Announcing Miss Emilia coming September 2013

We've been really busy lately and school is starting back super soon.  I've fallen of the blogging planet and I kinda doubt this will be a surprise to anyone who reads this but we are also expecting a daughter that we are naming Emilia Elizabeth in mid September.  It is getting here so quickly and we can't wait to meet her.

Miss Emilia's 9 Week Portrait

Miss Emilia at 18weeks 5 days

Here is the money shot in case you were curious!

This is the baby blanket I crocheted for her!

I'm not really into belly shots but here is 31 weeks just for the record!

Life lately...

Life has been very busy lately.

Since school started, I feel like our lives have been running 20 directions everyday.

Over the summer, my mom was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, an unexpected and hard to take blow, but here we are dealing with it.  She is almost done with her schueduled round and chemo and we are awaiting a next step.  She is being so positive and tackling it with the best attitude possible.  Lots of prayers are headed her way and I know we serve a God who can do anything!

School has been really good so far this year.  It's crazy but good.  I really and truly work with the best people on earth.  Who could ask for more than that?  I know I am truly blessed to work with people who care more about me as an individual than a number on a list.  They have been willing to do almost anything to help me out with everything I have going on.

Daniel's job has had quite the adventure lately.  Through a set of less than ideal circumstances, he has had to change positions and hours.  It was a bit of an adjustment, but we are coping and life goes on.  I know we serve a God who knows what's best for us, and I believe He has a bigger plan.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to catch up with my 2002 Russellville High School classmates.  It was a good weekend and great to see everyone.  We left early Friday afternoon to make the homecoming game, but it was cold and rainy so we opted to rent the Avengers and watch it with my parents instead.  Saturday morning we got up and went to Memaw's for a quick visit.  Then we caught up with Ashley (and baby Piper), Megan, and Susan for lunch at La Huerta's.  Then we stopped by Granny's for a quick visit and then home for the night's festivities.  We dressed up and headed out to the Russellville Country Club to celebrate.  It was a good night filled with lots of visiting and catching up.  It was really good to find out where people were and what they were doing.  Sunday afternoon we concluded it with a family picnic.  It was a fabulous weekend. 

Here is a pic of the RHS Class of 2002 Alumni:

And a few more for your viewing pleasure:

 

Ryan Miller, Me and Daniel (my hubby and my oldest friend)

 

Me, Susan and Megan (old friends)

 

Daniel and Josh Whitlow (making new friends)

Life lately has been crazy, but I am grateful for every breath I take and every new friend I make.

2012

I'm a week or so behind on this post, but better late than never, right?

2011 was a pretty good year overall. Work was extremely busy for the both of us. It got so much better for me this schoo year than last due to the new builiding and new schedule. I don't have to hike through a ditch to make copies or go to the bathroom. I actually get a prep period this year and that has been great. Daniel has been a little busier than usual. Both of his bosses (his dept. manager and his store manager) left a few weeks before Christmas, which left him with most of the responsibility. It was a great learning experience and he worked a lot of overtime, which was a nice help around the holidays. He survived it and has two new bosses this week.

Church has been awesome. It has been such a joy to teach 3rd and 4th graders on Wednesdays. They really start grasping things at that age and it so fun to see them become Christians and ask questions and grow in the Word. The only bad thing with Daniel's schedule has been his working so many weekends. He's had to miss church a lot which we don't like but that's retail for you. Hopefully his schedule will be better once his new boss comes. We're praying it will.

We don't know what 2012 holds, but we are excited about what God has planned.

Summer 2011

Wow...what a summer! Where did it go?

I knew this summer would be a short one with all the days we had to make up for weather, but I feel like it has only been about two weeks.

Some highlights for Summer 2011:

1) Summer Break - This would be the first week I was off and pretty much the only downtime that I had out of the last 7 weeks. I slept in, chilled out and recovered from the crazy school year.

2) VBS Inside, Outside and Upside Down on Main Street - What a great week! I taught 5th/6th VBS at FBC Cabot. We had a great time, learned lots about Jesus and serving others, and went to several cool places including Joyland Skating Rink, the Cabot Police Department and jail, the Lonoke County Courthouse, Beebe Nursing Home, and the Swimming Pool. We sweated a lot and learned. I love VBS, but it wore me out.

3) Anniversary Cruise - The Sunday after VBS ended, Daniel and I left for Mobile to go on a cruise for our one year anniversary. We arrived Sunday afternoon (our anniversary) and set out to find somewhere to eat in downtown Mobile. We went to a cool little seafood place. The walls were covered with quotes and sayings. It was fun. We stayed in a nice hotel overlooking Mobile Bay and enjoyed watching the ships and trains going in and out. The next day, we boarded the Carnival Elation and set out for a week of fun and cruisin'. We enjoyed some awesome food and great excursions. Our first stop was Cozumel. We went on the Atlantis Submarine and went 100 feet under the water and enjoyed the sights of Chankanaab reef. We spent the afternoon shopping in Cozumel. Our next stop was Calica were we spent the day at Xcaret floating down the underground rivers and looking at the exotic animals. A few rocky days later (due to Tropical Storm Arlene) we arrived safe and sound in Mobile and headed home.

