Christmas 2007

:) I thought you might be interested in some of Jamie's artistic shots of Christmas morning at our apartment...and the rest of the day.

We're not big fans of the huge angel on the top, but I got it at TJMax for cheap just in case it looked good and we didn't get a chance to take it back before Christmas.

Jamie gave me like a bzillion amazing gifts. I was so excited! And just one of them was this beautiful glider/rocker bench for our balcony. :)

Unfortunately, Jamie was the only one taking pictures, so there are none of him. And we didn't get the camera out at my parents' house, so there aren't any of our time there. But we had a great time there, as well as at Jamie's parents' house. We were at Jamie's parents' house first to give them the scrapbook I made for them, then we went to my parents' house. We opened gifts with them and ate a delicious dinner! Then back to Jamie's parents' house for dessert and opening gifts there.

Matt and the virgin Mary.

Matt and Jesus.

Patti in the cute hat and scarf that Sarah made for her!

Christmas Dance

In case you're bored...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1549587556

A video from the Christmas Tree lighting

President Bush beginning his speech.

An evening with the Bushes

Yesterday afternoon we drove into DC to meet up with Doug and Jeanne, our friends from TFC , and members of the worship team there. Doug works for the Department of the Interior and invited us to attend the lighting of the national Christmas tree along with them. We got very close seats (thanks to Doug's job) and had a great time. We got to see the president and first lady up-close, and the secret service were everywhere. Oh, and it was also freezing cold. Catherine told me to wear two pairs of socks but I thought I was manly enough. Nope. Oh well.

Here we are outside of Doug's office, on the "ledge." Amazing. You're looking west, towards the Capitol building, Washington monument, etc. To your right (you can't see it) is the tidal basin, Jefferson memorial, Pentagon, etc. So cool.

Sitting on the elipse, looking towards the Washington monument. Notice the snipers on top of the white trailers.

George and Laura.

How cool is that?

The closing sing along.

It was so cool to sit there and watch the President. He would turn and elbow his wife, joke with her, laugh, etc. He was seated next to a little boy who had been chosen to press the button to light the tree. Since we had binoculars, I noticed at one point the President took off his left glove and gave it to the boy (since it was in the twenty's.) He never took it back. The President went the whole night with only his right glove on.

Cool Picture

This was taken last month at our church retreat at Shrine Mont. So cool. A parent's example in worship works.

New York

Last week, I was in New York City to lead worship for an Alpha conference. These conferences train churches how to run the Alpha Course. The conference was held at Trinity Baptist Church. We stayed at The Pod Hotel. Interesting place.

On Thursday afternoon, during one of the sessions, I took a walk to 53rd and Broadway to check out the Ed Sullivan Theater, and to see if I could get my picture taken with Rupert at the Hello Deli. Any Letterman fans will know who he is.

Here's a picture I took the first morning. It's the 59th street bridge.

Here's one of me and Rupert.

The Ed Sullivan Theater.

Lots of lights.

A four course dinner for four

Jamie is out of town right now doing an Alpha Conference in New York. When he's gone, I always know that I'll need to give myself some time to be alone (its a great time to clean and do projects that I normally wouldn't think about doing)...but also to arrange time with other people so I don't get too lonely.

Tonight, because my mom is out of town, I invited my Dad and brothers over for dinner. Stan couldn't come because he was going to DC for something, but Dad and Jon and James all came over.

They came around 6:45 pm with baguettes, cheese, and wine in hand. It definitely gave the meal an extra dose of class! :)

So here is the augmented menu:

Homemade cream of mushroom soup (with baguettes)

Chopped ceasar chicken breast on top of ceasar salad on top of whole wheat pasta. (It was supposed to be just ceasar salad with chicken, but then I found that 3/5 heads of lettuce were frozen in the refrigerator. I ended up just putting the whole thing on top of pasta, which James said he liked, although I wasn't as enthusiastic!)

