Life.

We have been enjoying life around here -- to the fullest! Here is a little update, accompanied with pictures, on what has been going on in our world!

For starters, about 3 weeks ago I was driving my car and as I entered the on-ramp a deer (doe) ran into my front right passenger headlight and then ran back to where she came from! I was accelerating to get on the freeway so I was probably going about 40-50 mph. It scared me b/c I did not see her coming at all, which was best case scenario. If I had seen the deer then I would have probably swerved and it would have been a lot worse! Anywho, it just jarred my car a little bit and that was it. Lincoln was with me and after that he just kept starring at that side of the car like "what just happened?" Luckily we got it fixed pretty quickly, but here is a picture of what it looked like before it was fixed.

Secondly, 2 weekends ago one of my best friends and her husband came to visit and meet Lincoln! Beka and I first met at CBC where we played basketball - or as we joke we sat the bench, we didn't play! We became fast friends and she was actually the maid of honor in our wedding. Beka married Clint three year ago and they reside in the great city of Memphis! Beka will be graduating this month with her Master's in Communications and Clint is currently in his fourth and FINAL year of dental school! These two stay busy! Also, the big news with them is that -- they are expecting a baby on February 12th! (The day after Lincoln was born I might add!). Very exciting! We had a great time catching up and laughing with them. Here are a few pictures of their visit.

Crazy to think that this time next year this will be them with their own

Baby Conner who will be about the same age.

Thirdly, Lincoln has teeth!!! Two to be exact. His lower central incisors (yes, I know I'm using technical terms thanks to the baby book that helped me out on that one!) are both in. Just the little tops of both of them are showing but hey -- its a start. The first one broke through on July 31st and the second one on August 2nd. He has been pretty fussy especially yesterday and today he is running a very slight temp. We are just ready for those two to show themselves - completely! Here is the best picture I could get of them. He is not fan of me looking and poking around in his mouth, but really who is? (I think you can click on it to make it a little larger)

Fourthly (is that even a word?), I got all my hair cut off. With these three digit temps I needed something much cooler! I had Cory take a few pics so that my mom and MIL could see it. No pony tail for me for a while, but I hope it takes me less time to get ready in the mornings!

And Fifthly, we are gearing up for school to start back which means a whole new routine will be taking place at our house! I will only be working part time this year! Yay!! I am excited about this opportunity! Lincoln will be attending "school" for the days I am working! We went last night and met his teacher. It will be a whole new experience for him but one that I think once he gets adjusted to will love. He is quite the people-watcher and I know he will enjoy seeing all the new people and things around him. Here is Lincoln in his back to school gear! I mean, doesn't everyone in NWA wear a Razorback outfit to their first day of school? Ok, maybe not. Just had to do a little photo shoot before he outgrew this cute onesie and it seemed like the perfect place to share them.

Hard to believe that in a week he will be half a year old. (Man, that was hard to type!)

Houston, we have a...

Thumb sucker!!!!

Lincoln has recently REALLY discovered his hands and more specifically his thumb!! You can hear him across the room sucking on and smacking on his thumb. I caught him in action this afternoon! I'm not sure how I feel about this new discovery. I am wondering if it's a phase or here to stay!

We are still alive and kicking over here but this time of the year is just pure craziness in my line of work. Craziness I tell you! Throw that in the mix with being a rookie mom of a 3.5 month old and its just simply chaos. Overall, I have enjoyed being back at work. By Wednesday afternoon I am wishing I could be back at home with Lincoln but Thursday and Friday go quickly and soon I am back at home with him. He has adjusted well to life with the babysitter. He has pretty much stuck to his routine and is sleeping about 11 hours a night with 9 of those being consecutive hours of sleep. I did take him to the doctor today due to him being a baby geyser with his spit up. He has always spit up but it has peaked in the last 2 weeks or so and he seems upset by it. So, after talking to the nurse I decided to take him in to see if he had acid reflux. Dr. A said she thinks he is a borderline/mild case but she feels medicine would help him. So, we started the meds tonight and we will see where that takes us. We are hoping for no more days of outfit changes for Lincoln AND the babysitter. Bless her heart and his.

