25 Letters

Monday, July 30, 2007

Single Car Family…no more!

After a gentle reminder from a good friend, I realized I hadn't finished this post…

Maybe it's just for a couple of days, maybe for longer…but we're a single car family now. It'll be interesting how it works. Thankfully, we don't work too far away from each other and I have a wonderful friend who works right down the street and lives super close, so that should make it easier.

We have finally decided that we want a Honda Pilot…

…and that was as far as I got in writing a post during the middle of our car hunt. We now have a 2003 Honda Pilot after a little more than a month of searching, test driving, and bargaining with car dealerships. Although my feelings about insurance companies will have to be saved for another post (and let's just say they're NOT warm and fuzzy), I can say that I'm glad we've put this part of the wreck behind us.

David can take all the credit for this car. Had it been up to me, I would have either bought the first Pilot we looked at, talked myself out of a SUV into a more economical vehicle, or (by the time we actually had the insurance money a little over a month after the wreck) bought the first thing with four wheels and a steering wheel that presented itself. Thankfully, my husband likes to process, review every little bit of information available, and takes his time making decisions. Sounds like a good balance to my quick, confident, and sometimes impatient decision making huh? Yeah, somehow I'm pretty sure that God knew what he was doing. However, I digress. The beautiful SUV you see above was made possible by David's great bargaining skills and mounds of patience.

I'm throughly enjoying driving a car that I really like. It even is the right color! Not to mention it's big, and after the wreck we just experienced, I can say that I like the idea of being the bigger car. I know, I know, shoot me, but if someone is going to run a red light, I'll be prepared, that's all I'm saying.

As you can tell, it's silver outside, and has a gray-blue interior. It has leather, climate control (a BIG plus in my book) a third seat that folds completely flat, and a dvd system. The last two items weren't really high on our list of priorities, but are fun additions. It's super smooth and is very tight (a good thing ladies). The best compliment it received was when my boss got out of it after I drove several of us to lunch and incredulously said "It's four years old?!" I'm a fan.

This shows the back seat completely folded down.

The next step is to name it. Ideas?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

One of the real stories of Iraq

Every now and then, I wish we could hear the real stories of Iraq. And then, when one comes up, it breaks my heart. I wish this story got more coverage - it would remind people that there are real people over there who our soldiers are helping. They're changing lives, but the news likes to cover that only when someone makes a mistake.

This is not an easy story to read - but it has a happy ending. Pray for these people, pray for our soldiers, pray for our president and military leaders.

First part of story

Second Part of Story

How you can help/link to photos

Sure makes me glad that I'm dealing with insurance companies and people who are defaming boss and coworkers. At least I have food, clothes, and freedom.

We are blessed.

ps. I saw this first on Tiff's blog - thanks for sharing.

Monday, June 25, 2007

My love/hate relationship with airbags

As many of you might know, I have had encounters with airbags. If you have never been in an accident where the airbags went off in your car - consider yourself lucky.

About 3 1/2 years ago, I had a really bad week - was in two wrecks and planted my face into 2 airbags. It was my first ever encounter with the bang, the powder that looks/feels like smoke and fills up the entire car. It sucked. But I walked away from that week more determined than ever to not see an airbag deployed again.

Weell, that worked until a little over a week ago. On Thursday, June 14, David and I were taking care of some business at lunch and were headed back to the house to get David's car. As we were driving over Mopac (a highway here in Austin), a 16 year old girl ran the very red light. I swerved and slammed on my brakes but wasn't able to miss her. My car hit her front tire and broke the axle. We were probably going 30ish miles an hour, so the impact made both the driver's side and passenger's side airbags deploy. I remember screaming and then that fateful powder filling the air.

We all walked away from the accident. I have some scrapes and bruises and a decent amount of soreness, but I can't complain much - it could have been so much worse. I could have hit her driver side door, she could have been about 4 seconds later and slammed into my passenger door (and David), or the airbags could have not deployed, and I would have smacked my steering wheel like nobody's business.

So, thus you see my love/hate relationship with airbags. I'm grateful that they're there, and hate it when they are deployed. If I ever see another one it will be to soon. But I'd rather see another one than be in an accident like this one and not have the protection of those semi-evil, powdery, painful things.

I took a picture the day the wreck happened. I needed to document the war wounds. Here is one for your viewing pleasure. You can see the injuries on my forearms, neck and just below my collarbone.

At some point I will discuss the fun of dealing with insurance companies to get a fair settlement so that we can replace the poor deceased Honda. But that is for another day.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

We’re back!

