Trying not to be a poser....

This past weekend we traveled to Fayetteville, AR to watch our beloved Alabama football team. Well I say "our", but I am not sure that I can claim Bama as "mine" yet. Isn't there some sort of ritual that I need to go through to be a fan of a SEC team? I kind of feel like there should be. I'm not from here I don't know these things! I think that southerners have special milestones pertaining to fanmanship in the SEC that Californians don't learn when we are young. Unless you have attended a school in the SEC. At that point I will just call you a late bloomer or maybe a "delayed". I mean I screamed my face off, sang and chanted as best I could. By the way, Alabama has the most songs ever and being the relatively new fan that I am I have to say that I am a little intimidated. I wore a really cute jersey and thanks to the sun, I now have a small white spot on my cheek where the Bama face tattoo once stood. Steven called it a "fan tan". Now for all of you anti Bama fans out there (Jesse) hear this... I have made my choice! Don't try to persuade me to your side because I am not feeling connected to this team yet. I fully intend to press on and declare "Roll Tide" every chance I get, I'm just trying to solicit advice on how to become more emotionally connected to a team that I am a fan of by marriage. Steven said that I became a fan the day I was home by my self and drove to Target to purchase a new antenna just so I could watch the game. I still feel disconnected. Any suggestions? Maybe the next time we go to Bryant Denney I need to work for my fanmanship by collecting used plastic cups and wash them by hand.

Tough Week

Yup, it's been rough. My Dad's best friend was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor which the doctors predicted would only give him 6 months to 1 year to live. He is not only my Dad's best friend but our second Dad. Bruce is his name and he awesome! He is one of those Dad's who is great about giving you hugs that make you feel safe, always ready to help and is a great story teller. I love him and his family and I am really sad. It also is rough becuase I can not be at home to support and love on him and his family. I talked to his wife yesterday and it was a hard conversation. She said several things but the most heartbreaking phrase was, "We are just going to have a great Christmas this year". What do you say when you get news like that? Please pray for Bruce and his family and my family. These last few weeks have been full of prayers with so many needs and I hate to add another burden to your guys' thoughts, but there it is.
On a brighter note currently I am in Birmingham with Matha and so enjoying myself. I have already spent the morning doing lots o' shopping and in a few hours with head to Tupelo to celebrate her upcoming marriage with all of her close friends. I super pumped about a relaxing weekend and sharing this time with her. Okay that is all I got.

prayers please

http://julian-family.blogspot.com/

Please check this out. A friend from college, Kelly Stewart, her new born is having some complications. Please, prayer for this family. Kelly is also the sister of Karie Stewart Green, I think that a lot of you guys may know her. Their family needs our prayers!

Rewind 2 years

So right about now I was probably waking up from an extremely restless sleep, totally freaking out inside and doing everything possible to keep myself from bursting out into tears. Yup, it was the big day, our wedding day. Today is our two year anniversary and it has been an awesome journey so far. I think at this point in the day (two years ago) I was so ready to get this over with so I could be normal Kelly vs super overwhelmed and stressed out Kelly. I was hungry but afraid that I was either going to hurl or poop (sorry kind of graphic) out even the tiniest crumb. As soon as we walked back down the isle and it was all over I felt a huge weight lift off of me. I could be normal Kelly again!! God has been so faithful to us over the past two years. I have learned so much about myself and Steven and this adventure that we are on. My suspicions have been confirmed about Steven. He truly is the most wonderful man. ( I know that most of you out there are thinking "there is no way that Steven could be as wonderful as my husband") But my friend, he really is. Well let me say that he is perfect for me. Daily, my love and respect grows for him. He is so wise and smart. I could go on and on so I will stop. I am thankful and so blessed to have been given the responsibility to share life with this most awesome man of God. It is an honor beyond my wildest dreams. Happy 2 years to us!!!

Finally!

