A year in review

Here are things that happened over the last year.

JANUARY
Brett flies to Florida for Coogie's (FU roomie) wedding.
Merritt starts back to school.
Brett starts his last semester of school ever!
FEBRUARY
We celebrate Valentine's? Our Feb is pretty lame, from what I recall!
MARCH
MERRITT's BIRTHDAY!!!!! We party like maniacs by going to dinner.
Brett has his last spring break ever.
Merritt goes to Costa Rica with her school.
APRIL
We go to Greenville to see our best friends who are visiting from Asia!
Brett studies like crazy at the end of the month, especially, in preparation for his exams.
MAY
BRETT GRADUATES LAW SCHOOL!!!! He's #5 in his whole class! All the parents and Grandma Bee come to celebrate with us!
Brett flies to TX to pick out an apartment.
He goes up to VA and begins classes for the Bar.
JUNE
Brett flies to Miami for a fun wkend with the guys.
Merritt misses the last few days of work after contracting the flu.
She goes back to finish her school duties, packs up some of the apartment, and decides she's lonely in NC without Brett; she moves up to VA and becomes a distraction...I mean, stress-reliever.
BRETT's BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! He finally is as old as his wife!

JULY
We study and study and study and study (yes, we--when he studies I have to be quiet!).
Merritt goes to NM with her family.
Marty comes up to DC and visits for a few days before going back overseas.
Brett surprises Merritt with a great anniversary getaway.
Brett takes the Bar.
We pack our apartment in NC and begin driving to TX.
(please note the above four activities happen within 6 days!)
We go to Galveston in lieu of our fabulous post-bar vacation (sad, I know).
AUGUST
Our furniture arrives; Brett slices open his head and visits the Houston ghetto ER.
Brett begins his job!
Merritt begins blogging more because she doesn't have one!
We attend an Astros game.
And find a great church.
Merritt surprises her Mom on her birthday (didn't you hear the scream?).
SEPTEMBER
Our Bible study starts, giving us great challenge and friends!
Merritt's folks come visit and she goes home with them (why? see below).
Brett goes to New Oreans for several days and likes it.
Brett's parents come visit.
Brett's pal Richie gets engaged!
Merritt starts to sub regularly.
We visit the Alamo.
We buy tickets to India.
OCTOBER
BRETT PASSES THE BAR!!!!!!
It rains a lot and the heat doesn't leave.
We visit VA for a swearing-in ceremony.
We go to DFW and attend the Texas State Fair.
Merritt is asked to start working at the church.
NOVEMBER
We go bike riding with my parents.
Brett proves he can hold down a job longer than 3 months!
We buy our first Christmas tree (yes, we know this is our 3rd married Christmas).
We spend Thanksgiving with my folks.
We get shots for India.
DECEMBER
We go on a fun date.
WFU wins the ACC championship.
It gets hotter.
This is our first ever non-school-break Christmas! =(
Christmas with Brett's folks in VA!
New Years/Christmas with Merritt's folks in TX!
We survive the year!

So, there you have it: a summary of 2006! We did a lot! We look forward to 2007 and all the wonderful things that will happen and all the things that God will show us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Countdown to 2007!

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Things you might not know

Sometimes I truly crave orange juice.
I can swallow pills without water.
Bugs of any size make me scream. Loudly.
I overreact.
In my opinion, Coke tastes so much better as a fountain drink.
Icecream (or icecream related products: milkshakes, smoothies, floats) is my favorite dessert.
I never crave chocolate.
I wish I were a professional dancer or a photographer.
I don't mind losing, except to my husband.
I hate flossing.
My kitchen and bathroom must be kept in perfect order. But not my desk.
I have good penmanship.
Exhaust fumes make me gag.
I'm allergic to most perfumes.
Until in college, I refused to wear sandals. I hated my feet.
I can't watch animal movies.
I used to be a great gymnast.
Sports on TV make me fall asleep.
I have expensive taste, but buy otherwise since it's more practical.
My cooking style is uncreative and boring.
Being underwater for more than a few seconds scares me.
I love mint but not peppermint.
I enjoy being pampered but will only do it if it's a gift.
Balancing the checkbook is fun to me.
I love diagramming sentences.
I want to be picked for "What Not to Wear" but I don't dress badly enough, which really is a good thing.
My mind wanders when praying.
I whistle constantly.
Song lyrics and titles are hard for me to remember. Artist names are impossible.
I despise running, but don't mind the elliptical.
I sleep on my stomach even though I know it's bad for my back.
It annoys me when people mess with my feet, even if it's to tickle them.
I don't know anything about alcoholic drink types.
A fire, snow, and good book is my ideal winter.
I wish I had a cat, but don't want to take care of one.
I can't understand all the codes and theory behind webpages but wish I did.
I throw away everything. Clutter is my enemy.
Tornadoes fascinate me.
I have too much time on my hands. =)

So now you have to tell me something about you.....
That means I expect you to comment....

