The Sweetness of Victory

"I do not think that winning is the most important thing. I think winning is the only thing." -Bill Veeck

So, I wasn't sure that after just one night of these new mousetraps we would have caught our suspect. These things can take time, after all, and I wasn't too optimistic that the perpetrator would be caught so quickly. So imagine my surprise when we wandered into the kitchen and, not only was the mouse captured and dead, but he was in MY trap on top of the stove (which now has plans to be thoroughly sanitized). I even had the good fortune of the trap flipping over so that "Lisa the Exterminator" could be seen on the bottom, confirming my victory:


Of course, this called for a photo op with my furry friend, and one for David as well as he took him outside to be permanently disposed of:




So anyway, I was able to collect my loot in the massive sum of $2. However, we decided to set the traps again JUST in case this mouse had a friend, so we each gave another 25 cents for a "second place" prize should we catch another one. So I "netted" $1.75 on the deal. You may laugh, but this pays my way for 1/2 of a Chai at Starbucks. I'll take it! :-)

Micky beware!

"Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse." -Ronald Reagan

It's happened to us. Didn't think it would, but it did. Despite my routine and rigorous kitchen cleaning, we believe that a mouse has taken up residence somewhere in that part of our house. I've been told not to be ashamed...that even the cleanest houses (and kitchens) in the world can attract a mouse. But still, there is that part of me that thinks "Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!"

Anyway, something must be done...he must be stopped! Last weekend, we bought some cheap mousetraps. Bad idea. if there is one thing that you should invest good money in, it's a quality mousetrap.

So, tonight, armed with Victor Traps (which I'm told is the Gucci of the mousetrap world), my parents came over for our first "Mousetrap Packing Party." Never heard of one? Congratulations, that means your family isn't totally insane like mine. What does said party consist of, you may ask? Well, each person gets their own mousetrap (which they write their name on underneath). And each person gets to pack their own trap with cheese in whatever manner they see fit. Throw in a 50 cent buy-in per person and, voila, you have the most banal form of gambling possible. Even if I win, the $2 "pot" won't come close to paying the bills for the counseling I'll need from being married to and born to a bunch of nuts.

I was against blogging about this, for the record. I'd like to appear to the outside world like I lead somewhat of a normal existence. There is a certain comfort to keeping these proverbial skeletons in the closet. BUT, under the pressure of my dear husband and parents I caved. So below I document the whole process:

Each person works intently on their own trap:








The men make the VERY careful walk to set their traps in place...


And we have the location choices...

For David, the corner of the counter tops behind our bread machine:


For me, the top of the range:


Dad chose a spot on the floor:


While Mom finished up with a little nook behind the small appliances:


Stay tuned for further developments and results...

Help for Haiti

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." -Matthew 25:35-40

Tonight, David and I participated in a Haiti "pack-a-thon" at our church. Westover partnered with Calvary Christian Center, a historically African American church here in Greensboro. The event had two purposes, one being of course to pack food for Haiti, and the other to promote unity in the Christian community across racial lines. Two Christian organizations, Feed My Starving Children and Feed the Hunger helped organize the event. We absolutely had a fantastic time and made some really awesome new friends from Calvary Christian Center.

There were 163 people from Westover and Calvary Christian Center packing food tonight in Westover's gym. There were multiple stations set up and each person had a certain job at their station. Each bag packed provides a nutritious meal mix for a hungry individual in Haiti and helps open the door for Christian organizations to share the Gospel with them.

At our station, David helped hold the bags that the mix was funneled into. He had a little helper named Lauren from Calvary Christian, and she was great!

David helps funnel a bag...


And then Lauren takes her turn...


My job was to weigh each individual bag to make sure it had enough meal mix ("Manna") in it...don't you just love our hair nets???


In the end, after two hours of packing, 196 people packed over 31,000 meals. Enough to feed 96 Haitian children for a solid year! So rewarding!


And we got to sample the cooked Manna afterwards...pretty tasty!


Love...in hair nets...


What a great way to start the weekend!

Recent Happenings

"Oh how the years go by..." -Vanessa Williams

Last week, we celebrated the birthday of my dear friend Heather. We went to dinner with Heather, her husband Andrew, our friend Stephanie, and Stephanie's husband Matt. We ate at the Fourth Street Filling Station in Winston-Salem, which is one of my favorite places. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating with Heather. She is such a wonderful friend and I'm so glad the God made her! :-)


Also last week, I had my 5 year anniversary of working at RMIC. I can't believe I have been there so long!




This week, we are planning to get back into our home-improvement mode. We decided that the amount of wallpaper to be taken down in our house was just to overwhelming too do by simply pulling little strips of it down. So we actually bought a wallpaper steamer from Lowe's. Hopefully this will make things much easier for us...everyone says it's a great investment. Can't wait to try it! We will put up more home improvement pictures as the process goes on!


We are continually thankful for the many and varied blessings in our lives - good friends like Heather, secure jobs, and technology that makes even a difficult task easy! :-)

Our Weekend

"If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday." -Pearl Buck

On Saturday, David and I decided to make a day trip just down the road to Burlington. My father grew up in Burlington and most of my extended family members on his side still live in Alamance County. I used to go all the time growing up, but don't get there nearly as much since my grandparents passed away.

On the way, we went through the small town of Gibsonville, right on the Guilford/Alamance County line. That's where David was living when I met him and we like to go back there from time to time. We started by going to the pretty rural subdivision that David used to live in. I have such good memories of his house there from hanging out with him there during our dating days, and I made sure I took a good picture of his old house when we rode by there this time. I'm sure the new owners are loving it there!


From there, we went into downtown Gibsonville. We had fun walking around and eating a yummy lunch at the downtown Bistro.




