Weekend in Virginia Beach

A couple of weeks ago we headed down to Virginia Beach where my sister goes to school. It's about a 4 hour drive. Not terrible. The kids were amazingly good the entire ride home. Praise God! It was a fun relaxing weekend with family. We visited the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, ate a yummy lunch right on the beach (the restaurant had big windows with a great view of the ocean), and played in the sand. So much fun! Here are some pictures from our little trip:

Virginia Aquarium

Ryland's 1st Trip to the Beach

27 Days and Counting

Last night I listened in on a conversation the kids were having with their daddy. It went like this:

Ryland: "that car sad"
Chris: "why is the car sad?"
Emorie: "because it drove away from Texas"

Is that not the saddest thing you ever heard? I've been completely wrapped up in my own feelings that I hadn't thought about Emorie being homesick too. In 27 days we are leaving for a week in Texas. I think we are all very excited, including Ryland who just learned how to say 'Texas'. The countdown has begun!

Spring, Where Are You?

I started a blog entry on March 1st and never finished it or posted it...it is now March 31st! There's a clue as to how crazy March has been. I can't believe that 3 months of this year are already gone! And I know the year isn't going to slow down anytime soon. A look at our calendar shows no free weekends until June!

Ryland has continued to make amazing progress since his ear tube surgery. He has a new word almost every day! Even though I'm very happy we are all healthy now, things still seem a bit gloomy. I blame it on the weather. It snowed on Sunday. SNOWED! It's almost April and I know there is this season called Spring, but I have yet to see it this year. I now live in a place where it doesn't go from kind of cold to 90 degrees in an instant and I want to enjoy it. Emorie is learning about Spring at school by learning the phrase "in like a lion, out like a lamb". She informs me each day that it is raining (which has been often), "mommy, it's a lion day". I'm tired of lion days! I really cherished the two days we had in the 60's. Keep them coming!

One Year Stronger

We have lived in Annapolis one year now and sometimes I still feel like I just moved here yesterday. I'm still trying to find my place and fit in to a different culture than I am used to. I am still shocked at how unfriendly people can be sometimes. I just got yelled at by a lady at Barnes & Noble last week. Seriously, you're going to be rude at preschool story time?! If I hold the door for someone, they automatically assume that I work wherever we are. I guess that's the only reason to open the door for someone. On the brighter side, I love that there is no short supply of fun things to see and do. A year later, there are tons of places we have yet to visit. I have a list of places and we're waiting for the beautiful spring weather to come.


I have found many differences between Texas and Maryland over the last year. I think Texas is more family friendly. The public schools are better and Chick fil a family night is better. Haha! Life is so fast-paced here. Busy, busy, busy! Public transportation and urban housing is a way of life. Even the street names are different-Harbour Heights, Admiral, and Arundel on the Bay (weird right?) versus Saddle Blanket, Ranchman Blvd., and Mustang Dr.


I continue to be amazed at the cost of living here. I think it's crazy to pay what we do for groceries. I think it's double what we spent in Texas. More than $4 for a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread is insane. Restaurants are high as well and with a movie ticket costing $10.50 for ONE, a night out is over the top expensive (especially with a babysitter to pay). Houses are priced so high here and I wonder 'how can you afford one on a minister's salary?' It definitely is a gorgeous area to live in though. Each day that I take Emorie to school, I cross a bridge and see the gorgeous view of the bay and am reminded of God's amazing creation. What a blessing! This evening I saw one of those really pretty sunsets where you can see the rays of sunshine coming down through the clouds. It was the kind that reminds me that God is in control and I am here for a reason. Just beautiful!

Snow Day #527

I have lost count of how many snow days we've had this year, but all I know is that they always land on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the only days Emorie goes to school). Something that used to be a very exciting, but very rare occurrence has begun to ruin my life. Yes I'm being dramatic, but I'm REALLY ready for spring!

I know I've been MIA in the blog world...all you need to know is that in the last 2 months we've been consumed with snow and sickness. All 4 of us took turns being sick the entire month of January and I've spent countless hours driving to one doctor and then to another and then to the pharmacy...and then again the next week. Ryland got tubes last week and I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hooray!

