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Too Clever Not To Share...

My Oomah forwarded this to me:

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other word, and that word is 'UP.'  It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?  At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?  Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?  We call UP our friends and we use paint to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.  We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.  People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. 

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. 

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. 

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. 

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now ... my time is UP, so time to shut UP! 

Tagged By Bean

A. Attached or single?     attached until death do us part
B. Best friend?     anna bengston broadwell... and jim, of course :)
C. Cake or pie?     pie, definitely
D. Day of choice?     a saturday with no plans
E. Essential item?     q-tips
F. Favorite color?     i like to look at blue but i like to wear autumn colors
G. Gummy bears or worms?     gummy worms
H. Home town?     tigerville, sc
I. Favorite indulgence?    chocolate of any kind... but way too regular to be considered an indulgence
J. January or July?     january - i hate being hot
K. Kids?     first one is on the way!
M. Marriage date?     july 29, 2006
N. Number of brothers and sisters?     2 older brothers... handsome, brave, and strong
O. Oranges or Apples?      oh man.... i can't pick one 
P. Phobias?     i know this is awful, but being brutally murdered (i've stopped watching 48 hrs)
Q. Quote?     "grace releases sin and peace quiets the conscience" -martin luther          
R. Reasons to smile?     grace, hope, eternity, silly jokes
S. Season of choice?     spring 
T. Tag 5 people:     if you're reading this, consider yourself... TAGGED!

U. Unusual fact?     i used to eat cottage cheese with maple syrup
V. Vegetable?     broccoli and baby carrots
W. Worst Habit?     using q-tips too much
X. Xray or ultrasound?     ultrasound, as of late :)
Y. Your favorite food?     my mama's spaghetti probably tops the list
Z. Zodiac sign?     libra

If She Can Do It...

Thank you, God, that you have created women to bear and raise children in Your strength.  In this, I rest. 

This picture is my incentive to work out a little more...

Pregnancy Symptoms

I feel like I'm on the high seas... in a storm.  If I move too fast, I'm sure I'll toss my cookies.  It really hasn't been this bad but today I guess the hormones are a-ragin'.  

I've heard of mothers that are have "morning" sickness (it's not confined to the morning, by the way) and get sick at least 6 times a day.  I'm thankful to not have experienced quite that much.  I mainly feel ravenous all the time and then every hour or so a huge wave of nausea.  I'm just trying to keep healthy food in my stomach and not get too empty.  

As far as cravings, I think I've had officially two.  One was for canned pears.  The other was cottage cheese and tomatoes.  The only reason that I classified these as pregnancy cravings was the feeling of urgency that accompanied these desires.  I couldn't think of anything else that sounded remotely good to eat and when I did get a hold of the food, I downed them like it was my last meal.  

Anyway, just thought I'd update you on the state of my pregnant body :) 

Girls and Their Daddies

"Women learn from their mothers what it means to be a woman, and from their fathers the value that a woman has -- the value they have as a woman."  -Stasi Eldredge

She also speaks of the "twirling skirts" of little girls.  Let me share this warm-fuzzy memory that I have of my Daddy, who I believe consciously tried to show me my value as a girl/woman.

My Mama used to wear crinkle skirts like these all the time... cool, comfy, and gorgeous.

When I was 4 or 5, I would pull one of Mama's skirts on up to my arm pits and make my grand entrance to the living room of our mobile home.  Daddy would be there waiting with his guitar.  I would sache to my spot and we would begin our dance - the Dance of the White Star.  He would pick on his guitar and I would twirl and dance, with my heart full of pure bliss because my Daddy - the most important man on earth - was delighting in me.  Every few measures, we would say together in breathy and whimsical tones ".... white ... staaaar!"  It was so silly, but so perfect.  

As I grew older, he consistently told me that I was beautiful - even when acne struck or I was going through that oh-so-loathed awkward middle school age.  At those times I would roll my eyes but I know that my heart was soothed and comforted.  In high school, I would try to leave the house "scantily clad" (his words) and he would just look at me and say, "If you troll for bottom-feeders, that's what you're gonna get, my Sara".  Ugh!  Da-aad!  Don't you know this is IN STYLE?!?  Oh, but how right he was...

Even on my wedding day as we stood, just the two of us, ready to go down the aisle with all of the crazy preparations at a holy halt, he said, "My Sara, so beautiful."  

So here I am, again, so thankful for the parents that God gave me and praying with gusto that my Heavenly Father will cause and enable us to be that for our *could be* little princess.

I've been struggling for blog ideas...

... Because all I want to do is talk about the BABY IN MY BELLY!!!

Whew!  Feels so good to write about it!  Jim and I found out about 3 weeks ago and we're SO stinking excited.  This is just an intro blog post for many to come, so get ready!  

Here's the video that I sent to my far away extended family to announce our little bean... Enjoy! 

Aw, Shucks, Mandy...

  My friend Mandy so sweetly awarded me with the oh-so-coveted Kreativ Blogger Award!  Yay!  So now I am to indulge 6 random things about me and pass the award on to 6 other bloggers.

So here goes (this could get ugly):

1.  When I am hungry, I tend to transform into a monster.  And no amount of crackers or snacks will fulfill... it has to be a plate of REAL food.  You know, carbs and protein.  I'm already of "slight build" and food is really very important.

2.  My family has the most ridiculous pet names.  My mom is Dundor, dad is Dar, my brother Matt is Matty-Bumpo, my other brother Mikey is, Chez or sometimes Moo (originally MooChez) and I'm Smirinky of Doo-dah Bear Fame, Smaz, Smarno, or Sebareea Constanatee Boovalatee.  Oh, and now I've named my husband Babel... yes, like the "Tower of".

3.  I can only grunt (mmhm and uh-uh) until I've been awake for at least 20 minutes.

4.  I really don't care about having any pets.  If I owned a pet, I would like a cat because they're not as nutso as dogs and, if left outside can find their own food without rummaging through trash.  But Jim is allergic and I really have no problem with that.  And it's obvious that I can't keep fish alive...  

5.  I'm a sort of huge band nerd.  I love the feeling of a LOUD company front or a kick-hynie drum break.  It's okay, you can laugh.

6.  The two things that anger me the most are bullies (this includes ANYONE hurting someone smaller or weaker than themselves) and money (the lack of, the love of, the day-to-day need of).

I HEREBY AWARD:

Babel, Lauren Buczkowski, Sarah Weber  and Beka Dean  ... I think everyone else has already gotten the award :)

4-part John Williams harmony

If you didn't grow up on Star Wars and/or don't appreciate John Williams, this will be lame to you.