Camping

John and I decided to head out to go camping after church on Sunday. We both felt like we needed to get away for a while. After what seemed like a million stops, we finally hit the road to one of our usual camping spots. Heidi came too of course. I must say, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. We got to our beautiful site, right by the water, about 4. We set up the camper in record time! We both really wanted to go fishing; it was such a beautiful day, that we couldn't resist. We couldn't wait to see what Heidi would do with the water. After several different locations of fishing, we finally found a good spot. I caught three fish, and John caught one. John ate them for dinner that night, and I had pork chops! I don't eat fish, blegh! Heidi's first experience with water was adorable. She slowly walked up to it, sniffed, then she decided to walk right in. She loved it! We were stunned to say the least. She was so wonderful our whole trip. She loved spending all of that time with us. I definatly can't wait to have her with us all the time so she can get on a good schedule, and so she can sleep with us. She loved cuddling with us. And in the morning she would wake me up with a little "hack" as in a cough right in my face. John found this amusing. We think the fire smoke got to her a bit! ha! The next day, we lazied around, went for a hike to our tree that I carved before we were even engaged, and fished some more. We had more luck with fish. Heidi enjoyed her first enounter with a fish; I don't believe she is scared of anything. Later, we went to dinner with John's grandparents at a wonderful buffet. Our mini family vacation was so wonderful. But, we were very ready to be home in our clean home, which is quite array right now with things being put in boxes. Our house was really worked on while we were gone! We were absolutly stunned at all that we saw today when they stopped by! All they lack: hardwood, and carpet. We got a little emotional today seeing it all coming together. We are continually thanking God for blessing us beyond what we deserve or even ask for. We are for thankful of His unconditional love.

We Are Almost There

Our house is so close to being finished! The landscaping is finished, (they planted us a pink rose bush! they sure know their clients!) cabinets are delivered and being installed this weekend, and all of the floors are down in the kitchen and bathrooms. The dark floors in the kitchen really compliment my yellow kitchen I think. We are hoping to move in next weekend maybe? All we lack are hardwood floors and lights. That's it! We just can't believe it! Heidi and I visited today to take some pictures. Afterwards we went to the local stores and got some boxes and yard saled for a while. We are going to start packing tomorrow! We may be in there sooner than we think!

The Photo Shoot

Last week Holly's sister, Regina came over to take some pictures of me for my recital advertisements. She is an absolutly phenomenal photographer to say the least! Here is just one of her amazing shots she got! Please visit her site to see some more!!
http://www.catchaglimpsephotography.com/blog/
Thanks so much Regina! You are truly talented and amazing!

I Did It Mom!

Thank you all so much for praying for me this morning! I have definatly felt the prayers all week! John came home the other day and surprised me with buttercups. And yesterday, he cleaned the whole house and did laundry because he didn't want me to have to worry about it today! Needless to say, he has been such a sweetheart this week! Our friends, Sam and Holly recently moved into a townhome. John and I had a lot of our plate to help them move, so we wanted to cook them dinner the other night. We grilled burgers for them. They loved playing with Heidi. It was a great relaxing night for all of us.

Last night I was a bit uptight and kind of edgy. John was so wonderful helping me relax and calm down. I went to sleep very early and woke up at 7. We had egg sandwiches for breakfast and a very relaxing morning. I didn't have a stitch of nerves all morning! I got to school early and warmed up with my amazing accompianist! Finally, it was that time to do my hearing. It was done perfectly. I didn't have any nerve problems or mess up one bit! I was so thrilled! The voice staff seemed to really enjoy my hearing! Thank you again to all that took time to pray for me!

Calling All Bloggers

I would really like to ask each of you to say a prayer for me this week leading up to 10:00 am on Thursday. That is when my Senior Hearing is. I will be performing about half of my program planned for my Senior Recital and the voice faculty will determine if I am ready to do my recital scheduled in late March. The fact is, I know I am ready and that I can do it, but there is just so much stress that comes along with it. I know I can do it, I know I can. But, my nerves have got the best of me recently. That's where you guys come in! Please, please pray for my strength, confidence, and peace over the next four days, and especially on Thursday. This is something that I have worked so extremely hard for. Well, my whole college career. And now it's here, and it's extremely important. I don't graduate if I don't pass this hearing-see the pressure now? Thank you bloggers so much for your prayers, love, and support.
I know this picture may look really random. I just ran upon it and it really made me stop and thank God so much for all that He has blessed John and I with with our new home. There is a house there now! wow! "With God, all things are possible."