Christmas Slideshow

Christmas Travels

Three years ago we were in Hawaii.
Two years ago we were in Vail.
A year ago we were in NYC.

Today Brett's at work. And I'm doing laundry.
I miss the school holiday break we used to have!

'Twas the Knight before Christmas

They didn't win any prizes this year for their neighborhood contest, but we really like the theme Charlie and Jo picked! Can you tell what the lights form on the house?

Sand Santa

Who says you can't have a white Christmas with sand? People from Puri India are getting ready for Christmas! This picture was on foxnews.com this morning.

Christmas Eve Eve

It's been a full day! Most of our afternoon was spent with Richie and Liz, eating lunch, sipping Starbucks, and catching up. The next time we see them, most likely, we'll be getting together for their wedding!! It's gonna be great!

We arrived home with about 5 minutes to spare before the fam came over. Brett's aunt and uncle and cousins came to celebrate Christmas, as well as his Aunt Patty's and Uncle Jim's birthdays! Jo made a fabulous feast complete with green beans, mashed potatoes, and fruit salad! Mmmm! Both of us really enjoy getting together with them every Christmas. Maybe once we move, we'll actually see them more often than once a year!!

Lastly, I have to leave you with a picture of snow my family is enjoying! Go here if you want to see more live pics.

Christmas Travel

We took a chance getting to the airport early to fly standby on an earlier flight, and it worked out! The flight was incredibly turbulant, but we made it! Our Christmas holidays officially begin and finally feel real now that we are with family! We've got a busy couple of days planned, but plenty of time to relax as well!



Y'all can be praying for me to feel better. I have a lovely cold to go along with my Christmas cheer...

A warm and fuzzy day

This was a good day. I get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. Here's why:

I cleaned. I HATE cleaning, but I LOVE the result! It's just beautiful to look and live in a spick-n-spam apartment! You can see the vacuum lines on the carpet, and that makes me happy!

I lunched. The really fun part of my day came when Erin and I went to lunch. We have so, so much in common; it's crazy! And she's just a really incredible person; everyone would like her! Brett commented last nite after Bible study that she and I are alike and her hubby Evan and Brett are: she and I are loud, talkative and high-strung; the boys are just laid-back and cool. We did lots of girly things like look at wedding pictures and have deep conversations, which was so wonderful. I'm glad that I have her to hang out with until this summer when they move and we do shortly thereafter.

I worked out. When my fabulous hubby came home today (which was about an hour earlier than usual!), we went and joined a gym. I have to admit that I cringe at the thought of paying money for a gym; I mean, technically we have one here at the complex (if you call two treadmills and a TV a gym). But we bit the bullet and decided that we wanted something more enticing than a closet-sized workout space. Now we have 30 days to prove we'll actually work out!

And to top it off, it's raining! I LOVE rain!

Happy Things

Did you know that there is a calendar that has five different things to be happy about for every single day of the year? I have three college friends who I email every single morning to announce the 5 Things to be Happy about! My reign as the emailer will come to an end in 10 days as I turn it over to Sarah. Here is today:

5 Things to be Happy about
Wednesday, 20 December, 2006

-Katharine Hepburn movies
-a gift basket with great stuff
-Mount Everest
-help with the shopping bags
-a winter wedding

ahhhh....Happy Nite!

Happy Birthday, Madi!

Our niece Madi turns one today! She's a special little girl to us! Isn't she cute!!?

Pray for Kerith

Be in prayer for our friends Richard and Jessica. Their 16 week old daughter Kerith is having surgery on Tuesday for a cancerous mass that was found in her adrenal gland. We've never met Kerith, but that little one was helping her mom scrub our apartment clean just weeks before she was born while her dad loaded our moving truck. They are incredible people, so lift up them, the surgeons, and Kerith.


UPDATE 12/20:
Kerith is doing great! The surgeon had to remove one of her adrenal glands, but he was indeed able to get all of her tumor! She will recover in the hospital for about 3-5 days, and they will await pathology reports. Continue to pray for good news from that report and for a quick and comfortable recovery!

