Stream of Consciousness

The End.

2011-08-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged in a very long time. The fact is that I haven't had the time. And the things I want to write about are not best served on an extremely public blog like this one. So, I will be gradually saving the posts on this blog to my personal computer, and deleting them as I go. When I am done, I will be deleting the whole blog.

Thanks for being a faithful reader. I'm not sure what comes next for my communicating/journaling style of writing. The next chapter in my life certainly has some potential. We'll see...

So long.

HALF MARATHON

2010-11-18T11:17:00.011-05:00

Ok, it's time for the half marathon recap. First let me say that I had a fabulous time. San Antonio was awesome. Billy, Kelly and Eisley Lawson are beyond compare. Rock n Roll Marathon series organizes a great race. Great event, great friends, great city, great weekend!

We started the weekend by driving to Waco to meet up with our dear friends. I loved that Kelly was outside waiting for us when we got there. It did my heart good to see her face. We got to see where they live and learn more about the community they are a part of. I loved it!

Let me just take a moment to say that I know it is awkward to have the friend Kelly and husband Kelly both in this story. From here on out "KL"=Kelly Lawson and "Kelly"=Kelly McCuaig.

On Saturday morning, we got up and all 6 of us drove to San Antonio. The wives with August in our car, and the husbands with Eisley in their car. It was so much fun to chat, catch up, and rock it to 80s-90s pop. Lots of smiles.

Then we got to San Antonio. Our very first stop was freebirds where we loaded burritos with rice and beans and continued our carb binge. Yum!We then proceeded to the expo where we checked in, took lots of goofy pictures, and marveled at how many people were associated with this race. There ended up being 26,000 runners/walkers, plus race crew, plus vendors. It was crazy!

For our pre-race dinner, we went to Carraba's and shared a gift card that the Lawsons had been given. This was great for me, because I ate as much Italian bread as I wanted and didn't feel bad about it. I needed the carbs! Then KL and I ate a pile of pasta with some red sauce and called it a night. It was such a great meal.

We went back to the hotel which was...cozy. (Two queen beds in a bedroom, two pack-n-plays in the living room. I was glad to have the shared expense, and the close quarters weren't so bad because we were with such good friends. KL talked about how making new friends is fun, but also sometimes tiring, and how it was so nice to just settle back into an old, comfy friendship. I felt the exact same way.) We laid out our clothes the night before and went to bed early. Surprisingly, we both slept well, despite the nerves.

Race morning was early. Up at 5, breakfast, change clothes, last potty break (a real issue for runners), then down to the hotel to meet with our group to head to the start.

Starting was crazy! There were 33 start groups; faster people in the front, slower at the end. I was in 26, and KL was in 19. We would hear over loud speakers "group 1 starting in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...." then an air horn. A minute later; "group 2 starts in 10, 9, 8, ...." It was crazy. After each corral started, every one behind it would move up to the next one. That means I heard 25 starts before it was my turn to start. The truth is, I had fun and it was exciting! As we started, people were standing on their balconies of hotel rooms and apartments up above cheering. It was such a cool way to start. I ended up starting at about 7:45ish.

As I started, I knew that I would be seeing the boys and kiddos around mile 3, in front of the Alamo. I was quite intimidated for those first few miles because I knew I had so many miles ahead of me. I was so glad to see my boys. Their faces helped me calm down and settle into my pace.
The next mile was a little tough. I knew I had 5 miles to run before I would see my boys again, around mile 8. Then I passed a cute little church with a high school band on their front steps. The drum line was doing a cadence (which I've always loved) and their marquee said, "you're doing great! Only 22.2 or 9.1 miles to go!" For some reason, knowing that I only had 9 miles to go was helpful. I knew I could forget about the miles behind me and focus on the very doable 9 in front of me. So I ran. And somehow the miles went really quickly. I was happy to see my boys again at mile 8. Another quick hug and kiss, and I was off again. It was so sweet that August was happy to see me every time I passed.

And the husbands were awesome. After they dropped us off in our corrals, they went to mile 3 and waited for us to pass. KL passed first, then they waited for me. Once I had passed, they headed to mile 8 to catch KL. Then wait for me, then head to the finish to meet KL. Then wait for me to finish. All with two toddlers in tow. They were amazing. Thanks, boys!

Somewhere around mile 10, I felt a boost of energy. I stuck with my philosophy of letting my legs run at whatever pace felt natural, so I ended up running almost a whole mile per hour faster than my normal long run pace. It felt great to be able to finish so strong. My goal was to run 13.1 miles in under 3 hours, and my official finish time was 2:58:59. I did it! Here I am with KL at the finish:
And me with the fam at the finish. So fun that Caitlin ran too!
The rest of the weekend was awesome. Steak on the river walk, Mexican food on the river walk, and a much deserved margarita on the river walk (which KL and I had been planning since we registered for the race many months ago). KL and I got to go up on the roof of our 20-something story hotel and spend 30 minutes in the hot tub that night, which helped a lot!

And just because I love this picture of KL, I have to include it too. Here she is running past our cheer club at mile 3:
I also want to share two more things: the reasons I did this. There were lots of reasons, of course, but two main sources of inspiration. First, my friend Kelly who challenged me to do this with her. Here's her post about the experience from her point of view. And my friend Angela who did this in Kentucky this past spring. Her blog post recapping her experience showed me that this was possible for me, a mom with no running in her background. Here's that blog post from her.

And last but not least, thanks to my friends and family who encouraged me, watched my kid while I ran, and helped with the costs associated with a race like this. I couldn't have done this without help from those around me. So thanks, so very much, for this experience.

I'm not sure what the future holds for me and running, but I know I don't want to stop. We'll just have to wait and see what opportunities present themselves, and whether or not I can afford them. :)

Good Girls, Good Friends

2010-11-08T22:32:00.004-05:00

I want to start this series off on a positive note. Every girl needs close friends: a circle of girls who can build her up and encourage her. As women and girls we tear ourselves down, and we tear each other down (more on this later). The only way for me to discuss how important this is for us is to talk a bit about the girls who are part of this circle in my life.

First let me say that there are countless women who have spoken grace, encouragement and affirmation into my life. There have been friends, mentors, women in the Asbury community, role models, and members of my family who have encouraged me when I needed it. The girls I will talk about here are the girls who are most filling these roles now.

This type of friend should inspire you to be better than you are. They should be people you can treat like a confidant on one day, then look up to the next. Nicolette Scarborough is this for me. She reminds me of the beauty of a prayerful life. She reminds me to be kind and gentle-spirited. She is the portrait of sweetness, and I want to be more like her. She has always been reliable, listened when I needed to be listened to, and quietly encouraged me to handle stressful situations with grace. She affirms me, yet inspires me to keep working to be better than I am, and that's the work of a special friend.

A good friend is also someone who experiences life with you. This friend in my life is Kelly Lawson. We met at the Wesley at Tech, but became close during our time at Asbury. Our friendship was already starting to grow and blossom when we each found out we were pregnant. We shared pregnancy hopes and heartaches together. She walked me through gestational diabetes, and she validated me as a mother as I struggled to breastfeed August for as long as possible. (It turns out that's not as easy as it sounds, but the world tells us that you aren't a good mother unless you do it.) I hurt. A lot. And she reminded me that if August was happy and healthy, I was a good mom. Now we share the concerns of toddlerdom and the journey to a half marathon (more on that later, too). She reminds me that I am wonderful, even while the world is telling me I'm not, and that's the work of a special friend.

Every girl needs a friend that makes her feel cool. It's even better if this friend views the world in exactly the same way. For me this is Mallary Covington. I am who I am without apology, and yet I feel cool when I am with her. The cool is awesome, but it's the shared heart that makes her so special. If something touches me deeply, chances are it would touch her deeply too. We cry about the same things. We rejoice in the same things. I respect and love and am excited about her future work, and she feels the same about mine. She makes me be me, and that's the work of a special friend.

As women the world tears us down. We aren't pretty enough, thin enough, strong enough, smart enough or competent enough. And our confidence and self esteem are shattered. We need to learn how to value ourselves the way our creator values us, and the easiest way to do this is to have friends who speak these truths to us. I am ridiculously thankful for mine, and I recommend every woman to find a small circle of friends that allow her to be herself. If you have someone like this in your life, tell her how much she means to you, and let's start having healthy friendships with the women in our lives.

I appreciate you allowing me to take the time to not only discuss an important issue, but to also gush about my friends. It is my hope that this blatant public admiration will build them up in the same ways they have built me up.

No Promises

2010-11-04T12:17:00.002-04:00

So here's the deal. I haven't blogged in a VERY long time. You could easily go see that my last post was about recommitting to blogging, and it was in January. It didn't work.

It's true, I've been busy; but that's not why I haven't blogged. I just haven't had anything on my heart worth writing. That sounds sadder than it really is. I've been transitioning, learning how to be a stay at home mom, running like a crazy person, and figuring out who I am post-seminary. These are all big things, but I haven't felt the need to write about them. So I didn't.

Over the past few weeks I've found myself thinking, "that's interesting; I should blog about it" several times. So, I'm going to. Just this morning when I was making a list of things I'd like to blog about, I realized they are all women's issues. They are challenges that most women face every day. Questions we ask ourselves often. Who am I? What's my role? How do I fulfill my calling, yet take the time to be a good mom and invest in my child? Am I as pretty as she is?

I've never really considered myself a woman's issues advocate, but I've found some issues close to my heart and I'd like to share my thoughts. So, this will be my topic for the days ahead.

Then of course you'll get the obligatory "Holy cow I ran a half marathon and I need to share every little detail with everybody" blog post. I'm not sure what will come after that. Which is why this post is called "No Promises."

Design Note: In light of my new found love for fall, along with my topic of discussion for the next few days, I've chosen a girly/fall-ish background. I'm not sure how long I'll be keeping it, but for now, it's perfect.

New Look, New Commitment?

