Kicking Off Fall

John and I decided to have a fun night of doing fall stuff. Later this afternoon we drove to our land and drove around to look at different brick. We finally came to an agreement on what we like. Later, we ran by the store to pick up a few items for supper. We also got pumpkins for us to carve and litte pumpkins for our kitchen table. While John made beef stew, I made my first pie. They both turned out very yummy! While dinner was cooking, we carved our pumpkins. We thought they turned out pretty good! We're topping off the night with a football movie "Facing The Giants".

A Day Full

We started our day off right on Saturday morning with breakfast with Sam and Holly. They came over and brought a waffle maker. We had homemade waffles, bacon, eggs, and biscuits, and of course coffee. Afterwards John and I headed to Pleasant View to visit our land, then to a benefit for Christian Wilson. He is a Junior at Pleasant View Christian School who is diagnosed with Lukemia. It was a great turn out and I think they made a lot of money for the family. Please keep them in your prayers. Afterwards, we went to my Grandparents house to visit. It was my Grandaddy's birthday. He turned 91! What an amazing man! We love him so much and we are very thankful that he is still here with us enjoying his life. He decided that he wanted us to drive out to show them our land and house. So we did and we had a big time with them. They just loved doing that with us. Later, John and I headed to my Aunt Beth's house for a "Fall Fest" for my cousin Cameron's birthday. I can't believe he is turning 17 on Tuesday! We really enjoyed being with the family. It was a wonderful visit. Later, we went back to the benefit for Christian Wilson for a concert. It was a bit chili, but we enjoyed being with our friends and family. Saturday was definatly a busy day but we really enjoyed every single moment that we had together with each other, family, and friends. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

SOLD!

John and I drove by our land Saturday morning to see it again. When we pulled up we noticed something that made us feel so good. A sold sign was on our property! We literally jumped up and down in the street for a good while. Then we proceeded to take many pictures of the occasion. After the excitement and such was complete we stood where our house will soon be built and prayed over the land and dedicated it to Him. It was a really touching moment for us to share together. Thank you, God for blessing us, and for making this possible!

All Ready To Go

I got a great message today saying that everything for our house is signed and ready to go! Our closing date is April 3!! We are finished with contracts and now all we have to do is sit back and watch it all happen. And I suppose make a lot of other desicions along the way! That's where this picture comes to play! We have a great eat in kitchen with plenty of room for a 6person rectangle table. We really like this one. What do you think?

A teacher brought exciting news to my attention today. He said that we were 1/4 way through the year and over half finished with the semester. Pomp and Circumstance flew in my head and a huge smile came on my face. Both John and I are very excited about my graduation! I'm already thinking of a graduation party at our new house, as well as a birthday party for me, and a few other things! But, no, we haven't been planning that far ahead...

How Did It Go?

The answer is great! God is so good isn't He! We prayed for a great amount of peace last night and we felt everyone else's prayers too. Once we woke up, we felt so good about all of this. We met with the contractor today about our offer. We are pleased to say that it went very well and we are going forward with it. Once we sign few more things (never ending it seems!) we will be breaking ground! So look out everybody, because we'll be asking a lot of opinions on interior colors, brick, floors, etc. before we know it! Thank you for all of your prayers last night! God is so good!

A Lot of Praying and A Lot of Signing

John and I have been researching a lot of ideas for our future home. Our rent is up in May so, being the anal planner that we are, have been doing a lot of thinking and searching. We are blessed to have John's mom help us along the way. She has been in the real estate business for many years and she knows her stuff. So after months of searching, looking, and most importantly, praying, we came to a conclusion! We found a lot in a new subdivision and a house plan perfect for us, with plenty of room to grow! We have been on the phone for the past few days with banks, the contractor and such and finally tonight we got to do what we've been waiting for. Both of our parents came over to share inour excitement. I made chicken and rice casserole, peas, and cherry crunch dessert (this time made correctly thanks to Holly!) We all six sat down in the living room floor and read everyword of the contract. Andrea did a really great job helping us and everyone else understand. After about an hour of going over every detail and signing a lot of different things, we finally got to sign our contract! This will be given to our contractor tomorrow. If anyone knows me or John, you know we are picky. So we made several special requests that we are hoping will pass with or amazing contractor. We ask you tonight to pray really hard about our contract and that our contractor will accept what we are asking him and our house.

Since We've Been Back

While we were gone we made some short term goals for us. One of them was to not stick in a routine of things every night. So Sunday night on our way to Walmart, we decided to hit Petsmart up for some good research on dogs. We are currently on a dog kick and we're enjoying trying to figure out which kind we want to have once we get a house..in addition to Buddy (no worries mom!) After our Petsmart trip we were still undecided. Once we got home we decided to try out a new dessert- Cherry Crunch. It wasn't what I was thinking it was supposed to be, but it was very good! We enjoyed it while we watched a movie that our friends Sam and Holly let us borrow!

