"The Little Things"

The whole family together for Christmas:



A song that I wrote for Nana several years ago:

"The Little Things"

You knew, everything, we thought
The Lord says be kind to all
Honesty it what you always taught
Family is what we are and what we’ll always be.

It’s the little things you said
That taught me you were wise
It’s the little things you said
That showed me your love
It’s the little things you said
That echo in my heart
It’s the little things you said
That turned my eyes towards Christ

I still remember the words
that flowed from your lips
Of how others would feel,
if they were put down,
“Someday you’ll all be sorry,
that you picked on me.”

Papa loved you, loves you today
Eternity will be blessed by you
The Lord will say, welcome home
Well done, my servant, my child
Run to me, my strength is now yours

Thank you, for loving little me
Thank you, for all of your wisdom
You know everything, proved true!

Thank you, I love you, my Nana

In loving memory of Eleanor (Ellie) Quelette
(December 13th, 1918 - May 3rd, 2009)

Jen's Psalm

Write a Psalm that retells the story of your life from the perspective of God's faithfulness to you:

In my earliest of life's memories
I was never alone or without
You supplied all of my needs
Leaving little room for doubt

As a growing child of wonder
You revealed the depths of Your love
Your forgiveness and grace are eternal
As well as my home up above

You strengthened my child-like faith
And showed me the path of Your ways
Baptizing me in Your Spirit and Truth
To follow You all of my days

As a young adult I stood for you
Proclaiming Your name to the lost
Your sacrifice pierced my soul
As I studied the wondrous cross

You blessed me with a loving husband
And soon a child to cherish
I have experienced true faithfulness
By a Lord that will never perish

Amen

Marriage Survey

I posted this on Facebook, so I thought it might be a fun way to bring my blog out of the dust!

1. When was your "engagement" anniversary: August 28, 2004

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: April 23, 2005

3. How long have you known your spouse: 8.5 years... since September 2, 2000

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: We dated just about 4 years before we he surprised me with an, "I love you" followed by a, "Will You Marry Me?" and a RING!

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time: Campus Crusade for Christ at Ohio University. Specifically, Morton Hall :)

6. Do you have any children yet: No

7. How many: 0

8. Do you have any house pets: Yes, our Chihuahua, Piper!

9. Do you own a house or rent: Own a house

10. What is one of your favorite activities together: Anything! Dinner out, movies (out or in), shopping, being at home, hanging with family/friends/lifegroup, going to church, playing with Piper, rollerskatin', dancing at weddings, coffee shops, bookstores, taking trips... to name a few :)

11. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: Yes, 2! #1: Hawaii since it brings back wonderful honeymoon memories :) #2: San Diego, CA! We called it our 'honeymoon part two' (2 years later) and had SUCH a blast.

12. How many siblings (including in-laws): We each have 1 sister who is married which makes 2 siblings and 2 brother in-laws all together.

13. What church do you attend: Heritage Christian Church

14. Is this the church you were married: Yes, by Pastor Jim! Just weeks before major construction... the nursery room I got ready in is now a hallway...

15. How did you know that your spouse was "The One?": I'm not good at short answers! Well, we had quite a journey throughout our dating relationship during which the Lord taught us SO much about true love, His love. We kept trying to break up and God would bring us back together :) We are so similar yet so different which creates an amazing balance & connection. I liked him right away for how much we had in common yet equally for how many qualities he had that I lacked. Tony is the most amazing person I have ever met, and I knew early on that I wanted to spend forever by his side!

16. Where do you and your spouse work: He works for a small company, and I work for a very large company. Is that too breezy?

17. Where did you honeymoon: Oahu, Hawaii

18. Leave some of your favorite marriage advice: Uh oh, another hard one to shrink...

Love is a DECISION, not a feeling... CHOOSE to love one another every day. Be best friends and talk about everything. Honesty and communication are key! Keep Jesus Christ the center of your marriage and the focus of your life. Remain girlfriend and boyfriend forever! (Date nights are key.) Do these together: Attend church, pray, read the Bible and other books, go to counseling, play games, laugh, cry, travel, stay in, cook, clean, paint, and so much more... you get the idea :) Challenge your spouse yet encourage them even more. Speak highly of each other to those around you... a husband/wife is such a blessing to have! And or course, display ALL 5 Love Languages! (Read the book too.) Be quick to forgive... you aren't perfect either! Ok, I'll stop there :) But seriously, let me know if you want more... I kinda LOVE marriage!

"To Worship You, I Live"

away, away from the noise
alone with You
away, away to hear Your voice
and meet with You
nothing else matters, my one desire is

to worship You, I live
to worship You, I live, I live to worship You
to worship You, I live
to worship You, I live, I live to worship You

away away, away away from the noise alone with You
away away, to hear Your voice and meet with You
it's been a while but hear my heart cry again

to worship You, I live, I live to worship You
to worship You, I live
to worship You, I live, I live to worship You
to worship You, I live
to worship You, I live, I live to worship You

~Israel

Thanks, Patch

On a random summer day during my high school years, I woke up one sunny morning around 11am as usual. The three sisters were all in one room: Jess, Jen and Patch, yep, the dog. Patch was definitely an inside dog, but was fond of her summer evenings stretched out in the backyard. The night before had been nothin' out of the ordinary - no lake trips, forest visits, or mingling with other animals. Or so we thought...

