Fa la la la FALL

Oh how I love this time of year. I have been looking forward to it since, well, last year about this time. I just love how when you're just totally sick of summer there will be this one cool night towards the end of September that will remind you that fall really is coming again. We are into the cool-ish days and definitely cool nights and I. LOVE. IT. I love jeans and boots and hoodie sweatshirts and decorating my house with pretty mums and pumpkins. I love the pumpkin dip I can't get enough of and just that "crisp" feeling in the air. Weird, I know.

I am totally a Christmas junkie and the thought of decorating my house for Christmas makes me so happy...but for now, I'm going to pretend like Christmas isn't sneaking up on us waiting to take all the glory for this wonderful feeling I have. Because somewhere in the world someone just ordered a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks...and I swear the angels sang. Maybe just a little....

Happy Fall Y'All!

Ummm..yeah

So here's the thing. I love to blog. No, seriously. I really do. In fact, almost every day of the last couple of weeks I've thought about "hopping on here" and saying something...ANYTHING. But then I start to freak a little and think that there's really nothing to say. I mean, nothing anyone would care to read anyway. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who remembers that I used to write here so I'm going to have to remind everybody to come look for me every so often. Aaaaand now I'm depressed.

See what I mean? I feel defeated even before I try. Story of my life. I HATE that I feel that way about myself. I mean, seriously, I can cheer on ANYBODY but when it comes to ME I so often have a "Why bother" attitude. WHY? Ughh...self searching. And as I always say..."That's awholenother Oprah show! (yeah, that doesn't sound right if you say it all stuffy and...well, correct. If you say "That's another whole Oprah show" it sounds too fussy. Saying "That's another Oprah Show doesn't quite grasp the importance or depth of the situation. A-whole-nother fits just right...don't ya think?)

So last weekend was just about perfect. Busy but sooooo fun. We had our 10 year class reunion!! We have been planning since MAY. We worked really hard, but lemme tell ya.....that was some fun work. I swear every time the committee got together I laughed until I cried. No joke.
It was: me,
Lindsay (my bestie),
Brooke (my old bestie who is back again...soo happy!),
Amy Autry Jackson (who sat beside be on every single stinkin Marching Band bus e-v-e-r for 4 years and was my band partner-in-crime),
Matt Raymes (known him since BIRTH...no joke),
Jeremy Autry (who was the hottie in high school. Still is. I like him so much more now than I did then...I think 'cause I was completely intimidated by him...),
Jessica Peterson Teague(homeroom/band buddy)
and Brian Fulcher (wild, crazy party boy. And that's just now...he was a professional back in high school...)
So fun. Anyway, we weren't quite sure how it all would go but honestly it went so so great. So much better than I thought. We went to the homecoming game Friday night, played at a park for a small cookout with everybody's kids on Saturday morning and then the dinner on Saturday night wehre we had about 60 people to come. Maybe 35 or 40 of those were alumni. It's such a trip to see people after all these years. Some people looked exactly the same. Some people looked a lot better (helllloooo new boobs!). Some people I had totally forgotten about but am so happy to have reconnected with. James even had a blast. In fact, at one point, Mr. Southview himself said, "Gosh, I wish I had gone to Cape Fear!" That's right, baby. Welcome to God's country.... (pictures to come soon. I hope.)

Also in the past few weeks we have hung out with a big group of friends that I have come to love so dearly. It's us and 3 other couples (4 if you count Kramer and Crystal) and we just have the best time together. So thankful for all of them and for the Lord giving us an outlet through them. They are all friends from church but are also "real people" who we can be our regular not-always-Sunday-morning-best-selves with. I hate even saying that because who we are on Sunday mornings IS who we are...but you know what I mean. People we can let down with and who don't expect us to have it all together all the time. People we're allowed to be real with and love the Lord together. It's very nice. We are all anxiously awaiting Baby Wellons to come (any day now!!!) so that we will FINALLY know whether to buy everything pink and monogrammed or everything red, black and cammo. :)

So...ummm..yeah. That's all for now. I realize it's a lot of nothing...but I guess even just contentedness is something to talk about. :)

p.s. I can't even talk about the fact that my baby will be 2 in a few weeks. Nope. Not even gonna mention it. Sniff.

Catch-up

One of my favorite movies is You've Got Mail. Love it. There's this one part where Kate (Meg Ryan) is writing an email to her mystery pen-pal (Tom Hanks) and it says "I like to start my letters to you as if we're already in the middle of a conversation...." Or something like that. That's how I'm going to start this post. As if there hasn't been a 2 month lapse in my blogging. As if this hasn't been a whirl-wind of a life lately.

