over half way done!

I didn't realize my last post was Sept. 17...whew...it's been a while! Well, first semester of my second time in college is almost over. Only 5 weeks left :) I just got done with my second test in all of my classes (except history). It will soon be time to register for next semester.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and Josh's parent will be flying in to spend about a week with us! Then, before you know it....Christmas break!!! I have been trying to talk Josh into letting me put up the tree...he says it is too soon :( Well, thats about all that has been going on...school, school, school...

school school school...toes!

This picture is from when Molly came to visit Josh and I!

Well, school has been going pretty well. The only class I am really working hard in is Physiology. I lucked out and the other 3 classes are easy. I had my first test last week (in art) and I made an A!

I have my first physiology lab test next week and then a physiology lecture test the next week...eek! That is a lot of Phys. in 2 weeks!

So...before I begin my hard core studying tomorrow I am going to a Pedi-party tonight at one of the college students house! I am excited....we will be doing pedicures, watching girly movies, and eating sweets!!! Then get to crackin tomorrow! Keep me in your prayers while I study and take my test next week!~

I know, I know!

Me on the second day of school....I think it was the second. I am wearing the backpack my mom got me for back to school. Also, me with my new toy.

Whew! What a week!

Here is the quick version of the past few months....

SCHOOL!

I have spent the past few months getting ready to go back to school. Cleaning out things in the house, getting supplies, being sure everything is up to date....except my blog obviously! So...this week was my 2nd week and school and I have felt so overwhelmed this week. I have had about a dozen cards that I have been needing to write and send for weeks! I haven't sat down and watched television at all in 2 weeks until today. Well, that is not entirely true because last Friday and Saturday I got food poisoning and watched tv while I was laying on the couch sick. SSooo... I had no idea going back to school could be this stressful! I came home from school crying Monday because I felt so overwhelmed and behind already! I have spent atleast 40 hours...honestly probably more than that studying this week! I am hoping I remember how to study soon and I pray that some of this Physiology will come back to me!

Also, why did nobody tell me that at a public college nobody wears clothes?! I walked around in shock last Monday when I got to class and 90% of the girls in all of my classes were wearing extremely short shorts....I am not sure if they even qualify as shorts! And the language!!! I have 4 professors this semester and I have heard all of them curse! Some on a 'every class' basis! On, the second day one of my professors cursed in class and said "Are anyones ears burning from that?" very sarcastically. Yeah, seriously! I guess that I was sheltered at the last college I was at...even though it wasn't a christian college, it was a private college and we had dress codes and standards! So, off that soap box now...

I am happy I am going back, I just wish I was closer to being done and that the college was more 'Christian friendly' (I'm sure there is better wording than that). Josh and my mom are so encouraging and that means a lot. Josh is helping me so much! He is amazing!

So, please keep me and us in your prayers as I continue my education and I beg you to continue to pray that our house will sell in Alabama. So many things that we need hinge on that house selling.

I hope all is well with each of you.

I can't say when I will be able to write again so maybe I should say Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas now! haha

SLCC you have a part of me!

Has it really been that long since I last posted?! Well...I guess I have some catching up to do, even though not a lot has happened! :)

This is one of my favorite pictures from camp!

First, we went and spent a week in San Marcos and went to the Focal Point workship. We had such a great time with friends and were so uplifted! We had a lot of fun staying with Trent, Lisa and Ella!

Next, Josh bought me a plane ticket to go home for Mothers Day (actually the week before). He bought this ticket right after Christmas and we kept it a secret for months....so hard! Well, the day finally arrives and I am a mess leaving Josh at the airport! 2 hours later I land in Memphis. As soon as I turn my phone on (SERIOUSLY!) my mom calls and asks where I am. I told her we were headed back from San Marcos. Then she asks "why did Josh say he missed you already on FB?" me "huh?" (while my brain is going nuts!) mom: "which one of you is coming home" me: "I don't know" (I have no idea wether I should tell her or not yet! She asks again :"which one of you is comin home?" me: "I don't know....I have to go to the bathroom!" So, then I called Josh and asked him about the post and he apologized and felt horrible! So, I called mom back and told her I would be there in 2 hours! She giggled like a child! It was wonderful! She kept saying "You are coming to my house, you are coming to see me?!" over and over. Then she called Josh bawling her eyes out and thanking him! Precious! So, two hours later we arrive in Dyersburg and mom is crying again...not because I am there though...a friend of theirs has just run over their beloved Max. So, needless to say it was an emotional week. But, we did have a good time between the tears.