2010-01-07T13:56:00.002-05:00

As most of you know, I used to blog fairly regularly (at least twice each month), but that is no longer the case. To tell the truth, I have wanted to, but just haven't had time to. My degree is a 60 hour degree, and in a few weeks, I will have completed 35 of those hours in a one year time span. The other 27 hour took me two years. Yes, I have been busy.

But that is all about to change. I will finish my last class on January 22nd, and we will be moving back to Lubbock, TX on February 15th. I have changed the look of my blog with hopes that it will motivate and inspire me to write regularly. I have had some good ideas over the past few months, but not enough time to explore them. Now if I could just remember what some of them were...

So, if you could just be patient with me for another month or so, I'll try to do better once I am settled again and have more time for this. For now, Kelly has also redesigned his blog and is finished with school, so he is already putting more into his blog. Click here to check it out.

A Tribute, of Sorts

2009-10-16T15:33:00.003-04:00

Today I was doing my usual Friday afternoon routine, checking facebook in between playing with and feeding August, when I came across something unexpected. One of my friends posted a video on facebook that really touched me. I watched the video expecting it to be kind of interesting, but I ended up with teary eyes. It is the 1947 promotional video of Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University).

No, I am not that much of a sap about my Alma Mater that it made me cry, I cried because of what it reminded me of. As many of you know, I lost my sweet grandfather, Rex McKinney, on May 2nd of this year. He was special to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, but for me, Texas Tech was at the center of our bond.

You see, only two people in the history of my family (that I know of) have graduated college with a bachelor's degree, me and Rexiebaby (yes, that's what he wanted us to call him)...both from Texas Tech.

Just like many men in his generation, he did not share affection openly, but I remember very clearly the card I got when I graduated from high school, boasting of how proud I had made him. He so badly wanted me to succeed that he bought me a computer for to use in college, and he paid for a big chunk of my tuition to Tech. Perhaps I owe part of my bachelor's degree to him. My parents worked hard to put me through college, but I don't know how they would have made it without his help.

I could go on forever talking about how he inspired me by encouraging me and affirming me (in his mildly affectionate manner, of course), but I want you to see this video.

I know that he graduated from high school around 1945, and that he had finished college and was working by 1953, and that those 8 years included some time in the Navy and his education at Tech. The way I see it, this video allows me a peek into the Texas Tech that Rex knew when he attended there so long ago, and what he gave me the opportunity to see as well.

Thanks, Rexiebaby, for encouraging me and helping me along the way. "Strive for honor, evermore...long live the matadors!"

Yes, it's been that long...

2009-09-07T10:16:00.002-04:00

So, the last time I posted was June 5th. I took a class in June, traveled around Texas for the month of July, and took a class in August. I've been busy, and also, I just haven't had anything to say. I don't really have anything to say today, but I have lots of things that I want to say on twitter, so I guess this is the place where I can do it all at once. Here we go:

-August woke up at 4:45 this morning. And he didn't go back to sleep. I did a lot this morning. I cuddled with my little boy for over an hour, made a menu and a grocery list, got myself ready for the day, made it to the grocery store (with the kid), and got myself a latte...all before 8 AM.

-The Sara Lee guy was making a delivery at the grocery store this morning, and he was in line in front of me at the Starbucks. He bought my latte for me. He probably didn't realize that my favorite thing is the most expensive thing on the menu. He bought coffee for me and one other guy and paid $7 (mine was $5). That was very nice of him.

-August fell asleep in the car on the way home from the store. This NEVER happens. He hates the carseat. When I got home and went to get him out of the car, he opened his eyes all squinty (like you do when you first wake up and the light is bright), glared at me, then nuzzled his head back into his carseat to finish his nap. It was SO cute!

-The same baby who fell asleep in his carseat is now refusing to take a nap. He usually wakes up at 7:30, and then sleeps from 10-12. You would think that since he woke up almost 3 hours earlier than usual, that he would be tired (I AM!).

-I love this weather. It is 69 degrees outside and raining a light, steady rain. This is my favorite thing ever....ooh, thunder!

-I was planning on blogging about Julie and Julia. I read the book so that I could go see the movie, and I was going to blog about how well the movie resembled the book. I finished the book two weeks ago and still have not seen the movie. Sometimes August cramps my style.

-People who know me really well know that I am very ambitious, but that I don't always follow through on my big plans. This includes giving myself a reading schedule. Theoretically, if I read for a couple of hours every day, I won't have to cram it all in when I am trying to write a paper. Unfortunately, I usually get behind on day 1 or 2. I'm proud to say that today is day 3, and I am still caught up! Good thing, because school starts tomorrow. It's my LAST semester!

I think that's about it. This has been fun. I'll try to do it again sometime soon.

Little Encouragements

2009-06-05T17:30:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking for two weeks now about what I would write about as I re-entered the blog world. Something happened this morning that wasn't necessarily extraordinary, but it was a big deal to me, so I decided to share go ahead and share it.

I went to the grocery store this morning and decided to hit up Panera Bread for some coffee and a bagel for breakfast. As I was walking toward the door, holding August, my keys and my wallet, a man had just came out of the door. He looked up, smiled at me, turned around, went back to the door and held it open for me.

Like I said, it wasn't a big deal, but it was important to me. I guess this impressed me so much because this guy was dressed in a bright blue University of Kentucky Polo, and had the ultra-gelled hair; he was obviously a coach of one of the UK sports teams. Complementing his outfit was a black book that said "The Coach's Bible" on the front. Perhaps this is why he took the extra time to help a mom with her hands full.

For whatever reason he did it, it reminded me of what men are like in Texas. There, most men open doors for women. Here, most men don't, even when the woman has her hands full of a baby and a diaper bag.

So, to the UK coach who walked back to the door just so he could hold the door open for August and I, thank you for your random act of kindness, and for reminding me of home.

More Wisdom from Dr. Seamands

2009-04-21T14:03:00.002-04:00

I would like to be able to blog morsels of goodness that come from within myself, but let's face it: I don't have time to try to be profound right now. For the sake of not being completely inactive on my blog, I'll share some more goodness from a wise professor:

"Part of the reason the church has become weak is because we assume that Jesus performed miracles through His divine nature; the truth is that He performed them through his humanity, empowered by the Spirit. Therefore, we can do the same miracles as Jesus."

I love Dr. Seamands!

An Easter Thought

2009-04-09T13:29:00.002-04:00

One of the things I love about being in seminary is that classes and holy celebrations fit together. In one of my classes, my professor shared this quote. It's something to think about:

“God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing....the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross” —C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, 178.

"It takes suffering to bring someone into the world, just ask any pregnant woman. God suffered in order to bring us into creation." -Steve Seamands

Tidbits

2009-04-01T20:04:00.005-04:00

If you're like me, it's not uncommon to think "hey, I need to blog about this" several times a week. But I also always think "there's no use in blogging about something that only deserves one sentence." This blog post is a compilation of those thoughts.

-August is paid for: We've paid all of the doctors, and the hospital gave us enough financial assistance to cover our whole hospital bill.

-I am so dang busy it's not funny...12 hours in Seminary is ridiculous!

-We added a really pretty plant to my study nook...it's the plant that is in the pictures of the nursery (we covered August's window because he wouldn't sleep when it is light outside, and the plant was dying from lack of sunlight).

-I LOVE SPRING!

-I also love ipod games.

-My Shamrock Shuffle experience is complete...I picked up my t-shirt that had to be ordered!

-I have a watch that I loved to use to when I was running. I could time myself and know what time it was. When I was in the car on the way to the hospital to have August, I was trying to time my own contractions (Kelly was driving), and I accidentally set it to beep every hour on the hour. I tried for weeks to turn that feature off. I finally got so tired of hearing the beeping that I put the watch in a box in the office. I got the watch out on Monday so that I could use it on my run, and I tried to change the time on it (daylight savings time has happened since last time I used it). I was not successful in changing the time, but it doesn't beep anymore. Go figure!

Victory!

2009-03-17T13:21:00.006-04:00

I have always loved St. Patrick's Day, and at some point a few years ago, I also began to enjoy going for a nice run (or hike) outdoors. So when we moved to Wilmore, and I heard about the annual Shamrock Shuffle (3K race), I knew I had to be a part of it. You should check out the website to see some of the funny costumes people ran in: green hair, Lucky Charms pajama pants, crazy big hats, sparkly robes...there was all kinds of stuff!

But there have been obstacles...

2007-We had to go home because we found out that my grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer.

2008-I was too busy throwing up (severe morning sickness) to even think about running in a race.

When I found out that I was pregnant, I was in probably the best shape I had been in since high school. I needed a goal for myself to get back in shape after the pregnancy, so I decided to commit to running in the Shamrock Shuffle of 2009.

This year's obstacle was that it was 40 degrees and raining. My hopes of having my husband and my son go cheer me on fell through (it was too cold and wet for August), and I considered not going. However, the remote possibility that I may graduate and move back to Lubbock before this time next year encouraged me to seize the opportunity. So I went. By myself.

This was way out of my comfort zone. I don't like doing things unfamiliar to me, especially by myself. I hadn't trained and ran the way I should have to prepare for the race. Most of all, I hate driving on Kentucky roads in the rain. But I went.

I wore my green jacket, my green Asics, my green bandana, and listened to my bagpipe/Irish/Celtic music, and I ran. Just before I crossed the finish line, I found a good friend of mine, Amberly Strebeck. I made it to town by myself, I finished the race without having to stop to walk, and I found one of my greatest friends just before the finish line. That was an incredibly triumphant moment. Here we are, all soggy and happy, complete with our mardi gras-style green beads that they passed out at the finish line:

I finished in 24:03, and 684/968. I hope to do better in my next race, this experience only increased the joy that running brings me.

Happy and Healthy

2009-02-26T11:57:00.002-05:00

August had a checkup today. He is a healthy baby boy. Here are his stats:

Height: 24 inches (between 5 and 10 percentile)
Weight: 12 pounds, 10 oz. (below 5 percentile)
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (below 5 percentile)

He's little, but he's perfectly healthy. On that note, here's a video of his him and his happy laughy self this morning.

