halfway to 50!!!

Yes, I have been informed that I am now halfway to 50! My birthday was Sunday and I am now 25. I think it does feel different than any other birthday. Maybe it is because I am married now or maybe it is because I am officially in my MID 20s! Next year I will be a little closer to 30...but you know what? I could not be any happier than where I am right now!! I am very content with where I am and that is such a wonderful feeling. People tell me all the time that I look a lot younger than what I am. I used to hate that but I am starting to really appreciate it!! I know that 10 years from now I will probably appreciate it even more. Anyway, I had a great birthday!! Josh picked me the prettiest daises since he knows they are my favorite and he gave me the sweetest card :)




We decided to go to Music City Assembly of God in Brentwood. Jason Whitehurst did a great job! Afterwards, we met my family in Cool Springs at Carrabba's...another favorite of mine!! It was soooo good, as always. After we ate, we decided to go to Costco to check out their TVs. We had planned on buying one in a few weeks but when we got there we saw they had a Sharp TV on sale for a great price...so we bought it!! We love it!!!! Our first big purchase together :) It is a 47 inch flat screen! It sure is a lot better than our 27 inch we had.. especially since the speakers were busted! ha.




After we left Costco, we went to the mall to do some clothes shopping. I got some really cute clothes from Express with gift cards I had gotten for my birthday. Then we drove back to Pulaski to hang out at our apartment! It was a great day and I was so exhausted. Guess that is what happens when you are getting old! But my birthday was great because of my awesome family and friends!! So thank you so much everyone for everything, Love you all!

this weekend :-)

I have been waiting for this weekend for a long time! Tomorrow will be the LAST day that I have to drive 1 hour and 40 minutes to work!! It will be the last weekend that I have to stay at my parent's house while Josh in here in Pulaski (btw, I love staying at my parent's but I hate being away from Josh!) After this weekend and after we move, I will actually have a "place" for all my things... Like my make up, flat iron, hair/skin products. Normally, I just leave it all packed up because why should I unpack when I just have to pack it all up again in a couple of days! I am so ready to have NORMAL hours instead of working two 10-12 hour days in a row standing and talking non-stop. I do believe I have the most fun job ever because I get to talk to my friends all day long, but 10-12 hours of that will wear anyone out! I am sooo ready to live only 10 minutes from work and I am so ready to be able to spend more time with my family and friends!! Yay! So can you see now why I have been waiting for this weekend for a long time?!

Another pretty exciting thing is that my birthday is on Sunday, the 26th! Josh's moms birthday is today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGE!!! We love you and hope you are having a fabulous day :-) April is definitely my favorite month. I know a lot of April birthdays and they are so much fun but I also love April because you just know that Spring is here and Summer is almost here! Yay!

I knew this was going to happen.

Here I am packing all our things away and I am starting to get a little sad :( I am wrapping all our picture frames in newspapers and it is reminding me of all the great times we have shared since we have been married! Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about us moving back closer to our families and friends and work.... But this was our first "home" well, ok, apartment! A lot of great memories were made here and it will always be very special to me. 30 years from now we will probably look back and say "Remember that little town we lived in when we first got married? What is it called? Oh yea, PULASKI!" haha. Well, I better get back to packing. It is crazy how much can accumulate in your apartment in just over 7 months!

the countdown in ON!

Josh is graduating college AND we are moving all in less than 2 weeks and I could not be any more excited! Of course, we have a billion things to do between now and then but I am pretty sure we will survive it. This past weekend was great! Josh's team played Trevecca in Nashville so we were able to stay the whole weekend and spend some time with our families. Saturday night we stayed at my parent's house and we grilled out chicken and hamburgers. We also had french fries, bakes beans, and brownies for dessert :) Yummm. My mom cooks so good and she always cooks enough for a whole army! ha! After we ate, we all watched our wedding video. This was the first time my mom, dad, and Michael was able to watch it and they loved it! There were a few happy tears, of course! I think that Bentley and Kobe are starting to get along a little better....Maybe. I think they really do like each other but their way of playing is a little rough!

Sunday we went to church and ate at Don Ponchos afterwards. I had been craving Mexican food all weekend and it was sooo good. Our friends Shirley, Missy, and Keith went also and it was funny because the whole time we talked about how bad we all needed to go on a diet and start working out...while we were eating our Mexican food! ha. Josh informed me yesterday that if he wasn't married right now he would probably be about 15 pounds lighter...but he just can't turn away my pancakes I make him for breakfast! haha. I know I am spoiling him but it is just too much fun :)

2 posts in 1 day?? I know, I know.....

Here is the link to a video of our Costa Rica Missions Trip that Brother Billy made. I thought you would enjoy it. After watching it, it makes me want to go back!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_GXtTFKiyY

A woman after God's own heart ♥

I am reading an excellent book right now! It is called A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. I would highly recommend it to any woman. Her husband Jim does the mans version and I plan on getting that for Josh to read. They also have A Husband/Wife After God's Own Heart, A Young Man/Young Woman After God's Own Heart, A Mom After God's Own Heart, and A Little Girl After God's Own Heart. I am sure they are all great!! Here is her website if you would like to check out all the other books she has written.

http://www.elizabethgeorge.com/george/default.asp?f=404

There is one chapter in this book that highlights some of my favorite scriptures in the bible. It is from the book of Proverbs.

"Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life........ She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instruction with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all! (and my FAV scripture...) Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised!!! Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise."

Proverbs 31:10-31 is a great example for any wife or mother to follow. None of us are perfect by any means!! So I thought I would share that with you because it has blessed me and I hope it will do the same for you!

