This Guy.

I've been asked many times by different people, "Is there anything he can't do?" speaking of Greg.
My answer is always, "No." As in, there is nothing This Guy can't do. Let me me tell you about him.

This Guy can fix anything.
When our washing machine would only spin periodically...This Guy fixed it.

When our sprinkler system needed a repair...This Guy handled it.

 When the 'coil' needed to be repaired on the lawnmower...This Guy took care of it.

When the 'regulator' needed to be replaced on the grill...This Guy replaced it.

When our pool pump cracked and started leaking...This Guy replaced the damaged part of the pool pump.
Furthermore, when the skimmer door on the pool kept getting stuck...This Guy fixed that too.

This Guy is mechanical.
When we have a need for a mechanical repair...This Guy takes care of it.

This Guy can build things.
When he needed a custom stereo set-up in his car...This Guy created it.

When we needed to close in a room in our house...This Guy built a wall.

 

When I showed Greg a picture of a little bench I liked...This Guy built me the bench.

When we decided to do our backyard in our last house...This Guy did it all from installing flowerbeds to sprinkler systems.

This Guy can make home improvements. 

In our last house, when we decided we needed tile...This Guy installed tile.

In that same house, when I needed cabinets in the laundry room...This Guy installed cabinets.

 

When we decided to section out a room with wood flooring...This Guy did it.

Install a ceiling fan...This Guy could do it in his sleep!

This Guy is ridiculously athletic.
It doesn't matter what the sport is, This Guy can play it well.  One time, while watching Greg at bat, a fellow team-mate told another, "Man, he's got a sexy swing." Another man said that! And it's true. haha!

This Guy can play some music.
Drums, keys, guitar, trumpet, spoons, fiddlesticks, whatever!

This Guy is a computer geek.

From building or fixing a computer to messing around with servers...This Guy does it all.

This Guy is truly extraordinary in all these ways and so many more and that's why This Guy is my hero.

September Handprints

In September of 2009, Nathan and I started a little custom of painting his handprint on a small canvas.  I thought I would retire this little custom of ours this year but Greg actually expressed otherwise.  So we are continuing to do this.  Its fun to look back at the pictures...so just sharing the cuteness. :)

2009

 

 

2010

2011

2012

2013

Kids Remember Journal = Complete!

Years ago, when Nathan started talking, I made it a habit to occasionally jot down funny things he would say or his toddler pronunciation of words.  I used yearly calendar books to record the things he said and I still continue to do this.  These are the calendar books which have accumulated over time.

My entries weren't for every day or even every week, just whenever I could manage it or remember to do it. For example, here is just a single entry that I quickly scribbled one week in 2010:

A while ago, I took advantage of a Paper Coterie special and ordered the journal where I planned to consolidate all these calendar entries.  The journal turned out really cute (photo by Amy Kaylor) and it would seem I was ready to start.  My hangup though was which pens to use.  I deliberated over this for an unreasonably long time. For this type of memory book being passed down to someone, I think handwriting is best because it's personal and nostalgic.  However, I hate mistakes and I didn't want this cute little journal filled with scratch-outs.  I needed a good quality, multiple colored, erasable pen.  Enter the Pilot Frixon pen set.

These pens saved my project!  The ink is thermo-sensitive gel ink that disappears with erasing friction.  The end of the pen includes a gray rubber nub, used to rub away ink. Best part is there are no eraser crumbs.  I consolidated all my calendar entries entering each one in my Remember journal and used multiple ink colors to differentiate between the years.

I'm all done and the journal will sit and await the remainder of the entries for this year.  Oh. I just realized by typing that statement this project isn't really complete...it's ongoing.  I can never mark this off my project list? Well, it's totally worth it.  As I worked on this I had already forgotten some of the silly and at times, profound things, my little one had said and I was so glad I had written those things down.  And therein lies the whote point! ;)

My Personal Testimony of Jesus Christ.

I've been studying the life & ministry of the Apostle Paul. A person, like me. He made mistakes, just like me. He was bold and had courage. Not like me. Not at all. 

This morning, I was blindsided by the simplicity of what Paul did. He told people his Damascus Road experience. That was it. He just told his story. Over & over. Some wanted to hear his story & believed him. Others didn't. He was whipped 5 times, beaten with rods 3 times, stoned with rocks and left for dead.  At the end of the day though, Paul's story was his story. It didn't change.