I also had bowls of different kinds of chips and sliced red bell pepper to add more food in case there wasn't enough.

Cheese course - a goat's milk gouda, a blue cheese, and a soft round cheese, all with baguette pieces

Chocolate chip cookies that James made

The yummy white wine went with the first three courses.

I think my favorite part was definitely the mushroom soup. I had been wanting to try to make it for a while (since I went to a restaurant with my grandparents and had really yummy mushroom soup there) and I was so happy with how it came out! ...and the fact that I guessed the ingredients perfectly when I was at the grocery store! :)

So, we ate around the table for the first three courses, then moved to the couches to watch the Office and Scrubs while we ate the hot cookies.

It was fun to be with my Dad and brothers again. There's something about laughing with your siblings that is different from laughing with anyone else. Maybe its just that your senses of humor are so familiar to each other that the familiarity adds sweetness and depth to the laughter.

Moving pictures:)

Here are a few pictures from moving. (We did it so suddenly that we didn't really think to take many pictures.)

Old apartment:

New apartment:

Old apartment:
View from old bedroom:

Shrine Mont 2002, 2006, and 2007

On Columbus Day weekend, The Falls Church had our annual church retreat at Shrine Mont. It was our last time (that we know of) at that particular retreat center because of our disconnection from the Episcopal church. This is kind of sad because TFC (as well as many other of the Anglican churches around here, e.g. Truro) has been going to Shrine Mont for around 25 years. Its a HUGE tradition for many families!


Some of you may know that Jamie and I have quite a history at Shrine Mont too. In the Fall of 2002 my parents were invited to be guest speakers at the church retreat of a couple teeny tiny churches from the part of Virginia that is not Northern. (Isn't that an egocentric version?) They invited Jamie along to lead worship for the same retreat.


Around that time Jamie and I both knew that we were interested in each other, but we hadn't decided whether to date. So, my parents, who knew about all of this, invited me along so that Jamie and I could have the weekend to discuss what to do. We spent the entire weekend (other than when we were leading worship and talking with the super cool people from the teeny churches) trying to decide whether to date. We sat in the porch chairs and talked. We walked by the lake and talked. We sat by the lake and talked. We sat in the porch chairs again and talked. It was a big decision for us because neither of us had dated before and I thought that it would be a big deal in the church such that it would be especially difficult to go back on. (I think I've heard stories about Angela Minns and Herb McMullan sitting in the kitchen of the Minns' house matchmaking us with each other...while we weren't there, thankfully!)


That Saturday evening my parents took us both out for dinner after the evening session. I guess it was the official grilling by the parents, but I don't think my parents really knew what to do! We sat eating and talking until my dad asked Jamie, "Are your intentions toward my daughter honorable?" LOL. He said "yes", of course! Then my dad pointed to the asparagus left on Jamie's plate and asked, "Are you going to eat your asparagus?" Poor Jamie! Asparagus is his least favorite vegetable, but he choked down the asparagus to please my dad! :) And that was the end of the grilling.


On Sunday, we left the retreat still not knowing what to do. (If you're interested in why it was such a big deal to us, we can talk about that some other time.) Then that night I called Jamie while he was helping out at youth group and told him I wanted him to come over after youth group. He came over as soon as he could, picked me up, and took me to Wendys. On the way there I turned to him and said, "I don't think you've ever actually asked me out." So, when we got to McDonalds he asked me out and I accepted. And it was the beginning of happily ever after! He he. :)


Then, in 2006, our church retreat to Shrine Mont was the very first trip we took as a married couple, other than our honeymoon...and maybe a short trip to Jon and Celeste's house!


And this year (2007), even though it was a crazy time to go to Shrine Mont - we had just arrived back from England the Wednesday before the Friday we had to go to Shrine Mont - it was such an amazing time! The speaker was a pastor from Nairobi Chapel in Kenya, and he brought these amazing musicians from his worship team.


It was such a wonderful weekend of relaxation and worship and teaching.




