Miscellaneous Updates

1. Turns out Laura's orders have changed again. She will NOT be going to Afghanistan in a few months, but will be staying in Fort Polk, LA until early next year when she's scheduled to go to Iraq. Who knows what will be going on in the Middle East by then.

2. I bought a new pack of 18 Sharpies over the weekend. I should be stocked and ready to go for the next few months at least. Smile. Plus, this time I used my label maker to put my name on each one. Crazy, yes. But at least no one will steal my purple.

3. This weekend Zac's band is playing for a youth conference some place in Cleveland. It's not open to the public, but we'll be there both Friday and Saturday night. Crazy teenage girls + cute drummer in band = a wife that is quite amused.

Girls Night

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to hang out with some girlfriends. I normally see these girls every weekend, but in the larger group setting - with our husbands and their young children. No complaining there, we usually have a blast, but it was SO fun to just have a girls night out. Let's make it a regular occurrence!

Favorite quote of the night: "I am not cutting up your food, getting you crayons, or taking you to the bathroom. And don't even think about asking me for more milk!" -Steph

Two sides of the coin

Heads

1. Work is crazy-busy-good. We just won a great account - KraftMaid, so it looks like I'm going to be swamped for the next few months at least. This is great for business and will give me the opportunity that I've been looking for. Yeah! We got the house and will close at the end of March. 

Tails

2. Everything else in life is stressing me out. I'm tired of winter. Buying a house is exciting, stressful and scary all at the same time. Timing is ironic. Things that are out of my control drive me nuts. Basically, my control-freak-ism is on high and I need to chill.  

I'm taping this verse in my car, on my mirror and in my cube - because this particular God-promise always makes me feel better: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice! (love that part) Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

We finally got it!!

After many, many days of bidding and being rejected, our offer was finally accepted. We are now officially in the process of buying our little house on Elm Road! 

We signed the purchase agreement tonight and will be closing in +/- 45 days. Now we go through the fun process of inspections and wait for closing at the end of March.  Yeah!!

How did the world work before the Internet?

So today I went into work only to find that the Internet wasn't working! WTF. This often happens, but the IT people normally have it up and running within 20 minutes. Not this time! I couldn't send or receive outside email. I couldn't read the headlines (my morning ritual). I couldn't upload information to our new Building Products Division website. I couldn't check to see that my pay-day direct-deposit was actually deposited into my bank account. I couldn't Google all of the things that I Google in one day. At one point, I actually had to stop and think about how I was going to find the phone number to a store I needed to call.

My thoughts ... "How am I supposed to keep in touch with my clients and send my daily email to Steph? How do I stay connected to the outside world? No Google! - maybe I should just go home."

I learned just how much I rely on the internet today. Sad, maybe. But definitely true.

Props to the IT team, who after much struggle and grief-bearing, had us up and running around 2:30 p.m.

Working hard

We work really hard at hfa. That's why sometimes after a really hard week - or in this case - month - we have a party.

Last Friday we had a "Howdy Lunch". This is a fancy name for a chili cook-off and dress-down day. Everyone gets to wear jeans and participate in the costume contest. There are games and prizes - see me at left barrel racing - I WON!

After working so hard for weeks straight, it's nice of our bosses to let us relax for a while. A few hours of talking like cowboys, drinking beer and riding fake ponies is all you really need to revive the creative juices.

Mute Math

We went with Jack and Steph to see Mute Math at the Q last night. Yeah, yeah, Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morisette were there too, but Mute Math stole the show. And - to make the night even better, we got to meet the band after the show. 

Zac and Darren, the drummer (his hero)

Zac and Carrie with Paul, lead singer/keytar/keyboard player

Zac and Jack with Roy, bass (aka tight pants)

Small blessings

There are people in this world who have the ability to put a smile on our faces no matter how sour our moods may be. Zac and I are super lucky to have two of these. And good things often come in small packages. Yes, I'm talking about my little good, good friends, Jackson and Eli Jabbour.

Maybe it's the fact that they are always happy to see us. "Hey Terrie, where's Zat!?" or "Ish, up!"
Or maybe it's because sometimes Jackson thanks God for "Uncle Zat and Uncle Terrie" during bedtime prayers. (Awe!) Or those times when Eli offers hugs without asking or when they try to make you laugh with silly faces.

Whatever it is that makes these kids so great (and there are a billion reasons) - thank God for small blessings.

Grandma & Grandpa

I stole this picture from my cousin, Leanna's blog. This is my grandma and grandpa Frank (my dad's parents) back in the day. Grandpa Frank died when I was a baby and I never had a picture of what he looked like in my brain. I guess I've seen other pictures here and there, but it's never really resonated. That's why I like this picture so much. Funny thing is - he doesn't really look like the rest of the family. All of my dad's brothers have the same "look" so I just figured they all took after grandpa. Well ... maybe it's just because grandpa has so much hair in this pic. haha If you're a Frank - you'll understand. : )

High-fives...

High fives for my friend Christine. She helped lead worship with the Catalyst band this past Sunday and did absolutely fab! Not only does she have a great voice, but she has stage presence too. And, she can make harmony with the other male singers - a feat which boggles my mind!

As Jonathan said, our worship should be unconditional - in the good times and bad. Easier said than done. But the addition of Christine to the worship band on weeks she's available would help me sing louder on Sundays.

Soulja girl

I talked to Blair tonight. He said that sister Laura will be coming home from California on Thursday. Yeah! It'll be nice to have her back in communication since she's been unavailable to talk this past month while in special training. We should probably get used to it though because she'll soon be leaving for Afghanistan in May/June. As it stands, she and Blair will be home for about a week before shipping out, so we'll get another chance to hang before she hits the middle east. 

It still amazes me when I think about it. My baby sis is a soldier (soulja, haha). She's a trained killer and could probably drop me in a heartbeat. Rock on pook. See you soon.