Merry Christmas!

We wanted to show everyone what our house looked like this Christmas! This is a picture of our tree in the living room. I love this tree because it has all of our ornamnets that we've been given over the years. I love putting it up because we get to remember each person and circumstance as we put the ornament on the tree. It is a prelit one Aunt Susanne gave us last year. I used to think the prelit trees were kind of cop-outs, but after having one, I recommend it to everyone! It is awesome. Nobody likes putting lights on the tree, but yet they are extremely important. So you work for hours. This way, we just fluffed the branches, put on the ornaments (the fun part!), and voila! I love our tree. And I guess that's good, because we probably won't take it down until March.These are our window clingons. Byron loves these. So much, in fact, that he wanted more of them this year. He's so cute! And the cool thing is, he got them! Martha, a youth at our church, made her own window clings and gave us some---we put those on the bathroom mirror...so cute! I will take a picture of those later!
This is the tree in the dining room. It is our houses/musical ornaments tree. You see, my Aunt Susanne started me on the Victorian House series of ornaments at Hallmark in 1985. I have a house for every year since then, plus all of the special anniversay ornaments that they've made. So we decided to display them all together. I love this tree! This year, Aunt Susanne, Mom, Byron, and I went to Hallmark after Christmas, and I saw this "world doorways" ornament. It was the second in the series. I thought it would be an awesome addition to the houses I have, because they all celebrate front doorway decorations in different countries around the world. So, Aunt Susanne started a new series for me! And she found the first doorway on ebay! So, now I have Germany and Mexico! I love the idea of these, because they're something I'll always have and I can pass them on to my children! Very cool. The first picture is at night, and the second picture is during the day so you can see it better.

This is our last tree. It's in our bedroom--it's the "I Love Lucy" tree. I love "I Love Lucy," and so everyone has given me different "I Love Lucy" ornaments throughout the years. I think they make a really cute tree. This is Byron's least favorite because it means he can't get to his side of the bed. He has to crawl into it from the foot of the bed, but I think that's a small price to pay for cuteness.

I really hope the New Year brings you great things and brings you closer to God. That's what I'm hoping for myself. I'm hoping to slow down enough to enjoy all the blessings around me--to spend more time with my family, friends, and my husband. To travel to places I love and places I've never been (this is one of our favorite things to do). And most importantly, to come to know and love God more every day, and to be faithful to Him as He has been to me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I love you!

Pictures from Florida--finally!

Check out the waves! The first day we were there they were amazing!

Those of you who know me won't be surprised that the above picture features birds! They're just so cute! There's no telling how many bird shots I have!

Ah, Florida! The way life was meant to be!

Look at what the crazy waves washed up! No getting in the water today! We could also see big sting rays floating around in the water. This day was spent on the shore--we got to watch a beautiful sunset!

Grr! Byron is looking very manly.

Me laughing, because we are at our third Timeshare Seminar since we've been married. I think we have the word, "Sucker" written on our foreheads. Actually, I'm also laughing because we just signed Scott Turner up to receive phone calls from the timeshare place in order to score ourselves a travel candle. Sweet!

In case you haven't been to the whole timeshare extravaganza, one thing you should know is that, even if you keep saying, "no," at the end, you'll get free stuff! We got two $50 gift cards to restaurants--one of them being this one! YUMMY! It was right on the ocean! We also get to come back for a three night vacation later this year!

We even match and everything!

As you can see, we had about as much fun playing with our food as we did eating it! Can you guess whose meal is who's?


An absolutely perfect day at the beach! I read a book and napped in my fancy chair, and Byron worked on his Sudoku book. In between, we took swims in the Gulf Waters! They are so beautiful!

Here's our Big Red made out of white sand! We wish we had a red towel!! We'll only bore you with this one picture. I think we have like 30. Seriously. Big Red with Byron, Big Red with Susie, Big Red with Sea Gull, Big Red with little surfer dude....well, you get the idea.

Watching the sunset is one of my favorite things to do! Very romantic!

This is the other place we got the $50 gift card to--thank you Wyndham Resorts!

For dessert, they served make-your-own smores! This is a great idea. So fun and so yummy!
Getting ready for a moonlight stroll on the beach! We saw a heron and a sea turtle, but the pictures are too dark to show you!

Another beautiful day!

We went to lunch at a beach restaurant called the Back Porch--you could go in your swimsuit! Here's a picture of our chairs from the Back Porch!

