New Coffee Cup

My birthday was last month. I'm 28 and pretty much an adult. As usual I got some money to buy my self birthday gifts. Normally I buy iTunes with my birthday money but this years I was I lucky enough to get iTunes gift cards besides the money from my grandmas and mom. So... I bought something great. Really great.
2 Days a week I drive to Fayetteville for school. It takes about 45 minutes. My first class is at 9:30. On a normal day that I do not have class, I start drinking coffee right after I get Anabelle up for school at 7 and then drink it most of the morning while I do what ever I'm going to do that day (today, for example, I'm writing a paper and a blog post). On a school day I only get to drink what will fit in my to-go cup and it's always gone by the time I get to school- which means that I sit through about 3 hours of class with out coffee. I could buy coffee on campus but its not as good the coffee I have at home and the people who work in there are sometimes rude. Good news, though- I have the perfect solution and its what I bought myself for my birthday...

This is Hammacher Schlemmer's best rated commuter coffee cup. Its called the JOEmo Time Capsule Mug. It is leak and drip proof and keeps coffee hotter longer. This means that I can still drink from my usual to-go cup in the car and then carry my new cup around in my back pack all day and just have a sip or 2 when I ever I want. Yesterday was my cups first time out and it performed great. I saved some coffee for my drive home to see if it would still be hot and it was. Next semester my first class starts at 7:30 am. I'm just glad the Time Capsule Mug will be with me. I think this cup is every thing I need to graduate from college in a mere 3 to 5 years.

Heath initially thought that spending 25 dollars on a coffee cup is silly. I say that not spending 25 dollars on this cup is insane. I am confident that once Heath sees how great my cup actually is he will agree: One really good cup is better then several that sit on the floor of the car with mold in them. He'll probably get one for his birthday from someone who really cares about him (me).


This is my team of coffee cups. The black and white for the drive to school and Time Capsule Mug for the rest of the day.

This was the best birthday ever.

late hiking post

We went hiking at Ponca, I guess it was back in January. I found the pictures and thought they were nice.

I think this one is really funny. Anabelle is smiling sweetly, Ava is making her favorite funny face and Heath was annoyed at me in this picture because I got too close to the edge of the cliff behind me so I could get a good picture. It probably would have been bad if I'd fallen.


I especially like this one. This was on our way back down the trail and they decided to hold hands. They don't always get along this well but I love it when they do.



Thats a frozen waterfall behind us. We had fun throwing big pieces of ice in that water.

more computer applications

You probably didn't know Heath could do this. It is a very valuable skill. You should come have a drink with us sometime.

You probably heard about the ice storm that came through NW Arkansas. We lost power for 4 days. It was really pretty even though destructive. Here's some photos.


On Monday before the power went out and school let out early we did what any one would have done. Some of us put on pj's, we ate peanut butter cookies and played t-ball in the living room.

Computer Applications in Art

New Year update

Here's what we've done and been doing:

We had such a fun Christmas.  We some how managed to not take a single picture ourselves.  Its not that we don't care its just that we're more likely to be involved in the moment the concerned about preserving it.  We will be getting plenty from other family members though so maybe that post will be coming soon.   

It was so so good to see all the family and to finally meet both the new nieces.  Lillian and Liza are the most delightful babies I've ever met and I cannot wait to

 see them again (plus my equally delightful nephews, Silas and Micah!).

Heath and I and Anabelle played a lot Wii Mario Cart over Christmas with my sisters.  It was great.  We would also like to thank every one who have us dish towels for Christmas.  With 12 new towels in the drawer we are hopeful that 2009 will be drought free year.

Anabelle started back to school on Monday.  It was really difficult getting out of bed this week but I'm glad to be back in the routine and I'm looking forward to starting back myself next week.  Anabelle just does so great in school.  She writes sentences and spells really well and is even reading some.  She is amazing and contemplative and sensitive.  She is growing up so quick, it is really hard for me think just a few months down the road she will 6 years old. 

Ava is doing good too, she is very imaginative and funny and I'm just never sure what she's going to say.  She has a developed a very sassy little attitude that I sometimes really enjoy because she so independent and confident and sometimes I really just want to squash because she is so independent and confident- even when she's wrong.

Heath is beginning the last half of the internship before official graduation in May.  He is doing really well at the churches and still really loves preaching and teaching.  I think he's really talented and I'm glad I go to his church ;)

I'm back to class on Tuesday, taking Art History, Computer applications in art and Freshman Comp. 2. For those of you that are counting you're right I'm not a freshmen- I'm a Junior.  I'm not sure how I managed to make it through  8 semesters of college with out taking this usually second semester course (for those of you who are counting, yeah, most people graduate after 8 semesters...)  I'm looking forward to this semester and much more confident now that we've made it through the first one and we're all still well.  Supper is my biggest challenge so if you have suggestions of things I can cook in my crock pot while I'm gone all day I'd love it.  My only resolution for 2009 is to do my resolutions for 2008 and 2007 so I'm pretty sure this is my year :)  I really hope we see you soon.

St. Nick

I think we may have done a post about Santa Claus last year but I can't remember exactly. So here's a Santa Claus post:

Heath and I decided a few years ago that we didn't want to lie to our girls about Santa Claus. We expect the truth without exception from them and we feel like they should be able to count on the truth from us too. There have been alot of questions this past year about ALOT of things; who made trees? where are the dinosaurs? are dinosaurs real? are pirates real? what are hands made of? are opossums good or bad? are wolves mean? where is God? is God real? is Santa real? If you have or have had a 3 or 5 year old you're familiar with these types of questions. They really go on and on. We don't lie to them about wolves or dinosaurs or God or pirates. So we told them the truth about Santa too. Heres the truth:

The story begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made a Bishop while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need and his love for children.

We have not tried to keep Santa out of Christmas in our home. All our stockings have Santa on them (yes we hang stockings) we have Santa ornaments and Christmas books about Santa Mouse. Santa is a large part of the culture we live in and pretending like we can't see him isn't really helpful (or honest- which is what we're going for here). And really, we don't mind if you tell your kids there's a Santa who hops down chimneys and brings them toys. We really don't. We are simply emphasizing the "giving to people who are in need" part of Santa rather than the "whats Santa gonna bring me?" part. When the girls ask me if Santa is real (which has happened about 3 times a week since the beginning of Dec.) I tell that the that real Santa, Saint Nicholas, gave gifts and money to children who didn't have money or toys. That Santa Claus is pretend but that it is now very important for us to help take care of people who need help. Just like Santa- who tried to be like Jesus.