I just felt like doing this...and it's been so long since I posted last, that I thought you needed something! So you get this. :)

♥ What are your middle names? Rayn and Leigh...no, I didn't type his name wrong. ;) His mom wrote it wrong on his birth certificate! It was supposed to be Ryan...so, yes, I'm married to a Flower Child. ;)

♥ How long have you been together? Hmm...about 3 years or so.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? I think it was 2 years...

♥ Who asked whom out? He asked me! But we kind of decided that we were attracted to each other at the same time, so it was definitely a mutual thing.

♥ How old are each of you? 23 and 26...I guess you could say that I robbed the cradle. ;)

♥ Do you have any children together? One in heaven, and hopefully many more to come.

♥ What about pets? One adorable and disgustingly human-like cat...I wuvs him. :)

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Hmm...difficult to answer. Right now, money, definitely. :) But before (and sort of ongoing) I would say family (as in, extended) issues.

♥ Did you go to the same school? Well, we were both homeschooled. Does that count?

♥ Are you from the same hometown? Hehe, definitely not. :) I have traveled around most of my life (California, Oregon, Texas) and he has lived in Fort Worth or Weatherford for all of his.

♥ Who is the smartest? Ack, you had to ask, didn't you?? After much deliberation, I would say he is smarter. But I read more!

♥ Who is more sensitive? Now, this one definitely goes to me. :) Though, he certainly has his moments!

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We haven't done much traveling together, but we've driven out to Ruidoso, NM three times since we've been married and we're planning a trip to Spokane, WA, in May for a friends' wedding. But that hasn't happened yet, so it doesn't count.

♥ Who has the craziest exes? Neither of us technically has exes, but I was pseudo-engaged a little while before I met Wes and that guy is definitely...weird. ;)

♥ Who has the worst temper? Ooh, me, again. It's extremely hard to make Wes angry, which in and of itself makes ME angry! I hate being the only one in an argument who gets riled.

♥ Who does the cooking? Me, but Wes makes mean quesadillas and mac'n'cheese. :)

♥ Who is more social? Well, we're both extremely social, but I would say he's even more so. He's the type that has never met a stranger.

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Hmm...hard to answer. Wes likes the house extremely clean, but hardly ever does anything about it. ;) I, on the other hand, do all of the cleaning and I'm a little more laid-back. So the house is never quite up to Wes' standards. I try, though!

♥ Who is more stubborn? We're both stubborn, but I would say he's definitely more so.

♥ Who hogs the bed? *cringe* Me. I get cold in the middle of the night and he's always hot, so I try to get as close to him as possible. He gets hot and scoots over...and I follow. So we end up all the way over on his side of the bed most mornings.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? I do, because I quickly discovered that if I don't make the effort to be the first one up on time, it just won't happen. He likes his sleep too much. :) So I get up and start the coffee and breakfast and then go roll him out of bed.

♥ Where was your first date? Ack, can you believe that I'm not entirely sure??? We went out a lot before we were engaged, but it was usually with people or just for fast food. The first time we went out after we were courting was to go see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", but we were with people. So, I guess our first "technical" date would be the day we got engaged, when we went to Steak and Ale.

♥ Do you get flowers often? On holidays or birthdays usually, though he has been known to just show up with a bouquet just because. :) He always picks the flowers out himself at the florist and arranges them for me in a vase when he gets home...he's quite talented at it, actually!

♥ How do you spend the holidays? Thanksgiving with my family, Christmas with his.

♥ Who is more jealous? Neither of us are very jealous at all, so I don't know!

♥ How long did it take to get serious? Well, we knew each other as friends for several years, but it only took us about 2 months to figure out that we were interested in each other.

♥ Who eats more? Oh, definitely him.

♥ Who does/did the laundry? That would be me. I like it and he hates it, so it makes sense. :)

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Um, most positively Wes. He is a programmer, uses Linux on all of our computers, is the tech-guy for all of the computers at his office and used to have a business fixing them. Me? I can barely turn the darn thing on.

♥ Who drives when you are together? He does, unless he has a book that he wants to finish. :P On our trip down to see my family for Thanksgiving, I drove nearly all the way while he finished reading "Brisingr". Needless to say, I was rather bored and he was thoroughly enjoying himself. I'd rather be a passenger and talk his ear off. :)

...and I'm procrastinating on dishes and house work. Is that a good reason to fill this out? ;)

1. First Name: Rachel

2. Age: 25 (will be 26 at the end of the month...ack!)

3. Location: Weatherford, TX

4. Occupation: Wife to the most wonderful man in the world, Manager of the Site Clean-Up Crew for our house and Caulker Extraordinaire.

