Just to warn you, if you see me walking around with a dazed look in my eyes, it's because of the weekend I'm about to partake in. I'm so very excited. I am meeting two friends in Atlanta for a Women's Conference. I'm not big on women's conference because I'm so not a girlie girl and don't get into all the girlie bonding stuff that usually happens at women's conferences.
But this weekend is going to be different. The wife of the minister I used to work for . . . and the wife of my current worship leader . . . and I . . . are all converging on Atlanta for the "Deeper Still" conference. It's such a God thing how this came about. I kept some friends kids one weekend because they both travel with the worship team for this conference. They offered to get passes for me if I ever wanted to attend one. So I asked if I could get 3. They obliged. I mentioned it to my two friends and asked if their men would agree to sending them to Atlanta for a weekend. And thus, the girls weekend was born.
I am blessed to have a handful of dear friends who love me beyond what I can imagine. We've never had a girls weekend. God orchestrated this whole weekend. I can not wait.
The reason, though, that my head may explode is because in one room, teaching and speaking God's word will be 3 of my favorite speakers: Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, and Kay Arthur. In addition, the worship is going to be lead by some of my favorites as well: Travis Cottrell, Mandisa, Angela Cruz . . . my head is about to explode just thinking about it.
Speak, Lord, Speak!!
6.23.2008
I had a GREAT weekend!
Ok, this is going to be random. I'm going to be all over the place. But hopefully, you'll enjoy my latest musings about my weekend.
Last March I was visiting my grandmother's sister, my Aunt Jane, who will be 90 next year. She mentioned that her grandson, my cousin Will, who has lived in Australia for probably 10 years now, was bringing his whole family back home for a visit. I said to myself, well, that's a Hartge party waiting to happen! So I went ahead and made plans to go home. Apparently, several did as well. We had cousins from everywhere come to town for this unofficial family reunion. Between my grandmother and her sister, my Aunt Jane's kids and their kids and their kids, I think we were only missing 2 counsins. I think.
Anyway, anytime I go home, I always am excited. To be able to spend time with my family obviously doesn't come along near enough since we're seperated by 800 miles. And add Kayla into the mix now . . . well, needless to say I get excited about going back home. (Kayla has grown SOOO much. When I saw her last, in February, she had just turned a year old, was still in a rear-facing car seat, had just started crawling, wore 12 mos clothes, just started eating people food, took 2 naps, and jabbered on but we couldn't understand anything she said. More on what she can do now later.)
Dad and Kayla picked me up at the airport because Mom, Kim, and Bud were unavailable. As we were driving home, it was such a perfect summer Maryland day . . . in the low 80s - no humidty - light breeze . . . that Dad decided that we should go to the park. And Dad being the observant one that he is, said he was going to stay in the van for a few minutes. I thought maybe his hip was bothering him (because he just had the left one replaced 6 we
eks ago, but he's doing amazingly well!) So I got Kayla out of her car seat (who is now facing forward . . . something new since I saw her in February), put her down, took her hand and we walked over the playground. Yes. We. Walked. Although she prefers to run everywhere, she is walking like a grown-up girl now. Sheesh. And has grown a foot, I think! Well come to find out, Dad wanted us to have bonding time. He knew that if he was out there with us, she would want him to do everything. So he was giving us time to get to know each other again. (I have to post a new picture, I mean really, it's my Kayla!)
She is the cutest. Seriously. The cutest. She still has little hair except in the back . . . kind of like a baby mullet. But it's slowly coming in. Mom thinks she gets that from me because I was the same way. But if she has my hair, she's one blessed girl because I have great hair (doesn't always look great, but it's healthy and I have a TON of it!) After the park, we went home and had lunch then laid down for a nap. Well, Kayla and Dad did. I did some work from my laptop. Then Kayla woke up. Her new favorite thing is bubbles which is a word she can say. So we sat out on the back porch and blew bubbles for 30 mins. She really does love them. And Dad and I got a kick out of blowing them for her and listening to her giggle.
Speaking of the back porch. My parents have the best. My Dad LOVES birds. He must have 10 different feeders and plants to attract them. All sorts -- flemings, hummingbirds, cardinals, etc. So to sit out on the back porch, well, it's just so restful between listening to the birds in the yard, watching the osprey family flying above, and the black squirrels running around. I told my parents that if I lived there, I would never get anything done because I would want to sit on the back porch all day long and just watch and read.
Anyway, Kim, Bud, and Mom all returned home and we went to meet my mom's immediate family (brother-sister and their kids minus 5) at a seafood restaurant that is just down the road and has INCREDIBLE food. Even missing the 4 cousins and my dad, we still had 14 people. I had soft shell crabs . . . they of course were delicious!
