Monday, November 20, 2006

Weekend to Remember

Weekend to Remember - An Experience You'll Never Forget

What a great weekend we had in Louisville, thanks to the thoughtful wedding present from my parents! FamilyLife ministry hosted a great conference called Weekend To Remember which dealt with issues like: achieving oneness in marriage, conflict resolution, communication styles, intimacy, leaving a legacy, etc. Ryan & I realized that in our young marriage we've started to focus on and be critical our differences, rather than celebrating them as we did when we were first dating. Most of the 12 sessions had projects for us as couples to work on alone and then discuss together.
It was an easy way to deal with so many issues that I assume most couples know they "should" talk about, but aren't sure when or how. The conference made it really easy and fun. It's great to have a renewed vision for our marriage and renewed excitement about my unique husband.
We'd recommend it to any couple that wants to enhance and strengthen their marriage. There were couples there married 10 days and some married 38 years! It's got information all wives/husbands can benefit from!
I say plan it to celebrate an anniversary or ask for the registration as a Christmas gift. It's FUN & so encouraging.
Saturday night was free for a "date night" and we had fun at "Maker's Mark Lounge was great-Ryan's steak was better than my pork chops so I "helped" him finish that off! He liked his white cheddar & lobster mashed potatoes and I loved my pecan and pear salad! YUMMY! Fun to get dressed up and go out for a fun night on the town! We popped into a restaurant next door after dinner called the Red Star for a drink and desert before returning to our hotel for the evening.
Saturday marked 9 months since our wedding on Feb. 18! Happy anniversary to us!


Another highlight of the weekend was running into some dear friends from my days in Evansville, Rachel & Eric Rutherford. Eric & Rachel helped Jeff with the college ministry at U of Evansville and were dear friends of ours. I haven't seen them in a while and so it was WONDERFUL to have so much time together!The Rutherfords have recently relocated to Louisville and are excited to welcome their second little girl to their family this spring! It was really fun to spend time together with them over our lunches Sat & Sunday.










Thursday, November 16, 2006

Ryan's 29th Birthday

We had a great start to the weekend by celebrating his actual birthday (11/10/06) with his parents at our favorite local pizza joint, Bazbeaux Pizza! Thanks to Brandi & PJ, he loves anchovies and gets his own pizza! Even our cat Oscar wasn't sure what to do with that little fishie!


Apparently Ryan knew he was getting Guitar Hero II from me-as evidenced by him "playing the box". :) He was pretty happy with his favorite baseball team winning the World Series and equally happy that his parents got him an Albert Puljos jersey! AND my parents got him his greatly desired Walter Payton jersey! Go sports!? ;)

How amazing are our friends to travel a couple miles locally, from Vincennes (2 hours) and Evansville (3+ hours) to celebrate Ryan last Saturday? We had a great time eating downtown at The Ram and drinks at The Claddagh Irish Pub. V3 (Vincennes 3), returned to a favorite venue (our living room) for a short performance for the "after party". Thanks everyone for making it such a wonderful weekend!







Pseudo Thanksgiving














































Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34








One of my greatest joys these past few years has been the blessing of my weekly study and fellowship with incredible women here in town. This past Tuesday, fifteen of us began the holiday season with our 3rd annual "Psuedo Thanksgiving" where we try out recipes for the "real Thanksgiving" and make time to reflect on God's goodness to us.















Instead of a typical centerpiece, we all wrote things we were thankful for on ornaments so that the center of our meal would literally be praise and thanksgiving. We gave thanks for God's grace, presense; our family/friends; physical, emotional and relational healing; our pets; ice cream, and many other things!