Jeff worked from home today (a rare treat), so here he is in his t-shirt and shorts on a conference call, enjoying the new space.
Monday, August 16, 2010
My New Favorite Room
Taking an unattractive room and turning it into a completely different place - a warm and inviting and beautiful one - gives me a thrill. Here's our office, and I really should have taken a "before" shot, because without one you can't really appreciate the transformation, but maybe I can describe it well enough to given you a idea... The walls were practically white ~ actually a really really pale pinkish sort of color, which the previous owners apparently thought was an attractive color. (Not me.) And the desk was facing the window, with the bookcase, a filing cabinet, and a a taller black bookcase along the walls. That set-up wasn't too bad, but the whole room just needed a face-lift - and I do love changing things up. Jeff took care of the paint job, and I went in the next day and put my own touches on everything. We decided to put the desk in the middle of the room facing the doorway instead, took out the tall black bookcase, and everything else sort of fell into place. Now I absolutely love this room! Before it was just a generic room with a desk in it. Now it feels like an office, and I love it. I feel smart just walking in. :)
Jeff worked from home today (a rare treat), so here he is in his t-shirt and shorts on a conference call, enjoying the new space.
Jeff worked from home today (a rare treat), so here he is in his t-shirt and shorts on a conference call, enjoying the new space.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Visit with the Bennetts
First ~ thank you for your encouraging comments, Cheri and Aunt Carol and Kendal. :) I'm still in a frustrating place but learning in deeper ways that I depend on God every day. I guess we all do, don't we? :) I was reminded again today that God is the one who does the work. I simply can't do it in my own strength. And so often when I get up in the morning I start right into my to-do list without asking God for strength and grace for my day. Not very smart... Good fruit rarely (okay, never) results from independence from God.
Anyway... This past Thursday and Friday I was able to see the Bennetts who are visiting from China! I hadn't seen them in at least two years, some of them longer than that. They were staying with my parents in Lexington on Thursday night and leaving on Friday, so I went down for that time period too. Jeff couldn't come with me since he was working and all.
Kim Bennett is who invited me to go to China back in 2004, and he and his wife Jing are still in ministry there. They have two sons, Elan and Ray, and a little four-year-old girl, Angie. Angie was born after I left China and I find it highly unfair that she knows more Chinese than I do! :) She is a sharp little girl and definitely has a gift to be a teacher. She very attentively corrected my Chinese as I tried talking to her. Love it! I had a ball getting to know her and reconnecting with the rest of the family too.
On Thursday night we had a big dinner with the Bennetts as well as the Schneiders, Grandpa & Grandmom, and Patrick (a VMI cadet who spends a lot of time with my parents). A full house, good food, good fellowship, even the celebration of Kim's birthday which he had forgotten about... :)
Here's Grandmom with Kim and little Angie:
Angie and Maggie on the back porch... Gorgeous girls!
The whole crowd, minus Patrick who was taking the picture:
Grace, Jing, and Angelika Grace (who was named after Grace Schneider)
Angie and I spent a good amount of time on Friday playing with Rummikub tiles... I practiced my Chinese with the numbers and colors on the tiles and other things throughout the room, and she corrected me as needed (which was often)... and she was meticulous about getting that row of tiles in perfect order. So cute.
My new friend and me about to say goodbye:
We love you, Bennetts!
Anyway... This past Thursday and Friday I was able to see the Bennetts who are visiting from China! I hadn't seen them in at least two years, some of them longer than that. They were staying with my parents in Lexington on Thursday night and leaving on Friday, so I went down for that time period too. Jeff couldn't come with me since he was working and all.
Kim Bennett is who invited me to go to China back in 2004, and he and his wife Jing are still in ministry there. They have two sons, Elan and Ray, and a little four-year-old girl, Angie. Angie was born after I left China and I find it highly unfair that she knows more Chinese than I do! :) She is a sharp little girl and definitely has a gift to be a teacher. She very attentively corrected my Chinese as I tried talking to her. Love it! I had a ball getting to know her and reconnecting with the rest of the family too.
On Thursday night we had a big dinner with the Bennetts as well as the Schneiders, Grandpa & Grandmom, and Patrick (a VMI cadet who spends a lot of time with my parents). A full house, good food, good fellowship, even the celebration of Kim's birthday which he had forgotten about... :)
Here's Grandmom with Kim and little Angie:
Angie and Maggie on the back porch... Gorgeous girls!
The whole crowd, minus Patrick who was taking the picture:
Grace, Jing, and Angelika Grace (who was named after Grace Schneider)
Angie and I spent a good amount of time on Friday playing with Rummikub tiles... I practiced my Chinese with the numbers and colors on the tiles and other things throughout the room, and she corrected me as needed (which was often)... and she was meticulous about getting that row of tiles in perfect order. So cute.
My new friend and me about to say goodbye:
We love you, Bennetts!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Just some thoughts
Hi everyone. :)
No pics this time. No stories of big goings-on in our lives. Just some thoughts about my being sick of having OCD. If you have it, or know someone who has it (which is likely, because it affects 2% of the population), you can understand a little of what I'm going through.