So, after the visit with mom I rode back to TX with Evan and Christina (Josh's brother and his wife). They had been planning to come for a while and it worked out perfectly with my plane ticket! Evan and Chritina satyed for a week and we had a blast! We went to San Antonio and messed around here and just hung out and spent time together. The guys did a lot of fishing!

Then, it calmed down a little and we began getting ready for SLCC!

We left on the 10th and headed to TN to spend a few days with family before camp started on the 13th. I had forgotten how sticky it felt at camp! I also forgot about all of the bugs that seem to attack from nowhere when the sun begins to set! We had a wonderful cabin this year. I was a councelor with Molly (Joshs sister) and Victoria who was also the lifeguard. The beginning of the week went by so slow. But, by Wednesday I was wishing it would slow down a little! I am missing all of my buddies already! I am looking forward to next year. I always feel so uplifted when I leave camp! This year we had 7 baptisms and approx. 25 restorations. How can you not be uplifted!! Now that we are back in TX we get to relax a little while...until the first week of August when we go to TN and Josh holds a gospel meeting at Glendale. Well, my post is getting lengthy so I will go for now!

Hello again!

I will preface this blog by saying....I am not complaining! I am simply letting you in on what is going on in our lives! :)

So, since March 8th I have been sick...I know that is almost a month! Here is the breakdown:

#1 someone at church gave me the respiratory crud which I thought was just a cold...nope bronchitis

#2 the antibiotics for the brinchitits mutilated my stomach and intestines...so on top of coughing and stuff I was sick at my stomach from March 14-26...yep!

#3 on March 22 I woke up and couldn't walk! yeah...one thing after another. So, I went on the 24th and had xrays done of my hip and lumbar spine. Dr. said he wasn't sure what was going on, so I went to a local chiropractor.

Results: Don't get bronchitis, this is the 2nd time it has ended like this...really the first time I woke up and couldn't walk I had just gotten over brinchitis and stomach problems! So, now everything is cleared up except the back and hip. I learned last Friday that instead of having 5 lumbar vertebrae I have 6! Lucky me, God gave me a spare part! Mom said if I didn't have the extra I would probably be a 'little person'! So, the problem is that the bone can't decide wether it wants to be part of my lumbar spine or fuse to my tailbone....and somewhere along the way it got out of line and pinched my sciatic nerve. So, regular chiropractic adjustments and exercise should fix everything.

Now, for lessons learned:

#1 My husband is wonderful! He has taken amazing care of me! He has been so patient with me.

#2 When I cannot sleep (because I can't breathe, can't stay out of the bathroom or can't get comfortable because of my hip and back) I get really emotional! I cry at EVERYTHING! I know Josh was wondering at times if I would ever get back to normal!

#3 It really could be worse. I would tell myself this daily. But, when it is the worst thing you have ever been through it is hard to imagine worse. That is when I think about Paul...That is also when you go to your begging place and pray! I spent hours in the floor crying and praying.

God is so good! I am so glad that He loves me! I am so thankful that He blessed me with Josh. I am thankful that I am getting my health back and I can't wait to be able to exercise and take care of my body again! I am thankful that I will soon be able to take care of the home and my husband again like I want to and should. Thank you God for all of my blessings and teaching me faith and patience, but most of all thank you for salvation!

It is hard to complain after this ordeal. I hope I remember to thank God when my days are so full again that I can't see an end in sight! That is better than spending the day cooped up in the house sick!

Being Bossy!

As of Sunday Josh and I officially have a BUDGET!! Scary word huh?! We are both very excited about this! When we first got married I didn't understand why we didn't have an emergency fund of $5,000-$10,000 in the bank...I thought it was just there! So, as we began our lives together we began thinking af ways to save money...for emergency, taxes, vacation and so on.

First, we tried the 'cash only' approach because we knew we spent less that way. In addition, any time someone handed us a $5 back in change it automatically went into a savings envelope. Very quickly (about 2-3 weeks) we had over $60! We were so excited!

Second, when we moved to Jacksonville we decided to do our own "round up" program. Anytime we used the debit card we rounded up to the next dollar in the register. This also worked well...but it was hard to keep up with what was left over. Also, at the end of EVERY pay period (every 2 weeks) we would zero out the register and start with our new check...the leftover went to savings. This also worked well and we used it, well the zero out part, until last week.

