...the deal...

big news in the hambrick household--- we're moving! it's official.  we are heading to georgia to church plant through Riverstone (our home church) at the beginning of june.  MANY emotions and thoughts about this entire transition and decision- so many that it's overwhelming to even process them or begin thinking about how to share them on this blog. i will say that on one hand, this change is very exciting.  steve will be able to work with tom tanner again, as well as other men he respects greatly.  it will also allow us to be near family, which will especially be good for the girls.  they have always lived at least 7 hours from extended family.  for me, this whole church plant thing is REALLY scary.  i've heard horror story after horror story about how incredibly difficult church planting is, and what a tremendous strain it can put on a marriage and a family. i do believe that the model we will be following at Riverstone will help with all of that, though. we will move there in june, begin building relationships with people from the community we'll be planting in, build up a core team to plant with us, and then begin meeting independently from Riverstone in 12+ months.  it won't be easy, but it will be good. we know we are being called to this, so we are being obedient.  i really do trust that god will bring provision in every way. i'm banking on it.

we told the wesley leadership team on tuesday night, and the rest of wesley yesterday.  we will truly miss wesley, and are incredibly sad about leaving.  wesley has become family for us, and the thought of leaving is a bit heavy.  we have some good friends in orlando, and it will be hard to move.  we've been dancing with jesus in one direction for 5 years (steve has been in college ministry for 10), and now he's changed directions on us.  we know the future will be fulfilling and fab, but steve and i will always look back on this season with much affection.

i would love for you to be praying for us.  more than that, we NEED you to be praying.  we have so much going on-- with trying to sell our house in one of the worst markets in the nation, deciding exactly where to move and plant, beginning the process of finding someone to fill steve's role at wesley, helping our girls deal with the impending move (anna katherine is already a bit distraught about it), and all of the mental wrestling that goes on with a huge life change like this.

so there it is.  the latest. thoughts?

i liked....

mike huckabee tonight.  he did a great job during the republican debate. he was incredibly witty and bright. he's cool and he's my choice. the end.

...rob bell and silliness...

so i went with most of the wesley staff to see rob bell this week at hard rock. earlier this summer when i saw that he was coming, i thought it would be an amazing surprise for the staff. so we bought the tickets. and THEN realized this event was on a tuesday night. for those of you who don't know, WESLEY is on tuesday nights- hence, not the best night for the entire staff to be off. SO steve stayed back (bummer) and ran the show at wesley. melody missed rob also because her dad is in the hospital. besides mel and steve, the rest of the staff went. and rob was REALLY good. i even had a lump in my throat at the end. and i wasn't the only one- even katie said she felt like crying but didn't know why. i guess rob does that to you.
i thought i would include a few pictures from the evening. one is me giving the arm pump for rob, another is showing sheer, dorky excitement outside of hard rock, another is with gina and katie (katie is trying to imitate my smile- doesn't she look like me??:)), and the last is of me and my new buddy rob.
i love fun, silly nights like this one.

...tragedy on so many fronts...

so why wouldn't today be fabulous? i mean, it's my birthday. and i'm ONLY 39 (yikes)... unfortunately, the girls had quite a hard day. (hence, steve and i had a hard day)
it started when we found out that centracare was giving free flu shots. we dropped our minivan (i know) off for an oil change and headed that way. anna katherine was in school, so sara was the unlucky recipient. i was getting one too. she was a bit clueless about what was about to happen, and the nurse warned me to hold her arms tightly. as soon as the needle went in, sara jerked her hand out of my grasp and yanked the needle right out of her arm. she was crying hysterically of course. then the nurse tells me that NONE of the medicine went in, and that she'll have to stick her again. yikes. so steve held her this time, and for the remainder of the day she was beyond distraught. crying that never really stopped, despite offers of candy, cake, ice cream, etc... and it was basically my fault. :(
then we get a call from tuffy letting us know that our brakes AND tires need replacing. fabulous. moving on...
anna katherine had her pre-k thanksgiving program tonight. she and her classmates were dressed as indians, and she looked quite adorable if i can say that. she did a fabulous job singing and doing all of the song motions UNTIL... everyone in the audience laughed at her. there was a time in the program when the director asked, "where are the turkeys?" (some kids were dressed as turkeys). anna katherine yells out, " over there!" and everyone in the audience starts laughing. and there must have been 300 people there. well, anna katherine was VERY aware that they were laughing at her, and she basically crumbled into a pile on the floor weeping for the remainder of the program. she was embarrassed. and we felt really sad for her. what makes this even a bigger deal- this is the first time she has actually willingly and excitedly performed with her class. last year she had terrible stage fright, and we had finally gotten past that. up until this point in the show, she was awesome. we're hoping she's not scarred for life. even as i type, steve is putting her to bed and trying to convince her that people weren't laughing at her.
maybe the sun will come out tomorrow?

