Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksmas


The annual Beeson Family Pheasant Hunt was a great success this year. Ryan, Aaron, John and Dad were the hunters. Mom, Angela and I were there for support. We got a lot of great pictures, including these ones of Ryan which prove he could be a Field & Stream catalog model if this whole medical profession thing doesn't work out.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

PHIL is ENGAGED!

My cousin Phil is brilliant - mostly because he asked Lauren to be his bride. I have only spent a couple of days with Lauren, but I can tell that she is awesome! Welcome to the Beeson family Lauren!

Thankfulness

And now, for your viewing pleasure I present the worst Thanksgiving clip art ever created!!










Today, I'm thankful for:

  • Salvation - The greatest gift of all!
  • Love - Ryan, my best friend and companion, loves me for all the ridiculousness that is me, is brilliant and more dedicated than anyone I know and he loves Jesus
  • Family - I have 2 incredible, supportive, encouraging, amazing families full of parents and brothers and sisters who are making great decisions and following Jesus.
  • Babies - I'm thankful for all babies, but especially for this tiny avocado-size baby growing inside of me. I can't explain the love I have for my baby already.
  • Health - It's a miracle that bodies can work right. Mine pretty much works right most days and for that I am thankful.
  • Safety - Christians all over the world are being killed every day. My heart is especially heavy for India this week. Hindu extremist groups are offering money, food and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes. The going price for killing a pastor is $250. To read more about this click HERE.
  • You! I'm thankful for you! I'm thankful for this really neat online community, the blogosphere. I feel connected to you, the readers, those who leave comments and even the lurkers.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."
Psalm 7:17

Monday, November 24, 2008

Kisses

Whenever Ryan comes home from work he kisses my face. Recently he was kissing my face and he said, "Your skin is so soft..." then a few seconds later in all honesty he said, "I hear that's a nice thing to say to pregnant ladies."

Do They See Jesus in Me?

Is the face that I see in the mirror
the one I want others to see
Do I show in the way that I walk in my life
The love that You've given to me
My heart's desire is to be like You
In all that I do, all I am

Do they see Jesus In Me
Do they recognize Your face
Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace
Do I reflect who You are
In the way I choose to be
Do they see Jesus In Me

It's amazing that you'd ever use me
But use me the way You will
Help me to hold out a heart of
compassionate grace
A heart that You're spirit fills
May I show forgiveness and mercy
The same way You've shown it to me

Now I want to show all the world who You are
The reason I live and breathe
So You'll be the One that they see
When they see me


Author Unknown

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Metamucil

Ryan is a huge advocate for fiber. I think it started in med school when he saw what can happen to your insides if you don't get enough fiber in your diet.


We had Christopher and a few of his friends from college over for dinner on Thursday. At the end of the night, after eating lots of tacos, Ryan offered each of them a huge glass of metamucil and told them they would thank him later.
Needless to say, they followed Ryan's advice and seemed to enjoy the challenge.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

On Nauseousness

Here is a quick list of some things that have made me nauseous/sick in the last few months:

  • while driving, if I looked in the rear view mirror then back at the road it was not good
  • scrolling my computer screen too fast
  • being vertical for any amount of time
  • smelling anything
  • eating anything other than cheerios, pickles or cottage cheese
  • rolling over in my sleep
  • taking a shower
  • walking around
I think I'm getting a little better now...day by day. This tiny fetus is wearing me out! Ryan has been so patient with my sleeping/napping/being horizontal schedule lately. I just keep believing that one of these mornings I'll wake up feeling AWESOME, full of ENERGY and ready to have a lot of fun! Yahoo! Until then, I'll be here...on the couch.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

We've got an active one! During the ultrasound yesterday there was a lot of squirming, leg stretching and tiny arm reaching going on. I think the head size is a good indication that this baby will have Ryan's smarts.

We are too excited to function and feel blessed beyond measure by this little one already! June 8th can't come fast enough!

McCain Girl

This 14 year old makes me proud. She is brave and smart and I like her.

So just before the election, Catherine consulted with her history teacher, then bravely wore a unique T-shirt to school and recorded the comments of teachers and students in her journal. The T-shirt bore the simple yet quite subversive words drawn with a red marker:

"McCain Girl."

"I was just really curious how they'd react to something that different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and they are big Obama supporters," Catherine told us. "I just really wanted to see what their reaction would be."

Immediately, Catherine learned she was stupid for wearing a shirt with Republican John McCain's name. Not merely stupid. Very stupid.

"People were upset. But they started saying things, calling me very stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid and I shouldn't be wearing it," Catherine said...

Read the story from this morning's Chicago Tribune HERE

Baby Controls the Crowd

Monday, November 10, 2008

Winter is here. dang.


I woke up yesterday morning and my car was covered in snow...luckily I haven't put my scraper in the car yet, so I had to use my sleeve to dust off the car. I was a "dirty sleeve" all day at work.

