Mom

It's Mother's Day! I'd like to wish my wonderful mom a very, very, very happy Mother's Day! I'm only sorry I couldn't go home to celebrate with her. One of the drawbacks of living in New Jersey for the summer is that I can't go home whenever I like. Maybe if Brian makes it to the big leagues one day I can afford to fly back and forth as much as I'd like!

To simply say that I'm thankful for my mom would be an understatement. She has been such a godly example throughout my life. What more can you ask for than a mom who emulates Christ on a regular basis? What greater lesson is there to be learned than Christ and him glorified? As I've grown older, I've learned to appreciate my mother's wise words, strong spirit and compassionate heart even more. Mothers never stop being mothers, and I'm thankful. I'm looking forward to the day when I'm a mom and can put everything she's taught me into practice. Something tells me it will be a lot harder than it looks!

Mom, I'm forever indebted to you in so many ways. Thank you for loving God and demonstrating his love to others. I love you and hope you have a happy Mother's Day!

Change

I don't know about ya'll, but sometimes I just need a change. This nagging can sometimes be sufficed by simply moving a piece of furniture to a different spot or changing the fabric on a pillow. However, lately I've been contemplating doing something different with my hair.

I'm not a particularly daring person. Therefore, I can't do anything drastic without first having a good idea of what it would look like. Internet to the rescue! I stumbled across a great website called DailyMakeover.com. It is the bomb! I've spent more time than I'd probably like to admit "trying on" different celebrity hairstyles. It's kind of addictive. If you ever want to change your hairstyle and/or hair color, this website is a great resource. And of course, it's free! Check out my results below:






Don't worry, I haven't decided if I'll really do anything like what you see above, but you never know, my need for a little change just might get the best of me :)

Back to the Garden State

In case you haven't heard, Brian is going to play baseball again this summer and recently signed a contract to play for the Somerset Patriots again! Here's the article if you're interested in reading it. We'll be headed up to New Jersey in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to being in a familiar place and reuniting with some friends in New Jersey. However, it's always hard to leave our friends, family, community, church and house in Charlotte!

New Floor

I should have posted this a while back, but just haven't gotten around to it. Not that any of you were on the edge of your seat, waiting with great anticipation for this oh-so-important post about our new kitchen floor :)

Anyway, if you recall I posted a picture of our old floor a few weeks ago. Well, now our floors look like this:





I like them even more than I thought I would! No more white vinyl! Yay!

Birthday Fun!

My birthday was yesterday, March 9, and I had a wonderful day! Brian was so sweet to make the weekend before special too. He called it my "birthday weekend." In celebration, he planned for us to go to the new Olympic Whitewater Park in Charlotte on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful! While there, we paid to ride the "mega zip line." Here we are in our gear, just before climbing 43 feet and zip lining over the water! We both thoroughly enjoyed it.




After walking around some of the trails we were worn out!


So we went home, rested, and drove to the new IKEA store in Charlotte. I had never been to IKEA and it was overwhelmingly large and extensive! I'm going to have to go back there sometime when I have more time and energy.

On Sunday, Brian made me a birthday cake! All by himself! I think he only asked me 4 or 5 questions. That's pretty good for someone who has NEVER baked ANYTHING. I felt so special that he wanted to do that for me. And the cake turned out really well. It was delicious! Brian was meticulous about getting the icing smooth. Here he is working hard:





On Monday, Mom and Dad came up to take us out to dinner for my birthday! We went to Flat Rock Grille which was soooooo yummy. Brian and I have never had a bad (or even mediocre) meal there. Everything has always been outstanding, especially the key lime pie. It is out of this world!

At Flat Rock for my 29th:

Props to My Friend!

Ok, I just had to blog about these adorable dresses my friend Ashley is making! She just started making them, and I'd say she's doing a fabulous job. I've already told her that if I have a baby girl one day, I'm going to pay her to make some of these cute dresses! Check out her blog (it's in the list of "other blogs I follow" on the right).

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today, March 3, 2009 my dad is 64 years old! (I'm sure he's thrilled that I'm sharing this with everyone.) I can hardly believe he's 64, mostly because I don't think he looks a day over 45. I sure hope I inherited his "non-graying" gene!

One thing I love to do when I'm home at Mom and Dad's is look through old pictures. I was doing just that a few weeks ago, when I ran across the photo below. Look at that handsome devil! He must have had to beat the ladies away with a stick.

