I Hate Halloween

This year, I hate Halloween.

Usually, I'm pretty indifferent. Usually it's just another day. And sure, I dressed up as a kid. I remember being a mad scientist, an indian, a pumpkin, and a ballerina. (Actually I don't remember the ballerina. I did see a picture though from when I was a wee tike.) I would collect my candy with Kyle and then we'd sort it out for days and days, and I'd eat all the stuff that I didn't really like first and save the best for last.

I'm such a best-for-last kind of girl.

This year, however, I work at a daycare. I teach three year olds. Let me give you a portrait of my day in words:

• 10 costumes to change the kids out of
• 4 princesses, 1 pirate, 1 spiderman, not to be confused with 1 spider, 1 clown with a nose that honks, 1 Thomas the Train, and 1 that didn't show up for the costume parade so I don't know what the heck he was.
• 11 parents; that crowded into the room, coddled their kids until they didn't want to play but only wanted to go home; asked me if daycare was, "always this chaotic?"
  
• 1 lost shoe which resulted in a phone call to me after hours in regards to said shoe's location
• 10 three year olds on a sugar high
• 5 parents who made goodie bags x ten kids a piece = 50 goodie bags to stuff into
• 10 milk jugs crafted into candy storage the day before

To put a cherry on top of it all: as I got out of my car at home I was greeted by a kid in a Chuckie costume (mask and all) with a butter knife pointed at me, standing behind my car, asking me if I "wanted to play?" and then advancing upon me with the butter knife as I walked up the steps, sure that he was about it embed it into my spine.

I. hate. Halloween.

Remember When...?

Remember when I posted about this?

You better click on that link, because I'm not telling you what it was.

Well Sam's dad is cool and knows how to use Youtube and posted one of the songs on there. Keep in mind that the system used in the first place was incredibly, incredibly bad and the resulting sound seems like it was recorded in a tin can, but nonetheless it's a recording and it's live and it's youtube and Dusty is on it so I'm proud. Watch it.

Introducing...

...the world's largest bag of cereal!

Let's see how it measures up to common household items:

(with a bottle of ibuprofen:)


(with a glass):


(with the most awesome cookbook ever assembled:)


(with my knees:)

And check out Dusty's wingspan when he's pouring himself a bowl!

Yow-za!

Did You Get A Haircut?

"Did you get your haircut?"

Nope, sure didn't. And by that I mean I did. A lot.

Insurance Update

Well... I have insurance, but I'm not as happy as I thought I would be about it.

They sent me this booklet with all these riders and the exact terms of my policy and quite frankly I'm a little lost in all the jargon. I just want to make sure that when my sinuses start acting up in about a month or so, I will be able to go to the doc for some antibiotics, so that what happened on my honeymoon doesn't have to happen again.

I don't want to just have to use trial and error here folks. I guess I'm just nervous because it's the unknown and after being turned down by two insurance companies (because I'm just incredibly unhealthy apparently...) I'm a little "gun shy." (Those are my mom's words not mine!)

Currently Reading

Please

I love these shirts from Compassion. What a wonderful holiday gift! Not only are they cool looking, but all proceeds go to the Global Food Crisis Campaign. This one is in Bengali, which is awesome because that's where Mukti is from.

(Mukti is our sponsor child. She is four years old, and completely precious.)

This says "Please" in Bengali. Other languages offered are: Portuguese (Brazil); Creole (Haiti); and Amharic (Ethiopia).

To order your shirt, because I know you want one, click here.

Grinds My Gears

Do you want to know what really grinds my gears? When it's been a perfectly wonderful, cloudy, overcast, rainy day and then.... around 4:43... the sun comes out!

It puts me in the worst mood. What's even worse is, I mean really, who am I going to complain to about this? The clouds? The sun? God? No, no, and certainly no.

Maybe I'll just go lay in bed with some sunglasses on.

Lessons From Sunday

Today at church we sang "Sweetly Broken" by Jeremy Riddle. No offense to the other 95% of Christians out there, but I'm not a huge fan of this song.

However, I know a revelation when I get one and I got one during this song. The lyrics to the bridge say:

"In awe of the cross I must confess//how wondrous your redeeming love//and how great is your faithfulness."

