(Another) Snow Day

This is what it looked like outside my front door today. You guessed it, we had ANOTHER snowy day today. Everything was closed, all my plans for the day ended up canceled, and I had the worst cabin fever I've had in a long time! I spent naptime today working on my pictures from the cruise. I think I'm ready to go back. :) As long as I can bring the little girl with me! :) I got pretty desperate for things to do today when we couldn't get out of the house. So I decided to let Carolyn bake her first set of brownies. :)
I let her pour in all the ingredients, help me crack the egg, and do the stirring. She preferred to stir on the counter. :) I helped her stir in the bowl so we'd actually have some salvageable brownies in the end. :)
Here she enjoys the time-honored tradition of Licking The Bowl. :) This was her favorite part of the experience, understandably. Mine too. :)
Little chef. :)

It was a long day- the brownies were one of the high points but only lasted 15 minutes. :) We had a few funny moments. Carolyn has learned what a Bible is, and she is very excited about it now. She has several in her room and today she went to the bookcase and pulled them all out one by one, saying "Bible! Bible! Bible!" I smiled. :) I certainly hope the weather is better tomorrow! We are supposed to go on a train ride to Chicago with Auntie LaLa to visit Auntie Em. It's kind of up in the air whether it will be decent enough out to make a trip reasonable... but I hope so!

Hide!

Today Carolyn played her very first game of Hide and Seek. It was late afternoon and we were starting to get a little stir crazy in the house when I pretended to look for Carolyn everywhere even though I knew she was "hiding" in the vertical blinds. "Is Carolyn under the table? Noooo!" Eventually I "found" her and she quickly got the hang of it. We took turns hiding, and she loved being "found," but her favorite thing was "Mommy hide!" She loved it when I'd "hide" someplace and let her "find" me. She said "Hum! Hum!" when she started looking (as in "ready or not, here I come!") and walked around saying "Nooooo!" until she found me and giggled and said "'gain! 'gain!"As you will see from the video posts below, family dinners have started to be a lot more fun. :)

Spider

Carolyn loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider- especially when Mommy and Daddy sing it together. :)

Wheels

Her real love, however, is The Wheels on the Bus!

In The Snow

Today we went out as a family for some fun tromping around in the snow. Take a look at Last Year's pictures from right around this same time- what a difference one year makes!
Here's our little snow bunny. People like to snowmobile along the top of our berm (the hill between our house and the busy road next to us)- we wish they wouldn't, but they did pack down the snow so Carolyn could walk by herself, and she liked that.
Sledding with Daddy. Unfortunately, Mommy foolishly thought she could manage the sled without Daddy earlier this week and the resultant face plant in the snow was enough to make Carolyn cautious about any further sled adventures... so she was a bit reticent about sledding today... but I am sure it won't be long before she loves it!
We couldn't get a picture of our whole family together in the snow (since Baggins' paws are unsuitable for photography) so we settled for pictures with Daddy and Mommy individually. :)
"Hem! Hem!" Carolyn's new favorite thing when outside is to call Baggins to "come." It comes out more like "hem" or "hum." :)
Brad is the artistic one in our family. He takes such nice pictures!! When I see pictures like this, I think that perhaps there is a good reason to live somewhere where it snows. :)

Happy Birthday Laura

Today is my sister Laura's actual birthday, but we had her over to celebrate on Friday night. Since no one else in the family was able to come to town, I got the prestigious assignment of Making The Cake.
Carolyn enjoyed helping me with the icing.
And she enjoyed wishing LaLa a happy birthday
Although she was not invited to partake in the cake the night it was first served, LaLa was kind enough to leave enough cake for her to have some the next day (as everyone knows that the Birthday Girl gets the leftovers!) Here is a picture of the Blowy Face for my mother's benefit. :)
As fitting on one's birthday, Laura beat us all at Cities and Knights of Catan. There wasn't much of a contest, but we had fun. :)

