Where have I gone?

I doubt anyone is checking this anymore...hah! But, if you happen to, I am no longer doing this blog. I have begun a new blog with some friends at www.thesimpleday.com

Check it out and sign up to receive our daily emails. You can also find us on Facebook (search The Simple Day) or on twitter http://twitter.com/thesimpleday

Pictures update: I did go through and update a few of the pictures I've taken over the past couple of months. Check it out over to the right!

I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since I posted last! WHOA! I always think about how I want to sit down and post, but there's always something else I need to do. And then when I start writing (like now) I wish I had great pictures to share.

Which brings me to my first point. I have been AWFUL about taking pictures this year! REALLY AWFUL! Every year I make a "year in review" photo book, and here we are with April TOMORROW, and I feel like I have 5 pictures from the first three months of the year. I guess the good news is that in this digital age, I can always get pictures from friends and family. So, I guess my shortage of pictures will turn out fine in the end. :-)

One of the major things that has been filling up our time these past few weeks is that we have had a young girl staying with us. I won't go into much detail, but suffice it to say God is moving majorly in her life, and has set her free from all sorts of things. She will probably only be with us another week or a few days, but it has been very healing for her, and nothing but a joy for us to have her in our home. We are so thankful the Lord continues to bring about opportunities to use the home He has given us: whether mentoring and counseling, (like tonight) having small groups, (like yesterday) hosting a party, (like next week) or being able to have people stay with us for a long or short period of time. Jordan and I realized the other day when we were talking that we've have about 7-8 people stay with us over the course of the 3+ years in our home, some over a year, some just a week or two. It is neat to stop and think back on how God's been able to use this house, just as we have prayed and continue to pray that He would.

Well, so much more to say, but as always, need to move on. Little bit more reading and then off to work. I pray you are abundantly blessed today!

We have had a great weekend so far, and it's still continuing for us! Friday we had a pre-marital appointment with a couple we are counseling, and then Jordan and I enjoyed a relaxing night at home...stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching "Return of the King." (We forgot how long it was and vowed to never ever watch it in one sitting ever again)

Saturday started off marvelously with a frisbee game at the park. IHS played Blackman and beat them: 14-10! It was a little chilly with the wind, but really a gorgeous day, so we very much enjoyed that. We napped that afternoon and I had another counseling meeting that went great. Again, had a relaxing evening as I cooked for Sunday and that night and Jordan finished preparing his message for Sunday.

Sunday (yesterday) was just fantastic! We had full house at church due to several visitors and Jeremiah Pearson's dedication. It was such a special time to celebrate God's faithfulness, and there was overwhelming joy in everyone's hearts as we rejoiced together. If you've never heard Al & Martha's story, click HERE to download the podcast from 2/28/10 and fast forward (or listen to Jordan's fabulous message) until you get to them sharing their testimony. VERY INCREDIBLE!

We then enjoyed a HUGE Mexican fiesta after church. We do a meal after church on the 1st Sunday of each month at each New Song congregation, and it is such an amazing time of fellowship and connection, and yesterday's was extra special because of the dedication.

We finally left church close to 3:00 in the afternoon. (It's amazing how quickly 8 hours passes sometimes...seriously. I was there from 8am-3pm) :-) Ran home, changed, cleaned up, packed up, and jetted off to quickly stop by a friend's birthday party before getting back to the church at 4 to help People's Church Spring Hill youth group, Fusion, get set up in our facility for their youth meeting. They are going to be using it on Sunday nights for the next few months until their new building is finished. We are so excited to be able to partner with them and so thankful for the connections the Lord has brought about in the city of Spring Hill. We left there close to 6 and headed up to the condo in Franklin, where Kyle & Janelle & Ethan met us for homemade BBQ Chicken and Turkey Pepperoni pizzas and some seriously good times!

LOVE THIS KID!!