5. Partner? My husband of almost 2 years, Wesley. He is my best friend and an amazing man. I am always in awe of his wonderful Christian character and amazing sense of humor. He can always make me laugh. :)

6. Kids: One little one in heaven...

7. Brothers/Sisters: Ooh, you want the list? :) 4 sisters: Kate--24, Grace Anne--18, Essie--16 and Molly--5. 5 brothers: Zach--21, Samuel--14, William--12, Peter--10 and Andrew--8.

8. Pets: One adorable, loveable and cuddly cat named Nickel. I wuvs him!

9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life:

1. Our house! I would say that this is probably all-consuming at this time. And it's almost done!
2. My continuing education in being a Godly wife, daughter and friend. I guess this is just general relational stuff. :)
3. Learning to be "content in whatever circumstances", including living in the country without a means of getting into town! (Wes got rear-ended by a drunk driver over a month ago, and that totalled our fuel-efficient car, leaving him driving the gas-guzzling truck and me without a vehicle. We're trying to stay out of debt, so we had to wait for the (small) check from the insurance company before shopping for another car. It's been good for me, though...I spend a lot less money when I can't drive anywhere! ;)

10. Where and for what did you go to school for? I was homeschooled from K-12 by my wonderful mother, and then I took about 2 semesters of college courses at Cy-Fair Community College. It was really just to further my music education, since I was planning on going full-time with teaching. Then Wes came along and messed up THOSE plans. ;) (An interruption that couldn't have been more welcome!)

11. Parents? Gene and Tina; my dad is a full-time pastor of their church, St. David's (a CREC congregation) and my mother is a full-time wife, mother, teacher and gardener. :)

12. Who are some of your closest friends? Wesley is definitely my best friend of all time. :) Other than that, I would say my dear sisters, sisters-in-law, mother and mother-in-law.

I promise that I'll try to take some more pictures of the house today and get them up on here or Facebook...I have been terribly remiss in that, I know. But just so you know, we have almost all of the interior doors in and trimmed, the baseboard trim in, the ceilings painted and we're starting on the walls! It's so much fun! :)

Before you ask, no, the baby is not mine, unfortunately. That day will come, hopefully soon, in God's time! :)( Under here for pictures! )

Gosh, it sure has been a long time since I have updated! And I thought that life would be slow and boring after I got married. Maybe I married the wrong guy for that to be the case! :)

( My life, under the cut... )

...one shouldn't, on coming out of hiding for so long, just post a survey. Sorry. I just felt like doing one! I promise I'll post more later, okay? :) Here's a brief rundown:

Wes and I are still very happily married--he's the best husband in the world!--and we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We are just now getting started on our house (lots of bumps and glitches encountered...later) and we're both staying VERY busy. He shows houses and I sew, teach piano and try to keep our little place in some semblance of order. :)

Okay, here we go. From Bethany.
( clicky )

Wes and I made a date for Memorial Day: we decided to sleep in as late as we wanted to. Nice, hmm? :) You'd think it would be an easy thing for newly-weds, but there's this thing called a job that Wes has to keep up. Boring, I know.

So, we slept in late (it was heaven!), got dressed, headed off to town and bought some coffee and doughnuts. I think I can count on one finger the number of times I've done that in the last 10 years. :) We took our goodies to the park and sat by the edge of the pond, frittering away time, observing the ducks. They decided that doughnuts weren't exciting enough to mob us for, so they gave us a good grooming show. Afterwards we decided to follow a path that led along the creek that the pond drained into and we ended up in an old Girl Scout camp. We were trespassing and didn't even intend to! :)

It was such a fun day...I love spending time with my husband. Maybe we can schedule another Memorial Day next week?

We bought a car. A really awesome '93 Toyota Camry that's in great condition. And we bought it for cash! Praise the Lord.

Wesley found a Dell flat panel monitor in the trash at one of our cleaning jobs and he brought it home and fixed it. Don't I have a cool and resourceful husband? :) Now, if only we could find a house in somebody's garbage...;)

No, this isn't the fun kind of shopping. We're looking for a "new" car. Whoop-de-do. I hate car shopping!! Probably because I know next to nothing about cars, but I have a very distinctive idea of what I do and don't want.

I don't want: a "granny" car. a car that gets 13 miles to the gallon (duh). a car that is more than $4000. a car that only has two doors.

I do want: a nice looking (whatever color) car. a car that gets 20+ miles to the gallon. a car that has a CD player (well, this isn't strictly necessary, but we're talking wants here!). a car that is less than $4000.

Anyone have any leads?

