2015 in review

2015 was full of a lot of great things. I spent the last week of December remembering those and recounting God's faithfulness. 2014 was a year of a lot of loss - for us personally and for a lot of people we love and care for deeply. Although you can never really escape the loss and hardships of life, some years are just redeeming in general -that was 2015 for us.

Puerto Rico

St. Lucia

sabattical

brad paisley

15 year anniversary

10 year old Ted

40 year old Ben

apple watches

cabins in the wood

pawleys island

surfside beach

great friendships

fall ministry - one of our best ever

capernaum

wyldlife

 hip hop class

gems & boys brigade

day in pittsburgh with ben

financial provision this fall

washington, dc

new spring road trip

ben's breakfasts with ted

summer sitters - cole & delaney

6 sets of leaders getting engaged

advent - she reads truth devotions

walking with friends through their struggles

monday night girls

brewery trip

tanner & maggie

david & cailey

danielle & isaac

kayla & aaron

god's redeeming work in the  marriage of dear friends

counseling

freedom in christ

for the love

garage nights

river trips

new stages of life

church has left the building

big kick soccer camp

road trips with friends

only one parking lot

expanders

game nights

great teachers

great coaches

hope

my (current) favorite things

These have been some of my recent favorite things. As I write this out, I realize a lot of them are quite nerdy. 

• Audible - For about a year I have been listening to books on my drive to work. 3-4 days a week I spend an hour in the car by myself on the way to and from work. Occasionally when it's just the kids and I traveling together, they watch movies and I listen to a book. I love it. I've gotten a lot of "reading" done this year that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
  
• Notes/Messages/Reminders for Apple Products: Basically my list included the new notes app on ios9, texting from my computer and my reminders app. Plus the fact that my laptop, ipad and phone connect all 3 of these?!? How did we ever function with paper calendars and to do lists on post-it notes?
• Tuscan Herb Oil at Rustic by Design: OMG! Chop up some vegetables (broccoli, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, whatever is in your fridge - we're even eating brussel sprouts around here!), toss in Tuscan Herb Oil and seasoning, grill, throw a little parmesan cheese on it. Amazing! Saute some chicken in it. Dip your bread in it. The possibilities are endless. Straight up awesome.
  
• Skinny Taste Chicken & Asparagus Lemon Stir Fry: This is my newest favorite dinner. So good and easy. I serve it over jasmine rice cooked with chicken broth in the rice cooker. We eat it at least once a week. I also made Skinny Taste Grilled Chicken Bruschetta a lot this summer with roasted potatoes. I'm waiting for seasonal tomatoes again.
  
• Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion: I discovered this last winter when Sophie and I were really struggling with dry skin but over the oily feeling of lotions. We both use it all the time. It really helps with winter dry skin and leaves us feeling squeaky clean.
  
• Mary Kay Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush: I acquired one of these this fall and LOVE it. My face loves it. I don't know how I ever had a clean face without it.
  
• Google Drive: Back to nerd world here. I use forms and sheets ALL THE TIME to collect, gather and share information with people. It is genius and I love it. I think the other YL Staff in WV get a little annoyed with my love of Google Drive. Sorry I'm not sorry.
• A good haircut: Which includes Sophie's short hair and my long hair. Seriously, I finally got a haircut that allows my hair to be long and not enormous - it's longer than it's ever been. And Sophie's hair is so darling short. I love it. Mr. David is my favorite and I'm very thankful for him.
• Honda Odyssey: Every time I get in our van I am thankful. Seriously. We bought a bottom of the line used Honda Odyssey three years ago and it has been worth every penny and the best vehicle we've ever owned. It has no bells and whistles - and I'm totally fine with that because that's less stuff to break down the road. About once a month we fold down the third row seats and pack that thing from floor to ceiling for some sort of event, or fill it full of high school kids and their stuff, or my kids and their friends. I am darn thankful for it.
• She Reads Truth: This is the app I've been using for Advent devotionals. They are so good and I love it. I very much appreciate the devotional material for this season. I'm definitely going to back Lent.
• Salted Carmel Mocha Frappucino: I am absolutely not a coffee drinker but I do love this. Sophie has a Starbucks gift card so she and I indulged in one of these the other night when we made another trip to Target. (She liked the coffee so I let her get one! She had a really hard time falling asleep that night. Oops!) This is by no means a regular treat. I will probably have about 3 of these this entire season, but I will enjoy the heck of them when I do.
• Dasani Sparkling Water Berry Flavor: I gave up my one a day Coke habit last fall. It was time. If I need something a little sweet I go for a sweet tea. If I need some fizz this is my go to. It was not an easy switch but now I love it. Ben gave up Diet Coke and drinks any flavor sparkling water. I'm a little more picky. 