Today is a big day for us! Our wonderful nephew, Carter, turns 4 years old AND our new little niece Lucy Mae Calhoun will be born! This weekend we will back in the car for a road trip to south Arkansas to meet this new precious baby! This will be our 5th niece all of which are two years and younger!! How fun is that? I can't wait to write more about both of these topics later today! Lincoln will once again by the BIG cousin!

Life and Sox.

I have been MIA, haven't I?!?

But I do have a good excuse and here he is!

Lincoln is changing so much daily and I have just been soaking up every minute with him. He is becoming more alert and his personality is shining through. He is smiling often and starting to laugh (video to come of that later). He is still loving to babble but now he likes to talk WHILE I am talking. I think he thinks its a new game. If I am on the phone talking he babbles away but when I stop - he stops!

He is doing a great job eating and sleeping as well. He has this new thing when he tired where he restlessly turns his head back and forth on the bed/car seat/bouncy seat/swing with his eyes closed like he is saying "No" really big with his head. Then he eventually turns it to his head to his left side over and over like he is continuing trying to look over his shoulder. He eventually gets tired of doing this and ends up sleeping with his head turned over as far as it can go to the left while still laying on his back. Here is that sweet boy sleeping in his crib.


And the BIG news is that on Monday, April 19th he rolled over twice from his tummy to his back all by himself. I was just in shock. He was 9 weeks and 4 days when he did it. But as soon as I got out the camera he wouldn't do it. I tried to get him to do it again Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with NO luck. However, Friday morning I put him down on his tummy and turned around to grab the camera and when I turned around he was on his back!! That little stinker rolled over in a flash. So I again put him on his tummy to catch it on camera and he wouldn't do it!!! Ahh!! One day I will catch it on camera and/or Cory will witness it himself but as for now its just mine and Lincoln's little secret.

I only have two weeks of maternity leave left! I have been extremely blessed to have had off about 12.5 weeks with our little guy. The good news is that I only have to go back to work for 4 weeks and 2 days and then I'll be back off about 10 weeks for the summer with him! We are extremely blessed to have found a dear lady to keep him for us. She keeps a dear friend and fellow colleagues baby and has volunteered to help us out during this time. It will be tough to leave him but its the best decision for us for many reasons that I won't bore you with. So, if you think of me on May 10th then say a prayer that I don't have a major meltdown leaving him. Ha!

As I mentioned earlier, two weekends ago we ventured to Kansas City to attend the Red Sox vs. Royals game on Sunday. Traveling with an infant is quite the adventure in and of itself! We managed to not forget anything too important so that was our first victory. Lincoln really enjoys being out and about. He loves to watch people and check out new surroundings.

Here is Lincoln in the car while we were waiting on Cory to buy tickets.

He did a GREAT job at the game. He sat in the Baby Bjorn for about three hours! He just loved looking around at everything and being outside.

Family shot.

I'll leave you with the video I shot of Lincoln on Saturday morning before we left. I'm pretty sure he says "Go Sox!" after I say it. Ha!

Wheww...what a day!

Wow. What a day we had! I'm sitting here watching the Razorback game on TV in my pj's and decided to reflect back on this day....

It started this morning with our 36 week appointment. I have been having lots of aching and pain in my lower stomach so I was hoping that Dr. P would tell me I had made some progress. However, I wasn't quite expecting what she had to say to us. She said I am 2 cm dialted, 60% effaced and Lincoln is head down and "very low." I was just hoping for one of those things to be happening but never expected ALL of them to be happening so soon! She said "This means this is likely one of your last weekends to get the last minute things done -- you need to pack your hospital bag and install your car seat!" Cory said my eyes about bugged out of my head. YIKES!! Her estimate is that he looks to weigh about 7.5 pounds at this time and that I have more like one to two weeks left. I thought I still had three more weeks EASY or more but it looks like I better get myself in gear. Luckily we are about 90% ready and can conquer the last 10% this weekend. I go back Wednesday morning for my next appointment.

