R-E-L-A-X

Time to relax.....enjoying the last days of 2009

O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches

Crazy Christmas Lights!

A Christmas Past

So looking back on a few word documents that I had saved on my computer I found this... I think it was the second Christmas that allen and I were dating and so I wanted him to know what our Christmas looked like on St.Simons. I decorated the envelope and left it in his apartment to find once I left for the road trip home. I had written him one previously and its so fun to look back and see the how the relationship had changed in a year.


Allen,
I was thinking about Christmas and the holidays and knowing that I was not going to be able to be with you exactly on Christmas. I wish that we could be together so I thought that if I wrote you a short letter and you read it on Christmas that we could kind of be together. I had such a good time with you and your family the other night when we decorated the tree together. It was so easy and fun and felt so right. I knew that when I do spend Christmas with your family that it will be so much fun and that I will love it because I will be sharing my Christmas with you.
I know that my Christmas will look something like this… we will wake up at whatever time we wake up. My parents get up early and put on Christmas music, start the coffee and the fire and wait for Lanier and I to walk downstairs. We will take turns opening gifts (stockings always first) and my mom will play Santa until Lanier and I take over. Lanier always takes a long time. I think because she wants to look like she has the most gifts. Then we sit around and talk and play and eat breakfast casserole. This year I know we will play with Maggie and stick bows to her and other things that she will hate but we will love. We will call my relatives and wish them a Merry Christmas and talk for a bit (thank them for gifts) and then eventually get ready to go over to Aunt Carolyn’s house. I don’t know if she will let me bring Maggie, I hope so. This is my favorite part of Christmas because it is so laid back. We usually laugh a lot and just enjoy the company. That night we might all go see a movie or might hang out with Kelly. And that is my Christmas. I cannot wait to share it will you!!
By this time I am going to be really ready for you to be on St. Simons and I will be hoping that you call me and send me a text message or two. I will defiantly be calling you.
I love you Allen and I am so grateful that God has blessed me with you. I am amazed at your love for me, your love for Gods word, your patience, your servant heart, your good looks and your talent. I hope that you know how much I am in love with you and how much I am waiting for us to be married. I can’t wait for us to be a team for the Lord, a team for each other and to be one. I am praying for you, your family and ya’lls time together. I know that they are so happy to share this holiday with you. I wish I could be there!!!
I love you,
Whitney
Christmas 2007

Things I am looking forward to...

So today at 4:05 I will be free from kiddos. At least the ones that I teach :) I am looking forward to the other kiddos like my cute little cousins and a new baby addition to the family. Friends babies that I get to hug and cuddle with will bring lots of joy to my heart as well!

There are some other Christmas things that I am looking forward too though!

• Celebrating Christmas for the first time with allen!
• being on st.simons island
• time off from work
• wrapping gifts
• giving others their newly wrapped gifts
• driving around at night to look at twinkley lights
• the amazing smell of our Christmas tree
• celebrating Christmas with the in-laws
• being with my own family
• making a gingerbread house with allen
• all the big movies that are coming out over the holidays
• baking for others and my family

There are so many other things that I am looking forward too. I can't wait to see my family (grandmother, cousins, sister etc) and having our usual fancy Christmas. I am going to love introducing allen to our Christmas in real life not in a letter or a phone call! I love the smell of the heat turned on in the morning as we wake up on Christmas morning and the laid back attidude my family has taken on Christmas morning. Drinking our coffee, opening stockings, telling stories and making breakfast!

What are some of your traditions?

Don't know if i am gonna make it...

Did someone feed these kids pixie sticks this morning at breakfast?

Did they all trade their usual cup of OJ for hot chocolate?

Hurry up Fridaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

dos dias

only 2 working days left of the 2009 school year folks.

how bout that?

Christmas Magic

This is a close up picture of a tree on our back porch. It was allen's grandparents and we brought it down from the attic. I love this tree at night. Our back porch is all glass windows except a brick wall and at night with the twinkly lights on and it dark outside it is just magical. I really feel like I have stepped into the living room of "A Christmas Story" and I am just admiring the tree. It is such a beautiful thing to me. It is magical.

