»Now I am officially certified to have a son named Silas Clark since I’ve recently finished reading Silas Marner and tasted a Clark bar for the first time. (It’s basically a Butterfinger.)

»Stephen and I had a very happy anniversary date thanks to our friend Becky who graciously spent her evening playing with Silas. Stephen took me to Pappadeaux’s a restaurant well-known for their fresh seafood. Our meal began with an alligator appetizer. Yes, you read that right—alligator! Of course with all that yummy batter, it tasted like chicken, but with a hint of “wild” to it. After gumbo, lobster, and filet mignon for dinner, we ended our date with carrot cake cheesecake. I’d never heard of such a thing before, but it was a hit!

»Last Saturday some Indiana friends were in town and met us for dinner at Garcia’s. During dinner Jamie had the unique privilege of giving Silas his first lemon slice. Silas looked worried, gave a delayed shudder, and then promptly decided he liked lemon and wanted more.»I’m constantly amazed at how far Baby can reach and how tall he can be when he’s grabbing at something. The other day he figured out how to play the piano on his own. He’s now starting to stand without holding onto anything, but only for a few seconds at a time. He now crawls on all fours (usually one knee, one foot and both hands). We’ve discovered that the little punkin’ belly boy LOVES cheese (yet again, taking after his father). The first time he tried it, he immediately began stuffing more cheese in his mouth than he could hold. Once we rescued the cheese cubes left on his tray, we realized he had cheese held tightly in both fists.

»Our piano is tuned! We had a missionary speak at church last Sunday, and he is also a piano tuner. He graciously spent hours and hours on two different days working on our piano. It took two tunings and a lot of adjustments to get the piano where it should be.»Friday night we attended a Diamondbacks game with a group from church. It was the second baseball game I’d ever been to. Silas was sporting his D-backs gear.»One of Bitty Boy’s new favorite toys is an orange baseball bat. Since the bat is so rounded, it looks like Silas is carrying around a caveman’s club ready to beat someone over the head!

So there you have it—little bits of life.

Friday was date night. Although we had planned to make a big evening of it, we kept it simple out of necessity. (A gall bladder surgery is one sure way to keep your date night budget low )

Mimi’s Cafe was our dinner destination. We’d been there before, so we knew we’d like the New Orleans-style atmosphere. Mimi’s will definitely be one of our go-to places for dinner now! Stephen was highly impressed with their service, and while we split our entree and dessert, I do believe they actually served us more than a single serving for our entree. I’m positive our dessert was actually 2 servings. Wow! Two meals for the price of one!

Now for the romantic part of the evening—Stephen gave me a lesson in how to drive stick. His 1995 Toyota Camry will hopefully be replaced this year, but in the meantime, I’d like to learn a new skill. Who knows when it will come in handy? We picked a deserted parking lot and kept driving the same circular route several times. Man, it was hard to let off the clutch and step on the gas with just the right precision! Sometimes, I did okay, but as we galloped through the parking lot, I was very grateful to have learned to drive on an automatic. My heart goes out to anyone who had to learn how to drive on a manual transmission. I have no idea how one accomplishes that! Needless to say, I’m not yet ready for the road, but at least I’m one gallop closer.

Two years ago, we started a new Moody family tradition—writing down a plan for the year in January. That might not sound like much of a tradition, but considering we had never done it before, and we weren’t big fans of “New Year’s Resolutions,” this was a big step for us. In 2009, our planning took place in a public library, last year we planned in a fast food restaurant, and this year we stepped it up a bit by planning at a sit-down restaurant (thank you, Laura and Chuck for the gift card) and then a coffee shop. We had an absolute blast!

Little Silas was with friends, so Stephen and I had several hours to ourselves to plan for our family’s 2011. First, we tackled our plan from 2010 to see how we did. Our review of our 2010 goals looked something like this:

1. Start jobs….check


2. Replace Impala….check


3. Purchase second vehicle….check


4. Buy house….check


5. Have baby….check

Wow! What a year! God has been so good to us, and we are so thankful for all the joys He has poured out on us this year. 2010 is definitely a milestone year for us in many ways.

