Playdough

A tribute to my husband...

FUNNY FACES

10 Things I Love

(In no particular order...)

1. The smell of Payless Shoe Stores and Subway
2. Gerbera Daisies
3. San Diego
4. Latino culture and Spanish
5. Reading in a coffee shop
6. A particular handsome soccer coach and cute pup
7. The smell of a live Christmas tree
8. Movies
9. Chocolate covered strawberries
10. Big cities and lights

And that's just the start...

Sit, Shake & Lay

Guess who's learning some pretty sweet tricks at ten weeks old...you're going to love it!

Starring: Lexi Benware

Hardwork

"When you discipline yourself to do what is hard, you gain access to a realm of results that are denied everyone else. The willingness to do what is difficult is like having a key to a special private treasure room." Steve Pavlina

I presented a devotional on hardwork to a few different groups of girls this past week, the RAs (Resident's Assitants) and the OWU Women's Basketball Team. The quote above continues to stand out in my mind.

Steve Pavlina goes on to say that "hardwork" is universal in any industry. Whether or not we are christians, there is a gift in hardwork. Yet, as christians, should we not want to strive for a life above reproach all the more? God challenges us to work hard and put forth our best effort many times in His Word.

I do not know Pavlina's belief system, although his focus seemed more directed toward worldly success. All I can say is how sad that often the world, possibly a man who creates PC games, understands the blessing of hardwork better than I do, a follower of Christ.

Lexi's Firsts

Playing With the Big Dogs

Lexi

Introducing the newest member of our family, Lexi. Lexi is an eight and a half week old chocolate lab that we have grown too attached to in the span of a day.

Here's a quick synopsis of the last 24 hours. We picked her up out of town yesterday evening. Last night was a little rough with the puppy yelps, knowing we live in a dorm and noise could affects the girls. Thankfully, we are blessed to know a kind couple in our circle of friends that have taken her for a few nights until she kicks the late nights goodbye. We already miss her though she has only been gone for an hour. So this is Lexi, our new baby.

Christmas Update

This Christmas alone we spent time in Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Indiana. The travels never ended; after Colorado, we went to visit Brenton's oldest sister Genevieve in New Mexico. Genevieve is a classy lady, that I greatly admire, one with a beautiful family and a good husband. The Jaegar's home was tastefully decorated with Christmas decor and accented with a light snow that fell the day we visited. We left New Mexico thankful to being alive after passing an 80 car pile-up, due to white out conditions.




Our next stop was with Brenton's parents and other two sisters. Brenton has a wonderful family, and I would never feel obligated to say so. His sisters are all so delightful (Claudia always so full of life and Liv so personable) and have married wonderful men. Brenton and I had a wonderful time playing with all our neices, nephews, siblings, parents, and in-laws. That's right, we didn't leave all the fun to the kids. We pulled out a load of games.




We flew from Texas to Indiana to visit the Dongell family, one I miss dearly. I now have 1,000 pictures of Jaylon, only exaggerated a small bit, and many wonderful memories. We leisurely slept in every morning, ate and hung out and that would about call it a day in IN. We spend time with the newly famous Brandon Bruce who was an extra in "National Treasure 2" and visited the family center being built at the church my father pastors.





After visiting my side of the family, we traveled back to the Benware's for more fun times before stopping New Year's Eve in Bricktown, OK. We were anxious to enjoy downtown and the picturesque canals, but the brisk weather didn't allow for much of that.

Christmas was a whirlwind to say the least. It was a blessing to see everyone and it is a blessing to be back to the norm.

We love all of you.