Today looks VERY promising! Jordan and I have had a super relaxing morning at the condo, and are meeting up with Kyle & Janelle to spend some time in the Hillsboro area today, where they are multiplying a New Song congregation and moving in a few months. Later, Jordan and I may do a little date night movie (Alice in Wonderland) and dinner (Carrabba's: courtesy Erin and Dan) I'm off school today for a teacher inservice day, which is why I can hang out like this today.

So, whatever you're doing this week, I pray it is full and blessed and exciting and wonderful! God is good!

Be Blessed,

A Couple of Quick Tidbits...

- my brother scored a 97 on the second (out of 4) leg of his CPA exam. Yes, he really is that smart. (But he works extremely hard as well) We are so proud of him!

- I sprained my ankle last Wednesday and have been hobbling around...kind of funny. Not fun for me though because I just want to go RUN!

- I got to see Ferris this week. It's been too long, so it was good to see her!

- JT & Christy had their baby yesterday! I cannot wait to see her: Karis Elise. I know she's going to be gorgeous!

- we get to meet Noah Phillips today...we're taking dinner over to them and I can't wait to hold him. :-)

- I lost my voice this weekend so I haven't been able to talk. I pushed myself through 2 days of teaching this week and took today off because I didn't think I could make it through. It's slowly getting better.

- We had a great meeting with our IVF doctor last week. Still not sure exactly what the next steps are, but we found out some encouraging things.

- Life is good! God is great, and there is much to rejoice in and be thankful for!

Be Blessed!

Just So You Know...

Ladies, if you haven't checked out "Just So You Know," I would highly encourage you to do this! This is a weekly webshow that our senior pastor's wife, Joan Evrist, and a good friend of hers, Carol Maxwell, as well as one of my closest friends, Janelle Kellums, do every Friday. The website also has all kinds of fun tips and great deals for online shopping! :-) Each webshow is about 10 minutes long, and DEFINITELY worth checking out each week.

Check it out by clicking HERE.

Make sure you check out all the links at the top, including the "Get Maxwellized" link to see the latest Carol Maxwell makeover. (Carol is a style guru who has worked in the music industry with all sorts of stars- she's great!) Also check out the "Tips of the Week." They are awesome beauty and do-it-yourself tips that every woman can relate to!

I liked Erin's post, so I am copying her with a few things I'm liking these days...some just recently, and some for a while!

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

I've been listening to NPR for a while, and it can sometimes be a little bit on the liberal side, but I enjoy the news many mornings while driving to work, and I love, love, love the classical music!

MY UGGS

I absolutely adore my Uggs. I got the white ones for Christmas this year and I picked up the brown ones a few weeks ago. They are one of my favorite things about winter and one reason I am actually dreading the end of winter. (although the warm weather will be nice) They are just so comfy and warm!

LOOSE LEAF TEA

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows I love my tea, so I couldn't very well leave it out, now could I?

THE BIBLE (AND MY JOURNAL)

God has spoken so clearly and powerfully to me through His Word countless times, and especially these past couple of weeks, it has been amazing to experience what He has been revealing to me through His Word!

OUR GAS FIREPLACE

This is another reason why I will be sad for winter to be over. My favorite time of the day is in the morning when I wake up, get my coffee or tea and go turn on the fire to do my reading. I LOVE it!

READING

Though I haven't been a huge fan of most of the books my professor's assigned, I do love all the reading I am getting to do for my Adolescent Lit class. I love reading and it's been a long time since I've done much "extra" reading, and even though it's classwork, it's been fun to stir up that passion again. :-)

THE OLYMPICS

They end on Sunday night, and Jordan and I have, for the past 6 years, loved watching the summer and winter olympics together when possible. It just amazes me what people are able to do, and I love watching sports of any kind. It is amazing how many different sports/athletic events there are out there, and how hard people have worked. It's an amazing thing.

Ok- so now your turn? What about you?

A little change...