Saturday morning, we just hung out at the house. Bud, Kim, and Kayla are living with my parents right now while they get their house ready to put on the market. So ALL of us just hung out. Kayla, again, what a character. She loves to sing. She's learning one-syllable word songs. She gets stuck on that word though. She's learned the pitches and will just break out into song with no words and you know exactly what she's singing. But when she tries to add the words, she gets stuck in the loop. Row, Row, Row your boat becomes Row, row, row, row, row, row, row . . . until you start laughing at her and then she laughs right along with you.
When I was growing up, one of my earliest memories of my mom's mom, my Granmardi, is being at her house and walking up the steps in her house. There is a Christopher Robin poem we would ALWAYS recite . . . every time we went up or down the steps. Mom has carried on that tradition with Kayla. "There is a stair where I always sit. There is no other quite like it. It's not at the bottom. It's not at the top. It is the stair where I always stop." Kayla is the same as I was . . . every. time. She stops at a stair. It's not always the same one. But she always does it. And won't move until you say it. :~)
That afternoon, we headed to the unofficial Hartge (hart-je) family reunion. I'm telling you. I don't need to get married and have kids. There are enough in our family who are taking care of that. There were kiddos EVERYWHERE. I hadn't really thought about it. I got to catch up with so many aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a blast. We should do this more often.
The funniest thing though. Having lived in Tennesse for 18 years now, I get teased in Maryland because of my "southern" accent (what. ever.) Well, apparently, the same thing happens when you live in Australia for 10 years. I'm hugging and looking at this cousin whom I've known all my life (he's only 6 months younger than I am). But he starts talking and it's as if he was raised in a different country. We agreed not to tease each other because he says I sound like I was raised by Scarlett O'hera. But it was just weird. I'm expecting him to talk one way and well, my brain just hurt trying to wrap around this accent of his.
A great time was had by all. It was again the perfect summer Maryland day. We swam, ate, talked, talked some more, and either participated or watched a soccer game, botchiball, and/or horseshoes. We got home late and all slept very good that night.
The next day was Sunday and the WHOLE family was going to church. I think my Dad walked a little prouder knowing his whole family would be sitting in church with him. Mom and I sang. Then Bud, Kim, and Kayla headed to Virginia to see her family who they hadn't seen in a while. Later that afternoon, we headed to my aunt's house, who lives in my grandmother's house (where I used to recite the Christopher Robin poem) for dinner and horseshoes. Again, another perfect Maryland day. And on top of that, we realized it was my grandfather's birthday (who used to live in the same house.) A thundersorm was headed up the bay and we finished dinner out on the porch just in time before it started raining. Then after cleaning up, we headed out to the front porch which is covered and sheltered, to watch the storm roll through. 13 of us this time. And we sat there for probably for more than 2 hours just talking and remembering and watching and listening and laughing.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend. And I have the best family. We may not always agree or get along . . . but we love each other.
(P.S. I have some pictures but I left my camera in Maryland. So I'll upload some pictures once my Mom sends it back to me.)
Last March I was visiting my grandmother's sister, my Aunt Jane, who will be 90 next year. She mentioned that her grandson, my cousin Will, who has lived in Australia for probably 10 years now, was bringing his whole family back home for a visit. I said to myself, well, that's a Hartge party waiting to happen! So I went ahead and made plans to go home. Apparently, several did as well. We had cousins from everywhere come to town for this unofficial family reunion. Between my grandmother and her sister, my Aunt Jane's kids and their kids and their kids, I think we were only missing 2 counsins. I think.
Anyway, anytime I go home, I always am excited. To be able to spend time with my family obviously doesn't come along near enough since we're seperated by 800 miles. And add Kayla into the mix now . . . well, needless to say I get excited about going back home. (Kayla has grown SOOO much. When I saw her last, in February, she had just turned a year old, was still in a rear-facing car seat, had just started crawling, wore 12 mos clothes, just started eating people food, took 2 naps, and jabbered on but we couldn't understand anything she said. More on what she can do now later.)
Dad and Kayla picked me up at the airport because Mom, Kim, and Bud were unavailable. As we were driving home, it was such a perfect summer Maryland day . . . in the low 80s - no humidty - light breeze . . . that Dad decided that we should go to the park. And Dad being the observant one that he is, said he was going to stay in the van for a few minutes. I thought maybe his hip was bothering him (because he just had the left one replaced 6 we
eks ago, but he's doing amazingly well!) So I got Kayla out of her car seat (who is now facing forward . . . something new since I saw her in February), put her down, took her hand and we walked over the playground. Yes. We. Walked. Although she prefers to run everywhere, she is walking like a grown-up girl now. Sheesh. And has grown a foot, I think! Well come to find out, Dad wanted us to have bonding time. He knew that if he was out there with us, she would want him to do everything. So he was giving us time to get to know each other again. (I have to post a new picture, I mean really, it's my Kayla!)She is the cutest. Seriously. The cutest. She still has little hair except in the back . . . kind of like a baby mullet. But it's slowly coming in. Mom thinks she gets that from me because I was the same way. But if she has my hair, she's one blessed girl because I have great hair (doesn't always look great, but it's healthy and I have a TON of it!) After the park, we went home and had lunch then laid down for a nap. Well, Kayla and Dad did. I did some work from my laptop. Then Kayla woke up. Her new favorite thing is bubbles which is a word she can say. So we sat out on the back porch and blew bubbles for 30 mins. She really does love them. And Dad and I got a kick out of blowing them for her and listening to her giggle.
