The good thing about not having a dining room table in your dining room is that you have room to dance! Aaron and I got up a little earlier this morning to dance to Ashokan Farewell- the song we used for our first dance as husband and wife at our reception. We haven't practiced in a while, so the steps might have been a little off. Nonetheless, it was a perfectly romantic way to start off our Friday!
You can listen to the song here (it's beautiful):
http://www.jayandmolly.com/ashokanfarewell.shtml
You can click on the audio clip at the bottom of the page.

P.S. Tomorrow we will be married for 15 months!

I know we're all excited that Aaron has learned how to make postings on our blog. We are in for a treat, I promise. :) On a frustrating note, see this article I read this afternoon on foxnews.com. When I was in the Netherlands in August 2003, I saw the shame of the liberal culture swallowing the country; I wouldn't have known how ridiculous it actually was until reading this...

Dutch Immigrants Must Watch Racy Film
Thursday, March 16, 2006
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The camera focuses on two gay men kissing in a park. Later, a topless woman emerges from the sea and walks onto a crowded beach. For would-be immigrants to the Netherlands, this film is a test of their readiness to participate in the liberal Dutch culture.

If they can't stomach it, no need to apply.

Despite whether they find the film offensive, applicants must buy a copy and watch it if they hope to pass the Netherlands' new entrance examination.
The test — the first of its kind in the world — became compulsory Wednesday, and was made available at 138 Dutch embassies.

You can read the rest of the story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188079,00.html

"there is a lot more where this came from if you will go to the prom with me"

Marcela painted this jewelry box for her one year old daughter, Ariana. It turned out beautiful! Pizza and pottery- what a great combination!

I painted a tissue box holder. How practical :) I think it will go well in our bedroom.

You have to see this to believe it, so I took a picture. For the past 3 weeks, my Aaron has been growing grass inside our house. He seeded the backyard and decided he needed a control group for an experiment. So he's been watering this plot, keeping the blinds open for sunlight, coming home for lunch to check on it...the whole works. This little plot of "homemade" grass has received a lot of TLC! And he's sooo proud of it. He shows everybody that comes over! It's kinda cute, but a little bizarre. Only my husband... and I love him all the more for it :)

January 8th, I started a training program for running a half marathon. I started with the very beginning schedule, for people who do not consider themselves runners. For the first 5 weeks, I just walked! I've kept building up each week and now I am on week 12 and today I have to run 28 minutes and walk 2 minutes. Getting into an exercise program like this is great because you start off at an appropriate pace and don't overdo it. It lets your heart build strength so that you don't get tired so easily. I definitely recommend this schedule! After I finish this schedule, then I move up to the half-marathon schedule that lasts about 25 weeks. Check it out, even if you're not planning to run in a race!

http://www.marathontraining.com/faq/faq_br.html (scroll down the page to see the chart)

On Friday night we babysat together while Marcela took James and his friends to Fun Park for his birthday. When they got back, we sang to him and had cake. I think he felt good about hitting double digits! Below: Looks like Ariana's having a good time and Dominick an even better time being the cameraman.
On Saturday we cleaned in the morning and while I went to the Elementary school for their Spring Fling, Aaron planted pretty plants in the backyard. He joined me in the afternoon and helped me sell pickles and drinks (I had two jobs- the boiled peanut stand and the concessions. We had to come work for at least 5 hours). Spring Fling is a fundraiser that PTO puts together for the school- I think they raised over $10,000! It was fun to see everyone outside of the workweek. There was a silent auction there as well, and several people bid on a 30 minute Spanish lesson with me. Aaron and I bid for a few things but didn't win. It was a fun and different thing to do on a Saturday. That evening Aaron talked me into helping him Windex the garage floor. Yes, you read right. I can't believe it, either.
Sunday was worship together and buffet lunch at a country club nearby. We spent most of the afternoon outside spreading pine straw (it was a beautiful day!) We grilled out for dinner and relaxed together. It was an encouraging weekend. We look forward to the next one!

...you play Scrabble together! Aaron and I played Scrabble last night. We used all but 1 of the letters in the bag to make words. I put up a good fight, but he beat me 283-247 points. As I look at the picture now, it seems we got a little careless/tired/lenient at the end... some of those are not words!
...you make cute desserts for after dinner! Aaron and I made these mini strawberry shortcakes for ourselves and shared them with neighbors. What a fun night.

This post was taken from another blog, Between Two Worlds.

This has to be one of the saddest stories I've read in a while. The BBC reports that a woman in Scotland sought to abort her twins. Unbeknownst to the mother or to the doctors, one of the babies survived the attempted murder.
So now the mother is suing the hospital for compensation, seeking damages for the "financial burden" of raising the child."I have got a child now that I wasn't planning to have and I believe the hospital should take some responsibility for that," she said."They should have known, or at least warned me, that I might still be pregnant when I left. It has totally changed my life and my parents' lives.
"I still don't know if, or what, I am going to tell Jayde when the time comes. Maybe when she is nine or 10 I will sit her down and explain it to her."
Try to imagine that conversation. Then weep at the depravity. Then realize that we would act in such a murderous, self-centered way but for the grace of God. May we cling to the cross, and cry out to God for both mercy and justice. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Yesterday Allison Roark (former Bible study leader in Raleigh) had a little boy! She and Nick named him Elijah Luke. We have to only image the joy they are experiencing. Congratulations, Roarks!

