TV! & New Years

We got some money for Christmas, so we decided to splurge a little and buy ourselves a new TV. So the day after Christmas, after many trips back and forth, we bought a 37" Vizio LCD HDTV from Walmart. We also bought a new entertainment center to go with it. The quality is amazing! And we actually have HD channels because on Thursday we got our new Ntelos fiber optic cable. So not only is the TV amazing, but the new cable is amazing too! We have way more channels than with Comcast plus so many cool features, like the channel guide, music stations, a search feature, just to name some. I am SO glad we switched to Ntelos. And it is actually going to be cheaper than it was with Comcast! So if you are in the area I highly recommend looking into the Ntelos video (as they call it). They don't have it everywhere yet, but are working on it. We have been using our new TV to catch up on the show Lost. I have watched it from the beginning pretty much but Anthony hadn't. So we borrowed seasons 1 and 2 from Ashley (we'll have to rent season 3) and have been watching them like crazy to try to get caught up by the end of January so we can jump in on season 4. Speaking of which, I will end on that note so I can go watch some more Lost! Yes, we are home watching Lost on New Year's Eve, but honestly, there's no place I'd rather be than home spending time with my husband. Happy 2008 everyone!!!

Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas. We opened presents at our house first and then we went to Mom's and opened presents with them. We stayed over there all day and ate, played, and ate some more. Zoe got this Sing and Dance Pinkie Pie "My Little Pony". It was very annoying and actually a little creepy, but she loved it! It was the only thing she asked Santa Claus for. Ashley made her wait to open it till the last present and she was just dying to open it by that time! Anthony got an Air Hogs Havoc Heli and has been flying it constantly. Although his dumb wife sat something on top of it and broke it a little bit (I don't take total blame for it though, since he put it on the kitchen counter where there was tons of stuff piled!) it is still working.

I think I decided I'm going to get a Hallmark ornament for us every year. You can see the first 2... hopefully many more to come!!! :) We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Ice

Okay... I'm finally updating... I am doing it one at a time to simplify my picture uploading. These are just some cool pictures from when we had ice a couple of weeks ago...

Coming Soon....

So I know I stink at updating... really. Just wanted to say that I am going to give a good update soon with pictures and the excitingness that the past few weeks have held. Hopefully tomorrow! :)

Elves

Everybody else has done it so I might as well......

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1373371705

Consider this our Christmas card! :)

Get the Tissues Out!

You have got to listen to this radio clip...... what wisdom from a 13 year old!!!

http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/

New Washer & Dryer!

So we are proud new parents of a brand new washer and dryer! Haha! Our old ones haven't bit the dust yet but are not far from it... the washer sometimes leaves clothes soaking wet and sometimes "walks" itself enough to even open up our bifold doors! So we bit the bullet and bought new ones. We got Whirlpool Estate which is what my Aunt Becky, who owns an appliance store, suggested we get. The man at the store told me that Whirlpool doesn't advertise this type to keep their cost down. So they weren't too expensive but should be good for us. Nothing fancy, but I'm so excited to have a washer that doesn't shake my whole house!! :)

We also have decided to switch to Ntelos fiber optic cable and also go ahead and get our internet through them. We will end up saving $28 a month by this switch and it's really very new technology, top of the line stuff. They don't even offer this all over the area yet. Luckily we live in a neighborhood where they do offer it! So by the end of the month we should be switching to that. Here's a link about it if you are interested in checking it out...

http://www.ntelos.com/Video/video_about.html

I am already done with all my cleaning for the weekend so I'm not sure what to do with myself! I guess I'll just be forced to veg in front of the TV!!!

Lily & Weekend

Last Saturday I finally got to go see Lily! She is just absolutely precious! I walked in their apartment and held her first thing of course. At first I was just cradling her sideways in the typical "baby hold" and then I laid her out on my lap and was just looking at her in wonder and love and I started crying! Matt said "oh no, we've gotta tell Anthony about this". Haha. When Vicky came in and seen I had been crying she said she must be a bad friend since she didn't cry! Haha. Nah, she's just the least emotional of the three of us. Here are a couple of pictures. She is really much smaller than she looks in the pictures. It still feels strange when I see the last one... like a disconnect or something.... that's my best friend, and she's holding a baby, her baby... my best friend has a daughter?? Crazy!!! Haha.


















So I'm sitting here listening to Christmas music, yay for that! I've gotten some cleaning done tongiht and a start on the laundry. So hopefully I can relax some tomorrow. We have to go look for a new washer and dryer tomorrow.... ick to spending money. We'll also do our regular Walmart trip. Hopefully Anthony will get some good work done on the shed. I'm so ready for it to be done so we can use it finally. Well time to relax and we are going to watch "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Oh, I almost forgot.... I found out my friend Eric from Shelburne is going to be a daddy! His wife Jaimee is pregnant and due in May. It's a boy and his name is................. Anthony James! Just like my Anthony! :) Isn't that funny??

Little Ones

Also wanted to add a few pics of the little ones in our lives. Zoe's picture is from her 3rd birthday party. She is growing up so fast and turning into a beautiful little girl instead of a baby!

The picture of Isaac, rather the book, is of Isaac when he was laying down for his nap. He feel asleep "reading" apparently because the book ended up over his face! Talk about a kid who loves to read!

The last one is just Kev being crazy!

So Much to be Thankful For!

Wow- what an eventful thanksgiving weekend! As you know, Lily Madelyn was born on Wednesday.

Then while we were visiting Anthony's family for the weekend, we found out Anthony's sister-in-law Laura is expecting! She is due in July and I just have to tell the story of how they told us. We were playing Apples to Apples with the whole family and it was Anthony's turn to be the judge. He got the card "sensual". So everyone lays down their red cards and someone had layed down the card "having a baby". Anthony is just reading through the cards when Chris says "Who's having a baby?" and Laura says "I am". Everybody got really quiet for like 5 seconds, thinking like "Is she serious or does she just mean she played that card???". Then Laura starts laughing and everyone else does too assuming that she was just meaning that she was the one who played the card. Then someone says "Are you serious?" and she says "Yes!" and we all errupt in cheers and clapping!

Hahaha... it was so funny and priceless. I wish we had gotten it on video. Anthony's mom and I were talking about how that had to be 100% from God because there have got to be more than 1000 cards in that deck, so what are the chances of her getting that exact card? She said God must have been smiling down on us having a good time together and thought He should add a little excitement to the mix. I just pictured God laughing and smiling along with us. Totally unbelievable how it happened. So anyways, I will be an aunt again in July, so that is exciting!

