Five For Friday

Happy Friday, friends!  Here are Five things from my week:

1.  Wednesday's Girls' night with Gentry, Molly, Smoo and Claire was so much fun.  I'm thinking we'll have to make it a more regular occurance! {Photo coming soon} 2.  I loved this Valentine's poem and photos from author John Piper to his wife.  I realize it's only January, but I just happened upon it and thought I'd share.  3.  Thursday night, Adam and I ran the longest I've ever run!  And then we had spaghetti--it never tasted so good.  I'm getting ready to leave this afternoon for Disney World to finish the last 6 miles of my dad's marathon with him.  We are excited!  SMoo is coming along to run and be my roller coaster buddy--mom and dad opted out of that part.  :-)  4.  I designed my new blog header on Monday, and the Bible Verse in it is from the NET Bible.  I thought it was fitting for January.  {And if you want help desiging a blog-topper or just help with your blog design in general, let me know.  I'd really love to help!} 5.  MCP Actions is starting Project 52, where you upload a photo each week to  flicr account, in hopes that practice will help us improve over time.  I'm going to try it, so we'll see!

Mickey, here I come!

Think Pink

A few weekends ago, we celebrated roomdog's birthday with a party.  It was a fun night, and the only requirement was that you wear PINK!


Claire is one of the girliest girls I know.  Everything in her closet seems to have ruffles and/or it's pink.  Literally everything!  When I find myself shopping now, I pick up things that are ruffly.  So it was only fitting that we have a Pink Party.  

{Roomies!}

I found this wall decal at Hobby Lobby, and it just screamed CLAIRE!  

For her birthday present, I decorated the house with all kinds of pink stuff from Hobby Lobby.    This isn't a great pic of the pink stuff, but in the background, you can see these pink lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  I also had this pink swoopy stuff on the mantle, pink M&Ms, Hershey Kisses, and a pink birdhouse.  It was easy to find all this pink stuff since her birthday is just before Valentine's Day.  A great excuse for decorating!

{Lighting the candles}  

It was really fun to decorate, and my mom came over one Saturday while Claire was gone to help me.  We had a great time.  Mom and I love red, and the kitchen especially is very red.  It kind of made Mom cringe to see pink and red clashing, but it was so worth it, because Claire was so surprised with all the decorations when she came home!

Claire realized that it would take almost two boxes of candles to have the appropriate 23 candles.  It was quite humorous to witness this revelation.  We actually just went with 20 very tall candles...hey, at least we're in the right decade!

{I was trying out the settings on my camera again.  I kind of like this one because Claire is in focus and nothing else is.  There's probably a term for this, I just have no idea what it is!}

It was a very fun night, and everyone seemed to have a great time.  I felt kind of old, or at least very "adult" because we sat around and watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, and it was really fun.  It's hard to believe that I'm not a kid anymore.  I wonder if this feeling ever goes away...

{Me, Claire & Lyndsy}

Lyndsy was able to come that night, so we had a great time catching up.  She's quite busy with Physical Therapy school, so it's always a treat to see her!

And about our wardrobe: this is probably the most sparkly thing I own.  I feel very "Legally Blonde," and it only gets worn about once a year, but it's really fun for stuff like this!  Claire wore this killer dress, even though it was black.  Her jewelry had all these pink hearts on it, and she was the Birthday Girl, so there!

Are we still in Dallas?

I'm not sure.  I know only old people talk about the weather, but this is just crazy enough to document:

Snow.  Snow.  Snow.  Snow.

Pretty cool!  I read on one news website that we're supposed to get up to seven inches.  Seven.  Somehow I am still in the office, though.  Go figure.  I'm looking out my windows, and it is a beautiful sight to see.  I would love to go take Skippy dog for a walk and photo shoot in the snow.  We shall see...

Today is roomdog's birthday, and the festivities started last weekend as I decorated the house for her "PINK" party.  Claire is quite the girly-girl, and it's near Valentine's Day, so I just went ahead and decorated.  Mom came over last Saturday and we just had the best time putting stuff up.  Perhaps we should go into a professional party planning business. 

I know I need to post pics other than weather reports, so I will try and do that soon.  This weekend should provide ample opportunity for fun photos.

Links worth Looking at...

Here's an update from my friend Katie in Haiti.  They are getting into a new routine and teaching about 65 students, grades K-12 again.  Please continue to pray for them and the people of Haiti.

Here's a story about a Houston family I've been following that has been trying to adopt a child from Haiti for several years.  After a very long process, including the dad going to Haiti to fight for their son, Ronel is finally coming home!  It's been such an amazing story to follow, and the mom, Debra, has a pretty cool blog, too. 

Here's an article on Matt Chandler, The Village pastor on how he and his family are trying to suffer well.  A really great piece. 

Here's a Washington Post article on Tim Tebow's upcoming "Celebrate Family.  Celebrate Life" ad during the Superbowl is already generating a lot of talk...in a good way, I think.  And it's not just because he's good looking.

And on a lighter note, here are some things I've enjoyed reading lately:


Valentine Treats

Cake Recipe and Coffee Cookies from MckMama

Funny Valentines from LOST and 24.

TV Valentines designed by Jennyology

Hope your week is going well.  Enjoy!