Eww... This Is Just Plain Gross.

Everyday at 12 sharp (ok, so maybe it's 11:59 or 12:01!), all the students stand by their desks and we have a word of prayer for lunch.

Very necessary!

After that, there's a mad dash to the lunch room and the fighting begins.

Over the microwaves.

You see, our students are blessed to have a fridge and microwaves to use for their lunches and they certainly uphold their end of the deal. So it's usually about 12:09 when I sit down to lunch, because I'm normally the last one to get to the lunchroom which also means I'm last in line. After warming up some rice Tuesday, I sat down at the girls table just in time to hear a story about mayonnaise.

Jen (not to be confused with redheaded Jen from a previous post:)) was the storyteller and her audience was unwilling yet captive listeners. So Jen begins...

A particular family loves mayonnaise but one day the jar is finally emptied. Saddened that they don't have any more mayonnaise, the family goes to bed but the next morning they find the jar refilled! So they joyfully eat the mayonnaise and declare it to be the best they have ever tasted. By the end of the day, the jar is empty again. But miracles do exist, and the next morning the family finds it full again. They gobble it all up and are determined to find out where it comes from, so the father says he will stay up that night and watch. The next morning the family breathlessly asks the father about the strange refillings of the mayonnaise. The father replies, "Last night around midnight a man walked in with zits all over his face and leans over the jar..."

Right about then, my fork hesitated in mid-air as the disgusting mental picture crept into my mind. Ewwww! To make matters worse, Rebekah chose that moment to begin talking about where rice comes from... "It's really maggots that have been frozen..." blah, blah, blah.

Um, I thought boys were supposed to be the disgusting ones! So today as I sat down at the table, one of the girls asked, "Miss Hammond, does jello come from crushed-up horse hooves?" Where do they come up with these things??? And why does it have to be at lunch time???

Tomorrow I'm going out to lunch with 4 co-workers to celebrate a birthday... hopefully the conversation does not revolve around mayonnaise and horse hooves:o) Don't forget to enjoy some mayonnaise!

Bountiful Blessings #3

I feel like I just made a whole new set of friends... what fun!!! I think I'll do that every once in a while, just to meet more people;o). Now I have a better grasp on who is where and all that good stuff:o). The only one who stumped me was Macungie... hmm. Not too sure about that one. Anyway, on to my super-big blessing!

Do you remember this post? Boy, if I was excited that Wednesday, then my thrilled level jumped about 10 times that this past Wednesday! If you were in church last night (I should say at LVBC, because I'm sure many of you were in church last night, just not here:o)), then you already heard my blessing (unless of course you were stuck at home because of the snowstorm, so then during the streaming over the Internet you saw me - I think - but didn't hear me!) Anyway! (What did we always call that in Bible Institute when our teachers did that, Rachel? Rabbit trails???:o))

I sat down a week ago Friday night to figure out how much it would cost to go to Thailand for 2 1/2 months this summer (this also includes my bills back home), and I was pretty discouraged over the total moolah needed for this missions trip. All I could say was, "Oh boy. Oh no... uh oh." After that, I thought of any and every possible job I could take on for the next three months and even went to the extent of asking my sister-in-law to keep her ears open for babysitting or cleaning jobs.

Just to insert this in, I'm sure God was laughing while I had that conversation with Ann:o).

As I was talking with a co-worker on Tuesday, I made the statement, "I know God's going to provide... I just don't know how." We both agreed it would have to be God though, because the amount was waaay too big for me!

Since this is the big world wide web, I would like to believe that only nice people come for a visit here. But I do know better than that, so I'm not going to be divulging the amount I needed or the amount I received! If you do want to know the specifics, you can e-mail me:o).

But I will tell ya this: God provided in a very unexpected way and it was two-thirds the amount I needed!!!!

If it seems to you I'm a little excited, well, you're right... I was truly flabbergasted at it all, but then I started laughing because it's so like God to provide! May I refer back to my all-time favorite quote by Hudson Taylor?

"Depend upon it, God's work done in God's way will never lack supplies."

So if you heard a little shouting on Wednesday afternoon around 3:30 from Pennsylvania, that was me:o).

The other thing I did want to share was the fact that God gave back to me what I had given back to Him through tithing and faith promise last year.

Plus a little extra.

Ha! God is good and I can prove it;o).