On our way home, we stopped at one of the National Beaches--we saw lots of cool things. The neatest thing, though is what we didn't see (trash, etc.). It was a great ending to our trip!

You can hardly see it, but in this picture is a white (albino??) crab. So awesome. If you can't make it out, just know it's there. Trust us.

We had a great time! Next time, join us! :0)

The Weather Channel

Now, I love the Weather Channel....but today they are not my friend. It was supposed to be sunny all day today and tomorrow. So, naturally, we were so excited about getting up, eating breakfast, and going to the beach all day! We got dressed for breakfast, and walked out the door to CLOUDS and COLD! Did we teleport back to Kentucky? Anyway, I hope they're right that at 12 today it will be ALL sunny! Oh well, regardless, we've relaxed, eaten well, and enjoyed each other's company. What more could we ask for? :)

Fall Break 2008, Baby!

We are here in sunny ---er, partly sunny---Florida! Destin is awesome, and it's fixing to get moreso, as the sun is beginning to shine! We've taken some pictures, but can't upload them yet....but here is one from the internet that will give you a taste of what the Emerald Coast is like! By the way, if you're ever travelling down this way around this time of year, ask for the "Emerald Coast Special." It saved us $20/night at our hotel. Which, now that I mentioned it, Hampton Inns are wonderful....really sweet rooms and an excellent smorgasboard (i love that word) of breakfast food!! Anyway, here's a picture! We'll be seeing you! :)

Go TOPS!

We're here in Lexington for the WKU vs. UK football game! Woo hoo! It's double the fun, because we get to see my Aunt Susanne who lives up here, and also my brother David and his girlfriend Bhavini! Plus, we get to watch football live (instead of on our couch), and in Commonwealth Stadium. The last time I was in Commonwealth Stadium was for the Bluegrass State Games back in the day. I'd like to give a shout out to my "Salty Dog" relay team--especially to Bhavini, because you're the only person who would ever possibly read this!

Anyway, we are having a great time already! Today, we're going to Joseph-Beth, the best bookstore in the whole world, and then to Ramsey's (my mouth is watering already--their corn is AMAZING!), and then to the game.

So, go Western!! We know you can do it! We've got the team! We've got the steam! For this is dear old Western's day!

That man of mine...

Wow. It's been forever since I've written here. Lots have happened, but then nothing's really changed. Funny how life happens that way. We went and looked at houses in Franklin yesterday. For the first time together, we looked at the inside of a house and dreamed a bit. Not that we could ever afford that house, and not that we have sold our house yet.....but because we just wanted to think about the possibilities! It was so much fun! It's in Foxchase, a new subdivision in Franklin, and it's super cute! And it has lots of cabinets and drawers....these are things I've come to really appreciate!

The purpose of my writing today is just to say how much I love my husband. He is the most wonderful gift from God! I prayed for him specifically for about 7 years before we ever dated--and he was more than worth the wait. He is a good man--he loves me despite me being unlovable a lot of the time. He appreciates the way I love him. He does the dishes and does a lot of other things to help around the house. He is amazing. And he keeps me laughing! We have a great time, and I love him to pieces. Just wanted to praise him aloud and loud--This is my "I LOVE YOU" from the rooftops!!! :)

Hopefully the next blog won't be too long in coming!

The Beginning and The End...

I had one of those middle-of-the-night revelations last night....

"And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life." ~Revelation 21:5-7

"By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end." ~Hebrews 1:2

What a wonderful, amazing truth! I guess I've always focused more on the fact that "In the beginning, God..." Because He created everything, we owe Him everything--our very lives! But, because I've focused on that so much, I had never fully given much thought to the comfort that lies in Him also being the End of all things. Because we know the End, and we know that, in the End, God will have (and already does have!!) victory over Satan, this should give us great confidence in the present! He has given us His Holy Spirit as a promise of this coming victory and as our Comforter in this present evil age. Satan and his demonic followers can never overtake or possess believers. He can deceive, but never destroy. We are God's!

"No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours

through Christ, who loved us." ~Romans 8:37

"Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." ~Romans 16:19-20

It is finished! Praise the LORD!

A New Chapter....

