Christmas Fun

We had our office Christmas party last night at this fancy restaurant called Vincenzo's. We had our own private room & Mr. Vincenzo himself came to pay us a visit. It was fun to be able to dress up and hang out downtown with my friends from work. Plus I had the best looking date!










The highlight of the party was definitely our office gift to our boss, Jeremy. As in any negotiating business, there is a lot of pressure to settle files for a profit. When Jeremy is pressured by his bosses, ost naturally he passes on the stress to the rest of us. He'll frequently make trips through the office repeating, "Settle! Settle! Settle!" So what better gift could we have purchased than Squakers McCaw? We programmed it with all of Jeremy's choice "encouraging" phrases, and it now resides in his office.


As I'm sure many of you know, I am losing my dear Beth Wilson. Her husband Lee was offered a terrific job at Union University, and the Lord led them to accept it. Obviously, this means a move to the thriving metropolis of Jackson, Tennessee. It's hard to say how things will be around the office without Beth. She has been such an encouragement & rock among the crazy drama that goes on in our office. Not only will she be missed in the office, but who is going to host Texas Monday Night Dinner? Yes, it's become such a staple in our week that it's practically a proper noun & deserves capital letters. I'll certainly miss those them but Jackson is only four hours away and is a perfect stop on a trip to Tejas. So happy trails to you, Wilsons!

We're heading off to Tejas this evening. Pray for our all-night drive! Hopefully, we'll get to catch up with some of you while we're there. If not, I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures & stories once we return.

Christmas is coming!

We love Christmas around the Peek home. Everyday I before I come home from work, Kevin plugs in our Christmas tree lights and turn on Christmas music to welcome me home. I'm especially happy if my new favorite song of the season is playing. I've decided this year that I ove the Muppet version of "12 Days of Christmas" simply for the fact that Beeker sings the 9th or 10th day. Meee, meee, meee, meee, meee...or something. If that doesn't make sense, go listen to the song.

We're heading off with them other Peeks to venture the wide open plain between here and the west. Texas that is! We're pulling an all-nighter to head out on Thursday night. After depositing Chris & Sarah in Denton, Kevin & I will split our time between my family in Austin and his in Denton.

It snowed today! Not a lot of snow but enough for it to feel like Christmas. But then the weather warmed up and it turned into a nasty, slushy, rainy day. I was sad to give up my Saturday run (my only day where I don't have to fight the sunset!) so I dashed out for a bit when the rain let up. It was fun to zoom past all the residual snow patches...fun at least until I splashed in a huge puddle on the way home!

Besides the snow & Texas preparation, we've been hitting up the holiday parties. A late night of gaming at the Pennington Party Palace last night, a cookie exchange party this afternoon, Christmas caroling tomorrow night, and my office party on Wednesday...I'm thankful to have a 10 day vacation to recover from all the parties & traveling!

But in the midst of the bustle that can consume Christmas, let us not lose sight of the truth behind it all. Let us remember that Christmas is when God came in flesh to live a perfect life and die an undeserved death on our behalf. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season but ultimately Easter is the culmination of Christmas. From the point of his birth, Jesus' life was leading him to the cross where he would bear the penalty for our sins and prepare a way for us to be in right relationship with God. So let us remember! Let us see Jesus this holiday season for who he truly is! Let us repent of loving & living for self and follow the one who is deserves our love & life! Let every heart prepare him room! Merry Christmas!

Death of a Loved One

It's been a sad past week and a half in the Peek home. We had to say goodbye to someone we dearly loved. Our car (who I named Tabby when I was 16) has left us for the great garage in the sky.

It all started the Friday before last when Chris was taking Tabby for her final voyage. She broke down on the side of the road and spend the next week in between the shoulder on Frankfort Avenue and two mechanic shops only to find out that her timing belt broke and her valves bent. It was going to cost $1600 to bring her to life again, and though we love her (and need her!), our budget just can't support that right now. I ended up selling her on Craigs List (yes, Beth Wilson, an idea fee to you!), and now we're learning how to be a one-car family.

In other news, we had a freakish warm front today. For the first time in weeks, I got to run outside in shorts and a T-shirt. Surprisingly enough, I've actually enjoyed my cold weather runs but this was nice for a change. I even had to be concerned about my ice cream getting melty in the car on the way home from the grocery store this evening. Not a frequent occurance in these parts during December.