The main thing that I remember from the teaching is something that the pastor said. He said that as he gets to know Christians from around the world, he realizes that different regions seem to be gifted in different parts of the "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" command. He said that we (in the West) are especially good at loving the Lord with all our minds. He and the African people tend to be very good at loving the Lord with all their strength (through dance). And he said that whenever he has been with Asian believers, he sees in them a special gifting for loving the Lord with all their hearts. FASCINATING! And such a good perspective! I think if he hadn't said that I would have struggled with feeling like being encouraged to dance for the Lord, while worthwhile, is not nearly as important as understanding the words we were singing. But because of that perspective, I think I was able to see more clearly how we can both learn from each other - and that understanding is only ONE part of loving the Lord wholly. And that loving Him physically is just as important as loving Him intellectually.

I think Jamie's favorite thing was playing with the Kenyan musicians. He said that he was playing, thinking, "These are probably the best musicians I will ever play with." They were SO good!

Here's a video that typifies the weekend. It was so amazing!

We give up!

Ha ha. Putting more photos of England on here just isn't going to happen and, in the meantime, we're getting waaaay behind on blogging about other stuff - and probably losing any readers that we had because there's never anything new when (if) they check.
So, here are links to our England albums on facebook:
Jamie's camera 1
Jamie's camera 2
Scotland - my camera
Scotland - Sarah's camera

England Pictures

We're trying to put pictures up from our time in the UK, but blogger is not making it easy. So until we can get them uploaded or figure out a better way to do it, here are a few...

Us with my Grandparents outside of their building in Birmingham.

Us outside of Buckingham Palace.

Sarah Harkin and me with the first female beef eater (tour guide at the Tower of London.)

Us at the Thames River, with the London Eye in the background.

Me and Adriel in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Hopefully more to come!

In the UK

We're here in London, updating our blog from an internet cafe in Piccadilly Circus (sort of like the Times Square of London.)

We flew in on Thursday morning, and caught a bus and a train to Birgmingham, where we met Catherine's grandparents. It was great being with them and then more of the family later that night. On Friday we took a train to London, and we've been here ever since. We've seen a lot of the sights, and walked an awful lot! Today we met Sarah Harkin here which has been great, since she knows her way around.

Tomorrow we'll go to church here at Holy Trinity Brompton, and head to Oxford. I'll be there for a worship leader's retreat at St. Aldates. While I'm there, Catherine will head up to St. Andrews in Scotland and spend time there with Sarah and her friend Adriel. We fly home Wednesday.

We're having a great time. We'll post pictures and stuff next week. Cheers.

What to do with a free weekend

This month has been a busy one.

The weekend before last we drove to the PA/NJ border so Jamie could sing for someone's wedding. It was a nice place, but we literally drove up, went to the rehearsal, ate at the rehearsal dinner, went to bed, got up, went to the wedding, drove back for the Saturday service.
Last weekend we went to PA to visit Jon, Celeste, Izabella, Caleb, Joshua, and Johnny. We were seriously considering NOT doing it because of the burn out from driving to NJ the weekend before, but decided last minute to do it and were SO glad we did! We had a great time hanging out with the family, taking Johnny to the park, helping the kids with homework, going to Caleb's birthday party, etc. Here are some pictures:

This coming Wednesday night, Jamie and I leave for England. We'll get there on Thursday morning and immediately go to spend the afternoon, evening, night and Friday morning with my grandparents (and maybe other family members?). Then we'll go back to London, see some sights there (with our friend, Sarah Harkin, who is flying down from Scotland to be with us), and visit Holy Trinity Brompton on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon, we will all travel to Oxford, where Sarah and I will leave Jamie. He'll be at a worship leaders' training retreat run by Martin Layzell, Tim Hughes, etc. (This is also the reason why we can go, because half the time we're there, its work for him.) Sarah and I will then fly (back) to Scotland where I'll get to see Adriel, one of my best friends. On Wednesday morning I'll fly back to England and go pick Jamie up in Oxford. From there, we'll travel together to the airport and fly back home. We'll be back Wednesday night. I am so excited to show Jamie my home country, introduce him to my grandparents and cousins, and see so many people and things that I love!

