Friday, December 2, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving. This time of year never fails to make people think about what they have to be thankful for ( I mean, it says THANKS in the word for goodness sake). Thanksgiving was a little different for us than it has been in past years--it was our first one ever away from home. That being said, it was also one of the most wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving holidays I have ever experienced. Starting the Monday before (the 21st I think) we had family up here to visit us for a whole week! Such a blessing! Daniel's parents came up Monday and stayed until Wednesday morning. Then my family came up Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. It was a really special time! This was Daniel's parents first trip up to Louisville, so that was exciting (not to mention we had not seen them since the day we moved here in July). It was wonderful--I had to work quite a bit, but Daniel got to spend some good quality time with them, showing them around our city and taking them to see me at the Apple Store. :) His dad even brought an indoor fryer so we wouldn't have to miss having a deep-fried turkey for a Thanksgiving meal! (YUM-O let me tell you). The morning they left, we went to breakfast at Lynn's Paradise Cafe--this is a MUST if you ever come up to visit. It's a little pricey, but has fantastic food and a fun, eclectic atmosphere. In fact, the food is so good, Lynn has been on Food Network's Show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" AND "Man vs. Food" has been there as well! How cool is that? Afterwards, Daniel's parents headed down to Birmingham, Alabama to visit Ben, Rebekah, and the kiddos.

My family arrived later that afternoon. We immediately went to Kroger (which our Kroger is awesome) to get last minute ingredients for the Thanksgiving feast. Once we got back, we headed to Macaroni Grill to eat dinner. It was so fun to introduce my family to the wonderful people I work with! We woke up bright and early Thanksgiving morning and had breakfast at IHOP before getting started with preparations for the meal. Let me tell you, I am so proud of us ladies being able to cook all the food necessary in my tiny little kitchen. (trust me, ask anyone and they will tell you how tiny it is). We had a fantastic Thanksgiving meal, catching up and napping and watching football. Then, Black Friday gets here. First of all, let me say I have never, nor ever had the desire, to step foot in any store or mall on Black Friday. EVER. And this year, I got to work it at Apple. Quite the experience, I assure you. Thankfully, I got scheduled the early shift (5:30 AM-2:30 PM) so I was able to get home and watch the LSU/ARK football game--which depressingly ended bad for us. Saturday comes and we all load up to go back to the mall for some fun shopping (it was so great to have some girl time). Sadly, they had to leave Sunday morning, and our week of family came to a close. BUT we get to go back home for Christmas in about 3 weeks!





Monday, November 14, 2011

Tutoring

Daniel got a new job! He is going to be tutoring middle school and high school students in reading and math through an organization called A-Plus Tutoring. Such a HUGE blessing for a few reasons: One, it is only going to require the same amount of time he is currently working at the dry cleaners. Two, he will be getting paid double what he makes now. Three, he is so passionate about teaching and I think this will be a great niche for him--not to mention what a great ministry opportunity to be around those kids and their families! Needless to say, we are uber excited about this! It is going to be a bit of a transition since he is trying to juggle this new job as well as finish up his job at the cleaners....not to mention his last couple of weeks in school for the semester. So if you could just be in prayer for him--that he doesn't get too overwhelmed and that God would just multiply his time so he would be able to get everything done. So that is what's new with my hubby! As far as I go, I'm just working mostly--still trying to find a full-time job in my field. Recently, I was looking into a pharmaceutical sales rep position with a company here in Louisville. Unfortunately, they had already filled it by the time I got all my stuff in, but the manager told me that he would keep my resume on file for when another position opened. Still just praying for God to lead me in the right direction, but thankful for the jobs i DO have--i get this feeling that they are teaching me things and preparing me for what's ahead. Another new thing is we have talked to the pastor at Kenwood about joining and they are going to set up a time for us to be interviewed here in the next couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to becoming a member of this church. We have been visiting for about 6 or 7 weeks now and just continue to love it more each week--the teaching is solid, the fellowship is wonderful, and we get lunch every Sunday (who doesn't love that?). 

On a lighter note, we get to see family in ONE WEEK!! Daniel's parents are coming in next Monday and are staying until Wednesday morning (we have not seen them since the day we moved up here) and then my family is coming up Wednesday afternoon/evening and staying until Sunday morning. To say we are excited is an understatement! CANNOT WAIT.

Well, that is all for now. Allow me to leave you with this:

"Let us hold tightly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."--Hebrews 10:23


Monday, October 31, 2011

Promises

Yet again, it has taken me over a MONTH to blog. *sigh* Where in the world does the time go? To start with, let's catch up to all the happenings of the past month.

1) God blessed me with not one, but TWO part time jobs (Hallelujah!). So, I am now a hostess at Romano's Macaroni Grill and a Specialist at the Apple Retail Store in the mall down the street from our house. Yes, I am enjoying both jobs, especially the people I work with, but it has definitely been an adjustment! There are days where I don't think I can do anymore (especially Fridays and Saturdays), but somehow the grace of God gets me through. Not to mention, Daniel has been so supportive and helpful!