Everyday Life

It's been a pretty "ordinary" week for us. Carolyn's had a bit of a rough adjustment this week; I'm sure that our leaving for a whole week really wrenched her world around! She's been unusually clingy this week; which in some ways I have liked; it's nice to be needed! But in other ways, it's been kind of emotionally exhausting! I know she's trying to get everything sorted out again and begin to feel more security so I've tried to be more understanding and reassuring this week. It's been so wonderful to spend time with her again! I really, truly missed her!
Wednesday we went to visit Kelly and Isaiah. I love this picture of Isaiah and Carolyn together, banging on the stove. :)
We've missed our girl, so maybe we've been a little more lenient this week than usual... after church on Wednesday night, she really wanted to go out and see the snow (and really needed to come INside and go to bed!), so we walked around outside for a little while, drinking in the wonder that only childhood brings.
Since we've been home (and we also got a small table Carolyn's size), Carolyn has been very interested in the dollhouse she got from Auntie Chandra for her birthday. It is often the first thing she requests upon awakening. Here she is holding "Pan," her name for "the man." Pan goes with "Laly," the lady who came with the dollhouse. Pan and Laly are very much fun and spend most of their time going in and out of the door and being put to bed and in the bathtub. What a fun toy for a little girl!
Carolyn loves her dooo-dooos! She especially loves separating them into "peek" (inclusive of pink, purple, and white) and not pink piles. She likes to knock over the towers I make for her out of the rejected Cheerios (saying "Boom!")
Carolyn and Baggins are beginning to play together... Carolyn really likes the squeaky pig Baggins got for Christmas and the other day I tried to get her to play with him with it- but she didn't want to share! She kept saying "no!" when I tried to encourage her to throw the toy for him... and when he finally did get it, she chased him around saying "Hey-na! Hey-na!" as if telling him that he needs to share with her!
Friday we took the playgroup kids to see the Mouse- Chuck E. Cheese! For just a few bucks each, we split a pizza, drinks, and some tokens to play on some of the machines. The kids had a ball! Carolyn enjoyed riding the merry-go-round ("Boun!") over and over and over. It was the perfect size for her- and the horses didn't go up and down.

Snow Day!

Michigan had quite a rude reception for us when we returned from the Caribbean! The coldest temperatures so far this winter met us when we exited the airport on Saturday, and we've had several inches of snow the past few days! But today was a bit milder and uncharacteristically sunny, so I got to take Carolyn outside to enjoy the snow for awhile. She had a fun time tromping around in it and except for the few times she fell, she had a great time.
The snow is quite deep for a little girl!
Doesn't she look cute all bundled up?
She especially likes her mittens ("mitts"). :)

The Wrapup

I decided to do this a little differently since we had SO many pictures. I cut it down from over 400 to these 131 pictures- the very best ones. This slideshow really captures what the trip was like for us so I hope you'll enjoy watching it when you have a few minutes. I put in captions so you'll know what the pictures are about. This is the biggest I could get the pictures to be in the embedded slide show so if you want to see bigger pictures (I recommend), just click on the slide show in the blog to see it in a new window.



If you've never been on a cruise, stop right now and look ahead at the next year and find a time when you can make it happen to GO! Everyone should do this! It is an amazing experience that I will never forget and that will always stand out as one of the high points in my life. It was the perfect vacation for me. Before we left, I was so tired and worn out with all the different "hats" that I wear every day- wife, mommy, pharmacist, housekeeper, chef, etc- I really needed a chance to truly escape from it all. Interestingly enough, the slogan for Princess Cruises is "Escape Completely"- and that was exactly what I was able to do. I know that there were many people praying for me and God truly had His hand on this trip. I was so thankful that Carolyn was not even the slightest bit ill, to all appearances seemed to really cope well with our absence and have a great time, and we had really unbelievably good weather, no stomach viruses, and an exceptionally smooth sea. I even got a break from the heavy weight of anxiety and fear that I consistently struggle with, so although I really missed her, it really wasn't as hard for me to be away as I thought it would be. Without even really focusing on it or trying to "let go," I just found that I did- and I felt so much lighter without carrying all that baggage around. This week was truly a gift and I hope I can bring a piece of that "escape" home with me.

Home at Last!

We had a wonderful, wonderful trip... but nothing we saw or did holds a candle to this moment.