Kevin finished his spring semester strong and then plunged back into the thick of things with a week long mini-mester class. They're called J-terms around here and it pretty much means Kevin leaves the house the same time I do in the morning and spends all day in class. Tonight he went straight from class to work! My husband is such a hard worker. I love that about him.

We're headed off to the Great Land o' Tejas next week! The other Peeks are road tripping with us so we're pulling an all-nighter to drive home. Well, most likely Kevin & Chris will do most of the driving and Sarah & I will do most of the sleeping in the backseat. But that's what men are supposed to do, right? We are all very excited to see family & friends. I'm especially excited to take a break from office life.

Well, that about wraps up the happenings around here. Thanks for reading!

In-Laws

I'm pretty sure I have the best in-laws of all time. Who even knew I would inherit such fun friends when I married my best friend? First of all, you've got this dynamic duo (well, maybe not really a duo...what do you call it when a duo gets married?):

How could it not be a blast being married to twins? Plus, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Sarah, she & I are quite similar in mannerism & appearance. In-laws are an interesting thing though. No matter what, you're friends for life. They'll never go away. That's kind of a lot of pressure! So I'm quite thankful that my in-laws are all quite pleasant & enjoyable.

I was reminded of this all over again when we had the whirlwind of family pass through Kentucky last week. Sister Shannon got to enjoy Louisville in all its autumnal bliss a few weekends ago.

We took Shannon to Churchill Downs to watch the horses run the fall meets. I've actually learned quite a bit about horse racing from my partner at work, so I don't make a half-bad tour guide at the track. We had a lot of fun, and I even won a bet! Since we were there with Chris & Kevin, how could I not have bet on a horse named Twin Talk? Granted, my total profit was -$.20 but I'd say that's a fair price for a thrill.

We treated all present Peeks and past Peeks (Chris, Sarah, Shannon, Kev & myself that is) to a scrumptuous dinner at the Melting Pot. Kevin still works there, and I have to admit that the food is growing on me. That's a lot to say coming from a girl who doesn't particularly care for cheese or chocolate!

But the fun didn't stop there! The day after Shannon left, dear ol' mother-in-law flew into town. Since she was here during the week, Sarah & I didn't get to spend as much time with her as the boys. But our evenings were so full and so fun.

Thank you Anne & Shannon for taking the time to come visit us! We loved having you and would welcome you back in a second!

Halloween Extravaganza

Here are some of my most lovely coworkers at a Halloween party this past weekend. Beth is part of Ricky Bobby's pit crew, Pete is one of the Geico cavemen, and Jen is rockin' out 80's style. There's rumors floating around the office that we're dressing up for work tomorrow. We'll see about that but I do know that there will be pictures of that for sure!

A Family of Three

That's right! We'd like to introduce the newest member of our family. Her name is Patty, and she made her fall debut today.

Patty is our little space heater. I named her Patty because of the manufacturer brand (you can barely read it in the picture). She warms my toes and keeps me nice and toasty. I'm considering making room for her in our trunks when we head overseas. All that to say, fall weather is officially here! It makes for a great run through the park with the brisk air and the beautiful trees.

In other news, I'm husbandless this weekend. Kevin is off at the men's retreat with our church. The retreat technically ends tomorrow afternoon. but he's headed straight to work after that. So I'll see him on Sunday when I wake up. I'm kind of getting used to this husbandless thing though since I've been sharing him with the book reviews, tests, and 15 page papers that have been swamping him lately. We spent four hours last night editing his most recent paper that he turned in today. To combat Kevin's most severe writing vice for future writing projects, I hung a sign above the desk that reads "Passive voice should be said no to."

I'm sure that you can tell by the frequency of blogs I've been posting that I've had some free time on my hands! You might even get one more post out of me before Kev returns to me. But for now I'm off to play games with the other husbandless ladies from church!

Old School Family Vacation

I know, I know...this is a little outdated but these are some pictures from the Corbin family vacation at the beginning of August. We all came from Texas, New York, and Kentucky for a little rendezvous in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for a fun weekend together. I'm ready for the next one!

I stole this slide show website off someone else's Blog. How do you like it?

Happy Squirrel Watching Day!

Apparently, last week was the grand holiday of Squirrel Watching Day. It's a shame that this day of celebration was unbeknownst to the majority of the population, especially this particular household. My husband loves squirrels. In fact, he even gives them names and then we make up stories about their little squirrely lives. Our favorite so far (thanks to the contribution of the Corbin clan) is called "Slappy the Acrophobic Squirrel." (I think that was his name but I could be wrong.)

