Three things you may not know about Jeff

1. Since November 23rd Jeff has taught himself to knit and has made 3 scarfs, 10 hats and 1 amazing purse. . . and he uses the expensive yarn. The ladies at the knitting shops love him. me too.

2. When I married Jeff in 1997 he owned a Porsche 914, an old Ford F150 and he bought me a Nissan Maxima. In the following years Jeff has owned 10 additional cars/vehicles including the following: a VW rabbit, a Ford Contour, a Jeep Wrangler, a gold Mercedes, a white Mercedes, a Stella (scooter), a 65 T-bird, a Ford Mustang, Toyota Corrola and a Nissan Quest.
Amazingly, he has been without a car since May 2007! That's a major fast.

3. Jeff finds great pleasure and rejuvenation in the cutting down and pruning of scrubby cedar trees in the Texas Hill Country.

Ok - but instead of publishing more about myself, I'm going to tell some things about April.


- She definitely has her own style. She loves funky clothes, but not in a faux 80's punk way. More like what you'd get if you gave a hippie a Nordstrom card. And I love her for that. It's silly, it's fun, it's unique, and it takes thought and intent to be so out-there and still pull it off and look chic.

- When she was a girl, she saw her dog hit by a car in front of her house and killed and then she threw up in the front yard. But when she swung Superman-style into the metal barrel they used to walk around on and broke her arm so she could see the bone pushing out on her skin, she didn't bother to cry.

- She loves me.

Today I found out I'm getting a 20% bonus and a 10% raise in Houston.

Then someone called me to talk about an opportunity in Austin.

This after we pretty much decided San Antonio was the place to go.

I've been working since 7:30am and my boss wants to keep working until at least midnight so we can get something done before the users in the UK get to work.

Some decisions are a lot easier than you think they will be at first.

Yum

Merrilee is a good cook.

It looks like I'm probably going to go back to work for General Dynamics. All the reasons I left are still there, but they're going to match my wages that I'm making here in Houston, and it's cheaper to live in San Antonio. Even if it wasn't, my family and I *enjoy* San Antonio, whereas we just tolerate Houston, and sometimes like Kingwood (the Florida of East Texas). So, we would appreciate you all (whoever you are - if anyone's there) keeping us in your prayers during our time of transition. It's complicated because we have two houses now that we want to sell - the one in Kingwood (a suburb of Humble (a suburb of Houston) and the one in Adkins (a suburb of Floresville (a suburb of San Antonio)). And we can only afford both if April keeps working. So, we'll be split during the week and she'll be a single working mom. Oh, and I don't have a car. I just have the scooter, which I don't trust to get me back and forth between San Antonio and Houston. So, pray for us :) I think it's the right thing to do, which is crazy, because it's certainly not the easiest thing to do. And most people would say it's not the most responsible. Maybe it's just that it's what we *want* to do. Well, if it isn't what my heavenly father wants us to do, I pray he'll make it obvious to us both.

Tattoo (me on you)

Hey - look what i got :)

Glorious Days of Celebrating the Holy

We will never forget the first year of make your own Christmas. I believe we had reached a maximum exposure to the goods offered each prior year in the mass market. Combined with the sadness that all the "stuff" is afforded at the cost of precious lives in other lands, we were just no longer willing to consume what has been placed on the table as palatable any longer. It's similar to the pretty cakes you see in the grocery store. They are beautiful, and affordable even, but they are gross compared to a cake made by a true artisan. So a month before Christmas Jeff springs the idea of Make your own Christmas. I was pretty sure he wasn't quite serious. He couldn't possible know what he was suggesting. It sounds like a nice idea, but holy cow, that's a lot of work and creativity.

Apparently he was serious. And I love him even more for it.

It's been said of ants, but it's true of Jeff, too. . . AMAZING. I love all the wonderful things he made, and I'm so glad I got to do some creating of my own. The gifts the children made melted our hearts.

It was a little stressful trying to get all the gifts done on time, but also incredibly refreshing as well. I do not enjoy shopping in H-town, and I had been dreading the Christmas crowds. Completely avoiding this madness was a dream come true. Another lovely thing about the make your own, is that the gifts were not carbon copies of what every other person in the United states of America was getting. It's amazing that we are truly a united states in the way that the sweaters and toys and electronics sold on one coast are the exact same as the sweaters, toys and electronics sold on the opposite coast. The search for truly unique gifts and perfect for that special individual had become a joke in the retail/ commercial world of American Christmas. This year we escaped the machine! I feel like we concentrated more on the relationships and the merriment instead of allowing the desire for stuff to steer our season of the Saviour. I love the sweet things our children made and the signs of who they are all over the presents that they gave.

We are already anticipating next Christmas when we will pour ourselves into the gifts we give each other.
It's a good moment to wonder what the next year will bring, and a good time to make note that I hope to be changed in eternal ways.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.