Another thing to be thankful for, Jon & Sam got a house! They have been wanting this for a while and this kind of just fell in their lap and everything has just worked out in a way that could only be from God. So God just threw all kinds of blessings on our family in the past week!

I am going to see Lily on Saturday so I am very excited about that. I'll end with our annual family picture and one of the guys being crazy!

Lily Madelyn Bruns

Lily has arrived! Woohoo! She was born Wednesday, November 21 at 8:22 pm weighing 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 in. long. I am still in disbelief that my best friend is a mom now! Also, today I just realized something. We were staying with Anthony's parents when we found out Amanda was pregnant, and we were staying with them again when Lily was born. Kind of ironic and funny. Anyways, she is just the most precious little thing and I cannot wait till I get to hold her. What an amazing blessing babies are!

My birthday was Monday. I am 24 now. Almost closer to 30 than 20... yikes. Got a Kitchen Aid mixer, a down pillow, a thunderstorm CD, and a "coupon" for a china cabinet, which I am having a hard time finding one to suit me that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I want something for the corner preferably so any suggestions are welcome.

We didn't have our Thanksgiving yet because Jon and Sam went to Sam's parents for the day, so we are having it tomorrow (Friday) so everyone can be together, which is wonderful! Then Saturday we will decorate the tree and such. Such a fun time. And Anthony and his brothers are absolutely hysterical when they are all together, so I'm sure my stomach will be hurting after all my laughing!

Wednesday, I went out to lunch with Mom and Zoe to Burger King. I had some onion rings and Mom gave one of them to Zoe. She ate it and seemed like she liked it. She sat there for a minute in thought, and then proceeded to whine, "Ganny, Tara's not sharing!". Haha. She assumed that since I hadn't offered her another, I was being selfish and not sharing. She is so funny. And 3 years old now! Her birthday was this past Saturday and she got all kinds of toys and junk she has no need for! Haha! She is the most spoiled kid I know, but hopefully my children will reap the benefits of hand-me-downs!

Well that's enough for now. I have so much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day. Hope it's been a good one for everyone!

Brady

Well Brady Evan Hale was born early Sunday morning. I went over to the hospital to visit last night after work and I got to hold him for a good 45 minutes at least. There is just something so incredible about cradling a brand new life in your arms. I'm not sure what it is, but that is something that just never gets old. Maybe it's that those precious little babies are one of the closest things to heaven we have. How is it possible that two human cells, neither of them having organs of their own, come together and form a new life complete with everything it needs to sustain life? It is nothing short of a miracle of God.

2 Posts in One Day..... Wooo!

I wanted to do a Thursday Thirteen, but first I wanted to say that I so cannot wait until Baby Girl Bruns finally comes out! I am so excited to meet her and my arms and just longing to hold her! Now, onto the 13...

13 (Interesting, or at least that's what I'm going for) Classes I Have Taken

In no particular order...

1. Survey of American History I - I took this at Blue Ridge my senior year of high school, and the professor was also a professional storyteller. So the class was incredibly interesting because it was just like being a kid listening to stories the whole time.

2. Contemporary Issues - This was a class everyone has to take at Liberty, and it was fun because it was about current issues of our time. Made you question why you believe what you believe which is always good.

3. Calculus - This just had to go on here because it was my first and only "C". Anthony had my notes from college pulled out tonight for his calculus class he teaches, and I couldn't believe that I actually could semi-do that stuff at one time! It's like a foreign language now.

4. Theology Survey II - I took it with Ergun Caner who is incredibily entertaining and cool. And it wasn't boring like my Theology I.

5. Children's Literature - Everyone who ever takes this class loves it. You get to read kid's books. How cool is that? And what's more than that, you learn to appreciate them. This class definitely sparked an interest that is still alive. I would like to eventually read all of the Newbery award winners.

6. Literature of the Bible - I can't say it was the most exciting class ever, but it was neat to look at the Bible from a literary perspective.

7. Regional Studies in Geography: China - I learned a lot about the culture of China in this class. Donaldson, the professor, was totally into China so I felt like one of his "elect" since I was in the class he loved. Made a pretty cool presentation too. Oh and we also read some pretty good novels.

8. Contemporary Health Issues - I actually looked forward to going to this one. It was definitely the most relevant of all classes I took and I am so glad I did take it. This was the only class Vicky and I ever had together. He just talked (not necessarily taught) about any health issues that could ever be relevant to us in life, from birth control to cancer. It was so interesting. I would take it over again if I could.

9. Elementary School Curriculum - I think I can honestly say I hated this class, but I'm really impressed with everything I accomplished during that semester. You basically write an entire year's worth of curriculum for your chosen grade level. Not only that, but I had a partner who was terrible at formatting... ugh. Had a lot of late nights that semester.

10. Intro to Statistical Analysis and Intro to Mathematical Statistics - Don't ask me what the difference is, I can't remember anymore. But the professor of these classes was the one I went on my trip to China on. So I loved the relationships in these classes and the fact that we could talk about God and prayer requests, not just statistics.

11. Grammar and Composition - Took this one at Blue Ridge and the professor looked like Chandler from friends. I swear. So it was cool.

12. Accounting - I am taking this now and I really like this kind of math and the fact that I can relate a lot of it to my job.

13. "Special Projects" - as it says on my transcript. This was my Christian service that I did as a professor's assistant kind of thing. I graded a lot of handwriting, so I can write extremely well now. My last year doing it, I was like the "head" person, so that was fun. Graded reading logs, kept up spreadsheets for grades, etc, etc. I really had a lot of fun doing that and getting to work with Mrs. Sherman was wonderful. I still don't know how she picked me to do it, but I'm sure glad she did.


Okay, that's enough. If anyone has any special requests for Thursday Thirteens, I would love to hear them, cause I'm not very good at picking the topics!

Ramblings

So... I know I need to post and seeing that I hate it when blogs I read go untouched for long periods of time, it's not fair for me to do that! I'm sure we have done so many things I could blog about since I last posted, but I'm not sure what to say. So I'll say this:

My heart is full and overflowing with joy right now because I have seen God at work. And I believe I have seen the results of prayer. My prayer life has been one thing that I have always not been happy with and I am trying to change that. Not so much a get down on my knees and pray, but more like an attitude of prayer throughout the day. I hope that I can continue to do this and grow even more in this area of my life.

