The McAtee's

My Testimony

2012-01-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

I'm getting baptized on the 15th. I realize for many of you, you're wondering why? So, I want to share some of my, or more accurately, God's story with you. Only something really big could resurrect this ghost-yard of a blog :)

As most of you know I grew up in an awesome home with Godly parents who taught us all about what being a Christ-follower meant. And most of you probably thought that I was on board with that. In fact, up until recently, I believed I was on board with that. I have lived my entire life as if I was tight with God. I lived a decently good life, straying here and there, but in general being a "good person". I also believed in God, believed that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again in three days. Sounds golden right?

Wrong. My life was centered around that single character, "I". Even the good deeds I did were usually so that people would think positively of me. Over the last year and a half the evil inside of me that I had tried to suppress on my own for so long reared its ugly head. The selfish and destructive desires I had manifested into action, hurting myself and others. It was during this time that I began to see that I was not a "good person". I was, in fact, an evil, destructive, sick person at my core. What a rude awakening, a shock to my system. I had been deceiving myself for so long, thinking that I was so kind, compassionate, friendly, smart, independent when I was actually selfish, prideful, insecure, and a person who craved affirmation and attention from anyone at any cost. Admit it, as you're reading this you know its true! Most saw this in me before I ever did.

I realized that although I have always "believed in Jesus" and have even wanted my friends to come to know Jesus, etc, I had never truly repented, or changed direction, from my selfishness to Christ's lordship in my life. My life had always conveniently been "good" until I was forced to acknowledge the gross, evil, sinful person I am without Christ. I had never been honest about my own condition (fallen, sick, evil) before.

So, I was broken, and truly repented for the first time in May of this year. And the best part was that in my brokenness God's restoring power was shown to me over and over and over again! There was nothing about me that was worthy of forgiveness or a relationship with Christ in those moments. All credit and glory and honor should go to Him. He is so righteous yet merciful; so full of grace! The only thing I did was open my eyes to see my wretchedness and His awesomeness and how He wanted to cover all of my bad things with His good things. In fact, I don't even know that I opened my own eyes to see this...He did this for me too, I think! And after some pride swallowing and soul-searching and prompting from the Holy Spirit, I felt I should go forward and profess my faith in front of my church last month. It is very strange to have the Biblical knowledge and history that I have, yet be in the "new Christian" category, but I am thankful and hoping that God uses this for His Glory.

This was a very difficult decision for me because #1 I had to swallow my pride and #2 I was very conflicted on whether or not I was "overcomplicating" the Gospel. I thought maybe Satan was planting the doubt in my mind about whether or not I truly was saved. I want to write here what I found during this time, in case any of you reading this are also confused about your relationship with the Lord.

#1) Everytime that I would spend time in the Scripture and ask God to show me what to do, I felt prompted to humble myself and ask Lord to take Leadership once and for all in my life.

#2) This is the first time that my "testimony" is less about me and all about the grace and saving power of Jesus Christ.

#3) After my repentance and profession of faith, Scripture truly is ALIVE - powerful, changing, convicting. Not just a nice self-help book. Hebrews 4:12

#4) I still struggle with sin! However, the difference is that these struggles are to become less and less instead of more and more. In addition, there is an overall acknowledgement that without Christ I am fallen and dead, unable to conquer sin on my own. It doesn't mean I'll be perfect from here on out, but it does mean that I know where the power against sin comes from (not me) and that I am living for the Glory of God, not the Glory of self.

#5) The "gospel" that is preached oftentimes doesn't cover it. I have found the following definition of the gospel to be congruent with Scripture: "The Gospel is the good news that the just and gracious God of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to bear His wrath against sin on the cross and to show His power over sin in the resurrection so that all who have faith in Him will be reconciled to God forever." (articulated by David Platt)

This definition rings true for me because it is more than just "believe in Jesus and you'll go to heaven". It talks about God's character - that He is creator, perfection, judge, saviour (Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 5:6, Romans 2:6-11, Isaiah 43:11). It talks about our need for Him. How sinful and dead and sick we are without him. I think that is the key in our salvation. If we truly see the perfection and consistency of Gods character, then we will see the imperfection and depravity of our own selves and therefore recognize our utter NEED for Him. We can believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but that doesn't mean we believe we truly NEEDED Him to do that. And once we recognize our need and accept His pure perfect undeserved gift, how can we not want to become more like Christ? It makes sense! And although this road is difficult - very difficult, its one full of peace and assurrance. It is hopeful! It is LIFE!

#6) There must be repentence, a turning, from our sin and ourselves. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)

#7) Although the gift of grace is free, works (in ever increasing measure) are the evidence of our salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ. (James 2:14-26)

There is so much more I've learned in recent months that I want to share but I'm not articulate enough nor do I have enough room on this blog to share. So, if you want to know more about the essential saving Grace of Jesus Christ and how you can have this, here are some resources:

iamsecond.org - this website was a game changer for me. See the short video testimonials of people with a variety of struggles. I'm sure you'll find at least one person who's story helps you.

http://www.disciplemakingintl.org/media/schurch/series_list/?id=88 - A 6-hour long podcast that explains salvation and the gospel in detail directly from scripture. Put it on your iPod and listen in the car. This changed my life.

FAMILY TREE

2010-07-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

There is not a single divorce on my mom's side of the family. Not one. And it's a large family. In a world where 50% of marriages will fail that is a pretty awesome feat. And because of this, we have a strong family...immediate and extended. What is it about this family that enabled it to beat the odds?

My grandfather is about to die. The doctors have just told us he has a few days. I'm shocked and heartbroken and trying to process it all. But, I'm not without hope. Why? For the same reason that there isn't a divorce in my family. In honor of my grandpa, I'm going to tell you the secret to the success (not monitary by any means) of my family. My family is whole and purposeful and has joy because of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that my grandpa has a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because of that I know that his last days on earth are not his last days at all. Because I know that my grief is more for those of us still here who will miss him.

My grandpa isn't perfect at all. He knows that. He recognized his need for a Savior. When Grandpa accepted Christ in his life he made Him Lord and Leader. His relationship with Jesus wasn't without serious bumps in the road, heartache, and sin, but Grandpa made it his goal to become more Christ-like with his life. God came first, then Grandma, then his children. Because of his (and Grandma's) values and principles his children accepted Christ and follow Him whole-heartedly and have healthy marriages too. And his grandchildren, and so on.

Do you know Jesus Christ? No matter your situation, you need a Savior. I do. And my savior is Jesus Christ. Ask me about him, I'd love to tell you.

Life Lessons

2010-07-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here is what I've been chewing on lately:

Proverbs 21:23 The one who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 12:18 There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise [brings] healing.

James 3:3-11 Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal. ⁴ And consider ships: though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So too, though the tongue is a small part [of the body], it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our [bodies]; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every creature—animal or bird, reptile or fish—is tamed and has been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in God's likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be this way. ¹¹ Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening?

James 1:26 ²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious, without controlling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, his religion is useless.

James 17:28 Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent, discerning, when he seals his lips.

Proverbs 15:1 ¹ A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath

A few things I've learned from this:

**major revelation alert** I've always said "This is just my personality, I can't change it" or "I'm just opinionated. Can I not share my opinion? People just don't like to hear the truth". It has been revealed to me that a) You CAN change your personality. In fact, God is calling me to change CONSTANTLY! Not to change into what the world wants but what HE wants. b) I'm not as smart as I think I am. My opinion isn't always gold and isn't always right. And if it is right, it can spoken in a way that is not condescending and builds others up.
Most of the time it is best to just be quiet. My motor mouth started out with good intentions (to be friendly) and has turned into a mess (attention getting, off-putting). Working on it!
My tongue/mouth/words can do 1 of 2 things: can encourage others to move towards a relationship with Jesus Christ or pull others away from Him. I'm trying to remember this before I say ANYTHING.
It less about the actual words I say but the tone of voice I speak them in.
This one got me. My words can actually render my beliefs useless if they don't reflect the truth that Scripture holds. James 1:26 ²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious, without controlling his tongue but deceiving his heart, his religion is useless.

I encourage you to chew on this with me (get it? chew...tongue :) Please pray for me as I work on this majorly flawed area of my life. All 14 followers of this blog :) ha! For those of you that know me personally, please keep me accountable in this. Its a habit that has taken years to develop but I'm hoping to un-develop it faster than that!

Should I?

2010-07-08T18:53:00.001-07:00

Should I audition for American Idol with a friend on Saturday for giggles (cause I'm not very good) or work at J.S. Fields and Co for $$. I'm leaning toward $$.

Rethinking & An Update

2010-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I've been removed from most everyone's blogroll because I never update! But, I am rethinking what to do with this blog. I've been doing a little research on blogs & have noticed that a good blog serves 1 of 2 functions: 1) an update for out of town friends & family on happenings or 2) a channel to communicate information about a specific topic...not as much emotions or feelings. I want to make sure my blog falls into one of these 2 categories and have yet to decide which one I'm going for. I do not want my blog to be a journal of my thoughts and emotional blather for 2 reasons, first, I feel like those types of blogs only attract people who think or feel similarly and therefore serve to reinforce feelings instead of having accountability, and second, I have a tendency to be an open book (aka share too much) but I do think that some things in life (marriage, emotions, etc) should stay somewhat private. So my goal is to overhaul the blog and meet these goals with it.

In the meantime, here is what we've been up to.

Flood 2010

Visiting Trav, Reba, Zion, Norah, and Jordan in the burgh. It was awesome.

Laying Heated Tile in the Bathroom

Midnight showing of Eclipse & an Office Sleepover

Spontaneous Trip to Destin w/ Hale, Andi, Samuel, and Jamie

Good Gene's

2010-04-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Nothing new in my life other than the fact that I'm overwhelmed with finals and work and technically don't have the time to spare to be writing this post. Whatever.

Because my last post was about fake children, I thought I should follow it up with a post about REAL children. I think that my brothers' offspring are really really cute, so I have hope that my future children will be too. I think we must have pretty good genes. Unless of course ALL of the cuteness comes from my SILs...possible. :) I have the cutest nieces and nephews of all time. That's right, I said it. Please don't hate me but I do think my nieces and nephews are cuter than yours :)

Meet Zion, the oldest. She's 3 and she rocks. She has a very sweet heart. She's a goofball like her dad and looks like her mom. (Trav and Reba)

Meet Calvin. He just had his 2nd birthday. He's hilarious and has a very exuberant personality. He loves basketball. Check out his crazy eyebrow. Its awesome. (Shawn and Jill)

Meet Norah. She's the newest addition born on New Years Day. We think she's going to be contankerous because she decided to come on her own time and miss tax deduction by a day. :) I haven't gotten to meet her yet but I can't wait to...how can I not love her already with a face like this. (Trav and Reba)

Meet Clark. He is coming this summer and we can't wait. Even in black and white, he's precious!

A Big Ol' Surprise Announcement

2010-04-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out the best way to tell everyone about our big surprise and I decided that the blog is the best way to do it. You see I have a huge family that lives all the over the country. So, I often get stuck playing the "who do I tell first" game. Better known as "Who won't get too ticked if they're the last to find out" game. Add into the mix a group of best friends who think they prioritize right up there with my mom and dad (you know who you are Britt, Lindsey, Shari, & Jess...not to name any names) :).

So here goes...drumroll......

I had to go off the pill for a bit while E transitioned to new job. My doctor wouldn't write me any more prescriptions til I came in for my check up but I didn't want to go in until I was on the new insurance. So, I've been off the "little pink pill" for about 2 months. So, yeah...

E started his job today. He's excited about it for a couple of reasons. First because its a paycheck. (Yay!). Second, we get insurance and that insurance has a maternity policy. I think you get where I'm going with this. So scroll down for a picture of our big surprise!

April Fool's!!! I am NOT pregnant :)

If I sold my car, I could get....

2010-03-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

If I sold my car I could get:

The couch of my dreams!
Its $4000. So come to think of it, I couldn't get this couch. My car is only worth $3000. Dangit.

Restoration Hardware - Lancaster Collection

But I could buy this couch! Which is almost as awesome. It is exactly $3000. Think E will go for it?

Z Gallerie

(Mom, if you're reading this. Take deep breaths. I'm not really going to sell my car for an overpriced sofa. :)

She's A....Half Bricked...House

2010-03-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

***Multiple Posts (2)****

Remember when I said we'd signed a contract on a home to be built? (Bethany Happy) Well that was the plan, until the neighbor next door to it wanted to buy our lot. The builder, seeing an opportunity to sell 2 lots at once accepted the neighbors offer and called us and asked us to take a different lot. (Bethany Angry) The builder also offered $2000 or an upgrade because we had to choose a different lot (Bethany still angry but seeing opportunity).