And Wes wants to limit our selection of cars to Toyota, Honda and Nissan, so that we can have a reliable car. I think I've burned him with my Volvo. ;) He says we are absolutely never getting another Volvo or BMW again. (His sister had a Beemer and it was not a very good investment.)

So, anyway! We have to find something before my car's inspection expires in June, because it's going to cost us upwards of $4000 to fix the car just to get it inspected. Yesterday, after a long drive to Dallas and back (to see an absolutely incredible exhibit of Balenciaga's couture!), the right front wheel started smoking. Not good. Wes thinks it's probably the oil leak (yes, I have one of those, too!) getting onto the tire and making it smoke.

One of our friends asked if we had a tall cliff that we could drive the car off of. ;) I think that might be the best answer!

So, please, be praying that this car search would be sucessful and that we would quickly find the car that we need. I know that these situations are rarely settled quickly (mostly because of the silly decisions we make when we're in a hurry), but a shorter wait is much more attractive right now than a longer one. :)

But you already knew that, didn't you? I thought so. ;)

Notice my location. Notice the key word in the statement: my. That means, therefore, that my darling, incredible, smart and handsome husband figured out how to get internet connection in our trailer!! (Unfortunately, the location doesn't mean our house is finished. More about that in a sec.)

Anyway, isn't that cool? I can actually be a part of your lives now! I can be an internet junky! I can waste time by the bucketload, if I feel like it! (And I confess, I do sometimes. ;) Awesome, dude.

So what's new? A few things...

First of all, we got approved the for the construction loan for our house! It feels like we've been trying to make this happen for months (which is true...ahem) and now it's hard to believe that it's actually done! The lady with the bank was soooooo slow and took forever to get back to us about lots of things. But she's pretty nice and finally made the loan happen, so I harbor no ill feelings. :) We should close on the loan this week and can get started as soon as our house plans get back from the architect! I am so excited. I have been reading house building books and critiquing nearly every structure I enter, so I have some good ideas of what I want and what I don't want. Just think! I could have my own home by Christmas! Hurrah!

Wes and I have been taking dancing lessons for about a month and a half and it's tons of fun! There is a ballroom dance teacher who lives about 5 minutes away from us, so the whole family has been taking lessons. We're learning the two-step (definitely my least favorite of the dances--it's rather boring!), the waltz (ballroom waltz is HARD), the foxtrot (this one is really fun!), swing (which we're getting pretty good at, if I may say so myself) and, just last week, salsa. It's been great! Our teacher is an older man, but he's really good at what he does and fairly patient with all of us and our left feet. I don't know how much longer we'll take from him, but we're definitely learning a lot.

We're also in charge of leading a Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University" for our church and that seems to be going pretty well. This will be our second week and, despite the terrible mud we had last week (and consequently the late-night rental of a carpet-cleaning machine to return the building to it's original state), it was great! I'm looking forward to seeing what Dave says about finances...I've heard that he's got some good advice.

We do commercial cleaning twice a week, one building on Wednesday evening and three on Saturday afternoon/evening. That keeps us really busy and feeling like our weekends are about three seconds long, but it's all good. The extra cash is quite lovely, I assure you.

Oh yes! And Monica had her baby! My first nephew. :) Kai Brennan Jacobson (isn't that a nice name?) was born on April 18th at 8:30 am and weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz (I think...). He was delivered via C-section, because the midwife discovered soon after arriving that he was toe-line breech. Despite the obvious recovery challenges, Monica is doing great! Mrs. Hurd just returned from spending 10 days with them and she says they're adjusting well. I am sure that Monica and Marty will make great parents. :)

On a totally different note (pun intended), I love this new Norah Jones album! Hannah loaned me her CD to make a copy of and it's wonderful. I listen to it at least once a day, always assuming I can get iTunes to work. :)

Well, I had better scoot and fold my laundry. The laundromat is quite a blessing--4 loads of laundry done in an hour. PLUS, you get to see some of the most interesting people! Today it was mostly old ladies (one of which asked to borrow my cell phone to make a call...fun), but sometimes you get some real characters. It's my people-watching time for the week. :)

If I had a nickel for every time my husband said that to me, I would be a rich woman. "Just relax," he says as I hyperventilate about what "people are going to think" about this or that. "Just relax," he says as a crazy driver whizzes past us, endangering our lives. "Just relax," he says to me while I'm in peril of crashing into a VERY large tree on my first ski slope. And he says it while skiing backwards. Showoff.

