Caleb?

I am thankful to be having a little boy join our nysewander-world in 15 weeks... wow that seems soon. I think JM and I have decided to name him Caleb (however I still like the name Aaron [exalted, strong]). We both have liked this name (Caleb) since before we ever dreamed of kiddos and now we may get to use it:) Caleb is Hebrew for faithful and I love that. One thing we are not yet sure of is what we want to give him for a middle name. I know we have 15 whole weeks to decide, so there is no rush, but I thought I would check with other bloggers out there to see what their thoughts and suggestions are. I like the names Matthew (Gift of God) and Daniel (God is my judge) but we just aren't sure yet.

I know this having two kids thing will be an adventure and I pray daily that I'm up for the challenge. I can't wait to meet this little guy and see what he's like and how he is going to change our little growing family. I worry about my little girl, who has been very clingy lately, and how she is going to handle sharing me. She's not too keen on sharing me with other kids for 2 minutes so I hope she's prepared to share me for a life time. I will definitely need grace and the eyes of God to see her needs and to know what behaviors are legitimate feelings of neglect or just new sibling jealousy. Actually, what would be 'ideal' is for her to embrace this new role as 'big sis' and become my little helper. ("I will call her, mini me.") But I'm trying to be realistic and think of all the scenarios possible and you know what, even once I think I've considered them all, I'm sure she will react in a way that I never would have thought of. That's life:)

News Flash: I'm already booking reservations at Casa de Nysewander for anyone who wants to come visit us after little guy is born to change diapers, cook, clean and to play with IGN for a few days... or a month. I mean, don't all rush out here at once! Heehee!

News Flash #2: Its supposed to crazy snow here tomorrow! Like 6-10 inches! (KTB, get your ticket ready!)

Happy December to everyone and I hope Nov. was a good one:) Let me know your thoughts on baby names and leave the dates of your spring visit to Minnesota for the baby arrival:) Blessings!

There are so many things I love about this girl!

Lately IGN's personality has been growing by leaps and bounds and everyday I find myself laughing, not just at her anymore, but with her! It really is so much fun. One thing that has made me laugh lately is that she wants to be creative with all of her 'accessories':




Yeah, she wears swim goggles like a head band. The cutest thing about it all is that every time she puts anything on she looks for John Mark and once she finds him she stops dead still and smiles real big waiting for him to tell her how beautiful she is. Its the sweetest thing ever... she loves that daddy of hers! Here are pics of how she likes to wear her sunglasses (around her neck!):





Today she wanted to wear JM's bandanna as well as her sunglasses necklace, precious again:



SO that is our trend setting daughter and I'm sure it is only a matter of time before everyone is wearing goggles around their head!

IG also is LOVING some books these days and will read them over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. It can be pretty tiring for me but I remind myself that this is a short period of time that she is a little peanut who wants to sit in my lap and read. Since we are now book reading machines, she is picking up on EVERYTHING, I mean sounds, words, facial expressions, everything! She tries to repeat everything we say and wants to communicate like we do. She even has her own 'curse words'. That sounds bad doesn't it? Well, when she gets frustrated she walks around muttering sounds and it reminds me of the dad in 'The Christmas Story' when he is trying to fix the furnace. We are trying to get these mutterings on camera because it is COMEDY! We laugh so hard!

Here is video if her telling us her animal sounds. Usually she is more passionate about them but this will do until you can see them in person.



I have one more thing to say:
I WILL BE HOME IN 3 WEEKS!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!

Guitar awesomeness

I love the sound of acoustic guitars. LOVE IT. Give me a good sounding acoustic, and a rich, unique, raspy voice and I can go all day with it. I remember in 9th grade, when a friend mastered "man in the mirror" by MJ on the acoustic, and I was in awe. This first video will show you what I mean. The second video is just as awesome, but a different kind of awesome... enjoy.





Free Comedy: After this song came out, Polaroid released an official statement saying that thier pictures weren't intended to be shaken, and they didn't recommend it. Hilarious.

Random thoughts from JM

I have the blogging duties for today, so I thought I would just write a bit about whats going on up here.

1. It is now officially Minnesota Cold. I'm not talking Georgia cold (low 40s-high 30s), its like 6. Thats right folks not a snowflake on the ground but the wind is like freeze-your-nose hairs-6-degrees-cold. I know many of you have no sympathy, and Im not fishing for it, cause we left the sunny south to come here, but dang...6 is just ridiculous. At least bring on the snow, so you can see something beautiful along with the cold (dang I love snow) but nope, just frozen nosehairs is all we get today.

2. Im going to start my beard growing for the winter. Now.

3. IGN had her first doctors appointment today. B told me that she didn't like the doctor, as she didn't compare to Dixon back home. Ill let her post that story on another blog. All I know is when I went to change IGNs diaper after they got home there were FOUR band-aids on her legs. Consider her vaccinated. Sad.

4. There was a funny story that happened in worship the other day. I was running the sound board and the person (to remain nameless) was working the computer next to me. The worship team was singing in their IHOP-esque fashion, singing that we are going to "we will fall down and worship" (they will sing a line like this maybe 50 times, over and over again) A lot of times I get focused on the board and don't see the band, or the overhead. I looked up and the screen said "we will pull down and worship". I leaned over and told her as politely as possible without laughing out loud that I thought they were singing "we will fall down and worship." She kind of chuckled and said she couldn't understand what they were saying, and quickly went to typing. I looked up after she had typed and she had written... "we will fall down on worship." Classic. I just let it be.

5. I know the Georgia bulldogs don't have a likely shot at the title game, but dang I'm gonna be rootin for Oklahoma, so we can have a shot at USC in the Rose Bowl. What a matchup that would be.

6. Someone please tell me why Auburn feels the need to have pit bulls on the sideline of the Iron Bowl game? To sick them on the fans that rush the field? I mean come on... check out what happened Saturday night.

"Who are any of us?"

That quote is from a great little piece in "A Mighty Wind", a Christopher Guest Classic. I love his movies and I love the people that laugh at the movies with me. Its just quality. "Corkey, you gotta live!" -Parker Posie in Waiting for Guffman

Anyway, just silliness. This morning I was sitting in my living room enjoying the sunny morning and our Christmas tree while my girl was sleeping and JM was handling family business and insurance stuff (UGH!). The night before I had experience some revelation about my life with God and how I'm willing to sacrifice obvious things to the Lord like, monetary things or luxuries or even comforts but when it comes down to it, I want to think whatever I want to think and go about my day doing whatever I want to do. I have not given over the 'mundane' to the Lord because I assumed He wasn't interested in my trips to the grocery store or the number of dirty diapers I've changed or how many meals I have made and cleaned up off the floor. I just figured if it was kind of boring to me then it must be boring to Him, right? I mean there are people out there doing AMAZING things to bring Him glory and preaching AMAZING messages that are drawing thousands to Him... so my diapers aren't much to get invested in (there not actually MY diapers). Well, i realize how sorely mistaken I am. God loves us to such a great degree that Jesus gave up all the riches and glory of heaven to visit this painful, sinful earth and die so that I could commune with God while I am living the mundane. Jesus didn't die so that only those who are doing HUGE things could commune with the Father. He died so that I, house wife and mother, could live a life of nearness with my King. I can worship and feel His presence as I am folding clothes, vacuuming, doing dishes, reading the same book to IGN for the 14th time in 30 minutes. My life is meant to bring Him glory, it is the constant focus of my heart on Him that brings Him pleasure. I don't need to be out conquering the world for His name as long as I am here and listening to beat of His heart and giving my self to him in thought and deed. I want to be found faithful to Him no matter what my circumstances may be. I want to be faithful to JM, IGN and little one by praying for them and living a life before them that reveals the One I love (even while making meals or going to the grocery store). God has blessed me beyond measure and it is up to me to decide to bless Him with my life, even what I perceive as boring.

This morning I read, "Let those that love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 97:10
I realized that I don't hate evil at all, actually, I enjoy it. i know this because of the things that I see on TV and I am not offended by it, much less angry at it. So today I have started making an effort (with the help and grace of God) to love what is good and at least be more aware of what is evil and not to take any pleasure in it. I really want to be completely His and I know I'll mess up a gazillion times more but I'm taking baby steps and I pray that one day I will be called by Him, 'faithful one'.

Oh Christmas Tree...

This weekend we began a Nysewander Christmas tradition of putting up our tree after Thanksgiving. Normally I would probably wait until Dec. to put up a tree but its cold here and we're leaving on Dec. 20th, so I wanted to get the most out of our tree. We went to homedepot for our tree and there were three tree types:cheap, not so cheap and unjustifiable for a tree. We opted for the cheap type. We found out why it was cheap once we touched it, it was like razor blades! Haha, no jk but it hurts to put ornaments on it. We did however manage to get our ornaments on it without much harm. It's a cute tree and we love having our apartment Christmas-ified. I LOVE this time of year!!!!

Football Saturdays no more....

Well we are done with the regular season, and because of some really stupid moves from the Kentucky QB, we wont be able to face LSU in the SEC title game. At least we are tied for SEC East champs, and took care of buisness against Tech. I did call my boss before the game, and he didn't answer, as was expected. Psssh. Techy.

As has been mentioned before by my fellow bloggers, this whole Nablopomo has taken its toll on me, and I am looking forward to not being required to write. I love to write, but not when Im forced to. I think I will take a break from this craziness well into 2008.

IGN had a crazy day today missing her morning nap, and taking a short afternoon nap. That made for a sassy girl this evening, to say the least.

We pretty much watched football all day today which was fun, and pretty hard to do when you have a 14mo old, but Bekah made it very easy for me to enjoy (thanks babe)! Probably goes without saying but I am sad to see the College football season end. Oh yeah we got a Christmas tree today. Pictures to come soon.

Dang Im tired...

Bekah said it was my turn to blog tonight, but as you can tell by the title, uh Im kind of beat. I worked most of the day today, and was up late last night talking with a buddy of mine up here, so this blog won't carry much weight tonight. Im sure that everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving, and great food, blah, blah, blah. It wasn't even close to what I had. Serious. I was so impressed with the way B cooked and prepared the food for Thanksgiving. Wow. Okay, okay I'm sure your Turkey was good too, but just so you know, you missed out on the Minnesota feast. So thank you Bekah, you did a fantastic job!!!

#1 LSU got knocked from their national title hopes tonight (second loss in 3OT for them), at the hands of the Razorbacks. What a year!! It makes me kinda think a little less confidently about the matchup that the Dawgs will have tomorrow. "Pure old fashioned hate" is what they always say to describe this rivalry. As I was leaving work at Weekley before coming up here, my boss and I were jabbing about this game. (He is a HUGE Tech guy, who doesn't own a stitch of red, yeah its that bad.) Anyway he said he hopes that in this game that the Tech players break Staffords' neck. Easy there, boss. I'm pretty sure that falls under the column of hatred. 3:30 Tomorrow in case your wondering. To give you an idea of the past few games....

Go Dawgs, Go Cats, Go UConn, (Dawgs should move up in the polls after three losses in front of them...7th to 4th?)

Turkey Day w/ the Nysewanders

I am thankful for good food, my wonderful family, friends, life and the One that gave it all to me. Today was a culinary success and I had tons-o-fun doing it. I made a broccoli rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, dressing, pumpkin pie and... My very first TURKEY!!!!



I was so proud of myself and JM and I have leftovers to last for years! (ok, that an exaggeration.) We do have a lot though and it will be fun enjoying it for the weekend. We had a meal with JM's good friend Jerome and his parents and aunt, who is over the house of prayer here. It was good times and good fellowship, we didn't 'disband' until after 7pm and we got together around 11am. Thats a long day! IGN was exceptionally cute and was the center of attention which is to be expected. She was sweet and cute despite her pitiful little cold that kept us on tissue alert all day.





Janna and Dwight (my bro and sis in-law) stopped by this evening with Schmale so IGN could get her puppy-dog fix and we could pet our little pup, who isn't our pup anymore. They also brought over a car seat that we had left at Janna's peep's house when the Nysewanders were here. Well IGN accepted the seat w/ pleasure and thought it was her throne... she was very proud to have a chair of her own to sit in like the big people. Just cuteness all over!








I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and although we had a great day we still missed our family and friends from GA. We'll see y'all in 28 days!

Holidays=Good Times

Yay! Yay! Yay! The holiday season has officially begun! I LOVE it! I don't know what it is that makes me so giddy this time of year, but the chill in the air (sorry GA peeps, that you haven't experienced this yet, its coming I'm sure of it!), the Christmas music playing in every store, people going out of their way to consider others, the realization that we are celebrating the most beautiful gift this world has ever received, its just too much!

Today I had so much fun preparing for out Thanksgiving lunch and my kitchen smelled lovely all day long. I'm not saying that I'm the greatest cook, but I have a mother, and she is, so I had some sweet recipes to work with. Tomorrow I will make my very first turkey and make my first pan of dressing that my grandfather always made. I would love to be with extended family on this day but this is a good experience for me, forcing me to make the things that I always just let my mom make. I'm a Gini in progress!

Not only is tomorrow Thanksgiving but tonight we had our first snow that actually stuck! Its beautiful but it was too dark for me to take a good pic... maybe tomorrow. Well, blessings and a happy Thanksgiving to all!

A baby or a virus?

SO in yesterday's blog I wrote about how wasted I was, in the tired way, not the boozing way. Today I am equally as wasted and its not Monday... weird. I have not been feeling my Bekah Best these past couple days, I mean i'm so tired that my body HURTS. So this leaves me wondering if my little fella is wreaking havoc on my body and stealing any and all energy and nutrients that I have. If this little guy is not the reason for my wasted-ness then I could fully be coming down with something unfortunate.

JM has been so good to me this evening. he folded the laundry, forced me away from the dish washer and MADE me surf the net while he did the dishes. We are now watching the Office Season 3 and I'm going to bed by 8:00, yay!

Oh Monday, I do not love thee...

Dang! By Monday evening (now) I am always wasted! You would think that after the weekend Mondays would be the most productive and energy-filled of days. Nope. Not true, not here. Mondays are exhausting.

Isaiah Grace has been a little ball of fussiness today. I assume its because her Pops and Gigi aren't here keeping her entertained at every moment and feeding her whatever her little heart desires. So today she's back in the real world and she doesn't like it too much.I also think she maybe getting another tooth... FINALLY! She's been feeling a bit warm lately and she still only has 4 teeth so i say 'bring on the teeth'!

Ok, many of you know that the Bethany culture is a little different and that it can be a very special experience at times. I heard something the other day that made me smile and laugh a little on the inside. There was a girl coming out of a class and she said to a friend of hers across the court yard, "How art thou?". To which her replied "what?" and they repeated the exchange about 5 times. After he finally heard her comment he said, "Oh, you were speaking in 'King James'." King James? Is that a language or a dialect? It made me giggle. There are more stories such as these and I'll share them along the way.



PS- why do I watch the bachelor? its stupid, it really is.

There aren't words...

I have enough stories and good times from this weekend to write at least 3 really good blogs but even then it wouldn't be enough to get across what a great weekend I had.


My wonderful parents came into town for the weekend and we had an absolute wonderful time. I love watching IGN love her grandparents and get loved so much in return. I really am blessed by watching how much they enjoy her and how much she loves the affection and attention. I miss my family a lot but I've realize that the hardest thing for me is that I feel like I've taken IGN away from all the people that love her the most (besides us of course!). After dropping mom and dad off at the airport, we came home so the girl could nap and the apartment felt SO empty and quiet and it took all my strength to fight back tears. I think I just felt very well cared for this weekend by my peeps and I missed the closeness of home.







My mom has a way of blessing people by going WAY out of her way to make them feel important. This weekend was the weekend after HER birthday but she did everything for me to celebrate MY birthday that wain Oct.! I mean she packed up and brought with her the makings of a southern feast. She came bearing squash (we don't have summer squash or the other things up here-sad), okra, self-rising corn meal, white-lily flour, cookbooks and much more all so that I could have my perfect 'birthday dinner'. So we spent the day in the kitchen making sweet potato casserole, stewed corn, fried okra, squash casserole, corn bread, ham and an amazing carrot cake! Can you believe it! Dang it was amazing! This is one way my mom is just darn good at making each of us kids feel important on our b-day, she slaves away in the kitchen creating a master piece just for us. It was great.


The next day she took me out to get all the goods that I need for making my own Thanksgiving turkey... I'm excited! We also got IGN a snow suit and snow boots (adorable), a bunch of clothes to get me through maternity-hood (I feel like a princess) and a few other treasures just to make JM, IGN and I feel important. I just loved BEING with her. I've realized in my old age that my mom and sis are my best girl friends. I mean there is no one, besides JM, that I can REALLY be myself around like I can with those fun ladies. I loves every minute of being with her, laughing, talking, reminiscing, cooking, playing and everything else we did this weekend. It was just GOOD for me. I can't wait for Christmas! I'll get to see my whole fam, the Nysewanders and all my dear friends. I can't wait!

So this weekend I learned alot about 'giftings' after the blessings my parents heaped upon us and then I recieved another one. Lets just say I am not great at sending packages or birthday cards or finding the perfect gift for someone, but there are people out there who are and Katie B is one of them. I got a package this weekend with the cutest stuff including 2 scarves, one for me and one for IGN. It also included cute slippers for the girl and bows for her hair and a cute little package to make a clay print of her hand... fun! It means so much to get things from home. Here's a video of IGN in her fun new duds... she doesn't want to take them off! Check this out:

Football Week 11

Although it wasn't as high scoring as I thought it would be, Georgia came out with the win in the end. We were rooting for Vandy to make that last second field goal against Tennessee, but dang it, it bounced right off the post. Now the Bulldog nation will turn its attention to the Tennessee/KY game next week, and hope for a wildcat victory to give us the direct route to Atlanta for the championship game. Im pretty sure that if I were in the ATL and the dawgs went to the championship, I would find a way to be there.

No I am rootin for Texas Tech and Cincinnati to take care of buisness and bump another two out from in front of Georgia in the rankings. Speaking of football how bout Tebow rushing for 20 TDs and passing for 20? Dang.

Pops and Gigi leave tomorrow and IGN will be devastated. She has had an adoring audience since Thursday night. Now she will have to wait for Christmas in Atlanta to see them again.

Friday night

Well IGNs other set of grandparents have come to visit her in the state of Minnesota now. They got in last night, and today has been good. Work is really slow right now, so my boss told me to just take off the day. We pretty much just stayed home and hung out all day. My daughter walked around (oh yes Georgia peeps, she is walking with authority now) all day like she was an Princess. She felt so special, because well she is, and her Pops and Gigi made her feel that way today. IGNs day consisted of the following... Tickled, put to sleep, woken up, fed, diaper changed, chased through the hallway, picked up, thrown around, Given snacks, Given juice, carried on a walk through the woods, going to the grocery store, dancing, etc. I could go on, but just know that she had to have had an incredible day. From the beginning of the day she has been treasured. We are thankful to have family come visit. (We would also love friends to come visit...hint, hint.)

Tomorrow is another big game for the Dawgs. Though its not on National TV, its a must win for them. Im also rootin' for Vandy to take down the Big Orange. Georgia plays Kentucky on its homefield, and is wanting to not only win, but revenge for last year. This is what Stafford looked like after the game last year...(Got drilled in a helmet to helmet hit, but only problem was his helmet had already come off in the play.) I am predicting another 40+ score for the dawgs. More on the football blog tomorrow.

"All of my heros are ping-pong players." -Dwight Shrute

Boo-ya!!!!! I'm watching the office in my bathrobe and my parents are en route to Minneapolis... life is good! I have been looking forward to my peeps arriving for quite sometime and I'm pumped! We were given their guest room key today for the on-campus room they are staying in and so JM and I figured we'd go check it out. So, w/ key in hand we headed to their guest room and opened their door to find that there was fully someone else occupying the room. Thankfully the individual was not there at the time but the room was a wreck and his bags (I say 'his' because the room was way to messy to be a girls room... and there was just one duffel bag... not a girl) were still in the room. So we sneaked out and laughed about the possibilities of what we 'could' have found but thankfully didn't. So, my parents have now been assigned a new guest room and I have yet to check it out... we'll just hope for the best.

Well, now that Michael has once again said unfortunate things in public and we have all been allowed to witness, I will bid you farewell until tomorrow (thanks to NaBloPoMo).

Word.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many of you may know a woman named Virginia Louise Mulinix Crisp, I happen to know her very well! She's my mom and in my opinion the best out there:) I haven't been one for 'lists' in past blogs but today feels like a good time to start:

10 reasons Gini Crisp is amazing:

1. Any room is brighter with her in it. (I don't know how this works but it is a freakish phenomenon!)

2. She is always taking care of others.

3. She loves the Lord and is a great example of how to do that in a world that tries to pull you the other direction.

4. She focuses on the good in people. Most people these days are all about judging those around them (myself included) instead of seeing and enjoying the positive qualities in others. I don't know how she does this.

5. She is a D*** good cook! Holy Moly what I would give for some Gini cooking right about now... oh wait, I'll get it this weekend!!!!! Yipeeeee!

6. She doesn't take life too seriously. She has the gift of handling life with grace and assurance in Christ without worrying so much about what tomorrow may bring.

7. She is positive. When I feel like I'm staring down a dark tunnel she can show me where there is light.

8. She is a listener and encourager. I don't know one person can leave a conversation with her and not feel like they have been heard and cared for.

9. She is generous. My mom would give anyone the shirt off her back if they needed it. She is always looking out for opportunities to be a blessing for someone even in the moments where others would just want to relax and stay at home. She's so sweet!

10. She taught 3 crazy kids that there is nothing (outside of our relationship with the Lord) more important than family. I am so thankful that our family is close and that my mom taught my bro and sis and I that we need each other. I love this time of year too because I get to enjoy them all and all of the traditions we had growing up that makes the holidays so great!

So those are just a few of MANY things about my mom that amaze me.

I love you, mom and I hope you have a happy day!!!!

PS- on a serious note, I had results from little fella's ultra sound come back and he has some choroid plexus cysts in his brain tissue. The Dr. said that it is a fairly common thing and that they are usually gone by week 32 of pregnancy. So no BIG deal but I would still like to ask for a special prayer for our little guy that everything develops properly and that he is healthy in every way. I have to go have another ultrasound done with a perinatologist to make sure there is no reason for concern and she will be able to explain things better. The perinatologist appointment makes me worry more than the info about the cysts because I've always thought of perinatologists as doctors for very sick (in utero)babies so hopefully this is just a precaution. I don't know, please pray for him/us. Thank you all!

The Baby Poll Results

The results are in. I would say that the results of people we polled were about 97% guessing that we were having a boy, and 3% said girl. It turns out that the masses get what the masses want. We have had our ultrasound that confirmed that we are having a boy coming sometime in March. We had thought that we were going to be surprised this time around, but the suspense was just too much for both of us. Then we were going to find out and had planned on keeping it a secret from everyone else (I know we are weird, what can I say?) After we came back from the doctor people started asking us what we were having. We would say, well I think we are still going to go with the whole surprise thing. Kind of a white lie of sorts. Anyway, it seemed that everyone that asked after we had found out, could tell that we were lying, and according to the poll we took, knew that it was a boy as well. Bekah and I on the other hand were not so confident. We had pretty much convinced ourselves that a sister was coming IGN's way.

When the news hit that it was a boy we really should have had the video camera rolling, yall would have gotten a kick out of it. Complete shock. What are we going to do? We don't know how to do boys! Girls I can handle, but a mini JM? Scary. It seems the job of parenting a girl is to protect. For some reason when I think about raising a son, its like teaching and training and being a role model. Of course you have to do all of those things to your daughter, but its just different. At least it seems different now. Who am I kidding they can't be that different right?

I don't know what to write about...

I don't have any inspiration for today's post, I don't even know what to write. It was a good day, don't get me wrong, it was just another day in this life of ours. We got up as usual and JM didn't have to leave for work until 10:30!!! It was nice having a surprise morning together just the three of us. This afternoon was really pretty outside so after lunch I took the cute girl for a walk and to spend sometime at the playground. Right now JM is at worship, i think he plays bass tonight, and won't be home until about 10:30 so I am blogging away! I just talked to my mom on the phone and she and my dad arrive here in MN on Thurs. night and there are no words for how excited I am to see them and for them to see IGN. Its hard having her here away from family but I know its just for a time. There are many things that I miss about Marietta, such as, meals and craziness with the fam, La Parilla, Riverstone, drop-ins at the sac, bumping into friends at the grocery store or anywhere else, watching football games with fellow fans, knowing where things are around the city, Publix (I don't like the stores here), laughing with silly friends, and SO many more things. Our life here is wonderful but as Dorothy said, 'There is no place like home.' :)

really?

My current feelings about life are changing... all of my expectations and thoughts 'are being slightly adjusted to view life a little differently. I don't know what we're doing and how we have managed to take life so seriously but I think we're done with all of that (for the time being). I think JM and I have always felt that call to do missions but never had a clear picture of what it meant for us. I mean we've seen others do it and we've participated here and there and although we have loved our experiences, we never had any clear vision. I have always felt that if you are 'called' to missions that you are being disobedient for not going immediately (or working towards going) even if you have no clue what you're doing and no direction. So for the past few years I have carried around an unending feeling of guilt that I'm not who I am supposed to be and I'm disappointing God in the process. Thats not the best of feelings and I'm glad that God in all of His gentleness can show me where I have made-up my own views of Him.
I have heard a statement recently and its not 'gospel truth', its just one person's take on what we are doing here on earth. They called this life an internship for the up-coming life with the Lord and all that we are doing and growing in here is what will determine what we DO in heaven. I know sounds crazy to some, normal to others. This theory goes along with the whole we will 'rule and reign' with Christ, and gong along with that, we will be DOING SOMETHING while with Him . So anyway, his view is that what we pursue now will give direction to what we DO when we are with the Lord. Take it for what its worth.
OK.... ALL OF THIS TO SAY, that it makes me realize that what I pursue here on this planet better be something that I love (whether or not this little theory is remotely true) because its what I may be doing for eternity. Even if this theory is WAY off and heretical, I believe that God has given each of us such beautiful and distinct gifts and if we don't pursue them and grow in them then we are denying who we were made to be. I think so many of us go through life feeling like who we are at the core of our beings isn't good enough so we work so hard to become some thing greater and more appealing to this world that all the while we are rejecting the ONE who created us.
So, from now on, my life's purpose is to know the One that created me and to give myself over to being HIS CREATION and not making myself into what I feel like this world needs. God knows what this world needs and if He wants to meet the needs of the world in some way through me He is going to have put the desire and the vision and the ability in me. Someone once said that we need to BEHOLD to BECOME, meaning that we don't make ourselves into greatness but only in the presence of God can we be transformed. Duh, but for me its huge.
So now with no pressures but to know God, JM, IGN, Sweet Pea and I can move through this life focused on the Lord and pursuing the passions He has placed in our hearts, and if we look foolish to everyone else and no one gets us, its ok because we belong to the King of Kings and in the end HIS pleasure in us is all we need.
Love to all and I pray that this post blesses you all in some way:)

Ok, on a lighter note: here are IGN pics... she likes to wear her pumpkin hat from halloween all the time now... its comedy!

Dawgs win 45-20!!!

Georgia played a much better game than I had hoped that they would. Sanford Stadium must have been electric today. For the first time in Georgia school history the players ran onto the field dressed in black. The seniors had requested that the fans wear black, and have a blackout for this game. I think the motivational ploy worked. Obviously that isn't what won the game, but I think it helped get the crowd fired up. The players were having fun too, I love the dances on the sidelines, and the carefree way to play football. The team has gelled for real. Doesn't seem like the same team that played in the first half of the season. Here are some shots of todays game, as we took care of business with Auburn. All we need to do now is hope that Tennessee can fall on one game and we will lock in our SEC Championship bid against LSU. What do yall think of the blackout idea?

Boy or Girl?

We are doing a poll...
Do you think we're having a girly-girl or manly-man?

Friday Night I'm goin nowhere ...

Name that singer and song.... Anyone?

It is 11.29 (central time)on Friday night, and Bekah and I just walked in the door. I had planned on her covering the blogging duties today because I was at work all day, but apparently so was she. IGN kept her busy through the day, just as my runs through Minneapolis/ST Paul kept me busy.

We were invited over for dinner tonight, by some of my old friends from when I lived up here. They are a few years older than us, but really a lot like us in a lot of ways. We talked about the struggles of having a "missions calling" versus wanting to provide for your family. (Their daughter is about 6 months older than IGN). It was good to talk to someone out of the day to day Bethany context, but still know where we are coming from. Their home was extremely warm and inviting. They had pumpkins out, candles lit, and even a logs burning in the fireplace. We laughed a lot, and I am exhausted.

Tonight, I am thankful. Thankful for good friends that are okay with you being who you are, where you are. I am thankful for generous people, and rich food. I am thankful for this journey that we are on, even though I am often unsure of the next bend in the road. I am thankful.

"How do the little piggies eat?"

One of my all time fav. Christmas movies is 'A Christmas Story' and for everyone who's seen it, you know why and for those of you who haven't, stop what you're doing immediately and watch it. All of this to say, today we had the joy of our sweet neighbor here for the afternoon. Today at lunch little B and IGN were enjoying turkey dogs and mac-n-cheese and IGN was putting it away, I mean LOVING some food but B on the other hand liked the way her food LOOKED and enjoyed separating her dog from the mac and then mixing it up and separating it again, it was quite cute. IGN in the midst of her food-love laughed and put her face in her bowl, B enjoyed this VERY much and decided to join the party. I was laughing so hard (while telling her she couldn't do this at home... thats for you Cari!) as B was consuming her food with no hands, but 'hey', she ate right? Isn't that what's important? I mean, that is how the piggies heat. IGN enjoyed watching her and wondering what the heck was going on but I figured it was all fun and games for the afternoon.


PS- today is the first day that NaBloPoMo raised its ugly head... I am WAISTED but I realized I hadn't blogged. Dang it!

IT'S A ...

Ha Ha!! Just kidding! (And thats not our baby... I stole it from a website, its just for effect.) We went to our first doctor appointment here in MN and it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. The nurse that we met with was SO nice and one of the ladies in the office knew JM from Bethany when Mark was a pastor there- crazy! SO it was a good experience and this afternoon we had the ultrasound and let me say that this is one cute baby in my tummy. We have little pics of the face and hands and stuff... adorable! I think I might see if Richard will hook a sister up w/ some 3D/4D ultrasound action when we're home for the holidays:) We decided on the whole 'element of surprise' with this one, so I guess when we see the cute little one we'll know if we have a he baby or a she baby. I feel unsure of this one. With IGN I KNEW she was a girl and with this one I feel like its could be a girl but when I talk to the baby I feel like I'm talking to a he baby. I don't know, all I know is that this little bundle of fun is ACTIVE. Right now, as I type I'm having my insides rearranged for me:) Crazy! Blessings to all!

3:30 Saturday on CBS (part two)

Bekah and I have decided that Tuesdays will be no media day (internet and TV). Today was the first day we actually implemented it, and of course we had to make sure that there was a post in today for NABLOPOMO, so I got the nod for the hall pass to sign on today, I guess Bekah will get it next week. Remember the feeling you had when you held the hall pass in your hand, or in your pocket? Knowing that your classmates were struggling to stay awake in class, and just wanted to be where you were at least if not off the school grounds completely. Well thats how I feel now. Of course Bekah probably couldn't care less about refraining from the net for a day, but let me say its easier said than done, and I even got a pass.

Now moving on, I know ya'll want to talk about football. Lets see what ya got. I wanted to hear predictions were for this weekends game with the Dawgs and the Tigers. This is a huge game for the Nysewander family because my sister married into an Auburn family just as much as I married into a Georgia one. We always talk trash through the year, and have lately tried to get my parents in on the fun, even though they literally couldn't care less. (This year I put a Georgia plate on the front of dads car.) Of course we have dressed our daughters dress up in the respective teams gear and do the cheer through the year too. Their colleges have already been decided. To mention the other school in either in laws home is a borderline heresy. We had planned to take mom and dad to this game had we been in the south, but obviously plans have changed, since moving up north. We will just have to settle for TV again.

Last year the Dawgs put a whoppin on the Tigers, in their home stadium after dropping the previous 4 out of 5, and coming out of nowhere to take out the front runner in the SEC west. This year Georgia looks to be setting up nicely for the SEC East Championship and I know the Tigers would like nothing more than to return the favor and spoil our party. Lately in "The Souths oldest Rivalry" between the two teams the away team has had a better go at it in the opponents stadium. This year its in Athens, and I think its not going to be a gimme for either team, but I think Georgia will pull it out in the end. Here is a great shot from an interception dive for a TD. GO DAWGS!!!

Oh no!!!

Ok, I'm sitting in my kitchen while IGN munches away on a banana and I'm looking out of our sliding glass doors and what do I see? Storm clouds. Woopty freakin do, some of you might be thinking, but what is freaking me out is that it is only 30 degrees right now and that is like our high for today and there maybe more little storms this evening when its even colder...doh!!! I think its too early for snow but Jm thinks its already late. Agree to disagree.
IG and her banana fingers wants to say hey: gykjnhyubub8f ghju xzs
Thats all the fun she gets on the computer... it has become a 'no touch zone', much to her dismay. Well, that is our BIG NEWS for today... oh wait! We bought our plane tickets home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Christmas is coming!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

Babe, where's Boston college?

That is a question I heard from my football loving husband yesterday, to which I responded, ever so sarcastically, "Uh, I don't know, BOSTON maybe?" We had a good laugh about it for the rest of the day yesterday and for a while this morning. I think that is one thing that I absolutely adore about JM, its his ability to laugh at himself and not take things to seriously. I have the problem of taking things kind of seriously so JM is definitely a breath of fresh air for my days. Lately he has been working alot and I can't tell you how I breathe a sigh of relief when he walks in the door, not just because he does alot around here but because I love his presence and the way the attitude of our house feels with him in it. I love this crazy guy and I'm glad he's mine. No matter where we are or what we are doing, we have a good life because we are together (and Isaiah Grace is icing on the cake!).

College Game Day

I have decided that on Saturdays during the Nablopomo that I am going to post on Football. Caroline you have been warned. Avert your eyes. This is a huge month for college football every year. This is where the good teams rise to the top, and try to secure their place in the rankings. Upsets seem to be more common in November. I don't get why ESPN focuses on the Bowl games. I mean I like Bowl games too, but I also like the weekly matchups. What a great season 07 has been. Upsets all over the place. I think there will be more to come today. I am picking Wisconsin over the Buckeyes, Oregon over AState, and Florida state over BC. ESPN is picking Georgia to get upset by Troy. Malarky. I know Troy is a solid team, but the Dawgs won't overlook them. Richt has never lost to a non conference team in regular season, and it won't change today. I know Georgia has been inconsistent this year, but it looks like we have turned a corner. They have their sights set on SEC now. Any thoughts on upsets? Your picks? I want to take one more look back at last week, where the dawgs came out of the Cocktail Party with a W. There has been a lot of talk from the Gator Nation that Richt was classless for asking his team to get a celebration penalty, after the first score. Here is what happened:



He was trying to get the team pumped up, and he says he wasn't planning to have the whole team clear the bench. How high has the Florida Gators set the bar in class, when they hit Stafford while he is kneeling? Kinda hypocritical for the Gators to cry out for teams to be classy when they play football like this:



Stay classy Florida.

Halloweeen, IGN and good weather

Oh today is BEAUTIFUL outside! The temp is in the mid 50s so its crisp outside but the sun makes it feel very pleasant. I was enjoying a book out on our porch when I realized that I needed to blog! So I ditched the book and the vitamin D and came in to post my thoughts and feelings for this lovely day:)

A few days ago i was minding my own business and I happened upon a package from my favorite sac, its the fleetwood sac (uh, i hate puns but I had to). I opened it up to find a ridiculous birthday card, a wonderful sweat shirt, sweat pants (not the gross hanes, tapered leg kind but the new, fun, 'sporty' kind) a fab shirt and the funniest assortment of candy I have ever seen. As you can see, it included wax lips. IGN didn't want to put them away, it wasn't hard to keep them in her mouth because she was trying to bite of chunks of wax. We laughed pretty hard and were reminded of what great friends we have in this world. (B., Caroline and Jeanne, my life needs you!)
Another of our recent experiences involves our girl's first trick-or-treating extravaganza! We had SO much fun and were freezing our buns off! We went out at 6:30pm as it was starting to get dark, JM, Cari, a pumpkin (thanks Gigi!), a monkey, a ladybug and myself, and we swore we were only going to three houses and that was it. After our three JM was fully into the whole event and was ready to take on the neighborhood. So we ended up at like 7 houses or something- he was so cute about it all, I love watching him have fun with IGN. The kids were the cutest ever and I wish there had been more light for video but I managed to get a few pics of the little cuties. Isaiah and Caleb kept laughing at each other in their costumes for the entire wagon ride... it made us laugh pretty hard. I plan to get more pics and video tomorrow and the church costume party!


I guess I will return to my reading spot and enjoy a bit more of the fading sun because by Monday its going to be crazy cold... highs in the low 40s and upper 30s... scary. JM is hoping for snow but there is none in the forecast:( We'll definitely post pics of the first snow!!

National Blog Posting Month- NABLOPOMO

The mood has changed around these parts, and the air is telling us to buckle up. The rumor is there is supposed to be snow by this time next week, but who knows. Minnesota has got to be one of the most schizophrenic place on earth, when it comes to weather. It can be in the seventies one day, and then by the time you go outside to enjoy it, it will drop below freezing. Yeah not quite that bad, but it does change seemingly overnight. Something tells me that we ain't going back to 70 degree weather anytime soon. Things here at the house of prayer are good. I am learning tons of stuff about seeking the Lord in prayer, running the soundboard, and also growing in the bass and guitar in worship. Next up is piano, and drums. One day.

God has really answered our prayers for provision up here too. He has given me a shot at three different jobs outside of BHOP, (one on Monday and Friday, and two on Sunday). We are still praying for full financial support for our time up here, so I can focus in on the House of prayer even more, but we are trusting that it will come with time, and for now God has provided this work.

Bekah and I were talking about how much we miss home yesterday. It's tough being up here at times, but we still know that its right. We miss yall down in Georgia, and though I think our southern accents are starting to fade, we are trying to avoid talking like they do in the movie Fargo. Which is not by the way a movie that we would necessarily recommend other than to understand the accents that we endure up here. OH YA! YOU BETCHA!