Pittsburgh Progress

Xbox Birthday Party

2011-11-07T18:12:00.008-05:00

Ever wondered what to do for that video game enthusiast for their birthday? There definitely are not video game themed party decorations out there. (Believe me, I've looked). Well look no further! Here is an easy way to throw an "Xbox Birthday" for your little (or big) gamer.

First, as people arrive, have them create a "gamer tag" instead of a regular name tag. Put out name tags and pens or markers. If you're not sure what a "gamer tag" is, ask your gamer. It is basically an identity that gamers use to identify themselves for online play. After everyone has arrived, have your birthday boy (or girl) pick whose gamer tag is the most creative. The winner gets a medal (purchased from the dollar store) and a small prize. I used $5 Exchange gift cards as prizes. You could also use Best Buy, Game Stop, or another store.

The bulk of the party will be focused on unlocking ACHIEVEMENTS! This is a great game that gets people involved and having tons of fun! I used this website: XBox 360 Achievement Generator to generate the achievements. I printed out a dark copy (completed achievement) and a light copy (not completed). See below:

I got creative and made up activities that people needed to do to unlock the achievements. Examples: "Top of the World" - make a pyramid of six people with the birthday boy/girl on top. "Face the Cookie" - move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth using only your face. "High Five Hero" - accumulate 30 high fives. Each achievement was given a point value (adding up to 1000 pts). Give guests a check list with descriptions of the achievements and have them keep track of what they unlock. At the end of the party, the person with the most points wins a medal and a prize.

When people leave, make sure you thank them for coming! I got candy and added "Thank you" labels also generated by the above website.

I'm sure your gamer will love it!

Man in Yellow Hat

2011-11-07T15:32:00.004-05:00

My little one is in LOVE with Curious George. So when Halloween rolled around it didn't take much thinking to decide what she would go as. Finding a monkey costume was easy. (This one came from Costco). Finding a Man in the Yellow Hat costume for my husband to wear was much harder. I looked online and found some that looked cheaply made and were pretty pricey (nothing under $40). I decided I could make something much better, probably for less.

The finished product:

Here's what I did:

Bought khaki pants, white button up shirt, silver tie (or any light color), black belt and straw hat in my husband's sizes. All were purchased at the thrift shop for $10.

I used Rit dye ($3-4) to dye the pants, shirt and tie the bright yellow color. After everything was dry, I used a black sharpy marker to draw black spots on the tie.

The hat was the hardest part. I used the top half of a gallon milk carton to make the straw hat taller. Then I paper mached the hat to make it consistent texture. Once all that dried, I used spray paint ($3) to get the bright yellow color.

My husband wore big brown boots that he already had and the outfit was complete! The whole outfit cost us less than $20! This costume was WAY better than anything we could have found online. Everyone who saw them together loved it!

The Birth of Elizabeth

2010-02-16T20:44:00.013-05:00

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 will be a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Our beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Grace, was born. Here is how it happened:

Friday, February 5th, it began snowing and it did not stop snowing until late Saturday. During that short period, about 22 inches of snow buried Pittsburgh. Roads were totally impassable. With nowhere to move the snow, plowing didn't do much good. Not having anywhere to be, we staying in and prayed that the baby would not choose that day to be born.

We were not able to dig out our car until Monday. Our neighbors, Ashley and Eric Anwiler, were a great help in accomplishing this. Both Monday and Tuesday, Chris and I stayed home from work because the roads were too bad to make it in.

Tuesday afternoon I was pretty tired and lay down to take a nap around 2:00 pm. I woke up an hour later. Almost as soon as I got out of bed, I started to feel funny. It felt like light menstrual cramps at first. The cramps started to feel pretty regular, so Chris started timing them. They were coming about every 3 minutes. We called my doctor and she said to go ahead and head into the hospital. It was already starting to snow again. It was forecasted that we would get another 8+ inches of snow that night. We started off to the hospital around 4:45 pm hoping we would be able to make it.

The drive to the hospital was slow and cautious. Roads were in really bad shape. Some looked like they had not been plowed at all. On the way, contractions continued. We called our doula, Kathy McGrath, on the way and as we expected, she said she would not be able to make it because of the snow. We were really disappointed (as was she), because we had been working with her throughout the pregnancy and were very comfortable with her. She is also the top doula in Pennsylvania. She told us to have the doctor call the on-call doula to come assist us.

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 pm and were checked into triage. I was starting to feel more uncomfortable, but still not really experiencing pain. The nurses hooked me up for monitoring. Contractions were indeed coming every 3 minutes. The baby's heart rate was steady and strong. A hospital resident came in to examine me. At 6:00 pm I was 4+ cm dilated, 100% effaced and at -1 station.

We moved from triage to a labor room at 6:54 pm. "The Office" was on the tv when they wheeled us in. (A good sign? :) ) I was offered an epidural and declined. I had to be hooked up to an IV to receive antibiotics because of a positive strep B test. This was a bummer for me because it meant that I was confined to bed. I had hoped that I would be able to be up and moving around to relieve pain. Contractions were still coming and shortening to about every 2 minutes.

At this point, I called my mom to let her know what was happening. When I told her that we were at the hospital and I was in labor she started sobbing. "Oh no!" She cried. "We can't make it!" I tried to tell her it was OK and that she could come whenever the weather cleared up. I could tell she was really upset though and I hung up wondering how Chris and I would manage things without her help when we went home from the hospital.

I didn't have much time to think about it though because contractions were becoming stronger and more painful. I used the breathing techniques we had learned in Lamaze to manage the pain. I also focused on a pink flower in the wall paper above my bed. Between contractions I would rest. It was about 1 minute of contraction, followed by 1 minute of rest. During each contraction, I tried to relax all my muscles and focus on allowing them to do their work. Chris was doing a great job helping me focus. He rubbed my head and even breathed along with me. The on-call doula, Amanda, arrived at some point, but we were doing so well, she didn't do much at first.

Something that made labor very interesting was that Elizabeth had turned face up (more on this later) and had positioned herself with her bottom on the left side of my stomach. This made my stomach look completely lopsided. It also made things a little more uncomfortable because she was pressing up into my ribs.

Around 8:00 pm, the resident came in to check my progress. I was 6 cm, 100% and -1. Since things were progressing well, they called Dr. Tran to come in. She arrived about a half hour later. At 9:15 pm she examined me. It was hard to find a good time for her to do it because contractions were coming so fast now and didn't always completely go away in between.

After Dr. Tran examined me she said, "Ok, you're complete!" A little confused, we asked, "What do you mean?" "You're completely dilated." She responded. "10 cm, 0 station."

We were completely shocked! It had only taken an hour to dilate 4 cm! My water had not broken yet, so Dr. Tran suggested that she break it for me. At this point, I was both really excited and really scared! I knew that once my water broke it was time to push and it would only be a matter of time until we had a baby! Everything suddenly seemed so real. It was a little overwhelming.

Dr. Tran broke my water and found that there was meconium. The NICU was called to be on stand by so that they could check the baby as soon as she was born. The labor and delivery room was suddenly transformed. Medical equipment came out of no where, preparing for the arrival of the baby.

Although my labor had progressed quickly until this point, the pushing stage lasted a long time. This was largely due to the fact that Elizabeth was turned face up, which made it harder for her to fit out. I ended up pushing for about an hour.

Finally, at 10:23 pm, Elizabeth entered the world. Because of the meconium, I was not able to hold her right away. The NICU staff took her to the other end of the room immediately to check her out. Chris went with her. She received great marks! Apgar scores of 8 (1 minute) and 9 (5 minutes), 8 lb 5 oz and 20 inches. I could hear screaming the whole time. It was a beautiful sound!
I was relieved and exhausted, but unfortunately, I was not done yet. After delivering the placenta, I still had to be stitched up. (I tore pretty badly.) This took about another hour. This was definitely the worst part for me. I was not able to hold Elizabeth until I was finally stitched up, around 11:45 pm.

We texted our parents to let them all know that Elizabeth was born! We got a text back from my parents saying that they were nearly to Somerset! I was so surprised and thrilled that they were actually making the trip in the horrible weather. I guess nothing can keep a new grandma from coming to take care of her daughter and granddaughter!

So, labor and delivery were not at all what we had prepared for. We had expected it to last 12-20 hours (ours lasted about 7 hrs). We had expected to be able to be up and moving around, but because of the IV, I couldn't be. I had hoped to hold her right away, but wasn't able to. We didn't have the doula we had wanted, or the doctor we had expected. We had prepared music and all kinds of other pain management techniques that we never got to use. Even with all these things, the experience was amazing! I guess you can never prepare for childbirth and just need to be willing to roll with the punches.

Our first family photo.

Our precious little girl!

The Final Countdown

2010-02-06T20:29:00.006-05:00

We’ve been enjoying our last few days as a couple. I used my day off on Thursday to surprise Chris with some ½ anniversary treats. (Our 5 ½ year anniversary is on Feb 14^th, but since we might be pretty busy next weekend, I figured I would surprise him early.) I made him a cake, some cookies and some cupcakes. I also took him on a date: out to dinner (Chick-Fil-A) and a movie (Avatar). It was nice to spend an evening out. It will probably be awhile before we are able to do that again. I also got pampered on Thursday. A couple of my coworkers had given me a gift card for a manicure and pedicure at a local salon. It was very relaxing!

We’ve been enjoying watching the snow fall outside. Our neighbor said he measured 19 inches in one place! We are so glad we don’t have anywhere we need to be. Chris shoveled out the front walk and some of the driveway, but our car and the driveway to the road are still buried. Luckily, I am not showing any signs of going into labor today! Our neighbors, the Anwilers (a couple houses down), have offered to be on standby with their 4WD vehicle in case we need them! What good friends. We have been very blessed today in many ways; we have not lost power, heat, or water! There are some areas of the city that are without all three! So we have been able to relax and just enjoy the beauty of this winter wonderland. Unfortunately, the forecast looks like lots of snow this week! So we may need the 4WD after all.

The puppies have LOVED this snow. It is almost as high as them, but they plow right through. We took a video of them this morning playing around. Check it out on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOVXK4iOEn4

Finally, I know some of you have not gotten a chance to see the nursery all finished up. Here is a nice picture.

And one of me: Week 39! Watching the snow fall out the nursery window.

Showers, Showers

2010-01-27T17:38:00.023-05:00

There have been a total of three showers for our little girl. One at home over Christmas, one in my office where I work and one here in Pittsburgh. They have all been wonderful! Unfortunately, I don't have good pictures of everyone who was there. But here are some:

York Shower:

My Mom and Dad with "Granny" our next door neighbor growing up who was like a grandmother to me.

My mother-in-law, Susan.

The Kirkwood clan.

One of my best friends from high school, Marell.

My wonderful, beautiful sister.

My biggest helpers of the day! My cousins Faith and Jennifer.

Another good friend from high school, Val.

Lots of great Moms of friends! Mrs. Hartman, Mrs. Payne, Mrs. Gianneschi.
My sister and high school friend, Allison.

Chris' family.

Aunt Audrey, Mother-in-law Susannah, sister-in-law Meredith, cousins Carly and Joelle.

High school friend and long time softball teammate, Sarah.

The cake! Yum!

Pittsburgh Shower:

Mom made the trip out to be there.

The lovely wives from my couples small group.
Meg, me, Ashley and Erika.

The lovely ladies of my girls' small group.
Debbie, Jana, Emily, me, Alicia and Megan.

Two of my favorite students!
Anna and Lois.

The wonderful party planners!
Meg, Megan, me and Megan. (Yes they are all Megans!)

My great friends, Charity and Megan.
Remember the posts of their recent weddings???

The cake! Complete with pink Hippo. If you don't know the story behind the hippo, you should ask me sometime.