My New Study Space

2009-02-25T14:58:00.005-05:00

As many of you know, I am taking a tough load this semester. Because of some miscommunications with my advisor, I have to take 4 classes (3 is considered full-time). Because Kelly is so wonderful, he wanted to set me up with my own little space to study. He bought me a desk (and a chair), a lamp, and a space heater (because the room is drafty and my desk is up against the window). He also let me go ahead and order my new MacBook, which we agreed I would raise the money for by selling some things I no longer want. We are going to order an extra shelf for some of the random things gathering in the corner, and my picture of August that we ordered should come soon. We refer to my study area as my nook. When I need to study with minimal interruptions, I just tell Kelly "I am going to my nook."

There's one more thing he got me that I need to tell you about. It is perhaps the sweetest part of all of this. He got me a fish (a betta). He said he bought the fish for me so that I wouldn't feel lonely in my nook. I had two bettas in undergrad, and I loved them. I had a red/purple one named Fitzgerald and a blue/black one named Harold. So, when it came time to name this new little guy, I wanted to come up with another arrogant, British name.

I'll tell you the name in just a minute, but the name needs a preface. As most of you know, Kelly and I are huge fans of the television show WEST WING. We own all of the seasons, and we've watched it all of the way through several times. There is an arrogant, obnoxious British character, so I chose to name my betta after him. Here's a video that will help you appreciate how funny this is:

Yep. My betta's name is Lord John Marbury. Here is what my wonderful desk space looks like:

Thanks, Kelly, for being so wonderful and helping me out so much. I love you. And I love Lord John Marbury (the fish).

Funny, Funny Stuff

2009-02-05T15:15:00.004-05:00

I love the Ellen show. Ellen DeGenerous is hilarious! I love that she is so positive, and so happy. I'll admit that sometimes watching her show is the highlight of my day.

My friend Heather shared a video with me that I had not yet seen, and I wanted to share it with you. Here it is:

I think this is even funnier because I am from Texas. We all know someone just like this Gladys.

Funny/Sad/Real Conversation

2009-01-31T07:40:00.003-05:00

This is a real conversation I had with someone yesterday at the grocery store. (Note: I was wearing my Sacramento Methodist Assembly shirt.)

Guy: Are you from California?
Me: (wondering why he asked then noticing my shirt)...oh, no.
Guy: Sacramento, California?
Me: No, Sacramento, New Mexico.
Guy: Oh, is that in California?
Me: (getting impatient but still trying to be nice)...no, New Mexico.
Guy: hmmm (walks away)

Are you serious? Do you want me to be from California that badly? Since my in-laws have moved to New Mexico, I've learned just how many people in Kentucky don't know that New Mexico is one of the 50 states.

This past summer I called to pay a utility bill over the phone. The lady told me to just mail the payment. I explained that I was having my mail forwarded to New Mexico, and that I had gotten the bill the day before it was due, and that if I mailed it, the payment would definitely be late. The woman's response was: "I see, since you're out of the country, I'll just put a note on your account not to disconnect it and you can pay it when you get back in August."

These people need to go back to high school geography. I had a great geography teacher. His name was Joseph Scotland, and we all called him Joe-Scotty.

Anyway, I wanted to share these things because I thought you might think they are funny...And besides, I have nothing else to blog about (unless you want to hear about how smoothly nap time went and whether or not August finished his last bottle).

Giving In: 25 Random Things

2009-01-30T11:55:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am jumping on the bandwagon just like everyone else. Here are 25 Random Things you might not know about me:

1. I was baptized in the Cheremosh River in Ukraine by Fred Vanderwerf, missionary to Ukraine. I was 22 years old.
2. I am probably a little bit obsessive about some strange things. For example, I love getting new sets of pens, but when I do, I have to make sure each pen is used the same amount, they all have to stay together, and I can’t throw one away until I can throw them all away together.
3. It’s no secret that Kelly and I plan to move overseas someday, and I am excited for all of the obvious reasons. However, I am also excited because of all of the delicious snack foods available there. I crave them everyday (nuts roasted on the street, panache, kahwa (coffee), chocolate pastries, mint tea….yum!)
4. I love Justin Timberlake. No, I do not have a crush on him, but his music is awesome and his Saturday Night Live appearances cannot be topped!
5. I can’t decide which decade of music I like to most…either the ‘80s or the ‘90s…but certainly not the 2000s.
6. I have a strange pet peeve: misspellings. But not just any misspellings, I hate the ones where the word sounds the same (for example: there & their, your & you’re)…they don’t mean the same thing, people!
7. I love math. Sometimes I wish I had a college algebra text book so I could work some math problems.
8. My very first favorite singer was Patsy Cline. My second was Tina Turner.
9. My nickname growing up was noodle-head, a reference to my platinum-blonde curly hair. My dad still calls me that occasionally, even though I’m not that blonde anymore.
10. My favorite color changes often. Right now it is cadet blue.
11. My handwriting changes depending on my mood. I have at least 5 to choose from.
12. If I were to choose a different occupation (or get the chance to do college all over again), I would be a chef.
13. I love to eat meals that are extra healthy, then overly-satisfy my sweet tooth. Example: baked salmon, roasted asparagus, brown rice and 4 chocolate chip cookies, plus some cookie dough…now that’s a great dinner!
14. I’ve had a delicious secret chocolate chip cookie recipe since I was in high school…I just realized a few days ago that it is the same as the one on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips package.
15. Kelly and I love TV on DVD. We own Friends, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, House, The Cosby Show, Heroes and an assortment of Tiny Toons, Looney Toons, Saturday Night Live and the Muppet Show. We are convinced that these will come in handy in the future.
16. Being a mom is the coolest thing I’ve ever done. Even though the pregnancy was really hard and somewhat miserable, I am already looking forward to doing it again.
17. All of the schools I attended had stereotypical Texan mascots: Maedgen Mohawks, Martin Broncos, Hutchinson Rangers, Lubbock Westerners, and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
18. I am a major football fan, but I hate the NFL. College football looks more like athletic talent and the NFL looks more like ego show-n-tell. I am the cheesy girl that dresses in Red and Black on Tech football game days…GO RED RAIDERS!
19. I want red hair. A lot.
20. I used to request songs on the radio all of the time. My most common request: Rush by Paula Abdul.
21. I have an amazing ability to memorize numbers. I know more phone numbers, account numbers, bank routing numbers (leftover from my banking days), and license plate numbers than anyone I know. Also, I know my social security number, Kelly’s social security number and August’s social security number.
22. I like being from Texas, but I’m not sure I ever want to live there again. Frequent trips are good enough for me.
23. I still remember the first bad dream I ever had: the man in the red convertible corvette tried to run over me while I was going down the street to pick up my scooter from the neighbor’s front porch.
24. One of my greatest fears involves being locked in a very tiny space. I get claustrophobic when I am in a small space.
25. I’m not very good at sleeping; I never have been. I even remember when I was in elementary school, I stashed a flashlight and some books to keep me from being too bored after my parents put me to bed. I also used to do secret workouts in the dark.

It's Been A While...

2009-01-20T14:18:00.009-05:00

So, I just realized it has been a month since I last posted on my blog. Instead of trying to post several updates on every subject I've meant to blog about, I'm just going to do a quick summary. This will certainly seem random and scatterbrained, but I have several events to share.

-Christmas was wonderful. As much as I would like to share all of the pictures from Christmas, I'm just going to focus on some very important ones: pictures with great grandparents (all of these pictures include 4 generations):

-Birds took over our apartment complex the other day. Here's a picture of the roof right outside the window:-Kelly and I love to eat vegetarian. We usually have several vegetarian meals each week, and we occasionally make it a point to eat vegetarian for an entire week. I love this because it is an opportunity to experiment and find new yummy recipes. This is my latest discovery: stuffed tomatoes and portobello mushrooms:

-I am so excited about going back to school. I love being a stay at home mom, and inevitably school will bring more stress, but I am so excited about getting back into the swing of things. I love Asbury Theological Seminary.

-I am excited about President Obama. I think Americans have had and still have some obvious prejudices, and I am hoping that this presidency helps speed the eradication of them. We have made great progress in our acceptance of African Americans, but we need to improve our view of all people who live in the rest of the world: Africans, Arabs, and Asians (to name just a few), deserve much more respect and admiration than the average American citizen is willing to give.

-I can't believe how big August is getting! He used to be a little baby, and now he seems like a little kid. He laughs, smiles, interacts with his toys, and "talks" with mom and dad. He has outgrown a lot of the clothes that used to be so big and cute on him. He even wears real shoes now, not just newborn shoes. Here are some recent pictures of him:

He's getting so big!

2008-12-17T22:10:00.005-05:00

When we first brought August home, he weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces (he was 5/13 at birth), and was 20 inches long. He had his 8 week check-up yesterday, and we learned just how much bigger our little boy has gotten. He has grown 1 whole inch in length, and now weighs 9 pounds 2 ounces! Here are some pictures to compare:

Home for Christmas

2008-12-04T09:29:00.004-05:00

Kelly and I have officially decided that we will not be traveling back to Texas/New Mexico for Christmas this year. The drive is just too long for August and we can't afford to fly. I'm glad about our decision, and I'm looking forward to our first Christmas as a family of three, but over the past few days I've been realizing some of the things I'm going to miss. Here are some of them (in no particular order):

-My mom's excessive use of Christmas music. My mom loves Christmas; she starts playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, and it doesn't stop 'til New Year's Day. Her two favorites: Brenda Lee and The Carpenter's Christmas...and maybe also some Elvis. I've never had a Christmas without this soundtrack.

-The snack table at the McCuaig Christmas. Home made beef jerky, Mema's orange cookies, home made caramels and party mix...this only skims the surface of the goodness that is the McCuaig Christmas snack table. These treats sit out, ready to be eaten, 24 hours a day until they are gone. YUM!