Through the Beth Moore Bible study we're doing at church, I have been learning a lot. A couple of weeks ago we learned about the story of Zacharias and Elisabeth in Luke 1. They desperately wanted and prayed for a child but they were old and God had not bestowed that blessing upon them. Luke says "they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless". They were doing everything they should be, and still didn't have a child. Well Zacharias was a priest and he had to leave his wife and go to the tabernacle to fulfill his priestly duty. While in the holy place, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his prayers were heard and his wife would bear a child. After years and years of waiting and longing, they would have a son!

So Beth Moore went on to make the point that sometimes, things don't come easily to us and we don't know why. We might even feel like God is "picking" on us. These things seem to come easy to those around you, but no matter how blameless you are before the Lord, he hasn't granted you the thing you want the most. It is through these times of trial and struggle that we learn more about God and see things that those other people never get to experience. He is not "picking on us"; he has "picked" us to see his work in a way that others don't. That was just the most incredible concept to me.

I have to admit that sometimes, in the past, I have felt resentful toward some people, even my own friends, who seemingly have perfect lives. I hear these people complain about something and I want to invite them to walk a day in my shoes. My teenage sister was pregnant. My mom had breast cancer. My dad walked out on his family. All of this within 2 years. But now I know. I know that if I hadn't had to experience the heartache of having a teenage pregnancy in my family, I would have never seen the way God can use a tiny little girl. He can work through anyone. Had my mom not faced and overcome breast cancer, we might never have known how brave and strong we were and what a source of strength and comfort the Lord is to us. Had my dad not left, I would have never known the reality of Psalm 27:10 - When my father... forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. I wouldn't have known the provision of God at the level I do. And I know there is still more to come in this chapter of my life.

All this to say, I have a new appreciation for the life God has chosen to give me. No, it's not easy, but yes, it is right and it is good. Were these things not completely necessary for the completion of God's plan, he would not have given them to me. And he does not give me more than I can handle. God is so good.

iPod... err... windows media fun...

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Put your iPod on shuffle (or windows media... I don't have an ipod!)
2. Press forward for each question
3. Use the song title as the answer to each question even if it doesn't make sense. No Cheating!

How do you feel today? Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts

What's your outlook on life? Praise to the Lord, the Almighty by Christy Nockels, Passion Worship Band

What does your family think of you? The Future Freaks Me Out by Motion City Soundtrack

What do your friends think of you? Here's to the Night by Eve 6 (how appropriate... this was Amanda and my song! we would get sad listening to it and thinking about how we would miss our time together as roommates)

What do your exes think of you? Let's Do It Again by TLC (hahahaha, what are the chances of that song coming up!?)

How's your love life? Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann

How will your love life be in the future? We Three Kings by Michael W. Smith (haha, whatever that means)

Will you get married? Pretty Piece of Flesh by One Inch Punch from Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack

Are you good at school? Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

Will you be successful? Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel

What song should they play on your birthday? Song for a Winter's Night by Sarah McLachlan

What song should they play at your graduation? Split Screen Sadness by John Mayer

The Soundtrack of your life? We're Gonna Hold On by George Jones & Tammy Wynette

You and your best friends are? I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary by Gaither Vocal Band

Happy times: Let's Stay Together by Al Green

Sad times: Revolution by Jars of Clay (that doesn't fit)

Every day: My Immortal by Evanescence

For tomorrow: It's Gonna Be Me by NSync

For you: You and Me Song by the Wannadies

What does next year have in store for you? D-I-V-O-R-C-E by Tammy Wynette (lol, this is too funny, it most certainly does not!)

What do you say when life gets too hard? For the Beauty of the Earth by Chris Rice

What song did you dance to at your wedding? Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes by TLC

What do you want as your career? Closer to You by Brandi Carlile

Your favorite saying: Crazy for You by Madonna


Well, that was a good laugh!

Short Update

Well... I haven't updated in a while... this seems to be a trend. But Amanda told me I needed to update, so here's a small one.

Two weekends ago, I went to Lynchburg on Saturday for Amanda's shower. We had a wonderful time and it was so great to be with all my girls again. I miss the days when we all lived right there together and were together every day! It's so fun to catch up and just talk about our lives. We had the shower at Meghan's house, which is so beautiful by the way! Thank for hosting it Meghan! Then I got to go to Ren and Garrett's apartment and hang out there for a while. I have pictures from the day but I'm too lazy to go to the other computer to post them right now! Haha. Anyways, what a fun day! I need an excuse to get all the girls together at my house sometime!

This coming weekend Anthony's parents and maybe (hopefully) Jeremy are coming to visit. We haven't seen them since the summer so we're looking forward to that. I think we'll probably go to Skyline Drive and/or the pumpkin patch so that should be fun. I can't wait till Thanksgiving comes so we can finally get to VA Beach for a visit. It's been so long since we have seen everyone! I took the Friday after Thanksgiving off, so we'll be there from Wednesday to Sunday so it will be a nice break for us.

In other news, (haha, I sound like a news reporter) there are only about 4 1/2 weeks till Matt & Amanda's baby is here! I am so excited and cannot wait to see and hold her. It has been so long since I've held a brand new baby! And I'll finally be allowed to know her name! I have a guess but I'm not telling... ;).

Well, I better be off to bed. The Red Sox are playing right now, but it's not looking too good and I never make it for the whole game anyways. I hope they pull it out so they can make it to the World Series! Go Red Sox!

New Post

Just wanted to give a quick update... I am procrastinating on cleaning.

Ashley found a new job! She is the receptionist at the spa at Wintergreen now. She gets free services there (sweet) and she can make commission from selling the products. So sounds like it could be a fun and good job.

We had our food show at Expo this week. It was completely hot and I was sweating bullets the whole day. But it was good other than that. We had Star Wars impersonators there since it was a Hollywood theme. We had Darth Vader and a Star Trooper. The customers could get pictures taken with them and it was my job to take the pictures. It ended up being a lot of fun really. Hopefully I can get my hands on some of those pictures and put them up. The guys who did it were really nice and they do it for charity so it's really cool of them.

Fred, my buddy from Shelburne, came to visit me on Friday afternoon at work, so that was nice. He said I need to update more often, so this is for you Fred. I miss those guys up on the hill!

Well, I need to go watch our video for our Sunday School lesson, and I suppose I can procrastinate no longer. The bathroom's not going to clean itself......

