Retraction...

Just to make myself feel better, I need to clarify that I did NOT have 6 cavities that needed to be filled. I had 5 new cavities and one old silver filling that needed to be replaced. That makes me feel a tad bit better about myself.

Yes, I do brush my teeth, and YES, I do floss! I just have deep crevasses... :)

Takin' care of business...

Sometimes being a grown up really sucks...

Brandon made a premonition about 2 weeks ago that I originally laughed at, but am now starting to fear is really true! We were driving to church and he randomly said "You know, for some reason I feel like we're going to be spending a lot of money this year. I think 2010 is going to be a year of replacing and fixing all kinds of stuff". The only money we'd spent thus far was on our new garage door opener (YAY!), and that was completely optional, so like I said, I just laughed and wondered why he came up with such random nonsense...

But then that week I went to the dentist. For the first time in a (ahem) year and a half. And it was not good. It was not good at all. I don't have dental insurance, so I knew I'd be spending a couple hundred dollars or so. But when I walked out of the office with clean teeth and a scheduled appointment to get my 6 CAVITIES filled, along with a bill for $1100, I was a little bummed to say the least! hmmmm, premonition being fulfilled...

Also, last week I noticed that the tires on the car were starting to make a lot of noise, so I made a quick trip to see the friendly folks at Discount Tire, hoping a little rotation would take care of the problem. Nope. I needed new tires in a major way. So, $500 later, I was once again bumming, and bumming hard.

Being that it's just now the beginning of February in 2010, I'm thinking I should not have laughed so much at my sweet husbands premonition...

Luckily though, Uncle Sam is going to be giving us a nice little tax refund to help take care of this stuff. I'm hoping this premonition is fulfilled completely now, and that 2010 will just be looking up from here on out!

Speaking of Uncle Sam, I wanted to share an idea with you all that we do each year. My beautiful friend Natalie, (who just gave birth to her BEAUTIFUL daughter, Anna), gave me this idea when Sydney was little, and we've done it every year for her and plan the same for Brady. You know that sweet $1000 credit that our wonderful government gives us each year for each of our children? Well, every year we put that $1000 into a separate savings account for them. Since you know you'll be getting that money each year, it's an easy way to keep it aside to save. And then when each kid turns 18 (pending the continuation of the WONDERFUL child tax credit, Lord willing), they'll have $18,000 plus interest of their own! Or when they turn 16 and are begging for a car, poof! they've got the money for it! Or maybe by then the cost of college will dramatically decrease and that cool $18,000 will be enough to send them to school for 4 years! Hey, it could happen... :)

Can't let go...

I am by no means a pack rat, I think we clarified that in some of my previous posts. But there are of course some things that are more difficult than others to let go.

Current example: my Bible.

Brandon bought this Bible for me shortly after we were married, he had my new last name engraved on it, resulting in probably one of the best and sweetest gifts he's ever given me. But a lot can happen in 7 years. Like, that sweet husband that bought such a thoughtful gift, can USE that thoughtful gift as a hammer when there is nothing else within his reach to use. Yep...a hammer. So there are a few little nail-sized reminders of that incident on the back cover. Also, sometimes hot chocolate gets a little too close to my beloved Bible, and that hot chocolate might accidentally spill all over it. It wasn't too bad in the beginning, it dried out OK. But now, a year later, the pages are all crumpled and sticking together, and the residual hot chocolate has now turned into mold. Yep, a hole-y, moldy Bible is what I have. Maybe that's why my families allergies have been flaring up so much lately!

But this Bible & I have been through a lot together. For instance, I read Lamentations 3:22-23 SO often during my pregnancy with Elliot, there is a permanent invisible bookmark there so that the pages automatically fall open to it. My new Bible doesn't have that. And I'm not one to write in my Bible too much, but sometimes I do. And am I just supposed to copy all those notes & underlined passages over to my new one? Or do I just wait for opportunities to make new notes?

And am I supposed to just throw this moldy Bible into the trash? Or do I keep it hidden in a chest for years to come while the mold slowly takes over?? I'm apparently having a very hard time with this...any suggestions??

Snap Happy...

You know how every parent has tons of pictures of their firstborn? Albums are full of them doing just about anything, or really nothing, worthy of a little snap-shot. And then comes the second child, and the albums seem to be a little more sparse? And then comes yet another kid and they basically have to draw their own self portraits in order to make it into an album?

Yeah, well, I'm trying to beat the odds...but I will admit that it's a little difficult! I'm finding that I have to remind myself to jump and get the camera when Brady does something picture-worthy, or just when he's being his too-cute self. When Sydney was a baby, I had her pictures made (at Wal-Mart!) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. It cost me a grand total of $4 each shoot :) Brady was 3 months last week, and this week it finally hit me that if I don't want to join in on that lousy parent trend, I needed to go get his pictures made. We're making a little bit more money now, so off I went to the local JC Penney, this time spending a whopping $9! I'm all about cheap pictures :) Hopefully I won't need a little reminder in 3 months when it's time to go back! :)

I do think that thus far I've done pretty well with chronicling Brady's life as well as I did Sydney's, if I do say so myself. For instance, I've been keeping up with Brady's baby book, as well as keeping a special calendar that I write on a few times a week about what all he's doing and how he's changing. And I also thought to grab the camera the first time he grabbed this:

Just like I did with his sister:

Hey, maybe Brady will be a lefty like his daddy...

