Christmas Time

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I've started working on my Christmas List:

Stephen's List
This Desk
Gun Safe (Walmart--$20)
9mm Bullets (Walmart--$20 for 100 rounds)
Tommy Cologne
Home Depot Gift Certificate
Wake Forest Hoodie (like this one)
Iron Gym--as seen here (can buy at walmart)
Itunes Gift Cards

Cakes, cakes and more cakes!!

So I've made/decorated a couple more cakes and thought you might like to see them!! :) The white cake with the pink flowers was just a practice cake...and the one with chocolate icing was for my boss' birthday!! This month is full of cake making! Next week I'm making a birthday cake for one of the girls I work with, then the last week of October I am making a sheet cake for a baby shower and a cake for Halloween! I'm really excited about both of them!! I will be sure to post pictures (if they look good :)

So...that's all I have! That and the news that Bella Rose is going to be a bumble bee for Halloween! Fun stuff!!

Update

So, I decided to write a little update since I now understand that there are two people who look at the site :) (hi, Lindsey and Brie!) We've had lots of fun stuff happen in the last little bit! Of course, my birthday was one!! Stephen did a great job putting together a little celebration! I received very thoughtful gifts...including a bicycle from Stephen! Unfortunately, after asembling the bike, we noticed a few problems and decided it should go back. So I have ordered an ESV bible instead!! I am really excited about it! Salem Chapel uses ESV, so I guess I'll be 'official' now! I hope to put my new name on it, too!!
I also started a cake decorating class on my birthday!! (Thank you Lindsey!!) I am taking it with Stephen's mom, and we are having a lot of fun. Of course Dianne has the experience of birthday cakes for 3 kids over the last 32 years, so she is considerably better than I am,...but I'm getting there! The picture is of my second cake :)
Well,...I hope this update will be sufficient for now :) I am hoping to get some pictures from the LifeGroup 'girls night out'! We went out for my birthday and had a great time! When I get those pics I'll update again! (No pressure Amanda!)

Camps

I just got back from 2 camps. I started out at Garden City (at the beach) for a week full of screaming, ice cream, water slides and of course ministry! After the Thursday morning session, I drove straight to camp #2--a Missionary Kids (MK) camp.
Although they will be stuck with the MK label for life, they're actually all about to enter college. Some of them flew straight in from the country where their family serves. Most of them don't really favor USA culture and want to go back overseas. Makes you re-think that missionaries are "giving up so much" to go overseas (at least culturally)--when in fact they wouldn't have it any other way. They see the average American Christian as really missing out.
The worship services confirmed my theory that the key to vibrant worship is the perspective of relying on God and grace in daily life and then coming together to celebrate in that together--not "being starved for worship" (as some think is the reason as to why missionaries worship so well) and not the "professionalism" of a service (people can congregate and be sincerely impressed by the Olympic opening ceremony without having a deep love of China).
All in all it was a good trip. Hard to believe it was within a week's time.

Purple toe...blue boot

Well, I am feeling much better since surgery - and in celebration I have enjoyed some quality time with my pup! Wednesday, during my lunch break, I decided it would be fun to chase Bella around the living room (that is her favorite thing in the world)! After several laps around the couch, I got a little too close to the wall. I nailed the wall with my left foot. Stephen and I heard a noise that sounded somewhat like a 'crack' - and I was speechless!!! I tried to walk it off, but that was not happening! So, I propped it up and put a bag of frozen peas on it. Then Stephen was kind enough to find his crutches and I was off to work - which is where everyone who has ever broken a toe, confirmed that I had broken mine! I didn't plan to go to the Dr. except that I had some really weird bruising...so I went and was told that I had a fracture that went up the center of the bone! I was given a 'post-op shoe' (yeah...I know you want one!) and told to wear it for 4 weeks! At that time I will go in for another x-ray to be sure everything has healed up properly!
I guess I'll have to find another game to play with Bella Rose! :)

1 year and 27 years

The 2nd and 3rd weeks of July are pretty big in the Mann household. Our 1 year was on the 14th. My Dad's birthday was on the 10th, Scott's was on the 16th (the big 30) and mine was on the 17th (the big 27). For our 1 year, we got the hook up for a weekend at a lake house--jet ski included along with sizzling fillets at Ruth's Chris.






My birthday was fun and low key. I got some home depot gift certificates for my new found passion of yard work, a sweet air chair, a book I've been wanting, an outdoor games kit, and a hose nozzle.

Stephen's Birthday Wishes

Correne and I have an ongoing debate about birthday wish lists. If you ask me, what's more practical than having a list so loved-ones can get you what you want without the hassle of guessing. If you ask Correne, that takes away from the thought and sincerity of it all--because that's the point right?

Well, since I'm posting, here's what I'm hoping for, come July 17th:
--An Air Chair
--A Bike Rack (for a Civic or Ion)
--A Badminton set for tons of fun in the back yard
--A bean bag toss game
--A Home Depot gift certificate (I can't get enough)
--A Boss RV-5 Reverb Pedal
--Itunes giftcard

Mann Recovery

Stephen and I have successfully made it through a week and a half of 'recovery' and now I am back at work! Stephen has been an amazing caregiver! And our LifeGroup/church along with the ladies I work with were so kind to provide many meals (and a little company!). Bella was spade last Thursday and has had a handful of complications - so she is now wearing an E-collar. She hates it! She has become more comfortable with the whole situation, but I still don't think she is a fan! She will have to wear the collar at least another four or five days...
It would be so great if Stephen and I could get a little of Bella's energy!

Appendectomy

Correne and I have had more fun on a Saturday. She had been having pain in her stomach since Wed. but didn't know what it was. Finally, it got so bad Saturday morning that we had to cancel our trip to Troy to see her parents and go to the ER. We waited for about 40 minutes (not bad) and then she had some blood work done and then a CT scan.
Soon after, they came back with the news that we feared but kind of expected---the appendix needs to come out. Within probably 30 minutes, she was in the pre-op room answering questions about anesthesia. I grabbed dinner and came back to a wife who was in serious pain and dry heaving after a few ice chips.
Saturday night was pretty rough, but Sunday was much better. Now we're at home, and I'm playing the role of nurse. At least there's no changing of the bedpan.

Backyard--Before and After

I tried my hand at being a landscaper. 

Lifegroup Outing

A few weekends ago, we had a fun weekend getaway with the Lifegroup. The Deatons were kind enough to hook up the stay at their parents mountain house. We even brought Bella. She didn't go with us though on the hike to the waterfall. 

Graduating Class of 2008

Bella Rose Mann completed her puppy classes, and we are quite proud parents. She has mastered: sit, down, roll-over, leave it, take it, stay and we're working on beg. The best part is that she now rings a bell hanging on our door when she needs to "go outside." Every dog owner should teach this one. 

Our House

Just because we like our house so much, here's a picture of it. For those who didn't know, I bought the house next door to the one I lived in with Scott for about a year.

Manntastic is BACK

Of all of the websites I've done, for some reason I just didn't want to update manntastic. It's not because I didn't care, it's because I didn't feel like going through the hassle. But thanks to Blogger and an iframe, posting will be much easier. It will be manntastic!