Dad, I love you so much and hope you've had a wonderful birthday!

Old Floor

As I've mentioned before, Brian and I are slowly but surely "pulling our townhouse together," so to speak. One thing we've always wanted to update is the flooring in the kitchen. Right now the floor is an ugly white vinyl with lots of nicks and scratches. After several trips to Lumber Liquidators, we FINALLY decided on a wood laminate that we'll put down in the kitchen and the foyer. Here's a "before" pic. Hopefully I'll have an "after" pic to share in a few days!



This past summer, I also blogged about a $300 chair I got for $50! I found it up in New Jersey while Mom and Dad were visiting us. I sent the cushions home with Mom so she could make slip covers for them. After this little makeover, I love the way the chair turned out! I feel blessed to have a mother who is willing and able to put her sewing skills to work for me. Thanks Mom!

The before pic is below. Keep in mind the cushions were not on it because Mom had taken them home, but they were big, orange, cheetah print cushions so . . . you can imagine. Let's just say they weren't quite my style.



AFTER:

I'd Like to Introduce You to . . .

Earl and Pearl Adams.

Brian and I went square dancing last Monday night with some friends and it was a blast! We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We really got into it and decided that our stage names would be Earl and Pearl. We even wrote our new names on our name tags, but I quickly realized nobody "got it" and changed mine back to Lindsay. Brian on the other hand, introduced himself the entire night, to everyone, as Earl Adams. I laughed every single time he did it. How can he do that with a straight face?

While we really enjoyed learning how to square dance, I don't think we'll be going back. These people were SERIOUS about their square dancin'. They wanted a 20 week commitment from us. I got the impression that they would then want us to participate or compete in local square dances. We thought we were just in for a few free square dancing lessons, but I think we were wrong! In any case, it was a fun-filled evening. Please notice that we are all demonstrating the "promenade" position in the picture below. Ha ha ha!

Decisions Decisions

It's that time of year again . . . Time to figure out where Brian will play baseball this spring and summer. I share this with you simply to ask for your prayers. Every year this tends to be a tough decision. We evaluate what we think will be the best opportunity and of course pray about where God wants us. The answers aren't always clear, but we trust that if we're surrendered to Him in every way He will not let us make a mistake. And even if we do, he will get us back on track in a flash. I'm so thankful to serve a God that is a dependable leader.

At this point in time we aren't sure what all the options are. Brian could play here in the States again (for an independent team), but playing abroad is probably more likely (Mexico, Italy, Taiwan, etc). We're just waiting to see what doors God opens. Your prayers are much appreciated!

SNOW!!

It snowed in Charlotte yesterday! I love it when it snows enough to take off work. Although I didn't get the entire day off, we did get some play time in with our nephews. The only bummer is that we didn't find a good hill to sled down. Maybe next time! Who knows, maybe it will snow again before winter is over.

6 Years and Counting . . .

Happy anniversary!

Brian and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on January 4th. Unfortunately we weren't together since he's still in the Dominican Republic, but we've decided to celebrate when he gets back. Besides, that little vacation we took to the Sun Village Resort when I was down there was kind of our Christmas/Anniversary presents to each other.

I feel so fortunate to be married to such a wonderful man. I've always admired Brian's character, his quiet strength, his gentleness and love for the Lord, but only over time have I truly begun to understand the depths of these amazing qualities he possesses. My hope is that with each passing year I will learn to love and appreciate Brian more than the one before.

In honor of our anniversary, I thought I'd post some pictures of Brian and I before we got married (aka our "courting years") and then a few from our wedding day. Enjoy!







On our wedding day . . .

Whew!

Wheeeeeeeew Weeeeeeeeeee! The past 12 days have gone by in a flash! My time with Brian in the Dominican was wonderful, but too short. In fact, I was unprepared for how hard it would be to leave him, on Christmas Day at that. But once I got to the airport it was hectic and stressful, so there was no time for tearful goodbyes. Here are a few pictures from my time there.

Cows were everywhere around our hotel!



Here I am hanging out at the hotel pool one afternoon after Brian left for the game.


Brian and I after a game. It was so humid I had to wear a hat to tame my frizzed out hair!


The mountains were pretty! This photo was taken from the back seat of a car when we were on our way to the Sun Village Resort and Spa:


A few pictures from our time at the resort:





This giant lizard, or whatever it was, was made out of bread! The Christmas Eve dinner was delicious!