And it really hit me that the act of confession is not just for sin. I know in my heart that the Lord has been so faithful to me again and again and again, but I need to confess it too.

Here is my confession:

He has been faithful to me in this:

He has been faithful to me in this:

He has been faithful to me in this.

He has been faithful to me in health.

He has been faithful to my family.

He has been faithful to educate me.

He has been faithful to provide opportunities for me make music.

He has been faithful to provide friendships.

He has been faithful to usher me through hardships.

He has always been faithful.

ROTFL

Last night Ms. A showed me a video that made me laugh harder than I had in the entirety of 2008. Fast forward to about 2:30 or 2:45.

What's Up With Dusty: Vol. 2

At the encouragement of my patient father in law, I will tell you all What's Up With Dusty in volume II of his segment.

1. Dusty got accepted to grad school this week! He's so smart. Next time you see him tell him he's so smart.
   
2. Dusty center refereed the district championship game this week. What district it was, I don't know, but I do know there were some unhappy parents who got mouthy. Newsflash: He doesn't care which team wins! Get over yourself and your kid!
3. Dusty has started wearing his long sleeves, which makes him look much more at home with his beard.
4. Dusty has unlocked all the characters in Super Smash Brother Brawl. This is what he does in his free time. Though yesterday he did clean the kitchen which rocks.
5. Dusty got a 10 oz. steak at Garcia's last night that I'm pretty sure was so rare it was still breathing. Just kidding, I'm just a steak wuss. He's a champion.
6. Dusty rocked a tuxedo at Garrett and Erika's wedding last weekend.
   

Stay tuned for more of What's Up With Dusty!

Hit The Road!

Have you seen gas prices lately?! I think the lowest I saw them in Campbellsville yesterday was $2.63. In other parts of the nation, say... Kansas City for example, they're even lower!

Dusty and I are being faced with a Saturday on which neither of us have anything to do. The stars must be aligned just perfectly because this almost never happens. And I want to do something! Here are some of our options, though granted some are more feasible than others:

1.) Drive, drive, drive to Folly Beach just because.
2.) Head to Lexington for food, fun, and of course... hookah!
3.) Drive to Nashville and walk the beautiful, wonderful downtown area.
4.) Point to a place on a Kentucky map and go there... no matter where it is. Unless it's Western KY. We were just there. Filled my quota for the year! ;)
5.) Drive to Cincinnati and surprise a good friend who probably has plans anyways and wouldn't be there/go to Ikea. Ooooh... Ikea. I love Ikea. I want to go to Ikea.

SO! If you could have a lazy Saturday to do nothing with the people who matter the most to you, what would you do/ where would you go?

Not Holding My Breath

Just applied for health insurance coverage from a new and different company.

However, I'm not holding my breath.

The Blues

I am in an oh-so bad mood right now, for reasons that shall not be addressed in this blog. What I'm aiming to do is lay on the couch and read my "dragon book" as Miss A calls it. I'd like to call it by its title: Brisingr.

But since I'm in such a bad mood I wanted to make a playlist that would help me embrace it and yet overcome, and in the process I have discovered something quite profound: there are a certain few albums that I own that remind me of a very specific season and the season that I'm reaching for right now is what I'd like to call dead of winter. Here they are:

1.) Give Up by The Postal Service

2.) Until When We are Ghosts by William Fitzsimmons

3.) Deja Entendu by Brand New

4.) Beneath The Boardwalk by The Arctic Monkeys (although this is bad to listen when you actually want to be in a bad mood.)

5.) No Name Face by Lifehouse

6.) This is not an album, but a life changing song: Mended by Christy Nockels

So, do any of you have seasons of music? 

Slap Happy Car Ride

We all piled into the Neon this weekend. Two doors, five people: Dusty, Andrea, Sam, Matt, and myself. It was hot, it was tiring, it was loud... it was a road trip.




More pics to come from the Sellers/Gilkey wedding, but as you can tell... there was never a dull moment!

Today Is Somebody's Birthday...!

Today is somebody's birthday, but I'm not telling you who. You have to guess.

