Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Administrative Professionals' Day!

Today is Administrative Professionals' Day! The church I work for always does such a great job of remembering this day. Yesterday, all the Admin Assistants went out to lunch courtesy of the Personnel Committee.

The ladies I work with (some don't like their picture taken!)
Today, my boss came in with flowers - for me!


Nik is also really good at remembering, and recognizing this day. He bought flowers, a card and the favorite candy of his church secretary.

So - happy Administrative Professionals' Day!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Our Easter Weekend

Our Easter Weekend started Thursday night. Nik was gone golfing, so I decided to attend a Maundy Thursday Service at my work church. I have never experienced this service before, but I have to say, it was really great. It was special to gather with other believers and focus on scripture and the days leading up to Jesus' death on the cross.

 

Friday, I cleaned house! It was so nice to have the house to myself to work on some projects, water the yard, clean, and do some baking. I also was able to spend a couple of hours with a friend. That evening, Nik and I went to church to hear our Choir's Easter Musical. It was great! After the Musical, we stayed around to help decorate for Saturday's Eggstravaganza! After we were done decorating, we hung out until after 1am talking to our friends!

Making Balloon Decorations:

Saturday started out EARLY with the Eggstravaganza. We both helped setup and get things ready for the day. Once the kids arrived, Nik was in charge of the eating area (go figure - Nik + food! Ha!). Nik and some of our teens were to clean up after each group once they ate cupcakes and drank punch (before which, they heard the Gospel message presented to them). I was in charge of outside games. It was actually pretty fun, although it was really hard to keep the attention of the young ones (0-5 yrs.). In between games and cupcakes - they got a chance to ride a mini train and hunt Easter Eggs. The day was a big hit! We were home by 12:30pm, but it still felt like a long day!

Some of our teens trying out the mini train before the day started:


The kids, listening to the Gospel Message:


Nik with one of our teens, handing out cupcakes and punch:

After the Eggstravaganza, we decided we wanted cool air and never-ending Sweet Tea (Nik) and Coke (Carla) - Ha! So we went out to lunch and ate Mexican food. It was nice to sit in an air-conditioned space, sip our drinks, eat mexican food and talk. The rest of the afternoon was spent RELAXING (and doing some more baking). All in all - I baked 18 cupcakes, a cake, rolls, breakfast casserole, and made a salad. None of which was just for Nik and I- everything I made, I had to take somewhere throughout the weekend!

Funfetti Cupcakes (minus the Icing and sprinkles):

Easter Sunday (another early morning) - we had an early church service, followed by a church-wide Easter breakfast, which was followed by our Choir's Easter Musical Presentation. We had a wonderful day at church celebrating our Lord's Resurrection!

My April bouquet of flowers:

After church, we were invited to a friends house to have lunch. There was a total of 9 adults and 9 kids! The food was wonderful, and the company was great! We hung out until about 4pm - when I realized I still had all the dishes piled in my kitchen from all the cooking I did over the last 2 days. So we went home to take care of  'business' before my work week began on Monday.

Some friends called us about 6:30 pm and said they were headed to the park - so we packed up and went! We are definately trying to take advantage of the nice spring days before the blazing-hot-summer hits! So, we spent a couple of hours playing boccee ball and horseshoes...it does not get much better than that!

By the time we got home - it was 9:00pm and I was ready for bed! Ha! We had a wonderful, long weekend.

This week will be a bit busy, as we are headed out of town for a couple of days to attend our church's District Assembly in Houston, TX.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Park

This weekend, we went to the Park with some of our teens. We had a wonderful time in the VERY NICE spring weather!

Nik, waiting to catch the baseball.
A little Ladder Ball.
Some Frisbee.
This has nothing to do with the park, but - I found a cute bag at a garage sale on Saturday. It is the perfect size to carry a book, an IPOD, gum, and chapstick (my life essentials) without having to carry my big purse. I took a pic of it, while at the park....Here it is:


The sunset.
The moon rising.
Saturday was such a beautiful day here. I wish all spring days were like it!

We also helped pack up this cute couple - they are moving to Florida!