-While we are talking about the McCuaig family Christmas traditions, I'll mention the Santa Clause rule. Every year, Santa fills our stocking with all kinds of wonderful things, but don't you dare try to thank Cindy for them. No, those gifts are from Santa, and Cindy will not take credit for anything Santa did...even if you were with her when she bought something that ended up in someone else's stocking.

-At the McKinney house, the first thing you do when you wake up is make sure everyone else is awake, then head to the Christmas tree to open presents. After presents, it's time for breakfast. My mom makes omelets, bacon, and biscuits and gravy, while my dad makes waffles and sausage. It's a breakfast feast, and it will hold you over until Christmas dinner around 4pm.

-My pastor's wife, Alison House, has a beautiful voice, and one of my favorite Christmas songs is "Breath of Heaven." She sings it every year, and I'm convinced nobody could ever sing it as well as her. I'm sorry I have to miss it this year.

-This one is not something that will ever happen again, but I miss it just the same. Joni and I used to sleep together on Christmas Eve to make sure that we woke up as early as possible to start the present opening.

-And another that will never happen again is a very fond memory of mine. As most of you know, I lost my grandmother, Mojo to cancer just over a year ago. She owned an interior decorating store called Design Unique. I miss the Design Unique Christmas open house. My job was to greet the customers and eat snacks off of the refresments table. There was always wassail, homemade fudge with walnuts and chicken salad sandwiches cut into the cute little triangles. It was always great fun to help Mojo and snack all day long.

Of course, these are not all of the things I will miss this Christmas, but they are some that I have been thinking about lately. I am, however, looking forward to starting some new traditions that hopefully August will come to treasture some day.

All my friends are doing it...

2008-11-30T21:12:00.003-05:00

Lots of my friends are posting 7 interesting facts about themselves, so I am going to do it too. Dan, Kelly, Nina, this is for you.

1-I am borderline obsessive compulsive. I count the steps I take, try not to step on cracks, and try to use two like things the same number of times (like pens, for example).

2-I was afraid to discuss bodily functions until I got pregnant, then everything became semi-public knowledge. My husband and my doctor deserved to know every detail.

3-I love nutella. Chocolate and hazelnuts are two of my favorite foods, so why not blend the two together and put it on bananas and bread?

4-I love to cook. I love to make fancy dishes, try new foods, and bake sweet treats. The more complicated the recipe, the more fun I have. Cookie dough in a tube is not enough fun, so I keep all of the ingredients on hand all of the time...homemade cookies are the best!

5-I love all things retro. I love the music, cartoons, movies, and other things pop culture from the first two decades of my life.

6-My biggest fear is that something would happen to Kelly and I would have to live my life without him. I'm starting to feel this fear for August as well. I also fear something happening to me to make them live without me.

7-I am addicted to simple computer games: spider solitaire, minesweeper, basic board games...anything that can be played in 10 minutes and downloaded from apple.com.

Like my friends, I'm also not going to tag 7 people to do this, I'm just going to suggest that if you do decide to do this, let me know by commenting on this post.

What a big boy!

2008-11-29T18:54:00.002-05:00

Here's what went on at the McCuaig home today. He's just growing up so fast!

The Mom Haircut

2008-11-28T16:35:00.007-05:00

Lots of women I know have cut their hair short after having a baby. My mom always told me that she cut all of her hair off because I started grabbing it and pulling it.

As many of you know, I desperately wanted to grow my hair out long like it used to be. With the help of prenatal vitamins, I came pretty close. Here's how long it got:

Many thanks to Kelly Lawson for unknowingly donating this picture to my blog!

August has been practicing his grabbing and tugging techniques, and he's gotten pretty good. His grip is getting stronger everyday. So I did it. I got the mom haircut, the one that's short enough to make it harder for babies to get a good grip on it. Here it is:

Now, truth be told, I won't be straightening my own hair too often. It's just too much work and I have other things to focus on. I got this hair cut because it goes both ways, straight and curly.

Note: This post is dedicated to my dear friend Anna who asked to see a picture of my hair. I miss you Anna!

Baby August is One Month Old!

2008-11-25T15:20:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that it has already been one month. People have been asking and guessing which one of us he looks like. After comparing his baby pictures to both mine and Kelly's, we believe he looks A LOT like his daddy. Here are some pictures from August's first month with us:

This is August just minutes after he was born.

This is one of his favorite things to do: hold his hands up by his face.

This was taken while we were learning how many funny faces our little boy could make. He's so much fun to watch!

This is August right after his first bath at home.

I asked Kelly to watch him while I took a shower. This is what I found when I came out of the bathroom.

This is just a cute sleeping picture. Thanks for the cool blanket, Mema!

I think Aunt Joni is proud of her nephew.

Me and my little boy. He was so little when we first brought him home! He was just one week old in this picture.

Tummy time.

And here he is at one month. He was supposed to be having awake time, but as you can see, that wasn't working out so well.

We are so thankful for our little boy. He's hard work, but he's so much fun! We already can't imagine how we ever lived without him. We are so excited about what lies ahead!

Guilty Pleasures

2008-11-18T19:15:00.002-05:00

One of the most amazing women I know once told me that every good girl needs a guilty pleasure. Hers was Desperate Housewives; mine is ghetto music. I love hip-hop and rap. I don't care about the lyrics, mostly I just love the beat and to dance by myself.

All of this background info was to preface this announcement: I am a huge Justin Timberlake fan. Seriously, I love his music, I think he's a decent actor, and his Saturday Night Live appearances crack me up. My favorite is the Barry Gibb Talk Show. Anyway, I came across this video of his most recent appearance on SNL, and thought you needed to see it. Enjoy!

For a Good Cause...

2008-11-10T17:38:00.003-05:00

Kelly found the information about this program while he was at work this morning. It donates shoes for children who need them, so we decided to donate a little money for shoes and join the effort to spread the word. You'll notice a new banner at the top of my blog called "Soles 4 Souls." If you are interested in helping out, please give it a click and do some good. Even $5 will get 2 pairs of shoes to someone who needs it.

I promise I will get back to my blog soon, life has been a little crazy, as you can imagine. During week 1, my parents were here. For week 2, I was by myself and Kelly was behind in school. It was a lot of fun, but also very hard work. Now we are in week 3, and Kelly's mom Cindy is here to help.

Our little August is growing so fast! He's already changed so much. His newborn pictures are posted on this website. Click on PROOFS. The password is ceta05.

August William McCuaig

2008-10-30T16:04:00.005-04:00

I admit it, this post is a little late. After all, August will be one week old in just 9 hours. I've been busy, and quite frankly, blogging has not been the first thing on my mind this past week. So, here I am to catch you all up. Be warned, there will be a lot of overlap between this post and the posts on Kelly's blog.

Let's start at the beginning. My son August was born last Friday, October 24th at 1:11 am. He weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Here is a picture of him:

If you want to see more pictures of him, head on over to Kelly's website by clicking here, and if you want to read the story of his birth, click here.

Sorry I'm not taking the time to write my own blog posts and choose my own pictures, but I have other things I want to spend my time doing. I'll try to do a better job of keeping the blog updated, but for now, I suggest you check Kelly's blog and facebook page regularly for more consistent updates.

I will take the time to say that the happiest day of my life was the day I brought my little boy home. I'm a mom. That's still sort of surreal. I have a son!

I think he's perfect, and no other baby has ever been as wonderful as mine. My life has changed, and I can't imagine the way life was before August was a part of it. The last 9 months have been a bit of a roller coaster, but he has made it all worthwhile. Here's a picture of us arriving at home for the first time:

He does some of the funniest things, and the faces he makes are amazing. His little personality is going to be so much fun! Maybe next time I blog, that will be my subject. We'll see...

FINAL Nursery Update!

2008-10-15T11:07:00.006-04:00

The nursery is done! It was practically done a few weeks ago, but we were waiting on a lamp that was involved in a backorder fiasco, but now we're done. My due date is just 13 days away, so this beautiful room should start getting used pretty soon. Here are the pictures you've been waiting for:

This is how it looks when you first walk in:

This is the bookshelf on the left, complete with the new, worth-the-wait lamp:

Here's the crib:

Here's the changing table (and bath time storage area):

This is the rest of the diaper changing area (diaper stacker, air-tight trash can and dirty clothes hamper):

And last but not least, the nursing/feeding/rocking corner:

Thanks to everyone who helped us out with this! A lot of these great things were gifts, and we are so thankful for them. Also, thanks again to our little boy's grandparents for the wonderful nursery! Soon, I will introduce you to the little boy who is going to live in this room!

Anticipation

2008-10-12T09:11:00.002-04:00

Kelly and I are SO excited. We know now that the arrival of our little boy is just around the corner. I am now considered full-term, and we are pretty sure he is big enough (there was some concern last week that he might be REALLY small). The nursery is ready (except for the silly back-ordered lamp), his clothes are all washed and ready for him to wear, and our bags are packed for the hospital.

We are ready.

I've been having contractions off and on since Wednesday, but never consistent enough to time or strong enough to make me feel like it's real labor. They're starting to get stronger and more consistent, so I'm thinking it can't be much longer. I am so ready!

Kelly is sweet, he's so anxious to be able to hold his little boy...I'm ready for him to do some of the carrying also...It's hard to believe that something we have been looking forward to for so long is just around the corner. It's surreal to think that we will soon be a family, not just a married couple, and that a baby will LIVE here in this apartment with us.

Selfishly, I'm ready to eat some of the foods that this silly gestational diabetes diet has left off-limits. I packed some Hershey's milk chocolate with almonds and toffee in my hospital bag so that I can celebrate. I'm going to tie my own shoes, and enjoy a long shower without getting so tired that I feel like I need a nap afterward.

There are lots of great things I'm looking forward to, but mostly I just want to meet this little boy that has been my constant companion since February...I've worked hard for this!