So from our home to yours...

Happy Squirrel Watching Day!

Things Unseen

For those of you who know me well, more than likely you've played the "How many fingers am I holding up?" game with me. And most definitely, sans contacts, my answer was dead wrong.

First there was my dental defeat. Now I've had another crushing blow from the eye doctor. As if it was even possible to believe, I'm getting blinder. It really is quite humiliating to sit in the doctor's chair with the big bug eyes contraption over your face and truly not be able to read the very top line. Contrary to popular belief, it's not always a giant E. If only it was! Then I could at least guess my way to good vision!

Kevin has been gracious to remind me that our failing bodies are a reminder to us that this world is fallen. In the very beginning, God did not create us for death. Our teeth weren't supposed to decay. Our eyes weren't supposed to depend on contacts. But when the fall happened and sin came into the world, our physical bodies were affected as much as our hearts. So today, even though I know that my eye sight isn't great affliction, I feel like I can identify with the Bible when it says:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18

(I had Beth at work figure out a tricky math equation that equals my oh-so terrible eye sight. But alas...Blogger can't handle all the crazy math signs. If you're that curious, let me know & I'll tell you.)

Dental Pride

The dentist used to be fun. Our dentist in Austin was this somewhat cooky old man who most definitely has a crush on my mother. The hygenist was an old family friend of ours, so she would occupy the awkward silence of teeth scrapping with her pleasant chatter. They would always rave about how healthy my teeth were & the fact that I had no cavities. It was fun. And then we moved to Louisville. Yes, I'll admit that it had been a year or two since I went to the dentist. I sat in a dentist's office for four hours last April while Kevin has his broken teeth fixed...does that count? Apparently not because I heard those fatal words uttered by my new dentist this morning that I've gone 24 years without hearing:

"You have a cavity."

What? Certainly not me! Well, it's true. I have to admit that the Lord has shaken my pride. I'm thankful for that at least. It might sound silly, but my confidence can never be in my unblemished dental track record or anything else other than Christ. Just like my teeth, my heart is quite imperfect, and that's why I am so greatly in need of Jesus as my savior. Maybe it's a stretch but why can't we learn things about God's character in the dentist chair? So back I go in a week or so to undergo the knife. Yikes!

Wife of My Youth

The Bible says that every good gift comes from God, so I am most thankful to God for blessing me with this beautiful woman you see me beside. Recently I had lunch with a single man and was reminded of bachelorhood. Though it was good to be single, I can not imagine going back. My life has forever been changed with Beck in it.




Beck works hard to feed me with healthy dishes. She wakes every morning at 4 a.m and goes to pick fresh fruit to put in our oatmeal...Ok, maybe not, but she does labor very diligently to take care of me by preparation of meals. The wife of my youth has freed me to do many other things leaving me to think very little about buying, preparing, and cooking food. For this I am most thankful.



My sweet wife has gentled me for the better. Though I tell her infrequently, she has taken this rough grizzly bear and softened him (but don't get me wrong, there is still plently of grizzly left in this bear). Beck has given me insight and thoughtfulness to others that I would otherwise miss. She adds a new degree to those that I can minister to and how I minister to them. For that I am most thankful.







Becky adds this whole new social flavor to my life. She befriends and loves people with sensitivity and thoughtfulness. Beck has a beautful personality which I love. It can be virbrant beyond anything I could muster for myself. She hosts and warms people to our home. This was one of the most blessed of suprises for me after we were married. For that I am thankful.






My sweet wife adds a new creativity to my life. There are new levels of fun that Beck has brought into my life, usually this fun results in laughter and memories. If anything can be said about my creative wife, it is that she makes me smile when she is creative. And that is one of the things I enjoy most about my wife. For that I am most thankful.




Is this the extent of my wife? Hardly, rather it is merely the limit of the pictures that I could apply to this present post. My wife serves and loves me in ways that a picture can't display. How do you photograph 40 hours a week, so that I can go to school? How do you photograph, trusting and following your husband toward another state away from family and friends? How do you photograph, sacrificing many things for the sake of your husband and where he is leading your family? You don't. This is the woman God let me marry. And though Beck is all these things and does all these things, the thing that I value most about my sweet wife, is that she would have no problem affirming that every good gift, namely the strength and ability and heart to do all these acts, are from God and not herself. I love my wife.