Preparing for the Unpredictable

2010-01-12T14:28:00.010-05:00

Well, as you can see from our counter at the top of the page, we are quickly approaching our due date! As the big day approaches, we have been busily preparing our house to receive our new baby girl. The nursery is pretty much set! I'll have to post pictures of it soon.

Things are progressing as they should. The baby is growing and so is my belly. She is not moving around as much as she did before. It must be getting tight in there. But I can still feel her every day. Now it is just more pushes and stretches rather than kicks and jabs.

We went home to York for Christmas. It was wonderful to be able to see so many friends and family. Many of whom had not had the chance to "meet" baby Ansell yet. Here are a few pictures from Christmas:

Christmas eve at the church where Chris and I were married 5+ years ago.

With my sister

Big belly, little belly.

A nice picture of my family.

With the Fosdick Family. They came all the way from Michigan to join us! They were also such a big help at our baby shower we had over Christmas.

Quick Update

2009-12-15T14:32:00.016-05:00

Well, it has been awhile since our last update. Things have been super busy for us with the end of the semester and trying to get things ready for the baby. Chris has been working long days (9 am to 9 pm) most days.

Here are just a few of the things that have been happening since the last post. (This is not in chronological order).

We had our last small group meeting for the semester. We really enjoyed growing in God's word with other couples from our church and neighborhood.

The boys: Nick, Isaac, Eric and Chris

The girls: Erika, Devin, me and Ashley

Baby Ansell went to her first Pitt football game. Sadly, Pitt lost and I'm afraid that little hippo will quickly become a Penn State fan. Oh well, I tried.

Week 30

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at our house with family.

Chris' family: Susan, Blair (Dad), Grandma Ansell,
me and Chris

My family: Dad, Mom, me and Chris

and of course... the baby

My friend, Charity, got married! She was the last of my college girlfriends to tie the knot!

The new Mr. and Mrs. Dear! So happy!

Pitt girls! Megan, Charity, me.

A nice picture of Chris and I from the wedding.

And here is the most recent "Bump" photo.

Week 31 - still growing.

Cleaning House

2009-11-18T10:41:00.014-05:00

In an attempt to clean out my closet (before baby comes), I am selling some Mary Kay products that I have had for awhile. All products are in perfect condition, but are not in the same line as the newest MK products and so do not fit the new compact cases. Since I am no longer running my business, I am selling everything at 50% off or more. Please let me know what you are interested in. I can ship to you and add the shipping to the order total. Retail price is listed in ($). My selling price is listed next. (Tax is not included in prices listed).

Gift sets
These are great gift ideas for the holiday season. Just wrap ‘em up and put them under the tree. Or if you are staying with family or friends over the holiday season, these would make great hostess gifts.

1) Satin Hands & Body (1 set available).
Set comes with Lotion and Buffering cream. Does for your body what Satin Hands does for your hands. ($20) Price: $8

2) Fun in the Sun
Includes Skin Essentials SPF 15 Sun block and lip protector sun block. Comes in a children’s beach bucket with sand toys. ($16) Price: $8

3) Mint Bliss Pedicure Set
Mint Bliss Pedicure Set comes with mint bliss fizzies, scrub for feet, energizing lotion, foot file/brush, toe separators, and tote. ($35) Price: $15

4) Brown Beauty
Includes chocolate lip liner, nutmeg cheek color, chocolate mousse lipstick, and brown endless performance mascara all in a snowman tin bucket. ($40) Price: $18

5) Gotta Have Java
Perfect for that javaholic! Comes with iced latte nail color, almond glaze lip gloss, mocha freeze lip stick, and java eye color in a coffee mug. ($36) Price: $15

6) Pretty in Pink
Includes cotton candy eye color, suede lip stick and pink pout lip gloss in a pink tote. ($30) Price: $12

7) All about Eyes
Comes in a pineapple and includes Age fighting eye cream and Soothing Eye mask. ($41) Price: $18

8) All about Lips
Includes satin lip balm, satin lip mask, aloha pink gloss and suede lip stick in a gift bag. ($42) Price: $18

Individual Items available
Item Description (# Avail/Retail Price/Sale Price)

For Body
TimeWise Visibly Fit Body Lotion 1 $22 $10
TimeWise 3-in-1 Cleansing Body Bar 2 $18 $6
TimeWise Age-Fighting Moisturizer with SPF 15 2 $20 $8
Private Spa Collection Sugar Scrubs: $15 $6
Embrace Happiness 2
Embrace Dreams 1
Private Spa Collection Body Wash (Embrace Happiness) 1 $12 $5
Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion for Feet and Legs 2 $10 $4
Satin Hands cream 1 $7.5 $3
Satin Hands cream with SPF 15 2 $7.5 $3

Skin Care
TimeWise Day and Night Solutions (sold as set) 1/1 $50 $20
TimeWise Age-Fighting Eye Cream 1 $26 $10
Beauty Blotters (75 tissues/pk) 1 $5 $2
Acne Treatment Gel (acne medication) 2 $7 $2
Extra Emollient Night cream 1 $11 $4
Concealer – Ivory 1 $9.5 $4
Medium Coverage Foundation – Ivory 100 1 $14 $6
Crème to Powder Foundation – Ivory 2.0 1 $14 $6
Dual Coverage Powder Foundation – Ivory 100 1 $14 $6
Dual Coverage Powder Foundation – Ivory 200 1 $14 $6
Foundation Compact 1 $9 $3
Velocity Moisturizer 1 $12 $5
Velocity Parfum 1 $28 $12

Eyes
Lumineyes Dark Circle Diminisher 1 $28 $12
Eye Primer 1 $12 $5
Liquid Eye Liner – Black 1 $10.5 $4
Liquid Eye Liner – Brown 1 $10.5 $4
Eye Color $6.5 $2
Bamboo 1
Blue Moon 1
Goldenrod 1
Jungle 1
Lagoon 1
Lucky Penny 2
Periwinkle 1
Woodland 1
Tropical Sun 1

Lips
Lip Gloss $12 $5
Cream and Sugar 2
Pink Pout 1
Berry Smoothie 1
Lip Stick $12 $5
Toffee 1
Silver Sand 1
Dusty Rose 1
Lip Liner – neutral 1 $9.5 $3

Cheeks
Cheek Color $10 $3
Pink Flamingo 1
Apricot Breeze 1

Nails
Nail Enamil 1 $6 $2
Base Coat 1 $6 $2
Top Coat 1 $6 $2

Bump Update 27.5 Weeks

2009-11-17T13:27:00.005-05:00

Well, it's now Nov 17th, which means that we are under 3 MONTHS away from our due date!! Crazy. I have a feeling that things are going to go super fast now with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all between now and our expected arrival.

I’ve been telling people that I am actually starting to “feel pregnant” now. That may sound funny, but after the trials of the first trimester, the second trimester was a breeze! I felt good and had a normal appetite and energy level. There were some aches and pains (headaches and sciatic pain) early on, but they have all gone away. Overall, I just felt like myself with a slightly bigger belly.

Now that I am entering the third trimester, I am beginning to feel more like I would expect a pregnant woman to feel. I am starting to get tired much more easily and I am slowing down. I am not able to walk as fast or do the same kinds of activities that I could before. Walking up a flight of stairs makes me out of breath. I am also not able to bend over at the waist to pick things up or tie my shoes. My belly gets in the way! It is also harder for me to get and stay comfortable. I am waking up a lot at night because of using the bathroom. Overall, though, I am currently feeling pretty good. I can see that things could deteriorate quickly though! I have been told by many people that the 3^rd trimester is God’s way of preparing you for labor. That after three months of discomfort and all kinds of aches and pains, you are willing to go through just about anything to get the baby out. Haha.

Despite having to slow down, this time in the pregnancy has been a joy! The kicks and movement of little baby girl are now my constant companion. I love feeling her all the time! She is definitely very active. I think she will indeed take after her father in this regard. We can also now see her kicks on the outside of my stomach. Sometimes at night we will sit on the couch and watch my stomach bounce and “pop”. It reminds me of the game “Trouble” where you had to push the bubble and the dice jumped inside. That is what my stomach is doing.

At my most recent doctor visit I had to go through the glucose screening for gestational diabetes. I had to drink a sugary beverage that they gave me about an hour before my appointment. After an hour, they drew some blood to see how my body was breaking down the sugar I had taken.

Unfortunately, the results came back high, so I had to schedule a second, 3 hour screening. I got scheduled for my 3 hour glucose test quickly and did it last Friday morning. I had to start fasting Thursday night so that my blood sugar count would be low at the start of the test. When I arrived for my appointment, they took one vial of blood to check my base glucose level. Then I had to drink a bottle of really sugary liquid as fast as I could. On an empty stomach, this made me feel a little nauseous. It really got the baby moving though! Then I had to stick around for the next 3 hours for them to draw another vial of blood each hour. It was a long morning and I was exhausted afterward. My arm was pretty sore after being pricked 4 times. There were two possible outcomes: 1) everything looks normal. Great! We don't have to do anything else. 2) My blood glucose levels are high.

This indicates that my body is not breaking down sugars the way it should and it is likely I have gestational diabetes. This would mean I will probably need to meet with a nutritionist to talk about ways to manage my blood glucose level. While this wouldn't be ideal (especially with the holidays approaching!), it seemed like it would not be the end of the world. It would not affect the baby too much. One possible side effect could be that the baby has a slightly higher birth weight. This could mean a more complicated delivery. So we were praying that things would come back normal!

We got the results of the test back yesterday and it turned out that all is well! My doctor said my numbers were "beautiful". So we are very happy and relieved. I immediately celebrated by eating a mini snickers bar. :)

Chris has been a great husband through everything. I've been pretty tired since I got back from Massachusetts. Tired + pregnant = weepy! I think I have probably cried at least once every day since last Thursday. Although I don't think he always knows what to do with me during these break downs, Chris has been sensitive and understanding. I even came home to a beautiful bouquet of roses on Friday. This, of course, made me cry. haha. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to give an update. Sorry it got so long! We really appreciate your prayers and support. Thanks for being a part of our pregnancy journey!

My Megan!

2009-10-21T16:03:00.018-05:00

So I wrote this post about 3 weeks ago and never got around to posting it! Oops! Here it is finally!!

This weekend (Oct 17th) was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate my longtime friend, Megan. Megan and I met during our freshman year of college. Since then we have grown closer and closer as friends! She has been a constant source of encouragement, accountability and wisdom. We met in a bible study our freshman year and then lead a bible study together the following year.

Here we are enjoying some hot cocoa at a small group sleep over. Notice the date (3/17/01), over 8 years ago! Crazy. Can you tell we were meant to be best buds? Look at those pants! :)

Megan and I also share a deep love for our Pitt sports! Go Panthers!

Time goes by so fast! Pretty soon, I was getting married! And of course, Megan was a bridesmaid. (8/14/04)

Me with all my bridesmaids.

Next was our friend, Melissa! Megan and I were both bridesmaids. (June 2005)

And now it is Megan!! :) (Oct 17, 2009)

What a beautiful bride!

The happy couple! Josh and Megan McKinley.

Here's a picture of Chris and I from her wedding.

And of course, a bump picture. :) 23 Weeks at this point.

A fantastic blog

2009-10-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to make note of a blog that I have been following frequently. It is fantastic! Great ideas for parents. Even though I am not a parent (yet), I have really enjoy the creative tips and tricks found here. Check it out!

Diapers to Diplomas

Fall Happenings

2009-10-10T07:42:00.012-05:00

There has been a lot happening this fall! We have had something every weekend since the beginning on September!! Here is a brief recap of what the Ansell's have been up to:

Sept 5-6th: Penn State Get-away! We spent the whole weekend in state college and watched the Nittany Lions beat Akron.

Sept 12th: Willard wedding! We watched our friends Randon and Kelly tie the knot!

Sept 19th: Back to Penn State! This time with Marell and Jason. So fun!

