I just don't like them!!!

Why isn't this answer never enough? I just don't like animals. It's true and I would die a happy girl if I never have to share my space with an animal of any kind and yes that includes fish. I have had this conversation more times then I have hairs on my head, which really isn't a ton if you know me but you get my point. ;) It goes something like this...
Animal lover: Kelly, you need a pet.
Animal hater: No I don't, I'm perfectly happy in my life without a pet.
AL: But they are so cuddly!
AH: They shed like crazy and I am not about to clean dog hair on my chocolate brown couch everyday.
AL: You can get a dog that doesn't shed?
AH: Those are all ugly. We don't live the kind of lifestyle that is ideal to own a pet.
AL: What does that mean?
AH: I am not paying somebody to watch my animal when we are gone for the weekend and I am for sure not going to come home during my day JUST to let them relieve themselves.
AL: I really think that you are missing out on a very special companionship.
AH: I am just fine with my current companionship.
AL: Kelly, when you have kids, they are going to poop and pee all over the place.
AH: This is true, but they are humans being which is completely different then animals. I just don't value animals like I do humans.

Note to the all the animal lovers: I love you I just don't love your pets. I will be kind to you pets and say very sweetly "hello" to them but I will not pet them and for sure do not want them jumping on me or licking me. Gross.

Yikes!

No excuses folks, just a big fat sorry for checking out for so long.  Let's see.. not a whole lot is new in the Hovater household.  I am SOOO glad that it is fall and we can finally live like normal people vs. crazy adults that spend every second of their summer either out of town or with 8th graders. 

Here is something to discuss...I, for the past month, have had this nagging feeling that I need some sort of change.  Not a small change like a new hair cut, I feel the need for something significant.  I sort of feel a little stressed having not achieved this desire.  Is that weird?  Normally, I just rearrange furniture in our living room and that settles me down for a while, but I have had a hard time kicking that feeling this time around.   Am the only one who feels this way?  Any advice on how to work through that with out buying a new house every other year? 

I will leave you with some pics of our vacation to the Ocoee River.  So much fun!!  Just sitting around with a good book and great company.  Three cheers for your best friend becoming your sister-in-law!!!

 Do I really have that big of a gut?? I will just tell myself it was the way I was standing.

My silly punkin at the Tennessee Aquarium.  This was our unplanned outing because it was raining like crazy.  Rain+camping=no fun.  Don't worry it was only for one day and then it was beautiful! 

Blog Absence

Whew! Sorry folks for the blog absence and for the lack of pictures on this post. I will do try to do better. Man, this summer has flown! Since May we have gone non stop. We spent a week in Searcy for UPLIFT. Our kids did great! Surprisingly, we were low on the drama which is always a breath of fresh air. During the month of June, a friend from home (Fresno) stayed with us. I say friend because we are friends because our parents are close, but Jordan is only 17. Not that you can't be friends with a 17 year old, but you know what I mean. Different life stages. I think that she had a great time with our kids. She was sort of Steven's side kick for that month and handled that responsibility well. Our kids did awesome about including Jordan in most things that they did. It was really good to have her stay with us, except for that fact that she sheds like crazy and I am still vacuuming up blonde hair, 3 weeks later. I hardly have hair at all so I don't loose much, thank goodness!!
Last weekend another set of my parent's close friends came to see us. I think that I have talked about Bruce in past posts. He is my Dad's BFF that was diagnosed with brain cancer almost a year ago. Well Bruce, his wife and her brother were driving across country and Little Rock was on the agenda. I was so thankful for that time spent with the Fain's but it is always hard to see Bruce struggling like he is. He was having a hard time walking and his speech is slow. He really is doing well considering his circumstances, but it doesn't make it any easier to see him like this.
Last Saturday, left for his first mission trip of the summer. Juarez, Mexico to work with Casas Por Cristos. It is never fun when he leaves but I have been keeping myself busy with repainting my bathroom and hanging out with friends. He returns home on the 21st then leaves again on the 26th for Nicaragua. He will be gone for 10 days on that trip. He flies back into LR from Nicaragua on a Saturday and then leaves the very next day for a short course in Memphis. YA-UCK! Good news is that this is his last short course during the summer because he will finally be graduating in May 08!!!! I am so proud of him and ready for all this to be done with. Well I guess that is about the extent of our lives since last I posted. This summer has been so good so far. I am really proud of our kids and our interns. I hope all of you are well!!

Fres-yes!!

