Mr. Prof designer home

And by eveningwear, yes, I'm talking about lingerie. I've had some questions lurking in my mind lately, and I'd like your thoughts on them...

Feel free to answer these anonymously, but please, write your thoughts with the understanding that we need to be clear and direct without engaging in tawdry or lewd conversation. I know that to some, this whole topic may seem lewd...but I think these are legitimate questions.

1) Are we imitating the world and cheapening the act of sexual intercourse (and possibly imitating "the forbidden woman" of Proverbs 5) if we buy into the look of Victoria's Secret/Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie?

2) Or, conversely, is it good for us to be visually pleasing to our husbands, allowing and encouraging them to delight in "drinking water from their own well" (Proverbs 5)?

3) If married, do you own racy lingerie (by that I mean, special eveningware designed for your husband's allurement, not just lacy undergarments)?

4) If your previous answer was yes, then do you regularly purchase new pieces in this area? Is this a priority area in your marriage or just an occasional thought?

5) Is there a biblical position for/against this sort of thing, and if so, what do you think it is?

I hope that with the ability to comment anonymously, you will feel free to share your personal thoughts on this. And if you want to post non-anonymously, of course, that's welcomed too. I look forward to hearing from you!


[A word about quick queries- If you miss out on commenting the "first round", it's OK! There's no "end date" for these questions, unless it is clearly stated. These are questions I've thought up so that I can hear feedback from all different women about a variety of issues- fun & serious. So if you've just now started reading Making Home, feel free to go back and read & comment on the previous Quick Queries. Please leave your thoughts- I read them all and enjoy hearing from you!]

All the verbs here put the impetus on us, as receivers, inclining our hearts, as callers, raising our voices, as seekers and searchers, looking for treasure ... and THEN we are promised understanding.

If we desire to know God, and to have understanding and wisdom, then we must be proactive... looking into His words, His commandments, His wisdom, His insight & understanding. We must chase Him as we are inclined to chase wealth, in the same way that we are drawn toward the adventure of a treasure hunt. Ultimately, it means we must spend time conversing with Him in prayer, and actively getting to know Him through His Word.

"If I were the devil," J.I. Packer writes, "one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible."

This sentence from the forward of R.C. Sproul's Knowing Scripture begins the book I have been poring over these last few days.

"Why should we study the Bible?" asks Sproul. After debunking myths and discussing practical value, ethical importance, personal edification, educational insights, and proven benefits, he writes,

"but ultimately the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our duty. If the Bible were the most boring book in the world, dull, uninteresting, and seemingly irrelevant, it would still be our duty to study it. If its literary style were awkward and confusing, the duty would remain. We live as human beings under an obligation by divine mandate to study diligently God's Word."

As believers, the Bible tells us that the path we're following is narrow, while the rest of the world is walking the wide one. Not only is our path narrow, but it's also slippery, and laden with mines set to destroy us. The problem comes when we take our eyes off the path we're to follow... suddenly forbidden fruit begins looking desirable, and we begin to stumble instead of walking confidently. We are not only more likely, at that point, to step over and eat the forbidden fruit, but we're also more likely to step on the hidden mines we weren't watching out for.

But if we set our gaze, fixating it on Christ, and ponder the path of our feet, then our ways will be sure.

This time around, I've got a little somethin' for everyone...

FOR MEN (or curious women):

• I just came across this great website, ChurchForMen.com, that has put together a lot of research and articles examining why 61% of church attenders are women. Click on over there and poke around; there's interesting stuff to be found.

• MommyLife offers ten great reasons to have another child. This mother of twelve speaks from experience!
• This article discusses the biblical qualifications for a female mentor. It's a lengthy but insightful look at Titus 2 and the role that Christian women can play in the lives of other women..
• Revealing the absurdity of our day-care-culture, Tim Bayly has posted a letter written by a young mom named Leslie. She offers a sad commentary on the state of motherhood today. An excerpt:
  

When I was sitting in the OB waiting room a couple of weeks ago, there was a mother with a two-year old. The mother called her daughter to come, as her name had just been called, and--miracle of miracles--the little girl quickly started throwing the toys into a basket before coming. The mother was amazed: "It's this new thing they're teaching her at daycare (she used the word school which I refuse to use). Now all of the sudden she's all about cleaning up her toys. I can't believe it!"