Since I had a little extra time today, I took a bit and played around with my blog layout. Not quite as polished as some, but I did it myself. (Go HTML editing) :-) I added a few elements, so check out some of our "new" stuff over to the right.

Be blessed!

Weekend Update

First weekend without football...boo! That's always a little bit sad to me, but it turned out to be a good one anyway. Here's how the basic rundown went:

Friday: after I got off work, I was seriously in the mood for hot chocolate. I decided to make some when I got home, but, a funny thing happened. I got home and as I pulled out the unsweetened cocoa box, I saw a recipe on the back for delicious chocolate cake. So, what did I do? I made an entire chocolate cake, just so I could eat one, little piece. I wish I could blame it on being pregnant, but, oh well. I told Jordan those were the pitfalls of loving to bake. Most people wouldn't go through the "trouble" of baking, I love it and think it's pretty easy, so I make an entire cake!! WHAT?! (It was good though) We stayed home Friday night and watched a little of the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and did some reading.

Saturday: we woke up bright and early...like 4:50am bright and early...and headed to meet up with the rest of the Ultimate Frisbee team and drove to Chattanooga, TN for an all day frisbee tournament. I, of course, was not playing, but very much enjoyed cheering on our team who finished out the day 3-1! They did great and I was very proud of them! We got home a little after 9 o'clock that evening.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had an incredible service in the morning and a wonderful training for our Word groups afterwards. Once Jordan and I got home, we threw around some ideas, watched a little Olympics, read a little bit, rested and generally did nothing :-) until we finally decided to rent a movie and make dinner at home. I made chicken marsala, green beans and asiago potatoes and might I say, it was yummy!

We have taken it very easy today. Surprise...schools are closed again for snow! I LOVE the snow, but I am getting a little sick of not working. That's what happens when you love your job! I am so thankful for that. But, I certainly can't complain, since we slept in this morning, made whole-wheat pancakes, and I'm getting ready to do some reading and then work on a paper for my class.

All in all, a wonderful, fun filled and relaxing weekend.

If you're interested, check facebook videos under our name and check out the video that one of the boys put together of the tournament. Pretty funny stuff. :-)

Be blessed!

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

In some ways, this is a difficult post to write, but in many ways, it isn't. As many of you who read this already know, we found out last Friday night that our in vitro cycle was unsuccessful, and much to our disappointment, we are not expecting a baby.

And then as many of you probably do NOT know, also, Friday was my last day teaching at Page Middle. Kind of a long story, but to make it short, I had been asked by the principal to stay through the end of the year, and she had told me that the powers that be were fine with me, a not-yet-fully-licensed teacher, being there. Well, that was not so. A few weeks ago, they put their foot down and forced her to hire another teacher. So as of tomorrow, I will go back to substituting.

So, a lot of change and disappointment in the past couple of days. I could stop there. But you see, I can't...because I serve a God who is so much bigger than our circumstances and sadness. He is so much greater than the sorrow of today, and He brings us the great joys of tomorrow, time and time again.

As Jordan and I sat together on Friday night, not saying much, not really crying, and really just listening to Lord, God met us, as He has before in these past couple of years as we've faced the some of the most difficult things we could imagine. He has filled us with great expectancy for what's ahead, great hope for the future, and great excitement for tomorrow AND today, knowing that with God all things are possible and He will continue to lead us on this great adventure.

I am always reminded of a journal entry I made about 2 and a half years ago during some time with the Lord. I was thinking of all of my "heros" in life: both those I know and those I admire, and I was realizing that the reasons I admired them were not for their successes or amazing talents, rather it was their great faith and determination in the midst of some of the most horrible circumstances: death, poverty, famine, destruction, pain, betrayal, persecution, etc. And I wrote right then and there: "God, if I need to go through the fire in order for my life to be an overwhelming example of Your faithfulness and promise, I am willing to do it. I want to have an amazing testimony for You, so I am willing to go through the tests."

