A car for Paul! :)

In late March, my husband will be driving down to Florida to get his late grandparent's car. They passed away about a year ago (both within a few months of each other). So, Paul's aunt has been living at their house, and has her own car. We've been offered their car, which is a 2001 Mercury Sable. I can't even begin to tell you how much we need another car! Paul's car is falling apart! Another blessing coming our way! WOW! :)

We are so thankful! :)

WOW! BABY!!

Need baby wash? Baby lotion? I have ALL kinds! My VP just came down with a "late" baby gift from all the guys here at GROM. He said that with Revelation Generation going on this summer, they totally forgot to get something for Sophie when she was born. One of our clients is Johnson & Johnson, who's headquarters are only 20 minutes away. One of the account managers went there for a meeting today and brought back this HUGE basket full of:

• Lavender Baby Wash & Lotion
• Aloe Baby Wash & Lotion
• Shea Butter Baby Wash & Lotion
• Aveeno Baby Wash and creams
• Aveeno Soothing Bath Treatment
• Shampoos
• Desitin
• Travel size products
• Children's Motrin (perfect timing because we need to get some more of this!)
• OH MY GOSH, the list just goes on and on!!

I have counted 24 products in this basket. AND the bottles are the 15 oz. size bottles that they have. WOW, WOW, WOW!! Ha ha!!

So, I am set for about 4 years. Unless someone needs anything. If you do, let me know! :)

NO lie... I'm going to need one of the men to carry this out to my car tonight... it's THAT heavy.

WOW, what a blessing!!!!

Cool perks

Ok, so my back hurts from my chair/desk combination in my office, but one of the cool perks about working here in this office is the chance to meet cool people like the founder of Tooth and Nail Records. He was meeting with my boss today. I'm also the front receptionist, and had the wonderful chance to meet this cool guy (so young, so "emo" looking!).

If you don't know, my boss not only runs an SAP consulting firm (his main source of income), but he also founded the Revelation Generation music festival, which will be going into it's 5th year this Labor Day weekend. http://revelationgeneration.org/

I had the opportunity and the privilege to be a part of the first year RevGen started. I was one of the main coordinators the first year (and found that I didn't have the years of administrative skills I really should have had!) In the first year (2005), we had about 4,000 in attendance, and RevGen 2008 we had about 20,000 in attendance. That's totally a God thing for a new venue that's only been going on for 4 years!!

As backstage hospitality coordinator, I have had the privilege of meeting some really great bands and speakers. Can I drop a few names? I really want to, just because it's fun and I'm so thankful for the cool opportunity. The list includes: Skillet, Barlow Girl, Newsboys, Paul Coleman, Newsboys, Relient K, The Afters, KJ-52, MxPx, Brian Littrell (of the Backstreet Boys), the Katinas, Building 429, Jars of Clay, and Stephen Baldwin who was one of our guest speakers, and maybe some more that I just can't think of off the top of my head...

So, it's an awesome experience to be a part of. I never thought I'd ever step into something so cool and this big when I first moved to NJ. It definitely gives me cool stories to tell someday. :)

Sometimes beauty brings pain

The pictures below are of my office and my desk. I know I have a gorgeous office, and I love it so much! But, the desk is not practical. I honestly believe that I'm having severe pain in my neck and upper back because of the way I sit at work!

If you notice the way the keyboard sits right up on top of the desk - so already this is problem #1. My arms are always higher than they should be and this causes tension.

Problem #2 lies with the way the computer moniter is positioned off to the side. So, whenever looking at my computer (which is most of the time), my neck is turned in a different way than the rest of my body.

So, I say all this because of an episode I had last night of severe pain starting from the center of my upper back and the pain surged to the center of my chest. I thought I was having heart problems, but it turns out I have something like a pulled muscle. Man, was this painful! I'm feeling better today, although this might return tonight after spending the whole day sitting at my desk again. What I need is healing from the pain in my body and a new desk. But I don't think I will be getting a new desk, because I KNOW this one was VERY pricey. So... looks like God needs to work his mighty hand and take away all of my tension. I know He can!

We sang!

Friday night was a ton of fun as we sang at Connections Cafe. We had a packed house, which was very encouraging! We also had a very full band - 10 members, which is the most we've ever taken with us to play at the cafe', but we really wanted everyone to have fun with it! So, hopefully we'll be back in the spring or summer to hang out at the cafe' again! It's always a good time! :)

Singing at the Cafe'!

In just about an hour I will be singing with my church's worship band at my boss's wife's cafe' here in town. She owns the local Christian bookstore, and recently had a cafe' added on. So, every weekend they have bands or artists come sing and play music. It's fun!

So, that's what I'll be doing tonight. I'm nervous, but looking forward to it! :) I'll try to post some pictures next week of the fun night we'll be having tonight! :)

In need of advice...

Sophie will only eat bananas!

At first, I gave her butternut squash, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes and peas. She seemed to like them all when she first tried them - especially butternut squash.

So, then I introduced her to bananas, and she LOVED them. I then tried the other fruits: pears (not a fan), prunes (she thought they were o.k.) and also tried apples. She did NOT like the apples AT ALL.

So... am I supposed to just keep on giving her bananas? I want her to eat her vegetables! Any advice for a picky eater?

Just need to vent...

God, forgive these people who revere Obama as equal to a "god."

Ok, I'll be honest. Having a black president in office is pretty cool. This is definitely a major event in history. I have no problem with that whatsoever. But, as I'm sure most of you agree... the way people are reacting about our new president is over the top. It's wrong. I'm sorry, but even many christians are taking this way out of hand. It just doesn't settle right with me.

