A Word on Gas Prices...

I'll post about Cancun when I get home and can upload pictures.   But for now... can I just say something?  

I get so irritated when I hear about people (American especially) complaining about gas prices.  Why, you may ask?  Sure, gas is getting expensive--and it'll only get more expensive as time continues to pass and oil becomes less and less abundant.  But the price of gas is not the problem.  The problem is that people are unwilling to make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of gas that they consume.  Perhaps we could drive less?  Carpool?  Ride a bike?  Trade in 2 cars for one fuel-efficient vehicle?  Get some freaking exercise, for crying out loud?  Be more modest with the amenities in our homes?  Buy locally grown food?  There are so many different ways that mankind could be working towards relieving the problem--not the problem of the cost of fuel, but the problem of wasteful living.  Sure, there are some people who are doing what they can, regardless of whether or not they think it's "cool" or "hip".  Tree-hugger or not, at least  they're doing something.  Something that could really make a difference if mankind as a whole would catch on to the attitude and mindset behind it.

So unless our national and global community makes a move toward doing something productive instead of simply complaining, I don't want to hear about it anymore.  

Fetch

Here's Gypsy playing fetch!! Enjoy :)

It keeps growing, and growing, and growing...

I'm going to get Daniel to take some pictures of me today, because I swear my stomach has exploded in the last week. My doctor was exactly right... he said that between weeks 20 and 30, your body really "figures out" that it's pregnant and starts to adjust a whole lot more than before, and here we are at week 25, and voila! There's the baby belly!

Well, we leave in 3.5 days for Cancun! I am very excited! A break will be super nice, and this will be our last hurrah before Hannah comes to life in our house. We're going with my mom and dad and my brother and sister-in-law, so I'm expecting that we should have a great time. I'll have pictures I'm sure when we get back!

I'm currently playing fetch with my cat, and I wish I had a video of it I could show you. I have some video on my phone, but I don't know how to upload that. Anyway, she likes to play fetch with hair ties. Daniel figured that out by accident when she was really little, and she still loves to play! She'd play for hours if you'll play with her for that long.

Well, we decide on a youth pastor tomorrow night! YAYYYY!!!!!!!! I can't wait. :) I'll keep you guys posted on all that as well. One of our candidates lives right here in Charlottesville and he was working at a restaurant that our office administrator and I went to for lunch the other day. And we were totally talking about the whole interview process when he comes outside with some food. I think he was just as surprised to see us as we were to see him! Kind of awkward, but that's okay. :) I hope he doesn't think that we've decided already. So Wes, if you happen to be reading this, don't worry--we're having our big meeting tomorrow and you'll probably be hearing from someone on Monday.

Alrighty, well, I'm going to take a shower and then go work out before worship practice. Gotta make sure that my body's expanding with the right stuff :)

Back Porch Critter

A Daniel Post:

So...I have a new pet. I first noticed my little friend a few weeks ago when I was sitting at my computer and zoning out the window. He is a brave little guy and likes to come up to the trashcan even when we are all sitting at the table eating dinner. Even though he is a cute little pet, my dad has given me fair warning that they are nicknamed "little bears" for a reason. This one is really confident, and only spooks if I move really fast towards the door. Either he is fairly tame, or has the worst case of rabies in recent vermin history. Nonetheless, I feel perfectly safe on the other side of my kitchen door. I leave occasional table scraps too, so that when he is tearing into my leg some day, I will have some leverage I can throw at him: "Don't gnaw the leg that feeds you!"

The Bait--Baked Potato

Enter the Culprit

Climbin' the Post

Smellin' and lickin' the grease on the leaves

Makin' my way to bigger and better prizes

BOOYA!!!!

Miniature Update, I suppose (yeah right)

Welp, I guess it's about time for an update, eh?

This weekend was super busy, but good! Daniel and I registered at Babies 'R Us on Thursday evening, which was pretty fun--long and exhausting, but still fun! It was hilarious cuz Daniel is more worried about our little girl as a teenager bringing boys home than he is about the baby stage. :) I guess that means he'll be a great dad! I don't really remember what we did Friday night.... I think Daniel was feeling pretty bad, so we just hung around the house.

Saturday morning, we went to look at some baby furniture I had seen on CraigsList. It was perfect! So, we paid the guy for it--a dresser, changing table, and bookcase. We ended up paying for the crib and mattress that went with it, even though we already had one, because we knew a ton of pregnant couples that could probably use it. So, lo and behold, we get in the car and start driving away, I call one of the couples we know, and they're in! We went and picked up all the furniture Saturday afternoon, then Lina and Matt came by to look at the crib, bought it, and took it home. That was easy. :) And I was also glad we got to sit and hang out with them for a little while... hopefully we'll get together soon and celebrate pregnancy with each other!

Also on Saturday, Matt and Amanda, some friends from church back in Va Beach, stopped by, which was really neat. They have a cute little girl... she's about 6 months old. They live in Lynchburg and were up visiting some friends, so they stopped by and we got to chat for a little while. I really enjoyed it! I think Daniel had more fun playing with their daughter than talking to them, haha. :) He ain't afraid of those babies, that's for sure.

Thennnn my parents came into town and stayed with us Saturday night and went to church with us Sunday morning. They were excited to see all the new baby furniture and to see my finally growing belly. Sunday morning at church was our focus on poverty... about flippin' time! There's a really neat opportunity that we'll get to partner with called the First Street Church Project that's going to be a day shelter for homeless people in Charlottesville. It looks like we're going to get people involved with soup kitchens and some other things as well, so that makes me really, really happy. I've struggled for a while with my church's lack of focus on outreach to our local community (and the world at large too)... which is odd, considering it's an AG church. Usually AG churches are ALL about missions and outreach. Oh well. I was talking to my dad about it and we both feel like a lot of it has to do with the mentality of the people in Charlottesville (it's VEERRRYYYY different than Va Beach). For some reason (I'm sure it's a conglomeration of reasons), the people here won't get involved in anything unless is nicely packaged, easy to access, a big production, with a pretty bow on top. Grassroots efforts just don't seem to do it, especially with those ages 35 - 55. It's just so weird to me. Grassroots efforts are more authentic and effective in the long-term look at things, but that's just not how people operate here. So now there's finally something nicely packaged regarding outreach to the poor of our community that our church can get involved in. I'm praying that it really opens people's hearts to reaching out and getting not only financially involved, but emotionally involved as well.

Okay, well, I'll stop ranting now. :) Daniel and I are headed to a cook-out with the pastoral team from church. We're finally down to the last 2 candidates for the Spiritual Formation Pastor position, so tonight we get to interview and hang out with one of them and his wife (along with our spouses). So I am definitely looking forward to it. Plus we get to be outside!!! And I made a white cake with cool whip and fruit. MMMMmmmmmm.... can't wait to get my hands on a piece of that yummy-ness!