While deciding if we wanted to keep our original lot or move and take the upgrades, we remembered a spec house we had been in that was more expensive but had a floor plan we really loved. Even though it was significantly higher priced, it had been on the market since September and was costing the builder money every month. We decided to counter offer the builder: give us the spec house for the same price as our original contract or we keep the original lot. (Bethany Anxious). Well guess what?? After a little negotiating and small changes to the agreement, the builder accepted our offer. (Bethany Happy Again!)

We have certainly been blessed during this process. We knew it would be difficult to live with people for so long but thankfully Rick, Kelly, and Owen have been so awesome and generous. We really appreciate them. Allowing us to live with them so affordably has allowed us to save a great deal of money to put towards this house. We were expecting and excited purchasing a very small, old, fixer-upper. But, God, knowing that we are both too busy and worn out to do all the work neccessary for a fixer upper, put this deal right in our lap. And its amazing, a house we could have never purchased within our financial guidelines for ourselves if the Lord hadn't been apart of it.

Pro's of this Deal compared to other house

House is slightly bigger
Way better - open - floor plan
More kitchen cabinets
Jack and Jill bathroom upstairs
Seperated sinks in bathroom
Bigger closets
More storage space
Beautiful gunstock hardwoods already installed
Huge center island in kitchen
Has a big laundry room
Enough space for a baby grand or grand piano
More expensive house for the same amount of money
Its built! So we move in late April instead of early July!

Con's of this Deal

Half brick and half siding (the other was 3 sides brick)
Countertops aren't granite (not really a con though because we got some granite from a friend and will install it ourselves.)
Carpeted areas have the cheap carpet that is your typical new home carpet (will have to be replaced fairly soon)
Laundry room is upstairs

Here she is!! Of course, even though its a brand new house, Erin and I already have 3 projects we're doing prior to move in :)

Front Living Room: Love the windows!!

Kitchen and Living Room

Kitchen and Dining Area

Master

Master Bath

Master Bath with separate tub.

Wine, Cheese, and Grandparents

2010-03-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

Like wine and cheese, grandparents just get better with age. We had the best time with my grandparents this past weekend. My sweet grandpa has just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and so Erin and I trekked out to Oklahoma City for a quick weekend visit.

One of the things we enjoyed doing was looking at all the scrapbooks we had dating back to the 1800's!! I brought several books back with me to use some family photos for artwork in our new house. My scanner went kaput so I can only show you one picture.Can you tell which is my mom? From left, Mom(Diane), Grandma, Huck, Grandpa, Susan, Cathy, Great Grandma VanScyoc (I think). Wasn't Grandma pretty?!

Here are just a few things I love about my grandparents:

Grandpa and Grandma are still in love. They still adore each other, kiss each other good morning and goodnight, and are attentive to each others needs. Its so sweet and gives me hope that we can beat the divorce statistics.
There isn't a single divorce in that family...pretty cool statistic.
Grandpa is the original Dave Ramsey, seriously. He and Erin talked about the right way to do real estate all weekend. :)
Grandma, even with her Alzheimer's/dementia, still has such a great sense of humor and personality.
They are faithful to the Lord and put their faith into practice.
They both have a sweet tooth - that's where I got it from :)
Their main concern in death is each other and their children, not themselves.
They love music and dancing. (As evidenced by how much they LOVE the Lawrence Welk show)

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-03-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

Amber over at Dixon Dialogue was sweet enough to give me a beautiful blogger award. Check out her blog...she's got tons of pics of her adorable son, book reviews, interesting topics, and more. Thanks for the award!! Tomorrow I'll be posting about my wonderful trip to see my grandparents and also about the big news on our house. But for now.....

Here’s how it works:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the award and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Share 7 interesting things about yourself.

5. Nominate 7 bloggers.

7 Things About Me:

1. I like vegetables WAY BETTER than fruit.

2. Sharing a bed with a girl weirds me out. I would rather sleep on the floor (I think its cause I have 3 brothers and just never did that growing up.)

3. My ideal day starts at 5:30 and ends around 9:30 or 10:00.

4. I imagine myself as a mother to all boys.

5. I'm one of the only people I know that would actually prefer for my parents AND in-laws to live here in town.

6. I would give my left and right toe to be a heart surgeon.

7. I'm very passionate about political issues and small government but more importantly, I'm passionate about Jesus Christ.

Bloggers I Nominate:

1. Lindsay at Lindsay Loves It All

2. Reba at The Schenks

3. Jill at The Schenk Family

4. Michelle at Michelle Myers Writes

5. Stephanie at Truth In My Pocket

6. Carmen at Keepin Up Klapper

7. Brooke at Being A Mom Is

Hubs from Heaven

2010-02-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

Erin and I like to play a little game called the "Who Married Up Game". Don't worry we've never played it about you :) Erin and I often disagree on who married up when playing this game because we value different characteristics in people but it is no secret and there is no discussion that I married up, WAY up!!

Can I just tell you how much I love my husband? No? Well its my blog so I'm gonna tell you anyway :) Just a few reasons I love my hubbs.....

1) He leads by example more than words. Erin knows the Bible and is a dedicated studier of it. He actively pursues a relationship with the Lord and I see it and follow his lead. He never asks me to sacrifice something with out equally sacrificing first.

2) He works hard for our family. E is a provider through and through. He wants to provide me with my needs and often gives me a bunch of my wants. He is also willing to work hard for our goals. He does what it takes.

3) He watches Cheaters with me late at night and we laugh. (side note: cheating is not funny, its wrong. But Cheaters the T.V. show, on the other hand, is a riot. Joey Greco uses more polysyllabic words than a dissertation)

4) He has a super long fuse.

5) He works hard to communicate with me in a way I'll understand. E isn't a big talker but he knows that I am. So, he works hard to communicate with me in that way. If he is upset about something, he calmly tells me. I love this because sometimes I don't realize I've done something wrong until he tells me...then we can take care of it.

6) He intelligent and thinks I'm smart too. and treats me like an equal. We like to have intellectual conversations and this is very validating to me.

7)See picture. Need I say more? :)

8)He is an amazing musician. My mom loves this about him too :)

9) He loves my family and makes an effort to know them.

10) He can make me laugh all day long. We have so much fun together which is what keeps our marriage fresh. I'm constantly laughing at his antics.

Tearfully Good Day

2010-02-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

Today has been a good day. So good it made me WANT to cry (I didn't), more than once.

Reason #1: house stuff. Still can't tell you. But after I put my pen to paper on Sat, we should be able to speak it.

Reason #2: http://www.hunterdixon.com/collection.html
I LOVE these clothes. They are perfectly my style. The spring collection 2009 describes my style PERFECTLY! And the Fall 2008 collection is amazing. (sigh.)

I wonder if I could find these pieces from Spring 09 on Ebay or something?

P.S. I'm going to try and change up the look of my blog when I have some spare time. But in the 15 minute alotment of time I allowed myself to blog, I just didn't have the time to get it quite right :) Excuse the mess.....

Looking Forward...Way Forward

2010-02-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

I'm creating this list to keep me motivated. I need a little encouragement to continue working full time, going to school full time, preparing to move into our new house, etc. These are the things that I will enjoy in mid-May once school and sleepless nights are over: YAY

1) spending QUALITY time with my husband... NOT both of us sitting in the office, not speaking, only working/studying

2) being skinny and tan... NOT holed up in a room eating popcorn constantly to stay awake

3) riding the motorcyle

4) having my own home!!

5) sleeping

6) getting a beefalo w/ Hale and Andi and finishing our conversion to organic, whole foods (once we're in our own place again)

7) going on a cruise

8) being able to say "Yes" to coffee with friends

9) going to the pool on the mornings/afternoons I don't work

10) planting a garden

11) crafting and sewing to my hearts desire

12) running sprints in the evenings

13) cycling

14) seeing family

15) hiking/camping

16) playing piano (cause we're getting one as soon as we move....double Yay!!)

17) eating my fave summer foods/desserts like fresh strawberry pie, fruit pizza, limeades, baja style tacos, meats on the grill, fresh fruit smoothies, Sweet CeCe's yogurt (yuck in the cold winter...awesome in the hot summer!).

18) getting a doggie

19) not driving to M'boro

20) Decorating the house

On another note, we may have some positive changes coming regarding our house. I can't say anything yet but I'll keep you posted. Back to studying!!

90 days and we're HOME!!

2010-02-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

We signed a contract on a home-build yesterday! Woohoo!!!! We are very excited to have finally found something that both of us feel is a good fit for our lifestyle and financially conservative as well. Here is a drawing of what our cute little house will look like.

We really feel like we got a great deal on this house. It is in alignment with our financial goals in purchasing a house and it has basically all the things we wanted. It is about 2000 square feet which is plenty big for us and will allow us to grow a little bit into it. It is located in Brentwood, TN (official address is Brentwood but its close to Cane Ridge) and is 25 minutes from M'boro for school, 25 minutes from downtown for E's work, and 15 minutes from Cool Springs for church and my work. Perfect!! It will be ready to move 90-100 days after breaking ground which will hopefully happen this week or next, weather permitting.

We never thought that we would get such a great deal, especially on a new home build, but we found a builder who is doing this for less than $100/sq. foot! Crazy! Also, the selling agent is giving us and our realtor, Samuel, a "certificate for a cruise" once we close on the house, whatever a "certificate" will get you :) Yay...I hear the sound of the Caribbean waves already!

Rick and Kelly (and Owen) have been so gracious to let us live with them this long. We really appreciate their friendship and generosity. However, I think they and we will be ready to get back to life with everyone having their own house :) But, if I had to choose any couple in the world to live with, it would be them. They've been awesome.

Side Note: This is Max, Rick and Kelly's boxer. Max likes me.... a lot. He likes to pee on all my stuff to mark his territory. I don't like this. I'll miss him (he's sweet)... but I won't miss his pee...

My thoughts on nursing.

2010-02-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have seen a recent twitter in which I observed that "most of my nursing professors are overweight". I was surprised to find that several people were offended by my statement. If this is true, please forgive me. I, in no way, was trying to demean people who have extra weight on them or implying that my teachers were lazy....etc. Following is my thought process (yes I'm writing in class :) Also, just let me say that the teachers to which I'm referring do not have just a few extra pounds on them. They are obese - the size of people they warn us about with severe, deadly health conditions.

1) I found it interesting and it piqued my curiousity. I initially wondered why they chose their profession. How could they teach us about health and nutrition? Why would they harp on not smoking but not as much on healthy eating habits - just as much of a killer. Did the information they shared with us on obesity not scare them to death?

2) Then I felt convicted. I struggled with an eating disorder for a long time. I was way too skinny. My problems were similar. I replaced God in my life with the obsession of food. I understand where they are right now. When I was warned about the bodily damages that would occur through lack of eating, I didn't care... all I cared about was that I was a supernatural person who could live on no food and get crazy skinny (sick I know!) Healthy doesn't mean super-skinny either.

3) So, my point in my initial observation is this: Think about your profession, what you do. Do you really believe what you're saying or is it just a regurgitation? If you can't have integrity in your work (where you spend the majority of your day) then where will you? Christ demands this...even when its hard. Do you trust pastor's who preach the Bible but then have affairs or lie or cheat or cuss? How about a financial adviser who is in debt/bankrupt? Of course not!

My new goal as a nursing student/future nurse: To radiate health and maintain wellness so that I can be an example of encouragement for people facing health problems.

That Girl Still Blogs?

2009-11-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Yes I do still blog, well sorta, at least tonight. Its been crazy, so here is a quick recap of what we've been up to...

June 2009 - Debt Free (except the house). "WE'RE DEBT FREE" (cue braveheart music)
- Bought mountain bikes as our got out of debt presents for each other

(please ignore the closed eyes & ghetto booty...hence the purchase of the bikes)

- My friend Erin Pabst & I audition for "My Fair Lady" at our local community theater & get cast as dancers....yes dancers :)
- Mountain bikes were stolen from our garage (not the first time a "bike" was stolen from the garage - fortunately the second time the bikes were less valuable :)

July 2009- We grow tired of being stolen from, the commute, and want to decrease the debt owed on the house
- Mom, Dad, Travis, Reba, and Zion visit

August 2009 - Decide to sell our house & put it on the market
- Erin purchases "Natalia" (no she's not a male order Russian bride)

- Jordan visits & we drive to Pittsburgh to see Trav, Reba, and Zion's new house.

September 2009 - 6 sold-out performances (total tickets sold 2400) later, I have made wonderful friends through My Fair Lady

October 2009 - Closed on the sale of our beloved first home.

