A New Calendar

Yesterday was July 29th. That means the big day is less than 3 months away. Three months. Three months goes by so quickly. Three months ago, it was April 29th. I was stressing about my students' end-of-year status. My sister had just turned 14. That was, that was (sorry for the cliche)...like yesterday.

Will it ever come? I feel like the day will never come. I can't imagine myself walking down the aisle. I used to imagine it all the time, but I haven't really thought about it. All I think about now is how much the flowers will cost and what to put on our DJ list.

I think of events in terms of pre and post marriage. This Christmas I will be married. I'll have a husband. We can go find a Christmas tree together and buy an "Our First Christmas Together" Hallmark ornament. And hopefully, I'll be able to be a little bit more creative in my giving of "presents" this year...

Three months from now, I am going to be a wife. Holy cow! Does that register with you? Because it surely doesn't register with me. I feel like I am not really "getting it." I still feel like I'm playing "house" when I make dinner. When I clean the toilet or wash the dishes, I say to myself, "And this is only the beginning." Well, I would have to do that stuff even if I weren't married. But this whole adulthood/independence thing is sort of hitting at the same time as marriage.

We started our pre-marriage counseling. I like all the nice things John says about me and I feel this urge to impress, I think...to not say anything wrong to the big dogs who know their stuff (experienced married people). I don't want some married person criticizing our art. Relationships are a lot like art. John and I have a unique relationship, unique ways of communicating, etc. Is it right? Is it wrong? Do we have healthy habits? Do we have bad habits we don't know about that will explode one day?

Sigh. One can never tell. I'm thankful we have God on our side, and I'm thankful I'm marrying a man I trust, and I have faith that he can support me when I am weak, and I know I can support him when he is weak as well. I remember little things like that, and I am all of a sudden comforted. Content. At peace.

Ten Lessons I Learned by NOT Having Computer Access

1. The phone book still exists and works sometimes.

2. I can read 12 books in three weeks.

3. I like HGTV and the Discovery Channel. They are my favorite channels. I watched this show called the "Undetectibles." It's a new favorite, along with "Designer Finals" on HGTV.

4. If I can't "Google" an actor I see in a show and can't remember what I've seen them in, it's okay. I usually forget about it by the next day.

5. The Hallmark channel can be very refreshing.

6. I have a remarkable ability to clean for hours but the house is still messy. It's a mystery to me (like those mysterious things on the Travel channel).

7. I really like to play Tiger Woods golf on the Xbox. John and I both made ourselves (you can create your golfer to look like you) and play each other. It's such good bonding without the exercise. :)

8. I really can workout for an hour using my exercise ball.

9. The library actually does have useful books.

10. I have come up with some great ideas for children's books and even read a book about publishing them. New hobby? I think so!

Attention Faithful Fans...!

I apologize for the hiatus. I haven't had a computer since I left Ohio. Lucky us, both of our precious high cost computers have been completely fried. Yes, even John's 2004 laptop.

So...we have bought a new computer from Dell.com (cheap! yay!) and I will be able to write more often...soon.

Wedding Website

Okay! So I am really going to try to help everyone out with all the travel stuff. I just started a new website with some info about stuff to do in Naples due to frequent requests on fishing and everglades information. I'll be posting again soon about other things, of course. And in a month or so, I will try to send out packets to those of you who I am pretty sure are coming with coupons, brochures, maps, etc.

Please let us know if there is ANYTHING we can do to help you as you make your plans!

AND please visit the website at amandaandjohn.blogspot.com

Baking Cookies

I really love to cook. It's fun to create things you know others will enjoy...and it's highly likely that if it's really good, people will remember it. If it's really bad, it can be thrown away and no one has to eat it. On the other hand, if it's sort of bad, people may eat it but they'll forget about it before long.

So right now I'm baking cookies. The trouble with cookies is trying to make them all the same. My first batch was perfect. It always is. The second batch I made too big. The third batch I burnt. Darn it.

I'm hiding the third batch for my family to eat. They don't mind burnt cookies. Pretty much anything with butter, sugar, peanut butter, and chocolate they'll eat.

The cookies are peanut butter cookies made in the shape of little koala bear heads with Hershey Kiss noses and brown Reese's Pieces eyes. Cuties. I'll have to make these for my class when we do a unit on bears.