4 lbs 1 oz.

I've never celebrated two numbers so much in my life. My son has finally reached the 4 lb mark, making it a little more of a possibility that he'll be home for Christmas.

As most of my avid readers know, we had our baby early. Six weeks early, he was born on Thanksgiving day at 7:07 am. I re-read my last post about nights alone and if I'll miss being by myself. Now that Indiana's been born, the hours just crawl by. I'm constantly alone, waiting until I can make it up to the hospital to see him again. And every time I see him, time just flies. He recognizes my voice, he smiles at me and seems to breathe me in when I hold him. I love him so much.

I was right about one thing, I really don't remember what life was like without little Indiana. I feel like he's always been here, that I was pregnant and admitted into the hospital forever ago. I never want to be without him.

Title to be added later...

As I sit here, in my compression hose and carpal tunnel hand brace, and as Keith is off at the movies watching RocknRolla without me, I can't help but feel as though I'm getting a glimpse into my future.

Don't get me wrong and don't worry, this is not going to be a post about how I am giving up the freedoms of being a young, married adult because of the upcoming birth of my first child...on the contrary. You see, I sometimes like spending nights alone. I must admit, if you were to rewind to exactly a year ago, and if I were in the exact same situation, I'd probably be very unhappy if not pretty depressed. Not only because I would be wearing compression hose and a hand brace for no reason, but because at that time I felt that I always had to be doing something. I always had to be with someone. I'm not sure that the imminent birth of Indiana is making me love alone time because I know somewhere in the back of my mind that I may not experience it for a while, or if I've just changed because of the pregnancy. Whether it's because I can't stand to be out late at night anymore, or that I can't sit through a movie in the theatre without running to the bathroom at least twice, I find that lately I've just preferred staying home and sometimes preferred even being alone.

"What do you do while you're alone?" you ask? Well, let me just tell you. About 30% of my alone time is spent reading online or in a book about different ailments I feel I'm suffering. Tonight, I tried to look up "quickened heartbeat" on a website called whattoexpect.com which is all about pregnancy. Half way through the search, I quit because I thought whatever I found would just make me more anxious thus quickening my heartbeat even further. 55% of my alone time is spent searching through old journals or gallon-sized zip lock bags full of pictures from the past. About a month ago, I hit the jackpot and found several ooollllddd pictures of all of us in college...at the pool, at Bennigan's (yeah, they're that old)...on the 1st day back from time spent apart. Lots of great memories. And still another chunk of my time is spent in front of the mirror, picking my face...gross, but true. I've found that my nose has even gained weight.

I wonder if in a year or so from tonight, I'll miss being alone...or if I won't even remember what life was without little Indiana.

I'm not a blogger, I'm a mother

I keep visiting my own blog thinking that when i come here, i'll actually post something. So i decided this time that i'm actually going to do it.

As most of my avid readers know, I'm soon having a baby. He's due January 13th and we're naming him Indiana Matthew Ramos Krepcho. I already know that this is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to me. Right up there with marrying Keith. I just can't believe what pregnancy does to you. There have been so many weird changes and things that I've had to get used to being pregnant.

Keith has been amazing through it all. In the first few months, he treated me like a queen, he still does. Going out at night to buy me Schlotzky's or Twix bars. He's been reading and reading about what is happening with our baby from week to week, and a book called, On Becoming Baby Wise
(not a link). I am so glad to be having children with Keith. He seems to be so committed already to the idea and responsibility of fatherhood.

We've moved back to Va beach and are living with my parents which has been just amazing. Of course, we'd really love to be in our own place, but it just hasn't worked out that way. We've also been looking for a job for Keith, one with benefits and good pay. These things sort of keep me up at night because I get worried about how we'll survive once this baby is born. But I know, and it's been proven that God provides.

All I can think about is this baby and how much I love him already. I wonder what he'll look like, what his temperament will be, what he'll be interested in when he gets older. Who he'll marry. I can't wait!

Baby Brother II

Julia recently posted a blog titled Poor Baby Brother which you should read, it sparked an interesting notion in me that I feel is very relevant to today's young couple and to today's younger parents.