Sept 26-27th: Bridal shower weekend! I attended two bridal showers, one in Altoona and one in Somerset for my friends Charity and Megan. Here is a picture of Megan and her bride's maids.

Oct 2-4th: Bridal Shower/Bachelorette weekend. We kidnapped Megan and took her for a girls weekend in Hidden Valley, PA. We even spent some time in Seven Springs at their Fall Festival.

Oct 7-8th: Home in York while recruiting for CCO. Here are some cute pics from home. Including new bump photos. 22 weeks now!!

It's a . . .

2009-09-23T13:07:00.012-05:00

GIRL!

Chris and I learned that we will be welcoming a little baby girl into the Ansell family! (Of course, there is never 100% certainty till the little one is born!!) Poor Chris will be highly outnumbered with me, a baby girl and two girl dogs. I guess he will know how my dad felt (he LOVED it, btw).

Just so you know, we will take suggestions for names, but when we decide on a name, we will be keeping it a secret! We want to be able to announce the name at the birth. So we are going to keep you in a little bit of suspense!! Hehe.

We are so excited! Chris had guessed it would be a girl and I had guessed it would be a boy. We have been going to a lot of weddings lately and Chris said that each time he loves watching the Father/Daughter dance. He was hoping we would have a girl so that he would be able to share that moment with his daughter some day. How precious! He will be such a wonderful father to this little girl!!

We are currently 19.5 weeks and just had our GRAND ultrasound. The whole process took a full hour! The technician measured every bone in the baby's body, the heart beat (we could see all 4 chambers of the heart!), the head and torso, the arms, legs, hands, and feet. It was such a joy! The technician said that everything looked normal. The baby is measuring a little big for our due date, but only by 5 days or so. (How can they tell!!??) So we may be looking more at a Groundhog Day baby then a Valentine’s Day baby. We won’t get the official results back until we go back to our normal doctor in October.

It was so reassuring to be able to see each little part of our baby looking and functioning normally. She is so BEAUTIFUL!! It was amazing watching all four chambers of her heart beat together. Heart rate was about 143 bpm (normal). She had her legs crossed at the ankles most of the time and her arms held up around her face. She continued to move around a lot! (I was preparing myself for an ADHD boy, but what will a hyperactive GIRL look like?? We will need to get her involved in sports right away!) She was waving her arms and stretching her legs. At one point while we were looking at her profile, she YAWNED! What a strange thing to see! Her little mouth opened up so wide! It took us by surprise.

Chris enjoyed watching the tech take the measurements. All the measurements were in cm, but Chris converted them to inches in his head. After he converted the measurements for the lower leg bone (between the knee and the ankle) and the feet, Chris asked, “Do the feet develop faster than the legs?” (He had figured out that the lower leg measured about 1.25 in and the feet measured about 1.5 in.) “Do the legs catch up later?” The tech replied, “No they grow at about the same rate. Your baby just has big feet!” We are hopeful that means that our little girl will be tall, like her daddy. It would be very awkward to be 5’2” and have huge feet! I’m sure I will get used to feeling those size 12 feet jabbing me in the stomach and ribs as she gets bigger and stronger!

The last thing we did was try to determine the sex. The tech got a good look “down there”. The baby seemed to be cooperating for the most part, although I don’t know if she every uncrossed her legs. Chris and I agree that there was no “package”. But more importantly, rather than just relying on the lack of a visible penis to determine gender, we were able to view the labia as well. It looks like 3 bright lines, or a “hamburger bun” if you will. I had looked up pictures on the web before this appointment so that I could know what to expect to see either way. From my amateur understanding of baby anatomy ultrasounds, I agree with the tech’s assessment that the baby is a girl!

So that is our big news! We can’t believe we are about half way through our pregnancy already! Our little girl will be here before you know it! We still have lots to do before she comes, but it will be so fun preparing for her.

A quick update on me before I show you the new baby pictures: I am feeling pretty good these days. I have really popped out or “blossomed” in the last couple of weeks. There is no more hiding this baby! I am sleeping well and haven’t had headaches for awhile now (hooray!). But I am using the bathroom ALL THE TIME!! I am also doing well eating all the different kinds of foods I need to eat for the baby. Chris has been a great pregnancy coach, asking, “What have you eaten today? Let’s make broccoli with dinner!” I am feeling the baby kick and move more consistently. Still feels a little bit like bubbles or popcorn in my belly! It’s still not strong enough for Chris to feel on the outside yet. Here is the latest picture of me:

Week 19.5

Chris says that finding out that he will have a daughter is helping new things to sink in. Until now we were just having “a baby”. Now we are having a daughter!! We definitely have lots to prepare for! I’m so excited to meet our little girl! I can’t believe how attached I am to something that I have never met and still barely feel. It is a miracle that God is using me to grow this precious little girl. I am glad He is in control, because I would have no idea what to do! But He knows! He knew this bundle of joy before the creation of the world. He knows every hair that will be on her tiny head and loves her more than I could ever fathom! That is reassuring for me to remember.

Alright, well, without further ado…

Baby's Profile
You can see the little legs pushing up on the left.

Profile Again
Here you can see the little hand up by her face.

Arms and legs!

Little Feet!

If you would really like to be amazed, check out our youtube video of part of the ultrasound!

Baby Ansell

3,500 Bottles

2009-09-01T19:24:00.007-05:00

That is how much water Chris and other Cornerstone staff and students handed out to incoming freshman. This is a service and outreach activity that Cornerstone does every year. Over the two freshman move in days, staff and students sweep campus in their red t-shirts, offering a friendly smile and a cold beverage. Each bottle of water has a business card attached with information about Cornerstone: the website, meeting time and activities such as the Kick-off Cook Out (more on that in another post).

Like other years, the water give away went really well. People were grateful and many were interested in hearing more about Cornerstone. Several even came over to the church to take a look inside.

Progress

2009-08-19T14:56:00.006-05:00

So some of you may have been wondering what I looked like before I was pregnant. I thought I would put up a picture so you could make comparisons as I continue to post new bump photos. This picture is from right after I stopped dieting/exercise for the Biggest Loser. I stopped when I found out I was pregnant. I had lost about 8 lbs.

Week 6

As you can see.. I've progressed a bit since then...
Week 15

The baby has also progressed since then! When I was 6 weeks, the baby looked like a little bean. Now look at him/her...

Baby Ansell at 14.5 weeks.

I love watching the baby on ultrasound. S/he waves its little arms and legs and moves around all over the place. Right now, the baby is somewhere between the size of a lemon and an orange. It will start growing pretty fast now.

5th Anniversary

2009-08-16T20:54:00.006-05:00

Happy Anniversary! We celebrated our 5th anniversary on August 14th. Phillip, Chris' brother was in town on the 14th and celebrated with us. Chris had to spend the day working, so we started our celebration by going out to eat Friday night at our favorite place, Chilli's.

Out to dinner. Expressing our true feelings.

Phillip headed back to Illinois on Saturday morning and Chris and I spent a lazy morning watching movies, cleaning the house, and napping. It was fabulous! In the afternoon we cleaned up and got ready to continue our celebration. We decided to check out the new Rivers Casino that just opened in Pittsburgh last weekend.

Baby Ansell came along to celebrate. (week 14)

We had dinner at one of the restaurants in the casino called "Grand View Buffet". It was a little pricey, but I suppose that is to be expected. The buffet was all you can eat and included stations for BBQ, American, Asian, Mongolian, and Italian. The atmosphere was very classy, with jazz music playing in the background. You also had a nice view of the Ohio river from your seats. The tables were very closely packed together though and you felt like you were right on top of the people next to you.

After dinner, Chris and I decided to try our hand at the slot machines. The casino floor was pretty large. I don't have any way of guessing how many slots there actually were. I haven't been in a casino in quite a long time. My family went out to Las Vegas when I was in high school, and I think that is the last time I was at a true casino. (Not including casinos on cruise ships). Some of the things were the same as I remember them. There was the chaotic jiggles of various slot machines bombarding you from every angle. There were tons of different types of games, from penny slots to black jack tables. The main difference that I found was that everything is now automated. You no longer put in quarters to play the slots, and when you win, you don't get to hear that satisfying sound of coins falling out of the machine. Instead, everything is digital. You put your money in and you get a certain number of credits. If you win, your credit number goes up. For example, if you were playing a quarter slot and put in $1, you would have 4 credits (basically for plays). Or you can bet up to 3 credits each turn. The more credits you bet, the higher the return if you get matches. It seems like this would make it really easy to keep playing and lose all your money quickly because you no longer have to put in a quarter each time, you just have to push the button. Plus, to end your game on a certain machine you have to "cash out" which means you get a little vouchure to go pick up your winnings elsewhere. The machines don't actually dispense your winnings anymore.

So after walking around a bit and trying to figure out how things worked from watching other people, we got our players club cards and then picked out a couple of machines that we could play next to each other. We each put in $20, figuring that it would be our contribution to the city of Pittsburgh for the evening. I seemed to pick a pretty good machine because at first I was winning a few credits every few turns. Chris was not having as much luck, and lost all of his money pretty quickly. After getting up to around $5 over, I hit a losing streak and ended up with only 9 credits left. I decided to go all in (Max 3 credits) for my last 3 spins. On my second to last spin, I hit it big and received 240 credits back!! That's $60! Wooohooo!! (I know, we are such high rollers!) When the credits finished totaling, I yelled, "Cash out! Cash out!" and got my voucher to claim my winnings.

Me with my winnings. Put in $20, got back $60. Not bad.

Enjoying the river walk outside the casino.

It was a wonderful anniversary celebration.

Lots to Celebrate!

2009-08-13T13:23:00.013-05:00

Today is our 5 year anniversary!! Hooray! I can't believe that I have been married to this wonderful man for 5 years already! It has gone so fast! We've done and seen a lot in our five years together. I thought I would post some of the highlights.

Our wedding day! Aug 14, 2004
Picture taken at Regents Glen.

Shortly after our wedding in August, we moved to Massachusetts where Chris was a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

Aug 2005
Visiting Maine with Sarah's Family.

Aug 2005. Still my favorite anniversary present from Chris!
First Anniversary is paper, so Chris made me a dozen origami flowers!

Aug 2006
Moved to Pittsburgh!

After Chris graduated from seminar in May of 2006, he took a job working for the CCO at Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pa. We spent June and July at new staff training before settling into Pittsburgh in August.

Aug 2007
Enjoying a trip to Phipps Conservatory.

Aug 2008
Welcoming the new class of freshman to Pitt.

Aug 2009
Five years later.
Picture taken at Regents Glen.

So I guess you can see we have not changed that much over the last 5 years. Chris grew out a beard and I grew out my hair. Otherwise, our lives have remained largely the same. This will be the last anniversary that this is true, however. Next August our family pictures will look much different! As we celebrate our 5th anniversary, we are also celebrating 14 weeks of pregnancy!! As of Feb 2010, our lives will never be the same again!

Things have been progressing well. I am happy to be out of the first trimester and into the second. I feel like myself again! As you can tell from the picture, I am starting to show (a little). Most people won't be able to tell the difference, but I sure can! Most of my clothes don't fit anymore and the ones that do I have to button with an elastic band.

We have had several ultrasounds already. We had our first at 6 weeks and were able to detect a heartbeat! The baby was just a little fuzzy bean at that point and the heartbeat was just a little vibrating pixel. Our next ultrasound was at 10.5 weeks. It was so different! The baby actually looked like a baby and was moving around all over the place! The last one was a week later for prenatal genetic screening. The good news is that the screening came back negative for genetic disorders. We loved watching the baby's heartbeat and seeing it wave its little arms and legs around. They measured the heart rate at 150 bpm.

So that is the exciting news from the Ansell house. We truly do have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for! We look forward to keeping you posted.

