Pics of our House

I realized that we showed a lot of people pictures of our house before we closed on it, but not many people had really seen it with our stuff in it, so I thought I'd post a few pictures. I think we like our house more and more each day. It feels so nice to finally feel like we are settling down and will be living in this house for several years. We've already made some great memories here including sleeping on an air matress in the bedroom the night we closed, welcoming Rhaposdy into her new home, hosting Thanksgiving for family, decorating for Christmas and celebrating Angela's graduation. We're looking forward to many more memories in our first house!



The office. I spent many hours there writing my creative component.

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bathroom

I call this our random room. We don't spend much time in here.

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Kitchen. I love all the cabinet space, although I'm running out of room a little too quickly!

Living Room

First Week of Work

I officially started seeing kids last Wednesday at a Tulsa middle school. I saw 15 kids in three days and was definitely ready for the weekend on Friday afternoon. It's exciting to have an office to call my own rather than having to share space although I do miss all the great conversations and distractions when trying to get paperwork finished in the CFS office :).
Overall, I think I have good kids. Most of them seem to be interested and receptive to counseling, some of them are pretty funny, and there are some really sweet ones too. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have an influence on these kids' lives. I said a prayer on my way to work the first day for God to use me as a positive influence in the lives of these students and to remind me during the frustrating times what a huge opportunity I have to minister to these kids.
It was a little overwhelming this week trying to get to know the students and hearing about the struggles they are facing at school and at home. Some kids told me they worry about not having enough food to eat and some kids are scared of going to school because of fighting. It's sad to think that many of them have no consistent supportive adult in their lives. I'm not used to having such a big caseload, and working mainly with a school system rather than a family system is new territory. Right now I'm just trying to get my bearings and try and remain thankful for the new learning experiences coming my way. Overall, I'd say it was a good week. I was driving home one day last week and realized that doing what I'm doing is something I have been waiting for and working toward for a long time. It still seems a little surreal that I survived school and am actually getting to use my education in a full-time job. I've been waiting and looking forward to that for a very long time. Needless to say that was a pretty rewarding drive home.

AWANA

I helped with AWANA at our church last night for the first time. The last couple of years, I've felt that I missed out on participating in or helping with chruch programs on Wednesdays since I was always in clinic. It feels so great to finally be able to get involved with church activities. I'm helping with the fourth grade girls class, and they are so sweet! It is such a blessing to spend time with these girls and see their love and commitment to the Lord even at such a young age. I think helping with AWANA will help me make it through those hard weeks of listening to middle schoolers with lots of family and personal problems. I feel like I get both ends of the continuum as far as emotional, mental, social, and spiritual development through my work with kids at the schools and with kids at TBC. It is such an illustration of how the love of family and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can have an impact on children. I hope I can be a positive influence to all the kids I interact with.

Our First Date Night

Matt and I had our first "date night" on Tuesday night. I cooked dinner, so we ate and then played Disney Scene it and a couple of card games. It was a lot of fun, even though Matt beat me at most of the games :). After we played games, we just relaxed and visited for awhile. It was nice to set aside time just for us. We always have games around but usually just get into a routine of watching TV, playing with Rhapsody or playing on the computer after dinner. We don't usually think about playing a card game or doing other special things. Hopefully, having these date nights will help us to break some of our routines and do more things together in the evenings, since we are both home in the evenings now.
We also started our Bible reading plan and are on day 3. We haven't made it very far, but having accountability with each other will definitely help us stay on track to finish our goal. I also enjoy visiting about what we learned or how God spoke to us through the passage which we try and do after we read each night.

Angela's Resolutions

I usually don't make New Year's resolutions, and I'm not really sure why. This year since I'm beginning a new phase in my life after graduating from the college stage, I thought it would be a good idea to set some goals for 2009 (I think my MFT training may be rubbing off on me. Research does show that people who write down their goals are much more likely to achieve them).