Yes, I have joined the ranks of those who ski. Not very well, very long or very fast, but I CAN do it! :) The whole family (read: the Hurds) took a ski trip to New Mexico this past weekend and it was such fun. It was slightly odd, though, going back to the same place where we honeymooned, bringing 10 other people with us. ;)

Thankfully, Wesley said that he thought I should take the beginners' ski class, rather than just taking me up to the top of the mountain and wishing me luck. :) So I joined a class of 9 other beginners and we took all day to learn how to put our skis on, get on and off of the lift and not fall on our faces very often.

And I did fine! For the first half of the day. In our class, we just went on little slopes and our instructor told us to take it easy. During our lunch break, I met up with Wes and he wanted to take me on another easy slope to help me practice. Little did I know that this particular slope had several different sides, and I ended up on the steep one. On my rear, to be exact. Yes, my first fall was in front of my husband. How horrid. :)

But I kept going. The next day I went on the easy slopes again and then Wes took me down a green run. Wow. Okay, it was only green, but I can't imagine what the blues and blacks must be like! I managed that run and did it again. The third time my legs simply gave out and I ended up feeling very chummy with a bright orange fence that divided the green run from the bunny slopes. So chummy, in fact, that I wanted Wes to leave me there. Silly boy, he didn't. He patiently waited until I had disentangled my legs from the skis and each other and manage to achieve an upright position once more.

My ski outfit was a conglomeration of left-overs and unused pieces in the Hurds' collection, mostly belonging to Monica. I had on flaming red ski pants, a bright orange Gap jacket (quite the spiffiest item in the collection, I assure you, Mons!) and I finished it off with a cashmere red-and-white snowflake scarf (thank you, Sears out-of-season) and a bright red knitted hat. Now, I am quite sure that they dressed me that way so that they wouldn't lose me. Wes said he could spot me anywhere. Especially when I fell.

So, you ask, was it worth it? Most definitely! I had the time of my life. Besides learning to participate in my husband's favorite activity (albeit not very flexibly), we had a splendid time of fellowship and fun. Midnight walks, sleeping in really late one morning, a trip to the various shops in town, TCBY and the long ride home, accompanied by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (read by the incomparable Stephen Fry) and a whole slew of cheeseburgers from Burger King. (There were, after all, 10 of us traveling home...) It was the ski trip of a lifetime, only I hope that my next one find me vertical a little more often. ;)

Or do I flatter myself? Yeah, probably. Okay, so you haven't thought about me in aaaagggeeesss. I've thought about you, though! I've also thought about the fact that I don't have internet access except sporadically. Which limits what I can do about the fact that I'm thinking about you. And that was a very odd sentence. You know what I mean, though, right? :)

( Not for the faint of heart... )

I stole this from Rachael, and since I can't upload the pictures that I have like I wanted to (my darling husband took the camera to work), I'll waste your time this way. :) And maybe you'll learn something about Wesley that you didn't know before!

( Under here... )

Er, November. But in Texas??? Yes, indeedy! And baby, it's cold outside.

:)

I have pictures, but I'll have to wait to share them until I'm on a faster computer. The last time it snowed I was 6 years old. Long time no see. :)

Alive, well, and very, very happy. I have the best husband, the best family (old and new), the best little "house" (er, trailer) and the best kitten ever. God is good.

We also had an incredible honeymoon in Ruidoso, NM, for a whole week! We went mountain climbing, went to the White Sands Desert, went shopping and generally had a wonderful time. I have some pictures, but they're not on this computer. :(

My access to internet is not very often or very long, but we're hoping to improve this state of affairs. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here and haven't forgotten about you. I've actually been keeping up with some of what goes on here...it's all very exciting. :)

More to come later!

...we have a marriage license! :)

( We're better together... )

Yesterday afternoon Wes and I got our marriage license.

Weird.

It's, like, really happening!! I'm still in a little bit of shock...I'm getting married. Wow. :)

More updates, plus pictures of the happy couple with said license, to come when I return home from this heavenly vacation of 6 days with the most wonderful man on earth. :)

The nice lady even let us keep the pen that we signed our license with...isn't that awesome? :)

My Personality

Neuroticism	88
Extraversion	83
Openness To Experience	32
Agreeableness	74
Conscientiousness	51

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report Bebo, MySpace Codes and MySpace Layouts by Pulseware Survey Software

The full version is pretty accurate, except for the "Openness" part...I consider using my intellect a waste of time? Do I? Really? You must tell me more about myself. Do.

;)

Monica's pregnant!! My dear sister-in-law to be is pregnant with Wes' first nephew or niece!! Oooh, how exciting. :) Isn't God good??

Just so you know...it isn't a joke. The picture...well...that's just Marty and Monica. Ahem. We love them anyway. ;)