The Ansells are Big Losers

2009-07-31T19:59:00.005-05:00

It's true! The Ansells are Big Losers! We told you in a previous blog how we were getting healthy and losing weight. We were motivated by a "Biggest Loser" competition taking place in the CCO office. About 15 people participated: 9 guys and 6 women. It was $25 to join and the winner of each category (men/women) would get the pot! The runners up got to keep their money.

Today was the final weigh in. The tension was high, as the competition was pretty fierce. Chris actually had trouble sleeping last night, he was so anxious.

We went into the office early this morning to weigh in. The results were impressive! Chris started out at 178 lbs: A healthy weight, but with room to lose. His final weight as of this morning was an amazing 160 lbs!! Wow! That's 18 lbs lost, or 10% of his body weight. 160 lbs was his goal and he reached it! Way to go, Chris!!

My starting weight was 133 lbs. My final weight was 125.5 lbs. I was really excited to get back down around my pre-marriage weight. That's 7.5 lbs lost or 5.6%

Chris was able to just beat out his biggest competition: two of his good friends, Jonny and Randon. Both started out bigger than Chris and lost about the same weight. Chris had the advantage because he was smaller to start and so his percentage of weight lose was higher. The guys celebrated their weight lose by going out for breakfast at Pamela's (a pancake restaurant here in the burgh.) I also know that Chris intended to spend his day catching up on all the double-stuffed Oreos he has been deprived these last 3 months.

We recieved the final results of the weigh ins this evening and to our surprise, BOTH of us were the biggest losers in our category! So all our hard work paid off. We have really improved the way that we eat and have become much more active as a result of the Biggest Loser. Hopefully we can continue with this healthier life style beyond the competition.

Here is a picture of the new, skinnier guys!

Jonny, Randon, Chris

PSL Summer Softball 2009

2009-07-31T13:15:00.003-05:00

If you have been following our blog for awhile, you may remember our incredible PSL summer softball championship that we won last summer. We were the come from behind team that no one expected to do anything. We started the season 1-3 and ended 3-3, winning the championship in the end!

Well, after that we had high hopes for this summer. Unfortunately, we did not come away with the championship, but we still had a lot of fun. Here is our awesome team!

Meredith's Wedding

2009-07-27T20:07:00.028-05:00

This weekend was wonderful! Meredith, Chris' younger sister, got married. The whole weekend was great because it was spent with family. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and Meredith was a STUNNING bride! Here are some highlights:

The Rehearsal:

Rehearsing: Meredith and mother, Susannah.

The happy couple

The Box Hill Club. The same place that Chris and I had our rehearsal dinner 5 years ago.

5 Years and going strong! :)

The Big Day:

Arriving at the wedding.

Staying cool with my dad.

Chris walks Lauren down the isle.

The beautiful bride!

Here she comes!

The new Mr. and Mrs. Jester!

"Hooray!"

The Cane Family
From Left: Phil Ansell, Dan Cane, Susannah Cane,
Meredith Jester, Pat Jester, Sarah Ansell, Chris Ansell

The Ansell Family:
From Left: Phil Ansell, Susan Ansell, Blair Ansell,
Meredith Jester, Pat Jester, Sarah Ansell, Chris Ansell

The wedding party

The cake! Chocolate, peanut butter! yum!!

My parents: Ron and Barb Kirkwood

Brothers: Phil and Chris

Kirkwood clan again

Aunts and Uncles:
Uncle Joe, Aunt Patty, Aunt Audrey, Uncle Mike

Susan and Family:
Blair, Meredith, Mitch and Theresa

With the bride and groom!

Some proud parents.

Siblings: Chris, Meredith and Phil Ansell

Love these Ansell boys!

Garden Progress 2

2009-07-27T19:37:00.011-05:00

I thought I would give a quick update on the garden (specifically for my dad). It is getting so big! It is also starting to produce yummy veggies.

But here is what the garden looked like when we planted it back in June:

Before

Now

Beans

Sugar Snap Peas

Broccoli

Tomato

Zucchini

Sunflower

Bible Study Cook Out

2009-07-18T19:42:00.008-05:00

I love the ladies of my bible study! They are amazing! This weekend we got together for a cookout at the Miller's house. Here are some of the fun pictures we took together.

Alicia, Jana, Debbie, me, Megan, Steph, Emily

Engaged ladies! Alicia (August) and Megan (October)

The Boys. Left to Right.
Andy (with Joshua - married to Emily), Josh (Engaged to Megan),
Ryan (married to Jana), Chris (Mine!), Josh (Engaged to Alicia)

Attic Access

2009-07-17T20:39:00.008-05:00

There have been lots of home projects going on here recently! The latest was to put in a drop down attic staircase. Until now, the only way we could get up in the attic was through a hatch in our bathroom closet. Needless to say, we did not go up there often. We need more space for storage. Right now our third bedroom is being used as a large closet. Now that we have an attic access, we will be able to begin storing things up there instead! I'm very excited about this.

Chris did all the work in one day with the help of a friend from church, Dan Hinchman. Here are some of the pictures.

Hallway ceiling before.

The hole is cut!

Dan is attaching the stairs in the attic.

All done!

We still need to make it look nice by putting framing along the outside of the stairs. We also need to put plywood down in the attic so we can begin storing things there. This was a big step forward. Great work, Chris! He is becoming quite the handyman!

Puppies in the Pool

2009-07-15T19:03:00.003-05:00

So the puppies have been having some fun playing in their pool. Just thought you might get a laugh out of them!

A wonderful weekend

2009-07-12T20:05:00.007-05:00

This weekend we had company: Chris' dad, Blair, and his wife, Susan, were visiting. They had not been to our house in about two years! It was wonderful to have them and we had a great time. The weekend went so fast!

When they arrived on Saturday we took a trip to Lowes. Chris' dad had agreed to help Chris replace our kitchen faucet. Our faucet on our kitchen sink has been leaking for probably close to a year now. It would seep out the back and end up wetting our entire counter top every time we did dishes.

Here is the old faucet:

Chris works under the sink to remove the old faucet and plumbing. He also replaced all the old cooper pipping with new plastic ones and flexible hoses for the faucet.

The new faucet!! Beautiful!! It even has a sprayer! So exciting!!

While Chris and his Dad worked on the sink, Susan and I relaxed, took naps, chatted, and knitted. When they were finished we all went out to dinner at The Melting Pot. We had never been there before and it was AMAZING!!! I have never had another eating experience like it. You get a 4 course meal, starting with a cheese fondue, then a salad. The main course is a platter of different raw meats that you cook yourself in oil. Then you finish off with your choice of chocolate fondue. The whole experience took about 2.5 hours. It was really fun and delicious! We were all stuffed afterward. It also gave lots of time for catching up!

When we got home we were all pretty exhausted, so we got ready for bed early. We were all just getting into bed when there was suddenly a set of huge explosions outside. It was a fireworks show that was being put on for the Swissvale Community Days celebration happening at the Middle School behind our house. We all sat on our guest bed and watch the fireworks out our back window. It lasted a good 15 minutes or so. The puppies were not thrilled by all the noice. It was a really special ending to the night.

Sunday we got up and went out to breakfast at Pamela's, which is a really popular breakfast place here in Pittsburgh. Afterward, we had some free time before church, so we showed them around Pitt's campus. Unfortunately, many of the buildings including the Cathedral and Union were closed. But we went into Posvar Hall and saw where home plate from Forbes Field used to be. We also took pictures by the panther.

Church was also great and then it was time for them to head out to visit Grandma Ansell in Somerset on their way home. It was a really wonderful weekend and we hope we can do it again sometime!!

Puppies turn 3!

2009-07-07T17:40:00.004-05:00

Monday was Charis and Pneuma's 3rd Birthday! They have definitely started to calm down, but are still full of energy. Here is a video of them playing with their new Kongs.

Garden Progress

2009-07-07T17:35:00.003-05:00

Here's just a quick update. The garden has been growing! Here is an updated picture. The first two rows are beans, then sugar snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, and along the fence are sunflowers.

OBX

2009-07-07T17:14:00.014-05:00

For vacation this summer, we had the opportunity to join Chris' Dad and his Dad's wife, Susan's, family down at the OBX. Neither of us has spent time in the OBX before, so it was a great trip. Here are some of the highlights.

Checking out the dunes.

On top of the dunes. My shirt says "My husband rocks"

Chris and his Dad at the Wright Brother's memorial.

Spending an afternoon at the pool. That is our house in the background.

Chris doing one of his favorite beach activities.

Chris' other favorite beach activity: puzzles!

Our whole crew at the beach. There were 15 of us all together.

Enjoying the ocean.

Ice cream!

The Greenfield Glide

2009-06-17T13:19:00.004-05:00

As part of our workout/fitness training Chris and I have been running! Well, mostly I have been running and Chris has been using our elliptical, which is pretty similar but lower impact. I am just starting to get to the point where I would consider calling myself a runner. I have been running about 10-12 miles a week. I like to say that I hate running, but I love its affects. You feel so good after a long run. It is a natural high. It makes you forget about the pain you just experienced. Plus it is the best way to maintain a healthy weight combined with dieting. I've seen the pounds drop off pretty easily.

Our friend, Nick is also a runner, more so than I have ever been. He used to run cross country in high school. We were talking about running one night and he mentioned how he had just gotten an ad for this 5K in his area. He said he was thinking about it and invited us to do it too. So we thought, what the heck? Let's give it a shot!

Last year we did the "Run Around the Square" which is a 5K in our area. 5K is 3.1 miles for those who may be wondering. We had great plans of training for the Run last August, but never got around to it. We ran it anyway and did ok. Nothing to brag about, but at least we finished! Here are our results from last year:
Overall place, Age Group place, Names, Age, Location, Time, Pace (min/mi).

983    91  Chris Ansell, 26, Pittsburgh, PA        35:55   11:35
1020   90  Sarah Ansell, 26, Pittsburgh, PA        37:15   12:01

On to this year! So the greenfield glide is a tough race. It is through Shenley park and the second half of the course is entirely up hill. Click here to check out a MAP
We ran the course a few times before the day of the race and did well. So we felt ready and prepared to give it a try. This is what Chris and I looked like during the race: :) haha.

And here were our results for this year:
Age Group place, Names, Age, Overall place, Time, Pace (min/mi).


14    CHRISTOPHER ANSELL      27      150     29:20.40    9:28/M
10    SARAH ANSELL            27      165     29:53.00    9:38/M

Things to do with your dad and a day off!

2009-06-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

I took the day off of work today to finally plant my garden! My dad came into town to help. He is an expert gardener (after many years of experience). I think he secretly misses being able to plant one himself. I'm so excited to see how my garden will grow! Here are some pictures of the process.

Before:

Just an unused portion of yard with lots of weeds and overgrown shrubs.

Starting to till up the soil.
If you are wondering, that big black bin to the left is my compost bin!

Pneuma wants to know why she can't be in the garden!
Dad plants marigolds around the perimeter.

Planting beans! Mom would be so proud!

All done! The most important ingredient: WATER!

Trying to set up a timed picture, but the puppies attacked!!

After:

Ta da! A hard day's work! So proud!
Look at the beautiful trimmed hedges (by Dad).
And I'm super excited to be able to put my birdbath up again without the fear of puppies knocking it over!

So after Dad left, I will still feeling productive so I completely overhauled our front slopes as well. I planted inpatients, which you can't really see, but will get huge over the summer.

I love the size of our backyard. We put in this big garden and there is still tons of room for doggies and other eventual landscaping!

Anyway, Thanks again, Dad! It looks awesome! Couldn't have done it without you!