Random Thought

So in between the shows Anthony was watching, we flipped to this show on TLC about these parents who adopted all these down's syndrome children. I think they must have had 24 children altogether, all of them not living at home anymore, obviously. But just during the few seconds I saw the show, all of the 6 or so kids I saw, all had down's syndrome. I was just thinking the other day how devastating it would be to find out your child had down's syndrome, but here this couple is wanting and taking in those children. What amazing people they must be! That must be how we are to God.... we have things that hinder us from doing what we should, sometimes we even fight it. Even still, God seeks after us, he wants us to be his children. What an awesome God we serve!

Delayed Thursday Thirteen

I had wanted to do the Thursday Thirteen yesterday, and I thought of a good topic, but I didn't get around to doing it. So here it is, better late than never.

Thirteen of My Favorite TV Shows

*Suvivor - the show that sparked this topic, because the new season started yesterday - I have been watching ever since the second season

*Lost - I love the complexity and the fact that I am no where near understanding what is totally going on - I love shows or movies that make you think

*Desperate Housewives - this show is my guilty pleasure

*Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - makes me cry nearly everytime - I like this one because I think it brings out the best in people - one of Anthony's cousins almost made it on this upcoming season!

*House - everybody needs a doctor show - he's mean and nasty, but it's just addictive

*Law and Order: SVU - I don't normally watch the new episodes, but I like watching the reruns on USA

*Amazing Race - looks like so much fun... if I had to pick a reality show to be on, it might be this one

*24 - Anthony got me into this one, it's so intense!

*American Idol - who doesn't love this? I think my favorite part is the idiots who think they can sing

*Friends - reruns obviously, we watch it a lot while we are eating dinner - it's been fun watching it with Anthony and see him get into it with me

*Iron Chef America - "a la cuisine!" - Anthony got me into this one too

*Alias - not on anymore.... sad... but worth mentioning because it was so great.... Amanda and I were so obsessed that we made spy names... mine was Savannah Bentley... same initials as Sydney Bristow.... how I miss those days!

*House Hunters - I love to guess which house they will pick


So there are my shows....

I played Bunco tonight and won the last Bunco. I got a $10 gift certificate to the Milmont Greenhouse, so I may go and see if I can find something there tomorrow. Pretty much same plan tomorrow as all Saturdays.... clean, work on shed, grocery shopping, maybe go out to eat. Yay for weekends!

Weekend

The weekend has been good so far. I went to lunch with Ashley yesterday, that was nice. I cleaned today, in record time I think. Started on my accounting homework. I also got a haircut and went shopping today. I like the haircut, I got it at High Tech, which is an uppity-up type place. I've never been to a place like this before. It cost $27 big ones. I am waiting to see how it is tomorrow after I've "done" my hair myself and see if it's actually any better than when I get it cut at Wal-Mart. I'm feeling my next hair cut will be at Wal-Mart. I'm not one to spend $27 on a haircut. (That's before the tip, mind you.) I got a couple of tank tops on sale at JC Penney, and a pair of Khaki pants at Maurices. They have big girl clothes there now... yay! The funny thing is they label some of the "big girl" clothes with sizes 1, 2, and 3. I guess it makes you feel better than buying clothes sized 16, 18, 20, etc, etc. "Yeah, I wear a size 1".... haha. Anyways, so I bought these khaki pants because I have none that fit me and I need a pair to wear at our food show on the 26th. So I had to force myself to pay full price for something just for the necessity of needing it by next week. It was nice to have a little shopping time though.

Anthony got a good amount done on the shed today. He got the drip edge up on the back, reinforced the roof with some more nails, and put the tar paper on the roof. So he made good progress today. I helped cut the tar paper, so I did my part. :) I absolutely can not wait until it is done. I am unbelievably proud of him for doing this entire thing by himself.

We opened the windows for the first time this weekend. I LOVE having the windows open. One of my favorite things is hearing the crickets and various bugs "singing" at night. That's something I remember from when I was little, so it's nice to hear it now.

One last random story before I go prepare for our SS lesson tomorrow. Last Sunday Mom, Ashley, Zoe, and I went to the mall. Well while Ashley and I were finishing up shopping (or lack thereof) Mom took Zoe to the little play thing in the mall. When Ash and I were done we went and sat with Mom. Well, Zoe was just running around at 100 miles a minute and having a grand old time. Every now and then she would run up and hug the 3 of us, one at a time. One time, she ran up and did the hug routine, and then she stopped and stood there and said "I so happy!". It was hillarious and SO cute. She was just so elated to be playing there. A good reminder to let the little things in life bring you joy.

Thursday Thirteen

Well, first of all, before the Thursday Thirteen, I'd like to ask you to pray for my sister. She was falsely accused of something at work and is meeting with her boss tomorrow. So please pray that God will work the situation out. And onto the 13....

Today, I am feeling a bit down because of that situation, and I (as well as my mom, and probably Ashley too) are just feeling beaten down, like it's just one thing after another for us, all bad, by the way. I'm growing weary of this time of my life and wondering when something good is going to come. At the same time, I am feeling like I am growing a lot. I know I am growing spiritually; the Beth Moore Bible studies are doing wonders for me. Also, I have been exercising in the mornings for about the past 5 weeks or so now. I started out walking, but then about 2 weeks ago I discovered yoga on tv at 6 in the morning. So I've been doing that since then. It is really hard, but I am enjoying it. I don't think I have lost any weight yet, but I feel better about myself if nothing else. Anyways, all that to say, I am weary and don't feel like thinking a lot or being creative, so I am going to do.......

13 Things I Do At My Job

1. Fill information into an accounting report every morning. Stuff like our sales, gross profit, credit, etc., etc.

2. Match up receiving documents to the corresponding PO (Purchase Orders).

3. Receive inventory into our computer system.

4. Stamp invoices with the date we received them.

5. Match invoices up to their corresponding PO's and receiving documents.

6. Write up the invoices on a little half sheet of paper that displays all the information I need from it.

7. Enter the payables (invoices) into our computer system.

8. Total hours on time cards.

9. Calculate the pick pay bonus for the night crew.

10. Submit 401K deferrals online.

11. Help new employees fill out insurance enrollment forms and submit those forms to the insurance companies.

12. Sort, attach stuff to, and distribute paychecks.

13. Update more spreadsheets than you've seen in your life and complete a billion and one reports throughout the month!


So that's my job in a nutshell! Now you know exactly what I do.

