Feedburner Changes

I know many of you have subscribed to this blog in the past and may still be getting updates from In Love & War.

Well, I've tried to log on to Feedburner to change the name to Harper's Bazaar, but it's been a while and they've now become part of Google's family of products. I canNOT figure out how to login with them in order to change old info. All my super secret combination of email addresses and passwords aren't working. Poo.

Here's what I suggest: cancel your feed subscription from In Love & War. (When you get an email update, there will be an option to unsubscribe somewhere on the email.)

Then re-subscribe, but to Harper's Bazaar here on the margin >>>

That should fix it! If it doesn't, let me know and I'll try to get my geek on again.

Redcast's Latest

If you read my blog often, (or happen to notice the banner at the top...), you'll find that one of my favorite things to do is plug my brothers' band, Redcast. Now, I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of sisters who try to help their brothers' fledgling garage bands make it to the big time. Well, I'm not one of them. Cause I don't need to be! They're already headed straight to the top -- I just like to brag. That's what this is. Big sister bragging rights.

So, Redcast did a Myspace release of their new original Christmas song! It's called Mistletoe and you'll love it! Kinda in the style of the "Pina Coladas" (our more appropriate name for The Bare Naked Ladies), it lends a fun and ironic twist to the romance of the season. Hurry! Go listen and love it!

By the way ~ Redcast Christmas Show on December 8th at the Olmschied Auditorium in St. Helens, Oregon. But of course you know that already if you read their blog. Tickets are $ (see that? like a restaurant review. only 1 dollar sign ($) and not 2 ($$) or 3 ($$$), so that means it's super affordable!) and you can buy them at the door!


And now that I've broken almost every rule of decent text design and style layout... I'll close. Oh, but don't worry. I haven't broken any copyright laws by using that image. I didn't steal it. I took it. Literally. Clicked the shutter button.

See you at the show!

Redcast's New EP - Coming Soon!

So my brothers - Redcast - are releasing their greatly-anticipated EP digitally on October 20th! That means you can only purchase the digital album from iTunes or Rhapsody or some such. I saw the album artwork tonight. BRILLIANT. I have some inside info that I'm not sure I can say, so I'll just say that there are 4 tracks on this EP that are OUT OF THIS WORLD. They're calling it "The Quarter Past EP." You'll understand why when you see & hear it.

They're also working on a couple Christmas tracks for fun...

Find them on Myspace and be their friend! Hear it. Love it. Love them. I do!

By the way. I took the photos in the above Redcast promo banner. I'm so proud of them!

The Greatly Anticipated Post!

Andrew & I are proud to announce the birth of our beautiful daughter, Paisley Faye Harper.


She was born on December 29th at 4:24pm, just 4 days after Christmas. She weighed 6 lbs, 7 oz, and measured 19 inches long. She has lots of dark brown hair, slate grey eyes, and perfect fingers and toes! Mommy & Daddy couldn't be happier! Thank you, Lord, for this precious gift straight from Your hands to ours. We are committed to loving her, raising her, teaching her, and nurturing her in Your truth, by Your grace.

Lincoln James Brock

...Was born on Monday, October 20th at 12:17pm! He weighed in at a more "normal" 9 lbs & 8 oz, but measured longer than Chandler by just a little bit! He's 23 inches long. Jen and Lincoln are both doing perfectly and they're planning to bring him home today sometime.

There are lots more pictures to share, but they're all still on Wes's camera...

Praise the Lord for his safe arrival! What a precious little boy.

news from the Razorback State

Whew! I've been wanting to blog for quite awhile, now, and only just now am I able to! No internet, Hurricane Gustav, Blogger issues...all were conspiring together against me.

But I'm here now and this is what I wanted to finally say:



It's a GIRL! We're gonna have our baby girl in January and we're halfway there! We couldn't be more thrilled. Andrew's been practicing with, "C'mon, girls!" And "You two." And "My girls, this, or that..." And friends and family have already gifted us with girly outfits, bunny slippers, embroidered bibs, animal books... Which makes it so real! I think it's finally starting to sink in that we're gonna have a "little Cassidy" to love and hold in just around 4 months!

Waiting for a baby to come sure flies by faster than waiting for a deployed Soldier to come home! I'm pretty sure that all my future "waiting periods" of life will be compared to that unending 15-months we endured.

Andrew and I have been having a great time of visiting and resting in Warren, Arkansas for the last week. Mom and Dad H are so hospitable and loving and generous...we decided to stay a few days longer! Andrew's getting in a little lawnmower therapy, working on the yard today, and I'm about ready to learn from Mammaw Smith her secret of perfect pear preserves. : )

We'll pick up our 5X8 U-Haul trailer on Thursday, pack it tight, and then leave out westward on Friday... Looking to arrive in Warren, Oregon about a week later.