After that Cory and I went to visit a daycare or "learning center" that we are considering for child care. We were able to meet the owner and take a tour. Child care has definitely been one of the hardest parts of this process. I find myself not even knowing what questions to ask. Just lost. I really liked what I saw at this facility and it will definitely be one of our top considerations for August.

Then, on I went to work. My head was spinning with all the things I needed to do to get ready for Lincoln and what things at work I needed to wrap up in order to leave things in good shape. I found myself sitting at my desk wondering where in the world I should start. I managed to make sense of my desk and workload before 3:30 hit.

At 3:30 my school where my office is located threw me a baby shower! My other two schools that I serve were invited as well. It was awesome! We have been extremely blessed with amazing showers and outpouring of love throughout this whole process. (I have a post started that I will finish soon recapping all of our awesome showers!)

Once this awesome event ended, I headed home to meet Cory and head out to dinner with an old friend and a new friend. Tonight we had the awesome priviledge of having dinner with our very good friend Scott and his girlfriend Amy whom we met for the first time. Prior to meeting her, Scott described her as someone that Jill would have loved to hang out with and after meeting her I completely agree. She is a jewel and a great fit for Scott. Scott has told us lots about her and I enjoyed putting a face with a name. We could not be anymore excited for Scott and look forward to seeing what the future holds for him and Amy.

Now, we are home and cheering on the hogs. My brain is tired! This was a big day with lots of fun news, a fun shower and meeting a fun new friend. I have a feeling that more fun days are in our near future as we approach the day of Lincoln's arrival. We could not be anymore happy!! These are exciting days at our home.

Me again, 28 weeks!

Well, I am completely embarrassed that I have gone almost 5 weeks between blogging! I am sure that all three of you who read this have given up on me! Ha! We have been busy cleaning out closets, re-organizing and re-purposing areas of our home, painting a nursery and painting a dresser. And amidst all of that our friend Tiffany came to visit us and Cory's mom and step-dad came up for weekend!!

We had a GREAT weekend with good ole Spiffy Tiffy remembering our old college days and laughing till most of us were crying! (Thanks for coming to visit Tiff. We had an awesome time!) Terrible quality picture -- sorry!

On to the nursery -- the color of the nursery is hard to convey through a picture but for the most part it is blue. It is actually the lightest shade on a green family paint chip and called Scotland Road; however, it is a very soothing blue. We love it. Cory worked hard to get it painted!

A couple of weeks ago Cory's mom and step-dad were in town visiting and we went on a hunt to find a dresser/changing table for the nursery! The room we are using is not super big so I thought the best way to be efficient with our space is to find a dresser where we can use the top for a changing table! We were passing a furniture store in town when Cory's mom suggested we stop in there and look. I'll be honest -- if Cory and I were out alone we would not have stopped due to the appearance from the outside. However, true to the ole saying "never judge a book by its cover!" -- we hit the jackpot in this store. They were selling furniture that was slightly damaged at a discounted rate. We found a dresser that I thought would work perfectly. The only problem is that it was painted blue and had several spots that needed to be sanded and fixed. However, when the guy told us the price (about 80% off of the original price if it were sold new in a store in mint condition) we were able to easily overlook the damaged areas! Here is a picture of it after we had sanded and puttied most of the spots.

We picked a dark brown called Dark Granite to paint it. Once again, Cory has been a trooper spending several hours in the garage painting it. Here are two pictures of the finished product. If I used the flash it washed it out but without the flash it looks darker than it really is. So, use your imagination to picture a shade in between the two pictures.

As for the rest of the nursery, the bedding is in but we are waiting on the crib and chair to get in before we can do much more work. We have been told that the crib and chair will be in this coming week! We hope so because our friend Lindsey is coming to take maternity/Christmas card pictures and having a more complete nursery would make for a great back drop for pictures!! We will see.

Well, I turned 28 weeks earlier this week. Here is the newest picture! Everyone always looks better in black and white right?? I'll take what I can get! Ha!