New Resident

2008-09-29T18:47:00.005-04:00

Most of you who know me well know that I don't really enjoy cats. I'm a puppy kind of girl. I wish every day that I had a dog...and I still miss our Mollie even though I've been without her for so long now. I'm just glad Ashley is giving her a good home. Here's our Mollie:

Anyway, I got off track. A kitten has taken up residence on our balcony. At first I didn't like it because I felt bad for it. I felt guilty that it had to stay outside and hunt for food. I know better than to start feeding a stray cat, because it'll never go away.

But things have changed. I like the kitty. My neighbors have started feeding it and made a little bed for it to sleep in...outside, of course. But now I enjoy it. Kitty eats on the Logans' porch, sleeps somewhere, and spends most of the day on my balcony, looking in my window. It keeps me company while Kelly is at work and school. It's kinda cute. Instead of calling it "that cat" like I used to, I now call it "Kitty," and I talk to it when I walk by. I even enjoy watching Rori play with it. None of us ever lets Kitty in our homes, but that's not because it doesn't try to come in. It's a sneaky little thing. Here's a picture of Kitty:

It's not as cute as Mollie, but it is pretty fun to have around.

Nursery Update 4

2008-09-16T19:17:00.012-04:00

This is a big nursery update. In fact, it's really three updates in one. Yes, we've been busy and I've been really tired, but mostly I just put off writing a new update until I had made too much progress to wait any longer. For those of you who have been looking forward to and asking for this for a while now, I'm sorry.

So, here are my new pictures of the baby's room:

This is how it looks when you first walk in:
The bear in the rocking chair is really important. First of all, that rocking chair was Kelly's when he was little. He can still remember spending lots of time sitting in it. Also, the bear's name is Ralph. Kelly and I went to Build-A-Bear and made it especially for our little boy. Ralph is sitting in the chair patiently awaiting the arrival of his new buddy.
We're still waiting on a lamp to go on top of that book shelf. Another important thing to notice: Baxter (the puppy on the bottom shelf) is from the baby's Aunt Joni. He has a long history that I won't take the time to explain now, just know that he is really special and he is patiently waiting for his new buddy too.
Here is a close-up of the crib:

Here's what the other half of the room looks like:

This is the covered laundry hamper, which is in between the laundry room and the changing table. We tried to think of function and practicality while we were trying to make things look good. Above the hamper is the Baby's First Year calendar that I bought. It comes with stickers for all of the first year milestones so that it is easy to keep track of when he accomplishes something new. Also, you should know that the diaper stacker on the changing table already has newborn diapers in it and the drawer is stocked with wipes, creams, and all kinds of other goodies.

Kelly and I want to send a HUGE thank you to our parents for helping us put together such a wonderful room for our little boy to live in.

We still have one area of the room to finish: the little corner area near the window. It's going to have a rocking chair and be a cozy little corner where I can nurse the baby and sit with him when he needs to calm down. I'll post pictures of this as soon as we get it done.

That's it for now!

Nursery Update 3

2008-09-04T22:18:00.006-04:00

It's been a little while since my last nursery update, simply because there wasn't anything new to update you on. We now have some furniture, and in the next few days we expect to receive the bedding and all of the matching decorations. So, here are some pictures of how the nursery looks now:

I love our baby furniture!

We are so thankful to all of our parents (both mine and Kelly's) for helping us create the perfect bedroom for our little boy to live in.

Fun Food and Good Friends

2008-09-04T21:18:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, Kelly and I have an addiction to the Food Network. It's really common for us to watch for good recipes and then go to foodnetwork.com to save the recipes so we can try them for ourselves. We absolutely love that our cable company has given us the big cable package for the cost of the small one (they say it would cost more to send someone to Wilmore to change it than to just let us have it)...more Food Network recipes! Alton Brown is one of our favorites.

We also love spending time with good friends, and we are so happy that Dustin and Mallary are here now. We invited them over for dinner on Labor Day, but we did not do the traditional cookout. We made potstickers (Chinese dumplings) that we had seen on Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" this summer. The four of us had a dumpling stuffing party, we all helped cook them on the stove, then somehow the four of us ate all 48 of them. Kelly even made some homemade dipping sauce. It was a lot of fun!

Since we are so proud of how good of a job we did, I'm including a picture of our triumphant and delicious accomplishment.

Nursery Update 2

2008-08-26T18:19:00.006-04:00

We've made a lot of progress! We are officially FINISHED moving, unpacking, and decorating the apartment, which means we can start focusing on the baby's room. So here are pictures of his empty room. I took all of the tags off of his clothes and organized his dresser too. The few things in the corner and the closet belong in there. It feels good to know that the only thing in the baby's room is baby stuff.

It may be a little while before there is another nursery update because we have to wait for the crib and the changing table to get here before we do anything else. They've both been ordered, and should both be here by the end of next week.

Nursery Update 1

2008-08-25T10:06:00.007-04:00

This is more of a "before" update than a progress update. I figure you all need to know where I started. We have already done a good bit of unpacking, but we aren't quite done. This is how much we have left to unpack..and yes, it is being stored in the baby's room for the time being.

This is his closet. As you can see, all of the clothes we got this summer are hanging, but they still have all of the tags on them. The rest of the baby stuff we've accumulated is just stacked on the top shelf.

I have a lot of work to do. Today is Kelly's first day at his new job, so I figure today is my first day as a housewife (just for this semester). So, I'm going to go get started!

Update and New Plan

2008-08-25T09:56:00.006-04:00

I realize I've been horrible at updating my blog this summer. But I've got a new plan. Both my parents and Kelly's parents have done a lot to help us with the baby's room. So, in order to keep them in the loop, I'm going to post regular Nursery Updates. Some of you will think this is boring, but many of you are just cheesy enough to think this is fun. Anyway, my goal is to keep the grandparents updated on the progress we are making. The first post will come soon.

On another note, I'm sure you've all figured out that we are back in Kentucky, and settling in to our new apartment. I love it here. I love Kentucky, I love our friends here, and I love our new apartment...who wouldn't after living in Broadhurst for a year and a half? There's plenty of space and everything is nice and new and clean...and there is central heat and air. Anyone who's ever been in the 7th month of pregnancy during August understands the importance of the air conditioner.

So, life is good, we are settled, I feel well, and the baby is coming soon. Here's to the beginning of a new adventure!

Tributes to Great Husbands

2008-08-04T21:59:00.002-04:00

Last week, my friend Kelly Lawson blogged about the many reasons why she loves her husband. I've been tossing around the idea of copying her...after the day I've had today, I've decided that I have to. So, here's my post about why I love my husband.

Before I get started, let me share a little something I've been thinking about. When I was engaged, I had MANY women give me advice on marriage, and if I'm being honest, I have to confess that most of it was horrible advice. People told me that husbands get lazy and become useless, that they stop being sweet once the wedding is over, that they are selfish and inattentive, and that dealing with a husband is a lot like having a child. I was also warned that my first year of marriage would be the hardest year of my life.

I disagree completely. Being engaged was the hardest 9 months of my life. During engagement, you have most of the responsibilities of being married without any of the benefits. No, I'm not talking about the obvious benefits; get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about the good stuff that comes with daily married life; like: not having to schedule time to meet because when you go home he will be there, not wondering what your roommate thinks about all of the time you spend together, and just sitting on the couch together feeling comfortable and at home and just hanging out.

So, on that note, here's what I love about my husband:

Similar Passions: my passion and calling in life fits perfectly alongside his, and sometimes I feel like he is the only person that truly understands this area of my life completely.

Similar interests: He can sit on the couch with me, eating chocolate chip cookies and watching Food Network and episodes of the West Wing all day long. Also, he loves trying out some of those Food Network recipes by cooking a fun, new meal for me.

Nurturing Nature: Some say men aren't supposed to be gentle and nurturing, but to me, nothing is more attractive than a man who tries to take care of his wife. (Even if he has to do ridiculous things like drive to Abuelo's during rush hour traffic because his pregnant wife thinks there may be a chance she can hold down a Durango Burrito with Papas...which takes about an hour and a half, by the way.)

Sense of Adventure: He may be sweet, kind and nurturing, but he's still a guy. He likes to be outdoors hiking or backpacking; he likes to look at the slimy creature that was fished out of the pond, he likes to work with big machinery doing dirty jobs, and he likes to spend time with his dad doing manly things.

Desire to be a Good Dad: He is constantly searching for new ways that he can be a part of this pregnancy, and he is desperately looking forward to the day when he can take the baby on his own and let me have time to rest. I know that he is going to teach our son how to be adventurous and nurturing at the same time.

Last But Not Least: He really said this exact sentence today: "You're getting so big...you're pretty." While I feel less and less comfortable and coordinated, he thinks I'm pretty because I'm carrying his baby.

This list is not complete, of course. He's also wise, extremely talented, chivalrous, and very attractive. And I love to listen to him preach.

So, my point is this: marriage is not bad. It has its challenges, but it can be more wonderful than any sappy teenage girl can dream of. The women who told me marriage is harder than it is good were wrong, and I'm deciding not to listen to their advice on having a baby, either. Yes, it will be hard and my life will never be the same, but I refuse to believe that my life has to be put on hold for the next 18 years. Who says a child can't be part of a fun, joyful life?

Big Realizations and Excitement

2008-08-01T12:25:00.002-04:00

I've always been excited for people I know when they have a baby. It's a big deal, and I've always known that. But it's different now. My friend Kelly had her baby this morning. And I've cried. In fact, I'm so happy for her that any time I think about the fact that her daughter was born, I tear up.

Maybe it's because we shared 6 months of the pregnancy experience together. Maybe it's because I'm realizing that my due date is just 88 days away, and I will soon be heading to the hospital to meet my son. Maybe my pregnancy hormones are just making me extra emotional. I don't know exactly what is different, but I do know that I am excited for Kelly (and maybe a little jealous). And I'm also really sad that I'm not in Kentucky and have to wait 3 or 4 more weeks to meet this new, sweet, little girl.

