Christmas Break, Chapter 1

We're baaack! After two weeks on the road, Nick, Finlay, and I arrived home at our apartment in Columbia last night. Two weeks of fun, family, and friends produced lots of pictures and stories so I'm going to take the break a few pieces at a time.

Chapter 1, Part 1: Sunday School serves dinner at Salvation Army

Sunday, December 21st, our SS class served dinner at the Salvation Army. It was fun to see everyone in action, and Nick and I got to wear hairnets as we worked on the serving line!

Chapter 1, Part 2: Fire at Kensington Place

On our way into town, on day two of our 16 hour drive from South Carolina, Mom informed us that there had been some "excitement" since we'd last spoken to her from the Texas-Louisiana border. Excitement indeed! Mark, my little brother, had narrowly escaped a fire at his and Lauren's apartment. Fortunately he caught it before things got really ugly, and, in what may come as a surprise to some of you, he took their cat, Rocky, to safety before he went for any electronics. These pictures are of us trying to repair the hole in their wall, in the dark.

Stay tuned for pictures from Christmas Day, our visit to Austin, and New Year's Eve!

A Cascade of Misfortunes

Time: 11:00 a.m.
Event: Cut-out cookie failure. Lindsay's traditional cut-out cookie recipe turned out too dry, sweet, sticky, and crunchy. Cookies were inedible unless the cookie-eater needed a serious and painful jaw work-out. No cut-out cookies will be had by any Colvin/Reitmeier/Halls or any History department employees.

Time: 12:00 p.m.
Event: Diva Dogs is not answering their phone. They did not answer yesterday either. Finlay is forced to take a last-minute grooming appointment at the Petsmart on Harbison, possibly the biggest traffic debacle at any given moment in the city of Columbia and 20 minutes from home. Appointment time: 5:00 p.m.

Time: 12:30 p.m.
Event: Nick takes Lindsay's car to be washed and detailed for the big trip to Texas. It has now rained off and on since 3:00 p.m. It is now 9:00 p.m.

Time: 2:00 p.m.
Event: Photo-op for someone's Christmas gift (a picture frame). We are already so behind schedule that we are having to miss a friend's Christmas party. Boo. However, this picture is essential. Cloudy skies, wind, humid temperatures, and uncooperative Finlay led to a hot temper on Lindsay's part and severe frustration for Nick. The final picture featured only Nick and Lindsay.

Time: 3:00 p.m.
Event: Last minute errands. We got in the Gourmet Shop and Three Dog Bakery, but forgot the most essential stop - the pharmacy. Didn't realize this until later. It would later involve an extra hour on the road, a pharmacy which closes at 6 p.m. and a locked cabinet which further complicated the process.

Time: 4:45 p.m.
Event: We tried to develop the picture we'd taken previously while Finlay was being groomed. We'd been told it would take from 4:30 until 8:00. We had lots of time to kill. Publix, despite advertising photo services, did not in fact offer photo services of any kind. We trekked a few blocks down to Target, which did offer services. They were just slow to render them. We finally got the picture printed, paid for it, and then looked down to realize that I had lipstick - bright red lipstick - on my front teeth. Picture is now worthless and all effort spent in procuring it is an utter waste.

Time: 6:00 p.m.
Event: Following a nice dinner, we decide to return to Columbia proper to pick up my prescription, which must be filled no later than today. Arrive at CVS at 6:30 to find the pharmacy closed. Recognizing our predicament concerning lack of prescription's benefits, we seek out alternatives. All alternatives are locked in a glass cabinet which must be opened by an "associate." It wasn't worth it.

Time: 6:45 p.m.
Event: Returning to check on Finlay at the groomer's we pass no fewer than 4 wrecks. One was a flipped car. One was a car with its entire back crushed in. We feared for our lives as we headed back to the gauntlet that is Harbison Blvd.

Time: 7:00 p.m.
Event: Checking in on Finlay. Thinking that 2 1/2 hours is always more than enough time for Diva Dogs to complete the job we decide to check in with Fin and see if he might be finished early. He was not. We were told so in no uncertain terms. Our anxiety and frustration was not quelled when we were told that one reason he would be ready, actually later than expected, was that the groomer "didn't actually know he was there." Not kidding. He, in fact, would now be ready not a minute before 8:30.

Time: 8:30
Event: Rescuing our precious baby from the evil Petsmart groomers. Finlay is brought out to us smelling like cheap gas station coconut car freshener and still quite damp. Are you kidding me?! They had my small dog for 4 and a half hours and couldn't bathe and dry him completely?! Petsmart groomers. You are worthless.

We're going to bed now, before anything else can happen.

LONDON!!!

I have hesitated to post about this until everything was in order for fear of jinxing it. However, our flights and hotel are booked so I guess it's time to spill the beans. A few weeks ago, Nick was requested to attend a business meeting in London during the second week of January. At first we thought that this would blow our plans to go skiing in West Virginia over that MLK long weekend. I was very disappointed since I'd already planned to take Friday off and was getting very excited about a fun trip with Nick. Then it occurred to us - why not turn our ski vacation into a London vacation?!