Speaking of the back porch. My parents have the best. My Dad LOVES birds. He must have 10 different feeders and plants to attract them. All sorts -- flemings, hummingbirds, cardinals, etc. So to sit out on the back porch, well, it's just so restful between listening to the birds in the yard, watching the osprey family flying above, and the black squirrels running around. I told my parents that if I lived there, I would never get anything done because I would want to sit on the back porch all day long and just watch and read.
Anyway, Kim, Bud, and Mom all returned home and we went to meet my mom's immediate family (brother-sister and their kids minus 5) at a seafood restaurant that is just down the road and has INCREDIBLE food. Even missing the 4 cousins and my dad, we still had 14 people. I had soft shell crabs . . . they of course were delicious!
Saturday morning, we just hung out at the house. Bud, Kim, and Kayla are living with my parents right now while they get their house ready to put on the market. So ALL of us just hung out. Kayla, again, what a character. She loves to sing. She's learning one-syllable word songs. She gets stuck on that word though. She's learned the pitches and will just break out into song with no words and you know exactly what she's singing. But when she tries to add the words, she gets stuck in the loop. Row, Row, Row your boat becomes Row, row, row, row, row, row, row . . . until you start laughing at her and then she laughs right along with you.
When I was growing up, one of my earliest memories of my mom's mom, my Granmardi, is being at her house and walking up the steps in her house. There is a Christopher Robin poem we would ALWAYS recite . . . every time we went up or down the steps. Mom has carried on that tradition with Kayla. "There is a stair where I always sit. There is no other quite like it. It's not at the bottom. It's not at the top. It is the stair where I always stop." Kayla is the same as I was . . . every. time. She stops at a stair. It's not always the same one. But she always does it. And won't move until you say it. :~)
That afternoon, we headed to the unofficial Hartge (hart-je) family reunion. I'm telling you. I don't need to get married and have kids. There are enough in our family who are taking care of that. There were kiddos EVERYWHERE. I hadn't really thought about it. I got to catch up with so many aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a blast. We should do this more often.
The funniest thing though. Having lived in Tennesse for 18 years now, I get teased in Maryland because of my "southern" accent (what. ever.) Well, apparently, the same thing happens when you live in Australia for 10 years. I'm hugging and looking at this cousin whom I've known all my life (he's only 6 months younger than I am). But he starts talking and it's as if he was raised in a different country. We agreed not to tease each other because he says I sound like I was raised by Scarlett O'hera. But it was just weird. I'm expecting him to talk one way and well, my brain just hurt trying to wrap around this accent of his.
A great time was had by all. It was again the perfect summer Maryland day. We swam, ate, talked, talked some more, and either participated or watched a soccer game, botchiball, and/or horseshoes. We got home late and all slept very good that night.
The next day was Sunday and the WHOLE family was going to church. I think my Dad walked a little prouder knowing his whole family would be sitting in church with him. Mom and I sang. Then Bud, Kim, and Kayla headed to Virginia to see her family who they hadn't seen in a while. Later that afternoon, we headed to my aunt's house, who lives in my grandmother's house (where I used to recite the Christopher Robin poem) for dinner and horseshoes. Again, another perfect Maryland day. And on top of that, we realized it was my grandfather's birthday (who used to live in the same house.) A thundersorm was headed up the bay and we finished dinner out on the porch just in time before it started raining. Then after cleaning up, we headed out to the front porch which is covered and sheltered, to watch the storm roll through. 13 of us this time. And we sat there for probably for more than 2 hours just talking and remembering and watching and listening and laughing.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend. And I have the best family. We may not always agree or get along . . . but we love each other.
(P.S. I have some pictures but I left my camera in Maryland. So I'll upload some pictures once my Mom sends it back to me.)
6.05.2008
My Calling
Okay, apparently I've missed my calling in life. Most people would say it would have something to do with being administrative. Some would say it has something to do with music. Or maybe kids. Everyone has a calling. A mission.
My parents new calling is to completly spoil their new granddaughter. The political world's new calling is to drive me absolutely nuts with all the stuff going on with this year's election. There are complete strangers in Nashville who's calling it is to save me from getting a ticket in speed traps (it's happened 4 times in the past 2 weeks!) My friend Cathy Bell's calling is to make me laugh so hard I have to throw up (ask her . . . it's true).