Kind words for Encouragment and blessings

God is so great. He is matchless in his relentless encouragement and ability to love me. I am so glad that he knows our thoughts and our hearts. I am forever thankful for the people that he has purposely put in my path to encourage me and point me towards Him.

I am at my desk trying to write and have so many thoughts and feelings in my mind/heart right. I know that I don't have time to write them all down or even explain them very well but I called a friend this morning on the way to work to just sound off some frustrations I was feeling. I don't think I really spoke to her, I think I spoke to Christ in her. I am forever thankful to Christ and to her. I am so happy that she is in my life and that she is allowing Christ to use her in an early morning phone call. I feel refreshed and I feel brand new. I don't know if that makes any sense but I know it does to the Lord and that is where it counts.

Last night Kelly came into town to hang out, be a friend, Christmas shop and throw down at the tacky Christmas sweater party allen and I are having this Saturday. I love her so much. She can brighten the room with her laugh and with her presence. No matter what comes our way I know that we will be friends and that God will continue to use each of us in our walks with Him.

I hope that this Christmas season you are overwhelmed with God's goodness. That the Christmas tree, and the parties, and the gifts don't get in the way of God. He gave us Jesus and that changed EVERYTHING! I know that I love hot chocolate and twinkly lights, decorations and "holiday" music but I am pushing myself to remember why I celebrate this season. All my students are reminding me that Christmas has become a tree and gifts. If people from other religions can get excited about Christmas because that means more parties and fun decorations then we are in danger of losing the true value of this celebration.

I want to be excited about God's gift to us...Christ. I want to be more in love with Him than with the tree in my home and the twinkly lights.

Decorations!

Here is our 1st married Christmas tree!! Its a dark picture but it was a spur of the moment on my phone kinda picture! Its makes my heart so happy!
Allen hanging out on the couch being a good sport with the camera

Maggie is not part of the decorations. But she put herself in this position last night in my lap and fell fast asleep. I thought it was so akward and weird I had to take a picture!

ICE cream at IKEA

Falling short

To my dear beautiful friend Bethany - I forgot to get the pictures from the camera so I will not be posting the dining room re-do today! I love that you care so much!! Can we PLEASE get together before Christmas?? Wanna walk and look at Christmas lights??

Love YOU!

I wanna go back...

I wanna go back to this day. To this moment. I so wish I could. I love this picture. I love the way this day takes my breath away when I think back on it, talk about it, or look at pictures. Oh I wish we could go back!

Felt = happiness

Allen and I made this garland/banner last night. I had been wanting something similar that i had seen at anthro and online at Etsy.com but i knew that I could come up with something cheaper and creative.....

I love it! The colors that are hard to see are grey, red, white, black, grey and they look much better in person than on a camera phone!

Merry Christmas!

Flea Market Finds + dining room table

YAY for a dinning room table!!

So the other weekend Allen and I ventured out to a gigantic flea market. I wanted to search and find interesting things like old globes, quilts and glass jars but my main goal was to find a dining room table. We had looked everywhere, at least that is how I felt. My sister and come to visit the Friday before and helped paint our neutral dining room a dark grey. We trimmed the windows with white and added white curtains. I love the way it looks!! Pictures of our transformation to appear soon!

Enjoy the ones from the flea market adventure!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My mama made me crab legs when I went home in place of Turkey dinner! They were so great!

These were ....interesting. It was figs, filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. I loved the taste but couldn't get past the look. We nicknamed them "rat toes"

Allen was in charge of the chocolate chip pound cake and green bean cassarole

Stuffing. It was so good, she put apples in it! Also she made it in a muffin tin and it was really cute!

I was responsible for the tomato pie

Turkey was so goooooooooood!

One side of the table complete with: ham, rolls, stuffing, mac/cheese,and tomato pie

Sweet Crepes with Allens folks at Crepe Revoultion

WE bought our first TREE! We both saw it and said "thats it." It was such a blast!

I loved my Thanksgiving!!

