ode to the vaio

my computer has passed away. i am proud to say that it was the laptop that my parents gave me upon graduating from college. after 7 years together vaio started groaning and moving in an extremely slow manner. russ and i have laughed at ourselves and been made fun of for our "old" vaio. but we enjoyed our years together. granted it was the heaviest, widest laptop ever... probably one of the first ones made, but it was good and faithful to me. we have been through a lot together. all my friends wedding and baby showers...my wedding and baby showers. all my different teaching jobs, etc. there is a glimpse of enjoyment in the vaio passing....you get a new computer. we have order a refurbished apple computer. (sadly this means no pictures of josie today)

the good thing about russ' job is that we hang out with Tech students. who by the way know the most about computers ever. therefore they were also the ones who made fun of the dear old vaio but were also excited to instruct us on what to get. which brings me to a topic i have been wanting to discuss.... MAVENS

i love having mavens. a maven is (this is my definition) a person who is an expert in an area in which i am not, therefore i call upon them for help. for example, upon registering at babies r us... i called upon jill waterworth (mom extraordinaire) to help me register well. example #2, in the many renovations of our 90 year old house, we have called upon jill collsson (renovator and decorator extraordinaire). example #3 in thinking about a new spiritual book to read that is worth my while, russ is the reader extraordinaire. example #4 my nana, gardener extraordinaire. example #5 my mother-in-law, mary, children's book maven.

sadly, i don't think i am a maven to anyone. are you a maven? do people call you a lot to discuss one particular subject. i wanna know!
who is one of your favorite mavens??

my birfday and josie news

i had a great birthday! i enjoyed all the sweet conversations and voicemails throughout the day. since i am a words of affirmation girl it was a major highlight to hear from my sweet friends.

katie and bella took me and josie out to lunch to chick-fil-a. we had lots of fun, of course.

the big girls...
katie and bella... yeah!
josie and i. in the josie news... she is very big into the scrunching of the nose. she thinks this is being silly. which it is. and i am afraid i taught it to her... not really on purpose. but it is pretty darn cute.

russ lined up dinner and babysitting. we ate at two urban licks and then visited my favorite coffee spot. meredith and christi were sweet to babysit.
this picture represents perfectly how josie feels when meredith and christi are over.
ps...yes i have funky hair. it was cut a little more funky than i am used to but it is beginning to grow on me. and grow out... yippee.

is it sad?

Is it sad that you look forward to going to the grocery store? I do. I did. Yesterday, Josie was super sick so I was in the house all day with this beautiful weather.

However, I must admit I really enjoyed the cuddling and falling asleep so easily on my lap. Honestly, probably worth it for that. Miss Independent isn't too fond of cuddling when she is well. (I have no idea who she got that from.?)

I took Thomas to doggie group, thanks to my sweet husband. While I was there I had the discussion with another dog owner who said that he too looks forward to going to the grocery store because he works from home. This made me feel good, I am not the only one. That is right... I work from home too.

I have always been the type to look forward to small things. I love it. It keeps me happy, grateful and content.... Here is a list of the small things I look forward to these days.

1. buying a coffee
2. chick-fil-a
3. conversation on the phone
4. being by myself
5. a quiet house

What small thing do you look forward to?

my grandaddy

This is a picture taken at my Nana and Grandaddy's house. Notice the nice spread on the buffet!
I posted this so that you could be excited and rejoice with me. My Grandaddy gave his life to the Lord this week. Mom led him to the Lord at their house. He is a gardener so this verse kept running through my mind. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Matthew 9:37
He has "not been ready" for a long time. I am so glad mom saw that his heart was ripe for the harvest. When mom asked him if he thought he wanted to accept Christ as his Savior for his sins he stated... "yes, yes, I do." Salvation is refreshment for my soul.

bessst fwends

currently these are Josie's best friends. meredith and christi. the truth is they are my great friends. i had no idea what all the Lord had in store in becoming a mom. upon the many blessings, was these two sweet girls.
it is awesome to be friends with college girls when you are on a mommy schedule.
reasons to follow:
the are super flexible therefore you don't feel bad for being late...they are.
or canceling...they sometimes do.
or for crying...or for wanting to laugh about nothing... or for celebrating the little things.

these two girls have kept me sane and young and myself the last 8 months. i thought they deserved some props.

fwends :)