this is what i need...

yes this. i have dust webs hanging in the corners of my house, and they are threatening to catch me and eat me for dinner. So I have to go find one of these things......

But I have started a new cleaning method, and so far it seems to be working out. What is it you may ask?
Clean one thing. (Maybe two). Each day.
I've been trying this since Wednesday, and I really like it so far!! I can actually relax when I'm at home now :)
So each day I am trying to always do the dishes and maybe a load of laundry. And then I add one other cleaning project to that (dusting, vacuuming, kitchen, etc.) That way it's not so overwhelming. And the best news of my life is: Mike's job is the bathroom :) What a guy....I sure lucked out!

But yes, the dust webs are the one thing I am not prepared for...and they are taking over....so that is on my shopping list for this week.
But what cleaning tips have you found helpful?? Please share if you have a favorite.

****POST EDIT****
Margie just informed me these are spider webs. Most likely. Worst news of my day. But there is a bright side. She told me about this website www.flylady.net - has great tips for housekeeping. check it out! and if you know more about these webs lurking in my house....please speak up...

Oh Iowa

So last weekend we went out to Iowa for Mike's grandmother's 80th b-day, and we had a blast! It was a lot of travel, and we were only out there for a weekend, but it was definitely worth it. I am so glad that I got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Smith! And of course we all had lots of fun - we were out there for Pi Day, so what did we do? Buy 3 pies of course and eat them while watching SNL :)
Each morning we were there we went out for breakfast at this place called the Village Inn - definitely some good breakfast food! They had every kind of pancake imagineable - I think Shannon got Chocolate Chip Cookie dough one morning - crazy!!
Travel was....fun :) Here's how it went:
Itinerary Out: 2 Groups
Group 1 - Tom, Cyndi, Mike, Sarah, Shan, Megs, Dan, Amy, Chris. Leave home at 7AM Friday morn, drive to Newark airport, fly to Kansas City Airport, Drive 3 hrs to Des Moines. Arrive at 6:45 pm.
Group 2 - Michelle and Sean. Leave Saturday morn, fly out of Philly, to Chicago, to Des Moines. Much Simpler. But granted it's amazing they survived Chicago.

Itinerary Home: 3 Groups
Group 1 - Mike, Sarah, Shan and Megs. Same thing as above in reverse. Done all over again on Sunday starting at 1 pm. Home arrival time - 2:30 AM :)
Group 2 - Sean and Mich - same thing in reverse about an hour after our departure on Sunday.
Group 3 - Tom, Cyndi, Chris, Amy and Dan - Same as above in reverse beginning on Monday at 1 pm.

It was a crazy trip, but definitely a fun one! Here are some pics!

My Dad

Psalm 92:12-15
"The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
they are planted in the house of the LORD.
they flourish in the courts of our God.
they still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

I read this verse the other day, and it struck me. It struck me because God's ways are not ours. No, they're so much better, and they excite me!
Dad, this verse is to encourage and honor you. You have been faithful and patient, humble and willing, eager and obedient, trusting and confident.
And God has been faithful.
I remember when you told Uncle Dean about the church plant, he said, "Dave - you did everything opposite - most people are slowing down at age 50!" :) And that is just another way that God's ways are not ours. You still bear fruit in "old age," and I love how you make yourself available for God's agenda. And He uses you! Thanks for how you have always put the Lord first; you never cease to declare that the Lord is upright. He has blessed that eagerness, and He will carry onto completion the good work which He began in you.

I thank God that He gave me such an amazing Dad. Praying for you. Always.
Love.
Sarah.

Catching Up

Well, since we don't have internet at our apartment, I'm limited as to when I can update our blog. We are at the Smiths tonight and I figured I'd take some time to post.
We recently went to a marriage conference in Hershey, and it was amazing. The topic was Marriage and the Mercy of God, and we walked away so refreshed and encouraged. God really used the messages to spur us on in showing mercy towards one another. Aron Osborne talked about how we can exercise mercy when our spouse is sinning by being patient and waiting for his/her redeemed nature to come out. Mike is so good at this - I'm consistently amazed at his love and patience towards me in every situation. He is always coming alongside me, gently showing me where I am erring, and pointing me to the Gospel. God certainly knew what I needed in a husband, and I got above and beyond that! We walked away from that conference more encouraged and more in love than when we walked in. I'm so grateful to God!
I didn't get many pictures from the retreat. The only ones I got were at lunch on the way home, and they were only of Rick and Traci. Jason and Vicky were with us too, but they had already left by the time I pulled out my camera :)

I spilled my drink!

