pictures...and then some

Today I have been furiously cleaning, unpacking, laundering, unpacking...you get the picture. This week Brent and I decided we would not even attempt to unpack as we were so tired every night after work. We instead left mounds of the remains of a wonderful Christmas vacation, and stepped cautiously (especially in the middle of the night).

However, I began to lose my mind, we told some friends to come over, and alas...I'm not in college anymore and just couldn't live like that! :) Yesterday Brent had the day off and did a WONDERFUL job of picking up our living quarters...taking the Christmas tree down, tiding up, putting our TV on a new TV stand that someone donated to our cause... and I walked in speechless. Thanks Brent. You're awesome. So when I came home from work yesterday I just worried about finishing up a few dishes, figuring out what to make for supper with friends, realized we had no food, made a quick list, ran to the grocery store, cooked a (delicious, I might add) supper (recipe to come soon it was SO good), and enjoyed the evening with friends.

Today, however, after a wonderful morning of sleeping in (Brent unfortunately had to work), I realized I had a bout 4 loads of laundry to do, a kitchen to clean, bills to pay, and....our bedroom where unfortunately a lot had been dumped and our suitcases still were left packed. So I dug in. And I am finally drying the last load of laundry (Speaking of which, how long should it normally take to dry a load of laundry? I feel like our dryer takes FOREVER).

Sidenote: I told Brent when he called earlier that while I was writing bills and licking stamps etc., I was not bitter about all the payments we had to make but instead I was truly grateful for the blessing we have in our ability TO make payments.

Okay, so today hasn't been too eventful and yet I still took up 4 paragraphs talking about it (do I have too much of my father in me? :) So, since I still need to do "the big" trip to the grocery store (and I think it's high time I shower as well) I will leave you with some pictures of our wonderful, 2 week, not long enough, trip home to Missouri!

The few pictures I took before Christmas day and Christmas morning I don't have because...Brent got me a new digital camera! So I was able to give Micah her camera back (thanks so much for lending it to me for so long!). When I opened it there was already one picture on it (below). He was VERY excited to give me this camera! It is a touch screen too! So hopefully I will be better about putting pictures up. One quick note: Brent and I were trying to decide how we want to do gifts for each other (since this is our first Christmas as a married couple), and we decided to follow in the wise counsel of a couple I had the privilege of getting to know while at school (and the privilege of babysitting for their great son!) Carrie said that they follow this poem when buying each other gifts : "Something you want, something you need, something to play with, something to read." We set a budget and stuck with those four things...and had a lot of fun doing it. (Something I need is below...a very cute and comfy pair of brown heels...nice work, Brent!)


After Christmas morning at my house we headed to Grandma Ann's and Grandpa A.J.'s for Christmas with my dad's side of the family.

Brent and Charlee were both pretty entertained by Toy Story 2... We then headed over to Brent's house for Christmas with his family. We gave all the boys a little Louisville Slugger bat and a Southeast Christian soccer jersey! (Hawkins threw the ball up into Dawson's face right as I took this picture...and then laughed hysterically.)

The boys usually stick pretty close to their uncle Brent when he is around!

Hawkins got a new "grain bin" and we had fun "loading" the semi trucks (with air-soft pellets!)
Beta was a trooper through all the ruckus. (And who would have thought I would have ever have grown to like this dog? )We later went to Grandma Pat's and had a Christmas get together there...complete with a game of scategories in which I probably got a little too competitive and even called Grandma Pat out :)

And, of course, Tippy wanted to join in on the fun!We also spent a significant amount of time with some of our favorites, Paige and Torri...and their Wii fit!

And then... a few days before new year's some of my great friends from college called and asked if it would work for them to come spend New Year's eve with me...OF COURSE! They were there for less than 24 hours but it was such a fun time to catch up with these friends...and mom made enough food to feed a small army! :)

With our sparkling grape juice waiting for the ball to drop!

He's fancy...

A wonderful surprise arrived the weekend after Christmas...AUNT LINDA and UNCLE ALAN! One day they just pulled up the driveway (when Micah was visiting...which I don't have any pictures of...what?) It was so great to see them again! Thanks for making the trip...it was way too quick in my opinion! (Here is dad giving them directions through the country...sorry!)
Unfortunately she also brought this little guy...a flying monkey that makes noises. You can imagine that Brent AND my dad had a little TOO much fun with this thing:
The boys and Dennis came over to shoot some revolvers. Even Hawkins got in on the action!
The last weekend we were back we traveled down to Joplin for the wedding of some college friends. We were able to stay with a family who came to mean a lot to Brent while he was in Joplin, and what a blessing it was to be with them again. Here is Brent with their youngest, Ella (who would not smile for a picture!)When we finally got back to Louisville and entered our long-abandoned apartment, I walked in the bathroom to the below sight. Apparently these little seeds/leaves had fallen through our vent! Gross.

That was probably more than you expected to get, but for those of you who razz me about putting up pictures, there you have it. There was of course so much more that did not get documented, but hopefully this gives everyone a glimpse into the time I didn't spend blogging :) It's definitely hard to get back in the swing of things here but.....

there is my dryer!

...duty calls.