Our next step was to create goals that we’d like to accomplish throughout this new year. Each year we’ve tried to read a marriage book together. Now that Silas Clark is part of our family, we’re also trying to read at least one parenting book a year (currently reading, Shepherding a Child’s Heart). Not only do we write down goals, we type out our weekly schedule (just the basics—like, Tuesday: family budget meetings), major life events (Stephen’s 30th birthday and Silas’s 1st birthday, for example), and then a monthly timetable of major events and deadlines for goals (June: Moody Family Reunion—we hope!).

These Meta Dates are invigorating! We loved looking at our past, present, and future over coffee drinks and a slice of banana chocolate chip bread. Afterward, we treated ourselves to a trip to World Market, our new favorite store.

2011, here we come!

Stephen and I had dated since my freshman year at Bob Jones University (2001), so we had been together quite a while. Maybe someday I’ll write the story of how we “met,” but for now I’ll stick to the engagement story.

I flew to Indiana from St. George, UT, where I was teaching at the time. Stephen was home on Christmas break from Clemson University where he was working on his grad degree in physics. We were making plans for the future, and I actually had a job interview at Indiana Christian Academy that morning for a 6th grade teaching position. My dear friend, Rebekah Pringle, came to Anderson and rode with us to her home in Danville, IN for a visit.

After a bit at the Pringles’, Stephen and I headed to downtown Indy for a dinner date at a quaint local restaurant. Since we both knew this was “IT”, our heads were in a fog, and I’m not really sure that we talked much at all while we pretended to eat dinner.

Stephen surprised me with a horse-drawn carriage ride, and we took off for a Christmas ride around the city center. He somehow managed to get down on one knee inside the carriage. I don’t remember the exact words he spoke, but I do remember the boyish look of love in his eyes as he proposed. It was a magical ride!

We meandered through the Hyatt Hotel and the Circle Center mall and called our parents to tell them the news. I remember how my diamond sparkled in the light! Finally we headed back to the Pringles’ home for a mini engagement party. They were so happy for us! They served us peppermint ice cream, one of their holiday traditions, and played the carol My Christmas Song for You. Neither of us had heard that song before, and it sounded to me like the most enchanting Christmas song (probably because I had stars in my eyes).

So….5 years later…last night we celebrated by eating peppermint ice cream and listening to our song, My Christmas Song for You, while a tiny little person slept in his bassinet in our bedroom. How things have changed in 5 years!

But, in the meantime, we’ll enjoy the little bit of Phoenix around us until we can move on to further away places. We discovered this new little smoothie/sandwich joint, the Tropical Smoothie Cafe the other day thanks to some coupons I got from work. I tried the Rockin’ Raspberry smoothie. It was yummy, but don’t try it if you aren’t a fan of raspberry seeds. Stephen braved the Pomegranate Plunge. I tried a sip of his, and it was sweeter than mine. Soooooo good!

Hanging out together means talking politics, fashion, theology, decorating, sports, history, technology, relationships, math, parenting, current events—it’s all thrown in there for good measure. How my little universe has expanded since teaming up with a man like Stephen! He teaches me many things, but more importantly, he disciples me. My understanding of the character of God is has grown so much since marrying Stephen. We listened to a sermon the other day about a gospel-centered marriage. One point the speaker stressed was the importance of a husband taking on the responsibility of making his wife spiritually gorgeous by discipling her in the Word. After all, Ephesians 5:25-28 states,

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Author Dave Harvey puts it this way:

This ongoing need for the Savior is exactly what professing Christians must hang on to. The cross makes a stunning statement about husbands and wives: we are sinners and our only hope is grace. Without a clear awareness of sin, we will evaluate our conflicts outside of the biblical story—the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross—thus eliminating any basis for true understanding, true reconciliation, or true change.

One of Stephen’s favorite sites is thinkgeek.com. For those of you science and computer nerds who have not yet discovered it’s geeky awesomeness, please stop reading and check out the site right now! When I saw this ThinkGeek maternity shirt a few years ago, I knew it was a must-have. Stephen surprised me with it a couple of weeks ago!

