2007 SoRuck

Well, I’m a little behind on my past several weekends so allow me to quickly fill you in about MLK weekend. Three weekends ago Jacob and I drove to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) for the 2007 SoRuck. The SoRuck is a gathering of Appalachian Trail hikers and enthusiasts. Jacob went last year and I was unable to go but this year I decided to take off MLK day with him and travel east for the jamboree. We arrived around midnight and slept in Penelope.

Saturday morning we woke up for breakfast and a 7 mile group hike along the AT. It always brings back fond memories when we hit THE trail. Critter enjoyed his first hike (I guess). We’ll see if he comes out wearing hiking boots or not. I thought I’d be exhausted but it was actually quite invigorating. That afternoon we just hung out and watched a few slide shows that people had created on their hikes of various other trails. In the evening I helped in the kitchen cutting potatoes and apples for our feast. I’ve never seen so much food (some yummy…some scary).

Sunday morning Jacob and I slept in. I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to attend the morning devotion. That afternoon Sally and Clarence and Lauren and Chad met us for a vomitous drive up to Wayah Bald and a nice picnic of Zaxby’s. Yum. Sadly they had to leave us because they had to work on Monday. Jacob and I went to our tent and we slept for like 14 hours. That was much needed!!

Monday morning we left the Ruck and headed home (with a stop at Cracker Barrel in between). I enjoyed the meeting with people who have hiked the AT or who plan on hiking the AT. There were certainly a myriad of different people there…professionals, hiker bums, young, old, clean, dirty, etc. Maybe we’ll attend again next year…who knows though b/c things are definitely changing in the Cartner household and we can’t wait!!

This is me atop Wayah Bald on our 2004 thru-hike. Brrr.

Jacob and I stayed with Stanimal and Officer Taco under their bunks at NOC on our 2004 thru-hike.

"Buuuudddyyy. Why are you taking a picture of your poor pregnant wife while she goes to the bathroom??"

Uncle Chad and Auntie Lauren

Old Grandparents :)

Wayah Bald Fire Tower

Silly Girls. Don't ask. Lauren sure does look like she is putting a lot of effort in her wipin.

Baby Cartner and Tummy Update

This past Saturday, Baby Cartner turned 12 weeks old. This is a huge milestone for us because that means the risk of miscarriage is virtually 0% and we are in the 2nd trimester. Praise Jesus for His grace!!! Critter seems to be growing along just normally (at least my stomach is!!!) so hopefully everything is just perfect. My next appointment is January 31st and I can't wait. Here is an excerpt from my doctor's website that tells you what is going on inside of me...

Baby's Physical Development
Baby weighs 8-14 grams and is 2.5 inches long.
The placenta has reached full functional maturity, acting as the baby's lungs, kidneys, liver and digestive and immune systems.
Urinary tract is on line and working fine. A big portion of the amniotic fluid from this point on will be baby urine.
Lungs are developing.
The pituitary gland is beginning to make many hormones.
Bile is being secreted by this time.
The arms have almost reached their final relative lengths, but the legs are still not so well developed and are slightly shorter than their final relative lengths.
Finger and toes have separated.
External genitalia are beginning to show distinct signs of male/female characteristics.

Critter and I have been reading stories every night before bed. It's my favorite thing to do. I can't wait until he's really here and I can rock him and read to him and watch him giggle at all of the funny stories. I absolutely love children's books and am thankful for the collection I have aquired over the years. Many are from my childhood and some I have purchased over the years and then Sally & Clarence always get us good ones for Christmas. This week I have pulled out some old school "Golden Books" like The Tawny Scrawny Lion and Panda Bear's Paintbox. These sure do bring back some memories.

Anyway...I gotta get back to work. But a parting shot before I go...Here's my growing belly! I plan on taking a photo every month until the end. We'll see how long this tank top lasts :) I think this picture makes me look a little bigger than I really am right now (don't they say cameras add like 15 lbs?). In all fairness I had just eaten dinner :).

P.S I will post about the past 2 weekends here in a little bit. It's no fun writing posts without pictures and I always forget to get them from Jacob!

God's Grace is Sufficient

I have been excitedly looking forward to writing this post for several weeks now but wanted to wait until I saw some special people in person before breaking the news on my bloggo.

