A Hodge-Podge Update

After three weeks of suffering without, my dear laptop is back! Three support techs, more phone calls than we could count, and a trip to and from the Dell service center later, she's back and (seems to be) working fine. I think if we had waited any longer, we would have had to make another one of those dreaded calls to Dell...this being just a week before school starts and all. With the lack of the laptop came a slight lack of blogging, so this one is simply going to be a random rundown of little things that have been going on with us!

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First things first - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD!!!!!! Yes, my parents' birthdays are only two days apart. My dad is known by many people and by many names: from Mark to Mr. Man to, of course, Dad. Everyone who knows my dad knows that he never ceases to put others first, he is perhaps one of the most compassionate men you will ever meet, and he has been the most supportive father a daughter could ever ask for. I am so thankful for him, and I have been encouraged by his enthusiasm in desiring to be closer to the Lord. He has such a servant's heart, and is someone whom we can all learn something from about both sacrifice and giving. I love you, Dad!!!

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The pictures below are from our puppysitting days in July:

That face will melt your heart! We had so much fun with Sammie here, and she reminded us of why we love border collies so much. Although still very much a puppy at just three months old, she caught on to our routine and direction so quickly. We also got quite a kick out of watching her pounce and walk all over Nali.

Our little ice princess, Maia, finally started to melt after the first week of having Sammie in the house. She went from complete avoidance to plopping down on the floor with her or playing a game of chase around the livingroom.
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Around the time that the laptop crashed, we went into a cleaning frenzy! I had anticipated this task being put off until November (at the earliest), but we suddenly got in the mood to start pulling things out of the closets and shelves one weekend. It was insane how much we pulled out, and I'm not certain that we're finished just yet!

What do you get when you marry someone with whom you have shared both undergraduate and seminary classes, all totaling about five years of school? We took three FULL boxes of books to a local Christian bookstore that buys used books, and we were pleasantly surprised by how much they gave us in return.
Then, it was on to the closets...oh, dear...



Farewell to my very last pair of plaid pants (I can hear certain friends and family laughing right now). Although they were by far the least loud of the plaid pants I have owned in my lifetime, it was still time for us to part ways. Readers, if you have seen my wardrobe at any point in the last fifteen years, this is significant! I sort of feel like I've actually entered the adult world now that my wardrobe is plaid-free!
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Speaking of being an adult, and being on this recent clean-up kick, I decided to get a new haircut as well. I basically told my stylist that I was tired of looking like an adult from the neck down, but feeling like a disheveled girl as far as my hair was concerned:




If you've stuck around for this long, I hope you have enjoyed what has definitely been a random hodge-podge of an update!