CopperPot Update

Okay ... I feel like someone just hit the fast forward button on my life! It's a long story, but we've just taken several steps forward on the coffeehouse. I have a meeting with a bank tomorrow morning! I'm very nervous, even though I know that I've done all I can and it's ultimately up to God. We're just doing our best to trust in Him and not to worry about the future. The business plan is as done as it's going to get. Now it's time to see if it will convince anyone to give us any money!

Surprise!

I had a wonderful birthday on Friday, had to work on Saturday, and Sunday was church as usual. Or so I thought. I knew that on Monday we had a meeting scheduled with a friend of ours who owns the local radio station to talk about advertising for the coffeehouse. Well, after the worship service, Craig asked me if we could change the meeting to that afternoon at 4:15. That was fine with me, so Jeff and I met Craig and his wife at Starbucks (ironic, I know). After the meeting, Jeff wanted to go by Wal-Mart to price something and I stayed in the car with the kids. Here's what happened when we got home ...

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"SURPRISE!"



I had not the first clue that the "college people" and Jeff had arranged a surprise 30th birthday party for me! Kim and Hope organized everything from the food to the invitations to the decorating. Those two girls, along with my friends Chrissy and Lisa, came over while we were gone to get everything set up. I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing! I was truly amazed and humbled that they thought to do all of that for me.


My friend Lindsay made the cake, which Kim ordered for me. Check out more of Lindsay's fabulous creations here.

That's Hope standing behind me.

Some of our guests ... Jacob, Andy, Michael, Lydia, Robby, Alysha, Brannan, etc.

Brannan and his sweetie pie, Tara.


Jeff, Pam, Ben, Hope, Amber, Kim.

My Birthday in Pictures

Jeff and me before our date to Inoko in Athens.



One of my "College Girls", Kim, went grocery shopping with me yesterday morning ... and she met me at the Starbucks in Kroger with this bouquet of flowers and a Hazelnut Latte. So sweet!



And this one's for my mom ... my cute new sandals! I rarely have cute shoes, for various reasons, but I couldn't resist these.

Turning 30

Thank you, Mom, for giving me life ... and for allowing me to live to be 30.


I've been told I'm entering the "last decade of cool". I've been told that it's all downhill from here. But that doesn't matter to me, because it means I have 10 more years to be cool ... and I'm on top of the hill!

Seriously, I LOVE where I am in life. I wouldn't trade 30 for 20, or even 25, for anything. If I were 20 years old, I wouldn't have my beautiful daughter or my adorable son. I sure wouldn't be the person I am, and even though I have a lo-o-ong way to go ... I like me. I'm completely in love with my handsome husband, and I'm beyond excited about the coffeehouse we'll be opening so very soon! God has brought me through some incredibly trying times, and I know that there are more to come ... but He has brought me through and He will again. I know that He allows trials in our lives to refine us to become more like Him.

The joy that I have has come not from myself, but from knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior. He is my rock and my salvation, my shield and defense. If there is no joy in your life, then can it be that you are trying to go through life on your own? Jesus Christ came to Earth, lived a sinless life, gave his life on the cross, and rose from death to life so that you could have "life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10b) Not a perfect life, but one that is rich in His mercy and grace and forgiveness.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9-10

Ballet Recital 2009

Kaity's ballet recital this year had the theme of The Prodigal Son. Each of the classes (divided by age) danced to a song corresponding to different parts of the story. It was really good! Kaity was, of course, beautiful, and did a wonderful job.

Mother's Day 2009

Jeff and I surprised my mom by driving to Augusta today to spend the afternoon with her! We met up at the Augusta Mall and window shopped. Naturally, we spent a generous amount of time in Barnes & Noble! We went to PF Chang's for dinner, which was really good. There were only two bad things about the trip ... Berk was working and couldn't be there, and it was too short!






The Rest of the Story ...
Well, make that three bad things... on the way home we stopped in Thomson for a bathroom break and got more than we bargained for. While sitting in the car with the kids waiting for Jeff, I saw an altercation between two police officers and a guy. The police were questioning this guy, and he tried to make a break for it. They didn't take too kindly to it, and the three of them commenced to a fist fight. I made Kaity get in the floorboard of the car! (Joe was asleep.) Oh, yeah ... the men were maybe five feet away from us. The man broke away at one point, pretty sure I heard a gunshot, and he ran around the side of the building. The police ended up winning the fight, backup came and the guy was arrested, end of story. But it made for a really interesting bathroom break! And man, was Jeff disappointed he missed it.