I am so glad it is almost the weekend. We don't have any big plans really. Hopefully Anthony will be able to get a lot of work done on the shed. I'm sure we'll take our weekly trip to Walmart and maybe rent a movie. Anyone know any good movies to rent? I am also on the 4th Harry Potter book now, The Goblet of Fire. I'm about half way through and I can't wait till I finish it so I can reward myself by watching the movie. Well, I have lasagna in the oven and hopefully it will be done soon so that's all for now! :)

Thursday Thirteen

So Dawn, Amanda's sister, inspired me to do this Thursday Thirteen thing. I had never seen it before I saw it on her blog. I think it sounds like fun and it's really a good way for people to get to know you better. I'm going to start with 13 Things I Love About My New House.

In no particular order...

1. The sunburst window in the spare bedroom. I'd like to get some kind of window treatment that is made for that kind of window someday.

2. The layout of the house. It makes such good use of space and makes our 1400 square feet seem bigger than it really is.

3. Our bedroom/closets/bathroom in the master. It really seems like a master "suite" because of the way it is layed out. Almost feels like a hotel or something. :)

4. Our big yard. I want to play with our kids in that yard, and it's nice that us and the neighbors aren't right on top of each other.

5. The air conditioning system. It seems to be really efficient and has kept our electric bills pretty low so far.

6. All the cabinet space in the kitchen. I still have space I have not filled yet! Enough said.

7. The hardwood floors in the living room. They are beautiful and the allow me to have a cool rug too!

8. The closets in the bathrooms. I have more than enough storage in my bathrooms. I keep non-bathroom things in the hall bathroom since we don't really use that one very much.

9. The front porch and back deck. I love just sitting and enjoying the outdoors though that is hard to do in the summer because the mosquitoes eat me alive! I'll be able to do that more when it gets a little cooler.

10. This isn't directly a part of the house I guess, but it's in the house so it counts to me and it's my blog so I'm allowed to do whatever I want.... haha. I love that we have some furniture from my grandparents in our house. When my grandma moved out of her house and in with my aunt and uncle, we bought (at a very discounted price, mind you) some of her furniture from her. We have their dining room table, Lay-Z-Boy rocker, TV, TV stand, and end table. It just seems special because it was my grandparents' stuff. Especially the end table because my grandpa actually made that.

11. I love that we got to basically pick everything out ourselves, so everything is pretty much exactly the way I want it to be. Everything came together so nicely and I am so pleased at the final product.

12. I love the area the house is in. The reasons are many. First of all, it's a really nice, quiet neighborhood. Everyone always waves, even though you don't know them. It's right near the base of the mountains so they can't really make the neighborhood much bigger. I love the mountains. It's also not too far from everything.

13. Ours is different. Though the style is similar/the same as many others, no one else has gray siding with navy blue shutters. The trend seems to be the tan siding with burgandy shutters, so I'm glad ours is not like everyone else's.


Hopefully I can keep this up each Thursday. Pretty fun really.

This past weekend, we made our last big purchase form Lowe's for the shed. Anthony's got all the plywood up. He needs to go back and reinforce with some more nails and then he'll be on to siding and shingles. It's really going to be a nice looking shed when it's all done. I'll post a picture when I take another. That's all for now!

P.S.: Happy 21st birthday to Jeremy!

Kids

Just wanted to follow up about the Children of the World choir. They were so cute! I wish I could take all of them home with me. After church, we stayed and helped serve them lunch. After everyone had finished eating and they were getting ready to pack up to leave, they all stood against the wall and got the attention of everyone who helped with lunch and they sang the chorus from "Thank You for Giving to the Lord" by Ray Boltz:

Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave

It was so touching and was not the first time those precious children brought tears to my eyes. Even though none of them will remember specific indivduals years from now, they will remember their experience of traveling in America and the kindness and warmth they were shown. It breaks my heart that those kids will have to go back to their home countries in 10 months, but it stirred my heart onto something much bigger. It reminded me of the pain and suffering that the world holds, and that even if I can't go to these places, I can give my prayers and money for these causes. I'm so glad that we have such a big God who can take care of not only me, but all the precious children of the world, the ones who are hurting and lonely and sad. I'm reminded of how thankful I am that I was priveledged to be born in America. I realize that I really don't know hardship. That's kind of a hard pill to swallow. My heart was blessed beyond measure by those kids. Just a few thoughts.

Children of the World

This past Wednesday I started my accounting class. It went well and I think I will enjoy it. I remembered I don't miss all the reading from college though!

Tomorrow at church we are having World Hope's Children of the World Choir. Two of the girls from the choir are staying with Mom & Ashley tonight. We just got back from being over there to eat dinner and hang out with them. They have two little girls, ages 7 & 8. Lilly is from India and Rochel is from the Philippines. They were so cute! Lilly really took to Anthony. She sat across from Anthony at dinner and she would just grin at him. Then later, they were playing with some ice packs, and she kept "getting" Anthony with her ice pack. She absolutely loved him! When we went to leave, she ran straight to him to give him a hugh - I had to ask for mine! Haha. They call adults "auntie" and "uncle": it was sweet to hear her call him uncle. Mom says this group of kids has only been in the US for 3 weeks, so their English was broken at best, but they sure were sweet. I am so excited to see their concert tomorrow at church. Vicky, her brother Evan, and roommate Becky, will be visiting for the day so they can see the concert too. Vicky hasn't seen the house yet, so that will be fun to have them here! (I took a few pictures of the girls on Mom's camera, so hopefully I will get those pictures and post them soon - meanwhile, that is a picture of the kids on the Central US tour - I'm not sure if that is from this group, the picture is kind of small, but it gives you a good idea!)

Also, Anthony and I are going to be leading the 7th and 8th grade Sunday School class starting next week. Jeremy has a video series so we'll be using that and then having discussion about it. We are excited about starting that. We have really enjoyed spending time with the kids in that age group - they are a great bunch of kids!

That's all for tonight!

Well, it has been a long time since I posted, due to some technical difficulties with posting the photos, which I still seem to be having... but here we go.

Last weekend, we went to Baltimore to see a Red Sox game, which was Anthony's birthday present. We went to the game at Camden Yards on Friday evening. Here are a few pictures from that:

The last one is Manny Ramirez out in left field! The Red Sox didn't win, but we had a really great time and would love to go to another game sometime.

On Saturday, we went to the Baltimore Aquarium. My favorite part was the dolphin show we saw:

It was a really nice weekend getaway for us before Anthony gets busy with school again.

The shed is also coming along, although it has slowed down a lot since Anthony has been back at school for the past week. He has really done a good job with it and I am so proud of my handy husband!

Frog

I was out watering the plants tonight and something caught my eye. It was a tiny little baby frog. I didn't get a picture of it, though I should have. It hopped away from me and was sitting on one of the leaves of the plant; that's how small it was. It was really cute and made me happy, so I just wanted to share that. :)

I'm Behind!