1. Read through the Bible in one year- Matt is joining me in this one. Our pastor challenged everyone to read through the entire Bible in 2009. He told us to have a plan and a partner. I've got the partner taken care of and now I'm looking for daily reading plans. I'm excited to share this with Matt. I think it will help us to grow spiritually as a couple and individually as well as keep each other accountable in spiritual disciplines.

2. Weekly date nights- Matt is joining me on this one too (obviously). Because I've been in school pretty much our entire marriage, spending evenings together has been more of an occasional luxury rather than a normal routine. Since that is changing now, I don't want us to take evenings together for granted spending them doing individual things every night. So our goal is to dedicate one evening per week to a "date." Activities during date night could include going out to dinner, going to get ice cream, watching a movie, playing wii, taking Rhapsody for a walk, cooking dinner together etc. What we do isn't as important as demonstrating to each other that our marriage is a priority and we value the time we get to spend together.

Before our date to the Melting Pot just before Christmas

3. Keep in touch better with friends- This one has really slid partly because of living so far away from my closest friends :(, and partly because of our crazy schedules and graduate school. So, my objectives for this goal (here comes that MFT again) are weekly email updates and at least monthly phone calls. I got a chance to catch up with a great friend this past weekend. It was so wonderful, but it also made me realize what I've been missing out on these past couple of years by not keeping in touch as much as I'd like to.

I missed her so much!


Sarah and her sweet daughter Adaline

4. Be a more thrifty shopper- I can't believe how high our grocery bills are each month. Food is so expensive. Usually, when I'm at the store, I will price compare a little, but I want to up this a lot this year by taking advantage of sale ads and coupons. My goal is to cut our monthly grocery bill by 25%. We'll see how that goes.

5. Exercise at least three times per week- Matt got me a wii fit for graduation, and my parents got me a puppy with lots of energy, two great ways to burn some calories!

My favorite things about Rhapsody

A couple of months ago, we welcomed the newest addition to the Baugher family into our home, a nine week old Westie, named Rhapsody. She is so fun, and since she's been a part of our family, we have laughed more, learned more responsibility, experienced frustrations, and did I mention laughed more. It amazes me how quickly she grows, and I want to record some of my favorite things about her puppyhood while they are still fresh on my mind.

1. She always wants to be close to us. She'll follow us around the house, and the moment we sit down, she's in our lap or jumping on the furniture trying to get in our lap
2. One of her favorite "toys" are plastic hangers. She'll grab them and drag them around the house in her mouth. So cute since right now they are bigger than she is.
3. When she wants to play, she'll run up with a toy in her mouth and start growling at us.
4. She has two speeds (on and off). I'll be playing with her one minute, and I'll turn around and she'll be curled up sleeping.
5. Occasionally, she cocks her head and looks at us as if to say, "What in the world are you doing?"
6. Right now her left ear is sticking up and her right one is still floppy.
7. If we're sitting on the floor playing "fetch" with her, she'll run get a toy and run back and sit in our lap to chew on it.
8. She greets us with a wagging tail everytime we come home. It's cute to see how excited she is that we're home.
9. If we leave the dishwasher open, she'll stand in it and look up at us proudly.
10. When we get out of the shower in the mornings, she jumps in and drinks the water
11. She loves to sleep curled up in one of our laps.
12. When she runs after her toys in the kitchen, she slides halfway across the floor before she is able to stop herself, or she'll run into the wall or the kitchen chairs.
13. She tries persistently to fit two mini tennis balls in her mouth. She'll get one in, and go after the next one, which causes her to lose the first one, and the cycle continues on and on.

We're both thankful she is a part of our lives even through the frustrations of accidents in the house, chewed up shoes and whining in the middle of the night.

New to blogging

So, I've thought about starting a blog for awhile, and with additonal free time, I decided it was finally time. I haven't decided yet whether I want to keep it private or share with family and friends. I do know that I want to record special memories and blessings, and I know through blogging, we can remember and reflect on those moments longer. My goal is to be more mindful of the simple things in life and the many blessings we experience on a daily basis. So, here we go...