On the outside I look like a perfectly normal woman in her twenties but underneath I am really quite an oddball. Here are a few examples of my quirks and what makes me....special.

1) I have more than twenty nutcrackers that my Mom has given me over the years (and I love) BUT I hate the Nutcracker ballet. I hate the music, the set design and especially the story line. Just the thought of this ballet annoys me and yet, I like going to any other ballet. Weird, I know.

2) I have issues with what I call re-breathing. For instance, say it is a super cold day and you are wearing a heavy scarf around your neck. Any normal person would pull the scarf up over their nose and just expose their eyes to the cold. Not me, I can't deal with the feeling of breathing warm air that I have already breathed.

Let's not even talk about the fact that the warm air in question has already been sucked of nearly all its actual oxygen and is now just carbons monoxide (dioxide? not sure) but instead focus in on that icky clammy feeling that you get with warm air all around your mouth, yuck!

This rule also applies to other people's used air. For example, if Ryan and I are cuddling on the couch and he breaths near my mouth I have to move my head for fear that I might breath his re-breathed air....I told you I was strange.

3) I like the smell of skunks and I don't like the smell of lavender or vanilla.

4) I like the heel of the bread more than the rest of the slices. I will sometimes take two heel pieces and toast them both to make the best, and crunchiest, peanut butter toast EVER!

5)I hate ER....the show. I think it has been on TV for way too long and I am sick of seeing commercials claiming that this weeks episode is the most intense episode in ER history. Usually when I see a commercial for ER I will actually say outloud "Stupid ER."

6) I don't listen to "good" music. I never jumped on the rap train when it was popular (see I don't even know if rap is cool anymore) and usually I am clueless when someone is talking about a new song. Truth be told, I listen to country music, worship music and classical....that's pretty much it.

7) In the same vein of #6, I love Dolly Parton and if I could see anyone in concert it would probably be her.

8) It annoys me when other people refer to soda as pop....which is what most people in Washington call soda. This is not a judgement of other people, I realize that this is my problem but it still kinda drives me nuts.

9) I drive too fast when I'm happy and too slow (under the speed limit) when I'm in deep thought.

10) It makes me crazy when people walk their dogs without a leash. I don't care if you think your dog is well trained and will not eat me, just put your dog on a leash!

11) Birds creep me out.

12) I won't order a hot chocolate if it's made with Hershy's syrup. Hershy's syrup is not chocolate, it's brown sticky sugar.

Ok that's all I can think of, do you have any funny quirks?

I have this shirt that Ryan loves. I've had it for years now, in fact I can't remember when I bought it but I think it might be one of his favorites of mine. The shirt is white, long sleeved with a few buttons at the neck and it has a waffle weave texture to it. It's not flashy, low cut or anything special but every time I wear it he notices and doesn't fail to tell me how much he loves it on my body.

The shirt that Ryan loves is a little smaller than it used to be, or perhaps I'm a little bigger, but still every time I wear it he comments on how cute he thinks I am. Today I was reading Genesis 2:18 and I thought of this shirt.

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him."

I am Ryan's helper, his wife, his partner. Sometimes being his helper means making dinner and cleaning the house, sometimes it's being honest with him about my sin and struggles, sometimes it's praying for him when he's having a rough time but sometimes it's putting on a shirt that he loves.

God knew that it was not good for Ryan to be alone so he made Ryan and I one, two equal pieces with different purposes making a whole with Jesus as our center. I love my husband and that I am called to be his helper so today, before he came home, I went upstairs, took off my drool and baby puke covered turtleneck, and changed into the white waffle weave shirt.

I am Ryan's helper and today that means him coming home to a wife wearing the shirt that he loves.

Today my boss told me that he thinks of me as more of a "dude" than a woman because I am "so practical". Not sure if I should be offended.

Mary Grace, your name means bitter but I see non of that in you.

For a time we didn't get along, even though we came from the same womb and born just two years apart. Thankfully that time has passed and your little sister has wised up and been humbled by your beauty.

Pictures of you flash in my head when I think of the life you lead today. Images of motherhood, so tender and kind but also stern and discerning, shaping your young ones to love the Lord with all their heart. Unknowingly shaping me as well, teaching me to be the kind of mother our Lord has made you to be.

I see a beautiful wife who greets her husband with a smile and a kiss. I see a friend who watches mountains of children at a time so others can run errands or go to doctor's appointments without their babes in tow. I see a sister who has taught me more than she knows about love and joy and Jesus. I see a child of God who yearns to learn and grow in His love. Most of all I see Jesus. In your actions, in the way that you speak and unselfishly give of yourself, and in how you desperately want the world to know Him.

Thank you Mary Grace for being my sister, I love you and I am in awe of what He is doing in and through you.

Lately I feel like the Lord is teaching me patience, which funny enough is one of the things that I have been praying for. (Praise the Lord for answering prayer.) I always forget however that in order to learn a lesson you often times have to go through a trial. Well that is what I'm going through right now, a trial.

I had intended on continuing this blog entry with a long explanation of what is going in my head and in my heart but honestly I am just too tired and a little reluctant. So instead I'll humbly ask for prayer from anyone who is reading this and leave you with a verse that the Lord brought to me last night.

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31b