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Is it just me, or does spring seem exceptionally beautiful this year? Everything is in bloom, the bradford pears, the dogwoods, and especially the beautiful cherry trees. I have always been a fall lover, but spring is really starting to grow on me.

I think it's because spring truly represents new life coming from that which was "dead." Obviously the power of Christ can only bring what is truly dead back to life, but I think nature allows us a glimpse into that power. For instance, last fall I planted pansies in my front flower bed. This February when it got down in the single digits, I thought they were lost forever. They were completely crippled and shriveled up. But once the sun started shining again and the temperature stayed consistently warm, suddenly I had fresh blooms and the front of my house looked alive again. It was an amazing thing to watch.

When Jesus was killed, He did not just appear dead. He was, in the great words of the munchkin coroner on the Wizard of Oz, really, most sincerely dead. I recently read a book that made me think about for the first time that Christ experienced hell on my behalf. He actually went there in my place. I've always thought about his suffering on the cross, but never about his suffering after death. He went to hell for me. And, praise God, He fought death and won the victory. He has defeated death. He has defeated the powers of Hell. I am forgiven because He was forsaken. I'm accepted because He was condemned. I'm alive and well, His spirit lives within me, because He died and rose again.

Thank you, Jesus. You are my king, now and forever. Happy Easter everyone!

I'm struggling with how to write about this, because I have no way of putting myself into the place of the Edwards. My husband has never run for president. I have never had breast cancer. I've certainly never had it return with such a scary prognosis. So I honestly can't say how I would react in such a situation, as my good friend pointed out last night. Perhaps I would want him to go ahead and run in defiance of the disease. Personally, I think I might be too selfish for that. I would want my man home with me, helping me through the agony of chemo or whatever option we chose for treatment without the insane life of the campaign trail. But that's me.

What really bothers me about the whole thing is the way it has all come out. I find it very suspicious that a story leaked the morning of his big announcement to say that they were getting out of the race, like anyone would have expected him to do. It came from a "very reliable" source, "extremely close to the Edwards campaign." We know how leaks work. They meant for that to get out. If you weren't going to get out of the race, why call a press conference in the first place? Okay, so maybe they thought it would be better PR if they came out and admitted that he was going to keep campaigning while she was fighting death than for it to leak, which probably would have made him look like a sleazebag. I can see that. But the whole thing had a very contrived and exploitative feel to it. Maybe it's just because John Edwards feels contrived and exploitative.

I honestly wish Elizabeth Edwards the best. I hope that she is able to beat this cancer. I hope that she sincerely does want her husband to keep up the campaign pace throughout her suffering and she wasn't put up to it for the supposed good of the nation. As if we need that. How good can his judgement be if he tied his presidential hopes to John Kerry? And I can only stomach the geeky thumbs-up through the primary season. I really don't want to have to look at it for the next 18 months and, God forbid, four years after that. One presidential campaign was more than enough!

The cynical side of me thinks that perhaps he's just seen The American President one too many times. But I think this was exactly the kind of press he was hoping for. The super-cynical part of me wonders how long until Hillary comes up with some mysterious illness of her own, so as not to be upstaged. Ouch - did I just say that? Perhaps I'm up too early.

I'll reserve further comment until I see how it plays out. If this is the last we hear about the cancer from them until there is something major to report, then I'll take it back. But if they release each and every doctor's report, then I'm holding to my theory that they are allowing her disease to be exploited for political gain. I guess either way I am judging. I'll have to think about that.

Where has this been all my life?!

No birthday cakes for my baby. He tried his first hot Krispy Kreme doughnut tonight. At first he just took a bite or two. Then he started diving for the doughnut. I finally gave in and let him have it. He was shoving it into his mouth as fast as he could. Sugar was everywhere! I'm not sure, but I think he liked it...

Happy Birthday, Bryant!

I can't believe that a year has gone by since you came into our lives. What incredible joy you bring us each and every day. You are a gift from God and we love you beyond measure. Grow in wisdom and stature, sweet baby. We love you so much!

Have you heard of Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda?

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:4-8)

Last night we finished up Bradley's birthday week with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and his best friend spending the night. Amazingly, it wasn't that crowded to start with, maybe because most of Nashville was apparently heading south for Spring Break. The kids had a blast, as usual, and Jeff and I actually got to eat somewhat in peace while they were off playing their games. It was Bryant's first visit where he actually could tell that crazy things were going on. He seemed impressed with Chuck E., but only from a distance. When he got too close, things went sour. I can't blame the kid; those things totally freak me out.

