Due to the corrupt world in which we live, I have made all my photos of Audrey private on my flickr page.

If you would like access to them, join flickr and become my friend. From there you can receive emails about my updates, or just go in and look for yourself. Flickr is free. All you need is a yahoo! account to join.

Or else, you can join totspot and become friends with Audrey and me there. If you need more information on either totspot or flickr, email me or leave me a comment and I can email you.

Also ... if you follow my blog and use Google products, please click on the "follow me" link off to the side. I'm just curious how many people do follow my blog. Or if you don't want to "follow," leave me a comment so I know you are reading. Lastly, if you don't already know, there are many ways one can get automatic updates to blogs. Sites like Google Reader or Bloglines are just 2 that I know of that will automatically tell you if you have updates to any blogs (or any site that has an RSS or XML feed). I'm a Google user, so I personally use Google Reader.

That's all the business items for today. Thank you for contemplating with me.

Happy Sunday.
2 months until Christmas
1 month and 25 days until my (30th) birthday

Book Review: Beautiful Lies, by Lisa Unger

I'm reading again. Finally have time and found a book that held my interest.

Beautiful Lies: A Novel by Lisa Unger


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love books that keep you guessing. Ridley Jones had a good life. She had good parents, a good job, a dead rich uncle who left her an inheritance..... Then one day she made a series of choices that changed everything and left her wondering about everything she had known to be true.

I was captivated at the first page. I kept trying to figure out if Jake, Ridley's neighbor turned lover, was the good guy or bad guy. I answered the main question of the book pretty quickly, but I think that's the intention of the author. But I was taken back at the end by the final twist.

There are questions left unanswered. Not sure if that means there will be a sequel, or if it just means there are questions unanswered.

I was left with a feeling of privilege for the life and upbringing that I had. I was left with a feeling of safety.

This was a good book, and for more than just the story. The backstory to the story was important and made me appreciate my baby girl and the laws that have come to be for cases of abuse and abandonment, etc.

View all my reviews >>

Fun Photo

All decked out and ready to watch Monday Night Football!

 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for my beautiful baby girl!

Bible Study

We've been attending our church for more than a year, and attending regularly for just under a year. Josh has found his niche and ministry and is starting to really make some friends and serve in the church. Now it's my turn.

Last month I received a bookmark with a list of monthly meetings for "Presbyterian Women." They are studying Joshua. I thought that was a great start for finding a bible study and meeting some other people in the church. (We don't have a small group program as it is under renovation.)

Last night I attended the first meeting, ready to learn about and study Joshua. (I felt studying Joshua so appropriate since I started to read it a few months ago.)

I was initially quite nervous. I arrived about 15 minutes early and didn't want to be the first one there, so I sat in my car a bit. I saw another car arrive and two white-haired ladies exit the vehicle and go up to the front door. Suddenly I thought I should go home. I didn't want to be the only non-grandparent there. But I sucked it up and went inside.

I recognized 2 of the 3 women who where there already. One woman, however, I've had a couple of notso-positive encounters with. I tried to keep an open mind. The Presbyterian Women are VERY active in the community and with community events and ministering to those in need. One of the ministries is delivering blankets to the shelters; so we sat there and tied knots in blankets while listening and planning.

There were a total of 6 of us there. They all recognized me as the "woman with the baby," or "the wife of the drummer." It became painfully obvious that I need my own identity. And as I suspected, I was the only non-grandma in attendance.

Presbyterian Women is also an organization, nation-wide. I've never attended a denominational church that was so heavily reliant and involved with their denomination. I've attended several E-Free churches, which operate very independently from their denominations. So seeing a nation-wide organization through the church is a little weird for me.

At any rate, it became very obvious that at least at our church, Presbyterian Women are an organization first and a bible study second. We spent the first 20 minutes just chatting. Then we went over business items. Basically a summary of what was discussed at the last business meeting with the church leadership. That lasted probably 30-40 minutes. THEN we passed around a pouch to collect membership dues. I was really caught offguard with that. Membership dues for a bible study?? That was when it dawned on me that it's not a bible study, but an organization. I don't carry cash with me, so I had to pass it and say I'll catch up next time. Then we FINALLY started the bible study.

But we didn't even open our bibles. We didn't read the passage. We didn't open in prayer. Nothing. We read the from the book (which is written specifically for Presbyterian Women) and answered only a couple of the questions. Then we closed in the pre-written generic prayer at the end of the lesson. It felt very cold. The bible study aspect of the meeting only lasted 20 minutes, maybe.

I am very hungry for a BIBLE study. A fellowship of believers. Prayer time with other sisters. I don't feel like I will get it from this group.

However, I was encouraged (by my very supportive and awesome husband) to go again next month.

The Presbyterian Women group in our church is responsible for all the craft activities and many of the local outreach ministries in which our church participates. I have been wanting to join some of those outreach groups, so this might just be the way to do it. I just have to accept that this is more of a ministry/outreach group than a bible study.

