Celebrate Freedom 2008

So Daniel, April and I went to Celebrate Freedom this weekend. For those who may not be familiar, Celebrate Freedom is a huge outdoor, free concert celebrating the 4th of July. It is put on by 94.9 KLTY, a Christian Radio Station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Although Daniel, April, Randy & myself are all 89.7 Power FM fans, we decided to attend anyway to see some of our all-time favorite Christian Artists. We actually missed 3 of our top favs on Friday night (David Crowder Band, Shane & Shane, and Dizmas), but we weren't deterred. Saturday morning we left our apartment and headed north.

We spent all afternoon (in the heat) listening to great Christian music (both contemporary and rock) and hanging out. There was an issue with the water but you'll have to ask me about that outside of this blog! :) Some of the artists we saw included Mandisa (awesome, btw!), Fee, Addison Road (so worth the heat!), Salvador, Jaci Velazquez, Anthony Evans and Meredith Andrews. We were just about to see Lincoln Brewster, Skillet and Kirk Franklin when the concert was canceled due to the storms and lightning in the area. We headed home and enjoyed some quality bonding time asking questions and laughing at each other.

It was so good to get to spend time with my little brother and one of my best friends (who by the way is Daniel's sweet girlfriend!). I love them both and am so glad we can hang out and have fun together. We all went to church together (minus Randy) on Sunday. Randy had a 24 hour clinical on Saturday so he had to miss out on most of the fun this weekend. Maybe next time, honey! Here are some pictures from Saturday:
Addison Road - Rocking out
What Daniel was doing during one point in the afternoon.
Doesn't he look comfy?
Oh, wait! He's not asleep!
What April & I were doing
And finally - the cute couple! Awww..

My 2nd Birthday Celebration/Surprise

You know something is important when you celebrate it twice and it is just as fun the second time. Today I was expecting to celebrate my birthday with my parents since they weren't able to come down last weekend. Well, I ended up being surprised with a Surprise party made up of my parents, my little brother, Randy and friends, April D., Courtney F., Jacob & Laura, and Grant, Sarah, Rhett & Hudson. Wow! How fun! And I was surprised. It was a great ending to a wonderful birthday week.

Randy & I are so blessed to have such loving family and friends. To sit and watch our close friends visit with my parents and brother and really want to get to know them is incredible. Thank you Randy & Mom for planning such a great lunch party. I really appreciate you thinking so much of my 25th birthday to plan a party with our friends. Love you!

Surprise!

Me & My parents :)

Almost the whole group - sorry we left you out Sarah!

I needed a little help - thanks Rhett!

Me & My wonderful Hubby

Randy just had to feed cake to me like at our wedding!

Daniel and April - aren't they cute?!

#25

So yesterday I turned 25 - yes, that is one quarter of a century (people keep reminding me of that). I had a wonderful day and weekend, and get to celebrate again this coming weekend!

I woke up to my hubby singing his version of Happy Birthday and then French Toast that he made for me. Thank you Randy! Then it was off to work, where my cube was decorated by my fun co-workers. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it, but let's just say I had to almost crawl out of my cube any time I needed to get something. :) My parents and brother surprised me with a beautiful flower arrangement of yellow daisies and roses. Daisies are my favorites (along with tulips)!





Laura (co-worker) took me to Olive Garden for lunch for some yummy soup and salad. Then back to work for the afternoon. I got home and Randy was so antsy for me to open my gift. So I did and guess what? He got me a cool, flexible tripod for our camera! It is like a Gorillapod, but a different brand and made for heavier cameras. I am so excited to get to use it on our next trip. Currently it is wrapped around Randy's bike, holding my camera. Silly boys!

Randy, Sonia, and Bruce took me to Outback for my birthday dinner. The steak was wonderful and I got a cool chocolate ice cream dessert because it was my birthday. And no, I didn't have to sing or dance for it. :) Although Randy tried really hard to make me believe I had to...lol!


My gift


Sonia & Bruce


Love this pic minus the glare from the blinds.


That's better.

My birthday was a very blessed day. I got so many calls, emails, and messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. I am very blessed. Can't wait to see what happens in the coming year!

Haircuts, fish and frogs...oh, my!

So what have we been up to? Lots and lots, and here is a peak.

Last weekend, Randy and 7 other guys from church went camping and canoeing on the Brazos. They left on Friday and returned on Sunday. This was 3 days of "roughing" it and hanging with the guys. According to Randy, they fished, canoed, threw things into the fire, and listened to snoring and frogs at night (my words - not his). I really wanted him to blog about it, but I guess just having him take pictures of their adventures is enough. :)

Group Shot

My Hubby and his fish - he was so proud!