Homesick for the Holidays

I think the stars have to align perfectly in order for me to be able to sit down in front of the computer and write anything...for the first time in nearly three months, I have a moment to blog. Six years ago today, on an 80 degree Texas winter day, Chris and I were married. Our lives have changed so much since that day. Today it seems like we live in another part of the world (and it is 20 degrees and snowy outside). This morning my wonderful husband got up with the kids, brought me breakfast in bed and then took them to gymnastics. I was left with peace and quiet and an awesome new laptop so I can now blog from bed. I would say the stars have aligned quite nicely (even though I don't really believe in that stuff).

There is no way that I can recount the last three months in this entry. All I can say is that we truly enjoyed the gorgeous fall in our new home. October was a crazy busy month for our family and November and December are not far behind. I guess when you work for a church the birth of Christ is kind of a big deal or something. :)

November marked one year since we first came to Annapolis during the interview process with Weems Creek Baptist Church. I can't believe that we've been here 10 months now! We love this city and this beautiful part of the country, but this holiday season has us all REALLY homesick for the first time. Christmas cards from family and friends mean so much more this year. Some things I really miss this time of year:

1. Holiday gatherings with family & friends

2. Denton Christmas Tree Lighting

3. Christmas festivities at school- secret Santa between the teachers, sweet gifts from my students and an awesome program from the kids

4. Hilarious white elephant gift exchange at our Sunday School party

Annapolis is absolutely nuts with holiday shoppers and it's cold, really cold! But we can't forget that we are extremely blessed to be here and are busy making new memories and holiday traditions.

Back to School and More

So I watched Julie & Julia last night and it put me in the mood to blog. It's been a long time since I last posted and a lot has happened. Nothing very exciting, but I will tell you regardless.

New Lunchbox

1st Day of School

Back to School
Emorie started Preschool and is ecstatic after being out of school since February. You can tell how excited she is by her big "cheeses" in pictures. She's so goofy! I have volunteered to be 'Room Mom' for her class. This will be the first year that I'm not teaching, so I can enjoy just being a parent. I'm also enjoying my one-on-one time with Ryland while Emorie is in school. I have already introduced him to the taste of Dr. Pepper and started teaching him how to do laundry. One day he will make his wife very happy!


Speak, Ryland, Speak
We've started working with a speech pathologist to encourage communication with Ryland and maybe get him to say something other than "dah". I've been working on the sign "more" with him since he was 6 months old...after one meeting with his speech pathologist, he was using the sign. I believe stubborn runs in this family!

Fact: This is the Maryland State Flag
(I know these things)

My Car is Legal
After an excruciating 3 hours spent at the MVA, I finally got Maryland license plates. Sometimes I don't recognize my car because I'm so familiar with those Texas plates. It's one of those things that I have to get used to. Like not seeing the Texas flag anywhere. I'm embarrassed to say that it took me nearly 5 months to figure out that the flag I was seeing everywhere is the Maryland state flag. Duh! I kept thinking 'what flag is that? That flag is everywhere!' I'm sure the Texas flag is around just as much as the state flag is here (If anyone has state pride, it's Texas!)...I just never noticed it. It was just part of the scenery or something.


Grocery Shopping
I haven't stepped foot in a grocery store in over a month and I can't emphasize enough how awesome grocery home delivery is!! Safeway.com rocks! Now, if only Target and Costco would deliver too! This is why I hate going to the grocery store:

Pouting, Whining, Attitude,

Screaming, Crying,

and all these steps!

Our pantry after the Pounding

And while we're on the subject of groceries, you might be interested to know that we finally used all the pancake mix we got from the "Pounding" when we moved here. After 7 months we still have: paper towels, spaghetti & pasta, rice, sugar, ketchup, soup, peanut butter, antibacterial wipes, tea of all kinds, hot chocolate and a few other things. We continue to be completely blessed by our new church family!


In other news, I found out that the 7-Eleven down the street has Dr. Pepper in the fountain. Oh thank Heaven! They also just put in a Redbox so double score!

Pick-Your-Own Farm

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of Maryland's many pick-your-own farms. We drove nearly an hour to get to Larriland Farm, but it was totally worth it. We were there for hours picking blueberries, peaches, raspberries, potatoes, tomatoes and onions. It was so much fun for all of us! Emorie was so proud of each piece of fruit she picked. That night we made a salad using the fresh veggies we bought at the farm and baked the potatoes we had picked out of the ground ourselves. It was a very yummy dinner!

I spent a lot of time last week using the fruits and veggies that we had picked ourselves in new recipes. I made my own potato soup, tomato soup, cobbler (twice), blueberry pancakes and much more. And now I remember why I don't make things from scratch...it takes to long! I didn't think my tomato soup was very good so I think I'll stick to Campbell's condensed soup. We really liked the potato soup though!


