When God listens...

Have you ever had a moment where you realized God really does answer prayers? Well, I had one of those moments today.

A few weeks ago, my brother and a few of his friends embarked on a mission in India. Aside from upset stomachs and combating bed bugs, overall, their trip seemed to being going relatively well. However, as planned, this past weekend my brother's missionary friends headed back to the US while my brother stayed behind in India alone. Now, I know my brother had planned for this but still, he's my "little brother" so I can't help but be worried about him being alone and possibly sick, in a foreign country. As a result, for the last few days I had been praying that my brother finds "friends" in India. Then yesterday, after not hearing from him for a few days, I also started praying that I would be given a sign that he is still alive and well.

So, I was so excited when I came home this evening and received an e-mail from him (signifying he was alive and well) and then read his new blog posting which indicated he had made a lot of new friends when he attended a mass in Bangalore. My prayers couldn't have been answered any louder! I am so thankful for the power of prayer.

Do you have any prayer moments you'd like to share?

Bobbi pens?

Today was the day we've been waiting for since we discovered that our washing machine was broken. It was the day we would meet the "Maytag Repair Man" or more precisely, the contacted out, but certified to work on Maytag, service repair man from A & E Factory Service.

I found it quite ironic that a commercial with a supposed "Maytag Repair Man" was playing while our washer was being serviced. Go figure!

Regardless, the service technician was friendly, thorough, and professional. The diagnosis? 2 Bobbi Pens had become lodged inside the pump. $155 later, I realized that I need to pay much more attention to emptying out all of our pockets before starting a load of laundry.

Additionally, Jacob has made it quite clear that I am no longer allowed to complain about the occasional paper he forgets to remove from his pockets. I suppose a messy washer and paper lined clothes doesn't come close to the expense of 2 bobbi pens.

It came to a screeching halt...

Around 11pm Friday night, while doing a load of laundry, Jacob noticed that our washer didn't sound quite right. He called me into the pantry to listen to the screeching sound our washer was making.

We agreed to stop the washer then called Jen's mom to seek advice regarding appliance repairs before we made any hasty decisions.

After speaking with my mom we called the "Maytag Repairman" only to discover that we would need to wait until the morning to speak with someone contracted out, yet certified to work on Maytag appliances.

We had been given 3 phone numbers to try and after trying all 3 numbers, we settled for the appliance repair company that would actually schedule an appointment for us.

Note to appliance repair companies: Even if your service hours are only M-F, you are losing customers if you can't even make appointments for people who call during the weekend!

Needless to say, we're not sure that we chose the best company but we chose a company we could bank on providing us with a service visit early in the week.

Then, we called my mom to set up a "we're home to do our laundry" visit. Now, seeing as both of us lived at home during college, this was a neat experience for us. We can finally say, yeah, we know what it's like to stop at mom's house to do laundry. And yes, we brought Scrabble to kill time.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 10 - Heading Home

After spending a night in Atlanta, we hit the road and headed back to Texas.

We had lunch at Hardee's in a small town in Alabama. We shared a 1/3 lb bacon & cheese thickburger and curly fries so that we'd have room for dinner. Although the food was good, the atmosphere was questionable and we've decided that we'll stick to the big cities next time we visit Alabama.

Based on a friend's recommendation, we stopped at Copeland's for dinner in Baton Rouge, LA. Our friend was right. Copeland's was sooooo good. Jacob ate the Shrimp Etouffe'e and Red Hot Potatoes and Jen ate the Country Fried Ribeye and Red Beans and Rice. Yes, the heartburn was completely worth it. We think they have the absolute best Cajun food and we're looking forward to stopping at Copeland's again, next time we are in LA.

Around 11pm, we finally made it to Houston and we stopped at What-A-Burger for a "midnight snack" of a milkshake, a malt, and a fried apple pie. Yes, food was the only thing we had to look forward to on our drive home. :)

Then, around 1:30am, we finally made it home.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 9 - Chimney Rock

We spent the morning of Day 9 hiking at Chimney Rock.

We hiked to the top of the rock...

and admired the view...

We saw the Devil's Head...hmmm...which one is the devil?

Jacob climed down into Moonshiner's Cave...

and then he took some time to ponder the meaning of life.

Then we headed to the waterfall, which we reached after a humid, 30-45 min. hike.

After admiring the waterfall, we headed back to the car so we could head out for lunch and then head to our hotel in Atlanta.

We had worked up a pretty good appetite after hiking, so we couldn't resist stopping at Pizza Inn for their buffet lunch. To top off our lunch indulgence, Jen at the most delicious dessert pizza, S'mores Pizza. Yum! : ) It's too bad we don't have Pizza Inn in SA anymore.

Aside from the fact that we were sad to know our vacation was coming to an end, and yet excited to know that we would see our "kids" shortly, our drive to Atlanta was relatively uneventful.