Little Helper

My son, Jackson, is at the stage of wanting to be my helper all the time. We thought this would be the best time to introduce chores. I've been reading a bit on this, and something has struck me. A lot of Jackson's responsibilities around the house before now have been centered around him -- picking up his toys, making his bed, and cleaning up after himself, etc. However, we are now encouraging him to do tasks that are contributing to the benefit of everyone in the house, not just himself. Trying to make my little guy a responsible man someday!

He's been great with it. I keep finding new tasks to teach him. He especially loves unpacking groceries and helping me put them away. He also "helps" me to carry the laundry upstairs, clear and wipe the table after meals, and my favorite, he wants to rub my back just like Daddy! I'm thinking that may be a permanent chore. ;-)

Happy Retirement, Dad!

After many years of hard work, my dad is hanging up his "hat" and retiring! Today is his official last day at Standard Aero. From what I hear, they have been celebrating him all week and spoiling him like he deserves.

He earned this day in so many ways. My dad sought out his life’s work the old fashioned way. He served honorably in our nation’s naval services. He started at the bottom and worked as a mail clerk. He worked full-time and went to night-school, all while supporting a young family. He knew that success was not something of entitlement, but something earned – one day at a time. And, he became successful both in life and work.

My dad instilled in me a drive to dream big, and to work hard to fulfill those dreams. He continually encouraged me to work hard, to have a good education, to plan wisely for the future, to set aside time for play, and to do it all for the glory of the Lord. But, he didn’t just tell me these things – he lives these out as an example.


Dad, I rejoice with you as your trade in that old hat for a fishing cap, golf visor, Vols ballcap, and a beach hat for those warm Florida beaches. I know that the Lord smiles on you today, too. For He knows how well you have served Him, and he knows how He’s not done with you yet, by far!

I heart the crock pot

The women from our church have some of the best socials! My favorite is our recipe swaps. Basically, we set a theme (desserts, appetizers, etc) and everyone brings their favorite dish and a bunch of copies of the recipe to share. I spent time the other night pasting some of those great recipes into my recipe notebook and saw some that I need to make for my family - like Stacy's lemonade cake. Yum!

Next month (3/10), we are doing a Slow Cooker/Quick Fix meals swap. I am very excited about this! Who couldn't use more of these recipes?? I am always on the lookout for great new slow cooker recipes. Especially my friends' tried-and-true recipes. :) Mabye I'll make my Garlic Turkey Breast or Paula Deen's Mac & cheese. Hmmm... or maybe something new. I'll post whatever I decide to make later.

Gotta Getaway

Hubby and I are trying hard to find a place to go for our anniversary in April. Our problem this year is that we can't figure out where to go. Any suggestions?? Anyone have a destination spot that is a must see? In the past we have gone to: Outer Banks, Charleston SC, Bahamas cruise (whew, that's another post altogether), Asheville, Williamsburg, and Valle Crucis. All really wonderful places. We usually try to go the Bed & Breakfast route - and have found some fantastic ones over the years, by the way. Like this one and this one. But it doesn't have to be a B&B.

Anyone know of a great place in New England? We are also considering NYC. I hear Clay Aiken is in Spamalot, the new musical. Cost may play a large factor in that one though. Maybe FL?

Come on people. We need help.

100 things

It's my 100th post. (Well, technically it’s the 181st post if you count my other blog for my son... I am considering merging the two... but, I do like the dichotomy).

To honor this momentous occasion, I’ll post 100 things about BridgeMom. If I can come up with that many.

