Snow Day

West Texas isn't the only place that has crazy weather!!
Today it hit 75 degrees....and that is amazing considering last Thursday night we got 8 inches of snow and had a snow day Friday!!

It was soooo nice to sleep in! Kyle and I spent the entire day at the James' house. They happen to have 2 JH girls....and the 2 cutest boys ever....and live near another JH girl in our youth...plus they always have other kids at their house. Kyle spent the entire afternoon towing the girls around the block behind his pickup. They had a blast!! We also went sledding down the side of an overpass that evening. I was scared...but I finally went with Kyle. It was fun! But I'm ok with just taking pictures. Of course, Dawson did ask me go to with him once....and he is wayyyyyyyyy too cute to turn down. So here are some pics from the day: (my camera doesn't do well with the dark & I don't do well with the fast action...ha...so I don't have many sledding pics)

Date Night & Drive-In Church

I feel a deep, insightful blog coming on....ha....but for now here is what you get:

Kyle goes every Tuesday night on "Date Night" with some of the guys. It is Doug's (worship leader) night to deliver music for Sunday...and somehow he started picking up Dan (LifeGroup pastor) and they would go out to eat....and now Kyle and other random people join them weekly. You can read more about their dates on Doug's blog. (link to right) Anyhoo....we (the wives) like to give them a hard time about dating each other more than they date us, but in reality it is an awesome time for Kyle to build incredible relationships with the boys and I know he loves it! So I stole a picture from Doug's website to show you how happy it makes Kyle: (and Dan)

Meanwhile, I usually sit at home and watch HGTV or the Travel channel. Last time I watched the Travel channel it was showing the craziest thing I have ever seen.....a DRIVE-IN church. UNBELIEVABLE! Bob always mentions our fast-paced society and the fact that you can even get married in a drive though. HOLY COW..did you know you can get a "ticket to heaven" in a drive-up?!?!

I'm sure there are good things that happen...but I have a MAJOR hang up with this kind of thing. The people make up the church....not the building...or the parking lot...and I believe the fellowship, relationships, and work together are so vital!! Isn't some interaction necessary for healthy discipleship and personal growth? I don't think I like the idea of driving up, receiving a Word, and driving away. Oh and you can honk or flash your lights instead of saying Amen. Maybe there is more to the story than was shown. I did read online that the pastor greets them through their windows as they drive out. It seems so comical to me!

Venting

So here's the deal....this post is simply here for me to vent...and you to feel sorry for me.

School has been crazy the past several days! Last Thursday & Friday I basically had no voice. Especially on Friday morning when I was simply a whisper. It was quite interesting. Luckily I gave a test on Friday and I had a Title I teacher in my room for the morning.

We didn't have school yesterday. BUT today we show up....and there is NO heat and there are flurries in the air!!! Apparently a pipe froze & busted over the weekend so our heat went out. It has been FREEZING!! Luckily it is fixed now and at least our rooms are warm. The thing that really irritates me is that had they caught it earlier they would've cancelled school. Jerks. Meanwhile, I'm just giving out worksheets and doing my own thing (like typing a blog) and sort of taking the day off.

OH..and one other thing. This is basically to TOMMY MILLER. My blog is NOT to be used for trash talking. Especially when the talk is directed towards me. I WILL send my people to whoop you.

Youth Happenings

So brief, belated updated of Christmas. We had a GREAT time in Texas!!! It was sooooo wonderful to spend an entire week with the families! PLUS I got to eat at Chicken Express, Leal's, Tokyos, AND El Camino. And we were way too spoiled as usual.

Our kitchen is now fully tiled....a picture to come soon once we get the trim all put back in. It looks awesome!! Kyle, Greg, and Doug did a great job!!

Most importantly....Driven Student Ministries has fired up full force since school has started back. This past Wednesday Kyle kicked off the "All In" series with the students. It goes along with the "All In" series the church is doing. I am SUPER excited about the whole thing! Everything is related to poker and going all in and the parallels to our relationship with God. This week we talked about the fears that keep us from going all in...and man...it's worth a whole blog how this has been transforming my life!! The youth band made their first appearance on Wed. and rocked the house! Our JH kids seem so fired up every week...it's awesome!! We also started a high school Lifegroup at our house on Thursday nights and this week was the 2nd week. We had 8 HS students and 4 leaders here and we had a blast hanging out!! I love to see the excitement and drive in all of the JH and HS kids that are getting involved. My extended family will be happy to know that we played Cranium...and have broken it in quite well since we received it.