If you read my second blog back when I joined the blogging world, you will remember that Jacob and I had a miscarriage in July. It was a very difficult time for me but never once did I feel like God's hand left me. I have felt His arms around me over the past seven months comforting me and reminding me that I am His child. I know that God has great plans for me and Jacob...and our new little one that is on the way!!! Jacob and I are so blessed to announce that we are expecting our first little baby around August 5, 2007!!!! I am ecstatic and in love with this new little friend that is growing in me. Please be in prayer for me over the next seven months as I grow into a mother (and into bigger pants). I am 10 weeks and 5 days along today.

My prayer is that of Hannah after she gave birth to Samuel..."My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God." 1 Samuel 2:1-2

So far I have had two healthy doctor appointments where I had ultrasounds of my little sprout. He (I use that term neutrally because we do not know the gender) has a beautiful heartbeat and the cutest little legs and hands (which he was swinging all around). Please pray that he will continue to grow into a strong healthy baby. He's exactly the size he's supposed to be right now (about 1.5"). My next appointment is on January 31. Jacob and I do not plan on finding out what we are having so we look forward to hearing when our sweet baby is delivered, "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" and being completely surprised.

I think that is all for now but since everything is out in the open, I will have lots to write about. For those who don't see me too often, you can watch me "grow" on my bloggo.

Our sweet baby at 9 weeks and 4 days along

December 3 when we took our pregnancy test. Can you tell how happy we are??

My existing "pooch" at only 6 weeks along. I believe that is leftover turkey and mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving :) I will take another one at 12 weeks.

Birds of a Feather...Flock Together

Just wanted to share some pictures Jacob took out at Shelby Farms last night. Kind of makes me think of Alfred Hitchcock...and yes, Jacob did get splattered on!

Ragtime = Funtime

This past week I made my friend Hillarey a Ragtime Quilt. It was my first Ragtime quilt and it was pretty easy. I did the whole thing in about 4-5 hours. The toughest part was cutting all of the edges. Hillarey is having a baby girl due any day now. Her nursery is done in Precious Moments so I chose fabric that would go with her room. I’m still having a little trouble getting my corners to line up but hey…I’ll get there one day. My new sewing machine I got for Christmas from my lovey dovey works just wonderful. I did the entire quilt without having to redo a single stitch!!!! That in my book is a BIG deal.

Saturday Hillarey had a baby shower so I went to that while Jacob continued to work on our fence. He’s getting so close!!!

Sunday night our friends Ali and Keith came over for dinner and played games. We sure do enjoy game nights.

This formatting is making me mad...

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

January 3, 2004

This past Wednesday, January 3, Jacob and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It's so hard to believe that it has already been 3 years since we said "I Do." I'm still loving every minute of being his wife and enjoying seeing how God is changing us and shaping us. To celebrate, we went to dinner at Steak & Ale and then to see the movie "We Are Marshall!". We haven't been to a movie in a long time and it was great to go on a date on a "work" night. And I got some gorgeous orange roses too :)

In our 3 years of marriage we have done the following things together:

Honeymooned in Kauai, Hawaii.
Hiked 2200 miles along the Appalachian Trail.
Adopted a puppy and fell in love with him.
Moved 500 miles from Greenville to Memphis, TN.
Purchased (and fully paid off) 2 cars.
Bought a house (and certainly not paid it off).
Tore out our kitchen and replaced it.
Went Skiing in Utah and Whistler/Blackcomb.
Reached the highest point in 26 states. (Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, California, Utah, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Texas, and Connecticut --not in this order though)
Went to Alaska.
Mourned the loss of our first pregnancy.
Celebrated 3 Thanksgivings in Pennsylvania and 3 Christmases in South Carolina.
Made many friends.
Got real jobs, and raises.
Jacob got a masters and started his Ph.D.
Backpacked many miles on other trails.

All while falling even more in love :)

If our first 3 years of marriage had all that in store for us, there is no telling what the next 60 have ready for us :)

Thanks for all the good times best friend in the whole world!!! I love you.

New Years

I told Jacob I was too tired after all of the travel that we did to go anywhere over New Years. We stayed home and worked around the house. It looked like a tornado had gone through it!!! Jacob spent the whole weekend working on our new fence and I cleaned the house and started a quilt I am making for a baby gift for a friend at work. On New Years Eve we went to our friends house from church and celebrated the year in. So here it is 2007 and I'm all caught up with my blogs. Sorry they aren't too exciting but it's hard getting caught up! Maybe my resolution should be to do a better job at keeping in touch with people and keeping up to date with my blog. Well, I'm going to bed now. I'll talk to you later.

