Nerd Score

My friends, Jennifer and Lisa have both taken the Nerd Quiz. My score was
Anyone who knows me will dispute that! The quiz is way slanted towards engineering/math nerds. It doesn't have anything on there about accounting, otherwise my score would be much higher. :)

His & Hers

Yep, you can tell we've been married for a little while now. Last night, John went bowfishing til 1am and I happily stayed home scrapbooking. There was a time when I would have tried to brave the mosquitos but we've reached an understanding - I won't make him scrapbook and he won't make me fish for more than a 3-4 hour stretch. :) Pictures to come of the needle-nosed gar he shot. Evidenly, its more impressive than shooting an aligator gar. This is what I worked on last night - my first page in my Mt. Kinabulu spread from AFCO 2002. If you're interested in seeing any of my other pages, I have a gallery at www.apeekintoyesterday.com under briar-rose.

We went to see Pirates of the Carribean today - awesome! I had heard some semi-negative reviews but I loved it! You have to love the characters & the sets were out of this world! But that's just my opinion. :) John's about to go bowfishing again tonight - how do guys have such an unlimited capacity for that type of stuff?

Thoughts on Christ's church

On a more serious note, last Sunday John went before the church with something he's been struggling with for a long time. It was a difficult thing to do and I'm so proud of him for having that courage. I was also awed and humbled by the outpouring of love from the congregation. When John went forward and after the service, he was surrounded by people offering encouragement and support. Not the judgement he feared. This was even more impressive due to the fact that since John & I are gone so much, we haven't done the best job of getting to know people and making a place for ourselves in the church. Not only did these people offer John support that day but since then, he's called on some of them and they have dropped whatever they were doing to help him. What a beautiful expression of Christ's love!

This is what the church was meant for - not just teaching or good works - but to spread the word and help our brothers & sisters in Christ when they're struggling. I think we all fall into the judgement trap sometimes, the world certainly pushes us to judge & judge quickly. We all have our failings, our fears. How many times have I sat in the pew when someone went forward, letting my doubts overcome me. "I don't know them - how would they feel if a stranger came to them?" "I don't know what to do or say to them" The church shouldn't be a place where we're scared to go forward with our problems and sins, and shouldn't be a place where we let doubt stop us from showing love.

"Finally, be ye of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethern, be pitiful, be courteous.." 1st Peter 3:8

John and I are so thankful for the Christian love that people have shown us, without judgement, without reservation. I hope & pray that we can use our struggle today to help others as well in the future.

Can I get a Whoop!

John got to do something very exciting about a week ago - order his Aggie ring. Whoop! He'll be getting it on September 14th. Since both beer and ice cream are out, I'm not sure what he'll be dunking it in...powerade maybe? What he'd probably like best is to have them stick it in one of those giant steaks at Sommerville. That might be a first. :) We'll finally have two 'o1 rings in this house! Now I just need to get that Knox rings print...

Last weekend my mother & grandmother came to visit us. It was Mamaw's first time to see our house with furniture & everything. I'll have to take some pictures and post them the next time the house is clean for those of you who haven't visited.

We had a great visit. Then Monday, us girls headed to Houston where we met two of my sisters, Val & Sabrina, at the Galleria. I don't know anyone who would have the stamina for one of the Gray girls' shopping marathons. We procured wheelchairs for Mom & Mamaw and then spent the next 6 hours roaming around the Galleria. Val & I stayed after the others headed home and we shopped on Westheimer until 9pm. OK, we did take a small break at PF Changs - yum! It was an awesome day! Oh, and while us girls were living it up, John did get to play golf with Tristin & Jeff so he had fun too. ;)

For the Fourth, John & I had a nice, quiet day. We watched the fireworks over the George Bush library that night. It had been a long time since either of us had been to a fireworks display - it was gorgeous.