Pictures from Tour de Kentucky!

From Start to Finish

Tour de Sinuses

Hurray for husbands!! Many of you got the daily reports from Drew while he was one his bicycle ride and thus you know all the details. However, for those of you who do not... my husband is amazing!! (well other than the fact that he left me for over a week!) Drew just participated in an 8 day ride around Kentucky (see map above) to raise money, support and awareness for MS. Our first and only contact in Louisville when we moved here were Bill and LeeAnn Turner. Bill works for UPS and LeeAnn is a talented musician and also has MS. These two have hosted us for dinner, provided a job for Drew when we first moved (Drew built their deck), let us do laundry and introduced us to our church and many of our closest friends! Bill organized this whole ride and in the process we decided that we should change the slogan "Go Big or Go Home" to "Go Bill or Go Home". Bill does everything top notch and to the extreme and this ride is a perfect example. Drew had minor problems with his knee towards the end but still ended up biking over 700 miles! WOW! So I am very grateful to have my man back and have a mouth to feed and clothes to wash and some one to snuggle with at the end of the day! You can check his ride out by googling Tour De Kentucky or I think visiting whyiride.com that's just an educated guess...




In other news, many of you also know I have severe sinus issues. It's so strange how this just popped up in my life and hasn't left me with any peace since!! During my spell with Bronchitis I went to the ear,nose and throat doctor for a check up and he revealed that I needed to have sinus surgery again! He said that I actually have severe pollup disease and sinusitis. Since I had issues with the interior wall of my sinuses before he deemed it best, after another appointment today, to have the surgery as soon as possible followed by major allergy testing and shots. It's expensive and a pain but it'll be nice to breath again and I have always thought that perhaps I should get my allergies tested instead of self diagnosing based on when and where my allergy attacks occur. So it will be nice, though painfully expensive, to get the shots and have a chance to improve my finnicky nose!! If you look at the picture... my entire right sinus... that's the big hole by the nose and above the nose is clogged. In a CAT scan bone is white and air is black and my left sinus is completely black and my right sinus is completely grey, as in NO AIR GETTING IN OR OUT! eek. So here we go on another newly wed adventure... surgery. It's always something not budgetted for coming up and freaking me out. However, I realize that this is actually good because those are the times that Drew leads the best and I get to follow him b/c he is soo laid back and trusting of the Lord and he leads me to that same mindset! It's great! So this time, for example, when I went to the doctor I did not break down into tears or snot all over anyone or have a total breakdown! Progress!

This week has been soo beautiful and it's getting HOT, I hope everyone gets out and enjoys it a little!!

Here, There, Everywhere!

Well, we haven't blogged in ages and that's because we've barely been able to sit still long enough to collect our thoughts!
I am officially finished with my first full semester of seminary! It was tough. I've never worked so hard in my entire life! I made mostly A's but my Philosophy test that I just took turned out to be quite unfair and knocked me down to a B! oh well. I really didn't like that class and I tried my hardest!
Many crazy things have happened in the life of the Lewisi over the past months. In April I came down with major insomnia and some sort of cold, which turned out to be bronchititis and a severe sinus infection. After several doctor's appointments and wonderful antibiotics I was told that I would once again have to have sinus surgery. This surgery was a huge deal the first time I had it because no one knew what was really wrong and there were really severe things that could've happened.... this instance isn't like that. It's just a huge pollup b/c I have severe pollup disease apparently. (ps. I found all this out while the doctor was dictating into his recording device, not actually to me). This was a shock because doctors and sickness cost lost of money. I always knew that my parents had great insurance and so I never worried about costs of those things. Well we have great insurance too through Drew's work, but I found out to my horror that insurance doesn't cover everything. They don't cover the weird proceedure they do to find the pollup or the cat scan that they then have to do to determine the magnitude of the pollup they found and then they barely cover the hospital bills for a 20 minute surgery. This just seems so wrong. Don't they know we only make enough money to live month to month. It was amazing to see the doctors and nurses look at me with strange wonder as I asked over and over how much each of these things would cost. It was like it had been so long since they ever had to question the price of something that they were stunned that I would do such a thing. Doesn't everyone make 6 digits? no.
Then I finished up finals in a whirlwind and Drew is not off on a 8 day ride around the state of Kentucky to raise money for MS. This is the first time we have been away from each other for more than a day... and the first time we've ever ever been apart since married where we weren't with family etc... I am fortunate to have friends close by to take care of me when I'm scared but it just isn't the same as a husband. I love my husband and miss him soooo bad.
I did get to go see him yesterday at this awesome state park in Indiana for his rest day. We just chilled the whole time and it was a beautiful park with great views from the inn.
We are also riding in the MS 150 in Louisville in two weeks with our friends, which will be the longest ride that I have ever done by FAR! I am so excited for a physical challenge though. (I have emotional ones often enough already)
I also got to go home for Mother's Day since Drew was gone and surprise my mom. We thought she was going to have a heart attack when we surprised her at work witha coffee and ME. It was a great weekend split between my family and Drew's family. I also got to see my life long friend Erin and she is always a breath of fresh air. She is one of those friends that you could just talk for hours and have good conversation. It's the conversations that make you forget how you could ever have those awkward friend chats that happen when you see a long lost friend unexpectedly. Anyways.... I hated to leave.
Now I am back in Louisville for good and looking for a new job. My tutoring job just isn't going to work out with my mid-summer Greek review. So I'm going to look at retail and Starbucks to see if I can get a more flexible job. This is a big scare b/c I HATE working. I've never really had a job that I liked.
So there are many changes in the Lewisi life happening and coming up. Please keep us in your prayers. This is our first summer to not be free students and it's actually pretty hard... all we want to do when it's warm is play outside and I know it will be especially hard for Drew to put that suit on morning after morning with the weather so wonderful!
That's the update. Sorry it's not too creative but there's just too much!

