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!