Groups D - G

Group D - (I am going to watch Serbia and Australia's recap game before I judge one way or another.)

Group E - consists of Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, and Cameroon. Cameroon is out. Netherlands has 6, and Japan and Denmark have 3. Japan and Denmark are scheduled to play on Thursday, I believe. I am rooting for Japan, because I lived in Okinawa for 3 years, and I consider Japan to be a part of my long list of homes. They don't play too bad, they are just really small in comparison with other teams so they get beat to the ball quite often. NETHERLANDS AND JAPAN is my hope. I don't remember how Denmark plays, so we shall see.

Group F - consists of Paraguay, Italy, New Zealand, and Slovakia. Out of this group, I just hope Italy doesn't make it because they are terrible.

Group G - Although I was impressed with N. Korea at first, they just got spanked by Portugal. I didn't see the game and I'm glad. I hate watching a beating. BRAZIL and PORTUGAL will take this group, I'm sure.

Group C

Oh my - USA was robbed of a goal! The ending score should have been 3-2. Trying to get over it, because as the commentators put it, the referee is like the Queen of England and doesn't have any accountability. BUT, USA has just got to win next week - bottom line. If they win, then they advance no matter the outcome of England and Slovenia. They can't lose. They have no chance if they do. I am hoping Slovenia beats England because then USA can at least tie, but they CAN NOT lose! Argh! Wow, I am invested. Thank you Donovan and Bradley for keeping us in this!

Group A, B, and C

I have not done any research on any teams prior to the World Cup. However, after watching the games, I am slowly picking my favorites. Obviously, I want USA to take it. They are going to have to get their heads together and learn to pass if they want to go far.

From Group A - I did not watch South Africa play Mexico. My first game to watch was Uruguay vs. France. Interesting that both ended in a tie. I did watch the South Africa and Uruguay game, and I felt really bad for S. Africa, with their keeper getting a red card and just getting some real bad luck. I do want South Africa to make it to the next round because they are the host country. Call me lame, but there it is. I just watched the Mexico and France game, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I remember when the 37 year old coming in, I thought, "He's old! We'll see how he does..." And he scored! France made some really poor decisions. I am quite disappointed with France, considering they got second last World Cup, and in PKs. They don't seem to be working together and they do not really have any standouts in my opinion.

All in all - I hope Mexico and South Africa make it out. The standing right now though are Uruguay and Mexico, each with 4, and then South Africa and France, each with 1. In order for South America to advance, they would need to beat France with at least a net of 7 goals (Mexico would have to help them out with this by scoring a lot on Uruguay to make their net goals go down as well. Right now S. Africa has net -3 and Uruguay has 3 - If Mexico beats Uruguay and S. Africa beats France.) I do NOT see this happening. I think Mexico and Uruguay will go through.

From Group B - My guess is that Argentina and South Korea will advance to the next round. I did not see Argentina play South Korea, however I heard a knockout in favor of Argentina. I have not seen South Korea play at all, and they have Nigeria left. I am just going by scores, but S. Korea beat Greece, and Greece beat Nigeria - so S. Korea will beat Nigeria. Dumb argument, right? If Nigeria brings it, which I think they are capable of, then it could be a good match. But Argentina for SURE. So far I am quite impressed with them, mostly Messi :) He has been one of the players that has really stood out to me. Always moving and creating plays.

From Group C - USA has Slovenia and Algeria left, both important wins, and the same with England. I did not see the Slovenia and Algeria game, so I am not too sure how they play or if they are good. My guess is England and USA will advance. Obviously I want USA to advance, and I don't want England to, just to be advantageous to USA. However, with the other groups, I am not really thinking advantage. No matter what, it will be a competitive next round and difficult for USA.

Whirlwind

May has been such a whirlwind! I don't even know where to start. We went to Bastrop, Texas to celebrate my grandmother's life. She passed away in September, and she wanted her ashes spread at the place where she and my grandfather celebrated their honeymoon. So we stayed in the same cabin. I thought that that was cool. Then, we went to Connecticut to celebrate Taylor's best friend Matt getting married. The plan was to go to New York City. But with Ellie having a cold, and the weariness from traveling, we decided to just enjoy ourselves in the beautiful house that my mom and dad rented. They and my sister came with us. They celebrated 25 years of marriage! Then Ellie and I went to Michigan for a week. After we came home, I got my wisdom teeth removed. So, needless to say, it has been super CRAZY around here. On top of it all, Ellie is now 5 months old! She is getting so big. She can roll over both ways now :) She is rolling all over the room now. So my job starts getting harder from here on out :) Her new thing is blowing raspberries. Her and my mom had such a blast this past weekend. She came to help me with the whole teeth thing, and I am glad she did. I was very out of it. I don't even remember what happened that day. But she and Ellie spent a lot of time together. I think she was more than happy to spend time with her granddaughter!

Proud

Today, I mowed our lawn! Yay! I was so proud of myself. All week I have been thinking of something that I could do for Taylor, and I thought of mowing the lawn. By mowing the lawn means he doesn't have to, and instead of mowing the lawn, he could rest. So I mowed and mowed and mowed. Thank you sister for watching Miss Ellie for me. I was so proud when I was done. It was quite a big accomplishment for me. My sister and I were betting what Taylor would say when he got home. I guessed correctly. "Did you pay someone to mow the lawn?" When I told him I did it, he didn't believe me....haha. But I showed him my blisters to prove it. And my goodness do I have the blisters to prove it. But there is my story!