Girls Night

Last night Holly, Mallory, Regina, and I enjoyed a night out with the girls. We ate at Panera bread before the concert. We went to the Selah concert in Nashville. It was a benefit concert for the Hope Clinic for Women. Some of you may know the blog "Bring The Rain", there is a link on our side bar for it. It is the story of one of a woman who had a baby named Audrey Caroline and she only lived for only 2 hours. I encourage you to read Audrey's story. It's amazing. Anyways, one of the singers of Selahs wife is the mother of Audrey Caroline. And I have grown quite fond of following her story and praying for her and other mothers going through this. She was supposed to be there last night, and I really wanted to meet her and get a piture with her. So once us girls got there and setteled just three rows from the stage, Angie walked into the sanctuary. I was so excited. Finally, Holly and I worked up enough nerve to go up to her. (She was just across the isle from us) As soon as we got to her, I mean literally 1 foot from her, they dimmed the lights and welcomed Selah to the stage. So Holly and I rushed over back to our seats with no hello or no picture. The concert began and I was absolutly incredible to say the least! All three of them have the most amazing voices, not to mention, they are the most humble people. In their first set, they sang hymns and a tribute to Audrey Caroline. To say the least, there wasn't a dry eye in the whole place. Angie and her husband talked about their story and the Hope Clinic for Women. It was great! Once intermission got here, everyone decided they wanted to meet Angie, so we missed talking to her again. After the concert Mallory bought an awesome cd package of their music and wanted to get it autographed by them. We got to meet all three of the singers. They were all so nice! Holly decided to let Angie's husband know that I absolutly loved her! I told him that I was dissapointed that I couldn't get a picture with her but I really enjoyed the concert. He laughed and said that he hears that every concert. It was such a great night of worship with the girls filled with absolutly amazing music.

A Trip To The Vet

Today was our first visit to the vet. Heidi was quite the social butterfly to everyone there. She got checked for several things and everything looks great! They weighed her and she is a whole 3 pounds! She got a shot too. We were nervous that she wouldn't like it. Surpisingly, she just sat there and never made a peep. What a great dog! Afterwards we treated her and took her to our new house to walk in the neighborhood. It is looking so great! The shutters are almost all on and they were finishining the instalation of the garage door today. Our painter was sick today but he will start painting tomorrw. Our contractor told us it will be ready in 4 weeks. That's great! We are praying for 3 because we will both be off and I will be out of school for spring break for well over a week. It would be perfect if we could settle in then. After we took her for a walk we got some food and had a picnic at the park. She loves it outside! It was such perfect weather. Afterwards, we got her a special bone for being such a good girl today! She loves it! (Aunt Holly, Heidi loves her new bow!)

Our First Full Day

We had a wonderful first full day with Heidi today. We picked her up after church and headed to John's grandparents for a bite to eat. It was delicious as always and everyone just loved Heidi. Mom's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated it with dessert today. I made her birthday cake and we enjoyed that and everyone's company. Adam and Bryce both could not get enough of Heidi. They just love her. The boys headed to the house while the old hen's stayed for some good conversation. Jenny and her mom, Suz came over to visit and to meet Heidi. Heidi was really out of it after visiting with all of our families today. We all really enjoyed the visit together. Once we got home we decided that Sunday's will be bath days for Heidi. So we gave Heidi her first bath. She did really good while we bathed her and blew her hair dry.She smells so good and fluffy now!
Afterwards we snuggled up with her.

Meet Heidi

We would like for everyone to meet the new addition to our family. Heidi Maholland. She is a blonde maltipoo. John made an amazing egg and bacon breakfast this morning. At breakfast we were discussing what we wanted to do today. I mentioned to him that we should just go to Clarksville and flyby the seat of our pants. Then we got on the subject of how we really wanted to see an actual maltipoo in person (we all see where this is going) and see what their manerisms are like and so on. So we called a breeder in Mount Juliet and asked a ton of questions including directions to her home. We ate breakfast, got ready, and headed that way. It was a long drive, so on the way we discussed what would happen if we really like this dog. I was standing my ground of not getting my hopes up, john on the other hand was falling too fast. He was quiet for a while and then mentioned, well what if we like her they could hold her for us for a few weeks...or...she could sleep at mom and dads and we can handle her during the day. I told him that sounded like a great idea, but we had to ask. So, ofcourse, they were all for it. By this point of decision, we had made it to where we needed to be. We walk in to a very beautiful home I may add and we see 5 puppies (more like puffs of fur) standing at a babygate in the sweet ladis kitchen. It went like this...John and I looked at each other wide eyed grinning from ear to ear and we imediatly sat on her floor and knew right away which one was going to be our Heidi dog. We loved her from the start. We both knew immediatly we wanted her. So we played, chatted, and of course got directions to PetsMart. So we got our sweet little girl and headed off to PetsMart where we spent the next 2 most fun hours of our life. We have literally been talking about and looking forward to the first PetsMart visit for the last 9 months. And it was finally time for the supplies, collar, food, and of course clothes! We had an absolute blast in there together! Heidi was a hearthrob for many of the customers, and a few of the bigger dogs too. We got a lot of information on many things like food, harnesses,shots and all of that good stuff. It was just too much fun! We finally headed home with a few stops to show her off to my parents and then later dropped her off at his. We had a game night at a friends house tonight. It was so much fun! We played games and had great food.