After realizing that it was much closer to pizza roll time than cereal time, I stumbled into the bathroom to tend to my face, teeth, and hair. Before my eyes had fully adjusted to the light, I felt something "funny" on my back. I reached back, expecting to simply scratch the area to relieve the sensation. Much to my surprise, I felt an actual "something!" Ew! What the? Did this come from innocent little Patch?! From my own backyard?! My natural instinct immediately kicked in, turning my fingers into a very tense, awkward, flicking motion to rid whatever was "hanging-out" on my skin. The full blown panick attack set in when I realized that my flicking was not even phasing this tiny creature on my spine. "Jeeeeeess!" I screamed in need of help. "Loooooook!" (yes, all my words were very loud and drawn out.) To sum up this part of the story: My sister and I had both learned that there was a very "sucky" tick on my back, and we were both violently afraid of unidentified, sucking creatures... namely, ticks.

We did what any other almost-adult-teenagers would do: Called our mom at work in complete hysterics. Mom worked her wonders of calming us down and proceeded to instruct us on "removing" the uninvited guest gettin' a free piggy-back ride. Something about lighting a match? The open flame didn't scare me at all... in fact, it was a relief from the feeling of claustrophobic-insect-fear that was gripping me. After too many failed attempts, burned skin, and a stubborn tick, we remained at square one. The three of us had limited knowledge of the intentions and actions of ticks, but we knew we weren't supposed to just pull him out.

Square two led us to jumping in the car and driving 10 minutes to mom's office. Without Mom having any time to yell at us for how late we slept in and little we had accomplished, she had a heart-to-heart with our little friend (or enemy). I knew my mom had no more answers when she typed our family doctor's number into her phone. "On lunch?!" she states in question, slamming the phone down. "Well girls, there is only one option left... I'm calling 911." I didn't think my eyes could grow ANY wider, but they did. I stood there frozen, envisioning an ambulance and stretcher... all for this tiny bug. "911, what's your emergency," Mom heard on the other end and replied with, "Yeah, hi, can you tell me how to get a tick off of my daughter's back?! Please? Quickly?" The nice lady on the other end of the phone probably secretly laughed and replied, "Oh, just grab some tweezers and yank him out!" (exactly what we thought you weren't supposed to do). After mom thanked the lady and assured her that we did not need a squad, I finally saw some light at the end of the tunnel.

The tweezers were applied, and that little sucky-villan came right out, head and all. SICK. With one flush of the toilet, we watched "Toby" swim out of our lives forever. Yep, mom had named him. After all the time and emotions spent on him, I guess he earned a name?

No, there is never a morning that I don't wake up and touch that spot on my back... just to be sure? Or because I have a complex? Oh well, either way.

Germy?

Some of you may not be able to relate with me, because I'm quite the opposite of a germ-a-phobe. In fact, you may want to take a moment to decide whether you are or aren't before you read any further.

I find so much humor in watching germ-a-phobes with their odd, "rituals" that somehow convince their body & mind that they have just claimed victory over a germ. Little do they know... they just breathed another swarm of them right after they put the disinfectant away.

To give a real-life example: I mean, these people are opening the bathroom doors with their elbows and/or knees to avoid a hand coming in contact with the handle! I can't help but stare at the awkward, uncoordinated, dance-like scene that this creates. Didn't God give us hands for these types of tasks?! AND, if you think about it, they go back to their offices/cubes, put their elbows directly on their desk, where there hands also touch within minutes. Now you have the "bathroom handle scum" on your hands after all just like the rest of us... and I had a MUCH quicker bathroom trip. Not really worth it to me?

You either meet up with the germ back at your desk, or you successfully avoid these common germs and fall ill much more often from lack of exposure. Personally, I'd rather just grab the handle and stay immunized while they all call in sick tomorrow.

Are you still a germ-a-phobe? If so, you might want to just let it go... the germs will always win. Take a deep breath, and go for that handle with your bare hand. It's immensely freeing.

Purina has been warned...

Still half asleep, I was observing my tall-little dog chow down her "mornin' dinners" (my sister's dog-talk-name for our pets breakfast meal), when suddenly Piper began making odd, choking faces. I wasn't convinced that she was choking, but was sure something was out of the ordinary since she was no longer bent over in a french-kiss position with her food bowl.

Quickly giving in to my motherly instincts, I stuck my finger in her mouth, trying to scoop out whatever was in her throat... only to come out with three teeth marks to my knuckle which began bleeding a few minutes later. Yep, I took one for the team. Willingly. My mind was flooded with images of performing the Heimlich on a small animal, but I shook it off knowing that she was still getting air. As I reached in much more cautiously the second time, I came out victorious. She hadn't exactly been choking yet, but a "ball" of food, about the size of a golfball, had somehow formed. At first, I thought the food-ball was a result of having too much food in her mouth, so it meshed into a giant, squishy mass... but no, I couldn't even BEGIN to break this ball apart. Piper still wanted every last bite of her meal, so I chipped away at it with my sluggish, morning-strength while she attacked each chip of food that broke free. I am still unsure of how it all happened, but I'm concluding that the ball came to us (from the bag of food) in that form. Could I have sued if she really choked? Consider this my warning, Purina.

Later in the morning, my also sleepy-eyed husband commented, "Piper's been kinda whiney while you've been getting ready." I responded, "Yeah, she kinda choked a little, or something..." not sure what to call it. In the end, I was thankful that the only result of the 3-minute, dramatic episode was nothing more than a few whines.