After Gibsonville, we headed into Burlington and to the Glencoe area, which is an old restored textile mill village (houses built in the mid-late 1800s) in the northern part of town. You can see the old mill itself, and the area also houses the NC Textile Heritage Museum. It is the second time that David and I have been to the museum and the village and we love it. Almost all of my Alamance relatives were textile workers, and so it has a special meaning for me to learn a little more about my heritage.








We ended our trip by going to the Alamance County Historical Museum, housed in the old Holt Mansion (a textile tycoon of the Alamance County area). It was full of amazing antiques and I could have spent all day there...


We had a fun Sunday as well, full of church, hanging out with each other, and finished off by watermelon (what could be better in the summer?)...




We also saw my parents Sunday night, and apparently the stress of the hot weekend had gotten to them...


On a more serious note, David and I were discussing after church today what we really want out of life (we of course already know what each other wants, but we just like to talk about our hopes and dreams). Today we were talking about the fact that, all we really want out of life is to live our lives knowing that our priorities are in order...God first, then our marriage, then our family, then everything else. When we really think about this, we realize how fortunate we are to be able to daily live our dream and serve a magnificent God, have a happy and fulfilling marriage, look forward to at some point (God willing) have children of our own, have amazing parents on both side (and other family members), and have fantastic friends. No amount of work or money could buy that. How blessed we are!!!

Our new nephew!!!!

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." -Carl Sandburg

Yesterday (Monday), our new nephew Anderson Cannon ("Ace") arrived - 7lbs, 15oz and 20 inches long! David and I are so excited to be an uncle and an aunt once again. I know the whole family is very glad to meet sweet baby Ace (and I'm sure it must be a relief for David's sister Lindsay to no longer be pregnant in the intense Mississippi heat)! Below are some pictures...

Sweet baby!


And it looks like our other nephew, Ryder, got a big brother gift!


David's dad holds Ace while Ryder gets to know his baby brother...


We can't wait to meet our newest family member!

Fourth of July!

The story of America's quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots. ~Randy Vader


We had a wonderful Fourth of July today! After a great morning church service, David, Mom, Dad and I drove up to Danville, VA for the day (about 50 minutes away) for a fun day trip. We stopped in Mayodan, NC on the way up at the park for a picnic lunch at the newly-renovated Mayo River State Park. Mom's company did the renovations of the shelter and other facilities there, so she was really excited to see it. The park is WAY out in the country and a little hard to find, but it's really pretty and all the facilities look great!

This is David in front of the huge picnic shelter that was renovated...


And us having our picnic...


And one of David and I standing in the MASSIVE fire pit in the shelter (David joked that you could fit my mother's car in there!)...


After lunch, we continued on to Danville. Once we got there, our first stop was the Dan Daniels Memorial Park, right next to the Dan River...






After the park, we headed to the Sutherlin Mansion, which served as the Last Capital of the Confederacy when Jefferson Davis spent the final days of the Civil War there. It was beautiful and so interesting! David and I and my parents took pictures on the veranda outside...




We finished up the trip with dinner in Danville. We had planned to look for the local "hole in the wall" place, but ended up at Buffalo Wild Wings. Sometimes, you just can't beat the familiar.


And what 4th of July would be complete without the fireworks? So when we got back to Greensboro we headed to Friendly Center to see the fireworks (they were being shot from the Grimsley Stadium)




It was a wonderful day, start to finish. And we still have tomorrow off work, which is awesome! We miss our Stubblefield family in Mississippi but are always so happy that we can chat with them on the phone on days like this and look forward to the next time we do get to spend time with them. As we celebrated our nation's freedom today, I was reminded of two things. I was reminded of the wonderful legacy of service to our country that we have in our family. Out of the four grandfathers between David and I, all four served our country in World War II (some in the blood and suffering of active, front-lines combat). I am so proud to say I am related to such men, both through blood and marriage. And also, I was reminded of the fact that the real freedom I have is in Christ Jesus. Without Him, our freedom on earth would be meaningless. Praise Him for the many blessings He bestows on our family and our country, and may we always serve Him first.

Happy 4th everyone!

Fun in the summertime!

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world. ~Ada Louise Huxtable

We had a great Saturday today (and even better knowing this is a 3-day weekend). David and I went to the "Fun 4th" Festival in downtown Greensboro (of course, the 4th isn't actually until tomorrow, but you get the idea). I have gone to the Fun 4th almost every year since I was born and wouldn't want to miss it. We started out the morning with the parade...


Where else can you see a hot dog in a t-shirt?


Or have your picture taken with this attractive character?


I got to talk to the women from the Guilford County Republican Party (was SO glad to see the GOP represented out there this year),


And we got to see the Revolutionary War reinactors fire their muskets


After the festival was over, David and I decided that everyone needs to do a little work around the house, even during a holiday weekend. So we came home and, for the afternoon, I pulled off the wallpaper in our master bath so that we could paint that room soon. (I am standing on something in this photo which is why I look so tall!)


David, on the other hand, worked in the yard all afternoon. He does such a good job with the landscaping! Sadly, today the he and the lawnmower happened to stumble upon a yellow jackets nest. I took a picture of one of his stings, on his foot. It is hard to see the sting in this picture due to the brightness, but it was most definitely there! I felt so sorry for him (I have stepped on a yellow-jackets nest before and did not care for it!), but after a few minutes of rest he went right back to work!


Despite the yellow jacket incident, we had a great day! We finished up the day with dinner and are now watching the Coke Zero 500 on TV. What a great day and what a blessing that we still have 2 more full days in this holiday weekend! :-) Hopefully by the the end of the long weekend we will have a new nephew, as David's sister is supposed to have her baby on Monday. We will write more about that at the time...we are so excited!!!!