We have heard President Obama being called "the messiah", a "savior". Many have claimed that they have "seen the light." That is SO scary! Since when did a man who has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God deserved such praise? What has he done anyway that can make us put our confidence in him with this country? I'm not doubting that he won't be a good leader. He seems to be a very smart man. I definitely don't agree with many of his views, but I respect him, and I will pray for him. But, WOW - people need a reality check! He's not superman, and he's definitely not equal to our messiah! He NEVER will be. He is a man, just like us who has decided to serve his country and was elected president of the United States. Thank you for taking on the responsibility of serving our country President Obama, may God direct your steps.

That's all.

Two thumbs up!

So, the dilema was that Sophie has all of these really cute pants and play outfits to wear, but I never felt comfortable putting her in them, because she ALWAYS found a way to kick off her socks within 4 seconds of my putting them on her! So, instead, I only put her in her little feety pajamas every day, to ensure that her feet would not get cold during these winter months!

The other day, I picked up these crew socks from Kohls and found that they actually stay on!! I think it's the tighter elastic top that doesn't slide down as easily. I'm not saying they're perfect, but I think I only had to put them back on only ONCE! That to me is pretty amazing. So, as silly as posting a blog about baby socks may seem... it's something that makes me very happy, because now she can wear her adorable little play clothes! SO fun! :)

And for any new mother I know that is expecting, you can expect a package of these from me! :)

God's answer was immediate!

I had to put in a complaint to our landlords about our heating and insulation problem. We don't go above 65 dgrees in our apartment, and we're still paying a TON for our gas bill. It's getting out of hand! I mean, we turn the heat down to 60 at night and also while we're gone to work all day, and then only move it up to 65 between 7am to 8am, and then again from 5pm to 10pm. Why are we paying so much? Because we lose so much heat due to our poor insulation and drafty windows. So, because of this problem, we have a portable heater in Sophie's room to keep her warm at night. But this has made our electric bill higher than we've ever seen!

So, I was praying about this yesterday. I mean, really pouring my heart out about what we're supposed to do. And this is what God decided to do the next day:

I got a call from my landlord, and this is what he said:

"In the next few days, we're going to be going up in the attic, we'll be throwing down insulation and getting that all sealed up. We're going to rip up your floor boards, so we can put insulation down (in our apartment). I'm going to go out today and look for storm windows to install. And we're going to pay half of your gas bill. We're just sorry, we meant to work on that, but time got away from us, and we just feel bad. SO, we'll be working on that this week."

God is good. He answers prayer!! And, the fact that they'll be paying half our bill is absolutely shocking to me! God went over the top! Because He loves us. :) Apparently our landlords love us too. :)

THANKS TO GOD for answering prayer! :)

Proud momma

I just can't help being so excited and feeling the need to tell everyone how proud I am of Sophie! I LOVE watching her grow, develop, explore and learn. It's SO amazing to me!

So, this weekend, I decided to open a new toy that Sophie had received for her dedication back in October. It is for ages 6+ months, so I waited on it. We finally took it out of the box on Saturday, and Sophie absolutely LOVES it.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if she'd figure it out quite yet, but she just totally amazed me. I showed her how to work it, and she was pressing that blue lever over and over and over again. She's starting to learn "cause and effect." It just made me so proud to watch her. THEN, at one point, she even took one of the gumballs and tried to put it in the top of the machine (which she saw me do). She didn't quite make it in, because it was too high for her, and she didn't pick herself up onto her hands and knees... but still. Just watching her attempt that brought happy tears to my eyes. Just a proud mommy, that's all!

Stop growing up so fast!

Actually, it makes me really happy to watch Sophie grow, learn and discover! But, seriously...she needs to slow down!

Last night we were playing on the floor in her bedroom. She was crawling her way over to her crib, and was reaching for the bottom (actually reaching for one of the slats). She grabbed onto it. Then she put her other hand on my arm, and proceeded to PULL HERSELF UP to a STANDING position. ALL BY HERSELF! (Literally took my breath away and made me SO proud!)

Sophie turned 6 months yesterday... Where is she going in such a hurry? :)

"Yah-Yay"

So, last night Sophie was acting cute as always... She was making squeals and sounds of excitement and happiness and really interacting with her daddy.

Paul continued to play with her and he said, "Say DADDY!" and she smiled and said, "Yah-yay!" It took my breath away! I looked at Paul and said, "Do it again!" So he did, and she repeated "Yah-yay!"

Oh wow... my sweet little girl! I'm so proud of her! :) She will be 6 months tomorrow! Where did the time go?

Life lately

I just quickly wanted to say "Thanks!" to Judy for updating my blog layout. Looks great! :)

Well, aside from both Paul and I having strep throat, life has really been pretty fun! I've been able to spend a lot more time with Sophie because of the holidays. It was really such a blessing! Sophie has just been a happy and wonderful little baby. And, for the first time last night (since about 2 months ago), she slept the whole way through - until 6:30! Yay for Sophie! Let's keep it up! :)

We haven't had youth group for two weeks, because of the holidays. So, we're looking forward to getting back with the kids this week! We're about to do a "girl / guy talk" in the coming weeks. As much as we stress how important it is to save yourself for marriage, these kids just don't seem to see the real importance of it. As I've said before, about 95% of the youth kids come from the projects. They come from broken homes, and most of them do not know what it's like to be raised in a Christian home. So, they're not taught "save yourself for marriage." They're taught "save yourself for someone you love." How many teenagers know what that kind of love really is? God help us! Please be praying for us. We really want to get through to them the importance of staying pure until marriage. Also, their image, self-worth, and other topics.

That's about it for now. :) Hope you all had a great Christmas and new years! Happy 2009!