Hey there! We're back from camp…have been for a couple of days, but are still feeling the effects on our bodies. After work, there is laundry to do, house to put back together…and a bed to lay in. I should catch up on rest pretty soon here.

Camp went really well. Besides a flat tire episode on the last 1/2 mile of our journey home, apartment keys who ended up in Bastrop, and the required hanging out with great friends who were hospitable during our series of unfortunate events (and that all happened on Saturday), camp was good. If you didn't get the daily updates, visit the Camp Nikos blog. You can see videos made for the kids and pictures from throughout the week on that site - you should check it out.

Let's see, what else is new? Oh yes, we're having a garage sale this weekend! I'm super excited - banding together with several friends, we're getting rid of a lot of stuff. Stuff that we had two (or more) of after we unpacked everything, stuff we didn't need in the first place, and stuff that we just flat don't have room for. David's excited - he's hoping that we can use our garage for a car or something strange like that.
I'm sending off our pictures to our videographer today - poor lady has been trying to get us our wedding video and we're just not cooperating. Definitely not our moms' fault - they had the pics to me by Easter. I then however, got crazy busy with session, then camp, and never got them sent in. Next project - pick wedding pics to have printed out. Can you believe it's been 5 months already? I certainly can't!

I think that's all the random information I have for you now. I'm glad to be back from camp, looking forward to all the laundry being done. I think I have a small appreciation for mom's who come back from vacation with tons of laundry to be done…

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Camp Nikos - The Great Park!

Below I have copied an email that I sent out regarding Camp Nikos. David and I head out this weekend and will be there all week. Please keep us in your prayers and if you want to be added to our email list (we send out daily updates and prayer requests), leave me a comment. You can also get updates on the Nikos blog - http://www.campnikos.com.

I'll post an update when we return!

–

Greetings from the newlyweds!

Noell and David

Sunday, May 20, 2007

A Couch!

Yes, it's the little things in life that excite me, I know. But when you don't own a piece of furniture that is usually taken for granted to be in every living room and possibly several other rooms in your house…you can become super pumped about little things. With that said…

WE HAVE A COUCH!

Thanks to a very sweet friend who is letting us 'store' it for a while - and two sweet guys who helped move it (shout out to Mike and Cookem), the above (red) couch has graced our living room for the past 3 days. While I have owned the white Doris Day chaise lounge for a long time, it is just that - a lounger for one. Today is the first day that we have hung out in our living room for an extended period of time, and its been great.

PLUS, it matches our red wall. 'Nough said.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Blessed…Happily Ever After

Stephen and Jovita tied the knot this past weekend - and it was a joy to be a part of. It was kinda surreal seeing my little brother watch his bride walk down the isle and say "I do" and take responsibility for her and her wellbeing (both physically and emotionally). More than surreal, it was awesome. I can't believe that we're all adults, we all have our own lives now and most of us (the 'original four') have a spouse and an extending family.

Our family is blessed. We all have roofs over our heads (even though Stephen and Jovita's will be a hotel due to work for a while), we all have good jobs, great friends, a wonderful and loving family (even if we are weird in our own way). Several times lately, I've looked at all I've been blessed with and been overwhelmed and awed at the wonder of God's love for me. Why me? Why do I get to struggle with attitudes while others struggle to stay alive every day? Why do I worry about making sure my cable bill is paid while others worry about where the next meal for their family will come from?

As I looked around last weekend at all the family and friends who are so near and dear to me - I realized that I don't deserve any of it, but that it is all a gift from God.

Pictures of our blessed weekend to be up soon, stay tuned.

Emerson Quote

A friend of mine posted this well known quote on her blog - one that we all have heard. However, It's sometimes easy to loose perspective - to focus on the urgent but not so important. I hope this reminds you of what is important.

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" -Emerson

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Bridal Photos

My good friend Krista and I went to the Capitol on Good Friday to take some bridal portraits. Due to David's and my short engagement and with the holidays that came just before the wedding, I didn't get a chance to take them before we got married. I was/am super excited to have some pictures in and around the beautiful building where my professional life has centered the past 6 years. You can see the best of her work at alleys.smugmug.com/weddings - be sure to comment and let me know which is your favorite!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

In honor of Peter…

I was sent this via email and had to share with you. If you know my older brother, you know that this type of humor is near and dear to his heart. Let me know which one makes you laugh (#9 did it for me)!

I give you the top ten puns (don't give up on the first few - they're very common)…

A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The
stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion
allowed per passenger."

Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and
says, "Dam!"