Well, Byron and I are both officially Wildcats now. YAY! We found out yesterday that he is the new Choir/Arts & Humanities teacher at Franklin-Simpson High School! We have both been nervous and unsettled this week. I think it's because we both really wanted him to get this job. It's funny. Two years ago, we both decided to follow what God had placed in our hearts for a long time. Neither one of us really knew what lie ahead or what God had in store. But we decided to go anyway, knowing that He always gives enough light for the step we are on. That was an interesting leap. And, I try to hide it, but I hate change. I even hate good change simply for the fact that things won't be the same as I always knew. So it was a difficult thing for me to leave a place where I was comfortable and where I loved the people I was around. But it was the best thing we ever did. And, now God has paved the way for both of us to be back in Franklin. Our hearts were there already, as God has inclined them to care so much for the youth there. And, now we have the wonderful opportunity of teaching them and being involved in their lives in a positive way.

I have learned so much over the past two years. I have learned that I cannot control my circumstances--even though I still sometimes want to so badly. Along with not liking change, I am also a slight control freak. Anyway, it is good that I don't control my circumstances. God always does an infinitely better job with my circumstances than I ever could. He literally brings "wild honey from the rock" (Psalm 81:16). There were many lean months. There were days that we shouldn't have eaten. But we never went without. God always provided for all of our needs--whether it was through His people (we have a wonderful family, friends, and congregation), or out of the blue (random refund checks in the mail). Another thing I have learned is that God is faithful, even though we are not. There are times when we let busyness, studying, teaching, sleeping, or any other number of things distance us from the God who loves us too much to ever let us go. So, for this season of immense blessing, we give Him all the praise, all the glory, and all of our thanks!

"We will not hide these truths from our children;

we will tell the next generation

about the glorious deeds of the LORD,

about his power and his mighty wonders.

So each generation should set its hope anew on God,

not forgetting his glorious miracles

and obeying his commands."

(Psalm 78:4,7)

"But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob."
(Psalm 75:9)

I am so excited about what this new season will bring. My prayer is that I will keep learning how to be content with less. (Even though, to celebrate, I bought Mott's applesauce AND the baked Lays that I usually don't buy because they are too expensive). But, wouldn't it be great to be able to finally give to others as we have been given?! I am convicted by the attitudes of the early church, who sold everything they had and gave to everyone who had need. And I am heavy because I know the need is great. After spending a week in NYC, I saw the great need in our own country. Even during the time when we had the least, we had so much more than most of the world. And not just monetarily. We have hope that this world is not all there is. We have a heavenly Father who walks beside us during every season. I am convinced that the world must know Jesus is Lord, but the only way to begin to show His love is to provide for their physical needs first.

Selfishly, I still want a nice house that's neither mine nor Byron's....I want a home that we found together. I want to go to the grocery and not get only the generic items (even though most of the time, there is no difference). I want to travel, I want......The list goes on and on. I think some of this is okay. But I pray that I will never lose sight of those in need, and that I will always be generous--joyfully generous--to anyone that God places in our path.

Back from Baltimore!

Byron and I just returned from a World Music Drumming workshop in Baltimore, Maryland. It was awesome! We learned so much, and I am so excited about taking it back to Franklin! We met a lot of really neat people--some teach in Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, and even Japan! Meeting them and getting to study the music of Ghana, West Africa, as well as Latin America, and the Caribbean made us realize how big the world is, but also how small. The differences remind us of how great and awesome and infinite God is, and the similarities remind us that we have "One Lord, and one Faith...."

Besides drumming like crazy, we also got to hang out in Baltimore. Baltimore is neat--it's like a southern city in the "north," though I guess they wouldn't consider themselves Yankees or anything. I love all the small, ecclectic restaurants (we visited Paper Moon for dinner and again for dessert, Arco's for Mexican and the best tortilla chips ever, the James Joyce where we and David's friends won trivia night!, John Steven, Ltd. for some amazing crab cakes, Pei Wei, and Camden Yards for some $1 hot dogs and a great game), the culture, and the beautiful harbor! It's Byron's new favorite city. And there is so much history there, which we both love (Federal Hill and Fort McHenry, for example).

Even though we were taking the workshop as a class, we treated it as a mini-vacation. It was fun just hanging out again with my husband and going on dates! We don't get to do that very often in BG...it seems like there's always something (i.e. laundry, grass to be mowed) to be done. I think that's why we love to travel so much. Not only do you get to see new things, but you also get to enjoy what is constant!

The trip also allowed us to stay with my Aunt Susanne in Lexington on our way up there and back! We had a great time there, also! And we ate good! Byron has been spoiled this week in that department.....hopefully he'll still eat the things I can make! We also got to go to my Aunt's church with our friends Maryann and Bryan! She goes to Southland Christian, and it is always wonderful to worship there. If you're ever in Lexington, GO! The message was on the first chapter of James--"Just Duet"--check it out on their website.

