Orange

We spent some family time in our old hometown of Orange today, mostly at the Orange circle. That place is so darn charming. Owen's verdict on the day: antique shops where babies can't touch anything, not so much; eating cucumbers off of parents' tostada at Felix's, yeah! Aaron and Amanda's thoughts on the day: most stuff in antique stores is fun to look at, but not something we'd want to keep looking at every day; you don't always have to be an eavesdropper to hear some crazy/icky stuff, because some people talk nice and loud; it's fun to be remembered at restaurants we haven't visited in a long time. We loved living in Orange. There's just something about it. It'd be great to live there again at some point.

Here comes treble

I've been wanting to get back into voice lessons for a while, but have hesitated due to being such a penny-pincher. It's really bad, you guys. Aaron can't believe how excited I get about coupons, or how upset I get if we accidentally leave one at home. He laughs at me for being so crazy about getting deals. Babe, you laugh right now, but just wait until the end of our lives when you realize I saved you a good $50 on froyo over the years. Boom.
Enter Living Social, my new bff (Groupon is pretty sweet, too). A deal popped up on there a few days ago for eight private music lessons for only $98 (about a 70% savings). When I saw this, my skin started getting clammy, and my heart began to race! Such a steal, but what if it was too good to be true? I called the music studio the next day to figure out the fine print, and it was all good. Now all I have to do is choose a teacher and schedule my lessons. Woohoo!
In all seriousness, I would have gotten back into lessons pretty soon even without this deal. I've missed being in vocal training, especially with leading music for the women's group at my church twice a week. I love singing way more than I love deals, and I find so much joy in working on and improving my craft. It's pretty silly of me to be so miserly about all this. Aaron has been encouraging me to just find a teacher, and I'm really glad this deal came up to motivate this cheapskate. I know that vocal training is a good investment in my ministry and vocation. Hopefully I will be able to keep making myself pay when my eight discounted lessons are up and I have to start paying full price! Ughhh, full price... I don't even like to write that phrase.

Who likes reading instructions?

Aaron used an excellent idea during his message at our church's high school group tonight. He read through a large portion of Psalm 119, and had the students holler and cheer whenever they heard any word designating the scriptures, like law, instructions, decrees, etc. (all words which don't typically inspire much glee in our culture, of course). The point of this was to help them experience the enthusiasm and love the writer of Psalm 119 had for God's word. It got really loud in that auditorium tonight! It reminded me of the time Aaron and I read through the book of Esther on Purim with our families, complete with the traditional booing and cheering. There is something really soul-stirring to me about reacting to God's word verbally as a community. It's a beautiful thing.

Marching on

My friend and fellow blogger, Gaby, has challenged me to beat my illustrious December record of twelve posts during this lovely month of March. I think I ought to give it a go. Shhh, don't remind me that we're already halfway into March.
So here's a little update: My son is starting to walk. This is both adorable, and terrifying. Oh, and he also opens doors now. It's funny to have to tell visitors to lock the bathroom door so our one year old doesn't walk in on them. In more introspective type of news, God has been showing me some ways I need to be more disciplined in taking care of my soul. It's good to sense His pursuit of me. My favorite thing about life lately is having some great conversations and dates with Aaron. That guy is a lot of fun. I'm really grateful to family members who help us have a break from the little dude sometimes. (Is it bad that we are already talking about being empty-nesters? I promise you that we love Owen to the moon... It has just come up in conversation somehow!)

*I wrote this post before the Japan tsunami happened. (Yes, that tells you how long it takes me to post things sometimes. I had to go back and say "halfway into March" where it had originally said "a few days into March".) Let's keep the people of Japan in our prayers.