A small glimpse into my world....

About a week ago, I decided to conduct a small experiment. Clay and I often try to explain to people how much hair our two wonderful dogs shed on a daily basis, but we often feel like no one really gets it. Thus, my small experiment....I brushed each dog for 5 minutes each and this is the result:

Actually, this is probably not as much as it would normally be since Clay had spent about 20 minutes brushing Bear the day before. As I cleaned up the hair (Side note: When we brush them out I just gather up the hair and toss it, then run the vacuum. We have a Dyson and it is the best ever but I don't want to wear it out before I can afford another one!) I balled it up in my hand and realized that the hair my dogs' shed in one day is larger than our new dog (Scout) will be when she is full grown! Thankfully, Scout will not shed!

Our New Baby

Well, we are expanding our family....in case you have not heard...we are getting a new puppy! She is a yorkie-poo and will be coming to our home in less than a month. We aren't quite sure how the big dogs will respond to this new addition but I think they will love her.

There is only one little problem: Clay and I cannot figure out what her name should be. Below are some pictures of her. Help us think of a name. Both of our other dogs have names that start with 'S', but the new puppy's name doesn't have to do the same.

Another slow news day...

So, not much has been going on around here...at least, nothing blog worthy.

Clay and I are pretty much settling into life here. For Clay's birthday , I bought him Tiger Woods for the Wii so we spend most of our free time playing it. Clay is quite good. I, on the other hand, am so great. Clay pretty much acts as my coach and tries to guide me through the game. Here is what I have learned: It is good that I don't play golf in real life. There have been several times where I have kicked the coach. It is a very good thing that the Wii remote has a strap that attaches to your wrist. Without it, I think our TV would be broken.

In other news, I have a new favorite website. Chances are that if I talk to you on a regular basis I have already informed you of it, but for the rest of you it is www.stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com
It is a very funny site.

Well hopefully, we will have some exciting stories to report on soon!

A lovely trip to the DMV

Well, Clay's birthday is tomorrow. While that is a joyous occasion, it also brought about the expiring of his driver's license. About a month ago, I reminded Clay of this fact, but as always life gets in the way and Clay was not able to get a Texas DL until today.

There is a DMV a few blocks down from Clay's work so he planned to go during his lunch hour. Unfortunatly, work was extremely busy and Clay did not get a lunch hour. So at 3 o'clock, Clay headed to the DMV which to his surprise only had about 3 people waiting. Upon arrival, a lovely lady informed Clay that his TN license does not qualify as a primary source of ID although a sign states that a primary source of ID must include one's full name, photo, and date of birth. Clay asks why his license does not meet the requirements to which the lady responds that a TX license is the only driver's license that is accepted as a primary source of ID. How one is suppose to have a TX license when trying to exchange their out of state license is a question I can't even begin to fathom. The lady then hands Clay a piece of paper outlining all the forms of secondary ID that are acceptable and walks away singing a rap song. Oh, how I wish I could have been there to see the look of Clay's face.

Clay calls me in a slight panic since it is now 3:30 (all locations close at 5) and he has to get his birth certificate in order to get his new license today. If he is unable to get a new one today, he will have to take the road test since his out of state license will expire tomorrow. Oh, how I miss the DMV located in East Town Mall (oh wait, I mean Knoxville Center). I grab Clay's birth certificate and head to meet him. We figure it best to meet up at a different location closer to our house. The closer location still takes me 45 minutes to get to with all of the Friday rush hour traffic. On top of the traffic, Clay and I have decided that the 820 loop may have been created by some sadistic transportation expert who would rather watch hundreds of people have road rage each day than create an efficient roadway. I swear, that road and its service road may be the most confusing thing in the world. But I digress....back to the DMV....As long as you are in the doors by 5, you are allowed to get your license. Thankfully, Clay arrives at 4:54.

Apparently, everyone in the Fort Worth area needed to be at the DMV today. People were everywhere. Since I arrived first, I went to get the proper form. I was greeted by a really nice lady who gave me our number and explained to me that once our number was called we would be allowed to stand in line. Not get help....stand in line. Our number was 59. The sign said now serving number 25. It was at this point I thought to myself, "Maybe I should have packed an overnight bag." Fortunately, it only took about an hour and Clay is now a legal Texas driver. I, on the other hand, am happy to keep my Tennessee license for awhile. I mean, I just recently got one with a decent picture.