Just one more thing, and then I'm done. If you go here and click on February 25 AM, you'll hear what I think was one of the best messages I've ever heard on tithes, offerings, and faith promise. And I'm not just saying that just because it's my Pastor preaching;o).

Since this is Bountiful Blessings, don't forget to leave a blessing of what our amazing God has been doing in your life! For 5 minutes in Sunday School yesterday we shared blessings about people who have been generous to us, and it turned into a blessing for me to hear! Let's encourage one another, shall we?!?

Until next time... :o)

*International* Visitors Too!

I must admit that I'm a little surprised to see I've had visitors from British Columbia, Nova Scotia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and Thailand (Hi Rachel!:D). I'm very impressed to see people from all over this country too; but I'm not quite sure that I know everyone though! So would you humor me and my curiosity please?!?!? I was wondering if you could just drop a little "hi" and let me know what state/country you are from... It's always fun to find out where everybody is from! Now to my readers who prefer to remain anonymous, there's an option just for you (!) in the comment section. It's certainly ok if you don't want to leave your name ~ I understand:o). You can consider this an opportunity to wish me "Happy-Birthday-Three-Weeks-Later" or something like that;o). And once y'all are done sharing, I have a super-big blessing to share with you! "Sharing, sharing...";o).

Ok, so I'll start.

"Hi, I'm Anne and I'm from Pennsylvania!"

Your turn!

That's Just The Way It Is...

We should have seen it coming. Especially since there were four of us in the car - two blondes, one brunette, and one redhead. That combination could only mean one thing: confusion. UTTER confusion!

But let me backtrack and explain...

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, it wasn't too terribly dark out, but there were a few rain drops! Actually it all began when I walked into the Chapel at 6:55 and noted that I was the only one in a skirt. That's a good thing since the rest of the people in the room were guys:o). As I braved the table surrounded by guys, I snatched up a map and headed for a seat, hoping that the last minute rush would include some girls! Thankfully three more girls joined me, so we decided to match up another map with the map I had in my hand so we could all drive together. As the brunette went to go talk with Bro. Reeder about directions, I stayed behind and chatted with the redhead. Soon we were prepared and ready to go. With the question of who would drive out of the way, we headed to the parking lot and prayed for receptivity in the hearts of the people.

I should pause and insert a piece of vital information here: I didn't pray for safety on the road.

Continuing on...

We pulled out of the church parking lot with cars in front of and behind us... all heading to the same area. The conversation quickly turned to teeth, shopping, and how Jen's not good with reading a map. With that said, I handed the maps back to Sarah and Nina, trusting them to get us to our destination.

We drove along a very-familiar road (this particular road leads to Wal-Mart, so we know it quite well!) before turning on to S. Lane. My two rear passengers suddenly implored me to turn left, so with a quick spin of the wheel, we were on another road, leaving the safety of the "pack" we were traveling in, yet certain we were going the right way.

HA!

As we approached an unfamiliar road, I heard my redheaded friend say, "This isn't right. Go back to S. Lane and turn left."

Okie dokie. Rachel and I often say, "This car does reverse!" (particularly on Visitation...hmm, I see a trend!) so I turned my little car around on the deserted road and headed towards S. Lane, confident that out of three girls, one of them should get me to where I needed to be.

As I drove along the windy road, Sarah suddenly exclaimed, "Swabia Creek! We're going the right way!" so I pressed on. But within a 1/2 mile, I heard a "I don't think we're going the right way. Maybe we should turn around." With that uttered, I did reverse (again:o)). Now keep in mind I barely glanced at the map; I figured that's what three passengers were for!!! So I sweetly followed their leading;o).

The mood in the car was light and fun as we attempted to find the streets that we were supposed to do. We headed the other way on S. Lane, but after two miles and seeing the local ski resort lights in the distance, we realized (yet again!) that we were going the wrong way. So I turned around and started going the way we just came.

Have you counted the reverses yet?;o)

One road on the map was called Macungie Road, so my redheaded friend Jen told me to head towards Wal-Mart/Macungie Road and we would go from there. As I pulled up to the road, we realized Macungie Road and Lower Macungie Road are two different roads. Two very different roads. Realizing our mistake, we wondered what direction to take. I kid you not, I heard "left!" "right!" "straight!" all at the same time as I approached an intersection with a green light. Ahhhhh! It turned yellow and I stopped; waiting to sort out something from all the chaos and confusion. Nina was very persistent that we should go straight, so I did.