The post is originally about our younger brother Sam who has been criticized lately by our parents on his fashion sense and extreme concern about his image. Later in the blog, Julia brings up an interesting question, that I cannot help but address. She says,

"... i began to question how i would raise my kids. There are so many parents out there that allow their kids to discover life on their own. to do the whole piercing thing...to do the whole colored hair thing...to find their own faith and to embrace it. But as an adult...knowing that life would probably be less complicated if i just allow him/her do what they want...how do you make your kids understand the importance of order and instill the values that have gotten you through life just all right. in my opinion...style is less important than the condition of their hearts. what is truth to me and how much of that am i supposed to make my kid believe. am i supposed to make them? As a christian...how do i allow my kids to find it and make it real to themselves than just something their family believed in or something that i'm forcing down my kids' throats.

is it the amount of time you spend with your kids or is it how much you allow them to hang out with their friends? i don't think i would dress and act the way i do if my mom hadn't nagged as much as she did. i have a feeling in a few years, sam will thank her for stopping him from looking like a tool."

I thought about this question, and I've seen several examples of each type of parenting. There's the parent who force feeds every single truth about life down their child's throat. In the end, this child is usually the one who goes berserk and ends up going off the deep end. On the other hand, there's the parent who claims that their child is their best friend, "we do everything together, I let her have a drink if she's in MY house..." or "I let her boyfriend stay the night in her room because I trust her..." Which I feel is a totally unhealthy relationship and sort of insane. And then there's the parents who are sort of in between- trying to think about what would be easiest for themselves- how could I raise this kid in a way that will still allow me to keep my own lifestyle? Of course there are loads of parents in between.

Sam is a great kid. I regret that I don't know him as well as a I should, being away from home for the past 8 to 10 years and all...but from what I get to see every summer and Christmas, he is really great. He's funny, smart, talented, good looking, great with people, great with little kids, he understands humor, he Loves the Lord, I could go on and on. He and Julia grew up in a different "Ramos Era" than Arianne and I did. When Arianne and I were their ages, we were still playing kickball with lines of dirt in our necks (more like Sam's age, not julia's). We wore what was bought for us by our mother from the Navy Exchange- or hand-me-downs from ladies in the church or our Auntie Loida. We wore what fit and what we could find.

Our family is a family that is somewhat concerned with image. We like to dress nice because I think we feel nice. That is to say that I'm not sure I agree with Julia's idea that style is not really what matters, what matters more is what is on the inside. Yes, to an extent, but I think more that we dress the way we do because it is what is on the inside. If i feel great, i'll wear a dress and heels to work, if I'm in a foul mood, I'll wear a baggy t-shirt and mom jeans to the movies (not our mom but you know...'mom' jeans as a general statement). I don't have a problem with our family being that way, but I think we dress and look the way we do because there is a certain sense of pride that we have. I realize this may sound arrogant or what have you, but it's true. So not only is Sam growing up in a different "Ramos Era" but he's going through a stage that ALL people go through, the stage of awkwardness when you're constantly worried about how you look, or who your friends are, or what girl or guy likes you at the moment. He's just going through it in a heightened sense. He's our only boy, he's the youngest, and he's got Julia as an older sister! Julia- the Ramos family stylist.

Now, when it comes to the question of how I will raise my own children. I feel that the lifestyle of a parent should be included (as it has come to be in mostly christian circles) as a choice in the discussion of careers. I have high respect for women who proudly say "I'm a full time mother." That's the way parenting was intended to be, I believe in mothers staying at home with their young children. I believe in spanking a child when they do something wrong, I believe in family night, I believe in prayer and family devotions. I believe in house rules, I believe in do's and don't's. But i also believe, that if a child does not understand obedience and authority, all of these things will never happen. The child will not know the value of these things because they are not taught about them.

It may seem that my parents are telling Sam what or what not to wear...but they do it because they know in 5 months, Sam's gonna look back and say, "really?? a think band and a comb??" They also know what a respectable person looks like, or what THEY expect their son to look like. They have authority in this matter. They have raised him, disciplined him, fed him, cared for him, provided for him...as they did with all of us.

I think that children understand this sort of authority and obedience in the example that we give them in taking care of them. Parents have an obligation to take care of their children...the obligation is to the child, but it is ultimately to the Lord. John Piper gave a very convicting sermon about how "Marriage is for making babies...children of God." Yes, marriage is about being fruitful and multiplying, but its also about making more worshipers of Christ! When I think of that, I want to start having babies right away and raising them in the way of the Lord so that all of this stuff will be instilled in them. It may not make the road they travel smooth and paved with golden bricks or whatever, but I assume it would help. Loving your child in the way God intended will produce a healthy, thriving, biblical relationship. I know it's difficult to say, and I have no way of knowing the hardships of parenthood, because sadly, I am not yet a mother, but I truly believe this.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.- prov. 22:6

He may not see it now, but Sam has got it made.