I was so thankful to hold my little girl again; I just drank her in. She enjoyed rattling the maracas we got for her in Cozumel, playing with the little Jamaican dolly we got in Ocho Rios and the stingray from Grand Cayman, and taking it all out of the little basket we found for her in the Bahamas. She seemed very happy to see us. :) And we were SOOOO happy to see her!!

If you missed the LMC Report, you must go and see what she's been up to all week! My mom did a great job of documenting it all and it was so nice to be able to check the blog and see her every day. Carolyn had a wonderful week that was surely a highlight of her small life- as our trip was for us- but we are all glad to be home now. This week will be somewhat of an adjustment for her especially as she has to re-learn the lesson that when Mommy leaves, she WILL come back. She's feeling a little clingy right now- which is okay with me, since I am so eager to hold her and enjoy her every single minute!

Last day

Well, folks, this will be my last post from aboard the Grand Princess.
We have had a wonderful time! Yesterday we spent a relaxed day at sea, taking pictures of everything, snoozing, eating, soaking in the hot tub, etc. Today we spent the day at the Princess Cays (pronounced Keys for some unknown reason), the private island owned by Princess Cruiselines. I must admit that when I booked this cruise, I kind of thought this would be a sort of "nothing" day, but it turned out to be one of our very favorite days!! The island is nothing but a big beach with white sands and turquoise water (it really IS that blue!)… and just so happens to have a lovely small reef that had the most variety of fishes we've seen all week! It more than made up for the disappointment in Cozumel- especially since we didn't have anyone telling us it was time to get out of the water! I spent about three hours just snorkeling around the reef, and never got tired of it! I've got a nice sunburn on the backs of my legs now, but it was worth it. ?

I took some pictures, but, sadly, due to a camera malfunction, I don't think they will come out- we are so digital now that I didn't even know what to do with the regular film that I had to take out of the cheapo creepo underwater camera I bought on the island today… thought it was rewound… and opened the back, exposing the film- guess it would be kind of a miracle if we made it through an entire vacation without either losing or breaking a camera! At least it was a cheap one!

Anyway, we come home tomorrow! We will be praying for flights as smooth as this cruise has been!! My arms are itching to hold my baby girl! I've missed her very much this week, especially as the week wore on.

Cozumel

Cozumel!

Today we spent the day in Cozumel, Mexico. Every vacation has to have a day that’s less than perfect… and this was that day for us!! It was raining as we boarded the tender (little ship) to get from the big cruise ship to the dock… and the whole boarding/unloading process took a tedious hour and a half! We arrived on the dock and searched for our tour number, only to find that it had been canceled! We were supposed to get to go on a “drift snorkel” over a beautiful coral reef... the best replacement activity we were able to come up with was a combination “sail, snorkel, and beach” trip. The sail and the beach parts were good. The snorkeling was a joke compared to what we saw yesterday (and what we were supposed to see today!) Brad says it was like someone dropped a few bricks into the water near the shore and then the guides brought some fish food so that some fish know where to come to eat… and then you and about 200 of your closest friends get to watch about 100 fish swim around for the food. We were not impressed. And really disappointed that our previous plans didn’t work out. But oh well; it has been such a wonderful vacation so far and we have had absolutely nothing to complain about up to now… so I’d say things are still going pretty well!

The is from when we were waiting in what was hopefully a reputable restaurant for something to eat after we got finished shopping/bargaining/possibly being taken for a ride on a “diamond/sapphire/gold ring” (a crazy experience)- it’s a good representation of how we felt for most of the day today!! We were pretty disappointed that things didn’t work out… but the good news is that the rest of the day did redeem itself. We made some new friends on the catamaran that took us out to a lovely little beach place where Brad played volleyball and I enjoyed a completely free hour alone in the ocean water. The pictures we have make me smile because I’m pretty sure I look just exactly the same as I did when I was 12! Something about the ocean’s motion makes me feel just like a child. It turned out to be a fun day.

We are looking forward to a quiet, relaxing day at sea tomorrow, doing all the things we haven’t had time to on the boat yet… then a private island in the Bahamas on Friday… and home and LMC on Saturday! I can’t wait to hear her little voice saying “Mommy” again. J

Grand Cayman

Hey! I touched a stingray today! Actually lots of them. We visited the famous Stingray City on Grand Cayman Island today and also got to snorkel on the reef. We had a wonderful time, got nicely toasted, and will be plenty tired enough for bed tonight.

