I don't have to much to update on, but I am trying to be better about updating. :)

Jon and I started Financial Peace University on Sunday. It is a 13 week course by Dave Ramsey! Check out his website. www.daveramsey.com Jon and I are thrilled about taking it. Everyone I have talked to who takes it, loves it. We are doing it before we even think about buying a house. We want to be TOTALLY debt free before we do that. We are thinking by the fall we should be almost totally debt free. Which will be more than amazing! ;)

Jon and I have also been trying to decied what to do for our 2 year anniversary since we didn't do anything for our 1st! We have decided that we are going to go on a Cruise with our dear friends Emily and Kyle! (Their 3rd anniversary is in October as well!) I can't wait! We are planning on going in September for 5 days. I have never been on a cruise before. I am worried that I will be sick the whole time, but maybe not! I can just remember being sick on my Dads boat everytime I got on it! Even dramamine didn't help me! However, I was really young and maybe I have out grown it by now!

Mom and Dad are leaving for their Cruise on February 4th! They had to change the date because Dad had already made plans to play golf in Palm Springs on the orignal date! It is going to be really neat for them because they will be on the cruise for Dads birthday! Great birthday present too! :)


Jon and I have been visiting Asbury when we have been here on the week-ends. I can't say enough just how much we love it there. I miss not being able to go to Lakeview and hear Steve, but I know God has us at Asbury for a reason. I feel so blessed to have found such an amazing church where God is ever present there. I feel the Spirit as I walk into church. Its one of the most passionate services you will ever go to. The music is absoutely incredible. I have to pinch myself from not crying each time. I LOVE that they have the altar open during Worship for anyone who wants to pray. They also have people that will pray for you. It really is amazing. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us there.

Blessings and Peace,

Hey Long Horns

Theres no other words I can say to describe today other than:

HEY LONG HORNS, HEY LONG HORNS

WE JUST BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU

RAMMER JAMMER

YELLOW HAMMER

GIVE EM HELL ALABAMA!!!!!!

We had an unbelievable season. Followed by our first Heisman Winner.

To all you HATERS out there...ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Can't wait until next season!!!!!

Christmas Recap

Whew. After a crazy busy month I am finally home! It has been fun being able to spend time with my parents, but the saying "Theres no place like home" is ringing very true! I am glad to be home and be back in a routine of things!

Christmas was amazing. We spent Christmas Eve with Mimi in the morning. It was great being able to get to spend yet another Christmas with her. I know my mom gets sad each Christmas, but I just keep reminding her how Blessed we truly are to be able to spend so many Christmases with her!

After we left Mimi's we went and had our traditional Christmas Eve lunch with the family. I was pretty sad because Jon had to work most of the day so he missed out on lunch. We made it to the VERY end of it, but it wasn't the same without him or Pat.

We enjoyed spending time with his Moms side of the family. We went to church 2 times on Christmas Eve and enjoyed hearing John Mark preach. That was the first time for me to hear him. After church we enjoyed a yummy dinner and then opened gifts. We got lots of great things! (Thanks, Charlene and JM)

We didn't get in until almost 2 am on Christmas Morning! We were pretty worn out, but still managed to get up and enjoy the rest of our day. This was one of the best Christmases I have had in a LONG time. We went to each siblings house and got to spend time with each of them. (THe kids are older now and don't want to leave there toys! Which I understand-I use to be the same way!)

Natalie and I surprised Mom and Dad with a Cruise for Christmas! It was one of the biggest surprise that I have EVER pulled off! (I have pix- will have to load those next blog!) I hope they enjoy themselves! I wish I was going with them! I think this is a MUCH deserved trip for the 2 of them. They do more for us than we can ever thank them for! ENJOY yourselves, Mom and Daddy! We LOVE you both!

Jon and I gave each other the Canon Rebel for Christmas. I am IN LOVE. Wow, it takes amazing photos! :) Poor Wiggles is tired of seeing that flash in his eye! He is going to be the most photographed dog, EVER.