Musical Inspiration 2

FEIST WAS AMAZING ! i FINALLY got a chance to see my IDOL!

She gave such a well-rounded performance. Not only was i COMPLETELY taken by surprise by the power of her voice- the fullness, the range etc, and her skills on the guitar, it was also a beautiful show! She had these girls doing this artwork with light/overheads. Here's a video of mushaboom:



As good as the show was, we sort of had one of the craziest days of our lives yesterday... I took the day off so we could spend all day out there in dallas. We had planned to go see "Snow Angles" at the Angelika, but when we got there, we saw this:





so i had to do this:



wouldn't you?



Apparently, this was either the world premiere or a screening of the movie Expelled which opens this weekend. so we didn't actually get to see a movie. You should go see it!

Because we didn't get to see a movie, we decided to try and find something else to do. First we went to this mall, trying to kill time, but we couldn't spend money...so we try to just drive around to find something to do...we got lost, we ended up in the ghetto, we got sick from drinking too much Starbucks, Keith ran over a curb, there was traffic, we were driving around for HOURS and man it was CRAZY. but nonetheless, Feist made it worth it.

I need another day off!

clarification...

My previous post was in light of the events of my OWN life. I do not think that a pursuit of higher education is a bad thing. On the contrary, I still have a strong desire to get my masters, but not as strong as my desire to start my family.

What I really meant to say in my last post was that because of the transition Keith and I are about to face, and in light of the hardships that have been happening around us, I've been faced with the two "choices" to either start my family or continue in my education. And there have been so many things going on in my life around me that make me feel that starting a family may be what the Lord has for me in the near future- nearer than when I could possibly start my Masters. I look at Olivia and how big she's gotten and at Sam who is a completely different person, or Katie and Christie and what we've missed out on in their lives. Nana dying, our good friend's dad dying. And when I see all of these changes, and the suffering and the different things around me, I think I know what the answer is. The pursuit of my further education right now, in this season of my life would totally only be for me, myself, my own fulfillment. Whereas starting a family would probably be more meaningful and fulfilling to me. Not because I'd be a mother, but because this was the Lord's first commandment to man and woman. And I feel convicted in this because I thought for so long that having a baby would put an end to my career, or potential career. On the other side, I know that having a baby isn't the fix-all. It will totally change my life. It will put a new perspective on things.

I still have a strong desire to get my masters, but I think if I got it right now, the only reason I would would be because it was convenient, or because I felt I had to "seize the moment." I don't think the Lord would give me such strong desires for education, or such a talent and then never have me use those things. It's possible that God would allow me to do both or neither.

Please, don't get the wrong idea. Pursuit of knowledge is noble if it is the right knowledge and if it is for the glory of God. Someone could be a very brilliant brain surgeon and be a Christian, doing their job to the glory of God. I was merely saying that in my personal life, I think that the pursuit of a higher education at this point in my life would only be vanity, striving after wind. This may change in a few months, I'm sure that the answer will come in a steady devotional life- which I still struggle with. Because God does work all things out for good for those who love him. Loving him means keeping his commands. I know that if I pursue him first, everything else will fall into place.

Amazing Grace.

There has been so much going on in the past few days and weeks that although I may not have much to say, I felt I should really blog about it.

Times are changing. Pastor Tim gave a sermon on Sunday from Ecclesiastes ch. 1 & 2 about how worldly knowledge is meaningless outside of a relationship with the Lord. This has been something Keith and I have sort of been struggling with. Keith has been a little more outright with it, I'm sort of struggling with it quietly and to myself. Events have taken place in the past few weeks that have made us wonder what exactly we're doing out here in TX. What are the real priorities in our lives? What should our goals really be? King Solomon said that everything he had gained under the sun was completely meaningless apart from God. Wisdom or folly, all meaningless, striving after wind. It's like a song my voice teacher had me sing my junior year at Southeastern, "You can't take it with you, Brother Will, Brother John. You can't take it with you, Brother Will. You'll have to leave it when the coffin lid's on. You can't take it with your, Brother Will, Brother John." The wise man and the fool die alike.

All this to say...I don't know what my next step should be. I'm not sure why I want to pursue any sort of betterment of myself by means education, what good will it do me when I'm faced with really tough situations like what we've been dealing with here? When someone you love so much is hurting so badly or is so confused or unmotivated, or angry...what good is a Masters of Music going to do for them? What will it do for me if I'm the one hurting? As important as Seminary is to Keith, what about really ministering to those we love? The only wisdom that has any merit is knowing the Lord. Knowing his Word, knowing his comfort, knowing that he is stable, reliable, unfailing.