--When I first met this person, he had such a baby face:

--His guitar playing skills helped bring us together:


--He used to always sport the faux-hawk, though nowadays he's preferring a buzz:


--He swept me off my feet by doing things like "planting" a garden on my deck:

--He knows how to change a tire on the side of I-75 with cars whizzing by:


--He still has the same facial expressions as he did when he was a wee babe:
(this is his "i can't believe you just said that" face)

--Did I mention he's my husband?

Have you guessed yet? Why, it's Dusty of course!

Happy Birthday Dusty! I can't imagine my life without you. I couldn't think of another person that I would ever want to grow up and grow old with. I'm so proud of you, and I am honored to be called your wife and your best friend.

Love,
e.

I Almost Died...

...for some cheap gasoline. That's right folks: Wal-Mart in Campbellsville is down to $2.97 and falling. Literally, I walked into the store and it was $2.99. I shopped for ten minutes, came out and it had fallen two cents.

and...it...was...a...madhouse! 30 cars there at least, all waiting in line. Some were waiting backwards, some were realizing they weren't on the right side of the gas pump and were trying to maneuver their way around. Some guy's truck broke down in front of a pump and people were backing up in front of him to see if the gas pump would reach to their tank.

Then the police showed up! Old man in Cavalier blocked me in while his wife yelled at him and he paid neither of us any attention. To make matters even more precarious, the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. had set up a tent right in front of the station (where normally you would drive up to the pumps!) and were blocking the main entrance!

And I say all this to let you know: I braved the pump today and filled up for $24.

The end.

BattleStarWarsMordorPotter

Please tell me you saw The Office last night.

Please...

And please tell me that you laughed until you cried over Jim and Andy's conversation that involved all things science/fantasy fiction.

Please tell me you caught on to the fact that he did, indeed, meld Battle Star Galactica, Wookies, Dumbledore, and Mordor into one amazing cacophony of misinformation, the whole time threatening Dwight to not be a "time thief" by correcting the information instead of working.

Do yourself a favor and watch this show if you don't already. Please. For me. Please!

Planetarium

In honor of Dusty's birthday tomorrow I'd like to post my all-time favorite picture of us. We had been "official" for one month-ish (or three months-ish depending on how you look at it!) and he took me on a date to a planetarium, which I thought was just rad. Though, the show as we both recall it was lame.

He had no beard and an eyebrow ring; I had calico-highlighted hair and my nose pierced and we rocked. And we still do... even a few years later.

This is the first picture of us my parents framed. They left it in my room back home for when I would visit on breaks. It's still there... of course, the wedding pictures sort of overshadow it now.

Playing Hooky

Well I'm not going in to work today. This was a planned absence. I always get nervous when I'm gone though, because when I get back I hear horror stories from the people who subbed that day. "Well now you know what I have to put up with everyday," I always think.

There is a reason for my absence though, and their names are Garrett and Erika. Tomorrow they shall be wed as man and wife, and then be whisked away on their Floridian honeymoon!

More stories and pictures from the big day to come. If you all think about it, pray for them tomorrow as they start a new life together. And as they get to have sex. ;)

(I love being married and not feeling uncomfortable joking with newlyweds about this subject! However: Mom, Dad, Ed, and Laura, please never, ever talk to d. and me about it. That would be greatly appreciated)

Check 'Em Out

My church has a rockin' worship band. We are about to drop our first album October 16th. No, I'm not on it, but I am part of the group so I feel a slight sense of pride in the whole affair.

The myspace is up and there's one song on it so far. Please forgive the country twang (ain't my thing) and give it a listen. Promise: it's the most country-fied song on the whole album.

If you don't live in Cville and would like to purchase a cd, send me $10 and I'll get it for you! It's gonna be good guys!

www.myspace.com/embersworship

check it out!

peace,
e.

What's Up With Dusty: Vol. 1

I'm going to start a new segment called What's Up With Dusty? I don't feel like I blog about him enough so this is to let people know what's going on in Dusty's life on a week-ish basis.

