A Display of Faith

I know I've been missing on this blog forever, but I just had to break the silence. You all just need to hear the story I'm about to tell, because it's blessed me so much.. I know it will bless you.

My twin sisters are senior starters for their varsity basketball team. They love the game immensely, such as is common in this "neck of the woods". The area in which we live pretty much LIVES for high school basketball during the winter. This year, their team went into the tournaments in the number one spot. They had the full potential to win states.



Twice this past season they made a decision that our family is all too familiar with. They chose not to play in a game because of religious convictions. We believe in keeping the Sabbath, outlined in the Bible as the time from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. During this time, we abstain from work and set our attention on worship, building our faith, and encouraging others. My sisters and I all made the decision when we were young not to play competitive sports during the Sabbath. Over time, we've had to make some tough decisions because of this belief, but none as tough as my sisters made this last weekend.



In the tournament, they had won their quarterfinal and semifinal games and were advancing to the Eastern Maine Finals. The only game after that is the State Championship. The finals were scheduled for 9am Saturday morning. My sisters didn't just decide not to play that day. They had already made that decision a long time ago. But that didn't make it easy.

Thursday night, after they won their semifinal game, we were all pretty much in tears because we knew it would be their last game. The community knew as well.. and every member of our family was incessantly asked questions. The press took note as well, and their story has since been featured in several newsprints and online editorials.

We were sad, but not because they "couldn't" play.. because the game was on that day. They didn't regret their convictions for a second, even though they knew that their presence on the court on Saturday could have meant a win.



Saturday morning came and we anxiously waited for a phone call on our way to church. We got the news just after the game ended. We had been defeated.

Defeated in a game, but not in faith and conscience. I've never been more proud of my little sisters. The coach of the opposing team in the finals summed it up better than I could ever:

"This is just a game of basketball. Theirs is a game of life and they're the champions for making that decision and following that."

I couldn't agree more.

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas with your families! We've had quite the eventful day here. This morning Z surprised me with a scavenger hunt around the house AND garage to find my Christmas present from him... a new diamond ring. Girls' best friends, I tell you. ;) When we got engaged we were pretty focused on some business goals, and all our $$ was going to that. Therefore, my ring was pretty.. conservative. Don't get me wrong, I still think it was beautiful, and I still loved it. Z had always told me that he wanted to upgrade it for me though, I just never thought it would be this soon. It's a beautiful 3-stone setting.. I attempted to take a picture of it, but I need to try again when it's not dark outside. It's quite a bit more to look at when I'm doing things, and I find myself just staring at it sparkle a lot. Ultimately though, I think it's big for Z. I think it's his way of telling me I'm worth it. That no business amibitions or anything come before each other anymore. Once you're engaged, and then married, the "can I see your ring"? questions never stop. He told me he feels much more proud showing people the ring he gave me now. Proud, in a good way (this is in no way an ego-thing for either of us- we're just not that type).

It was so great being back with family this year. I truly count it a blessing to be here. Oh, and did I mention we have 2 FEET of snow? Ridiculous! But, it'll make the skiing and snow-sledding much more enjoyable! Z got outfitted with a new snowboard, boots, bindings, goggles, season pass to the mountain in our backyard, and new boarding pants and coat. Let's just say.. no one in our families had to think too hard about what to get him this year. He plans on heading out to try everything out on Sunday.

Right now we're watching the old classic, White Christmas. It's kind of a tradition with Z's family, so we're adopting it. :) Any of you have a Christmas movie you watch every year?

Thanks for letting me share a little of our Christmas with you! I'll be posting about some of my fave gifts on Project Pretty this weekend, so pop over there if you're interested!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope you all are enjoying a wonderful holiday with your families today! We all ate a ton of food, and there's a major Wii tournament going on right now.

I'm still trying to decide if I'll brave the black Friday shoppers tomorrow. My gift certificate to the mall is making me think it could be worth it.. :)

In other news, Z and I will be celebrating our first anniversary on Sunday. We're taking off for the weekend to a sweet little bed and breakfast on the coast of Maine. Sooo looking forward to it!


This is also post number 200 for Wedded Whims, and just the other day we celebrated 100 posts over at Project Pretty. Swing by if you want to get in on the giveaway action! I'm so happy to have met all of you through blogging. Thanks for all your encouragement and support!