OHHHHHH...and I almost forgot. Kyle also made his singing debut at LifePoint last Sunday. Since we were talking about fears....and going all in....Kyle sang "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw. He did awesome! Who knew he was a country singer?!

Checkout the All In promo video:

Puppies & Kitchens

We made it home safely! If you missed the previous post you should DEFINITELY look to see the new pooch.

We did make a stop in Elk City, OK to pick up our dogs. They got to stay at their original home for a few days! I got to see my first Shar Pei as a small puppy. Her name is Sassy...and she is ADORABLE. Just this previous Thursday she found a home for her. Thank goodness. Otherwise she would be sitting in my lap right now as I type to you!!!! She is sort of unique because she is a "bear coat". This is considered a fault in the dog showing world because it reflects a chow chow mix from centuries ago. (the longer hair) But DANG SHE IS CUTE! You can't deny it.

The dogs enjoyed sleeping the entire ride!

And finally...here are pics of how our kitchen has progressed. It looked 100% better after painting and decorating. Now...it is empty!! Kyle surprised me by choosing for our Christmas to each other to be new tile. (and possibly new countertops) It will look even better SOON! Thanks to the James' brothers for all their help tearing everything out!!!

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Life of Parkers

This picture may seem extremely silly. But for those Texans that have been to visit us, you understand it completely. Notice the time shown on my car clock: 5:39. Notice outside: DAYLIGHT. AMAZING huh?

I made the trek to Texas on Friday and Saturday of last week. Friday I drove part way to Kyle’s grandmother’s house and got to see the Parker family + have chocolate gravy. Saturday I drove the rest of the way to Tulia. It wasn’t that bad of a drive except when I hit the blowing snow in OKC. That slowed me down for a couple of hours. Most of you have seen this before, but they have a huge cross in Groom. (outside of Amarillo) I passed around sunset so I thought I’d take a pic. It isn’t great, but I was trying to be a safe driver.


Check back next week for new house pics!

Other pics from exciting times: Over Thanksgiving we picked up our new dog: Mariah. She is a black chinese shar pei. (that is probably not spelled right) So far she has been a sweet dog. She always HAS to have something to lie on. If I put a pair of pants on the floor, she is on them ini 3 seconds. Every night we get done getting ready for bed, she is waiting on our bed. (only to get told to get down) She also enjoys playing with her stuffed rabbit. Basically she gets it in her mouth and slings her head around then jumps around the room like a bucking bronco. Quite the sight.

JoJo asked for a stuffed soccer ball for Christmas.


And the GRAND FINALE…..drum roll………………the CARDINAL!!!!!
I know…it’s awesome.

Tomorrow we head home!!! Woohoo for 13 hours

Quick Update

I really appreciate the people that continue to check in day after day to see if we have finally posted again. It has almost been a month but I am FINALLY giving a quick update.

Things have been crazy! After spending Thanksgiving with Kyle's family, we spent a week painting and working on the house. Valinda was able to come back with us and stay a week. (Mike did get to fly up for a few days as well) And my parents drove up a day after us and stayed for about 10 days. They worked SOOOOO hard and did SOOOO much. It would still be a complete wreck without them. I owe them BIG TIME! We still have several things to do but I am hoping by after Christmas it will all be done. I will post pictures SOON! I would today, but I left my camera at home. I am at the Robbins' borrowing their computer. We have not had internet since the move. It should be installed on Wednesday! (woohoo!)

We also have a new addition to the family, Mariah. There will be pictures posted of her as well. By the way, she is a dog.

Other updates....LifePoint is going great! We've had some really cool Christmas stuff going on. To read more about it check out Bob's blog. (bob.blogs.com) I saw my first real life cardinal today. I'm not that into birds....but it was sooooo cool! I was amazed! (i do have a pic) This weekend we had a good snow. Around 6 inches. Plus no school today. woohoo!

Pictures to come soon!