How About A House Update

It's been a while since you've got any picture updates. We have a concrete sidewalk and driveway now. It is so beautiful. I never knew concrete could be so pretty! The sidewalk curves in the front. It's really unique! We absolutly love it! We met to pick out paint yesterday but being the great, difficult, home builders that we are, we didn't want any that we saw. So that will come later in the week for us. The trim is in the process of being put up and next week they will start painting and then cabinets, floors, and appliances! Our contractor said that the house will be finished in 4weeks, but or closing date is in 6 weeks so they are going to slow down a little so it's done right on time! I love how prompt they are! John and I are so ready to be in our new home. It's crazy how time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were flipping out because our lot had a "SOLD" sign on it, and now look at it! Wow! So, to say the least, March is going to be INSANE with packing, senior hearing, senior recital, and moving. Not to mention my classes, hello? We are very excited about all of it! Remember us in your prayers so that we may have patience during all of this!

We were very entertained by the votes and comments from all of you about our dog! It was a close vote between a few which kept it intense! We liked that! Now, we have made our choice for our "Heidi dog" we like to call her. Drum roll......Maltipoo! We absolutly can not wait! I told John the DAY our home is ours we are going immediatly to the breeder to get our Heidi dog! And then straight to PetsMart of course to get her the hook up on some awesome things! She's not even going to know she's a dog. And John completely agrees for the immediate purchase of our great Heidi dog. (mom, we just can't wait any longer!) So now, we have several details on different breeders, but we want to know if you bloggers have heard of a great Maltipoo breeder? Thanks again for all who voted!

My Valentine

We celebrated our first valentines day married yesterday. For Valentines day I got John a fondue chocolate set and yummy stuff to dip in it. He got me tulips which are by far one of the happiest flowers ever, and valentines towels. I was so excited to get tulips, and obviously John knows my obsession with having themed towels so I was just thrilled! John was really excited about his gifts too. I got him a whole pineapple because he loves cutting them. I didn't know this until last time I got one and cut it myself. Along with the gifts, I got to choose anywhere I wanted to eat for the evening. Considering my crazy craving for crab legs over the past few weeks I chose Red Lobster. It was so delicious. The wait wasn't too bad either! I got 1 1/2 pounds of crab legs, salad, and abaked potato. John got cajun shrimp pasta alfredo and a salad. And of course we had the yummy biscuits. Afterwards, we had Starbucks, chocolate fondu, and a movie. It was a perfect night together.

A Special Thanks

John and I thank you all so much for lifting my mother up in your prayers this past week. It was definatly a scary rollercoaster for us all. It's really amazing how a family ties together when the person who holds it all together gets sick. She is doing good now. She is at home and back to normal. We are just trying to keep her rested so she doesn't get back to real life too quick. For those of you who did not know, here is what happened. Tuesday night Dad called John in a panic wondering what to do. He told him that mom kept asking the same questions and she wasn't remembering any short term memory. John told him to rush her to the ER and that we would be shortly behind. About 3:30 Wednesday morning we were still there with her. At this point the MRI and a few other tests had shown no sign of a brain tumor or a stroke. Praise God! This lifted our spirits, but the doctors still were scratching there heads. After many nights spent at the hospital and many tests done the doctors sent her home on Friday with a conclusion. They called it Transient Global Amnesia. It's not really triggered by anything, it doesn't hurt anything in your body, and it won't happen again. It wasbasically one of those freak things that our bodies do. That's the way I best describe it. We are so thankful that she is ok and doing so much better. I have never been so scared in my life. It was a long, hard week for all of us and we are just so thankful for everyone's support. Holly and Sam, thank you so much for calling all to pray when we had no answers. We love you both and all of our readers so much.

It's Up To You

Alright readers it's all up to you! Once John and I move into our new home we will be getting a puppy. What we can't decide/agree on is what type! We have researched for months on a breed and have read as much as we can about all of these breeds. And we still can't decide! We definatly want a smaller dog and one that is friendly.
Here are the choices! Have fun voting! It's on our sidebar.

Toy Fox Terrior

PugPomeranianYorkieShorkieMaltipooGolden Retriever

Chihuahua

Dresses

We went to PVCS' homecoming this weekend. Andrew's girlfriend was a senior attendent. She looked so pretty! Also crowning Mr. & Mrs. PVCS was sweet Ellie. Holly and I have Ellie in preschool. She absolutly lights up my day. Isn't she precious?

