Monthly Archives: February 2007

Feb 19 2007

Gerig reunion page

Okay, I have decided to make a page on this website for the Gerig reunion. It can be a central repository for ideas and current date and location. I even made a handy-dandy little graphic for my sidebar, so you can always click there to go to the page. Feel free to use the graphic on your blog or whatever; just link it back to twentysixcats.com/?page_id=651.

One thing I want to mention: I know not everyone is going to be able to make it, so my goal is to make it most convenient for everyone. There will be future reunions and hopefully you’ll be able to make next year’s. My dad got together with his Taylor buddies every year while we were in the States, and they made it work. That’s my desire. :-) I think as the years go on, we’ll settle into who normally is able to come and who isn’t, and we’ll find that those who come will make the time for it because we really enjoy it.

Biggest thing for now: How many people cannot make the July 13th-15th weekend? (Besides Frankie & Anna)

Feb 19 2007

Ikea and more decorating

Well it’s been such a fun weekend with my parents! My mom came last Wednesday, and my dad drove up from Orlando on Thursday. They had commitments on Friday night and Sunday morning, but the rest of the time was spent with us! We had such a great time. My mom absolutely loved Jera, which thrilled me. We started letting Jera run around the house off the leash! It’s such a change for us, because now we are able to be in the living room where it is much warmer. We also have to be a lot more careful about things like open doors. Jera has discovered that shoes are yummy to chew! So we need to find another spot for our shoes… (Currently, they are in the hallway since we always kick them off as we enter the house.)

Bethany came down from Nashville to visit on Friday night. It was so great having her here! I miss my Taylor friends… And she is so much fun to talk to and hang out with. :-) I just wish she lived closer. It was fun.

On Saturday, we went to Ikea and spent 4 hours or so there. It was so much fun! First, my mom and I had lunch ($4 for two meals… not bad!) and then we walked around, looking at all the cool furniture and the awesome room setups. Then my dad joined us about halfway through. When we finished, we checked out and got a phone call from Paul who had gotten off work. While we were waiting for him to get to Ikea via the train, we decided to go look at the sections my dad missed. We had gotten to the part where my dad joined us before, and Paul arrived. So we finished looking at everything and even backtracked a little bit. So much fun. :-) Paul and I decided to get two small, narrow bookcases for either side of the TV to help clean that area up a little bit. We wanted ones that were black, to match the TV stand. However, the white ones were half the price. So we got the brilliant idea to buy the whites ones and spray paint them black. Yay! I am excited about that. We have to wait until the weather warms – apparently, it needs to be between 50 and 90 degrees to spray paint. At Ikea, I also picked up some curtain rods which my dad hung today. We went to buy curtains, but couldn’t find any long enough! They need to be about 7 feet, so I think I’m going to go ahead and make them. I’m a bit relieved about that, because now I will be able to pick out the exact color and fabric I want.

My mom and I talked a lot about the living room, and she suggested that instead of painting it red, I look into doing wallpaper (since I’m only doing the bottom half). She said wallpaper would be 10 times easier than trying to paint over red paint when we move. It’s an idea – we’ll see if we can find what I want. Paul and I found dark brown slipcovers for 60% off at Kohl’s today, so we went ahead and bought them. They look really nice! I’m excited about the living room and how it’s coming together.

We also took a trip to the large Goodwill near my house. I found a recliner I liked, but after thinking about it I decided to not get it. I’m afraid the same thing is going to happen as with the couch – it’s going to be fine for a year, and then I’m going to hate it because it’s losing its padding, etc. Perhaps secondhand upholstery furniture is not for me. :-) We don’t need a recliner right now, anyway.

For now, the visitors have died down, but we’re still going to be busy this week. Jera is getting spayed on Thursday! I also am going to be crazy busy at work, I can tell. It’s supposed to warm up this week to over 50 degrees, so I’m sure we’ll be busy spray-painting bookcases! :-D

Okay, bedtime for now…

Feb 13 2007

no snow, but Capra to keep us company

Well, it seems like in the Midwest, today was a snow day. Not so much here – though it was cloudy and it rained briefly in the afternoon, it still reading 65 degrees. However, the temperatures are supposed to drop again this weekend so I guess this warm weather was just a teaser. :-)

Today was my annual performance evaluation at work. It seemed to go well – better than last year. I have a few things to work on, but overall I improved greatly this past year. That made me happy! I need encouragement like this to help keep me from getting discouraged. It can be so easy to get discouraged sometimes! I really want to be a good employee, to work hard and do well.

My mom comes in tomorrow! I’m excited. I have lots of laundry to do, but I am procrastinating and don’t want to do it. Gilmore Girls comes on in half an hour, so I really should put a load in before that starts… Bah… Lazy, lazy.

Paul and I watched Capra’s “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” last night. I have really enjoyed this Capra collection I got for Paul for Christmas. I highly recommend them if you enjoy old movies. :-) Gary Cooper stars as Mr. Deeds, and my does he have a nice smile! The ending frustrated me a little, but overall I enjoyed the movie. I think I liked “It Happened One Night” better, though – it was such a romantic movie, perfect for watching tomorrow perhaps?

