...calafia state beach...

a few weeks ago, we went down to san clemente. it was hannah's first "real" time at the beach. (we've been before, but she was too small to enjoy the trip...and too small for me to enjoy the trip...)
she had such a blast. playing in the waves, playing in the sand, running around.

...new camera...

all i can say is.....YAHOO!!!

i'd show you a picture, but i'm not sure how i'd do it...
it's totally been fun to be able to take pictures of EVERYTHING!! it makes me me sad that i missed out on the kazillion picture taking opportunities that have come and gone. but, boy oh boy, i am so making up for lost time. it's a bit disgusting.

so, i'll be posting some pictures of our latest adventures. coming up...

...here we go...

so, i have been encouaged by emery (of emery's blog) and a few other sources to be a better eater. ... check out emery's post titled "a better way".
i think keeping track of my/our progress here will help keep me more accountable. the plan is: more fresh fruit, veggies, and water. no (or seriously cutting back on) high fructose corn syrup and no pop (which is a "duh!" since it's made of high fructose corn syrup.)
also, implementing more physical activity and i am adding "less tv time" to the list.

so today i feel i did pretty good at the grocery store. and tonight we went for a bike ride, 3 miles. i have a friend who i will be walking with tomorrow morning and hopefully we'll be able to make it a regular event.

i want this "better" me for many reasons. i want to just plain feel better. i want to have healthier habits to model for hannah. i want to be able to be the best vessel for God's glory that i can be and i feel like a healthier me will be able to do that.

so, thanks emery, for the motivation! i am really looking forward to this adventure.

catching up...

gosh. it's been a while since april. time flies...lots of excuses come to mind, but basically i just haven't made the effort to post anything. not that anyone reads this.
life is just busy. all the time, it seems.
we've had quite a crazy strech since we returned to banning from our cross-country adventure.
hannah turned two. yikes! we traded in the saturn for a subaru. (check that off my"life list"!) (i know...DORK) we have enjoyed an exciting summer...mike's folks moved back into town, allowing for more "grandparent time", not that we were lacking, it's been a zillion degrees almost every day, yuck...i am so very much not a fan of the heat...hannah and mommy got to fly to buffalo, ny to visit with relatives on mommy's side of the family, so much fun...we hit the zoo, minor leauge baseball, pennsylvania - nana's old house, house washing, sprinklers, wading pools, parks, ted's hot dogs!, and lots of time with grammy!
i'll try to get some pictures up sooner rather than later. we just got a laptop and are in the process of transferring our life from the desktop.

something of note: lately, i have been enjoying more and more reading emery's blog (http://www.emeryjo.blogspot.com/) she has been posting installments of "the chris and emery story." it's the story of their relationship, it's very real and very touching and very personal.
thank you emery, for putting that part of you out there.

part two of "of note": i feel like i am really coming to terms with who i am as a sinner, fallen, not worthy. with who i am because of what Christ did for me as a sinner, by dying as a sacrifice, clean, blameless, to take the penalty of sin in my place. i am so thankful for what He has done for me. for what He has done for every sinner. i am so excited about knowing more about who God has planned for me to be in Him. i pray for Him to be glorified in my life.

a few more...

so, i just absolutely love this one. we had just stopped at a target in little rock, arkansas for some leg streching and were playing a bit bit before we buckled up and got going. i love these two people more than words can express... two tired travelers. we were just outside louisville, kentucky and it was about one o'clock in the morning...
can't get enough of these two...and they can't get enough of each other...

PICTURES!!

well, i've got a few to share:

as you can tell, hannah is very excited to be spending so much time in the car. we'd been on the road for about nine hours here... in louisville, kentucky, we visited with our friends the marshmans. hannah and georgia had a blast playing at chick-fil-a after dinner one night. we were so glad to spend time with jeff, rachel, and georgia...
hannah got to visit with her cousin elliot for a while in nashville, tenessee. elliot just turned one and we haven't seen him since last summer. she is trying to give him a kiss here...
the peanut gallery! grandma and grandpa crocker and hannah. we have been having such a great time visiting with them in austin. they just adore hannah and are so glad that we could be here for a while with them. (we feel the same way about them)...
hannah and aunt jill at red lobster, hamming it up...
that's our trip in a nutshell so far. i don't want to spend too much time on-line. i'll post a few more tomorrow. we are having such a good time. God has kept us healthy and safe, which we are very thankful for. we are looking forward to making our way back to california and our friends and family. just a few more days!!

an update...

we made it safely to austin, texas on sunday evening. we are enjoying our time with mike's grandparents and aunt. hopefully i'll be able to get some pictures up before we leave town on friday. if not, i'll do it when we get home next week.