Stress

Readers, thanks for sticking with me. I have been physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted lately. When I took this new job, I had no idea it would be the way it is. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely a blessing. And I do believe it's where God wants me right now. But, it's been very, very stressful.

If I didn't tell you before, I'm the financial coordinator for an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. We do everything from wisdom teeth extractions to botox and face lifts. I'm pretty sure I'm the only Christian working there, so that makes it a little tough. The language is pretty rough. Okay, really rough. The pressure is on me pretty thick to be bringing in $$$. So, on weeks where the numbers are low, the stress really gets to me.

I've been pulling a lot of 10 hour days, going home with little to no energy. I've been dreaming about balancing accounts and fighting insurance companies almost every night. It's not a job I can leave my office and forget about. I'm constantly trying to think about ways I can bring my AR numbers down or prove my work ethic more.

I'm also having issues with stress-eating. I constantly get the urge to munch. I have pretty much been inhaling life savers. Thankfully, my thighs aren't showing the results of that too much yet. I'm trying to stock my desk with clementines, apples, and bananas instead. So far, that has helped. Next week I'm going on a sugar-candy fast. After my mom's lecture about how excess sugar weakens the immune system (yes, she's an RN), I've decided to cut down. H1N1 is EVERYWHERE now. 12 % of the local high school was out sick a couple weeks ago. I'm just grateful to be healthy right now.

Anyway.. that would be the reason for my lack of posting. I've just been feeling drained, consumed with work. And since I don't want to bore you everyday with my rambling about numbers, I haven't been posting. I sure would appreciate your prayers. I know it'll get better eventually. It has already started to. My numbers last week were much, much better. God is giving me patience and strength and is starting to reward all my hard work. Despite the circumstances, He is faithful!

I think I'm starting to get used to it, and I'm sure I'll get into a routine that works for me soon. I've missed you all like crazy!! I've been keeping up with your blogs, and even when I don't have time to comment, know that my prayers are with you guys! :)

And, just to make this not a totally pictureless post, here are a few from a recent family hike:

{gorgeous, eh? :)}

{haha, it's hunting season..}

{my goofball sister..}

{the whole fam}

3 Blind Mice

Last Saturday night my sisters wanted to dress up for Halloween. Personally, I'm not into Halloween at all.. but I'm always up for dressing up & having fun. So.. long story short- their friend who was going to dress up with them bailed and they needed another "mouse" to complete the group costume. Z and I were planning on going on a date that night, but he decided he'd take all 3 sisters out instead. So.. being the good sport that I am (wink..) I not only made the "ear hats" and tails, but wore them too.

{can you tell which one's which?? ..yeah, if it weren't for my more *ahem* mature features, no one could've either}

{caught mid-hip swing.. lol check out that tail!}

{getting a little cozy with the hubby.. (no, he didn't dress up)}

{gangster mice}

{walking into street lamps.. cause we're blind, of course}

{so glad to be back together again!}

Happy Birthday to Us!

Today is a special day for my mom and I- we share a birthday! Unfortunately, we both work all day.. but we're looking forward to celebrating together sometime soon.



And.. while I was too busy to blog a couple days ago.. my dad had his birthday. Yep, all 3 of us within 4 days of each other. :) So, happy birthday to you to, dad!! :)

A Pretty Night Out

Z and I spent Friday night hanging out with his grandparents. They're so fun, and we love doing things with them. They decided to drive our way, so we thought we'd show them a little bit of downtown. Care to take the tour yourself??


We ate at one of my personal faves- the Coldwater Cafe. The history of this place is just so neat. It was previously a bank, and has kept a lot of the original architectural features. There are private dining rooms in old offices, and even a dining room in the old vault.. which is where we decided to eat.


I have to hand it to whomever designed this place- it's beautiful! This was a hutch/wall display had the prettiest stoneware & china! (Sorry for the fuzziness!)


Although I'm not in love with the wallpaper, the bathrooms are beautiful as well, complete with REAL towels to wipe your hands, and a little settee.



Even the toilet paper is arranged all pretty!



On Friday and Saturday nights there is live music played in the lobby/bar area. (fuzzy again)



Some of the decor:



Perhaps my favorite part of the entire cafe is the entry, with this gorgeous old safety box display.


After dinner we took a stroll around town. There was a jazz concert taking place on a blocked-off street. I loovee jazz so we stopped and listened for a bit.


