joeyandheidi.com : Updates http://www.joeyandheidi.com Recent Updates en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:13:26 GMT Mar 08, 2010 - Mon :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com The A-Team (aka Grandma and Grandpa)
Paris (Chuck and Heather)
Mud
Sunday Afternoon Smackdown (Christian and Nina)
"It's like Beth with an H" (Our last name is often misspelled or misunderstood so we find ourselves having to explain "It's like Beth with an H", hence our team name)

I'm happy to announce that our team won but it was definitely not because of me! Joey went undefeated! In between matches Joey and I spent time following Naomi around the arcade while she tested out just about every game there, mostly pushing the buttons.


Nina and Christian (Can you tell they are both personal trainers?!)


Can you tell that we are NOT personal trainers?! Our wristbands were the best!

We all headed back to my parents' place after the tournament. Their building has a conference room so we decorated that for our play-doh party. Naomi asked specifically for balloons, so as soon as she walked in the door after first exclaiming, "IT'S ME!" said "My balloons!" At the end of the night I tied all 15 balloons together and she ran up and down the hall with all her balloons...in a princess dress of course. The balloons covered her entirely so as she ran down the hall you could just see balloons. Oh and her hair was sticking out all over the place from the static! When we got on the elevator she walked up to the mirror and I heard her say in her precious three year old voice, "I'm beautiful." What would life be like if we all looked in the mirror and told ourselves we were beautiful rather than the negative tape we play each day? I think God would be pleased.




Naomi's face as we sang Happy Birthday to her
]]> Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Mar 05, 2010 - Fri :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com talking about joining a gym and were going to actually join. We knew where we wanted to join (I had looked around at several gyms in the area) it was just a matter of doing it. So on Monday night I told Joey we were going.

It's been so great! We signed up for what is called a "matinee membership" which means we can only go M-F before 4pm. This works out great for us since we both work from home and have the flexibility to go when things aren't so crowded. We've gone every day this week, tried out quite a few of the classes (my main reason for joining this particular facility), felt uncoordinated and humbled, got our butts kicked multiple times, thought we were going to die on occasion, but felt so good afterward and enjoyed doing it together! ]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Mar 04, 2010 - Thu :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com

Such a sucker!





]]> Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Feb 25, 2010 - Thu :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com
My criminal justice class is going well and I love getting up early each Friday morning to attend. However, I don't know that I have any further indication of what direction to head in the criminal justice field. I talked to my brother-in-law who is a retired police officer to see if he could help pigeon-hole my interest in criminal justice into one or two particular areas that would help give me a little more direction. I don't think it helped because I like so many aspects of it and can see myself doing multiple things. I'm hoping to meet with a couple people and pick their brains about some more stuff, so we'll see. I'm thinking about pursuing a Masters.

Joe has started his scuba diving lessons and, as an understatement, I will say "he loves them." The boy came home from his class last week at 11:45pm and couldn't stop smiling. His eyes got bigger and bigger as he relayed to me all the exciting things he had just done underwater for the previous two hours. His hands were still even a little "prunish" from being in the water all evening! He is already talking about going further and becoming a master diver.

Of course with Joey becoming a certified scuba diver this means we will need to create opportunities for him to dive so I think a cruise is in our sights! I think we deserve it with all the snow we've endured this winter! Washington DC broke all previous snowfall records with our past two storms, and we are hearing of more on its way next week.

We had Winter Retreat with the youth group over Valentine's/Presidents' Day weekend, which was so good. We had an outstanding speaker named Jamie Winship who gave such a refreshing and new perspective on living the Christian life, missions, ministry, etc. He was so captivating that even during free time when he gave an informal talk that was supposed to last an hour but went for over two hours, we had about 80 students there listening. We were really encouraged throughout the weekend.

We are going to be celebrating my older brother Christian and our niece's birthdays on March 7. I am super excited because I volunteered to be in charge of decorations for Naomi's party! Last Saturday Joey and I headed to Walmart and had such a great trip together picking out all the items for decorating. I actually finished putting together my masterpiece for the table last night. I'm very excited! When Nina asks Naomi what she wants to do for her party, Naomi replies "Playdoh," so Nina is making homemade playdoh and we're having a playdoh party. When Nina asks Naomi what she wants to eat for her party, Naomi replies, "Toast." When pressed further Naomi adds, "Yogurt and olives" to the menu. The girl hasn't really figured out the whole birthday party thing yet. Joey and I asked her how old she is going to be at her party and she said, "2 and 3." We laughed and told her she can't be 2 AND 3, so she finally said "3 in March." Adorable.

Well, I think that's about it for my smorgasbord update. I'm sure I will think of something else as soon as I hit submit though. ]]> Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Feb 08, 2010 - Mon :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Jan 27, 2010 - Wed :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com
I was pretty proud of myself because most of the time when the professor asked a question today in class, I had the right answer...in my head that is. Vocalizing answers will come later I'm hoping.