We are on our way to routine. Steven got home safely from his trip last night and I am pumped. I feel like I got some good friend time and Kelly time. Punkin time here we come!! Besides routine the next couple of months are bringing some exciting times for the Hovaters. Every single weekend in September is taken up by friends coming to see us or us going to see friends. How wonderful!!! I am so pumped about about seeing Leslie and Jonathan, Rocky, Ashley and Camp (their new baby boy), Matha and her batchlorette weekend, and Matha and Hovie's wedding. Also I am trying to work out a quick trip to Memphis for Jessica's wedding. I am really needing some refreshing time with dear friends.
The first Wednesday night of the school was surprisingly great. I totally expected a room fully of grumpy kids hating the beginning of the new school year. But I was totally wrong! Their was great energy and excitement, I thought. See! There is something to this routine thing!
After a long week, I decided to take off the rest of the day. Have great weekends!
Oh, Steven's teacher, Laurie Mitchell, her surgery went great. I think that they got everything they are just in the waiting period to get the results back and then decisions can be made of where to go from there.

He's gone... Again.

I have a wonderful servant minded husband who lives his life to help those he loves and I am selfish. Steven is gone again but for two very good reasons. ( I guess mission trips are good reasons too) 1) A very special friend of our was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and Steven went to Huntsville to love on and support her family during her surgery, a total hysterectomy. This wonderful woman was Steven's drama teacher at Mars Hill. Their last name should be Hovater or our last name be Mitchell to show how much Steven loves this family and considers them part of ours. Please be prayerful her healing and recovery. 2) Steven's bestfriend "thewalrus" is finally moving back to the south and we are so excited and thankful for this opportunity for him. So Steven and Coop went to help him move and spend some much needed boy time together. That means I am baching it again. Thewalrus- please know that I am absolutely more then willing to be lonely for a few days anytime if it means having you closer to us. Be sweet to my punkin. This morning, after a rough night of sleep, I am really feeling the absence of Steven, but that is the deal and I will be fine. He will be better for this time with friends and I will try and be intentional about using this time grow in my relationships with friends and the Lord.

He's home!!

Steven got home last Saturday and it has been so nice to have him home. There have been several times when I just look at him and think to my self I am so glad that he is home. He had some crazy times in Mexico. They almost were flooded out of the city so building an entire house was very challenging but they got it done in 3 days. Man, wouldn't it be nice if all houses were built in 3 days! Since then there hasn't been a whole lot going on but we are for sure making our way back into some sort of routine. Sorry this is really boring but I am trying to get in some sort blogging routine and so that means that a consequence of this new discipline is that there may be a boring post or 2 or 3. I will try and pep it up for the next one.

Hovater Update

So it's one of those posts again. Not much going on but feeling the pressure to update my blog. Currently I am sitting on our couch watching TV while Steven is on his way to Mexico with our high schoolers. He was so excited about this trip becuase he gets to build an entire house in one week for a Mexican couple which is pretty cool. I am excited about the trip becuase it is the last one of the summer and marks the end of the summer. Routine here we come!!!! We have had a great summer, don't get me wrong, but there is something to routine. Knowing what to expect each day is so securing and grouding. Of course it can be boring but things have been so crazy lately I ache for boring.
We should be taking a vacation at some point but with Martha and Hovie's wedding and Steven starting back at school I am not really sure when that is going to be happening. But when we go we are planning on spending time in Virgina and DC. I haven't been to either and his cousin lives in that area so why not?
I am sure that you all are dying to know where I am at with the whole furniture thing. It is currently on hold for now becuase I have focused my saving efforts to put in bamboo floors in the living room and kitchen. I am super pumped and since my Dad is awsome at building and fixing stuff he has graciously offered to install them saving us a bunch of money. So spending time with fam and getting new floors. Bamboo you say? Well here is what I know of bamboo floors curtesy of Martha soon-to-be Hovater. They are 30% more durable then hardwood, about 2-3 dollars cheaper a square foot, eco friendly because it is every where and it doesn't expand with weather conditions like wood floors do. To be honest the cheaper thing is what got me and from what I can see they look just as cool as wood floors, I think. After that will come the last furniture purchase of a couch which hasn't been to much of a struggle to hold off on because I can't find anything that I love.
2 things to note form this summer... we were victims of theivery TWICE this summer. Once at Harding's summer camp, UPLFT (Steven's powerbook) and "The Big PV Heist" (our video camera that was sitting on Steven's desk) Currently I am typing on Steven's new Macbook, which is pretty cool and we are still waiting on the insurance check for the video camera. Both sucked but we now have a newer and more awesome computer and the little jerks that stole our camera now are the proud owners of a broken camera. (it broke like 2 weeks before) HA! That is what you get you little jerks!!!
That is really all that I got. This week will bring a clean house, because I won't have Steven to pick up after, lots of Kelly time, finishing the new book that I got and spending with time with frineds. I hope everyone has a great week!!!