Mom and Dad out did there selves of course, and gave me a ton of great stuff! My favorite being the lens for my camera! It makes ALL the difference in the world on taking photos! Thanks, Mom and Dad! You always do to much! We appreciate every bit of it!

Mom got the cutest Christmas gift ever! An adorable little Chi named CHI-CHI! I can't even begin to tell you just how cute he is. I am in LOVE with him.I tried to sneak him in my pocket and bring him home with me. He is a doll. I call him Stewie because he looks just like Stuart Little. HAH. He really is a doll! I am so glad Mom and Dad got another dog. I think they realized how much company Wiggles was when I was there and when he left I think they were pretty lonely!

Speaking of my BEAST. He is SO mad at me. He got neutered yesterday and still hasn't gotten over me leaving him. HA. He had to spend the night at the Vets last night. I have a feeling he caused some drama. He usually sleeps with Jon and I, so I felt pretty bad for leaving him last night. Interested in seeing if he will sleep all night in his crate now?!?

Well, the hubs should be here soon. I need to get dinner started!

In case I don't update before thursday....

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Facebook

Facebook. Wow. We have a LOVE/HATE relationship with one another. I loved Facebook when it started out for people in college who could reconnect with their high school friends. It is always so fun to see someone on Facebook who you haven't seen since you graduated.

Then it allowed everyone to be on it. I can honestly say that there are some days that I just want to delete my account and be done with it. People can be SO mean and use it as a tool to get back at someone.

It has happened to me a few times. (by the same people..) I can't tell you how childish it is. Especially, when it is someone who is extremely close to me.

I wish I didn't wear my heart on my sleeve and let my feelings get hurt so easily. I've always been the sensitive one in the family who cries at the drop of a hat, and I think makes me an easy target at times.

But this time, I'm not letting this get the best of me. I am tired of worrying about what happened today. Because, what happened was STUPID and didn't even make sense. And I honestly didn't do anything to deserve what happened. SO silly.

I am going to stop focusing on facebook so much and use that time to focus on the Baby that is in the Manger. Because nothing else is worth my time right now. I wish that everyone could get that....

Merry CHRISTmas everyone

Heartbroken...

Tonight I sit here with my heart broken into a million pieces. So many questions we will never have answers to. How could someone do something so heartless?

Early this morning Heaven got a special angel. Courtney went to be home with her Mom and Jesus.

You may remember an earlier post I had about Sara Stevenson. Well, Courtney was the daughter of Sara. She also has the beautiful little Grace that I babysit when Mrs. Stevenson was to sick to take care of her.

Courtney and I really reconnected as I saw her a lot while babysitting Grace. We went to youth group together and then lost contact when we graduated, but over that summer I began to know Courtney and we became Facebook buddies. I had just chatted last week with her about what kind of camera she was getting so that she could start up her photography business she was so excited about.

Courtney was involved in a horrible crime. She was shot at her home last night by her ex-fiance. I can not imagine what good it has done to kill her. He took away a MOTHER to a beautiful little girl over something that was so petty. Poor Grace will now grow up dreading the holidays because her Mom was killed a week before. My heart breaks for the Stevensons.

I know that Courtney is in Heaven seeing her Mom again, what a blessings. But, there are so many here who just don't understand why this had to happen.

To Courtney, I will always remember you. I am so sorry that something so heartless happened to such a sweet, sweet person. You will always hold a special place in my heart. And Grace. Well, Amazing Grace will always be reminded what a wonderful mom she had. Until I see you again...

Hebrews 13:2

Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it..."

Tonight, Christmas came a little early for me. I am home with my parents through the Holidays. :) So they invited me to go with them to the adult Christmas party at Lakeview UMC. I feel old going to an "adult" dinner. HA.

But anyways, we were getting ready to walk in the doors at church and I look over to my right and there sat a homeless man. I couldn't help but just stand there, kinda shocked to see him to be honest. The doors were locked to the church, because we were a bit early.

Of course, my first thought was so judgmental. What we HE doing there? WHY was he there? Was he going to hurt us? I didn't give him the benefit of the doubt..

My dad began to talk to the homeless man, whose name was George. George had been traveling from Centerpoint and trying to get to his brother in Gainesville. He had been on the streets since Friday.