Oh what a wonderful trip we had!! This is my nephew who is so so sweet! Aiden is such a wonderful baby. He doesn't spit up?!?! What? Maybe Little Rock has an exceptionally high population of spit-er-up-ers because I don't think that I have ever been around a baby that never spits up. My sister is doing very well. A little tired because she just had a baby, but also because her body is still trying to recover the blood that she lost. Apparently it will take about 6 weeks to be back up to normal. Aiden is also a great eater. He went for his 2 week appointment and the doctor said that he is gaining about 2 oz. a day!! Again, I have no idea if every baby is like that and I really don't want to be the girl that thinks her nephew is exceptional when in reality he just normal, but I was pretty impressed that he has done so well. We had such a good trip and I was not ready to come home. Hopefully in the fall my Mom, Courtney and Aiden will come to LR to visit. This picture is of sweet Aiden in the outfit that we bought him. We are going to make him into a Bama fan whether he likes it or not. Doesn't he look so comfy and cozy in his new role as a Bama fan? I think so! Roll Tide!! Oh, I love this picture. There will be more to come!

I am an aunt!!!

Aiden Thomas Espinoza was born on Friday night weighing in at 7lbs 13oz. and 20 and a half inches. He is doing great!! My sister has had some complications starting after his birth. She is having a blood transfusion today so please keep her in your prayers. She was able to feed him and he ate great so we are excited about that. I should have some pics very soon for you guys!

Sorry

Man, I had such great intentions to be a better updater, I was wrong. Things have been really crazy here lately. I guess that is mostly because we are getting closer to the summer and our summers are always crazy. I feel more prepared this time. I will be able to due a little more with the kids and I am looking forward to that time. I wanted to post some pics to better update you on our last few weeks.




This is us at Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs. It was so beautiful!!! We took a group of about 25 old ladies with us. It was hilariously fun. I sat by a 91 year old women that asked my name about 20 times and after about 20 times of shouting directly in her ear "KELLY!" She sighed and told me that it didn't matter anyway. I wasn't really sure how to take that.





This is my good friend Zac. Steven and I took 4 of our guys to a disc gold tournament in Memphis. Sorry Memphians, there just wasn't a good time to get away and come see you guys. Anyway, I got to see Zac and Lauren for a little while and that was really great to catch with some old friends!

Matha and Hovie came to see us for the weekend and it was so good to see. It doesn't happen enough. I would share some pictures but we really didn't get a lot with our camera. They got a new one that is way nicer then ours so Hovie was busy taking the pics. Last weekend Steven performed a wedding, his first. He did a great job but I don't have the pics downloaded yet. This coming weekend is another wedding and a quick trip to Branson with the girls. I will hopefully will update more soon. Oh here is something I forgot to mention. I should have new nephew in 2 days! I am so excited!! Please pray for my sister and my new nephew Aiden Thomas during this transition. We will be going to Fresno at the end of the month to meet him. I can't wait!

Easter

This was the first time since I left for Harding that I got to spend Easter with family. It was so fun to spend that time with Steven's family in Alabama. Below is a picture of Bailey, Steven's 2ond cousin. Isn't she beautiful? She is also the smartest just turned 2 year old. Her word for the week was pediatrician...WHAT?!?!


Steven and I were able to start our Easter holiday off by having dinner with my dear friend, Ashley and her wonderful boyfriend, Rudy. This is us at Carrabba's (sp?) I love this place and was excited to share that time with them! Sorry the layout is weird. I am trying to be big girl and figure out how to do this picture stuff on my own. We got a new camera so hopefully I will have lots o pics in the posts to come!

A pleasant picture for Jesse to look at while she eats her lunch. Sorry about the gross picture being up so long. This is from our vacation in 2005. I really don't have anything to write about I was just wanting to put something up that was more fun then a gross brown recluse arm. I found this in our picture library. I hope everyone is having a great day!

gross.

The is my sweet boy's arm...don't be jealous ;) 2 weekends ago Steven was visited by a friendly little brown recluse. A brown recluse that wasn't feeling very reclusive at the time he decided to inject his poison into Steven's arm. Why oh why, LBR would you want to hurt somebody like Steven? All he was trying to do was serve God by taking our kids on a retreat. He was only doing his job and minding his own business. Yes, he probably slept in your personal space, but really, turn his arm white because of severe infection? Is that REALLY necessary? I think not.

BTW...his arm is fine now. No big gapping holes, bruising or white flesh. We are thankful, still a little traumatized, but so very thankful.