Christmas in South Carolina

I sure do love Christmas...I especially love being home with family over Christmas. We returned from Whistler on Friday, December 22 after a long red eye flight that was delayed. Our luggage also didn't make it. It wasn't a big deal though because it arrived on the next flight and they delivered it to the house that afternoon. As soon as we arrived we got showered and then headed to North Carolina to spend the day with Jacob's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a good time there with them but I was very tired after all of that traveling. We got back to Greenville and went to sleep.

The next day I got up and had lunch with my good friends Lindsay, Cindy and Lauren. It's always so great to get caught up with them. I'm sorry to all of the other people that I didn't get to catch up with over the holidays. There is never enough time!!

Christmas Eve we went to church in the morning and then relaxed for a while before heading to the Bunnells for a drop-in. After that Jacob and I went to the Christmas Eve service at Brushy Creek. I haven't missed it in years. It's great to spend the evening preparing for Christmas day and to get caught up with people I only see once a year.

The next morning was Christmas...yeehaw. Jacob and I got some great gifts and ate some yummy vittles. Some of the gifts I got: a new sewing machine, the Willow Tree Nativity, a bird feeder, clothes, gift cards, etc. We spent the rest of the day playing games and then got to hang out with Brad working on a crazy puzzle until Dad and Martha returned from Vancouver and we hung out with them.

The rest of Greenville was just hanging out and eating. Can you tell I'm getting tired of writing? I don't have any pictures on this computer to share but I'll try to ge the uploaded later.

Whistler/Blackcomb

To begin our holiday adventures we left on Friday, December 15 after work towards Greenville. We decided to drive to Greenville and fly out of there in order to avoid having to drive to Greenville after our ski trip. God's arms were certainly around our vehicle on that drive. Shortly after we left, there was a pile up on the interstate that caused Jacob to have to swerve off the road only to end up in a ditch. We were stuck in the middle for a little bit. Jacob had to push the car out while I floored the gas. Thank you Jesus for your protection!! The rest of the drive was uneventful. Jacob drove the whole way because he thinks he makes better time than I do. We arrived late that night and had to get up at 4 am for our 6am flight. Thanks so much Pam for taking our Siler dog to the kennel. We're sorry he growled at you :(.

The flights to Dallas and then to Seattle were uneventful. We made good time but because of some bad weather, Chris (a friend from work who went with us) and the Jarvises were delayed. We had to hang out at the airport for a while waiting for them. We finally all met up and began the 4.5 hour drive to Whistler. I'm sure it was beautiful but I couldn't see much because it was dark. We arrived at the lodge at around 9 o'clock.

Our lodge was extremely nice. Each condo slept 6, had two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, fireplace. It was right on the slopes and had access to several restaurants and shops. Whistler is a gorgeous area. They have had a record year for snow and it was everywhere. Absolutely gorgeous. The weather was nice while we were there. It wasn't too cold, as I dreaded. The skiing was good, the food was delicious and the fellowship was perfect. I sure enjoyed our trip to Whistler.

My brother Brad showing his mad ski skills on the moguls.

My Crazy Jacob :)

Beautiful Blackcomb Mountain (The Glacier)

Getting Caught Up

Well, I brought home our laptop from work with a wireless card so I can get caught up on my blog. My deepest apologies for not posting "a big, long, bloggy" while in Greenville. Time with family is special and I didn't want to spend all of my time on the internet. I am going to do my best to get caught up but I will probably post several blogs in order to keep things organized. So here goes...

Wow...

I am one pathetic loser!!

Ok, not really but I wanted to quote Dumb & Dumber. So...sorry about getting behind on my blog! Things have actually been going on but I've been so busy at work that I haven't had time to get caught up.

We leave today to drive to Greenville and then have an early flight to Seattle tomorrow morning. We then drive to Whistler/Blackcomb for some fantastic skiing. We return to Greenville on Friday morning and get to spend until the day after Christmas with family and friends. I'm so excited.

So...when I get to Greenville, I'll write a big, long bloggy about our trip and hopefully get caught up on everything else. Just bare with me :)

Now This is Funny!!!!

I hope these pictures of my brother make you laugh as hard as I did. Have a happy Friday!!!