Everything that's been happening has just made me want to scoop up everyone I really love, put them in my pocket, move somewhere where we can all be together, and then start my own family. I want to really start living. Corny, but true. What the heck are we doing here? I'm working a tough job solely to pay bills, I don't feel fulfilled in it, I don't wake up every morning thinking I'm going to change a child's life. I've been slapped in the face with the cold reality that everything, apart from God is completely meaningless. And suffering for the sake of suffering itself- suffering without Christ -is hopeless. What can we suffer through which Christ has not already suffered? What meaning does our suffering have if we haven't an eternity with Christ to look forward to?

Not that I'm depressed, I'm just saying what I've been thinking and realizing over past few days. I feel that my perspective has changed. What I should be wondering is not, "What am I going to do next?" but "How now shall I live?" (no, i haven't read the book, but the title always made me think.) I want to live better, more fulfilled, more meaningfully. All of which are only possible through Christ.

God causes all things to work together for good for those who are in Christ. I think God is going to give me a chance to witness him proving his Word, not because he has to, but because that's who he is.

Musical Inspiration 1

From Wikipedia.com (I know, not everyone counts it as a credible source...but it's easy!)

The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) written in 1962- Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portugeuese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes with English lyrics written later by Norman Gimbel.  The song was inspired by -a fifteen-year-old girl living in the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Everyday she would stroll pass the "Veloso" bar-cafe on her way to the beach, attracting the attention of Jobim and Moraes who were regulars there.

One verse translates:

"the exemplar of the raw Carioca (a person from Rio de Janeiro): a golden-tanned girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of brightness and grace, the sight of whom is also sad, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of beauty that fades, of the beauty that is not ours alone -- it is a gift of life in its constant, beautiful and melancholic ebb and flow."

Now think of that translation and watch the video.  There is so much feeling on the faces of these men, who reunite to perform and relive this song even in their old age...enjoy!

baby brother's b day.

My little tiny baby brother turned 13 today.  Thirteen...geez.  I left the house when he was 6, and now he's 13.  That is sad and insane.

It seems like the only thing I deem worthy to blog about is the fact that I am SO ready to get back to VA and get back to Little Sam and the rest of the growing brood.  Its weighing on my mind a whole lot.  I am really excited about it and I hope that the Lord blesses our plans to move out.

Our borrowed car got broken into on Thursday night.  I had just gone through one of the worst experiences of my life...the All-City concert and evaluation with my girl's choir.  They killed sight-reading.  Not the "killed" as you would say, "Man, Nells Kline kills that guitar solo!" But "killed" as in , "Wow...somebody killed that cat."  It was terrible.  We got back really late and parked in front of our apartment which is not in a gated area of our complex.  At around 6:20 the next morning, someone rang on our doorbell.  It was the neighbor from downstairs she was on her way to work and saw that the doors on our car were wide open and the driver's side window had been smashed in.  They stole the radio and a tent that I bought for Olivia's birthday.  I suppose I shouldn't have left it in the car, but it's a butterfly tent for a two-year old.  Who's gonna look through a window and say, "Man i really want that $15 set up for my kid...let me just smash this window in...."

This is the second time this has happened to us in the past year.  The first time was right before Thanksgiving.  The first day of break, in fact.  That situation I could sort of understand being that it was right before Christmas and people were getting desperate for money to buy gifts and such.  But this time was just senseless.  There are even reports of people in Dallas who are awakened to the sound of their car alarms, to find that their car has been set on fire.  The last time this happened in Dallas, it was a cop car.  What is that about?

I watched No Country for Old Men a second time in the theatre the other day.  I caught a lot more this second viewing than I did the first time.  But I really picked up on the theme that our world is changing so fast and that I'm becoming one of those "old men" whom this country is no longer fit for.  What I see as sensible and proper and moral is no longer a thought in the minds of my students or of those who live in my community.  We're about to elect a president based on a popularity contest.  What are people thinking?!?

This break in hit home the fact that I was unbearably homesick.  When I heard the words, "your car got broken into" all I could think about was, "these kids are driving me nuts."  It may have been a student of mine, but more than likely wasn't...but that's where my mind jumped right away.  Needless to say, the next words out of my mouth after thinking that were, "I want to go home." 

We fixed the window, spared no expense.  And we're shopping around for cd players.  