Afterwards we went to Maggie Moo's for dessert. Dylan kept his mouth nice and clean with an ice cream cupcake, but Brad and Bailey wanted to wear their flavors home!

This time we were able to corral Bryant with a high chair and booth. Next time we'll probably be chasing him around everywhere. Let the fun begin...

Warning: If you don't watch 24 or Lost, you will have no idea what I'm talking about in this post, so please don't waste your time. :)

I'm totally behind on tv shows, having been gone for ten days and otherwise just crazy busy. So I decided last night not to try and catch up on 24, but just jump into the most recent episode and see if I could figure out what had been happening. Fascinating episode to jump into. My thought for the show is: When did they start allowing people who have been institutionalized to have sharp objects such as a paring knife available to them? And although I knew something was coming, I still jumped out of my seat. Kudos, Jean Smart!

I also watched 3 Losts ago, "Tricia Tanaka is dead." What a fabulous episode! My favorite moment:
Hurley: Shut up, you red... neck... man.
Sawyer (looking impressed): Touché.

Hilarious!

My baby is 8 today. I guess he's not my baby anymore, but he'll always feel like that. I know everybody says it but I just can't believe how fast the time has gone. When I think about everything that has happened since that day, it definitely feels like it's been a bunch of years, but they flew by in such a blur. I try to think about him being Bryant's age and I can just barely remember bits and pieces.

I'm trying to cherish every moment, I really am. Those days that I'm so frustrated with him I want to scream, I always try to go in his room after he's asleep because I fall in love with him all over again just listening to him breathe. This is one amazing kid God has loaned me, and I am eternally grateful.

This is such a weird age. His teeth are all crooked or falling out. His pants are all ripped at the knees, each and every pair. He is starting to scold me for embarassing him in front of his friends. And yet there are times when I'm reading to him at night that he will throw his arms around me and tell me he loves me so much and I can hear the earnestness in his voice. It's like he's pushing me away with one hand and holding on for dear life with the other. I feel the part of his life that I have control over getting smaller and smaller and it scares me to death.

And yet I know that he has to be free to make mistakes, for learning how to deal with them are what shape us and mold our character. If I could teach him everything from my experience without him having to experience pain, then I would so want to. But would that allow him to grow? Fortunately the choice is not left to me. This is a new phase in trusting God. I know there are many more to come.

Happy birthday, sweet Bradley. Your momma loves you so.

Now THIS I can REALLY get excited about!!! :)

pretty please?

Now this I could get excited about...

March 11, 2007, 11:33 am
Fred Thompson Considers Running
By Kate Phillips
Former Senator Fred Thompson, who now plays a district attorney on “Law & Order,” told Fox News today that he’ll make a decision in the coming months about whether to jump into the field of Republican candidates vying for the 2008 presidential nomination.
“I’m going to wait and see what happens,” Mr. Thompson said. “I want to see my colleagues on the campaign trial, what they say, what they emphasize, whether they can carry the ball next November.”
“I think people are somewhat disillusioned. A lot of people are cynical out there. They’re looking for something different,” he said.
Mr. Thompson, who served as a senator from Tennessee from 1994 until 2003, said he was leaving the door open for a return to the political stage. Political writers in his home state have been reporting in recent days that former Senator Howard Baker has been testing whether there’s support among conservatives for a Thompson run.

written Saturday afternoon, somewhere in San Juan...

Yesterday, I was sailing on the Caribbean Sea all day long. Life was good. So good.

Today, I am sitting in an airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We got here at 7:45 a.m., thinking we were in plenty of time for our 9:50 a.m. flight. We realized something was up when we had been waiting in the check-in line for over an hour and were just now getting near the counter. About that time we learned that due to volcanic ash somewhere around Puerto Rico, no Delta flights had arrived, and therefore there were no Delta flights for us to leave on. Fortunately, we were here early enough that we managed to squeeze onto the 3:40 flight, which at last check of Jeff’s phone is supposed to be delayed until 4:15. If it leaves then we will feel fortunate. (As an update, our plane actually left at 5:00 p.m. We did make it onto our Atlanta-Nashville flight at the last possible minute, but our luggage didn't. It was delivered to us Sunday morning.)

This place is obviously packed, as five planes worth of people that were supposed to depart this morning are still sitting here waiting to cram onto the afternoon flights that were already pretty much full. And there is nothing here. No Chili’s, no Outback (yes, Orlando has an Outback), no nothing. Well, there is a random fried chicken restaurant that the line is backed up about two hours for. We went ahead and got ours about 10:25 because Jeff was afraid they were going to run out. I think he was right. We just saw a Jet Blue plane take off. If they can take off, then what the heck is up with Delta?!

