PBF staff dinner

this past thursday, the staff of Providence Baptist Fellowship got to enjoy dinner at maggiano's restaurant in nashville. one word could sum up the experience...YUM!!! not only were we able to enjoy tons of wonderful food, but we had a great evening of conversation and laughter. tom and i are so grateful to be able to serve alongside such a wonderful group of men and their wives. if i had to add a caption to this picture it would read, "we who are about to die, salute you" (reference: the movie gladiator). look carefully and you'll see joe holding a squid...tenacles and all. the calamari was the highlight of the evening for joe, john, and brian. seriously, the number of squid that those boys put away was nothing short of impressive. good work guys.

sbts graduation 2008

on friday, december 12th tom officially became a graduate of the southern baptist theological seminary in louisville, ky. the festivities kicked off with a reception at the president's, dr. mohler, house. i was totally jazzed for the reception, however, my excitement was short-lived. the only chance i had to "speak" with dr. mohler was a brief handshake in a receiving line...boo! on the plus side, we did get to ride in a phat party bus and tour dr. mohler's personal library. his personal collection of books is impressive. it contains approximately 55,000 volumes...and yes, they are catalogued according to a dewey decimal system...i asked. the convocation was wonderful. dr. mohler delivered a poignant message and challenge to the graduates. caleb even enjoyed himself...after a short half-hour nap, he enjoyed grandad, gran, and uncle patrick's laps for the remainder of the service...and plenty of cheesey crackers. after the ceremony, we had lunch at buckhead grill across the river in indiana. that restaurant was where tom and i had our first date and we always try to make a trip there when we're in louisville.

and we're having a...

since it's been approximately 3 weeks since we had our last ultrasound, i thought i'd finally post about it. in all seriousness, we have had an action-packed couple of weeks and i totally left the ultrasound cd at the ob's office...pregnancy brain strikes again! without further delay, i am very excited to announce that on april 25th we will welcome baby boy #2 into our family! we'll keep you posted on any possible names.

the countdown is on

just in case you didn't know, we go back to the ob/gyn on friday afternoon to find out the sex of baby agnew #2. let's just hope that he/she doesn't decide to be modest. it would kill me not to find out!!!!!!!! we also have another countdown under way. caleb's 2nd birthday is only 38 days away. honestly, wasn't he just born?!? in preparation, i have been trying to get him to answer the question, "how old are you?" his favorite response, "to bus." loosely translated, 2 buses. i guess when he hears me count (1 year, 2 years), he feels free to insert his own unit of measure. and since the kid is crazy about buses--which for him are school buses, covered trailers, ups trucks, etc.--it makes complete sense to him.

thanksgiving

this year for thanksgiving, we did the grand tour. lynchburg, va and k-town all in 1 week. despite the long hours in the car, we had a great time. caleb even decided to sleep his usual 1 1/2-2 hours each day for his nap...that's a first for us when traveling :) we also celebrated tom's 33rd birthday this past saturday. and while i don't have the pics yet to prove it (my camera batteries were dead), his new sperry's look great. i'll make a mental note to post the pics as soon as my mom gets them to me because you've got to see caleb's "gobble, gobble" dance. too cute...the pics don't do it justice.

big al

silly me!!! i have completely forgotten to mention that tom will officially graduate from southern seminary on friday, december 12th. we are soooooo excited that one of us has finally finished. in case you didn't know, we've been on the (almost) 6 year plan...not typical, i know, but what is typical with us? however, the real reason i'm blogging is b/c i'm going to meet the president of southern seminary dr. mohler, whom my seminary roommates and i affectionately nicknamed big al. i am wildly anticipating this dessert reception at the his house. i know what you're thinking, desserts + pregnant amanda = embarrassing display of eating. not to worry, the eating will be under control thanks to a bigger mission. you see, big al has this medal (think flava flav size) that he wears only during convocation and graduation and i have always wanted to wear it. i've been feverishly thinking of ways to bring up the medal in casual conversation. so far my best line is, "so you know that medal that you wear..." not too hot, huh? good thing that i've got a couple of more weeks to work on it. in the meantime, got any suggestions?

was it ever football time in tennessee this year?

some things you just don't want to deal with...like cleaning the bathroom or plucking your eyebrows. however, a couple of weeks ago, i was forced to deal with a big it. the university of tennessee decided to part ways with its long-time football coach phillip fulmer. we all had been speculating for a couple of years how much longer he would hang on because let's face it, the past several seasons have not been...um, how do i delicately put this...good. in fact, it's been so hard to watch at times that i have had to clean the bathroom during a couple of games to escape the massacre on the field. but that still didn't change the fact that i wasn't ready for the big change. i kept thinking, "somethings just aren't supposed to change." in case you didn't know, we move like every 6 months...there's always a big change coming in our family...so things that are consistent are treasured. things like my favorite lipstick at clinique, the multi-colored lights and decades old ornaments on my mom's christmas tree, and FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE UT FOOTBALL. now i realize that i take obsession with ut football to a higher level than most people. for example, i have to be in the stadium and in my seat an hour before kickoff. "why?" you ask. because i watch the kickers warmup and eat my stadium hotdog. tom still doesn't like getting in the stadium that early, but bless his heart, he loves me enough to do it anyway. i don't know what next season holds in store for ut football, but let's just hope that mike hamilton doesn't decide to change anything else...i might not be able to handle it.