The Unexpected Non-Visitor

A friend of mine has a quote on her Facebook profile that goes:

Trust in God, but tie your camel.

Last night, that quote bounced around in my head as I laid fearfully wide awake in bed. It was 3:30am and I was enjoying a nice dream about a mean cheerleader who was knocking over my neatly stacked drinking glasses as I kicked her out of my party. Then I heard 3 loud buzzes. Wait! I knew those buzzes! Groggily I turned in bed and shook Jon. "Jon, wake up. Our buzzy thing is buzzing!" That was sleepy-talk for "Our buzzy thing is buzzing." (you know...the buzzy thing that tells you when someone is at the door and wants to be "buzzed" in!) Jon stumbled toward the door (anyone who has ever woken Jon from a sound sleep knows that he does not WALK he STUMBLES around) and spoke into the mic, "Hullo...?"
No answer. He stumbled back to bed.
"Probably just a homeless person or a drunk," he assumed.
"Is the door locked?" I asked.
Jon got back up and stumbled toward the door again, this time staring long and hard at the unlocked door before sliding the dead-bolt in place. "Why is the door unlocked?" he called into the bedroom.
"Because every time we come home we're carrying 17 million things with Abi." I replied.
"Maybe someone was going around checking the doors and found ours was unlocked and so they buzzed us to wake us up."
He came back to bed and we both laid there for a good 10 minutes. I could tell he wasn't sleeping because I couldn't hear him quasi-snoring. I knew his mind was racing just as fast as mine was. Who would buzz our door at 3:30 in the morning? Was someone really checking our door? And if so, how creepy is that?! How are we to know if they didn't actually come into our apartment?? I had heard of people whose houses were robbed say that it was an eerie feeling knowing that someone had been in their home. I suddenly knew how they felt, only 10x worse. What if someone had been in my home WHILE I WAS IN IT SLEEPING? Suddenly our charming little neighborhood was a sinister extension of the inner city and our building full of little old ladies was full of crazy ex-cons. I got up from bed and peeked into Abi's crib. She was sleeping soundly. I crawled back to bed and Jon whispered he had been thinking the same thing.
"Would you feel better if you checked out the apartment?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Then go do it."
Jon got up and stealthily maneuvered around the apartment. (Notice, he was no longer STUMBLING.) A series of lights went on and off, and he returned without a robber in a neckhold. Now we knew there was nothing to fear. No one was in the apartment, nothing had been taken, we were safe. But there was still this creepy crawly feeling hanging over us, and we knew what we needed to do. We prayed and thanked God for His protection and asked for His peace. We prayed against any spirits of fear or violence that were in our room, and we prayed that they would not torment Abi's dreams. We know that God does not want us to live in fear, but to live with a sound mind.

Were we being paranoid? Shouldn't we be trusting God to protect us? Do I believe God can protect us? Absolutely! But why tempt disaster? As I previously stated, "Trust in God, but tie your camel." Or maybe I should say, "Trust in God, but lock your doors."

Wook at dat Wittle Face!!!

I just thought everyone needed the opportunity to fall in love with this face. Look at this picture and tell me you are not overcome with a desire to kiss that face a hundred times!!!

An Ode to the Apostrophes Abuse

Im saddened when people use the wrong punctuation mark's in their sentences'. I have seen an alarming amount of apostrophe's being used in the wrong place's. Likewise, some people forget to use the apostrophe altogether and put a nothing in the apostrophes place. The apostrophe has' several purpose's and plurazing a noun is not one of them. Thats the truth! It seem's too many high school's are forgetting how to teach grammar properly. Its a horrible fact that a student who pass's high school English still can not master the many beautiful function's of the apostrophes repitoire. Conjunctions', the deletion of letters, and possession are the grand use's for the apostrophe. If there is a question in your mind about whether or not to use an apostrophe, ask yourself these three question's, "Does something belong to the noun I just apostrophized?" "Is there suppos'ed to be a letter where the apostrophe lie's?" "Does the word I apostrophized contain two words' that still make sense in the sentence if I separate them?" If the answer is "no" to all these questions' then remove the apostrophe or apos'trophe's. If you have a plural noun that pos'sess's something, then add an apostrophe to the end of the word. Good punctuation bless's reader's many times' over. Too many apos'trophe's confu'ses' the readers minds'. Its a shame that peoples writing misu'se's one little mark so badly. Bles'sing's to the soul's who's pen master's it's master.

Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone??

Billboards like this have been popping up all over the U.S. put up by the United States Army. Their purpose is to recruit Arabic-speaking Americans to be translators in the Arab world, specifically Iraq. I saw a story on this on the news last night. Since my husband is an ex-Marine, a linguistic major, and a student of Arabic, I found the topic intriguing! So I watched the story. They interviewed the average "Joe-on-the-street" about their reaction to these signs. Now, I admit I was taken by surprise a little by the army's in-your-face tactics for this recruiting, since most Americans think of the Arab/Army relationship negatively. I expected these interviews to either reveal a populus of Arab-phobes or vice-versa people preaching tolerance and not really tackling the topic accurately. What resulted was a surprise to me! What resulted was absoulte IGNORANCE! One lady said, "I can't even read that! Who are they trying to reach?" That roused a chuckle out of me. Oh you simpleton. Go on to the next interviewee... Little did I know the next guy was going to be even worse! "What is that up there?" He says. "Is that Hebrew? Latin? I can't read it."

Latin? LATIN?!?!
Does that man even KNOW where his English alphabet even COMES FROM??? I was incredulous.