So we moved into our house July 3. Finally. Thank God. We are somewhat settled. There are still blank walls and empty nooks where pictures and furniture will one day be but we are home. I think we will be very happy on Bent Grass Drive. And even if we're not we're not moving again. I'll torch everything first. Okay I shouldn't say that. Let's just say we don't want to move for a long long long time.

My sweet baby girl is not a baby anymore. She can count to 10 and (pretty much) say her ABC's at 21 months old. I am more in love with her than I ever thought I would be. She just leaves me breathless. Truly.

We are planning our 10 year reunion. We are grown ups now. Weird.

James has started a new career. As of September 1 he will be an Insurance Agent for Farm Bureau Insurance. He is excited and is already doing great. He is unbelievable. I don't think he knows how to fail. I am very blessed.

This summer has held many hospital visits, some happy (Welcome sweet Baby Kanen!) some scary/tiring (Mema Nancy AND Papa Landon spent about 3 weeks in the hospital each. yikes.) It has held many laughs and of course some tears (I mean, c'mon, it's still me here) but mostly blessings.

The thing I want to write so badly about are the precious girls from Stella's house in Moldova that we had the opportunity to spend the weekend with last weekend but I have neither the time nor the strength to get into it right now. More soon, I promise.

Hope everyone had a great summer. Sad to see it go. Back to work this week. ughhh. But I'm back at Laurel Hill and working with my sweet Cindy, so how bad can it be?

Okay. I think I remember how to do this now.... be back soon.

Regardless....

I haven't forgotten I have a blog. I swear. And pleading busy-ness just won't cut it. So suffice it to say I have really missed being here and I'm back now.

We are counting down the days and hours until we can move into our new house. We are supposed to close June 30 (4 days from now!!!!). When we sign the dotted line I'm quite certain there will be a collective sigh of relief in the heavenlies. I'm sure God is sick of hearing about this house situation. Since the day we put our condo on the market it seems as if it's been one obstacle after another. From low-ball appraisals, moved closing dates, a seemingly never ending parade of "not the one" houses, etc. we have been more than sick of this. James has said about a thousand times that this has been the most horrible experience of his adult life. And I concur. (right, Meliss?)

So even today, 4 days out, we are still getting (bad) news and having minor setbacks that make me so mad I won't even go into it here but just know it's really really annoying stuff. James got to the place today (a place we've been several times on this journey) where he said, "Is this a sign? Is this not our house?" To which I immediately said "I DON'T CARE! WE'RE MOVING IN REGARDLESS AND GOD WILL JUST HAVE TO BLESS OUR EFFORTS." And yes, I said it in all caps for sure. I don't know if we can take every tiny situation and think it's a sign or a "wink" from God but we've had both positive and negative ones in this experience so I honestly don't know for sure. But I know that the Lord will bless our faithfulness with our finances and as long as we seek him first, all of the other things will be "added unto us."

While bad news seems like the end of the world, and trust me, we've had a friggin buffet of it lately...it's really not. Because at the end of the day we have each other and our sweet baby girl and the Lord has us engraved on the palm of his hand. He knows right where we are and what we face.

This morning we had to do something very difficult. One of James' closest friends is his high school band director, Jay Bolder, and this morning we had to sing at his wife's funeral. Jay asked James to speak and I was so proud of him. She lost a very hard battle to pancreatic cancer but never lost her faith or the spark that she carried.

Yes, Lord. You know right where we are and whether it's yet another set back or a bad diagnosis or even a loved one called home, we will serve you....Regardless.

Saved By The Bell Reunion Update 3 (6/8/09)

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Down to the wire

Official School Countdown:
5 days!!!


Official House Countdown:
25 days!!!

...but who's counting?

(Insert Happy Dance HERE!)

Needing it!

My sweet, secret best friend, Beth Moore gave us an acrostic to help us choose and memorize our scriptures for the Memory Verse challenge. It is to RENEW our mind.

R- Read it! (over and over and over until the words start to come from memory)

E-Examine it! (look for ways that make it easier to memorize.)

N-Need it! (This is the biggie. If you don't NEED a verse you're less likely to memorize it.)

E-Echo it! (Say it over and over and over)

W-Wield it! (Use it as the weapon that it is against the fiery darts of the enemy!)

So my verse for this time is one that I NEED!!!