Thanksgiving Was Great...but I have Countertops!!!

Ok...so I know you guys would like to hear about my Thanksgiving but the big news for me today is... I HAVE COUNTERTOPS!!!!!!!!!!! Some of you may not realize what a big deal this is. I have had plywood countertops for a year now...and a temporary sink...and no dishwasher. Today the fabricators installed my new GRANITE countertops. Let me just tell you...they are BEAUTIFUL. I feel like throwing a party. The company did an AWESOME job and I am so pleased with their workmanship. Pictures will come soon but I didn't have the camera this morning when they finished. I'm debating if I should make you wait to see them after I get my backsplash installed or if I should give you a sneek peek :). If anybody in the Memphis area is getting new countertops...I highly recommend American Granite & Marble. They were very easy and flexible and affordable to work with.

So enough about my countertops...Thanksgiving was wonderful as well. I always LOVE visiting my family in PA. We spend the first couple of days with my mom's side of the family in Johnstown and then the rest of the trip with my dad's side of the family in Kittanning. My mom's sisters remind me so much of her. This year we ate a lot of food, played Mexican Train, played Phase 10, went bowling (Grammy was the oldest one cosmic bowling with the young, teenage, tight-shirt wearing, hoodlums), ate some more, walked around "town", ate some more and drove. This year the weather was warm (in the 60's). Big change from the 14" of snow we got last year.

I guess it's time to get the Christmas decorations out. I can't wait for skiing and another holiday....and did I mention I got new countertops???

Happy Thanksgiving.

Enjoy some Thanksgiving Pictures. We are still in PA but wanted to give you something to enjoy from my Mom's side of the family. More when I return. Sorry they are not in chronological order.

Brad, Elise and Me. Elise was one of my mom's best friends when they were little. I always thought she was an aunt when we were younger because we saw her as much on visits as we did family.
Me and my cute grammy breaking the wishbone.
Me teaching everybody to play Mexican Train. Brad won.
That's a lot of taters!!
The feast!! Aunt Jeanie only made 8 pies this year for 13 people. Not to mention she made a goody box for each of us that had a loaf of pumpkin bread, cookies, muffins, gobs and some other yummy stuff. She's crazy!!

Thanksgiving Can't Come Soon Enough!!

Well, I don't know about you all but I am ready for a break! I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving and the fact that I only have to work 1 and a half days this week. Yep, it's Sunday night and I am at work right now. I was at work last night too. Obviously I'm not working this very second but a girl's gotta have a break every once in a while. Tomorrow I am starting a new "normal" project. I say "normal" because I will not be working on all of these "fire drills" that are requiring late hours. Friday night I was able to go with Jacob to Arkansas to return Bouncer to his owner and then we camped and hiked 10.4 miles on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed going with Jacob. I didn't think I was going to be able to. So...we no longer have Bouncer. He seemed excited to see his owner again which is a good thing. I do not have much to talk about but enjoy these few pictures of Jacob and I. He sure is a cutie. :)

By the way, those curious...we will be leaving Tuesday afternoon and driving to Pennsylvania to spend Turkey Day with my family. I LOVE this time of year. I will have lots to post about I'm sure. We will return Sunday night. I hope your Thanksgiving is great!

Jacob and I at Brandon and Layla's Wedding a week ago.

Jacob and I (and Lucy too) at the Epicurean Dinner Group on Thursday. This is a group of people that I work with that get together once a month to try different ethnic foods and restaurants. This month was our first time attending and it was at Happy Mexican. The restaurants pick out what we will eat and we eat family style so we can try things that we wouldn't know to order. I look forward to some of the more interesting places.

Penelope's Wild Escapade

So…I think this is pretty funny. You guys might not think so but humor me.

I get home one night and get the mail from the box. In it I find a letter addressed to Jacob from Germantown Law Enforcement and I think, “ooo what has he done now.” I try to read through the envelope and all I could read was “CITATION.” He opens the envelope and in it is this piece of paper…I started laughing at him for getting caught running a red light. I just assumed it was him because he goes out to Germantown (a suburb of Memphis) every Wednesday to play basketball and often drives my car. Anyway, to make a long story short…it was me!!! I had gone out to my boss’s house to deliver drawings on Halloween and that’s when it happened. Ha Ha Ha. I had no idea that they actually used those red light cameras. So…beware when you run a yellow light…it could turn red…and you could get caught.

