Comfort

There is one song that seems to bring comfort to my Uncle Jason. When we play or sing this song, I can just see a calmness come over him. I pray that his journey gets easier. I thank my Heavenly Father that when this life is over, we have a place to call home with our Savior. Please continue to pray.

Heaven

Please continue to pray for my Uncle Jason. I need to know that he is comforted. I wish that this wasn't happening. I love him so much and I'm not ready to lose him. I wish there was no suffering. I just want him to be comfortable. He asks about Heaven. What will Heaven be like? I know when the time comes, Jesus will wrap His loving, comforting arms around him and welcome him Home.
Please pray that he is comfortable. Pray that my aunt and their 4 children are comforted.

There Will Be A Day

Jeremy Camp

"I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that trys to grab
The many trials that seem to never end,
His word declares this truth, that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew
But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place,
will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always
I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone
Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting
I can’t wait until that day where the very one
I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face There will be a day, He’ll wipe away the stains, He’ll wipe away the tears, He’ll wipe away the tears…..
there will be a day."

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4

"Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven"
-Eric Clapton

Birthday Recap

So yesterday was my birthday. I made out with some pretty sweet gifts. Let's see....some moolah, balloons, strawberry candy, Black Raspberry Vanilla perfume and lotion, Hannah Montana movie (yes. I AM that cool), a Joshua Radin shirt from his show, some fuzzy socks and a homemade slouchy beanie.

The fam and I started the day out with some bowling. That was a bad choice on my part because I forgot how terrible I am. My first game was in the 70s, the second in the 50s. :/

After bowling we went to Chili's for dinner, and of course, my free birthday dessert. Yummy Chocolate Chip Cake with vanilla ice cream. After dinner we all went back to the house and watched a movie together. (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past...which was surprisingly pretty cute) All in all it was a pretty fun day. Now I'm old.

Fun Night

Last night was such a blast. Erica and I traveled to Birmingham. (We only got lost twice.) We went to Workplay to see Joshua Radin. The Kin and The Watson Twins opened for him. The show was awesome and everyone was super friendly. Now I'm just sad that it's over.

Me with Joshua Radin

Me with The Kin (Isaac & Thorry Koren)

Erica with The Watson Twins (Leigh & Chandra)

Erica with The Kin

Here are some videos from the show...Sorry for the bad lighting.

Closer by Joshua Radin (one of my favorites)

This is some of his new music.

Happy Early Birthday

I'm super excited about Joshua Radin TOMORROW! His music makes me so happy. Here's a little taste. Enjoy. :o)

School

School is whipping my tail (and as you can see I obviously utilize my time well...sike!) I am basically finished with my field placements, thankfully. (I have 3 1/2 hours left from the 36 I had to complete.) I really do enjoy being in the classroom, but I am running out of semester to finish assignments. This is my first semester in the program so I'm really just getting my feet wet. Now that I am aware of the time and pace it takes to succeed, it will get better...it has to, right? I am officially down to working only 2 days a week! Yikes. So, um...I'm poor...haha. On another note, I am so sad that after this quarter, I will have to take a break from teaching Bible class. (Until the summer at least) It's such a blast, but I just have too much on my mind to give it my full attention.

(((P.S. I hate this blog so far, because all I hear is "complain, complain, complain.")))

So we have about 3 weeks until the semester is finished. I still have close to a million "critical" assignments to complete. But I wont let it drag me down. Although I think I may have to take on a smaller class load next time. sheesh!

ugggh

School.
Is.
Destroying.
Me.

Free.99

• 2 Blockbuster Movie Rentals


• 1 Tub of Popcorn


• 2 20oz Sodas


• 2 6in Subway sandwiches

Total Price: FREE!
Thank you My Coke Rewards!

pray.pray.pray.

A few years ago my uncle, now 35, was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. This horrible disease has begun to attack his lungs and is affecting his breathing. His doctors told him he should consider having a ventilator put in. Once this is put in, it's in for good.

The reason I am writing this is because we need all the prayers we can get. This is such a tough time for my family and a lot of decisions are being made that no one is quite ready to make. Please keep my uncle and our family in your prayers. I don't really know what to pray for, but I have faith that God will take care of us.

My birthday present to me

I am so, so, so, so excited. I just purchased tickets to go see my ultimate favorite singer, Joshua Radin. He is playing with The Watson Twins at Workplay in Birmingham, AL. November 8th at 8pm.

Back to School

Kirby and I are officially in the Bachelor's program of education. I feel like there is finally a light at the end of a very long tunnel. I can see my future, and it's real now. This semester we are taking 12 hours. We are enrolled in Classroom Management, Elementary School Teaching Strategies, Early & Emergent Literacy K-2, and Foundations of Teaching ESOL. Whew! That's a mouthful. Two of our classes will require 18 hours each of practical experience in a classroom. We will be getting the feel of how everything runs, such as with bus and lunch duty, and even sitting in on a faculty meeting. (Which may sound boring, but I am very excited.) We are signed up to take the General Knowledge portion of the Florida Teachers Certification Exam next month. Although we are on track and can see our destination ahead, we still have a ways to go. I look forward to the road ahead.

Goodbye Summer

This has been such a fun, eventful summer. I'm sad to see it go. We had a few firsts this summer. Kirby and I celebrated our 1st year wedding anniversary, we went on my first cruise, traveled to Arkansas and Georgia to see family, traveled to North Carolina to go whitewater rafting, and all in all just relaxed. We didn't get to the beach as much as I would've liked to. Hopefully there will still be a little bit more time for that before it starts getting too cold. I'm not quite ready for it to get cold weather just yet. Buuuut, with cold weather comes my birthday and Christmas...and more much enjoyed family time.

Happy 1st Year!!!