Ansells 2.0

2009-06-01T13:59:00.002-05:00

The Ansell Family is reinventing itself! I'm very excited that after almost 5 years of marriage (officially in August), the Ansell's are working to make changes for the better. I'm not sure why now. I think many of the changes happening in our lives are largely due to the fact that we have now lived in one place for more than a couple years. Our first few years of marriage were characterized by transition. In June it will officially be three years since Chris graduated from Gordon-Conwell and took a job working for the CCO at Bellefield Pres Church in Pittsburgh. It has now been officially 2 1/2 years since we bought our house. Having some stability has given us a chance to figure out how we want to live our lives here.

So here are some of the great things that are happening...

1) We've committed to recycling! The neighborhood where we live does not have a good recycling program. Until recently, I had been using this as an excuse to be lazy and just throw away most of our recyclables. No longer! Now we are taking all of our plastic, glass, aluminum and paper to a place between our house and my work. Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, but I know that the amount of trash we are putting out each week has significantly decreased! Also, it's way better for our planet.

2) I'm toying around with composting! This is something very new and very exciting for me. I just recently took a class on composting and learned about how easy and beneficial it is. I even got my own compost bin. This is another great way that Chris and I are trying to cut back on our waste and minimize our carbon footprint!

3) We're planting our own garden! I'm very excited to be growing some of our own vegetables. Our crop will include: pumpkins, sunflowers, beans, zucchini, sugar snap peas and broccoli! My dad came out this weekend to help plant the garden. Read more about this in the next post!

4) We're getting healthy! I am learning more and more that I am a person strongly driven by competition. Without it, I tend to become lazy. Well, some of our friends within the CCO are joining together in a "Biggest Loser" challenge. The idea is to be the person to lose the most weight over a 3 month period. Everyone laughs when they hear that we are doing this. I guess people think we don't have any weight to lose. But we could both lose about 10 lbs to be healthier. So I'm working with my sister, the healthy eating/work out fanatic to get us in shape. Our challenge ends July 31st, so we'll let you know how it goes.

5) We're investing in friendships! We finally feel like we have a great group of friends that we can invest in. This has to be one of the hardest transitions when moving. It took about a year when we moved to Massachusetts and it has taken a couple years here as well. But now we wish we had more time so that we could spend it with more people.

So there you have it. After 5 years, 5 areas we are investing in. Hopefully it will go well.

PSL Spring Softball

2009-05-28T14:03:00.007-05:00

We just finished our third season of PSL softball. This was our second spring to play. Many of our team mates returned from last spring and last summer, but we also added some new faces as well. We ended up making the playoffs, but finishing the season, 2-3. It's still better than last spring when we went 1-4 and didn't even make the playoffs (4 out of 5 teams make it!) Regardless of the outcome, we all had a great time. Here are some pictures of us from the season:

Faith's First Communion

2009-05-05T14:19:00.017-05:00

My little cousin, Faith, received her first communion the first weekend in May. Chris and I traveled with my family out to Michigan to be there for her. It was so much fun! We don't get to see that part of the family very often, so it was a great treat!

Here is a puzzle for you: Figure out what "degree" of cousin I would be to Faith. My dad and Jeff are first cousins. So what does that make the kids?

Grandma Kirkwood (sisters) Ruth Spangler
/------------------------\
Ron Kirkwood + Barb...................Jeff Fosdick + MaryLynn
/-------------------------------\
Sarah and Emily......................Matthew, Jennifer, and Faith

We have a fun history with the Fosdick family. Jeff was in my parents wedding. Then Emily and I were in Jeff and MaryLynn's wedding. Then Jeff's kids, Matthew and Jennifer, were in my wedding! We'll have to work the next generation to somehow line up as well.

Anyway, back to first communion. If you are not familiar with the Catholic tradition of first communion, here are a few insights. First communion is a huge celebration for both children and families. A child usually takes their first communion in about 2nd grade. Little girls get to dress up like brides.

Here are some pictures:

Little Faith. Isn't she adorable!

Our family with the Fosdick kids.
Chris, Dad, Mom, me
Matthew, Faith, Jennifer

Outside the church.

Matthew leads the procession.

Here comes the bride!

MaryLynn and Faith

Faith with other kids in her class.

Celebrating afterward. Faith with her cake.

We all went back to the Fosdick's house to celebrate. There was plenty of food and plenty of people. I would not be surprise if there was 50 or so people there at one point or another. Faith was such a gracious hostess. She spent most of her time checking in with people and making sure everyone was comfortable and felt welcomed. She is not your typical 8 year old! Each time someone new arrived, she stopped whatever she was doing to run up and thank them for coming. I love those kids and wish we could see them more often!

Celebrating Easter

2009-04-13T09:57:00.012-05:00

What a wonderful weekend! There were so many great things that happened this weekend. Having Friday off was wonderful and rejuvenating. Chris and I basically laid around all day and were lazy! We spent the day in our pajamas watching "Seven Pounds" and playing way too much video games.If you haven't seen "Seven Pounds" yet, I would highly recommend it. It is really moving and kind of raises some interesting questions. I can't really tell you about it at all though because it would give away the movie. Also, Will Smith is an incredible actor. This is one of my favorite movies with him.
Our video game of choice right now is "Castle Crashers" that Chris downloaded via XBox live. It is reminiscent of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade game. There are four different knights that you can play as and each has their own special power (As you can see in the picture). It is a pretty fun game even for me, who enjoys some good button mashing. I'm the orange character who can shoot fire. Chris plays with the blue (ice) knight and has of coarse already maxed out his character to like level 79. Insane. Anyway, most of you probably don't care about our video game addiction.

Saturday was also lots of fun. We had our first PSL softball game. That's right, we are back for our second spring season! You may remember that our summer team won the championship this summer! (I'm not gloating, just reminding you.) However, we didn't have huge expectations for this season. You never know what your team is going to look like until you actually play together. Maybe we should start having higher expectations. We won our first game 13-3. The game ended after 5 innings due to the mercy run rule, since we were up by 10 after 5 innings. Sweet! We'll see what the season holds. The rest of Saturday was spent preparing for Sunday.

HAPPY EASTER! Christ is RISEN! This year we opened up our home to college students for Easter. We invited anyone who didn't have a place to go to come to our place for dinner. The deadline to sign up was the wednesday beforehand. We had 13 students sign up! I was so excited to host so many in our home! So I went shopping on Wednesday and got what I thought would be enough to feed 15. Saturday we had another student ask if they could come as well. Sure! Then Saturday night we got another email.. two more students wanted to come... all boys too. And then another student wanted to join. Now I was worried, we were up to 17 students, plus Chris and I! I wasn't sure I had enough food and it was too late to get more. So Chris and I decided we didn't want to turn any students away. We would just pray that God would multiply the food we had.

After our church service Sunday morning, I drove 3 students to our house to help me finish up the last few details of dinner, while Chris took the bus with the other 14 students. The ladies who helped me make dinner were precious. They did a great job! (Even though they didn't think so.) I couldn't have gotten everything ready without them.

Students hang out in our living room before dinner.

Dinner is ready! Yum!

Students dig in!

The line is still going! Will there be enough food???

After all the students had eaten and had seconds there was still a ton of food left! Chris and I will be eating leftovers for at least a week. God certainly heard our prayers. We had our own loaves and fishes experience! God is good! Our Saviour lives! Maybe this seems silly to you, but I truly believe that we experienced an Easter miracle. I'm going to keep thanking God for it!

A few students stuck around after dinner to play video games (of coarse!).

It was a truly wonderful weekend. I was so blessed by having a day off, celebrating a softball victory and hosting so many in our home for Easter. I had such a good time, I think I'll do it again next year! :)

Twilight Party

2009-04-06T12:37:00.007-05:00

So, some of you may be familiar with the "Twilight" book series that is really popular right now. There is also a movie that was in theaters and recently came out on DVD. If you are not, let me just give you a brief overview. "Twilight" is a love story about a human girl who falls in love with a vampire. It has been hugely popular, especially with young women. Well, I am no exception and neither are many of the college women Chris works with! So one of these college ladies and I started talking about this idea of having a "Twilight" viewing party to celebrate the release of the movie on DVD. So I suggested that we have it our my house and we could watch it in high definition. Also, I never pass up an opportunity to have people over!

No party would be complete without themed snacks!
Here we have "blood bites" and vampire cookies.
They are bite-sizes red velvet cupcakes with icing and sugar cookies filled with strawberry jam.

Another picture of the food and drink.
Do you sense the theme here?

Lovely Twilight ladies.

Nick and Erika's Wedding

2009-04-06T10:24:00.014-05:00

This weekend was our dear friends, Nick and Erika's wedding. It was such a great time. I (Sarah) have known Nick since college. We met through Cornerstone when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman. I have always considered him a good friend. He was a source of friendship and encouragement during some pretty hard times for me. He always had some Audio Adrenaline lyrics ready to cheer me up. I was (and still am) very blessed to know him. It has been a joy for Chris and I to continue getting to know Nick and Erika since we moved back to Pittsburgh. I can only say wonderful things about Erika as well. Since I have met her, I have been so impressed with her caring personality and maturity. She is wonderful to be around. I look forward to continuing to get to know them better as a couple now.

Here are some picture from their wedding and rehearsal.

The Bridesmaids

Groom and Groomsmen

"Here comes the Bride!"

Practice, practice, practice

Rehearsal dinner. Girl friends.

Guy friends.

And the Big Day:

Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey!!

At the reception. Chris and I did the scripture reading and prayer.

With the happy couple.

More House Projects!

2009-03-30T11:09:00.015-05:00

Well, it's March and that means that Chris recently went away on Spring break! So if you follow this blog pretty regularly, you know what that means: PAINTING!! Hooray! This project took a little bit longer than I anticipated, but I think the outcome was well worth the effort.

My latest project was the upstairs hallway and staircase. I had taken the carpet off the stairs previously and started the painting process. Here are some before and after pictures:

Before: Looking up the staircase from the living room with the handrail removed.
After: Walls painted (Golby Desert), stairs painted and handrail painted and attached.

Before: Looking down the stairs from the hallway.
After: Walls painted, handrails painted.
Before: Looking from the stairs at the bathroom and guest bedroom.
After:
Before: The hallway, and two bedrooms.
After:

Now, I still want to paint the doors, so I guess this project is not totally finished. There is also a handrail at the bottom of the stairs that I want to paint as well. Eventually I would like to put carpet in the hallway and bedrooms as well. Also the stairs need to be refinished to match the wood in our living room.

So there it is! What shall I paint next??

1) Bathroom?
2) 3rd bedroom?
3) Repaint wall in Living room that I dont' like?

Winter fun

2009-02-10T20:24:00.011-05:00

We got a lot of snow a couple weeks ago. It was nice to finally be able to get out and enjoy it! The puppies love the snow. We spent a fun afternoon playing in the back yard.

Pneuma gets a face full of snow!

There is a park near our house. We went cross country skiing on some of the trails there.

California Dreaming

2009-02-09T12:30:00.034-05:00

Wow! It has been so long since I posted! So sorry! Well, there is a lot to catch up on... so here we go! After my last post, I headed off to sunny California to visit my sister, Emily. Hooray! It was a fantastic trip that can not truly be described in a blog, but I will do my best.

I left Pittsburgh on a Friday afternoon at 2:04 pm local time, with a local temperature of seven degrees! It was a long day of traveling. After a short stop over in Minnesota, I arrived in LA at 7:00 PM west coast time (10:00 PM Eastern). The eight hours goes by quickly though, when you have something so exciting to look forward to!

Emily was there waiting for me when I exited the terminal. Let's just say there was excitement to spare! Despite the long day of traveling, I was pumped! We spent the next two hours fighting traffic on the 405 trying to make it back to Van Nyes where Emily lives. It was a great time though! I was overwhelmed by the sights: motorcyclists that drive between rows of traffic, large glass pillars that change colors, the amount of traffic, AND the 60 degree temperature difference! Emily was thrilled to be able to use the car pool lane. The time went quickly as we shared stories about what has happening in our lives and planned what our weekend together would look like.