P.S I told my boss he owes me $50 bucks…he just laughed.

I erased parts of it just incase any creepos are reading this.

Have a Good Weekend

Just wanted to tell you I had a good week this week. Work has been pleasant. Things I did this week (this includes last weekend)

Friday: Good-bye party for Tonya and Jason at Carie and Chris' (funny pictures to come one day)
Saturday: Worked on Fence, Went to Wedding (Yay Brandon and Layla), Watched Windtalkers
Sunday: Went to church, ate roast, green beans and mashed sweet potatoes for lunch, cleaned house, watched t.v.
Monday: Worked
Tuesday: Worked, Tech Lunch, Voted, Cooked Dinner, Bible Study at Hunter and Emily's
Wednesday: Worked, Dinner at Texas Roadhouse to say good bye to Tonya and Jason, Target with Carie
Thursday: Worked, Tech Lunch, Game Night with Jacob...I beat Jacob at Risk!!!! And he didn't do it on purpose.
Friday: Worked, Going home...

Happy Birthday Lauren!!!

Today is my sister-in-law's 23rd birthday. Yay for Lauren. I wish we were there to celebrate with ya!!!

I didn't want you to think she was too normal :)

I made her a tree skirt for her birthday.

Getting Caught Up

Apologies for getting so far behind…I’d hate to turn into Carie or Tonya :). Anyway, things have been pretty busy lately and I haven’t had the time to write. I do however owe you some stories about the dog, the owl and Chilympics. So here goes.

The Dog...

Jacob went backpacking a couple of weekends ago with Siler. This dog began following him for several miles. He’d disappear and then return. That evening he disappeared but when he woke up in the morning…he was sleeping outside his tent!! So the dog continued to follow him and disappear and then return again until he was done backpacking…now 20+ miles away from where they first met. Jacob got to his car and called the owners to let them know he had found their dog. They never answered. He kept calling. Not knowing what to do, Jacob felt like he should stall a little bit until the owners called him back, but still needed to get home (which was over 4 hours away). So…since they never called back he brought the dog back to Memphis with him. He didn’t want to just leave him on the side of the road to die. He calls me to warn me and let me know. I thought it was a trick at first to talk me into allowing him a new dog. The poor little guy was malnourished and tick infested. We gave him a bath and as much food as he wanted. We didn’t know his name so Jacob insisted on calling him Roscoe. That evening the wife of the dog’s owner calls back. We tell him where we are and she said she needed to have her husband call us. Obviously she didn’t want to deal with it. The owner calls us and informs us that he is in Nebraska!! and will not return for 2 more weeks. We told him we would watch him and return him when he got back in town. It’s been 2 weeks now and we haven’t heard back from the guy. Jacob doesn’t want to call the guy back because he wants to keep him…who by the way is named Bouncer. I’m not really ready for another dog. Bouncer is terrified of new people (maybe he was abused?)…and he still smells…and he doesn’t listen worth a hoot...however, he doesn’t bark which is nice. We are going to have to bathe him again. So…until we hear otherwise, we have this new dog. Oh, he’s a hound (white with tan and black spots), about the same size as Siler. Siler doesn’t care too much about him but does get jealous if we play too much with him.

The Owl…

This story is short. Jacob walked out into the yard and there was a dead owl. That’s really all to the story but how often do you find dead owls in your backyard?? Not to mention, I was wearing my new shirt with owls on it the same day we found it! Spooky. Pretty random, I know.

Chilympics 2006…

Chilympics was a yearly chili cook off that my work, LRK held in the past. When I started working here I was so excited about it but they had stopped doing it. Well, now that Stewart has returned to LRK, he resumed the Chilympics (apparently it was in his job description). The object of Chilympics is to have a team building experience with people that you do not normally get to work with. The teams were selected at random. Not to complain too much but my team was not very good. Most of the people on my team didn’t really care to participate. The other teams however seemed to have a blast. There were judges that evaluated your display and other judges that evaluated your chili. My team didn’t win anything. Apparently my chili came in 3rd place but there were some discrepancies with the judging that caused us to not place. I was pretty disappointed to get a poopy team but there is always next year. The teams that did participate were HILARIOUS.

Sally’s Visit…

I had a blast with Sally last weekend when she came to visit. She took me shopping and bought me 2 new pairs of pants and a sweater. Thanks Sally!!! The rest of the weekend we did some funny stuff but I can’t talk about that just yet. I’ll talk about it after somebody’s birthday.

