It's only been a little while...

Ok...really...it's been over 2 years.  In that 2 years, a ton has happened.  We had a second child (Cecilia Louise, whom we adore).  Wyatt accepted a new position at Shell that involves an international move.  We did our best to navigate the first 2 years of Callum's life and the first year of Cecilia's while living away from family and our awesome friends in Houston.  We moved into our house.  We sold our house.  We tried to stay sane, even attempted to remain joyful, through all of it.  We attempted to learn the ways of New Orleans, and about the time we felt like we were getting a slight hang of it, we found out we'd be leaving.  We made great friends who we didn't have enough time to spend with. 

I'm not going to try to rehash all the great/crazy stuff from the past couple years, but I am going to try to at least do better than posting every 2 years.  We are moving to the other side of the world soon, and we want to stay in touch with our friends and family as best we can.  We are hoping to use this blog to let everyone know what we're up to.  So, be looking for more posts to come soon!

My 25

I was "tagged" on Facebook to fill this out, and since it took me so long to do it, I'll repost it here.

Here's my 25:

1. I've never filled one of these out, although I've been sent them many times.
2. I love carbohydrates and am pretty sure I could live on candy alone (if my heart didn't explode first).
3. I was a founding member of "the cool kids club" in high school. Hello Jennifer, Abby & Lauren (can't remember who else was in it).
4. I enjoy listening to Delilah on Sunny 99.1, especially when she starts giving out cheesy advice.
5. I am pretty much always cold. I keep my heater on at my desk at work pretty much all day, every day.
6. I LOVE the movie "The Sound of Music" and can't count how many times I've seen it.
7. For real, when I was a kid, I really wanted to BE Amy Grant. I actually had criteria in my mind that my future husband had to have Grant as his last name so I could legitimately call myself her name. Not kidding.
8. I am EXTREMELY literal. I named a stuffed animal "Machine Washable" because it said it on the tag and so I thought that was the proper name. Seriously.
9. I am the middle child and am pretty sure that I have full-blown middle child syndrome. I always get the smallest piece of chicken (literally and figuratively).
10. I almost got sent to the Principal's office in high school for eating wheat thins in Spanish class.
11. I am an aspiring super-blogger. I just started our family blog a couple months ago and am really enjoying it so far. (In case you didn't know it, you are currently viewing the blog of which I speak.)
12. I love Arbonne and am an aspiring white Mercedes driver.
13. My husband and I started dating in 1995. (Yes, you read that right.)
14. I once had a guinea pig named Iggy. He squeaked really loud when he was hungry.
15. I am NOT a fan of amphibians/reptiles/etc. My most hated animal ever is a snake.
16. I have huge aspirations when it comes to reading books, but I rarely live up to them. It has to be really good to motivate me to finish a whole book (e.g. The Twilight Series).
17. I really enjoy 80s music. The dorkier the better.
18. Flowers make me really happy. My favorite is raununculus.
19. I was obsessed with pink, purple and blue as a child. As far as I was concerned, those were the only colors that existed.
20. I was a Political Science major in college, but before I settled on that, I was a Psychology major, and before that, was gearing up for Biomedical Science (until I realized I don't like blood).
21. I've broken my left ankle twice and sprained it once, all in the span of about a year.
22. I went to Istanbul in 2001 and ate a lot of McDonald's while there (bad choice, I know).
23. My middle name is Louise. I never liked it as a kid, but now I really like it a lot.
24. My choir teacher in high school made me be Cosette in Les Miserables. I was not happy.
25. I know my purpose in life, and am blessed and challenged by that knowledge daily.

A semi-sort-of-belated-2008 Christmas letter

So, Christmas has come and gone. It went by way too fast for me, but it was great. We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with both sides of the family. As always, the food was delicious, and it was so great having all of our siblings in town.

We went to Wimberely the day after Christmas with my side of the family to look at a lot that my parents are considering purchasing to build their retirement home on. It was so beautiful there, and we really hope this lot works out for them. Wimberly is such a cute little town, and the location couldn't be better. With Emily (my sister) in Austin and a lot of friends in San Antonio, it would be so much fun going there to visit. Plus, it's near hunting sites (for Wyatt and Ellie) and lots of cute antique shops (for me). Not to mention, the outlet mall (including Pottery Barn) is really close by. Come to think of it, this could create our own Smith mini-recession, but it would be fun nonetheless. :) So, we'll see what happens with that, but we had a great time checking it out.

Here's the picture we put on our Christmas card this year. It's us at the Swag in North Carolina this October. Many (well maybe not many, but at least 2 of you) were disappointed that we didn't have our traditional picture of Wyatt and I and the pets dressed up in various pieces of embarrassing Christmas attire, but again, like I said, I was doing good just to get the cards out in the first place. I did get some great Christmas pet attire this year, though. It will definitely be used in next year's card, so be on the look out. :)



We had intended to include a letter with the card, but, alas, I was doing well just to get the cards out, so the letter will have to wait until next year. Here's some of what might have been included had the letter been written...
2008 was definitely a trying year for us, but I can confidently say that God is already using the difficulties to grow us in so many ways. I once read a statement by Beth Moore in her book "Get Out of that Pit" that God weighs each trial before he allows it to enter our lives, and he only allows those trials in in which the good (i.e. our sanctification, growth, dependency on Him, witness to others, His glory) will outweigh the bad (i.e., sadness, loss, heartache). (This is a paraphrase; I'm sure I'm not getting it exactly right.) When I first read that, I thought it was crazy. I had to reread it a few times, and even then, I was questioning it. But it really does make sense in light of who God is.
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I am so thankful for this promise and how God has proven it over and over in my life. I just pray that I would remain mindful of the lessons He has taught me and somehow allow me to use them to support others and love Him more.
Wyatt and I have been married for almost 5 years now, and wow, does the time fly! Wyatt still enjoys his job at Shell. He just celebrated his 5 year Shell anniversary this December. He is planning on taking the GMAT soon and then will be applying for MBA programs. My job at Stewart has been a real blessing and an answer to prayer (and then some). I have also started up a business with Arbonne and I love it.
We are in a transition phase in terms of housing. Our house sold in 2008 (praise God for that), and we are hoping to buy again sometime in 2009. We miss our house, especially the gardening part, but we're hopeful that we'll get another garden (and house) soon enough. We'll keep you posted on that front.
We're still at First Baptist and are loving it still. We are especially thankful for our Sunday School class and our small group. We have made such great friends that have been a huge support and encouragement to us, especially over this past year.
That's all I can think of that would have been included in our Christmas letter. I'll work on getting it in haiku format for 2009.
On a random note, Wyatt is currently on a ski trip with David (my brother) in Winter Park, and I hope to post pictures when they get back. Wishing all of you a blessed 2009!

Relections on the Election

Via the Desiring God blog, I found my way to Eric Redmond's reflections on the election of Barack Obama to the American presidency. It is a great articulation of where my heart is right now.