It's like this monster that grips me and fiercely holds on. No one has ever been cured of OCD (that's what they say), but of course God is able to do anything, so I'm praying. But He has allowed this in my life; He is bigger than it and is able to use it for my good. For me, OCD manifests itself most often in my need for perfection; if something is less than perfect (and believe me, OCD's definition of perfect is unreasonable and entirely unreachable), then I'm miserable. Well, that's an overstatement, but if I listen to the OCD's messages to me, that's what I'll believe. At times I'm weaker to believing OCD's lies than others, and I guess recently I've been a little weaker. Although the other day I had a sort of epiphany. I can firmly tell myself I'm okay (because that's the truth), and then act like I'm okay, and that can actually change my mood. And I can order the OCD to stop throwing a temper tantrum and grow up. These are things my counselor has told me many times, but it's like it finally clicked somehow. But even with the ability to know that truth in a deeper sense, there's still lots of hard work to do. And it's all in this over-thinking, over-analyzing, perfectionistic, idealistic brain of mine. It's like it works overtime. I'm reading a book about OCD and one thing they say is that the brains of people with OCD overheat. I'm not sure if that's literal or not, but I guess it might be. (Wonder how much this has to do with my migraines....) It gives a four-step process of training your brain how to think that actually changes the chemical nature of the brain. It's fascinating. First you Relabel (recognize the intrusive and disturbing thought as an obsession), then you Reattribute (acknowledge that the obsession is because of a bio-chemical imbalance in your brain), and then the third step is Refocus - to actively choose to think about something helpful instead of the destructive thought that OCD introduced. That's the most critical; it's the step that changes the brain's chemistry. It's also the most difficult. Isn't that how it is? The most difficult things are what bring about good change in our lives. The fourth step is Revalue (assign that obsessive thought to the "junk to be thrown out" category).
Hmm. It helps to write about it. Anyway... Lord, give me the strength I need to fight this.
Okay. Enough ruminating. :)
No pics this time. No stories of big goings-on in our lives. Just some thoughts about my being sick of having OCD. If you have it, or know someone who has it (which is likely, because it affects 2% of the population), you can understand a little of what I'm going through.
It's like this monster that grips me and fiercely holds on. No one has ever been cured of OCD (that's what they say), but of course God is able to do anything, so I'm praying. But He has allowed this in my life; He is bigger than it and is able to use it for my good. For me, OCD manifests itself most often in my need for perfection; if something is less than perfect (and believe me, OCD's definition of perfect is unreasonable and entirely unreachable), then I'm miserable. Well, that's an overstatement, but if I listen to the OCD's messages to me, that's what I'll believe. At times I'm weaker to believing OCD's lies than others, and I guess recently I've been a little weaker. Although the other day I had a sort of epiphany. I can firmly tell myself I'm okay (because that's the truth), and then act like I'm okay, and that can actually change my mood. And I can order the OCD to stop throwing a temper tantrum and grow up. These are things my counselor has told me many times, but it's like it finally clicked somehow. But even with the ability to know that truth in a deeper sense, there's still lots of hard work to do. And it's all in this over-thinking, over-analyzing, perfectionistic, idealistic brain of mine. It's like it works overtime. I'm reading a book about OCD and one thing they say is that the brains of people with OCD overheat. I'm not sure if that's literal or not, but I guess it might be. (Wonder how much this has to do with my migraines....) It gives a four-step process of training your brain how to think that actually changes the chemical nature of the brain. It's fascinating. First you Relabel (recognize the intrusive and disturbing thought as an obsession), then you Reattribute (acknowledge that the obsession is because of a bio-chemical imbalance in your brain), and then the third step is Refocus - to actively choose to think about something helpful instead of the destructive thought that OCD introduced. That's the most critical; it's the step that changes the brain's chemistry. It's also the most difficult. Isn't that how it is? The most difficult things are what bring about good change in our lives. The fourth step is Revalue (assign that obsessive thought to the "junk to be thrown out" category).
Hmm. It helps to write about it. Anyway... Lord, give me the strength I need to fight this.
Okay. Enough ruminating. :)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Zonie Pics Posted
Uncle Time said it was time to post the Arizona pics, Cheri!! :) Toooo funny
They're just above the wedding pics over on the right.......... :)
Jeff and I are about to settle into the couch for a bit and watch a movie or something..... *relaxed sigh*
Happy 41st Anniversary to my Mom & Dad tomorrow!
They're just above the wedding pics over on the right.......... :)
Jeff and I are about to settle into the couch for a bit and watch a movie or something..... *relaxed sigh*
Happy 41st Anniversary to my Mom & Dad tomorrow!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Favorite Arizona Pics
Here are a few of my favorite shots from the Arizona trip ~ Enjoy! I'll post a whole album of our trip soon. :)
Aren't the sun rays gorgeous? This was taken on our way to the Grand Canyon.
Looking up from the trail down in the Canyon.
On our way hiking back up to the rim... You can see three levels of the trail as it's winding its way up the side of the canyon. Neat, huh?
A nice lady took this of us at the rim.
Storm clouds raining in the distance.
My favorite from the whole trip.
Chapel of the Holy Cross
My incredibly handsome man
Aren't the sun rays gorgeous? This was taken on our way to the Grand Canyon.
Looking up from the trail down in the Canyon.
On our way hiking back up to the rim... You can see three levels of the trail as it's winding its way up the side of the canyon. Neat, huh?
A nice lady took this of us at the rim.
Storm clouds raining in the distance.
My favorite from the whole trip.
Chapel of the Holy Cross
My incredibly handsome man
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Back from Arizona
Hi all!
So we got back from Arizona in the wee hours on Tuesday morning, and I'm still sort of catching up from being away...... Cleaning, laundry, restocking the kitchen, all that stuff. I have over 1000 photos from the wedding and over 500 photos from AZ, so I have my work cut out for me! I'll be digging through them and coming up with some of the best to share with you. (Patience, Cheri, patience!) :)
So we got back from Arizona in the wee hours on Tuesday morning, and I'm still sort of catching up from being away...... Cleaning, laundry, restocking the kitchen, all that stuff. I have over 1000 photos from the wedding and over 500 photos from AZ, so I have my work cut out for me! I'll be digging through them and coming up with some of the best to share with you. (Patience, Cheri, patience!) :)
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