On another note, Byron has a job interview on Wednesday--we would really appreciate your prayers. We believe that we're starting to see part of the plan God has for our lives, and are very excited about the possibilities! God has been so incredibly faithful to us, even though we seem to lack in that area. We are so thankful and give Him all the praise for what He has done and what He is doing in our lives!

Me and Dad!

This is me with my Dad on California's Hollywood Boulevard....he got a picture with two of his favorite gals :0). Most of you who will be reading this know that Dad is having some heart problems right now. The doctors have been wonderful, and so he is doing great right now. We are very thankful that God provided such great treatment and such quick responses! So, here's asking all of you to do what you do best--pray like crazy for a speedy recovery and that he will do all the things the doctors ask him to do after he gets home! He is as stubborn as I am, so.... :o) I love you, Daddy! Glad you're doing good!

Even more NYC...

Here are more pictures of the worship service we led on Tuesday. These are my little ducklings! :0) If you are curious, we are all in yellow because our message was about the Light of the Glory of God, and how it gives HOPE! But we did wear this all day, and everybody was so cute! I love yellow! It is very happy.Some of our youth mingling with the men at the Bowery!
This is everybody on a bridge in Central Park! "We've been dreaming of a true love's kiss...." This is all of us on the ferry going out to the Statue of Liberty---we are awake now.....on the ride back, it was a very different story!
Our last day at the Bowery was very emotional. We were excited about going home, but were very sad about leaving. One week here made us all very different people than when we came, and we will always be grateful! In this picture, I am presenting them with a picture of us that we all signed, so that they can remember us!

More NYC...

This is the chapel at the Bowery Mission. We were privileged to lead them in worship on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This was definitely an experience I will never forget.The Bowery also does several outreach ministries throughout Manhattan. They provide a meal and plenty of bread for the people that frequent each place. The first outreach group (with Byron) went to Brighton Beach near Coney Island. They served a primarily Russian community. This outreach is in Tompkins Square Park, and it is a primarily Asian community. Several of our groups went here.

Here's a picture of a bunch of us crammed in the Bowery Outreach van. It was HOT!!! Basically, it is a metal box on wheels....no AC, one bench for seating, and shelves for food.

New York City Mission Trip 2008, Baby!

June 7-14, we and 5 other brave souls took our Youth Choir up to NYC for a mission trip. We worked in the Bowery Mission, a shelter that provides food, clothing, showers, shelter, and hope through Jesus Christ to the homeless community there. Located in Lower Manhattan (just blocks away from Little Italy and Chinatown), it's doors have literally always been open (24/7) since 1879! This was an amazing experience for us and for all the youth we took. We got to work alongside the men that the Bowery serves in the kitchen, the clothing closet, the shower program, the worship services, and the outreach program! We all learned to really appreciate food, rest, and cool air from wherever it comes! I will upload some pictures as soon as I can with commentary, as most of them, in the words of Ricky Ricardo, "need some 'splainin.'"

This is Jennifer, Beth, Elizabeth, Caroline, me, and Kelli in the food pantry on Monday. They were organizing and labelling fools! :0) Here we are taking a break on our makeshift chairs! (2 big cans of tomato paste really do the trick!)

This is the food line. Each day, we served 2 rounds of breakfast, 2 rounds of lunch, and we often served dinner also! This was one of my favorite parts, because you really got to interact with the people!

Here are Julia, Casey, and Carol helping Marshall in the kitchen. Those grilled cheese sandwiches were AWESOME! And the ravioli was even better!

Katie, Martha, Kristen, Laura, Casey, and Julia celebrate the Swedish Fish and orange slices were got for dessert at lunch on Tuesday. Gummi treats always make for a good day!

Martha, Laura, and others working hard to organize the clothing closet. The amount of donations that came and went every day was unbelievable. Here, we organized the clothes into types and sizes so that they would be ready for the shower ministry later that day. During the shower ministry, men could come in, eat lunch, take a shower, receive new clothes, and even get a haircut if they

wanted!

Jerri folding towels!

This is me, Kathy, Caroline, and Jennifer working on re-stocking the closet on Tuesday!

This is Byron and Aaron working super hard, carrying down hundreds of boxes down three flights of stairs with no air conditioning! All of our guys were superheroes on Tuesday!