Have I regretted writing that?

Not for a moment!

Sure, the pain is real, sometimes so thick you can grab it and squeeze it. But, in the midst of the deepest pain, I've experienced God in ways I just really can't describe: He is so real, His voice so clear, and His words so life-giving.

I encourage you: no matter what you are facing or what life looks like or you think it will look like for you, do not fear stepping into the unknown because of the potential pain it could cause. God brings about situations we cannot imagine if we truly will trust Him.

He asked us Friday, "Do you believe me." Because we know He is faithful, we were immediately able to answer with confidence, "Yes Lord, we believe." We know not what it looks like at this time, and we are still diligently seeking Him for some clear direction for the next steps, but we are confident in the end result and what the finish line looks like.

So go for it, with all that you have!

(If you would like, click HERE to read my journal entry from Saturday, Feb. 6, the morning after we found out)

If you live in Tennessee, then you are experiencing exactly the same thing as me. If you don't, then you may not have had the pleasure of the wonderful 4-6 inches of snow, plus the thick layer of "wintry mix," (code for ICE) that we received yesterday and this morning. It's pretty amazing...or not amazing, depending on how you look at it. Most people I know think it's pretty amazing! Of course school got cancelled yesterday, and rightly so, so yesterday was a nice and restful day off for those of us educators. Actually, most people I know ended up getting home early from work, no matter where they work. I got a couple of errands run in the morning before the snow started, and the rest of the day was spent totally relaxing! I wasn't feeling well yesterday- came down with a silly head-cold, so I blew my nose a lot, made taco soup and guacamole, and we watched "Hoosiers."

Today, I feel much more "clear," and am thoroughly enjoying day #2 of being "snowed in." I am taking advantage of not being able to leave my house by doing all of the housework things that typically have to be CRAMMED in: things like cooking, clothes washing, cleaning, organizing, etc. I decided to go ahead and plan this week's meals and cook as much ahead of time as possible. So, here's what I planned for our week:

Sat. night: BBQ chicken pizza

Sun. lunch: Thai chicken and veggies w/peanut sauce/edamame

Mon: Ham & potato soup/Arugula salad

Tues: Baked cajun tilapia/rice and veggies/homemade bread

Wed: Baked chicken/ haricot verts/spicy black eyed peas

Thurs: Low-fat ckn alfredo/haricot verts/homemade bread

So, here's what I have made for the week

- 4 rounds of whole wheat pizza dough, 2 that have become pizzas: 1 to eat tonight and 1 to freeze (yes, you can make your own healthy frozen pizzas! The other 2 doughs will be frozen for later pizzas- we LOVE homemade pizza) :-)

- Tomorrow's lunch: peanut sauce, brown rice, chicken and veggies (will combine all tomorrow)

- Ham & potato soup

- Rice & veggies

- Haricot verts (cooked and flash frozen, ready to be reheated)

- Spicy black eyed peas w/red bell pepper and jalepeno-mmmm!

- Alfredo sauce and chicken (frozen and ready to be heated)

- Homemade loaf of 4 seed whole wheat bread (this is actually still baking-it's smelling great!)

It's basically my own version of what you do at the places like "Super Suppers." The idea is to prep everything so that during the week you can simply thaw, or heat up things you have already made. I LOVE it because I love to cook, and I make pretty much everything we eat from scratch, so having the time during the week is challenging, and this is much better option.

Next on the agenda: grading Direct objects and predicate nominatives quizzes!! Yay!

Have an awesome day, whatever you are doing!!!

So, it's been a pretty busy week around here, and at the same time, not busy at all. Why, you may ask? Well, I shall tell you. Jordan and I are smack dab in the middle of our in vitro cycle. I began my hormone stimulating injections a couple of weeks ago, and this week was full of ultrasounds, checkups and blood work. I went in on Thursday (yesterday) for my egg retrieval. I don't really want to post a whole lot on here, but just know that everything is going very well and God is so good. We aren't going to know for a few weeks the full outcome of everything, and I have one more big procedure to go next week, so please be in prayer for us for the health of my body and our little embryos.