When I hit the 27 week mark or so I definitely felt a decline in my energy and stamina. I am definitely tired again, more like the first trimester. My "morning sickness" which really means nauseous in the mornings and throughout the day has returned. Its not quite like it was in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, but nonetheless it is back! I have been having major hot flashes so I am thankful for the cooler whether! However, on a happier note -- Lincoln is doing well. I feel him moving A LOT more! He is the most active from about 4:00 p.m. till about 4:00 a.m. Yes, a.m. Its like he knows that I am getting in bed and decides that is the perfect time for him to get in his exercises in for the day! It cracks me up. I have woken up several times to the activity of him in my stomach. We had an appointment on Wednesday and his heartbeat was 150 again. His heartbeat has been 150 every single time -- from 6 weeks till 28 weeks! Crazy. I go back again in four weeks (actually three b/c my doctor is out of town in 4 weeks) and then after that I start going every 2 weeks!! That is when it definitely feels like it is getting closer.\

That about catches you up on life with us! Work has been crazy and stressful but this too shall pass and its not worth blogging about :) I promise to be better about blogging again. I will write soon about our Thanksgiving! I am still a very faithful blog reader so keep it up out there! I love to read about others.

CEC.

R.I.P Honda Rhonda

On a hot summer night in July of 1998, I was at a pool party for a girl named Leah Rush. I remember the night well because there was a boy there that I liked. Ha! My parents were in charge of picking me and my friend Kim Coates up that night. I remember being bummed that the summer AFTER my sophomore year of high school my parents had to "pick me up." I was due to turn 16 about 3 weeks after that evening. Well, that night my parents picked me up in a 1996 Honda Accord - maroon. I remember I was SO surprised. This was going to be MY car! Kim and I were PUMPED! Kim was a year younger than me so me getting a car meant FREEDOM for not just me but also the two of us. I definitely felt like the luckiest girl in the world by being so surprised by my wonderful parents. Soon after turning 16, Kim and I named my car "Honda Rhonda." It stuck and anyone that even knew my name knew the name of Honda Rhonda as well.




This car took me through my last two years of high school, four years of college, three years of graduate school and two years of work. Yes -- that is a total of 11 years! Cory and I would always talk about how we should get a more reliable car but we just continued to keep it and drive it. About a year ago the A/C went out in it and my wonderful husband volunteered to drive it so I could drive our other car. We swore we would just drive it till the wheels fell off! It made the WORST noises -- noises that made you scrunch down in your seat and hope that no one could see you through the tinted windows! Well, about a month ago it bit the dust. It needed a lot of work. We weighed our odds and decided it wasn't worth putting all that money into it. So, off we went to car shop.



I had already told Cory that the only car that I had room in my heart for was another Accord. After much shopping and MUCH wheelin' and dealin' we now have a new member of our family.

Welcome Honda LaFonda.

After sealing the deal, we had to take Honda Rhonda back up to the car lot. She was dirty inside and out! Cory wanted to take her up there "as is" but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't drop her off until she looked her best. So, we took it the car wash and cleaned her up good! The picture in the collage above is of me dropping it off at the car lot.

Honda Rhonda saw me through the worst of times and the best of times. I hope she finds a good home. I'll miss her but I couldn't be anymore excited about welcoming Honda LaFonda!

It is a small world after all.

This was my favorite ride when I went to disney world at about 5 years old. Our family would always ride it together and then the rest of the day we would be singing the song they play throughout the ride -- "It's a small world after all, its a small world after all, it's a small, small world!" I loved the idea of all the nationalities represented and all the little dolls moving around. I loved to see the way they were dressed up and hear the music they would be playing to represent their country. I also enjoyed the slow, peacefulness of the ride with no major loops or 40 foot plunges. Just a nice ride in a boat. It was dark and cool in there too. And I remember it being really hot outside, so I enjoyed the break from the heat.

