Sunday Notes

I really enjoy Sundays. They're quiet and restful and allow for some time to catch up on forgotten tasks. In the 5 or so months since we've been married, Dan and I have developed our own Sunday ritual. Usually we'll sleep in 'til about 8:00 or so. We'll lie in bed and discuss who should get dressed and get the newspaper. Whoever doesn't get the paper starts a pot of coffee and we'll spend the next hour or so reading the paper and enjoying our coffee and breakfast. I'll clip coupons and Dan will read me bits of news or something from the opinion section. It's all very relaxed and comfortable. Eventually we'll look up at the clock and decide to get ready for church. Church is also one of the parts of Sunday that I enjoy. I like the warm greeting at the door and that I'll run into several people I know before we're even halfway through the foyer. I always really enjoy the praise and worship music and whatever sermon is preached. But most of all I love that I get spiritually recharged for the week. It's so easy for me to forget that God is God and I am not. I take on all the worries and stress of life when I really should just give them all to God; He does a better job dealing with them anyway. I remember on Sundays to take time to really reflect on my relationship with God. I take extra time to thank Him for all He's done for me in the week. No matter the day, I know God loves me, but in the quiet time of prayer in church, I let that fact really sink in. This Sunday we started on a new sermon series called "What We Believe and Why it Matters." I know I'm a believer, but it really is good to get a refresher on the beliefs that are easily taken for granted. Emmanuel Baptist Church has all their sermons available to listen to, so if you maybe need a refresher, click here.

After church, we'll have lunch and lounge around in sweatpants. I might scrapbook or blog or cook and Dan will watch sports or truck shows or something equally tough and manly on TV. We'll catch up on laundry and I'll usually make a big dinner. If the weather is cooperative, we'll take the dog for a long walk around town.

Last Sunday was Easter and we were in Lynden to spend it with Dan's family. It wasn't our usualy Sunday, but it was still nice. Sue is all moved into her condo in town and Dean and Lyndsey have done a ton of work to the house. All of Dan's stuff was stashed in the basement, so we spent hours going through it, boxing up some to save, some to yard-sale and some to trash. Sue made a big Easter Dinner and we got to catch up with Dan's brothers' families. We hadn't seen them since around Christmas time. Little Kenzie was just a bitty baby then, but now she's crawling and jabbering nand really turning into quite the cutie. She was adorable in her fluffy pink dress.

Even though we were pretty busy, I did get some scrapbooking done. I recently was invited to join the design team at Paper Pals, which means I'll create displays for the store and work on specific projects. I had some fun spring time paper that was so fun to play with. Here's my favorite card:

One of my favorite parts of being part of the design team is that I now need to make scrapbooking a priority. Yay! In fact, I'll probably work on some more pages once I'm done with this blog.

I was caught!

My friend (first) and sister-in-law (second), Angela, tagged me for this little questionairre. I am supposed to tell you seven random or fun things about me that you might not already know. So...here goes.
1. About an hour ago I was thisclose to either pulling my hair out or shredding my nearly-complete Easter dress into tiny pieces. I have been sewing for years and could not for the life of me figure out how to attach the neck piece. I read the directions a million times and couldn't make sense out what they were saying, so I just ended up doing it my own way. So take that! Stubborn pattern.
2. I'm getting my hair cut and colored on Wednesday. I'm very excited and I'm seriously thinking about getting bangs.
3. I am quite possibly addicted to reality TV. I love me some Top Chef, Project Runway, American Idol and America's Next Top Model. I'm actually watching The Bachelor right now, although it is starting to make my stomach turn, so I'm not sure how many episodes I'll be able to put up with.
4. My friend Tiffany and I are going to do the Campus on the Run 5K at the end of the month. We're keeping our expectations at a fairly reasonable level and know we'll be walking at least part of the way.
5. I have the best husband in the whole world. He just spent the last hour or so organizing all our tax information and all our insurance stuff. Neither one of us really likes to be responsible for all of that, but he knows how much I really really dislike it, so he just took the bull by the horns and did it all. Thanks Dan!
6. I'm very much looking forward to May. We've got a whole slew of family members coming for my brother's U of I graduation. There will be grandparents, cousins and my sister and her little baby girl. That reminds me....anyone have a play-pen I can borrow for a couple of days? Apparently those things are a pain to fly with.
7. This is the first time I've ever been blog-tagged. Yay! This was fun.

Okay, now I'm supposed to tag others. After checking out my friends' blogs, I think Leslie needs to be tagged. You're it!

Things that make me smile.....

There's never a shortage of stuff out there that brings a big smile to my face. Here are just a few:

-My pretty blue Easter Dress fabric. Easter wasn't a big deal when we were kids (except hunting candy-filled baskets), so as an adult I probably get a bit too excited for a new dress for a special day. Oh well, it makes me smile anyway. I am making my Easter dress this year and got the pattern cut out last night. Hopefully I can get most of it done this weekend.
-All the fun pictures of baby Sandy I've been receiving lately. The only time I have actually seen little Sandy-bear was in October when my sis and her family came for the wedding, but that was over 4 months ago! I am glad that we all get photo updates as we all like to keep up with the saga of her wild and crazy and beautiful blonde hair.

-Elizabeth Bennett, Mr. Darcy, Willoughby (boo...hiss), Elinor, Emma, Knightly and the great Fanny Price. Who are all these people? Characters in Jane Austen books! I have been on such an Austen kick the past month or so. She wrote seven books and so far I've read three of them. I am pacing myself because one they're done, they're done. It's not like Jane Austen is hard at work on a new novel and I need to savor the words she left.

-Who knew dirty boots would make me smile? Check out the collage. Those are all signs that our apartment is really ours. It's not longer my apartments and Dan moved his stuff in; it's really ours. See the guy DVDs? The tractors? The beaver pelt on the wall? Yeah, those are things that would never be in my apartment, so it's a good thing they're in our apartment.

Take time to enjoy the little things that make you smile!