These are a few of our favorite things (e.g. babies):

First, meet Genevieve.  She is the youngest of the nieces, only 2 months old in these pictures (around Thanksgiving 2011).  On the Taggart side of the family, she is Emily and Bryan's first little baby, a sweet girl with red hair, grey eyes (for now), and a toothless little smile.

I love holding newborns up to 3 months...something about their dependency on you to even hold their little heads up is soothing to me.  Fragile?  Hand them over.  And as you all know, Jonathan is a sucker for babies, especially little girls!

And then there's Adeline, our little niece on the Reimer side, born to Charles and Charissa.  In these pictures, she's about 8 months old.  She is a goofy ball of fun, especially when someone (i.e. Aunt Christina) joins her in her silliness.

We are so excited to be one of the Aunts and Uncles to these baby girls, and we pray for their parents and their salvation all the time. 

And as much as we love babies, we are willing to hang out with everybody else's babies until we have our own.  There's plenty of time for that.

I'll be home for Christmas...

 This is the first picture taken, the day after I got home.  Dear Jonathan went with me to get my hair cut and drove me everywhere I needed to go.  What a blessing to have such a sweet husband, one who loves me, helps me, and wants to be by my side.

The next few pictures our from Christmas this past year (2011...Happy New Year!).  Sorry to catch up, again.

We are firm believers in getting a live Christmas tree each year...we have developed a better-buying strategy for next year, but a lovely fir we did get.

The ornaments all have various origins, but all have meaning (I'm not one for simply purchasing sets of ornaments or, if I did, they are not longer on this tree): cookies and cooking utensils from my sister, many "first Christmas" from all family members, the decorated balls from my bridal shower (the blue and silver), silly ones from friends, ones that represent the places we've traveled together or endured apart (Kuwait, for example).  What a blessing to look at the lovely Christmas tree and be reminded of all the blessings we have, before we even see the items sitting wrapped underneath.

And this chair you see...this was my favorite gift.  Not only is it a beautiful piece of furniture with great nurturing value for our future children, it was a thought from my husband to welcome me home.  It was made by my father-in-law (with an hour or two of hands-on from Jonathan) and his class, none of whom he allowed to perch on it before I took the first sit.  The cushions, of course, are the beautiful and delicate handiwork of my mother-in-law.  So once this makes the move to DC with us, you'll all know the wonderful workings behind this chair, and the incredible way my husband and family care for me.

Home...

The unfortunate part of being particularly affectionate and attached to eachother (that is Jonathan and me) is that it doesn't lend itself to pulling out a camera and taking a lot of pictures.  Not because we're all that private but, really, we're much more occupied with living a lot of our moments than we are of capturing them on film/pixels.  Perhaps we should make room in the budget for a personal/family photographer to follow us through our precious moments...or just get a grip on life and just start clicking and flashing away.  (If someone has photos, please send and I will post.)

Good news is that I'm home and have been back at the McLean residence for about a week now.  Everybody jokingly asks me to rag on Jonathan about having to put the apartment back together after 9 months without a woman running the household...untrue, except for emptying the vacuum cleaner (which does help with its efficiency) and decreasing our "dry cleaners" budgeting envelope by taking up ironing again.  You can probably imagine but perhaps not fully comprehend the amount of gratitude I have for being home: the green grass and beautiful trees with crisp fall air, the independence of attire and schedule (at least until I go back to work), the ability and need to complete household tasks, and the chance to bask in the company of Jonathan and other family and friends we've been blessed to visit so far.

I will continue to write about things I learned while away (or because I was away), but one current and pressing lesson is about trusting in God and remembering to let anxiety and fears be his and not mine.  There are times when the weight of the transition back home and the soon-coming transition out of the Navy (no uniform, no free healthcare...) get the better of me, and fears about money, future endeavors coming nearer in time (new car, new apartment, new civilian job, possibly children) threaten to overwhelm me.  Jonathan has been so good to remind me of God's sovereignty and his goodness, even though he is facing these trials and changes with me.  One lesson Jon brought up was from one of John Hutchinson's sermons, from Luke 12:22-34 (just a few verses below to highlight):

"And he said to his disciples, "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food and the body more than clothing...

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.  Provide yourself with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Greensboro, North Carolina

Southwards we did travel, through the great state of North Carolina. A little about my history: my first professional/college graduate/real world job was with Lincoln Financial in a professional development rotational program. They placed me in Greensboro for my first position. I was blessed to work with some wonderful people there, on the 10th floor of the Jefferson Pilot building:

It was a good place to work but it was 5 hours from my beloved Shelley. Of course that didn't keep us apart - many a weekend was spent traversing 95 from Gaithersburg, MD to Greensboro, NC. It's a long trip. Especially on July 4 weekend. But it was well worth it. It made surprises difficult but I still managed to pull a few off.

There were some enjoyable moments to the long year we spent long distance dating. We found fun places to hang out in vain attempts to stretch out the weekend hours.