-Move in temporarily with Rick and Kelly.

- Now 100% debt free and hoping to stay that way (or at least close to it) as we look for a new home in Franklin!!

November 2009 - Got my acceptance letter to Nursing School! Yay! (Pray my boss will be flexible with my schedule so that I can continue to work through this first semester.)

Anniversary Weekend in Chattanooga

2009-07-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to Chattanooga to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. We both have always enjoyed the city. This time was no different, we had a great time and both decided that we could easily live in Chattanooga. We visited the Aquarium, the civil war battle on lookout mountain, Riverbend, Lupi's Pizza (of course!), and then floated down the river.

Goofin' off in the IMax at the Aquarium

Some of the cool creatures at the Aquarium

Lookout Point - aren't we cute :)

LOTS O' UPDATES

2009-05-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

See 3 blog posts below to find out whats been going on around here.

Logan Marshall Dickson

2009-05-03T19:37:00.001-07:00

I got to meet my "nephew" this weekend. Friday around noon, my best friend, Brittany, gave birth to Logan Marshall Dickson. He is 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long. He is so sweet, cute, and healthy. I already love him so much. He had to put up with being held by Aunt Bethany, Aunt Jennie and Aunt Jessica all day Friday and and Saturday. Welcome to the world!!

Surgical Masks in waiting rooms are fun. By the way, the nurses were glad to see us go :)

Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews Band

2009-05-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

Need I Say More???? No, but I will :)

The Gals:

Trying to blow out the smoke from the girl in front of us:

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves:

Jessica and Jennie were excited about Jason Mraz:

Awesome Concert:

So pumped to be here (this is after using the restroom):

This was before Jessica used the restroom :) Hahaha. I don't know what I'm doing?

The concert was unbelievable. I have heard DMB tons of times but this was the best they've ever sounded. Tim Reynolds was there and Carter Beauford was AMAZING!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-05-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff going on since I last posted:

THE GOOD:

Lunch with Sunday School Friends:

Friends having Birthdays:

More Swine Flu jokes and surgical masks:

Baby Showers and Diaper Cakes:

Time with good friends:

Manicures and Pedicures:

THE BAD:

The view from Britt's parents house. (Thank you Lord for protecting Hayden):

THE UGLY:

Did you hear? According to Spector America has moved far to the right since Reagan. Yeah...thats about as true as CNN being unbiased and me hating sweets :)

Good Riddance Spector

2 Years Later

2009-03-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Our friends Rick and Kelly gave us videography and graphic design services as part of our wedding gifts. The invites and programs and thank you notes, etc were custom made to fit my eclectic style and I loved them. They began work on the video along with all their other paying projects, but, then Kelly went off and got pregnant :) She worked right up until Owen was born to finish all their actual clients, but I told her not to worry about my video until Owen was born and settled in. They just opened the business back up and are working on E and I's wedding video furiously. They joke that they want it to be our 2 year anniversary present. Here are two of the parts they have finished. You can check out more of their work at http://www.knldesigns.com/ (including my invites). I would recommend them HIGHLY to anyone getting married

We are so appreciative of all they have done for us. They are 2 of the most talented people I know.

Our video will include:

A picture/video montage of us as individuals and then as a couple

An interview with Erin and I -filmed pre-wedding day

Rehearsal and Dinner

Getting Ready

Complete Ceremony

After Ceremony Vignette

Interview with Guests

Reception

This is the "Getting Ready" part of our wedding day. I love the old-timey film effects that Rick added. I also love how my Dad asked me: "Are you ready?" right as we were walking down the aisle...as if it wasn't too late to bolt ;)

This is short video catches a glimpse of some of the "After Ceremony" highlights. Ringing the bell was fun. My fave parts: 1.) me chomping my gum the whole time, 2.) E not know what to do with the train of my dress outside 3.) My brothers Shawn, Travis, and Jordan goofing off and messing up my hair during pictures.

My Friend GiGi

2009-03-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

In my quest to lose about 15 lbs by June, I found an old friend that is not helping. Her name is Gigi. Gigi and I became good friends when I worked downtown and still had a sky-rocketing metabolism. There is now one in Cool Springs.

Jamie, Ashley, and I split these at work yesterday. I hadn't realized how much I really missed my friend Gigi. (www.gigiscupcakesusa.com). But, my thighs hadn't missed her at all.

Southern Comfort - My FAVORITE!!!

Pecan Cupcake with Pecan pie with a star dollop of caramel frosting.

Gingerbread

Ginger bread cake with cream cheese frosting & a Ginger bread cookie.

Boston Cream

Yellow cake with vanilla filling dipped in Chocolate Ganache.

Long Time No Blog

2009-02-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been too busy for words. Short summary since last blog:

Replaced this:

With this: (Thanks centsiblesawyer for the $500 Walmart GC)

Celebrated E and I's birthdays:

His Birthday (Maggiano's and the Symphony):

My Birthday (Park Cafe):

Got these for my b'day from the Hubbs:

Bought These From Marti & Liz: (unbelievable deals on 'em)

Started school and dissected this:

Left old job where paychecks didn't cash and started old-old job again where I get to re-work with these awesome people.

Spent some time with these people and more:

Thats All!

OKC Christmas with Bethany's family -UPDATE

2009-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: The baby's name is "Calvin" NOT "Calving" as I have typed in several places! I think I'm used to typing "ing" together. I wouldn't want you to think Shawn and JIll named their baby something that strange :)

Our family is so spread out with Trav/Reba/Zion in Pittsburgh, us in Nashville, Mom/Dad/Jordan in New Mexico, and Shawn/Jill/Calvin in OKC. But, we usually congregate in Oklahoma City because Aunt Susan and Uncle Brent, and Grandma and Grandpa also live nearby. Unfortunately Travis, Reba, and Zion couldn't make it to OKC this year because they had just moved and we missed them a ton. But, we are planning on going where they can go next year. We had such a great time with everyone. I absolutely love having a huge family. It is so wonderful. I really want to have a big family of my own and the only thing that is keeping me from it is the fear of saddlebags and stretch marks :) Maybe I'll adopt :)

Anyway, everyone was so generous with their giving. We appreciate it so much. Thank you Aunt Susan and Uncle Brent, Grandma and Grandpa, and Shawn and Jill for housing everyone for a week.

(The gang minus Grandma, Grandpa, Calvin, Trav, Reba, Zion)

Seeing Calving was, of course, the highlight of the trip ;) Here he is in all his cuteness.

Here is a quick video of him during bathtime. I thought I was just taking a regular picture but I had accidently hit video on my camera. Sorry I couldn't get it turned upright.

Christmas at the McAtee's - Springfield, MO

2009-01-03T15:25:00.001-08:00

We were so glad to be able to see Erin's parents this Christmas since we didn't think we would get to. We got to see them on Christmas Day, no less!

It was extra meaningful because E's sister, Jennifer, had just been a serious car accident were her brand new Pontiac Solstice sustained major injuries, but fortunately Jennifer did not! She did get a pretty narly black eye though. The whole experience reminded us to be thankful for our families and God's provision.

Sharon and I have found something that we both enjoy doing: sewing. It was fun to discover this commonality and we both spent almost all of Christmas Day making fun things. She made me a really great dish carrier and I will probably begin making them for wedding presents! E's parents and sister were very generous as always. We got way too many awesome things. Thank you so much!

Erin's family and my family have very different Christmas traditions and it has been fun to be involved in some new ones. Erin's family is very particular about their wrapping. They always have the most beautiful packages under their tree and they put a lot of thought into it. My family is NOT that way... some of our packages probably have duct tape on them :) Anway, I've enjoyed wrapping pretty packages.

Crafty Christmas

2009-01-03T15:10:00.001-08:00

This year I made several gifts. It was fun being crafty and creative.

I made this coloring roll for Zion. Reba can carry it in her purse and pull it out when she needs Z to keep occupied (i.e. restaurants and church). It has pockets for crayons on the left, finished artwork in the middle, and fresh paper on the right. Sorry I could't get some of the photo's to turn.

I made bibs for Calvin....these are pics of some of the ones I made Amber because I forgot to take pics of Cal's. But, a few of them were similar so I posted those. (My favorite one for Cal was one with chili peppers all over it and it said "CALiente" :)

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

Once again, trying to win something for Z. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dancing Family + Charlotte

2008-12-08T15:12:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Date Nights

2008-12-07T22:06:00.001-08:00

Erin and I decided last week that we need to consciously have a date night once a month. Somehow, in the midst of school, work, Dave Ramsey, and being just plain old busy, we have forgotten to do this. I cook almost every meal (although is very helpful and fends for himself when I'm working) and we usually eat in front of the TV with our laptops on our lap working. Really romantic :)

So, here is our deal:
- Date nights once a month
- A date cannot involve laptops and TV (unless of course we're watching lost/or a movie from our hard drive then it counts)
- If cooking is involved it is a team effort.
- A date does not have to involve money but does have to be something that involved a little extra effort in both appearance and activity.
- Bethany cannot wear her comfy ugly yellow p.j./lounge pants on date night.

Our first monthly date night was this past Wednesday. We went to macaroni grill for dinner, then did a bit of shopping at Opry Mills, and then looked at the Christmas decorations at Opryland Hotel. We couldn't find anyone to take our picture so this is all I've got.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

A little late and anti-climactic now, but here ya go!

(We were past the tired phase and at the goofy phase)

We spent Thanksgiving in Springfield, MO with Erin's parents and had a nice time.

(Aren't we cute?)

We all took part in the cooking. It was a delicious meal. Erin made pineapple cheese casserole, and I made Mom's (Schenk) stuffing and an amazing homemade butterscotch pie.

We also went rollerskating which was lots o fun.
(Lookin' a little pale and matchy matchy)

(Beautiful pic of Jenn!)

(Sharon rollerskating)

Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Girls Weekend + 2 Guys.

2008-11-25T14:10:00.000-08:00

update: Lindsey made me feel bad for putting up the bad pictures of my friends. so to show I'm not a horrible friend I took them down.

I've already been made fun of for my pageant pose...leave it alone :)

This weekend Jessica came into town. It had been 3 months since her last visit which is unacceptable but also unusual.

On Friday, Scott, Brittany, and Jennie came over to the house to hang out with Jessica, Erin, and me. We usually play games or something but it had been so long since we hung out that we just ordered pizza and talked. It was so awesome to see them! We suck at taking pics when we hang out so I was proud of the amount that I took this weekend....that is until I saw the pictures. At least they'll be useful for blackmail :)

Britt's Blackmail Pic

(taken down per Lindsey)

Jess's Blackmail Pic
(taken down per Lindsey)

My Pepto Blackmail Pic

Pregger's Brittany!

The group - No blackmail pic for Jennie - Bummer :)

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to win these adorable little pieces for my niece. How precious!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

You down w/ LTP? Yeah, you know me!

2008-11-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ode to one of my best buds, Lindsey Allison Tapper Pruitt, in honor of another random package I got in the mail today:

Thanks for sending me a package Lindsey Pruitt.

Throughout the week mail helps me get through it.

Thanks for asking"Will you be my friend" on the phone.

I said sure and sang "You'll Never Walk Alone"

When I went to the place where they dispense the mail,

The post office guy said "What the $#@^!

This package is in a box of laundry detergent,

You can't send that unless its really urgent"

Everyone loves popsicle makers, they are the best .

When you say you don't I know you jest.

Is that why you regifted my Walgreen's treasure?

Because you wanted to light up my life with popsicle pleasure?

I'm not sure why you sent me a gross, used washcloth or budreaux's butt paste

But I think I'll take it to the lab and examine it post haste.

Remember what I said about 100 billion bacteria

Coming from 1 gram of something from that

area :)

You know how much I love love food

It always puts me in a good mood.

Next time there's a party I'm taking pesto and mushrooms

So I take care not to meet my imminent doom.

The randomness of the ball marker and the creepy blue guy

Give me the heebie jeebies and make me say "oh my!"

But E's not mad anymore about the cell phone minutes

Because you sent me a package with something for him in it.

Last but definitely not least

Is the treat above all treats.

The Swiss Chocolate made me whoop and holler

I hope you didn't really spend 20 dollars.

Wordle

2008-11-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Check out my wordle. It takes the contents of text you provide (my blog) and makes the words that are most prominent in your text the most prominent in the image. Interesting that the most prominent words in my blog are "coupons" and "pie". No wonder I'm gaining weight. I must be using coupons to buy pie ingredients!

