Have I told you how "gifted" Jack is?

The following is an excerpt from a "Stuff White People Like" (SWPL) calendar. If you don't know what SWPL is, it's a satirical web-site/company that makes fun (all in jest... kind of) of... you guessed it... stuff white people like. You know, like jazz, hummus, peacoats, scarfs, tea/lattes, yogo, making you feel bad for not going outside, import beers, sea salt, anti-oxidants, organic food, farmer's markets, etc.

If you have not run into a person as described below, then you have not lived. But I am betting you have. Maybe you just haven't hung out with The Mills Clan enough.

Anyway, here is it (enjoy your friday):

"Gifted Children

White peopel love"gifted" children. Do you know why? Because an astounding 100 percent of their kids are gifted! Isn't that amazing?

But wait, aren't there white people who aren't doctors or lawyers, or even all that smart? Well, here is another one of those awesome white person win-win situations. If white kids get crappy grades and can't seem to ever do anything right in school, they are still gifted! How you ask? They are just too smart for school. They are too creative, too advanced to care about the trivial minutiae of the day-to-day operations of school.

This knowledge is important if you ever find yourself needing to gain the acceptance of white people. But never under any circumstance imply that their child is less than a genius. The idea that something could come from from them an have less than greatness is too much for them to bear."

Happy Valentine's Day!

We enjoyed a romantic Valentine's event at our church this evening. A string quartet, serenades, a chocolate eclair (or two), and a nice message about marriage.

John and I walked away daring each other to start a 40-day challenge....The Love Dare.




It should be an interesting journey :) Hope you had a wonderful day of love!

Things that make you go "hmmm"......

Well, I would like to welcome the Mid-Atlantic States into what has been commonplace for those of us in the Midwest this winter.

Can we take Al Gore's Nobel Prize back now? ;-) *

*Yeah, you just got e-winked. Deal with it!

2 Years Old

Happy Birthday, Jack

Appalachian Trail: Summer 2004

During our dating years, John had a bright idea (after reading Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods") to plan a trip for us out East to hike the Appalachian Trail for 5 days. Because I was just John's "girlfriend" at the time, I had attempted to hide any girly tendencies and be that easy going, low maintenance kind of girl. You know, the kind who likes watching the NFL draft all Sunday afternoon while eating delivery pizza and the kind who doesn't need expensive shampoo or pedicures. This "girl" willingly agreed to attempt this wildnerness hike with her handsome prince and lived to talk about it....here's an email I sent to my family and friends at the end of the trip. It made me giggle when I stumbled across it the other day in my saved email folder and I thought I would share.

Greetings from a computer and a shower...YES, these are luxuries John and I have not had for the past 5 days! On the last night of our fateful journey we stumbled upon these wonders called "Hostels", more specifically the Sandy Hook American Youth Hostel just outside Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Now before I proceed any further, let me remind you, we have been LIVING in the outdoors for the past 5 days!!! Which means, we smelled like that odor in your garbage can when you have left it for too long and immediately throw it out, we have no idea what we really looked like because there are no mirrors in the woods (except for this small-supposedly unbreakable-one I bought at a camping store, but it was so small you couldn't really get a good idea), and our hunger was completely out of this world!!!! (Tip for those of you who have any desire to walk the Appalachian Trail, a bag of freeze-dried food that says "Voted Best Tasting Camping Food in 2002" means it was compared with maybe (1) prison food (I can only imagine) OR (2) the worst day ever of school lunch, so you get an idea...no delicacy here--bring LOTS of granola bars and cheese crackers!!!!)

So, we arrived at this WONDERFUL place that has not only SHOWERS and REAL FOOD, but LAUNDRY and BEDS WITH MATTRESSES!!!! (and obviously internet, who would have figured) We truly believed we had found heaven (we asked, "Is this Iowa??")...John even said he thought he could LIVE HERE FOREVER!!! It is now 9 am, we are rested and showered and waiting to catch the Amtrak to head to DC for a day of fun!!! We have SO many stories from our hike (one that includes a baby pig and also one night where it rained on us for 10 straight hours--our tent could have fit 2 TODDLERS, but not two people, so again, you get the idea)...lots of laughs, stressful moments and some really great memories!!

I just wanted to send a quick note to say we SURVIVED and we are heading home!!