After and before

The finished kitchen floor!!!
Kind of a blurry finished product pic, but you get the idea. Promise, the pillows normally face the correct. Man, I really should have straightened up before I started snapping pictures!
Silly Steven, making silly faces in our newly floored living room! Yea, it's done, it's done!
This is during the process. They did such a good job! Thank goodness for people that know what they are doing and that those people love us!
This is our living room before, minus the cushions and sorry about the laundry. Sorry this is a backwards before and after post. More like an after and before. Forgive, I am new at this posting pictures business! So that's it. We really do love it so much. No more stained carpets and we broke down and got a new stove too so we are no longer risking our house burning down when we cook. Thanks for humoring me.

a clean slate

This past weekend, we (more specifically my Dad, and 2 other YM Dad's) installed hard wood floors in our down stairs. It looks so good! I am so excited about having a floor that is not all stained up by somebody else's kid. It's so clean looking. We also got a new oven because our old one wasn't quite working the way that it should. My Mom so lovingly called it a "fire hazard". I feel like such a princess having all four burners working, a timer, a clock and a actual light where I can see what I am cooking. Glorious!! So far Mom has been the only one breaking that joker in. So anyway, that has consumed the past few days for us. I will post before and after pics as soon Steven gets a chance. Sorry I am just not good at that.
In other news, we have been so busy(I know that comes as a huge shock!). The weekend before last, we went to Winterfest and had a great time with the kids. They did so well with so much freedom. We even got a compliment about the way they were behaving. It was a pretty big deal. This weekend is a leadership retreat for several churches in our area. I haven't decided if I am going or not. I am really tired and just want to stay at home. Maybe I will just come up late. My parents are leaving today. It has been so nice to have them with us, but I am looking forward to routine. OK, that's all I got!

my birthday week...

Monday (29th) was great! I got balloons at work from my parents, received lots of calls and e-mails wishing me a Happy Birthday and went to this fancy schamncy restaurant for dinner with my sweet punkin. Oh yea, Michael and Mindy Cooper called me to tell me that they are pregnant!! Tuesday (30th) was strange. My friends at work took me out for my birthday to Blue Coast Burrito and I was super pumped. Later that day I got a call from Steven asking me if it would be okay for a 17 year old runaway to stay at our house for the night. What?!?! All of these questions and thoughts went through my head. Is he going to kill me? Do I need to hide all of our bank statements? Is he gross? (sorry, but I can very shallow) But the thought that most penetrated my head was "this is exactly what we are called to do". So I said okay, but was really nervous UNTIL I got home and looked in our extra room where he had put all of his stuff. There, lying very peacefully on the bed, was a tuning fork. Yes, you read right, a tuning for fork. Two more thoughts...1) A band nerd, I can handle a band nerd...2) What kind of runaway carries a tuning fork with him?!?!? Oh, and I also bought hardwood floors for the whole down stairs and I am super pumped. I will post pics when it is done. Wednesday (31st) was equally perplexing. So I go home at lunch to check on our little vagabond and he was gone. So gone that it looked like he never walked through our door. All of his stuff was gone and the bed was perfectly made. Kind of a strange feeling. Turns out he decided that he is not grown enough to make it without his parents and went back home. Did I mention that home is Dallas, TX? Thursday (1st) was really fun. It was a snow day here in Little Rock so I was off all day. We went shopping, bought a new light fixture for the kitchen, then went home and did some things on the house that needed to get done. Friday (2) was productive. I cleaned our house, Steven put up the new light in the kitchen and we spent most of the evening watching the last six episodes of Lost getting geared up for next week. So there you have my birthday week. Man, this year of 28 has started really strangely.

What?!?!

0 degrees, with a "feels like" temp of -20. What?!?! Who exists in such conditions and actually enjoys it? This past week I spent some time in Denver/Breckenridge, Co. I had a blast in Denver and also decided that Colorado does a FANTASTIC job at presentation. Everything looks cute, has a catchy name and really just makes you feel cooler when you are there. Colorado oozes with cool. Not to say that all Coloradans are cool, but their state for sure is. Anyway 0 degrees was the temp Sunday morning. Needless to say Kelly didn't quite make it out on the slopes that day. I understand that we only get to ski every two years, BUT there was no way that I was going to spend 65+ dollars on being miserable. No way at all!!!! So I took the prissy route and sat on the couch, in front of the fireplace and read my book. And I was totally comfortable in that choice. I am not too proud to say that I am cold and don't want to ski today! I don't have anything to prove to anybody! Anyway, besides that and 2 friends with the stomach flu, we had a great time and are so thank full for the time with good friends. I got to spend sometime with my college roommate, Analisa and her new baby boy. It was great.
Now that we are back home and I am relishing in the routine. I have slept in MY bed consistently for 4 nights. It almost brings tears to my eyes. The spring semester is sooo busy and I feel like I am having to play catch up with no time for myself which totally sucks but part of the deal. So here we go! Summer will be here before we know it. Enjoy your day today!!!

