Batman!

Yesterday John and I went to see The Dark Knight. It was VERY intense, VERY dark, and VERY good. At one point, John and I thought the movie was over, and then it practically started all over again! I had to cover my eyes a bunch (I am such a sissy!) but I really did enjoy it.

It was so sad to watch Heath Ledger - I'm not sure that anyone else could have played that role as well as he did and I don't think that all of the hype about his performance is at all related to his death. It was incredible.

On a lighter note, was anyone else completely ANNOYED by the Batman voice?? Does he smoke 10 packs of cigarettes when he puts on that costume or is the mask supposed to be like a Darth Vader thing???

Turdle the Turtle

John was walking across our "backyard" out to the parking lot when he saw something moving in the grass. Upon closer inspection, he found this turtle eating dog turds - hence the name, Turdle!!!

Mamma Mia

I went to see Mamma Mia last night with two of my friends from our small group. They had seen the musical at the Fox Theater and had talked so much about it that we all decided to go see the movie together. All in all, I thought it was a really great movie, but there were a couple of things that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life...

• Pierce Brosnan singing. Yes, everything you have heard is true - he should stick with the Bond movies and stay away from the microphone.
• Colin Firth (who is one of my favorite actors) playing a role that made me NOT want to watch him!
• A little ABBA goes a LOOONNNNGG way! I'll probably be singing Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! for the next 3 days!!
• And finally, the image that has been burned into my brain is...Meryl Streep singing "Dancing Queen" with 100 Greek women behind her while playing AIR GUITAR!!!!! Horrible!!!!!

If you've seen the movie, what did you think???

The Saga Continues

Yesterday John received an email from the Pilot Union saying that they had met with AirTran last week about the possible furloughs. It was a long email that basically talked in circles, but from what John and I read, it all comes down to this...

The union and the company have been in contract negotiations for quite some time now, and since the company now has this furlough card to play, they are using it to their advantage. In their current contract, it states that if there ever needs to be furloughs, the company has to terminate the 14 retired pilots who currently work in the training department. The company has been trying to get the union to agree to look past this part of the contract and allow them to keep the 14 retired guys and furlough 180 pilots. Confused??? Yeah - we are, too!! How much sense does it make to lose 180 guys for 14???? Let me try to explain...

If they get rid of the 14 retired guys, then they have to pull in 14 current pilots to take their places. They also have to spend the money to train them to work in the training department PLUS they have to continue to pay them their current salary (as opposed to the meager salary they are paying the 14 retired guys) and upgrade 14 other pilots to fill the spaces left by the pilots who were sent to the training center....so...

The union really only cares about getting a good contract and the company only cares about managing their money, so they are both using the pilots to get what they want. Now they are talking about FIRING all of the probationary pilots (yes, this includes John) so this whole thing can go down in so many different ways - none of which sound particularly appealing.

Right now, John is applying to a few aviation jobs that would allow us to stay in GA and keep the house we are building. If none of those work out, then we are considering moving back to South Florida where he has been offered a job at his former airline. Please pray for us to have wisdom beyond our years, peace that is overwhelming, and faith that God has a fantastic plan for our lives. We trust Him and know that He is going to do more than we could ever dream!!!

Time To Make the Donuts

To celebrate not having any cavities last week and to take John's mind off of AirTran, we decided to make donuts last night. John is a self-proclaimed donut King and would seriously love to open a donut shop one day.

Here is what John's set up looked like...



And here are some of our creations - Chocolate and Peanut Butter (John's favorite combo) and Chocolate with Toasted Almonds (my personal favorite).



We also made one jelly-filled donut and topped it with peanut butter. Here is a picture of John enjoying his creation.



It turned out to be a lot of fun and John actually laughed and smiled for the hour it took us to make the donuts. Besides the fact that our apartment now smells like the Youth Fair, it was totally worth it!!

Anybody know what to do with the old donut oil???

The Dentist

This week, John and I had our 6 month cleanings at the dentist. We LOVE our dentist up here, but we both HATE going to the dentist, so we try to schedule our appointments together so that neither one of us chickens out and "forgets" to go.

One of the reasons that I was dreading my appointment was that I know that I need to have my wisdom teeth taken out and I am absolutely terrified. I had some pretty extensive oral surgery when I was 19 and it left a huge impression on the pain portion of my brain. Suffice it to say that there was kicking involved when the dentist removed my stitches :) Thankfully, our new dentist totally understands my fear and has recommended me to an oral surgeon who will knock me out for the procedure and she promises that I won't feel or remember anything. I'm still terrified, though...