I got the idea that what was going through most people's minds in the waiting room was: isn't day-care such a great thing! What was going through my mind was: what a pity that mothers are so clueless about child training these days that they are in awe of a two-year-old who can pick up her toys and that childcare centers are the only ones who are doing any child training. [Continue reading here.]

• A Lutheran mom challenges us in the spiritual elements of child-rearing, to not cave into a society that tells us we are inept and unable to accurately assess our own children in every other area of life. This article is an excellent word about having confidence as we raise and educate our children.

• TIME Magazine featured Mike Huckabee, the REAL Republican running for President in 2008, in this article last week. Calling him a "Second-Commandment Christian", the article focuses on his desire to serve people and extend grace, rather than to judge and condemn. Joe Klein, political journalist and author of Primary Colors had this to say about Mike Huckabee:
  

If only I could get this one right. This one area is my biggest "sin" struggle... angry words and biting judgments fly out of my mouth so quickly and effortlessly. I don't have to work to be critical. It doesn't take concerted effort for me to verbally harangue my husband or children for not doing something my way. All too often, I could easily cut someone to the bone with my judgmental words (while not everyone hears them, they resound in my ears).

For you, it may be a different verbal struggle. Perhaps you share gossip or air other people's "dirty laundry". Perhaps you are too quick to say "yes" and overcommit to things, filling your schedule with seemingly good things, but leaving you feeling haggard. Perhaps you struggle with using foul language.

If only we could be like my little girl and just shove our hands right up to our mouths whenever something awful is about to come out... But, whatever our verbal struggles, we have this to consider: whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. And on that note, I'm going to shut up.

Today, I just have one question for you, with some "help-ya-think" follow-up questions:

Our words are like deep waters- they can grow dank, lifeless, and stagnant without fresh insight flowing into our lives. It is very easy for us to swim around in our own words, without looking for truth and life anywhere else but in ourselves.

But the Word of God, a fountain of wisdom, gives us fresh, clean, life-giving words for us to draw from. We need to look everyday to God's Word to bring a constant flow of fresh wisdom into our lives.

In the race of life, we are so aware of certain eyes, and completely unaware of others. We too often fall into the trap of only being concerned with how we appear in the eyes of other humans here on earth.

But in this case, the girls on the rowing team had their focus on the right person. They were keenly aware of their coach's eyes, because he was who they were close to, and he was who they were listening to. If they had been sitting on the shore, they wouldn't have heard his voice as well, and they wouldn't have been fit for racing. These girls weren't concerned with the people around them, in other boats or on the shoreline... instead, they were concerned with working hard and pleasing their coach. We, too, ought to be focused on pleasing our "coach" in the race of life, Jesus, whose eyes are always on us.

As I've read through Proverbs this month, it hasn't "hit" me like James and First John did. But it is slowly encouraging me, and I am gleaning wisdom each time I sit to listen to these old truths.

I also have taken some recent pictures I'd like to share with you, so over the next few days, I'm going to combine these things: recent pictures I've taken, with recent things I've learned. Though these posts will be simple and quick to read, I invite you to take a moment to meditate on these timeless truths in a new and fresh way.


This is my oldest son, who was out with me when I went on a "photo hunt" through our yard. While I was looking for flowers to take pictures of, he said "mom, here"- and I wheeled around, with my camera ready. His generosity always makes me smile, and certainly is a living example of this timeless truth.

Recently, an Australian parenting forum discussed an article I wrote last Fall, "Teaching Our Daughters to be Ladies". In the middle of eleven pages of discussion about the article (mostly dubbing my ideas old-fashioned) were a couple comments that caught my eye.

"Purity, servanthood etc are things I will actively AVOID teaching my daughter. A 'helper' to her husband? Bleargh - No way."