As they say on that movie "Sliding Doors" when quoting Monty Python..."Cheer up, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition."

Monday, monday...

Man, this past weekend is one of those that will stick around in my memory for some time.  

We started it off right by picking up our new, pimped, borrowed car:

Yes sir, a Crown Victoria.  Only the best.  The thing has a system in it rigged for a Jumbo Jet.  It's so loud.  If ever I drive it to school, I'm planning to tell my students that it's the same car I had, but X-ibit pimped it out for me.

We headed out to a little restaurant called Sardines where they have live jazz every night.  I recently had a dream about this little restaurant.  I dreamed that I went ahead and quit my job, and headed to Sardines, requested for them to play "Misty" as I sang along.  After hearing me sing, they offered me a job there for as long as I wanted to stay.  They called me "the missing link"  here are some pics...

On the way out of the restaurant, I caught 2 of the trio and told them about my dream, and the drummer said, "wow, that's a pretty good dream."

Anyway, on the way out, it was one of those knock-out Texas sunsets.  Really beautiful.

Then on Saturday, we headed out to Dallas which is only about 45 minutes away from us.  We went to Urban Outfitters and watched "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" at the Angelika film center.  We love this place.  Here's some pics of part of the Dallas Skyline.  

I don't have anymore pictures to post.  I have a terrible habit of bringing my camera with every intent to take pictures, but decide to enjoy myself instead.  I don't like to take pictures if I'm having too much fun.

We had a really great weekend.  Today I was dog tired at school.  Mondays are always terrible, but this one was doubly because it marked the beginning of one of the longest weeks of the year- the week before spring break!  4 days and counting!

*slush slush slush*

It snowed like CRAZY today.  I cancelled my after school rehearsals even though we needed one really badly and went home.  I went directly home and started making a meatloaf.  It was the kind of weather that made you want to wear thick socks and eat oatmeal and bake cookies.  It was supposed to get worse over night and be terrible in the morning, but the snowing has stopped.  And true to form, Fort Worth ISD still has not cancelled or even delayed school, even though EVERY OTHER DISTRICT HAS.  That's because we have kids who don't get fed if they don't go to school.  S'quite sad.

We got our tax return back today and then immediately paid off one of my credit cards.  Man, it was so painful, like ripping off a band-aid.  So our return has basically cut in half.  I'm sure it'll be better for us in the long run or whatever.

I am unbelievably excited about spring break.  I really wanted to get up to VA beach to scope out jobs and places to live, but the tickets are like $1000 +  that's kind of a lot.  So instead of going up, we're staying put and it'll be great because we haven't had a break where we just stayed home and didn't have anyone over.  We'll really get a chance to just relax which will be great for any potential shingles that try to come my way.  It should be fun.

shingles again?

No, I'm not totally sure that I have the shingles again, but man, it hurts!  I'm trying to take it easy  more often, since I found out that the shingles is caused by stress!  I am stressed--I'm a MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER!

In other news, we did TAKS reading testing today which meant a lot of me standing, walking, running, rushing, wiping, snapping, pointing, shushing, sweeping, sweating and etc.  (so I suppose shingles again wouldn't be such a huge surprise).  I can't wait to get out of here!  I am just so ready to not work ever again, really.  Well, no, not really.  I feel like I'd have to make some sort of contribution.  Not a knock those of you avid readers who are homemakers, I would totally be down for that, if I weren't such a busybody.  For example, last summer break, I got a job at starbucks because I was so bored.

I know things would be different if Keith and I were planning to start a family.  Which I think we are?  I am totally ready to make more worshipers of Jesus!  But it is all about the Lord's timing.  Everyone (mainly Arianne) thought Keith and I would be announcing pregnancy the December after we got married...boy where they (mainly she) wrong.  I just thank the Lord for his perfect timing.  I sometimes wonder if I did get pregnant how much my priorities would change...how really stressed or less stressed I'd be.  I've just been thinking about motherhood for so long that I can't imagine myself being anything BUT grateful, peaceful and excited about being a mom.  I've had 3 years of amazing marriage to think about it.  My family is ready, I've got my degree, my husband has a Masters, and we have a Savior who is totally Sovereign .

7 more school days until spring break!  I cannot wait!  Our big plans include:

- car shopping- possibly

- resume building

- movie watching

- food chomping

- FEIST WATCHING!- she's finally coming to Dallas on like the 16th of april...which isn't during spring break, but I have to include her in a list of "big plans" c'mon!