Saver or Savor?

"I save them because I want to savor them!"

It recently dawned on me that these two words that sound very similary are indeed very similar.

A person who would be deemed a "saver" is some one who likes to hold on to things. Maybe, "save them for later" or put away as a "keep sake"... any of this ringing a bell to you?

A person who likes to "savor" is some one who likes to hold on to a taste, moment or feeling and let it linger so that they can experience it for as long as possible.

A few examples of the two...

Example 1. My mom, my mom is the best "savorer" in the world. I remember when I was little I would watch her eat ice cream and she can make one spoon full go a longggg way. She is also always the last to finish her dinner... why? Because she, unlike the rest of us, actually wants to taste each bite on it's way down. She wants to soak up every spice and juice on her plate and when she is done there is nothing worth tasting left on that plate. When I was younger I didn't understand this at all because my goal was always to secretly see if I could be the first one done with my food.. I knew I was a champion when I could even beat dad through a meal. I still eat mostly what I want but there are a few things that I will not rush through now a days because you never know when that guilty pleasure will be allowed again. Examples to follow...

Example 2. My mom is also a great "saver". I remember one day I found a cabinet where she had kept art projects and the like and I'm pretty sure they dated back to kindergarden! Even this Christmas my mom had up my sister and I's white doves that we made out of clothes pins and spray painted in Elementary school. Pretty sturdy birds if you ask me! If you still don't believe me just go to the house... count the number of coffee cups and pieces of furniture and you will be convinced for sure! My mom is a saver- and we love her for it (and many other things!)

Example 3. I myself am a saver. When I get money or gift cards I might go and peruse the isles of the local stores but it is rare that I will buy something on the first go. I usually look and if it's super nifty I will try it on, but I always put it back on the rack. "I need to think about it" If I really want it, it will come to me at odd hours of the day and night and then I will know that that is a worthy purchase. I will keep Christmas money and birthday money until late Spring knowing that I will desire spring and summer clothes more than winter clothes and that there will be no more Christmases and birthdays left to supply that demand.
Also, when I get something that I really enjoy such as a DP or vitamin water I don't chug it down right away..oh no no no. I let it linger. If I am really thirsty I'll drink water with it. I am not going to waste a $1.39 in five minutes. If I only drink a 3rd of it then I can have the wonderful experience of vitamin water for three days instead of one. When I eat popcorn, I want to eat it one kernal at a time. This is mostly due to the fact that I got my hand slapped once by my dad for shovelling popcorn. My little sister and I would get in a frenzy eating faster and faster trying to get more popcorn than the other afraid that with each bite the other sister would render the bowl empty! So my dad made us eat it one kernal at a time with the promise of making more if we wanted it later. So now it drives me up the wall when people don't eat it one at a time... point and case (I don't care if you think that phrase is backwards... obviously you have to make a really great point to end the case!) my husband will grab handfuls of popcorn and half the bag is gone. He doesn't eat one jelly bean at a time... no no... a whole handful... that's five individual experiences down the drain! Also, when he takes a sip... it's a whole serving of my drink... that could've lasted me a day! So many a time I have gawked at this fact and have come to understand that alas, my way isn't always the absolutely right way. It is probably the better way.. haha.. but I get over it. Plus, he's so cute who could care about a little thing like that? right....? The real deal is, it's teaching me to consider him better than myself. And I have to say, I am a food scarfer... I haven't gotten that savor thing quite to a T just yet! But there are times when I get something special like thin mint cookies (which I still have one left from a box at christmas) or anything else chocolate and I will wait for the perfect moment to eat it, for the perfect craving and then I will eat it slow. With the thin mints I would only eat one at a time and days apart to make them last. Silly, but hey we have a budget people!