Becky the Non-Baker

(I wrote this over the summer and never ended up posting for some reason. Nevertheless, please accept this as my attempt to catch up the Blog from the silent summer months...)

I love my husband. I do. I really do. So when we're at Borders one day reading magazines (a favorite past time of ours), Kevin spies the cover of July's Martha Stewart Living (see exhibit A below).



"I want that!" he cried. "We neeeeeed that!" He uses this same voice at the grocery store when trying to convince me that we need cinnamon rolls. So I coyly brush him off, thinking I'll make it for him as surprise later on.

So attempt number 1...I go to the grocery store and purchase all of these ingredients only Martha could love: buttermilk, whipping cream, and parchment paper (are we baking here or drafting historical documents?) The one illusive element left is the star cookie cutter. After three trips to three different stores, I just give up and decide to cut my own stars.

That weekend, I deliberated over whether or not I had the time to create this culinary masterpiece. Plus the goal was to make it a surprise to my timing had to be precise. I tarried in my decision making, and Monday came upon me. Obviously, there's no time to bake during the working week, so my toque once again found its home on my pantry shelf.

Weekend two roles around, and who's surprised that all my ingredients have gone bad. Oh bother! To the store again I go for round two of purchasing. This time, I even have an excuse to make my dessert (as if blessing my sweet husband with sweets wasn't excuse enough). Our small group from church was having a BBQ party that evening. Perfect! I'll dazzle them all with my kitchen prowess. Hardly...

Sunday afternoon (two hours before we have to leave I might add) I make the shortbread with no problem. Though it is noteworthy to say that when Martha says use a food processor, one should probably heed such wisdom. A blender is not the same thing. But nevertheless, I've got two perfectly formed shortcakes which will most definitely stack on top of each other in dainty Martha Stewart style. In they go and the waiting begins. Minutes stretch on like hours until finally the debut of...one big, mushy blob of shortbread mess.

Maybe it was the tight schedule. Maybe it was the money I had already sunk into this project. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted a fun surprise for Kevin. Whatever the reason, the tears come and the emotions peak. Kevin comes to check on me, and I exclaim all these tragedies to him, finally reaching the pinnacle declaration: "I hate Martha Stewart! She makes impossible things look doable!"

So Martha and I are no longer on speaking terms. I'm not looking to reconcile anytime soon either. Until then, I think I'll leave the baking to my oh-so talented sis-in-law Sarah!

Peeks of the World...Unite!

That's right...they're finally here! After a three day cross country trip from Seattle, our dear Christopher & Sarah Peek have arrived in Louisville. And the best part is that they're here to stay! Apart from actually living with family, I don't think I've ever had any in such close proximity. This should be fun. Very fun!

The confusion has already begun though with that whole twin thing. Some of our friends from church already called to invite us to a neighborhood BBQ when they noticed that we were just moving into their apartment complex. No, no, that's the other Peeks. This should definitely be fun. Most definitely!

Our Bethlehem Village

Another things that summer means for us is our church's Vacation Bible School. Kevin & I have been teaching the four year old Sunday school since the beginning of the year, so I was more than happy to help teach one of the Pre-K VBS groups. And what a blessing it was!

We turned our church into a Bethlehem village, complete with Hebrew costumes, a marketplace, and Jewish traditions. We discussed Jesus' birth as if it was happeneing in our own village while we were visiting there. Whereas most VBS curriculum seem to involve penguins in a water part or something silly like that, I loved how our directors designed a program that combined Biblical substance with something that was fun for all of us. But we weren't just there to entertain them, sing some songs, do some crafts, and give their parents a few hours reprieve (though that did happen and is indeed a good thing). We taught about our need for a savior, God's promise of a savior, the arrival of the savior, and finally the death & resurrection of Jesus our savior. These are certainly the most important truths of life! I was encouraged & challenged by my kiddo's questions and eagerness to learn more of Christ. Truly such wisdom can come from the mouths of babes.

Pray with me that the seeds that were sewn in these little hearts this week would take root in fertile soil that would blossom into Christ-abiding, soul-saving faith.

