My friend and Mentor who meets with me and Jennifer on Friday mornings and pours her life and knowledge into us! It's so great to have someone encouraging me to grow in my faith. Especially for us two pastors wives who don't know as much as we should about the bible! Thanks Lisa! http://lisa-writes.blogspot.com/

8. I am thankful for Fall and the weather that comes with Fall! I love this time of year! I go back and forth every year about whether I love Fall or Spring the best of all seasons but today, after 3 long days of playing outside, I Love the fall the best!

I am so thankful for so many things but if this post gets any longer no one will read it! :) Join us on your blog for what you are thankful for!! Have a Happy November!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-01T09:09:00.006-08:00

I got Deci ready to Trick-or-Treat at my Mom's house and across the street is this lovely field with Hay Bails. I have an obsession with fields and hay bails. I think they are beautiful. So we got Deci ready and went out to take some pictures.

After we headed to the church for the Halloween Hoopla! There were TONS of people there but it was so much fun!

Next, We dropped off Deci with Maw Maw and Paw Paw Crow to spend the night and we went to hang out with some old friends from high school. We played the game Taboo, watched YouTube videos, ate a Ton of food (but left with a whole crock pot of Rotel Dip), Played Guitar Hero and stayed up way too late! I took a few pictures but had a hard time getting them on here for some reason but here is one of me and the hostess Kaydee. Check out her website at www.kaydeeroden.com

Side note: I have been a lazy blogger lately. I've been posting lots of pictures and no stories. If you are my Facebook friend you will see a lot of the same pictures so it may be pointless for you to read my blog but I am going to try to post more stories (along with my pictures) soon. I don't think I've told about how my child locked me out of the house one day while I was cleaning. Also they day that my child spayed Lysol in her eyes! Yes, Please don't call DHR. I do watch my child. I was trying to deal with a Mold problem in the house so my child doesn't have respiratory problems the rest of her life. I was spaying the house with bleach and Deci wanted to do the same so she got the Lysol. She spayed her eyes before I could take it away. I panicked and washed her eyes out with water. She was soaked! I was ready to take her to the ER when I read the back of the Lysol bottle and it just said mild irritation to the eyes! Whew! She didn't even cry...except when I was pouring water over her face. :)

Flashback...

2009-10-31T06:21:00.005-07:00

All of these pictures, except the last one, are from last year in October....2008 Flashback...

This first one is when Deci got her Cow for her birthday from Josh and Marcie. She was so excited!

Riding in her "Big Girl" car seat for the first time!

She was a cat...it's kinda hard to tell from this picture.

Our one year old...Wow, time flies!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Infertility

2009-10-22T06:52:00.005-07:00

Many of you know that it took us a while to get pregnant. It seems I have come across so many people lately that are having infertility problems and I wanted to share a blog that a friend of mine gave me to give another friend. Maybe it will help some of y'all out there trying to get pregnant. Her blog is http://www.whilewaitingiwillworship.blogspot.com/ I don't know her but I've read a lot of her post and it's very encouraging. I think something like this would have encouraged me while I was also trying to get pregnant.