Anyway, in the midst of all that, this weekend was the free weekend. Or at least that was my plan.

Celeste and Izabella had been talking about coming back to Fairfax for an ortho appointment and were going to stay with us...on our couches...in the living room. We were excited to have them come stay, but were a bit concerned about how it would work with us having to be up early for work, traipsing through the living room where they were sleeping, etc. So, Jamie started talking about how it would really be nice if we had some more storage space, and maybe even a second bedroom, just so that if people came to stay with us, they could have some privacy...and wouldn't have to come through our bedroom to shower.

On Wednesday he called our rental office and asked about prices for 2 bedroom apartments in the same complex. Ha. They said they were about 300-400 more than we currently paid for rent. Well, that wasn't do-able, or worth it, so we sort of gave up on that idea. Except that night he saw an ad on craigslist for a 2-bedroom apartment in our complex (offered by the complex, not a sub-let) for just $50 more than we currently paid. He called on Thursday morning and found that the price had gone down $50 (yes, the rent would be exactly the same as what we currently paid).

So, at lunch time we went to go see the 2-bedroom apartment. It was fine, overlooked the noisy interstate, had a galley kitchen and some weird aspects, but overall more space for the same amount of money. We'd have to pay $550 in fees to switch leases, but we thought it might be worth it. So, I went back to work (a little late - oops!) and Jamie went to the leasing office to talk about renting the apartment. He just happened to ask if they had any others for the same price, and they did! The other one was a very similar floor plan to our one-bedroom, except with an extra bedroom and a full second bathroom. Oh, and less road noise even than our one-bedroom. Plus a fireplace and 2 balconies. Score!

He went back to the leasing office and asked about the fees. They said they would wave them (well, most of them) if we were out of our old apartment by Saturday. SATURDAY! And this was Thursday afternoon!

So, we both rushed home from work on Thursday to sign the lease for our new 2 bedroom apartment. I hadn't even seen it! And then went back to our one-bedroom to start packing. In the midst of the craziness, I had a phonecall scheduled with our British friend to book flights to Scotland. So, I booked my flights while friends started showing up to move things.

Twenty-four hours after Jamie saw the ad on craigslist, almost all of our furniture was moved in to our new apartment. By 2:30 am, all the furniture was moved in, with just all the little stuff left to move over. Props to Andrew who stayed to the bitter end, Matt who stayed till midnight or so, even though he had to work on Friday, and Jon and James, who helped a lot with the living room furniture and other stuff.

At 2:30, I realized that we hadn't cleaned anything in the new apartment, and it wasn't left particularly clean. Ugh. Cat hair all over the bathroom floors (even caulked against the base-board). So, I cleaned the minimum possible to feel comfortable (the toilet, sink, and half the floor!) and we went to bed.

Yesterday we started work again at 9 am, just hauling boxes over, emptying them, taking them back, filling them, and hauling them back over. Who knew 2 flights of stairs could be SO tiring? I also worked a lot on cleaning the new and the old apartment. Jamie's Dad had lunch with us at Potbelly and helped us move Kitchen stuff. Larissa came over for a while and helped clean and carry clothes over. My Mom and Matt both came at around 5:30 (after work) and helped get everything else done.

I was so thankful for my mom! How stressful to have an apartment full of boxes (or piles of stuff from boxes) and not be able to unpack or put things away because the cupboards aren't clean yet! She came and helped me clean. She showed me how to pack glasses in boxes so they won't break or chip. She packed and unpacked boxes from and to the kitchen. And she just helped me feel not quite so overwhelmed.