We also had a great time watching the Lynch kids the other night. I love spending time with them - they are so creative and definitely good for a laugh or two. And usually, when Kenny and Amy come home, we'll spend an hour or so just catching up on life with them. I've known them since I was eight years old, and it's crazy to me that they're not just my parents' friends anymore, they're our friends!

the husband speaks again: i am sorry to report that my marriage does not now bring unusual good luck to philly sports teams in championship situations

before i begin, i must say that my greatest skill as a blogger is my catchy and concise titles for my posts. i can't take credit for it, it is a gift. but enough chatter, on to the main topic. prior to this past sunday, january 18 2009, i had begun to suspect a very strange phenomenon. but first a bit of background.

the failures of philly sports teams over the past 25 years or so have been well documented. i have personally witnessed several of the most heartbreaking ones. i first became aware of sports in 1993, when my mom gave my brother and me a poster celebrating the 1993 NL champion phillies. i found out several days later that they lost the world series in tragic fashion. in 1997, my interest in sports grew when i first saw The Mighty Ducks, and then a few days later watched the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres to close out a playoff series. i became hooked on hockey and continued watching the Flyers' playoff games as often as possible. at Celebration '97, i watched them beat the Rangers in game 5 of the conference finals to advence to the Stanley Cup finals; a few days later i watched them lose the first of 4 straight in that series. the sadness was a theme for me. the first playoff football game i really watched was a 14-0 Eagles loss to the 49ers; i saw the Flyers blow a 3-1 series lead to the Devils in the conference finals; the heavily-favored Eagles' 14-3 loss in the 2003 NFC championship was the feature event of my 18th birthday party. in short, though i have not lived long, i have known much pain. (PS, anyone here know who that is in the picture?)

then, in october 2008, something happened. something amazing, unexpected, miraculous. i got married. but a little later in that same month, something else happened: the Phillies won the World Series. it was my second favorite thing that happened that month, at last all my years of loyalty as a fan had paid yielded me the joy of a championship.

a few short months after that most euphoric of sports moments, the Eagles began what seemed to be a miraculous run. against all odds, they made it to the playoffs; then they took care of business in their first 2 playoff games, knocking off the Giants (widely considered to be their greatest challenge in the playoffs) in the process. the stars seemed to be aligned; they would play a very beatable opponent--the Cardinals--for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. furthermore, neither of their potential opponents seemed that scary. it seemed--dare i even say it--very possible that they could win it all.

and that's when i started speculating: perhaps, somehow, in the inexplicable mysteries of God's universe, my marriage had ushered in a new era of philly sports. maybe, now that i had said my vows, i would witness championship upon championship, and that my devotion to my teams--now second only to my devotion to my Lord and my wife--would be rewarded with parade upon parade for years to come. the possibilities were glorious.

and then the Eagles played on Sunday, January 20, 2009. and they lost.

and that's when i realized, i am no curse-breaker. i'm just a happily married guy who will continue to support his teams, even thought they usually manage to poop their pants in big games.

and i'm ok with that. because like i said, the 2008 World Series Champions were only my second favorite thing about October.

Jake

So, I was going through some of my old pictures and came across lots of these guy. And believe it or not, I find myself missing him lots!!!!!! He wasn't the perfect dog :) he would occassionally crash into you at full speed and knock you over, or slobber on you, or bark for no reason whatsoever. But I do miss him. And maybe....just MAYBE....Mike will get me a puppy some day....I'll be working on that ;)

Also, shout out to Andrew who fixed my laptop! Which now enables me to post :)

Happenings

So It's been a while since I've updated. This is mostly due to the fact that we don't have a computer at home :) But Andrew is trying to fix my laptop - so hopefully it is fixable and we will be up and running soon :) Basically, what we have been up to is:

- Christmas (with the Smiths this year)
- Birthdays (Dan, Mike, Tom, Andrew.....soon it will be Shannon and Michelle. Basically this means we are broke.)
- New Years
- Eagles games (SURPRISE!)

Christmas was lovely. We spent Thanksgiving with my family, so we spent Christmas with Mike's. It was great - Christmas Eve Mike and I went to P.F. Chang's for dinner and then to the Christmas Eve service. We then went home and tried to watch A Christmas Carol, but fell asleep :) That night, Sean met me at 1 a.m. to bring in Mike's big-ticket-item this Christmas: a keyboard! Thanks to many people who wanted to bless Mike, we were able to get him a keyboard, something he's been wanting so he can practice at home. Even though he was not surprised (long story) it was still so so fun to bless him this way!
On Christmas day, we went over to the Smiths' and stayed in our PJs all day and watched movies! Mike got me the camera I'd been wanting for a long time - the Sony A200 - so I spent a lot of the day annoying people by snapping pics - it is fabulous! :)
For Mike's birthday, I cooked him a big breakfast and we ate it in front of the TV watching, what else, School of Rock. Later we went over the Smiths' for cake and Andrew and Rosie came too. It was a great day!
And today we went to the Smiths and watched the Eagles beat the Giants! It was fabulous.
Ok, so here is a photo update. In reverse order from actual occurrence because I always forget that they load backwards. There are many pictures because I have been having lots of fun - hope that's not a problem.



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