Well enough procrastinating. The laundry I must do, or my mom won’t have anything to sleep on tomorrow. :-p

Feb 13 2007

lambs of innocence

Originally written on February 13th, 2007 at Onward & Upward

“He tends His flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart;
He gently leads those that have young.”
- Isaiah 40:11

The Bible often compares us to sheep, and the Lord is our Shepherd. If that is the case, then lambs are our children – the young, innocent (naive) ones who don’t yet know how evil the world can be. Little lambs, with small bleating cries and unsteady legs, keeping close to their mothers who provide safety and security. Little lambs, who were the Jewish symbol of sacrifice and atonement, being the innocent (not guilty) ones who paid the cost of our sin. Christ is called the Lamb of God, showing His innocence and His sacrifice.

But lambs aren’t just symbols of sacrifice, but also symbols of the littlest among us. We’re flocks of sheep, following our master, looking for the best and most tasty grass. Along the way, lambs join our flock, which delights our Master. Lambs are the most vulnerable of us all, prey to wolves and other predatory animals who watch closely. For this reason, our Shepherd pays special attention to the lambs. He carries them close to His heart, not letting go because He knows the lamb is safer there. He keeps the mothers close to Him so He can keep an eye on them. And aren’t we scared sometimes? Do we hear the howling of the wolves from oh the not-so-great distance? Yet a hand comes down to rest on our wooly heads, comforting us. A scarred hand, a broken hand – a symbol of the sacrifice that was paid. Without that, we would be next in line for the altar, because our sinful hearts could not get us into heaven.

The beauty of lambs is that we are not stuck in a sinful rut forever. Because of the Lamb’s innocence, we have been given a gift – a wonderful, beautiful gift of eternal life. And as we take care of our husbands and our families, we can be assured that our Shepherd will keep us close to Him, not letting us go. After all, He paid the price so we could live, so He won’t let us go.

I have a natural affinity to lambs and sheep. In Spanish, my last name means “lamb”. The coat of arms has five dancing sheep on it. (Um… yes…) I am His little lamb. He loves me that much. I like that verse in Isaiah, because it reminds me of how near my Savior keeps me. And because of Christ’s sacrifice, our sins are washed away as if we are innocent of any wrong-doing, and we are able to enter heaven.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your sinlessness and being the sacrificial lamb so I can live with You in eternity.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

- Psalm 23:1-6

This piece was written as a submission for the Carnival of Beauty: The Beauty of Innocence.

Feb 12 2007

a random assortment of updates

So, I haven’t written in a while.

After a week of having nothing to do at work, we had a week of the opposite. Mostly, I was busy because I have been training some new designers. We have experienced some recent turnover, and so we were scrambling to get their replacements. I enjoy training but sometimes I wonder if I confuse people more than help them!

Also last week we had a tutorial class in InDesign! I was excited; I got to learn about my favorite design program and it put all of us on the same page. We are switching to InDesign, but not all the designers are familiar with the program. I think the tutorial was very helpful for everyone, and I look forward to seeing more of our ads using the features of InDesign. (Since most of my work is picking up ads that other people have already started, then I have no choice about which program I get to use.)

Now, to find a plug-in that will open Quark documents in InDesign…

On the home front, last weekend I drove down to the Atlanta airport to see my mom during her layover! It was a lot of fun. I took her to lunch at Cracker Barrel and then we found a library with a funky architectural design that was kinda fun. We enjoyed sitting and talking, looking at pictures from my mom’s trip to Peru (the kids I used to babysit are so grown-up now!). I dropped my mom off at the airport so she could catch her flight to London – she’s been there for more meetings and project-visiting.

Last week was cleaning week – my brother and his girlfriend came to visit on Thursday! I was excited to see them, and to meet Molly. We had a nice time; we visited CNN, walked through Atlanta a little bit, watched “The Deep South” episode of Futurama. (Come on, it’s essential to watch that when you visit Atlanta!) All in all, a great time was had by all.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a gorgeous day, and there were sooo many people at the dog park! Jera had a blast. I thinks she’s more interested in the people than the dogs though. :-) It was funny – half the (small) dogs there were Bichons or Poodles (or mixes of those) and the other half were dachshunds. The Bichons were soooo cute and fluffy, and the dachshunds were very barky! I am so glad Jera doesn’t bark! Even when all the other dogs are barking, she just does her own thing. Jera met a Cairn Terrier who was adorable, and they had fun running together. I enjoy the dog park as much as she does probably; I like being there with the people, seeing all the other dogs. I’m working on recognizing breeds!

So tonight is school – obedience school, that is. Jera is learning to sit! And do other things, of course, but sit is one of the first things. We haven’t had a lot of time this week to work with her, so she doesn’t do very well yet… So hopefully she is a fast learner! Tomorrow is cleaning and laundry (and Gilmore Girls!). And Wednesday… my mom is flying in from England! She and my dad are going to be staying here a few days while they speak at a Christian school and a church this weekend. I am excited to see them again! So this week will be busy as well, and so I might not be blogging much. :-)

Other than that, Paul and I have started serving on the Missions Committee at our church. It should be interesting, because I have some different ideas about missions than my church. I am hoping, though, to raise awareness about missions! I have been attending this church now for over a year and a half, and I have heard only snippets of the mission work the church is involved in… So hopefully this year will be different. :-)

Also, Paul and I are looking to start tent camping this spring. We have most of the camping supplies, but we still need a good tent. Any advice? We went to REI yesterday to see the selection they had, and then I spent last night on the internet looking at reviews of different tents. My mind was full after trying to take everything in! We are planning to take Jera with us camping, so it should be quite an adventure. :-) Amy, when do you think it will be warm enough that we can go camping? Want to go with us? :-) All this is getting ready for our camping trip this summer for the Gerig reunion!! Hooray fun times.

Okay, this post is long enough! Until next time.