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in
the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have
your kayak and heat it too.

Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The
other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root
canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing
in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an
hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But
why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand
chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."

A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes
to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in
Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself
to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that
she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're
twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened
up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers
from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition
was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He
went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival
florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town
to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their
store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they
did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time,
which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very
little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from
bad breath. This made him ….. (Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)…..A
super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to
various people, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them
laugh. No pun in ten did.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Little blessings and honest mechanics

Never met an honest mechanic? I have - in fact, there have been many a time that I have thought about keeping a Honda just so I can continue taking my car to the guys at First Texas Honda.

Today I took my car into the shop for one of those "major" maintenance overhauls. We had budgeted a certain portion for this month, knowing that I haven't taken my car in since last spring. When I got there, Jeff told me that I didn't really need the major one - that they would look for anything that was wrong as they did the minor maintenance. I was fine with that, but sort of expected something to come up, need repair, and we would still have to use our budgeted amount.

When I got the call today that my car was ready, I asked for a quote. I had to repeat it back. 1/4 the price that I expected! Are you sure? Yep.

Little blessings:
- good mechanics (shout out to First Tx. Honda) who don't take my money just cause they can
- a small bill when we were expecting a large one
- a 8 year old car that is running well and doesn't need a lot of work

It's always good to take a step back and count your blessings - now I need to remember that tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

It’s been a month…or two…and our address!

This post was started three weeks ago…and I'm just now getting back to finishing it.

The following was written then…

I'm officially an old married woman! Today we are celebrating our first month-aversary!!! I know, a bit cheesy, but I'm pretty excited about it. But there's another reason that today is special.

Many of you know that I have a bad memory. It proved to get worse during the planning of the wedding. But that's to be expected, so I turned over all responsibility to remember the details to my wedding coordinator. She forgot to remind us to get our wedding certificate on Friday (at the courthouse there in Orange Beach), and we didn't realize it until the rehearsal on Friday night. Needless to say, it was too late to get one.

Matt (our pastor and officiant at our wedding) graciously offered to officiate again…so that's what we did today - outside our church under the oak tree. Not many people get a chance to say their vows twice without any drama in between, but we did and so now we have two anniversaries - one is Jan 6th and the other is Feb 6th! It couldn't have been my wedding without something ridiculous happening…and at least it was only this…something that was reversible!

Back to today…

It's been a good close to two months! We're now officially done with both the wedding receptions and are trying to finish moving in and getting ready for a garage sale (which we hope to buy a couch with the proceeds ) Ah, the joys of married life. It's kinda fun right now actually, but I'm sure at some point I'll just be ready to be completely settled in.

But there is one thing…we're getting ready to jump into wedding preparations again! Stephen and Jovita got engaged on Feb 17th - and are planning a wedding for early May! Jovita's (pronounced hoe-vita) brother and father are both active in the military and both are being deployed soon after the wedding date - thus they're on a short time frame. So it's kinda fun to listen and watch they go through the same process we did - just a couple of months later!

A lot of people have asked for our new address. so I have included it below. For now, my email address is the same, and I'll post when I change it. Stay in touch!

12320 Alameda Trace Circle, Apt 811
Austin, TX 78727

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Photographer’s pics are on the web!

If you're interested in seeing the official pics from the wedding you can view them on the photographer's website.

www.collages.net
Username: Alley
password: 8816

Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The Wedding…as I remember it

I wrote the following one afternoon of our honeymoon on the balcony of the cruise ship watching the sun set over the beautiful water. I want to share with you a small glempse of our wedding day. It was an incredible day and we are truely blessed!

Oh and if you attended and took pictures - will you send us a CD of them? That would be the best present ever!

–

Our wedding was beautiful. The sun broke right before I started down the boardwalk and I could barely see the heads of everyone on the other side. But I could tell the moment that David caught sight of me – his head started popping up over the fence line trying to catch a better glimpse. As Dad and I hit the sand, I had to concentrate more on walking and we had to walk a bit slower.

The violinist started in on Pachabel's Canon in D right as we hit the sand. Dad was trying to make sure everything was perfect, so he paused a bit to check on the music. When I told him it was the right song we proceeded. As I walked down the isle, the two people in attendance I specifically remember seeing was Kaitlan, Chandler and Stephen. I had to look away because Stephen looked proud and a little like he was going to cry. I teared up.

And then we were to Matt and David. David was a bit teary too, and the times I had been able to see him as I walked down the isle he looked the same – but so happy. Matt asked who gave me away and my dad said…her mother and I. Then he kissed my cheek and handed me to David. He pulled me close and held my hand, so we just hooked arms and kept holding hands.