Now it's time for me to brag a bit if you don't mind. Last night John snuck away to Walmart. (We go there a lot it seems) When he got home I was on strict lock down in the laundry room. He had bought some amazing bubble bath and other bath products for me and a movie. He "drew" me a bath and told me to go relax. While I was relaxing he cleaned the whole house, and cleaned up after dinner. After I was finished relaxing/studying, we watched the movie he bought me. And I didn't have to worry about anything! This week is mid-term week for me so the big surprise was just perfect to help me relax! I am so thankful to have such an amazing husband.

We have a new addition to our kitchen. A friend of John's mom gave us a pink indoor plant. It sits so perfect in our kitchen window! Thank you so much!

Camping

Last weekend John decided we were in much need of a mini vacation away from the world. So we went camping at a beautiful place in Crossville. We had a wonderful time. We enjoyed being with each other without work, school, and distractions. On the trip we first of all, relaxed, roasted marshmellows...alot, took a paddle boat for a cruise, listened to a bluegrass band of men and women all over the age of 70, and most of all enjoyed being together. We thought our trip was so helpful for both of us. Once we got home we experienced something really cool. You know how when you're gone for a few days then you get back and realize that there really is no place like home? Well, we both felt that way which was cool for us since this is our new home with just the two of us. Being married is just so much fun. We are so thankful that we had an oppertunity to spend time together to help make our marriage even better! Enjoy the pictures!

No Bake Favorites

Today I decided to sleep in a little so that I could catch up on some much needed rest. This way, I would hit this week hard and strong. After I woke up to such a beautiful day I thought it would also be relaxing to do a little shopping. We still have some gift cards left over from wedding gifts. So Jenny and I went to CoolSprings. We got a lot accomplished! Both of us had lists and we got everything we needed! I found some Wilton cookie sheets for 9.99 for a set of three! I thought that was a great deal considering all the otherswere 19.99 for one. I can't wait to use my new cookie sheets! I also got an amazing three wick pillar candle and beautiful thing to put it on. I put it on our coffee table, it looks so great! It's orange so it brings a bit of fall to our living room! It looks great with my fall Country Living magazine.

On our way home, I decided that I would do something special for John. Bow season started yesterday and he's been sad that he hasn't had a chance to hunt. So, I picked up a few items from the store for chili and no bake cookies. John isn't much of a sweets person, actually, he really doesn't like anything sweet at all. But, he likes nobake cookies. I can't wait till he get home to see what he gets to have for dinner!! His favorite chili and his favorite cookie!! May I boast? I know I'm good!

Chicken And Rice

Today was a very relaxing day with my parents and sister. April and I found some great buys at the yardsales today. Afterwards we ate lunch at moms and enjoyed some good "porch time". It was nice for me to spend time with my dog, Buddy and with my family too of course! I couldn't help but capture a few of these adorable moments of Adam. He is growing so fast!

Tonight, I am making a yummy Chicken and Rice Casserole. This was my favorite thing that my mom would always make. I would be a very impatient daughter while she was cooking it. It takes forever to cook the chicken! At least I always thought it did when I had a rumbling stomach. In my last week at home mom and I made her casserole together. It was so much fun. I think that my dad just stood there and took it all in. That is something I will always remember and think about everytime I make this yummy meal!

Chicken & Rice Casserole:

1/2 cup butter, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 cup minute rice, 1 cup water, 2 cups cooked chicken breast.

Boil in water 4 or 5 boneless skinless chicken breast until done. You can tell when they are done if you can cut one open and it is not pink inside. Remove chicken from water and cut into small peices. Throw the water away.

Melt butter, add soups, rice, water, and cooked chicken. Mix all together in a large bowl. Put in greased casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Date Night

John got to enjoy a beautiful day of golf yesterday. I like it when he can enjoy his days off with doing something fun. I asked him if we could have a date night after I got off work. I was ready for a night out! So after work, he was still golfing so I enjoyed getting all dolled up just for him! He got home shortly after I finished getting myself ready as well as bathing Molly. (Man, is she clean!) We ate at Outback Steakhouse and concluded our night at Walmart. When we were in Walmart John kind of laughed and said "Wow, it's really sad when our date night consists of being excited about walking around in Walmart." And we were excited! We didn't have much inparticular we wanted to get. We just wanted to look at fall stuff for me and hunting stuff for him. We enjoyed both! We ended up buying a tent, a pupkin pie candle, lightbulbs, and gum. Successful trip, I think!! I was very excited about my candle. I have been on a high end search for the perfect smelling "fall candle". I'm very glad that I found it!