"My definition of a 'lady' doesn't have anything to do with 'servanthood'."

"Sorry, I couldn't get past the first paragraph. Maybe you could summarise what you find interesting about it for those of us whose heads explode when we read about girls being trained to be servants?"

"I plan on raising my DD to be a polite, self-respecting and caring woman but there's no way she'll ever be subservient to a man, or anyone else for that matter - especially when she's already (at 5mths) got my DH saying to her things like, 'See? Daddy's doing the dishes and is cooking dinner - this is what men are supposed to do!' "

These comments were made by women who never thought they'd be read by me, and I certainly don't take offense. Nor did I b

The attitude of a servant may be less clear to us. It is lost to us in this society, as we are a part of a culture that treasures service but teaches us to never want to be the one that serves. Servants do not hear "thank you," do not get asked for their opinion, and

Had I known that the knowledge of how to change Transformers from a car/boat/plane into a robotman and back into a car/boat/plane would be valuable information in my home as an adult, I would have paid better attention twenty years ago when my brother was playing with the first generation of Transformers.

These toys now consume at least a couple minutes out of everyday, although admittedly, it often ends with me saying, "I don't know darlin- I can't figure out how to do this; you'll have to ask your daddy."

And I also must admit that I've been somewhat regretting that initial purchase (made by yours truly) of the Transformers DVD, thinking that it would make my husband smile and be enjoyable for the boys. Little did I know that three months later, we would be in possession of an entire fleet of vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft Transformers. Not only have these toys become the primary toys of choice (meaning: the primary toys they fight over) for my boys, but they are incredibly time-consuming, as you have to perform a series of engineering feats in order to transform them. Even my son recently commented, "how do they transform so fast in the movie?" Ah, the magic of animation!

But then, this morning, I watched in amazement as my two year old son flipped out car doors and twisted axels around to transform a car into a man. And I thought, "Hey, I might be developing a future engineer or designer. And it is pretty neat to see them playing with toys we remember from our childhood. Maybe these toys aren't so bad after all."

Elizabeth Prentiss, as I have learned, wrote this series of journal entries (in her book titled "Stepping Heavenward") from a fictional woman's viewpoint. You can read Part 1 of insights gleaned from this excellent book by clicking here.

Just last week, my mother-in-law and I were talking about different women and their choices about whether or not to dye hair once gray hair started creeping in. I thought that was the end of that conversation, until this morning, I read this:

Over the last four months, we have received a hands-on education in suffering, trials, and difficulties as a Christian (If you don't know what I'm referring to, you may want to catch up by reading this article.) After traveling to the best and the brightest minds in several places around the world, they still don't know what's affecting Doug's body.

If we had our hopes in the god of Islam, a capricious, spontaneous, unpredictable god, there would be no hope. There would only be uncertainty, and we would have no idea what god would do. He could be angry with us for some unknown reason and our lives could be at stake. Constant fear and shame would be the theme of our lives right now.

If we worshipped Buddha, as do so many of the people we saw in Thailand, we would have to hope we were praying to the right spirit/god. There would be so much fear and anxiety, and we would spend our days saving money to buy expensive offerings in hopes that we could appease whichever spirit we might have angered. Superstitious fear would be forefront in our family's life.

If we claimed no god in particular, but just tried to grasp at happiness or whatever else we could "get" from this life, what a tragedy this would be. To have the one I love be sick, to be "homeless" for the last four months, to have our family of five living in a state of limbo... all these things would be devastating. Our lives would be characterized by depression and despair.

But as Christians, we serve the True and Living God, the Great Physician, our Counselor, Healer, Redeemer, and Friend. There is not fear or superstition. There is not the shame of feeling that it is something we have done that has caused this bad thing to occur. We do not despair, because it is not ourselves, or even the medical specialists, in which our hope lies.