Success!

I tried to get this picture of us in Jamaica to post yesterday, but I think I was trying to use too big of a file. Here we are, in lovely Ocho Rios, after our River Adventure. :)

Monday night

Editorial (Note - EB is having technical difficulties, so she has sent me this email which I am posting for her.)

Hello All!

I'm writing this from the 15th deck of our home for the week, the Grand Princess. The ship is heading away from Jamaica and the sun is getting lower in the sky- soon there will be a beautiful sunset behind some fluffy clouds… it's lovely here with lots of sun, warm yet still pretty comfortable temperatures, and more to do than time to do it! This is good for me because no matter how beautiful the surroundings are, they're still not as beautiful as the little girl we left back in Michigan! The cruise line isn't one that caters primarily to families with small children so there aren't very many on the ship, but I have seen a couple families with toddlers and I always want to ask if I can pick up their children and hug them tight- today I banged fists with a 16-month-old who smiled at me as only a 16-month old can, and let me tell you, it did my heart good! I miss Little Miss Carolyn, but really, I am doing better than I thought I would. We have been so busy with all sorts of activities that I haven't had much time to sit around and worry about things- which is a great vacation for my overburdened mind. J Grammy is doing a wonderful job updating the LMC report and sending text messages daily to let me know she's doing well. I'm so glad to live in a time and place where you can get away without being 100% gone.

So, I'm sure you're wondering what we've been up to. I promised Brad I wouldn't blog excessively, so I'm only allowed to post one picture per day so that I don't get carried awa with it, but here's the basic rundown of the last two days. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after a completely uneventful flight and transport to the pier. The lines weren't even that long and by 2pm, we were on the ship eating munchies from the buffet line. We got settled in to our room that afternoon, rested a bit, and explored our new surroundings. This ship is HUGE! Always another corner or place popping up that you hadn't noticed before. It's taken 3 days to figure out the basics of how to get where we want to go, but we're finally starting to feel settled in. The food is plentiful and fantabulous- we decided the first day that we'd take the "long" way wherever we go and take the stairs whenever we can to try to counteract the calorie influx. No one is going to lose any weight this week, but maybe we can avoid having to buy new clothes to come home in. J We met a very interesting person who shares our dinner table seating and has been on something like 15 cruises and knows all about them. He suggested that we give the casino a try the first night. For a laugh and to kill some time we both took $5 in to lose on the slot machines. We ended up coming out with $70 unexpectedly (of course, encouraged by our initial success, we took some of that back into the casino last night, after which we decided that we probably should just stay away!)

Yesterday we had a day at sea. We slept in, had a late breakfast, played a little Bingo (lost but had fun), had lunch while watching the waves, explored the ship some more, lounged and read by the pool, and I had a pedicure. It was a great day. Last night we got all dressed up for our first "formal" night and then went to a show and played the ship's Jeopardy game. We had a really good, relaxing time.

Today we got up super early to catch the sunrise as the ship pulled into Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was beautiful! Again, on our table mate's advice, we switched our shore excursion from the Zipline Adventure (maybe we'll try that if we ever go to a "real" rainforest, in the Amazon or something) to a River Kayaking Safari. I don't know what the zipline would have been like, but the kayaking was AWESOME! It was active, but not so exerting as to be exhausting, and we met some fun people. I capsized in the last little section of "whitewater" but the water was so warm and clear and beautiful that I was actually glad! We were close to the end of the trip, so I just got to swim the rest of the way, which was wonderfully refreshing. We got a few pictures on our waterproof camera, but obviously we'll have to wait until we get home to get them developed (and put on a cd of course). Jamaica is beautiful, but there are a lot of very sad, very poor people. Our tour guide told us that the average Jamaican makes about $50-60 per week. Many seemed so desperate and sad. We did a little shopping after our tour was done, and we were definitely glad we were together. But there were other people who were so very kind and friendly. The tour guides were all wonderful and so informative.

