We're sort of famous!

Well, not really. But we are the "Couple of the Month" on our Sunday School's blog! Go here to read our Couple Feature entry.

Happiness is . . .

A good book

A fun soundtrack
(You know, to keep up with what the kids are listening to :)

Fun new pajama pants
(which I promise not to wear in public, Mom)

Lauren and Katie: United in Paleness

This week my dear friend Lauren was in town for a few days and I got to see her!

How we met
Lauren and I go way back-to my sophomore year at Baylor. It was after a rehearsal for a choir concert that I boldly went up to Lauren and asked, "Did you used to be in the Houston Children's Chorus?" You see, those that know me know I have a bizarre ability to remember people's names and faces-even from years and years ago. And I thought Lauren looked familiar and decided that she and I must have sung together in the chorus back when we were in elementary and middle school.

Well after giving me a look that said "You are weird, I am creeped out, how do you have this freakish ability to remember such things, but yes I was in the chorus," Lauren smiled at me and thus began our friendship.

In addition to attending Baylor and singing in one of the Baylor choirs together, Lauren and I were also members of Sing Alliance, a non-greek organization that participated in All-University Sing. While most of our time in Sing Alliance was spent singing (and Lauren has some serious pipes!), dancing and putting together a seven minute, completely student-produced production, Lauren and I bonded over some of SA's extracurricular activities. Namely torturing our Sing chair and friend Chris.

Here are Lauren and me, along with our friends Heather, Tracie and Shawna, after stealing the bench outside Chris' apartment and painting a threatening message on it. This incident earned Lauren the nickname "The Phantom"-partly because Chris never knew she was involved in this stunt (at least until the picture surfaced) and because she drove a cool silver car.

The next year Lauren transferred to Rice, where she finished out her academic career. Yes-Lauren is crazy smart, which is one of the many things I love about her. She can discuss literature like nobody's business and she has a vast vocabulary, which I very much appreciate. I still got to see Lauren during the summertime, and we spent many Monday nights together going to Metro bible study and laughing our heads off.

While at Rice, Lauren met Nathan Benesh, her husband. Nathan (who is also crazy smart) got accepted into Harvard's PhD program, so after they got married, Lauren and her hubby moved off to Boston.

Six degrees of Katie and Lauren
Meanwhile, my sister graduated from high school and went on to major in theatre at Baylor University. While there, she met a fellow thespian and theatre major named Deborah Benesh. And for those of you who are paying attention-yes Deborah and Nathan are related. Siblings in fact. Deborah and Lindsay became friends and realized that they were connected to each other and to us in a way only the Lord could have orchestrated.

When the opportunity presented itself (via Nathan having an internship in Houston for a summer, with Exxon- which is also my dad's employer), Deborah drove down from Waco and we all met up at my house to celebrate our connectedness!

Left to right-Katie, Lauren, Lindsay and Deborah

We discovered that we all enjoy doing impressions of velociraptors.

I think I said something that made Lindsay sad. Either that, or she was intimidated by our amazing velociraptor faces.

This picture involved the telling of a story about Deborah's favorite hamster being kept in the freezer.

Reliving the Baylor glory days.

My favorite picture of all.

Reunited and it feels so good!
Since that meeting a few years ago, Lauren has become a mommy to a beautiful little boy named Noah. This was my first time to meet him since he was born, and as you can see, he is precious.

It was so much fun to see Lauren again-to see how great she is as a mom, and to reconnect with her in person. Lauren has always been diligent about keeping up our friendship-even when it has been from a distance and even when I haven't been great at keeping up my end of the communication. Getting to visit with her in person reminded me what a blessing it is to have known her as long as I have and to still have her in my life. I am praying that the Lord will bring them back to Houston when Nathan finishes at Harvard next year so that I can spend more time face to face with my witty, intelligent, caring, talented and incredibly fun friend Lauren.

Where the "peculiar" in Peculiar Treasures comes from: Why Sean and I are a perfect match.

Most of you know that as a pilot, Sean generally works for four days in a row each week, and then is off for three. Maybe you've been wondering what he does with those three days of free time.

He transforms his Transformers.

He admires his handiwork.

He surveys the amazingness which is his Transformer collection.

He thinks about how lucky he is to have a wife who doesn't mind the large battalion of action figures.

Now to be fair, I also enjoy my share of frivolity-especially during summer, when I get a big chunk of time off. Here's one example of what I do with my free time.

We bought a king size bed for our anniversary, resulting in the purchase of really large, king-sized sheets. Apparently I decided to be one large, king-sized ghost.

Then the ghost melted.

Then I popped out of the ghost's stomach. Hey, you would look strange too if you had just pretended to be a blue ghost, then melted, then popped out of said ghost's stomach.

Does it concern you that I work with kids? Or does it just explain some things? These are really just rhetorical questions.

We may appear strange and peculiar to others, but God knew we were just right for each other.

For my dad on his birthday

Whenever there is a birthday in our house, my dad can always be counted on to sing to us, "Today is your birthday . . . gonna have a good time!" Whether he sings it to us in person, calls us on the phone, or sends us an email with the text of the song written in it, I can always count on my dad to make me feel special on my birthday.