But if it's already this difficult to remember to stay snap-happy with the camera, how much worse will it be when we have another kid??!! Myabe he or she will be a good artist... :)

The REALLY good things in life...

I figured you all didn't care too much about my garage door opener - even though I was pumped about it. So I decided to post on something you might care a little more about, and I suppose I care a little more about it too :)

This precious little boy is 3 MONTHS OLD today!


Can you believe it?? Because I surely can't!! How and why does time pass by SO quickly!!??

Brady is just about the best baby I could ask for. He is happy, he is predictable, he is easy-going, and he has a smile that absolutely melts my heart! Plus, he sleeps...and sleeps well! He takes 4-5 long naps during the day, and has just recently started sleeping 9-10 hours at night! And to make life even better, all I have to do is lay the boy in his bed and wrap him up in a blanket, and he's out! It makes for a very happy baby, and a VERY happy mommy!

He's 12 pounds of pure JOY!:

The good things in life...

Technology is wonderful, isn't it?? I love that I can write something on my computer while sitting on my couch, and within seconds it can be shared with the world. And I love that I have a machine that not only washes, but dries my clothes as well. And I love the fact that I have a automobile, that allows miles & miles of traveling ease. And I love that I have a garage to park that automobile in, and right now, I am LOVING that I have a garage door opener to make it SO MUCH EASIER to park my beloved Pilot in said garage!

For two and a half years, we have had an ongoing battle with our garage door opener. It'd like us for a while, and then we'd apparently do something to tick it off and it'd crap out on us for extended lengths of time. Then we'd make amends once again and go a few weeks without mishaps. But inevitably the sucker would once again get angry, and we'd have to resort back to pulling the car out, turning off the car, manually closing the garage door, and walking through the house to go out the back door to start the car once again. When this happened during the "Arctic Blast" a week or so ago, I knew it was the end of our on-again/off-again relationship. It's funny how such simple technology can make or break a day in the life of Sara! We said "goodbye" to that old, crappy thing, and said "HELLO!" to a newer, fresher, much more user-friendly model, and I am looking forward to a long, lasting, healthy relationship!

And that's it. Seriously, this blog was solely about my new garage door opener. :)

10 good years...

This is January 2010 (believe it or not)...which means that 10 years ago this month, in the wake of a brand new millennium, I started dating my husband.

It was the start of our second semester at UMHB, and Brandon & I started hanging out mainly because our best friends were "hanging out". In the world of a college-aged-girl, the idea of two best girl friends dating two best guy friends is an absolute dream come true. So, after lots of quality "hanging out", Brandon & I became an official couple. Sadly, the other half of our best friend dream team didn't pan out, but luckily, it worked out just as wonderfully again a few years later!

And that was it, throughout the rest of our college days we were a couple, we were "Brandon & Sara", despite even a few break-ups here and there. It's kind of like "Ross & Rachel"! We were "on a break" three times to be exact, one of which lasted for 5 months and in which I had vowed that we would never get back together. But God changes hearts, and God changes circumstances, and here we are now, many years later, and just as happy as ever. To use all the cliches in the book, he truly is my better half, and he truly does complete me. To be 10 years into a relationship, and still be amazed and surprised at how perfectly he complements me, is a true testament that God knew what He was doing when He pushed us together.

I've decided to celebrate the man that I've adored for 10 years now by making a (by no means exhaustive) list of reasons why I love him...

1) He's driven. He has so many goals and ambitions floating around in his head that it makes my head spin...

2) He's devoted. Despite the many goals & ambitions that he's working towards, his priorities are always in order. He puts God, me & our children before everything else in his life, it's a place we love to be!

3) He's funny. Those of us lucky enough to know him well, know that his quick wit humor is beyond HILARIOUS!

4) He's easy-going. And that's a HUGE understatement - nothing stresses the man out!

5) He's Godly. He knows what he believes, and he lives it out daily.

6) He's stylish. He wore vests before vests were cool, and he can rock a sweater/button-up combo like no other.

7) He's a servant. He will do just about anything for anyone. He would literally give a stranger the shirt off his back if needed.

8) He's clean. I don't have to tidy up after him, he likes our home to be clean just as much as I do!

9) He's a family man. And not just with our little family. He makes a very concentrated effort to love & spend time with not only his family, but mine as well. And he truly loves them all.

10)He's sacrificial. He would give away all our money & possessions if I let him.

I love you more than ever, Brandon, and I will gladly spend the rest of my life right by your side...

January 2000 - Look at those earrings! And you can't see it here, but there's one in his tongue as well...
Just starting out...
And look at us now...crazy as ever! Sad, but true, this is the only recent picture of just us!! And what a good one it is... :)