Knowing Bob - Item One

As I have not blogged in quite a while, I will start today the new and ever so exciting blog series entitled "Knowing Bob."  

In "Knowing Bob", you will learn insights into me via the items on my desk.  Things you always wanted to know but were too scared to ask.  Things you will read about and then will always be scared to know me.  

Here is the global view first:

And the item of the day?   A picture of Lisa and I.

Lisa and I have been married 21 years as of this past July 14th.   July 14 is Bastille Day (which marks the storming of the French fortress-prison) but don't get any ideas that I think of marriage as a prison.   Not at all.  Quite the opposite.   Being with Lisa has enabled me to widen my experiences.   I am a real introvert and if I followed my tendencies, I would probably usually be sitting at home.   Yet Lisa takes me along with her in life and I have learned to enjoy trying the new (as long as the new does not include food.)  Now, I sometimes even venture out alone!

In the picture, we are on a cruise somewhere (Bahamas maybe) and this is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us, thus it is sitting on my desk.  If you look carefully, you will see that my arm is around her but my fingers are pointing out.  If you glanced through pictures of us together for the first 2 decades of our marriage, you will see my hand up in quite a few of them.   The reason is that I get nervous when I get my picture taken and my hand just automatically pats Lisa's shoulder, therefore often giving me the flapping look.  In recent years, Lisa has taken to quietly yet fiercely whispering to me before the photo is snapped to keep my hands still!

A beautiful picture of a wonderful couple!  I love you Lisa!

Falling asleep...counting my blessings!

Lisa and I went last night to the Empire Theater in Richmond to celebrate her birthday and see the musical "WHITE CHRISTMAS".  It was a fabulous show!  We thoroughly enjoyed the songs, the costumes and the entire production.  A fun date night out on the town for us.

One of the songs was "Count Your Blessings" and some of the words are as follows:

"If you're worried and you cant sleep,
just count your blessings instead of sheep
and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings."


What a great message for this time of year (as well as any time really).  I could start counting my blessings:  Lisa, the kids, our home, mom, my bros, a bed to sleep in, food for breakfast, a car, coffee, a Bible to freely read, clothes, friends, etc etc.   I could go on and on and on and fill pages with blessings from the Father.

What a great reminder of God's love toward us!

Celebrating Lisa

In honor of Lisa's birthday, I collage her face!

The Bethlehem Experience

"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people . Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2: 9-12

We went to the Bethlehem Experience tonight, which was hosted by Cool Spring Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, VA.  This interactive experience took you back to the night in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  The church was transformed into Bethlehem, including a marketplace with people selling their wares, blacksmith shop, inns, and a jail among others.  We got to interact with those in Bethlehem, although Patrick was a little embarrassed when I joked around with them.  

It was an added blessing to see my good friends from college Debby and Danita, and their spouses Paul and Brent who played Joseph and a Roman guard.  It is always inspiring to see my friends who have remained so grounded in their Christ relationship and are serving Jesus with their talents so faithfully.

A great reminder that this season is not about serving others, or giving gifts, or family and friends...although all these things are good.  The season is all about Jesus.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Lisa and I spent the evening with our dear friends Jim and Pam Wilson at the Richmond CYT production of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!”  It was a delightful evening.  The musical was amazing and I was very impressed on how they got that flying, floating car up on the stage.   We enjoyed the musical, but the best part of the evening was simply hanging out with Jim and Pam!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas is a big deal at the Wright house!  Lisa truly has a thousand bins of Christmas stuff - wreathes and Nativity scenes and snowmen and Santas.  And it grows every year!  This year we brought it all out and it was a weekend deal to "get decorated for the holidays."

We headed out to Hanover Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Beaverdam, VA to cut down our own tree.  They have a terrific set-up there where you take a hayride out into the woods and are dropped off to start the search.  Once you have found your tree and cut it down, they hoist it up on the back of the wagon and take you back to the office, where they shake, bind and tie the tree to your vehicle, all while offering free hot chocolate and hot cider.   A great deal!  We picked our tree out pretty quickly this year.  It's only about 10 1/2-11 ft. tall, a little shorter than our usual 14 ft. tree, but it is one of the prettiest we ever have had.

The whole family, including Daniel home from college, decorated the tree to the sound of Christmas music.  Lisa put on the lights, as usual because she is the only one with patience for it, and the rest of us hung our collection of 1 million (it seemed) ornaments.

A fun holiday tradition, as we start to prepare for the celebration of our Christ's birth!

The Wrights invade JMU!

Last weekend was Family weekend at JMU, so of course we were there.  It was so much fun to see Daniel in his element there.  He has really made Madison his own.   Lisa and I also enjoyed returning to our alma mater.  Walking the campus brought back so many memories of our time there. 

The weekend was low-key, mostly spending time with Daniel.  We did, thanks to tickets from our good friends Kim and Vinnie Paladino, go to the football game.  It was a blast, even though we lost in the last few seconds.

Saying good-bye to Daniel was easier this time, as I feel confident he made a good choice with JMU.  Go Dukes!

Trekking around the world to West Virginia

This year we hit up the Adam Hamrick family reunion in Clarksburg, WV over Labor Day weekend.   This is for my aunts and uncles and cousins, and with my mom being from a family of 14 kids, there are a lot of them.  This is the first time we have made it and I decided to make it a long trip.

We left on Wednesday and made our way to Harrisonburg for the night.  We got to spend a quick dinner with Daniel, who had just started classes that week.  He had a business class that night so we did not have much time, but it was so good to see him.

Thursday we trekked over to Seneca Rocks, doing Seneca Caverns and ending up in the Bright Morning Inn bed and breakfast for the night.

Friday we were supposed to do some White Water Rafting, but it was canceled due to river being so low, so we ended up visiting Canaan Valley and Blackwater Fall before heading to Clarksburg that evening, where we hooked up with Mom at my Aunt Fay's house.

The big day was Saturday.  I so love spending time with my family.  We hung at a park in Clarkburg, had a meal and then did an auction to raise money for next year's reunion.  What an excellent day.  The only downside is that ever time we get together with the family like this, I miss Dad so much.  I know how much he loved to be here in West Virginia with everyone.

We ended the night at my Uncle Nathan's and Aunt Francis' for a wienie roast and then headed back Sunday morning for home.

JMU Move-in!

We moved Daniel into JMU on Wednesday, Aug 25.    What an exciting day, to see our oldest leave home for college.  It was exciting but also bittersweet.  I am really going to miss that guy around the house.   It is hard for me to believe that he is 18 yrs old and ready to start a new adventure, one that really doesn't include the rest of the family anymore.  He will start to become very independent and on his own.  

But that is really what Lisa and I, and most parents I suppose, want for our children.  We want them to move successfully from children into adulthood, able to stand on their own and function capably in the world around them.   Daniel has a good head on his shoulders and a very firm grasp of his faith in Christ.   I am very confident that he will continue to develop as a strong man of God, and be a positive influence on others.  That's just who he is.

So, we packed up the van, headed up to Harrisonburg and quickly moved him in, as he really didn't take much.  We had lunch and then said good-byes.  Lisa and I were both a little misty eyed as we left, but had vowed to not "make a scene".  

I am looking forward to seeing how God uses Daniel over the next 4 years.  And since he is at JMU, I am pumped he is following in his parent's footsteps!!  Go Dukes!

Here's a picture of Daniel and Rachel when we had a goodbye family dinner for Daniel at the Melting Pot last week.