ouch!

A true sign that you are an adult is sunscreen. Gone are the days of laying out just to get burned so you can then start tanning. What were I thinking? "Oh, hold on just let me increase my chances of cancer, walk around in intense pain, scream at my loved one for touching me all the while knowing that when I was thirty or so I would look about 10 years older...I HAVE to get that summer tan"? WHAT?!?! What kind of logic is that?

Last weekend we went to the lake and I was so proud of myself for aplying and reaplying sunscreen on every inch of my body EXCEPT for my legs. What was I thinking? I guess that I just had a moment of insanity thinking that this would be the first summer that my blinding white legs would only turn to a golden brown and not a painful, blistering cherry red. I still find myself fighting the "burn before tan" theory. After we were done with our fun filled day, I was then reminded evey single second of my stupidity beucase of the intense heat and pain coming from my legs. Not only was I feeling stupid becuase of my carelessness, but I had to display my stupidity for all to see because you can't wear pants when you are in pain like that. To bad I don't own any long skirts. An added bonus to the guilt...being aware of the fact that what I was doing to my self was putting my self in very real danger of getting skin cancer. It isn't worth it, it is NEVER worth it! It's 3 months out of the year that we are a slave to the sun only for it to fade away in the fall and start back over again next year. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Thank you Nicole Kidman Urban for reminding us that pasty white is beautiful!

A break for today

For some reason this summer has been so much busier then the past. That is just the deal with YM, but it still kind of caught me off guard. I did not do a good job of preparing myself for it. Steven has been gone all week for Uplift. This week really isn't so bad because he is still fairly close and accessible by phone, but I am ready for him to be home. He will be home, probably asleep, by the time I get home for lunch. So for today we have a break and then tomorrow we will be on the road to spend the weekend at the lake with the college class. I enjoy going and playing, but I also enjoy being bored every once in a while. Right now I want to be bored, at home, on our couch with my punkin right next to me.

Here is something fun... Last night I spent some time with former YM girls. They are going into their second year at Harding. I actually get to spend lots of time with them because we were super tight when they were in high school and that love is still there. Anyway, last night was great because I was aware of how much they are growing and maturing. They are thinking like college kids which is refreshing and I look forward to the adult thinking. I felt like I could be more real with them and less motherly. Even though I will always mother this particular class. I love this part of YM. Building relationships and maintaining them throughout our lives. What a blessing it is to remember kids in the 7th grade and then watch them grow into our peers. For them to be ministered by us and then do ministry with us, as partners. These kids are that to me as are so many Memphis kids. This encouragement spurs us on and shows us what God can do with very unworthy people.