I had such a blast with Allen and his parents. We had fun cooking, hanging out and eating! We cooked enough food to feed the city of Atlanta and it was so yummy. On Friday night we met at the movies and saw "The Christmas Carol" which was really entertaining. I highly recommend paying the bucks to see it. Saturday we met for crepes and Christmas tree shopping! What a success! Here are some pictures so that you can imagine that you were there!

Airplane food and brownies

Tonight is the last night of Thanksgiving vacation for me. I am so thankful for this week off. I love Cobb county and their decision to give their teachers a full week that is SO needed. I have lots of pictures and thoughts to post about this past week but for now I am taking the last hours of my vacation to relax and watch one of my favorite TV shows with allen. CSI Miami. While I am writing this allen is watching a TV show on how airplane food is made and the brownies we made last night are calling my name in the kitchen!!

Bring on the Turkey!!

I had such a fun Thanksgiving!

Hope you did too!

Gobble Gobble!

Maggie's Mess

this morning i was laying in bed trying to convince myself to get up and start getting ready for work and I heard a strange noise. It sounded like maggie had somehow magically grown 6ft and gotten the paper towl roll off of its holder. I layed there wondering what it was and eventually forgot and snuggled with allen a little longer before i had to wake up.

WELL

i finally got up and noticed dark brown spots on our white bedroom rug, on the hardwood floor leading to the living room and spots all over the living room rug. Maggie had taken it upon herself to take my starbucks hot chocolate off the coffee table and drink it, roll it, chew up the cup.
When I looked at her she put her head down and parked herself in the corner of the bathroom. haha it was so funny even though i was so mad!

hey, maybe this will get me that shag rug i want! haha

Looking for-ward to the weekend

I am so looking forward to this weekend. I look forward to every weekend but this weekend I am going HOME. After moving away from home to go to Auburn my defintion of home started to change. It used to be the address of the house I grew up in and it still is in some ways. I started defining home more by the people I was surrounding myself with instead of a location or an address. I have called Auburn home. I have called Atlanta home. I have even called temporary places that I have stayed (like a hostel) home. But st. simons I think will always win. I have millions and billions of memories on that island. I have so many places tucked away in my heart that remind of me of peace, laughter and satisfaction. I have thinking spots that I go to that are only on St. Sinons. I look forward to going HOME because of the people that are waiting for me. I love curling up on the couch with my mom and dad and watching a moive. Meeting Kelly at sweet mamas for breakfast and heading out to the beach. Walking to my grandmothers house to visit with her and just recieve the love she has for me. I just love being HOME. Ever since I met allen its been hard to enjoy HOME as much as I used too. I feel like a part of me is missing, and now it really is. I have only been home a few times without him since we have been together. And each time I look forward to HOME with such full anticipation and each time I am sadly let down because I realize that its not as much fun, as releaxing, as enjoyable without allen there. Its not that my family isn't "enough" or friends aren't "enough" but I miss allen. I miss being near him. I miss his laughter and his love.

I am sure this weekend will be the same. I am counting down the days until I pack my car and head HOME but I know that once I get there and unpack my bag, say hey to my family I will be thinking...." i wish allen was here. I miss him" So I am sure I will call him and tell him. I will probably tell him that all weekend long until I head back to Atlanta for Thanksgving with HIS family. A first. My first thanksgiving with him too. A first time to see how his family cooks their turkey, spends their holiday together, etc. We are bringing a few side items and his mom his cooking the bird. I am excited about Thanksgiving. I might have a few minor melt downs because I love tradition and I am going to miss my family. Having Thanksgiving a certain way for 26 years and then introducing change might be a little hard for me, but I am praying about it and thankful for a family so close by.

I have to add a list. Because I love lists. So really its more for me than anyone else:

What I am looking forward to this weekend:
Seeing my family
Having some thinking time on the long drive home
Seeing friends
Enjoying real sea food
Going to church
Shopping with my mom in Jacksonville
Smelling the salt air when I get on the causeway
Taking Maggie to the beach
Wearing flip flops
Exchanging cars with my mom so I can bring back dining room chairs

YAY!

filled with fabric and spray paint

My mind is filled with the thoughts of fabric and spray paint. And real paint. The things left on my "to do" list that are driving me crazy are:

1. Spray paint a mirror that I bought at goodwill for 7 bucks
2. Finish painting the trim in the dining room so that i can ....hang curtains, hang art, move the piano in there.
3. Frame Fabric and put it in the kitchen as well as back my bread box with a fabric swatch.