Kirby and I just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary!!! I can't believe it's already been a year. Kirby is most definitely my soulmate. He is such a good person with a great heart and wonderful sense of humor. I have loved every minute of the almost 5 years we've been together.

Summer Trips

Last week, Kirby and I traveled to Lawrenceville, Georgia to visit family. We always have lots of fun when we go up there. Its just a great area with lots to do. We stayed with Kirby's uncle and aunt. While we were there we found time to go to the Georgia Aquarium which also included a Titanic exhibit. Kirby of course loved the aquarium. I was just in awe of the Titanic. There were so many things that had just been frozen in time underwater. While we were there Kirby, his younger sister, her friend, and I drove up to Cherokee, North Carolina (about 2 hours away) to go whitewater rafting. We met Kirb's dad, older sister, and brother-in-law, who were already there. We went down the Nantahala River. It was amazingly beautiful up there. Rafting was so much fun, other than Kirby bopping me on the head with his paddle about 3 times. This has got to be the greatest picture of us. They caught us just as we were going over the falls, the last bop on the head of the day. :P

Grand total and moving on

So many of you know (and usually make fun at) how I am about my carrying things in my purse. I basically carry my life around with me. After filing the police report and writing down everything that was missing, I decided to look for myself. So here is most of the things that I remember...

-Favorite bag
-Camera (with memory card from the cruise and graduation)
-Jean jacket
-Wallet
(including driver's license, debit card, family pictures, movie ticket from Kirb and my first date, $25 Ross gift card, insurance card, school i.d. card, etc.)
-Kirb's car keys
-Weight Watchers booklet
-One a Day vitamins
-Motrin
-2 small bottles of lotion
-Makeup bag
(including Clinique Foundation, mascara, liquid eyeliner, tweezers)
-hand sanitizer
-pepper spray

(They also cost me...
-$150 window repair
-$10 new license, etc.)

What's annoying is that I don't carry cash and I closed my accounts as soon as I saw what had happened (and put a freeze on it just in case). So other than my camera, there is really nothing of value to them anymore. So they'll probably just trash it. So now everything of value to me is gone for no reason. One thing that keeps replaying in my mind is how thankful I am that no one was hurt. This situation could have very well been much worse. All I can do now is pray for them, because apparently they are at a point in their life that they felt they needed whatever I had. I hope that God forgives them and they can turn their life around.

What a cruel world we live in...

Last night Kirby and I decided to go to the Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade. Well, I brought my purse with me at first. After about 15 minutes I decided I wanted to put it back in the car. We were in such a hurry because the parade was about to start, I just threw it in the passenger floorboard. About an hour later, we decided to head out early to beat the traffic. We got back to a smashed front window and no purse. There was a brick right by car, which we believe is what was used. I am completely and utterly shocked that this happened. I never thought in a million years that it would. The ironic thing is that I'm usually so careful to put my bags in the trunk. The thing about this situation that raises suspicion is that there was sooo many cars around, and mine was the only one touched. Nothing else in my car was bothered with. What we believe happened is that someone around us must have heard me say I was going to put it in the car. We also think this because there was a pile of bricks on the way back to my car from where we were standing at the parade. So I think someone heard me and followed behind us and pick up the brick on the way to the car. It is so scary to think that someone may have been watching us and we had no idea. Some people are just so amazingly heartless.

NOLA

The day we got back from our cruise, we decided to just hang out and visit NOLA a little bit. I have never been there before so it was a little bit overwhelming at first. We decided to go to Cafe Du Monde for breakfast. The line to get into the cafe was crazy long, but worth the wait. The beignets were delicious of course. After breakfast we explored the French Quarter for a little while. There was so much artwork to look at. As we passed, we saw a man painting one right there. We watched a guy act like a robot to makes some money on the street. That was pretty funny.
Later on that day we stopped by the Audubon Aquarium. That was really neat place to see. It was huge. We basically spent the rest of the day there. After that we headed home (only after getting lost like 3 times on our way out of the city...but we made it).

Cruise to Paradise

So we went on a Carnival Cruise 2 weeks ago. This was my first cruise (Kirby's 2nd.) It was amazing. We had a blast and cannot wait to go again. Originally we were scheduled to leave from New Orleans and travel to Cozumel and Progresso for a five day cruise. However, because of the Swine Flu, our itinerary was change to go to Key West, Nassau, and Freeport, Bahamas for 7 days.
This is where we spent the majority of the time on the ship. Except for our last day at sea. Kirby and I were so badly burnt by then (Even with SPF 30!) we stayed inside all day.
Key West was our first stop. It was so beautiful. The weather was sunny and around 85 degrees. We just walked up and down the island exploring for our 6 (?) hours. Our next stop was Nassau, Bahamas. At first sight, it was not really what I expected. It was a little bit scary to tell you the truth. We ended up taking a taxi to the Wyndham and visited the beaches there. Last, we went to Freeport, Bahamas. Freeport was gorgeous as well. There we walked up and down the straw market and did some shopping. Didn't buy anything, however, because the prices were outrageous. The last days on the ship were just as fun as the days we made stops. All in all the trip was definitely worthwhile. I am already looking forward to next time...

Well, here goes...

So I'm a first time blogger, but I thought I'd give it a go. I'm having a great time at this point in my life and just wanted to share. I'm married to my best friend and couldn't ask for more. Next month will be our 1 year anniversary! I cannot believe that it has almost been a year already. It has flown by. In this last year, we have had a wedding, moved to Pensacola, attended UWF, changed majors, been jobless for months, moved back to Niceville, gone back to NWF, been accepted into the Education program, gotten jobs, and celebrated our (early) anniversary. Wow. Hopefully we are settled and ready for another great year together.