Blogging Compliments

Okay so I start my work day at 7 in the morn (since I now have Friday's off) and part of my morning routine is to read all my favorite blogs of dear sweet friends. If I am super bored then I will read the blog links that are listed on my favorite sites. Sometimes I know those folks and sometimes I don't. Today I did just that. I jumped on one of my favs and thought to myself "Oh I know this girl, I want to see what's going on with her". Okay so this girl is Julie Kiser. We were friends in LR and our husbands are buddies but we for sure don't keep up with each other, but I have always loved her. So I am reading her blog and laughing because I think she is funny and looking at pictures of her new sweet boy. After I am done I look over at her links and to my delight and surprise she has "Kelly H" on her list. That's me! I was so pumped because that means that she loves me enough to be interested in my blog which is a big deal because it really isn't fun which leads me to believe that she really does love me! (please no comments about this declaration, I am not fishing for compliments) So I started to think about this link list and it really is a list of people that we love or things that are important to us and that we are interested in. Of course I realize that this list is not exhaustive being that a lot of people that we love are not devote bloggers. Am I the only one who feels this way? Doesn't it feel so good to be on someone's "blogging validation list"? Let me also take a moment to acknowledge Leslie Jerkins, Jesse Faris, Brooke Ray, Marf Guinn, Julie Kiser, Ashley Mills and Banks Lyons. (Do you feel more validated by my love by me bolding your name?) I am a faithful reader but a poor student of computer skills. I really have no idea how to put not only a list of links, but also pictures, books and a hit clock. Sorry, I am embarrassed. Also my weekend with Grace was good but exhausting. We did things non stopped and I am still tired. It was important time for us to spend together and I thankful that we had the opportunity.

California Love

Last Saturday night Steven and I returned to Little Rock after visiting my family in Cali. It was good times. We all went to the beach for a couple of days and is was great. Here is why I love the west coast... I was wearing jeans, a sweater and t-shirt and still was freezing while strolling up and down the coastal line. How great is that? I know, all you beach loving folks are thinking, how can being cold on the beach be fun. Well here is the answer to that... (mind you it may be different in southern california, this post only pertains to the central coast) I love to not to worry about extreme sunburns, sticky sand in your mouth and eyes, being intentional about hydrating and being bored out of your mind because all your friends want to do is lay-out. I am not distracted by the conditions of the weather. I don't say to myself "Oh man I am so hot". I do say to my self, "Man, if feels awesome out here and look how beautiful the ocean looks" Sidenote: The sun sets in the west so watching the sunset while wrapped up in a blanket with your punkin is awesome. (please note that the last comment is a mear dream of mine, Steven actually missed out on this trip due to arriving in Cali several days after I, but doesn't it sound fantastic!) So there you go Leslie, an update. I should have more after this weekend, Amy Grace is coming to stay the weekend with me and I am super pumped. Oh by the way this Friday is the first of me having every Friday off. YEA!!!!

4:50am

What is going on? This is exactly what was going on in my head when I was awoken abruptly on Saturday morning by one of our newest sevies. Her response to my obvious question, "I couldn't sleep". So that means that nobody can? She then decided that she was bored so she got everybody up. Awesome.
We took our upcoming 7th graders on their annual Six flag's trip. I really do look forward to this trip every year. It is so fun to play hard and get to know the kids that we are going to build relationships for the next 6 years. Hear me now... This will never happen again!!!!!!! I was so mad for the first 2 hours that I was up. I literally could not process why anybody would want to get up that early when we didn't have to be ready until 9am.
For the rest of the day every girl in our room reported to me that they were tired. I had ZERO sympathy for them. When this particular early bird told me that she wasn't going to wake up that early on Sunday morning I responded with a resounding "That's right you won't!" It really did test my love for kids and my self control.
The next night they were in bed by 11pm and up at 6:30am (we had to be out by 7:30am) I felt so proud and victorious!!! My name is Kelly and I am sleep Nazi.

YEA!!!!!

I would like to announce the engagement of my dear sweet brother in-law to my dear sweet best friend Matha!!!!!! Matha and Hovie are engaged!!!!!! That means that my best friend, college roommate, summer roommate, bicycle riding buddy, running partner (kinda) is now going to be my sister!! How awesome that? They came in town to see us this past weekend. Friday morning they got up to watch the sunrise at Pinnacle Mountain and he asked her there. It was so fun to have them in town but so special to share the first few days of engagement with them. Steven and I couldn't be more excited!!! October is the month, not sure on the day.

