Thursday, August 26, 2010

Headin' Up and Movin' Out........

Well everyone, we've been in Jackson a lot lately. Last Friday, we drove to Yazoo City so Dane could accept his new job! YAY! Then we spent the rest of the very long day searching for a place to live. 

We came home late that night, and spent the rest of the weekend in Starkville. It was such a great weekend, just relaxing and enjoying ourselves and our friends. It made the reality of leaving soon very bittersweet. 

Monday night, we headed back to Jackson. We searched relentlessly for a place! We found a few in Yazoo, but we just weren't 100% sold on any of them.

Anyways, to get to the bottom of it, we finally found a place in a tiny, tiny town in Benton, MS. It's about 15 minutes from Dane's work, and about 30 minutes from Madison. It's a decent halfway point, so we're happy about that! Benton is super small (only has a post office and a gas station), but we're just glad to have somewhere to lay our heads. 

Anyways, thus begins our packing up and good-byes. I won't say much about it now, because I'm already missing our friends and my trailer and our church and so much more. :(

Please keep us in your prayers as we transition from college town USA to really really small town and we start getting plugged in. During our search in Yazoo, God blessed us by already putting people in our lives to help us in Yazoo. We've met a lot of people, even a bunch that are members at a church we're looking to visit, and we're excited about our next step!

A more entertaining post to come....... :)

I'll leave you with a link to my new favorite website/person. Her blog posts are so witty and her recipes are awesome! www.thepioneerwoman.com.  The pioneer woman is great and I want to be like her!

Love you all.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

We have BIG NEWS!

Theme for this post: 
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." -Proverbs 19:21

So, we told you in the last post that we had some news! Many of you know how job hunting and unemployment has been for us over the past 5 or so months. It's been a long process (I use "long process" to spare you the gory details). It's been hard and discouraging and, at times, emotional, to say the least. But guess what........................................................

DANE GOT A JOB!!!


Dane was offered a job this Thursday at Jimmy Sanders and he has accepted it as of yesterday! The job is in Yazoo City, so we will be moving to the Jackson area! We are SO excited about this awesome job for Dane, and it's a little bittersweet leaving Starkville. We've made so many friends here over the years, and we'll miss everyone! Luckily, we won't be far away! We are not sure on the details of where we'll be living and when exactly we'll be moving, but his job starts at the beginning of September, so we have to move fast! God has been gracious to us, even when we don't deserve this incredible blessing. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us over the past few months. It was a time of failure and growth and perseverance, all in one. We love you all!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Wedding Pictures!

Hey everyone! Life has been busy, as always. News to come soon, but we'll have to wait until next time. :) We've been everywhere I feel like! 2 weekends ago, we were in Jackson and Natchez to visit family and for my grandfather's memorial service. We got home Sunday night and then Tuesday morning we left for Hot Springs, Arkansas for the Buford family vacation. We TRULY relaxed, ate, laid out, and just enjoyed each other's company.

God has really been working on my heart lately. Selfishly, I've kind of kept it to myself. But multiple times a day, I'm being overwhelmed with so many thoughts about our life and how much His hand is in it. I feel so incredibly blessed that I tear up almost every time I think about it. I know, I'm a girl and I'm emotional. But, He is real in my heart. It's been so hard not to be angry and doubtful during the stresses and uncertainty of finding jobs and trying to make it financially. I won't lie, there have been moments where I am angry at God and I am doubtful of His promises, but then I'm reminded in odd ways that He's still there. These ways come in many forms. I've been walking (or trying to) the past few mornings, and I listen to my ipod. So many songs reassure me of the beauty of my God. One song that keeps coming on and I just love and it literally makes me cry every time I hear it is "Revelation Song" by Kari Jobe. Her voice is incredible and her words are so heartfelt and full. I guess I say all of this to say that God has been tugging on my heart to share how I'm doing spiritually on this blog. Our friends have been prayer warriors for us and our family has been so loving and supportive and our God has been the foundation of it all. He has made our foundation out of rock, and we aren't going anywhere. All I can say is, "those who wait for Him shall renew their strength" [Isaiah 40:31]---and our strength has been renewed.

Ok, SO, here are some of my favorite pictures from our wedding. I FINALLY got them uploaded (thanks, Rachael!) and I'm excited to share some of them.



