...so you say it's your birthday...

today steve turned 34. i am grateful for his birth- and wish his mom was still alive so that i could thank her for raising an amazing man. we ate sushi for dinner (yum) and later partook in a piece of the famous hambrick family strawberry cake. (it's a secret recipe so don't even ask.) :) what could be better?

...a full fledged scream...

i think it's been a while since i've let out a full blown scream. that is until today. steve and i have been working around the house the past several days, cleaning various areas that have been untouched for a while. as i was cleaning up the back porch this afternoon, i picked up a dead plant (yes i have a black thumb- no secret there.) i walked through my house on the way to the garage to dump the poor dead plant into the trash can, when out from under the plant leapt a slimy green frog onto my arm. i was shocked and stunned, and end up throwing the plant into the air and letting out a blood curdling scream. i had no idea what had landed on my arm, i just knew it was wet and unwanted. he looks so cute and sweet in this photo, but that amphibian scared the daylights out of me today. anna katherine and sara had quite a time with this entire event, and are thrilled to finally have something to put in their bug catcher house. (i promise to make them release him tomorrow.... but he deserves a little punishment for torturing me, don't you think??)

...this makes me smile...

if you are a fan of "the office," you will love this video. these are clips of andy singing on various episodes. i couldn't help but post it. get ready to smile.. and come back as much as you need to for a good laugh. :)

...fluorescent wheelchair...

i had to add this photo of a guy we saw at epcot last night. he had fluorescent canisters in various colors on his wheelchair. quite sporty in my opinion. i actually considered asking him to take me for a spin, but thought better and decided not to.

..."just another day...

without you..." croons jon secada as i pogo (yes, literally POGO) up to the front of his concert at epcot tonight, right next to alot of boring old people resting on amphitheatre benches between imbibing on various foods and wines at the epcot food and wine festival. do you even remember jon secada??? after a bet with steve, i decided to humiliate myself by running up to the stage like a desperate fan, screaming and jumping, and waiting for him to grab my hand and sing to me. yes, i was the ONLY ONE not sleeping on a bench. and yes, i'm embarassed and proud at the same time. the non negotiable of the entire thing was that steve would be snapping photos to document my humiliation. and guess what--- he got NO PHOTOS of this. i can't even believe it. he owes me BIG TIME.
it was a really great date night. we were obnoxious at times, and it was nice. i miss those days of silliness. too often life distracts us from joy and laughter in the daily grind, but tonight was different. and i feel refreshed.

...these are days...

so yesterday was halloween. the weather cooperated and it ended up being crisp and cool (relatively speaking). we decided that we would church hop for "trunk or treat." (trunk or treat is when cars line up in a parking lot and open their trunks for kids to trick or treat out of-- this is new to us!) anna katherine has nightmares on occasion, so we figured that we would be safe from scary stuff in church parking lots. i was actually very surprised to see several cars with lit up skulls and the like. (geez, you can't avoid it.) we left our church taking away two HUGE pumpkin bags full of candy, and planned to head to a friend's church for another trunk party but our plans were altered when we found out they ran out of candy.
we headed home, and decided to take the girls for a jaunt around the block. We avoided the scary homes for all of our sakes, and enjoyed walking together as a family. it was great to run into neighborhood friends out and about, and we loved watching our girls run with excitement to each home. as natalie merchant sings so well--
"These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you"