Wednesday night we updated our registry at Babies”R”Us and Target. (We also have a baby registry on Amazon.) I’m wishing more stores would provide parking for expectant mothers.

A spontaneous date night was nice on Thursday. I had a coupon for a free dessert and specialty coffee at Mimi’s Cafe. We always seem to have much more to talk about when we’re out. I love those long conversations over some yummy treats!

This little gem came in the mail from my best friend, Rebekah. How adorable!

Even though baby shoes are one of the most unnecessary baby items, I just melt when I see tiny shoes. Can’t you just picture little round pudgy toes in these?

B is for blizzards. A butterfinger blizzard and a caramel brownie blizzard from DQ were fun treats tonight. Stephen had a buy one, get one free coupon which made them taste even better.

B is for baby registry. Tonight we ventured into a new wonderland of baby gear. I must say it was overwhelming for both of us! Thanks to suggestions from friends, checklists printed from online sites, and browsing through the store, we managed to register for some essentials that are gender neutral. Of course our list will need additions, deletions and tweaking, but it’s a start at least. I’ll post our registries once they’re in a more finalized state.

B is for baby bump. If you know I’m expecting, you can see the tiniest beginning of a baby bump. I can definitely feel Baby, but my friends are starting to notice him too!

B is for Bella Band. Because Baby is starting to make his presence known, I’m planning to invest in a Bella Band soon so I can still wear my clothes for a while without fastening the waistband. I’m excited about maternity clothes, but they can definitely wait a while longer.

B is for berries. It seems that my favorite treat these days are berries! They’re juicy and always appetizing to me, not to mention that they’re healthy. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries—yum! Juicy fruits are great since I feel dehydrated a lot. Apples, kiwis and grapes are high on the list.

B is for books. Both of us grew up with an appreciation for books, but Stephen is the official book-lover of the family. His mom began reading to him at a very early age, and he has definitely carried that respect for and enjoyment of books with him for the rest of his life. We both feel the importance of teaching Baby to love books. Our baby wish list already includes lots of fun and beautifully illustrated books, baby physics and science books (what? how could we not?), and will soon have Bible and character books added. Can’t wait for a nursery library!

Yep…we hit 101 degrees this past Friday. May 21st is a late date to start triple digit summer weather, but I won’t complain. After a gusty weekend that blew all the hot air away, today was nice and cool. What a great day to be in Phoenix!

Saturday, Stephen and I had a mini, but windy picnic at a nearby park we hadn’t yet visited. Lying on a blanket in the shade of a tree is the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Today we received our first regular paychecks! After work we headed to Red Robin (Stephen’s new infatuation) for supper. The quesadilla appetizer followed by the Blackened Bayou Burger, the Guacamole Bacon Burger, and fries more than satisfied our excited appetites. I even managed to squeeze in a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks.

Looking back over the past year, we are humbled that God would bless us and guide us as He has. Though we are not people of great faith, I have been able to better relate to Abraham’s experience. Just as God led Abraham to leave his family to go to a land that only God knew, by faith, 7 months before we knew what state (let alone what ministry) God wanted us to be in, we told our former employers that we had a desire to go help a church plant out west. We started moving towards a goal, and God made that goal increasingly clear as we approached it. We moved out into the desert, away from family, trusting that God would provide. And He always proves Himself faithful! He cannot deny himself.

Let me share another hymn by William Cowper that has been a meditation for me. I found it on the blog of friends of ours, Jed and Amy, who also moved homeless and jobless to NYC with the vision of planting a church there. God has since blessed them with jobs, an apartment and a baby girl on the way!

Meditate on these words:

Looking forward to a brand new start, sharing our thoughts about these past 4 months was one of the sweetest memories we’ve made yet.

We know of 3 other couples who have moved jobless and homeless in order to help a church plant or plant a church themselves. It’s such an encouragement to look at those who have blazed the trail before us, learn from them, and be strengthened by their understanding. One such friend gave me this old hymn by William Cowper that has recently been my meditation. I posted it on our bathroom mirror so I could read it as I start and end my day. Please let the words sink into your heart and encourage you. It will be worth your time!