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!

Quick Update

We went to the house last night because we won't be able to make it this weekend. The lights are all up now-- it was really exciting to see everything coming together. We are leaving this evening to go to Lynchburg to see Vicky (and many of our other friends) graduate! We are really excited to spend some time with the Lynchburg crew. I will update with pictures of the house and graduation on Saturday night!

Lighting

Hello-- no pictures this week, but just wanted to give a quick update. On Friday, we went to Lowe's and bought all the lights for the house! We dropped them off at the house yesterday and they should all be installed sometime this week. I will definitely have pictures of the lights actually in place next week.

We had a really great weekend. Friday evening, I went to Mom's to get yardsale stuff ready. Then Friday night we did the Lowe's thing, which was fun but exhausting. Saturday morning, we had a yardsale at Mom's. We only made a little over $30, but it was fun just hanging out with Mom, Ashley, and Zoe. After we finally called it quits at the yardsale, we went home and had a nap to prepare ourselves for the evening. The youth group had a "Study Break Luau" from 5:00 to around 8:30, which was a blast. Sunday, we went to church, then the whole family went to Massaki for Mother's Day. We then went to the house to drop off the lights, and we were able to have the rest of the day free at home. We got some schoolwork done and just enjoyed being lazy. It was a very busy weekend, but one of the best in a long time. Only 4 weeks of school left now. We are excited for the summer to get here and to get moved into our new house!

Paint

We just got back from our weekly trip to the house. There was a paint contractor's truck in the driveway, so we had our suspicions about what they did new this week! Walls and trim are now painted and most of the doors up. Anthony was also able to see into one of the bathroom windows and they have the bathtub fixtures on too. They did have the doors locked, :( , so we couldn't get it, but we were able to push up on of the windows that has an extension cord running out of it so I could get a good picture of the paint. The picture is of the master bedroom.



Very exciting progress. Tomorrow, it will only be 6 weeks till our closing date. Please pray for us financially as we make this huge change in our lives. Can't wait to see what is next!

Zoe Girl!

I finally got a few pictures of Zoe together for everyone to see her. This first one is from Saturday when Mom, Ashley, Seth, and Zoe came over just to hang out for a while. Zoe loves Anthony's guitars. Last time they were here, Anthony's acoustic guitar was sitting on top of its case, and she always wants to play with it. Well about a week or so after they left, I found hardened pieces of cheese in the guitar that the Zoester had left as a gift! Haha, it was funny (to me anyways) but we try to keep that one put away now. But anyways, this time, his bass guitar was sitting on top of the case, and she went to play it, and of course it didn't make much noise so she said "it's broken". So I plugged it up to the amp for her and she had a little jam session in our office.




Then, Tuesday evening, Seth, Ashley, and Zoe came over for dinner. Well, we ate, then Ashley, Zoe, and I went outside for a while. Then we came back in and Zoe got back up to the table to eat some food she had left on her plate. As kids are prone to do, she spilled her grape kool-aid all over the floor and the chair. She got soaked, so her clothes had to come off, but after seeing Mommy and Aunt Tara clean up with the Swiffer, she had to help of course.



What an innocent face!!



Seeing her on Sundays is one of the highlights of my week. She is so much fun and such a joy to have in our lives. I can't imagine life without her, and am so grateful to God for giving her to our family. She has helped all of us through some rough times and dark days, and I know that she was sent "for such a time as this".