Out with the old...in with the newer!

Chad with his first listing....OURS!!!!

The new house...at least for us.

Well, it's official...WE ARE MOVING! We found a house about a month ago, have had ours on the market about a week and a half, and we got a contract on it yesterday! We are very excited to start life in a new place, which happens to be a little closer to Greenville and that thrills me! Our house was Chad's first listing as a realtor and also will be his first sell. We will probably be closing and moving sometime in the middle of October. We are up for any offers to help us move!! :):)

We're excited about the upcoming year and can't wait to see all that God has in store for us. It was a HUGE answer to prayer that we sold our house so fast. He has blessed us beyond what we could imagine and we can't wait (I think!) to see where His will is going to take us next.

Thump, Thump

Today we had our second Dr. appt and got the hear the baby's heartbeat! Now talk about something cool. He put the little machine right on my belly and picked it right up. It was amazing and was beating at 150 beats/minute. He said based on the old wives tale, that it was a girl's heartbeat, but we will have to wait and see. I think we get to find out in 2 more appointments. Everything else looked great. He said my stomach was measuring the right size and that everything looked fine. We go back again toward the end of September.

And here "IT" is...

"For you created my my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."Psalm 139: 13 - 14

Well...thanks to the internet, you can now post your baby's picture online before he/she is even born! Seriously, this is the first picture of our little one. We are calling it "tot" right now because the shape resembled a tater tot in a weird sort of way! As of yesterday we are 11 weeks along and are so excited. I have been feeling great - just really, really, really tired. It's crazy, but thankfully I haven't had any sickness.

After we announced it to the family, my wonderful cousin sent me an excerpt from Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life. I had previously read the book and loved it, but the excerpt she sent has become particularly precious to me. I will include parts of it below:

You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not surprised by your birth at all. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to creat you! God had a plan in creating you. It doesn't matter whether your parents are good, bad or indifferent. God knew exactly the right genetic makeup to create the custom "you" he had in mind. Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind. God's motive for creating you was his love. Ephisians 1:4a says "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had setttled on us as the focus of his love" (The Message)."

I think the coolest thing has been thinking about the fact that this little person growing inside of me already has a purpose in the eyes of God - "...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be..." (Psalm 139:16). I am so excited to watch he/she live out the life God has planned. Our prayer is that we will be the living examples that God calls us to be - not only to our child, but to everyone around us.

We will keep you posted on this journey!!!

A few stitches later... (content may be graphic)

Overall, I consider myself a pretty careful person. I don't do too many things that have the potential of getting me injured. Maybe the cautiousness comes from the upbringing. I remember I wanted to sign up to play softball when I was younger and mom was worried I might get my fingers smashed by the ball and not be able to play the violin anymore!! Oh well, probably for the best because I'm not so sure I would have been that good. Just ask Corey; we played ball chase a few times - he threw the baseball and I chased it! So, I thought because of my ultra carefulness that I was going to be a "lifer" and never have any stitches from some silly accident; however, that all changed one week ago today...

Chad and I and two of his friends decided to take a leisurely boat ride on Lake Hartwell. It was a scorching hot day and we were gonna just ride around. We weren't even gonna get crazy and tube or anything - just riding around with our hair blowing in the wind. Unfortunately, another plan was meant for us that afternoon because about 5 minutes into the boat ride (before we even had any speed) a boat passed us by and made a pretty large wake. Now, had we known the events in our close future, we probably would not have given them the friendly wave we did, but we were happy and carefree at that moment. Right after the friendly "throw up" (as my dad calls it) we hit their wake and because we were going slow the front of the boat where I happened to be sitting went up. I was sitting in a bass seat and I knew I was gonna come down REALLY hard so I put my arms down to brace myself. As we came back down, my wrist slammed into the metal hinge on the seat and it slit right open. Because I was bleeding pretty bad, we turned the boat around, left Chad's friends on it with hopes that they could figure out how to load it, and went the ER - WITH a police escort, I might add! We got to run all the stoplights and everything! We got the ER and were definitely the most legit people there with blood all over both of us. I still haven't figured out why the others were there - esp the guy in the waiting area who told me about EVERY trip he'd ever taken to the ER. Anyway, a few hours and 11 stitches (5 inside, 6 outside) later, I came out with a nicely bandaged right hand and I've been a little out of commission ever since!

Remember when...

Ahhhh...the lazy days of summer. Sleeping late, getting up with nothing really to do, watching TV and falling back asleep. I remember when I was young and couldn't drive and summer days at home seemed like an eternity! What I would give to have those long day back again.

Or is it really? I caught myself starting out the summer very fast paced - getting up relatively early (for summer), getting dressed and heading out to do all my errands first thing - like places weren't going to be open later in the day. After our vacation, I had to re-evaluate. My mornings are definitely what I miss most about the school year....and if we are planning to have a family soon (God-willing), this may be my last summer of mornings to myself. SO, I have done a 360 these days. I sleep later, roam around in my pj's until I feel like showering, take my time with my quiet time, sit on my porch and read with my coffee. It is wonderful and I would highly suggest it to anyone who is rushing your summer away. Really take to heart that they don't call them the lazy days of summer for nothing!

An "Uptown Girl" Valentine's Day!

