From our family to yours....

Brant and I have been working hard getting the house decorated for Christmas. This is definitely my favorite time of year and I have absolutely loved making the house cozy during this time! It's going to be a memorable Christmas in our first home!

So, here it is...

With the Thanksgiving week approaching, I've been reminded of God's blessings and promises in life. This verse has really stuck out to me this morning and I wanted to share it...

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ."
Philippians 4:6-7

We are excited to see what God has in store for our future. We trust in Him knowing, He has the ultimate plan.

Now that Christmas is soon approaching, I have been looking at the Tiny Prints website for our 2012 Christmas card! Not only do they have a large selection to choose from, they are all adorable! I can already tell it's going to take me awhile to pick one! I'm thinking we might have to add Cooper to the card this year as well! :)


Tiny Prints is sponsoring this blog post, but I am more than happy to post about their website. They always have great choices, wonderful customer service, and great shipping costs!

So, here is to a few more weeks of trying to decide what Christmas card to use... and then to figure out what picture to put in it!

This past weekend, my aunt and cousin came to town to visit. On Friday night, we ventured out to the fair and had a fun girls night together! Jenna is a champ when it comes to riding rides... I can't say the same for myself!



We made a day trip to Auburn Saturday for the homecoming game. Since Jenna was 3 years old, we have been going to one game per year together. I can't believe this is our 7th year to do this! Even though the heat surprised us, we still had a great time! And thanks to Bec, we scored scholarship seats with unlimited food!

 

And the bonus of the weekend: we got to meet this little guy too! JM arrived on October 30 at 2:34 in the morning! Kim is a champ for that late night/early morning birth! He is a sweetheart for sure! So blessed that our circle of friends continues to grow!

Yes, I have been slacking on the blog. We have been busy since August and are constantly on the go. I am currently sitting on the beach, enjoying a beautiful day with BG and his parents!

A few life updates...
• We have found a church and sweet SS class that we are really enjoying!
• We have made several new friends and are so thankful for that.
• I am so happy to say that we have the best neighbors ever! They have all quickly become our friends and we are so blessed to be in such a sweet neighborhood!
• We got a new bedroom suit this week and I can't wait to update the blog with some house pictures.
•My best friend's baby boy will be here by the end of the month and I can't wait to love on him!!!

I'll be back soon with pictures and more life updates. Until then, just look at this...

Tomorrow begins my sixth year of teaching! Sixth! I really can't believe how fast the past five years have gone by, but they have. My 23rd year of school begins tomorrow...

When we made the decision to move, I immediately began sending out my resume to HS principals all over the city and county system. One principal immediately wrote back and said he would like to meet with me and show me his school. Little did I know this would be my future school.  The day that Brant and I came to town to look at houses, I met with Dr. E that morning. He was so kind and spent about 45 minutes telling me all about the school and giving me a little tour. I constantly emailed stayed in touch with him throughout the next few months, but he wasn't sure he would have an opening.

As the school year finished in May, I still didn't have a job. At that point, I tried to convince BG that it was time for me to retire and find a new career! I was a little bit serious and a little bit joking. I really questioned if I should continue teaching or look for something different. With all that happened in the past year, I thought I wanted to do something different. But, He showed me otherwise.

Early in June, on a hot-ttt day, I had two interviews. The very next day, I had two different job offers! Brant and I prayed about it and I took the job closest to home. I have about a seven minute drive from home (give or take a few minutes depending on the red lights!) and I'll be working with students in the science department... I told Brant I know God has a sense of humor to put me in the science department! :) I'm trading in my royal blue for Carolina blue for the first time in five years! I think it will be a nice change for my wardrobe! ha!

All joking aside, I'm so excited about another school year. I'm excited about meeting new teacher friends and seeing new faces! I'm excited for the ministry opportunity I have at a new school. Mostly, I'm so blessed that God has given me a job where I can truly serve others and hopefully share His love on a daily basis. Please pray for me! I get "first day back to school jitters" every year, no matter how old I am!

CAN!

My parents came to spend the weekend with us this past weekend. Not only to visit, but for my mom to teach me to "can" vegetables.

For as long as I can remember, we would always spend a few days in the summertime canning and putting up vegetables. From my Granny Lea to Nana, and great grandmother Ninnie, my mom had some great teachers! And this past weekend, she was my teacher!

As a kid, I remember my Papaw Lea and his love for the garden. He was such a sweet man and I wish that we would have had more time with him. He went to be with Jesus when I was only 5. Though, I am so grateful my dad has the same love for a garden and providing for his family just like Papaw Lea always did!



My parent's awesome garden

My parents brought us a lot of vegetables from their garden to mix with some vegetables that some of Brant's patients had given us. We were able to can vegetable soup, peas, squash relish and pepper relish. We also "put up" (prepared to freeze) corn, okra, and zucchini. I have no doubt we are going to have a lot of delicious meals this fall and winter!

The canning process literally takes all day! You first begin with preparing your vegetables. We shelled the peas on Friday night and kept them in the refrigerator all night. We then washed them really well Saturday morning and then boiled them until they were cooked. After they cooked, we filled up 9 quarts full of peas and about a tsp. of salt.  We then put them in the canner for about thirty minutes to cook. When they were finished, we got them out and let them cool on a dish towel. Then the "popping" of the seals began! (apparently the trick to really getting your jars to seal is to boil your seals in a little bit of water prior to putting them on your jars!)