I should have posted long before now, but here is a long overdue update on our lives.

Last weekend, we visited Laura in Knoxville, TN. Me, Anthony, and my mom went. We were there from Friday till Sunday and we had a wonderful time. It was really good because I think Laura and Anthony got to know each other better and just hang out and have fun together. Anthony came into my life after Laura and I had gone our separate ways for college, so obviously he knew she was one of my best friends, but they had never gotten to spend much time around each other, so it was nice since they got to do that on the trip! We went to Dixie Stampede on Saturday. Here are a few pictures from while we were waiting for the show:

Mom, Laura, & Anthony in the rockers


"Laverne & Shirley" hanging out with the horse - just like old times :)


Aren't we cute? (Except for me looking like a fat lard! Pictures sure are good motivation for exercise!)



Just before we went to Tennesse, Anthony finished up with summer school. So he has been on "break" this last week. He has been busy working on our shed for the back yard. Here is some of the progress he has made:



He actually has the entire foundation done now and is working on walls now. We just ordered the doors and windows this evening, so hopefully they will be here soon. It doesn't look like he'll be able to have it done before he goes back to school, just because of the special order business, but he certainly has a good start on it.

This weekend we had Matt & Amanda here to visit. They left this evening, but we had a really nice time visiting with them. It's so nice just to be able to hang out with them. I miss Amanda and my roommate days and all the fun we had together! I cannot wait till their baby girl is born in November!

Also, on an exciting note for me, I am going to be taking an accounting class this fall at Blue Ridge Community College. I really am enjoying the accounting aspects of my job and I plan to pursue my associates degree in accounting now. I'm going to take my time but hopefully one day I can reach that goal. It's going to be a Wednesday night class so unfortunately I'm going to have to miss church on Wednesday nights until December. I am very excited to be doing school again though. I have missed it since I graduated.

Well, that's about all that is new in our lives for now. This coming weekend, we are going to Baltimore on Friday for a Red Sox/Orioles game. We are staying overnight on Friday and will probably go to the aquarium and just hang out on Saturday before we come home. It will be a nice little getaway for us before Anthony gets back to school again!

Thankful

Well, it seems that our family has hit the bottom of a valley again. It seems there is going to be some resolution to the "strange situation" my family has been in for almost the last 2 year; not a good resolution, but resolution nonetheless. I think I am hoping that it is quick and not dragged out any longer than necessary, so my mom can have some closure and move on with her life.

Meanwhile, we are all hurting, confused, and angry just to name a few of the emotions. However, in the midst of this 2 year valley, I am trying to remain optimistic and be thankful, as God tells us to do.

Tonight when we came home and walked through the door, as I do many times these days, I just thanked God for this beautiful home he has given us.

I am thankful for my health, and the health of my family. Just a mere 2 years ago, my mom was finishing up her battle with cancer, which, thank you Lord, she fought hard and won! I am thankful that the chances of her cancer recurring are minimal because of advances in modern medicine.

I am thankful I have such a caring, loving sister. She is a rock and has so much more courage than I ever will.

I am thankful for my godly mother who tells me that God must have something good on the way for us. I know she is hurting and unsure of the future, but she is also looking at the big picture and trying to see things from God's point of view.

I am thankful for Seth, who might as well be my brother-in-law. He is the brother I never had and I know he would have my back, should I ever need anything.

I am thankful for bubbly, happy, innocent, brings-joy-to-our-lives-like-nothing-else-can Zoe. I know without a doubt that God brought her to us "for such a time as this" and that this journey would be so much harder if she weren't in it. It's really pretty amazing how a 2 year old has "carried" us through these hard times.

I am thankful for the friends I have who have seen me through the best and worst of times. Many times I have cried on their shoulders. Many times I have poured my heart out to them. But even more importantly, many times they have prayed for me. I cannot ask for more from a friend.

Certainly not least, I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He brings me joy and laughter. He is a wonderful provider. I was just thinking the other day, since I am not teaching anymore, why would God let me do 4 years of college to learn a profession I'm not even doing anymore? The thought crossed my mind, that maybe, just maybe, it was so I could meet Anthony. Had I not studied education in college, I never would have taken that impossible Math 200 class that Anthony and I shared together. Now, we were in brother/sister dorms, so maybe we still would have hooked up, but maybe not. Maybe it was being in that math class together that picqued our interest in each other. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I am thankful that God brought him to me.

Although I am not happy with or proud of the path my father has chosen to take, I am thankful that he was a good father to me when I was young, and that he and my mom raised me in a way that is honorable to God and in a way that allowed me to seek God.

Everyone will face hard times. It's inevitable. I am in one of those hard times right now. But I am thankful. There is a Caedmon's Call song that says "valleys fill first". When you are in a valley, that is the best time to feel God's blessings and be thankful. When God does send his healing rain on our family, our valley will fill quickly and bring us closer to him.

There was a family on Extreme Home Makeover that had the father pass away. One thing he said, that was very important to that family was something to this effect: there are so many things to think about, but there is nothing to worry about. That has just seemed to stick with me and come to my mind the past couple of days. For me to worry about the future is to doubt that God will take care of my family. I know he will. I am trying to choose not to worry. I am so thankful.

Where is the Summer Going??

Hello- I figured it was time for an update. Amanda told me I have been slacking since we moved in... I'll try harder. :) It's hard to believe we are more than half way through July already. We have been very busy. Anthony has less than a week left at summer school and then he will have a few weeks off before school starts back up again. I believe he is planning on building us a shed during his break. I've been at Staunton Foods for over a month now and am still enjoying it. The bulk of my work is divided between human resources and accounts payable. I'm hoping that work will pay for me to take an accounting class this fall and I kind of have it in my mind that I'm going to work toward a degree in accounting. I'm not really in a hurry but maybe in a few years I can add that to my resume.

This coming weekend is a down weekend for us. I think we'll need it because for almost the next month we are going to be very busy on the weekends. Next weekend, Mom, Anthony, and I are leaving on Friday morning and going to Knoxville to visit my wonderful friend Laura Williams. She just bought a house in January and we haven't seen it yet, so I'm excited about that. We are also going to go to Dixie Stampede while we are there. Anthony has never been and I absolutely love doing fun things with people who have never done them before! The weekend after that, the first weekend in August, Matt and Amanda (and baby) will be visiting us. We don't really have any special plans but I do know we'll be going to Chili's to satisfy Amanda's "there's no Chili's in Lynchburg" cravings. You don't hear me complaining. Then the weekend after that, Anthony and I will be going to Baltimore on Friday morning to see a Red Sox - Orioles baseball game. This was Anthony's birthday present. We'll stay overnight on Friday and I'm not sure what else we'll do while we are there. Probably go to the Inner Harbor maybe the aquarium. Any suggestions would be welcome!