And what did I do while Randy was gone for 3 days? Well, I went to visit my parents and to the wedding of some dear friends of ours - Ernesto & Sherry. It was so good to see old friends and catch up on what is going on in our lives. My parents even had been going through old home movies and we took a trip down memory lane while I was there. It was so funny to see my brother wearing neon green and black striped pants and me in my kindergarten graduation. Ah, the memories!

Oh and last but not least....I got my hair cut. I'd been wanting to do something different for a while now, but couldn't decide what. Well, after talking to Sarah and getting a idea, I went Saturday to get it cut. And this is the result:

It is way shorter than I have ever had it before, but I like it. Granted I can't make it look like it did the day the stylist cut it, but I like it all the same. Its fun and different, and for all of you who like long hair (aka, Dad), it will grow back. :)

So that is what is going on in our lives. Randy starts his clinicals this week. He is excited and ready to get experience as a paramedic. Tomorrow April begins and that means a birthday and anniversary. Wow! A year already! Time has flown. I'll post more later about our first year of marriage and all we've learned. God has definitely blessed us.

Peach blooms from my parents' trees

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10

Twins? You decide.

Ok, so I just had to post these two adorable pictures.

This is Bella, our neice.

And this is Hudson, our friend's baby.

Do you see the resemblence?

RW '08

So this post is a little late in coming. Randy & I went home to Oklahoma a few weekends ago to help with Revolution Weekend at Marietta FBC. I grew up in MFBC and Randy went there when he moved to Marietta and we were dating. Our friends, Shane & Amy, are the youth ministers and graciously allow us to come back and help each year. This year's theme was Guy Talk - Girl Talk and there were 5 topics specific to guys and 5 specific to girls. For the past 2-3 years, we've been on the behind the scenes crew - helping Shane & Amy visit homes, organize the derby car race, and generally just help anywhere needed. This year, though, Randy & I both were leaders in homes. I had 9th grade girls and Randy had 11th & 12th grade boys.

The weekend was great. It started out a little rough for me - I was fighting a sore throat, but God stepped in and gave me just enough voice to get through each session. Although all the topics were great and the girls really needed to learn about them, I struggled with the first few sessions. It just didn't seem that the girls were getting anything. They weren't really talkative during the lessons and I was struggling to convey what I was feeling in my heart about the different topics. Thankfully, I had a wonderful co-leader, April Dooley, and she kept enouraging me that I was doing better than I thought. I was really having to depend fully on God to get through each lesson. You know, we always say, "God, speak through us. Let the words they hear be your words not ours." This is one time I can attest that they really were. I hardly had a voice for most of the weekend, and yet when it was all said and done, I think some of the girls really did hear God speak. It wasn't anything I said - they just really were listening to God and he was moving through the weekend. It's very humbling to know that it was nothing I did that made an impact. It was all God and he deserves all the praise. In saying all that, there weren't any "life-changing" decisions - that I know of. But God was moving and I pray that the girls respond and not just go away not making a change.

It was also really special to have the girls I did. One of them, Madison, I babysat from the time she was 4 until she turned 8. We had so much fun during those summers - finger painting, play-dough, Barbies, Frogger, more crafts than you could imagine, and lots and lots of fun. I got to kind of reconnect with her and it was amazing to see the young lady God is growing her to be. And she remembered all the stuff we used to do! That was so cool. Makes me glad I didn't just let her watch TV all day while her mom was gone. Lol!

The pictures above are kind of a brief overview of our Revolution Weekend '08 and end with some misc pics of me & Bella (I couldn't resist!). Enjoy and let me know what's going on in your lives. I'd really like to know who is keeping up with us through our blog. God Bless!

Prayer

Lately I've been coming across more and more blogs of people who are on amazing journeys of faith. If you get a chance - check out their blogs and pray for them. Thanks!

• Brian, Janelle, & Alex - personal friends of Randy & I :)
• Nathan, Tricia & Gwyneth Rose
• The Gerwer Babies

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:17

Happy New Year! (a little late!)

2008 is here and a new year has begun. It has been a while since we posted so I thought it might be time for an update. We had a great holiday visiting family and friends and enjoying time off from work and school. We spent Christmas with my family in Oklahoma and New Year's with Randy's sister, brother-in-law, and neice in Tyler, TX. From our pictures below you can probably see we had a wonderful time. We loved getting to spend time with family and friends, but were glad to be back home (and in our own bed again)!