While the peas were cooking, we started the process for the veggies for the soup (corn, potatoes, onions, tomato juice, and a few peppers). My parents have a juicer and we were able to use that to make our tomato juice which saved a ton of time! We then chopped/diced/cut up all of the vegetables to cook in the tomato juice. We let the soup cook on low for several hours before starting the canning process for it.



We can't wait for cooler weather and football on TV! 

This past weekend we traveled to the Carolina's to visit friends and attend a wedding.

Whitney and Paul moved back to SC after the residency finished and we have really missed them! They were so sweet to host us for the weekend and show us around their town. Greenville is a gorgeous city with a lot of fun things to to do. We have already decided we will be going back for a visit soon!

We had lunch at the "Runway Cafe" and watched a few small planes land. I tried fried oreos for the first time and they did not disappoint!


On Saturday evening, we drove over to Asheville, NC to attend the wedding of Emily and Marc Vance. Marc went through dental school with Brant and also did the residency with the guys.




Gentry's & Reids Whit and I didn't mean to match, but it was really funny!



So happy to see Ellen, too!

The views of the NC mountains were absolutely gorgeous! We really enjoyed our weekend with friends and the time we got to spend together.

more of the dental crowd



Emily and Marc Vance

Though we love to travel, I am happy to just be home for the next few weekends. Well, until football season starts of course! This week and upcoming weekend are packed with visitors to our new home and town so I will be back soon with pictures!

I rarely use a real computer so that explains my lack of posts. I've downloaded the blogger app and will try updating the blog from my phone with the blogger app!

Brant's job is off to a great start and he is really enjoying his new office. He had July 4th off so we spent the morning on our back deck celebrating Cooper's birthday. Then celebrated the 4th with friends and family at a cookout!


Since we adopted Coop, we don't know his real birthday so we took what Uncle Dan(the family vet!) told us according to his teeth. He is now 2 and still very much a puppy. He loves attention and playing in his new back yard! Since the move, he has become an outside dog. It has been the best decision we have ever made! Ha! It's so nice not sweeping up dog hair on a daily basis. I do miss him following me around the house all the time, but we are doing our best to still show him a lot of love, just outside now!


I only have a few weeks left before starting back to work. Some days I get really bored and some days I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to get everything accomplished! Regardless, I do love my summer break and am so thankful for the time off.



I actually just spent the past few days at market with my MIL, SIL, and two sweet girls from the drug store gift shop. We had a ton of fun shopping for the store! ML and I were also able to get several nice things for our new homes.

Also, in case you missed the big news, ML and Chris are having a sweet baby in December! We can't wait to be an aunt and uncle again!

And we have realized just how nice it is to live so close to EC &JP! We have been able to see them about once a week since moving and it's been so fun!!!

I'm very behind in blogging, but will try to catch up in the next week or so. May and June were very busy for us, so here is a little catch-up on life...

The last week of May Tomas graduated from high-school. I still can't believe he is old enough to be finished with school! He is attending the local junior college and then plans to transfer to UAH for some type of engineering. We are so very proud of him!


The last weekend of May we drove to Hattiesburg, MS to attend Meredith and Caleb's wedding. Caleb was in dental school with Brant so it was somewhat of a "mini-reunion" for us! We had a lot of fun visiting with dental school friends!



The entire month of June was spent packing up the townhouse, moving loads of our things to the new house each weekend, and spoiling Cooper inside since it has been so hot outside!

It's now official! Brant and I signed the papers on Tuesday to take ownership of our first home! We are beyond excited and I can't wait to make the house our HOME!

As we are wrapping things up in Birmingham, this month's daily reminder has been perfect for this season in our life. We have 7 more weeks to live here... 7! This is where we have spent all of our married life together and it's been absolutely wonderful. We have loved everything about living here the past 2 years and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Next week is my last week at HHS and I'm getting a little emotional as the time draws near to an end. I've made some sweet friends that I know will last a lifetime. This has definitely been my hardest year yet as a teacher. I've only had a small caseload, but we quickly became a family. In January, one of my students suffered a bad accident and he hasn't been back to school. Our little family of 5, went to a family of 4 in one short day and it's been tough. Please pray for him when you get a chance. I know we serve a God who holds all the perfect plans for our life, but this is one thing I have not been able to understand.

Brant is wrapping up his residency with 7 weeks left to go. From my perspective, he has learned so much this year and has gained so much confidence as a first year dentist. I'm so excited to watch him grow in his career and to truly serve others! God has given him a gift that I know he will continue to use for HIS glory.

While we are very excited about our move, we are also a little apprehensive too. We are moving to a town where everything will be new to us... new house, new jobs, new church, new friends, new neighborhood, etc. Please pray for us as we follow God's plan for our life! 

Please pray for us in the upcoming weeks as things come together to make this move possible! I'll be back very soon with some exciting updates!

Friday we were out of school for a built-in weather day! Since Auburn City was out as well, I headed down to eat lunch with the girls and pick up AM. She then came back to spend the weekend with us! We had so much fun playing all weekend.

Friday night we enjoyed a mexican dinner and a movie at home. When I lived in Auburn, we would go get mexican at least once a week, if not more! We girls love some chips and salsa!










Sunday morning we learned what it was like to get a little person ready for church! Whew! Kudos to all you parents who are at church before 10:00, we were only ten minutes late! Brant grilled up some delicious steaks after church and we enjoyed a picnic in the backyard. We then met AM's parents for her to head home.