David and Jennah were in our teen group. They both graduated last May and were married this past December. David is in the Air Force and he is now stationed in Florida. We will miss them.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bike Riding

I got a bike. It's fun. I'm excited about it.


The reason for the bike is two-fold.
  • #1 I am trying to exercise more, and it's something different than walking.
  • #2 Nik won't walk with me. He says its boring. So I got a bike so I can exercise with Nik!

This is a picture after our bike ride the other night, back in the house, cooling off!

I am getting used to riding a bike again...My bum hurts, though. Bad. I have been riding a little everyday so my bum will get used to the very small, hard seat. Ha!



On another note: I swallowed my gum today. Funny, huh? I wasn't doing anything. I was sitting at my desk, typing an email. All of a sudden, my gum slid down my throat. It still feels like it is lodged in there. I told my co-workers I thought my gum was cutting off my air pipes. They assured me it was not. Then we proceeded to have a very funny conversation of all the ways to get my gum down (or back up) out of my throat. I'll spare you the details of that conversation! All that to say - I'm scared to chew gum now.

Monday, April 11, 2011

To My Grandmother's House I Go!

This weekend I went to see my Mamaw! I drove 2 hours (ish) to Dublin, TX. Population: 3,887.


We had such a great visit! We talked and talked all night Friday. We did stop talking just enough to eat a yummy meal at Chili's. But then the talking resumed! (By the way - Dublin is not big enough for a Chili's, but the next town is only 12 miles away - in case you were wondering...probably not).

Saturday we did a little work outside her house and played games. We love to play games. She taught me a new one, with dice. Don't remember the name. But it was fun!


I had to leave late afternoon on Saturday to get back home. But I had such a wonderful time away. I love my Mamaw so much and was glad I got a chance to see her!



While I was away, Nik went and saw Soul Surfer with our teens Friday night. He got to spend some one-on-one time with one of our teens on Saturday. He tries to do this fairly often, in order to build better relationships with them.

Sunday, after church, we ran errands, bought groceries and hung out! Nik is one of my favorite people to hang out with!

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Laundromat

Last night I was doing laundry. I started getting ready for bed before I put another load into the dryer. Once my face was washed, teeth brushed, hair pinned back and glasses on, I went to start the dryer. Nothing happended. Nik started looking at it and taking it apart. We cleaned everything up as best we could, but saw nothing that was 'obviously' wrong. It was 10:15pm. I had a load in the washer, ready to be dried and a wet load in the dryer. And no working dryer.

While Nik is scouring the internet for solutions to our dryer problem, I hop in the car (looking exactly the way I described earlier - no picture to post) and headed to a laundromat, hoping it was open. It was. And it was a little scary. But, the wet laundry called. There was no turning back.

A nice (?) man held the door open for me and showed me where the dryers were, how to use them, and watched me put my clothes in. Yes, it was a little creepy. However, the wet laundry called. I thanked him and sat down to read my book. He walked outside. (Yay). Nik called about 20 minutes later and told me that the dryer was working (Yay!). I told Nik to call me back in 7 minutes (in case the nice ? man tried to talk to me again). So I waited until my time ended (6 minutes later) and was out the door and in my car by the time Nik called. I headed home.

Nik kindly finished drying and folding the laundry for me so I could go to bed!




I love my washer and dryer and love that I have a husband willing to search the internet on ways to possibly fix it when it breaks. Thanks, Hon!

I am off of work, and my weekend is now in full-swing. I'm about to stop and get a BUSH'S TEA, tell my cutie husband bye and head out of town to visit someone pretty special! I won't be gone long. I'll post about my adventures when I get back!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Grateful for Things...

Nik and I don't have too much going on these days. I feel we are kinda in a 'down-time' (which is nice) before the busy summer hits! Therefore - I don't have any major things to blog about. So, today you get some things in life that I am grateful for. Trust me - this is, in no way, a complete list. Just random things that have happened in the last couple of days that have made me smile!

My boss, Gary, was out of the office on Monday and Tuesday. He was in the office today, but will be gone again Thursday and Friday. 8 hours. That is all he is in the office this week. Not much time. So... On Tuesday afternoon I sent him an email that stated (in bullet points) everything he needed to get done in that 8 hour time period on Wednesday. Luckly, we work well together, and he appreciated my blunt - bullet point - email! I do know, however, that not everyone would! Ha! I'm grateful for him and the way we work so well together.

