Reunion??

What's the plan for the weekend ladies? Right now I'm so all about it, but who knows what my clients will want to do by weeks end!!

Sitemeter Stats

When Megan added me on as an administrator of this blog a few months back, one of the things that I did was add a sitemeter (scroll down to the bottom of the page and you can see the counter there) to our humble little blog. Now, I am not terribly internet-wise, but for those of you who are less blog-savvy than I, a sitemeter counts the people who visit a page and keeps track of stats on visitors. It can even tell a few things about the people that visit.

For example, since I added the meter to our blog, we have had a total of 1500 visits. (It counts each time you open your browser and click over to the blog as a new visitor.) We average about 15-20 visitors per day and they spend an average of 2 minutes on the site each. Most of our visitors are from VA, but we also frequently have visitors from NC, CA, and Kalispell, Montana (Liz or Megan that must be you!), as well as occasional visitors from NJ, FL, and OR. We've had one visitor from Peking, China too.

Besides seeing where most of our visitors are located, I also can see how people find our site. Let's hope that a lot of us are "googling" ourselves because the most common way that people find our blog is by googling for "Shelly Reese," "Julia Leibson" or "Veronica McPeters Greear." In fact, someone found the site by searching for "Leah Snyder starbucks".....um, odd.

The best search terms that brought someone here was by far the person who searched for "where will I meet my man in the next 2 days?" Hmm, I don't know where you will meet your man, but I'm guessing that it won't be at the 360 blog!

Matt Oblas is going to be a dad!!!!

Had lunch with Matt today...told me the good news. What a blessing!!!!

A Little Plug for My Sister

My sister Lashelle has a new website for her photography business. She has been photographing weddings and families for the last few years. Shell & John were supposed to move to Germany but funding feel through so instead he is doing his post doctorate work at UNC and they are living in Durham. Since she isn't in Charlottesville anymore she is trying to build up some new client connections. If you know of anyone intersted in this kind of photography could you please send the website on? She is willing to come to VA to do events since it is an excuse to visit friends/ family but is also trying to get to know people in NC. I am very very proud of her work. There are even some pics of Judah & me on the site! :) And for all of you who knew my niece Hailey or nephew Jacob they are in some shots as well. Hailey is now 11! Remember when she came & spent the night at 360 & Brennan Breed stole her juice cup & made her cry. Boy the years have gone by.

Here's the site: http://www.chappellphoto.com/

Thanks for letting me brag on my sister a bit!
Love,
Leah

a 360ish weekend

So last weekend I drove down to Raleigh to play with my good friend Chelse. The weekend had a bit of a rocky start which included two stretches of the drive where I moved less than 4 and less than 1 mile in an hour respectively creating a total travel time of SEVEN hours door to door - particularly awesome for the girl who 1) hates driving 2) hates driving long distances 3) hates driving alone...I was pretty proud of myself though, I only cried once! :) Besides it was a chance to see Chelse my love and she knows my detest of driving and I knew she would appreciate the sacrifice. Of course sweet Chelse read my mind and had multiple glasses wine and chips and cheese dip ready for me upon my arrival. We got up the next day and promptly realizing I had forgotten to bring underwear, headed out to the mall where Chelse manipulated me into buying a VERY cute pair of corduroy pants (which I love). We filled out our day with four zillion hours of really terrible movies on TNT and Discovery Health shows about multiple births (I can't even begin to describe how disgusting the belly of a lady have six babies is, I nearly gagged!), shows that we found so intriguing we couldn't tear ourselves away to get dinner - Papa John's delivery it was! The 360-ish part of the weekend comes the next day when we met up with Andrea at the Summit the next day and we're sitting there right before the sermon and this girl gets up to start reading the passage around which the sermon was based and after probably 30 seconds Chelse leans over to me and says, "Isn't that Veronica?" and while I hadn't recognized her in the slightest before she said anything, at that moment a flood of 360 2 central pictures came back to me (I don't think I've ever actually met Veronica so I thought it was pretty good that I could recognize her from 10 year old pictures!). As if that weren't enough 360 goodness for one day, Chelse, Andrea and I went to Chili's for lunch and right in the middle of our chips, salsa and sweet tea (how I love the south and their sweet tea!) down plops Veronica, JD and company in the booth behind us! Seeing Veronica again was sort of like seeing a celebrity, I knew she totally would have no reason to recognize me but as she exists in the annal of 360 history and lore for me it was like, "Oh there she is again! I've never met her and now I see her twice in one day!". Silly but true. We left Andrea after lunch and wrapped up our weekend with more multiple birth shows (There are so many shows about them that I'm not sure I believe these multiple births are as rare as we are told, I'm pretty sure Discovery Health just makes it up so you are more inclined to watch) and dinner with some boys who love Chelse. I came home on Monday, barely tapped my breaks and was home inside 4 1/2 hours which was great but just made the drive on Friday burn that much more!