There you have it (because I know you were dying to know)!

forty

Ben turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. I've been dreading 40 since he turned 38 - you know, since he hit the "late 30's.". It's a whole new DECADE! I'm not into new decades. I've really enjoyed the 30 slice of our lives. I'm not ready for either of us to move on. But what do you do?

I wanted to really celebrate 40, but by the end of this semester I did not have it in my to plan one more event. I used the excuse of Ben is an introvert at heart to not throw him a big party. So I spread things out a bit.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we met our friends Scott and Susie at Cafe Cimino for Tapas Tuesday. They are such great friends that we really don't see enough. We enjoyed a nice long dinner, great conversation and a road trip! (No pictures - boo!)

The following Sunday at Leadership we surprised the heck out of Ben. He has downright, unashamedly asked for an Apple Watch since they came out. So the leaders chipped in for half of the watch and I chipped in for the other half. He was shocked to say the least. His love language is gifts and I'm not always a great gift giver. So this was a real win in the love tank for him.

(As a sidenote to the Apple Watch: This entire year we have been saving to take the kids to Disney in January. For everyone's birthday, they have received money and giftcards to go. That goes for Christmas too. Although he agreed to it, Ben was really bumming that the gifts for his 40th birthday would revolve around Disney World. (Again, note his love language of gifts.) He really and truly did not expect to get anything for his birthday.)

Two days later there was a guys "Garage Night." Guys love to come over, throw darts and hang out in our garage (even in the freezing cold with 4 space heaters) till the wee hours of the morning. Most of the time I don't mind. This particular night I think they all did a lot of unwinding from a lot of work.

On the actual day of his birth, we both took the day off. We have really struggled this semester holding on to our once a week lunch date. In fact, we haven't done it at all. And no dates any other time either, to be honest. We haven't sat and talked about anything other than business and kids for well over two months. So we put the kids on the bus and headed over to the new coffee joint in town, Octane. It's on the Evansdale Campus and pretty cool. We sat for several hours catching up on two months worth of life. We needed it a lot.

After throwing back some caffeinated beverages (some more chocolaty/sugary than others) we headed across the street for some sushi! We also hit up the Gap for the 40% off sale and some new birthday jeans. We had Dairy Queen blizzards for dinner and closed out a great day at The Apothecary with friends for a late night snack.

As if that wasn't enough, last Saturday we went over to Frederick, MD for a fun road trip with these fine friends. Not long after we arrived we got a call from the sitter that Sophie was puking. Doh and Pap came to the rescue with a jaunt to Morgantown to care for the infirmed and ailing. Thankfully it was a one time puking event  that did not involve an entire day of bowls, laundry and trips to the bathroom. We had a great day with these friends eating great food, exploring on an unseasonably warm December Saturday and making memories on a great road trip.

 All in all, it was a great 2 weeks celebrating Ben's 40th birthday. I realized that this has been a big numbers year for us - 15 year anniversary, 10 year kid and 40 year old one of us. There's a lot of celebration in those and in a weird way there's also a little bit of uncomfortableness in how fast things are speeding right by. It's a good reminder to me that you blink and another year, 5, 10 or more have passed and you have to be intentional with your days.

Happy birthday, BT. We've celebrated 20 years of birthdays together. Here's to many, many more!

christmas cards

I absolutely L.O.V.E. Christmas cards. 

Love them. 

Love. Love. Love.

 Insert "heart" emoticon.

Every year it's a bit of a tradition for me. I take all of the previous year's Christmas pictures (and wedding save the dates, baby announcements and graduation pics we acquire over the year) off of my basement door in the kitchen. I put all the pictures in a gallon size Ziploc bag and label them for the correct year. As we drag out the Christmas tree and tubs of decorations, I find all the previous years cards and look through them.