School's Out for Summer...Sort of

For most of us around here, life revolves around the school calendar. Work, work, work from January to May and then summer vacation. Around this time of year, a typical conversation-starting questions I hear is "How's your summer going?" When directed at Kevin, he actually has some sort of response. Direct it at me, however, and the best I can usually do is a blank stare. My July isn't really different from my November. They just don't believe in summer vacation in the corporate world!

Nevertheless, between working 8-5 and Kevin still hitting the books with summer classes, we've managed to do at least something to eradicate the pasty, white color that the office's flourescent lights have cursed upon my legs.



The weekend before last, our friends Matthew & Nikki Savage took us out on their boat on Lake Taylorsville. We floated and chatted all afternoon long. I even got to wear movie star sunglasses, which Kevin teases me about all the time.



Last week, we walked to our neighborhood's Old Time 4th of July Celebration with our good friends Buddy & Kristen He.

We met them at new student orientation when we first moved to Louisville, and they have become some of our favorite people. Buddy is an international student from China, and he & Kristen plan on returning next year to do similar work as we hope to do. But they won't head back until their new baby comes at the beginning of 2008!



So here is our summer fun. All I can say is that I'm thankful for the sunshine.

All Weddings Need Nigerians

To all you engaged women out there, here is my updated must-have list for your wedding:

1) venues
2) a groom you treasure & love forever (or maybe that should be number 1)
3) a dress that makes you feel like a princess
4) Nigerians

Last weekend, we went to a wonderful wedding of two friends from our chuch that included all of the above. Emily is an A&M graduate and a native Texan so natuarlly we think the world of her. Ndagi (we call him Job) is from Nigeria (not quite Texas but a great place nonetheless) and has the biggest smile and the best laugh of anyone I know. Their ceremony was at our church and seemed more like worship than a wedding. Much of Job's family had flown in from all over the world from places Nigeria, Hungary, and Canada and several of them wore traditional Nigerian dress. The reception was at a beautiful hotel right across the street from my office downtown. Though the elegant ambience was nice and the plated meal quite enjoyable, the best part of the reception by far was the dance party. Young and old were on the dance floor in typical African style, and the wallflowers were definitely the minority. You can see how packed it was:



So now I am thoroughly convinced that if you want your reception dance party to succeed, all you need is Nigerians.

A Shower of Different Sorts

I introduced you to our news friends, the Winds, in our previous post. This past week, several of the ladies from our church planned a shower for sweet Mrs. Rachel Wind. Not a wedding shoer (recall man in goofy hat...that's Mr. Wind) and not a baby shower (recall child on swing and child nearly abducted by goats...those are wee little Winds). You see, since Rachel gave birth to both her little girls overseas, our church family didn't have a chance to throw a shower for her. But since they've been back visiting, she's been long overdue. So we had a kiddie book shower! Since there isn't an English bookstore in her city overseas, her girls' library is a bit sparse. But not anymore!

This is just a few from Rachel's wish list for the shower:

* Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever
* Make Way for Ducklings
* Frog & Toad Are Friends
* The Story of Ping
* Curious George
* A Wind in the Willows
* The Little House
* Madeline
* Amelia Bedelia
* Quick As a Cricket
* Little House on the Prairie

I've decided to start collecting children's books of my own. Another premature collection of mine I suppose. Please leave a comment for me and tell me about your favorite children's book.



And a note for Mrs. Wind--I will miss you dearly as you leave, sweet friend. Thank you again for the time you & John have invested in our family over the past few weeks. We treasure you & will be thinking of you as you leave Louisville.

A Dream Realized

We're all familiar with that age-old question that adults seem to always ask little kids: So what do you want to be when you grow up? You can only expect those typical hum-drum answers: a fireman, a ballerina, a teacher, and so on. But not me. I was definitely a lone reed in my dream career path. I wanted to be a farmer's wife. Not a farmer and not a wife but the combination, two-in-one, more-bang-for-your-buck, dynamic duo package: farmer's wife. Most likely I thought it would be fun to wake up early in the morning and milk cows and retrieve chicken eggs. Alas, I'm not a farmer's wife but a seminarian's wife (though I do wake up early and cook eggs every morning.) Yet the dream lives on thanks to Huber's Farm in Starlight, Indiana.



That's right! Just across the Ohio River, a mere thirty minutes from our home, is Huber's Farm where you can pick your own produce and feed farm animals much to your heart's content. Our hearts have obviously been very content as we've been twice in the past month. The first time Kevin & I went, we picked eight pounds of strawberries between the two of us and have since engorged ourselves with lots of smoothies and strawberry ice cream.