My rough rough life....

This is what I've been up to while "suffering" away on my company's top producer retreat in Maui. It's been a strenuous week of meetings....oh wait, there's just the one that makes it tax deductible. Please note the enormous size of the waves i'm riding. Hopefully tomorrow there will be more!!!

Annual Roper Update

It's actually been longer than a year since my last post. We are now living in NYC. Hart began a masters program at Columbia this fall. We'll be here until May and then back to DC. Our time here is short so we are trying to live it up while we can, i.e. before the winter and before baby #2. (I'm due March 5.)
I've been meaning to post for awhile. I thought I had a lot to stay but I guess not. Come on up for a visit. You can stay on our blowup mattress in our 400 sq foot apartment.

Blessed. Again.

Hey girlies... thought I'd share a pic or two from my recent visit out to Missouri to see Mark... one of us at the Air Force Ball (he's in the Air Force) and one from the backyard at a BBQ we threw for his neighbors/colleagues on the base. Note, the cat is a stray cat who has now adopted Mark... we call him Morris. We'll see how long he sticks around. This relationship has definitely been an incredible blessing... who'd have thought that having your mom's best friend play matchmaker could have so much potential? I am constantly amazed that the Lord loves me so much to have blessed me so much again!

NoVa or Cville?

So, I want to buy plane tickets, but need to know where to fly....No one seems to have a big preference. Is Cville okay with everyone? Will you NoVa people come down for the weekend?

Salmon Sate with Dill Mustard Glaze

I had dinner with Court, Chelse and one of their friends last night and made this salmon recipe. A copy was requested by those in attendence so I thought I'd post it in case anyone else wanted to give it a try. I always make it on the grill but I don't see why you couldn't broil it.

No making fun of my domesticity!

• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill (I have always used dried dill just use a little less)
• 2 tablespoons of whole-grain Dijon mustard (I've used regular sandwhich dijon and whole grain, both are good)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (1 lb) salmon fillet

1. prepare grill by coating the grates with cooking spray
2. combine dill, mustard, rind, juice, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl, stirring wit a whisk
3. generously coat the salmon (you can cook it immediately but depending on how much time I have sometimes I'll let it sit and marinate for 15-20 minutes)
4. place salmon on the grill and grill 3-5 minutes/side until fish flakes easily with a fork (If you are using salmon that still has the skin on it you can leave it skin side down for the entire cooking time. When cooked through pick up the fish with a spatula, the skin will probably stick to the grate but the fish should lift off unscathed. You won't have the pretty grill lines on the fish but it is also less likely to fall apart because you're not trying to flip it. To get the skin off the grates you can just leave the grill on with the top down for a few minutes, most of it should burn off and you can use a grill brush or something to get the rest of it off.)

Serves 4

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah

Is that how you spell "yeah"?
Anyway, It is that time of year again...time to plan for the 2nd Annual 360 Reunion! If I remember correctly, we had chosen the last week in October to be the yearly reunion date, so for this year, it will be October 26-28th. I am writing this now so that all of you from far away can start looking now for good plane tickets to come. We had talked briefly about having it in NoVa instead of Cville for convenience to the many that live there, but there is just something fun about revisiting Cville with you all. Any thoughts? And am I right about the date? Anyway, I am hoping that lots of us will come because it is always great to catch up!