Before the wedding Matt (our pastor) told us to take snapshots to remember, that if we tried to remember everything that we would forget it all. Here are some of my snapshots and not really in any specific order:

David's hand when I put the ring on his finger;

The way he kept sneaking a peak at me;

The girls and how beautiful they were;

Stephen when Dad was reading and he mouthed "I love you.᾿ I started to cry again.

When Matt told everyone that I was going to recite my mothers vows that she had recited 34 years ago (I found out later that mom was very touched. I wish I would have looked at her). David's face while I recited those vows.

The Sand Ceremony This was in place of the unity candle - the minister pours in a foundation of sand which stands for Christ as the Foundation for our marriage, then the bride and groom pour two colors of sand at the same time that mix together standing for the two becoming one.)

David's prayer after communion – he called me his beautiful bride.

Meeting Grandma as she came down the isle, hugging her, her tears while telling me how happy she was that I wanted her and that she was able to come.

Our first dance, how uncomfortable he was and how he still looked wonderful. How he kept telling me that the song was too long, but how he danced – just for me.

My dance with Dad – I told him that here was where we both would cry, he told me he wasn't going to cry – I told him he hadn't heard the song. It was "Find Your Wings᾿ by Mark Harris – and we both nearly cried. Later on in the dance he told me I was a good follow. My first dance ever with my dad.

Susan's tears – how happy she was for me- and how we're both excited that in 6 months I'll be attending HER wedding!

The girls' line dancing with me – we had a blast – and apparently looked pretty good! David told me later that Lily (his little bitty cousin) really REALLY wanted to dance with us and kept trying to figure it out then join us. I love my friends.

The cake – it was GOOD.
Cherith and Sherri breaking in when Steph and I were dancing – and then breaking in again so they both could dance with me!

My dance with Stephen – and then my hug goodbye – no words can explain.

David's last words from Stephen were "congratulations, man.᾿ Then he had this certain look on his face and David thought "Bat, fist, gun, friends – I think it's bat.᾿ Stephen said "You ever hurt her I'll beat you to an inch of your life.᾿ David laughed and said "Dang it, I thought you were going to go with the bat this time.᾿

Driving away, stopping to make sure we got everything and realizing that we didn't have my brown bag (which had my birth certificate) and my purse (which had my driver's license in it). We called Dad, he laughed and told Steph what we were missing. We went back and got that and some of David's clothes and THEN drove to Pensacola.

–

For those of you who were able to make it, thanks for being part of such a wonderful day for us. There were so many things that happened, and so like I said before, these are just some snapshots that I will remember for forever (I hope!) I am grateful to all of my friends - everyone got along beautifully (in fact, you might have thought that Jenna and Cherith had been separated at birth the way they got along!). To see friends from all parts and times of our lives come together and enjoy every minute of it was better than I would have ever imagined!

For those of you who weren't able to be there - We'll see you at the receptions! We hope to have pictures up soon on our wedding website - and will definitely have them at the receptions. We love you all and can't wait to see you!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

your once monthly noell update…

So it looks like I have the ability to post once a month lately. For this time in my life that's pretty good - I remembered it at least once this month.
First and foremost - our wedding website is up! www.davidandnoell.com Pictures are on it (a new addition!) and they're fun so check them out!

Oh yes before I forget - we are 33 days from our wedding! AGH! Crazy! I'm starting to really get excited - the invites went out today - so it's really going to happen!

What else…I sort of don't have a job anymore. Well, I technically do, but I don't have an office, which makes it kind of difficult to work. My boss lost his election, and so to get ready for the incoming representatives, all the outgoing members must be out of their offices by December 1. Thus, while I still have a job and my boss is still a rep, we don't have an office. What does this mean exactly? That I can work on my wedding for the next 33 days and take care of the little things that come up for my boss. This is a HUGE blessing! I mean, I know it would have all happened, but this makes life a little bit more enjoyable for the next month. As for what's next? That's still in the works and will be shared when it's for sure and official.

We are now proud rent-payers…together! (yes, I am a dork). We filled out the application for an apartment in the Riata Apartments (an A2 if you follow the link) - 1 bedroom, 1 bath, attached garage) and are quite excited. It looks like we'll both move in after we get married, Lord willing, and just start moving things in this week or next.

I think that's all for now! I hope I see you on Jan 6th! If you're not able to make it, we'll miss you but hope to see you at the reception in Austin or the one in Lubbock. More info on that to come later!