Anyway, this day will not ruin the memory of our incredible vacation. After I last blogged, we went to Grenada. We were only there until about 2:00, and we sailed for the island of Bonaire.

Now, being somewhat of a geography geek, I’m ashamed to admit that I had never even heard of this island. But if you ever have an opportunity to go there, definitely take it. The island is absolutely gorgeous. There are only about 14,000 inhabitants, as compared to the 125,000 or so of Aruba. It is so pretty with all the red tin roofs, and just feels calm and relaxed. The beaches aren’t much, but because of that the water is crystal clear. It was amazingly beautiful.

We took an island tour up to the north part of the island. Bonaire is one of only four natural habitats for pink flamingos, and we were able to see a few. Our tour guide, Edgar, informed us that the reason they flock to Bonaire is for the abundance of little baby shrimp, and that it is because they eat these shrimp that their feathers get so pink. The more shrimp they eat, the pinker they get. That’s why the babies are so pale. I did not know that.

Wild donkeys also have the run of the island, which is incredibly desert-like in its vegetation to be an island surrounded by water. But they only get rainfall about three months out of the year, which makes agriculture difficult. The island imports virtually all of its food because hardly anything grows there. Being 60 miles north of Venezuela, it also serves as a repository for all that Hugo Chavez oil. Since the big tankers have a hard time with the shallow shoreline of Venezuela, they pull up to Bonaire and get it from the storage tanks instead. Fascinating stuff.

Our last port day was in Aruba. Since we hadn’t done hardly any shopping, we spent the morning looking for souvenirs to take back to the kids. We planned to take our stuff back to the boat and then head out to the beach, but once we got back on the boat the laziness kicked in and we decided to enjoy the coastline from our favorite spot on the top deck of the ship. We decided that our next cruise we will definitely take a shore excursion and go snorkeling somewhere. But for this trip we were totally content to just hang out and do nothing. There’s a lot to be said for a week of doing nothing. That night was formal night, so here we are all fixed up.

And then, as I said, yesterday was spent sailing north from Aruba to San Juan. I loved that our last day was a full day at sea because it is a 100% stress-free day. We literally laid out up on the top deck all day. The only thing we had to do was pack, but packing to go home from a trip isn’t nearly as hard as packing to go. You pretty much just stuff everything in your bags.

Since we had a 9:50 flight, we got to get off the ship this morning at 7:15, which was really cool until we entered the land of airport darkness. But it could be worse. I’m listening to a child who is as sick as all of us are of being here have a full-fledged screaming tantrum. While this is annoying, at least it’s not my problem. I feel bad for his mom though.

So if you are reading this, then I am home. Our trip was amazing. Since my mom-in-law was at the pediatrician four times and the ER once in her first five days of keeping the kids, I’m thinking it may be the last one we get to go on for quite some time, so I’m going to savor it as long as I can!

Thank you, Gale and Gene and Mom and Dad and Darlene and Brandon!! You made it possible for us to be here and we love you for it.

news from the cruise

I’m e-mailing this post to my blog, so forgive me if it looks weird.  I have no idea how it will show up once I’m done.  This seems the easiest option since I can write everything down and then just log on long enough to send my e-mail to Blogger.  The boat charges 50 cents a minute for Internet access, and it would take way too long and be way too expensive to try and blog the traditional way.  So, sadly, I can not post any pictures right now.  Those will have to wait until I get home.

 

We boarded the Crown Princess about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.  Our room is on the 10^th floor with a balcony big enough for two lounge chairs, so we have spent a lot of time by ourselves on our little private balcony.  Well, it’s private as long as you stay back close to the door under the 11^th floor balcony.  If we stand at our railing, the people above us can look right down on us and see if they like what we’re eating.  But at least we have the option of staying out of view or being seen, and that’s really nice. 

 

The boat didn’t leave Puerto Rico until almost midnight on Saturday, which was nice because it was a pretty view and it felt like as long as we weren’t moving, our vacation time wasn’t ticking down yet.  But it was also kind of weird to go to dinner and the show knowing that we were still sitting in the same place we’d been since boarding.  Since we were still had access, I found out that evening that whatever Bailey had had passed to Bryant, and he was now throwing up every 30 minutes.  Fortunately, since my mom-in-law knew exactly what it was and had something to fight it with, his was stopped after about 5 hours instead of being the all-day affair it was with Bailey, and didn’t involve a trip to the emergency room.  Thank God for grandmothers!!