So there you have it. Nick will arrive on Wednesday, and I'll follow him, arriving at Heathrow on Thursday morning. I'll have Thursday to settle in and visit my favorite London sights from my summer studying at the Imperial College. Nick and I will have Thursday night, all day Friday and Saturday, and Sunday morning to hang out together and explore one of the coolest cities in the world. We're staying at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, which is very nice and very close to Hyde Park and other neat spots. I've linked their website. The best part is that since Nick's job is flying him there and putting us up on Wednesday and Thursday nights, we're doing this trip for not much more than we would have paid to ski in West Virginia. Pretty cool, right?

I admit that jetting off for a long weekend in Europe is a little over-the-top, but Nick and I had agreed to take a really cool vacation together before his deployment this summer. It seems like this is the perfect opportunity! You can expect some cool pictures from this trip, especially if Santa brings me that new camera I asked for...

Last thing, those of you who have made the trip before, please give me your ideas on the absolute must-sees for a weekend in London. Thanks!

You'd better watch out...

You'd better not cry. You'd better not pout. I'm tellin' you why...Nick and Lindsay are coming to town! One week from today we will arrive in Waco, and if you've been really good this year we just might have something for you under here:
Go ahead. Look a little closer. See if you can figure out which one might be yours!

Santa's elves have been hard at work the past few weeks, as you can see. Sorry for the lack of posts! We can't wait to see all our family and friends in just one short week!!!

Big News

Start praying now, because Nick will be leaving for a nine month tour in southeastern Afghanistan this July. As many of you know, he has been wanting to do this for quite some time. I am not so enthused. Even with being able to anticipate this as a possiblity, I still took it as a shot to the gut last night when Nick broke the news.

Still, we know that with so many people praying over this situation it absolutely is God's will for Nick to go down this path, and we are confident that he will be faithful to see us through it. Lately I've been using my Daily Light devotional book from Traynor and Morrow. The devotionals are strictly scripture - different verses put together in a cohesive way that makes sense. They're pre-planned for each date. Here's what December 3rd says:

"I would seek God and to God I would commit my cause. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. * Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and suppication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. * Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. * Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spead it before the Lord. * It shall come to pass that before the call I will answer; and while the are still speaking, I will hear. * The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. * I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live."

I love it when the Lord provides for me in ways like this - a surprisingly applicable word of scripture in such a timely way. It makes me remember that he is in control over all of this. I just have to commit to following him, and he'll make my path straight.

July seems as if it is a long way off, but I would appreciate any of you who will help me prepare Nick's journey through prayer. Pray for his preparation, for the preparation of those he will serve with. Pray for the Afghan people he will be serving, pray for peace in Mehtar-Lam, which is where he will be.

I'm so thankful for all of you who I know read this. Your continued support over the next 18 months will make all the difference for us.

Another post with lots of pictures

Today was a big event for us - we joined out church! We made a pledge to support the church and they made a pledge to support us. With a possible long deployment looming in the not so distant future that means a lot to us. Sorry we don't have pictures, but we didn't really get a chance to take one!

This afternoon I volunteered with some others from our sunday school class at something called Come to Christmas. Church members (mostly kids and their parents) visit different rooms with different themes. Our room was for making Jesse Tree ornaments. I'd never hear of this, but it's pretty cool. There's a symbolic ornament for different members of Jesus' lineage. There was a star for David, an altar for Abraham, a rainbow for Noah, etc. We got to help cute little kids make crafts all afternoon - so much fun!

Kelly, Jen, Lauren, and I

Helping Ellie and Rachel make their ornaments. Liberal use of glitter here.

While I was at Come to Christmas sweet Nick did all of the grocery shopping and household chores. I know I don't give him enough credit for this, but he does stuff like that all the time. Our household would be in shambles without him!

Once I got home we had dinner and decorated our little Christmas tree. The one we bought this year is really small. Since it rained all day yesterday we couldn't cut our own and had to go with whatever Lowe's had to offer. Our Christmas tree photo shoot was an adventure - I'm including an out-take for your viewing pleasure. Fin was a good helper!Real family photo

On one attempt we almost dropped Finlay. Almost.

Thanksgiving in pictures

Since we only got Thursday and Friday off work and since we will be in Texas for almost two weeks at Christmas, Nick and I spent this Thanksgiving in Columbia, just us and Finlay. Since we did both Turkey Day and Christmas on our own last year, we've become old pro's. I think you'll enjoy seeing rather than hearing about our holiday so here you go:

Welcome to Thanksgiving at the Hall House!!

Nick, Fin, and I watched the parade, but I refused to be photographed without make-up!I spent the day in the kitchen...We have a problem with our oven and the smoke alarm. It went off when I was cooking the butternut squash - no they were not burning AT ALL - so I had to research plan B on the internet.Poor Fin was not a fan of the smoke alarm. He hid by the hookah.Fin got some relief this afternoon - we took him out to play in the field behind our apartment.Shot with Mom.Shot with Dad.

Yes, we ate Thanksgiving dinner at the coffee table. However, I made it look nice anyway! Why the coffee table, you ask? The dinner was ready at 4:30, 3:30 for you central time-zoners, and the Cowboys game was starting.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We're thankful for all our friends and family, in South Carolina and at home in Texas. For those of you in the Lone Star State, we'll see you next month!!