Ministry 2.0

2008-11-14T08:55:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was the first kick-off event of Erin's new start-up company, Ministry 2.0. It was a success! The first night was just an early registration kick-off with a meet and greet and Ezekiel presentation and help session. The second day was an all day, hands-on conference where participants got to choose four workshops out ot eight to attend. The participants were bombarded with useful information to take back and implement into their ministries.

The Venue

Some of the Sponsors

Attendee and CEO of Viewzi.com

Workshop

Workshop (who's the hottie presenting?)

Ultra-casual and exhausted after night 1 prep.

Prepping for Day 2!

"Tag" You're It

2008-11-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Jana for 6 Things About Me. She tagged me ages ago but I'm just now getting around to it.

So here goes:

1. I have a severe gag reflex over certain things. If you tap me on the neck or chest/breastbone I will throw up on you.

2. Touch is not my love language. My love languages are: acts of service, gift giving, with words of affirmation coming in a close third. Erin's love languages are: touch, quality time. I try to remember to sit by him on the couch and scratch his head and he tries to remember to help me clean the dishes or buy me my favorite candy at the store :)

3. I am the Scrabble champion. Seriously. I'm awesome. The secret is in knowing the legal, official Scrabble dictionary 2-letter words. I DARE you to challenge me to a game of scrabble. :)

4. I used to do a political videoblog called "realverse.com". After we got a really big following, Michelle Malkin (thats right...the political analyst on Fox News and of hotair.com) asked me to collaborate with her and do regular spot on her site. I worked with Michelle for a while until we had to shut realverse down. I've recently been talking with Michelle and I'm thinking of getting it going again.

5. I love homemade pie. WAY better than cake. I also like to make pies from scratch. So it works out for my tongue but not for my thighs. Chocolate meringue pie, chocolate chunk pecan pie, cherry pie, fresh strawberry pie, key lime pie, butterscotch meringue pie, pumpkin pie, cheesecake (which is more of a pie than a cake). I could go on.

6. I was a really really ugly child. The ONLY person who thought I was cute as a child was my dad and maybe my mom :) I came complete with a snaggletooth, huge uncontrollable amounts of hair on my head, and thick red glasses. On occasion I wore a fanny-pack. Thank goodness puberty, braces, and contacts finally came into the picture!

Coupon Convert

2008-11-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

My mom witnesses to everyone she comes into contact with about Jesus. That includes the cashier's at grocery stores. I used to be embarrassed by that as a kid but now I aspire to be a woman like my mom. I made a big step in that direction yesterday. No I didn't lead someone to the Lord but I DID convert an entire line of people to coupons yesterday. It went something like this.

After ringing up enough groceries to last us over 2 weeks,
Cashier: That will be $220.
Me: Actually I have some coupons.
Lady behind me in line: I used to use coupons but it wasn't worth it to only save $.35 or so.
Me: Just watch my total. You'll see
(Cashier is still ringing up all the coupons)
Lady behind me in line: Man this is taking forever. How many coupons do you have?
Me: I'm telling you, keep watching my total drop.
Cashier: Okay ma'am after coupons that will be $98.06.
Lady: What??? (turns to rest of line) Did you guys hear that? She just saved $120 using coupons!

Another victory for the couponing kingdom :)

P.S. I hope the Lord sees humor in comparing couponing to being fisher's of men. I didn't mean to be sacrilegious Lord :)

Until I get a chance

2008-11-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

Jana told me I better get my butt back to blogging. But, alas, this is one of the craziest weeks for me, so in the meantime I leave you with this hilarious video that my MIL (thats mother-in-law for you non-techy folks) sent me.

ENJOY!!!

Amber's Baby Shower

2008-10-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Faith, Megan, and I hosted a baby shower for Amber and baby Will this weekend. I would say it was a success. We had a nice turnout and wonderful food. I really hope Amber enjoyed it because I know that Faith Megan and I had a lot of fun putting it together. I made the diaper cake, rumaki, pacifier candies, and chex mix. (okay so maybe I didn't MAKE the chex mix :)). I also sewed some customized bibs for baby Will. I let Amber open them at the shower but immediately took them back because I didn't have time to finish them in my previously mentioned crazy week! :) I'll post pix of the bibs later.

The diaper cake made totally out of disposable diapers

Pacifier Candies

Petit Fours (how cute are the booties!)

Some of the guests

More of the guests

Tough Crazy Week

2008-10-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

This past week was the beginning of my 5 midterms. 2 down, 3 to go this week. Also wrote a few term papers. All this while prepping for a visit from Jordan, hosting a baby shower, hearing about Uncle Tom, starting my new part-time job, and having meal-included study groups at my house! AHHHHHHh!!!!!

Blessed Aunt

2008-10-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

I have the best niece and nephew. They are so beautiful and such a blessing to our family. All that has happened with my uncle has made me realize that Erin and I need to take every opportunity to be a part of Zion and Calvin's life. Look how precious they are!!

Please Pray for My Uncle

2008-10-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

I would like to ask all of you, my friends and family, to pray for my Uncle Tom. He was diagnosed with cancer about 4 years ago and was told he would not live another year. God is so good because Uncle Tom changed his diet, lifestyle, and tried a holistic approach and it seemed that he had beat the cancer. However, a few months ago he went in for a root canal and they found that they were not dealing with an abscess tooth but that the cancer had spread all throughout his jaw. He has rapidly declined in the past months, the cancer is throughout his entire body, and probably will not live much longer. My heart is breaking for Uncle Tom, a chef and B&B owner. He is such a faithful man who has praised the Lord throughout this struggle. My heart breaks for Aunt Nancy who is losing her partner. And my heart breaks for myself who will probably never get to see him again. I wish I had the resources to go see him. Also Nancy want to plan a surprise for him if possible. I would post the surprise here but am afraid he might read the blog. If you're curious send me a message and I'll email you back. So, if any of you know a Dodge dealer with a generous heart, please let me know.

Please see this message from Aunt Nancy:

First of all, I wish to thank each and everyone who is praying for us and please know that the prayers are felt by the abundance of God's love who wraps his arms around us each day. I know many of you are wondering how Tom is doing and I apologize for not keeping in better communication. Tom's cancer metasized to his bones last may and now has invaded his liver creating enlargement that pushes against his stomach. He is taking chemo every 3 weeks and more frequent blood transfusions and iv's for dehydration. Ever since his radiation treatment on his lower lumbar last summer he has experienced ever increasing stomach problems. His vomiting is now several times a day and has trouble keeping any food or liquids down.
Our doctor, bless his kind heart, is making an house call tonight because tom was experiencing severe pain in his liver. Every week tom's pain meds increase to keep up with the rapid growing cancer.
I have contacted hospice today and they are coming out tomorrow to start Tom on a program. Tom's doctor has given him a couple months max to survive and the next couple weeks are crucial for anyone who desires to see him. I encourage anyone who can to come and visit tom, we have ample rooms to accomodate you. We will understand if you are unable to make the trip. Understand also, that Tom at this time can only handle short periods of visitation for he tires easily. He will totally love seeing anyone who is able. Maybe going down memory lane would be uplifting.
Tom so wanted to travel to michigan or possibly florida to enjoy the warm sunshine and beach one more time but we fear that his health is deteriorating too quicly but we will consult with his doctor tonight and the hospice people tomorrow.
My heart aches as i write this for our lives have interwoven throughout his life and many wonderful and fun memories come to the surface. Our faith and hope is in jesus christ and tom knows that jesus awaits him when the time comes where he will have no more pain, suffering and tears but in the meantime the journey of nearing the crossing of the border of heaven can be
Scary and lonely so please pray for tom to be comforted with peace that surpasses all understanding for god knows our fears and hearts and i am confident that god will provide tom's passage with abundant mercy, grace and love.
We thank god for all your tender love and compassion.
Nanc (mom) and tom

Dear Heavenly Father, If Your good and perfect will is not a miracle then let Tom enjoy his last few days/weeks/months. Thank you for the extra time you've already given him. Surround him with love and comfort from the Lord and friends and family. Let the pain disapate and bring comfort to those that love him. Amen.

Hodaka Heaven

2008-10-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Today Erin said goodbye to his Hodaka. It was his very first "motorcycle"/dirtbike. He and his dad bought it years ago to fix up. Erin decided to sell it so that he could get his new motorcyle, the Suzuki Cruiser, that we bought a few months ago. It took a while to sell because it is a bike from the '70's and is a collectors item, so there is not a great market for it. It was hard for Erin to get rid of because of the memories associated with it but felt really good about the guy who bought it. The buyer drove all the way from Marietta Georgia and is going to restore it to original condition so that it completes his Hodaka collection. He promised to send E pics of the bike when it was finished. I think that made E feel better. He was glad that it will be taken care of instead of sitting in our garage.

Layla Grayce

2008-10-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the christening of my friend Mikeya's baby, Layla Grayce. While I do not believe in child baptism, I was happy to go and support them by promising to pray for Layla as she grows, especially for Layla's spiritual growth. I will pray that someday, when she is old enough to make the decision on her own, Layla will come to know Jesus. And I commit to be a friend to Mikeya and an example of a Christian woman to Layla.

Isn't little Layla beautiful?!

A Sad Goodbye...

2008-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

I took back the beautiful black pair of shoes I bought two weeks ago. They weren't in the planned budget and I bought them on impulse. They weren't expensive or anything but I was feeling a little guilty since Jordan is coming to visit and I am throwing a baby shower this month. Plus, I saw 2 people at church yesterday who had similar ones on... not that it matters but I decided I didn't need them. Goodbye 5 inch heels....hello old nasty tennis shoes :)

Miss Tennessee USA

2008-10-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Good Luck to the girls competing tonight at the Miss USA competition. I was there last night at the presentation show and you all looked gorgeous! To the J.S. Fields folks, thanks for letting me be there last week to help some of you get ready, it was so much fun. Knock 'em dead!

Love ya! B

Shelley George - Bridal Designs

2008-10-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today I did a photo shoot for Shelley George's new line of wedding gowns. She is a local designer that has had massive success with her designer bridal shoes, handbags, and flower girl dresses. Her new line of wedding gowns will hit her website soon. For all of you soon-to-be brides out there: she is pretty affordable! http://www.shelleygeorge.com/

She is a hugely talented designer and we had so much fun at the photoshoot today. I'm trying to get back into that world a little bit because it is a great way to make good money while in school plus its lots of fun. So that means that I am trying to drop about 10 pounds (healthily, mom) and get back to the self-upkeep that I have let slide a little.

This pic is for mom...who I know will ask for a pic of my hair. This was the best I could do....what was left of my hair at the end of the day, 6 hrs after the shoot, after my errands, and after all the makeup had mostly been removed. Nothing special, just curled and down and Farrah Fawcett-y.

Commone Sense NOT Chicken Little

2008-10-01T04:41:00.001-07:00

The Sky Is Falling!!! The Sky Is Falling!!! The Sky Is Falling!!! Oh sorry, I thought I was a freaked out American who thinks the world as we know it will end because the DOW fell 778 points on Monday. But I'm not :)

Actually I understand that the American economy is in a very precarious place right now. But, I DON'T think the government should be in the business of owning things (socialism) and am glad that they voted the bailout down. But, I DO think SOMETHING should be done.

Please check out the Common Sense Plan and contact your Senator or Representative. The idea was developed by a leading economist and the plan was put together and packaged by Dave Ramsey. Briefly, it involves retro-acting Sarbanes-Oxley by removing mark-to-market accounting for sub-prime mortgages (for 2 years). It also includes doing away with the estate tax and extending additional insurance to the lenders. This would do the trick of creating a market for the buying and selling of the current sub-prime mortgages and free the market back up.

PLEASE DO YOUR PART!!!! Contact your Congressman!!!

Oddities

2008-09-27T05:43:00.001-07:00

I succumbed to this silly survey but it is kinda fun. So respond with your answers or post them on your blog!