Thinking about motherhood, I want to share a story from this past weekend. On Sunday after church we went to Quizno's with some friends. We accidentally tipped the table and hot chicken soup poured all over Rebecca's pants and the floor. It was a terrible scene, but I will never forget the servanthood that was shown by a family sitting next to us. This family goes to the same church, and I have heard wonderful things about the couple. But, when their two young boys (without their mom's prompt) jumped from their seats and ran to get napkins and got on the floor, sopping up the chicken soup, I was impressed beyond words. That these children would be so inclined to serve others to that magnitude was remarkable to me. What a God-honoring mother they must have! And as we drove home Aaron and I prayed that if God were to ever bless us with children, that we would raise such servants and be the Christ-exalting parents they are.

Derwin is leaving today for Afghanistan. On Friday night we took the family out to eat Mexican- what a treat it is for us to spend time with them! Dominique concentrated mostly on the candy and gum machine, and on getting the award for messiest eater. Ariana sucked on the hot salsa on her chips and made faces as she ate lemons. And James just told crazy stories. Derwin didn't say much about the deployment.

On Saturday morning we woke up to the news of a break-in at Waste Industries. Aaron spent his morning there while I cleaned the house and read. Since it was raining all day and we both stayed up late late late on Friday night, we took a long nap in the afternoon. I went to the gym while Aaron went bargain shopping. We met for dinner at a new restaurant (new for us) called The Rocket. It was yummy.

On Sunday we praised God together at church, and ate lunch with friends. Aaron spent a lot time with Derwin- learning how to get the boat going, cleaning out his garage, etc. Everyone from the neighborhood came over to pray for him and tell him how much we appreciate him. We'll miss him!
Aaron took this picture of himself in his new $10 shirt and $3 tie. He knows how to get a good deal!

This week is our big ESOL testing week. This year, Georgia has adopted a new test to measure English proficiency (I was glad...the former one was not the greatest), and it is called ACCESS for ELLs- Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Language Learners. Is that not a mouthful? So I'm "ACCESSing" my students this week...it's long and draining, but I'm anxious to see how they have improved. Too bad we have to wait until June to get the results back!

Yesterday was a day that had been long awaited. No work! I thank the Lord for rest and time to regroup. I was pretty productive...wrote letters, talked to Grandma, went grocery shopping, had lunch with my husband, touched up the paint around the house, laundry, and plants. Last night we went on a date with a couple from our Sunday School class- Jason and Ginger. They are wonderful! We ate at Blackbeard's and then went back to their house to play a new game called Pente. I wasn't a huge loser, for a change!

On Saturday night we were invited to the Moody's house to visit with a special guest! Derwin's Aunt Ethel came from Michigan to see him before he leaves. She made an amazing meal for dinner and we were still full on Sunday morning. She was a huge blessing to us.
On Saturday afternoon Aaron and I worked in the backyard. We are trying to make it look decent! Aaron did most of the work while I gave ideas and encouraged him :) We made an island of pinestraw around the trees. Yesterday I bought plants to put along the edge to make a border. What do you think?
On Sunday morning we were invited to hear James (neighbor) sing a solo in church. The church is Rhema Word International, and it was a great service. James did such a good job singing about how worthy the Lord is! They also sang about praise coming from our mouths. The pastor taught about Elijah and the spirit of Jezebel, and the service that Jesus exemplified when he washed the disciple's feet. It was a powerful message.

Aaron wasn't here for Valentine's Day but he sure made up for it! On Friday night he took me to Americus (small town about 45 minutes north of Leesburg) to a very old, enchanting hotel restaurant. It's called the Windsor. The atmosphere was romantic- the perfect place for us to eat. After our meal, we walked around the "historic" downtown and found a cute coffee shop to have dessert. It was a perfect evening. Thank you, Aaron!

What a messy desk! This is one of my goals for today- organize, throw away, clean...among other things. I don't plan to come back on Tuesday to the same disaster site! It's good to have a break from the students today and spend time with colleagues (adults). We're ordering pizza in for lunch. You have no idea what a treat it is for the drive-by-ESOL teacher to stay in one building all day!

Wal-Mart Ordered to Stock Emergency Contraception
Tuesday, February 14, 2006

BOSTON — The state pharmacy board ordered Wal-Mart on Tuesday to stock emergency contraception pills at its stores in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts becomes second state to require the world's largest retailer to carry the morning-after pill.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company would comply with the directive by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy and is reviewing its nationwide policy on the drug.
"Clearly women's health is a high priority for Wal-Mart," spokesman Dan Fogleman said. "We are actively thinking through the issue."

read the entire article here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184879,00.html

Hope you had a special Valentine's Day! It was a busy day at school yesterday- the kids were hyper, but cute (my Kindergarten girls get so wrapped up in holidays because it's so new to them). In their class we made compliment necklaces- we learned about saying nice things to people and the different vocabulary for it (helpful, smart, funny, good at ____). They wrote each person's name on one side of a heart and a compliment on the other side. Then as we exchanged our hearts they said, "Ms. Dez, you are nice. Rashmi, you are funny..." Everyone grinned each time someone said something nice about them... we loved it! And then we put their hearts on a necklace so they could remember what a great person they are.
What a great Valentine's memory!
In my high school class, we used those popular conversation candy hearts to make sentences. One of my students, who just came from India only 4 months ago, had a heart that said "smile". His sentence? "The beauty of the whole world is in her smile." Pretty surprising for a newcomer! We also had a lively debate about arranged marriage since they do that in India and Indonesia.

Aaron was out of town (SC), so I babysat. We made a dessert together and did homework. I missed my husband, but this was the next best thing!