Halloween…

I worked sort of late and didn’t do anything for Halloween. We are grinches I guess. Frank Ricks (of Looney Ricks Kiss) dressed up as his cousin Henry and handed out candy at the office. We laughed SO hard. Can you believe this guy owns a reputable architecture firm?? Hehe.

Our 8th Dating Anniversary…

Today is 8 years since Jacob and I started dating. Wow…can you believe that a lunch date to Schlotzsky’s led to this? That was the best lunch I ever had. I love you buddy and can’t wait for 80 more years of dating. We went out to dinner to celebrate last night because tonight we are attending a bye-bye party for Tonya and Jason.

I think we are caught up now. Hopefully I won’t get so far behind again.

Disclaimer: This post is really long and I do not feel like re-reading it for errors and typos…so please forgive me!

Fuzzy Teeth Syndrome

Artwork Provided by Carie Alley, Age 27?

Ok, so I still owe you posts about the new dog, the crazy dead owl and Chilympics but for now I must share this piece of artwork by my dear friend Carie...It certainly made my day.

It's 4:50 pm on Friday and I have been at work since 8:30 am on Thursday morning. It has been a crazy, busy day(s). I knew I was going to have to work really late last night but was certainly not planning on an all nighter. So here I am sitting in the same clothes I was wearing yesterday, un-showered, sleepy and with fuzzy teeth. I almost walked to the Walgreens to get a toothbrush but that would have required energy that I did not have. I told Carie I needed to brush my teeth b/c they are wearing a sweater...I was drinking sweet tea to keep me awake and eating chocolate (diet of champions...I know) so my teeth feel gross. She in return sent this funny picture. I think with her artistic skills she should have been up here helping me do my drawings and then I wouldn't have been in this fuzzy predicament.

Other news...I decided against going backpacking this weekend b/c I just don't feel like it. SO!! Sally found a cheap plane ticket yesterday and is coming to visit me for a mother - daughter weekend. I will be picking her up tomorrow morning. Jacob will be backpacking with his pops and bro-in-law. Can't wait to see you Silly Sally who Sits on the Seashore Sipping Sweet Tea Sweetened with Splenda.

Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend Jacob went backpacking with Siler dog while I stayed home. Since I have had such a crazy few weeks at work, all I wanted to do was be lazy and. It was a nice weekend but Monday did quickly come.

Friday night I met Carie at UABC to help with their annual fall festival. I was assigned this big, inflatable slide to manage. There were several teenage boys that just loved this slide and kept jumping and doing somersaults on it. I really didn't have any control over them... After it ended at 8:30 Carie and I went to High Point Coffee where I had a something or other mocha. I'm not a coffee drinker but whatever I had was quite yummy. I think it was mostly sugar. We stayed up talking until 11 (way past old Carie's bedtime) and then I went home to my quiet house. I slept in the guest bedroom because it has a warm down comforter and I was cold without my snuggle friend.

Saturday I woke up at 10 and I am quite proud of that. I needed it. After I woke up and got showered and shaved my hairy legs, I met Carie at her house before heading to Costa Vida. A YUMMY place. We then went shopping and I bought a shirt, blue jeans and two picture frames for my pictures on my shelf (as previously posted). I always get frustrated when I go shopping for jeans. It doesn't happen very often and I only had 2 pair that I wear (one pair was my dad's from the 70's). I realized again that it is hard to find pants for short, stout women like me...so you know what I did?? I bought myself a pair of men's blue jeans and I love them. They fit perfect. After our shopping trip we went to Carie's house to pick up Chris so we could meet Tonya and Jason at the Fox and Hound to watch the Clemson game and grab a bite. The Tigers rocked against Georgia Tech, putting them in the Top 10!! After we ate and watched the game we went to Tonya and Jason's for a little while and just talked. We don't have much time left with them before they move :( .

Sunday I woke up and went to church. After the service Pastor Mike announced that he may be resigning because he feels God calling him to another church in Arkansas. It was shocking and sad news for everybody. We have only been visiting UABC for a little while but we really enjoy his preaching. Plus, after all we just went through at GBC we are ready for some consistency and to "settle" in at church. I have to keep reminding myself that you don't join a church because of the Pastor or Staff but rather for the biblical teaching and the way God is using the church to spread the Gospel. I know if God called Mike to another church, he will have called somebody else to come to UABC. Please pray for that situation. Mike will tell us on Sunday what the decision is.

