• church,  columbia,  pets,  the kids

    march.

    March is one of my very favorite months, because it’s the month of Daylight Savings time, and typically the month when I can start wearing flip flops again. We had a great New Members’ class and the trampoline miraculously held up yet again with a dozen or so kids jumping (this is always a fear of mine when we have guests). Here’s what else we were up to:   Celebrating Kelly’s birthday with charcuterie, wine, and gluten free cupcakes.   Noah has been asking me to teach him to iron. I have a great ironing hack. Actually it’s a great make-your-husband-wear-all-his-work-shirts hack. I only iron once a month or so,…

  • pets

    pet update (by amie).

    It’s been the best having a dog around. It has taken most of my twelve and a half years of life to persuade my parents to get a dog.  I almost lost hope when we let our last foster dog, Mika, go. I figured that I could wait until I owned my own home and have lots of dogs. All that changed when we met Kira. It was truly love at first sight. One of the ways I knew Kira was the dog for us is that when we met I warmed up to her immediately. Buddy and Mika took time to warm up to. It could’ve been because they…

  • pets

    puppy.

    We continued our journey of dog fostering this winter. We fostered an adult bully mix next, and had her for two weeks. She’d been found as a stray with a big thick collar and chain that had broken. She had the sweetest, happiest nature in the world, and was house-trained, but that’s about it. She was a handful! And amazing with people, but acted aggressively to any and all dogs. This made walking her stressful, and certainly alarmed our neighbors. The folks at the animal rescue promised us she did great with dogs there, so maybe she just switched into guard dog mode on a leash. Anyway, we decided she…

  • counting gifts,  motherhood,  the pastor's wife

    turning 40.

    Well, I turned 40 last month. Can you believe it? My friends and family made it very special with fun food and gifts. Because you’re just dying to know, here are the books I got:     The novel in the bottom center, Peach Blossom Spring, is from Book of the Month Club. My brother and his wife and another friend each gave me a 3-month subscription, which means I get to pick out a new book for 6 months. I’m very excited about this, especially because Book of the Month Club often features brand new writers or books that haven’t been released yet.     It’s a very sweet…

  • the kids

    new years resolutions (by amie)

    This year I made lots of resolutions and wrote them in my journal to check off. Last year I had resolutions but only a few were accomplished. Now that I’m older it seems easier. I have in mind that these might not be finished, but I think it’s a good structure for the year. Here are my resolutions: 1: I have an urge to learn how to make clothes. I enjoy making things and challenging myself in different  areas of art and I thought making clothes would be a good one. Not necessarily making all my clothes but on occasion. It’s perfect because I have a neighbor who knows how…

  • the kids

    noah is 9!

    Can you believe that Noah turned 9 last week? I certainly can’t. We adopted him when he was two, and when I spend time with the two-year-olds at church I marvel that he was that young when we brought him home. At the same time, it feels like he and Gabe always been part of our family. Here’s two-year-old Noah (and a very young looking David!):         His birthday, which is on New Years Eve, began with Duck Donuts with Grandpa, Mum Mum and his siblings, while David and I drove home. That evening some friends from church had a party and made street tacos. We brought…

  • travel

    atlanta.

    During the last few years, David and I have tried to take an overnight trip between Christmas and New Year’s. This year, we were invited to the Campus Outreach New Year’s Conference in Atlanta, so we decided to combine that with our getaway. We wouldn’t have ever chosen Atlanta on our own, but I’m thankful that the conference motivated us to try something different. I haven’t visited the city since before the kids were born, and had an impression of it as crowded and touristy and full of traffic. It may be those things, but is also a beautiful city with lots with charming spots and amazing food. We were…

  • Uncategorized

    a memorable experience.

    I want to share my perspective on fostering a dog. It was a feeling of triumph of persuading my parents to let us foster a dog. I’m still working on adopting one, but baby steps. Buddy was so sweet. An excellent dog. I already knew he wouldn’t live with us forever, and it was sad at first but then I thought I wouldn’t get super attached. Buddy made that very hard.     He soon got the idea that I was his master. He followed me all the time — whenever I went to the bathroom he would wait outside, and whenever I fed the other pets in my room,…

  • holidays

    december.

    Our family tradition is to buy and decorate our tree on Thanksgiving weekend, but we did it early this year for two reasons: one, Joe and Lindsay were coming and I thought it would be festive to have the house decorated for Christmas before they arrived, and two, we heard a rumor that there was a “Christmas tree shortage” this year. I was never able to confirm that rumor, but I wanted to make sure to grab ours early (does that make me one of the people that creates a panic which leads to a shortage?).   As fun as it was, I will not do this again, because by…