Work began again and the routine slowly fell back into place. Its funny, I love surprise and excitement, but I also love falling back into routine and familiar. I know this is something that I struggle with - my want to stay in the familiar, aka comfortable, and Jesus' call for me to step out into the unknown. Thankfully, I am learning to trust Jesus more and more and that makes it easier to step out into the unknown. And thankfully I serve a patient God who loves me even when I mess up.

Last weekend, Randy & I got to spend lots of time with our friends, Brian & Janelle, and Jacob & Laura. We hung out Friday night and played a mean game of "Killer Uno" (no one was hurt or died during this process...lol). Saturday, we all went to the wedding of our friends, Josh & Gilda. The wedding was beautiful and as much as I would like to share pictures, I forgot my camera. Hopefully, I can get Brian or Jacob to email me theirs sometime, hint, hint.... Afterwards, we headed back to Jacob & Laura's for dinner and to celebrate Jacob's 25th birthday. Sunday, they all were able to attend church with us and Randy & I actually got to be in the worship service with them! It was awesome. We headed back to our apartment, ate lunch and then spent the rest of our time visiting and catching up. Brian & Janelle are in the process of adopting/hoping to adopt a little boy named Alex. Please be in prayer for them during this time. Jacob & Laura are doing well - Laura starts back to school in a few weeks and Jacob is working.

Randy started back to Paramedic classes this week. He is excited that this is the downhill slope for him. He should be finished and a Paramedic by July/August. His clinicals start sometime in March and will keep him busy but we know it is just temporary. God will get us through it all.

And in closing, I wanted to leave you with cute pictures of our neice, Bella Grace. She is just adorable and I love getting to show her pictures off! Hope you all are doing well. We'd love to hear from you!

Christmas Pictures - finally! :)

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Randy & I pray this letter finds you blessed. We can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here again. This year has just flown by! Of course, we have done our part to keep it busy, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Here are the highlights from our year:

• November 2006 – Randy proposed! On a snowy night, at my apartment Randy asked me to be his princess for always. I said yes and it was official. We were getting married!
  
• January through March 2007 – Wedding planning had begun! From picking flowers, colors, cakes, tuxes, and a wedding gown – our lives were almost completely wedding. We had engagement pictures taken, I found my dress, we picked out flowers, went to 3 wonderful showers given by our wonderful friends, discovered that there is way more that goes into a wedding than we realized, and through it all thoroughly enjoyed every part of our engagement.
  


• April 2007 – This was a very busy month in our lives. I quit my job at Fossil in Richardson, TX. It was going to be too far for me to drive once we were married and living in Arlington. Thankfully, I was blessed with another opportunity in Irving with BancTec, Inc. Our God is faithful to provide just when we need it. Then I moved out of my apartment, and moved in with Paul & Shannon Mints for a few weeks before the wedding. Randy & I have been so blessed with family and friends who helped us in so many ways leading up to the wedding. Thanks! And squeezed in between all of this activity – I had a birthday! I am looking forward to a calmer birthday next year!
  
• April 28th, 2007 – Randy & I were married at Marietta’s First Baptist Church in Marietta, OK. It was a very blessed day. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Our family and friends were there to share it with us, the weather was wonderful, and we were getting married! Thank you to all of you who shared in that special day with us. We thank God for friends and family like you.

• May 2007 – Randy took me on a wonderful Honeymoon to Lake Tahoe, CA. We settled into married life – how fun! Randy also started EMT classes at the end of May. Our first nephew was born on May 12th – Caleb Matthew. He is a cutie!

• June 2007 – We moved – again! I moved 3 times in 3 months. This time we moved from Randy’s apartment (his lease was up) to the apartment we are in now. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and we love it! People say that the most stressful events someone can go through are getting married, moving, starting a new job, losing a loved one and divorce. We did 3 of the 5 in 3 months! Whew!

• July 2007 – Randy had his birthday on the 12th – complete with a double layer chocolate cake. Ask him about that sometime. It is quite the story. Oh, and our friends Jacob & Laura got married. We have been to so many weddings this year. I have to say 2007 was the year to get married!

• August 2007 – Randy finished his EMT classes. Yay! He finished as one of the top in his class. He also started his Paramedic classes. He should be finished by this time next year. Our church, The Community at Lake Ridge, also held a baptism at Lake Joe Pool, baptizing 8 people! If you want to know more about our church, check out the website – www.thecommunityatlakeridge.com. It is growing like crazy and God is working in amazing ways. Randy & I help with our kids’ ministry – KidRidge and we have grown from 40 at Easter to 70+! We are so blessed to have a wonderful church family – please be in prayer for what God is doing at TCaL.




• September 2007 – September was full of visiting family and friends. My cousin Waylon married his sweetheart Nina on Labor Day weekend. We traveled to College Station to visit Brian & Janelle Franklin (one of Randy’s best friends). The month ended with one of my best friends Tiffany visiting for the weekend. We are blessed to have friendships that endure despite the distance and busyness between us.

