I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T do you know what that means??

Pre- Aaron, I have always been an independent girl/women. Even when I was a little girl I had to do everything by myself or I would get frustrated.

I'm still pretty independent but I now have a hard time opening doors, zipping up clothes, going to sleep, or even watching TV without my husband.

Any type of project (deep cleaning, cooking, or fixing things)are things I like to do on my own.

Pardon that awful sentence structure. Add developing coherent sentences to the list of things I can't do on my own.

Last week I cleaned all the windows (inside and out) and living in West Texas has made that quite the task. Aaron offered to help but I wouldn't let him. Maybe that is something I need to work on- sharing my projects.

The main reason I blogged today is to say that I have an announcement- and this is something I couldn't do without Aaron.

No! I'm not pregnant!!! I had you going, huh? Why is that the first thing people assume when a married woman declares she has an announcement?

Okay, we'll tune in in a couple of weeks- I promise it is a much better read than this lame post.

Passively Stalking

Two blogs in one night... Someone can't go to sleep.

I have been passively searching for my birth mother- mainly googling her name/ other birth relative's names. I found out what my last name is because someone forgot to blot it out in some of the many pieces of papers I have from my adoption. It also has a family tree on there.

I'm pretty sure I found my (now diseased) birth-grandfather. If your really curious, here is the link.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28314395

There is an official way to find her but that would mean I would really have to go through with it. Maybe someday. For now, I'm a creepy stalker.

Waiting for the Gun Shot

Right now Aaron at I are at a waiting point in our lives. It feels like we are at the start of a race waiting for the gun to go off. We have heard back from the church in Hollis and they want us to come back for a second audition.

We didn't have much luck finding jobs in Arlington so we have put off going to seminary for now. Right now we are staying with my in-laws (which, by the way, is what they did in Biblical times so women could learn the way the family works). I'm being unintentionally biblical.

I feel like I can still be called a minister's wife even though neither of us are currently employed with a church. God called me to be a minister's wife so that is what I am, no matter where we are.

For the most part I am at peace with what is going on. I know that God's timing is divine and we gave up our lives whenever we became Christians and surrendered to the ministry. To be honest, this is my blog after all, I question why I can't serve anywhere right now! It's the same feeling I got whenever I realized God didn't call me to be a full time missionary in a foreign country. I was really disappointed in that.

I guess God is using this time to make my marriage with Aaron really strong. Not a lot of people get the blessing of starting off their marriages with no distractions. We have not spent any time away from each other since we got married.

Maybe he making us strong so He can use us in great ways later on.

This blog is a good therapy session.

How to Trick People Into Thinking You're Smart

It appears that people who are experts in certain fields are never satisfied with whatever new thing comes out. Well for those of you who don't have a vast array of knowledge in anything keep reading. For all of you experts out there, quit reading... I want nothing to do with you.

I guess I have a lot of knowledge in child development since that is what my degree is in; however, no one really wants to hear it. Seriously, experienced teachers or parents are not going to ask a non teacher/ non parent advice in what to do with their kids.

I digress.

To fake having knowledge in any field of your choice, there is a very basic formula. (Choose field+ some new development/ object) negative comment= impressed friends.*

Examples:
Music- Man, today's music doesn't require much thought.

Education- They aren't teaching these kids the way I was taught. Are they learning anything?

Medicine- Man, today's diseases aren't like they used to be.

Life- This world is just getting worse and worse. Kids didn't behave like this back in my day. (This is not for those who are in their twenties and younger)

So there you have it. A simple way to convince friends, relatives, and strangers that you are well rounded and knowledgable in the ways of the world. You can use this at any reunion, family or school, parties, bar mitzvahs, or lines at grocery stores/ banks. If there is a lull in the conversation, or people aren't annoyed with you enough, here is your formula.

*Please keep use of this formula to a minimum. Side effects may lead to few to no friends.