Please, someone tell me that there are intelligent people in America and that intelligent conversations still exist. I don't care if the billboard bothers you, just tell me that you recognized the language!!! In a country that's absorbed with a war in the Middle East and images from Iraq are plastered everywhere, how could one NOT recognize this language? Maybe I'm too quick to judge, but with the whole "Miss South Carolina" thing so fresh in my memory, I am quickly losing faith in the intelligence of our nation!

For the scoop on the Miss South Carolina thing...gah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

A very purple autumn

I am DEFINITELY ready to move out of summer. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as miserable as I remember, but I was pregnant and VERY pregnant through the hottest parts. Yes, there is a difference between pregnant and VERY pregnant! It happens sometime after stretch marks and before swollen ankles. I'm not a big fan of summer anyway. It's my 3rd favorite season after autumn and winter (Minnesota springs don't even place. There are only 3 Minnesota seasons worth mentioning.) So now, with much pomp and circumstance, DUH-DUH-DUH!!! Fall has arrived! And what helps welcome in the autumn more than the football season opener?! Oh bliss - potato chips, taco dip, and pizza rolls! Oh joy - bobbled punt returns, game-winning field goals, and 60-yard touchdown passes! So of course, Jon, Abigail, and I dressed in our family uniforms and high-tailed it out of church to attempt to make the Viking kick-off against the Michael Vick tarnished Falcons.

We watched the game with our dear friends the Charlebois' on HDTV. Abigail went on her first social outing, visiting her little friend Israel. We got some really cute pictures of the two of them in their Viking gear being little fans! Abi definitely "cheered" her lungs out throughout the course of the afternoon ;) We look forward to a great season and as always, we hold out crazy hope for the playoffs!!

A Tribute to My Love

I was going through some of my old blog postings from Xanga and I came across this post about Jon while he was in Iraq. I've decided to repost it in honor of him being a wondeful father, an amazing husband, and the manliest man I know :) Here's to MY HERO, the love of my life!! You're my best friend and I will always, always believe in you!!

November 6, 2005

Song stuck in my head…Holding out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler. Most people probably remember this song from the memorable, heart-racing, action-packed “Storming the Castle” scene from Shrek 2. Others recall the 80s pop sensation Bonnie Tyler. Me, I think of a Stetson’s cologne commercial back when I was 8 or 10. I remember hearing this song and having this image burned into my heart of what a real man looks like. It was more than just the open shirt with the broad chest and blazing eyes and the sexy five-o’clock shadow peppering a chiseled jawline (although…oh la la). It was the actions of these men. The cowboy (probably wearing a Stetson cowboy hat) heaving bails of hay off a trailer under the unrelenting sun, the lawyer with gleaming eyes attacking the courtroom, a man in tattered denim (it was the early 90s remember) standing by a motorcycle with the woman wrapped in his arms, and might I add a man in uniform standing in honor and unflinching duty, clutching his rifle. They’re living with PASSION! A man WORKS, he PROVIDES, he PROTECTS, and he’s supposed to be DANGEROUS!
The song starts out with, “Where have all the good men gone?” Where indeed are all the real men? Yet, as I search, I’m finding more and more rising out of the ashes like a phoenix, eyes flashing and ready for a fight. I’m finding more men of faith who are busting out of their grandmother’s religion to find Truth at its source, to seek out Jesus the Christ with all of their hearts! These are men who will fight for the Kingdom of God; they’ll fight for the nations, for the tearing down of strongholds, for salvation among the lost, for the restoration of broken souls. And they will be VICTORIOUS! Women are hungry for these kind of men! We are hungry for men who mimic the attitude and the spirit of Jesus, our hero! Because we need a hero! And we’re willing to wait until the morning light! “He’s gotta be strong, he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight!!” This is a dedication to THOSE men, specifically to MY man, who is a phoenix and a warrior, he is a hero to this maiden.

Jon being promoted to Corporal

Abi the Wonderful

I have decided I am going to be a spoiled mama with this little baby!!! God has given me a baby that doesn't cry...yet. Oh sure she cries when she takes a bath and she's all cold. And she cries when something is wrong: "I'm too hot!" "I'm too cold!" "I'm hungry!" "I'm wet!" "I have a poopy diaper!" "I have gas!" But as soon as you rectify the situation, she stops crying. Immediately. For example: We're in the basement organizing our storage locker and Abigail is in her car seat sleeping soundly with a blanket on her. Well, it was rather stuffy down there and about 30 minutes into our cleaning, she starts fussing and wailing. I look at her and she's red and just looks hot. So I took the blanket off her and she stopped wailing, mid-wail, and continued sleeping. And it's not really crying either! It's more like a loud fussing. Now this could all be due to the fact that she's only a week old and hasn't truly found her lung power yet. Or it could be that God has given us the best baby to learn how to be parents!!

More about Abi!! She was born with lots of hair, not as much as mommy when she was born, but a fair amount! She also has mom's "chipmunk cheeks" which are these little fat pouches up by her eyes, in addition to her big fat cheeks! Other traits in common with me are her hairline that touches her eyebrows, her forehead, her long fingers, her monkey toes, her complexion, and her pug nose :) Traits she gets from dad are her little ears and perhaps her mouth. We are still hoping she has Jon's eyes. It's kind of hard to tell at this point - they're always closed! She definitely has Jon's expressions! It's cute to watch her make the same faces he does when he stretches in the morning :) And they're both just as difficult to wake from a sound sleep.

Would you like to hear a funny story?
Jon (to Abigail): "Are you daddy's little girl?"
Abigail: **toot**
Jon: "Yes you are!!!"

And as dreamy as Abi is, she has "baptized" the dresser at the end of the changing table with carefully aimed projectile poo. I couldn't stop laughing!!! She is just the delight of our hearts!!! Life will never be the same, but I don't think we would want it to be.