Feeling sentimental....

So after reading Meghann's post, looking at all of the comments, and then seeing everything we've shared on here, I've just been feeling a little sentimental. I love how even though we're not a daily part of each others' lives like we were in school, we can still share our joys, pains and lessons learned. I know from talking to other women I encounter, that not many had the experiences we did in our lovely little white house! Did we always get along....no. :) But as evidenced on here, that doesn't really matter. I love the different walks of life we get to draw knowledge from through the blog....whether that's mothers, marrieds, about to be marrieds (Megan & Meghann!), or singles. I really do count myself fortunate to be a part of this little community, especially as God is molding each of us into the women He created us to be. I look forward to looking back at this blog when we're 80 and laughing!!!! Love you guys! I'll just pretend I've posted a pic of my baby and my fiance and not of my most current look at happy hour in Seattle!

It's A(nother) Girl!!

So, we are building our very own Aryan heirem here in the Greear household. We had the ultrasound today, and thank you for the mercy, Jesus, everything on this little one looks to be perfect. And JD may want to start looking into getting at least some male pets bc we seriously outnumber him now. I, for my part, am going to start buying things for the pig-pickins in the backyard that the girls will all have for their wedding receptions (since that is what we will able to afford with at least 3.)

I am so excited, bc I feel like I was made to be a girl mom (I only feel like that since I have had them, btw.) When the lady asked me if I thought I knew what it was, I said, "Of course; look at my two others--I know what we make." And within 2 minutes she said, yep, it's a girl. I was so glad bc I have a girl name that I am DYING to use and this may be the last one (plus I can't find anything for boy nurseries that I like:). Wish I could attach the 4-D picture that we got--it was AMAZING--but I can't. But even in the ultrasound photos she looks just like Kharis and Alethia, so I will just try and attach a picture of one of them in the next few days (just tried and of course, some issue with my camera), and then you'll know what this one looks like. Btw, I am due December 16!

Another Holland boy

Having Leah and Meghann post on here reminded me that I never wrote about the latest Holland addition. Charles Edward Holland was born on June 5th weighing 7 lbs and 3 oz (my smallest baby so far). You can see his birth story here on my blog, if you're interested. Charlie is great and his 3 big brothers adore him.

Bringing sexy back...

6/01/07 - So I'm in a ballroom dancing competition with Andrew on Saturday dancing a choreographed cha cha routine to Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back". What the heck! Pictures no doubt will be forth coming because I'm pretty sure even I'm going to have to see it to believe it.

6/06/07 - We didn't place but it was a hilarious good time. Who the HECK have I become!

Cute, Cuter, and Cutest?

Well, I have been wanting to post for a little while now, so finally here I am. At the risk of noone knowing what I am talking about (the way it was with my family) I am having faith in our UVA education and just going to post this picture and see if y'll get it:) (Hint: Allie is the key.)

Huge prayer request

It's been forever since I've posted, but I thought this might be the fastest way to reach everyone. Our friend and honorary 360 member Matt Oblas needs a lot of prayer right now. He has ulcerative colitis and isn't really responding to the treatments. I know that's super vague and all, but basically he's really not doing well and is at risk for needing his colon removed and having a colostomy bag the rest of his life. Pray lots!

Monday's Tragedy

Thought you all might like to see what UVA students are doing in response to the Tragedy at Virginia Tech earlier this week. May we all remember the students, families, faculty and staff affected by this horrific act in our prayers and find comfort that God is in control.

God's sense of humor

It occurs to me that the title of this blog could be considered sacrilegous (spelling?) but I have a feeling that the 360 husbands who are pastors will probably concur that God does indeed have a sense of humor (or else how/why would we?) and that by recognizing God's sense of humor, we're glorifying him... or something like that. We're at least acknowledging who He is and remembering who orders our steps.