I am so sarcastic. It's bad. Sometimes it's funny but other times it is just mean. And honest to goodness most of the time I don't mean to be mean! It usually comes out before I can put a filter or a hand over my mouth. It's usually just in time to insert my FOOT in my mouth or get a sideways look from James or my Mom that plainly says "I CANNOT believe you just said that!!" Sometimes I can't for the life of me figure out why they think what I said was mean and not funny, which is almost 100% of the time how I mean for it to be interpreted. But more than once, okay, a lot of the time, I end up saying something pretty harsh or making someone feel stupid. Which is NOT what I want to do. I really want to build others up. Especially with that whole "golden rule" concept looming over us and coupling with my own insecurites. I've seen that shirt that says "Sarcasm: Just one of the services I offer"...which is funny and definitely true of me. But I don't want it to be. Now, keep in mind, I don't want to change my personality. I just want to be able to filter my words and as my sweet friend/boss Cindy says all the time "season my words with salt." So I found this verse and am committing it to memory and to my heart as a reminder of what the Lord has commanded us to do. I looked it up in several translations and liked The Message best (I LOOOVE the Message bible. Some people have different opinions about it but I do believe even though it's an "interpretation" and not an exact word for word "translation" that it IS the Word of God. That's just my two cents.)

So here it is:
1 Peter 3:9 MSG
"Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless- that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. "

I'm stopping there but I also love the rest of the passage (to verse 12). It is:
"Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things. "

So here we go, Lord. Help me to remember this verse and call it up when I want to throw a "zinger."

But Lord, please, let me be funny sometimes! =)

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today I married the man of my dreams.

Seriously.

James was the first boy I ever had a crush on. He still is.

I love you so much honey. Can't wait for the next 100 years!

Happy Anniversary!

A picture from our first anniversary (we bought each other the same card. How cute are we?)

Easter 2009

Quoteable Quotes

I read this quote today from one of the comments on the Living Proof blog. I LOVE it.

It said:

Prayer is asking for rain.
Faith is bringing the umbrella.

LOVE that!

I have about a kazillion quotes in a pretty notebook my mom gave me in HIGH SCHOOL. I have added to it all this time. It's got pressed roses, scribbles, notes, slips of paper sticking out everywhere...it's one of my favorite things and something I can't wait to give to Abigail. Or at least inspire her to do as well. The quote above will be added shortly. And while I have too many to name that are already listed there, one of my favorites is:

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. "

And just because I can't be that serious all the time, a close second is:

"Put your big girl panties on and deal with it!"

Makes me smile every single time.

AbbyDangerous

I cannot cannot cannot believe how quickly time flies. I remember as a kid thinking that it was FOREVER until Christmas came and the months of summer vacation seemed endless. Even the idea of an entire school year seemed insurmountable. Yet here we are at the close of another year, MY SIXTH YEAR (holy cow), and it feels like it just began. I guess time has always gone by quickly. I mean, High School seemed like a blur and we are now in the throes of planning our ten year reunion (yikes.) But I think once you have a baby time goes by in like, warp speed.

My sweet baby girl has hit a growth spurt. She has nine teeth (and is working on a few more judging from the fist-eating going on) and is suddenly Miss Independent. Her favorite word is "No!" and has recently learned "Mine!" much to the chagrin of anyone who would dare try and remove something from her super-human death grip. I have prayed for her to be bold and strong but never imagined I'd have a full-fledged daredevil on my hands! She is so not afraid of ANYTHING! We took her to the park beside Mema Sue and Papa Buster's house last week and she went down the little baby slide BY HERSELF. So Daddy decided maybe she'd like to try the BIG slide. I was very nervous but here comes my sweet baby girl barreling down that tube grinning to beat the band. She did it two or three times alone, once with Daddy, once with Mommy laughing the whole time. Tuesday night when Mommy felt the WORST...fever and all...Daddy and MeMa took her back to the big girl slide. When asked if she wanted to try it herself, Abby's Daddy let her climb up those big steps and get to the top just knowing she'd sit down on that cute little hiney and barrel down. Not AbbyDangerous. No sirree. She threw her hands down and came down that slide HEAD FIRST!!! Those big eyes got a little bigger I think but she did it!

We spent some time this weekend at my Mom and Dad's and the P-O-O-L (which was fffffrrrrreeezzzing). Abby was a little timid on Saturday content to sit on the first step and splash away. By yesterday afternoon she was swimming all around and her favorite game was to be held by her fingers and "dropped" in the pool to about chest level and quickly raised back up again. Laughing the whole time.

Yeah, time totally goes by too fast. Where is my precious sleeping baby girl? Where are those newborn cries? Oh how I miss holding that bundled baby with the peach fuzz hair against my face. But I wouldn't trade one second of my AbbyDangerous seeing her grow and learn new things every day. Being fearless and brave. And hearing her say "Whe Mama?" with those chubby hands raised? Or hearing "Bye Bye Mama. I dooo." Oh, how I love you too, baby girl. My sweet Abby. Dangerous or no.