After my cleaning, (which is the best discomfort of all time - disgusting scraping followed by nauseating gritty polish in order to produce a mouth that you never want to use for eating again so that it will stay all clean until your next visit) I was given 2 products...

The first was Listerine Tooth Defense Mouthwash. Imagine washing your mouth out with lighter fluid mixed with Tabasco mixed with squirrel urine - yes, it IS that bad, but if it means that I can keep my teeth for a very long time, I will swish the nasty stuff 3 times a day.

The second was the Reach Access Flosser. Now according to my brother-in-law, Bryan, floss is something that was made up by dentists and pharmaceutical companies that would destroy your gums so that you would be forced to go to the dentist who would recommend that you floss which would make the cycle go round and round. I, on the other hand, believe that flossing is fabulous and will probably end up with huge gaps between my teeth because I am totally addicted to this flosser! I have been flossing like 3 or 4 times a day!! If you struggle with flossing, I highly recommend this little contraption - you'll get hooked!!

Any advice on the wisdom teeth??? Please, no horror stories!

House Warming

John and I are in the process of building our first home with the furloughs at AirTran looming in the distance. Whether or not we end up moving into the house, we want to make sure that we are putting God's will for our lives above our own dreams and plans. One of the ways that we are putting our faith into action is by giving God this house. We are confident that God has a plan for us and whether or not it includes this house, we want to trust Him to do what is best and to be positive that He is in control. We want to give up our hold on this house and not let it control us or our decisions. The best way we know how to do this is to give it over to God through prayer. So....

Last week we invited friends and family to stop by the house and write a prayer or Bible verse or whatever God laid on their heart onto the foundation or the framing of the interior of the house. We also asked them to pray for the people working on the house, for all of the circumstances concerning the house and our plans to move into it in the Fall, for John's job situation, and for whoever ends up living in the house. For those who live far away from us, we asked them to send their verse or prayer to us and we would write it in the house.

Needless to say, we were BLOWN AWAY by the response and could not believe how amazing our friends and family are. Here are a few pictures of some of the things that were written...











As soon as I walked into the house and saw all of these promises, I burst into tears! I sat on the stairs in silence for about an hour. I am blown away by all of the amazing things God has done for John and me and I feel so unworthy to have His love and grace poured so freely upon our lives. No matter what happens with this house, I know that God is in control. John and I are convinced that we are going to stand back in awe as we watch God take this situation and use it for His glory. We are looking forward to watching Him work in ways we never could have imagined!

Moving...again

My family and I lived in the house I grew up in for 20+ years. When I met John, I only had memories of 2 moves - both of which took place when I was an adult. John, on the other hand, has moved over 10 times in the last 3 years. In the almost 2 years that we have been married, we have moved two and a half times (trust me - it was two and a half!) While he sees moving as just a part of life, I see it as a MAJOR event.

Our lease will soon be up in our bug-ridden, leak-prone, overweight-stomping-neighbors-upstairs, management-couldn't-care-less apartment. Honestly, it hasn't been all that bad, but we are ready to be done with apartment living and get back into a real house. Even though we are not sure where we will be going (the theme of our lives!) we are sure that we need to start packing up and preparing for another change of address.

There are a few things about moving that I love and a few that I could live without...let's start with the cons...

CONS

• Re-learning what switch goes to what light
• Packing the kitchen without Peggy Nations!! She is the best kitchen-packer ever!!
• The packing tape - it sticks to everything (including itself) but refuses to adhere to the box!
• Not being able to find anything for a week - no mater how well you label the boxes
• Filling out those change of address forms
• Losing things in the moving process - John lost a pair of Abercrombie jeans when we moved to GA...it happens with the strangest items!

And now for the positive side!

PROS

• A change of environment - I love new places - whether it is a hotel room or a shopping plaza I have never explored - I love going somewhere I have never been before!
• Cleaning out! John can tell you that I am constantly throwing things away - I hate clutter! A move gives you the incentive you need to finally throw out that old prom "wine" glass from 1992!
• Every house has something really cool in it - it could be a huge tree in the backyard, an amazing kitchen, a balcony, courtyard, or in our case...A GARAGE!!!!!! There's always one thing that you are really excited to show people when they come to see your new place!
• Finding things you thought were lost from the last time you moved! Maybe we will find those jeans...
• And now, for the #1 thing I love most about moving...finding things that the previous owner left behind!! So far, the best thing I have ever found was a coffee mug that says (in really fancy letters) "Way to Go, Sh**head!" I found it in the townhouse I rented from a couple in our church - priceless. To this day, John and I take turns hiding it in different spots where the other one will find it. It has brought us endless joy!

What do you love/despise about moving???