• October 2007 – Randy took and passed his EMT National Registration test! I am so proud of my smart husband. We also took a road trip to Odessa to visit Randy’s family. It was so good to all be together for the weekend.

• November 2007 – A surprise birthday party, Thanksgiving, a new niece – November was an exciting month. Randy, Daniel – my brother, and I threw a surprise birthday party for my mom. Boy was she surprised! We had so much fun. We spent Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with my family since we had spent last year’s in Odessa with Randy’s family. It actually was cold this year! At the end of the month, we had the privilege of becoming an uncle and aunt again. Bella Grace was born to Kristi & Andrew on November 28th. She is a doll!




• December 2007 – I love this time of the year. Christmas trees, snowmen, the Christmas Story, being with family and friends, celebrating Jesus’ birthday. It has to be one of my favorite times of the year. I love being with family on Christmas and reading the Christmas story. This is our first Christmas as a married couple. We are excited to look forward to what God has in store for us next year.
  

We pray at this special time of the year, that you would be able to spend time with your family and friends remembering the real reason for the season. Jesus was born in a stable 2000 years ago to be our Savior and Lord. He was the Ultimate Gift that first Christmas. May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We love you!

The Weekend

Randy & I had a great weekend. Just visiting with friends, church, small group, resting, etc. One of my best friends Tiffany came in to spend the weekend with us. Tiffany and I have known each other since 1st grade (we think) and good friends since 3rd grade. We can't really figure out when we first met, but that doesn't matter, right?! :) Anyways, I got to thinking about my life and how much Tiffers has been a part of it. So I thought I would give you a snapshot of our friendship and let Tiffers know how special she is to me and now Randy!


This is probably the earliest photo I have to Tiff and me. It was the 1st grade field day and we were running the 100 yd. dash. I am in the dark pink shirt, blue shorts and pig tails. Tiff is in the lighter pink shirt with curly red hair. This is probably the only time in our lives I beat Tiff in a race! ha ha ha!


This next one was taken when we were in the 4th grade, Mrs. Armstrong's class. The 4th grade had a tradition of reinacting the Oklahoma Land Run every year. We picked our "families" and made our own "covered wagons." Then we were given stakes and allowed to go pick our "plot" of land. Tiffany and I, along with Natalie and Ramon, made quite the family. Oh, and the little person in the corner of the photo is my little brother Daniel who had to be a part of the action too! Don't you love our wagons, stick horse and lunch!

Then we move on to 5th grade. This was after our end of year awards/promotion ceremony. Our moms checked us out of school early that day and we got to spend the afternoon at Tiffany's house. We thought we were so grown up! I'm just glad I wasn't the shortest one, that would be our friend A.J. By the way, what do you think of our choice in fashion? Pretty cool for the 90's, huh? :)


I'm almost hesitant to post this next picture. It could probably be taken and used against us, but oh well! We were having Nerd, Geek, and Dweeb Night at church in Middle school and this is what resulted. Please don't hold it against us! We only were getting into the spirit of the night!

On to high school, where things got a little more civilized. Here are a few from high school in random places:

Then we graduated and left for college, ECU Tigers! Tiff and I ended up living on the same floor in the dorm we were in. Thank goodness for that. We both wanted to spread our wings a little, but it was so good to know Tiff was just down the hall when I needed someone familiar. Ask Tiff sometime what our dorm floor smelled like after cooking sauerkraut and weenies! Yum!

Next came Graduation. Me from ECU and Tiff from TWU. We had finally done it. School was finished (for now) and we were ready to start our lives in the "real" world. We both always wondered why they call it the real world? What were we living in before that, a fake one? Anyways, I digress. I got a job in Dallas working for Fossil and Tiff got a teaching job in Gainesville. We didn't get to see each other as much, but still did our best to maintain our friendship.

Now to my wedding. From the day Randy proposed, Tiff was there to offer help and support. She listened to me try to decide on flowers and a cake, went with me when I had my bridal portraits made, planned my personal shower and bachelorette weekend, designed our wedding programs (and dealt with all the printing problems), and created an amazing wedding scrapbook for Randy & I to use to capture all our wedding memories. I know she helped with way more than I listed here. These were just some of the highlights. She went above and beyond the call of a friend and for that, I want to say thank you, Tiffany!

You have been an amazing friend to me through the years. I can't wait to see what God has planned for both of us in the future. Even though we don't see each other as much as we used to, know that I love you (and Randy does too!). You are very special to us and our door is always open to you. Love you!