Sunburned

This weekend was SUPER busy! My dad celebrated his 57th birthday on Thursday, and they came to Longview to celebrate by going to the Ricky Skagg's concert at LeTourneau. But first, we went to an Air Show at Barksdale Air Force Base. It was amazing how much being on the base felt like home. Even though we lived in Bossier City for a couple of years, we never lived on the base. But man did it feel like home. Looking at the housing, the pools, the barracks, the BX and the Commissary. Brings back so many memories, and I don't know how else to describe it except that it was kind of a comfort thing being back.

The Air Show was pretty cool with the exception that it was loud at times and made all the babies cry, even Ellie. The Thunderbirds were there. It was awesome. They all did some pretty neat tricks with the planes, things you wouldn't think were possible, at least for someone like me. The day was perfect, not TOO hot and a little windy, not a cloud in the sky - which is why I got a incredibly bad sunburn. I am in quite a bit of pain right now.

Taylor went on a barge trip with some guys from the floor. It was really cool for him because he was able to hang out with some guys he hasn't seen in quite a long time. I had a soccer game today. I think my skills are coming back little by little, I got a few goals today, and we won :) I just need to hustle and help my teammates a little bit more instead of leaving them to fight off a couple of defenders when I am like two feet away.

Then our incredibly awesome friends with their incredibly awesome kiddos treated us to a GREAT dinner...YUM! Thank you so much friends! You guys are great, and we are so blessed by your company and your friendship and your generosity, and I am so thankful to the Lord for you guys!

The church service was really convicting this morning; it was about prayer. He read a verse from 1 Samuel about how he was in sin when he was not in prayer for his people. I was convicted in the fact that I am not in prayer for my husband on a daily basis. Pray continually - God's Word, but I seldom do pray. My heart has been really heavy lately, and I am not sure why. I am hoping to dig more into the Word and more into PRAYER, and discover what the Lord is trying to teach me to my unhearing ears. Lord please help me listen! Open my heart and my ears O God!

3 Months and More

Today Ellie is three months old. I am really enjoying this time with her. In reality, I know that this is the easy part. As she gets older, it is going to get harder. Taylor and I will be put to the real test as parents. It is a pretty constant dialogue that we have. What are we going to do if she misbehaves in public? What are we going to do if she deliberately disobeys versus just being curious? What kind of habits are we going to develop when it comes to our daily devotional with the Lord, prayers before eating, and serving others? The thing that has been on my mind a lot is that God calls us to impress His word into our children. I know that I am falling short. Yes, I know she is only 3 months old and doesn't quite understand speech, but can't habits form now?? I want it to!

As far as growth goes, Ellie is doing great! She is still my petite little girl. Although, she is getting some chunky hams! She is sleeping great. Normally sleeping from 10 pm until 9:30 am. Although, the past couple of nights, she has been getting up a couple hours earlier than that. Not sure what that is about yet. She may just be legitimately hungry, or she is just waking up to talk to herself. Yesterday, as Taylor and I were hanging out with her, we had her in her bouncer, and she kept pulling her head forward like she wanted to sit up. We were putting toys in front of her, and Taylor describes it as the claw game that picks up animals. She would reach and close her hand but not quite be on the toy. It was great! She did finally grab the toy and then would shake it and then bonk herself in the head. Kinda funny to watch. Her frustrated face was awesome! We are still aren't great at tummy time, but I am starting to get her on her tummy a lot more, so hopefully we will see some changes in the next few weeks.

Taylor and I have started an exercising program - P90X - and oh my gosh is it X-treme! I kind of quit in the first week because I thought it was affecting my milk. I am going to give it another shot this week because I think I was unconsciously giving excuses. Lol. One of the main things of P90X is the nutrition. That is probably where Taylor and I are REALLY falling short, as is most of America! It is so easy to eat junk, but it is BAD for you. We are good about not buying it, but if it is in the house, then I eat it. I know I still want a nasty fast food cheeseburger every once in a while, but we need to make our every day CONSISTENT diet better. The thing I hate about it, it is so darn EXPENSIVE!! There has got to be a way to eat BETTER without the cost being so much. I don't think we are going to go into the all organic thing, but just make the minor adjustments that will have big changes. Such as butter. Only using a small dose or none at all. Not eating fried food. Grilling most of our food, which is what we try to do anyway, will save on the nutrition.

My parents celebrated their 25th anniversary yesterday! They have been through so much, and it is awesome to see them together! Thinking Taylor and I will be celebrating our FOURTH year anniversary this year is CRAZY. That time went by super fast. I love him very much!! One of things I love most about him is his love to serve. I have gotten a lot better at it because of him. For example, I am so fickle with money. I always think that I do not have enough and therefore talk myself out of giving to those in need or even gifts for our family and friends. Taylor does not think twice about it. I have really worked hard on not griping but changing my attitude to be joyful about giving whenever he does give. God always provides, and I have seen that promise over and over again. Another example, I always think I want to be serving in the church somewhere, but I never take action. Taylor on the other hand has signed us up for counting, child check-in, and now hosting a life group type of thing at our house. He has been the one taking the lead on all these service things. And every single time that he has said, "Oh, I signed us up for so-and-so so we will be starting this day." I think what! We don't have time for that or the "gifts" for that. Then God comes in and says follow your husband, here is where I am putting you. I read something the other day. God does not use the enabled, He enables those He uses. That is where I need to trust God a little more. All for now!