I got to help my sweet Rebekah and Michaela find the perfect Valentines Dance dress with LaDonna. I must say we had a successful day! We all remained calm and all words used were kind! I call that success! Those sweet girls are really growing up so much! Every dress they tried on today looked absolutely stunning on them. They are so beautiful. It was a real treat to spend all day with them and LaDonna. I will post pictures of them the night of the dance when they are all spiffed up!

Our Weekend

John and I went on a date Friday night. We went to PF Changs for dinner. This is by far our favorite place to eat. We enjoyed dinner so much together. Saturday was so relaxing. We slept in, I made breakfast, and we lounged in the pj's for a while. We cleaned the house and I started on some laundry. John left a little later to go duck hunting. It was his last day to be able to hunt so he had to go! While he was out I enjoyed the time finishing up laundry and homework. Saturday night we enjoyed dinner and games at our friends home. Sunday we went to church and had lunch at John's grandparents. After, we dropped in on my parents for a visit.

I really enjoy our weekends that John and I have together as a family. The weeks always feel so rushed with school and work. I'm sure all can agree with that! This weekend was so relaxing for us to spend together.

House news! We went by yesterday to see a fully bricked home. It was at that moment that it really hit me that this is OUR home. John and I really enjoy spending time over there just he and I. I think those times together are really special for us. It is looking so good! This week they our going to do the siding and also the trim on the inside of the house, then they paint!

Joy

There are many things in life that bring me great joy. It blesses my heart to hear a child talk about Jesus, or hear children singing. It brings joy to me to know my husband loves me more than I'll ever know. A newfound joy for me is cooking. This morning I woke up early to make a chicken rice casserole for John's work party. After a nap on the couch, studying, practice, and a ton of Jon and Kate Plus 8 shows, I decided to make more stuff. I made my first chicken salad and my first cherry cobbler. They both turned out so good and pretty too!

Cherry Cobbler

1 cup Flour

1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Suger

1 Stick of Butter

1 Can of Cherries

Melt butter in pan. Mix flour, suger, mild, and pour into the pan. Add fruit on top.

Cook on 350' for 40-45 minutes

I started school Friday and loved every minute of it! It is going to be a wonderful last semester! I'm going to learn a lot of things and it shouldn't be all that difficult.

On house news...We picked out everything for the interior of our house last week and loved every minute of it! We kept saying "this is so fun this is so fun" The people were all very nice and helpful. Our drywall is up and the fron is almost completely bricked. No pictures of our selections we made for the interior! You will have to wait and see once it is all in our new home!

A Brick House

John and I had lunch with my family today after church. Mom makes the best food I've ever had! She is such an amazing cook! We had roast, turkey, peas, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cornbread, rolls, squash, and my favorite blonde brownies. When we all get together she always makes sure she makes everyones favorite something. The roast was for John, the brownies for me, the sweet potatoes for Larry, the turkey for Josh, and the squash for April. She just loves her kids doesn't she! After lunch, John and Josh headed out to duck hunt. April, Mom, the kids and I went for a visit at my Grandparents. It was such a great visit. They both seemed to be in good spirits today. Later, we headed back to mom's to pick up dad and Larry and headed to the new house. Much to my surprise they had some of the front bricked! I about scared my mother to death because I don't think I've scrame that loud in a while! She did know what was going on until we got closer to the house. I hate that John and Josh missed that excitement but they were quickly called and told! And John and I just can't wait to go over there tomorrow to watch them finish bricking the rest! It looks so much more beautiful than I imagined it would! We are counting down the days this week to Thursday! We get to pick out everything for our new home that day! Then school starts on Friday for me! Yippee for my last semester!

We Have A Roof!

Here is our house in the making as of yesterday! This week we will begin to see plumbing, electric, and possibly windows! We are really ready to get dried in so that weather will not be a problem anymore. We ask that you continue praying for us during this time of our lives.

Happy New Year!

We hope that you and your family had a safe and happy new year! We wish you all the blessings and joy in 2009.

Our New Year was brought in with a quiet night at home with just us two. It was filled with playing the Wii, appetizer foods, movies, and remembering back our past year together. It was a joyful time for us remembering our year of marriage. We couldn't wait for 2008 to get here last year. We kept saying "This is our year" our year of becoming one, becoming our own family. And it was, it was perfect. Now here we are in 2009 in our "first full year of marriage" and we are so excited to see what God has planned for us. We have set several spiritual goals as a couple to pray about and to acheive this year. We can't wait to see how God uses us for his plan this year as we serve Him.