i killed a roach in my sleep.

that's just how much i hate bugs.
i felt him crawling on me in my sleep and flung him across the room. the best part is that charlie didn't believe me. possibly because of this certain incident of me waking up in the middle of the night screaming that there was a (monster) spider on charlie's chest. now, we really didn't question how i saw the spider until after we had turned the light on and tore our bed apart looking for it. yeah. i was sleeping.
but back to the roach. i felt him and his crunchiness and flicked him. a minute later i felt him on my arm and flung him across the room. when i told charlie in the morning he laughed at me. yes laughed. until he saw the dead roach in pernky's bed. HA!! truth is my vindicator.

go fish

when i was in college, someone came to leslye and my room and started looking at tesse (the betta fish). and he was fascinated with him. "it's so beautiful..." and i agreed with him... "it's amazing how little space they need to be happy." i replied, "yeah... i was just talking with someone about that the other day... how they grow in the little puddles in the rice paddies in asia... it's pretty incredible that such a beautiful, vibrant fish originates in mud puddles."
then he said something very striking. "yeah... it's kind of like people."

"[Humility] is the attitude of one who is like the soil. humility comes from the latin _humus_, fertile ground. the fertile ground is there, unnoticed, taken for granted, always there to be trodden upon. it is silent, inconspicuous, dark and yet it is always ready to receive any seed, ready to give it substance and life. *the more lowly, the more fruitful, because it becomes really fertile when it accepts all the refuse of the earth.* it is so low that nothing can soil it, abuse it, humiliate it; it has accepted the last place and cannot go any lower. in that position nothing can shatter the soul's serenity, its peace and joy." anthony bloom

we went to colorado!

charlie and i were so thankful to get to go to colorado to meet baby caleb and see susan and al as new parents. It was so fun to hold him!

look how sweet caleb is!i know his mommy wishes he would sleep a little more at night, but he is very even-tempered
one morning we went to a farmer's market... we got apples, apple cider (with no ingredients other than apple and spices!), beets, kale, and an assortment of mushrooms.
caleb really likes to look behind us at brown curtains. we decided he likes the light/dark contrast :)
charlie was so good with him!
i made him a pumpkin onesie. he's probably going to hate me when he sees this as a teenager.
we went on a gorgeous hike in the mountains
susan is awesome. she wore her one-month-old son hiking!


the new mama! she looks great!



we had a really great time! thanks for having us, susan, al, and caleb!

landscaping!/photo blog

several weeks ago, one of charlie's friends gave us tickets to the lsu/mississippi state game. it was my first lsu game.
we were -really- high up.
this perfectly depicts rufus and moomoo.

our house before:
Charlie and his horticulture friend, clint (thanks clint!)and after! well... it's not completely finished. we're going to put rosemary bushes and other herbs on both sides of the steps. maybe a flower or two, also.
but see!! much better. the small bushes are indian hawthornes... they'll fill in and grow together within a couple years. they're also supposed to bloom white in the spring.
we also have crape myrtles... a white on one end and a pink on the other.
yay!

This one is for stacy.... seeeeee! punkin is MUCH slimptier than toby or tiggy!
more puppy pictures

punkin patch

hey. it's been a while. i've been wanting to write and feeling quite uninspired. at least as far as concepts go.
i've decided to do at least one thing every day just for me. something that i enjoy and will make me happy. (you'd think that wouldn't be hard...?) yesterday's was simple. i made a french bread pizza because i had been thinking about it all week thanks to ethan leaving his in our freezer at work. so i went winn dixie and got a loaf. and the sauce? i made it. out of roasted then pureed eggplant, onion, bell pepper and tomato paste. am i allowed to say that i thought it turned out really well? i even smeared a little rocotta on before the mozzarella. mmmm. i love food.

i'm not sure what i'll do yet, today. but i'm bound to come up with something. maybe i'll watch the dogs chase bugs and run around the yard. or maybe i'll make a pumpkin cheesecake. i've really been craving one. (do you notice the food theme?)

last weekend i went to arkansas to visit my parents, sister, and college friends. it.was.awesome. sharing rooms, meals, couches, growth, experiences, tears, laughter and... lives with the same people for 4 years does something to you. i'm so thankful for them. soso thankful. also... thank you guys for welcoming charlie in... it's awesome to know you all love him like you love me.


in other news, this is a busy month. charlie and i leave wednesday for colorado!! we're going to see baby bear!! i can't wait to squeeze him!! okay, too many sentences ending with exclamation points. i'm just really excited!!!!

i have a nephew and i love him

welcome Caleb David Hunt!
September 26, 2010
5:48pm (?)
7.3lbs
19.5 inches long



Dear Caleb,
I wish I could be there to hug and squeeze you, but unfortunately I have to wait a while. But Uncle Charlie and I are coming to see you in just a few short weeks! I've heard you have a full head of hair and may possibly have your Papa Steve's chin. I hope you do. But you are absolutely perfect. Your mom and dad are going to be very good parents--I think you will always have someone to help you with your science homework! (Or ANY homework, for that matter!) (Both of your parents are very smart!) They've been praying for you since before you were born--and we know God has given you to this family for a purpose. God has big things for your life, Caleb! And I'm so thankful I will get to be a part of that. In the Bible it says Caleb had a different spirit than those surrounding him, and followed God wholeheartedly (Numbers 14:24). And I pray that for you.
I also pray that:
Numbers 6
²⁴ " ' "The LORD bless you
and keep you;
²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

We love you, Caleb! Welcome to the family!!
Love,
Aunt Stephanie

lessons learned from lovie

(notice how our wind-breaker colors are now great wedding flower themes?!)

no, lovie isn't my MANLY husband, charlie. (i call him honey.) (obviously.) lovie is my beautiful, little sister, stacy. i'm probably the most fortunate of my sisters because i can call them both my favorite.. susan is my favorite big sister, and stacy is my favorite little sister. and while i am sure i have many lessons learned from susan... i want to focus on one learned from lovie.

stacy always wanted to cut her hair short... like a pixie cut. i always thought it would be cute, but you know how girls are. hair is kind of... important to us. and it can be scary to just cut off a security blanket like that. one that takes months-to-years to regrow. well, stacy went off to college and still couldn't chop her hair completely off, but decided to go blonde. and it was really cute. her roomie did it for her, actually. well, a few months? into the bleaching process, the bleach was left on too long by said roommate. Aaaaaaaannnnd stacy's hair may or may not have started breaking off. i believe she described them to me as "inch-long spikey things on the back of her head." and this whole situation was very tragic and made even more tragic when she went to get it cut into a haircut and the hairdresser sliced her ear with the scissors.

but seriously! look how cute it is!!

now. you may or may not be wondering what the lesson is. but hang with me... i have a point beyond how cute she is.

i could obviously never be sure of this, but i wonder if stacy ever would have cut her hair if she hadn't been presented with these circumstances..? i wonder if she ever would have known how great short hair looks on her..?

the same with me. i believe that God uses hard things in our lives in the same way: He takes our hair falling out and turns it into a cute haircut! he takes jobs we hate and turns them into defining experiences. he takes things we never would have chosen for ourselves, and transforms them into what we actually wanted all along. what a God of love we serve.