 

Anyway, part of the reason we didn’t leave until so late on Saturday is because we were only going to St. Thomas, which is about 50 miles away from San Juan.  We were going so slow that it felt like we were just drifting along.  We were docked by 7:00 a.m.  Since it was our first day on the ship and Jeff and I have been to St. Thomas before, we decided to just stay on the ship.  It was a fabulously relaxing day.  Our view was amazing, because we like to lay out at the highest point of the ship.  We just moved from one side to the next depending on whether we were in the mood for the ocean view or the island view.  Very stressful choices we are making this week!  After getting enough sun, we came down to our cabin and spent the rest of the afternoon either on or balcony or watching a movie in our room.  We decided to try the traditional cruise dining experience this time, and our seating isn’t until 8:15.  We are loving this because it allows us to not feel like we have to rush back to our room and get ready.  Because we are doing the traditional dining, we have the same two servers every night.  Now they know that I want water in my lemon and we want decaf coffee with our dessert so we don’t have to tell them.  It’s just there when we get there.  I know those of you who are experienced cruisers don’t think this is a big deal, but our other two cruises we have done the anytime dining, which is just like showing up at a new restaurant every night, except for the obvious differences like just getting up when you are finished and leaving without receiving a bill. 

 

Yesterday we were in St. Kitts.  Since we’ve never been here, we did decide to walk around a little bit.  It turned out that the view of the island was much prettier from the ship than getting up close and personal, so we didn’t hang out too long.  What was so pretty about the island from the water was the very green meadow-like hillside.  It reminded me a lot of England, which was appropriate since it is a British island.  We walked around a park called Independence Square which used to be a slave market.  Very sobering thought.  We went inside this run-down Catholic church that is still operating, but felt so sad.  The time line of Catholicism on St. Kitts that we read on the wall said that only about 6% of the island is Catholic, which of course sent my mind wandering towards the inclination of the other 94%. 

 

The interesting thing about St. Kitts was that the locals pretty much left us alone to wander.  A lot of times you can’t go five feet without being approached to either buy something or just give them money.  The only person who spoke to me was offering me weed, and it was very much under his breath, much like walking past people in New York City with stolen watches.  I was a little surprised, but the paper the ship had given out said that this would very likely happen and to please not be tempted because there’s nothing they can do about it if the police catch you.  Amazing that people would be so stupid!

 

Yesterday afternoon we had a couples massage – yes, straight out of the Bachelor.  Except our faces were pushed down in the donuts the whole time and we were worked over pretty good by two little Phillipino ladies.  Mine was so cute.  She called me Ann because she said she couldn’t pronounce the Leigh.  I think if it had been spelled Lee or Li she wouldn’t have had a problem, but I didn’t want to push it.  I kept wincing at first until she finally said, “So, you really just want it light?”  I said, “Yes, please!”  After that it was much better.  I’m really such a wimp.

 

We left St. Kitts around 3:00 p.m. and started booking it towards Grenada, where we are this morning.  We had only gone about 7 or 8 knots the two previous nights, and last night we were kicking it at about 22!  There was no doubt that the boat was rocking.  I was amazed watching the servers in the dining room carrying so much food on these trays when I had had a hard time just walking to my seat without hanging on every now and then.  Of course, I was in high heels, which those of you that know me well will not be surprised that I was having trouble walking.

 

So this morning we have arrived in Grenada.  I’m curious about this island, because my youth minister in high school spent two years here as a journeyman missionary.  They call it the spice island, so I think we’re going to see what we can find for Jeff’s kitchen.  We are only here until 2:00, because we have another 450 miles or so to go to reach Bonaire.  Don’t forget to check us out on the web cam, www.princess.com/bridgecams/crown_bridge_cam.html

 

Hope everyone back home is having a fantastic week.  We are doing a whole lot of nothing, which is exactly what we had planned.  It amuses me that older folks still ask us if we are on our honeymoon.  When I tell them we have three kids they always look at us like we must have started really early.  I always feel compelled to tell them how old we are and how long we’ve been married.  The look of shock is hilarious.  But I told Jeff that one day in the not-too-distant future people will no longer think we are on our honeymoon and it will make us sad.  Time has a funny way of doing things to your body that you just can’t help.  But we are here to relax and rejuvenate and reconnect.  So far it’s going just as we planned.

Okay, now for some details. We arrived on this gorgeous island about 2:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. It took us about an hour to get out of the airport, onto the shuttle, to the Thrifty rental place and finally get our black Jeep Wrangler and be on the road (it's so pretty!) Jeff had already downloaded the coordinates to the Westin Rio Mar in our TomTom, so we just punched it in and were off. We accidentally missed a turn, though, and ended up on a toll road. This would have been fine, but we pulled up to the express lane where you have to have exact change, which we didn't. The lady took Jeff's dollar and casually meandered over to make change. By the time she was back there were about a dozen ticked-off Puerto Ricans blaring their horns at us to move on. It was funny, because if that had happened in America Jeff would have been the one laying on the horn! But all we could do was laugh and drive on.

