Week 1

Okie-dokie, I made a New Year's Resolution to blog once a week (and to run my fastest half-marathon in 2013...get it? fastest 13 miler in 2013)

So here is a recap of our week (or at least what I can remember):

• We had family in town at the beginning of the week!  Yay!  We took them out to Korean - yum-o!  It was so fun to play Apples to Apples with these guys!
• I stayed up until about 9:17pm on New Year's Eve.  Yes, I am 79 years old on the inside.
• I am finishing up my 2 weeks off from running.  Goodness - I can't wait to jump on that treadmill tomorrow morning.
• Ian starts an intense 3 week Old Testament class tomorrow, so I tried to soak up all the "my husband is not studying" time I could this week!  
• I was introduced to the following youtube video this week.  I cried because I was laughing so hard.

What I'm making: BBQ Chicken, Omelets, Sloppy Joes, Chili, French Toast
What I'm buying: plane tickets to see some friends when they come to visit America in February
What I'm reading: Orthodoxy from G.K. Chesterton
What I'm watching:Biggest Loser is starting this week!

The countdown is on!

My friend, Jen, from high school usually does a countdown for when she is leaving Kenya and heading to the USofA.  I thought it would be fun to do the same thing.  (Thanks Jen for the great idea!)

10 days until the last day of school
11 days until the first day of summer english camp
17 days until my on-line class is done! (and God-willing, I will not teach an on-line class in English to 8 year olds for a very long time.)
27 days until the last day of camp
30 days until the last day of work
31 days until we fly out (that is one month from today!)
32 days until we land in St. Louis.  Hug Mommabomma.  Say hi to Daddio.  Run in a sports bra.  Go to
     an American grocery store.  Have some major jet-lag.
33 days until we start loading the Uhaul
35 days until we hug my parents and brother and sister-in-law
37 days until we see my Grandpa and his wife and other relatives
38 days until we get to Colorado (and get to see Ian's twin and his sweet wifey!)
39 days until we move into our new apartment and go for a run in Colorado!
41 days until Ian starts orientation
44 days until Ian starts classes

oh p.s.  Do ya'll read the nester?  You should.  She talks about the killers.  If you are a killer, please do not try to stalk us and kill us in the next 45 days.  K? thanksbye!

For my Mommas

Happy Mother's Day!

I have been blessed with some great mothers in my life!  My mom, Binks, was (and still is!) a great Mom.

She taught me the important things in life :)

Binks has been there for me through the ups and downs of life.  She encouraged me to be a good student.  My parents were great about supporting my athletic endeavors and I could always tell when my mom cheered for me (she may or may not have brought a cowbell to cross country meets when I was high school - best.idea.ever.).  We have been on quite a few adventures and made fun memories over the years. 

And then I have been so blessed with my mother-in-law, Mommabomma!  I always wondered what my mother-in-law would be like...and now I know :) I love Ian's mom!  She is so great.  I asked Ian what his favorite thing about his Mom is.  He talked about how he has seen her (throughout his life) grow closer to Jesus and mature in her faith.

I can't wait to see my Mommas come August!  

The To-Do List

Today was the last day of work until (wait for it) August 29!

Woohooo!!!!!! Summer break!

I started on my to-do list for tomorrow:

First Day of Summer To-Do list:
___ Go to Seoul
___ Go to San Francisco
___ Go to Vegas
___ Go to Denver
___  Hug Mommaboma, Daddio, Bear, and B
___  Be in 2 places at once

a whole lotta happy

July 3rd is a pretty important day in my amazing husband's family.  Not only is July 3rd my father-in-law's birthday, it is also my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's anniversary.

So there is a whole lot of happy going on!

My father-in-law (Daddio) is a great guy.  He has a big heart and I have learned many things from him.  He (along with Mommaboma) has done a great job of raising my amazing husband to be the awesome man he is.  I conducted a short, spur-of-the-moment interview with my amazing husband about his Daddio.

Me: What is one of your favorite character qualities about your Daddio?
Amazing Husband: Generosity.



Me: What is one of your favorite memories that you have with your Daddio?
Amazing Husband: Going to Camp Carew with him.


Me: What parenting tip have you learned from your Daddio that you hope to use someday?
Amazing Husband: Invest in what you kids like, not what you like

Thank you Amazing Husband for abandoning your academic readings for a moment of interview.  Happy Birthday Daddio!  We love and respect you.

Also, Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband's twin brother (Bear) and his wife (B  a.k.a my Denver sister).  I had the pleasure and privilege of attending Bear and B's wedding two years ago.  It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony with a really fun reception to follow!

I have had a blast getting to know my Denver sister.  She is a woman of God and a great sister.  She shares my love of Jane Austin books made into bad movies, Target, Panera, and Monopoly (what more could a girl ask for?).  And Bear is cool too.  He has been working hard on grad school and is almost done.  Go Bear!  I love hanging out with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

I also love watching Bear and B's marriage grow and transform them to be more Christ-like.  You guys rock! Maybe someday when we are all old we can live in the same nursing home, have wheelchair races and talk about the good ol' days when we where whippoorsnappers!

Momaboma

I refer to my mother-in-law as Momaboma.  She is feeling a little under the weather right now.  I thought I would  give her a shout-out.  So without further ado, let me introduce you to Momaboma.

Yes, I agree with you, she is quite beautiful.

She is in an amazing woman.  Case in point: she survived living in a house with all men for 25 years.  This may not sound like a awe-inspiring feat, but it is.  Believe me.  I ate one meal with my amazing husband (before he was my husband) his twin brother, his mom and dad.  I thought to myself, "how did any woman survive in this environment for such a long time?"  I say this partly joking and partly not. (hahahaha) I love my amazing husband and his family.  But it was a 3 to 1 man to woman ratio before my sister-in-law and I entered the scene.  Let's just say, you could tell.

She has a great sense of humor too!

Also, my Momaboma has a lot of inner strength.  I had the privilege of hearing her testimony last year.  She has withstood struggles in her life with her her head held high and with grace.  She has taught me a lot about living life one day a time and not giving up when life gets tough.  She has shown so many that when we feel weak, Jesus Christ is strong in us.  She is a preserve-er (is that a word?).

Momaboma teaching my amazing husband how to make a paper crane.  I think he had just woke up for a nap at this point in time.  He had some crazy hair.  

I went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park with my amazing husband (when he was my fiancée) and his mom and dad.  Poor Momaboma had teach me about camping life!  She was patient and a good teacher. She also made/folded 1,000 paper cranes for our rehearsal dinner.  She taught me how to make cranes.  Like I said, she is a patient and a good teacher.

The finished product.  Obviously she made this one and I did not.

Momaboma has skillz!  She is a good cook.  She made me the most chocolatey, delicious cake ever for my birthday one year.  It was three tiers and pure chocolate!  She has some really good recipes for roasted asparagus.  I have stolen the recipe from her.  It is so good. She has been married for 30 years.  She is one of my role models for being a good wife.  I feel like it takes skillz to be married that long.  (obviously my father-in-law, Daddio, is amazing as well because it takes two to have a good marriage!) She is a good gardener too.  My in-laws have such a pretty front yard.  On the day we got married, she wore some really high heels.  Ya'll, I think I would have fallen over if I would have attempted those shoes.  You have to skillz to do that.  For real, I found a picture of the shoes.  Check it out.

Can you see those heels?  So high  (:

So here's to you Momaboma.  I hope you feel better soon.  You are a great mother-in-law and an amazing person!

I love you Momaboma!