Spicy Potato Soup
6 c. cubed potatoes
1c. chopped carrots
3 c. chicken broth
2 tbsp. butter
1 clove minced garlic
2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste
Put everything in crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. 
Add 3 c. milk mixed with 1/2 c. flour 1 hour before serving.

The best of all the new recipes I tried was definitely the peach/raspberry dessert I made! It was kind of like a cobbler, but called for oatmeal in the topping. Here's the link for this Raspberry Peach Crumble:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Raspberry-Peach-Crumble/Detail.aspx

It was so good that I made it AGAIN a few days later! The second time I left out the raspberries and only used peaches because we didn't have any raspberries left. The general consensus was that it's better WITH the raspberries. Either way, this dessert with a side of ice cream is heavenly!

Our 6 Month Mark

We have been Annapolitans for six months now! Wow, time has flown! During the five and a half years we've been married, we have faced many struggles. Job loss, starting a family, death of loved ones...to name a few. I believe these events have only made us stronger and prepared us for the road ahead. Adapting to a different culture and a life in full-time ministry has been interesting. At times exciting and at times exhausting.

I have found it difficult to form close friendships in my new city. A lot of people in this area are very career driven, not God driven or family driven. They marry later in life and have kids later in life. Maybe it's because careers are thought so important or maybe it's financially necessary, but women are not usually stay-at-home moms here. I think the job of "homemaker" is looked down upon by many. So a Christian, 27-year-old, stay-at-home mom of two kids? I am not the norm! I also get the feeling that a lot of Annapolis moms are...well, hippies. Everything organic, breastfeeding for years, cloth diapers, etc. I do my part to try to be "green", but I'm not a crazy person and I don't want to push a fancy jogging stroller every morning while I sip organic coffee! Basically, it's been hard to bond with people in my stage of life. Please pray for me in this area!

There are many things I love about the Bay Area. I love all the cool east coast cities that are nearby and all the fun places to go and things to do. I love that we will have four seasons, that's right FOUR! I'm excited for my favorite season, Fall, and to see all the changing colors. I love the malls here. Maybe it's because I came from the Golden Triangle Mall, but I think the Annapolis mall is completely awesome and it's like a minute from my house. I like that there's a ton of good consignment shops even though I've only been to one. I think crab picking is pretty cool even though it's gross and my husband says he will never do it again. I love Whole Foods and of course Target, which has Dr. Pepper in the fountain! Could Target get any higher on my list?! And I love all the amazing parks that we have here.

All in all, I think it's been a great six months! I'm interested to see what the next six will hold. Thank you for your continued prayers over our family!

Milestones

I think it's safe to say that Ryland is finally walking! He's been taking steps on his own for awhile now, but this week walking seems to be his primary means of transportation around the house. Go Ry! Being the great mom that I am, I had yet to get his first steps on video. I probably have about ten videos of Emorie taking two steps and then falling on her face. Second Child Syndrome? Yesterday the thought finally crossed my mind and I filmed Ryland walking!

Here's an update on what else has been going on with the kids:


Emorie still has an extensive vocabulary and sometimes the things she says amaze me. She's also good for a good laugh! She usually has a funny quote of the day. Ryland, on the other hand, has not uttered any distinguishable words other than "dada".


It has been a process, but Emorie has learned her colors. I consider Emorie to be fairly intelligent for her age, but for some reason it took her forever to learn colors. She has known all the shapes for a long time now and I was wondering why she couldn't grasp color names. Now we are working on letters and Emorie is learning how to write her name.

Emorie's Letter "E"

Emorie absolutely loves imaginative play. She's a great mommy to her baby dolls and plays with them and her Barbies everyday. She certainly loves to dress-up and play "house". She'll even whip you up something yummy to eat in her kitchen. Emorie has always been interested in books and still loves reading as well as coloring, painting, play doh and many other art activities. She really enjoys games now and that has been a fun thing for us to do together. Family game nights and movie nights are her favorite!


Ryland's favorite toys are cars and trucks. I think it's interesting that he automatically started making engine sounds while playing with them. Is that something boys are just born to do? He also loves to play with blocks and he can build a mean tower!

Building

Last but not least, both kids have already shown musical talent and we can't wait to see where that will take them!