Priceless

We went to Oklahoma a few weeks ago to celebrate my mom's birthday
and I took this little video. It's priceless to me.

Spring Break Adventures

Sunday Brad and I were on a mission to upgrade our phones. We happened to be in the Valley View mall area so we decided to stop in at the Verizon store there. As we drove through the parking lot by the Super Target, Brad said, "O my...look at that up there on the right; is that a street walker?" An incredibly tall woman was walking out of target with at least 4-inch heels on, and a teeny tiny skin-tight red...for lack of a better word...skirt! As she crossed the parking lot to get to her large 'big bird-yellow' truck, she turned her face toward us and flipped her long red hair to show us that she was indeed a man. And that was how I started my spring break!

Happy 45th Birthday...

...to my big sister today. I hope your day was so fun and you had fun on your date.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Finally!

We have been looking for a little over a month for a place to live. We decided at the beginning of this search that we would find a house and continue with renting for a year or so just to get ahead on bills and put a little more in savings. It seems, though, that everyone else in the house search decided to do the same thing. Everytime we would find one we liked, we would find out that it was already in the application process...or...that it was already gone. It was exhausting...and was starting to become a little discouraging. Anyway...we finally found one late last week, placed an application, and found out yesterday that we were approved for it. So...the moving fun continues. (For those of you who know me well, you know exactly what I'm talking about!) It is a 3-story townhome, and well...I'm expecting my legs to be in great shape by the time we decide to purchase a home in a year or two. April 1st is the big day. I guess my spring break plans are now made. Anyone who needs a little fun in your life, please feel free to come on over and help me pack!

January Birthdays

This is so long overdue...but we have been looking for a place to live and it's taken all the live long day to do so. Now that we've found one, I was able to sit down and do some stuff tonight. In January, we had 4 birthdays to celebrate in our families: Deanna - Brad's sister; Yvette - Brad's sister-in-law; Brad; and my Dad. Here's a little digital photostory of all the birthday party fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Praise the Lord...It's Dinner Time!

We came to Oklahoma City for the weekend to visit my mom and dad. My brother, Mike, and his kids Jeff and Courtney came over along with my nephew Chad and his girlfriend Jenn. Dad made his famous ribs for dinner and they are deee-lish! As you can see eating dinner can be a religious experience in our family!

My Purse

It's been a while since I got to sit down and read the blogs that I follow, so I decided to spend a little time this evening catching up with my friends. In doing so, I found that my friend Shelley tagged me on her blog. Now...I have to tell about my purse. So here goes...

Here it is...my purse...that at the moment weighs a lot.

I bought my purse at Sam Moon for $18.95. I never pay very much for a purse because I get tired of them too quickly and feel the need to change. I used to keep all my purses just in case I wanted to carry it again someday, but I no longer do that. I found that I never carried a purse again after I grew tired of it and bought a new one.

At any given time you could pick up my purse, look on the inside and know exactly what's going on in my life. When things are hectic, my purse is heavy because I don't have time to purge it of the gum wrappers, receipts, external hard drives, extra change, medicine, mail, old grocery lists, empty gum packages, and all the million other things that make my purse their home. When it weighs in on the lighter side, that means that I'm organized and caught up on all the arduous tasks that take up my time.

So...take a look...whaddya think?

I think it's time to get rid of the razr and buy an iPhone.

There you have it...my purse...my samsonite. Now, I tag Cheryl, Kim, Kiki, Donita, Angie, and whoever else has not been tagged.

Seussville Fun

Last Friday a few Facilitators got together to work on the Read Across Frisco videos...and a few of us had to dress up!

Date Night at Watermark

On Friday night we went to date night at our church and saw Fireproof. We both had been wanting to see it because we kept hearing that this is a must see for anyone who is married whether you are newlyweds or have been together for 50+ years. Now that I've seen it, I have to agree. One minute we were crying and the next minute laughing. I HIGHLY recommend it. God can restore anything and this is a reminder that no matter how impossible we might think things are that nothing is too hard for the Lord. (Gen. 18:14).

Our next step is the Love Dare.

Duke Family Christmas 2008

I love Saturdays!

