We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas,

(We're a bit behind...)

We wish you a merry Christmas,

We wish you a merry Christmas...

(See our book shelf??)

And a...

 (that was for you Amanda!)

HAPPY...

NEW...

YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Just in case you were wondering...

This sign is at the church where our family reunions are held... the same church that my granddad and all 12 of his brothers and sisters grew up... Oh boy, we had a good laugh at this one.  Haha!

Update on Mom - Most Recent Scan Results

Hi everyone!

This morning, I sent a text after my mom's appointment with the oncologist.  Originally, we thought that her most recent scans were clear from the neck down (Praise God!), but one tumor in her brain had potentially increased in size.

She met with the neuroradiologist this afternoon as a follow-up from the Gamma Knife, and he was pleased with the scans and said that, "At worst, things were stable."  At least two of the four tumors are dying, the other two are stable.  He checked with her radiation doctor, and she agreed.  He will have another neuroradiologist check, but he feels sure that he is right.

She will be going to UNC to see about potential other treatments in the future.

The news this morning was heartbreaking, but what relief the appointment from this afternoon brought!  Thank God for the stability/shrinking AND for the clean scans elsewhere!

Thanks for the prayers!  Love y'all!

Happy December!

Well this morning I woke up with what I think is the beginning of another cold.  Then I got ready and couldn't find my keys.  They were in my pocketbook - What were they doing in there?  Then I missed the bus and didn't make it to class this morning. [Pauses to blow nose.] I mean considering all this and all that I have to do before next week, I'm in a really great mood.  Since I didn't make it to class, I can manage to fit in a blog post into my cuh-razy life.  Yay!

Oh, did I mention that I spent Thanksgiving night in the emergency room with a "food born bacteria infection."  Oh yeah, that was fun.  IV fluids + no sleep + well, you know... = not a good night.

It's really a shame that universities have to ruin this time of year by giving students more work than they can possibly do without giving up sleep and/or the Christmas spirit.  Note to self: Don't be that kind of teacher.

Want to hear something funny?  The English MAT folks were complaining about the unit plans they have to turn in - 10 whole lessons and 4-5 pages of description/explanation.  Hilarious... ha ha he he ho ha... oh my side hurts...  Maybe they shouldn't complain to the Social Studies MATers who have not complained and have twice as many lessons and pages of description/explanation.  We love you guys, but we feel no sympathy.

If you're reading this as if I'm complaining and Ms. Negative Nancy, you obviously haven't heard my sarcasm :)  I'm actually in a decent mood - it takes a lot for me to be in a bad mood usually.  I have developed into a gal who rolls with the punches - Is that the phrase? I have no idea if I said that right.

And oh gosh - have you seen Carolina basketball this year?  Ugh... not again.  All of the fans are cringing at our tough start... yet we still have a winning season.  Oh Carolina.  And ESPN... I know you have a "secret" love for Duke and Coach K, but if I have to watch another game with you blabbing on and on about how awesome they are... I will... um... I'll.... MUTE YOU.  Take that.

I'm doing a research paper on the Tweed Ring.  I know, the excitement in my life is just too much for you to handle.  I found out that Tweed's name was not William Marcy Tweed.  I felt so betrayed.  It was actually William Magear Tweed.  Yeah, I know you feel more complete now with that information.

Thanksgiving day marked 7 months out for the wedding.  I got home Sunday and looked at the To Do List and was like "What?  I have a wedding to plan?"  I'll be giving an update soon, along with some awesome vendors reviews.

Well, that's all I can muster up for now.  I've got to run catch the next bus!  Talk to you next time.

Champions!

Weston's baseball team won their division of the World Series last weekend! 

He was one happy kid!  I missed all but one game because I was home sick on the couch with an awful cold.  I'm mostly back to normal, but now two of my roomates are sick!  Ugh - you've got to love November! 