Acceptance speech

Did you hear? I'm the Time magazine Person of the Year!

I'd really like to start off by just thanking the readers. Without all of you sea urchins or lurkers, I'd really have no motivation to write. By the millions of comments I get each day, it's quite obvious the difference I have made in this wide world of webs..gosh, I'm so nervous! (holding back tears...) You've all been wonderful; I can't thank you enough! I'd also be nothing if it weren't for my family. Mom, Dad, I love you. I love my brothers and sisters. And, of course, my incredible husband who allowed me to not work this year to give me time to write. Guess it's paid off, huh, honey? There are so many others I want to thank (music starts...)...I can't remember everyone!--GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Jeni!

It's amazing to think that you two have been together so long that Jeni has been part of my life since I was in elementary school!! Thanks to both of you for being such a great example to me of what a Christ-centered marriage should look like. Y'all are models to not only all the youth and your students and athletes and daughter, but to this little sis as well! Love you both!April 2006

Relax and play

Relax and play is what we did all day!
(I used to be a great poet; don't you know it?)

Early this afternoon we drove with some friends from Bible study and delivered gifts to a family that we had adopted. The family was very grateful and excited, and we were all glad that we could give them some things that they really needed. Afterwards, B and I hung out at Evan and Erin's house for a while. The four of us have lots in common (she's a teacher, too! I know, I know--technically I'm not teaching this year....). We'd almost be tempted to think about staying in Houston with friends like them, but they are moving this summer, too!

The rest of our afternoon was spent doing boring things like napping (mostly me) and reading (mostly B) and listening to music. I'm on strike in the kitchen (just for the weekend), so we went out to dinner at Ninfa's; Brett was in the mood for Mexican--he's becoming a true Texan!

Now the BEST part of the day was when I convinced my darling hubby to take me to look at Christmas lights! And...he enjoyed it!! We "oohed" and "aahed" at all the big mansions nearby. And somehow, we got in a long line of cars we thought were just looking at lights, but were actually in line for valet parking for a wedding. We had to laugh when the valet guy came to get our keys, and Brett told him we didn't need his help but just needed to get through the circle so we could leave! Oops...



oh...and Happy Hanukkah!

A December Fall

Don't you just love fall? The beautiful colors, the falling leaves, the moderate temperatures. Fall has finally come to our area, as evidenced by the picture I took today. You'd think it's September by the way the leaves are just now turning and falling. Brett told me about a song he's heard on the radio "No white Christmases in Houston". So true! The fall colors are pretty; it's just odd...being Christmas and all....

An organizer's heaven

I went into the Container Store today. Now, I've heard that people love this store, but I'd never really had the need or opportunity to go into one. Until today. And I thought Office Depot was exhilarating! Visions of an organized and coordinated home danced through my head! Label makers, decorative file folders, frames, organizational bins, kitchen stuff, do-dads.....I liked it very much!

Dear Santa...

Although I must have at some point, I don't recall ever believing in Santa Claus. Tons of kids do, though. I read an article this week about North Pole, Alaska, where thousands of letters arrive each year from little ones who are making requests of Santa. What I enjoyed hearing was that the US Postal System will get them there with as little as "Santa" printed on the envelope! And without a stamp! The elves up in the North Pole send postcards to everyone who includes a return address. I really want to write a letter and get a postcard....
What would you ask for from Santa?

Letters to Santa Flood Alaskan Town
Location of North Pole, Alaska

The busyness of Christmas

Yesterday had to be the busiest Saturday I've experienced in many months!

Annah and I went to the Galleria to do some holiday shopping. It's my personal opinion that the little Santa's parking attendants got a good laugh out of letting cars into the garage and watching them circle and stalk people for a spot, all the while fully aware that there were none left. After lunch and several hours of shopping and no purchases (don't worry-Annah made up for my lack; plus, most my shopping is done anyway), I made my way home. Brett and I then got dressed up to have dinner with Larry and Ginger, family friends from good ole SA. Cafe Rabelais is a very cozy French restaurant; we needed snow on the ground outside and we would have felt like we were in Europe or Vail. After dinner, we invited them in to see our apartment. The last time Ginger was here, she was helping me unpack and carting Brett to the ER. The visit last nite turned out to be much less eventful, thankfully!

Christmas, Christmas time is here....

Annah visits!