35 ODD THINGS ABOUT ME

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? Yes! I love all cheese...especially stinky ones
2. Do you own a gun? Yes -2. A glock 23 .40 caliber and a makarov
3. What's a favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee house? A sugar free extra hot gingerbread latte.
4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning ? Juice - especially simple orange or Minute Maid blueberry pomegranate. Or maybe coffee ... :)
5. Do you do push-ups? Yes when Erin makes me
6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Engagement Ring and my diamond and opal necklace Mike and Marva gave me for my 16th birthday.
7. Favorite hobby? sewing and exercising
8. Do you have A.D.D? Not one bit...although I have had my moments.
9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I speak before thinking
10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I need to get dressed for the day. I have to leave in 15 minutes. This survey is pointless, why am I doing it?
11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Water, Juice, Coke Zero, Coffee
12. Current worry right now? Being late because of this survey.
13. Current hate right now? The "chicken little" mentality of the media and its bias in its reporting
14. Favorite place to be? Vacation!!! Anywhere with Erin or family
15. Do you like to travel? It is my #1 favorite thing in the world!
16. What color shirt are you wearing? White
17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Not at all...too slippery. I like crisp white sheets
18. Can you whistle? yep
19. Favorite color? Kelly green
20. If you could would you be a pirate? I can and I will for halloween....arrrrrghhh
21. What song do you sing in the shower? Les Miserables and show tunes.
22. Favorite girl's name? I'm not telling.... Erin and I don't want you to steal ours :)
23. Favorite boy's name? Not telling!
24. What's in your pocket right now? "I've got one hand in my pocket and the other one is ....."
25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? Seriously dumb question.
26. Worst injury? Breaking my chin open as a kid
27. Do you love where you live? Nashville...Yes! Smyrna....not so much!
28. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2
29. Who is your loudest friend? Jessica! If you think I'm loud....just wait!
30. How many pets do you have? technically none but we pseudo adopted a stray who lives on our back porch and we pay for food and vet visits.
31. Does someone have a crush on you? My husband better
32. What is your Favorite Book? Bible, Les Miserables, Atlas Shrugged, We the Living
33. What's your favorite candy? Hot Tamales put a smile on my face :) :)
34. Favorite Sports Team? Titans or Steelers
35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I think my black trousers are clean.

Romans 6:15-23

2008-09-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 when you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A pretty familiar passage but what an awesome reminder of God's grace. "Thank you Lord for setting me free from my bondage of sin and thank you even more for helping me accept that freedom more and more as I grow." I love the part that says "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life." Sometimes it is easy to look at holiness more as a responsibility or sacrifice we have to achieve but holiness is a BLESSING, a benefit that our good and gracious Lord wants us to experience and live in. God is so good.

Free Ice Cream

2008-09-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Cold Stone gave away free ice cream today to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation. Although it is not part of slim-down plan, Erin and I enjoyed a 4-oz treat today. I just don't have the discipline I used to... I'm workin' on it. But it was free!

Stupid Me

2008-09-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

I did something stupid...go figure. How is it that physics, calculus, Anatamy & Physiology, etc are literally a piece of cake for me, but doing daily household chores is like rocket science. I was being a good little wife the other day and had cleaned the entire house while studying and catching up on emails. Pretty proud of myself. I had just started to fill up the sink to wash the dishes when E came home. I went to the living room to say hi and totally forgot about the running water. I think E just thought he heard the washing machine running or something cause he didn't say anything. Thirty minutes later I go into the kitchen to get a drink and realize it is COMPLETELY flooded. I'm such an idiot!!! We thought we had avoided catastrophe because it didn't reach any of the carpet in the adjoining room and we managed to wet vac it off the floor in the kitchen. Thankfully I have the best husband in the world because he totally supressed his anger and was only kind and forgiving to me.

The next day we walked in the guest bedroom and hallway and felt wet carpet. This room butts up against the kitchen and apparently the water soaked through the wall and into the carpet. We are trying to salvage the carpet and the pad until we are ready to put hardwood down as originally planned. We were hoping to do it early next year...but may have to move that up a bit :(

Here's a pic of the drying pad and carpet. I put baking soda all over it and keep a fan on it. I've also been using a blow dryer on it. Please Lord LET IT DRY!!

Char

2008-09-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

We had Charlotte again a few weeks ago and I wanted to post these for Sarah to see...

Charlotte is my little buddy...

Before her bath

(notice the empty toilet paper roll...blaming Erin for that one)

She knows she's about to get wet

Wet Dog! hehehe

All Clean!

Gianna Jessen Ad

2008-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Look at this powerful message by Gianna Jessen. If you are interested in her story or in supporting her cause, go to www.bornalivetruth.org. How could any parent vote for Senator Obama?

Favorite Things

2008-09-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have 2 new favorite things:

1. This awesome little invention from Starbucks.

I was meeting some girlfriends of mine the other day and stopped at Starbucks on the way to use the gift card that Sarah had gotten me. Thanks Sarah! I don't know about you but it seems that everytime I get coffee and take it with me I manage to slosh it all over myself. I also make sure I order my latte's extra hot because they're always cold by the time you finish it. So, I was so excited to see they had thought of something to help with both problems.

This little green stick plugs into the hole at the mouth of the lid to keep it from spilling and letting heat escape. AWESOME!!!!

2. This great new place to eat... The Dog of Nashville

It used to be that I wouldn't touch a hot dog with a 10-foot pole. But, since becoming budget conscious (some people call it broke :)), my palet has de-evolved! I look forward to the Johnsonville Cheddar Brats that are now a staple in our home. So, I was really pumped when I heard about this place... Sarah and I tried it out last week and it was great. All kinds of hot dogs: jalepeno stuffed hot dogs, vienna dogs, brats, cheddar wurst... yumm! Plus, every menu item is under $3.00!

Gowns, Suits, and Luncheon Dresses

2008-08-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've reached the end of my pageant career and have almost accepted that I may never satisfactorily fit into any of the clothing...hehe. So, I'm selling it all. If any of you skinny-mini's out there that are still involved in pageants or have prom coming up would like these please let me know. I'll give you an even deaper discount if you buy all of them together. They are already heavily discounted from what I paid. On a side note: please don't judge me for what I paid for these gowns! How embarrassing. Fortunately I had sponsers that helped with the cost of them and the money I made in scholarships far outweighed the cost of these gowns. So, Travis and Shawn....I don't want to catch any flack from you!

Dorian Ho- silk gown w/ detailing. Originally a size 6 altered down to size 2 or 4. Paid $800. Price for you: $150

Vintage Designer Gown from 1960's. My wardrobe/stylist found it at a designer vintage shop in L.A. I paid $1000 for it. There are no tags indicated which designer it is since I had it altered and to be honest I forget. It is now a size 4. Retailed at $1000. Am asking $225.

Kay Unger Seafoam Green Designer suit. Gorgeous suit...would keep it if I could move in it :) It is perfect for a college entrance or pageant interview. Originally a size 2 but was altered down just a bit. Originally $600 but am asking $150. Perfect condition.

Anne Barge Wedding Gown. I wore this for a talent competition so it would work perfectly for both. The train is completely detachable (including the satin roses on back) and the dress is gorgeous by itself as well. Just needs a quick dry clean and pressing because the train drug on the floor during the 15 min competition but it isn't even noticeable and will come completely off if dry cleaned. This is a $2000 wedding gown and I'm selling it for $225.

Cache Lucheon or Casual Wear - This is a perfect little outfit for the casual wear portion of competition or for one of the luncheon's througout the week. If you purchase any of the gowns or suits above, I'll throw this one if for just an extra $25. I paid $80 at Cache for it. Size 4

Obama vs. McCain Round One

2008-08-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

So anyone who knows me even just a teeny tiny bit knows how I feel about Obama.... I think he's the most horrifyingly terrible option for our nation's president. On Saturday there was a civic forum at Saddleback, Rick Warren's church where each candidate was brought out separately and asked a series of questions. Even if I were looking at this unbiasely I would give the victory to McCain. Obama didn't answer half the questions and waffled back and forth on everything. McCain was concise, decisive, definitive and unapologetic. Keep in mind that McCain isn't my ideal candidate but he is impressing me so far with his stance on a number of things given that he is what I would consider a more liberal Republican. I guess I'll have to choose the lesser (much less) of two evils. I don't have a lot of time to go into everything but let me point out a few things:

1.) Abortion:
- Obama said "That question is above my pay grade" what??????? There is no higher pay grade than the president of the United States except for God. (that may have been his point but it was a stupid thing to say) Plus, if you're a Christian, as you say, then you have a direct connection to the Lord. He should be able to let you know what he thinks about embryonic life. As President you need to know your beliefs and stand by them. I don't want someone who doesn't know when a baby is a baby.
- Obama said "I want to work as hard as I can to reduce the number of abortions....despite legislation from the Bush administration abortion numbers have not gone down." First of all, if it is just a pile of meaningless tissue then why do you care to reduce the number of abortions. That is stupid. If life doesn't start at conception then why should it matter. Second of all, the last part of his statement is NOT TRUE. Abortion rates are currently at their lowest since 1974. Nice try Barack
- McCain said "Life starts at conception" Nice, clear, concise, and decisive answer.

2.) Marriage:
- They both said that marriage was between 1 man and 1 woman. However, Obama said he would not support a constitutional ban while McCain said he would. I appreciated this from McCain although I do think he is still to far left on the issue. I believe in human rights and equality...blah blah blah.... but I don't think that homosexual couples should receive the same "benefits" (i.e. employer discounted family healthcare pacakages) that same sex couples do. Why? For a moral reason? Yes. But also for fiscal reasons. I do not want to pay for someone else's higher risk lifestyle. Same thing goes for obesity, smokers, etc. Higher healthcare costs = more that comes out of my pocket for premium's every month.

I'm going to stop there for now. I don't have enough time right now to think everything through and present it concisely (as you can see above :) More later....

A Good Steward

2008-08-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

It is really important to me to be a good steward of all that we have, especially right now. Besides cleaning houses I really try and contribute by saving money on groceries. Travis and Reba are the ones who really inspired me to do this. Plus, I'm an old pro at couponing since one of my chores as a kid was to cut coupons....thanks mom!

This week was my best savings week yet. For 2-3 weeks of groceries, I spent $103 and saved $145. Erin and I have taken our grocery budget from $400+ to under $200/month. This includes toiletries and household items. Above are pictures of my loot from this week.

I have enough for 3-4 weeks worth of lunches for both Erin and I (including Lean Cuisine, Home-made Ranch Burgers, and left-overs), 2.5 weeks worth of dinner ingredients, 2 weeks worth of produce, Brita filters for 3 -6 months, and toiletries for a month.

Some of you have asked me for the details of my shopping trips. How do I find these savings?
1.) I check the following websites (and others) for coupon links and deals:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
http://www.thecentsiblesawyer.blogsot.com/
http://www.centsiblesavings.com/
http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.kroger.com/
2.) I sign up for every online freebie I can find. These are great because you not only get samples of products but they usually send valuable coupons in the mail with these samples. Walmart.com offers tons of samples every week.
3.) Pick up the circulars at your grocery stores and match the advertised specials with the coupons you have.
4.) Plan your meals around the deals. Do not vary from your set menu...just having a plan will save you tons of money plus take lots of stress off you since you won't have to decide every day what you're going to have. After planning your meals go directly to manufacturer websites to look for printable coupons for ingredients.
5.) Sign up online for the coupons that load directly onto your grocery card. Kroger is the best for this. Plus, every couple of months I get a big packet of coupons from Kroger that represent groceries I buy regularly. Its pretty awesome.

Here is a list of the deals and things I got this week.
- 5 12-packs of Coke/Dr.Pepper and 1 8-pack of bottles
*Kroger special: buy 3 12-packs and get an 8-pack free
*2 coupons for free 12-packs
- 4 boxes Hot Pockets
* Nestle deal (spend $20 bucks get $5 off)
* Coupons for $1 off of 2 - 2 coupons
- 7 Lean Cuisines
* Nestle deal (spend $20 bucks get $5 off)
- 1 South Beach Pizza Lunch
* Coupon $2.00 off
- Toilet Paper
* Coupon for $2.00 off and another for $1.00 off
- Kroger brand Nacho Cheese Doritos
- 2.5 lbs Fresh Chicken Breast
*Coupon: spend $7 in poultry get $2 off
- 1.25 lbs Ground Beef
*Kroger sale $1.99/lb for 97% fat free
- 1 lb Butterball Turkey Bacon
*Kroger sale - $2.5
*Coupon: $1 off
- Butter
- Crest Toothpaste
*On sale $0.88
- 2 Toothbrushes - Oral B
* On Sale $0.88 each
- Fresh Yellow Corn on the Cob
*Sale: 4/$1.00
- 5 Green Bell Peppes
- 2 Red Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Carrots
- Milk
*Sale: 1/2 gallon $1.77
- 3 lbs Fresh Ground Turkey
- 2 Old El Paso Stand and Stuff Taco Shells
* On sale 2 for $3.00
* Coupon: Buy 2 get $1.00 off
* Coupon: Buy 2 get Taco Seasoning packet free
- Taco Seasong
* Free: See above
- Kroger Crescent Rolls refrigerated
* On sale for $1.60
- South Beach Diet 7-pack "Tide me over" Drink Mix
* Coupon for $2.00 off
- Bread Crumbs
- 3 Lunchables
* On sale for $1.00
- Dozen eggs
- 2 packs Shredded Cheese
* on sale 1.90
- Brita Filter
* Coupon: $6.00 off
- Mac n Cheese
- 6 cans Chx Broth
- Parmesan Cheese
- Cilantro
- Mission Tortillas
* Coupon: $2.00 off
- Fresh Express Salad Mix
* Coupon $1.00 off
- 3 Packages Frozen Veggies
*Coupon: buy 2 get 3rd free
- Contessa Skillet Meal
*Coupon: $2.00 off
- Sour Cream
* On Sale $1.00
- Simply Orange juice
* On sale: $3.59
* Coupon: $1.00 off
- 2 Dial Hand Soaps
* On sale $1.00
- Hamburger buns
- Printer Paper
- 2 cans Ranch Style beans
- tomato sauce
- 3 cans diced tomatoes
- 2 cans Pillsbury biscuits
* On sale for $1.00
* Coupon for $1 off 2
- Organic Tortilla Chips
* Coupon: $1 off any Private Selection Organic
- 2 lbs Tenessee Pride Sausage
* On Sale: BOGO
* Coupons: $1 off 2 and $1 off 1
- On the Vine Tomatoes
* on sale: 1.99
- Rice a Roni
*Coupon: $.50 off
- Onions
- Cream Cheese

A Change Is A Comin'

2008-07-29T18:49:00.001-07:00

Short post because I'm supposed to be studying...but...