In other news, Parker sprained his ankle Thursday night playing basketball with some guys from our Sunday school class.  It's pretty bad and he's has a boot and crutches for the next three weeks.  Oh, and it's his right foot.  Nice babe.  I've only seen a picture of it because I stayed in Chapel Hill this weekend to work on a pile of stuff that has to get done before the semester ends in 3 weeks.  Three weeks!  Holy smokes.  I can't believe December starts next week.  Wow!

Sigh.  Well, I'm ready for Thanksgiving and time with my sweet family.  How about you?

Speak Up!

Ever since I read The Purpose Driven Life, the idea that we need to speak up for God in other's times of despair has really been on my heart.  This idea is almost radical to me, because so many times we are told to "mind our own business" and "leave well enough alone."  Well, this is wrong and God calls us to speak up for Christ.  Proverbs 31:9 says, "Speak up and judge fairly."

The Bible tells us that we should not simply look the other way and hope it goes away on its own.  We should bring it out in the open and deal with it (1 Corinthians 5:3-4).  If we know people who have lost God's truth, we should not write them off.  In fact, we should go after them and get them back (James 5:19).  Losing God's truth is easy to do because Satan is alive and active.  Satan is clever and he knows how to make us believe his lies.  If we see this happening, we need to go to the person - not "mind our own business."  It is our business, because if one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it (I Corinthians 12:26).

We do this because of love and with love.  Our strong love for each other will prove to the world that we are His disciples (John 13:35).  We are called to encourage one another daily (Hebrews 3:13).   We are told that "whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.  Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now" (Proverbs 3:27-28).  We are to "share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).  Someone in despair should have the devotion of his friends (Job 6:14).

And finally, this means we must step out of our precious little comfort zone and be bold.  There will be times that people get mad at us or take it the wrong way.  But the Bible tells us, "In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery" (Proverbs 28:23) and that "An honest answer is a sign of true friendship" (Proverbs 24:26).

No wonder people complain about not "feeling" and "hearing" God.  He's probably trying to speak through us and we're to afraid to open our mouths.  We are supposed to be BOLD in Christ and STAND UP and SPEAK UP for Him!

Wonderful Weekend

Hello sweet friends!

I hope you had a terrific weekend!  Parker & I had a wonderful weekend!  He came to Chapel Hill on Friday night for the UNC v. Barton exhibition game and we had a blast.  Parker graduated from Barton in December of 2008, and they won the Division II National Championship in 2007, and I graduated from UNC in May of 2010 and we won the Division I National Championship in 2009.  He decided to wear his national championship shirt... so I had to wear mine!  We are a competitive couple - what can I say? haha

Let's just say that Carolina won big.  Ironically, the same night, our high school football teams played each other, and the South Central Falcons (my high school) beat DH Conley Vikings (Parker's high school).  It was a tough night for Parker.  Haha!

Quick story - When we were in high school, Parker and I made a bet on the South Central v. Conley game my sophomore/his senior year.  If Conley won, I had to clean out and wash his truck (at the time, a 1990 Chevy K-5 Blazer), but if South Central won, he had to plan a surprise romantic date night.  A few weeks later, he fixed a candlelight dinner and we started our Christmas Light Tour tradition. :)  Yay Falcons! (I just read what I wrote about the tradition in a previous post, and it was almost exactly the same as what I wrote here... at least I know that I'm consistent in my storytelling)

ANYWAYS...

On Saturday, we moved my beloved bookcase and all my books to the condo.  Although I miss my books and hate the big empty space in my apartment, I love the addition to the condo.

We also went to the first half of the ECU v. Navy game, also known as the biggest embarrassment in ECU's history.  It started raining at halftime, so we left, and thank goodness we did, because ECU ended up losing 76-35.  WHOA... talk about a butt-whoopin!  Carolina had a big win against Florida State though, so the weekend wasn't a total disappointment in the football sphere.

Sunday, we went to church - and I just want to say that I LOVE our Sunday school class.  The switch to a new class was a great decision.  We really enjoy being with couples like us - i.e. recently married, seriously dating, or beginning to have children.  It is so refreshing!  I know that we are making some long-time friendships with these folks and I feel really good about it!