I think mostly I'm just anxious about going back to Kentucky, preparing a nursery, and meeting my son in October.

One whole month?

2008-07-20T13:46:00.003-04:00

Did I really just go almost a whole month without blogging? I am SO sorry! Life has been a little crazy lately, but not crazy enough for me to completely neglect my blog for that long. Really, I apologize.

Many of you have been asking about how big I'm getting, and how the baby is doing, so here's an update: I have officially gained 9 pounds during this pregnancy (6 in the last month), and at our check up last week, the doctor told us the baby is doing great. He kicks A LOT, and punches A LOT, and moves in every other sort of way A LOT. It's been a lot of fun, but I am just getting to that point where I am big enough to be uncomfortable. So, I am at 26 weeks today, and I'm getting ready to have him. As to the question about my size, Kelly has posted a recent picture of me on his blog. I tried to post it here, but I've been having trouble. So, click on the link on the right to go to Kelly's blog and see the picture of my belly at 25 weeks.

I don't really have much else to say. Things have been going really smoothly. The baby is good, work is good, and not much else is going on. I do miss my sister a lot though. She comes home from Malawi in September, and I'm really excited about it.

Where is my home?

2008-06-22T14:13:00.004-04:00

There is one aspect of my life that I absolutely love 99% of the time, but every once in a while, it makes life really hard. When I think about our entire close-knit group of friends, and people who we love like family, I notice that they live all over the world. Not only are they spread over America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, but there is also virtually no opportunity for me to ever see them all together in the same place at the same time. There is no place where I can go to be with ALL of my friends.

I feel at home in Wilmore, with our good seminary friends and Asbury professors. I feel at home in Lubbock, where I grew up and among my family. I feel at home in Sacramento, surrounded by good friends and Kelly's family. I also feel at home in North Africa, with friendly people and good food. If I am in one of these places, I am missing the others. There is no one place that feels completely like home.

I think, however, that I may have learned more about my home through an experience I had this week. Kelly and I went out to Ceta Canyon for Thursday night worship this week. Ceta is very special to us. For Kelly, it was home for 13 years. For me, it is a symbol of beauty, peace, joy and romance. It is where Kelly and I developed our relationship and the place we got married. Ceta represents one aspect of my idea of home.

Another great thing happened at Ceta. I saw A LOT of great people. I got to see my wonderful pastor and his amazing family. I got to see many of my friends from the Texas Tech Wesley Foundation. I got to be among a large group of people, young and old, worshiping one God. This group was led by a band whose drummer played a large part in my "recovery" after I spent some time away from God when I started college (I hadn't seen him in 3 years). I got to see Alison put a face with a name; she had faithfully prayed for Dane as he battled cancer, but never knew who he was until he showed up to serve God alongside her at a church camp in Texas a few years later.

We hear all of the time that we, as Christians, are just temporary residents here and that our home is in Heaven, and that we are all part of one body. These claims have become cliché in today's church, but they came alive for me this week. This is my home...not Ceta, not these friends in particular, but the idea of the whole body of Christ, uniting in the end to worship the One True God together.

This is how I make sense of my calling; that all people may share in this experience, and so that some day the people who send me, pray for me, and pray for the people I meet can see the fruits of their labor, bowing beside them before the same God.

Lubbock

2008-06-19T10:31:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, Kelly and I are spending some time in Lubbock before we spend the summer working at Sacramento. Lubbock has been fun. I've enjoyed the time with my family, seeing good friends, and of course, one greasy-fantastic calzone from One Guy From Italy. Seriously...that one guy needs to move to Wilmore.

I've been starting to wonder how I would ever afford to buy all the maternity clothes I so desperately need. That worry is gone! My aunt and a very dear friend have been so wonderful; I already have so many new clothes. AND my mom is taking me shopping tomorrow. Of course this is so much fun, but really it means so much to me because it is so helpful. These are things that I've needed, but I've been surviving without them. My aunt also left lots of clothes for the baby, and my friend bought Kelly some new clothes too...we wouldn't want him to feel left out! I am so thankful for the amazing provision Kelly and I have seen in the past few days.

This may sound strange, but I was even excited to see and hear a good old West Texas thunderstorm; it just doesn't do that in Kentucky. We still have some places we'd like to go and people we'd like to see, but so far our trip to Lubbock has been wonderful.

We'll be heading to Sacramento Saturday morning after we have breakfast with another good friend. It's been so much fun to come home bigger and more pregnant than I was when I left; everyone is so excited! I know that seeing my in-laws and my best friend on Saturday will be no exception. This is going to be a great summer!

IT'S A BOY!!!

2008-06-10T13:33:00.010-04:00

It's a boy!! The final poll count was 16 votes for boy and 18 votes for girl. We've settled on a name, but we are choosing to keep it secret until he's born. I will tell you that the middle name is William (after Kelly's dad, grandpa, brother, and several other men in his family).

We went out to celebrate the news after our appointment. I bought the blue yarn for the baby blanket I'm knitting, we bought three little boy shirts and a cute little pair of khaki shorts, Kelly bought me my own little digital camera to use (since I don't like using his huge, really nice, professional one), and we went to lunch at PF Chang's. I used my new camera to take the pictures of the little baby clothes (below).

This is such a wonderful day!

The first picture is his face. You can see that he is holding his foot up to his forehead.

The second picture reveals that this baby is in fact, a boy. You can see his two legs, his little bottom, and the arrow pointing to...well, you know.

The third picture is just a really good side view of his whole body.

Cute Baby Boy Clothes:
My favorite is the little suit with the frogs that says "Little Hopper." I included a picture of Kelly holding one for size reference.

Back Home in Wilmore

2008-06-08T13:01:00.004-04:00

I sat down to write a new blog post, and then I saw that my good friend Kelly Lawson had beaten me to it. Here's her post. I had been hearing about how Wilmore had become the new home of the cicadas, but this is ridiculous! I was actually not glad to be home. They're everywhere! I hate big bugs, and I hate bugs that fly, so this is beyond horrible. They attach themselves to you and catch a ride into your house, and it is miserable! NOT COOL!

Also, Wilmore got HOT while we were gone. It took forever for Wilmore to even get into the 70s, so we never put our air conditioner in. Now it's 90-something degrees and humid and HOT! We're packing today, and hoping to move tomorrow, so there's no point in putting in the AC now. Hopefully, we'll be in our new, air-conditioned apartment by tomorrow evening. The open windows and fans let the noise from the flying invaders in, but at least the screens keep them out. I'm safe for now.

Another "fun" thing we learned about Wilmore when we got back was that our apartment building is being torn down. We knew this was going to happen, but we thought it was a few years away. Lucky for us, we were already planning to move, but I'm sad for many of our neighbors who have to find new places to live before October. I must admit, though, that Broadhurst needs to go; it's old and ugly, but we've made many great friendships here. Making plans to move to a new apartment was bittersweet, and the news of the end of the Broadhurst Era is pretty sad.

As I mentioned, we will be going home to Texas in a few days, but here is our schedule until then:

Sunday: Pack the apartment
Monday: Move (hopefully)
Tuesday: Find out if we are having a boy or a girl, run errands in town
Wednesday: Settle our new apartment as much as possible, and pack for the trip to Texas/New Mexico
Thursday- Drive to Arkansas
Friday- Drive to Dallas
Saturday- Drive to Lubbock and TAKE A BREAK!

That's the update for now, but I'll write again on Tuesday with the news of either baby boy or baby girl McCuaig!

Update and Excitement

2008-05-31T11:05:00.002-04:00

First of all, let me apologize for going so long without blogging. We had finals week and then a week of training in Philadelphia, and I just haven't had time. Sorry for that.

Our training has been going really well. We've loved it, and we've met lots of people that we will be working with in the future. So cool!

We had a bit of excitement yesterday. I had a bit of trouble yesterday. I'm fine now, but I spent the day yesterday in the emergency room. Instead of blogging the whole story again, I'm just going to refer you to Kelly's blog so you can read the story.

That's all I have time for right now, I'll try to write again soon.

Baby Fun

2008-05-11T11:24:00.002-04:00

Kelly and I saw the doctor on Tuesday, and learned two very important things about our baby:

1) The baby is very healthy! The heartbeat is really strong at 153 beats per minute.

2) We have an ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl on June 10th at 9:15 am.

So, here's where the fun comes in. You'll notice on on right side of this blog that there is a new page element. It's a poll. Y'all can vote according to whether you think the baby is a boy or a girl, then on June 10th, I will share the results of the poll, as well as the correct answer.

Thanks to Kelly Lawson (and her baby girl) for this fun idea!

Happy voting!

A Note from our Wonderful Pastor

2008-05-08T08:38:00.003-04:00

We got the monthly newsletter from our home church in Wolfforth, TX this week. Our pastor always writes something great in the newsletter, but this month's was amazing. It has to do with the global church, and the strength of the church in non-Western countries. Curtis allowed Kelly to post the article on his blog, so I'm going to send you over there to read it.

Very Wonderful Treat!

2008-05-02T14:05:00.003-04:00

My mom is awesome. I've known this for quite some time, but she has really outdone herself this week. We had planned a Texas Fellowship party for tomorrow, but it has been rescheduled for next week. When I told my mom about this party, she offered to send some good Tascosa hot sauce for us to give away as door prizes. I knew she was sending several jars, so I planned to keep one for myself. Yesterday, she called me after she shipped them and told me that she had added an additional surprise for me.

My package came today. I had Pedro's Tamales and Tascosa hot sauce for lunch. Mmmm! It was amazing! I've always LOVED Pedro's Tamales, but eating them out of a care package from my mom that was overnighted from Lubbock, TX made them just that much better! For those of you in Lubbock who have never had them, go tomorrow. For the rest of you, check out this website; there's even find a really cool picture of Pedro! You can order them online and have them shipped. While most people think this is a little ridiculous; I don't. They're amazing. And well worth it.

So, thanks mom for the really good treat, and a little piece of home. I feel like I am recharged and can make it through the 42 days before I'm back in Texas. I love Kentucky, but I'm ready for good Tex Mex food and time with family.

Major Milestones and Random News

2008-04-22T09:57:00.003-04:00

Pregnancy has brought two big milestones this week. This is officially the last week of my first trimester, and I am feeling pretty great. I still feel funny sometimes, but most of the time I feel pretty great. Some of you know that I've been having success holding down meals with beef; we've called that my first craving. But, I've moved on. I'm tired of beef. Really tired of it. What's next you ask? Chinese food. I've had fried rice or chicken chow mein several times in the past week. It's so good! I can't wait to get to Lubbock and have some Great Wall egg rolls. The Great Wall restaurant here in Wilmore is pretty good, but let's face it: Lubbock's great wall is much better. We can't afford to eat out every night, so I'm gonna have to learn how to make some decent Chinese food.

Another big milestone this week was feeling the baby move. At first I wasn't sure, because it's a little earlier than the average woman starts feeling baby. After talking with my mom, and some other recently pregnant friends, I'm pretty sure what I've been feeling is baby. How cool is that?! I'm so excited! I know that I'll get tired of the movement, particularly when I'm in bed trying to sleep, but for now this is a really exciting milestone.

And here's some random news for those of you in Texas. I was looking around on msn.com this morning, and there was a list of the cities with the best and worst teeth in America. Lubbock, TX was at the top of the worst teeth list. How funny is that?! I don't think Lubbock's teeth are that bad; but maybe I missed something. You can find the story here. Anyway, I just thought that was funny and decided to share it with you.

Well said, Kelly!

2008-04-16T09:54:00.003-04:00

My husband posted a blog entry this morning that I absolutely love, and I want all of you to see it. I know many of you keep up with both of our blogs, but for those of you who just read mine, I'm going to request that you go check his out today. Here's the link to the entry I want you to see.

Oh Happy Day!

2008-04-15T10:22:00.002-04:00

As promised, I have news from yesterday's appointment with the doctor. Everything is great! It was a wonderful appointment; we got to hear the heartbeat again, and the doctor I saw was really, really nice.

As for other pregnancy news, I'm finally feeling better! I still get really queasy when I let myself get hungry, but at least I can eat and hold my food down. I've been losing weight, but I can feel the end-of-the-first-trimester turnaround coming into play. I'm starting to have a little more energy too. I've heard stories about a magical, wonderful place known as the "second trimester;" I am quite excited to see what the next few weeks have in store. Maybe I can be cool like my friend Becca; when she started her second trimester, she blogged about finally being able to brush her teeth with "reckless abandon." I want to be able to do that!

I am in a really good mood today. I just checked the weather, and the sun is supposed to be out for the rest of the week! No rain or frost for 5 whole days?! This is amazing! AND. . .by the end of the week we should have a day or two in the 70s! (I'm sure that those of you who live in Kentucky and Indiana understand how great this news is, after the recent tease of spring that led to more rain and frost and cold...and NO sunshine.) I am sitting on the third floor of the library, waiting for chapel (which I haven't felt good enough to attend for the last month), listening to some good old Texas Country (Pat Green and Cooder Graw), and looking out the window at the sunny sky, knowing it's almost 50 degrees outside. Yes, today is a WONDERFUL day!

Now I just have to find something to eat before chapel...

Update

2008-04-13T16:20:00.002-04:00

There's not a whole lot I need to share with you, but I figured I'd better write an update since it's been so long. Kelly and I are still working to balance pregnancy and school, and it's still quite a challenge. He's been great! He's made me homemade chicken enchiladas, cut up watermelon and gone to get Chinese food. He's doing a great job of taking care of me.

I think I may be turning the corner on this morning sickness thing. I still get really, really queasy because of really minor things, but I'm actually getting sick a lot less, so I think it's improving. My sense of smell continues to be my greatest enemy. Food stinks, my apartment stinks, and yes, even water smells bad. It reminds me of mildew. I thought I was crazy until I shared this with a friend and she said the same thing happened to her when she was pregnant. At least I know this ridiculousness is somewhat normal.

Like I said, there's really not much to share right now. We have an appointment with the doctor this week, so I'll try to post a real update after that.

What a good trip!

2008-04-02T10:54:00.002-04:00

As most of you know, we just got back from a short (but fun) trip to New York to visit Kelly's uncle Bob. Here's a brief summary of the trip:

Friday-We arrived in Albany late in the afternoon, and drove back to Bob's apartment near Hyde Park. We just hung out and ordered some traditional New York Pizza.

Saturday-We got up and caught a train to the city. We ate lunch at Grand Central Station, then went to do some touristy things. First, we went to the top of the Empire State Building. From there I got to see the Statue of Liberty and Central Park. After that, we went to Macy's to shop for shoes, and I found some really cute ones! After walking around for so long, we decided to take a rest and eat some Godiva in the basement of Macy's. YUM! Our next stop was Sunglass Hut, where I bought my first really great pair of sunglasses. (Just for the record, all of this money I spent was leftover Christmas and Birthday money.) Next, we went to Times Square and visited the Hershey's store and the M&Ms store. For dinner, we went to Little Italy, and had some of the best Italian food I've ever had in my life! This was the end of day one; we took a train back to Poughkeepsie and spent the rest of the evening relaxing at Bob's.

Sunday-We went down to Manhattan again. After lunch at Grand Central Station again, our first stop was Macy's; we had to exchange the shoes I bought, because I had gotten two left shoes. To make up for the inconvenience, we stopped and had Godiva again. Then we took a Taxi to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We got to see some AMAZING things including an Egyptian temple, and original Picasso, Monet and Van Gough paintings. The coolest thing was a hair piece. It was a metal flower-shaped comb from the city of Ur. This was cool because it was from the same time period that Abraham is said to have taken his family and left. So, we got to see an artifact from a time and place that we have been studying in our Old Testament class. That was really neat! This made for a long day, so we headed back to Bob's for the evening.

Monday-We did Hyde Park. We saw the FDR presidential library and the Roosevelt mansion. I got to see some REALLY cool things. I saw FDR's car that had been modified so that he could drive with his hands, and the first draft of the Day of Infamy speech, complete with hand-written changes made by the president. SO COOL! We had a late breakfast and an afternoon ice cream snack at the Eveready Diner. This diner has been featured on the Food Network's show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" with Guy Fieri. We had dinner at a pub with some of Bob's friends, then we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday-We ate breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts, then packed and headed to the airport in Albany. During our layover in Baltimore, Kelly and I had one more round of Godiva chocolate. We were really tired and glad to be home, but we had SO MUCH fun!

Week 9 and Spring Break

2008-03-26T19:53:00.003-04:00

We're in week 9 now, and I am really looking forward to the end of the first trimester. They say that somewhere near the end of the first trimester, pregnant women start to feel better and experience little or no morning sickness. I am SO ready for that. It's been a bit of a rough ride so far.

The baby is already the size of an olive. In the next two weeks, the baby will grow a lot! Also, our baby is officially a fetus now; it was just an embryo. Another cool thing: this week is a big week for facial structure development. How cool is that?

My goal for now is just to feel better this weekend. For spring break, we're going to visit Kelly's uncle in New York, and he's promised to take us into the city for a day or two. I really don't want to be sick during my first visit to New York City. That would be a major bummer.

I guess that's all I have to say for now; I hope you all have a great week!

Exciting Day!

2008-03-21T16:32:00.009-04:00

So, I went to the doctor today. We were expecting a somewhat bland appointment. On the agenda was a blood test, genetic history interview, and a list of dos and don'ts for pregnant women. What we got was a lot more!

At the end of the appointment, the nurse/midwife asked me if we wanted to see the baby. OF COURSE! So, today we saw the baby, AND heard its heartbeat. All of this morning sickness has been put into perspective. It's now ok that I don't feel good, because I have something to show for it.

My baby is so cute! It is 1.83 cm long, its heart was beating at 162 beats per minute, and it has arms and legs. You can see in this picture that the head is up at the top, and the little legs are at the bottom.

There is a little life inside of me! We are both really excited about today. I even woke up feeling better today than usual. It has been a GREAT day. Perhaps soon we'll do the cool thing and come up with a nickname so the baby doesn't have to be an "it;" but for now, I just wanted to share the news.

Kelly put all of the pictures on his blog, and he labeled different things. You should check it out here.

Eight Weeks!

2008-03-15T10:30:00.006-04:00

I should start by saying that the dates my doctor gave me do not quite match with the little developing baby at the top of my blog. According to my doctor, I start a new week each Sunday, but according to the ticker above, the new weeks start on Tuesdays. I'm going to try to update my posts according to the info I got from my doctor.

So, a new week brings a new fruit. My baby is now the size of a raspberry. It's already growing quite quickly. In just a few short weeks, I should have a baby the size of a significant fruit and be leaving the first trimester, and hopefully the morning sickness behind.

For those of you who read my husband's blog about how our baby looks like a reptile right now, take heart! Week 8 supposedly brings the disappearance of the tail, and the head loses its awkward shape. Unfortunately, my baby won't start looking like the tiny baby in the ticker above until week 9.

We have a doctor's appointment next week, on Friday. It'll be my first one with blood work, genetic history and all kinds of fun stuff. I'll be sure to keep you updated as we go to the appointments and get results.

Thank you so much for all of the encouraging comments and morning sickness advice I've been getting. I am so thankful to have such a supportive husband and so many friends looking out for me. Really, you guys make it just a little easier to be so far away from our siblings and parents. On that note, that's all I have to say for now, but I'll continue to keep you updated often!

Pregnancy Stuff

2008-03-12T08:46:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd share a few things with you that Kelly and I are thinking about and dealing with these days:

-Many of you are asking how I'm feeling; really, not so great. My morning sickness is more like all day sickness right now. The fact that a lot of women do this more than once encourages me to remember that this is WAY worth it.

-My super cool friend, Kelly Lawson, shared a neat website with me that compares the size of your baby to food items. This website has been really popular with my family. Mom, dad and Joni (my sister), are all really excited to hear what the next fruit will be. When we found out we were pregnant, we were in week four, which was illustrated by a poppyseed. Since then, we have been through apple seed and sweet pea. Now, in week seven, our baby is about the size of a blueberry. This is really cool...thanks Kelly!

-People are asking if I'm showing yet. Nope, it's too early for that. However, even though I have gained almost NO weight, and I'm not showing, I do already feel more uncomfortable in my abdomen. For example: one habit I've already had to break is my early morning stretch (not like real stretching before a workout, but just the quick stretch-out-as-long-as-possible-to get-moving-in-the-morning-stretch.) I stretched like normal last week, and this burning, tightening sensation rushed across my whole abdomen...not a good feeling. I don't stretch in the mornings anymore.

If you have any other questions you'd like me to answer, just comment on this post and ask it. I'll try to answer it soon. Or, for those of you who have already been through this part of pregnancy, feel free to give me good advice. That's all I have time for right now, I hope you all have a wonderful day!

BIG NEWS!

2008-03-11T10:43:00.004-04:00

We're having a baby! Kelly and I have been wanting this for quite a while now, and we are so excited that it is finally going to happen. Right now I am just 7 weeks, so we're not due until October 28th. As soon as I have some time, I'll start adding things to my blog and writing updates. I'll try to be really good and keep you up-to-date on what's going on with us!

For those of you who have been keeping a big secret for the last week or two, thanks; you're now free to tell whoever you want!

My Sentiments Exactly!

2008-02-29T11:02:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that Kelly and I have a different view of the Muslim world than most Americans. Having spent time with Muslims, in Muslim countries, and making some of the best friends we'll ever have, we have been able to experience what most Americans never even get to hear about. We are beyond thankful for the opportunities we've been given.

You probably aren't surprised, then, when I confess that I am one of those people who is really upset by the way Barack Obama is being treated. No, I still don't know who I'm going to vote for, so I'm not trying to talk you into anything. I just get frustrated about the ignorance that perpetuates fear and hatred in our country. I'm tired of all of those email forwards.

The blogging world is exploding right now with people saying the things I want to say; and quite frankly, they're doing a better job of it. I am going to refer you to two blogs that I think have great things to say about the responsibility of Christians when it comes to the relations between the Muslim world and American politics.

The first blog I want to refer you to is God's Politics by Jim Wallis. This man is widely known in the political arena as talking about and promoting the new priorities of evangelical voters. He fits in quite well with the ideas I wrote about a few weeks ago in my post about the new generation of evangelical voters. If you want to see an interview with him on A Daily Show with Jon Stewart, click here. I really highly recommend you take a few minutes to watch this video (for those of you who follow Kelly's blog closely, you've probably already seen it).

The other blog I want you to read is written by a student who recently graduated from Asbury Seminary. His name is Omar Al-Rikabi, and he has an amazing story. His father is Iraqi and his mother is from Houston. He's lost family members on both sides of the current military conflict, so his perspective is uniquely well-rounded. Check out his blog here, and look for the post called The Politics of Names.

Seriously, if you read or watch any of these materials, I want to know what you think. I really believe that one of the best ways for Christians to discern the will of God is to talk with other Christians, and I'd like my blog to be an opportunity to do that.

Fun Day-Trips and Big Decisions

2008-02-26T13:15:00.003-05:00

So, I had a really fun experience yesterday. My friend Kelly Lawson and I drove to Cincinnati to hear Barack Obama speak. Neither of us is particularly for or against him at this point; we just wanted to know what he had to say. I hope that soon I can post some details about our trip, but for now I am too far behind on my reading to spend much time blogging. I do, however, suggest that you read Kelly's blog post about our trip yesterday, along with the comments people are making; they've got a lot of good things to say. You can find her blog here, or click on her name in the list of links on the left of this page. The entry I'm referring you to is called Voting Schmoting. Let me know what you think!

Kelly-sorry I'm being lazy and taking advantage of your blogging diligence.

Update

2008-02-21T09:54:00.002-05:00

There's not a lot to report, but I just wanted to fill you in on some plans Kelly and I have made in the past week:

First of all, we're going to Texas! We will get there on March 7th and leave on the 10th. We are going to visit our church family at Wolfforth, go to a reception for some friends of ours that are getting married (we look forward to having you guys join us in Wilmore soon...) and taking some time to visit with family and friends. It will be a really short trip, but we're looking forward to it.

Secondly, we're going to visit Kelly's uncle Bob for spring break. He lives in Hyde Park, New York, and has promised to take me into the city for a day. I am so excited! I've always wanted to go to New York because it is said to have its own culture and atmosphere. I'm excited to see the big city!

Lastly, we have planned to go back to Sacramento for the summer. We are still ironing out the details because we have some commitments up here in June, but we're looking forward to another great summer in the mountains.

That's really all I have for now. School is going well; I LOVE my classes! And, I am finally getting over the stupid sore throat I've had for almost three weeks. I'll keep you posted on anything else, thanks for reading!

New Generation of Evangelical Voters

2008-02-16T10:38:00.008-05:00

The other day, Kelly and I were watching a news show (I'm pretty sure it was 60 minutes) and we saw a story on the new generation of evangelical voters. I have tried and tried to find that video so I could post it here, but I just can't find it. I'll try to do a good job summarizing it.

Many young evangelical voters were interviewed and asked what issues had the most influence on their decision making process. The answers ranked the highest were: environmental issues, poverty and humanitarian efforts (one of which is the AIDS epidemic in Africa). These youth still felt strongly about the issues their parents care most about (abortion and gay marriage), but they were much lower on the list. Our generation wants to help. We want to make the world a better place to be.

This is how I will decide who I vote for as well. I want to vote for someone who will actually work to make this world a better place to be, to use their power to stand against injustice. I know that this is just one aspect of what the president is responsible for, but it's the issue that is the most important to me. As one of the most wealthy and powerful nations in the world, shouldn't we be using our resources to alleviate the suffering in the world?

I don't want to say that the older generation was ineffective or misguided, just that it makes sense to me that the best way for Christians today to make a difference is to stop focusing on creating laws that reflect our morals and start working toward actually solving the problems in the world.

God told us exactly how He wants the world to be. He wants His people to bring shalom to the world. One of my textbooks from last year says this: "Generally translated as peace, the concept of shalom means more than the absence of war, our common definition of peace. Instead, shalom is a concept that communicates the sense of 'human welfare, health, and well-being, in both spiritual and physical aspects.' Shalom is a way of life that characterizes the covenant relationship between God and His people." I've noted at the bottom the resource used for this quote.

I still haven't decided who I will vote for; I have a while to make my decision. But these are the issues I will be listening for from now until November.

Source:
Bradshaw, Bruce. Bridging the Gap: Evangelism, Development and Shalom. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 1994.

Relief!

2008-02-14T13:14:00.002-05:00

Not too long ago, I wrote that I was excited about 3 of my 4 classes. That has changed; I am now excited about all 3 of my classes. Yes, I dropped that other one. After going through the first week of school, I realized that I would be spread just too thin. I do want to finish soon so we can move on to what's next, but I don't want to get in so much of a hurry that I stop doing well.

I began to think about this last night, but I was having a hard time deciding. Then, I took a bag of peanut M&Ms to Dr. Kalas (today is his birthday), and he asked about my classes. I told him what I was taking, and he commented that it was a very good schedule, but that it may be too much to digest. He was right. That was the confirmation I needed. So I still have a lot to do, but I am much more comfortable and excited about this semester.

Bittersweet. . .But Mostly Sweet

2008-02-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

Kelly just came in and told me that the other Kelly told him that there are quite a few chili entries, but not enough desserts. So, I don't need to make chili from the Happy, Texas cook book, but I do get to make cherry pineapple dump cake. It seems like the perfect Texas Fellowship Chili Cook-off dessert. This is actually a good thing because I know exactly how to make it. Thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law for sharing her wonderful recipe with me. This is going to be a great week!

Exciting Week Ahead

2008-02-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

This week is going to be a big week; I am very excited about it. For one thing, school starts. I am really looking forward to 3 of my 4 classes. But that's not what's got me so excited.

First of all, I woke up this morning feeling well. I've had some horrible head cold thing since last Monday. Yes, I've been sick for a whole week. I still sound bad, but at least I feel better. I got out of bed, came in the kitchen, and there it was, on my dry erase board, the source of my excitement: TEXAS FELLOWSHIP CHILI COOK-OFF THIS FRIDAY! Yeah! I am so pumped! I haven't been to a chili cook-off since the Wesley did one a few years ago. I was feeling so Texas-cheerful that I turned on my Cooder Graw and Pat Green workout music mix and had a really good workout.

Then I realized something: I have to make chili (which I've never done before) and compete with all of the other Texas students here at Asbury. I'm not afraid, though, because I have something they don't have...A Happy, Texas cookbook with a choice of 5 different chili recipes. I think I know which one I want to make, but I'm gonna wait to choose until Kelly gets home to make my final decision (he's probably eaten them all at some point and can tell me which one is best).

Texas Fellowship gatherings are always my favorite part of starting a new semester at Asbury. Just because I'm so incredibly excited about this, I may make some Texas Sweet Cornbread as well. I can't wait til Friday!

Just A Hint of Irony

2008-02-10T20:14:00.001-05:00

So, I just wrote about how awful Lubbock weather is most of the time, and how Kentucky weather is so much better than West Texas weather. A few minutes later, I went to kcbd.com to double check my spelling of John Robison's name, and I saw that it is in the 60s in Lubbock. I must admit, I'd take Lubbock's 60s over Wilmore's 20s any day. I guess it's impossible to have the best of both worlds.