Apparently, according to some (who have the last name Rushing) my calling is to make people cry when reading my blog. I don't mean to. One particular Rushing has even dubbed me the Hallmark Moment Queen. I think she looks forward to getting a card from me just to see what Hallmark moment I will create for her.
So, I now have two tasks set before me.
1) Start posting funny things. I've never been compelled to write funny things because, well, in addition to making me laugh, Cathy is one of the funniest writers I know and I have no ambition to strip her of the title. But I make a promise to at least try so that the boys who read this blog don't have to go crying into the night to find a tissue.
2) Figure out how to post a warning at the top of my blog warning readers to get a tissue before reading any further.
So for those of you who need a joke to come to when I make you cry . . . here goes:
Q: What's an Eskimo's favorite song?
A: Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow!
My parents new calling is to completly spoil their new granddaughter. The political world's new calling is to drive me absolutely nuts with all the stuff going on with this year's election. There are complete strangers in Nashville who's calling it is to save me from getting a ticket in speed traps (it's happened 4 times in the past 2 weeks!) My friend Cathy Bell's calling is to make me laugh so hard I have to throw up (ask her . . . it's true).
Apparently, according to some (who have the last name Rushing) my calling is to make people cry when reading my blog. I don't mean to. One particular Rushing has even dubbed me the Hallmark Moment Queen. I think she looks forward to getting a card from me just to see what Hallmark moment I will create for her.
So, I now have two tasks set before me.
1) Start posting funny things. I've never been compelled to write funny things because, well, in addition to making me laugh, Cathy is one of the funniest writers I know and I have no ambition to strip her of the title. But I make a promise to at least try so that the boys who read this blog don't have to go crying into the night to find a tissue.
2) Figure out how to post a warning at the top of my blog warning readers to get a tissue before reading any further.
So for those of you who need a joke to come to when I make you cry . . . here goes:
Q: What's an Eskimo's favorite song?
A: Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow!
6.04.2008
Our Babies Turn 10 Today!!
Where has the time gone!?! I don't feel any older (well at least in my mind). And yet. Our babies have turned 10 today. How is that possible? I used to laugh at people who said time starts to fly when you get older. And I think this is the first year that I have really started to believe that. 10. Un. Be. Lievable.This time 10 years ago, I had just gotten on a plane after hours of trying to decide whether to leave or not. Amy was in the hospital and Dr. Presley said it would be at anytime. She just had to give them word that she couldn't go another minute. Yes, she was only 32 weeks but it'll be okay. God's in control and God knows when those babies will be born and the journey that lies ahead. From the time I stepped on the plane to the point of getting off the plane and turning my phone back on an hour later, our world was forever changed. God brought Blake, Tanner, and McKenna to us.
I say us because I don't think the thought has ever entered Carey and Amy's mind that these children were given just to them. This journey has affected many lives and they have graciously been willing to share these 3 miracles with those in their world. The names are countless who have been impacted by these 3 individuals that God created.
Oh the memories that 10 years hold. The laughter laughed. The prayers said. The tears cried. The sleepless nights. The diapers. The bottles. The books read. The games played. The miles travelled.
Today we celebrate you!
Blake: I celebrate you today because of the smile you bring to my face everytime I think about you. I love snuggling with you and just talking. I love how you know exactly what you want. I love how you see in your mind exactly how things should be and set about to make it happen. I love that Christmas will never be the same after being a part of the Dean Christmas Production. God has amazing plans for you and I can't wait to see what they are. Pursue God passionately. That's really all He wants. He'll make the rest happen as you run after Him and let Him fashion your character. He is creating a leader in you. Don't let others dictate to you who you are in Him!
McKenna: I celebrate you today because even now I can close my eyes and hear your laughter ring in my head. I love how you love your brothers. I love how you look at your Daddy with adoration. I love how you are your Mama's helper. I love that we both LOVE to play games for hours and hours on end. I love that without realizing it, you taught me to be a princess. God has formed your heart with such confidence that even at 10, you know you are a Daughter of a King! You are going to change the world, little girl. Always remember where your true beauty comes from. Stand strong knowing Whose you are!
Tanner: I celebrate you today because of the eyes God has given you . . . they are the same color as mine . . . and I love how you "smile" with them. I love you because you give me great hugs—always. I love how you weren't that excited about being a big brother and yet God has given you two a special bond. I love how you see the good in people. I love that you love to play soccer. I love that you love to read. I love how when you set your mind to do something, no matter how hard, you will accomplish it. In addition to the beautiful eyes God has given you, He has also given you spiritual eyes to see people on a deeper level. Don't ever let opionions of the world cloud that vision. It is a special gift.
Thanks for letting me be your Awa. I love you. Happy Birthday!
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