And that way we can have one of those "couple's blogs" without it being a "couple's blog." So here are some things that have occupied my hubby lately:

Number 1: His Birthday Gift From The Snyder Parents--
Number 2: Applying for Grad School--
That's right folks: Dusty is graduating in December and (insh'allah) starting grad school in January online with Capella University. Area of study: Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Number 3: Fighting With Campbellsville University--
It is our belief that CU cheated us out of quite a large sum of money. It is their belief that they haven't. We've met a compromise, and it was all Dusty's doing. Thanks babe!

Stay tuned for more of What's Up With Dusty in the future!

The Wulfe Brothers

Today at work we had the Wulfe Brothers come for a special musical performance. These guys are over the top. Click here to go to their wesbite. Ok, ok, ok I just have to give you a visual so you know what we're dealing with here:

No, your eyes are not deceiving you: that is an upside down guitar on lefty's shirt.

So these guys come in with their instruments and sing kid-friendly stuff like The Twist, The Chicken Dance, and The Hokey Pokey. And the kids are supposed to get up and dance and run around and act crazy.

We all arrive and head out to the middle of the gym where we were instructed to sit and these guys start their show. There's a lot of apprehension on everyone's faces. I can almost hear the children's thoughts: "Do I get up and dance? I want to wiggle, but am I allowed? Why is that guy's hair so long?" So nobody moves, we're just sitting there listening, wide-eyed, wondering.

I'm going to take a knee here to tell you that I, maybe more than any other teacher, have the most rambuncious, hard-to-control class in the entire center. The dynamics are really just quite ridiculous: two kids that aren't potty trained yet (they're 3), one who doesn't speak English, one with some developmental problems, and 7 out of the 10 are literally the world's most stubborn lot of three year olds one would ever meet.

So it's no surprise that "S" (name protected) is the first one, out of the 100 or so children in there, to get up and start to shimmy! He's not just clapping his hands here folks, he is groovin'! Soon "Linus" (again, name protected) gets up and starts to dance right along with "S." No one else dancing, everyone watching. These are my kids. My wild, unruly, crazy kids. My kids who run around singing, "Shake your boo-tay!" at the top of their lungs. My kids who drop the "f" bomb like it ain't no thang, they are the ones standing up and gettin' down! And I'm proud to say that they are the ones who got everyone else out on the dancefloor.

And in that shining moment, I thought, "Maybe I will miss this... just a little bit. Just a teeny, tiny bit." Then I went out and busted my best hokey pokey moves.

"Homemade Pizza"

Dusty had a random idea a few days ago to make our own pizza. What a great idea! Luckily the Kitchen-Aid came with a recipe book and there's a pizza crust recipe inside!

The following is a little photo journey through our first attempt at pizza making:

Aaaah... the freshest of ingredients!


Dough hooking:


Dusty, rolling out the dough:


Time for the oven:


What the pizza was supposed to look like:


Our final product:

So, fault of the recipe or fault of the slightly-sidetracked-by-Lost pizza chefs? You be the judge.

Hmmm...

What is Sam doing in this picture?

You Know It's Bad When

... you know you're a bad blogger when your mother tells you to blog more often so as to give her something to read at work.

I really have nothing happening in my life right now, so i'm going to make a top ten list. These are the first ten things that just so happen to pop into my mind in the next few minutes:

1. Dusty has a spanish test tomorow that he just told me about and "requires assistance."
2. Work was not bad today at all. This is because we only had 10 kids between the two classes so we combined and I got to hang out with Angela more.
3. Our apartment is hot and it's October. Gah.
4. I heard from Andi today and we all really need to pray for her. A lot.
5. We have a lot of things to pack.
   
6. Dusty and I need to finish Lost. "Lazzim"-- it is necessary in Arabic.
7. I want to finish my dragon book by the end of the weekend.
8. Garrett and Erika get married this weekend! Woo hoo!
9. Dusty turns 22 this weekend! Woooohoooo!
10. I am almost an aunt, Dusty is almost an uncle, and Aubs is almost a mommy... come on Gabby! Hurry up and make your grand entrance! I am keeping my camera constantly charged, so I can take pictures at the drop of a hat. (Or at 3 am, whatever the case may be.)

Maybe there is more going on than I see in an instant... :)

Season Three

...is driving me crazy!

Although now I realize why when I told people I was in the middle of season one they gave me a look like I was a cute little four year old learning to write their name...

I'm hooked.