Of course, there are about 600 more pictures that I want to share so badly! But that would take forever for me to upload :) Hopefully I can share then with you a little at a time. There are so many more that mean so much to me. I love looking through them! Anyways, hope all is well. Love you all!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Summer!

Well, I guess it's safe to say that summer is almost over. Our summer was AWESOME! It started off with an incredible wedding and a wonderful honeymoon, and included many trips to Philadelphia, game nights with the Bufords and Bledsoes, road trips to Jackson, Natchez, the beach, and a few campgrounds and fairgrounds.  There were many homework assignments, a big move, a million job applications, missing wisdom teeth, and a lot of hand-washed dishes. 

I think about our first summer married and it was great! It was hard but it was fulfilling in so many more ways. I have had SO much fun in our first 3 married months! You always hear horror stories or those cloud-9 stories about being a newlywed, and I think we've experienced both! But overall, it's a blast and I'm excited about doing this for the rest of my earthly life. 

Here are some pictures of our last few months, some I've already put on here and some are from our last moments of engagement.
Chi O Formal in April
Fishing in Philly
Chi O Cabaret/My Birthday!
The Honeymoon! :)

The failed camping trip
Sunday hangouts
4th of July beach time with the Lesleys!


And of course I have more pictures to upload. BUT, needless to say, it has been an awesome summer! I'm sad to see it go and to have to grow up a little more (aka find a real job). I'm thankful for us making it through the past couple of months unemployed. God is good!

Monday, August 2, 2010

A BIG update!

Okay, so I'm taking a little break from paper writing to FINALLY update everyone on our crazy life.  We have been busy! I'm sorry I haven't updated. I'll do better, promise.  These are the highlights of the past 2 weeks:
- I got my bottom wisdom teeth out about a week and a half ago
- After my surgery, we went straight to Philadelphia to spend the weekend at the Neshoba County Fair!
-  I didn't get to have as much fun as I wanted to (because I was still recovering), but we still had fun!
- I left my phone at the fair all week, so I was out of touch with the world!
- My grandfather also died that weekend. He was very sick and is in a much better place, no longer hurting and no longer sick! We miss you Grandaddy Bill, but I'm so thankful that you are restored and no longer sick.
- Went back to Philadelphia this past weekend for the last night of the fair and to celebrate Ann and Big Ab's birthdays!

So, needless to say, we've been so busy! A lot of little happenings have been happening in between them, too! I'm actually in the process of finishing my last assignment of my undergraduate degree! SO - in a matter of a few hours, I will be a college graduate! CRAZY! I feel like it has all been a blur. When I think of the things that I have experienced in the past 4 years, I am blown away to say the least. I have been on top of mountains (literally) and the depths of valleys. And the Lord still blessed me with the life that I'm currently living, with Dane. When I think back on all of the awesome, crazy, somewhat stupid, neat things I've done over the past 4 years, the time I've had with Dane overshadows it all. And there's still so much left! AH! I'm blessed and I'm so happy to have a powerful, loving God and a loving and caring husband. It might be a little gooby, but it's the truth :)

Anyways, here are some pictures of big and little happenings over the past few weeks! Bear with me, I might get a little carried away.

Dane got his new waders! He was excited! Haha
The Bufords came over for a wonderful Sunday afternoon cookout and hangout. You just can't resist this little princess! She's so precious. Chasing bubbles in her tutu with her Disney princess swimming pool near-by. Love it!
Another picture of our Sunday afternoon with the Bufords :)
Dane fixed our kitchen table! I love this table.
We had a rainbow actually end in our backyard. No pot of gold, but there was a lake!
Ann's birthday dance. Happy Birthday Big Ab and Ann! We love y'all so much and y'all are by far the best in-laws I've ever had (and the only ones... haha). But really, y'all are so awesome to us and we love you both!
Big Ab playing a little air saxophone. Gettin' it!
Ann with her favorite children. Haha

The fam (minus Ab, Kristin, and Clara).

Now, we have a new addition to our family. I've waited until the last minute to put this up because it's a big deal. We're so happy to finally have one! She's so pretty and cute and I'm pretty sure I love her wayyy more than Dane does. BUT - nonetheless, we're excited!
Meet my red, Viking, 5 quart stand mixer! YAY! Haha I love her!

Please be thinking and praying for us as we are both now unemployed and looking for jobs. It's scary, but the important thing is that we keep Him first. He is powerful and He is in control. We're so blessed to have made it this far! Thank You God for keeping us safe and together in a time of so much uncertainty.