There is hope in what God will do. There is a written promise that He will take us through these difficulties and produce maturity and steadfastness in our character. There is a constant Friend to Whom we can run with our concerns. There is faith in His ability to do exactly what needs to be done: whether that means healing or not, and wherever we end up. We have total confidence in the Creator of the Universe that our "big" problems (1) are not too difficult to Him, (2) have not escaped His notice, (3) have not taken Him by surprise, and (4) will be a part of His maturing process for us.

What a MIGHTY God we serve! There are not enough words to tell how grateful I am that I was introduced to Jesus early in my life, that He pulled me back to Him out of rebellion, and that He has given us this great adventure. What He has given me is so much more than I would have ever asked for myself. A husband who challenges me and grows alongside me, loving and serving and chasing the God Who has captured our hearts. Three beautiful children who are so vastly different and so brilliant and curious and fun. And this exciting path He has us on, full of joy and exhiliration, challenges and obstacles to overcome, and yes, even sorrow and problems!

I can honestly say that I am so grateful for these struggles- as James 1 tells us will happen, I can feel my heart becoming more knit to Jesus, more steadfast in my trust of Him, and more dependent upon Him. He is more than capable of doing more than just "handling" our petty human problems! He will take what seems bad, or may be meant (by others) as bad, and use it for good in your life. Let me encourage you to run to the Only One worthy of our trust, no matter what human problem you're facing right now.

The resurrection of the physically dead Jesus is the point on which Christianity hangs. Without such a belief, there is no faith, nor any point of having faith. There is nothing in which to have faith in if the resurrection of Christ did not occur. So we must examine the ideas of those who claim the resurrection did not happen. Here are some randomly pieced-together thoughts I picked up from a radio program of a British woman I was listening to on the way home today (I will research to find out her name if possible, but I wanted to post this while it was fresh on my mind.)

1) Fabrication? - If resurrection was merely a well-crafted fabrication of his followers, they would not have written that a woman was the first witness. A woman's testimony would not have carried weight in that time, and they would not have even considered having women be the "first on the scene" after Christ had been raised from the dead. They would have written it that a well-educated, respected man had been the first witness, as his testimony would have carried more weight. The fact that Mary Magdalene is recorded as the first witness of his resurrection speaks to the authenticity of the claim.

2) Hallucination? - Some people claim that because Mary Magdalene was so stricken with grief, she might have imagined that she saw the resurrected Christ, when it was in fact only the gardener. The problem with this is that Mary Magdalene was only the first of hundreds of people who saw the risen Christ before He ascended to Heaven. Doctors will tell you that people do not have group hallucinations. During the 40 days He was on earth after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to groups of various sizes, from 1 or 2 people, all the way up to a group of approximately 500. One person can hallucinate. Five hundred people do not all hallucinate the same event.

Additionally, when people hallucinate, it is that they see one thing but their minds change it into being another. For example, you see the delivery man coming to your door, but your mind so desperately wants it to be your recently deceased father that you hallucinate that it is your father. But the account in Scripture is very different.

Mary Magdalene did not see the gardener and think it was Jesus. She saw Jesus and thought He was the gardener. The men on their way to Emmaus did not see a stranger and think it was Jesus. They saw Jesus and thought He was a stranger. The disciples in the upper room did not see a ghost and think it was Jesus. They saw Jesus and thought He was a ghost. These witnesses were not just suffering from grief. They were people who were not expecting to see Jesus, and were surprised when they did. The veracity of Jesus' resurrection is upheld in their reactions to it.

3) Martyrdom- When people have fabricated an idea, they are not then willing to die for their tale. Perhaps one person might be willing to die for a made-up story; we would call this lunacy. But a band of men, brought together only by their faith (not profession, or family), all went on to devote their lives to this resurrected man. A doctor, a tax collector, fishermen. Educated and uneducated. Married and unmarried. Brothers, husbands, young men, and aged men. These are the men who witnessed Christ's life, death, and resurrection that not only lived for Him but also died for Him.

