On iPods and Birthdays and Doggies

Hopefully you can ignore the exhausted girl in the picture and just see what I got for my birthday last week! I was so glad that I got to stay home for my husband's birthday, especially since mine happened to fall right in the middle of my most hectic week in regard to school - my 26th birthday was sandwiched between two exams, two position papers, and two book reviews. Needless to say, last week was a blur, but my birthday itself was a sweet day of celebration. I arrived home after work to find that my husband had cleaned the entire house, which would have been plenty of a gift for me! I'm still not a very good wife when it comes to cleaning - dishes make me gag, bathrooms make my stomach turn...in short, I have a long way to go in the task of keeping a clean house. We then went out to dinner, and he surprised me with this adorable little iPod Nano! He even went to more than one location to make sure he found it in red. I haven't had a lot of time to spend at length on iTunes yet, but so far so good. My husband thought for a long time about purchasing an iPod for me all because he knows that I always have a song in my head. Because of that, and partly due to the nature of my job, it only made sense to him that I have music nearby as often as possible. How right and how thoughtful he is~

The little toot in the above picture had a birthday today. That's right, not only have me and my husband and other friends had birthdays, but Maia turned two years old today. I can't believe how much time has flown by, and it's so fun to look back and see how many more laughs we have had because of her.

I couldn't resist putting one of my favorite pictures of Nali on here. I took her for her annual check-up and shots at the vet today, and he found that she has a heart murmur. He's not terribly concerned about it right now, but it's there and he wants to see her again in six months. It made us kind of sad, even though it's probably nothing serious. Nali is going to be five years old this year, and she has the biggest heart of any dog I have ever known. I have always said that if I had the time to do so, I would get her involved at a hospital or rehabilitation center of some sort. She is such a lover of people, is so sensitive for being a dog, and it just breaks my heart to imagine anything wrong with her! As I said, it's probably no big deal, but I was still sad to hear that she may having something wrong with her.

I know that I haven’t written much recently, but school has taken priority over the past couple of weeks and will remain there until this next week. As the semester draws to a close, I can hardly believe that I only lack three classes before graduating. There are a lot of things going on right now, too, aside from school. Some of these things are not going on the blog at this time simply because I don’t want to get ahead of myself when the Lord has not revealed His plan in a specific area for me and my husband. And I just have a lot of things and people on my mind, some encouraging and some more concerning. This is one of those seasons in which I’m borderline overwhelmed with some of the things going on in the lives of those I know and hold dear, and therefore one of those times when I am clinging to the Lord all the more in prayer and seeking His glory and whatever he deems is for our good.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean
on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will
make straight your paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6