Originally this blog was for family members who I don't get to see enough. It was really just meant to be insight in my day-to-day life.

But, once the beast of Organic II is over I'm going to change things up a bit. Since I now have a bigger readership and since writing is therapeutic I want to start using this as a tool to communicate my thoughts and stance on different things.

In addition to "today I did this and today I did that" I will hopefully begin blogging a bit about:
- things God is saying to me personally, my spiritual growth

- I'm pretty passionate about politics and would like to begin getting some eye-opening information out there to a very liberal, unresearched group of people about their favorite candidate

- Work-out and health ideas

- Anything else I'm heated about at the moment.

Hopefully I will actually do this... sometimes I have good intentions but no follow-through.

Wish me luck on my test tomorrow!

The Object of My Affection

2008-07-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

"I want these. I need these." This is what is running through my head right now. I want some new clothes, especially some Seven For All Mankind 'Ginger' and 'Dojo' jeans. But I know that I don't really need them. I only want them. But, I want to be a good steward of our money more, and to go to dental school more, and to finish getting out of debt more. (I guess...sigh) Plus, if you read previous post, you'll know that now is REALLY not the time :(

I'll be thankful one day but right now I just think Dave Ramsey sucks! (or "stinks" for Mom)

:) hahahahah... just kidding Dave.

When It Rains.... God gives you an umbrella

2008-07-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

It pours. And it has poured in our household this month.

First it was the speeding ticket we got coming home from Springfield after the 4th of July weekend. Goodbye $100.

Then my timing belt needed to be fixed. Thank goodness I have such a handy husband. He replaced it and the rest of the belts himself and saved us $500. But, still it cost some dough.

Our router for the wireless Internet fried. New one.

Our AC went out the day E was fixing the timing belt in our Toyota. Yeah...you can imagine the moods in our house that day.

What we thought was our computer's power supply went out. After purchasing and installing a new one, we found that our motherboard, and therefore our processor and video card has to be replaced.

I had a minor medical malady that required a doctor's visit and several meds. (not really expensive...just something I feel like complaining about)

This is all just before we have to write a check for tuition. But, mom had a cool reminder for me. If we could do it all on our own, then God wouldn't be glorified through our situation. And, God sure is good to us and has provided yet again.

I got 3 new cleaning clients in 3 days time. This will really help the pocketbook.

We found all sorts of stuff to put up on Craigslist and Ebay.

Our AC didn't have to be replaced and the AC guy was very nice and taught Erin how to service the unit himself next time so we didn't have to call a professional.

I found a quarter in the couch this morning - (fun size hot tamale candies are only $.25 in the school bookstore.... WOOHOO!!)

Sarah was so sweet and gave me a Starbucks gift card for keeping Charlotte (which she didn't have to do). This has enabled me to stay awake while studying while sipping on delicious lattes!

God is Good!

Obama's Nuclear "Solution"

2008-07-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

Has anyone heard about Obama's promise to rid the world of nuclear weapons?? This guy is so full of crap I can't even stand it.

What is even more scary are the number of Christians who are believing his deceptions. The latest thing thats got me hot and bothered (not in the good way:), is Obama's new "nuclear" plan. He claims he is going to rid the world of nuclear weapons. How is he going to do this?

We all know that other countries (especially Middle Eastern) are NOT going to listen to measley little Obama's request to stop nuclear research and development. So, that just leaves the U.S. As president, Obama will only have power over the U.S. So, what happens when he stops nuclear research and weapons development in our country? Other countries will continue to have weapons and mass destruction and we are here powerless and defenseless.

Rockstar

2008-07-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

I kept Charlotte this weekend. This picture just proves that Sarah is my coolest friend :) Who else could put their puppy in a tank top that says "Rockstar" in rhinestones. Hilariously cute. She was well behaved as always and Erin and I (and Lindsey) enjoyed having her around.

Proud to Be Republicans

2008-07-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Lindsey came for a quick visit to Nashville Saturday night on her way through town for business. Erin and I decided that it would be fun to take Lindsey to the gun range since she has never shot a gun before and since her husband has been interested in possibly getting a gun for home protection. Here is Erin shooting. He never misses the bullseye...seriously does he have to be good at everything!!

Lindsey was pretty nervous but she got good training from Erin and the instructor at the range and worked up the courage to shoot. She shot a .22 first and did great!! I must admit I was pretty impressed with how well she did. She even shot the .40 caliber three times before deciding it was too much gun for her at this stage :)

Needless to say we are proud Republicans and glad we still have our constitutional right to bear arms (for at least a few more months).

Welcome to the world Owen!

2008-07-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

My good friends Kelly and Rick had their baby Owen today. I'm so excited to meet him. Congrats Kelly and Rick!

4th of July and Family

2008-07-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

After finals on Thursday, the plan was to clean a client's house and leave town. However, I didn't get done with the house until late and Erin ended up changing the oil in the cars at 10 p.m. Needless to say we didn't leave for E's parent's house until early Friday morning!

We got there around noon and enjoyed just spending the day hanging around with E's parents and sister. We also enjoyed some homemade ice cream. Yum!

The highlight of Erin's trip was reloading about 500 bullets with his dad and then testing them out at the gun range.

We stayed until Sunday around lunch time and headed back home. Sorry no pictures but we had a really great time! We're hoping to convince Jennifer (E's sister) to come for a visit in August. I'm in the mood for some shopping, dancing, and poolside fun!

Exercise Plan

2008-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Because I have been so swamped with school this month, Erin and I have had to get creative with our time. We've had to figure out a way to exercise, have fun, and spend time together all at once. So, we have been kneeboarding! It is great excercise, only takes us about 10 minutes to get the boat out and on the water, and it is great fun. Unfortunately there are no pictures of us actually doing it because one of us has to drive the boat while the other takes a turn. But it is great fun!

Stud Muffin :)

The only downside is that I really need to buy another pair of sunglasses because mine broke and I've been wearing a pair of Erin's and they look a little goofy :)

On the boat - w/ the goofy glasses!

Erin makes fun of me for never putting bad pics up of myself so here ya go! He snapped this one of me after kneeboarding. I was exhausted!

Dad's Retirement from USAF - San Antonio

2008-07-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to San Antonio to attend Dad's retirement ceremony from the Air Force. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. I was so honored to be Dad's daughter at that moment. It is clear that he is highly respected by everyone who knows him at the Air Force. Since he has been a reservist most of my life, I haven't gotten to see that aspect of his life as much. I wish that everyone (his family, his church) would see how capable, faithful, intelligent, and dependable Dad is and give him the respect and praise and following that he deserves. Sometimes pastors get the raw end of the deal and church members try to treat them like their personal puppet, but it was soo cool to see him people salute him, respect him, listen to him, praise him, say they wanted their kids to be like him, etc. We are so proud of you Dad and love you so much.

At the ceremony, Dad received the Legion of Merit medal which is the HIGHEST NON-COMBAT medal military personnel can receive. What a huge honor...and he's my Dad!! Erin and I were really proud and really impressed.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the rest of the family, of course. It was great to be able to spend time with each other and catch up and have some fun. Zion and Calvin were definitely the stars of the show though :)

Deck Party

2008-07-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Rick have also been working hard on their deck for almost a year. They originally contracted this 2000 square foot deck out to a independent contractor but he was unable to hold up his end of the deal so Rick and Kelly decided to do it themselves. They are both very capable builders and craftspeople and it is finally finished. They had a big part a few weekends ago to thank all of us that helped with the project and to enjoy the deck. There are 3 levels total and a really nice stone and granite outdoor kitchen. Hopefully they'll still get use out of it once the baby comes :)

2nd level

1st level & outdoor kitchen

Me slaving away

Baby Showers

2008-07-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

I co-hosted a shower for my friend Kelly on June 8th. It was a beautiful shower. I'd say it was a success. Kelly and Rick had a cool idea to let other people know the sex of their baby but they didn't find out themselves. They had their friend send out announcements in a "top secret" themed stationary. It is the job of everyone to keep the gender a secret until "it" is born. So, we kept the shower to that top secret theme.

The mom to be at 9 months: (in red)

Some of the games:

The Activity Bags w/ games, goodies, etc:

Framed gifts of the invites and fingerprints of everyone present:

The Decor:

I made a "diaper cake" for Kelly that we used as a centerpiece for the gift table.

The Food:

In the Midst of Finals

2008-07-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a month and I have TONS to catch you up on. But, I'm smack dab in the middle of finals and have been swamped with the class schedule from H-E-double-hockeysticks :) So, I'll post on Friday...I swear :)

Here are two funny pics to tide you over

Sunday Fun

2008-05-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our friends got a huge 16 foot waterslide for their Son's birthday. But, of course, the grown-ups took over the slide once all the kids were gone and had a blast as well. We should have know it was a bad omen when the whole thing collapsed the first time. There is a 300 pound weight limit for this inflatable slide but there were 4 kids and 5 adults already on there when I stepped on. As soon as I did we had too much weight on one side and it detached from the air fan and fell over. The kids were all the way at the top but they weren't hurt at all because there was still a ton of air in it.

Erin

Head First!

So, of course we blew it back up and kept sliding making sure there were only 3 adults at a time :) But Erin and Will decided to double-bounce each other and they had a collision resulting in a deep cut on the elbow for Erin and a trip to the emergency room for shin stitches for Will. But, they're all fine. Of course it is always the grown-ups that hurt themselves! Erin asked me if we could buy one!

Michelle's Wedding

2008-05-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend...very busy but fun.

Saturday was my good friend Michelle McNatt's wedding. It was in Knoxville so Erin and I drove out for it. She asked me to be a part of the wedding by praying over her and James during a portion of the ceremony and I was so honored to do it. They are going to be a great couple that God is going to use in awesome ways. They had the wedding and reception at a family friend's house on the lake. It was so beautiful. Here are a few pics for you Lindsey :)

Check out this playhouse. It even had a loft! Probably cost as much as our a few of our house payments.. ha! Erin thought it was funny that I was so obsessed with the playhouse, but I had always wanted a liliput playhouse (http://www.lilliputplayhomes.com/) as a kid and this reminded me of one. I told Erin he would be building one for our kids one day :)

SYTYCD

2008-05-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

It has just been the best day.

I passed my Chem test today.
Erin got me sushi so I didn't have to cook (he ate Chic-fil-a).
The season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance is on tonight. I LOVE THIS SHOW!!We watched some of the auditions tonight and you have to see this kid. Erin and I watched in disbelief... I mean Danny from last year is the most beautiful trained dancer. But, this kid can move his body in unbelievable ways....incredible.

Study + Prayers + Tutor = CHEM CLEP PASSED!!!!!

2008-05-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

I did it!! I'm so excited I can't even stand it. I finally passed the dreaded Chemistry CLEP exam and am so thankful for it. It wasn't even as bad as I thought it was going to be. I can actually feel the weight off my shoulders. I'm trying to decided if I passed because I studied for about 3 months or because I met with an awesome tutor 3 times or because EVERYONE was praying so hard for me. But who cares why???? I PASSED!!

Me before test -pulled an all-nighter studying

(caught an hour and half of sleep on the floor in the office)

Me after test

(Still looking rough...but excited!)

Clapping

2008-05-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Been a busy weekend. Brittany's b-day was this past week so we all went to Outback last night to celebrate. Today we went to see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It was good. Not as good as the first, but good.