1. I would have Starbucks everyday if I could afford it.
2. I have been to 7 different countries.
3. I love living in the South.
4. I have a cat - Daisy.
5. She is trying to sit in my lap as I type.
6. She’s my first pet ever – due to a mother with issues of fear and distain for animals.
7. I have a 3 year old, red-headed son.
8. I am married to a Pastor. This makes me a Pastor’s wife. Scary, huh?
9. I don’t play piano, play the organ, wear ankle length dresses, wear my hair in buns, or any of that stereotypical Pastor’s wife stuff.
10. I do love Jesus. Very much.
11. I have red hair. It used to be strawberry-blonde. Now just, well - red.
12. I don’t get sun tanned.
13. I’m a little bitter about that.
14. I can be temperamental.
15. The most scared I have ever been was when my hubby got Guillain-Barre disorder while on a cruise.
16. I love romantic comedies.
17. I enjoy cooking.
18. I really hate mopping.
19. My first record was We are the World.
20. My first tapes were Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down & Culture Club’s Color by Numbers.
21. I love my community.
22. I direct the children’s ministry (BridgeKidz) at my church.
23. I love working with kids.
24. I have a MA in Christian Counseling.
25. I love to read, but never have enough time to do it like I would like.
26. Lately I’m into Christian fiction books by Terri Blackstock.
27. I love Italian food.
28. I dance when no one’s watching. Usually to old 80’s hip hop.
29. I learned how to do the soulja boy dance, just because.
30. I am a borderline extrovert/introvert.
31. I have naturally curly hair and hate it. I let the curls out as little as possible.
32. My favorite color is blue.
33. My favorite restaurant is Maggianos.
34. I love guitar serenades by my hubby.
35. I require daily back rubs.
36. I also require coffee every morning.
37. But, I’m not high maintenance.
38. I played with Barbie way after I was too old to do so.
39. I love the mountains.
40. I went to Appalachian State University – in the mountains, because, well… it’s in the mountains.
41. I got a BA in Psychology.
42. I love snow.
43. I used to rock climb, hike, backpack camping and snow ski a lot.
44. My favorite Bible verse is Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still”.
45. My favorite chapter of the Bible is Psalm 51.
46. I became a follower of Jesus when I was 8.
47. I met my dh at Camp Willow Run, where we were co-head counselors for one summer.
48. I was attracted to him immediately, but didn’t really fall for him until after the summer.
49. I have been married to him for almost 7 years. I have known him 10 years.
50. He’s everything I dreamed of and prayed for in a husband.
51. I knew when I was in high school that I wanted to marry a minister. Or at least someone who had a life that was in ministry.
52. We LOVE Carolina Basketball.
53. And college football. Particularly UT (that’s University of Tennessee) football.
54. My first car was a Ford Tempo. Don’t be jealous.
55. I would love to go to France one day.
56. I took French for 7 years.
57. My hubby HATES it when I speak it. He’s got issues.
58. I don’t know how I’ll come up with another 42 things.
59. I have a brother.
60. I have 2 nephews and 3 nieces.
61. I used to be a real estate paralegal.
62. One of my first jobs was at Ditch Witch – as a receptionist.
63. I once answered the phone there and accidentally said “Thank you for calling Ditch ---” …well, let’s just say that another word came out other than witch. Totally by accident.
64. I miscarried our first child.
65. I should be folding laundry right now.
66. I am a planner.
67. I have to-do lists, grocery lists, project lists, etc. all over my house.
68. I listen to Christian music, mostly on CD.
69. I also like almost all other types of music.
70. Except Bluegrass. Which hubby likes. And my son, too. Ugh.
71. I have never had a speeding ticket.
72. I have never had a cavity.
73. I have never broken a bone.
74. I pass out when I’m in intense pain.
75. I passed out a few months after I got married and busted out my two front teeth.
76. Hubby still cringes when he thinks about finding me after that happened.
77. I totally freak out when anyone touches my neck.
78. I once totally decked an acquaintance that came up and grabbed me by the back of the neck.
79. I really like watching the news and keeping up on current events.
80. I can quote large portions of “You’ve Got Mail”.
81. And Monty Python’s “The Holy Grail”.
82. I love onion and garlic in food.
83. I had a serious childhood crush on Kirk Cameron.
84. My college friends and I have a long history of playing pranks on each other. Mostly things to which we are sworn to secrecy.
85. I once burnt my face on an iron while ironing clothes. Praise the Lord, it healed without any scaring.
86. I’m a little claustrophobic.
87. I’d like to bungee jump and sky-dive someday.
88. I’m really terrible at math.
89. My latest obsession is trying out fun new recipes.
90. I really love my community.
91. I am at Target at least once every week.
92. I used to be on a clown team that performed. My name was Raindrop.
93. I was also a puppeteer for a few years.
94. I flutter my eyelashes when I roll my eyes. I don’t know that I do it, but it seems to freak people out.
95. Mike, my dh, does the same thing.
96. I used to have poor eyesight, but my eyes are now corrected, inexplicably.
97. I used to work with Clay Aiken.
98. I once resisted buying CDs (instead of cassette tapes) because I thought they were just a fad. Joke’s on me.
99. I have a serious fear of sharks.
100. I am officially bored with myself. How about you? :)

ah, the memories

I found out that there are quite of few of my college classmates that did InterVarsity Christian Fellowship with me that are living in my area. I invited them over for a little get-together. I hadn't seen them in years - some of in 10 years.

After some snacking and catching up, we fired up the VCR (hadn't used that thing in like 5 years) and played an old video made my senior year. It was basically a slideshow of pics from my four years put to music. (Michelle - do you remember making it??). It was essentially a slideshow of years of bad hair. But, it was fun to watch. I really didn't feel like it was THAT long ago until seeing that video and all the retreats, semi-formals, that crazy time in the cabin, and general goofing around with friends.

(For the benefit of my college buds far from my neck of the woods, I got to see Chris Piper and his fiancee Lauren, Jen (J.) Dismuke, Jon Beauchaine, Tim Walters, & Kenan Barnes. Mandy Kelly and Becky (Helton) Chapman couldn't make it.)

lavishly loved

Happy Valentine's Day, bloggy world.