Example 4. my little sister. My sister NEVER spends HER OWN money! She played my parent's wallets for years! She would ask for money to go here or there and they'd give it to her b/c she didn't have a job or anything... little did they know the chunk she had in the bank or hidden in some remote place in the closet only to be found yeeeeaaarrrrrssss later!
To this day she or I will be cleaning her room and find a hundred dollars in quarters and fifty dollars in ones and a twenty here or there in a random pocket or nook. I will give her credit though, she pays for a lot of her own stuff now.. she is growing up beautifully! And she was always generous to her big sister, especially when I was broke!

Then you have your typical non savers who are typically men but hey they have their strong points! My husband saved us loads and loads of loading and unloading by helping me pack up my house in college station. I would say "what should I do with this" and he'd say "throw it away" and it was like I needed permission or something and so I would. I donated over HALF my closet to good will and threw away papers and things from HIGH SCHOOL. There are still more things to get rid of I'm sure but it's nice to have some one to walk around behind you unstuffing drawers and throwing that junk away... you won't remember... I don't! Also, it's nice when my husband scarfs down his food because it means he likes it. I would hate for him to eat little bites or push his food around on the plate... that is never a good sign. And the faster he eats that candy lying around the house the faster it is not a temptation to me anymore!

So I guess that's one of those reasons why God made us different... to save our closets and cabinets from over stuff-ation and yet to have enough memories to pass down to your kids. It makes one person really care about how the food tastes, which usually means the other person will like it too. It keeps us from going over budget and prevents stingyness when you have a saver and a nonsaver. So thank the Lord (no really I do!) that He made savers and nonsavers, savorers and nonsavorers... which one are you?

Worth the Stink

Over the past few weeks I have discovered what my very least favorite smell is... mulch. It even sounds gross. It is gross. Mulch has the kind of smell that seeps into your nose and then gets trapped up there and you smell it in your brain for the rest of the day.
Well, Louisville likes to mulch. Apparently it's the price they pay for all the greenness.
However, something began to change....
When I walk around all the flower beds on the Seminary campus, instead of feeling repulsed by the smell of mulch at 8am I am seeing something bright, something yellow, budding from the aforesaid grossness....
DAFFODILS!! HURRAY

I love daffodils! Coming from Texas they are rather rare... or atleast rare in my world. I remember my mom used to always plant daffodils and we would take our pictures on Easter morning with the daffodils trumpetting the risen Lord behind us!
That's what's so great about daffodils... they trumpet! Here all the daffodils lean slightly forward with their little noses, or whatever you call that middle part, stuck out to the sky.
In my mind they are worshipping. They are thanking God for the sunshine and warm weather and even the mulch that helps them grow. They are asking him to be glorified by their beauty and praising him through it. They are obviously happy, anything THAT yellow has to be happy. I want to be like a daffodil.
Also, Daffodils tell me something about God. God is so specific and careful. A god who merely throws a universe together and rules it with an iron fist would never, ever, ever create daffodils. They are so intricate... I mean they have a little trumpet budding out the middle! Also, God gave me the daffodils to reflect on him, as a sign of love and care and purpose in this world. God's not waiting to love us when we get in heaven... he loves us now, just like he loves his son!
I know what you're thinking... how does this girl get this much from a daffodil... well, lucky for you, this is how God made my mind... COMPLEX! (ask my husband! haha)
Also I was thinking... Daffodil is a really really weird word. There's not many words like it... so I began to think of words that might be like it that some one would present to me to prove this theory wrong... the only good one I could think of was Daffy Duck... lots of Ds, two Fs and an A... then I thought... why on earth is Daffy's love interest/wife (who ever knows what their relationship is anyways?!) named DAISY?! Those cartoonists must have been pretty silly to not see that the flower that best goes with Daffy Duck is OBVIOUSLY Daffodil Duck. So from now on I will refer to this female duck cartoon as Daffodil Duck and in years to come I will teach my children that and chuckle when other kids emphatically correct them... and my children will very plainly state the obvious. hahah
It's nice to have a Friday where I actually have time to think about these things.
And yes, I did well on my Greek test and actually finished all the homework (it was a toss up this week)