It didn't seem like a Friday today, but I am glad that it was! My to-do list was long this morning, but I got so much accomplished today, and I even subbed for half a day! I feel like a super-hero or something!

Annah is in town for the weekend, and it was wonderful catching up with her. We can hardly believe that we haven't seen each other since my wedding; I guess talking 1-2 times a week helps! Tomorrow we are going to do some Christmas shopping and bum around town.

A word to our fans

Blogger has updated their blogs! They are now easier to use and more flexible. But, that means for all of us who figured things out the hard way, we are used to it and like it and are now trying to learn this new "easier" way. So, please bear with me as I try to figure out the changes and re-install some of the things from the old blog to the new. Let me know if you miss something from the old version or if something from this one isn't working right! Thanks!

Pearl Harbor

December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

In the sixth grade, I wrote a research paper on the attack of Pearl Harbor. A friend of my dad gave me a book about Pearl Harbor to use; I vividly remember the picture at the right, as it seemed like such a testament that this historical thing truly did happen and there's a boat on the ocean floor as a result. Mitsuo Fuchida is the name that I remember most, as he was the Japanese commander who led the first attacks with his war cry of "Tora! Tora! Tora!". His story truly intrigues me, though, because later in life he became a Christian evangelist across the Orient. Go here for an excerpt from his book, where he talks about the morning of Dec 7th and of his conversion 9 years later.

After writing that paper, I made it a goal to one day visit the USS Arizona Memorial. I feel so blessed since I've had the opportunity to do that several times already. It's really one of the most amazing places.

Bigger in Texas

In between Houston and Dallas, there is a great Texas landmark at which everyone driving on I-45 can't help but turn to stare. It's the Sam Houston Statue. I noted that approaching the statue from the south, I could see it for 4 miles before I actually drove past it! It's gigantic! Apparently it's the largest statue in the world of an American hero. Maybe they built the statue because they didn't want their little town known for it's other famous mark: The Walls of Huntsville Prison. I'll give you one try to guess why this Texas prison is well-known.

Pray for Dina

This evening, I went with my parents to visit dear friends of ours, Dina and Jerry. He was the pastor of our church in SA while I was young, and they have always been dear friends of my parents. When I was 16, they allowed Annah and I to fly over to Spain to stay with them for a month to participate in their ministry there. About four years later when I lived in Spain, I took Melissa with me to visit them again. Jerry spoke at my high school graduation and Brett and I considered asking him to perform our wedding ceremony. Needless to say, they are special people to us.

In September, Dina was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They decided to have her treated here in the US, which is why they are here. Both their children and grandchildren live in the area, meaning they are near family; and since they are in the area, it gives my parents the opportunity to visit.

Please pray for Dina and Jerry and their family. My prayer is, obviously, that she would be healed. She has stopped her chemo and radiation treatments, as there have been no obvious improvements; the new focus has been to relieve her of pain. Dina's greatest fear is that she loses sight of the Lord and that she forgets to glorify Him in all she does; what an amazing woman! Pray for her comfort and energy level, that she may be able to enjoy great quality of life even though her body is fighting against her. And pray for Jerry, as he's hurting for the woman he loves and is also away from their friends.

I'll end this long post with a quote from their most recent newsletter:
Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger people! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the riches of life which has come to you by the grace of God. (Phillips Brooks, quoted by John Feinberg, The Many Faces of Evil).

Date Day

Today was Date Day. Brett took me out on a long date just because he loves me! Here's how it went:

After watching Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech (yay!), we went to the movie theatre and finally saw Casino Royale. We like to bond over Bond movies, since we first started dating after watching one together as "just friends". By the time the movie finished, I was famished. Since I posted about Stephanie's birthday earlier this week, I have absolutely been craving Cheddar's. Brett was such a gentleman and took me there, even though it was a 10 mile drive (I know it's not that far, but when you live within walking distance to so many restaurants, it seems long!). The chicken tender salad has never tasted so good in my life! Some of you (you know who you are!) will be happy to know we did not split dinner; but we now have lunch for both of us tomorrow! The Wine Bucket came next. It's a unique little place less than half a mile from our apt. We sat in comfy chairs and sipped wine and talked. Now we are home, enjoying the lights of our Christmas tree and sounds of music.

Isn't he good to me?!

The ACC Champs!

GO DEACS!