Oh yes! If it is a little hard to make out who is in concert above, let me help you out a little....it is none other that the amazingly talented BILLY JOEL!! This Valentine's Day Chad picked me up from school in his make-shift chariot (our highlander, of course) and wisked me away to Columbia for a great dinner and surprise tickets to see Billy Joel concert! It's a concert I have ALWAYS wanted to see and all those years of waiting were worth it! It was an awesome concert and an awesome Valentine's Day! My husband is so wonderful to me! :)

I HEART Snow Days!

Living in the south, there is nothing like waking up in the morning and looking out your window to find a blanket of white on the ground! Of course, no matter what your profession, it usually means that you can crawl back into bed because with even the slightest dusting of snow, entire towns seem to come to a hault. But, although it may be an inconvience for some, I LOVE it! I love the fact that it's a "surprise" day off and I love that you are forced to slow down. I love hanging around the house and not really having to go or do anything. That is exactly how today was and it was wonderful. Chad and I slept late and then when we finally did wake up, I made some yummy muffins. We enjoyed those by the fire and sat around in our pj's (or at least I did) and watched a little TV. We also got to see Daisy experience her first time in the snow. She wasn't too fond of it. She ran out, looked around some, did her business and then quickly returned to the warm house. I can't really blame her. It only made it to 32 today! We also got to spend some time with our neighbors. They had a clever way of keeping warm (see me modeling it in the picture!). Then we came back home, I made a pound cake and we just goofed off the rest of the day. It has been an awesome day! A much needed halt in the business of life! I am thankful for so many things and today one of them is SNOW!!! :)

Kids say the darndest things!

Being a first grade teacher is awesome! EVERYday is something new. The kids are still so innocent and this innocence often makes them say things that make me have to hold back a gut-wreching laugh!

This week we have been celebrating Red Ribbon week at school, so on Thursday we were all asked to wear red. As I was greeting my students at the door, I complimented one child because he had on a red undershirt, red collared shirt and was carrying a red sweatshirt. I said, "WOW! You really did a great job wearing red." His wonderful response was, "Yeah, and I even have on red undies!" (as he proceeds to pull the band of red undies out of his pants to show me!) It was so funny! And the even funnier thing was that is didn't phase any other kids in my class....it was as if it was quite ordinary for a kid to show me their undergarments! The whole thing started my day off with a great laugh!

The Drifters

This past weekend, while attending a festival in my hometown's downtown, I was reminded again of why I love music so much (and food, which they also had tons of!).

After church on Sunday Chad and I went to hear The Drifters play. In case you are not familiar, The Drifters are a band from the 1950's. If you've ever heard the song "Save the last dance for me"...you've heard them. Anyway, as I was standing there listening to them I (being the people watcher that I am) happened to also take note of others standing around with me. I had a 1-2 year old in a stroller behind me clapping like she knew the song, some rather weathered women in front of me who knew every word and were ecstatic when one of the members ask the audience to come shake his hand, middle aged people who were ready to break out their dance moves at the first chance, African American people, Asian people....I think the audience was a pretty good representation of the area where the festival was located. So, as I was looking at all these different people, it occured to me (once again) how awesome music is - how melodies, harmonies and rhythm can come together to make something so beautiful that it transcends age, race and even time. It made me think how neat it was that this one "thing" could bring so many different people together and have them all enjoy it.

Then, it gave me a clearer understanding to how I should view the One who gave us the music in the first place. He wants us ALL- all ages, races, nationalities - to hear the music that He is playing in our lives. His song has transcended time. We should listen to it intently, let it sink into our heart and share it so that others can ENJOY and sing our same song.

Give credit, where credit is due

So I don't get in trouble for stealing someone else's idea, I wanted to give a little explanation about how I got the title of this blog. As previously mentioned, I have been thinking about doing some blogging for a while now, but to keep up with all the creative geniuses out there I knew I needed a good title before I could ever have a blog. Then, one day it came to me. I was driving home from work, enjoying the fact that my car full of kids who ride with me in the morning were not there, and the song "Lifesong" by Casting Crowns came on the radio. As I was driving along and belting out the song as if I were a member of the band, it hit me.....what a perfect title for a blog!

I have always had a thing for music, whether it be singing, playing an instrument, or listening to others do all of the above, so I thought this would be my perfect title for a blog because I like thinking of my life as a song. Each verse is different, yet the chorus is consistent and ties everything together. Just as the events in my life are different and make up oodles of verses, I have such a common ground in my faith, my friends and my family that is consistent and ties it all together.

So, hopefully this blog will help me keep a record of the verses my lifesong, and my earnest prayer is that my song will be pleasing to the One who gave me the song in the fist place.

By the way....here are the words to the Casting Crowns version:

Empty Hands held high

Such Small sacrifice

If not joined with my life

I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say

And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing

Bring a smile to you

Chorus:

Let my lifesong sing to You

Let my lifesong sing to You

I want to sign your name to the end of this day

Knowing that my heart was true

Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord, I give my life

A Living sacrifice

To reach a world in need

To be your hands and feet

So may the words I say

And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing

Bring a smile to you

Blogger

I have been contemplating becoming a 'blogger' for a while now...looks like I just became one. We'll see if it becomes addicting or another one of those technological fads which I sometimes find myself falling into (and then have no clue what to do with it!).