two bad pinky toes

toe # 1 (left toe) - the other night when we were visiting our friends in columbus, dan and i got into a play fight. i was sitting on a chair and went to lightly push him with my foot...when all of a sudden dan turned into jackie chan and decided to karate chop my foot. (his story is different, but this is my blog). the result? i heard a snap, and my poor innocent pinky toe swelled up to the size of the toe beside it (i don't know what that toe is called. what a bummer, that poor toe has no identity except "the toe beside the pinky toe"). now it is all black and blue, which actually looks kind of cool. i couldn't move it for the first couple of days, but it was starting to feel better...until...i just stubbed it on the bed 5 minutes ago. it is now more black and blue and i can't move it or put weight on it. moral of this story...dan is not jackie chan.

toe #2 (right toe)- not too exciting of a story. i just rammed it into my door jam last night. it is also bruised, but not as bad. and no swelling. moral of this story...i need to stop shuffling my feet.

I beg your grace

i don't know if anyone is even going to see this because i'm sure i've lost all my blogger audience by now. i've been told that its bad form to go almost a complete month without posting. but for anyone out there...i'm back. (warning: justification coming)blogging can be overwhelming when you miss a small amount of time. i've had so much to say, that when i would have a few minutes here and there over this past month, i wasn't near a computer or i knew i just didn't have enough time to say what i needed to say.

but i'm back in MI now, and jaden is napping...so i'll give it a whirl.

as most of you know, dan and i have been gone since the 12th. we visited friends and went to hslt. i have to say it was the most exhausting and rewarding trip i've been on yet. hslt would have been relaxing except that i was an idiot and decided to do some self reflection while i was down there. i've decided i like thinking that i'm okay. its much easier. once i started looking at who i really was and where my motivations and reactions came from...it was pretty ugly. its not fun to see that you are consumed in selfishness and masked in piety. but, long story short...i confessed my rotten self to God and anyone else i needed to (especially my husband), and i'm doing much better. as hard as it is to have my eyes opened, it really is much better. at the risk of sounding ridiculously cliche...i feel new.

the amazing part of our trip was seeing our friends. dan and i have such beautiful people in our lives...here and across the country. jaden seemed to like our friends as well. the last night of our trip was one of the best nights. we sat up till 3 am with our friends talking about our lives and things we were struggling with. it really felt like God was there guiding and directing our conversation. it was one of those talks that even though its going into the wee hours of the morning, its more refreshing than sleep.

so now we are home...and happy to be here.

oh yeah, read Blue Like Jazz. i read it in MB. its beautiful.

i'm eating crackers....

and thinking about what a bad person i am for eating them. tonight i've given up on the "eating right to get skinny and look hot" plan, and i'm on the "i'm tired of exercising and want to eat a brownie and ice cream" plan.

i think i'm tired of the neighborhood kids. i know i should be loving and reach out to those who don't get love at home...but i would love them a lot more if they would get their stinky butts out of my yard. its fine and dandy to move our cars out of the driveway so they can play on our hoop, but they now think its our obligation to move for them. we are the bosses here, not them. all i've got to say that if any one of them makes it into professional basketball, dan and i better get a cut...a big cut.

i'm almost done painting jaden's room. chaz came by last night and helped. it saved me a buttload of time. its going to be quite cool. i was going to finish it today, but i went to noel and grace's instead. i can paint anytime, i have to take every opportunity to hang out with super cool people. i've discovered grace has magic hands...the hands of a nurturing mom. she holds jaden and boom...he's fast asleep. actually chey has the same effect on him. i hold jaden and he howls like he's in the midst of medival torture. but i'm okay with that. i'm his mom regardless if he likes it or not.

i'm at church

i decided that dan and i are the bosses of the church today. he is preaching and i'm running the children's ministry...so i think that makes us the bosses. all this power...i feel it rushing to my head as i speak.

i don't know if there are unspoken rules about blogging while you are at church, but i figured it was a good time. my computer is right in the middle of the kids rooms, so i can be reached if i'm needed. i also have a handy dandy earpiece so the teachers can call me from their rooms if they need me for anything. and, lest you think i'm a bad, unsupportive wife, i already heard dan's teaching last night.

its been great having my in laws here. dan and i are very fortunate to have great families that get along very well. i know we are a minority and i don't take it for granted. jaden is the first grandchild on dan's side, so he is getting lots of attention. jaden is the 6th grandchild on my side...but i'm the favorite child so he's the favorite grandchild by default. :) (i hope my brothers read this...what can i say? once a bratty little sister, always a bratty little sister)

uh oh...i hear crying children. duty calls.

oh yeah, i case you were wondering, dan is doing an incredible job preaching. that man never ceases to amaze me. :)

confessions

i know it may seem below me, but sometimes i'm tempted to click on those links that show me the latest runway bloopers or how slutty britany spears got in her latest video....and sometimes i cave. tonight was one of those nights. i watched a video on ashlee simpsons photo shoot. i think it was called "check out ashlee's latest hairstyles." and that is exactely what i did. i checked out her hairstyles. and you know what? i got freaked out. there was one look that she had (short blonde hair) that looked just like me...(in my skinny college days). whoa. it didn't make me feel good about myself because i don't actually think she's that pretty (although last night i asked dan if he thought jessica or ashlee was prettier, and he picked ashlee)...and i know i don't look like that anymore, but it was still pretty freaky. not freaky like i'm being chased by the boogey man. its the kind of freaky when you sit down at a resturant and notice that there is a girl in the dining room next to you that looks just like you...and then you get up to go the salad bar and realize it was only a mirror covering the wall.

by the way..i know all of you out there who know dan and i think that we sit around debating phylisophical ideals..but no. our conversations usually consists of me asking him who he thinks is prettier in the entertainment world, and if he thinks i'm the prettiest of all. sorry to dissapoint you.