It was at that point that Jen got on the phone with her brother and told him we were lost. After he asked who she was with and the laughter on his end died down:o), Jen began to rattle off street names that were on our map, but to no avail. The only thing Jeff could come up with for road names was Wheatthins. Wheatthins???? Who in the world calls a road after a cracker???

*Sigh.* Only in Pennsylvania.

At this point, I had pulled off to the side of the road and asked to see the map. Recognizing a road that I knew for sure exactly where it was, I did reverse and headed for some sort of sanity on my part.

I was about 1/2 mile from the known road when I heard Jen say, "Ok, so we have to turn around, go back to S. Lane and turn left? Ok." Being the type of person that just had to prove I knew where I was going, I kept heading for the road and finally turned left onto it just as Jen said good-bye. She reiterated we were supposed to go back to S. Lane, but I said, "I just know that Macungie Rd shoots off from this road and then we'll find the roads we need to do!", but then I realized that I was being rather obnoxious, so I meekly turned around and headed back towards S. Lane. I was just about ready to turn left when Jen's phone rang and she was told to turn right on to S. Lane and to wait at The ______ School.

John Nadaskay Jr. was going to meet us there and take us to our streets.

That was like placing the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. To be stuck at The __________ School and to be "rescued" by John Jr. is the epitome of us girls failing and failing miserably:o).

So we waited and 30 seconds later John shows up and takes us down the original road we started on. Do you remember Swabia Creek and the reverse I did soon after that? If I had gone 10 more feet, I would've seen the road that I needed!!!!!!!!!!

And that, my friends, was the capstone to a highly entertaining evening of spending one whole hour in my car and being 5-10 minutes away from church;o).

What's even more amusing is that we managed to pass out the fliers and invitations in 20 minutes.

I rest my case.

The most amazing thing is that this happens on Visitation more than we care to admit. Like the one time Jen was driving and Tim was following and Jen turned onto what she thought was a road but it was actually a construction site. Or the time Rachel and I were driving in a nearby town and were lost, so we pulled over into a deserted parking lot to consult the map (a lot of good that does, right!). Then this policeman drives in and asks us if we were lost. Uh, nope! We just like to hang out in parking lots of unfamiliar places;o).

But the blessings from Visitation far outweigh the frustrations, and so we keep going out. Besides, who knows? Perhaps a seed was planted tonight... We'll never know until eternity.

Harvesting.

I love when a preacher takes an example from his own past and describes the scene in vivid detail. I know I'm getting some first-hand experience and that usually makes the illustration a little more meaningful for me. As I sat listening to the missionary tonight, I was captivated as he tossed around terms like combine, machine shed, wagon, and tractor. Clearly this was a farm boy who knew a little something about harvesting.

He first mentioned a field of wheat and what happens when the wheat is over-ripe. The wheat actually gets smaller and the tips turn white. All it would take is a raindrop or a windy breeze to break the wheat off the stalk. He then made the comment, "I've never seen a vacuum follow behind a combine" making the point that the souls that were ripe and ready to harvest, once lost, are lost forever. Hell gives back no prisoners.

I thought about the verse where Jesus says, "lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." Jesus used a familiar physical example to make a spiritual application. Our harvest field is the world, but alas, we're not harvesting as much as we should.

Another illustration the missionary used was when he was harvesting one last field at the end of a certain season. There were 80 acres left to be harvested, but a storm threatened to cut off any profit that might come from those acres. As the missionary was plowing late into the evening, his dad told him to go inside and get to bed since he had school in the morning. The missionary said, "no... I have to get this harvest in before the storm" and asked his dad for something to keep him awake. The thought of the ever-looming storm pushed him through the night. For if the storm came and destroyed the crop, there would be no profit... nothing on which the family could live. He finished the acres around 6 AM, just ahead of the storm. Wearily he went inside and got ready for school. His teacher didn't understand why he slept through Algebra class, but he did. The harvest was too important.

Let's make the application to us, hmm? The storm is coming and we need to get the harvest in before it wrecks damage and destruction. Only we're not talking wheat, corn, or soy beans; a soul is really what is at stake. This isn't something that we lose this season and get back next. Once a soul is gone, she or he are gone forever.

