Allen Iverson(for my mother-in-law who loves the Pistons, but is not an A.I.fan)


Rasheed Wallace


If you know our family at all, you know that I have jumped in hard core as an Ohio State Buckeye Football fan. We love the Buckeyes and follow them through all the emotional ups and downs that they take us on. Now Jamie also has some other teams that he has followed since childhood, none that I think he cherishes like the beloved Buckeyes, but there are others--none of which I have ever felt connected to. One of those teams is the Detroit Pistons and Wednesday night he and I went to see them play the Timberwolves. While I am not a hard core fan, I did wear my blue hooded sweatshirt, which totally matched Jamie's red hooded sweatshirt (he was LOVING that) and I did cheer quietly (so as not to be obnoxious and irritate the MN fans). I would not be that nice if it were the Buckeyes playing the Gophers....

BTW..Detroit won--Go Pistons! Thanks Nicole for the tickets!

My friend, Becky, has come up with another way to creatively post on your blog....go here for details.

JOY



Isabelle has one of those smiles that just lights up her whole face...she can also cry and bring down her whole countenance...BUT on this day she was full of life and joy.

I strayed away from my usual tendency to hibernate through the winter today. The girls and I bundled up and went sledding with our friend Marissa. I either did a great job at bundling up or I was working up a good sweat climbing back up the hill, because I was not cold in the least. The girls had a great time even though Marissa ran Isabelle over with her sled (she claims it was an accident) and once Macie landed face first in the snow. Macie was screaming bloody murder when we left because she wanted to "try again" and Marissa told me I was torturing her because I was laughing at her and taking pictures...she will look back and laugh when she is older. :) Now all we need to do is conquer ice skating and the Winter Festival and we will be true Minnesota Winter Princesses.

Click here to link to my friend Sue and her husband Scott's blog. She is a reporter for the local morning news. She does not like the cold and she has been out there in it this week reporting on how cold it is here...It made me laugh. Sorry, Sue. I have made her promise repeatedly that no matter how much she hates the cold- moving is not an option. Right, Sue?

Saying goodbye is not an easy thing for some of the members of our house, namely our oldest daughter Tori. We brace ourselves for the gut-wrenching, body-convulsing tears, actually they are more of a wail, that accompany each goodbye from Grandma's house, saying goodbye to friends moving away or the last day of school. But Sunday I found myself wiping the tears for a more unusual goodbye. Macie recently promoted to her "big girl" bed and with that step up we have done a little redecorating (pictures will follow- I am not quite done). Anyway, Jamie decided to sell his bowflex so Mace could have full use of her room space. A nice gentleman came over Sunday to disassemble and haul it away. And while they took each piece out to the van, Tori cried on my shoulder about how she couldn't believe we were selling the bowflex and how much she was going to miss it.

I wasn't incredibly compassionate considering I had no idea why she cared since she never used the bowflex and I had never heard her aspire to use it. And then she preceded to tell me she was sad because if the bowflex was gone she would no longer be able to count Jamie's reps or sit in there while he did his workout. And then somehow, in a strange way, her tears seemed warranted. It has been said of Tori that she loves deeply and I will never argue with you there--it seems even a muscle building, piece of work-out equipment is not exempt.

My friend Becky recommended I do my "Top ten photos of 2008". Well, I don't know if these are my top ten (okay, fine, top 13--I have quite a few photos) but these ones seemed to strike a chord with me as I looked back on the year 2008.

New friends who have become familiar and comfortable friends...even if they weren't in our same class at school ;)

New fish- who no one takes care of now but me and who no one seems to care about until we go away and someone else has to watch them...

New adventures, especially Isabelle starting kindergarten and lots of little ones in between...

Old friends coming to visit and visiting old friends....



Special time spent with the Miller and Stafford side of the family...



My church--we have had a lot of goodbyes this year which hasn't been super fun, but these are the people who live life with me and help me look more like Jesus. I am blessed.



Oh, and last but not least, the everyday faces that make my world go 'round. They make 2008 and every year amazing.



GO BUCKS! BEAT TEXAS TONIGHT!!!


Happy 2009 Everyone!