Tomorrow we will be at Grand Cayman Island, where we will have our first Snorkeling Adventure! This is one of the major reasons we decided to go on a Western Caribbean cruise, so we're really looking forward to it. Stay tuned! I'll try to update the blog tomorrow…

Well, I'm going to go send this quick and then get back up here in time to snap a few pics of the sunset. I couldn't get this to attach to my blog, so I'll just send it in this email to the few of you who are probably checking it.

Love to all,

EB (and Brad)

Jamaica, Mon!

Today we spent the day in sunny, beautiful Jamaica! We took a CRAZY car ride up (I'm glad I don't have a video of what it looked like because it would have worried my mother!) the large hills/small mountains of the island to a place where there is a gorgeous, completely clear, warm river. Then we hopped in individual kayaks with our Jamaican guide and floated/paddled down for 3 miles downstream. It was a little challenge for me at first to steer and not lose my balance, but I got the hang of it, and actually didn't go over until the very last little piece of "whitewater," where i capsized... but the water was so nice and just perfectly cool compared to the air that it felt wonderfully refreshing, and as we were close to the end of the trip, I just swam the rest of the way down, and it was lovely. I could have floated along in that water all day!!

Unfortunately, I am having technical difficulties with the picture upload thing, so it's just not going to work today. I'll try again tomorrow.

Now the ship has pulled out of port and we are heading for Grand Cayman Island! We have our first Snorkel Adventure tomorrow- we'll be feeding stingrays (with about 500 of our closest friends, I've heard) and then heading over to a nearby reef to (hopefully) get up close and personal with some fish! I'll try to update tomorrow, as well. It's fun for me to keep track of our week by blogging about it. :)

On the Boat

We are on our way!! Having a great time so far; the ocean is beautiful, the ship is great, the food is fabulous... and having about 10 hours of sleep last night was phenomenal!! I'll do a more complete wrapup when we get home since they charge an outrageous amount to connect to the internet while on the ship!

I miss my little girl, but I'm confident that she is in good hands. My mom has created a blog to update daily with Carolyn news so check http://thelmcreport.blogspot.com/ if you (like me) want to see how she is doing!

Tomorrow we'll be in Jamaica! I plan to access the internet for 10 minutes daily and I'll try to choose one picture daily to show you all (and LMC) what we're up to! :)

Our Bags Are Packed!

All of them! It was quite a project this week, we're ready to go! :)

Tonight we are spending the night with my parents (before our flight leaves early tomorrow morning!) so we got a chance to get Carolyn settled in for the week and unpack her stuff so her room has a few little "mommy touches." I'm so glad we did it this way because it took me away from home and the endless to-do lists and gave me some solid, uninterrupted time to love on Carolyn and just soak her up. I have been dreading leaving ever since we decided to go (last May!)
But I thoroughly enjoyed watching her "discover" the very same special toys I played with as ac a child! You may notice that her favorite thing to do with the Little People (don't worry, Grammy won't leave the room while she is playing with them- we know they are a choking hazard!) was to stuff as many of them into the car ("choo-choo") as possible!
I'm going to miss her so much this week! But I am looking forward to some much-needed QT with my "first love." :) My anxiety has a tendency to kick into high gear whenever my "control" over a situation is challenged, and I have been struggling quite a bit this week, but I'll just take things one step at a time and keep on praying! You can pray for us, too, this week. There are bound to be some tough moments, but hopefully many more unforgettably fun ones! Stay tuned! I'll update as I can!

CDs and Hey-Na

Lately, Carolyn has become ever more focused on what she wants. In this little video, you can see two of her very favorite things: "Hey-na" (her word for Carolyn; like any self-respecting toddler, she is admittedly a bit obsessed with her own likeness and immediately demands to see "Hey-na" as soon as we pull the camera out) and "CDs"- especially her "Voggies." (Veggie Tales cd).

We got these fun pans on sale at Target this week to go with her play kitchen and she has had all sorts of fun "cooking." Eggs are her specialty. She likes to stir up the eggs and offer whoever's sitting nearby a taste. Unfortunately, you will have to imagine what this looks like since we have not yet been able to capture it on video (the aforementioned focus on her own image causing significant problems with taking her picture)! :)

Still, enjoy this little clip! It's a great example of what she's really like these days when she wants something. :)



Oooooh! I'm going to miss this little lady! How will I manage without her for a whole week?! Ouch! Letting go is no fun at all!