All projects will be posted so get excited!!

Rock Star

This is a picture of Allen over the summer leading worship for a youth event. I really enjoyed watching him lead others in worship of Christ. He is so talented and has such a huge heart for the ministry of worship. I am so proud of him and what God is doing through him at Northside!

Take a look at my stash....

Allen and I went to publix the other night and found THESE! They are awesome. If you find your a little blue then these are quite the quick fix!

JOY

Be JOYFUL always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thes 5:16-18

I give thanks for Jenna who brightened my day with her love and her email

I give thanks for Gods word and how it is timeless. How it can help me on a morning like this 2000 years after he inspired it to be written.

I love Silvy

I love Silvia.

Silvia loves the Lord.

Silvia is from Romania, but God put a heart for India inside her.

She is now in India. I think God made her look sort of indian just to help her while she is a missonary there.

If you think about her, then please pray for her to spread God's truth to the people of India.

blue + blah

• i hate being bloated
• i hate when allen and i fail in communication with each other
• i am not the biggest fan of mondays

I am all around blue today. I am hoping in Christ and praying that I can remember who I am in Him and that He is all I need. You know those days where things just get under your skin. Where you feel like its easier to just feel hopeless than hope. In the small things and the big things. I am ready for a break. I am ready to go home this weekend to St. Simons Island. I am ready to be around my mom and dad and see the beach. Until then...

Thanksgiving Last Year

This is Lizzie. She lights up my life.

This is our Thanksgiving Feast: oyster dressing, squash cassarole, sweet potatos, ham, turkey, rolls and sweets galore! Oh I will miss this feast this year. Starting a new tradition folks.....Thanksgiving with the hubs and in laws!

15 days and counting

15 Days until Turkey Day. One of my absolute favorite holidays of the year. Here are 15 things that I am thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving approaching.

1. Jesus. I love everything about him.



2. My husband. I am falling more in love with Allen every day. I love his smile. I love the way he encourages me when I am discouraged. I love how he supports me in my walk with the Lord, in my relationships with my friends and family and decisions I make on a daily basis.



3. My family. I love my mom and dad and lanier. I am so glad God chose them as my parents. I love my moms laugh, my dads new jersey heritage. My sisters generosity and hugs.




4. My health. Working with 150 students on a daily basis I am so thankful that I have good health.



5. My new family in atlanta. I am excited about spending Thanksgiving with the in-laws. I am looking forward to God stretching me and using me in this relationship.



6. My job. I love teaching this year. I love my school.



7. Maggie. She takes the stress out of my life. Her sweet brown eyes make my heart melt. When she curls up at my feet i feel so content.



8. Our current residence. I am thankful for the roof over our heads. I love the neighborhood and the location. I love the history of this house.



9. International travel: the memories I have, the amazing amazing people I believe God has introduced me too and helped me keep relationships with, that beauty that I have been able to see.


10. Hot chocolate: what an amazing invention. Thank you native americans in south america.


11. The mountains: always has been a place of peace for me


12. Knowing how to knitt: kelly taught me for christmas one time. I am so happy that I know how to do this. Its a way to de stress and to also have fun during the winter months.


13. Slippers: having hardwood floors encourages me to have slippers. That way when I climb into bed I don't bring the stuff on our floor with me.
14. hand sanitizer: teaching middle school. enough said.
15. having children in my life: my friends kids, the students I teach, little cousins. They can totally turn my day around and its the best to cuddle with a little one.

Cows + Kids

So today a student asked me if I had ever milked a cow

Then the student told me that he dared his cousin to suck a cows udder.

Gross was my reply.

Happy Monday!

Life just got easier

This lil website will send you a menu for the week as well as a grocery list + recipe! Look out creamy dreamy macaroni and cheese!

https://www.youvegotsupper.com/sample-menu.asp

I like theseeeeeeee

Before I got married I did not like white furniture. I never ever wanted white furniture in our house. I didn't want white walls. WELL.