After church I cleaned the house a bit until Jacob got home with TWO dogs in tow. We then went to Sam's to do our monthly grocery shopping. We returned home and watched the Amazing Race and did some other things around the house.

In the next post I'll tell you about the new (temporary) dog we have, the strange owl we found in the backyard and about the Chilympics that were held yesterday at work. Until then, I have to return to work...lunch is over.

In Memory

I wish I could have posted this last Thursday but I have had little time. Its meaning is still the same today…wow, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years!! And I still miss her like crazy. For those of you who don’t know (which I think everybody does) my mother died 10 years ago after a 2 year battle with ovarian cancer. She was the strongest and godliest woman who has ever impacted my life. In memory of her, enjoy these beautiful photos and this poem I wrote when I was a wee 14 years old.

My Mother, My Hero

As I look through our memories I can’t help but cry,
I don’t understand why you had to die.

You were so brave and always strong,
Even though it lasted so long.

You pointed me in the right direction,
With love, care and all your affection.

Never once did you complain,
Through all the needles, hurt and pain.

Even though you are not here,
I’ll always feel that you are near.

I know that God is taking good care of you,
And one day I’ll be there with my body so new.

And though you are gone,
My love for you will always live on…

Because you are my mother, my hero.

Linda Johns Toy
August 31, 1954 – October 19, 1996

Senior Portrait - Cambria High School - Class of 1972

Is that a yak?? – Date Unknown

Little Trinket’s First Birthday – April 17, 1983

This picture exemplifies my parents’ marriage…See how he looked at her after 19 years of marriage. So sweet. – July 1996 (3 months prior to her death)

I'm Burned Out!

Ok...so could you guys please pray for me? I'm totally burned out at work. I have been working 10+ hour days on a regular basis and I am exhausted. I currently am not working on one particular project but rather "floating" and helping around where needed. Some of these needs require immediate attention and fast deadlines. Pray that I don't have a rest-deprived break down soon. Thanks!!

Fortunately this weekend I was able to relax and take a break unlike the weekend before. Friday night I did work a little late and when I got home Jacob and I went to Moe's for dinner. After Moe's I don't even remember what we did.

Saturday I slept in a little while Jacob got up to work on our new fence he is building. I can't wait for it. So far it looks really good. I worked around the house a little bit until I headed to the St. Jude Showcase of Dogs Show with Carie at the Agricenter. I sure did see some FUNNY stuff. My favorite was the lady pushing her 3 toy poodles in a vintage stroller. I also enjoyed seeing the chinese crested dogs (the ugly hairless ones). Then there were the dancing greyhounds. Unfortunatly we missed the dance but I did see them in their red sequined outfits. The best part of the show though was seeing Tonya and Jason and their agility trial. We missed Tonya run with Chase but we did see Jason run with Taylor.

After the dog show I got cleaned up and we went downtown to meet some new friends John and Jen for dinner and headed to the Grizzlies game where Carie and Chris also met us. This was my first NBA game. Our seats were WAY up but we had a good time none the less...especially eating the blue raspberry cotton candy. YUM! After the game we stood on a corner and people watched all of the interesting people on Beale Street before heading home.

Sunday we went to church and then came home and I cooked. I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and preparing for our other new friends Mitch and Hillary to come over. We had a good time eating burgers and dogs and brownies and beans and then playing Mexican Train and Scattergories. Then it was time for washing dishes and practicing my chili recipe. I've been too busy to post about it but the big Chilympics is coming up at work and I am our chef. I wanted to do a trial run before the competition next week. My team is slowly pulling together our theme and I should have something to post about that in a week.

Well, I wanna go home and see my hubby and eat some grub so I am going to go now. Talk to you later!!

An A+ for Jacob and a 19 Hour Day for Me

Well, not too much to post about. Jacob met me downtown friday and we ate dinner and then he hung out with me while I worked. Saturday Jacob tore down brush and stuff in the backyard with his new chainsaw while I worked. Sunday we went to church and then Pei Wei and then Jacob played frisbee golf while I worked. Monday night Jacob slept while I worked. Are you finding a pattern here? I'm exhausted and I think I am going to go home now (seeing as I did work a 19 hour day yesterday and 55 hours since Thursday). On a happier note... Jacob made a 100 on his first test. Way to go buddy.