Today when we were in the movie theater I experienced 2 of my pet peeves.
1. Lots of noise in the theater. I understand that we were in a "kids" movie, so a little noise isn't so bad. The occasional shake of the candy box, slurp of the drink, or in todays case a loud burp by a little boy :) .... all that I can handle. In fact I expect and to be honest my Hot Tamale candy can rattle a bit in the box at times. But this CONSTANT crinkling of the popcorn bag I CAN'T STAND. Ok Mom's and Dad's out there...if your kid isn't quite old enough to sit still through the whole movie then don't bring them. And please, only allow them to reach into the popcorn bag every few minutes or so...not every second.

2. But my #1 movie theater pet peeve of all time is ....drumroll... when people clap at the end of the movie. I mean, seriously, what is that??? Who are you clapping for??? The producers, photographers, directors, writers, actors? Well guess what? THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU!! I (a co-audience member) am the only one that can hear you and your clapping isn't doing anything for me. I didn't help make the movie, I only paid $8 to go see it. So please, if you really really appreciated a movie don't clap. Instead, write a letter to the editor, or maybe focus on the family, or Pixar, Disney, whoever, to tell them how much you liked it.

Click on image to enlarge

Ok. I'm off my soapbox. :) I'll do a more positive post next time, I promise.

Bethany's Plans

2008-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here are my plans for the near future

1. Study like crazy and pass my Chemistry test on May 21. (please pray hard...really need to make this happen)

2. Start eating healthy again, exercise daily (I'm at about 3-4 times a week now), and lose 10 pounds.

3. I really want to do an in-depth Bible study of some sort. I may just do a read through the bible plan with my friend, or I might look at doing some David Jeremiah stuff. Either way, I don't feel like my Bible Study time right now is cutting it. I'm craving more. Erin does a Bible Study every week with some friends and gets a lot out of it. What do I do during that time? Get together with Pabst, go to the gym, and watch American Idol... :)

4. Start a cleaning business while I'm in school. Erin and I made this door hangers (below) which I will deliver to the nicer neighborhoods in Murfreesboro. I plan on under-cutting the competition as far as prices are concerned. This is a much better alternative than waiting tables in my estimation. I obviously blacked out my phone number and email address in case there are any pervs or weirdos that visit the blog.

Naples Vacation

2008-05-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

A week ago Erin and I and Erin and Nate Pabst all left work early and headed to the airport to catch a plane to Naples Florida. (FYI - to avoid confusion I will refer to Erin (girl) as "Pabst" from now on) Several months ago we had found a really cheap flight to Naples, and since Pabst's parents live there thought it would be a great place for a quick vacation. I could go on and on and on about Pabst's family. Her mom and Paul are such amazing people who opened their home and lives to us. They were so generous and showed us a great time. Thank you!! Paul's family (extended) was amazing as well. Altogether it was an awesome time. Here is a rundown of events (sorry its so long):

Thursday

We arrive late that night and head to Paul and Debbie's condo and just chat and get ready for bed.

Friday

Busy day. Debbie fixes us an amazing brunch and we head out to see the cute city of Naples. Really neat Italian influenced architecture and shops. Then we go get lunch at a little restaurant called Riverwalk which looks out over the water (Thanks for treating us to lunch Debbie)

That afternoon we head out to the beach and cookout on the beach for dinner. We had an exciting battle with a racoon which you'll have to ask Erin about. :) We then headed back to the condo where we enjoyed the rest of the evening just goofin' off. It was fun!

Saturday

We got up Saturday morning and Debbie, Erin, Pabst, Nate, and I headed off to Ft. Myers (about 20 minutes away) to see the beach.

It was really cool because it was a very crowded place... people everywhere. There were also pelicans all over the place that would let you get right up next to them.

We then played putt-putt golf where we all got extremely sun-burned.

That afternoon we went to the pool at the condo and just goofed off.

For dinner we went to the best pizza place I've ever been to. Paul's sister and her husband and daughter came with all of us to. The restaurant, ZaZa's, is owned and operated by Joe DiMaggio's nephew who is one of the top chefs in the world. In fact, he was the chef for the Rat Pack. Pretty cool huh? Anyway, Marco (paul's brother-in-law) is really good friends with him and they brought out soo many things for us to eat. We had 3 exotic types of pizza (one had lamb and curry and feta cheese :)), we had spicy calamari, amazing bread, and cheesecake, and tiramisu, and canolis. Thanks to the Bazelgette's and Bronzini's for showing us a good time and treating us to dinner. Erin, Nate, Pabst, and I went back home and stayed up way too late... til about 4 am just laughing about the nights events and enjoying vacation.

Sunday

Sunday was our rest day. We got up early and went to the beach until about 3:30. We mostly rested at the beach but we also swam in the ocean and made some sand art :)

Nila and Emily came with us too. We then headed home to get cleaned up for church which was at 5 p.m. Paul and Debbie started a new church in Naples and have grown from 10 to 60 people in 6 months. Paul is such a biblically grounded man of God and Debbie is such a wonderful pastor's wife with such a caring heart. They meet in Marco's art gallery (check out his amazing work at http://www.marcobronzini.com/). Paul and Marco met years ago when they both attended the Royal Academy for Art in London. It was really neat to go there because the people are so on-fire and Erin, Pabst, and I led the music. It was very impromptu but I really feel God used it because the people expressed how appreciative they were and how worshipful it was. The whole crew then headed over to Marco and Nila's house where their ENTIRE family greeted us and we had a wonderful dinner and time of fun. And since Pabst knows DAvid Cook from American Idol really well, she was a big hit with her cousin Rebecca who is a HUGE David Cook fan :) I can honestly say that I have never seen a family who gets along and builds one another up like this family... and thats something given how close I am to my family. But, Paul's family would never make fun of a poor ugly child's snaggle-tooth :)

Finally a Post

2008-05-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I have posted... I really do apologize. Many of you expressed that you were tired of seeing the last NCAA post, so I'm giving you an update. A lot has happened, so I'll just give you a brief rundown of events.

1. Erin spent 15 days straight in Ft. Worth, TX for the United Methodist General Conference which occurs every 4 years. He was there from end of April to beginning of May. They bring in about 3000 delegates from the UM convention and they debate and vote on the church's stance on issues for the next 4 years. Erin was not a delegate of course (he's Baptist :) but he was there to set up the networks for 3000 people, organize the internet cafe's, and troubleshoot problems as they come.

One of the major issues they voted on was whether the methodists would continue to regard homosexuality as a practice "incompatible with Christian teaching". Now, I would think this would be a no-brainer (especially if you look in the Bible, its pretty cut and dry) but apparently there was a lot of debate about the issue. I'm glad to report that in the end they voted to retain the original language of their beliefs: that homosexuality IS incompatible with Christian teaching.

Family...If you decide to comment on this please remember that Erin works for the agency and some of his coworkers read this blog.

2. I had planned on continuing to work with my company through the end of May. We had an adjusted schedule worked out so that I could continue shadowing at a dental office as well as work and get a new person trained to take over. I would also be taking on more classes during the night hours to help out the company. Unfortunately during the first week of May I was pulled from the class I was teaching and told that they would no longer be able to hold their end of the bargain as far as the schedule was concerned and so I told them that my last day would be 2 weeks from that day. At first I was surprised that they reneged on the deal but then I remembered the structure of the company. I had a boss (we'll call him R). R was supposed to be over the entire Nashville account (which included 3 locations). However, R actually has no authority. Anything R says, his superior undermines. So, R will make a decision and she (his boss) will go against it. He has to run EVERYTHING by him and she micromanages him to a ridiculous degree. The problem is that micromanaging is a problem all the way from the top (also most of the people in power are women with a chip on their shoulder). So I found out that R had agreed to our schedule but his boss had not. When she heard about it, she acknowledged that it would be beneficial to the company for me to work an adjusted schedule but that it would be "unfair to the other people in the company if I got to work an adjusted schedule for a few weeks" and that since I was "friends with R" she wouldn't allow it. This is coming from the same woman who took complaints from the other women in the company who said that I was only liked by my boss because I was "skinny and pretty". They would also complain to the boss if I finished my tasks for the day (efficiently) and they had not. So, I would get their tasks piled onto me. Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! When did the workplace become socialist too? Good riddance.

3. My friend Jessica finished her graduate program. We all went to her graduation in Chattanooga. It was a lot of fun to celebrate her big day with her.

Brittany, Jessica (the graduate), Bethany

Mmm...Ben and Jerry's. I mean, Bethany and Brittany

Jessica and Scott

In Case You Were Wondering

2008-04-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

In case any of you were wondering, this is how Erin feels about the Men's NCAA Championship Game and its winners.

Enough Said.

In Honor Of Travis

2008-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you look at Travis's comment to my last post, you will understand what he is referencing. Thomas Beatie (in above picture) is man who used to be a woman. He had the trans-gender surgery to become a man but kept some of the "female parts". He then married a woman and when his wife was unable to conceive he had invetro fertilization and is now a pregant man. Weird and gross, and in general, perverted, huh? Anyway, that is what Travis was referring to. And though I appreciate the veiled compliment, I take some offense. I mean, I know I was one of the world's ugliest children. However, I wasn't THAT bad was I??? ...... Don't answer that :)

NEVER CHEAT ON YOUR STYLIST

2008-04-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a firm believer that once you find a great stylist, you should never, under any circumstances, cheat on him/her. Seriously. I did it once and I'll never do it again. Here's why I love my stylist (Steven Fields - http://www.jsfieldsandco.com/):

He's not overpriced (in fact I think he's underpriced, but don't tell him that)
He tells me "no" when I have a bad hair idea. I came in with ideas of the cut I wanted. It was a short straight bob. He said "This won't work for you. I know 3 things about you: 1.) you won't get up every morning and straighten it. 2.) You won't get your hair cut every 6 weeks like you're supposed to and 3.) You want to be able to pull it back into a ponytail." Most stylist just do what you tell them to make a buck. Not Steven, he knows my hair and what works best for it and more importantly he knows me and the things that are important to me.
He gives me a versatile haircut - one that looks good curly and straight and one that will grow out well.
He's my friend and has done much more for me over the years than just cut my hair.

Okay, so I'm going to cut short my tribute to Steven so that I can get back to studying but just know he's the best! He's got a great team too. Christina and Phyllis and the rest of the folks there know all the clients by name and make the business's success a team effort.

~ Your faithful client, Bethany

New 'Do

2008-04-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am embarrassed, but not surprised, to report that it had been almost a year since getting my hair cut. My hair was long, shaggy, and generally dead. So, it was definitely time.

Here's my new do...curly. I'll post one of it straight later. Its a great cut because I can literally wake up and it looks like this already, without any styling. AWESOME.

Baby Calvin is Here! Aunt and Uncle Times Two!

2008-03-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Shawn and Jill were due April 17th so we were surpised when we got the news yesterday that Jill's water had broken and they were at the hospital. After a several nervous hours when Jill was only dilated 2 cm and Calvin's heart rate was irregular, we thought Jill was going to have to have a C-Section. We were all praying like crazy that his heart rate would even out and that she would be able to have him naturally. Well, God is good, because Calvin was born, perfectly healthy and precious. When I talked to Shawn, he was bragging the whole time about how awesome Jill was during delivery and how proud he was of Calvin. They are going to be great parents. I love him very much already and am so sad that I don't get to go visit him anytime soon :(

Here's a pic of Shawn (dad) and my Aunt Susan...apparently Jill didn't want any pictures taken of her 'cause I don't have a single one :)

And just to prove that I am Aunt to the cutest 2 kids in the world, here is a picture of Zion in her Easter dress.... love this girl :)

Easter Dinner

2008-03-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

We decided to have some friends over who didn't have any family in town for Easter dinner. After dinner we just talked and played a few games. It was a lot of fun but unfortunately we forgot only took 1 picture: the table before everyone got here. We got to know a new couple in our sunday school class and are really looking forward to becoming better acquainted with them. Everyone brought a side dish and I made the following:

Ham - my first attempt at Ham and glaze and I must say it was delicious! Although I'm getting little tired of it. This is my 3rd day in a row eating the 10 lb ham's left-overs.

Pineapple-Cheese Casserole - always a hit

Fresh Strawberry Pie w/ homemade crust

Kentucky Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie w/ homemade crust

Erin took the left-over pies and coffee cake (made for sunday school brunch) to work the next day. Better the IT guys devour them instead of me and my thighs :)

Easter Worship

2008-03-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

This was a great Easter. I must admit that Satan was pulling a number over on me Saturday. I was in a horrible mood, didn't want to go to church, and for some reason Satan was having a hayday with my attitude. But, Saturday night I made a decision that I wouldn't be that way, to stop complaining, and live with a grateful heart.... how can you NOT be grateful when really thinking about what Easter means. It turned out to be a wonderful Easter.