Suddenly I find myself loving white. I think it looks romantic. I think it looks fresh. I think it is pretty. I think it is refreshing.

I am in love with these stripes. Where can i put them? I need to have them in our house.

Sigh. Reminds me of home. I like the blue side board. I like the candles. I like the blue and white striped table.

oh the things on my list!

Lately I have become...

Obsessed.

Obsessed about painting rooms. About picking out dining room tables and chairs. Obsessed about which type of dining room table I want. What chairs would match? Do I even want them to match? I dream about colors of paint. I dream about re-arranging. I am going crazy!

No matter where I have lived in life, it has always been important to me for that place to be welcoming. If that means keeping pictures of family up on bulletin boards in my dorm room then so be it. If it means decorating with curtains and candles in my apartment or creating a certain look with art and bedspreads then I would make it happen. Even in the little hotel room I lived in while studying in Italy, I tried to make it a place that I enjoyed being.

So here we are. I really like old homes. I like old homes even more if they have an imporant history to my husband. Here are a few things I love about this house:

I love that it is brick
I love the open lay out
I love that it has a basement
I love the location
I love the old tile in the bathrooms even if they are not my favorite colors
I love that we live in a young neighborhood with families
I love that it has so many memories for allen
I love that it is full of retro finds like an old can of saltines (minus the crackers) or coke bottles that say "bring back to refill"
I love the telephone nook in our hallway
I love the walk up attic

Things that frustrate me or that I wish I could change:
I dont like the crack in our ceiling in the living room
I don't like the old door handles
I wish that the house didn't have an old house smell sometimes
I wish that it was ours.
I want to paint the wood panneling.
I dont like the old light fixtures.
I wish that we did not have a tentant.
I wish that our washing machine worked.
I want to paint the dining room, the front bathroom, the guest room, the back porch, the hallway and the extra room.
I wish the closets were bigger

I know the list could go on forever on both sides. Things I love vs. things I struggle with.
I think that in order for me to keep my sanity I will just start writing them down on the chalkboard in the kitchen. Of course I will erase my rants when company comes over :) but I keep it inside and its too much. Also, I can tell Allen something that I want to fix or something that frustrates me but its my issue not his. So its easy for him to forget about while I still mull over it and get annoyed.

Sorry for my rant. I am struggling today with the house. I am also struggling with it not being in my control. WE don't own it. We don't know if we ever will. I am struggling in the balance of what part are we responsiable for and what part are his parents (the owners) responsible for? So i go back and forth between wanting to make it "ours" and wanting to just throw my hands up and say forget it.

YAY for today!

today is going to be a great day, I can just feel it!

• I had enough time in my morning commute to stop by a local coffee shop that I love and is super funky and has amazing coffee.
• No students today at work! Yippie!
• Lunch break today is 11-1pm. Usually it is 11:30-11:55
• I get to work out, look at paint samples for our bathroom and visit target during my loooooooooooong lunch break
• I am meeting a fun friend for coffee after work to catch up on life
• TBS has 3 full hours of The Office
• I get to relax at home with allen, the office and a home cooked meal!

Maggie says HI

Maggie says Hi.
She did not enjoy the adorable children this halloween.
She did bark and run to the door every time it rang.
She was so happy once we turned out our front porch light and said good night!

Trick or Treat!

Have a Happy Halloween!!

Things that have been making me happy recently

Here are a few things that have been making me happy recently:

• Making smores in our fireplace at night for desert
• Visiting old friends and sharing memories
• Working out
• Halloween approaching and yes, the Christmas decorations already out in stores
• Home cooked meals
• Visiting Auburn
• Twinkle lights in my bedroom
• cheese toast for breakfast
• Searching our basement and attic for cool retro finds

Nirvana

" Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are"

Thank you Mr. Cobain. I think you are on to something here.

twinkly lights

So I have been talking to allen about twinkly lights. Thinking about getting some orange ones for our front bushes/trees in honor of the fall season. I really have been wanting to put twinkly lights up in the house. I think they are so magical. I think they are really beautiful. I feel like i am in some kind of fairy tale when I am around twinkly lights.