I would not have the false bravery to die for an idea that I did not believe in. I am sure that one man could. But it is impossible for me to believe that his disciples (and tens and hundreds of other followers) would go to the ends of the earth (it is believed that Thomas went to India, and the other disciples went all over the earth at that time, to Europe and Northern Africa) and die painful, torturous deaths for an idea that they were not completely convinced of. These men were absolutely convinced that Jesus was not just a man, but was indeed God; that His Lordship was not just an empty claim of power or pride, but that His Lordship demanded their full devotion; and that His resurrection actually happened. And I'm convinced of it too. These are just some of the many reasons why.

Today, we went to the mall, so I could get a new eyeglass prescription (my eyes have gotten worse over the last year, as they have with each additional pregnancy). And yes, I went to a mall optometrist.

Anyway, while looking around the food court, I noticed two VERY underdressed teenage girls. SO over-the-top (or should I say, SO under-the-behind) that I almost said something. I really had to restrain myself.

Here's something along the lines of what I might have said: "Hi ladies; I just wanted to ask you if you had ever considered that the clothes you're wearing not only entice the 17- and 19-year-old guys you're interested in, but that your clothes and bodies on display also entice 57-year-old men, like that one sitting right over there watching everyone walk past (while pointing to an unattractive, slothful but observant old man)? It's something to consider the next time you get dressed to come to the mall."

With the way today's world works, there aren't the same built-in societal restraints that we had when we were kids. For one thing, my parents weren't dropping me off at the mall to walk around by myself. For another, I could never have worn cut-just-under-the-tush shorts. For another, even if I COULD have somehow snuck around to buy them and get them to the mall, I would have never had the guts to actually put them on, for fear that I'd run into someone who knew me. I feared running into an adult from church, or one of my old school teachers. I knew that dressing like a tramp would make people see me as one, and I had enough sense (and an overall fear of people finding out) that kept me from underdressing.

SO, in light of all this, my question for you today is this:

DOES it "take a village" to help raise a child (as Ms. Clinton once suggested)? Should I have said something? Do we have the right (or even the obligation) to say something in situations like these? To remind young people that there are societal standards?


No multiple options for this "quick query" ... I just want to hear from you!

Last weekend, my oldest son, asked me, "momma, what does 'spoil' mean?" After a few probing questions, I realized that he was trying to reconcile two different meanings of the word: (1) that Nana and Papa "spoil" them whenever they're together, and (2) --from a book we read-- Rudyard sadly overhears his friends saying, "I hope Rudyard doesn't come! That would spoil everything!" (Rudyard doesn't realize they're talking about walking in too soon to his own surprise party, but I digress.)

So I explained the meanings to him, and he seemed satisfied. But apparently, he didn't really get it, because...

This weekend, after Nana (my mom) had taken the boys to the zoo, while they were driving home, he excitedly said, "Nana, I love the way you spoil everything!"

First off, we've been buying fresh produce and organic cheeses at the Dallas Farmers' Market, and lo and behold, I looked down, and check out the label on our organic mozzerella (sorry it's a blurry picture!). It strikes me as funny that I've been reading about and considering the issues surrounding birth control, and then come to find out I'm buying my cheese from "Full Quiver Farms" (this is GREAT FIND #1 in today's show & tell extravaganza).

(For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about regarding my own struggle through the birth control issue, you may want to read some of my previous posts about Christians & birth control: Who You Calling a Liar?, Birth Controlled, and The High Stakes of Determining God's Will Regarding Birth Control. And FYI, I'm still not solidly in one "camp" or another, but I'm definitely searching the scriptures and the counsel of wise and godly people on this important family issue.)

GREAT FIND #2: Here is a VERY insightful and well-thought-out dialogue about Christians and birth control, written by one of my favorite authors & teachers, Randy Alcorn. Written as though it's a conversation between two friends, one of whom is very open to any birth control, and the other who is (basically) a quiverfuller, I believe you'll find it interesting to examine this issue from many different angles as Alcorn does in this article.

GREAT FIND #3: If you don't know what the quiverfull movement is, here is a video of a fairly balanced ABCNews segment specifically focused on this growing movement (incidentally, it's hosted by Martin Bashir, the man who did the infamous Michael Jackson interview).

