It’s been more than a month since Christmas, but I still think this was a totally cool present (from my sister Emily). I don’t think I’ve ever had an eraser this big, and I love it. (And its size makes it more ergonomic!) Another cool present — one we use every morning — was a new coffee maker from Steve & Charity and the boys.

If you gave us a present that’s not mentioned here, it’s not because we haven’t used it. We just haven’t taken a picture of it.

While I’m rambling, I’ll also mention our recent overnight guests, David and Natalie Wynn, who stopped by on their way from Florida to Washington (state) — moving from one military base to the next. (David is a Marine.) Though not our first guests, they were the first to sign our guest book. Not that the other guests refused, just that we always forget to get it out.

David and Natalie took us out for a nice supper, and we enjoyed our evening together, which included a rambling walk around the campus and lots of catching up.

Today is our 7th month wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married 7 months already! I love being married to my Josh –  the most wonderful man in the world! Everyday I am reminded of what a treasure my husband is to me from God.

I decided to surprise Josh with a picnic for our 7th month anniversary. We had a lovely time, and the “weather” was absolutely perfect.

From Dallas ISD’s website this morning:

January 28, 2009

Dallas ISD schools are closed today due to the weather.

So, of course . . .

This morning, I got up preparing for an extended drive to Dallas — extended because of icy road conditions. But I was delighted to find out that DISD closed school for the day, and I get an “extra” day to get things done. Josh and I went outside at 7:30AM and enjoyed the wintry weather.

And here’s a little video (no sound).

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If you have trouble viewing the video, please let us know in the comments. Josh is trying a different format that should be more compatible with most computers. (In case you’re interested, the format is Adobe Flash 8.)

On Dec. 19 we told you about Amy’s 1st PTA. There were some embedded Quicktime videos, but some people had trouble viewing them. I’ve converted them to Adobe Flash, which works on almost everyone’s computer. So here they are again.

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Since both Josh and I had MKL Day off from school, I was planning to surprise him with a secret getaway on Sunday night. However,  since I’ve been fighting a cold all week, I decided to forget the idea and wait until I was feeling better. On Sunday morning, when I mentioned my idea to Josh, he thought it was a great plan and we decided to see how I felt after church and then go from there. After church I was feeling well and was excited about our getaway.

We used Hotwire.com to find an excellent hotel deal and thanks to Mr. West’s Christmas gift, spent the night in the DoubleTree Hotel at Market Place Center in Dallas. It was wonderful to get away (our first official vacation since our honeymoon) and enjoy the evening and entire morning together. We brought Josh’s Mac and watched David Copperfield. It was a great way to spend extra time together, without feeling the pressures of lesson planning and other work calling to us. Now it’s back to work for both of us. Josh is planning for teaching his class tomorrow and I’m teaching piano lessons tonight and preparing lesson plans for this school week.

I had great ambitions to give Josh his second haircut of our marriage before we went to visit our relatives for Christmas, but we ran out of time before our departure and Josh assured me that no one would think I was a bad wife for failing to give my husband a haircut. My worries were completely relieved when one of my younger brothers commented, “nice to see Josh has his hair back.”

On our return home, I gathered my courage together and decided to try giving Josh a haircut again. With some helpful advice from a professional hairdresser (and from my husband), we successfully accomplished the mission and I was satisfied that no one would be looking at Josh’s hair and wondering who his “butcher” wife is.

Last weekend, Lap Siu (pictured above) and his family visited Dallas to spend time with other Jarai. (There are about 100 Jarai in the Dallas area.) Lap is from Vietnam, and he immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee around the age of 18. He and I have been talking for the last year or so, but this was my first chance to meet him.

Lap graciously gave up a couple days to consult with me about the Jarai language and also to assist me in recording a 30-minute traditional Jarai tale, told by a middle-aged Jarai man, Dun (pictured below), who knows a lot of the old legends.

Part of the recording session involved going over a release form that all research participants must sign. One section of the form states that participates are not paid for their participation. Dun replied (in Jarai) something to this effect: “The words that come out of my mouth cost me nothing.”

Lap himself also recorded some rhymes for me. You can listen to one below and see the transcription and translation here. This particular one was written by Lap, and it goes along with a traditional Jarai tune. (I recorded Lap reciting the poem, too, but I just discovered that the file was corrupted. I tried to recover it from my backup, but apparently it was corrupted from the start. Anyway, here’s Lap singing it.)

This Christmas all six Sutter siblings (and three spouses) were able to celebrate at the Sutter household in PA. We enjoyed our visit with the whole family.

We had a wonderful time in SC visiting family and celebrating Christmas with the Jensens. We’re looking forward to spending more time with them this summer, when I take my last nine credits of classes at BJU.