Swish, swish

That is the sound that I will be making as I sail down the Colorado mountains, freezing my face off and enjoying time with friends. Today, Lezley and I fly out for the great state of Colorado. Several things are exciting about this trip. 1) I get to fly with Lezley. I hate to fly and I believe that she will be she will be a great flying partner because she will actually talk to me. Sounds terrible, but Steven loves to spend flying time as Steven time so he literaly gives me crazy looks when I ask simple questions during that time. I like to fly with distractions, of course, not the plummeting to your death sort of distractions. 2) I get to spend time with college roommates and a very important baby boy named Jackson. 3) We get to ski!!!! I love to ski but don't get to do it often enough (another reason why Arkansas is crappy) so this will be super fun. Since I am terribly out of shape 2 days will be all that my body can handle so the timing is great as well. 4) The place that we are staying has an awesome hot OUTSIDE! I know that this does not really sound super. Just picture hanging out with close friends, in Colorado, outside with snow, but so warm and toasty in the hot tub. Sounds pretty fantastic to me!
BTW, I am so glad that holidays are over! It was so fun but kind of stressful. It was great to be able to spend time with Steven's family, including Hovie and Martha, but I was ready to be back in my own bed. I talked to my sister yesterday and she said that everything was going great with her pregnancy BUT they are now having a BOY and not a girl. So we will have a nephew by the middle of May. I can't wait!

I am so annoyed! I just lost a great post about Christmas cards. Sorry, here's the short version...I love Christmas cards with pictures on them...Sorry the Hovater's don't participate in these festivities...maybe next year...Merry Christmas!

Yuck!

We have had a tough weekend. On Friday morning my best friend/college roommate/sister-in-law called me to let us know that her father passed away. He was in a terrible car accident a couple weeks prior and his badly broken body just couldn't fight anymore. What do you say? I didn't know what to say. We just cried and briefly spoke about the details. On Saturday afternoon we got news that a teacher/coach at CAC had a massive stroke and wasn't going to make it. Not only was I trying to process my sweet friend Matha's loss, I now was attempting to offer encouraging words to a house full of bawling teenage girls (we were at a girls retreat). What do you say? Sunday morning on our way to Matha's Dad's funeral we got the call that Coach Brady died. I still feel pretty much numb and exhausted from these 2 incidents. I feel that they all will be fine but will always ache for those they lost. Please be prayerful for Matha, her family and our YM kids. This sucks, sucks, sucks.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

4 inches!!!! That is how much it rained on Monday night which also perpetuated a big fat leak in our sky light. Steven is silly boy who woke up at 2am because he wanted to go and watch the storm while I stayed in our bed to scared to move. I hate storms! I really feel like this Californian has transitioned almost flawlessly (Ha!) into a southerner EXCEPT when it comes to storms. They are so scary and on Monday night I was ready to put our house up for sale to move far away from the south. Anyway, Steven gets up, goes outside to watch the storm and comes back to inform me that it looks like a huge bird pooped all over our entry way floor. We have that hideous popcorn stuff on our ceilings (I apologize if you love the popcorn) and when it gets wet, it drips in a pattern very much like bird poop. GROSS! I go down stairs to check it out and he was right and I am sad. Not only do we have bird poop on the floor but an stain on our ceiling to match. I am really hoping it is just the seam in the sky light but I suppose it could be the roof as well. Oh Man!!! I hate to spend money on things like that! So after a day of feeling sorry for myself I get a call from my good friend Lezley. She called to let me know that their ENTIRE basement flooded on Monday night as well. I felt so crappy for moping around all day about my small leak when their whole basement was flooded. Sorry Lezley. So that was the last couple of days for us. Hopefully I will hear from the roofer today and I will keep you updated. Have a good Thursday!