On to my point. People often joke with me that, "You always know someone everywhere you go!" Even Cory says it. Often. I have joked lately that I think my life often comes "full circle." And I know the exact reason why it does come full circle. My mom. From when I was very little, I remember my mom telling me [and my brother] that we could never do anything wrong because she knows people everywhere and she would find out!! I just thought that was something moms said and they probably all do! However, I seriously believe that my mom prayed every night that everywhere I went I would see someone that I knew and they would act as my conscience. Here I am, 26 years old and it still happens often -- randomly meeting people that I know, not them acting as my conscience. We moved to NWA about 2 years ago. Now, grant it I did not move miles and miles away from home just about 180 miles to be exact. However, the irony of the events that have occurred are still pretty incredible.

Last school year during my internship my office was at an elementary school and one of the girls that was interning as a teacher was Carman. She found me on facebook and wrote me note asking me if I was interning at the same elementary because she thought she had seen me in the hallway. That was me! Carman and I met back in about 2002 when we worked at SOAR (a big Christian youth conference) together in San Antonio, TX. Here we were 5 years later interning at the same elementary in a big school district.

Well, this year I remained at the same elementary. It made for a smooth transition and it has been wonderful. I was in the lounge at the beginning of this school year and I was looking at the bulletin board of the new incoming interns from the big university in town. I see a girl that looks familiar and has the same last name as the professor that I worked for in grad school for a about 2 years AND she is from the same town! A couple of days later, I find her and ask her if her dad is Dr. Murphy at UCA. Indeed that is her father. Small world moment. She interned all this school year at the elementary where my office is. For those of you who know Dr. Murphy you know he is so extremely pleasant. Well his daughter is the exact same. I enjoyed getting to know her this year. On Friday they had an "intern celebration" for the interns. Erin had been telling me for several days that her family would be there and that Dr. Murphy asked if I would be around. I made appoint to be back at my school during this time. Erin happened to be walking by the door as I came in and she said "my dad is here -- go see him!" I found them and had such a great chance to catch up with him.

I admire Dr. Murphy. I worked 2 LONG years for this man. Proof-reading the books that he was publishing, going out on behavior visits to small towns on his behalf, running things to Shandra for him, more proofreading and more proofreading. I remember the first time I met Dr. Murphy. He came to be a guest speaker in my "theories class." He came walking in with no shoes on, a coffee cup in his hand and sat up on the desk. Approachable, genuine and a great sense of humor describes him to me. He is an amazing School Psychologist and I learned a lot from him.

Another memory that I have of him is that one time he was out running by our house and Cory saw him out there so he got him a cup of water and took it out to him. It has always been a fun joke between all of us. He even brought it up when I saw him Friday.

Here are some pictures that I was able to get with the Murphys (Mara {daughter}, Debbie {his wife}, Tom {son}, Dr. Murphy, Erin and me) and then one with Erin.

Oddly enough, we ran into him again on Saturday eating at Jason's Deli. He was so excited to get to see Cory and once again ask him about the "water station."

This is but one fun example of my small world.

Mom, I truly attribute what I have termed "my small world moments" to all those times you told me not to misbehave because you would find out! I also think you prayed for me to have these experiences because you knew that I was such a shy and worrisome child that I would need these moments to feel secure by being surrounded by familiarity. Everytime it happens I think of you and I feel comforted. I love having a mom that is always thinking outside the box -- in fact I think you live outside the box! And I know that no matter the true reason for these moments that you are really behind them! Moms are good like that!

Thanks, mom!
CEC.

By the way, did I tell you that last week I went to test a little pre-k kid at a facility in another town and discovered that the teacher is my second cousin?

Red/White Game

Ok, this post is WAY past due! I got the stomach bug on Sunday evening at the end of this weekend so I never got around to posting this...so here goes.

My parents came up the weekend of the Red/White Razorback game. It rained the majority of the weekend, but we had a good time. My parents also bought their truck so we could pick up our new dresser! I have decided not to post pictures of it in this post but to wait and show it off when master bedrooms are the featured room for "Show Us Where You Live - Fridays!" But I do have some pictures of us and my parents from the weekend.

Heading to the game

Two of my favorite guys!

Darren McFadden and Felix Jones walking along the sideline during the game. I thought it was funny watching the camera guy all up in their grill.

Heading to church on Sunday!

Come back soon to see "Show Us Where You Live Fridays -- Living Room edition."