I'd welcome some snail mail.  I miss getting things in the mail.  I am such a stationary/greeting card collector.  If you write me, I promise I'll write you back and make it well worth your efforts.  There's just something about getting a real letter rather than an e mail.  Blech, "e-mail" we even abbreviate the title.

Dog tired...I hope people are reading this.

Faithful...

God is so faithful.

My last blog was about what a piece of junk our car is and how I know it's going to just implode some day soon.  After Keith and I talked about it for a while, we decided that we should maybe start asking around to see if anyone would be willing to let us borrow their car for the duration of our time here in TX.  So as I mentioned, a friend of ours was going to let us use his car, but that was on the condition that he would buy a car he test drove today and decided not to buy...you get it.  Well, that same friend is the guy who sends out e mails to the church when someone has a need.  So last night I sent him an e mail I composed asking our church body if anyone could let us use their car.  He held the email until after his test drive, and then sent it at around 4:30 this afternoon. By 7:00 this evening we had two offers from people in our church insisting on us taking their cars for as long as we need.

One of them, Adam is his name, just bought a new truck and used to drive around this PIMPED out Crowne Victoria that he souped up like crazy.  I'm not sure if this is the same car he's offering, but he kept saying, "come over tonight...or whenever, i'll clean it up for your guys, leave the keys in it.  come get it whenver, it's just sitting in my garage."  

The other is a woman in our church named Whitney who has a large family.  She offered us her '98 Ford Expedition.  She told me that she and her husband have this car so that people can use it.  She gave me this lengthy list of missionaries, a rabbi, and other people in need who have used the car in the past.  She insisted that we take it, because it's just sitting in her driveway.  

God is so amazing!  We didn't really expect such a quick response so we didn't really have time to think about what we were really going to do.  

The truth is, we can't really even drive our car for more that 20-30 minutes at a time without it acting funny in some way.  The overheating thing is just the most recent.  Every time I get in that car, I feel like something terrible is going to happen, or that I'm going to get pulled over or what have you.  Despite these car problems, our lives haven't slowed down at all.  We have lots of activities going on, not to mention just going out to get out of the house!  We have had to make plans according to how much of a risk we wanted to take with the car.  It has been such a liability.

So I think we've decided that we're going to "split time" between the two car offers.  3 months to each car so that we don't have one person's car for the entire 6 months.  It sounds sort of complicated, but I think it may be the better thing to do.  We have to check with our insurance and everything, but I read online that insurance usually goes with the car.  

We also found out that the state of TX is doing this thing (as of 2 months ago) that if your car is a 1996 or older (that's us! we've got a 1990) and if we make under a certain amount (i've read 41k-61k) the government will give us a voucher for $3000 to put towards the purchase of a new car that is a 2005 or newer.  This would be ideal for us, so we are exploring this too.  If ever we bought a car, we may buy it right before we leave and then just tow it behind the U Haul.

Of course these plans are if the Lord wills!

Then, Adam sent us an e mail with this verse:

Romans 12:9-13, " Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality."

man...God is so amazing, I can't stop thinking about it.

New Blog

I'm not quite sure what this blog of mine will be about, but I'm resolving to post regularly and I'll try to post things that are somewhat interesting or worthwhile.  

Here's something interesting:

I went to Wal-Mart today to go grocery shopping, I shopped for about 30 minutes and then stood in line for AN HOUR! I thought at first it was the lady in front of me, because I noticed she was bagging her own groceries.  Then when it was my turn I realized it wasn't the lady who was before me, but the cashier.  Now, I'm not sure how they train Wal-Mart cashiers, and I haven't anything against them, but man....She was like scanning the brands instead of the bar codes.  It took 15 minutes alone to get checked out.

In other news, our car is FOR REAL on it's last leg.  Here's a list of the problems we're having with it:

- a broken axle

- steering fluid leak

- 3 bald tires

- over heating

- a dying a/c

- the automatic locks and automatic seat belts on the right side only have stopped working

- leak in the radiator

- misfiring starter something??

- failed inspection 3+ times

yeah, I have no clue what the heck is going on with this car.  A friend of ours may be letting us borrow his car for the last few months we'll be here in TX.  We are looking to buy a car once we actually MOVE to VA so that we don't put a bunch of miles on a car that we just bought.

We're under a tornado warning.  It has been in the 70's for the past few days, and tomorrow it's supposed to snow.  Go figure. I can't wait until spring break, hoping that it will actually be springy, and that we have a car that works.  2 weeks!