Fun friends!

We made it to Alexandria today with the Tribute completely packed! Thanks to Todd the house got cleaned, but we decided not to stress over putting up the Christmas decorations. While Todd cleaned house I worked on removing wallpaper (VERY ugly wallpaper) from our guest bathroom that we've been planning to redo since we bought our home 3 1/2 years ago. It was a productive couple of days.

Before we left town, we had lunch at Piccadilly (one of my favorite places to eat) with our friends Kiley & Lana. They evacuated with us during the hurricane to Todd's parent's home & we barely knew them at the time. They had been visiting our church for awhile & needed a place to go so we invited them to come with us. Their friendship has been an answer to prayer. We were sad to lose the Nida family this summer & thankful God has brought some fun new folks into our lives. Spending four days & five nights couped up in a house allows you to really get to know people. We have enjoyed seeing our friendship with them grow since the storm. I've posted a picture of our infamous game of Monopoly from the evacuation.

We are so thankful for our new friends. What are you thankful for this year?

This & That

Not too much exciting has been happening around the Strain house the last few days. We went up to the big town of Jena this weekend for Christmas with my cousins on my mom's side of the family. We had a great time seeing folks, but Jolie was sort of cranky because she missed her morning nap. We had to be back in Lake Charles by Saturday night because Todd had his last Sunday as interim youth minister at a local church. Jolie & I are glad he will be at church with us again. It feels sort of wierd showing up at church without him. Our students at the BCM are completing finals today & tomorrow so our semester is FINALLY over. It's been very long so we are excited about a break! We are leaving Wednesday to go to Alexandria & the day after Christmas we are going to Destin, FL with my folks for a week! We are pumped about our vacation. It's always nice to be away from home for a while. I've committed to get the house clean & put of Christmas decorations before we leave. I hate coming home from vacation to a messy house, but for some reason I usually do. Todd is around the next couple of days & is partnering with me in this endeavor. He really is handy to have around. I cannot believe Christmas is already here!

Jolie's Holiday Fashions

Jolie received Christmas dresses from both of her grandma's this year. I thought everyone would enjoy seeing all of her Christmas outfits!

Taking steps

So the news around our house this week is Jolie has been taking a few steps. Now that we've witnessed her trying out this walking thing we are all about it. We are trying not to put too much pressure on her. I'm in no hurry because I know she'll really be into everything once she masters this new trick!

Just call me Betty Crocker

So I spent most of the day baking 15 or so dozen cookies to give as gifts to folks who have babysat for us free of charge this year. It was lots of fun, but I am now feeling pretty pooped (which you can tell from the picture). We have several students who regularly keep Jolie for us & even a couple of friends from our Sunday School class. We enjoy this perk of BCM life. In fact, as I type this I am waiting on Amanda to come over & keep Jolie. As her Christmas gift to us she cooked us dinner tonight up at the BCM & is also providing free babysitting. Isn't life grand?

TIME FILLER

So this was more difficult to fill out than I expected. I'm sure if I worked on it a while longer my answers would change...

7 Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. Have two more kids
2. Take a trip with just Todd once a year (even if it's just a weekend)
3. Take a photography class
4. Live near my sister
5. Complete all my scrapbooks
6. Be paid to work with Todd in ministry
7. See my children come to know & love the Lord

7 Things I Cannot Do:
1. Vacuum & mop weekly
2. Drink milk (unless it's in a bowl of cereal)
3. Go a day without talking to either my mom or my sister
4. Wake up early (of course, I have to do this thanks to Jolie, but it is VERY difficult)
5. Read a good book on a regular basis
6. Drive a stick shift
7. Keep a secret from Todd

7 Things I Say Most Often:
1. Do you need a clean diaper?
2. Your clean clothes are in the dryer.
3. If you're happy & you know it...
4. Are you ready for a nap?
5. What do you want for dinner?
6. Peek-a-boo!
7. I love my Jolie girl!

Jolie's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Jolie's first birthday on Saturday (her real birthday is 12/08) at her Gran's house (aka: Todd's mom). It was such a fun day! All of her grandparents were there & almost all of her aunts & uncles were in attendance as well. Joe & Jody Nida and their son David drove all the way from Springhill to celebrate with us. We had such a fun time! Her favorite gifts are her Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair & a baby doll her Aunt Sarah gave her. We are going to need another closet just to store her toys by the time Christmas is over!

Babies are amazing!

I've never really been around babies until I had Jolie last year. I've sort of been reflecting on her life the last few days as I prepare a DVD of her first year for her birthday party (which is tomorrow). I thought pregnancy, labor & delivery were all pretty miraculous, but I really could not even imagine that I would still be amazed at her growth a whole year later. It is so much fun watching her personality bloom! She loves to be around people. When we are at the BCM she crawls around freely & finds new college friends. (We are ready for her to walk because she gets very dirty in the BCM on all fours.) She enjoys being in the middle of everything. We are so thankful for her health & her fun personality. She has made our life more fun & has definitely allowed me to understand God's love for His children just a little better. Babies are such fun creatures & I'm so thankful the Lord has given me such a precious one!

It's almost December

Todd is taking off tomorrow afternoon & we are going to put up our fake Christmas tree & other decorations. We usually decorate right after Thanksgiving, but have decided to delay the festivities until tomorrow, December 1st. I am not really sure what we are thinking putting up a tree with a one year old crawling around. We are hoping she is not too interested! We decided it just doesn't feel like Christmas without the tree. I suggested we wait until our BCM leadership team comes over (they are already coming over tomorrow night) & getting them to help us deck the house with Christmas decor. I'll post a picture once the Strain house is officially in the Christmas spirit.

Who cares about a little clutter?

So I've decided I've got to be one of the only women who is married to a man that is more concerned about the tidiness of the house than I am. Todd cleaned 6-8 houses a week while he was in seminary & really perfected his housecleaning skills. He has given me dozens of great tips over our 6 1/2 years of marriage. I wish you all could learn from the master himself. I really do keep the house pretty straight, but no doubt I have room for improvement. The Lord continues to remind me our home should be Todd's refuge so I really want to remove any clutter (such as opened mail that piles up on the counter) that gets to him. In his defense, he is great to live with because he does not produce a mess. He always picks up after himself which is really nice. I do hope that one day I'll be able to perfect my housecleaning skills. Does anyone else struggle with this?

Hardy Visits

Hardy arrived in town late last night. We've enjoyed having him here since we haven't seen him since family vacation in JUNE! Jolie has doubled in age since she last saw her Uncle Hardy. We've had a fun day just hanging out & shopping. We've been sharing with him the scoop on post-Rita Lake Charles such as...our Wal-Mart closes at 8pm (that's 2 hours later than it closed last week), every few houses you see a FEMA blue roof, & most businesses are hiring because they are majorly understaffed. It's really weird. This fall as been quite an adventure. We finally saw an insurance adjuster a couple of weeks ago & a roofer this week. We only had minor damage, but it'll still take time & money to get it all fixed. We are glad hurricane season doesn't last all year long!

Jolie is a cutie!

Jolie has been such a fun addition to our family. Her first birthday is just a couple of weeks away & we can hardly believe it! Todd & I have really enjoyed our first year of parenthood.

Behind The Times

So once I realized how many folks were blogging I was beginning to feel behind the times. I decided to give it a try. It's sort of weird that just anyone check out what's happening in your life. Hopefully, I'll keep things current. I sometimes cannot get the things done that need to be done much less a little lagniappe.