Soup and Monopoly

Last Friday night Steven and I hosted a soup and monopoly party. For those of you who hate monopoly, I understand you distaste, but have you ever tried playing on teams while pooling your money together? All of the sudden it goes from a boring game that never ends into a fast pace "to the poor house you go!" kind of game and it is so fun with friends. We had a soup potluck so we had 3 different kinds to choose from and they were all so good. What a blessing it is to have times like this. Just hanging out with friends.
What is your guys' opinions of light-up Christmas figurines for outside decorations...specifically light up penguins? My first reaction is tacky, tacky, tacky. I love the classic white lights and just enough to be pretty not overwhelming. My husband on the other had feels like the brighter the better. We were in Home Depot yesterday and all he could talk about was how he wanted light up penguins to be on our roof strategically placed at an angle, looking over at our Holiday guests' heads as they come up to our front door. I really think that is so tacky but I found myself laughing so hard just at the thought of that being part of our holiday. Really I giggled through out the whole isle. If it can bring me that much joy at the thought of it maybe we just need to do it. Steven's funness is wearing down my snobbery.
This weekend Matha and Hovie come to see us. I am so excited!!! I can't want to hang out with them. I have been missin me some Matha.
On Wednesday of next week we are leaving for Cali. I am really looking forward to spending time with my family, albeit a short trip. (Leslie how was that use of the word 'albeit'?) Though it will be Thanksgiving we will do our 'Christmas' with my family so I am really pumped about that too. My parents just sold our house so this will be the last trip on Orange Ave. I am sad because it is the house that we grew up in but excited for my Mom that she will finally have the house she has always wanted. Have a great week!

Hovater Update

Yup that's right, Kelly has nothing super exciting to blog about but feels the pressure to write something so we have another Hovater update!! Okay, did I tell you guys that we found a couch. Well we did and it has yet to arrive! I am so annoyed! We ordered it in September and it hasn't come in yet. Should I asked for a percentage off? Apparently the couch making plant closed so they had to send our order to another place, but of course the order was not sent until about 6 weeks into it. I haven't been to upset because we still have our old couch but I am starting to get a little impatient. Alabama lost to UT. We are sad, sad, sad. They played so well up until the last 6 minutes or so. Oh why can't they seem to get it together? Regardless, I sported my new Bama jersey with pride. Steven tells me I am a bully. I have been depressed ever since mostly because I think that he's right. Man, this marriage thing is so wonderfully honest though sometimes it makes me feel crappy. I think that because Steven is so fantastic at letting me be me, I have not done a good job of controlling the less fun parts of myself. That makes it sound like that blame is his, totallly not what I mean. I need to cherish his willingness to embrace the total Kelly package while doing my best to change that package into something beautiful. That has really been on my mind for the last few days. I do a terrible job at protecting Steven from the wrath of Kelly. Umm lets see what else, oh, I think that Fletcher's (my 98 4 runner with 176,000 miles) days are numbered. Side note: Jesse Maddox Faris was the one who found him for me. Anymore ideas Jess? I think that it is time but I am not sure what I want. For sure nothing new, I rather not put ourselves in any more debt then necessary, but something fun. I am some what leaning towards a pathfinder but I am open to any opinions OR if you know anybody selling their car/SUV with low millage and it's cute that would be helpful too. Okay that's all I got hope you guys are having a good Monday!

The wedding and vacation

Last weekend (Oct 1) was Matha and Hovie's wedding. It was fantastic. Everything was beautiful and they are now currently beginning this stage in their life in Argentina. Pretty cool huh? After the wedding we traveled to Roanoke Virginia to spend some time with Steven's cousin. It was so fun. They have a 19 month old who is the smartest child I have ever been around. I know that girls typically talk more and earlier then boys, but whoa. When all the adults were talking it seemed like she would listen for words that she has never heard and then verbally practice them a few time, commit them to memory and include them in her every day vocabulary. It was great to get to know their whole family better. After that we went to DC for a couple days. The first day was pretty stressful for my penny pinching self. Why are the hotel prices DOUBLE of any other place in the country. Well any place that I have ever been. I had two choices... spend 2 something each night for a clean safe normal hotel or risk our lives by staying at a hotel that was resembled the hotel that MLK jr. was killed at. (Sorry Memph) I was truly in Shadesville and I did not like it. So I decided, very reluctantly, on the more expensive of the two. DC is an awesome place. We saw as much as we could in the short time that we there. We ate some great food and walked our faces off. Oh, I just remembered... I am going to be an aunt!! Yea!!! My twin sister Courtney is pregnant, due in May and I am pa-umped! So their you have the last week of my life. It was a great trip but I am glad to be back to the ole routine.