Easter Sunday

I just love Easter! Actually, I love any holiday or event that allows our families to get to spend some quality time together. But Easter is especially important to me, and many others, because it is the day where we celebrate the resurrection of our LORD! We have all heard the story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead three days later probably a billion times. But when you really think about that story, it is sooo amazing! And to think that he did that for you and me.... wow. I don't know about you, but I feel so undeserving at times and so not worthy. But I am so thankful that God forgives me for my sins and accepts me the way I am :)

We had a wonderful Easter yesterday. We were in Ashland City so were able to go to Gateway and my dad preached an awesome service!! After church, we all headed to Josh's parents house for lunch. The food was soooo good and I am pretty sure we all ate way too much. It was so good to be able to spend time with our families!

If you know Josh, then you know that if he gets any chance at all to go fishing then he will! So yesterday after we ate and sat around for a while & talked, we went out on the boat and went fishing. We took Kobe with us! This was his first time out on the water... he was a little scared at first but then he loved it!

Josh caught this fish!! yay!

We did have a scare last night though. A few minutes after we went to bed, Kobe started to throw up. He probably threw up about 10 times in an hour. Before he threw up he would yell soo loud like he was in a lot of pain :( We were so worried about him and didn't know what to do. He was not responding to us hardly at all and would barely open his eyes. We almost took him to the emergency animal clinic in Nashville but decided to wait a few more minutes. He stopped throwing up and went to sleep. I slept in my clothes though and decided that if he got sick one more time then I was going to take him.. but he never did thank goodness! He is acting fine today also so he must have just gotten into something that made him sick. I am so happy that he is better now!! That was sooo scary.

Great News!!

We found a place to live!!! Yay! and let me tell you, it is sooo cute :) Yesterday my dad called Donnie Kemp because he knew that he had some rentals. Donnie said that he didn't have any right now but that he was going to have one available on MAY 2ND.. which is the day that Josh graduates! Timing could not be any more perfect because we will not have to pay for any time at all that we are not there. It is a triplex on Jefferson Street over by the post office and ballparks in Ashland City. I got to see inside it today and it is sooo cute and bigger than what we have now! The kitchen has so many cabinets I will not even know what to do with them all. It is 2 bedroom, 1 bath and even has a little porch thing in the back where we can put a grill. And probably the best thing yet is that he said that we could keep Kobe!! Since my dad knows him, he said he will not charge us a deposit or a pet deposit, how cool is that?!! They said it is very quiet there too. There is a fireman who will be living on one side of us ... the other side is a man who works during the night and sleeps during the day. I am just so excited now that I cannot even stand it! What makes it even BETTER is that I know that God worked this out for us. I have been praying about it and it seems like it has just all fallen into place the way it should be. I feel 100% good about it and am so thankful that he has provided a place for us to live. It will be sooo nice to be living close to work and close to our families & friends. I can't wait for everyone to see it!!

7 months of HAPPINESS :)

I can't believe it has already been 7 months!! Today! It has flown by and and has been the happiest times of our lives :) So much is going on right now. Baseball is full force and crazy busy. They are leaving early tomorrow morning for Georgia and will not get back til probably after midnight Wednesday night. I really don't want to stay here in Pulaski by myself for 2 full days and especially overnight, so I am thinking of going home to stay with my parents! It will be fun to get to spend some time with them and not have to share a crazy work day with them. Anyway, this weekend they are traveling back to Jackson to play. Hopefully they will do good and win all their games! Josh is graduating in less than a month..yay! I know he is sooo ready to be done. Then we are also moving within the next month or so... with no place to move to!! The place we were planning on fell through last week so I guess you could say I am a little stressed about that and my job right now and several other things. BUT I know I should not be stressing, God is going to take care of us and everything!!! Last night we went to couple's class at church and it was really good. We watched a video that talked about this scripture in the bible:

"...All of you, serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give ALL your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 1 Peter 5:5-7

We talked about how we should cast ALL our cares upon the Lord, whether it be issues in your marriage..work issues..health issues..major things..not so major things..just whatever!! No matter how big or how small we think the issue is, if it is important to us then it is important to God! It was also saying that when we make everything about "I" or "ME" and try to fix things ourselves, then it will never work. But if we cast all our cares upon the Lord, then he will take care of it... in HIS timing, which is the hard part. We want things to happen on OUR time but that is not the way it works. God can see the bigger picture and knows what is best for us. It was just what I needed to hear so I am so glad that we went. There is just something SO wonderful and reassuring to know that the God of the whole universe loves us and cares for us and is going to take care of us :)

One thing that is VERY exciting.. we finally got our wedding video back!!! It was soooo good. Josh and I watched it yesterday and we couldn't help but to get a little emotional!! It was the best day ever :) As some of you may know, we have had a verrryyyy hard time with our videographer. He said it would only take a couple of months.. Well, the beginning of December I emailed him to check on the status and he never wrote back. I tried the whole month of December to get in touch with him and he was not returning any of our phone calls or anything!! So at the end of December, I decided to go to his "place of business" to talk to him in person. I got the address off his website. Well, when I got to that address.. it was a UPS STORE!!! I was so mad. I went inside and talked to a lady who told me he was their client but she couldn't disclose any info about him. Well, he finally wrote me back the beginning of January and said he had been going through some issues and that he would let me know when he got started on our video!! I was mad and worried that he had messed up our video and was just making excuses and that we would never get it.... and we paid him over a year ago!! Josh finally had to take over and start calling him non-stop. We even found his home phone number and called him after 11 pm one night. But it finally worked and we finally have our video!! He did do a wonderful job but he is very very unprofessional the way he wouldn't call us back or anything. So please NEVER use AHA Video Productions!!!! well, unless you want to wait 7 months for your finished product :)