Trip to New Mexico

Most of you are aware that Zach's parents live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had the pleasure of visiting for nearly a week in early November. We were able to see the aquarium, the "dinosaur museum" (Natural History museum), the Explora kids museum, and most incredibly - Grandpa's 7th state soccer championship. Congratulations to Larry!! Here are some pictures from our trip

More FaLL pictures

Here's more fall pictures of the girls. Maybe I'll take more later, we'll see. I just can't get enough fall pictures.

Halloween

My mom made both the girls' costumes this year. Brynley was dying to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and Sydney was a very cute elephant. Thanks mom for all the hard work!

Help me

Hey...so this is a quicky blog post with no pictures or anything. I need help. Most of you know that I am a pretty wishy-washy about most things (excluding Jesus and the Blue Devils). For this same reason, I'm still carrying around most of my post-Sydney weight. I really really really really need to lose 15 pounds to put me at my normal weight again and allow me to wear clothes that haven't seen daylight in years.
I "officially" started exercising last night and it is going to take some encouragement to keep me going because even walking is painful right now.
My goal is to lose 4-5 pounds before Thanksgiving and then to have lost around 11 pounds by Christmas.
I'll keep you posted.

Could fall be God's favorite too?

As far back as I can remember I have been in love with fall. Fall means school (which I love, don't tell anyone), fall means the most beautiful scenery of the year, fall means long drives in the country to take in all the beauty.

Most recently, fall means taking millions of pictures of my kids in the leaves and trees. Brynley, unfortunately, believes she is a princess/model, so it is hard to get a genuine smile from her. I have to catch her off-guard. Sydney couldn't care less if she has her picture taken, so it is hard to get any good pictures of her. Hoping for more colored leaves later so I can take more pictures.

Happy post

Today has been a more relaxed day during this week of craziness at SBU (aka Homecoming). During a moment of Sydney being a stinker (this is happening more and more as the 2nd birthday is approaching) I had a good mom moment. Sydney would not follow us while we were on campus so Zach and I said Bye and kept walking. I grabbed Brynley's hand and walked toward the car while Zach lagged behing waiting for Sydney to realize she was all alone. Brynley burst into tears sobbing "She's my baby sister...don't leave my baby sister" Was pretty cute. Glad to know she really loves her.

Three Decades Ago...

So, yes, I turned 30 years old yesterday. Still seems very strange to me. I am 30...what does that mean? Does this mean I am old? Am I still considered young? How might a 30 year old child act?
I have always had a very good memory. I can remember being in about 4th or 5th grade and looking at the young adults in my home church and thinking, "Man, they are so cool and also old. I'll never be like them." Oddly enough, I still feel that way. How can I classify myself as "middle-aged" when I can still remember the layout of my kindergarted classroom, still recall how proud I was to be allowed to walk to school for the first time without my parents (not alone, but with Courtney), still remember how nervous I was for my first cross country meet in junior high (no type-o there, it really was a junior high, not a middle school) and how old that school smelled and how much I loved being there. Am I really thirty? Can you be old if you don't feel old?
I was having a rough time during the approach to this day. Am I really who I want to be at this milestone in my life? Am I proud of what I've become? What do I have to show for thirty years of life? I'd joke and say,"well, the alternative is death, so I guess I'll be fine with turning 30." I realized later what a crappy attitude this was. My newly diagnosed case of pneumonia helped me to that realization. Now, I'm no hypochondriac, but I belive the Lord was saying to me, Erin, I really could let you go. Pneumonia does kill a lot of people and I don't in any way believe I have that kind of pneumonia, but it was a subtle reminder that my life really is but a vapor and I should be thankful for the blessed life I have been given and not crap up the occasion with sarcastic discontentment.
What is a life and how can it's value be measured? More specifically, what has my life consisted of and what value do I contribute to life as it is? This is what I am thinking of on the tailcoats of my by 3-0. (By the way, today is my husband's birthday so call him and tell him happy birthday) My wish is to be less sarcastic, more compassionate, and more disciplined. Keep me accountable to this all of you out in cyperspace.