8.thing.correction.retraction

I just need to clarify that on my "8 things I look forward to...baby calhoun and watching Cory be a dad" were things I look forward to in hopefully the near future but I am not pregnant. I got a couple of phone calls and emails from some questioning friends and family after that post. Sorry to be misleading!! When I do get pregnant, I will be sure and make it very well known...no reading between the lines for me. Ha, ha. I do love how everyone was so curious. I feel loved.

Happy Friday.

Sincerely,
(Sly dog - cookie licker. Love ya Linds.)

Back among the living.

O man, the last four days at our house have been terrible! I came down with the stomach virus on Sunday evening and let's just say that by 3:00 in the morning on Monday I was begging Cory to call the ambulance or the funeral home!!! I would rather have my arm chewed off by a pack of wolves than have the stomach virus. Today is the first day that I have felt 100%! This is definitely the worst time of the year in my job to be sick so needless to say I am WAY behind!! O well, only 5 more weeks and 1 day till SUMMER BREAK!!!!!!!!

I hope to post soon about our weekend prior to the virus (My parents were in town AND I got my new dreser! Wahoo).

CEC.

An allgeric, baby shower attending, dresser buyin, palm Sunday celebratin, relaxing weekend

Well, its Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting in my chair while Cory is snoozing (and snoring) on the couch! It is about 40 degrees outside with strong winds so being indoors is the best option for today. We have definitely had a fun weekend with lots of randomness.

This past Friday Cory took off work to go to the allergy doctor in the capital city. We have a dear friend who is an allergy doctor and agreed to give Cory an allergy test for the "family friend rate" (free!). Since last April when Cory had his whole rolled-out-of-walmart-on-a-stretcher-incident (a long story that is funny but basically told us he was severely allergic to mold!) he has been experiencing more allergy problems. He has never really had major allergy problems so it kind of came out of no where. Anywho, so after his appointment on Friday he calls me and says, "Do you think it will be a problem that I am allergic to everything except cockroaches?" I was like "WHAT?" Come to find out he was allergic to everything (grass, weeds, dust mites, pollen, mold, dogs, cats, etc.) She told him that on a scale from 1-10 he is an 8 overall. Eeek. She gave him some good meds and suggestions so hopefully he will be feeling good soon. He stayed the rest of the day in town fishing with his dad, breakfast on Saturday with my parents, and lunch with his mom on Saturday. While he was gone, I took the time to get caught up on my book, shopping and I also went to a baby shower!

When Cory got home on Saturday we decided to go look at a dresser that matches our bed that we have been eyeing for sometime now (o a year and a half). I have been looking for a vintage type dresser but have had no luck and always came back to this one. We are currently using the guest bedroom dresser (brown) which means if you come stay with us you don't have anything to put your stuff on in the guest bedroom. I was starting to feel sorry for our guests! Anywho, we decided to stop in and see if they still had it and if it happen to be on sale. It was still there and slightly on sale. We saw the guy who sold us the bed and he remembered us. (Hopefully, that is a good thing.) Cory put his bargaining skills to work and the next thing you know we got the dresser about 40% off with no sales tax. I was in shock and by the look on Cory's face he was too. He had that look like, "O, I didn't expect to get that good of deal now what do we do!" We ended up buying it and I am VERY excited. It should be ready for pick up in about a week or 2. Here is a picture I found of it on the website. I'll post another one once we get it in the room. And now we can put the dresser we have been using back in the guest room.

We didn't buy the mirror b/c I think it will look better with a separate black mirror hung over it versus the one that you could get for it.

I can hardly wait to put it in our room. Our room is definitely one that could use some decoration help so I think this is a step in the right direction!

As you may know this Sunday is Palm Sunday. Our church is doing a three-week live drama and series with the third week being Easter Sunday. Last week was compassion and this week was sacrifice. Part of the drama this week was the Lord's Supper that occurred prior to Jesus's crucifixion. During this part they passed out the Lord's Supper to the congregation and we took it during this part of the performance. Like Cory's said when we got in the car -- They always find the most unique ways to do the Lord's Supper. It takes the monotony out of church.