This is my personal testimony of Jesus Christ.

My hands are shaking. Tears are in my eyes. Where is my courage?  I'm challenged by Paul's example but I'm such a coward. Behind this keyboard is the only courage I can muster.

This is my personal testimony of Jesus Christ.

As a child, my parents were not a consistent presence in my life. They were just not capable of taking care of me at times and for that reason I was left to live with other people. My childhood was so unstable that by the time I turned 18, I had lived in 13 different homes. Not one of those environments was a healthy functioning household and I experienced nearly every type of abuse that exists.

As a child, I believed in God, in Jesus. On the night of my 12^th birthday, I prayed with a child-like faith a very sincere prayer. “Please let me die tonight, God. I don't want to live anymore. Please don't let me wake up tomorrow.”

I was so disappointed in God's unanswered prayer, I vowed I would no longer follow a God that would not help me. So for the next 10 years, I became my own primary abuser in every way.

When I was 23, the road I had been running on came to a dead-end.

It was at that time, I experienced God's love. God's forgiveness. God's mercy.

God's love for me simply could not answer the earnest prayer of my 12 yr old self.

God's forgiveness covered the multitude of sins from the former 10 years of my life.

God's mercy was new every morning, as I fumbled through following him for the next 18 years.

I have embraced that Jesus Christ died to set me free.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that the power of Jesus Christ has moved in my life in ways I never could have imagined.

I know, that I know, my mind has been renewed and I really am a new creation only because of the power of Jesus Christ in my life.

I have loved Jesus for some time now and I've learned so much from this relationship. I often, Often! stumble but I'm never condemned for it. Instead, my savior encourages me to stand up, try again. He gently reminds me, I'm not alone, he is with me. He is for me. Always and forever.  

And I find a tiny bit of courage to do as he prompts me - today its behind a keyboard.

That is my personal testimony of Jesus Christ.

Signed,

Myra Jane Julia Dianne Davidson Hull

A Conservative Conscience.

We live in a consumerist culture.  And, I'm a consumer.  I hate it but I accept it. I don't have any grand solution to our consumerism, I'm just acutely aware of our waste and excess, which makes me conservative in some very practical ways. I try to reuse and recycle where I can-when I can.  I love the creed that was recently posted by a friend that stated "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Totally aligns with how I try to live!

Simple example, when I have a bottle of any liquid product getting low, I grab a funnel and tip the bottle over and walk away for a while.  Waste not.

 

I also save leftover water from glasses or water bottles. I can't stand the idea of wasting water, it's a precious resource and I probably worry about it more than I should but I collect leftover water in a watering can, kept under the kitchen sink and later use it for plants.

Additionally, I use the cabinet above my microwave specifically to store empty containers that can be reused later for some purpose or another.  You just never know what you might need one day....

Like when I started saving used coffee grounds for fertilizer, I used an old coffee container from the storage cabinet! 

Going a step further, I buy new clothes from time to time but I also buy previously owned/resale clothes just as regularly.  For example, the outfits Greg and I wore in last years family Christmas picture? Mostly resale!  The only new items I purchased were Greg's suspenders and my scarf, that's it.  Clothes, shoes, accessories were all resale.  Recycling at it's finest, if you ask me.

Speaking of recycling, I do. We have 2 trash cans in our kitchen, one for food waste and one for recyclable products.  Fortunately, our city trash service provides a separate can for recyclable items, making it easy for us to participate in recycling. 

Another area I recycle and reuse is with toys.  Occasionally, I purchase something brand spanking new for Nathan, like Legos.  Very often though, I find used toys that work great. For example, this Playdoh Mega Fun Factory retails for $29.99.  Can you see the price I paid in the picture?  Score!  Ironically, when I gave this to Nathan, he told me he saw it on TV and wanted it so bad that he told me about it.  I honestly don't remember that but in any case, I was hero for the day!

Could I do more? Of course. But instead of getting caught up by what I don't do-should do-could do, I just do what I can, no matter how small it may seem. My little baby steps aren't going to change the world but at least it eases my conservative conscience a little bit.