On this hallmark-created, lovey-dovey day, I want to leave you with a Bible Verse and a funny story....

"We love because He first loved us" - 1 John 4:19

This is the verse that Mike and I used in our wedding. I love it. We have the capacity to love because of the lavish love of God poured out on us.

I tried to have this verse engraved inside Mike's wedding band. Yes, I said tried. I requested them to engrave "1 John 4:19". And, when I picked up his band before the wedding, my quick glance inside did not catch the mistake. They left off the 1. It said John 4:19, which says "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet" (it's the story of Jesus with the woman at the well, in case you were wondering). So, my husband has a permanent reminder that I think he is a prophet of God. Ha! Mike got the biggest kick out of this, and insisted on leaving it like it is.

Mike also had something engraved in my rings. One band says "Yes indeedy" and the other says "you're my sweety". Those of you who know my husband will be surprised to know that he can be a little sappy at time. I love that man. I am his sweety.

to nap or not to nap

Oh, poor neglected blog. I have failed to update you much lately.

It's Thursday and I'm at home. Whoohoo! My son has decided to take a nap today, so I am without excuse. It's his first nap all week by the way. Yep, one of those weeks.

So, those of you with children of the age of nap-dropping.... I beckon you. What should I do with my child during the former nap time??

Here's the current scenario: I put him down. He's exhausted and whiny. I come downstairs and pray hard for the blessing of the nap. IF he naps, all is well and he is a pleasant creature that evening. Me too. :)

IF he decides not to nap (the new norm), he is required to stay in his room for an hour and rest/play quietly. After about an hour he opens his door repeatedly and says, "but mommy, I'm just awake" until I allow him out. At which point he comes downstairs and lays on the couch like a zombie. Usually requesting (aka whining for) a movie, and then eventually settles in with his hot wheels. And here's the dilemma -- He's usually still too tired and irritable to really play much, do crafts, run errands, etc.

What in the world do I do with this child? I have started waking him up a little earlier in the morning (7:30), and I usually have really physical activities planned for the morning before naptime. I even took him to this giant inflatible place this week, where he ran, climbed, and jumped til his little legs could hold him no more. And yet, he willed himself awake during naptime.

Oh, bloggy world. Thanks for letting me vent. You are so cathartic! :)

Have to go now... he's awake & calling for me. ah...

"Jump Around"

Mike & I toured the brand new Carolina Basketball Museum before yesterday's game. The museum was fantastic - filled with highlights, paraphenalia, & interviews with the greats that have come through the program - Ford, Wallace, Jordan, Montrosse (my high school crush!!), Stackhouse, Reid, Worthy, Carter, Felton, May, etc. We saw the championship trophies, tons of pictures, old school basketball shorts that were heinously small (thank goodness that fad is over), and even the letter from Coach K wishing Michael Jordan well since he had chosen to play for UNC over Duke (aka "The Letter"). Priceless.

Then came the game itself. Let's just say that the first half was embarrassing and torturous to watch. We played horribly. Doesn't help that we are down to our 3rd string point guard, and our other starting guard got hurt, too. Second half started off just as poorly. We were down by as much as 15 pts. Mike even suggested we leave with the last 8:30 to go. BUT, miracles can happen. Carolina turned it around and took the game into 2 overtimes before winning 103 to 93. It was mayhem in the Dean Dome. Absolute craziness. I am hoarse from yelling. SO much fun!

Check out this video of a pre-game tradition - so fun. It will be a sad day when Danny Green graduates!!

When life gets busy, I write in bullet points. Its a good busy, for a change. :)

• Hubby is now quite addicted to the show Corner Gas. A friend endorsed this show to us a few weeks ago, and since then it has taken over the DVR space. Have you seen this show? It is definitely funny, and rather hard to describe. Dry wit required.
• Myself, and some other women from church are planning a Women's Retreat. I am so stinkin' excited about it!!
• What do you do when your son is practically done with potty training and then goes through a 2 month regression?? Bribery, my dear friends. Oh, I'm not above it. We took advantage of his complete obsession with the movie Cars. And, the poopies are back in the potty - even when the bribery stops. Hallelujah and amen.
• This Thursday is my last day at my job at the law office. Man, I don't know what I'll do with my nights and Thursday. Yes, I do... NO LEGAL WORK. :) Guess I won't have any more excuses about how the house looks.
• My son and I went on a long walk yesterday through our neighborhood's maze of a greenway. After a recent rain, the creek had more water in it than normal and we could actually hear it cascading over the rocks. Jack told me that he "could hear the water singing". Adorable.

And, out I go to enjoy more of this freakish warm weather with my son.