Today, John is back to work and I get to go yard saling with April and Mom!!

A Beginning

Today I began my first piano lesson of the year! My student took a break for the summer and we started back today! I think it is so amazing how much the mind stores away. She seemed to recall everything that she learned. I told her she wasn't rusty at all! What a great student!

Well, it's that time of year again, mums and pumkins are everywhere! Our flowers are looking so great that I'm having some mixed emotions about changing out our flowers just yet. I'll probably wait until the first of October that way the pumpkins can last us. This picture is from last year in my parents kitchen. I swear we were in that floor for several hours in complete silence and concentration! But the results were pretty great. Hopefully we can do the same this year too.

Appeteasers

Molly got a treat from her granmama Maholland yesterday. She played with them all night long! They are baby toys filled with catnip. There's a weiny dog and a sardine. Too cute!

Well, I survived another Thursday! Thursday's are tough for me, but I made it through today just fine! Although, thinking about it now, 6:00 this morning seems so far away! I plan on studying like crazy tonight and getting ahead on some homework, that way I can enjoy my weekend with John!

Yummy Colors

Tonight we made salads for dinner. We thought we got really creative and wanted to share how colorful yummy food could be! I think my yellow fiestaware makes it even more fun!

We are doing very good here at the Maholland home. We are having a restful night with not too much to do around the house. Molly is definatly bringing us new responsibilities. She keeps us on our toes for sure! I think she is enjoying her new home!

May I?

School is going into it's fourth week for me which means one thing-exams. They all always seem to fall on the same week, and for me, it is this week. I think that John realized how stressed I was becoming because today when I came in from work the house was spotless. The floors were mopped, the laundry and dishes were finished, the sheets were washed, the floors were vacuumed, and the meat was thawed ready to cook for dinner. I was so amazed! Everything was perfect, so all I had to do was eat dinner and study. After dinner, we, including Molly, sat on the couch for a little family picture. Molly was asleep of course, but we couldn't stand not capturing such a cute moment of her on John's shoulder. Thank you so much, John for thinking about me and for making my day so special! I love you.

Molly's Trip To PetsMart

Today Holly, Emily, and I headed to PetsMart to get Molly a few things. Emily loved Molly so much. She held her so good in the car and helped us pick out a collar and toys in the store! We decided on a special pink kitten collar with a bell on it and some little colorful balls with bells

inside of them.

On our way home Molly fell asleep. She was done with the whole experience. Once we got home I was so excited to see how Molly likes her new toys. Obviously, by the picture, she was falling asleep sitting up...not so entertained!

Meet Molly!

This is Molly Grace Maholland! We got her today to add to our family. She is definately new entertainment for me and John. We didn't take a lot of pictures tonight because it's late. We went to Andrew's, John's brother, football game tonight. It was alot of fun! Tomorrow, Molly and I are going to Pet's Mart with her "aunt" Holly and Emily. We need to hook this kitten up with some girlie things! And then I am supposed to get some studying done later!

Happy Birthday Holly

September sure is full of birthdays isn't it! For Holly's birthday we went to Shogun with her, Sam, and the Barrios'. Afterwards we had cake at their apartment. It was a lot of fun and a really good time to spend with friends! Happy birthday Holly!

Mellow

Nothing much is happening at the Maholland home tonight. I just got finished mixing together some chili in the crockpot for dinner. Today, chili actually sounded good! It was such a beautiful fall day today, so making chili just felt right! That's one discovered difference between John and myself. I like chili only when it's cold outside, and he can eat chili in the middle of summer. I don't get that one at all.

School is nearing it's stress point for me. John has been working and apparently I've learned that I don't like to do homework when he is gone. I have tried very hard to break this tonight! I'm reading a lot and covering a lot of homework tonight to break this new developing habit.

Happy Birthday Luke and Dad!

Yesterday was my dad and brother-in-law's birthday! Tonight we celebrated Luke's birthday. Andrea had the kids make tie-tied cupcakes. When I say kids I mean me and my cousin-in-law DeAnna of course had a part in it as well. We couldn't help ourselves! It was lots of fun and the birthday boy had a big time!

Today was such a wonderful day! John and I got to cook and eat breakfast together. We don't get to do this often to each time is truly cherished. We worked together and clean our house together all afternoon. We actually had a great time cleaning together.

Tomorrow we are going to a new church! We are praying very hard about where God wants our family to serve. We are really looking forward to it!