The Cake

Carolyn was very interested in my birthday cake- specially frosted by my dad in celebration of our impending trip to the tropics! :)
She was very pleased that she was not denied this most special of treats. :) Watching her eat cake reminded me of how soon we'll be doing this again for her! It seems like she just turned one... and now we're already on the downward slope to two! How could I be the parent of a two-year-old?

We had our 18-month checkup today and got a good report. She is 32.5 inches tall and 22 pounds- just a little peanut, but right on target with where she is supposed to be.

I just finished working a very busy weekend at work, and now I'm off for 2 weeks! There's plenty to do around here, though. Today's housecleaning day and then tomorrow is Packing Day and our monthly Costco trip... we leave on Friday!! Carolyn will be staying with Grammy and Papa and we fly out Saturday morning to Ft. Lauderdale to catch our ship, which leaves at 5pm on the 12th! I'm looking forward to the trip with equal parts dread and anticipation. I can't wait to have some one-on-one time with Brad, but my heart aches at the very thought of leaving my precious child behind!

27 Years!

Another birthday... starting to feel like it would be okay for them to stop about now! 27 is good! Getting precariously close to 30, though, so maybe we can just hold it right here! I saw someone on another blog do this to celebrate her birthday and thought I'd copy her idea. The older you get, the more you have to be grateful for... So here's my "27 Years of Thankful"- and a little bit of my history. :) It's fun to have the chance to look back.

1- After being obliged to wait 12 days longer than my due date (unfortunately, only the beginning of a lifetime habit of lateness for me...), my mom finally gave birth to me on January 4, 1981. I'm thankful for a mom who's always been very patient with me!

2- My sister Michelle was born when I was 2, and I had an instant best friend.

3- I am thankful for wonderful Sunday School teachers who knew how important it is to teach even three-year-olds about Jesus.

4- I remember the day Baby Laura was born, being rushed to my grandparents' house to wait for the baby. "Baby" Laura is almost 23 now! I'm so thankful for TWO wonderful sisters!!

5- I remember going to kindergarten and being so proud that I could read! At the end of the year, we had a little graduation program and we sang a song with a line that went, "I'm a great big bundle of potentiality!" I'm thankful that even from that age, the people around me taught me to believe in myself and that I could do what I set my mind to do.

6- I'm thankful for a home where my parents demonstrated how much fun you could have without spending a lot of money. Some of my favorite memories from being a kid involve bike riding, playing in the back yard, and splitting a cinnamon roll five ways at the mall!

7- I'm thankful for a dad who always "really home" when he was home. He worked a lot of hours, but what I remember from childhood isn't his absence, but his presence with us- he was so much fun!!

8-I'm thankful for the decision my parents made to teach us at home for a season because it brought us closer as a family and helped me learn very important lessons in self-learning that really helped me later in life!

9-I'm thankful for the church camp I attended every summer as a child- every year it was a great chance for me to reconnect with God and helped build the foundation of my faith.

10-We moved to Edmond, Oklahoma, and got to live in our "dream house," complete with four bedrooms and a giant bathtub! Ever since then, I've been hoping for a house with a giant bathtub... and that was the major reason we bought the one we live in now!

11- Even though I had to be a soldier and didn't get the coveted role of "party child," or (only in my wildest dreams), "Clara" (not knowing until years later that these parts were handed out, not based on talent, or on good looks, but to children whose parents donated to the Foundation)- I loved being part of Ballet Oklahoma's production of The Nutcracker!

12- The "ugly" years begin, but as yet, I still had really no idea. I was fortunate enough to have relatively little exposure to the larger, meaner world around me until I was older... I'm thankful for the gift my parents gave me of a secure, unhurried childhood.

13- A year I'd like to forget! We found out we were moving right before my birthday this year... and were gone within a month from the "dream house" to the ugliest rental house you can imagine in Albuquerque, NM. It was here that my childhood really ended and a lifelong battle with my own self-worth began. For whatever reason, I was not "like" the other kids at our new church... and for years after that, I felt for some reason that I just wasn't "cool." It was a tough time for me (and my poor mother!), but I'm grateful for a mom and dad who were totally committed to weathering this season with me, who loved me even when I thought I was unlovable.