Special Olympics

Some of you may not know that I work for Easter Seals. It is a non-profit agency that works with kids and adults with all kinds of disabilities. Through this job I have been so blessed with the honor of working with and for some amazing folks. Today I had the opportunity to experience Special Olympics. What a blessing! It was held at a local high school in Little Rock. There were hundreds of kids with disabilities, their parents, teachers and caregivers. It was awesome to see the excitement in there faces. Since working with Easter Seals I have been convinced that these folks are here to remind us of what Jesus looks like. A real life example of his love, grace, tolerance, forgiveness and raw joy. The opening ceremonies were great. There was loud music, which was fun for me, but I thought odd because of all the sensory issues. Anyway, 6 police officers on motorcycles, 2 "black and whites" and a hummer escorted about 15 people running into the stadium with a lit torch. Really that was all that the ceremony consisted of but I have to admit, it totally brought tears to my eyes. The kids cheered their hearts out. They love that their Olympics is like the winter and summer games. We then got to watch them compete in a few events. The walking race, wheelchair race and standing long jump. How great is it that kids with such limited abilities can participate in events that prompt hundreds of people to cheer for them, they get medals and get their names announced on the loud speaker while standing on a podium. It was so wonderful to watch each kid express their happiness and joy in their own way. So many times these kids are looked at like they will never be able to contribute to society and they are such burdens. Well they weren't today. They were athletes and heroes and they even had medals to prove it! I am so thankful to have the opportunity to work with such a fantastic population!

The Jungle

That is what I like to call our yard, though as of yesterday it has lost its junglness. You see, we don't have a lawn mower. I really do feel okay about this because we also don't have the time to mow regularly. So our plan has always been to pay one of our kids to mow it. Really the best way to do things, I think. They get money, we get short grass without lifting a finger. So now that the lawn is cut, on to the beast of everything else. We literally have not touched our yard since we moved in last August. Yesterday was rake and bag leaves day. Raking and bagging leaves is awful!!! I was blessed with parents that didn't ask us for help doing the yard while we were growing up. They enjoyed it and I also think that they were to particular to hand these jobs over to kids that didn't give a rip about the yard. Well now that kid has grown up and gives a rip and is so discouraged and overwhelmed with the state of this situation. It is so much work!! We have to move azaleas and holly bushes, plant a Japanese Maple tree and lay sod in the back yard. We also have to pull weeds plant new flowers and apparently have to collect all the monkey grass. What we are doing with it once it is collected I havn't the slightest idea. YUCK!!! I will keep you posted on our make over project. I have to admit I don't have high hopes.

3 down, one to go and feelin' it

The third piece of furniture has been purchased. A TV cabinet. The cabinet was our compromise. Steven didn't want to commit to a size TV and I wanted all electronics hidden. So now the TV is not hidden but everything else is. It looks good. So here has been my thoughts thus far. I do not spend just to spend. When I am thinking about purchasing even then smallest of items I go through this process of justification in my head. It drives Steven crazy and probably Matha too, because they are the two that get to listen to my justification rantings. I guess it is just my way of drawing a line between what I want and what I need and feeling okay about my splurge of new chapstick. With each furniture purchase I have gone through this same thought process. Do I really need this? Is this frivolous? Am I spending our money the way God calls us to spend money? I am having a really hard time defining what contentment means to me. I know it is okay to desire for your home to look nice. But are you going over board by spending hundreds of dollars on things you don't really need? Is my lack of contentment and greed fueling this decision? For example, the coffee table that our TV has been sitting on for the past 2 years is a perfectly good place for our TV to rest. It's sturdy and houses all of our electronics needs. Is it okay for me to want something better? Something that makes the TV sit higher and hides all the cords. I don't know! I have wrestled with this for most of 2006. I want to be a good steward of our money. Is spending money on furniture that we don't really need being a good steward? At what point is it okay for you to just buy something new, just because. I don't ever want our home to be a place that causes others to be discontent. So in defense of that desire I find myself explaining to people that I have saved and put aside money for all of this. That I deserve this in some way. (See "Why do I love furniture so much?" post) "Way to go Kelly, you saved money!" The truth is that it is not ours to spend. So if I look at it that way, would God buy us a TV cabinet, loveseat, buffet and couch? Is that how he would spend his money? Do people that live a much higher standard of life then we do go through this every time they spend too? I can't imagine. I can see how folks get themselves into major credit card debt when they aren't thoughtful about all this. We have only one more thing to get and because of all of this I am planning on changing that forth item to something significantly cheaper. Not to "toot my own horn" (how was that one Leslie?) it is just another process of justifying. Does anybody else understand what I am saying? Any words of wisdom or encouragement from my faithful readers? Am I being crazy about all of this?