NOW....Some good friends of our here in TX let us borrow to FPU kit. (Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey) It is WONDERFUL! We sat down and listened to the cds and did a budget. We started by writing down EVERY bill that was paid monthly and how much each one was. Then we budgeted in food....for us we only need $50/week that includes toiletries...we harldy ever spend more than that! Then calculated in gas. Now, with what was left we decided how we wanted to split it up for savings...Emergency, car tags, car repair, vacation, clothes, furniture, taxes and so on. We made a spread sheet to keep up with each catergory and we put a little in each one every month. Also, for groceries and 'play' money....we use cash becase it is harder to spend. Once it is gone...it is gone, unless you take it out of another cash category...but you can't replace what you take unless you replace with money from another category.

The key lesson is to tell your money what to do!!! Leave yourself a little cushion in the bank....but Once we budgeted everything out there is nothing in our bank accout because it ALL has a place to go! I told it what to do. We have the cushion there but it is not in our register. It feels amazing to have a GOOD strategy! We are so ready to see the results! I would highly recommend this to EVERYONE who wants financial peace!

We are so pumped about this and I couldn't help but share! ENJOY!

PS if you don't want to go buy it...check you library or give me a call and I will walk you through he basics!

Great Smokey Mountains Marriage Retreat!

For the fourth year now, Josh and I have been blessed to be able to go to The Great Smokey Mountains Marriage Retreat. This is one of the biggest highlights of our year! The first one we attended was in 2007. We had only been married 2 months. It was a vacation for us. We are already looking forward to next years retreat. Every year the have basically the same topics but the speakers always put a different twist on things. We learn something new every year. There is not one marriage on earth that could not benefit from the retreat! We enjoy so much the meals with friends we haven't seen in a while and the special quality time we get with one another. The layout is wonderful...Allen did a gret job when thinking this up. It was intentionally meant to be a vaca/lecture trip.

So, we left EARLY last Wednesday and drove all day. It was Josh, me, Sarah, Hilton, Gayle and Don...all in the church van. We arrived at Glendale for services right on time (after a 12 hour drive). Then we stayed with Joshs parents. Got up early Thursday to head on toward Gatlinburg...6 more hours. We checked in got dinner and went to the 2 evening lectures. Then, on Friday we got up and had Krispy Kreme and headed in to Pigeon Forge for the day. After the lectures on Friday we decided to show the 'Texans' around Gatlinburg! We showed them a few shopping venues and The Old Mill. Later, we ate with Cliff, Beth, Greg and Crystal at Outback. We dropped everyone off at the cabin then Sarah, Hilton, Josh and I headed back out to have some more fun. We took them to Wonderworks and we all looked like a bunch of kids! Saturday we got up and drove up to Cades Cove and then ate lunch at the Apple Barn...of course!! Then we began the drive back. We stopped in Jackson to let everyone try REAL mexican food. As soon as we got back to Dyersburg (where Josh and I grew up) we stopped for gas...then the van wouldn't crank back up. After calling a wrecker we tried one more time ans it cranked and we were able to drive 20 minutes to my moms house where we stayed. Sunday was services as usual. Then on Monday we had the van fixed and began the 12 hour drive back....about Abilene it began to snow so hard!!! Then it started sleeting...we finally made it home about 11 pm.

Great trip anyway!!!!

It is sad to me to hear people say 'we don't need a marriage retreat!' or 'We have made it work for this long we know what we are doing!'

There is always room for improvement and sometimes you just need a romantic vacation with your spouse!

My prayer is that the marriage retreat continues to grow every year and that people will continue to build on their God given gift! Marriage is the second best thing that has ever happened to me! Thank you God for my Christian husband. Remind me when I nag that I am not perfect either. When I get frustrated with him...help me to remember that I could always improve too! I want to be everything he has ever dreamed of! I have never been more proud of a name until I was able to take his! Thank you for this relationship of three!

how do I keep up?!

It is that time of year again! Girl Scout Cookies!!! I had looked for some for 2 weeks and couldn't find any...then Josh finally says...I know where some are...sneak!!! So we got 4 boxes (I freeze them so they last until next year) of caramel delights a.k.a. Samoas!!! as seen in the picture above...they are my favorite and another plus is Josh doesn't like coconut, so I don't have any prowlers!