Our second visit this past Saturday was with a dear family with whom we've gotten to be quite good friends--the Wind family. The Winds live in East Asia with their two little girls and are involved in the kind of work that we would like to do in the future. They are in the States for six months before heading back over the pond to their overseas home. We have been so encouraged by the time we've been able to spend with them because it's like looking at our own lives fast-forwarded five years.

Our day at the farm with the Winds was quite the adventure. This time Kevin and I had an excuse to do all the kiddie attractions since we were actually with kids!

We made lots of friends that day. Some normal, like sweet Clara Anne (the little girl that is, not the pony):





And some not-so-normal, like Clara Anne's daddy (the man with the fashionable hat this is, not the goat):





Be careful you safe (no, that's not a typo but just Chiner talk in honor of the Winds) for the goats because they will eat your hands and clothing. And their spit is really sticky.



And take caution too that the goats don't steal your baby. I think this one is after Chloe.



So after our fun day at the farm, am I going to abandon my life as a seminary wife in order to seek out my dream of farming splendor? Most likely not. As least if Kevin promises to take me back during blueberry picking season!

Congrats Mrs. Peek!

Congratulations to our very own Mrs. Sarah Peek for her graduation from the University of Washington today. I'm sure no one flips that tassle with as much style as you do. We wish we could have been there, but we're counting down the days until you come here. We love you much!

Nicknames

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.

Replace Romeo for Kevin & myself and you'll have the subject of this evening's Blog post. I'm not really sure why Kevin's dear mother chose his name but I have this habit of discarding it at will for a variety of replacements. Nicknames, if you will. And he does the same for me. Very rarely do we call each other by our given names. Even less rare for me if you consider that Becky in itself is just a variation of my given names. So here, for your Blogging pleasure, is the evolution of our favorite household nicknames:

Woodchip: It started off as an aversion to the traditional pet names of "dear" and "sweetheart." Kevin just decided to choose random nouns and apply them to me until one stuck. And this one did. Weird but can't we just apply the euphemism and call it quirky instead?

Fish: More than once I've been told that my personality reminds people of Dory from "Finding Nemo." Though I'm not sure that's exactly a compliment, I went ahead and borrowed Dory's sing-song mantra during a tough season of life in college: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." You know the tune. (If not, you mind want to consider devoting 90 minutes to Nemo to learn it. You'll thank me later). It's my fighter's song of perseverance. Kevin sings it to me to change my tears to laughter. But even on a daily basis, I'm his wife "Fish."

Mrs. Darcy: Though some may mock us that we enjoy and might even prefer the Kiera Knightly version of "Pride & Prejudice" to the 6 hour saga that is the A&E version, we are much indebted for our newest and most favorite nickname. Let me refresh you of the closing scene:

Mr. Darcy: How are you this evening, my dear?
Elizabeth: Very well. Only I wish you would not call me dear.
Mr. Darcy: Why?
Elizabeth: Because that’s what my father always calls my mother when he’s cross about something.
Mr. Darcy: What endearments am I allowed?
Elizabeth: Well, let me think. Lizzy for everyday. My pearl for Sundays. And Goddess Divine...but only on very special occasions.
Mr. Darcy: And what shall I call you when I’m cross? Mrs. Darcy?
Elizabeth: No. You may only call me Mrs. Darcy when you are completely, perfectly and incandescently happy.
Mr. Darcy: And how are you this evening, Mrs. Darcy? (sweet kiss) Mrs. Darcy? (even sweeter kiss) Mrs. Darcy? (the sweetest of all movie kisses—the kind that make you cry and wish the movie wasn’t ending)

Now both Kevin & I begun addressing one another as Mrs. Darcy around the house. I am Mrs. Darcy to him and he is Mrs. Darcy to me. Usually followed with our very poor British accents describing how incandescently happy we are.

So whether it's Woodchip, Fish, or Mrs. Darcy, do we retain, as Mr. Shakespeare says, our dear perfection that we owe without the title? Well, knowing that our perfection is certainly lacking, maybe if quirkiness is akin to perfection, we can still fit the bill!