One more point he made was this: the combine is sitting in the machine shop, ready to go. It has gas, the tires have air, the battery is charged, and the key is in the ignition.

But the seat is empty.

A combine sounds pretty useless to me without a driver. A combine might look new and shiny, but the value is nothing if it's not used. The harvest will rot out in the field if it's not gathered and collected. Harvesting is not easy, but the end benefits far outweigh the discomforts endured in order to get the harvest in.

Lord, here am I, send me...

... to the store

... to the gas station

... to the toll booth

... to the library

... to the bill collectors

... to my neighbors

... to my co-workers

... to my family

... to my community

... to my county

... to my state

... to my country

... to the world

Little By Little... Line Upon Line.

Last evening at the Chinese study, a couple came in after Nat was done with the lesson, so during the one-on-one time, I quickly brought the lady up to speed on the lesson of the evening ~ the story of Moses. While we were working our way down the Bible study page full of statements and questions, we came across a question worded something like this:

What does God want us to do with our problems?

The verse listed behind the question was Matthew 11:28, so we found the verse on the left-hand column of the page and Y.Y. began to tentatively read the verse... ~ "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Y.Y. then asked the question of the evening: "So we all need to come to God?"

YES!

YES!

That's it!!!!

Oh yes, that's what we need to do.... we all just need to come to God. I was so excited because Y.Y. was thinking about the verse and came to the right conclusion. As I shared that with a co-worker today she said, "it's line upon line and precept upon precept". Every step, no matter how insignificant, is still a step; a step in the right direction!

After the one-on-one time was over, we had some cake to eat (we were celebrating Y.Y.'s birthday:o)), and then we decided to play a game. Now this game goes by many names (Mafia, Mobster, Gangster, Murder, Killer) but it's a fun game to play in a big group. This game, however, does not work with only 7 or 8 people... I tried it once;o). The first time I ever played this game was on the lawn of Lehigh University with about 30 people. It was dark out and all of our cars were parked in a "no-parking" zone (oops!), so the policeman came along as we were in the middle of the game. Not believing that a group of college students were "just playing a game" (without beer), he was ready to disperse us when one of the guys described the game to him and actually had him play with us! Whenever he closed his eyes, he kept his hand on his gun;o). But the game goes like this...

One person is the narrator/moderator/overseer who tells the story. Everyone sits in a circle (preferably on chairs so you don't confuse who's dead and who's not) and they make up a town. You can name your town whatever you want (once we called it the town of Happy Sunshine!) and at the beginning, everyone closes their eyes and sticks out their fist. The narrator walks around and depending on how many people are in the group, he picks 2-3 'killers'. We had three killers in our game last night with about 20 people there. Then the story begins... "In the town of ____________, two people will die each night until the townspeople kill the killers. So the townspeople of the town of ___________ go to sleep tonight wondering who is going to die. At this point the killers awake to choose their two victims." (Two victims chosen). "The killers go back to sleep and in the morning the people of __________ awake to find out that so-and-so and such-and-such were stabbed (or whatever else) during the night. Now the townspeople have to find out who the killers are." At this point, there are normally two suspicious people who rise to the occasion because they are loud, boisterous, or just "seem" to be the killer. So after taking votes from the townspeople, one of the suspects dies and sits on the floor with the others who have been killed. And then the whole story repeats itself.

What's really funny is to see who gets accused. Usually it's the one who doesn't have a good reason as to why he's not the killer;o) and usually he dies. Last night two of us did really well as the "killers"; no one suspected us until the end, but by then it was too late:o). This game provides a lot of laughter and is a ton of fun for a big group! All in all, it was a good night at Bible study... if you think of it, pray for our Thursday night studies!

(The 'Englishers' at the Chinese Bible Study)
Thanks K.S. for the picture!

He's Bringing It In.

My Valentine gave me quite the gift today! It was completely unexpected, but I have found that He delights in the unexpected. He often comes up with an unique delivery and He even uses uncommon sources! His love for me never ceases to amaze me, although I stray from Him too often for my comfort. But each time I stray, He draws me back to Him. In short He is the epitome of faithfulness, love, and tender devotion. He has never failed me once and I am truly thankful for that.

So you ask, what was this special gift? Let me give you some background information...