4) Children's Camp - W0w, what an adventure! I headed out with 70 kids and 12 adults from FBC Cabot to Lonestar, Texas for 4 very full days of heat,, fun, and learning about Jesus. We had a great time. The kids swam in the pool, played in the lake (including the infamous Blob), made crafts, played on inflatables, ziplined and so much more. It was an exhausting but awesome experience. They went nonstop from 7 in the morning to 11 at night and walked dozens of hills all day long. It was a lot of fun and a nice end the summer.

Since then, I have been attending Professional Development workshops, visiting family, and finishing up the last few tasks I intended to accomplish this summer. Overall, it was a fantastic summer.

Cruisin' 2011

Daniel and I just got back from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Elation. This is the same cruise we took for our honeymoon last year. This time I have to say I had twice as much fun. That probably has to do with the fact that we were both so exhausted from the wedding and wedding planning last time that we didn't enjoy it nearly as much as we should have. This time we took advantage of as much as possible.

We left Arkansas on Sunday (our anniversary) and headed to Mobile. We spent the nice in a nice hotel overlooking Mobile Bay. We had a great view and it was neat watching the comings and goings of the port. We ate dinner at an interesting little restaurant called Wintzel's Oyster House. It definitely had character. It reminded me of one of those places that Guy would go on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The walls were covered with little cards with sayings. It was interestting.

On Monday, we got up and lounged around until it was time to catch the shuttle to the cruise terminal. We stood in line awhile and we on the boat a little after 12. The gangway had been damaged in a storm so we had to go an alternate path to get on the ship. That was interesting. We enjoyed some lunch on Lido deck and then headed to our room to get settled once they opened the doors at 1:30. We spent the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday at sea taking in some of the fun and shows on the ship.

On Wednesday, we docked in Cozumel. We headed out to meet our excursion group and went on a water taxi to the Atlantis Submarine. We spent an hour or so about 100 feet below the ocean's surface looking at the Chankanaab coral reef and wildlife. It was pretty cool. Then we headed back to Puerta Maya and did some shopping.

Atlantis Submarine

On Thursday, we docked at Calica, Mexico which is about halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We got off the ship (which is literally docked by a sandpit) and headed to the bus to Xcaret. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Xcaret, do it. It was so neat. We spent about 6 hours there and barely saw half of what was there. We spent the morning floating down some the underground rivers that go through some caves and come out at the ocean and the afternoon looking at some of the exotic animals. It was a great day, but we were beat when we got done.

We spent Friday at sea and went on the Behind the Fun tour that Carnival offers. It took us on a tour through the parts of the ship you never see as a guest. It is amazing what it takes to run a cruise ship. We toured the galley, the engine control room, backstage of the shows, crew quarters, and the bridge. It was a lot of fun but I think we walked about a million flights of stairs.

We got back to Mobile on Saturday morning. We had a great trip other than some rough seas from Tropical Storm Arlene. I don't know what my luck with June hurricanes is, but we got in the middle of Alex last year. Overall, it was a great trip. After a long drive home, we are back in the swing of things. So long, vacation.

Summer

Finally...I didn't think it would ever get here.

This has been one crazy year. Since getting married a year ago, things have been a whirlwind.

I got back to school last year only to discover I was teaching 3 different preps and had no prep period. Yep...that's 7 classes with no break except a 30 minutes lunch. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time "off the clock" (if that exists for a teacher) working on lesson plans and grading papers. Doesn't look promising that things will be much calmer next school year, but on the upside I am supposed to have a prep and we are moving into a new building. I am so excited to not have to walk through a ditch to go to the bathroom or make copies. PTL for that! Just keep your fingers crossed that it is done so we can move in before school starts and aren't moving in everything the day before school starts.

Married life is going well. Just super busy. Daniel and I had the opportunity to go the Kirk Cameron Marriage Conference at our church last weekend. It was a great time of learning and worship. Daniel and I rarely have the same schedule and almost never have a weekend off together. After teaching that extra class this year, I need a vacation so that is exactly what we decided to do. We are going on another cruise for our one year anniversary. Other than that, the summer is going to be busy with church, VBS, vacation, professional development, and getting a little rest when I can. Overall, things are going well.

Grateful

There are those days when I am reminding of how big God is and how awesome that it is that He knows everything. Today is one of those. I woke up a little before 2:00 to the Code Red weather warning call. It said Torando Warning for your area. Daniel rolled over and went back to sleep when his phone went off but I decided to get up and turn on the tv. I am not easily spooked by storms, but I've lived in Arkansas long enough to know that you shouldn't ignore tornado warnings. Too many close calls in my life. When I turned the tv on, I realized there were 4 tornado warnings for Lonoke County. Crazy. These were from 4 different cells. Luckily they stayed south of here, but they headed straight toward Lonoke with one moving just north of town and one moving just south of town. After some crazy hard rain and some hail, I went back to bed since the tornado threat had passed. It was only this morning that I am reminded of how blessed I am. Our house is fine. LHS is a mess. We are actually out today due to no power and trees and powerlines down all over town. Other than that, everything appears to be intact. Stories of tragedy and survival always come to light in the daylight after the storm. They are reporting at least 4 fatalities and tons of devastation. Here I am looking out the window and other than the small lake in my yard, there is no sign of the storm. None of this is a surprise to God. He knew it was going to storm. He knew I'd be out of school today and that I needed the time to recover from a cold and a really rough week. He knew. He always knows.