I am so excited about this coming weekend!  Weston's baseball team will be playing in the Top Gun World Series!!  We recently found out that his team is ranked #4 in the state!  Go Warriors!

My two-part life

Lately it feels like I have two lives - one Monday-Thursday as a teacher-in-training, graduate student doing school work, and one Friday-Sunday as a wife-in-training doing house work, spending time with family and friends.  I live in Chapel Hill Monday-Thursday, with my parents Friday-Sunday, and work on our home Friday-Sunday with Parker.  I'm ready for my second life to be full time.

Last weekend, we were so busy, but we had a great time!  Friday night we went to a park called Deadwood with my parents and Weston's baseball coach and his wife, Weston, and a few of his baseball buddies.  Deadwood has putt-putt, a train ride, a restaurant, and a bunch of other stuff.  The owners turn it into a haunted house and train ride around Halloween, so we decided it would be fun to check it out.

This was my first haunted anything... and I was nervous.   Parker looked scared, but he was so excited. haha

Let's just say that Deadwood will be my last haunted anything.  The haunted house wasn't that scary... but it was scary enough for me!  I think I scared myself more than anything.  I kept thinking, "I know something's about to happen, I know something's about to happen" and I made myself very paranoid.

The boys had a great time, and even though it was less than 50 degrees they had on shorts and ate ice cream.  So tough.  Ha! 

Parker and I worked at Operation-In-As-Much on Saturday morning with some folks from our sunday school class. Operation-In-As-Much is an event put on by a bunch of local churches where people go out in the community and volunteer doing yard work (what we did), build houses, visit with the elderly, run backyard bible studies, etc.  It was quite chilly, but the difference we made was awesome.

Then, we invited Casey & Ryan, our friends from church, over for dinner and board games.  The boys kicked our butts in Battle of the Sexes, and then Parker ran the table on us in Pictionary with Ryan getting 2nd place by a point.  Casey & I obviously need to step up our game haha!

This weekend, Parker bought us tickets to the UNC v. Barton exhibition game at the Dean Dome, so we are having a date night!  Whoo hoo!  Then we will be going to the ECU game or my brothers benefit tournament or something else that comes up tomorrow...  Church on Sunday, and then I'll be returning to my other life on Monday.

Talk to you soon!

Living Room Pics!

At long last... Welcome to our newly painted living room!

I know you love the photo in the frame on the far left.  :)  haha  It's what I had at the moment people, let's be real.  Our awesome clock that we registered for will look more awesome when it's above the fireplace!

Boy would brown and white striped curtains look good on that window!

All of our mixed matched furniture in our sweet, very own, first living room!

 What color should I paint that TV stand?  I'm thinking dark brown.  Or blue.  What do you think?

What about this coffee table?  Today, I'm leaning towards white.  From this angle, it looks okay as it is, but from the other side... you'll see why it should be painted.

And just to keep it real... this is the guest bedroom.  The other side of it looks about the same.  Boxes, stuff, boxes, stuff.  A computer desk, with boxes and stuff.  One day we will get there.  Then we will paint it too.  One day.

Oh, and I'm going to paint the light too.  White?  Gray?  Blue?  Brown?  I have no idea.

I feel slightly better about having people over now! :)  haha. Thanks for stopping by!

Curtains

I know I stink at posting regularly, but you should thank me because I really have nothing interesting to talk about.  Seriously.  Unless you want to hear about my unit plans, studying for a three-day history exam, or driving back and forth to Greenville.

I promise I'll put before/after pictures of the living room/dining area up after this weekend.  Now that the painting is just about finished in the main living area (we still have to do the bedrooms and bathrooms... ugh), I've been obsessing about decorating.  I have a vision.  Most of our furniture doesn't match and everything is hand-me-down (we were going for free not looks), so we'll be painting a couple of pieces to make things look more put-together.   I'm fine with that because I'm definitely into the painted furniture look.