He told my dad that he was extremely tired and hungry. He had been sleeping under the interstates and on the side of the road for the past few days. With hardly anything to eat.

My dad invited him in and to sit and have dinner with us.

My dad asked him if he would like him to take him to the Greyhound Bus station and buy him a ticket to Gainesville. I wasn't really surprised because my Dad would give the shirt off his back to anyone.

But, I couldn't help but think of how odd it was that George was there. I couldn't help but think it was a test from God to see how we, as a Church, would react to him. My amazing father didn't miss a beat. He didn't think twice about it. George took Dad up on the offer and off they went.

Still in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but freak out that my Dad was in the car ALONE with a strange man we had never met. I kept looking at my watch and thinking to myself, what if he tries to hurt my Dad.

About an hour or so later, my Dad came back in. I was very relieved to see him. I asked him a lot of questions on the way home. The first being, "WERE YOU NERVOUS AT ALL?" And Dad replied, "No, not at all." He just kept saying, he couldn't let him get back on his bike and ride and ride. He probably would have never made it there.

I have to thank my Dad over and over again for what I saw tonight. Dad didn't hesitate for a second. He didn't think twice.

Here, I have been so concerned about Christmas gifts, and my own petty problems. And then there is George. Who was living on the side of the road. Hungry, cold, and alone. It definitely reminds me to COUNT my BLESSINGS on a daily basis.

So, thank you, Daddy for being such an example of Christ tonight. What you did tonight, will forever be in my heart. I love you...

Blessings and Peace,

Thanksgiving Recap

Jon and I are finally getting settled back in Madison. We were gone over a week, so I have LOTS of laundry to catch back up on. YUCK. :)

We had a great Thanksgiving week. Mom and I began cooking on Tuesday morning. I love watching her cook and learning new secrets from her. :) We got everything made on Tuesday and that way all we had to do was throw them in the oven and cook them. :)

Jon and I had a wonderful lunch at his Moms house. Everything was great. Jon loved the Mac and Cheese so much, that I am going to attempt to make it tonight. Should be interesting. :)

After we had lunch with his Mom, we scooted back to My parents because we had a Baby Shower planned for Rachel. (Just family.) She got LOTS of cute PINK things. I can't wait to meet Miss Blakely for the first time. Not much longer now! :)

It was great having everyone around for Thanksgiving. There was one person who was missing and I missed him greatly. Pat, I can't even begin to tell you how much you were missed. I can't wait to see you. 26 more days!

After everyone left Mom, Kelley, and I began to go through the ads and plan out our day of shopping. We invited Kelley to go with us. She was a good sport considering she had to be at work at 3:30 pm- AT LEAST 11:30 pm that same night. We got up and headed to Target around 5 am. BUT, the line was so long to get in, we just left. It was WAY to cold to wait in that line. There was nothing we needed badly enough to stand in it! haha. We decided to head to the Summit and check out Belk and a few other stores. We went to Belk and racked up. I got some really cute boots that were only $20! Mom got Pat's Christmas gift in there as well. We decided to take a break and eat at Cracker Barrel for a quick Breakfast. It was yummy.

We then headed back to the Summit to finish up our shopping. As always, we got lots of great deals. And, we have a new place to shop the day after Thanksgiving. NO one was there! It was great.

We went back to Moms and slept until the IRON BOWL came on. We watched for a bit and then decided that Bama was making us to nervous so we left! We took Kelley to work and then we went to Target. BUT, it seemed like every where we were going the game was following us! So, we decided to go back home and finish watching the game. I can tell you that I was FREAKING out. I even went upstairs and took a bath because I didn't want to see the ending. Jon watched the game with a friend and kept texting me. He was SOOOOOO annoying. I hate dealing with him on Iron Bowls. HAHAHA. :) BUT, we all knew what happened in the end. CHAMPIONS ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO WIN!!!!! ROLL TIDE! ;)

Anyways, I have some laundry that I need to finish up on!

Have a great week and ROLL TIDE ROLL! Lets kick some FLORIDA TAIL!