The next morning, I was up bright and early, showered and ready to go! I loved stepping out of the house in shorts and a tshirt and basking in the warm sun. I had almost forgotten what the sun looks like in Pittsburgh! It should be noted at this point, that while I packed my own suitcase of things, Emily ended up dressing me most of the trip! It's a good thing, because I don't think I would have blended in as well otherwise. :)

Above: "Aaaahhhh! The sun!"

Our first stop in my whirlwind tour of LA was Santa Monica:

On the pier in Santa Monica.

This was such a great start to the trip. We spent some time walking around the pier, checking out the little shops and things. Then we spent over an hour just walking up and down the beach along the water. The day was so perfect and warm. I could have stayed there for a long, long time.

Standing in the Pacific Ocean!

There is a shop on the pier called "The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company". I think it was just a t-shirt type place. I actually forget already. I don't think it was a restaurant. Anyway, they have this bench outside with a briefcase and box of chocolates and plaster shoes you can put your feet into. So of coarse we did!

Me being Forest Gump

Love my sister!

For lunch, we went to a cute little place called the "Lazy Daisy".

Lazy Daisy

Feeling right at home! Heinz ketchup (manufactured in Pittsburgh) in LA. :)

After lunch we were "headed for Hollywood, baby!" No auditions necessary! :) On the way there, the best thing happened. As we were stopped at a traffic light at Hollywood Blvd, this big black truck pulled up behind us. "Sarah, if you turn around right now, it will make your day!" Emily told me. I looked to find that the truck was COVERED in Steelers' stuff. By chance (or fate!) we ended up parked in the same garage as the truck. So of coarse I had to get a picture with it!

Steeler Nation is strong in LA!

As we walked down Hollywood Blvd, we took in all the sights. The stars lining the sidewalk were cool. We even found one for the Screen Actors Guild, or which Emily is now a member!

Emily is a SAG card owner!

Down the Blvd a little further is the Chinese Theater. It was packed. Mostly the crowd was made up of tourists, like myself who were just checking out all the famous locations. Some of the people were actors, dressed up in different costumes, trying to get you to pay them to take a picture with them. Some of the costumes were pretty good. Some of them were not any better than cheap Halloween costumes.

Across the street from the Chinese Theater.

The Chinese Theater.

Doing what tourists must do! Hands in the hand prints.

My hands are the same size as Julie Andrews! That's about all we have in common though. :(

Lastly, we walked past the Kodak theater (where they film American Idol) and through a shopping area to a place where you can see the "Hollywood" sign on the hill.

The Hollywood sign is out there on the hill.

Having seen the important things in Hollywood, we headed back to Emily's place to get cleaned up for a night out! Chris gave me money for my birthday for Emily and I to go out to a fancy dinner in LA. We went to a trendy place called "Firefly". It had amazing atmosphere. The place was pretty much all black with red highlights and candle light everywhere. There was an open fireplace in the middle of the dining area. The food was also amazing! I had a steak that was cooked to perfection. For dessert, baked Alaska! So good. What made this time even better was that Emily and I just got to continue to talk and be open with each other. It really amazes me how close we can be, being four years different in age. I think of everything, this was my favorite night because I felt like we connected on a level that not many people ever get to enjoy with another person. I love my sister! :)

Ready to go out! Dressed again by Emily. :)

The big excitement for the evening was that after dinner, Emily and I were going to meet with her boyfriend, Ben. It was sister meets boyfriend time! It was super cute because Emily was all nervous about it. It was sweet. I could tell she really liked this guy and hoped I would too. There was nothing to worry about though. Ben is great and easy to like! We met him at this little bar in Santa Monica close to where he lives. It was loud and crowded there though, so we ended up spending most of our time in the diner next door.

Me, Emily and Ben!

The next day was more low key. We did a ton on Saturday, so Sunday we took it a little slower. After taking our time getting ready in the morning, we headed off to the Getty, which is a huge art museum. Both Emily and I are admittedly not very artistic. We don't "get it". But the Getty itself is a sight to be scene. Almost the whole museum is open. Only the exhibits are indoors. We spent the morning browsing around here.

At the Getty, overlooking LA.

The Gardens at the Getty.

Emily and I in the gardens.

After a couple of hours back at Emily's place where I took a much needed nap, Emily and I headed out yet again. This time we were going to a place that I had found and was taking Emily along to. The Sunday I was in LA just happened to be the weekend of the AFC championship. So I had looked up the location of a Steelers bar online before I had left Pittsburgh. If you don't know what a Steelers bar is, see below***. Emily is not much of a football fan, but she was a good sport!

The Steel Pitt in LA.

This is the only time I dressed Emily!

Loving the fact that I am surrounded by maybe 100 Steeler fans in LA!

It was such a fun experience to witness the Steelers win the AFC championship alongside these non-Pittsburghers. Some of them had really fun stories of how they were connected to Pittsburgh. Most had lived there at some point or grown up in Pittsburgh.

Our last adventure of the evening was going to church at Mosiac. This is Erwin McManus' church in LA. Emily attends their sunday evening service. Erwin wasn't there that week, but it was still a great experience. The church meets in a night club in downtown LA. We met up again with Ben and I also got to meet his brother.

The two sisters and two brothers.

When it was all over, I felt totally fulfilled and was happy to return home. It was just enough time to get away and feel like I had experienced LA well. I was sad to say goodbye to Emily, but I was also excited to get back home and see Chris and my puppies again. So that is my LA experience! I know this is long, but this doesn't even describe everything that happened. I tried to stick to the highlights. I hope you enjoyed it!

*** Steeler bars are bars that are spread all over the world where Steeler fans can gather to cheer on their team! (YES! There really are that many Steelers fans all over the world!) These bars originated around the time that the Steel industry declined in Pittsburgh. Native Pittsburghers had to leave and spread across the country looking for work. As they left, they took the love for their Steelers with them.

Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!

2009-01-15T14:28:00.009-05:00

Sooo. . . I'm super excited because I am heading to sunny California this weekend to spend time with my sister!! I can't wait. The only downside is that I will probably not get to watch the hated Ravens take on the Steelers this Sunday! But don't worry! I will be toting my Black and Gold with me! Anyway, this got me thinking about the last time the Steelers' won the Super Bowl. So I thought I would post some pictures to try to help them in their quest this year.

We were living in Massachusetts at the time.

We couldn't get real Terrible Towels, so we had to make or own. Not bad, right?

We had all our friends over for a super bowl part! Black and Gold, baby!

Hooray for friends!

More wonderful friends! I miss all these ladies!

Dog pile??

Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!

When Hippo's away . . .

2009-01-11T09:02:00.008-05:00

So it has become a tradition for me to do house projects while Chris (AKA Hippo) is away. He is not as excited by projects as I am. Plus I tend to like to do them myself anyway and get frustrated easily when working with others, so it all works out for the best!

Anyway, Chris was away this weekend for a leadership retreat with his students so it was my time to get to work! I had been putting this off for quite a while, afraid of what the stairs might look like under the carpet. I finally decided to give it a try. Here are the results!

Charis relaxes on the stairs with the lovely green carpeting.

Carpet's gone! This took FOREVER! There were nails and staples all over the place that had to be removed. Plus the carpet pad was disintegrating which made it messy to get up.
But I'm not done!

I'm actually not totally done yet. I need to do one coat of paint. This is actually just two layers of priming. But it will look pretty much the same when it is done. Also, I plan on sanding and refinishing the steps so that the wood matches the rest of our hard wood flooring eventually. I think I'll need a little more time when it is time to do that.

What do you think?

On a humorous note, I only got about half way done pulling up the carpeting on Friday night. When it was time to go upstairs to bed, Pneuma was not sure about the change in the stairs. She wouldn't go past the carpet line!

Happy New Year/Birthday!

2009-01-07T10:32:00.024-05:00

Happy 2009! A new year, another year older for me! 27 this year. Wohoo! Getting up there :) Close to 30 as my Mom pointed out. (Thanks, Mom).

So it's been awhile since my last post. I apologize. I have been informed that the masses are getting restless for a update (Dad!).

So here is what has been happening! This is the first year since we have been married that we have celebrated NYE/My birthday in our own home. So I thought it might be fun to look back and see what we have been doing other years before this. Here's a run down:

2004/05 - (23!) York, PA - I think we went out to dinner at Outback with both families and then to see "Phantom of the Opera" in theaters and watched the ball drop on Nancy Ave.

I made my own cake... haha!

2005/06- (24!) Harrisburg, PA - Had some martini's with my family, watched Harry Potter on I-Max, and watch the Strawberry drop in Strawberry square.

2006/07- (25!) Urbana conference in St Louis. Brought in the New Year worshiping God with 20,000 other people! Awesome!

Kind of a weird picture, but I say it is because we are "on fire" from the Holy Spirit! :)

2007/08- (26!) Out with friends in Pittsburgh.

Cupcakes for my birthday!

All the Pitt Ladies and their Penn State Boys! :)

2008/09- (27!) HOME! This year we had some friends over to our house. We made a bunch of food including fondue (Thanks, Susannah). It was really fun to make the fondue, maybe a new NYE tradition? We'll see.

Enjoying the food!

Chocolate Fondue covered Oreos! Yum!

Trying to open the bottle of sparkling cidar!

And of course, some Rock Band!

My best friend, Megan! I just realized I have celebrated the last 3 New Years/Birthdays with her in all these different places! She is the best!

Nick!

Megan and boyfriend, Josh!

Me and my love! He is the best part of the last 5 years!

Happy New Year! Hope 2009 is fantastic! :)

Bellefield Christmas Party

2008-12-18T16:18:00.010-05:00

This week was the staff/session Christmas Party. All of the staff members and elders gathered together in our "holiday finest" to celebrate the season. Chris is staff and I am an elder. The party was at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. With all the years I have been in Pittsburgh, I have never been inside. It is a ritzy place!

Don't you want to go to a church with such a beautiful group of staff/elders?

Chris, looking suave. He's cleans up well! People didn't recognize him. :)~

Next years Christmas card picture?

Some of the ladies. Meg, me, Jessica.

The amazing VanDykes.

My beautiful friend, Meg and me.

Meg and I with Jan Brown, the pastor's wife. She is also wonderful!

d-group

2008-12-18T16:13:00.005-05:00

Me, Elaina, Lois, Anna

These are the lovely ladies that I have been "discipling" the last semester. I use quotes because they are really teaching each other and I am just a facilitator. They don't really need me! But I am blessed to be working with them. Aren't they beautiful?

We will miss Anna next semester as she will be studying in Spain!! How exciting!

Decorating for Christmas!

2008-12-18T16:09:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year. I can't believe it is only a week until Christmas. Well, it doesn't feel like it outside right now. I'm guessing it's in the 40's today. Oh well. I'm still hoping for a White Christmas! Here are some pictures of our decorating for Christmas.

Our tree! Sorry it's a little blurry.

Our cozy fireplace and stockings. Notice the paw stockings! Charis is right at home.

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T20:33:00.013-05:00

What a fantastic weekend! Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to enjoy with family. This year we split our time between York and Baltimore. As you may have read in my previous note, we spent Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning with my parents in York before heading down to Baltimore to spend with Chris' Mom's family. I took a bunch of picture so here are some of the best:

Dad, me and Mom on Thanksgiving day. We didn't even plan on coordinating like this! :)

The family, minus Emily.

With temporary sister, Ann-Katherine.

We arrived in Baltimore around 1:00 pm and checked into our hotel, Henderson's Wharf. It was a pretty amazing place. Chris' whole family was staying there, besides his Uncle John and his family who live in Baltimore. We met up with Chris' family and headed over to Uncle John's place. In total there were 24 of us present! It was Gammy (Chris' grandmother), her four kids (John, Patty, Susannah, and Audrey), their spouse (Chris, Joe, Dan, and Mike), their kids, and even a few great grand kids, plus Pat (Meredith's fiance), who will be part of the family in July. It has been a long time since everyone was able to get together.