Conversations with Brooks

Tonight, I had to work the Saturday service. Normally, my time is spent making coffee and setting out cookies, then trying to stay busy during the actual service so I don't hear what Toby (our pastor) says. Let me clarify that last statement, I go to church with Clay on Sunday and if I listen to the teaching the night before I am always a line or two ahead so I prefer to just listen at 11:15 along with Clay. Tonight was a special night because I got to look after Brooks Day. Brooks is the 3 (almost 4) year old son of one of our children's pastors. He was having a rough time since his mom had to work so he hung out with me. Probably not the best precedent to set but it was fun for me nonetheless.

As we were playing in the cry room (you know, the room at church with toys and rockers and a tv for moms to watch the service if their kid won't stay quiet) Brooks contently played with toys that are made for kids years younger than he and explained to me that these toys were all easy. As he sat there, the tv played Toby's teaching. We just started a sex series called "The Naked Truth" and I was kinda worried Brooks might pick up on some things that were said. Fortunately, it seemed that Brooks was focused on the "easy toys" until Toby described Adam and Eve and how they were "naked". Never in my life have I seen a kid's head whip around so fast. "Naked!" he exclaimed. "Christy, why were they naked?" Not being a mom myself, I wasn't sure what I should say so I just went with, "Well, it was bath time."

The night was filled with fun conversations and random questions that to a 3 year old seem oh so important. But the best conversations came at the end of the night:

Brooks: Do you have any kids of yours?
Me: No, not yet.
Brooks: But don't you gots a little brother?
Me: Nope, I don't have anything.
Brooks: Is God going to give you some kids?
Me: Maybe one day
Brooks: But not today?

No, Brooks, not today and not for a lot of days. One night with Brooks will keep the "kid need" fulfilled for awhile. Too bad they don't come as almost 4 years olds when you first get them...I could probably deal with that.

26 hours on a van, 3 days in the most beautiful snow ever

Last Saturday, at approximately 5:30 am, I left out the front door of my cozy home on Durango Root Drive. After a quick stop at Sonic for a Java Chiller and about 30 minutes of registration, our group of 25 kids and 6 "adults" were off to Colorado for a few days of winter wonderland. Unfortunately, my wonderland was a 13 hour drive away.

Honestly, I had been dreading this trip for a while. Really, since we canceled the charter bus and decided to take vans to cut down on the costs. However, by some miracle, I got a van full of wonderful kids who were an absolute breeze. Also, 13 hours provides ample time to go through every song on the ipod. As much as I like to pretend I am trendy and cool, I really am not an ipod person. I have had my ipod since 2004 and the last time I updated it (prior to today) was more than 8 months ago. I know this because Fergie's Glamorous is the most current song I could find on it.

On Sunday, we went out to the slopes. Here is what I learned: I am not a snowboarder. I took a lesson. I tried really hard, but I faced the fact very early that I should just ski. On the positive side, my friend Stephanie did a great job learning to snowboard. After trading in my board, I spent the next few days skiing. It was great. The mountain had some really great trails. All of our kids had a great time (even the one who broke his collar bone). I had a great time on the trip, but after another 13 hours on the van, I was more than ready to just spend a few days at home with Clay. Below are some pics of the mountains:

The Bucket List

Perhaps, you have seen the movie, The Bucket List. I haven't seen it, but I hear it is quite good. Apparently, it is quite the inspiration. You see, several weeks ago, while wrapping up another Wednesday night at United, my friend Matt found a lost wallet. After playing a quick game of "Guess what is in the wallet" we found it to contain 1)A toys 'r us gift card 2) 10 pesos 3) A bucket list! The bucket list was created by 2 ninth grade boys. Below are a few of my favs from the list:

4. impact a strangers life for good
10. find joy in our life
11. have sex with a model (I like that this one follows the finding joy in life)
15. do a girl from each continent
19. wear thongs to a chick flick
22. meet George Lopez
27. go to Jerusalem
32. drink a keg of beer together in one night
41. fart while making out
56. beat the heck out of Carlos or Harold

There were many, many more funny ones. Some were a little too much for this blog. Thanks to Matt for making copies of the list before the student came to claim his wallet. Maybe I should start working on my bucket list. I think #1 on my list would be: never let another person see the list.