Martin Sexton

Last night Ryan and I met up with our dear friends Sandy and Greg for dinner and a concert in Ann Arbor. I lived with Sandy in college - and we always have the best time together, so I had been looking forward to it for MONTHS! We met them at the Prickly Pear, a southwest grill type of place. Ryan ordered the best swordfish fajitas of his life, and he savored every bite. We ran into Tom and Marlene Schraw (Joel's mom and dad) who happened to be sitting in the booth next to ours at the Prickly Pear and happened to be on their way to the Martin Sexton concert. Hilarious! We see them everywhere and Ryan always says "Is that Tom Schraw?" in a funny voice, and then it always IS Tom Schraw. We stood in line in the snow for awhile...then threw some elbows to get some great seats a couple rows back from the stage. Somehow we later discovered that those seats were reserved for the Murphy family, who showed up after the opening act had already begun. So we had to move...but the Murphy's also happened to have 4 reserved seats in row D, which were even better than the seats we had to move out of, so we were pretty happy. The Ark is an awesome place to watch a concert! It's a small venue and last night the crowd was really participating a lot, even Sandy shouted out her song request. Some guy behind us was dressed as a wizard, which was odd, and another guy barked like a dog a couple of times...which was also odd. We laughed a lot - The only things on stage were Martin Sexton, his guitar and two different microphones - one normal mic and one echoey one that did some cool reverb stuff.

Martin Sexton is seriously amazing. He has a voice that can do anything! In addition to being an incredible song writer, he has incredible range and variety in what his voice can do. One second he is belting it out at the top of his lungs and the next he is really quiet and clear. It's amazing! If you've never heard him, download him on iTunes, if you've heard him but have never seen him, go to a concert. Seeing him live was awesome!




Yesterday was a great day!

  • We woke up and the snowflakes were flying

  • Gas is $1.99

  • We sat with our friends Sean and Kelli at church

  • Ryan ran over a cone in the church parking lot - and just kept on trucking

  • We recycled our cans and bottles and got $6 off our groceries

  • We ate Doritos

  • I took a nap

  • Ryan worked on his presentation and got a lot done

  • We laughed while we watched Best Week Ever on VH1

  • We went to a concert in Ann Arbor with Sandy and Greg

  • We saw Chesh (short for cheshire) a friendly kitty that lives somewhere near our apartment and likes to come say hello a lot. We don't know his real name...but Chesh fits.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Hope College - Shut Down - Virus Outbreak

Noro Virus shuts down Hope Campus

HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - Ottawa County Health officials shut down the Hope College Campus after an outbreak that's being described as noro-like virus.

The campus health clinic noticed the beginning of the out break earlier this week. Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting all point to the highly contagious norovirus, or something very similar.

As the number of patients went over 120, County Health officials ordered the campus shut down.

Health officials are calling it The Perfect Storm, thousands of students trying to avoid a highly contagious virus.

Read the entire article HERE


Chris and all his Hope friends came over to our house to say "hello" since they were sent away from campus and classes for Monday got canceled.

which reminds me...I need to go buy some Lysol.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Water Painter

I wish I could paint with water like this guy!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

VOTE!

Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Ben n' Jerry's are honoring election day by giving away free products to people who somehow have enough time to stand in a voting line for four hours then brave a Starbucks madhouse to save $1 on a product they can purchase easily any other day of the year.

Ryan and I did "absentee voting" on Saturday to avoid the madhouse today...I should have saved my "I Voted" sticker!

Companies give free coffee, ice cream for election

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Americans will pick a new leader for the country on Tuesday, and will be able to pick up some free coffee, ice cream and other goodies too.

Starbucks Corp. is offering a free cup of brewed coffee to anyone who asks on Tuesday, while Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is giving away star-shaped doughnuts. Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's is offering a free scoop as part of a celebration of the election.

Seattle-based Starbucks had originally planned to give away the "tall" brewed coffees to anyone who reported that they voted, saying in an ad: "If you care enough to vote, we care enough to give you a free cup of coffee."

The company broadened its offer to all customers to ensure it was in compliance with election law, spokeswoman Tara Darrow said Monday evening.

"We hope there is a record turnout on Tuesday and look forward to celebrating with our customers over a great cup of coffee," she said in a statement.

Ben and Jerry's, meanwhile, will be giving a free scoop to each customer at its shops from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The company said in a statement it had planned to give free scoops only to people who voted but learned that certain laws may not allow it. Instead, it's celebrating the election with a "national party," said Walt Freese, Ben and Jerry's chief euphoria officer.

"Even though we're giving scoops away to everyone, regardless of whether they vote or not, we hope they still take part in their civic duty," Freese said.

Krispy Kreme is giving star-shaped doughnuts with red, white and blue sprinkles to anyone who mentions the promotion, said spokeswoman Ayana Hernandez, but they won't be required to show an "I voted" sticker.

The company's 85 company-owned stores will be participating, along with an unknown number of its 145 franchisees, she said. Krispy Kreme estimates it'll give away about 200,000 of the doughnuts.

"It's just another way to give customers a free doughnut," Hernandez said. "It's not in any way tied to you have to be a member of a certain party, political party or anything like that."

MORE HERE