2) Speaking of...this has been the craziest month at school for him. He has had countless hours reading, a 3-hour mid.term, and 3 (yes THREE) different 10-page papers due! He is such a rockstar! I am so extremely proud of how well Daniel has adjusted to working part time and keeping up with his school work. Taking 12 hours in master's courses is about the equivalent to 18 or more hours in undergrad courses. So stinkin' proud of that boy.

3) We have officially been "Louisville-ians" for 3 months now (as of October 21st)...CRAZY i know!


So, those are the major events that have been happening-- which also, coincidentally, they happen to take up the majority of our time. Now, don't get me wrong. The absolute LAST thing I want to do is sound ungrateful or lazy or not happy. But let's face it, when life throws curve balls at you (fast), it is hard not to be overwhelmed or overly-emotional. Saturday was definitely like that for me. I felt completely overwhelmed, exhausted, and just did not have a good attitude. I was crying and  praying "angry prayers" saying things like, "God, thank you for blessing me with two jobs, but it is so not fair! How come I don't have a normal 8-5 job, with my weekends and nights free...not to mention a little more income? I feel like I am busting my butt working to help support my family and I'm not getting much in return." Ever had one of those? Yes, I think we all have at one time or another.

But then I got to church Sunday, and it was like God just halted time to grab my attention and said "I have you exactly where I want you. I will never leave you or forsake you, and when it gets too hard, lean on me and I will carry you through it." In Sunday School we are going through Hebrews, and this week we were in Chapter 6...talking about God's promises. HOW ENCOURAGING. I loved every minute of it and just felt like a burden had lifted off my shoulders. God never promised life would be easy, but He did promise to never leave us or forsake us. Let me tell you, Daniel and I have both learned some lessons since we have been here about relying on God. Things have not gone as we expected....you know, find a great apartment and then the perfect job and life will be just peachy. Wrong! BUT even though it's been one of the most difficult things I have ever gone through, it has also been one of the most rewarding times in my life thus far. I have grown so much in my relationship with God and my husband--double blessing!


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Catching Up

I apologize for how long it's been since my last post. LOTS of things have happened! Since we returned from our fabulous vacation to Florida:
1) Daniel has started seminary classes and landed a part time job at a dry cleaners (SUCH an answer to prayer)
2) I have tirelessly searched for any inkling of an available x-ray tech job in all 5 hospitals in Louisville, only to be met with closed doors
3) We have continued searching for a church home
4) I've become addicted to Pinterest

Let's start with number 1...Daniel started his classes on august 16th. He is taking 12 hours of master's courses (full-time is considered to be 9 hours) so he is CONSTANTLY reading! He is getting a Master of Arts in Leadership, which if all goes well will be complete in May 2013! Woohoo! Then comes the question of doctorate or no doctorate? If so, which one? BUT we are trusting the Lord to guide us in these big life decisions. He also scored a part time job his second week of school at Plainview Cleaners. It is about a 15 min drive from where we live and he's working an average of 15 hours a week. PTL!

Number 2...I have searched for what seems like 30,000 years for any crumb that could lead to a job in my field. You would think since I have a degree in something medical it would be easy-schmeezy to find a job! For some reason, God has closed those doors. I'm not sure why, but I know He has a good reason. I'll be honest, I got pretty depressed there for a little while. Having to stay at home ALL day, not really have a purpose, my family not being here, Daniel was (and still is) super busy, all added up to me not having a good attitude. Good news is I had people praying for me, I kept studying God's word, and I leaned on Daniel to be my rock. God has proven faithful--especially within the last week and a half or so. I have since applied for two part-time jobs, and while it's not 100% that I have them yet, I'm about 98% of the way there. I will more than likely be working WAY more than anticipated and probably not at the most convenient hours, but hey it pays bills! PTL!

Number 3...we have searched and visited a different church every Sunday since we have been here. Let's be honest--living in a town that houses a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where most professors are pastors at local churches, you simply cannot find a bad church home. They all teach TRUTH (which is most important) and have fantastic members of their congregations. You just have to pray and week wisdom in where God would have you serve Him in the best way. The church we are very highly considering to be our church home is Kenwood Baptist Church. The pastor is Dr. Jim Hamilton (a fellow Arkansan!) and the church consists of about 150 members, most of which are young seminary families. If you had asked me 2 months ago when we moved here if that is the church we would've ended up at, I probably would have said I don't think so. But, our ways and ideas are not God's, and we are still praying and seeking discernment on whether or not this is the church home He would like us to be apart of.

Number 4...I'm sure some of you have heard of the "newest addiction on the internet" called Pinterest. My wonderful sister-in-law, Rebekah, introduced me to it about a month ago and I cannot stop! It is so fun! For those of you who don't know what it is, it is basically a virtual pinboard. You know when you surf the web and find a cool idea and you're like "I need to write that down!" Well, now you can "pin" it to one of your virtual pinboards. Once you pin a website, it is always on your board so you can always go back to it. I've had so much fun pinning new recipes, crafts, holiday decorations and activities, and TONS of other things! What's neat about Pinterest is you can also "follow" people (kind of like being a friend on facebook) and you can see what they pin too. If you're a girl, I highly encourage you to discover this (just know that you WILL spend all your free time here).