Birthday Roadtrip

Like I mentioned before, in order to avoid any let down of birthday expectations, we postponed it until Kevin's finals were over and done with. Kevin planned a surprise roadtrip for me to Cincinnati where he took me to ride rollercoasters at Kings Island. It was pretty much the same as Texas theme parks except for it wasn't swelteringly hot--even a bit chilly to be honest! We spent nearly the whole day at the park and had plenty of whirling & twirling and ups & downs. Then we had a relaxing dinner at Cheddars (my fave!) and headed back to our room at the Hyatt that Kevin had reserved for us. As funny as it sounds, flipping channels is always one of our vacation highlights since we don't have TV at our apartment. So we spend the rest of the night hanging out at the hotel.


We spent the next day at a beautiful park in downtown Cincinatti. We read by the pond, toured a free art museum, and played Speed Scrabble. All in all, a wonderful birthday weekend. Three cheers for my husband and his surprise!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I donated my hair to Locks of Love today. Here are some pictures of our hair adventure to prove it:

Going...



Going...



Gone...



























Here is our new marketing idea for Locks of Love. Mens facial hair pieces!



This is by far the shortest my hair has ever been. But Kevin likes it, I like it, and hopefully some little person who gets my hair will like it too!

The Blog hermit once again

Once again, I've let it happen. Once again, the Blog has slipped to last priority in the great scramble of life. But here is my dedication to you, all of my faithful Blog-readers: I've just spent two hours on a beautiful Sunday afternoon updated you all on the past three months of Peek life. To you, Jamie Butts, who has read and re-read January 31 update over and over again. To you, Kari Breed, who so kindly informed me that my Blog had become "officially boring." To you, Chris & Sarah Peek, who waited for the Ebenezer update like a drought waits for rain. To all of you who make this Blog count, this is for you!

(I'm so dramatic...isn't it fun?)

One day you wake up and you're 24...

That was the office quote of the day on my birthday last week. Seeing that I'm the oldest woman in my office, turning 24 set me even further ahead of my other 3 female co-workers.

In order to avoid any birthday disappointments, Kevin & I decided to postpone any birthday celebrations for a few weeks until he finished finals. So it's kind of like I get two birthdays now because that didn't stop the celebrating...

The night before my birthday, Kevin told me that we needed to go over to the Pennington's house to pick something up. The Penningtons are a dear family with whom we've gotten to be quite close. Our small group from church meets at their home every other week, and I babysit their six children often. When we got there, it turned out that they had planned me a family surprise party! With a family of eight plus Kevin & me, that's really all you need for a party. The told me that since I'm just a big kid that they had planned me a kid's birthday party. We played Pin-the-Head-on-Becky, musical chairs, and Kevin, Kevin, Becky (a revision of Duck, Duck, Goose). Each one of the kiddos made me a birthday card, and we had a famous Tracy Pennington birthday cake. So thank you to Jonathan, Tracy, Mandy, Spencer, Grant, Owen, Nathan, and Emma for making this such a special birthday!

Here is the final outcome of the Pin-the-Head-on-Becky game:


























I also got some very fun birthday e-mails. One was from my best friend in China, Leslie. It was so special to me that she actually remembered my birthday! The other was from Elijah Gentry:


























But the best gift is that Kevin is now done with finals! He's taking me on a surprise road trip next weekend. And when I say that I will update the Blog after we get back, I really will try to do it this time. I can't make any promises because obviously I'm a Blog-promise-breaker. But I promise to try my hardest! In the meantime, back to being 24.

A Very Busy Day, Part 1

The count-down began for April 28 at the beginning of the year. As the days counted down, the training miles counted up. First at 6, then at 7, 8, 9...all the way to 13.1 as I crossed the finish line of the Derby Mini-Marathon. Alongside my running buddy Beth Wilson, we finished in 1 hour and 56 minutes. That's right--we're so fast that people on the streets are confusing us for either Dean Karnazes or a Kenyan. Well, maybe not but I'm pleased with our time and we had fun nonetheless.

Here we are shortly after crossing the finish line:





You can also click here for some pictures of Beth & me mid-race. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger).

Our favorite highlights of the race:

* Running through Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby would be held a week later. We even got to see some ponies running!

* The running Elvis club. There really are people who dress up like Elvis and run road races. They even push a baby stroller with a stereo playing Elvis music!



Now you might be wondering what our dear husband were up to while we ran. They said they would be studying for finals but you can be the judge on that one...







At least they made it to the finish line in time. Or I guess I should more appropraitely be saying at least I made it to the finish line!