Have I mentioned...

how much I love having cousins nearby? It is so much fun. These girlies love each other a ton. Lately our trips to the park are a blast!

I can't wait for warmer weather.

The fun will never end.

Breakfast...the best meal of the day

Ever since we were married we have pretty much worked evening schedules. This allowed us to accommodate seminary life, and since Rob still has the same job we are still at it. Because of this schedule, we pretty much never eat dinner together. I think our only dinner nights are Saturdays and Sundays. Well, what do you do when you cannot have dinner as a family? You make a big deal out of breakfast. And really, is there a better meal in the day? It has been fun to experiment with a lot of breakfast ideas over the years. We almost always cook this meal together which is even more fun. Our latest new dish to try together was this quiche. We found both recipes on allrecipes.com (my all-time favorite recipe spot). It was soooooo good. I especially recommend the crust which consisted of flour, canola oil, and ice water. Who knew?

So, any other big breakfast fans out there?

And where is Brynnie?

Of course, in her reading corner. This sight has become very familiar in the last few days. I am not sure what made Brynne so excited about reading "on her own" lately. When I get her up in the morning she will immediately start saying "chair" which means please put me in my reading chair. Off and on throughout the day she will ask to go back to her room and get in her chair to read. As you can see, her constant companion is "Bear". The only part that makes me sad is that when I try to pick her up and read to her she gets a little perturbed. However, I am not giving up my reading rights yet! We will just have to take turns. Wow do I love this little girl!

Reflections

...on my identity - this year I was sweetly reminded of the wonderful blessings I have in Christ and the Gospel. I have been learning to apply all aspects of my identity in Christ to every area of life. I feel like God gave me new joy in my salvation this year in a way that has not happened in a long time. This has been a wonderful blessing from the Spirit, and I pray it continues on into 2011.

...on being a wife - in 2011 Rob and I will have known each other for a whole decade! I cannot put into words the joy I feel at being married to such a wonderful man. I am constantly reminded that God rejoices to give us good gifts when I think of Rob and our relationship.

...on being a mom - it was incredibly fun to experience 6 to 18 months with Brynne this last year. It feels like we blinked, and the time was gone. These months have been full of change for her. Sometimes it seems she changes and grows every day. There are many challenges to parenting, but I cannot get over the blessings of being a mom to Brynnie.

...on my local body - we were able to be part of some very exciting things at Cornerstone this year. Our community group met this fall and put some goals in place. We talked a lot about how the gospel applies to our lives and should be impacting those around us. We were able to have multiple block parties and reach out into our communities as a group. I'm really praying that the Lord expands our ministry together this year.

...on our future - we continue to ask God for direction as we look to a new year. Our house is on the market. We have had one serious buyer look, but he has not contacted us again since then. We would still like to go to Tacoma, WA, but are willing to go anywhere the Lord directs. I'm thankful for the lessons God teaches us through waiting.

...on having a book list - this year was the first time I worked on reading through a list of books. I had about 15 and made it through about 11 (a few were replaced with something else I picked up during the year). Even though I did not get through as many as I would have liked, what was great about having a list was that I always had something in mind to get going on. It really helped me to be more focused with my reading. I would definitely like to do this again.

...on reading my Bible - that sounds weird, but it was parallel so I had to do it :) - I posted earlier in the year on how much I enjoyed the NLT chronological Bible this last year. It was so enjoyable to read events in order and really helped me to see the overall flow of scripture better. For Christmas this year, Rob bought me the TNIV Books of the Bible. If you have not heard of it, it is amazing! It is written without any chapter or verse markings and laid out more like a normal book. They have a number of reading plans to help you go through scripture in a very purposeful way. Books that were originally written together (ie Luke and Acts) are put back together etc. I just started their 60 day reading plan called the Drama of Scripture. It has been awesome so far.

These were a few reflections I had as I thought about heading into a new year. Sometimes I feel a little depressed when a new year rolls around...I think for a number of reasons. But this year I actually feel so much joy. I'm so thankful for what God has been doing and look forward to whatever He will bring this year. I pray the same is true for you.

Are you serious???

I could not believe my eyes tonight when I was standing in the checkout line at Walmart. I had to run out for a few groceries and definitely picked the wrong line. There were two ladies in front of me with three carts full of groceries and a baby. The one standing directly in front of me opened a package of three baby bottles, grabbed a 20 oz of sweet tea and then dumped half into one of the baby bottles. She handed the bottle with the tea to the baby to help her stop crying (pretty bad in and of itself but not the worst). I then watched as she ditched the half-used bottle of tea on one shelf. Then she dropped the other two baby bottles on another shelf. She was piling her other items on the conveyer belt so I was pretty sure I knew what she was trying to do. I was so mad I just said "you can't leave that on the shelf". She turned to look at me and said "oh yeah, I was going to buy it". Right...

Walmart, you owe me :)