So let me tell you where I've found God's sense of humor lately... on a date and in conversations with my mother. It's been a comical realization that for all my talk about trusting God, about faith, about believing that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says, sometimes I completely miss the boat and He STILL blesses my socks off! Lately God's been showing me that as much as I do believe Him, as much as I believe what He says and what He promises, my belief comes nowhere close to how BIG He is.

Here's why. I've told just about anyone who's asked that although I lost Richard, I completely believe that it's possible for God to put someone else in my life... and even eventually let someone be my Prince Charming #2. The disparity comes in that I'm still shocked and completely not sure what to do with the guy God seems to have put in my life this spring. There's a longer story to it, for another post, but suffice it to say that he's great and there might actually be something there... and I've found myself praying, "Lord, what is this?!!" And God's sense of humor shows up in His answers... "It's what you prayed for... remember? Now open your hands, accept it, and trust me...." If it weren't completely irreverent, I'd even say that God's probably been telling me to "shut up" and laughing at my bewildered self. :) I find myself thinking that He must be laughing with me as I realize that His blessing has knocked me on my butt. Better figure out how to get up and walk with the blessing.

God's humor has shown up in another similar way - and this might be even bigger than the whole date thing. Most of you know how much I've prayed for my parents' faith... lately God has just shown me again and again that He's answering those prayers, has answered those prayers, and again knocked me over by these blessings. My parents' faith is growing and so real, and it's so encouraging to me... in the process of this whole date thing, I've (not shockingly) been inclined to question and wonder and over think every aspect of it... about 3 weeks ago I was on the phone with my mom sharing those thoughts and her response was somewhat akin to something I would have expected out of a 360 girl... "Katye, you didn't do this. You didn't put him in your life, you didn't do anything, but here he is, and I'm pretty sure that's all God. So why don't you quit thinking so much and just let God be God and do whatever He plans to do with this." Yep, pretty much a smack down. And later, another realization that God must be laughing at me... "You prayed for this, didn't you? You asked me for a mother who would kick your spiritual butt... now she did and you're just sitting there with your mouth wide open." Again, if it weren't irreverent, I would bet God might even quote Mary Poppins 'Close your mouth Michael, you are not a codfish.'

Suffice it to say, God's been knocking me on my butt lately and laughing with me as He challenges me to not just believe for the sake of believing, but believe with an expectation that He intends to be BIG in my life. I can't help but laugh as I look at my life and see how and where He's answering my prayers in spite of my unbelief. I chuckle, really!, thinking that He's just goading me to pray more and expect more.... I'm inclined to think that it's true for all of us in some way or another... He wants to knock you over with His blessings and challenge you to let Him be really BIG in your life. So much so that you laugh with joy.

Much love 360 girls!
kdb - prov 31:25.

3 Months Later

Hello Friends! I wanted to update you all on the Horrell household. Judah is now 3 months old and we've survived living off of no sleep, lots of baby belly issues, and me returning to work. The greatest success in it all is that Seth and I are still married. At some points I wasn't sure we'd actually make it through. Having kids is alot harder than people tell you. I've really seen our differences come out. But lately everything has seemed to flow. Seth and I have even found time to be together and watch a full movie without having to pause it once...which is very exciting. Judah is finally sleeping better which is also nice so both of us feel much more rested. I've gone back to work which is a challenge....I have a respect I never had before for working mothers. It is hard hard hard to manage a job and actually have time with your child. But I do love teaching so I'm glad I'm finishing out the year. The families in my class have been so so supportive. Seth has been staying at home which has given him a whole new respect for stay at home mothers. He really has learned alot and realizes how exhausting the day is. So I feel like we both are learning new things. He's interviewed with quite a few churches (most not in Warrenton) so we will probably be moving. There is one option in Warrenton but it may not provide us enough money to survive without me having to work too. I'll keep you posted. Here are the newest Judah photos. Lashelle took them. I don't know how we'll document this baby's life once she moves to Germany. She actually has a photography website if you want to check it out: lashellechappellphotography.blogspot.com.
Lots of Love,
Leah