Baby Isaac is so adorable. Abby, I know that you are an incredible mom! I hope to see you some time soon. (Can't wait to get started on my own family :)! )

We had a pretty good day today. My mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend, and I got ready for the day, were planning on going to the Capitol building. However, my mom and dad had a mishap at the bank - the ATM said the transaction was complete, online it said that the money was removed, but no money was released at the machine. So... that set us back a couple hours.

We didn't go to the Capitol building. But we did go to the Holocaust Museum. That was neat. It was bigger than ones I've been to before. Still sad. But it's hard not to get numb to it, you know?

I called a friend. That was hard. I haven't really talked with her for a long time, but she's been on my heart lately. Pray for me. We'll see how it goes.

We went to the mall for lunch. I had SUBWAY. My mom and dad had bourbon chicken. Thomas and Christy had Chinese (yuck). We all kind of split up and walked around the mall. I headed to Victoria Secret (my new favorite store). And then I went to JCREW (my other favorite store). I can't wait until I can afford to shop at those places... rather than Walmart. Not that I'm not appreciative of having clothes - I am. It's just that my fave stores are a bit of a luxury to me...

Afterwards, we went to McDonalds, got some ice cream. Drove around the monuments, and headed home. Oh yeah - we went to Georgetown and George Washington Univ. so that Christy could take a look at them.

Charlie was glad to see us come home.

I'll be glad to see Dan come home tomorrow night.

OK - I am kind of excited. I found some new features on Blogger that I didn't know existed. And you know what..? It's making me want to use this site more often! Crazy.

My agent's mom died this morning. She's been sick for about 6 years now, but she's been doing really pretty well - she definitely outlived what they expected. They made the decision to move her to hospice yesterday, and she was gone this morning. Of course, they were expecting her to pass, but what they were expecting was for her to be at hospice for a week, slip into a coma, live for about 1 more week, and then pass. So, in comparison to what they were planning for, it was quite sudden. If you think about them, please keep them in your prayers. Her dad is taking it pretty hard.

I just killed a really, really big spider (I think it's dead. I threw a book at it: it was still there. I threw a movie at it: still there. So I threw a really big phone book at it, and it fell off the wall. Lord, I hope it's dead). I am so ready for Dan to come home. (I am pretty sure that I am going to go with him whenever he goes anywhere for more than a few nights from now on... I just hate being a way from him. He's my best friend)

Peace!

Andrea Lizard Breath
(andrea elizabeth....)

[It's Victoria's Birthday! - Happy Birthday, Tori!!]


"There is a God who loves me, who wraps me in His arms ... Take me to that place, Lord! To that secret place where I can be with you - You can make me like You! Wrap me in your arms. Wrap me in your arms. Wrap me in your arms."

If it weren't for His arms wrapping around me.. How do they do it?? How do they live without Him?? It's no wonder the world is falling a part, obesity out of control, depression creeping in, marriages falling a part. No wonder.

I love that secret place. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. I love to hide there. I love to spend time there and just be with God. I love it. There is no place in the world I would rather be. It's where I feel safe, rejuvenated, refreshed, secure, purpose-filled. I love it. I just pray that my family feels the same way, you know? It's important to me that my family trusts in God completely. That they long for His presence and power in their lives more than that life itself. How do you encourage that? The only way I know is by living it and practicing myself - taking everything to God, falling on my face before Him when I fall.

Abba - keep us healthy. Keep our eyes on You. We trust You with our money, we trust You with our family, we trust You. Help me to know how to encourage Dan. I trust You to give me the words. I love Him so much, Lord - please help me to express that to him in a way that means more than anything. Lord, please give us confirmation on when it's time to start a family. You know I'm always ready J but we trust You to lead us - You know if our finances are decent enough, You know if we're emotionally and physically ready to handle it. Be with Dan, Abba - keep him safe. Draw him near to You. Speaking of which.. draw me nearer, too. Lord... wrap me in Your arms.

Today I accomplished:
I cleaned up the living room. I exercised (yea!!!). I worked at State Farm from 9-12. Hmm.. but I have a lot more to do: wash the dishes, put in a couple loads of laundry, vacuum, break down some boxes, go ROLLER SKATING.

This made me happy today:
I didn't have to work all day. I am so happy that I exercised, because I really didn't want to. I love it when I do something anyway - even if I didn't want to.

This made me angry today:
I was trying to exercise, and Horatio was attacking my hair. Grrr.. Wait. I'm working on not being annoyed with silly, small things like that: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20)

In the news today:
Wimbledon has been on TV all day. I haven't really been watching ... I've been watching "Sweet Home Alabama" while I'm cleaning!!

Today's weather:
Not too hot. I wish it would rain a bit, though. They thought it might, this morning on the news. But.. it hasn't yet.

I can't believe it's almost time for Dan to come home. It's unbelievable how time flies. Partly, I'm glad - I really miss Dan, and I am thankful for it to be that much sooner for him to return. I just trust God that he's safe, you know?

I'm going roller skating tonight with my girls! I am so excited about it.

Happy Fourth of July!!

So, I'm at my parent's home in Maryland. I'm getting pretty excited, because we're going to Washington D.C. for the fireworks and everything! Yea!!! I've only ever watched these on TV and now we get to go in person, for real. ... I just wish Dan were here.

It's amazing how much of me just doesn't feel complete without him here. You know what, though - now that I'm married, I definitely need these times to bring me back to reality, you know? Dan will never be able to completely fill me. Only Jesus can do that. And as much as I don't feel complete without him, the only one who can truly complete me is JESUS. Still, I miss him.

I think I've been writing about how much I miss Dan - I guess it's just always in the back of my mind. Or in the case of when I'm writing, in the fore-front of my mind. I am so ready for him to graduate. I am so ready to start having kids. I am so ready to be done at State Farm. I am READY. But the time is not here yet, so what else am I supposed to be getting out of this..? Something to seek God about, certainly.

Warning: This post might be viewed as a Rated R
(Not the usual "right to hell rating" - I am married)

Planning for an Anniversary

He never reads these, so I shouldn't have to worry about ruining the surprise.
Dan is in New Zealand and has about 2 weeks left there now. He's missing our 1st year anniversary, so I've got a lot planned for him when he gets home :)

We'll be at my parent's house in Maryland when he first gets back. I am going to have to rent a hotel room for at least one night (right? It's just too weird having sex in my parent's house... let alone doing anything more than we usually do) I'm trying to plan a night of remembering the past year, savor the moment of the night and look forward to what's coming ahead. I made him a scrapbook of our first few months together, and I made him some coupons for things that he loves me to do : for example, he LOVES it when I tickle his back. Not scratch it, but to just run my fingers over his back, sometimes just barely touching the small hairs. So, he will have a coupon for 1 hour worth of back tickling :) I've also hid 52 playing cards around the house. For what purpose, I'll leave to your imagination.

I have also recently purchased a couple of things to prepare for the night. One is Turbo Jam! To work on my abs and start to lose a little bit of weight. I love Turbo Jam - it is SO much fun, and I'm really starting to see the results I was hoping for (I've decided to become one of those success stories you see on the infomercials :)). The second purchase is more for those exciting first few nights when Dan comes home. I got about 5 pieces of sexy lingerie. I won't describe them for you, except that one looks awfully similar to a nurse's uniform :).

Other than the exciting joy of enjoying God's gift to married couples, I am SO looking forward to just embracing each other while sitting on the swing outside in the evening, watching the sky go from beautiful sunset to starry, starry night. Those times which allow us to catch up and talk, talk, talk.

I love being married.