It's been a while since I have taken the time to sit down and blog. I haven't been too busy; it just seems that when I get home in the evenings, I just want to chill on the couch with Brad. Anyway...I loved today. We spent the day doing nothing. I finally managed to change from my pajamas into clothes appropriate for the grocery store around 2:00 which is when we decided to venture to Walmart to stock up for the week. After we got home we dug into the warm rotisserie chicken that we purchased at the store, and I must say it was delicious. After we ate, we watched 'My Cousin Vinnie' (the first time I've ever seen it) and then 48 Hours Mystery. We were craving something sweet, so Brad went to Walgreens and bought 2 candy bars, 2 pint-sized Blue Bell Ice Creams (one was vanilla and the other cookies & cream). I made a chocolate & peanut butter shake. It was sooooooo good! Since I have been catching up on my friends' blogs and writing this one, Brad is checking out the UFC. I just witnessed a heavyweight - 6'1" - 265 lbs - thank the Lord for helping him to bash in the head of his opponent. Well...he didn't actually say those words...but that was the gist. Hmmm...! I love Saturdays.

Living Life on the Other Side of the Cardboard

This morning I woke up thinking about the message at the Christmas Eve service we attended at our church. I love it when I wake up thinking about things like that instead of what I'm bothered about for the day. Anyway...our pastor was talking about why in the world God would come to earth in a manger surrounded by dirt and stinky animals and journey to a place where He was shamed, humiliated, beaten, and nailed to a cross. It is...to us...such a strange way to save the world. During the course of his message, he kept saying, "I hope that we can start living with our cardboard flipped." I didn't really understand what he meant but knew that...like always...he would tie it in somehow and by the end of the message it would make sense to me. And of course it did. The way he tied it in not only made sense, but moved me...and my husband...and I believe every person in the church to tears. He stepped off the stage, the lights went down, and music started playing, and one by one individuals, couples, and families would come to the center of the stage holding a large piece of cardboard with a message on it. Messages like this: homeless, addicted to cocaine, no hope; addicted to porn, failing marriage, filled with anger. And then they would flip it over and another message was written. Messages like this: found Christ and living free every day from addiction; wife continued to pray, reborn, and marriage is healthy and alive. As those messages were displayed and cardboards flipped I started thinking about what mine would say. I came up with way more than one and realized that He saves me in some way every single day. Over the course of my life, some of those messages have been a little more life-changing than others; nonetheless...there's a million plus ways that He has saved my world...none of which I deserve. After the music stopped and all the people had shared their story, our pastor came back to the stage and ended it by saying, "This is why He came in a manger and went to the cross...so that we could live life with our cardboard flipped."

It's difficult for my human mind to grasp that kind of love, but I know He doesn't expect me to grasp it. He just wants me to accept it and live my life on the other side of the cardboard.

First Christmas

Brad and I went Saturday and got our Christmas tree. Since we are in a small apartment we decided to get a little one this year. It's simple and little...but it's our first Christmas tree together and that is huge to us.

My newest wordle...

Honeymoon in Paradise

Here is a little slide show of our cruise.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Top Ten Cruise Highlights

10. Juan (that really was his name) bringing me stuff all day on the beach.

9. $10 watches

8. Being rocked to sleep every night

7. Having my bed turned down every night

6. Chocolates on my pillow every night

5. My toes in the sand on Thanksgiving Day

4. Meeting our new friends, Chad & Stacie

3. Coconut lattes

2. Brad growing a goatee

...and my number 1 cruise highlight...drumroll please...

1. My husband singing his karaoke version of Elvira.

Cutest Thing Ever!

I received this in an email today and couldn't resist sharing!

God's Country

We were on our way home from Oklahoma this evening and I looked over as the sun was going down and realized that there's nothing more beautiful than the sun setting in the big Texas sky.

Names of God

I got an email today that had this wordle in it. It is the names of God, and I thought it was cool.

I can't wait!

It's almost here...finally...our long-awaited overdue honeymoon. I am ready to lay on the beach and play for a week and get away from copy jams, copy counts, projector bulbs, tech carts, and toner cartridges. Here's our itinerary: