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.

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!).

She has a very refined palate!

Isaiah Grace and I are having tons of fun these days. I think I'm most amazed by her emerging personality and how she loves to be the source of other people's laughter...she delights in it! A couple days ago I walked with her to the play ground here on campus and we did our usual swinging, bouncing on the spring-enforced animals and taking a few trips down the slide but on this day I thought that sand would be fun for her to discover. So we plopped ourselves down in the sand and enjoyed letting it escape through our fingers... Isaiah thought it was facinating. At one point I looked up and with a silly grin my girl stuck her hand in her mouth! Yes, her sand and dirt covered hand went directly in her mouth! When I went to pull her hand out I saw bits of dirt stuck in her two little teeth and I started laughing so hard! So she in turn started laughing and got more dirt and stuck it in her mouth causing both of us to laugh even harder. I know I should worry about germs and all of the horrible things floating around sand boxes but she was having so much fun and it was so darn funny I couldn't bring my self to tell her to stop. Those of you who have heard her belly laugh and watched her bounce up and down with laughter know why I just had to enjoy the moment. So now shes a dirt eater and I'll just have to be ok with that. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera or the video camera w/ me at that moment but I think if I had, I might have missed out on the fun of just laughing with my girl. So these are 'back at home' pics and most of the dirt was gone... c'est la vie!
Today is the UGA/ Tenn game and father and daughter are decked out for the big game. GO DAWGS!