Then, every day when I get home from work, I check the mailbox with great anticipation. Because you know what? There are cards (not bills, junk or anything else in there) from people we love dearly. I hang them on the door in the kitchen and I look at their beautiful/handsome faces every single day. It's a reminder of all the people God has given us the privilege of crossing paths with over various seasons of our lives.

Some people get bent out of shape about Christmas cards. They think that people are fake or only give the good and not the bad. I see it differently. Sometimes I get a card and know that it's been a really, really hard year for that family. It's all they could do to get a family picture and actually put them in the mail. You now what? I'm going to pray for them when I see their picture every day. 

Sometimes we get a Christmas card from a family that we haven't gotten a card from in several years because it's been a really bad/hard couple of years. Then a card arrives and I see God's redemption and hope and a story of a family that fought for where they are now. A family that has grown and conquered lots of obstacles. I celebrate with them.

Sometimes we get a card from a family that has just had a darn good year. I'm so thankful they've had a year they can celebrate with others.

Sometimes we get cards from our actual family members that we would love to see more often. I love getting cards from them because that's what we are - FAMILY! And they are just as much friends as they are family. I want them on my kitchen door.

All that to say, for the first time in 14 years, we are not doing Christmas cards. I am so sad about it! We are saving every penny we can this season to take the kids to Disney in January. Christmas cards and stamps are just not in the budget for us this year. If we were doing cards, it would probably be this picture . . .

Love,

Ben, Laura, Ted (10) & Sophie (7)

So what I'm saying is, don't take us off your list if you usually send us a card and you don't get one from us this year. We'll be back at it next year. We love you and we're thankful for the ways God has woven our lives together. Merry Christmas. We love you!

november 2015

November flew right on by right behind October.

Ben and I took our friends Roger and Janny to a WVU Football game. I honestly don't even remember who we played. It was the game we won after a few beat downs. So it was a refreshing win.

 

 

Bethany even stopped by. Love these girls!

 We've spent some Friday nights at WyldLife. Sophie is the hula hooping queen.

 We went to see the Peanuts Movie with the Underdonks and the Kozels on whatever that Tuesday was that we had off of school. We tried for a picture - this was the best we could do. The movie was ok. Not our favorite.  A little slow. But a fun no school thing to do.

 Since the end of September each car has been in the shop for regularly scheduled maintenance (bummer that they were both really big ones) and major repairs. So about every other week I spend several hours waiting at the car place. Now both cars drive like a dream now. 

In addition to that we had our basement floor chipped up and our backyard dug up to replace our main sewer line out of the house. Thankfully this only took 2 days and was minimal water interruption.

The one tree in our yard dumped all it's leaves. We're ahead of the game this year and actually bagging the leaves in the Fall instead of in the Spring. Progress, people.

Ben at Sophie's Thanksgiving program. I went to Ted's. They did a cute reader's theatre. Not good for pictures though. Way too many people crammed in a tiny classroom.

I think this is back when we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse for Ted's birthday. Do you know they have $.99 kids meals on Monday nights? And if you go before 6pm there are $8.99 adult meals. We can eat for a family for right around $20 - with leftovers!

We had Fall Weekend the weekend before Thanksgiving. Mountaineer Area took 175 kids. It may have been our best ever as far as the kids that went, the response and the straight up FUN! 

 

Mountaineer Area Leaders - love these guys!

Ben and John did program together. It was a lot of work but they were great. And they had a lot of fun together. I love their friendship!

We spent the better part of Thanksgiving break on the couch. It was not our kids' dream Thanksgiving break. (And I am currently being reminded of what snow day after snow day looks like. I miss the outdoors.) Ben and both kids had the coughing, sneezing, snot thing until Thursday. We went to New Martinsville Thursday morning had a double Thanksgiving and came home on Friday. Thursday and Friday were 65 and awesome. We ate dinner on the back deck and my parents.

Here are my parents grandchildren. How hilarious is Trey holding Reed? I'm pretty sure he's never held a baby in his life.

 Sophie with a 30 second snuggle with Reed.

 We came home Friday and got the tree up. I love the tree - I hate putting it up. The kids LOVE the ornaments. I've gotten them each a new ornament each year that represents their year. Now the kids love remembering what they mean and putting them on the tree.

