Butterfly Sparks Designs

Monday, March 31, 2008

...what is WRONG with people?...

do you read the news?  have you seen the article today about the guy who drowned his 3 kids in a hotel bathtub to get back at his wife? here's another one.. this is just one of MANY articles written each and every day about people in our world... a day doesn't go by that i don't read an article similar to this one... nothing surprises me anymore.. boy do we need JESUS!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

...reality is setting in...





we're moving. and it's getting more real. we've been interviewing (well, the wesley board has been interviewing) candidates for steve's job and reality is setting in. they actually have narrowed the candidates down to two, both of which interviewed all day today and attended wesley tonight.  i can hardly believe that steve only preaches two more times before we leave!  i've kept myself busy the last few months trying to keep the house clean, perusing resumes of potential replacements, looking at georgia homes online, and trying to sell our house-- basically busywork.  so much so that i haven't actually spent much (if any) time reflecting on our five years in orlando and the fact that we are only two months away from a big change. we've made amazing friends and have invaluable relationships with students and post-students.  and there is the reality that this is the only place the girls truly know as home. there are people here that are family to us.  a new chapter in our lives is coming, and it's all good, but there is an undeniable comfort in the familiar. and life as we now know it is almost over. i'm sad about that.  i think it was seeing the two potential replacements meeting our people today that kicked it in for me. like i said, it's all good. right?  i keep reminding myself.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

...SOOOOO....

aaron is number 6. interesting. and sayid ratted out michael. i'm not sure i would have done the same, but we'll see how that turns out. most importantly lost is off until april 24th. BUMMER. 
thoughts about tonight's episode?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

...the "christian parade"...





isn't that an interesting name for this parade? that's what their preschool calls it.. the kids dress up as characters from biblical times. the first pic is of the girls trying on their outfits last night. needless to say, they were VERY excited about the whole thing. i also included ones from their classes posing with jesus. cool, huh? bet you didn't know he was in orlando today, walking in a "christian" parade and hanging out with a bunch of preschoolers...

Saturday, March 15, 2008

...the perfect day...

it was 86+ degrees and sunny. a breeze made the temperature just about perfect.  it actually got up to 90 according to my mini (van that is), and although 90 degrees is really warm, i was ready for a day just like today.  
it was one of those days that our family was in harmony with one another. you know those days, and they don't come around all the time.  we ate gelati's and played in the backyard. AND steve and i had a DATE! 
our sitter came at 5pm and we didn't get home until 11.  SIX hours out!  for those of you with small kids and rare date nights, i'm sure you probably find yourselves in the same situation we usually do--- anticipating an amazing evening away from the kids, but ending up back at home by 9 with nothing else to do. oh no, not this time. (which is part of the reason this might be on the all-time favorite date night list).
we started out at an arts festival (which we weren't expecting to find), and *bonus* found a wine bar to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine at. not only was the atmosphere fabulous, but we both of us tried a wine we had never had before and actually loved it. yes, God was blessing us.  how good could it get? 
we headed over to our favorite sushi restaurant wazzabi for the perfect amount of japanese yumminess delivered on a wooden boat. not too much, not too little. amazing!  and to top it all off, our timing of leaving wazzabi was perfect to make the 8:05 showing of "the other boleyn girl."  
sunshine, gelatis, harmony, a date night, good atmosphere, good timing, and yummy sushi. perfection! today was good. we needed it. and we are grateful for it!
have you had any really great days lately?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

...jin is dead...


ok, so who all watches LOST? i don't "get" what happened tonight with jin and sun... obviously they are the last 2 on the oceanic 6 who get off the island... the entire flashback/flash forward thing was a bit confusing tonight.. especially the part when sun delivers the baby and you think you are seeing jin rush to the hospital to meet her. but he's actually dead. bizarro. 
so what's the deal with hurley flying over? isn't he a bit too mentally unbalanced at this time to be flying across the world (at least according to other episodes)? why were they showing us the whole deal with jin taking that panda to the hospital? i'm assuming that was just to get us off track...
give it up, people. any thoughts about the current plot?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

...home sweet home...



we're back! we drove to georgia on friday and returned late yesterday. boy, was it cold. ugh. and it actually snowed while we were there. today, you can see that it was warm and sunny here in orlando.
steve has been buying and selling boats to make extra money (he was raised in the boat business), and he needed to test one of them out to make sure everything was working well so we all went for a spin. of course, he had to take two fishing poles and make a few casts. anna katherine is following in her daddy's footsteps, and already loves going fishing. she did not catch the fish she's holding (steve did), but can you even BELIEVE that she is actually holding that fish by its mouth? like i said, her daddy's child. sara and i stayed as far away as possible.
we still have not sold our house, and actually reduced the price another 10 thousand dollars last night. our priority at this point is to get it sold so that we can begin pursuing housing options in georgia. we looked at some homes while we were there this weekend, and although we aren't in a place to buy anything at this point, it was nice to see what the market is like there and what is actually available.
i have a half day free tomorrow while the girls are in preschool. part of that time will be spent working at wesley, but i have at least a few hours free. ideas on what i should do?

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

...jesus eating cake...

anna katherine and i have been discussing jesus/the holy spirit and how he comes to live inside your heart/body.  today she asked me, "so when i eat cake does jesus eat it too? since he lives inside of me?"... i told her it was a good question and she needed to ask her dad.