Also...I wanted to share some nice words I read in the Bible last night while I was a little discouraged at work:

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins." Isaiah 40:1-2

I like the rest of the chapter too...you should read the rest of 40 as well.

C-L-E-M-S-OOOOOO-N

Way to go Clemson Tigers who fought their way to a win after being down 14 points in the fourth quarter. Take that Demon Decons. 27-17. I miss football Saturdays, tailgating by our dorm and wearing lots of orange. Now the only orange you see in this state is the other orange.

P.S. If you are curious as to why I am actually updating on a weekend, unfortunately I am at work. Blah.

Memphis Fire

Lincoln American Tower - Fortunately vacant due to renovations

Memphis' Oldest Church and 2nd Oldest Building

I imagine some of you may have seen this on your local news (my best friend Ryina said she saw it all the way in Charleston, SC). The pictures are quite horrific. Unfortunately I do not know many of the details other than the First United Methodist Church (Memphis' 2nd Oldest building) caught fire around 3 am. Two surrounding buildings caught fire later. My work is a few blocks away and we are fine...other than the smell of smoke has entered the ducts and our office has that fire smell to it. They do not know the cause yet. I really do not have much to say about it because I do not know much about it. For more images check out the Memphis Fire Department's photo gallery. This guy is so talented, too bad the subject matter is so grim.

Church on Fire

Lincoln American Tower on Fire

Lazy Weekend

L to R: my new candle chandelier and my new shelf (as mentioned in last week's blog) and my new chalkboad.

Woa..what's up with this formatting? Oh well.

This weekend was another relaxing weekend. Friday I worked a little later finishing up some drawings for Chris & Carie’s smelly bathroom (ok, it’s not smelly, just wanted to see if she was reading this). They had to gut their bath because of a leak-a-rama that ruined the floors and everything. The joy of old houses! Anyway, I was drawing some plans for their new and improved bathroom-to-be.

Saturday Jacob and I were lazy and slept in until 10:30. Yep, that’s right I said 10:30. When we got up I painted a coat on my chalkboard for my kitchen. Then we went shopping. First we went to Lowe’s where KIX106 was airing live. I won a Carrie Underwood cd. After Lowe’s we went to Home Depot and ordered our kitchen sink. It should arrive in a day or so. We are making kitchen progress!!! After Home Depot we went to Hancock’s and I bought some stuff just because they were having a sale. I didn’t need anything. I did buy a few patterns because they are normally $15 and all Simplicity patterns were 99 cents. You could only get 5 per person though. Needless to say, Jacob does not like Hancock’s so I was rushed to pick out my patterns so I only got 3. I think I am prepared for the day that I have kids throwing temper tantrums in the store because my husband already does it :). Ok, I’m exaggerating a wee bit but he really did not enjoy being in there. After Hancock’s we went to Best Buy because I had a gift card for there. I bought Jacob a Ricky Skaggs cd. I wasn’t too excited about this purchase because I do not like bluegrass music but I have to admit there are some funny songs on the cd…especially one line that says, “Slap your momma’s behind”. After Best Buy we went to Hobby Lobby to get a frame for my chalk board and some candles for my chandelier. Then we went to pick up my car at Goodyear because I was getting the tires rotated. That evening we cooked steaks and then had a rollerblading date. We rollerbladed for a while and it was fun.

Sunday we woke up late (we were struggling to get up…again) so we did not make it to Sunday School. We went to church though and it was very good. After church we tried a new restaurant called Costa Vida that was delicious. After lunch we went home and changed for the park. We spent about 4 hours at Shelby Farms watching Siler play with his friends. Jacob studied for a test and I read a book. Carie and Chris met us at the park after a while. When we got home from the park I ate cereal for dinner (Cinnamon Toast Crunch to be exact) and then watch the Amazing Race while I ironed my clothes for the week and dusted the furniture.

Monday was nothing special at work. Jacob cooked for dinner because he was ready to eat and he did a great job on the “Cheesy Chicken”. After dinner I vacuumed and we played Scrabble. Jacob won but I get the play of the game with my 63 point word…”Quey” (a young calf). Yesterday was Carie’s birthday and I didn’t even wish her a happy birthday on my blog. You can read her blog though, she wishes herself a happy birthday :).

That’s all for today. More later.