Where The Wind Comes Sweeping Down The Plain

A couple of weekends ago, the hubs and I were in Oklahoma for an audition/ interview for a church job for Aaron. The ministry is a very unique career choice because not a lot of jobs are given based on how they view the spouse. So there was a lot of pressure on both of us, obviously more on Aaron since he was the one auditioning. The church we are looking at is in Hollis, the same one Aaron's dad was a minister at when Aaron was a little boy. The town is the definition of small town, with one stop light and very few restaurants. We looked around a bit before going to the house we were staying at. Aaron managed to find their old house by finding the football field, which is in walking distance. It's the same house we would be staying in, because it's a parsonage; they're renovating it right now. We stayed at Aaron's former elementary music teacher's house, who went to McMurry, but we won't hold that against her. We had a really fun time talking with her and husband,, and that evening we had dinner with the rest of the search committee. They asked us questions and Aaron did amazing. On Sunday, Aaron lead worship at a church in Altus, the town next over. We really enjoyed our time but for now it's just the waiting game while we wait to hear their decision. Before we left we spent the afternoon with Aaron's aunt who lives in Hollis.

We went straight from Oklahoma to the in-laws on a spontaneous trip. We were grateful for the invitation because it's pretty depressing being in Arlington. I cooked for the family all week and Aaron cleaned so we earned our keep.

I'm actually at peace with our situation. It's all in God's hands so I know whatever happens is for the best.

Fort Worth's Whomping Willow

One gift giving event, I gave Aaron a book that had a list of strange places all over Texas. Today we visited the odd places of Fort Worth. We thought about doing Dallas, but you would need at least a couple of weeks to accomplish all of the oddball places Dallas has to offer.

One of the first places we went to was to a bicycle tree. An artist named George Hilton decided that the best place for his collection of bicycles, motorcycles, and tricycles is a hackberry tree.

Across the street is a cemetery, well actually three different cemeteries put together. This wasn't in the book but we decided to check it out since we were there. Apparently, it's called the Westminster Abbey of Fort Worth, I am guessing because there is a chapel, erected in 1912. The Oakwood cemetery was founded in 1879 John Peter Smith, one of Fort Worth's first settlers. He donated 20 acres and it was later enlarged to 100 acres.

Trinity cemetery is the "negro section." There is an Obelisk as a monument to to "Gooseneck Bill" McDonald, a banker and politician. Some of his family is buried there but he is not.

Calvary cemetery is a burial plot for Catholics. From there, you can see the Red River Texas and Southern Railway Bridge built in 1902. It is one of the oldest surviving railroad bridges in Tarrant county.

After that we went to go find a giant jackalope. Basically, people threw a fit because a car dealership was planning on demolishing the statue. To compromise, they put the statue on their roof. There is also a super-sized sno-cone a couple blocks away but we couldn't find it. We are pretty sure the book made up a street name.

Last, we visited American Airlines C.R Smith Museum. It covers the history of commercial airlines, has a theatre filled with first class seats, and a children's section that has hands on weather activities. They had a real plane that was used for WWII, people were much smaller back then.

We finished the day of touristing by going to a high school football game. The side we sat on lost, I hope it wasn't my fault.

P.S. Here are some pictures from today's adventure. I would like to put them with the actual stories, or at least in the order of events but blogging on a phone is too difficult. Just pretend it's a comprehension quiz.

Jumping Je'Chelsea!

After a summer of taking on qualities of a potato of the couch family, one gets cabin fever. Today I handed Aaron my phone with a list of free things to do in Arlington while making myself presentable to society. That did not include scrubbing myself with steal wool and throwing myself in the microwave (potato humor). We ended up at a Science museum focused on river insects and reptiles. Before we got to the building we took a trail trough some woods that lead us there. Growing up in the country has taught me to always be on alert for snakes., especially of the rattling kind. So while Aaron is enjoying the hike and nature, my eyes do not leave the ground. Naturally, I find a snake in the middle of the trail and, of course, I am in the lead. I jump 10 feet high over the snake leaving my heart with it. Aaron keeps saying it was a lizard but argued it was all tail, in between my hyperventilating. When we get to the museum it ends up being 70% snake and 20% insect. I wish I was as brave as when I was 5.