vacation... and stuff.

We took a much-appreciated vacation to Surfside beach a couple of weeks ago with family.  I heartily recommend doing this, people.  It's so close, was way more cost-effective than Galveston, and is a great getaway if you're not looking for a lot of scheduled activity-sightseeing (though Galveston and all is just up the coast about 30 minutes).

I think most of these photos need little captioning... it was tough to choose just these.  Enjoy.  :)

I rather enjoyed the look of this one blown out... we call it 'Grammy in a bucket':

day 3 - Schlitterbahn.  also highly recommended.

decompressing at the end of the day:

for kicks, some of you may recall a photo Melanie B. took of me at Galveston when we were sending off the Browns... she made it look all kinds of cool and old-fashioned.  we thought it would be fun to have a pregnant one (and if you need to know where to get this super-cute maternity swimsuit, here it is):

and lookie what craftiness I'm capable of!  you might remember that I made this mobile for Maggie... well, we had this birdcage hanging in the corner of Magz' room and in the new configuration it's now over the baby bed.  I decided to keep it and just turn it into a mobile for the new little one.  it's not quite done yet (if you look close you can see the pins) but it looks really cute in there and I wanted to share this burst of creativity, even if it was somewhat blurrily caught by my iphone.  :)

So, what else.  I'll be 35 weeks pregnant on Thursday.  I feel mostly okay - bending and picking things up is a royal pain in the hoo-ha and if I'm on my feet for longer than about an hour my left hip starts protesting, but Michael is letting me keep the thermostat down - even though it's freezing him out, I think, and may cause a minor shock when we receive the electric bill - and overall things are just fine.  We get to see the baby on sonogram later next week, and I'm really looking forward to that.  So much went on with Maggie - it seems like we saw her all the time, what with the specialist and my regular doc, but this go-'round has been different.  I'm starting to get excited about turning my attention to actually having a baby, as things slowly but surely get marked off my to-do list.  tiny clothes washed - check.  girls' closet (mostly) done - check.  laundry/play room (mostly) done - check.  Magz in her toddler bed - check.  the house (mostly) reorganized - check.  sci-fi trilogy audiobook recording - principal narration of book 3 completed this week, corrections completed by Tuesday of next.  VBS kickoff fish fry tomorrow night... I'm helping in the kitchen and with food, but likely phasing out after tomorrow until after baby is born, as my hip hates having to stand up that long and those are becoming rough nights for me.  Magz' birthday party a week from Saturday.  We're supposed to host dinner group this month, need to send that email after I hit publish...

I find myself prioritizing easily... things that can wait, will.  Things that aren't important, fall by the wayside.  It feels like a gift.

hubz home, so I should go. he's making dinner.  I'm blessed in most every way, really.... you have my permission to remind me of that when I don't act like it.

-m.y.

when conversations go well. also photos.

I got in last night from my last work trip until after the baby comes.  woo-hoo!  it was a good, fairly easy trip, and I feel both grateful for how cool everybody up there is and for the break from having to think about scheduling/traveling.  today's to-do list stretches ahead... short 9a session in west hou, 10a dr appointment, short 11:30 session in west hou, 12:30 session near IKEA, 1:30-4:30 reading audiobook not far from there.  then home and done and weekend!  until I have to read more audiobook tomorrow, so I can meet my deadlines so I can go to Surfside beach week after next without stressing.

I had a couple of conversations this work trip that I felt really good about - so much is going on in news/politics that there are lots of opportunities to engage others in trading opinions, to be sure.  I tend to err on the side of not getting into it, and then later wish I'd been able to express myself well as a Christian whose views are not necessarily reflected in those talking into microphones on tv/radio/etc.  One particular conversation I had in the studio with my engineer and director was so positive... I got to confess to them that I often avoid topics for fear of putting more 'Christians against Christians, infighting amongst ourselves' stuff out there... but in doing so, I may come across as either endorsing behavior and ideals put out by some vocal believers that I feel are wrong (or just wrongly expressed) or I totally avoid professing my faith/convictions at all, which makes me feel cowardly.  we ended up talking in particular about the importance of pursuing kindness and civility always, touched on the fundamental Christian belief of our brokenness and total dependence on Christ, even about evangelism and how one shares what they believe.  I know this is going to shock you:  non-Christians don't want our tracts, cold-calls, or impersonal 'have you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior?' mall ambushes... they want to see our faith in action in service and loving others.  they want to see us modeling Jesus, to see attractive evidence of the power of faith in our own lives.  they want conversations that stem naturally from relationship.  long term, boots on the ground kind of stuff.  at least, that's what we talked about, anyway.  it's those kinds of interactions I hope for, the moments when you can organically share who you are with those you know in a way that, you hope, reflects well on Jesus.

for your Friday viewing pleasure, I submit:

A Well-Behaved Child at 5th Sunday Singing night (before she started getting antsy/crazy because, hello, this is when we're usually eating dinner and taking a bath):

water sports

 

a family of Raggedy Anns:

bedtime with mama's big belly

and a cowgirl with a baby.

we're putting together her big-girl 2 year old bed this weekend.  smile and sigh.  and now I hear her, so it's time to get crackin'.

-m.y.

monday photopalooza

maggie's first zoo trip

feeding the babies 'apples' and 'juuuuu! (juice):

easter.  :) 

none of my flowers in this bed died out over the winter... a testament to how mild it was!  this was a couple of weeks ago - now everything is busting out like crazy:

I love love love this photo from my shower Saturday.

 

I'm determined to finish reading book one of a sci-fi trilogy this week (for work... it's an audiobook gig)...  wish me luck!  I've got to be strategic about work the next couple of months, to get everything wrapped up and accomplished both well and in the least-stressful manner possible.  did I mention how blessed we are?  because we are.

-m.y.