Back in October, the Holy Spirit stirred my heart through the preaching of Bro. Milton Martin. In short, I was convicted about taking a missions trip this summer to Thailand. When Rachel told me she was going on a 5-month trip to the exact same place, I questioned the conviction and thought perhaps I wasn't to go. You see, the Lord had me examine my motives for going... ouch! After getting some priorities straight, I began to ask God questions via the Gideon-putting-out-the-fleece style.

• Fleece # 1: God, if you want me to go, have my Pastor be in agreement. Pastor said yes.
• Fleece # 2: God, if you want me to go, have Bro. Gaudet be in agreement. Bro. Gaudet said yes.
• Fleece # 3: God, if you want me to go, provide $100.00 for my birthday. My sister gave me a check for $250 (but out of that came $100 for babysitting and $70 for my cell phone), my parents gave me $25, and my brother and sister-in-law gave me $30. Grand total: $125.00.

By this point, even though I'm a little blond:D, I figured the answer had to be GO. That's fine and all, but there my eye of sight was, desperately searching for something important to get me there: moolah.

But. MY GOD PROVIDES!!!!

And that was my special gift tonight from my Valentine. He has provided a little more for me to go through a friend. THANK YOU friend! On this day we celebrate love, I'm basking in the greatest love of all: that of my Saviour's.

One of my all time favorite quotes I've listed below...

"Depend upon it, God's work done in God's way will never lack supplies." ~ Hudson Taylor

It will never lack supplies! Oh the thought... oh the promise!

Happy Valentine's Day <3

A Whirlwind Of A Weekend.

Saturday evening found most of the *over 18* single girls of our church at a very nice dinner, pretty dresses and all. Most of the time all the girls are so busy with school and work that the chance to get together and hang out doesn't happen too often, so I planned a banquet to couple (ha! ~ no pun intended!) up with Valentine's Day and everyone really had a good time. It's not too often that we get to wear formal dresses, and each girl really went all out! Some of the girls were a little hesitant as to where the individual portraits were going to wind up at (visions of eharmony.com popped into a few girls' minds:oD), but I told them I was going to print the pictures out and frame them for the girls, and the girls only:o). This wasn't intended to be a matchmaking opportunity by way of photographs;o).

(Sarah and Sarah catching up...)

(We played Psychology and Katie, Dawn, and Sarah were the ones who had to figure out the "secret" to the game... It was a laughter-filled 45 minutes with these three blondies before Sarah finally figured out the trick;D)

Everyone had a blast and the mom of two of the girls came to give a devotional on (what else?!?) singleness. But it was a good reminder that a single person can focus completely on the Lord and care for the things of the Lord. Mrs. Garcia also pointed out that both singleness and marriage are gifts from God, and that gifts are to be valued and used. Three of the girls sang a song called "Lord, Here's My Isaac" which talks about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son in order to be counted faithful. It was such a blessed evening, and we've already decided to go to the other extreme next time: jean skirts and pizza:o). We're girls who love to eat, so of course there's always gonna be a central theme of food when we get together:op.



As if it wasn't crazy enough planning and preparing for the banquet, my sister-in-law's baby shower was on Sunday so that made this past weekend a very action-packed two days!



This is the *other* Ann in the family, although she has dropped the "e" off the end of her name in order to make it less (?) confusing. Ann and I both have the same first and middle names, our dads have the same name, we interviewed for the same nanny job (although there was a two year gap between the time I went to when she went) and when my brother first introduced us, we had our hair done the exact same way!!! I think Ann belongs in our family;o). Whenever someone says "Anne", we both automatically turn towards the voice... it proves to be interesting at times! It's also weird to answer the phone and hear, "Hi Anne, this is Ann." But we love her and are very glad that Baby Ethan makes his grand debut in a month! Judging by the shower, he will be very warm (blankets), a drooler (bibs), and will be the best read-to little kid around (books)!



It's always a sad day when I tell a family member good-bye, as was the case today. Our Florida birds flew home this afternoon, scooting out of the way of a snowstorm just in time:o).

(As you can see, Bayley was eyeing my birthday cake and not the camera! Oh, and yes we still do have our Christmas tree up, but that was for my sister's benefit:o))

(A very dearly-loved sister!)