Hovater Update

I am updating to you that there is absolutely nothing exciting going on in our lives. I was looking over my favorite blogs and found myself getting irritated because those folks have not update in over a week and then I looked at mine and realized that mine had not been updated in almost a month. So here goes, we have gotten 2 items of furniture since the last post. Both of which I am super pumped about. We are anticipating the next 2 items in which case we should be good to go in the furniture area for a while. We have been really busy mostly because it is that time of year to be busy but also because we are gearing up for the summer. Here is something kind of exciting... We are going to Africa in the summer and I am going to start to work only 4 days starting in June. I am so excited about both, but to be perfectly honest probably more excited about only working 4 days a week. Next month Fletcher ( my 4 runner) will finally be paid off! My sister and brother-in-law got Steven probably the best birthday present ever... an I heart Fresno shirt. Isn't that awesome! He is proudly sporting it today. I bought a really cute lamp for $7.64, how awesome is that? It has been so unbelievably cold here. Which isn't such a big deal except for the fact that we put our winter clothes away on Saturday. I went to a wonderful wedding 2 weekends ago and will be going to an equally wonderful wedding in April. I finally found a great black dress to wear. Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to find a good black dress? Two nights ago Steven sat straight up in bed and said in a very panic-y voice, "What the crap is that over there?" That will get your blood flowing. It turns out there was some weird light that he saw but only for a second. That is what he tried to convince me of anyway. Well I think that is about it. Have good days!

Why do I love furniture so much?

Over the past month or so I have been saving like crazy to buy new furniture for our house. Here is my thoughts on that. Part of me feels really frivolous and prideful that I want new furniture. I feel like I need to be content with the hand-me-downs that we have been so blessed with. I feel like all this money could be used to go in our "emergency" fund because who knows when something "emergency" like is going to happen. I feel like this money could be used more wisely. BUT I also feel like I have worked my butt off to pinch those pennies, denying myself social events that are held at restaurants just so I can get that new chair, table and entertainment center. I'm worth it! I haven't been using any of the money for our "get those school loans paid off fast" fund. It's all from my personal sacrifice! Don't I deserve it? Part of me thinks so. Well the part that likes to furniture shop thinks so. The other part of me says.." Kelly you chose to marry the most wonderful man in the world who also happens to be a youth minister and also chose to spend 50,000 on your education with the goal of becoming a social worker knowing full well that your secret desire was to never work again, lets just face it sister living that kind of lifestyle is just not in the cards". BUT I SAVED says the furniture shopping side. Here is what is probably going to happen. I am going to get that furniture that I want but in 10 or 15 years from now I will still have that same wonderful furniture that I was dying to have at one time in my life when I was younger and much more materialistic. I better chose wisely because I am going to have to love it for the rest of my life. Man, these inner battles suck!

January 29, 1979

January 29, 1979 is an important day to me because it's my birthday. That makes Sunday the day that I am going to celebrate my 27th birthday. 27! When I was 16 I thought that 20 and up was so old. Now that I am 20 and up I don't feel that way at all. I really thought that I would feel differently by now but alas I still feel like Kelly. Every year that goes by I kind of get sad. Last year a very good friend of mine made me say my whole birthday day, "I am 26 and I'm pretty!". So here goes..."I'm 27 and I'm pretty!" Maybe I will feel better about that on Sunday. I need to learn the value of growing old gracefully while remembering that I am still young and there is still so much ahead of us.