14- My homeschooling days are over, and I entered the larger world of public high school!! There were adjustments to be made- and I probably could have made better grades in geometry if I hadn't been so distracted by all the social "stuff"- but I'm thankful that I did go to high school (rather than staying at home) because I think it helped me learn important lessons about choices and consequences.

15- We move from Albuquerque to Troy, Michigan. The move was a tough experience, but I'm grateful we came, because the schools were so much better! My favorite teacher this year was Mr. Larson, my chemistry teacher, who taught me that I was good at chemistry! I went on to take every chemistry class my high school offered, majored in chemistry in college, and went on to a career that includes chemistry AND people- two of the things I found out I was best at!

16- My heart is truly broken for the first time. My first "real" boyfriend (of a whole year) broke up with me after his family moved to Mexico. Even now, almost 11 years later, the experience is still one of the defining events of my life. What I remember most about it is how my dad (and mom) saw me hurting that night, put aside their own internal celebration that it was over, and came down (with a bucket of ice cream) to grieve with me over my broken heart.

17- I'm thankful for good friends in high school. I was going through a phase of experimenting with life with Jesus "on the side," and looking back, I was so vulnerable at that time. But I had good friends who at least tried to keep me generally on the right track... and for the most part, I stayed out of serious trouble, at least until the summer after high school.

18- I'm thankful for grace. I fell pretty far away from my faith the last semester of high school and the summer afterwards... I wanted to try it all, do it all, see everything for myself. I am eternally grateful for God's hand of protection over my life during those times when I put myself in precarious positions. Much worse could have happened to me than actually did. That fall, I started my first semester at Hope College... and He found me there, after my first weekend at home, when my parents had confronted me, having found out about my "double life." I think I understood the whole concept of sin and grace that night. I knew I deserved to be punished, cast off forever- yet He looked down on me in love, and invited me back in. I rededicated my life to serving Him, not as a child anymore, but as an adult.

19- Enter Brad! We started dating shortly after I turned 19... and it didn't take long to fall in love... and a few months later... we knew we'd be together forever.

20- Another tough year for me. My beloved Brad was away in Arizona for medical school, I was working as an RA in my dorm, and God was teaching me some important lessons. I learned a lot about myself that year, but most of it wasn't all that pleasant to learn! I'm especially thankful for His divine intervention into the problems I was having with my roommate that year because without His help, we might never have solved them, and I would have missed out on one of the best friends I have ever had!

21- I graduated from Hope, and Brad and I were married just 5 weeks later on June 15, 2002! I'm so thankful for that glorious, golden day, which even 5 and a half years later, still shines as one of the happiest of my life. :)

22- I'm thankful for our deep and lasting friendship with Steve and Carolyn Rohrer. They were married the same day we were, and Brad and Steve were classmates in medical school. They quickly became some of our very best friends and have consistently encouraged us to keep on deepening our walk with God. Little Carolyn is named after Carolyn Rohrer.

23- I'm thankful for Immanuel Bible Church, our church home in Phoenix. It was a very nurturing spiritual environment where we learned and grew so much and made so many special friends.

24- We sell our first house at prime time in the Phoenix real estate market and Brad gets his first NEW car... we move to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he starts his OB residency, and I start my first "real" job as a pharmacist at Meijer. I'm so thankful for this job because of the great people I work for and with. It was a wonderful place to get my feet on the ground and learn how to "be" a pharmacist, and now it has been such a flexible work environment- I'd never trade jobs for the world!

25- Another of the happiest days of my life, Carolyn Ann was born! My whole world was forever changed that day, and I will be forever grateful.

26- One of the happiest years I can remember. I have loved watching Carolyn grow! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to make being a mommy my "main" job.

27- Who knows what this year holds? I sometimes feel faithless and anxious about the future- but I really have no reason to. Looking back over the past 27 years of my life, I can see the hand of God actively working in my life to bring about His purposes- which are always for my best. I know I can trust the One who has guided my past to guide my future. Looking forward to seeing what He has in store next!!

PS: if you've never done something like this, you should try! It was a really uplifting experience to just consider how many things I have to be thankful for over the years!

