Mary and Martha

Wow, wow wow wow. EJ's back home . It's been three longs months filled only with letters and a single phone call, but last Thursday I found myself in San Diego at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, finally hugging my new Marine. Family Day was great and Graduation was wonderful , but nothing beats having him actually here with us . It's only for 10 days and I've got exams in between, but at least I can call him whenever I want to now. =) He said boot camp was different than anything he could have prepared for. Yes, it was just like the movies with the screaming and mud and the yellow footprints (which he showed to us), but he says it's just incomprehensible to someone who hasn't gone through it. The physical change is the most obvious, of course; he lost 40 lbs in boot camp and is now skinny as a rail. I didn't notice the more subtle changes in his personality right away, though. That only appeared through everyday interaction. He's much more reserved. ...

The Crucible is almost over. EJ is going to become a U.S. Marine today. I'm so happy right now that an ordinary smiley face won't cut it.

Ugh, it seems I have to monitor my consumption of anti-feminist texts just as carefully as I do any other media outlet, though for slightly different reasons. Yes, I wish I could have stayed home instead of going to college, I wish my dad was the strong Christian patriarch of our household and my mother his adoring, submissive Queen of the Home - but, the fact remains, I am here at college and they are neither of those things. I have to make do with, and even flourish under, circumstances as they are - and sowing discontent by constantly stuffing my mind full of the ideal rather than facing reality in a Godly fashion has to be just as much of a sin as someone maintaining a "holier-than-thou" attitude because they have those things described. Truth be told, I wasn't ready to stay home at age 18. I need to be honest with myself. The change God has wrought in my heart has only really come about in the last couple of months. The way my parents raised me and the way they li...

Ok, kids, this is how you should NOT act when you suddenly realize you have a "surplus" of money: DON'T go to the Wal-Mart fabric clearance section if you know you're a fabric addict, because, invariably, they will have all this adorably cute, gingham-imitation stuff in bright, cheery spring colors that you just have to have, even if you don't know what you'll do with it. Thankfully, if you're like me (*wink*wink*), you will have some self control and manage to walk out of the store with only two yards of the prettiest color - and then be eaten away with the desire to go back and purchase every last bolt. Oh heaven and earth, it's just sitting there on my pillow, screaming , "Why didn't you bring home all my brothers and sisters??" and, you know what? I can't answer. )= I think I'll make an apron with it.

Oh my goodness. So, yesterday I got to speak to EJ and today I got to see him! EJ is almost finished with bootcamp (only 14 more days!) and the day before yesterday they beat the other platoons in their Final Drill Test, so their senior drill instructor gave them all a phone call home and bought them pizza, haha. It was so wonderful to hear his voice again after nearly three months; it sounded so much deeper than when he left. =P Today, the platoon videos were posted. All the recruits in India company stood with their platoons and drill instructors while a video panned over all of their faces. I think I recognized him; in fact, I'm about 98% sure it was him, but he is so incredibly changed from the boy I hugged goodbye last January. I dunno how to describe it. As I just said, they only filmed his face, which was a lot thinner from having lost quite a bit of weight, but even just seeing that, there was something different in his demeanor, something stronger and more confident, n...

About a month ago, we received the gift of life into our home. You see, it all began when we thought they were all female. Our blue parakeet has been laying eggs for quite some time now; she will even carve out a hollow in the bedding/seed on the bottom of the cage and sits on them like any good mother (we've provided her with the location and materials to build a nest, but she never seemed interested in them). We would normally wait a few weeks before throwing them away, or they'd break in the interval. Well, this time seemed no different, except we left the eggs there for a longer time than usual because she seemed to be sitting on them more consistently and she was just so cute while doing so. One can imagine my complete and utter surprise when, as I was changing their water, I saw a TINY NAKED CHICK laying among the eggs! Seriously! We had no idea one of them was a male! We also had no clue as to how to care for the little, helpless thing. In a near panic, I called around ...