The Mad Potter

I spent my evening at The Mad Potter painting pottery with about 15 other girls from church. I know I'm not terribly artistic, but when I walk into a place like that, it's as though my few creative ideas become intimidated and washed away in the amazing storm of artistic talent displayed around the place! I had such a vision of what my pottery would look like, yet it didn't exactly transfer from the brain to the pottery as I had pictured. When I pick up my piece next week, if it's worthy, some lucky person will get it as a gift. I had a great time despite my lack of talent; in fact, I'm inspired to try it again sometime in the near future!

Brett ended up having to work late, so it worked out perfectly that I had this planned. Tomorrow we are going on a date!

Highs and lows

Our weather here is insane; that's all I can say about it. As I read the weather report in our paper, I couldn't help but be amazed: we set a record high yesterday of 83; then just under that news is a box with freeze and wind warning information for today. See for yourself.

I won't complain, though; I welcome the cold weather!
(pic from the front page today!)

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

LP is my roommate. Well, technically, she's not anymore since I have Brett as a roomie, but in my mind, she'll always be! And today is her birthday, so this is a shout-out to her, wishing her a fabulous day. I hope that the kiddos make you feel loved and you enjoy celebrating today! You've definitely earned a flower today! Much love!

100

THE NUMBER OF...
....times I've made lasagna since being married? (practically)
....dollars I make when I sub? (not quite)
....coke floats I've had in my lifetime? (higher)
....framed pictures in my home? (close)
....friends I have? (well, I AM popular...)
....countries I've visited? (I wish!)
....reasons why I love my husband? (and so many more!)
....times I've been wrong? (not close--that's high, in case you wondered!)
....times I've tried to stop popping my knuckles? (ergh...)
....jokes I know? (I don't tell jokes; I'm naturally funny)
....times I've beat someone at Dance, Dance Revolution? (Kel is better)
....times I get on my computer each day? (sadly)

This time 100 is the number of posts we have written on our lovely blog. I'm sure our adoring public is keeping track, anticipating the moment when they hit "refresh" and a new one appears. Happy 100 Posts to us!

100~100~100~100~100~100~100~100

Happy Birthday, Stephanie!

Today is my friend Stephanie's birthday! We grew up playing volleyball and basketball, our best trick on the courts being the fact that our opponents couldn't tell us apart. When we worked together at Cheddar's for years, no one believed us when we said we weren't related! Ahhh...the good ole days. Steph, hope you had a great day and are enjoying a real winter up North!

Smile!

I love my uncle Brett!

Turkey Trot

Well, we ate our turkey, took our nap, and then went to get our exercise! Mom, Dad, Hubby, and I took a short ride this afternoon, they on their tandem and us on our hybrids. We rewarded ourselves for this great job by eating more turkey and pumpkin pie when we got back! Don't we look cool?

Happy Turkey Day!

Things that are great about Thanksgiving: Macy's Day Parade, family, a lazy day, the roar of football, the start of Christmas music, homemade cooking, being a glutton all day, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and marshallows, and most of all, tryptophan and that afternoon nap!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Celebrity look-alikes

These are hilarious! I used our passport photos to see which famous celebs we look like. Makes me wonder if we aren't as good looking as I think we are! Why are two guys in mine? And there's one of Brett's that is particularly funny...

The to-do list

I love to-do lists, don't you? I don't necessarily like doing everything on the list, but I like that there is a list which will measure my accomplishments throughout the day. Today I was very successful. I did things today I didn't even know were going to be on my list; so, naturally, after I did them, I came home, added each and then checked them off! I look so productive! It's such a great feeling!

Employed

I'm no longer a stay-at-home-wife since today I officially began working at our church! I get to work in an office with Kristin, the girl who practically runs the whole church! She's great fun! I'll probably be working a couple of days a week, depending on how much they need me and what my sub schedule is like. I think it'll be a perfect fit.

Dinner OR a movie

I feel badly for young men today who want to take that girl out on the first or second date, because unless he's rich, he's going to have to tell her that she can choose dinner OR a movie, but not both.

Our church is currently meeting in a movie theatre while remodeling. We've always wanted to go to a movie after church and since the wafting popcorn smell was especially strong during the service, we chose today. This is also a brilliant idea because then a) we don't have to pay for the parking and b) we get the matinee rate.

B went down to get tickets to see the new 007 movie and came up emptyhanded. Tickets for a matinee are $8.75! If we go to an evening show, we'll pay $11 a piece and then for parking; that's $25 without the popcorn and coke, and every good date should offer a woman those options. Luckily, Brett knows his wife is too cheap to spend that much and he got away with taking me home for lunch and to Target for groceries.