2007 in Review!

Well, I'm a day late (due to Round Two of the Stomach Flu and working New Year's Day), and a few pictures over the limit of "one per month," but here it is (drumroll please)...

2007 In Review!

January:
Newsflash! Carolyn has achieved the motor skills necessary to retrieve her own pacifier- consequently, we begin sleeping through the night!! Major life upgrade! :) Of course, a year later, we are now faced with the problem of Pacifier Elimination... but I wouldn't give up this year of sleep for anything! :)

Adventures in Eating: Carolyn begins her journey into a wider world of edible wonder and discovery... making lots of messes (and cute baby pictures: don't you just love those round cheekies! :))

February:
Snowstorm 07: our town in Michigan is no stranger to snow, but this blizzard shut everything down for a couple of days! We were stuck in the house and took the opportunity to do our taxes (and pick out a flat screen tv to buy with the refund!) and to take this now-famous picture of Carolyn (it has been called Yoda Picture by some) :)

Scooting Around: At about 8 months, after extensive field research, Carolyn has developed her own unique ways to move around the house- scooting on her back like this, and rolling her way across a room!

March
Happy Birthday Daddy: all our friends come over to celebrate Daddy's 30th Birthday!
Bluebonnet Baby: We took a trip to Austin, Texas, to meet the extended family (timing chosen especially to catch the famous Texas Bluebonnets, Carolyn's mother having had many a picture taken in the blue fields as a child!)

April
Crawling, Crawling, Crawling! At first Carolyn would only crawl on the hard floor- she preferred to scoot along the carpet... but it wasn't long before she honed in on the fact that crawling was faster- and she became a master speed crawler!

May
Warming Up! The warmer weather means we are free to get out with friends! This picture was actually taken the 1st of June, but it's my blog and I can cheat a little. :) We spent lots of time with friends, enjoying the sunshine and all the color of Spring!

June
Five Years Together! June 15 we had our 5th anniversary- we had a "mini" celebration at a nice restaurant in town, looking forward to the big celebration that will be in just 10 days now! We are taking a 7-night Caribbean cruise January 12-19! Pictures will be posted as the ship does have internet access! :)

Happy Birthday Carolyn! Our little girl turned ONE June 30!

July
Toes in the Sand: We visited Lake Michigan one beautiful summer evening and loved sharing this place we visited many times in our college days with our sweet little girl.

Carolyn and Emma: We visited our friends the Rohrers in Pennsylvania: their daughter Emma is 11 months older than Carolyn and really loved having Little Carolyn around. Sadly, the two did share the same stomach virus that put them (and us!) out of commission for awhile after we got home! :)

August
Seattle! We visited my college roommate Chandra and her husband Andrew and they showed us all the sights of their awesome town!

Look Out World! Here comes Carolyn! She's waaalking! I loved seeing the world just open up before Carolyn's very eyes as she started seeing everything from an upright perspective! This is about when her vocabulary began to take off, too, and she started being able to TELL us more about what she could see.

September:
Emily Comes to Town: Emily and Carolyn meet for the first time as Toddlers! We had such fun watching them play. I love this picture of them together!

Playing Around: Life is made up of the little things, like trips to the park! We enjoyed an extra-long summer (hopefully not to make up for an extra-long Winter to come!), with playground weather all the way through September and most of October too!

October
Marathon 07: We traveled to Chicago to watch my dad and Bryan run the Chicago Marathon in record-heat conditions! Carolyn loves to show only her bottom teeth when asked to identify them. :)

Appo! One of my favorite pictures of the year! We visited an apple orchard to pick apples with friends! :) Weather-wise, not the best day, but we were so glad we did it when we had a chance because we all had fun.

November
Beaching! We went to South Carolina to visit Nana and Papa's new home near Hilton Head and enjoyed some time on the beach- in November!

December
Merry Christmas! Next year, maybe we will have someone come over to help us take our family picture! It was harder than anticipated to get a shot we liked... and this wasn't perfect, but it does say something about "where we are" this year. :)

So, Happy New Year (one day late!) Hope you enjoyed our little Year in Review! We are looking forward to sharing our fun and our not-so-fun with all our friends in the blogosphere in 2008!