So last night I was in the bathroom taking off makeup, brushing my teeth and when I walked out this is what I saw.

beautiful! I got so excited. I wanted to sleep with them on, but it was too bright. I just layed in bed and looked up at them. That was a magical moment. To lay in the bed with allen talking in the night with these twinkly lights up above us. bliss.

The Pumpkin Patch

War Eagle!

An old photo of me and Say in the math building. One night we went around and took photos. Maybe our senior year? I love that girl.

My to do list for the weekend in the AU

I can't wait. Its only Tuesday and I am already making a to do list! yay!

• Eat at : The Pita pit, Taylors Bakery and Big Blue Bagel


• Buy an Auburn sweat shirt


• Take pictures of places that I have memories from (example: keller dorm, the hill, HDFS building etc)


• hanging out with friends


• walk around campus

I am sure it will get longer but I am really hopeful for a good weekend. I enjoyed God so much during my stay in auburn and I am looking forward to sharing that with Him again over the weekend.

Evidence

The new blue star that used to be a brown rusty color....

Our new little breakfast/dinner nook

A wide view of the back porch re-do...

Yummy brownies ( sideways and unbaked)

The beginings of soup

Close up of homemade soup

Our funky fall pumpkins

Saturday morning :O)

w-e-e-k-e-n-d

I loved this weekend. I love all weekends, but this weekend was really great. It almost feels like a gift. Lots of rest. Lots of love. Lots of things on my never ending to do list getting checked off.

Thursday night we stayed with our good friends Willy and Laura. They live right by my school so on Friday Allen came by and brought me lunch. My day was immediately made better by 100%. Later in the afternoon he stopped by again with a hot chocolate in his hand and a few free hours to spend with me during my planning period. It was so much fun to have him at work with me. A little bit of Allen in my work world was such a blessing. Friday night we hung out with some pizza, salad, Dwight and Michael and a nice fire in the fire place. Saturday morning was awesome. I woke up freezing with the smell of the heat being turned on for the first time and then falling back asleep until around 11am. It can make such a difference to wake up and feel rested instead of just awake. After sleeping in we made it to a furniture salvage store in hopes of finding a dinning room table but came up empty handed. Back to craigslist I suppose. Lanier met us for lunch at a new tavern near our house and we enjoyed really good hamburgers. After lunch we shopped a little bit and visited a pumpkin patch. A hot chocolate and a purple dress later we arrived home ready to bake brownies and work on some home projects.

The brownies were amazing and the crafts projects brightened up my house. I will post pictures later on. Lanier left early that evening and we headed over to a friends house for a birthday party. Lots of chili, cake and little kids later we arrived home ready to call it a day. We took care of two little jack Russell’s for a friend and enjoyed staying at their beautiful 3 story home.

Sunday arrived early and went by too fast. I visited a thrift store in search of something to wear for my schools “decade day” and then came home and transformed our back porch from a storage area to a cozy breakfast nook/reading space. I would love to hang new curtains and paint the walls but as for now and our small budget I am so completely happy with the change! Allen made homemade chicken soup last night and we ate dinner out their with the radio on instead of a TV. It was so awesome. Every time I came into the room with another helping of Sister Schubert rolls I just got this big grin on my face.

I loved this weekend. I had so much fun with allen. I loved seeing my sister. I enjoyed being creative with our budget and making this house more of a home.

brrrrrrrrr

Wowweeee!


Tonight is supposed to be in the mid 40s’!!

I better start pulling out the winter clothes and figuring out what stays and what goes! Oh I hope it stays like this for a LONG time! I bought a really cute vintage Christmas decoration last night at TJ Max and I cannot wait to put it up!! I know I know its only October...but hey that means pumpkins and twinkly lights and fall foliage right?

Its so fun playing house. Its like a natural high or something!

Things I am loving right now

A good friend of mine who has infinitely more wisdom than I, sometimes posts things that she is loving right now. Sometimes they are material goods (like soap and pancake mixes) and sometimes it just might be things/events/people in her life at the moment. Well, Bethany please forgive me but I am taking your idea! So here are several different things that I am loving right now!