So please, if you think about it, pray for safety and smooth sailing on our 2,000+ mile trek! It's an adventure! And I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful and full of pure joy Andrew and I are to be on this adventure together. And baby, too!

ultrasound postponed...

...to Thursday. Andrew had an unavoidable briefing come up today right over the time of our appointment, so we had to do some quick changing around. But Thursday morning is the new time! We'll know soon!

up for air!

So much has happened in the last 2 months since Andrew's return that it feels as though we've been in a bubble, or in a cave... Just regrouping, taking care of each other, learning how to live together again, going before the Lord and just seeking Him for our next steps with so many decisions coming up so quickly!

But here I am popping up or out for a bit of air beyond Facebook. Andrew's at work. I think practicing for some change-of-command ceremony they'll have tomorrow. I'm feeling a little cooped up in our 500 sq/ft apartment with outside temps in the high 90's... but it's nice. I can clean the whole thing in 20 minutes flat.

We've visited with family, driven to Atlanta a couple times, and Jacksonville. Drove all the way to Miami to board our cruise ship for a 2nd honeymoon a few weeks ago. Met up with friends on Hilton Head Island last weekend.

And did I mention I've been battling (and losing to) morning sickness for the last 3 weeks? Yes, we're due in January! And we go to our first ultrasound tomorrow to hear the baby's heartbeat. We are so thrilled and God is so good! His timing is always perfect.

My mom gets to come for a visit in about 2 weeks, and then in July we're planning to visit Arkansas and Oregon! We become a civilian family on September 25th, and we're pretty excited about that. Our huge prayer request right now is for clear direction for a job for Andrew after the Army. Lots of possibilities, but it doesn't seem like we've found *the* thing for us quite yet.

I have a feeling I missed something...but this is a pretty good update for now!

retiring an old friend

This is my semi-trusty old phone. I've had to replace it once during this deployment, just a trade-in for another of the same...(musta wore it clean out!)...

This phone holds a crazy place in my heart! It's the first phone Andrew bought me when we were courting. He made a huge move back in February of '06 and "put me on his plan." Gave me a Georgia number and everything! Now wouldn't you call that a bit presumptuous? Or maybe confident. Yeah, we'll go with that. Startled me at first. I mean, didn't it seem fast?

It's today's version of "going steady," I'm pretty sure. See, I didn't need to wear his class ring or letterman's jacket as a promise. Instead, I carried his dog tags and accepted a cell phone on his plan.

This is the phone that hasn't left my side during this entire deployment. It's ring has always been loud to be sure I won't miss it, whether it's in my purse, my pocket, or plugged in on my nightstand. I've come to know its quirks and issues. I've come to love it and hate it. But it's not the phone's fault, entirely.

Separation makes you love the thing that connects you all the while hating it because it's all you can have and it's never enough.

Just the other day, my phone was eligible for the "new in two years" Verizon deal. I needed a new one and I'd been drooling over this!


Yes, I'm the proud owner of a "PinkBerry" that has more features than I've had time to figure out yet!

I'm not quite used to the ringtone, either. My brain must be reprogrammed to hear it even in my sleep, like I could the other one. I would "hear" it even when it wasn't ringing. I can't tell you how many times I've quickly shut off the hair dryer because I thought I heard my phone, but didn't! And those phantom leg vibrations when the phone isn't even in my pocket? Or those weird "my phone's about to ring" thoughts right before it would? I know things about this phone that I logically can't even know!

As the rep was working on my purchase, some grandparents next to me were being so confused by what their particular rep was or wasn't saying. I mean, really. If they needed a new phone, why would they have to start a new contract just to get the phone on a good price? They are already paying on a contract. Their grandchild dropped their phone in the toilet. Same contract, can't you replace my phone? Yes, it is very confusing.

Soon, the grandma left in utter despair and the grandpa looked at my old phone and asked me, "Hey, are you done with that phone? Could I buy it from you?"

The reps (both mine and his) looked incredulously on, wondering how this would go down. I simply responded with, "I don't know about that, cause I was really hoping to make a big deal about smashing this one against a wall when my husband comes back from Iraq."

He didn't push the issue after that. I may have shocked him.

What I didn't tell him was that even if I don't destroy it like we've seriously threatened...I am a little sentimental about it and I won't sell it to a stranger who has no earthly idea what we've gone through together.

The Birth of Elisa Marie Brock

My cousin, Greg, and his wife, Carolyn, had their precious baby girl late last night. We are so thrilled for them and completely concur that she is sooooo beautiful!

Congratulations and lots of love to Mommy and Daddy and their brand new reason to smile!

(Greg's Blog & Carolyn's Blog)

Redcast's New EP

One track has just been pre-released. It's called "Hopeless?" and it's amazing.
Go listen! Hurry! (click on the Redcast EP banner here...)

(and yeah, it has been a busy blogging day for me!)