However, now I'm going crazy about what colors to pick for furniture.

This is what I'm loving today...

... it's likely to change tomorrow.

So far, I'm in love with what we've used so far.  The kitchen is Topsail (6217) from Sherwin Williams, the living room is Natural from Lowes (I forgot the maker), and the trim/cabinets/doors are Delicate White from Lowes (forgot that maker too...)  Kind of matches my blog, eh?

I'm also in love with antique looks like this picture easel.

I stumbled upon The Nester and let me tell you... I love this lady.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to copy a lot from her.  Look at this:

Love. It.  We have a coffee table (that is currently stained wood) that looks almost exactly like that table... but shorter of course.  It is going to be painted white.  And those plates!  And the pale blue!

The hydrangeas.  The chalk board.  But wait... my favorite part.  The curtains!

Oh how I've been wanting brown and white horizontal striped curtains.  Big thick stripes.  Sigh.
I have looked everywhere for curtains like that.  Ikea, Boscov's, Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Walmart, Kmart, JC Penny, Belk, Big Lots, Kohls, Anna's Linens, World Market, TJ Maxx, Overstock.com, Amazon, Ebay, Home Goods, even Pottery Barn (which I would never be able to afford).  They don't exist!  This is the best I could find on Amazon thanks to my sweet friend MB.

But it just doesn't fit my NEED for these curtains.  The harder it is to find them, the more I want them.  I'm fine with making them... but I just have to find the time and the fabric.

So if anyone finds thick brown and white vertical striped tab drapery panels for an affordable price (or at all), you will be my best friend for life.  At this point, I would even consider dark khaki and white stripes.

Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to hunker down and make 'em.

So...

What have I been up to you ask?  Well let's see...

I've been watching this guy play baseball... and win not one, not two, but three Top Gun tournaments, along with a bid to the Top Gun World Series in Concord...

 I've been doing a little painting.  Heck, I've been doing a lot of painting!

And travelling through monsoons to hang out with family...

  

Oh, and some more painting :)

That pretty much sums up the last 4 weekends...  Pictures of the home updates coming soon... but don't hold your breath cause grad school is becoming a lot of (not hard) work!

Wedding Registry!!

Since we got engaged, I have been SO excited about registering for wedding gifts!  Last Friday night, we bit the bullet and went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  It was so easy and fun!  We proved to be quick and confident in making decisions - Thank the Lord!   Otherwise we would have been there all night... which we almost were - well an hour and half that is... but by the end, it seemed like all night and we didn't even register for bedroom or bathroom stuff yet!

Parker was an eager participant, don't you worry!  He kept saying things like, "Ooo, we need one of these!" and "Oh, we need to get this."  Which was funny... because he said it for things like this:

A bra ball.  Haha!  I informed him that we did not need one... cause I am the one who wears the bras... but I really didn't need one.  But he insisted...

So if you check out the registry and see it... now you know.  Hahaha

Update on Mom

Mom is recovering well from Gamma Knife.  As you would expect, she is tired and has experienced some headaches and body aches.  This weekend, she went to Weston's baseball tournament in New Bern and did fairly well, although it definitely caught up with her on Monday and yesterday.  She will have scans in 5 weeks to see the results.  I'm praying for no cancer.  I'm trying to stay positive and remind myself that this could be God's way to get the doctors to take some action on the "inactive" tumors in her brain and get rid of them once and for all.  Amen? Amen!

A few weeks ago, Mom and I went to get haircuts at the mall.  We passed through JC Penny on the way and saw these CUH-RAZY hats.  We decided to try them on and I sure am glad that we did:

How cute is my mom? 


Whew!  That one is a definite for the wedding!  She will definitely get the attention she deserves wearing that!  Hahahaha

We had a great time laughing and goofing off.  The several people that walked by us were definitely not as amused... but poo on them!


I mean, how could you not giggle at that hat?