Playing Tiger

Kaity and Joe have a game of pretend that they play pretty often. The general theme is that Joe is a tiger named "Tigger", and he does various things, usually whatever Kaity tells him to! She's getting better at accepting the story lines he suggests, but it's hard not to be the Big Sister. Today the story is that "Tigger" has a family -- Kaity is Violet, Tigger's wife, and their cubs are Tigger Stripes (a Webkinz), along with Midget and Pouncer (cupcake toppers). At one point, our 1-year old cat, Lily, wandered by, and Tigger headed for her. Violet said, "It's just a cat in with our children, don't kill it!" To which Tigger replied, "I'm trying to capture it and bring it to our lair!" Violet replies, "It's not a lair, it's our house."

Later, they were prowling around the living room and saw a hairbrush on the floor. Pretending it was some sort of thornbush, Violet tells Tigger, "Those things are dastardly! You could have one of those stuck in your paw for the rest of your life!"

And here are some random photos of the kids and Jeff that I've taken lately, and haven't posted yet.
Jeff and the kids snuggling on the couch. I don't think they were actually asleep.


Jeff and Joe playing Excite Bike on the original Nintendo. Yes, the ORIGINAL, from 1985. The only problem with it is that the games get stuck in the player. We've solved that by always using the Game Genie, even if we don't enter codes.


Kaity and I usually do our morning Bible study and prayer at the same time. Joe can't read yet, of course, but he doesn't want to be left out! He sometimes gets out the Bible he got from church and "reads" along with us.

Ladies' Night Out 2009

Every year, the women's ministry in our church, Women Walking Worthy, headed by my friend Ashley Hall, hosts a Ladies' Night Out for the ladies in our church and community. This year, the theme was "What's Your Story?" and the program featured three women from our church sharing their testimonies about what God has done and is doing in their lives. It was amazing! My main contribution to the evening was providing the meal. The head of our kitchen ministry, Lydia Black, worked with me to organize everything and to make sure it all ran smoothly. I enlisted the help of a few friends, Debbie Settle, Lindsay Simpson and Sandi Simpson to come up to the church the day before LNO to help me cook for the nearly 300 ladies.




The menu was Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Chicken, Berry Peach Salad, Cheddar-Broccoli Salad, Veggie Ranch Rotini, Italian Confetti Salad, and yeast rolls. Dessert was on the table, ready to serve -- a single layer cake, half devil's food, half red velvet, with cream cheese icing. Abbie from Common Road Bakery made all of the cakes.



The men in our church helped by serving tea and water and by doing all the cleanup. This picture is of two of our college people, Kris and Ben, who came to help. Clearly, it wasn't all work and no play!

Busy Busy Busy

Sometimes when there aren't any posts for a while, it's because I'm being lazy. Sometimes it's because we haven't done anything of interest. But in this case it's because we've been really busy, and I haven't taken the time to post about it!

The last weekend in April, our friends Paul and Sandy De Jong came to stay with us for a few days. They attended a professional photographers' convention in Athens, and used us for room and board. We're so glad they did! We had a great time with them. We got to walk to downtown Commerce to show them the future home of our family and the coffeehouse. Just today, Joe asked me if Paul and Sandy could come back to see them! Paul is a fantastic photographer, and you can see his website by clicking on the link listed to the right ... GardenHouse Photography.





Last Tuesday/Wednesday, Kaity took the Iowa standardized test. I don't know anything about it, except that I'm pretty sure it's required by the state. Anyway, one of the other homeschooling moms administered it to several of the students. I don't have a clue when we'll get results back to find out whether our oldest child is a genius or a dolt. (Just kidding! Please don't send angry letters!)


But Kaity being tested meant that Joe and I were able to spend some quality time together alone! We went up to Spencer Park in Commerce and played Skip-Bo, which Joe calls "Dis-Bo" for some reason. We also ran errands and generally enjoyed ourselves.