Happy Birthday, America!!

I love July 4th....it's like EVERYONE'S birthday. So in honor of us (and because any day off work is a good excuse to party) I had a cookout. Everyone was here. And I have pics now, so you can all see who my friends are.

Tonight, John and I to see Wall-E and then the fireworks.

Well, I'm off to pack for my vacation. Ciao!!!

VACATION!!!!

I leave in two days for vacation!! I am meeting my family up in the Washington, DC, area (where my cousin Marilyn lives) on Sunday. WOOT!! Everyone will be there, except David. He is flying in on Thursday. I am sooo excited to see everyone again...especially Cynthia. She is getting soo big and sooo cute these days!! Here are some pictures from her eight month photo shoot. You can also check out a super cute video that Shannon posted on her blog HERE.

And here are some pictures of her:

Something Old, Something New

So a while back, Ben and Tiffany (neighbors) got a new couch and love seat. Since our apartments are furnished, they brought their couch over to my place. The landlord let me keep it for a while, until he needed it again. Well, it was really nice to have a "foster" couch....but I had to give it up. It was a sad time....we were all attached to the little booger. Sooo....my friend Stephanie and her husband, Hugh, gave me a couch (they got some "new" furniture from his parents and didn't need this one anymore). It's a pretty nice couch, very comfortable, but a little ragged on the seat. So, I got a fitted sheet to cover the treadbare spots and VOILA....problem solved. The colors even kinda go with my other one. Nice, huh??
SO my walls have been nekked since I've moved here, and my friends have been "complaining" about it. So tonight, Tiffany and I were at Old Time Pottery and I decided to see if I could find anything. I ended up getting a really cool mirror thing and another wall sconce. They are sooo awesome!! I still need more stuff, but these are definately a good start!
ALSO I made an afghan for my friend - and adopted sister - for her college graduation. It's really cool.
Here are some pictures.....

Shout out to Silvia

My friend Silvia said that I didn't give her enough recognition on my 6 month re-cap of things. Sorry, Silvia!!

You can check out Silvia's blog HERE it's really cool!!!

Go Celtics!!

So what have I been up to lately? Well I'll tell you...there have been lots of things going on. One of the most interesting developments is my new-found "love" of basketball. My friend John and I have been watching the NBA finals (he is a Celtics fan) and I've discovered that it is a pretty fun thing to do, too. I think it's because the game is so fast-moving as compared to other sports.....or maybe it's because the Celtics are green and green is my favorite color. Hmmm...... Anyways, I'm even learning some of the rules of the game. I even have a favorite player -- Kendrick Perkins #43. Yeah he's like 6'11 and totally DOMINATES the court...well, when he's not being fouled by the other team, that is. I also like Ray Allen. He exudes this amazing amount of confidence and almost all of his shots go in. Soooo....there's my bit about basketball.

On Thursday, I had a huge tailgate party to kick off the first game of the playoffs. It was SWEET!!! I grilled chicken and burgers and hotdogs. Tiffany made pasta salad, too. There were a whole bunch of people there, and we had such a good time!! One of my co-workers, Alan, and his wife, Michelle, came and brought their two little boys...but I can't remember their names right now for some reason, but they were SOOOO cute!!!

So what else has been going on? Well I've been keeping pretty busy. John and Ben and Tiffany and I hang out a lot. We went to see Iron Man a couple of weeks ago, and that was really fun.

Work is going ok. It's not the best job in the world, but it's better than not having a job at all, and besides that it's where the Lord wants me to be right now....so I'm working on contentment.

Well, it's time for me to get to work. Have a great day. I'll try and to better about getting things updated here.

Not Dead

Hi, Everyone. I'm not dead, but I have been insanely busy.

Work is going ok....
Church is going well.....
I went bowling last night and I didn't do very well, but we all had fun.....

Buh-bye

Recap

Wow!! I was just thinking (yes, it was painful) today about how it's Cynthia's six month birthday tomorrow, as well and Shannon and Josh's three year anniversary. One thing led to another (as it always does in these cases!) and I realized it's been like SIX MONTHS (or a little more) since I've moved away from Wisconsin. WOW!! Time really does fly by so quickly!!!

So...I thought I'd just recap what's been going on....

September/October - Move to Virginia
October - Cynthia was born;
November - Thanksgiving...time at Marilyn and Karl's and time with Krystina's Family
December - Job layoff; Dad's Heart Attack; Mark and Krystina's wedding; Dad's Heart Surgery
January - Dad's recovery; Return to VA and move to SC
February - Settling into SC, job hunt; Joined Morningside Baptist Church...love it!!
March - Stephanie and Hugh's wedding; GOT A JOB!!!
April - Nothing yet....it's only April 1 right now :o)

Wow -- that's a pretty full six months(ish), huh??

It's been neat to see how the Lord has worked things out for me. Things were so tough for a while, when I was in Virginia. The Lord taught me SOOO much about depending on Him and trusting Him to meet my needs...emotionally and spiritually, mostly.

Jer. 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." As I was looking up this verse online to get the exact verbiage, I came across a devotional that was talking about the context of this verse, and how it's in the middle of the Lord proclaiming judgement. It is SOO comforting to know that we serve a loving Heavenly Father who knows exactly what He wants for us and how to go about accomplishing His perfect will for our lives, even though it's hard and it hurts sometimes. I think that is what the Lord has really been teaching me the past six months or so. Growing pains are a "necessary evil" so to speak. When the Lord stretches our faith, it hurts. BUT we know that He is always there for us, and we know that we can trust Him...even though what is happening doesn't make any sense to us whatsoever.


I am REALLY loving it here in Greenville....I've actually been wanting to move back here since I graduated college. Church is going really well, and I've made some GREAT new friends!! Ben and Tiffany are my neighbors, and then there is their friend John and his brother Pat and another guy named Jeremy. The group of us have started having Sunday dinners together....it's a blast!! That is one thing that I have missed. Sunday dinners are a big part of family life at home. It's so nice to have such fun neighbors!

My apartment is still really great....I'm getting even more settled in here. I'm definitely putting down roots, and I'm not planning to move any time soon.

Well...that's about it for the update. My brain is pretty fried....it's bedtime. Ya'll have a great night!!