Matt was also amazing. I think on Thursday and Friday he spent every waking moment (except when he was at work) moving box after box after bag after box. And he packed and unpacked as much as he could too. He was really tireless in helping us.

After a long day of work, we (Jamie, Matt, Mom, and I) went to PF Changs for a very late dinner. It was so yummy and it felt so good to sit after a day of moving. Then we came back and finished getting everything except cleaning supplies out of the old apartment. (I have to admit that we almost cried when we thought we were done, but opened a cupboard to find all the pots and pans still there!)

Today has been pretty much a day of cleaning. The old apartment is now completely cleaned. (I scrubbed that oven so clean!) My dad spackled the holes made from screwing all those holes in the wall trying to get our shelves on straight! The keys are ready to be turned in once Jamie gets home from work. And I'm taking a break to tell you all about it.

There's still a whole lot to be done on the new apartment. The kitchen cabinets are all cleaned (I found cat hair in the freezer - what were they doing?), but the floor still needs to be cleaned. The master bathroom is still only half cleaned and the other one needs to be completely cleaned. Laundry needs to be done (hey, we brought the dirty with us, I didn't have time to wash all the laundry before we moved!) Everything is in the general vicinity where it should be (closet, kitchen, bedroom, etc.), but really nothing is organized and put away like I would want it, except the kitchen, which Jamie stayed up late last night doing.

I guess the only thing left to say about it all is that I am so thankful for Jamie in all of this. He has worked harder than anyone else. I'm sure he'll be sore for weeks. Everytime I turn around, I find something that he's done to make the new apartment feel like home already. He put our mirror up in the dining room and put the picture Jon and Celeste gave us up in our bedroom. He put the coffee table back together and put the decorations on it. He found places for all our kitchen stuff in our newly smaller kitchen. And I'm sure a bunch of other things that I just haven't noticed yet. Plus, he's the one who found this place, bargained us into not having to pay fees (most of them), and took the lead in making the decision to move. I am so proud of my husband!

So, give us a couple weeks (hey, we'll be out of the country for one of them!), but then come visit. We'll at least have a private floor for you to sleep on!

Marriage Advice

I know, I know. We've only been married 1 year, 2 weeks and 2 days. What could I possibly have to say?

Well, its not from me. I just found it in someone else's blog. A series of advice on marriage (and how to pick a marriage partner) from people who have been married for 25 years. I think that qualifies them a bit more...and its good.

:)

http://www.xanga.com/PaPaTevia/602290716/25-years-of-learning---marry-your-best-friend.html

Labor Day in DC

Before we get into the whole labor day thing, here are a few pictures from our anniversary dinner. :)


Um, this was my salad. It looked amazing. And tasted...well, if I'm honest, I like Outback house salads better. But this was very exotic tasting.


Feeling fat. :)


And on to labor day.

We had booked tickets to England for a week (half of which Jamie will spend in Oxford at a worship leaders retreat.) So we spent the morning thinking and talking about that. Then we drove into DC to walk around for a bit.


I have to admit that normally when Jamie wants to go into DC I'm a bit reluctant. My image of it tends to be of awful traffic, crowds, and darkness. (Maybe because when we have gone into DC its usually been after work.)

But this time, I was regretting how few times we go there. It was beautiful. Hot weather, but not unbareable. But the sky was deep blue and the sun was bright and it all looked so clean and beautiful.



Look at the amazing view! ;-)


We walked around the Washington Monument and through the mall area. I LOVE the WWII Memorial. Seriously one of my favorites, or my favorite, memorial.


The view from the WWII Memorial of the Lincoln Memorial. And a duck.

And me with that same view. :)

This duck, and several others in a row with it, decided that bottoms up was the way to go. :)

Then we walked around the White House. I couldn't stop thinking about the similarities and differences between the White House and Buckingham Palace. I am so excited to be there in 3 weeks! :) In all the comparison, though, I was struck by the simple beauty of so much of DC. It really is a great city and I can't wait to go back.