Thursday evening we went out to dinner at Louisiana, a really nice restaurant not far from John's house. The food was amazing! I don't think I have ever had a better filet mignion before. It was great, but a part of me missed having a home cooked turkey!

Friday morning we met with a photographer who took some group pictures of everyone as well as individual family photos. Hopefully I will be able to get those soon and post them. Chris and I also wanted to get some nice pictures of the two of us, so Chris' brother Phillip took some for us back at the hotel. Here are the best:

After our own photo shoot, we joined the rest of the family shopping in town. After lunch at a local pizza place, it was back to the hotel to relax for a bit. Football was on! Pitt was playing West Virginia! Chris and Phillip watched in our room and I opted to watch while on the tread mill! Pitt won! Wooohoo!

After that it was back to Uncle John's for some more family time and dinner. Here are some more pictures from that evening:

Chris and his brother, Phillip.

On Uncle John's balcony overlooking Inner Harbor.

The Ansell "kids". Me, Chris, Meredith and Phillip.

God Hates . . .

2008-11-30T19:44:00.008-05:00

Some of you may be familiar with Westboro Baptist Church. They are a group of extremist better known as the "God Hates Fags" Church. The head "pastor" of this church, Fred Phelps, has become famous for his heartless and absurd remarks after 9/11. To learn more about this group just google 'God Hates Fags' and you'll be amazed at what this group stands for. Anyway, recently, this group came to Pittsburgh to protest a bunch of different things, including Katherine Baker Knoll's funeral, the Crotia, Italian, and French Embasses, and Pitt's campus.

Protestors from Westboro picket Pitt's campus:

Chris and the staff and students of Cornerstone decided that this was a great chance to love Pitt as Christ would. Student groups like Rainbow Alliance came out to protest the protests. Yelling back and forth at each other from opposite street corners. Cornerstone went a different route. Instead of making signs and yelling, they created a "Peanuts"-like booth with the words, "Disagree? We do." Written over it. They had bibles that students could look at, since both sides of the protest were taking bible verses grossly out of context. They made themselves available for anyone on either side to talk to and even handed out hot tea and chocolate.

One student came up and asked, "Are you guys the REAL Christians?" They were able to have some really good conversations with students. We may never know what kind of impact the booth had on students. It may not have really even been noticed. The best case scenario is that a few students heard the truth about Christ. The worst case scenario is that students saw Cornerstone as a 'tolerant' Christian group.

Just checking in

2008-11-22T09:35:00.008-05:00

So there is not too much going on here right now. Chris and I are looking forward to the up coming holidays. This year will be the first year we will actually be heading back to York for Thanksgiving since we have been married. Our first two Thanksgivings were spent in Massachusetts and our 3rd and 4th Thanksgiving were hosted here in our own home. It's hard to believe that this will be our 5th Thanksgiving together as husband and wife! You would think we would have some kind of routine down by now. Not nearly. Oh well. The holidays are always a little tricky when you have three sets of family to see (Chris' parents are divorced and both remarried) all in the same town!

This year we will be spending Wednesday night/Thursday morning with my parents in York before we head down to Baltimore for Thursday and Friday to spend with Chris' entire family: gammy, aunts, uncles, cousins and all! This huge family get together happens for Chris' family every 4 years. We were not able to be a part of the last one because we had just gotten married and moved to Massachusetts! I'm looking forward to being a part of this one. The family has hired a photographer to come and take pictures of everyone. Last time they did this, Chris and I were not able to be there and they tried to photoshop us in later. It wasn't the most professional looking edit job.

Recently my small group celebrated two birthdays! Debbie and Steph have birthdays within a week of eachother so we had a party!

Birthday girls! Debbie and Steph!

My wonderful small group. LOVE these ladies! They are so amazing!
Me (with Ben) Debbie, Steph, Megan and Emily.

I just got a few more pictures from my trip to Massachusetts. Here is me with some of the little men I got to meet while there.

Caleb and I get to know each other. He's deciding if I am ok or not.

He decided I was okay enough to hang out with for a bit.

Playing with babies first thing in the morning is awesome! Its hard to tell what is happening here: I am tickling Will with my toes. He was busting up laughing and so am I!!

He laughed so hard he ended up on his back!

New Blog

2008-11-19T23:33:00.002-05:00

Friends,

I have created a new blog devoted entirely to my sister! For those of you who don't know, my sister, Emily is out in LA doing work to become a stunt woman. As she trains she is working as an extra in a lot of cool tv shows. The new blog I have created is to inform you when I spot her in shows! So go check it out!!

Emily Sightings!

Joy and Gratitude

2008-11-11T19:41:00.019-05:00

These two words are the best I could think of to describe my latest recruiting trip. This fall I have been all over the place, including Michigan and all over Pennsylvania. I really enjoy these trips. It is probably my favorite part of my job. I love traveling and meeting new people and working with CCO staff in person. I am finding out about myself that I am not so much of a desk job person.

My final and longest trip was to Massachusetts, which took place over the span of an entire week. My flight left out of Pittsburgh early in the morning last Monday. It didn't start out well. Chris was not able to take me to the airport because he had a meeting in the morning. So I decided to take the "Airport Flier", which is a bus that runs directly from Oakland to the airport. About halfway to the airport, the bus broke down! I stayed calm and thanked God that even if I didn't make it to the airport on time, I had plenty of time to catch another flight. Fortunately, another bus was able to come within 15 minutes and take us the rest of the way to the airport. I made my flight with some time to spare. The rest of my trip up was uneventful.

As I was sitting in the Philadelphia airport on a layover, I began to take in my surroundings. I noticed all of the business travelers hurrying about. In my mind I thought about how neat it would be to be the person that a company sends all over the country to represent them. Suddenly, I realized that I AM that person! Whoa! I became immediately aware of what a huge privilege it is to travel and represent the CCO all over the place. It made me very appreciative of the wonderful people that raise millions of dollars so that I can take these kinds of trips at no expense to myself. Shout out to the development department! You are amazing!

I arrived in the Manchester, NH airport around 1:00 pm. As the place descended to runway I could see the beautiful landscape below. The fall colors were in full splendor; greens, red, yellow and orange everywhere. I thought about how lucky I was to catch the end of these beautiful colors. I picked up my rental car, a sweet red PT cruiser. (Although, after driving it, I definitely wouldn't buy one for myself.) Then it was on to Massachusetts.

As I drove away from the airport a sense of excitement began building in me. It grew stronger and stronger as I continued on roads that I was more and more familiar with . . . 93 South, 95 North, then 128!! Finally Route 1A and I was in Beverly, Mass! Everything so familiar! It was like coming home.

My first stop was at the home of the Wilsons. Ian and Sally lived just down the hall from us when we were at Gordon-Conwell. They were so nice to open up their apartment to me to stay for a few nights while I was in town. I had a few hours before I needed to begin my recruiting responsibilities so I spent some time catching up with them. It is hard to describe what it is like to see good friends again after a long time. The last time I saw them was actually a year ago on my last recruiting trip. They are such wonderful people and seeing them made an excellent start to my week. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take my camera out until much later in the trip!!

To summarize quickly all my recruiting efforts in Mass: I spent most of my time in some way, shape or form at Gordon College. Gordon is a Christian college right down the street from Gordon Conwell. The students there are phenominal. Two of the Chapel staff at Gordon are CCO alumni. They have been instrumental in connecting me with students there. Overall, I probably had contact with over 40 leadership students at Gordon, through dinner at the Dexter house, a hayride and bonfire with Gordon Student Ministry Team, a pizza lunch, and tons of individual appointments. Apart from Gordon, I also spent time at Gordon-Conwell and Eastern Nazarene College.The part of my trip that brought me so much joy was seeing old friends again. The Wilsons housed me for three nights, during which they taught me how to play tennis on Wii and together we watched Barack Obama be elected the next president of the United States.

Most of my recruiting responsibilities were finished on Thursday afternoon, so Thursday night and Friday were spent seeing more friends. Thursday evening I had dinner with Val and Jason Drapeau! Val went to highschool with Chris and both Val and Jason went to Penn State and were involved in Crusade with Chris. It was lots of fun visiting them at their house in Salem and meeting little Caleb for the first time. Although, I feel like I have watched him grow up via their blog. I really enjoyed my time with Val chatting about our marriages and families. Here is a picture of the wonderful Drapeau family:

After dinner, it was off to Danvers to spend my remaining two nights with the Maurers! Geoff and Kelly also lived in our building during our time at Gordon Conwell. Kelly was central in helping me connect with other women in our building. She led a women's small group that met on Sunday nights. This group was the foundation for the intimate community that developed in Building A. I can't imagine what my time in Massachusetts would have been like without that group.

I didn't get to see much of the Maurers Thursday night, but Friday morning I got to meet little William for the first time. I also feel like I have watched Will grow up through the Maurer's blog. (Blogs are great!) We spent Friday morning playing before I was off to meet more friends. Here are some pictures of the beautiful Maurer family:

Friday was fantastic and spent completely with friends! In the morning I met for coffee with Phyllis Morrison who was a theology teacher at Malden Catholic High School where I taught for two years. Phyllis was in the room right next to me during my first year. After that it was on to Malden Catholic. I arrived around lunch time. Things have certainly changed since I was a teacher there. They have done a lot of renovations to the entry way and the cafeteria.

When I first arrived I was a bit uneasy. It was a bit strange to go to the office and get a visitors badge to walk around the school. But even as I was signing in, I was being greeted by familiar faces and receiving smiles and hugs!

I didn't know where to start. I wanted to see as many people as I could, without disturbing classes. I started by trying the teachers lounge. It was a good choice! As soon as I opened the door I saw Tony and Jim; two science teachers! (I was a science teacher at Malden.) My excitement was unmistakable. I was instantly talking quickly and giving hugs!

I walked with Jim back to his class as the period ended and then went upstairs to see who else I could find. I came across the Math department! I used to eat lunch every day with these guys! One of the Math teachers, Dan, took me to the cafeteria and bought me a soda. There, we sat with some other teachers that I knew as well.

One of the most fun things about being back was that the last class of freshman I had before I left are now seniors! So I got to see a lot of them. Some of them were really excited and came up to say "Hi." Others were a little unsure and just gave me ackward waves. haha.

After lunch was period E, which is the science department's free period. So I rejoined Jim and we hung out together in the teacher's lounge. We talked a lot about what things were like at Malden now. He also really encouraged me to pursue teaching again in the future. It meant so much to me because he was someone that I really looked up to. He has been teaching for years, so to have him say that I would be a great teacher means a lot.

Finally, I went out for a late lunch with Eamonn and Mike. It was great to catch up and hear how they were doing. It was also fun to hear about students that I had forgotten about. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of anyone at Malden. But here are some photos from my days there:

The science department: (from left: Jim, Tim, Ryan, me, Al, Dave, Tony)
"One of these things is not like the others...."

The three ghosts in "The Scottish Play" aka (Macbeth).
Me, Eamonn and Betsy.

But Friday night had to be my favorite. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook I discovered that there were quite a few of my high school classmates in the Boston area. So we decided to have a mini Dallastown reunion in Cambridge! We planned on meeting at John Harvard's, a restaurant and brew house in Harvard square.

At 6:00 pm Allison came! Allison was my best friend throughout elementary school. Unfortunately for us, we didn't have any of the same classes in middle or high school. It was so good to reconnect with her after soon long! What was so encouraging to me was that it was just so natural and comfortable! We were the only two there for the first hour and a half and it was just perfect! Around 7:30 pm Ryan Miller showed up. Ryan was my geometry buddy in high school! Unfortunately circumstances prohibited some of the others from coming.