So on our anniversary trip, we planned to swing by a few of our favorite Greensboro hotspots. If you ever find yourself down there, we cannot recommend these enough.

First, in the middle of the UNC Greensboro campus is the lovely hippie-magnet: Tate Street Coffee shop. Complete with homemade (excuse me, organic) art and equally creative coffee mixes that were delicious.

Apparently we were there for the 18 year anniversary. We have spent hours playing cards, sipping funky lattes, trying very hard not to laugh and point at the various clothing combinations on fellow patrons (ok that was just me, not Shelley), and listening to live music.

I also have to recommend another hippie hotspot. Also strangely decorated, this place has some delicious pizza. And an impressive beer selection. It's a chain so you may have experienced them elsewhere. Behold, Mellow Mushroom (the mushroom part may have been code for something, or just a pizza topping, I'm not sure):


Next stop: the largest private residence in America.

Day 3 (our Anniversary Trip remember?)

So I have been grossly negligent when it comes to posting those pictures from that anniversary trip we did earlier this year. I suppose I could blame the fact that the computer crashed but I really don't have an excuse. Anyway, our third day was spent half in Waynesboro and half in Williamsburg, Virginia. Some traveling thrown in too of course.

Here is where we stayed:Oh, look at these lovely people:

Sheepies, and Bassett Hall (city hall):
















This is the Bruton Parish Church with a cool clock (I want one of those...the clock i mean):





















The colonials definitely believed in guns, lots of them. This is my definition of diversity:




















And of course horses, furniture shops, and other farm animals (is this Williamsburg or Lancaster?):



































Well, I hope you enjoyed this step into the past as much as we did! I'm really excited about the next stop, it's dear to my heart because I have spent a considerable amount of time there. And there are some special memories too. Next post: further south!

Since our last broadcast...

Ladies and Gents, I apologize that it has been so long since we've opened up the blog to fill you in on anything.  And so much has happened!  I will give you a quick run-down and countdown and, in the process, try to promote a few products.

Count-down first: about 5 weeks until we land on US soil!  (If you can help it, don't send anymore packages and as little mail/letters as possible because time is short and mailing is less reliable now.)

Run-down (chronological order, not order of importance)

1. Purchased Toshiba Thrive from Amazon to replace the dying computer.  Tablets take some getting-used-to, but it works wonderfully for communication back home.

2. Baby niece was born! My sister, Emily, and her husband Bryan had a beautiful and red-headed baby girl on the 18th around 3:14 am - Genevieve Helen Siwicki! Thank goodness the Steelers won the game that weekend so Genevieve didn't get laughed at in her Black & Yellow onesy while in the nursery...

3. Read The Hunger Games trilogy and recommend it.  Very intense and thought provoking, well-written with a captivating plot.  My suggestion is to just pick it up and read it without researching it and reading more about it.  The surprise makes it that much more breath-taking.  Also read Poisonwood Bible on Abbie's suggestion and The Help as suggested by my fellow nurses here...both good, thoughtful and intriguing books.

This whole time, Jonathan and Reagan have been traveling and visiting around.  You'll hear more about their adventures later.

Done promoting and reviewing.  Hunkering down, preparing for home now.  As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Small vs. Big

As a small business lender at a community bank, I find myself empathetic to the anti-big business or anti-big bank sentiments that I used to tune out. No, corporations are not really people, they are corporations. By definition a corporation is a business entity created by individuals and is governed by law and the tax code. They have powers separate from the originating individuals and corporate liabilities or obligations are isolated from the founders and shareholders.

But corporations are essentially composed of people. Forget complicated structures like off-shore shell corporations that don't have a location or legitimate purpose and think of GE, GM, and P & G. Thousands of jobs, hundreds of products or services, and global reach.

And the success or failure of corporations directly impact a lot of people in very tangible ways.

But corporations are not created equal: there are big ones, small ones, and some as big as your head. Big companies don't descend from space overnight, they are grown slowly over decades (ignore Google please) and usually start as a small operation. Somewhere along the way, they sometimes lose touch with reality and the real people they serve.

This happens a lot in the banking world; for a humorous example, watch this commercial:



In the Washington Post today (yes I occasionally venture across the aisle read the Post) there was a whiny article about Capital One's impending merger with ING. If you've never heard of either, don't worry they're just big banks. But there was one good point in the article:

"What does concern me, however, is that even more of the nation’s bank deposits will be channeled to small businesses through corporate credit cards rather than through loans made by flesh-and-blood bankers. Why is that important? Simply put, because only bankers with deep understanding of industries, communities and customers can be relied on not to push cheap and easy loans during credit booms and then abruptly cut off credit lines or raise rates at the first sign of economic trouble."

I'm not sure what my point is...maybe that flesh-and-blood bankers are better than zombie bankers? Later in the article the point is made that there is such a thing as too many corporate (well, bank) consolidations and at some point it needs to stop. My thought is that the market will sort it out and that is by far preferable then an less than appealing congressman pretending he knows better.

At least bankers with blood hug their customers. Well, I really don't get hugs from bakery owners (or any business owner really...).