GREAT FIND #4: A journalist peers into the lives of quiverfull moms, particularly in light of the Andrea Yates tragedy, in order to see the real day-to-day issues that come up as a mom of a large family. Her interviews of many different moms reveals perspectives and misperceptions that people have about the quiverfull movement.

GREAT FIND #5: One quiverfull mom writes a thoughtful response to a letter written to her husband which reprimanded him, saying, "Mr Phillips, Stop Having Children!"

GREAT FIND #6: This well-written thought-provoking article, called "Imagine," will challenge you to see children and family in a much more eternal perspective.

GREAT FIND #7: Another favorite author, Elizabeth Elliot, writes a great letter addressed to young moms who may not understand their mother's hesitancy to rejoice in each additional pregnancy. It begins, "When I learned that my daughter Valerie was expecting number five, my insides tied themselves in knots."

Where do I find my own conviction in the midst of all these opinions?, you may be asking. Here's what I've come to, thus far: the Bible certainly puts children in positive terms (as a blessing, an inheritance, and a gift), and so if we ever find ourselves viewing children in a negative way, we are not having a biblical perspective. It could be that a worldly "lie" has snuck into our worldview, or it could be that we are not operating our family and home according to biblical principles. But whenever we start seeing children as burdens rather than blessings (even in our day-to-day interactions with our kiddos), we can be sure that "somethin ain't right!"

Additionally, one of the primary biblical purposes for marriage IS having children, so if you are considering marriage, being open to children is a part of that. If you say, "well, I'm ready for marriage but not for children," then you are not seeing it from a realistic (nor a biblical) viewpoint. Though you may think you can "prevent" against children, there are way too many people I know that have conceived while actively using contraception of various kinds.

I do think that if you compare the church's views on these things today with what the church believed 100 years ago, it is evident that we have taken on more of the world's perspective on this issue than we would like to admit. It was not until the Planned Parenthood mentality (that children are to be prevented and it's *right* to do so) became pervasive that Christians began openly and unapologetically using birth control. It is not coincidental that the rise of a society that devalues children has happened alongside the rise of the church's devaluing of children.

Generally speaking, these are the things I've learned on this issue so far. I have so much more I could share, but so many things I'm considering and thinking of fall under the realm of "personal conviction and thoughts." I hope you if you haven't already clicked on some of them, you'll scroll back up and pick out one of these "Show & Tell" finds to read!

Here is a fun fashion meme that I found on a friend's blog! I found it interesting, and since the Proverbs 31 woman was described as concerned about buying fabrics and clothing her family in choice colors, well then, I think we have the freedom to spend a little time on the feminine topic of fashion as well!

A: What accessories do you wear everyday? I wear my watch, my wedding ring, and a ring that my husband had made for me two Christmas' ago that says "Jesus is Lord" in Chinese script.

B: What is your beauty routine? (Imagine my laughter.) I'm not very good at routines like this. But I suppose a shower, followed by fixing my hair (which, since I cut my hair, takes about 5 minutes, rather than having to choose between careful blowdrying for 15 minutes or a ponytail). I do use a moisturizer every day. Do those things , however haphazardly executed, constitute a routine?

C: What was the last item of clothing (for yourself) that you purchased? I bought this blue jean skirt on eBay (pictured below), and I LOVE it! It hangs just right, flows just right, and doesn't need a slit because it isn't tight! I love it- it's modern, but feminine, and can be paired easily with just about anything!

D: Do you use a dresser, closet, or both? I'm a dresser girl. I never get things hanging back in the closet. Most of my stuff is folded kind of stuff anyway, since I'm not big on ironing, and so I typically buy fabrics that can be folded without having to worry about wrinkles. And in our apartment in Central Asia, we don't have closets anyway, so it's a good thing.

E: What type of earrings are in your ears right now? None. I rarely wear earrings.

F: What type of figure do you have? I'm a figure 8. I've got lots of curves but a definite waist.