Now we are just relaxing and enjoying the Sabbath!

I hope you take some time this week to read in the gospels about the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior. Next Sunday will definitely be a day of rejoicing that that tomb is empty!

CEC.

Two.words.

Spring.Break.

Opening Pandora's Box

I have long spouts of time where I sit at my desk typing up reports on the kids that I have tested. It is painful for me to sit there without any music. Painful. About this time last year someone introduced me to http://www.pandora.com/ I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pandora. It is an online radio station. It is free, all you have to do is have a log-in. For starters you type in any musician or even a specific song that you like. From that song it starts your own radio station and starts to play songs that are similar or that you might like. Each time it plays a song you can "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" the song. It takes your feedback from each song and continues to play songs that you may like. You can create several different "stations" depending on what you are in the mood for. I have a Contemp. Christian, Easy Listening Office, WAKE UP (from when I am trying to stay awake at my desk) and a couple of others.

I have always LOVED music. In fact, when I was little I use to make up my own songs and sing them out loud in the car. My brother would be SO annoyed at me. He would always tell my mom to make me stop!! Although I love music, I have no musical talent or any sense of "pitch" or the right key. I think most people on American Idol sound fantastic -- even in the beginning rounds. Cory has an ear for music so he is always trying to explain it to me. I just don't get it.

Anways, when people ask me what type of music I like I don't really have a good explanation. I love country, praise and worship, rap, rock-n-roll, r&b, blues, gospel, etc. This is where Pandora has been such a great thing. For each song that it plays you can click on the button that says "Why are you playing this song" It will give this VERY detailed description. Example - "Based on what you've told us so far, we're playing this track because it features basic rock song structures, major key tonality, a vocal-central aesthetic, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, and electric rhythm guitars." How can you argue with that?

I feel like I have opened up my Pandora's box of music. I have found tons of new artists that I love and have found lots of new songs that I like. It hardly ever plays the same song twice and it starts off right where you leave it when you log out.

I highly recommend that you check it out.

Ice, Ice Baby...

Today is the 3rd day we have been iced in and school cancelled. It has been a nice break and much needed. God's timing is so perfect. I have enjoyed resting and doing things around the house that have been neglected during the chaos of the last couple of weeks. We have been fortunate enough to keep our electricity so far, but that is not the case for about 100,000 people in our area. I was able to take a couple of pictures of the ice and some slight snow that has fallen around our house the last couple of days.

A tree in the field behind our house.

Our grill covered with a ton of ice on it

Front porch. I LOVE all the icicles!
Neat shot!

Our house. (Note: this is mainly ice, I would venture to guess we have gotten about 4 inches of ice and about 1 inch of snow...but I am no meteorologist).

Even the small twigs that usually get no attention have about 2 inches of ice that were able to collect on them. Crazy.

Icicles on the garage. Do you see how long that one is??
I had to take my picture by it! Smile icicle you are on camera!!

Also, last weekend Cory's mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece came to visit us. It was a quick trip but we had a good time. On Saturday, we went to the Razorback basketball game. Although the Razorbacks played terrible it is always fun to be in the middle of the cheers, chants and band playing. Mady had a good time and I was able to snap these pictures of her sitting in a chair during the game.

She is such a happy baby.

Anyone want to bet if school will be cancelled again on Friday????

CEC.

Brrr...

Last Saturday, we were sitting at a football game in our shorts and t-shirt sweating and getting sunburt. Fast forward 7 days and this Saturday we are wearing sweatshirts and coats! The Salvation Army people are out ringing their bell in front of Wally-World, I can see my breath and I am making hot chocolate. O, and there are Christmas commericals on TV and they are already playing Christmas music in the stores. I am not sure what to contribute these abrupt changes too! I don't feel like I have payed too much attention to this change over in the past but this year it has commanded my attention because it seem drastic.

I'm not sure I'm ready for the cold weather, but I am ready for Thanksgiving turkey, christmas lights, family time and the fireplace!

Happy beginning of winter! Stay warm.