In other news for those of you who are neglecting many other things to actually have read down this far.... we are having a BIRTHDAY PARTY for DREW tonight at our apartment... it is totally last minute due to conflict of birthdays within our group of friends but tonight is the night! We are having fried chicken, sauteed green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, bread and sweet tea... it doesn't get much better than that! Then we are going to finish the white chocolate cake I made for him and our community group yesterday and eat it with BLUE BELL ICECREAM.... that we now have in Louisville... it's a big deal!
So you are invited, come one come all... celebrate the wonder that is Drew and the wonderful God that made him and has loaned him to me very temporarily to love and cherish!!

Ecstacy!

No I am not on drugs or thinking of trying drugs....
However, the feeling that I am feeling right now might be better than any drug out there!! I have been studying, literally, nonstop for atleast a week... or ever since I found out that I not only had a Systematic Theology III Midterm but the next day I was going to have a Greek midterm. Well, those tests were yesterday and today and it is such a relief to have them over with. The Systematic Test could've gone better, but I did know all the material.. I just had a hard time getting my thoughts on the paper b/c the questions were so elaborate and confusing! However, I swam off that test and started hitting it hard for Greek. I cannot express adequately the benefit of keeping up with vocabulary and the like in a language class. I got sick last night with some sort of brain overload or something and had to go to bed way earlier than I had planned.. however, I had studied all day and with a little review this morning I think I aced this test! I know I missed a couple of points here and there... but I also got some extra credit... so I'm hoping for the best!
Then as if that weren't enough to praise Jesus for, it is such an amazing day! It is 70+ degrees outside and not a cloud in sight. I did a little homework outside and ate a grilled cheese and then had an apple. Can you say perfect? Well, it gets better.... I decided to go for a little bike ride before work and discovered that my usual pre-wednesday philosophy quiz doesn't exist this week! I don't know why, but I don't mind! Oh and I got a nap! (It was on accident, which almost makes it better!)
Now I'm headed to work but I just thought the world should hear that I am doing well right now and could stand for this to be my situation all the time! No tests, fun in the sun and food that reminds me of being 5 (pre going to school!).
Hope every one is having a wonderful day too!

Hello World...I'm Working on a Better Title

So, when I was playing a game of Catch Phrase tonight I was thinking about some things. For starters, why was my team getting beaten so badly and a close second to that, how is it that my team is not picking up my slack since I am terrible at the game. After I got past that I started to reflect on life and all that has been going on these past few months (not really but it sounds like a good transition right?) and this is what I came up with.....
If anyone ever tells you that getting married, moving to a new state where you know almost no one, finding a brand new job (perhaps your first full time job ever), your spouse starting grad school and working part time, and trying to find and get involved in a new church all within a couple months of each other is easy, slap them in the face and call them a liar. Seriously though, I never would have thought that working full time in a secular job would be as hard as it has been. Let alone all the other crazy stuff going on...like marriage, which, for the record, is way more awesome and life changing and growing than any little ol job will ever be. I just think I had it drilled in to my head a bit more about what marriage would look like. My wife is amazing and I totally don't deserve to have someone who loves me so much, cooks such great meals, cleans the house up all nice, learns tons of cool stuff that she shares with me, and on top of it all remembers daylight saving time (thats right people it is not savingS).
Speaking of daylight saving time, I don't feel like it is really saving me time at all, but more like robbing me of an hour of sleep my body is going to miss dearly. I already get up entirely too early and now my body will feel like it is an hour earlier, which until last night was the case. Weird...did you notice that the word weird does not follow the i before e rule?
Life is great. The Lord is teaching us tons, and I hope and pray that I would be humble enough to listen to His voice and He leads us. My wife is wonderful, as previously mentioned, and challenges me daily to be a better man. The job is a job, but it is such a provision from the Lord. So all in all, the guy you slap might not be too far off if you are going to listen to the Lord's leading.