So in honor of my dad's birthday, I have created a list of things I love about him. I hope this makes you feel as special as I do, Dad. It is a privilege to be your daughter.

1. You lead by example. For as long as I can remember, I always saw you doing your quiet time in our front room before you went to work each morning. I know that your commitment to Christ and to growing in your faith is what made you such a wise and loving dad. Watching you taught me that spending time alone with God is crucial to knowing Him better and understanding His will.
2. You taught me to pray about everything and pray without ceasing.
   
3. When tackling a math problem, you taught me to always have a piece of paper and a pencil handy. Thanks to you, I will always write down what I know and draw a picture to help me figure out the problem.
4. Even though I usually whined and cried during our math homework sessions, you never gave up on me, no matter how much my lack of "mathtitude" may have annoyed you.
5. You were right when you said that life is a series of proportional challenges.
6. I love that you will watch Bring It On with Lindsay and me and cheerfully quote some of our favorite lines. "These are not spirit fingers . . . These are spirit fingers!"
7. You made a point to find different ways to bond with both of your daughters. Because of that I will always think of Karate Kid as "our" movie! "Fear does not exist in this dojo does it? No sensei! Pain does not exist in this dojo does it? No sensei! Defeat does not exist in this dojo does it . . ."
8. You always begin a long car ride with a prayer followed by this quote from Back to the Future-"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!"
9. How many other dads do you know who have made up a dance to the CSI theme song?
10. You taught me how to identify and fully appreciate a good organ solo in oldies music, like 3 Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come."
11. You welcomed Sean into our family and love him unconditionally.
12. You can fix anything!
13. You sacrificed so that Lindsay and I could both attend college without having to worry about tuition payments.
14. You made me work and save to buy my own car. As a result, I was extremely proud of myself for owning that blue, 4-door Saturn outright. I also took care of that car better than I ever would have if it had just been given to me.
15. You taught me to tithe first and pay bills second.
16. You can do wonders with an Excel spreadsheet. From creating your own budget template to managing my four-year plan for college, you are quite the Excel master.
17. When I was younger, you took me to a DC Talk concert and never once complained about how loud the music was.
18. You are a master at puns.
19. You aren't afraid to make up lyrics to songs when you don't know the real ones. "Sister-you don't know who you are. Sister-your pickles are in a jar."
    
20. You are always up for chunking the deuce.
21. You have passed on your love for obscure songs, such as "I'm Henry the VIII," "I've Got a Daisy on My Toe," and "Irving."
22. When mom would go out of town when we were little, we always knew we could look forward to pigs in a blanket for dinner and french toast for breakfast.
23. When I was in Silverados, you participated in the Father/Daughter dance with me.
24. When I didn't make Silverados the first time, you let me be sad about it, but you also showed me the importance of moving on.
    
25. You always have a plan.
26. When Lindsay and I were young, you would fix our hair and pretend that you were Gary, the hairdresser.
27. You let your daughters pursue their own dreams in college. Even though you may have been worried how an English major and a Theatre major would support themselves (and may still be worried about one of us), you didn't force us to pursue your interests (and I'm pretty sure the engineering community thanks you for that.)
28. You demonstrated how a husband should treat his wife-with love, respect, and sometimes not saying anything at all :)
29. You are dependable. You can always be counted on to do what you say you are going to do.
30. Your dependability even extends to some of your best known sayings. If we have cornbread, we can count on you to sing "Jubilation T Cornpone." If we have Caesar salad, you're sure to say "Chay-sa-ray." When the Boddens say the prayer at Thanksgiving dinner that begins "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest," you will always end the prayer by singing "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast.
    
31. You have always provided what our family has needed. And you haven't been afraid to say no to some things we wanted, but didn't really need.
32. You weren't concerned with being my friend, but with being my dad.
33. You can laugh at yourself. "Is that Joan Rivers in that elevator?"
34. When Sean was out of town and there was a skunk in the garage, you were willing to come over and try to get it out.
35. When Sean was out of town and part of our house lost power, you were willing to come over and try to fix it.
36. You knew just the right time in life to stop telling me what to do and start letting me make decisions for myself.
37. When Grandpa passed away, you still came to church and sang with joy to the Lord.
38. You can load a dishwasher and pack a car in a way that completely maximizes the space available.
39. You are always up for having fun. You will still surf and boogie board at the beach, drive bumper boats or go down water slides with us-even if you end up with a broken toe, drenched clothing and a sunburn that earns you the nickname "Tomato Man."
40. You believe that love is a verb.
    

Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day Dad!

It's a pineapple plant!

I had never seen a pineapple growing before, nor ever pondered how they grow. So I just had to take a picture of this baby pineapple growing outside my grandmommy's condo complex.

For Lindsay

Even though you couldn't come to Florida, you were still in our thoughts. I hope that you like this picture of your pigment-challenged sister and your cousins chunking the deuce in your honor.

From left to right:
Front-Josh, Casey, Nikki and Katie
Back-Tori and Jessie