Not So Happy V-Day

Today started out a little rough for the Rife girls. I had a Board of Education meeting at 9:30 am (we're on the Founding Committee of Main Street Academy, a charter school we're trying to start in our area). I woke up at 6 to have Holly and myself fed, dressed, and out the door by 8:15. As you can imagine in Atlanta, it took us almost the full hour and 15 minutes to get to our destination, Sandy Springs Middle School. As soon as I got Holly out of her car seat, I smelled her. Dirty diaper = strike 1.

I decided it best to ignore the diaper (where do you change diapers in a middle school? In one of the short little stalls with no locks?). We finally found our meeting location, the Media Center in the back of the building. As soon as we walked in the room, the fire alarm sounded. Fire drill = strike 2.

So, the President of the Board of Education and the few parents that had already arrived filed outside with hundreds of middle school students. I knew this was going to be bad. You can only hold a 16 month old for so long before she wriggles out of your arms, desperate for freedom. Thirty minutes after walking outside, I put Holly down, hoping she would be mesmerized by the fire trucks. Instead she took off running. And then tripped and fell face first. Busted lip = strike 3.

With nothing more than her beloved pink blanket to stop the bleeding, I politely asked the school principal where I could find some ice. Her response - "If you turn right at the light and then right again, you'll see a QT." Not exactly what I had in mind.

Needless to say, we didn't stick around for the meeting. Holly's getting used to her swollen lip, and she likes the fact that she gets to drink out of a straw (sipping from her cup hurts). As for me, I'm a little bummed that my attempt to fulfill my civic duty didn't turn out as I expected. I think tomorrow I'll stick to grocery shopping and walking the neighbor's dog.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

It Takes a Village

Matt and I have pretty much adopted The South Beach Diet as our eating lifestyle. Well, I've adopted it, which means that by default, so has Matt. She who does the cooking determines the diet. Once you get past the first phase (the all important kick the craving phase), it's just a healthy way to live. Whole grains, lean proteins, lots of veggies, and low sugar foods. It was all going well until last weeked. Twenty hours in the car in 4 days doesn't help - it's hard to be healthy at Arby's, Chick-fil-A, and Subway (I know you CAN be healthy there, it's just hard when the roast beef sandwich and homestyle fries are staring you in the face). And it REALLY doesn't help when your husband and brother-in-law order 2 large pizzas for dinner.

So when I return to Atlanta and normal life, do I also return to my healthy eating habits? Not exactly... lunch today was country fried steak and macaroni and cheese (I also had broccoli, but does that even count next to the other two?).

All this to say... starting tomorrow, I'm back on the wagon. And I'm asking anyone who sees me start to step off to gently help me back on. Or not so gently, if I'm being persistently tempted by the Valentine's Day chocolates I trust Matt is going to get me (hint hint... and I guess I'll know Friday if Matt reads my blog).

It takes a village to keep this sweet tooth on track. You have permission to hold me accountable.


(For some great South Beach recipes, check out Kalyn's Kitchen)

Family Weekend

On Saturday we celebrated 91 years of MiMi, Matt's grandmother. How awesome it was to gather in Huntington, WV with all of her grandchildren and greatgrandhildren to wish this wonderful woman a happy birthday! Holly did pretty well despite coming out of an illness and being in the car A LOT. She quickly warmed up and had a blast paying with her third cousins, Katie, Sam, and Libby. And Matt and I had a great time catching up with his cousins and simply being with family. As much as we love living in Atlanta, we realize how much we miss having family nearby.

On Sunday, we made our way over to Ohio to visit with Matt's mom's side of the family. We winded our way through rural mountain roads with full confidence that Google Maps would get us there. But we quickly realized that Google had street names, but the streets we were driving had only numbers. To add to the drama, the gas tank was below empty. But by the grace of God (and Uncle Gary, who came to the rescue) we made it there without a problem. Matt's Aunt Emogene hosted a great gathering of aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids, and even threw a surprise baby shower for Kelly and Megan (by the way, it's a boy!!).

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but such a great time. I'm already looking forward to next year!

The Best Medicine

How sweet is this? Holly wasn't feeling so hot today (she went to bed with a 102.7 fever)... and Daddy enjoyed every minute of it. He didn't enjoy the fact that she felt lousy, of course, but he loved the cuddling. Holly's not much of a cuddler. She usually only wants to be picked up if she's trying to reach something. But the sweet thing about sick toddlers is that they really want to be held. So while we can't wait for her to feel better, we're taking advantage of every opportunity to hold our little girl who's growing up too fast.

Queen of the Kitchen

Some cute video of Holly...

Passion::Paris

Matt and I have been invited by our good friends, Aaron and Beth Fortner, to be team co-leads in planning Passion::Paris. Passion Conferences seeks to unite college students around the world in prayer and worship, with the sole purpose of making the name of Jesus famous. Passion has been having events here in the US for the past 10 years and for the first time - they're going global! I'm still in disbelief most days that we have the awesome privilege and responsibility of carrying out God's assignment in Paris.

And there is much to do. The venue has yet to be confirmed (though the date is set for June 3rd... can you have a date without a venue?!), songs have yet to be chosen, then translated. Hotels must be reserved and a marketing plan must be developed. But I will not be anxious, because I know that the success of this event is in God's hands. We are finding his favor and blessing in so many areas and we are encouraged. As we wait for details to be finalized, the most important thing we can do is pray. Pray for the venue, for blessing of French ministry leaders, the bands that will perform, and Louie Giglio, who will be speaking. And most importantly, pray for the 2000 university students in Paris - Protestant and Catholic - that will gather as one body in worship and praise of Jesus Christ.

I've Been Discovered

If you look at the date stamps on this site you'll see that I haven't written since September. That's because I was testing out this whole "blog" thing and not really sure it was for me. I had pretty much decided that it wasn't... until I realized that Candace Chaney had my blog site listed on her blog site. Now, I realize very few people who read her site even know who I am, but I still experienced a moment of panic. Like, "Oh my gosh. I'm letting them down!" So somehow Candace has managed to hold me accountable to a blog we have never discussed, and a discipline I'm not sure I even want to have.

So, I will try to be a blogger. Again. Maybe this time it will stick, since I know there's at least one person out there who has discovered me...