I have a month to pray about it and decide if I want to go back.

And nothing is stopping me from reading the passages and praying on my own.

Monday..........

It's Monday. Did you know that????

Audrey was fussier than usual early this morning, so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. I overslept and didn't get up until almost 6:00. Not that big of a deal since I'm working from home today. I fed her (and she was extra hungry) and got ready to go running. Haven't run like I should recently, so I had a hard time running. Had to walk more than I have in the past.

Got home and found myself locked out of the house. Both kids had gone to school already and either started or didn't have a phone. So I had to find an open window and take out the screen to get in. (I usually take a spare key with me, but it was removed from the jogging stroller when we had house guests.) I finally got in and scrambled to get ready to start my day.

I finally got working. Audrey was asleep. Now where are my glasses??? Still haven't found them.

Took my break at 10 to feed Little Miss. Just as I'm finishing up and ready to get working again she blows out her diaper. So I had to give her a quick bath. Now I have to do laundry.

sigh.....
Monday's exist even when not in the office.

SF Bay Aquarium

I took a couple photos of the aquarium. I really liked the starfish!

 

 

 

 

Fun Foto Friday...

So many things to blog about, so little time.......

Josh's dad and step-mom came out for a visit 2 weeks ago. They met Audrey for the first time. Sydney made a quilt for Audrey that won 2nd place at the Nebraska State Fair. Audrey was all smiles that weekend, which made Grandma and Grandpa very happy!



The day after they left, my BFF Sarah, whom I have known since 7th grade, came out for a visit. She was here to visit, meet Audrey, and walk in the breast cancer 3 day in San Francisco. We had fun playing.

Slight tangent:
I have a best friend named Sarah - Sarah Elisabeth. Josh's sister is also names Sarah - Sarah Elizabeth. It's only mildly confusing. Josh and I know who we are talking about when one of us tells a story about a Sarah, but the rest of the family does not. I mentioned that Sarah was coming about 10 times and every time somebody different said, "Auntie Sarah is coming?" or, "I didn't know my sister was coming to town..." It became very obvious that we needed to distinguish between the two. So Josh's sister is Auntie Sarah, since his kids and our niece have been calling her that for 15 years. My BFF Sarah's last name starts with a B. And to the kids, she's the second of the two Sarahs. So we nicknamed her Auntie B; she went one step further and decided it's Auntie Bee. So for future entries, Auntie Sarah is Sarah R, Josh's sister, and Auntie B (Or Aunt B) is Sarah B, my BFF.
End tangent.

Sarah did a lot of playing in the city by herself while I was at work. Then she walked in the 3day.



Then I took a couple days off and we played ourselves. We went to the SF Zoo, the SF Bay Aquarium, and we went wine tasting.

The zoo was great because it's off season and so there weren't very many visitors. Audrey laughed at the giraffe and the zebra. That was about all she could really see, though. All the other exhibits were either too far away, or she was sleeping.



She thought the aquarium was funny. There was a cylindrical aquarium of smallish fish that were just swimming in circles. Hundreds of them, swimming round and round. We got up close and she just laughed! She was amused by the jellyfish too. And the large fish in the other large tanks were pretty cool, but she was too hungry to really focus too long. But she got a kick out of the Giant Sea Bass.

Sarah and I enjoyed a nice day in Livermore, tasting the local wines. There were some good and some notsogood. We each bought a couple bottles. I plan on enjoying a bottle this weekend to celebrate our anniversary.

Also this past weekend, Audrey had her first solid food. We introduced her to some rice cereal. We started with a little less than a tablespoon. She wasn't sure what to do with it. She spit most of it out, but some made it down to her belly. We have fed her a little every day and she's now up to about 3-4 tablespoons a day, which is where she will stay for awhile. She now knows it's food and is helping me feed her. Yum!





And she surprised us last week by showing us something we suspect she learned in daycare. Josh was grabbing a bottle to feed her; she saw the bottle and her eyes widened. She reached out her hands and grabbed a hold of it. She HAD to help hold it. And held it herself briefly.



She's been congested too, which leads me to believe that my congestion from a couple weeks ago wasn't allergies, but a cold. She hasn't had a fever or been fussy or runny. Just stuffy. We've had to suck goobers out of her nose or wipe things away. Only one night was it really bad that she was snoring.

And she's been talking in her sleep. It's quite amusing, really. About 3:30 in the morning she just started with her little coos. I got up to check on her, put her binky back in her mouth, and roll her back to the center of the crib. She wasn't awake as I suspected. I guess she was having an interesting dream.

We are, briefly, guest free. After nearly 3 weeks of guests in the house (and at least one a month since Audrey was born), it's nice to have some quiet.

Thankful Thursday

I am very thankful for time with an old friend.

My BFF from middle school is visiting this week. She's in town to walk in the Breast Cancer 3day and is staying extra long to play in SF, with me, and meet Josh, Audrey and the kids.