Valentine's Day & Chuck E. Cheese

Yesterday since Ryan had the day off, we headed out to see if we could house hunt. No, we're not looking to buy. We're not committed to E-town. Not that we don't like it, the 2 1/2 hour drive to Paducah is just getting O-L-D! We're going to wait until Ryan finishes school & see what adventure awaits us before getting settled into a house only to move & have to sell it! Anyway, we drove around Hardin County to see what we could find. We have a couple of appointments set up. Hopefully we'll get lucky. Being in a 2nd story apartment with a toddler who is not always the quietest with her toys is challenging at times. So, hopefully something will work out.

After house hunting, we headed to Louisville. We went to a mall to kill time before our final destination of the evening...Chuck E. Cheese!! I know...it doesn't sound like a very romantic evening for Valentine's Day, but when you have a little one & no babysitter, you get creative. Sydney had never been to Chuck E. Cheese, so we decide it would be the perfect thing for our little family. We had a blast!!! Sydney played & had a ton of fun...so did Mom & Dad! :o) Although Sydney LOVED the restaurant, she wasn't too thrilled with Chuck E. himself. Oh well, maybe in time she'll grow to love him!

Seeing Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. She loved him from a distance!

Yummy pizza!!

Ryan played the game while Sydney pushed the buttons on the top. It was a win-win!

Sydney and I "rode" a roller coaster! She loved it!!

Ryan and Sydney rode the roller coaster, too!

This is Sydney on the fire truck. It played the "ABCs" to which she sang along! It was cute.

If this doesn't show we had fun, I don't know what does!!

Day at the park

Sunday afternoon since it was a little warmer, we decided to head to the local park. We had a great time. Sydney played for 30 minutes & did not want to leave. We decided since it wasn't the warmest day, we probably shouldn't keep her out much longer. Anyway, it was her first time to actually play at a playground. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cold weather, happy home, sickly child

It is raining outside. That combined with the forecast over the next few days has me very anxious. I have been looking forward to a REAL fall & winter (meaning it actually gets down to the temperature it's supposed to during these months). Now that I am getting the REAL fall & winter, I'm not sure I'm happy about it!! :-/ We have been quite spoiled over the last 4 years in TX. Sure, we had cold days but we didn't have 4 months of cold weather. For instance, we wore short sleeves & even shorts sometimes during Thanksgiving. And I typically put up the Christmas tree in a t-shirt & jeans. This year will be much different. I'm happy about that. I can't wait to see pics of my little one playing in the snow with her daddy. I guess it is just the realization that I am getting a cold winter. Even if it's not that cold to others, it will be to us. I do have to say, though, I'm happy to be acclimating back to Kentucky weather. That means I'm back home.

It has taken a while (8 months to be exact) for Elizabethtown to feel like home. It is starting to. I think it is because we are meeting more people in church. The people we have met have really made us feel at home. I'm very thankful. Although it has been a HUGE adjustment, I am at peace & happy with where we're at...just in case you were wondering. ;-)

Well, the little one seems to be feeling better. She's still not well & able to socialize with others, but she seems to be drying up. As for Ryan and me, we're doing much better. We enjoyed our lazy weekend. Ryan was the only one that left all weekend. He ran to the grocery to get a few needed items. It was very nice for us to have a lazy weekend together. Even though none of us felt great, I think we were able to enjoy it a little anyway.

Church

I have heard people say that we shouldn’t pick churches by what we like or don’t like. We don’t like the singing, so we keep “shopping”. We don’t like the sermons, so we keep “shopping”. I guess there is some truth in that, but is it all truth?

As you all know, Ryan and I moved to E-town from Dallas about a month ago. We have only had a couple of weeks to “shop” for churches since we have been here because we have been in Paducah for two of the weekends. I know that we will find a place, but will we find one we like? Is it wrong to hope that we will “like” the place we go? I’m not sure.

I do miss PRCC. Although PRCC had it’s faults, as all churches do, .it did feel like home. On most Sundays (when I wasn’t stressing about the power-point being correct), I could worship! Maybe it was the songs, sermon, or everything together. I don’t know. But while I was there, I could pour my heart out to God. Even though there were hundreds of people around me, there were times when I felt like it was just me and God. I sang directly to him.

Whether or not “shopping” for likes or dislikes is right or wrong, I am looking for a place to worship. I pray that E-town or the surrounding area has a church that knows how to worship God & not be petty in their traditions for traditions sake. Am I saying traditions are wrong? NO! Matter of fact, I tend to like most of the CoC’s traditions. However, if they are traditions for the sake of being traditions & do not allow me to worship, I would rather keep moving.

So, to me I’m not sure it is wrong to “shop”. When people shop for churches, aren’t they really shopping for a place to connect with God? Maybe others aren’t, but I am.