We arrived at our resort about 4:30 p.m. and our breath was taken away. The hotel we are staying at is located on a couple hundred acres of beach/jungle/mountain territory. There is a mile of private beach nestled back in a little cove. It is simply stunning. Our room is on the back side of the hotel, so we have this view.

Since I have been spending so much time reading Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers lately, I can't help but be reminded of Mt. Sinai and how the Isrealites saw God descend upon it in a pillar of cloud.

Not only is our view gorgeous, but we are right next to the rain forest, so the sounds of birds and all kinds of other creatures fill our room at night. It is amazing.

We were so tired on Wednesday night that we walked around a little bit, had supper, and were literally in bed by 8:30. Unfortunately we had some bizarre ghost in the walls of our room that would rattle the closet door every time someone opened and shut a door in the hall. So Thursday morning we kindly requested a room change and they were gracious enough to accommodate us.

We spent Thursday moving back and forth between the beach and one of the two pools. This was our view late in the afternoon. This pool actually has cushions for the chairs, so we were happy to get to lounge here for a couple of hours.

We had dinner at the main hotel resteraunt Thursday night, and when we got back to the room I called my mom-in-law to check on the kids. That's when I found out that due to a violent day of throwing up since about 9:00 a.m., my Bailey had been taken to the doctor and was now at the emergency room getting rehydrated and given anti-nausea medicine intraveneously. This doesn't sit well with a mommy thousands of miles away and unable to do anything. I'm so thankful for mine and Jeff's parents being able to take complete care of our children in our absence. It is worth its weight in gold to know that even though I'm not there, my baby is in good hands. But I can't wait to see her nonetheless.

Yesterday we decided to hop in the jeep and do a little sightseeing. We drove down to Old San Juan, which is where our ship will be docked today. There is an old, and I do mean old, fort located right at the tip of the cliffs, and we spent an hour or so touring it. The original structure is from the late 1500's, but has been updated over the centuries. The last battle the fort saw was in 1898 during the Spanish-American war. One of the rooms even had cannon fragments in the wall from an American battleship.

The scariest part were all of the tiny little staircases and alcoves where the soldiers would shield themselves from outside attack. This little tunnel was a place where a soldier with a musket would stand at the end and fire out on the sea. For a quasi-claustrophobic like me, I had to do a whole lot of convincing myself to walk down to the end and look out. If the wind hadn't of been blowing so hard, I don't know if I would have been able to do it. But the view was worth a look, even if it was quick!

We ate lunch at Popeye's chicken (don't ask) and stopped by Belz Factory Outlet mall on the way back so Jeff could get another swimsuit. The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging on the beach and by the pool again. We ate dinner at a resteraunt in the hotel called Palio's, wonderful Italian food. But every time we have eaten we have had visions of the food that is to come beginning tonight!

So I need to wrap this up, because Jeff is busy in the room packing up our stuff to head over to the port. We will board our ship around lunchtime, but we won't actually leave port until about 11:00 tonight. We are only going to St. Thomas tomorrow, which is less than 50 miles from here. We are going to be poking through the water tonight!

I don't know if I'll be able to have access to wireless via my laptop on the boat or not, so I may not get to blog about the cruise until after we get back. If not, I hope you enjoy your week. I know I will! :)

Hola from Puerto Rico! After a crazy day of travel, we are finally here. This is the view out back from the hotel lobby. Not planning on blogging very long, because the beach is calling me.

Observations of Puerto Rico from our drive over from the airport - feels like Miami; looks a lot like Nolensville Road. Except for knowing you are a couple of miles from the ocean, and yet seeing these gorgeous mountains on the other side, which is truly a beautiful sight. But we drove past every American fast food resteraunt imaginable, Walgreens, Sam's Club, Office Max. There is even a Belz Factory outlet mall between our hotel and the airport. It was hilarious!

But now we are tucked away in our island resort, and the views are amazing. Jeff is drooling over the three golf courses. I told him he could go try and hook up with a group, but I think he's going to come to the beach with me instead. It's currently 76 degrees at 9:00 a.m., with a forecast of 86.

Hope all of you back at home are surviving the storms. Looks pretty bad on my radar. Thanks to all of you who are pitching in to help the grandparents take care of our children. You are making this vacation a possibility, and we are totally in your debt.

Love and best wishes!