G: Do you wear glasses? Yup! (Check em out over on my profile picture to the upper right!) I'm going to go get some new ones soon, because my vision gets worse with each pregnancy, and I've been having severe headaches from visual strain lately.

H: What type of handbag do you carry? I have a fun brown purse I got in Thailand for about $2 US. I love carrying it if I'm going somewhere without the kids. If I've got my little bundle of sweetness with me, then I carry a beautiful plum-toned Vera Bradley baby bag I got before we headed overseas.

I: What is your ideal style? Well, if that isn't a difficult question, I don't know what is! I know my ideal colors- browns and greens. But style? I love seventies-ish flowing skirts and tunic tops, I love simple classics (like solid cableknit sweaters), but then I also increasingly have an eye for unique things (asian-style box-toed shoes, or flowing dyed-cotton skirts from Thailand). I'm finding it hard to find a box to put myself into.

J: What jewelry are you wearing right now? My watch and 2 rings. I often wear a James Avery silver necklace with a small pearl pendant.

K: Do you wear knee-hi stockings? Not unless I'm wearing dressy black pants. Then I will, but only because I don't want to wear pantyhose.

L: Do you *have* to wear matching lingerie? Nope, especially since I've been nursing for more than three years out of the last five years of my life. They don't (to my limited-budget knowledge) make beautiful, matching undergarments for the nursing mom (besides just matching white/white and black/black).

M: Do you wear makeup, and if so, what products do you use? Not everyday, but when I do, I wear a light powder foundation and a little eye makeup (liner, shadow, and mascara). It is EXTREMELY rare for me to wear lipstick, and even MORE rare for me to wear blush.

N: Do you wear nightgowns? Yes. For Christmas this year, I gave my hubby the gift that keeps on giving: I told him that I would wear something pretty to bed every night for the entire next year. I've been loving it (and, if I do say so myself, he has too)!

O: What outerwear do you put on when going out on a typical winters day? Depends on where we are. If we're in bitter cold, I have an inside jacket from Columbia and an outer wet-protection layer from Marmot. I have different colors of matching scarves and hats (green, maroon, and black).

P: What is your favorite perfume? Happy by Clinique.

Q: Is your motto "quality over quantity" when it comes to clothing and accessories? Definitely. Although I don't always buy that way, I regret it when I don't! I'll take one favorite piece over 5 cute but poorly made pieces of clothing any day of the week!

R: Do you wear rain boots? Never have. I don't even think I did when I was a kid.

S: Do you wear socks or slippers when your feet get cold? Socks in the US, slippers in Central Asia.

T: Do you have a set of travel luggage? Definitely. We have a Samsonite set of suitcases, and then a collection of 8 really great large duffle bags that we used to get ourselves and all our stuff overseas.

U: What is your daily uniform? A basic bottom (right now, khaki pants, a jean skirt, or black pants) with a pretty top (on average, probably a green top of some ilk, but could be an olive Asian-style blouse, or a pretty Eddie Bauer sweater, or a thin brown tunic from Thailand).

V: If you are married, did you wear a veil with your wedding dress? If not, how did you do your hair? Yes, I had a rear veil, attached with a comb under my up-do. I'll have to show off wedding pictures sometime... if you don't know my wedding story, I'm sure you'd find it interesting.

W: Do you wear a watch? Yes. I got one in Thailand because I was always having to ask my husband what time it was. I bought a sporty navy Timex that is understated but can survive kids chewing on it, and being under bathwater.

X: What item of clothing always makes you feel eXtremely beautiful? My jean skirt. I really, REALLY like it! (Can you tell? I think this is the 3rd time I've mentioned it in this post!)

Y: What is your favorite type of yarn? Cotton or Cashmere to wear, and fine brushed high-thread-count cotton to sleep on!

Z: Do you prefer zippers or buttons? Depends on the item of clothing. On pants and skirts, I like zippers and hidden clasps because I don't need anything else pooching my stomach out. But on tops, I like plain front tops. So when do I like buttons? Maybe on a nice cardigan.