Country?

I have always prided myself on being a country girl. As such, I figured I knew almost everything about country living. Living in the city, however, must have dulled some of my "country sense". Let me tell you why:


I love walking around barefoot. So today, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with our pool pump (without shoes on, of course) and apparently stepped in an ant pile. I was quick enough on my feet that I only 3 or 4 bites. For most people, this would have been lesson learned, and therefore a very short blog post. I, however, am not most people.

Later, I decide to go take some pictures of my boys in the pool, and when I tired of that, decide I should go take some "artistic" photos to put on my blog. This all goes well until I decide to sit on the ground. Did I look for ant piles? Of course not! I just plop myself down in the grass to take some photos and pretty soon feel the sting of little ant pincers on my foot. Thinking "great!" I begin trying to get the ants off my foot, when I feel the ants biting my legs. My attention is immediately diverted from my foot to my legs, and I'm trying to get the ants of my legs, when I feel the ants biting my...butt. I look down and my white shorts are covered in little black dots. At this point, my brain sends the "freak out" signal to the rest of my body, and I begin to, well...freak out.

Let's just say it's a good thing I live in the country. I ran around the back of the house, and proceed to remove the offending articles of clothing as I'm running into the house. I can only hope that our neighbors up the hill do not sit on their front porch with binoculars watching us. Ants aren't easy to get off and I'm sure they would have been entertained. Even as I was typing, I felt another ant bite me on the neck.

Did I mention that I'm allergic to ants? So if you see me in the next few days, covered in red welts EVERYWHERE, feel free to laugh, because it is quite funny and even more itchy.

It's been a while!

Wow! I didn't realize how much time I've lost with this move until I saw that my last post was on June 1. That was 21 days ago!

Last night, as I was laying in bed, I had it all planned out what I was going to blog about. But, between purchasing new tires, working on a young men's bible study, and getting a front end alignment....I've lost all that.

Well, this little church is everything I could have asked for and more!! Everyone is so nice and caring. I am not just the pastor's wife, I am also the person who does the children's sermons and the youth director. Well, I guess I'm half of the youth directing team, but since Ben's been away, I'm going to claim full rights for now. Luckily, everyone in the church has excepted me for who I am....I am surprised by this because I'm definitely....unique! But I think there are just as many unique people at this church!

One (just one of many, mind you) of the things I love about Carroll Springs UMC is the Angels sunday school class. The Angels are a group of 6 or so mentally retarted adults. These are the sweetest people I've ever met. They love to tell you about their days and what's going on in their lives as well as ask about what's going on in yours. They are always ready with a hug and a smile for you.

But that is not what I love about this class. What I love about this class is that it demonstrates the church's love. The Angels demonstrate Christ's unconditional love for us because of the way they love everybody. But I think the fact that the church has this class speaks volumes about the church's ability to love. And I think that is what I love most about my church. They are so loving and accepting of everyone.

Picnik

I have recently discovered this wonderful photo editing site called Picnik. So maybe I haven't discovered it....maybe I reluctantly checked it out after so many people raved about it. See, I normally use Picasa to edit all my photos. I've been a die-hard Picasa fan for, well forever. Then my friend Kalena told me all the cool stuff you could do with Picnik. Like, fix wrinkles, whiten teeth, enhance eye color, adding "stickers" and the tons of cool fonts. Some features are limited to the "premium" version (only $2 a month), but the free version is still amazing.

If you love to edit photos and haven't discovered Picnik yet, I suggest you try it. And just in case you're still wavering, I thought I'd share some of my favorite edits:

The Chapter Begins...

My husband and I have lived in small towns in East Texas since the beginning of our marriage. He grew up in the city; I did not. I am particularly fond of the small town, slowed down East Texas life. My husband is ready to get back to the city. Apparently, the time for us to move back to the hustle and bustle of the big city has not come.

Last week, my husband was approached about becoming a pastor at a small country church while he attends seminary. He interviewed, was offered the position, and accepted with the understanding that he still had to be "rubber stamped" by some committee. (The inner workings of the United Methodist Church are not a particular interest of mine) He was "rubber stamped", and yesterday we got to meet our new church.

The District Superintendent told my husband when he interviewed that most pastors at this church usually gained 15 pounds because all the ladies love to cook! She was right!! We arrived for our meeting yesterday and we were immediately offered burgers, chips, cake (three different kinds) and drinks. WOW! Talk about hospitality!!! The ladies made sure to tell us that they always have food....at every function. I'm thinking my grocery bill is going to drop significantly!

The ladies are not only great cooks, but the whole church was so warm and welcoming. I could tell just meeting them that they are always genuinely affectionate and loving. The church is tiny, but full of those kind of people that would do anything for you even though you've just met.

I can't wait to begin the next chapter of our lives at this little church, and hope that everyone will enjoy reading about our stories from the church and my musing on country living. Check back often for updates!