This week we (well, me really) have been into The World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. Tonight is the final game. I guess it's fun for me because I know a decent amount of pop culture and Anthony doesn't really know much, so it's one thing I can beat him in! :)

I guess that's about all I have to say... here a few pictures to enjoy!


Our "wedding wall"



Up close



Us in front of the house..... Anthony sporting the sock feet



Zoe being silly wearing her daddy's hat - she would try to get him to chase her around the house because she stole his hat

Caverns Picture

Fun Weekend

As the weekend is coming to an end, I thought I would share the fun we had. Friday, as soon as I got home from work, we went to the Fireman's Carnival in Stuarts Draft and ate and watched the parade with Mom, Ashley, Seth, and Zoe. We also got to watch Zoe go on a few rides and ate a funnel cake and deep fried oreos. They were good, but definitely only a once a year treat!

Then Saturday morning, Anthony's parents came to visit for the day. We sat around and just talked for an hour or two. Then we went to Applebee's for lunch. After lunch, we went to Grand Caverns in Grottoes which is a town over from us. I had been there a couple times, but I am always up for something fun like that. It really is amazing to see all the formations and marvel at one of God's wonderful creations. Anthony's mom got some really nice pictures and I will post some as soon as I get them from her. After the caverns, we got some ice cream and came back to the house and chilled for a while. It was a little after 6:00 when they left. We wished they could have stayed longer, but it sure was nice to have them visit! Saturday evening, we stayed home and watched "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" which is the second in the series. I have been working on the books and we're watching the movies once I finish the book. It has been so nice to have time to read like this!

Today, we had church then lunch at Mom's. Then Ashley and I went to the mall and did some shopping. It was nice since I haven't been shopping in such a long time. I got some cute shirts and didn't spend much money since I had gift cards. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Ashley too.

We have had a wonderful weekend, and are wrapping it up by watching Larry the Cable Guy on TV. He is so hillarious!

July Already!

Thought I would just give a brief update. We had a great weekend. My friend Eric from Shelburne got married on Saturday, so we went to the wedding and the reception which was fun. From there we went straight to Lynchburg. We went shopping with Matt & Amanda that evening and randomly ran into Vicky at Cold Stone Creamery... yum! Sunday we went to church at Lynchburg First Church of the Nazarene which was the church we went to while we were there at Liberty. They are in a new sanctuary now, and it was nice to go back for a visit. That afternoon we had Ren's bridal shower, which was a blast. It was so great to spend time with the girls. It has been way too long. Poor Matt & Anthony had to entertain themselves for about 2 and 1/2 hours while we girls gabbed away and caught up. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Tonight we went for a walk and met an older couple at the end of our cul-de-sac. They were very friendly and told us that they are planning a street get-together picnic type thing in a couple weeks. They also told us about some other neighbors who have seen a mother and baby cub in their backyard! Kind of cool but scary too! We actually haven't seen any wildlife but she said they had paw prints from the bear on their driveway and that they have seen deer too. I would love to see some deer, but the bear can stay in the woods as far as I am concerned. :)

Tomorrow, we both have off and are going to the Biggs' for the annual 4th of July celebration. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Long Overdue

So I realize that I am long overdue for a new post. I guess I do have a pretty good set of excuses though... new house, new job... you know how it is. I feel like there has been so much going on in the past 2 weeks, I don't even know where to start.

We are really starting to feel settled in now and have been busy with details making our house what we want it to be. Anthony has been quite the handy man in that he has installed our garbage disposall (which I was dying without), some under the counter lights for the kitchen, and put together the grill we bought. We just bought an area rug and a runner for the living room tonight, which really make it feel more homey.

Also, just yesterday, after more than a year of having it boxed up, I pulled out my grandmother's china which she gave me as a wedding gift. It was one of her wedding gifts when she was married back in the 1940's. I have felt so honored that she would decide to give such a wonderful gift to me. I hand't unpacked it before now because I knew it wouldn't be long till we were packing again. But hopefully, we will be here for a nice long while. :)

We have been watering our lawn nearly everyday in what has been a mostly successful attempt to grow grass. It really is looking good, but there are a few spots we're going to need to re-seed to get some grass growing. I'm so glad to have the beautiful deck to be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor.... now - if only we could find the time to do that!

Also new, is my job. I am working at Staunton Foods now as the Human Resources/Payroll Administrative Assisstant. I am truly enjoying it and it feels like a really good fit for me. I have always thought that if I didn't do education in college I would have done accounting (and now wishing I had!) and I get to do a lot of things that deal with numbers and that sort of thing. I actually may take an accounting class in the fall. It's been really nice to come home and have evenings and weekends free of schoolwork.

Well, I need to wrap this up and get to bed. We have a big weekend ahead of us with a wedding here tomorrow, and then we are headed to Lynchburg tomorrow evening for Ren's bridal shower on Sunday. Here are a few of the latest pictures.


One of our first pieces of grass!!!



Living room with new arrangement and rug.



Under the counter lights.

New Pictures

Hall Bathroom:




Guest Bedroom:




Kitchen:




Master Bedroom:

We're Here!

Hello! Just wanted to post a quick update-- we are all moved in to our new house. We got everything moved in last night and have been unpacking and organizing all day long. We got a lot done, and are exhausted, but very happy here. It's hard to believe that we are really in the house now. I am so thankful to God for this blessing. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Home Inspection

This is the last house update before we actually move in! We had the home inspection on Friday. There were a few minor things that need to be fixed, but we are meeting with Bobby Anne tomorrow (Sunday) to do an amendment to the contract to have those things fixed before we close. I am really glad we had the inspection done, even though it's a new home. Inspector Homes from Staunton did it, and I think they did a great job. The only major thing left to be done is the grading and seeding of the yard. Along with the small things that need to be fixed, I imagine it should only take them a couple days this week to be completely done. Here are some pictures.


The living room with the beautiful hardwood floors. If you can see, there are 3 electrical plugs along the front wall. The one under the window is something that most builders don't usually do, unless asked to, according to our inspector. It is on a separate circuit that is connected to a light switch. So when Christmas time comes around, we'll just have to flip a switch to turn our Christmas tree lights on and off! The 2 bedrooms on the front side have that feature as well.