• hot tea- usually i drink a cup of joe with lots of milk and sugar in the morning on the way to work. But lately or really ever since I was sick I have been only wanting hot tea. Not the lemony kind or fruity kind but basically earl grey or chamomile. I love the warmth and the lightness of tea. The taste of coffee is so distinct but with tea you can pick different flavors and spices.
• spray paint- spray paint can transform your house. Or really the items in your house. I have been spray painting pumpkins to add a lil festive color to our living room but my next task is to spray paint the metal stars we have outside our house. I am going for the color of turquoise. I think with the newly painted front door and brick that it will look fun and funky.
• an Esther bible study- a friend of mine asked me to join a women's bible study for the next couple of months. It has been awhile since I have committed myself to something like that and I am loving it. God is so amazing. His timing is so sweet and perfect. I love being around these women that are in so many different places. I am hoping that God will really transform us into his image even more during the next few months.
• sweet tarts- not your usual sweet tarts. You know the ones that make your mouth turn inside out. But the chewy ones that look like BB's. I keep some in my desk at work and they are a nice break from teaching sometimes.
• hot apple cider - oh it smells like fall and tastes like fall! Atlanta has been nothing but rain and cold the past week and a hot hot cup of apple cider makes it all worth it. I buy the kind at walmart.
• candles- any color. almost any smell. I feel like they bring an immediate sense of relaxation, coziness and richness to any room. And when you go to TJ max and target as much as I do, then you can usually find good sales.
• email- i used to email people all the time. I mean all the time. I might even go as far to say that I was addicted. But then i stopped. I guess I got busy and started texting. But really how much can you say over a text? I have re-found the greatness of email. Especially for those friends that live in different time zones or countries.
• holidays- thinking about the upcoming holidays like thanksgiving and Christmas. All the fun activies that accompany that time of year. Even thinking about what others might enjoy recieving as Christmas gifts. Thinking about the white twinkley lights, our first Christmas tree, hot chocolate and having to wear mittens when I am outside! The wrapping paper, the amazingly touching christmas carols...

So those are just a few little things. Last night I layed in bed and started to get really annoyed with our renter downstairs. Our bedroom is over half of his kitchen so when he cooks we smell it. When he puts his dishes away we hear it. When he wakes up and wants a midnight snack, the slamming of the cabinet doors wake me up. Not allen, he is out like a light but i wake up, lean over and reach for my ear plugs. Well once I started thinking about all that other things crept into my mind. It is so easy for me to go from slightly annoyed to a full on war with my thoughts. I hate that. Mid-thought, I realized what I was doing. I had to repent and ask for forgiveness. I realized I complain more than I want to. So today I decided that every time I complain or hear myself in my head complain that I would move the rubber band on my wrist to the opposite wrist to keep track. So far I have done well. We will see how the rest of the night goes!

i love this man

enough said.

Thank you to Parks and Shirley Garrett!

I am soooooooooooo excited!! I have been looking at the space behind our front door (our only attempt at an entryway) and thinking that I just was not happy with it. A cousin of mine gave us this wood thing that we decided would fit nicely behind our door. It was convenient to us, a place to put our mail, car keys, sunglasses and even some of my necklaces. But the more I looked at it the more I disliked it.

I dreamed of a nice cozy nook where the contents of our pockets would not always be on display. I searched craigslist. I looked at hobby lobby. I thought about the contents of my parents house and tried to come up with something they might want to give away. I visited the goodwill. I even looked in the basement for something that might work.

Today on the way home from work I decided that instead of going to the local TJ Max (where they practically know my name) or Ross that I would visit the attic of our house. Allen's grandparents, Parks and Shirley Garrett were very good at keeping things. A lot of very cool vintage stuff. So up allen and I went. And wouldn't ya know! We found this dresser!! All I had to do was wipe it down and look around the house for a few odds and ends to place on top. We even got to use our little white chalkboard from IKEA above it!

So that being said, I can look at my little cozy entryway and be satisfied. I huge thanks to Parks and Shirley!