Also, we just began a new book in Ladies Bible class entitled "Keeping Your Balance" by Nancy Eichman. I wanted to read it through before I passed it out for everyone and I have to say it is a very good book. The focus of the book is balancing you spiritual, physical and emotional life. The second chapter really stepped on my toes though. She talked about being a perfectionist and always wanting to have things put away and clean and organized. She also pointed out that people like me sometimes don't like to try new things because...if they can't do it right the first time...why try? This made me cry. I feel this way about college. I am wanting to go back this fall, but I struggled so much the first time (maybe because I was working 2 jobs, maybe because I wasn't totally focused, or maybe because the school was so tough that 1 out of every 2 people there don't make it out!) that I am scared to go back. If I didn't do it right the first time, why put myself through that again. I know that I am married, more mature, more dedicated and not working full time, but it still scares me to death to think about failing at anything!!! This is so hard for me to write. For 3 years now, every time I think about going back to college I feel sick to my stomach. I know I can do it...but my fear of failure overcomes me. This is definately something I need to pray about. I have the best supporter I could ever ask for in my husband. He is the kind that will try until he gets something right...if I can't get it right the first time I quit and move on to something else. I know he will be my biggest help as I go through this process.

On to something else. It seems like everyone is having babies! I know like 10 people that are pregnant or just had a baby. My best friend from high school just had his first son last night and he is so beautiful...well handsome! Congratulations Dustin and Laura on your new Baby Houston Gentry! I get the baby fever sometimes...then I think..."school then baby" or "sell the house then baby". So, either way it will be a while. I think that is perfectly fine though. I would wait until I was 30 if Josh would agree....but he won't.

Well, I am off to get some things accomplished on this rainy west texas day!

Love you all!

Here, there, and in between...

So, I have decided to do my spring cleaning a little early this year. I always heard growing up "everything has a place and needs to be in it"...I have noticed the older I get, the more I am becoming my mother! This is a good thing...it is a rare occasion that her home is not presentable. This is something I desire. I want my house to always be decent...notice I did not say spotless. I don't want to be ashamed or make excuses as to why my house is messy if someone just happens to stop by. So, beginning this week...everything will find a home and the training will begin to keep it in its home.
Also, I have been taking notes in worship services since high school and I would like to type them all up and categorize them according to topic. I realize that this could take months...but I think it would be very helpful in future studies.
I have also started cleaning out my inbox! Don't even get me started on that one...
So, I think it is pretty obvious that another resolution is to get organized!
Ready...here I go!

Happy Second Day of the New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!
So, I have been thinking about New Years Resolutions. I am so tired of the same "lose weight and get organized" resolutions! They are the same every year! So, along with Kelley, I have set more realistic goals!
(1) Become a stronger Christian. I want to deepen my daily studies and I want to pray more meaningful and reverent prayers, not that they have been irreverent, but I want to grow closer to my Maker. I want to feel a comfort like no other in times of trouble, knowing He is the one I turn to first!
(2) I want to continue to grow to be a better wife. I have just finished reading the book "Created to be his helpmeet" and I would suggest any wife read it! The lady who wrote it isn't a memeber of the Church so use discretion when reading. I have now started reading "Power of a praying wife" I started it last year but naturally got distracted by other books and forgot about it. I don't ever want to give my husband reason to even think about straying. I want him to be so satisfied with our relationship that the most beautiful woman alive could stand in front of him and not phase him! I want to respect and love him the way he deserves.
(3) Get Active! We were doing so well before Christmas about working out! Then, we went to TN. We got away from our routine and our gym and let it go. I want us to get back into our routine. We are praying that our house will sell and we may be able to get a gym membership. The gym we are using now is at our apartments and is composed of a broken stationary bike, one treadmill, and a weight bench. So, we would like the option of taking classes and different machines. In time....

These are a few of the things I am working on. We are both working on money management (as I am sure everyone else is). We are doing well, but we could always do better. I am trying to branch out when cooking. I am scared to try too many new things because I have a picky husband ;). I love it when he likes what I cook and he tells me all the time to "cook anything you want to try, if I don't like it....it's ok, it doesn't mean you are a bad cook" I understand this but, I am cooking for him. When he has been working I want him to be able to look forward to a good meal, you know! So, maybe one new dish every other week. One other thing I am working on is keeping in touch better! Facebook...you have made me a little lazy! I want to call and write more often...not just when I see a new status or pics! I have family members that I would love to keep in touch with! So, here I go! 2010 Get ready!