My wonderful kitchen! I am so happy with the way it turned out. It was really kind of hard to pick out everything just based on a tiny sample swatch of whatever it was, but we are both very pleased with the kitchen.




The main bathroom. Of course we love the double vanity, and both bathrooms have little linen closets in them, which will be very nice.



We should be closing this Friday and hopefully all moved in on Saturday! I can't wait to update with pictures once we get there.

Update - Just for Amanda!

Hello-- sorry for the delay. What can I say? I just got lazy. But by request of Amanda, here is the latest. :)

At our latest trip to the house, we found the shutters are up, carpet is down, and the inside basically seems to be done. They still have to do the landscaping, but as far as we can see, that is all that is left. We have a home inspection this Friday at 2:30. Everything should be fine, since it is a new build, but we just wanted to cover ourselves, just in case. We close next Friday, the 15th! We reserved a moving truck today, so that was exciting. Things are moving along, and we are more excited than ever.





Sunday was really fun at Mom's house. We got our little kitchen down from the attic that Ashley and I played with when we were little. Zoe definitely loved it and was playing with it all afternoon. She has more kitchen accessories than any one child needs! Mom also got a bunch of my stuff down out of the attic since I will soon have my own attic to store them in. I went through some of my old dolls, animals, and books. There were some that I just can't bring myself to get rid of because I loved them so much. Did anyone else play with Magic Nursery dolls? Those were the best! Also, we went through a box that was some of my "special" stuff I have gained or made over the years. There was one autobiography that I must have written in the fifth grade. I read it out loud and we were absolutely rolling - I was crying from laughing so hard.



Anyways... only 2 more days of school left. I am going to be working at Staunton Foods starting this summer, and it is going to be semi-permanent. I'm not going to teach again next year, which I still have mixed feelings about, but I think this is the best thing to do for now. They know I only plan to work until we have a baby. I would love to teach at Ridgeview, but I just feel like it's not enough money to get rid of enough of our debt in order to be able to have a baby, which is the desire of my heart, more than any career. I'm not exactly sure of my job description yet, but I'm excited for a change. Teaching may still be an option for the future, but for now, I'll be at Staunton Foods. That's about the latest I have to offer. Hope that will suffice, Amanda! :)

One Year Anniversary!

Well- it's not quite one year yet, but close enough. I did somehow manage to squeeze into my wedding dress... I have put on a few pounds in the last year, probably most of those during our honeymoon during which we ate like royalty. Anyways, tomorrow evening, we are staying at the Comfort Inn in Staunton, where we stayed on our wedding night last year. We're also going to get Chili's takeout, just like we did last year. We are definitely looking forward to it. Here's a picture to commemorate our no-longer-newleywed-stage. :)

Major Progress & a Neighbor

Hello! We made the trip out to the house for our weekly visit today. We were pleasantly surprised yesterday to learn that Pam Sipe, the other realtor, would be out there from around 11 to 1 today so we could get in the house if we wanted. All the cabinets are installed, bathroom and kitchen, linoleum in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry closet is down, and all the appliances are there. Here are a few pictures.


This is the master bathroom.



Left-hand side of the kitchen, door to the deck is just to the left.



And right-hand side of the kitchen.



We were also pleasantly surprised to meet our new neighbor, who will be moving into her house at the end of June. Not sure if she has a husband or boyfriend as well (she was there by herself), but she is expecting, so hopefully we will be able to get to know her/them. I was also encourage by the fact that she is going to have a baby. It weighs somewhat heavy on my mind that once we have children, I may have to find something to do to bring in a little extra money. A great possibility would be to babysit for a mother who works but I worry about finding someone that would be close enough to make that work. So not that I have it in my mind that I am going to babysit this lady's child, but I kind of feel like that was confirmation from God that if that is what he wants me to do, he can certainly make it work. Faith comes in funny ways, doesn't it? Here I am worried about finding someone with a baby, and God gives us a next door neighbor who is having one! So today was a great encouragement. Apparently they are far enough along that we can go ahead and schedule the home inspection, which will be our next step, hopefully this week. Our excitement is growing!

Here is a link to ABC 13's website with a story about graduation today - watch the video!

http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0507/424534.html

Liberty Graduation 2007

We went to Liberty Graduation today, and stayed with Matt & Amanda (and soon-coming baby) last night. They held it on the football field this year, and it was absolutely a beautiful day. It was, of course, different this year in that Dr. Falwell is no longer with us. But I think the beauty of the day, for me at least, represented what Jerry Jr. said - "I know dad would want us to be upbeat, excited and happy and celebratory today." He also said "All is well at Liberty. We prepared for this transition for 15 years or more. The right team is in place here. None can replace dad." at which point he proceeded to tear up which caused me to do the same. It was very touching to see the tender heart of a man like that. Even while there is mourning and sadness among the family and friends of Dr. Falwell, we can rest assured that the good work that God began through him will continue. I feel so blessed to be a part of his legacy and am extremely thankful for the impact he has had on my life. Even though I can honestly say, I complained through many Wednesday convocation services, listening to him preach one of his overused messages :), I still know that he was a great man of God and really has "turned the world upside down" for Christ. I can't help but think of the fact, that were it not for him, it would be quite possible, even likely, that Anthony and I would never have crossed paths. So besides the thousands of lives he has spiritually impacted, he has done so much more than that. I will always be grateful for the role that he, and Liberty University, have played in my life. Here are some pictures of the beautiful day.





Jerry Falwell Jr., Chancellor of Liberty University - very well spoken today



"The girls" - Vicky and Kim graduated today, very proud of both of them, and look at that little belly on Amanda!

Lights

Here are some pics of the lights at the house!

This is the light on the front porch. We spent a little more on the outside lights than I had planned on... but there are a lot of UGLY outdoor lights! I think it was worth it to get what we liked the best. Theresa Martin told me that we should get what WE like, not worry about what it will look like for potential buyers in the (hopefully very far away) future when we ever decide to sell. I think that was some great advice.




This is the ceiling fan in the master bedroom... love it!




And finally, the light on the back deck, which matches the front porch light. Obviously, there are more lights, but the doors were locked so we couldn't really get anymore pictures. We were able to see some of the others, and I think we are very pleased with our choices.



It seems like there is not a lot left to do... kitchen and bath cabinets, appliances, flooring... that's about it really. So needless to say, we are so excited about getting into our very own house soon!