Well, I guess that is all for now. I will leave you with this:

"All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen"
Jude 1:25

Monday, August 22, 2011

Our "first-vacation-since-being-married" Family Vacation


A couple of weeks ago we had our "first-family-vacay-since-being-married" vacation. We joined my mom, dad, sister, and her friend in Seagrove, FL for a week of fun and relaxation. [My family has taken an annual beach vacation since I was 2 and this was Daniel's first time to experience it]. We had a fantastic time! The weather there was absolutely perfect...sunny in the morning, short rain shower about lunch time, and then more sunshine for the afternoon. We did all sorts of fun things like suntanning, reading, sand sculpting, boogie-boarding, and even kayaking. We also ate at some great places for dinner-- stuffing our faces with fried seafood, grilled seafood, raw seafood...you name it, we probably ate it! It was a great time to be with family and take time out of our busy lives to rest and recharge. I miss it already!

"Go Hogs"... our Razorback sand sculpture. Not that we are proud to be Razorback fans or anything



Me and my handsome man before dinner one night





My beautiful family


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Engagement


Today marks the 2 year-anniversary of our engagement...the day that my dream of a life with the man I love became a reality. As many of you know, I was surprised (or maybe a better phrase is absolutely SHOCKED) and completely caught off guard when he proposed--which lead to my infamous response of "shut up!". :)

I'm going to take a moment to brag on my man: he did SUCH an amazing job with the proposal. It was better than I could ever have imagined! He really put a lot of thought into it--he knew my favorite place in the world was the beach, he picked out the absolute perfect ring, AND he kept the entire thing a secret for 2 months. But the best part of the whole thing was that he told me those words every little girl dreams of hearing from the time she is 6 years old: "I want to spend the rest of my life with YOU...will you marry me?" ME. He wanted to marry ME. At the time, I was too shocked and speechless to cry, but when I think about it now-- about how special that moment was, I'll admit I get a little teary-eyed.

Since that day, we have been through lots of life changes:
1) planning a wedding--and ALL the little details that go into it
2) we have since both graduated from college
3) we found our first home together...a duplex in north little rock
4) he got his first "big boy" job
5) made it through our first year of marriage (which was absolutely WONDERFUL, but it takes some adjustment to learn to live with someone)
6) prayed about and made the decision for him to go back to school at SBTS
7) moved to Louisville
8) currently looking for MY first "big girl" job

Throughout all of those changes, it has been a huge emotional roller-coaster...and i'm really not one to be very emotional. I have learned so much about myself and grown a lot in my faith. But even though it has been a roller-coaster, I have had two big constants in my life: my God and my husband. God has proven his faithfulness over and over and over, from jobs to where we live to taking a HUGE leap of faith and moving to Kentucky. And Daniel has proven his love and faithfulness as my husband, being my rock and comforter and best friend.

My mom always told me when I was younger that time flies as you get older...and I was always like "yeah right." But it is so true! Looking back at all that has happened in 2 years, let alone just this past year, makes me excited about things to come in the future years. My life verse for the next year is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future." God ALWAYS keeps His promises.

Friday, July 29, 2011

The First One

Well, here we are...my first ever blog post. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so bear with me. I decided blogging would be a great outlet for my creativity--and my husband whole-heartedly agrees since the alternative projects would be loud and crazy (I don't think he would appreciate that while he is studying 24/7 lol). I'm sure you read in my profile that we are currently living in Louisville, Kentucky. I HUGE thank-you shout out to everyone who pitched in to help us with the major task of moving...it NEVER would have gotten done without you!! (For those of you who have moved before, especially out-of-state, you know what I'm talking about). I especially need to thank my family for staying up here with us a few days-- helping us unpack boxes, hang pictures on the walls, get groceries, etc. We appreciate it more than you will ever know! We have been here exactly 8 days and so far we love everything about this city. It is so beautiful up here, not to mention a little cooler than back home, and we are blessed to have several friends in the area. The only thing we are struggling with right now is that I need to find a full-time job to support our family while Daniel is in school. We both know that God has the perfect one for me and we did the right thing by moving up here, but sometimes it's hard to remain steadfast in your faith when life's storms seem imminent. But our God is faithful and He keeps His promises!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

What a blessing and comfort to know that!

Daniel officially starts school August 16th. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Education with an emphasis in Leadership. He hopes to get this accomplished in about 2 1/2 years. We are then praying to see if the Lord is leading him to go ahead and get his Doctorate, which would take another 2-3 years. He is so excited and can't wait to get started! We know the Lord has great things in store for us and are both looking forward to experiencing our "une petite aventure" here in Louisville. Next time I'll add pictures of our apartment!