Erin, myself, Erin P and Nate all sang or played in all 3 services so we carpooled in together at 7AM!!! Early. The worship in the service was amazing and even though we did the same service all three times, worshipping never got stale, old, or boring.

Mom, I don't remember all the songs but know we sang:
You Saved the Day (choir and soloist)
Jesus Saves (choir)
He's Alive, Alive, Alive Halleluiah
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Easter Reminder

2008-03-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Erin had a friend/business associate of his over for dinner. This friend is from India and practices Hindu. He is such a wonderful person and we had interesting discussions about the differences in religion, culture, politics, sports, etc between America and India. I was explaining to him about how America celebrates mostly Christian holidays with Christmas being the biggest and Thanksgiving the next. But he pointed out that this didn't make sense: "Shouldn't EAster be your biggest holiday?" After I explained the differences between secular and spiritual celebrations of these holidays I realized that sometimes even Christians put Easter lower on the scale of celebrations. But, EASTER is what makes Christianity real, its OUR HOPE! It took someone of another faith to really make this hit home with me. So, this year, I really focused on remembering the sacrifice and most importantly the VICTORY that Christ had over the grave.... all for our sake. Praise the Lord.

Game Night Part Deux

2008-03-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

I love game nights. So, every time Jessica comes into town from Chattanooga, we invite the gang over and have a girls game night and dinner. I love these nights because I ROCK at Scrabble and like to prove my vocabulary and polysyllabic prowess to anyone who will play with me :) If you've seen the post from last game night you will remember that I had a controversial win last time because of my use of the world "si" which is part of the melodic scale and is sometimes used instead of "ti". (a.k.a. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do). Anyway, I came this time ready to conquer.... and guess what? I DID!! (sorry Brit, Jennie, and Jess). They gave me such a hard time about my word choice last time, but look at the PROPER noun they used below...totally illegal game play. But, no hard feelings. :)

I did not win Scattergories, so it wasn't a totally successful night. But, we always have a blast together and I'm so glad that God has blessed me with such wonderful friends that have remained close since college. We even forgive one of us for being a liberal (don't worry I'm NOT the liberal one)... but mainly its okay because she's a liberal in TN and we know her vote won't really make a difference anyway :)

The Gals -- we're a strange conglomeration of girls -- but we make a good team.

We still think fingers and noses are funny.... hmmmm.

I passed!

2008-03-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

This book and I have gotten to know each other really well over the past few weeks. Today I finished step 1 on my journey towards dental school. I passed the Biology CLEP test!!! It is a scaled score test with scores ranging from 20 to 80. It is pass/fail and you have to get a 50+ to pass. I got a 60. I didn't like cutting it so close but unfortunately I didn't use the best study materials. I only used the Biology CLEP study guide and figured that would be enough. Lets just say that I almost panicked when I went in there and the material was much more in depth. But, fortunately I was at least able to make educated guesses on the majority of the questions. I'm glad its over. This test got me 16 hours of credit. I have a lot to do before I can even apply to dental school. If ONE thing doesn't go as planned then my dental school plans and hopes and dreams will not work out. Please pray for God's timing on this one. Erin and I want to make sure that we are following God's will, not our own. Here's whats left to do.

Now - Pass another CLEP test. This one is MUCH harder. It is for 16 hours of Chemistry 1 and 2 credit. I only get ONE shot at this. If I don't pass then I don't get another shot and am done.

May - Possibly shadowing a dentist friend of ours in his office. Need to have experience in a dental office so that I can discuss that in my interview with UT.

June - Begin summer classes. I will be taking Organic Chemistry I and Physics I

July - Next summer session. Organic Chem II and Physics II

July - August - Take the DAT. I can take it up to 3 times.

August - Fall term begins. Microbiology, Comparative Anatomy, Biochemistry, and possibly Histology

November 30 - Application due to UT Memphis

December - Finish pre-req classes

Uggh! Pray for me!

A New Direction

2008-02-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Recently Erin and I have been praying and thinking about my future. We laugh at how many jobs I have had in my lifetime but it is actually becoming an issue for me. I do not like the field I am in. It is as simple as that. I grew up wanting to be a Doctor. That is all that I ever wanted. But, when I went to school, my lack of maturity, circumstances, expectations of how my life would turn out, etc intimidated me and I took the easy way out. I got a business degree because it was easy, cheap, and what everyone does when they don't know what else to do. Not exactly the best way to make decisions about your future.

So, Erin and I began listing the things I have liked and enjoyed in my previous positions or hobbies. This is what we came up with.

I enjoy being with people
I want ownership and to be my own boss
I like to choose who I work with, to be able to pick my own staff. At cj, I was fortunate enough to be able to assist in choosing some of the new hires that I would be working with. This makes for a great cohesive team, where everyones strengths complement the group. Less nit-picky too.
I like for my work ethic and my income to be directly related. I want to be able to control how much I make by how hard I work. In my previous and current positions, now matter how hard I work, I am not rewarded for my efforts.
I LOVE to be on my feet
I like science and healthcare. I read physiology books and medical manuals and journals for fun.
I want a flexible schedule so that I can be a mom one day
I like preventative care. I think people should take care of themselves before there is ever a problem. It is much easier to do regular maintenance and prevent a problem than to fix one. Plus, I think that America as a whole is over-medicated.

From this list Erin and I came up with a few career possibilites: M.D., Dentist, Chiropractor. We ruled out M.D. right away because of the cost of school, the length of school, and the fact that I don't want to treat colds, flu, and hypochondriacs. I would rather be a surgeon and I would be in school till I was 90 :). Also, I have more and more issues with our healthcare system. We are over-medicated, over-charged, and if universal healthcare comes into play I want to be as far away from general medical practice as possible.

We ruled out Chiropractic care next. Although I have found relief from Chiropractic care and used to work for a Chiropractor, I am not passionate enough about it to make it my profession. I have done some research on the science. I believe in the methods but not neccessarily in the philosophies of Chiropractic. Plus, it is more likely to be influenced by a slow economy than any other type of healthcare.

We then evaluated dentistry. It seems like the perfect fit. We could pay cash for school if we stick to the same strict budget we're on now. We could also save enough to give us a good start on beginning a practice once I'm out of school. Dental school is only 4 years long. I have pretty teeth (heheh). A large part of a dentist's work is preventative care. I love people. I could own my own practice. I'd be on my feet. We feel God's leading in this direction and until he tells us no or closes a door, we will pursue this.

Manning Fans

2008-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

I've got to admit that leading up to the fact, I was very uninterested in the Superbowl. I was first pulling for the Titans to make it to the big game. They of course did not. Then it was the Cowboys...well Jessica Simpson and her pink Jersey ruined that for us. We are NFC fans but we could not root for the Patriots. Tom Brady is a man-whore (pardon my language). So, we decided to pull for Brett Favre thinking they could definitely beat the Giants. I mean, come on, the Giants were the LAST wild card pick and everyone knows that Eli isn't as good as his older brother, right? I had basically chocked this up as a worthless superbowl and figured Brady and his cheating coach would take it home this year.

Well we were definitely proven wrong. It turned out to be one of the best Superbowl games I've ever seen. Erin was glad to see Burress catch the winning pass for a touchdown. After all, Burress gave Erin most of his points on his fantasy league this year! What a great game. Considering the fact we live in UT country, we are Manning fans. It was very good to see Eli win a superbowl and get MVP and not have to be under the shadow of his older brother anymore.

We also had fun going over to Brittany and Scott's for their annual superbowl party. We had a good time. Here are a few pics.

Birthday Fun!

2008-02-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

Erin and I's birthdays are very close together. Mine is January 23 and his is February 2nd (groundhog's day).

My birthday was on a Wednesday this year (bleck!) and I had to work. Nothing too exciting happened at work except for the fact that I had more friends call, email, or text my birthday wishes than I ever have before! We had decided not to do presents this year for our birthdays because we got everything we wanted for Christmas and we would rather write an extra check towards the Dave Ramsey plan than receive a present. So I wasn't really expecting anything. After work I went to the gym and worked out and when I came in the house it was perfectly clean, something delicious was cooking, and there was a fire in the fireplace! Turns out Erin had taken a half day off work to clean the house for me and cook me a fantastic dinner of Candied Glazed Lamp Chops and my favorite bleu cheese chopped salad. Yummy! I also had roses and a sweet card waiting for me. It was a great birthday.

Erin's birthday was on a Saturday which gave it a little more flexibility. I got up early that morning and a Monkey Bread (or Pull-Apart) coffee cake, Juice, and a Quiche waiting for breakfast. I even put 28 candles in the Monkey Bread for him to blow out :) We spent the day just doing fun stuff: went for a walk, threw the football, etc. Then that night Hale and Andi, Nate and Erin P, and Erin and I went to Macaroni Grill (we had a gift card!) and ice skating. Ice skating was a blast; probably more funny than anything!

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday cards and gifts. We appreciate and love you all!

LOST is back!!!

2008-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight was one of the most exciting nights in a long time. That is right folks; LOST is back!!! If you have never watched the show LOST, you need to go to Blockbuster and rent the 1st three seasons, lock yourself in your house until you've watched them, and then start watching this season. It is definitely the best show on TV.

To celebrate the occasion, we had a LOST get-together. The Metcalfs and the Pabsts came over and we watched the season premiere. It was awesome. I just know this season is going to be good. I have some theories but I won't bore you with them now.

Here are some pictures from our LOST themed get-together:

The Spread

Game Night

2008-01-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

The roommates: Jessica, Bethany, Erin

Jess is in town, so of course all the girls got together. Jessica is staying in "her bedroom" here at our house but we all got together this time at Brittany and Scott's house. Erin and Scott wanted to watch some game that was on and the girls wanted to play games. So, we all headed over there, cooked dinner and played Scattergories and Scrabble. I scored a controversial win with the 2 letter word "si". Being the Scrabble champion that I am, I know that the 2 letter words are important. Si is part of the melodic scale, a substitute for "ti". Its in the scrabble dictionary, look it up. The girls weren't too happy. But, we had a great time as always. Brittany is definitely the most creative speller...she provides the fun, the rest of us provide the vocab :)

Serious about Games

Microwave

2008-01-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

In yet another home improvement project, Erin installed an over-the-stove microwave for me today! I love it. Now we can get the microwave off of the cart and put the toaster oven there so that it is off of the counter. I was definitely needing more counter space. Yay! I love having a handy husband :)

The McAtee's

My Testimony

FAMILY TREE

Life Lessons

Should I?

Rethinking & An Update

Good Gene's

A Big Ol' Surprise Announcement

If I sold my car, I could get....

She's A....Half Bricked...House

Wine, Cheese, and Grandparents

Beautiful Blogger Award

Hubs from Heaven

Tearfully Good Day

Looking Forward...Way Forward

90 days and we're HOME!!

My thoughts on nursing.

That Girl Still Blogs?

Anniversary Weekend in Chattanooga

LOTS O' UPDATES

Logan Marshall Dickson

Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews Band

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2 Years Later

My Friend GiGi

Long Time No Blog

OKC Christmas with Bethany's family -UPDATE

Christmas at the McAtee's - Springfield, MO

Crafty Christmas

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dancing Family + Charlotte

Date Nights

Thanksgiving

Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Girls Weekend + 2 Guys.

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

You down w/ LTP? Yeah, you know me!

Wordle

Ministry 2.0

"Tag" You're It

Coupon Convert

Until I get a chance

Amber's Baby Shower

Tough Crazy Week

Blessed Aunt

Please Pray for My Uncle

Hodaka Heaven

Layla Grayce

A Sad Goodbye...

Miss Tennessee USA

Shelley George - Bridal Designs

Commone Sense NOT Chicken Little

Oddities

Romans 6:15-23

Free Ice Cream

Stupid Me

Char

Gianna Jessen Ad

Suggested Reading Material

Favorite Things

Gowns, Suits, and Luncheon Dresses

Obama vs. McCain Round One

A Good Steward

A Change Is A Comin'

The Object of My Affection

When It Rains.... God gives you an umbrella

Obama's Nuclear "Solution"

Rockstar

Proud to Be Republicans

Welcome to the world Owen!

4th of July and Family

Exercise Plan

Dad's Retirement from USAF - San Antonio

Deck Party

Baby Showers

In the Midst of Finals

Sunday Fun

Michelle's Wedding

SYTYCD