I have a wonderful relationship with all my brothers and sisters, but I always cherish the time I spend with this sister in particular for I know that I won't see her for a couple of months. Lord willing, I plan on flying down in June to help her with the new baby girl before I head off for a missions trip in the summer. I'll be missing the *big* family reunion when they come back up in July, but that's the way it is sometimes and so I just deal with it:). It was really nice to have them up here for two weeks.... but by the end of the trip, Michelle was ready to go! Bayley is your typical full-of-lots-of-energy-and-only-sleeps-to-build-back-up-that-energy kid and that was a little rough on his mommy! Thankfully there were a couple of uncles up here that could wrestle with him and toss him around:o).

With all that said and done, I think I'm ready for a snow day tomorrow... I need to refuel my energy!

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes...

Mrs. Wilt has posted some cutie quotes from children... check it out here and see if they don't make you smile:o).

Of Visits And Colds.

I have never known a night where I've experienced the same battle each week as a Tuesday night. Without fail, each Tuesday evening, just around oh, 6:15-6:30, the battle begins. The lines are drawn up and the sides are the divided. The big question of the evening is:

Do I go to Visitation tonight?

Now for all of you super-spiritual Christians out there, I know that this doesn't occur in your household, so I would suggest that you skip this post:o). But for those of you who struggle with your flesh (that would be me!!!!), then you might understand a little of what I'm trying to convey. You see, in my little heart, I *know* what I'm supposed to do. But in my little mind, I *want* to do something else. I could probably find 37 things that need my attention immediately that must be done on a Tuesday night. After all (I justify in my flesh), every other night is occupied with something of utmost importance that simply cannot be changed at all, so therefore I must give up going to Visitation on Tuesday night in order to do _________ (blank).

Sheesh.

My lack of logic really astounds me.

Tonight (as you've probably guessed already!) was no different. But this time I really had a *justifiable* excuse!!!!

I have a cold.

Yes, I will cheerfully accept all sympathy and if you want to donate to the Anne has a cold fund, please send cash, check, and/or money orders to...............

Right.

But isn't it true??? I will gladly bear my burden of sickness and go to a family function or shopping or whatever, but as soon as the word "church" is mentioned, the moaning and complaining begins and my very red nose suddenly needs to have a Puffs on hand to pamper it and I absolutely cannot go to church because I might sneeze and someone might die!!!

Riiiight.

I'm not trying to be noble in saying that I went on Visitation tonight because that is not always the case! But go to Visitation I did, and I was the one who received the blessing. After the visit was over, my friend/Visitation partner and I were talking about how we both didn't want to go tonight (our reasons were different) and how we almost missed a blessing.

Which got me thinking (I hear those uh-ohs!). The devil knows exactly what I struggle with and will hone in on perfecting his traps. And wouldn't you know, I fall for them time and time again!

I've heard it said before that if your flesh disagrees with ____________ (blank), then that's a good indication that you better go do it. My flesh really disagreed with going tonight, but I'm sure glad I did.

Oh, and I still have a cold, so don't let me stop you from donating towards the fund:o).

Known Or (Unkown?) Facts About Me.

I found this over at Tori's and thought it was a good idea, so I decided to do it too!


Name: Anne Elizabeth
Nicknames: Anika, Blondie:o), and one that I just won't reveal (my sister has called me this name since childhood!)
Birthdate: February 1, 1983
Siblings: Jack, Sherrie, Mary, Tom, Michelle, Phil
Siblings-in-law: Kim, Ken, Sarah, Jamey, Ann
Nephews: Tyler, Jamey Jr., Trevor, Bayley, Andrew, and Ethan on the way
Nieces: Tiana and Briana on the way
Home church: Lehigh Valley Baptist Church
Favorite Preachers: My Pastor, all the missionaries out of my church, Bro. Rufus Edmiston, Missionary Jim Males
Closest Girl Friends: My sisters:o) and there are too many to count from church;o)
Favorite colors: sky blue, pink
Hobbies: blogging (obviously:D), reading, taking walks, cross-stitching, scrap booking, spending time with family and friends
Favorite animal: is anyone going to hate me if I admit I'm not a big animal person? I didn't grow up with animals so I'm not around them too often:op.
Favorite foods: A Chicken, rice, and lima bean dinner, ice cream, and sweet Lebanon bologna
Favorite Drinks: Water (!), iced tea, and Dr. Pepper (if I drink any soda)
Life verse: Psalm 27:14 ~ "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." and Galatians 2:20 ~ "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Favorite Movie: The Inheritance
Most Valuable Possessions: My Bible and a box that holds childhood memories
Favorite Game: Mafia (for a big group), Dutch Blitz, Mexican Train (variation of Dominoes)
Places I've been: Czech Republic, South Africa, Amsterdam and Zurich Airports (doesn't that count?!?;), Canada, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania (duh:op), Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri
Life Goals: To become more and more like Christ, to be most effective for Him, to go on a missions trip to South America and Asia, to see the Grand Canyon, to visit every state in the USA (which wouldn't be too hard if I'm ever a missionary's wife:D), to be a wife and a mom, to be a Titus 2 Lady
Favorite Childhood Pet: Refer back to favorite pet if you forgot;o)
Favorite Book: My Bible, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables series, God Planted 5 Seeds, Before You Meet Prince Charming
Favorite Magazine: Taste of Home
Best Childhood Memory: Running around our backyard during the summer and playing baseball (or any other ball game) while my parents and grandfather sat on lawn chairs
Favorite Trip: my first missions trip! I was so excited to go on a trip that I was sorely disappointed when they canceled it from October of 2001 until April of 2002
Pet Peeves: when I willingly choose sin over what I know is right, deceitfulness, and girls who act silly for attention