At the show on Christmas Eve, Brian was dragged up on stage to participate in a dancing competition! It was pretty funny!

Resort on the Beach . . . here we come!

Starting tomorrow, Brian and I have the privilege of vacationing at the Sun Village Resort and Spa in Puerto Plata!! Brian has the next 4 days off so we're taking advantage of those four days as well as the fact that we're in warm place with beautiful beaches. This little vacation is our Christmas present to each other. It's a little unconventional to spend Christmas this way, but if you have to be away from family I guess it's the next best thing! We'll suffer through it ;)

A New Bed!

I am sooooooooooooooooo excited about our new mattress and box springs that's being delivered this Tuesday! These are our Christmas presents from Mom and Dad. THANK YOU Mom and Dad!

I'm so excited about this gift because it will be a huge upgrade from our current, extremely loud and squeaky, too firm, queen size bed. Not that I'm complaining, I'm very grateful to have had that bed. However, I'll be happier when I don't wake up in the middle of the night every time Brian goes to the bathroom! (Not that I have to deal with that right now anyway since he's in the Dominican Republic.) Speaking of which, I fly down to see him this Wednesday! Hopefully I'll have some cool pictures to post on the blog soon!

On the Road Again, Just Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again . . .

Brian got a call a few days ago from a team in the Dominican Republic. They want him to come down and pitch for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. We're very excited about this opportunity! The only sad part is that Brian will miss Christmas :( At least I'll get to fly down on December 18 and stay through Christmas Eve.

The team is actually called the San Fransisco Giants, and they are located just outside of Santiago. Please pray for safe travels for Brian, that he would enjoy his time there, and that he would have the opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus to his new teammates.

Fun times are ahead!

Close to My Heart

I must warn you that this post is pretty raw. I'm not sugar-coating the subject, because I don't believe it should be. So there's my disclaimer.

It hit me that I haven't shared with you, my blog readers, about a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Many of you already know of the horrific tragedies that have taken place in Sudan. However some of you may not, which is understandable because we live so far away from this reality. The reality is this: 2.5 million are dead, 8 million have been displaced from their homes, and thousands have been beaten, tortured, and raped all in the name of Islam. The Muslim government in Sudan declared jihad on it's own people years ago. Anyone that is not Muslim or has black skin is considered the enemy. Let's break that down a little further . . . you must worship Allah, follow Muhammad, believe the Qur'an is God's word, and you can't be black or you are a target to be tortured and killed. It's called ethnic cleansing, genocide, a holy-war. It has taken over in Sudan, and it is beyond tragic. It is heart-wrenching.

I have the privilege of working with businessmen who have decided that this is not ok. They want to encourage Americans to help the innocent, Sudanese people. Therefore, they have created a documentary called, "With Open Eyes." "With Open Eyes" is about five Americans who set foot in Sudan and spend 14 days traveling the treacherous landscape; traversing Africa’s largest country from south to north and into the Darfur region. Throughout their journey, they witness the brutal conditions the Sudanese people live in on a daily basis as a result of the actions of the Sudanese government, and visit with men, women and children who have been affected by those actions. Their goal was to gain understanding of the real situation in the war-torn country, and to document the reality of what they uncovered and experienced. Please go to www.SudanCan.com and watch the trailer. The images, while graphic in nature, are real and need to be seen.

After viewing the trailer, or the film in it's entirety (which you can purchase online), you may decide it's no longer acceptable for Americans to remain uninformed and/or unmoved to help. Individuals can do something! At Sudancan.com you can donate to organizations on the ground in Sudan helping turn this situation around. There are more ways to help too. You can sign the petition that goes to your local Congressman and the President. Just click, "Take Action" and find out more. Above all, please pray for the Sudanese people, and tell others about what is happening over there and how they can get involved.

I keep thinking, what if my country's government turned on me because I was black or a non-Muslim? I just can't imagine it and my heart goes out to these precious people who continue to embody resilience and joy. They remind me of 2 Corinthians 8:2 which says, "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." When the government burns down their churches, they rebuild. When the government kidnaps their pastor and beats him to death, someone bravely steps up to fill his shoes. When children are abandoned because their fathers were murdered and mothers were raped and killed, they are taken in by strangers in the refugee camps. These people are not giving up and in some ways I feel indebted to them. They aren't bowing down to other gods or apologizing for their skin color. The longer they stand, and the more help we give, the less power the government has. So please, do what you can.