God is so good and SO faithful!!

I just love Trader Joe's. I was so excited when we got one in Nashville a few years ago, and although it's not near as close as I would like it to be, I'm glad there's one around now. If you've never been to a TJ's, it's a combination of a World Market, Fresh Market, Regular grocery and Whole Foods. It's not as big as a Publix or Kroger, and it's not fully organic, but the Trader Joe's store brand is awesome, they have TONS of great options and most things are either totally natural or organic. We were down in Nashville today for a frisbee tournament, so I made a stop there and at Teavana. Here are some things I got today:

-Ground beef

-Ahi tuna steaks

-Salmon

-Mahi Mahi

-Brown Jasmine Rice

-Whole wheat Couscous

-Natural Peanut Butter (I always stock up when I'm there)

-Blueberries

-Hummus

-Flaxseed Tortilla Chips

-Frozen Green Beans

-Bean and Barley soup mix

-Tons of Edamame (another thing I stock)

-Sunflower seeds

-Turbinado: couple of kinds

-String Cheese

-Apples

-Green tea

-Bananas

-Arugula, salad ready

-Thai Red Curry sauce

...and I'm sure a few other things that I am forgetting.

Best of all, it's an AWESOME price! So, if you have one in your area...get over there- totally worth it!

Two posts in one day?! Are you kidding?

I wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know about something that I just found out about and am really excited for! One of my friends, Jessica, and my OB/GYN, Dr. Rupe, are in the process of publishing a pregnancy guide, written from a Christian perspective. Jessica has PCOS and had a very difficult time and long journey conceiving her first child, Hope, and is now beginning the journey to conceive her second. Dr. Rupe is the incredible OB that God totally directed me to several years ago, right before Jordan and I found out about some of our own infertility issues. She has been such a blessing, and I simply cannot WAIT for her to deliver our little miracles!

But anyway, they have started a blog and Jessica is journaling her journey toward pregnancy as well as this book. I am SUPER excited about this and definitely encourage you to check it out:

http://thepregnancycompanion.blogspot.com/

One of the funny things about being a teacher has been to learn how teachers think and act about certain things that you never realize as students. (Or maybe you do) Some of those are snow days. Around Page Middle School, everyone's been freaking out because the forecast has been calling for 1-3 inches today or tonight, and in Williamson County, that means no school for a minimum of 1 day! I grew up here, so I know how quickly they call it off. Even though we just started back Monday from Christmas Break, the students were SO excited. But that's just the students...I personally think I saw more begging and pleading from the teachers than I did the students. It was funny.

Yesterday at school, me and the math teacher on our team decided we were just going to act like we were definitely having school, so all day we were telling the students we couldn't wait to see them tomorrow, and "don't be made if you're here tomorrow;" basically stuff like that :-) One of the teachers who was holding out for snow big time, and not shy to say it, ran around outside the building during the last class of the day putting snow flakes on our windows that read "believe." Pretty funny stuff!

So last night around 6:30pm I got a call on my phone that school had been cancelled for today. Pretty funny stuff, considering not one flake had fallen, or has fallen to this point. Yesterday the radars had been showing that we would get snowfall in the middle of the school day, and I'm sure the superintendent felt he would rather take his chances in cancelling then deal with the circus of an early dismissal at all the schools. It's pretty hilarious now though because it looks like we're not going to get much of anything. :-) I personally will enjoy the day off, but am a little more concerned about getting the work done that we need to. So all in all, I am sure the kids will enjoy their day off, but I think they'd like it more if they had snow to play with. Oh well! I certainly enjoyed the sleeping in. I mean, I am sitting here typing this in my pajamas when I would have been teaching paraphrasing and summarizing right now. :-) Have a great day!