In my humble opinion...

these are some great reads. They're all veeery different, some secular, some Christian, some are fiction, some are non-fiction.....

I'm not great at summarizing plots, so you should definitely google the titles if you want some real info.

totally random plot but really good ... it sucks you in

a great story of friendship- lots of great culture too

one of Francine Rivers' books

my all time favorite... so good! I've read it twice

unbelievable true story, totally life-changing and will make you weep

super twisted story...really addicting!

my homegirl, Francine wrote a whole line of books on women of the Bible, they're all really good. I've read Ruth and Esther.

a true story about a guy who, through some crazy circumstances, begins building schools in Pakistan.

an incredible story of two boys in Afghanistan, really sad at several points but also redeeming

Ode to Trog

I don't know about you guys (well, I DO know about some of you!) but I am a total blog stalker. I love to keep up with people through their blogs. I will admit that when I find a blog, I can't wait to see their blog roll (is that what it's called?) so that I get a pass into tons of other blogs. This is a more difficult process if you are using google reader becuase you only see the person's new post and not their actual page, but I still occassionaly find new people!

Anyway, I wanted to give a shout out to my great friend, TRog. Her real name is Tiffany Mendenhall (Rogers was her maiden name), but we've always called her TRog. She writes a great blog and updates it often. I am proud to say that I am the one who talked her into writing a blog...and I have paid for it...truly paid for it, in dollars and cents. Every Friday she does a post called"Fabulous Find Friday". Please let me share with you a few of the items I've purchased because of her...

Hobo clutch/ wallet "the Lauren" in saffron

Dr. Scholl's spray to keep my ballet flats smelling fresh!

a new address stamp... I'd had this on my list for quite a while, but she finally pushed me over the edge.

TONS of new candles

You should all stalk her blog... it's totally worth it!!!

Love you TRog... mean it!

Austin's Best Kept Secret

If I've talked to you in the past couple of weeks, you probably know what my new favorite pastime is.... Ryan and I discovered this park right by our neighborhood called Walnut Creek. I'm not sure how we didn't know this was just around the corner until now, but I'm glad we found it. They have an off leash park for dogs and about 10 miles of trails- used mostly by mountain bikers and some hikers. We love going hiking and taking Bella swimming in the creek. It's great excersise and a nice way to enjoy the outdoors...much better than being cooped up at the gym.

If you live in Austin, it's located, more or less, at the corner of Parmer and Lamar, and there are entrances on both streets. I'm not sure how many acres there are, but it's huge.

Here are some shots from our day yesterday...

Assunto Work Day

Last weekend Ryan and I had planned to work in the yard and get some things done around the house. Instead, we vegged out on the sofa watching lots and lots of football. This weekend, I felt like we needed to work double time.... and so we did. Saturday morning, Ryan ran 22.5 miles, came home, ate 3 breakfast tacos, changed clothes and went to work in the yard. I got up, went to Starbucks with Bella, cleaned out and organized our pantry, came up with a plan to decorate some blank wall space in our house, helped Ryan in the yard and then went to run errands. Our once-a-month-paid-for-with-birthday-money housekeeper, Sevina, went to work cleaning all of the little nooks and crannies in the house.

When we were finished, we all fell over with exhaustion, but it was really nice to be so productive. Now, maybe if we didn't let it all pile up, we wouldn't have to work quite so hard.

Bella likes to help collect sticks in the yard.

The Big Apple

Last week Ryan and I took at trip to NYC, thanks to our dear friend, Melissa Rubey. Her dad has an awesome apartment in the city that he let us use. From the bedroom window you can see the Empire State Building and the front of Macy's. The location was so fun. We could walk in a couple minutes to Times Square, Herald Square and Bryant Park. It was PERFECT.

Although we had a BLAST on our trip, I have definitely decided that I could NEVER live somewhere so cold. I've been to New York a few times, so I was prepared, but I guess I'm just a Texas girl at heart because I was still cold, even with tons of layers.

Here are some of the highlights...

Eating in Chinatown


At the Top of the Rock

At the Rockefeller Christmas tree



Walking through Central Park in the snow

Out on New Years Eve

In Bryant Park

In Times Square

N7ATctRvU4/SWoosVgapgI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/zoySRW9lK78/s320/New+York+057.jpg" border=0>Going to see Spamalot

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our presents are wrapped, and we can't wait to spend time with family and head out to the Big Apple!!!



If you're needing any help getting into the spirit of Christmas, check out the Austin Stone podcasts from the last 2 Sundays. They're really powerful.



Merry Christmas, everyone! See you in '09!

G Bizzle

Our dog, Bella, if you know her, is a little on the friendly side. I guess she must have run into a tough crowd because she came inside yesterday with a tear drop-looking tattoo under her right eye. I think it was actually just a run in with a stick, but you never know...