Dallastown in Boston.

Finally, around 8:30 pm Ryan Grams, another one of my teacher friends from Malden showed up. Ryan was lots of fun to have around when I was teaching because as you can see from the picture above, there were not many young folks in the science department.

So, it was with mixed emotions that I packed up my things and headed back for the Manchester airport on Saturday. I was tired from a busy busy week. I was sad to be leaving a place and people that were so familiar and that I probably won't see again for another year. I was rejuvenated and joyful over the friends I had seen and the connects I had made. I was happy to be going home to my husband and puppies.

My last few days in Mass were rainy ones and so as I flew out of Manchester the once brilliant colors were now gone. Most of the leaves had now fallen and the colors were shades of brown. It seemed a fitting end to the trip. Over all I just came away with a great sense of joy and gratitude for all the people I saw and for all the people that made it possible! So if either of those statements include you: THANK YOU!! :)

Halloween Rocks! (or it should!)

2008-11-02T20:53:00.020-05:00

This is Halloween Party #2! We hosted a Rockin' Halloween party at our house. Only serious rockers were invited. Actually, it was just a combination of our two small groups. But let me tell you, after last night there is no doubt that our groups ROCK! Everyone came dressed as rockers and we spent the night rocking out to amazing songs on "Rock Band."

Here are the pics! There were so many good ones... but here are the best:

Fake tattoos never looked so hot!
Josh, Chris, Nick, Randy and Liam (who looks scared!)

Girls Rock! Stephanie, me, Meg, Meg, Erika.

Erika and Nick.
Erika raided the Hannah Montana section at Target.
We think this is actually Nick's alter ego.

Josh and Meg VanDyke. The 80's were HoT! And so is spandex! Yicks!

Ansell is german for HARD CORE! j/k :) But it should be.

Don't let our rough exteriors fool you. We're still really all smiles. :)

Some of my girls group! Megan, me, Stephanie.

The Kings. Megan, Randy and Liam.

Josh and Megan are super sassy!

Doing our duet of "9 in the Afternoon" in performance mode! (no notes = from memory). That's right, be impressed (or scared)!

We are all attitude!

This whole night was about the attitude! Haha!

In this picture: WWED? What would Emily do?? "Step back! He's mine!"

Their rock album debuts in 2009

This looks like album art to me!

ROCK ON!

Halloween Happenings

2008-11-02T20:33:00.012-05:00

"It's Halloween, it's Halloween. The moon is full and bright. And we will see what can't be seen on any other night!" This is a line from a song that we used to sing on Halloween. (Mom, you are probably already singing it just from those few lines.)

Halloween is a fun time to be something you are not. We had two chances to get dressed up this year.

The first party we went to was on Halloween itself. Here are the pictures from that party.

Chris went at Bob Ross!

In case you don't know who Bob Ross is.

I went decked in all my hockey gear with my own Stanley Cup.
(This is for you, Dad!)

Stages of Michael Jackson!
Kelly, Bobbi, and Kelly

Yes, these are your friendly campus ministers.
Chris, Bobbi and Andy

Who knew the Palins would be there!
Lizz and Ryan Heimann

Salt and Pepper!

Josh and Megan

Emma and Melissa are "Sick and Tired!"

Amazing Apples

2008-11-02T20:20:00.009-05:00

Fall activities are the best! Two of the lovely ladies that I disciple came over to our house and made apple sauce! Here are the pics:

The lovely Elaina.

What beautiful girls! Lois and Elaina.

Yum! Lois approves!

Opps! Lois dropped her spoon in.

What fun!

Walk for Racial Harmony

2008-10-29T13:31:00.011-05:00

A great event that the CCO puts on every year is the Walk for racial harmony. The CCO co-sponsors the event with the Women of Pittsburgh 2000. The event is designed to bring together people from all different ages, races, and ethnicities. It raises awareness and money for the CCO's multiethnic ministry fund. The CCO believes that diversity reflects the beauty of God's kingdom.

This year, the walk was through the Pittsburgh Zoo. The women in my small group decided to do the walk together. Although we are a very non-diverse group, we really enjoyed the time together and meeting others from the Pittsburgh area.

My small group: me, Debbie, Stephanie, Emily, and Megan.
We are bundled up because it was COLD in the morning.
Note: I arrived at this even before 7 am, so I was also not very well put together!

Our own little animal! Joshua Moore all bundled up to walk with us!

Pitt students also took part in the walk!

Some of the animals:

Tiger cub!

Giraffes!

Elephants!

Polar Bears!

Pumpkins!

2008-10-27T19:40:00.011-05:00

It's Halloween, It's Halloween! Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the changing colors, and how leaves crunch when you step on them.

One of my favorite fall activities is carving pumpkins! This year we enjoyed the activity with our small group.

Getting into it!

All finished!
Green ladies. Meg, Erika, and me.

Being short!

Nick, Josh, Meg, me, Chris. Nice pumpkin, Josh!

Me and Meg. Kitty!! :)

Happy 250th Birthday Pittsburgh!!

2008-10-06T19:12:00.015-05:00

Happy Birthday, Pittsburgh!! This weekend the city celebrated its 250th birthday! It was an experience that really made you proud of this city. There were all kinds of activities throughout the weekend. It was all topped off with a fireworks show that could only be done in the 'burgh! Pittsburghers love their fireworks and this was "The Biggest Fireworks show EVER!" We and some of our friends braved the crowds and made it downtown to watch! We sat with our legs dangling over the Allegheny River.

The US Steel building celebrates 250!!

The ladies. Megan, me, Erika, and Meg.

The whole crew: Chris and I, Josh and Meg, Erika and Nick, Megan and Josh.
(Yes there are two "Meg and Josh" couples in our group. So confusing!!)

Beautiful city, beautiful fireworks!

They shot off fireworks from 17 different locations around the city, including the tops of buildings!

Retreat Weekend

2008-09-30T14:27:00.013-05:00

Last weekend was the Cornerstone Fall Retreat!! Last year about 60 students came out and enjoyed lots of fun, fellowship, activities and the outdoors. This year over 90 students made the trip!! This is a great turn out!

God's provision was obvious the whole time. Here are some fun pictures from the weekend.

Chris with Andy. Andy was the speaker for the weekend and also was Chris' roommate in seminary.

The group joins together in a time of prayer.

Chris, Andy, and Greg.

Students: Football.

Seniors!

Rockin Out

2008-09-22T10:26:00.007-05:00

So, I'm sure many of you may be thinking . . . "Man, college ministry seems like it is a really tough job. You work so hard, and you really don't have any fun." Well, I would like to dispel that myth. Although college ministry is a lot of work, and sometimes it can be hard, other times it is just plain fun. What other job can you spend time hanging out with college students and call it work?

This weekend I had some of the women from our ministry over to our house for some fun. We spent Friday night rocking out! Even if you are not a gamer (like my husband) I'm sure you have at least heard of the video game "Rock Band". But if you are not familiar with what it is, I will explain. Basically, "Rock Band" is a video game for XBOX360 where you can play different instruments (guitar, bass, drums) or sing along with some of you favorite rock songs. There is anything from Nirvana to Kiss to Journey to FlyLeaf.

Here is Jill, rocking out on the guitar. It's amazing how hard core a fake guitar can make you feel. I wonder what it must feel like to rock on a real guitar!!

Laura has the bassist groove down.

Album cover for "girls gone rockers"??

These girls are hard core!

Sepulveda at Cornerstone

2008-09-22T10:11:00.006-05:00

Steelers’ punter, Daniel Sepulveda spoke to college students at Cornerstone recently and shared his testimony of how God has played a huge role in his life.

Over 200 students came out to meet Sepulveda and hear him speak about God’s love. Daniel shared stories from his childhood and from his recent college and professional football career. He reminded students that God is always telling them, “you’re a winner, you’re mine and I love you.” Daniel sighted God's strength as what sustained him through college and his professional career.

Feedback from students was encouraging. "He's a great speaker," one said, "but he's also real. I was really surprised how friendly he is." Daniel stayed around after Cornerstone for about 2 hours meeting students individually, answering questions, taking pictures and signing autographs.

More weddings to come!

2008-09-09T18:49:00.004-05:00

Congratulations, Meredith! Well, this post is to congratulate my sister-in-law, Meredith Ansell. Meredith got engaged on Friday! So it looks like more weddings are in the future for the Ansell/Cane family. One thing is for sure, it will be a classy event, indeed. Meredith will be a beautiful bride! So congrats, Meredith!

Here is a picture of Meredith and her mom in my wedding four years ago. They grow up so fast! :)

Once bridesmaid and mother of the groom... soon to be bride and mother of the bride!

Wedding Weekend

2008-09-07T15:13:00.017-05:00

Hooray for weddings! This weekend, my cousin, Matt Mann was married to Kristin Ritter. It was a great weekend for spending time with family! My parents and sister got into Pittsburgh on Friday night. They stayed with us that night and then we left early on Saturday morning to drive to Grosse Point, MI which is just outside of Detroit.

We got into Detroit in plenty of time and had awhile to rest and get gussied up. Here are some pictures of the big day:

Emily and I are ready to go.

Chris and I wait for our ride. He is looking mighty fine in his new suit!

Yea family! Emily, Mom, Dad, and me.

The "kids" Emily, me and Chris.

With my cousin, Jon. Jon is the best man.

Here comes the bride!! Kristin is so beautiful!
Bride and Groom. My cousin, Matt.

Vows.

Unity Candle. Kristin never stopped smiling! :)

The Mann Family. Jon, Aunt Ann, Uncle Tom, Matt and Kristin.

At the reception.

Brothers! Matt and Jon Mann, my cousins.

Still smiling! Mr. and Mrs. Mann!

Marell Visit

2008-09-02T15:28:00.012-05:00

Lots happened this Labor Day weekend! First, my good friend, Marell, came to visit with her boyfriend, Jason. Jason had never been to Pittsburgh before, so we did all the touristy kinds of things. We drove around downtown, rode the inclines, toured Pitt's campus, and even went to a Pirates game. Here are pictures from the top of the incline, with the city in the background:

Marell and Jason

Look at us with our Pitt Pride. Too bad the Panther's stink again this year!

Yea for friends!

Marell humbling herself to be seen with the Panther. (She's a Nittany Lion girl.)

There were also a ton of babies born this weekend! One of them was to our friends, Megan and Randy King. Little Liam King was born on Saturday morning by c-section. We got to visit him and his parents in the hospital on Sunday after church. Here are some pics:

Me and the little man!

Chris is not one to hold babies, but we got a picture with him anyway.

We are the Champions!

2008-08-29T14:55:00.006-05:00

Last night was the end of the season for our summer softball league. In the Spring, Chris and I put together our first team in the Pittsburgh Sports League. We went 1-4 the first season. We decided not to let that deter us. We were having fun and so were our teammates. So we put together another team for the summer. Unfortunately, the summer started off about the same; after 4 games we were 1-3. We didn't have very high expectations.

Something clicked mid-season though. We ended up winning the last two games of the regular season, making us 3-3. Considering our previous season, we were pretty happy with the result. Plus we got to continue into the play offs.

To our amazement, we actually won our first playoff game! That brought us to last night. The semi-finals! The winner of our semifinal game would go on to face the other semi-finalist immediately following our game.

The team we faced in our semifinal game was the only undefeated team in the league. When we had first played them, they had mercy-runned us 14-0. Again, we didn't have too high of expectations going in. The whole game I kept telling myself, "if we lose it's ok, we had a great season." It turned out our team was on fire!! We ended up beating them 9-5! As if that wasn't enough we went on in the finals to beat the last team 4-3!! We are the champions! It is still hard to believe. We're so excited!

Anyway, here are some pictures!

We're #1!!

Praying after the games.

In honor of our win, Chris tries his first beer!

Two very happy coaches!