"April showers bring May flowers"...but what about snow?

So the month of May is already here. And you know what that means...summer is approaching! Yay! Well, I'm sure it's already there for all of you southern folks. But, as for me and Ryan - not so much. It's crazy weather up here. Just when we thought that Spring was here, BAM! We were hit with two days of snow.

 The month of April was kind of a blur for us. Because it was nice for most of the month, we spent alot of our time outdoors. School is going good for both Ryan and I. Ryan is taking his midterms this week and I am taking my final next week. Yes, he's three weeks behind me. This quarter has been good for us both. We haven't had a huge workload, so we have had more time to sit back and relax. However, Ryan has a lighter workload for a reason. He is starting to work on his thesis for the latter part of the school year. This means that he has to do alot of research and pretty much write a book on a particular topic. Although he will have less classes, much of his time will be spent working on his thesis.

It was this month that we were informed that Ryan's cousin Justin & Tammy Jones became parents to their son Darren Bastian Jones.  He was born Thursday, Mar. 31 at 6:15p.m.  He weighed 7lbs. 7ozs. and was 20 in. long. He is a beautiful baby. Both he and Tammy are doing fine. Congratulations Justin and Tammy!

 Tidbits of April

In April, our pastor gave a sermon on using our spiritual gifts. This really hit both Ryan and me. As some of you may know, last year, Ryan thought about trying out for the praise band here at Apex. However, with his workload, he felt like he really wouldn't be able. Well, lately he has felt like he should give it a try. He has experience in singing in the church band from being at the Crossroads (our home church). May 7th is when the auditions are. Please be in prayer about this that God's will is done.

We found out this month for sure that my parents will be coming along with Mamaw and Rascal to visit us in June! They will be staying from the 16th-21st. We are really looking forward to their trip here!

This month our church had our mini "women's retreat." Until then, I had been having a hard time connecting with other ladies of the church because our church is so big. However, the retreat allowed me to fellowship with other ladies. One lady in particular, I really enjoyed. Her and her husband are wanting to start a small group. Ryan and I are looking for a small group, so we may be able to get involved with this one.

Ryan and I have joined the "Xanga community." For those of you who do not know what it is, it is pretty much a personal webpage. However, you only have that one page to work with. It's a really good way of keeping in touch with others. I'm happy to say that many of our friends and family have joined the community and we now talk on a regular basis. It's great. If you would like to check out mine and Ryan's Xanga sites, go to:

Amy's site: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=topostforbrian

Ryan's site: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=amysplasticman

If you are interested in getting your own Xanga account and need help, just email me. Or if you already have a Xanga account, leave us a post so we can keep in touch with you.

It did warm up here in Ohio for most of the month of April. Of course, as you know, this did not last. But, while it was warm, Ryan decided that we would go out and buy some plants. I had debated doing a flower bed in front of our house. (In which, I will do when it warms up.) However, for the time being, we just decided to get a few things considering how much it costs to do so! Jeez. Who would have thought gardening could be so expensive.

We winded up going to Home Depot and buying a plant hook and some petunias in a pot. I wasn't planning on ever growing my own garden, but when Ryan saw the tomato plants - he had to have them. lol, just call him "garden man." So, we also bought some cherry tomatoes and big boy tomatoes. As it stands now, we are having to bring them in because of the cold weather. Hopefully, it will warm up soon!

Here's Ryan with his finished product and me posing with the petunias. I never would have imagined myself wanting to improve the looks of my house or even enjoying planting flowers! Ahh, marriage can do some crazy things to you.

Like I said before, the weather had been nice. So, we decided to take the boat out. Ryan said that it needed to be run and I jumped at the chance to get a lil color. So, we headed out to the lake which is right down the road from our house. To my surprise, everybody else and their brother decided to go out boatin' that day also. There were plenty of fishermen, tanners, and boaters out that day. Although, no one was even thinking about getting in that water. It was still freezing cold.

 Boatin was fun. Too bad that we have had anymore days to do it again. We're really looking forward to warmer weather and going fishing out there on the lake. As long as I'm not hooked with a fishing lure again in the knee, then I'll be okay. :-)

Kites. How can you not love a kite? They are great, cheap, fun. One afternoon, Ryan and I were totally bored out of our mind. We saw a kid outside in front of our house flying and kite and we thought "hey, that looks like fun." So, off we went to Meijer to purchase not two kites, but three. Ryan's reasoning for this was "If I can't fly this souped up one, I'll have something to fall back on." So, off we were to fly our kites.

After we finally we able to get our kites in the air, it was alot of fun. Ryan got his stuck in the tree and then came really close to hitting a passing car. Lol We were so good, that we even had spectators watching us...or maybe they were just waiting to see when we would finally hit someone! Lol