I went to a Women's Conference not long ago and won a door prize! This door prize is a Baked Potato Bag. Does anyone else have one of these? They are awesome! I don't know if I'm sheltered in the baked-potato-world or not, but I've never heard or seen these before. Basically, it is a pouch, sewn together, that holds potatoes. You use this bag in the microwave and the outcome is seriously the best baked potato! Ever. I don't know why or how - but the potato is fully cooked through, light and fluffy and the skin is nice too -  not hard, or wrinkly. I'm now eating baked potatoes every week. I'm grateful for the little things in life.

Here is a picture of my new Corkscrew Rush plant. It makes me smile.




Yesterday, my other boss, Kay another co-worker and I went on a field trip. We had to go look at some land for a project. After that, we went to Starbucks where Kay treated us. We sat in comfy chairs and talked and laughed. I'm grateful for spontaneous afternoon adventures.

This evening, I went on a walk after church with a friend. It was a very nice night. I am grateful for these nights (it won't be long until it is super humid and hot) and for friendships.

The end - for now...!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Our Weekend & Update

Sorry there are no pics...

Speaking of plants (previous post) - I got a new plant on Friday! It is a Corkscrew Rush. And I love it. Just looking at it makes me smile.

I had Friday afternoon off from work, and was very productive around the house. Not so much cleaning or doing laundry...but productive in other areas...organizing my coupons...potting my new plant...cooking dinner...doing dishes...watering the yard...planting one new plant outside (we'll see if it lives - fingers crossed!)....and then we played volleyball! We had a great group show up - over 20 adults plus all kinds of kiddos! We stayed around talking until after midnight. I went home and went straight to bed while Nik went to McDonalds to eat a snack! Ha!

Saturday, I went to clean a house for an elderly lady and Nik went mountin biking. We met together at the house early afternoon, ate lunch, hung out and then I napped. Yay for naps! We spend the later afternoon and evening watching soccer games. It was pretty fun, and we saw lots of people we knew. We got a dinner invite from a family that has 2 kids in our youth group. It was a lot of fun to hang out with their family for the evening!

We got home close to 10pm and then I realized I was supposed to make breakfast to take to Sunday School the next morning...So, there I was at 10pm making Cinnamon Glazed Scones. By the way - they are sooo good! (I impressed myself with my cooking abilities). After the scones were done (minus 2 that me and Nik ate) we were off to bed.

Sunday was an odd day at church. I don't know if odd is the right word, but I'll use if for now and see if I come up with a better one! Here is some background information before I get into our day: When we moved here (3 years ago) we accepted this job knowing that the current pastor was going to retire in 3 years. According to the Nazarene Manual, whenver a Senior Pastor quits or retires, all staff must give thier resignation. Our Church Board met a few weeks ago and voted to keep all current staff up to 90 days after a new pastor arrives. Back to Sunday: During church, our Pastor read his retirement letter (it was sad) and then handed over his letter plus Nik's (and the other's staffs) resignation letters to the Church Board Secretary. Kinda odd moment. Pause for dramatic effect. It's not like we are out of a job and it's not like we didn't know about it...but just the fact that is is final. Well, it was a odd feeling. I don't think the moment affected Nik like it did me. And that is okay. We are differnet. It's not that I'm scared of the future. Because I'm not. I am fully trusting God to place us in the Ministry of His will (here in Temple, or elsewhere). I think it was more the fact that it is happening now. Right now.

I had a hard time focusing after that. After church we picked up lunch and took it home to eat. Then I totally vegged out on the couch for the next couple of hours. By the time evening service rolled around I was back to 'normal' again. I went to church and enjoyed the service. We went out to eat with friends after church and had a great time laughing and enjoying the fellowship of our church members and friends.

After dinner, we went to the grocery store (so we can stop eating out) and now we are in a new week!

I thank the Lord for where He has brought us. I praise Him for who He is. We continue to seek His will and purpose for our lives!