Forgot to mention

Saturday was the 1-year anniversary of us purchasing our first home!

And we're finally really making it like home. The guest room is coming together with nice wall color left by the previous owner and I found luxurious (and cheap) draperies that you can see in the pic and I've decided to do a Parisian theme in there... so I have Eiffel Tower stuff, cute lamps, wine label canvas reprints, shelves, and glass mirrors... have a look:

Picture frenzy

Hi everyone. I don't have much to say in words today so I thought I'd better post new pics instead. Tim caught my nasty cold and he's been very ill this entire week (not to mention congested, cranky, and gross!) But I still love him.

Today was a glorious Easter service at church... it was so great we did it twice... 8:30 and 10:30.... man am I pooped but the Spirit was truly in the church as our pastor preached a sermon he called Deal or No Deal and the early numbers show more than 70 people took the Deal of a Lifetime (as he was calling it.)

We had a few chores to handle this week including trimming back tons of trees in the backyard (who knew that once ficus trees lost their high branches they would grow a canpoy of leaves on the trunk???!!!) and we finally replace the hot tub enclosure from the one that bit the dust in eithe Wilma or Katrina... once you've have one hurricane in a season you lost track of what damage was from which storm. And as you'll see from my pics we're preparing for another busy season which starts technically June 1st but this family won't get caught again with no fuel, no propane and not water!

Cooper had fun watching us build this new enclosure and he of course loves to run in the backyard after trees are trimmed back (the long palm fronds freak him out as he's trying to do his business!)

We also hosted a small gathering Saturday night of Tim's coworkers to celebrate one of the guys getting into the training program that Tim completed for his job 4 years ago ... this means about 11 weeks away from his wife, family, and job, but new doors are open to him so we threw a little party to celebrate and wish him well. I jazzed up the joint with fresh flowers from my favorite shop within walking distance (I walked Coop over there since I had Friday off and "he" bought me roses), and I hung a new swag in the dining room which still needs to be steamed or something to get out those wrinkles!

This week should be busy as Tim's back to a regular schedule and I'm in full force preparing for our Patriotic celebration in July at church (yes it's already time to start learning new 4th of July songs, but once you've been to a service you understand why the preparation time is needed... fireworks inside the church and Marines dropping in from the ceiling people!)

Ok, enough yapping.... enjoy the pics...

Happy Holy Week

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[c]
"Hosanna[d] in the highest!"

Hi everyone, happy Holy week. For those of you who aren't so sure what I speak of it's Easter week which started with Palm Sunday, the day that commemorates Jesus entry into Jerusalem. A lot of you may think Christmas is the big "Christian" holiday but really the reason why Christmas is a big deal at all is because of what happens on Easter. The reason Jesus is the amazing person He is goes back to the fact that on the third day Jesus rose from the dead. I think Christmas is so much more friendly to non-Christians because there is presents and it's the celebration of a cute baby's birth and the idea of crucifixion and rising from the dead is too creepy for some people to think about so I won't get all preachy but give it some thought ... and if you're a believer too then HAPPY EASTER!

Our church plans to celebrate Good Friday on the beach with communion and baptism in the ocean at sunset! I might try to get pics... going to be very moving. And, even better, I work for a Christian so we have Good Friday off. He might be a jerk sometimes but he's Catholic and the day is important to him so we're off.

In other news -- I can officially say I'm done with the rehab from our car accident (back in JULY of last year!) Hard to believe it's been that long (ok, I believe it bc I've been doing the appointments and treatment and not-so-fun neck stretching, etc.) so I got the "as good as you're gonna be" bill of health and now I can go every two weeks for a massage just because it feels good! And insurance pays for both Tim and I to have 75 visits a year so we're both getting massages for free -- you can't beat that!

I have been SO sick lately but I think I can say I've turned the corner towards healing and I think even though Tim might have caught it from me we might be finally shaking it!

Tim and I were surprised on Friday to be asked by a staff member at church to take a leadership role in our small group Bible study class (the DINKS as it's called) Basically the couple that serves as directors is moving to Atlanta and we were asked to serve with another couple as Co_Directors. I was honored that they instantly thought of us and I think we're ready for the task... we prayed about it and really it was something I instantly thought about when we heard the other couple was moving so please pray with us as we enter this more expanded role with our Sunday School class.

Thanks ya'll...

Just an everyday Thursday

“ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ”- 1 John 3:16

It's official... I'm sick :( Yesterday was better than today, and hopefully tomorrow will be better than today also. My blog might as well be called "snot nerd" today.

I've had days of doctor's appointments as I get situated with new docs so between being sick on Tuesday and two days of appointments I feel like I haven't been at work much (means taking stuff home with me of course)... I even missed choir last night, and I *hate* doing that because other than Sundays it's my day to see church friends and worship with them

The last two nights I've devoted to rehab for my lawn... it's sooo dead folks. And what's not brown is weeds. Seems those are the only things flourishing so I've put down weed and feed and we'll see if I can bring it back to the glory days when the gay guy owned it.

Speaking of... we've almost owned the house for an entire year! APril 15th was our closing day last year. Hard to believe!

Tim got my roses again today... it is the anniversary of the day he proposed. Even harder to believe that 5 years ago Tim was getting down on one knee and we were starting to really plan our life together. I'm so blessed that he chose me, really. I was looking at my rings the other night and I know it sounds cheesy but I realized that my engagement ring makes me feel like the most gorgeous, desirable, loved woman, and my wedding band makes me feel honored, respected, and loved to such a deep level that my husband would give those items to me to show the world that I'm loved and that I belong to him.


Everything else is going ok. Work is still the same, seems to be people are leaving the place each day (lost another staffer who really had just started). I think June is our annual review season and I would expect most of us will not get the rewards we deserve. I know for a fact others are looking elsewhere pretty aggressively so it's hard to not look but I know that unless opportunities cross my path I won't be looking for them -- I cant give 100% at my job each day knowing I'm looking for a way out, ya know?

So that's that.

No longer MIA

Hi everyone... sorry I've been so "missing in action" lately. Life hasn't slowed down since we got back from our mini vacation to the Capitol.

Between weekly chiropractor's visits (yes, STILL going since the accident in July!) and the other weekly workouts with the trainer and choir rehearsal I haven't had a second to myself really. Tim was going last week for special training for his tactical medic program and anytime he's gone the workload compounds...

Tim has made a life-altering decision to go back and finish his paramedic program. He was working on this certification while he was getting his degree and obviously that's a lot to take on and he was never able to finish his ride alongs and clinicals, but he's found a program locally that he can finish in evenings in a little more than a year -- and what's one more loan in the grand scheme of things, right?

As for me, my budding business doing birth announcements, wedding invitations and other paper goods has blossomed. I'm currently working on birth announcements for my college roommie, and first birthday party invitations for a local gal pal.

This weekend we had a full house with my mom coming down to hang out, Tim retunring from his trip and The Scotts coming back from a weeklong cruise. I was able to plant some new landscaping in a flowerbed against the front of the house... look...





And it looks like fatigue set in around our place on Saturday night... Tim, his dad, and the dog were all passed out before 8:30!





I made a coffee cake that night for us to enjoy in the morning ... boy do I wish there was more of that cake, and less of the calories! Anyone who wants the recipe can email me!



So, that's about it... I've managed to catch a nasty cold from several coworkers who seemed to have it so I'm home sick today. Slept until noon thanks to NyQuil and I'm about to remedicate myself and pass out some more to get my healing ZZZZ's.

I'll try to make our next update a little more interesting (and not take such a long break between posts!)