My Kiddos.

If you go here, here, and here, you will notice that there are six (so far ~ two more on the way!) rather special people in my life that I'm privileged to answer to the name Auntie Anne when they call. Bein' an auntie has become a great joy and even now I'm listening for the little pitter-patter of footsteps as a 2 1/2 year old boy runs through the hallway making sure that Auntie Anne is still where he left her.

How could this little boy who is full of wiggles and bounces steal my heart? When did my little peanut of a nephew charm his way into Auntie's heart and wrap me around his finger? My sweet autistic nephew brought tears to my eyes when he said, "we go hide Auntie Anne". My rough-and-tumble 10 year old nephew excitedly exclaimed, "Auntie Anne! Watch this!" and I cheered him on. How could I help but applaud his accomplishments? That 15 year old niece of mine became more of the little sister I never had and I thrilled in the times we had pillow fights, tickle fests, and wrestling matches (oops ~ am I admitting my maturity in that last sentence?!?;). Just when I worry I won't love the "new" baby as much as the older ones, that sweet bundle of joy smiles and this auntie is a goner! I find my heart doesn't have a love quota; rather, it expands right along with our family!

What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Girls are made of sugar 'n spice,

Everything sweet, & everything nice,

Girls are ruffles, bonnets, and bows,

Dimpled smiles and dancing toes,

They're tears and giggles, dolls and curls,

That's how it is with little girls.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Boys are made of chuckles & grins,

Tousled hair and banged-up shins,

Things with wheels & frogs in pockets

Questions, baseball caps, & rockets;

They're joy & mischief, fun & noise-

That's how it is – boys will be boys!

My experience leans more towards the chuckles and grins, tousled hair and banged-up shins rather than sugar 'n spice, everything sweet and everything nice with 5 nephews compared to 1 niece and yesterday reminded me of that. My sister and nephew from Florida stayed with my other sister in Philadelphia since Tuesday so Friday morning at 6:15 (!!!!) Andrew, in all his pajammaed glory, let me know from his royal throne that sleep time was over and that the games were to begin immediately! Apparently having another boy in the house presented a great challenge to both Bayley and Andrew:o).

Since Bayley's middle name is Andrew, he got pretty confused when my sister would say, "Bayley! Andrew!" because he thought he was in trouble, so he came up with a creative solution for Andrew: "Nathan! Naaa-than!!". I don't think Andrew was bothered either way, whether he ignored "Andrew" or whether he ignored "Nathan";).

My kiddos are spread out all over the place, but they all manage to come home every once in a while; just in time for this Auntie's heart:o)...

These three munchkins hang out in the northwest corner of Indiana and maybe, just maybe, are coming home for a week in March!

Mr. Bayley-boo resides in the sun-shiny state of Florida and makes it up here about 2-3 times each year. We're hoping that they're going to come join our happy bunch up here permanently within a year or so:o). (Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Mr. Bayley-boo's older brother, Jamey Jr., on this computer:().

Andrew is the one I get to visit each week! He is the closest one for now, but that's going to be changing within two months when another boy makes his debut:op.

These are my kiddos and are the ones who call me Auntie Anne... one of the sweetest names I love to hear!