Towards the end of Thanksgiving break, Ted was so bored that he took to wrapping things around the house to put under the tree. Sophie was only fooled once when she thought she was opening new things that turned out to be the old things!

fall books

These are books I've read/listened to Fall 2015.

The Armor of God

by Priscilla Shirer

I really enjoyed this Bible study a lot!  I learned a lot and it was very engaging. Super glad I did it. I haven't loved all of her studies but her most recent ones have been really great!

Keeping the Good in Your Boy

by Dannah Gresh 

I liked this book thinking of where we are now with a tween in the house. It was helpful and insightful. Sometimes it was a little to sheltered in thinking for me but it was definitely a good read.

Audacious

by Beth Moore

Loved this book! Beth Moore does it again. It's a call to live out your faith audaciously. It's an easy read that I really enjoyed and have thought about a lot since I read it.

Erasing Hell

by Francis Chan 

I read this with my Monday night girls. There's never a dull moment or an easy way out with Francis Chan. I learned a lot and was encouraged and challenged to thing eternally and not just for today regarding the people around me.

The Mingling of Souls
by Matt Chandler
Matt Chandler is speaking at YL75 (Young Life's Staff gathering in January). I hadn't read anything of his so I listened to this one. The chapters would have been way too long for me to read and really engage in, but it was good to listen to. It has some solid stuff for everyone from dating through married a lot of years.




#Struggles
by Craig Groeschel
This is by far my favorite book of the Fall - and maybe the year. I listened to it after I went to a conference where he spoke. It's about living in the digital and social media age and how to use those things and not let them own you. It's insightful and fascinating for myself personally and understanding what the kids we work with are up against in the world of technology and social meadia.
 

october 2015

Fall has been straight up nutty. Space, margin and rest have proven to be quite elusive. We just finished up Fall Weekend which is a huge mile marker in the semester. I have two more weeks of crazy and then things will slow down exponentially.

So in the months of October and November we've:

- had 2 Young Life Banquets

- started WyldLife in Morgantown

- started Capernau

- been to a catalyst conference in PA

- led a parenting seminar at our church

- ben led music and did program at fall weekend

- i administrated the state's 2 fall weekends and was head leader at 1 of them

We are exhausted. I still have a Volunteer Appreciation Banquet at church in 2 weeks. After that, life slows down considerably. 

So here are some of the in between all that stuff about times.

Sophie got her long hair cut (see her short hair in above pictures). It was just a hot, tangled mess and we couldn't do it anymore. Her short hair is so cute on her.

There have been a few beautiful Saturdays. One day we hit Coopers Rock with the Kozels in search of peak leaves. We were a week too early. But got in a good hike.

There's always the daily reading log. As much as I love reading, sometimes the reading log just really gets to me. Sometimes we have to get creative while I make dinner.

We finished up flag football with a decent season. It seemed short, but I'm good with that. We've moved straight into basketball without missing a beat. We have a fun team and are pretty good. A gajillion times better than last year.

The ENO always makes for good reading time.

Sophie got her expander out the day before Halloween - what a gift! Last week she got her retainer to wear at night. Aside from being annoyed by food getting stuck in it, the expander was really not a hard thing for Sophie. I am thankful that it's out now and she's back to eating things like apples, grapes, pineapple and other fruits that were just hard to eat.

Ted and his teacher at the Halloween Parade.

My banquet shopping assistant. After this picture, we got hot chocolates at Starbucks and walked around Target just looking at things. We had the best time together.

The typical carving of pumpkins 2 hours before trick-or-treat.

We hit up kids day at Mountaineer Week and got pictures with all the mascot type characters.

Trick or Treat with the Kozels and the Bozics. Our neighborhood is so great for trick or treat!

Ted, Ben & Sophie

That is a clown outfit Ben's grandmother made.

My assistant setting up for the banquets. Ted had the table chart and was adding chairs. He just happens to be wearing a lacrosse helmet that we used for the banquet. He worked all day in that thing. As a side note, my kids deserve an award for all the things they've been dragged along to these last 2 months.

So that's October. It's gone by in a complete blur. And it's currently almost the end of Thanksgiving. Sophie came home from school the other day and said, "Mom, the days just go by so fast." I hear ya, sister. I hear ya!