My moral dilemma

I am, by default, a rule-follower except for one area of my life: movie theatre snacks. It is quite the splurge for us to go to the movies which we did today to see "Enchanted". (Very cute, by the way.) As we were getting ready to leave for the movie, we all were stashing our granola bars and soda cans in purses and I felt the small pang of conscience, wondering if I have been setting a bad example for my children. (Although since this has been our practice their entire lives, the damage, if any, is probably already done.) I could justify my rule-breaking with the fact that Zachary is allergic to popcorn and almost all candy bars or that I'm not supposed to have sugar, but my real reason is purely economic. Is it really fair to burden families with $3.75 sodas and $5 tubs of popcorn? Don't we answer to a higher authority about how we spend our money as opposed to obeying the profit-minded theatre's rules? I think this falls under being a good steward and thus makes my "sneaking" food in okay. What do you think?

Project Runway

The girls and I discovered Project Runway last year, about halfway through the season and quickly became fans. I must confess we spent several days this summer on the couch getting caught up on all the old seasons during Bravo marathons. A new season started this past Wednesday and we are all excited to get to watch the drama unfold week by week.

During this first show, they interviewed each of the designers, showing clips of each one sharing their design philosophy when I heard what is currently my new favorite quote: "What you wear is a reflection of who you are. Life is too short to wear a bad outfit."

Now, lest you think I am being prideful or materialistic, let me explain why I think your attire and your spiritual well-being are related. I realize I'm walking on thin ice here and not all of you are going to agree with me, but here goes. When you dress nicely (nicely, not expensively), you tend to have more confidence in yourself and what you believe in. When we have more confidence in who we are in Christ, that then is a draw to non-believers. Shallow but true, people are more likely to be drawn to you when you are dressed attractively than like a bum in sweats and a t-shirt with holes in it.

While I'm on my soapbox of fashion today, let me also point out that we as wives should do our best to look our best for our husbands. No, not so they can boast about how pretty their wife is, but so they know we love them enough to make the effort to look nice for them and to make the temptations out there in the world less enticing. There seems to be a common practice among wives that once we're married, the effort is no longer required. I'm thankful for a mentor during my newlywed years that encouraged me to always look my best for Kevin, even if that meant running in the bathroom at 4pm to put on a little makeup before he got home. Old fashioned, yes, but I believe our husbands are encouraged and built up by our efforts. I can just hear some of you saying, "that's easy for you because you're thin." I'm not talking about being thin or beautiful by the world's standards, I'm talking about the effort to look your best. I promise your hubby will appreciate it and your marriage will be stronger for it.

New Blog Feature...

If you look to the right, you'll notice a new section giving you a link to friends' blogs. Sadly, I know several people with good intentions of having a blog, but one post every 3 months does not a blogger make. So, if you have a blog I don't know about, please send me the link and I'll be happy to add you--but only if you post at least once a month (preferably more often!). In case you're wondering, yes this is the Natalie who lives overseas. You'll find a hodgepodge of stuff on her site kind of like mine--random thoughts and kid antics to entertain the grandparents--and lots of fascinating cultural stuff from central Asia (not like mine, but maybe one day!).

Now you're caught up!

Okay, I spent an hour looking for the USB cord for the camera this morning and with no success, I headed to Target to get a new cord but left with a card reader instead. So below you'll see all the pictures I've wanted to show you over the last few weeks while the cord was MIA.

Aunt Liz flew up this past weekend to see the last soccer game of the season and see our new hometown. She introduced us to Coney Islander and we took her to our new favorite, Elephant Bar. (No it's not really a bar!) We also saw the Bee Movie on Saturday night while Kevin was gone to the OSU game.

There's also a few pictures from my mom's visit in Sept. when we went to the gardens.

National Nathan Day!

Occassionally, Kevin will declare "National Sharon Day" at our house. It is usually announced early in the week so I can be sure not to plan anything on that day other than what I want to do--facial at the beauty school, go shopping ALONE, or lay on the couch reading a book. A couple of Friday's ago, Zac was at school and Alyssa and I had some shopping to do. (Seriously, neither one of us had any long sleeve shirts.) This left Kevin, Nathan and Katie at home. While eating donuts for breakfast, Nathan announced it was "National Nathan Day" and he got to do whatever he wanted all day. He was so cute we gave in a little, and he picked for Kevin to take him to the park while Katie was at vision therapy. Since no national holiday would be complete without a photo shoot, here's some pictures from their park adventure.

AAAAGH!

My desk, or lack thereof, is driving me crazy! At our TX house, we had a built in desk center in the kitchen/breakfast area so we did not own an actual piece of furniture to put the computer on. I have been shopping for a desk since we moved and have not found one that has the features I need in the price range I can afford. So, for the last 3 months, my computer has been sitting on a fiberglass, folding table. This means there are no drawers or cabinets and everything is just laying everywhere. Those of you who know me well, know that this goes against every fiber of my personality. I like for everything to be neat and organized and to have it's assigned place and be in that place when I need it. This is not possible when all my papers and "desk stuff" is just laying around the desk area, not really in it's place. If I could locate the camera USB cord (lost because it doesn't have a place and why there aren't any current pictures on here), I could take a picture of this eyesore in my living room so you could share my angst over the whole ordeal, although I think only a true Type A personality can truly share my frustration. Even more frustrating is that I did find a desk that suited my purposes but was a little more than I wanted to pay for it, but in my desperation was going to buy it anyway. Then, we discovered that my van needed new tires, so that's what I got instead. It stinks to spend money on 4 circles of rubber that aren't even cute or fun in anyway. Yes, I know it's important to be safe but I would have gotten a lot more satisfaction and peace of mind from buying a desk.

36 or 56?

I went to the dr. last Friday. It was my first visit to this office so I was answering all of the customary medical history questions. Then the nurse started asking me a lot of questions that you would ask an older woman who had approached a certain life stage. I couldn't figure out why she was asking me these questions, when she looked at me and said, "Are you really 56?" I quickly corrected her to my correct age of 36 and couldn't even fathom as to why she would think I was 56. Whoever entered my information had my birth year off by 20 years which made the nurse feel so much better. She kept looking at me and then my supposed age and was wondering what she had done wrong in her life that she didn't age as well. We had a good laugh and I'm happy to say that this was my first experience in being thought older than I am, and since it was due to a computer error I'm okay with it.

No more blah bog

Alyssa has informed me that our blog has been blah lately due to the lack of pictures. So here are a few from various events that I failed to put on here. I do have a cd of India pictures now but it is in video form with music. If I can figure out in my limited technological knowledge how to get it loaded here, you'll see it soon. Otherwise, you may just have to come for a visit and your own personal viewing.

It's Here!

My passport is here!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm just a little excited!)Not that I have an actual trip planned to use it yet, but just the thought that I could leave the country if I wanted to excites every nerve cell I have. For the record, it took 2 weeks and 5 days to receive it and no, you may not see the picture. I had it taken on a random day while I was at Sam's grocery shopping. I wasn't too stressed about not being photogenic since the few people who will view it won't ever see me again. Now if I could only make up my mind where I want to go.......