Free carriage rides were offered for kids.




There are some beautiful looking antique stores.. too bad they're only open til 5!!



I just loved the window displays in these stores, so I snapped some pictures! Too bad you can't really see them! Forgive my amateur skills!




This woman was doing watercolors of the town on the sidewalk.


Such talent!!


It was a great night! We just love our little town. If only we were looking at buying a house here.. but unfortunately, real estate prices are sky-high. Not exactly a newlywed's scene.

Here's the final group shot we snapped before heading home:

My Husband, the Superhero

This post is dedicated to the brave antics of the boy I married.

Preface:
[We were on vacation in Maine. There are lots of bugs in Maine. Bats like bugs.]

It was a beautiful evening. Our last night of vacation seemed like the perfect time for the family to head out and have a camp fire. And camp fire we did! We were roasting our marshmallows to perfection & chowing down on s'mores.. when those nasty black creatures that live in the dark started swooping down at us.

Timeout:
[Quick story: My mom's an E.R. nurse. She once told us a story about a girl sleeping in an old house. The girl had big black curly hair. While she was sleeping a bat got in the room and when swooping down, it got caught in her hair. In it's struggle to get away, it bit her. Long story short, they killed the bat, and brought the girl to the ER with the bat still in her hair.]

So.. having heard this story, my sisters and I (whom all have crazy curly hair) put our hoods up & covered with blankets. No nasty bat was getting in our hair. But still.. a little freaky that they were around, right?

So back to the bugs. They were out that night, and biting! And I had capris on. So I went back into the cottage to get some wind pants. I had forgotten that the front screen door had been sticking. So I came back out of the bedroom with my pants half up (you do it too..) only to see a dark shadow fly across the room. "B-- BBbbaa-- Bbbaatttt!!", I screamed as I ran out the side door.

That, of course sent my sisters into a tizzy and we huddled together as Z, my dad, and M (sister's boyfriend) looked in the windows to locate the devil.

Well, the boys put on hats, grabbed our badminton rackets, and headed inside to rescue us. Because you know we weren't setting foot in there til he was out!

After many valiant attempts at wacking him, the boys remained victory-less. So they tried to phsyc him out. They shut the lights off and went outside. Z stayed inside with the laptop to work on his sermon.

Finally, M went back inside and turned the lights on. They both spotted the bat at the same time and went into stealth-mode. The cottage has a loft on one side and catedral ceilings on the other. Z climbed up into the loft to get a little height advantage, and advantage it was.

During one swoop across the room, Z took a wide, hard swing and wacked that nasty creature straight up against the kitchen wall (our guess is he was traveling at least 40 mph). It then flopped down into the kitchen sink where M trapped it with his racket. My dad then ran inside and drowned the thing in the sink.

Us girls were just now starting to creep toward the door. Imagine our relief when we saw my dad emerge from the kitchen with two plastic cups held together, telling us the devil was dead! He carried it out to the fire in the cups and tossed all 3 in (sorry, environment! lol). If you've never seen burning bat.. it's nasty.

I proclaimed my love for my bat-killer over and over agin that night. Ahh.. my hero. :)

We later slept soundly knowing our abode was bat-free. AND, we made sure that darn screen door got shut just as soon as anyone walked through the door.

We now joke that we baptized and cremated that animal all in the same night.

Oh, the memories....

Weekend Part 2

The riverboat cruise was so neat!! I'd definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a fun outing- it'd be great for birthdays, anniversaries, bach parties, etc.

Here's some photos from our trip:

The boarding location was across the river in Newport, KY:
Z & his grandma & grandpa walking to the dock:
Our boat:
With Cincy & the Reds' stadium in the background:
Z & grandpa on the upper deck:
Neat condos on the riverfront:
Self-Portrait (eek..):
Can you imagine living up there??
Neat bridge shot:
Darn flash made the background disappear..
Newport:
It was a great night! During & after dinner, they had a jazz/swing band playing live music, so we requested In The Mood by Glen Miller. [Quick C&Z trivia fact: We took lessons and did a swing dance to that song for our first dance.] Then my husband dragged me onto the dance floor (what?!? Z WANTING to dance???) & made me do the same dance we did for our first one. We got a little applause after.. read: embarrassed C!!

It was great being able to spend some time with the grandparents & try something new. We're definitely planning on doing it again!