We did learn more about my professor, which just makes me feel all the more for her:
Her son committed suicide only 13 months ago.
She was engaged but her fiance died in 2005 (not sure how).
Her mom died in her house on (this past) Thanksgiving day.

I can't even begin to imagine her pain. I am thankful to be in this class and anxious to see how God uses me. ]]> Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Jan 18, 2010 - Mon :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com
1. Inadequacy at that fact that I don't seem to share the same "run-in" experiences with the law that many of my classmates seem to have. Thus, I don't process matters on the same criminal or law enforcement level that they seem to have a vast working knowledge of. This home girl hasn't even been pulled over before. I plan to work on this...not the run-in with the law part, just the thinking outside the box part and from both sides of the law.

2. Gratefulness for the Christian education I had during college that helped form who I am today. This was my first experience at a public higher ed institution. I am pretty sure my professor won the prize for the most swear words used during the class period.

3. Burdened for my professor. Despite the fact that she presents a tough cop exterior, my heart broke for her when she mentioned while going over the syllabus that her high-school aged son committed suicide and she is still dealing with his death. I cannot fathom the heartache she must live with on a daily basis and I can only pray for peace in the midst of her pain.

I am really excited about this class and all I hope to learn throughout the semester. The professor did mention practicing crisis/hostage negotiations next class period so I'm a little nervous... ]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Jan 11, 2010 - Mon :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com
We drove to Indiana on the 27th, arriving in a snow storm which made our trip a little slower than usual. We had our Heth Christmas on the 30th and spent a ton of time playing games, including Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and our very own game Hethdy Land (a combination of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders). Our New Years Eve included games and sparkling grape juice while we watched the ball drop. Joey and I drove up to Ft. Wayne to visit with my cousins on Jan 2, and headed home to Virginia the next afternoon. It was a great Christmas and we are always amazed at the generosity of our families.


A pretty typical Elliot family Christmas photo


Sporting three of his gifts: the vest, the saw and the bottle


Heidi with our precious niece and brand new nephew


The Heth family


Hethdy Land

]]> Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Jan 09, 2010 - Sat :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com Me: "No, what?"
Joe: "Philly cheesesteaks!"
And generally after such an exclamation the next 10-15 minutes are spent with Joe fretting over how this is going to be accomplished. What bread should he use? How will he make the meat shredded like restaurants do? What cheese will go best with the particular sandwich? Should he butter the bread before toasting it? You would think he was trying to stamp out world hunger.

Today was one of those days. While meandering through Target, Joe exclaims "I need a panini." Immediately I know that I am in for a conversation about sandwiches. The first worrisome dilemma was, "Should I do breakfast sandwiches or a panini?" The next thing I know we are at Panera looking at bread from their bakery.

After inquiring of the boy working at Panera about what kind of bread they use on their paninis, Joey decides on a loaf of ciabatta bread. He estimates that he can get four sandwiches out of the loaf so he is ecstatic. And, this is how the conversation went as we left Panera and walked back to the car:
Me: "You are so funny with all your sandwich ingredients!"
Joe: "Heidi, when you're making masterpieces you don't use poop. Unless you're a poop sculptor...You only use the best ingredients."

Breakfast sandwiches won the debate and bacon is cooking on the stove as I type. Boys!


pictured with one of his philly cheesesteaks
]]> Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.joeyandheidi.com Jan 06, 2010 - Wed :: update by Heidi http://www.joeyandheidi.com
The whole family was at Christian and Nina's. We had just finished dinner and were sitting in the living room debating what to do next (watch a movie, play a game, etc.), when Nina chimes in with "I think my water just broke" and a mad dash up the stairs to do a little investigating. Everyone immediately jumps into action because we expected this baby would come quickly (Naomi was born in under two hours). The midwife and birth assistant were called. The master bedroom was prepped for delivery and everyone started making bets on baby's arrival time. It's too bad our betting doesn't include money because I guessed 9:48 on the dot.

Anyway, the midwife arrived with 20 minutes to spare...I was beginning to think I might be delivering this baby. Phew. The poor birth assistant arrived about 20 minutes AFTER the birth. Sidenote: We had all started getting a little concerned about baby's upcoming arrival because of the big snow storm we got the week he was due. 18-20" of snow could have made everything a little more interesting but thankfully the snow ended up not being an issue.

The labor went super smoothly (easy for me to say since I wasn't the one with the contracting uterus) and Caleb is healthy and beautiful. I know, I know. "Boys aren't beautiful" as Joey always reminds me. We had to wait until Christmas evening to find out what name Christian and Nina chose. Nina told Christian it was his decision so we waited. It was either Lincoln Michael or Caleb David and as you know Caleb David won.

Everyone was there for the birth. The midwife later informed us that we were one of the biggest groups she'd delivered with. Not sure if that's a good thing or a creepy thing?? The midwife also said that out of 1550-some births she's done Nina's was "one of the fastest." Pretty crazy!






The midwife giving us a demonstration
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