September has flown by......

September is a crazy month around here! We have my dad's birthday, Gabe's birthday, my mom's birthday, and our anniversary this month. It was fun celebrating with everyone on each of their special days.
We started off the month with a trip to Zoo Miami. It was a blast! The boys had a great time and so did Gabe and I. The line was too long to feed the giraffes, but we got to feed the Rhino! It was really fun!

I took Gabe back down to Miami for his birthday weekend. We had a blast. It was beautiful and getting away, just the 2 of us, for a couple days was really nice.

Next month we are going on a 4 day cruise to celebrate our 7th anniversary that was on the 25th. We went to Disney on our anniversary weekend with our boys.

I LOVE going to Disney! I could seriously live right there and go everyday! The boys had a blast, of course, even though it rained the last couple hours we were there.

The boys are doing so well in school. They both had a little bit of a cold the last couple weeks, but now they are back to their normal selves.

Soccer is going well for Gabe and Braeden. Gabe is enjoying coaching and Braeden is scoring at least 2 goals per game. This is a complete turn around from the spring season, when he made 1 goal the whole season. :)

I have joined some girls from my church in a game of Bunco once a month. I love Bunco, so this was a blast to play and get to know some new girls.
We are looking forward to a wonderful October, and hoping for a cool down in the weather. We have decorated with our fall things, but it definitely still feels like summmer!

Romans 12:9-13

Long time, no blog

Wow! It really took me by surprise when I checked to see how long it had really been since I had blogged last. It has been a year and a half! A year and a half?! As I read the last few posts I had written, it is unbelievable how much in my life has changed since then. And since so much has changed, you can expect a LONG post, so here it goes......

So, I guess we should start from June 2010.
I had been working at my new job since April 20. Everything was going well, and we were still living with my sister, Erin. We were having a fun time, but it was taking a toll on all of us because we didn't know how much longer we would be there. I think Erin wanted her life back, even though she never said that, and we were ready to have more room and no worries of whether or not we were totally annoying the crap out of Erin! We put in a bid for a house of our own in April, but it was a short sale, The "owners" accepted our offer, and the next step was that the bank had to accept the offer. This was something that could take up to a year or more! So Gabe and I talked and decided that if we didn't receive any new information about our house by the end of July we would move into an apartment. This is something I did NOT want to do. It grossed me out! I just wanted something that was going to be ours, we wouldn't have to be wasting our money, and we wouldn't be moving more than 3 times in one year!

July 2010

Our first celebration of Independence Day in Florida was a fun one. We parked by the PSL Civic Center and opened the back of our van and sat in the back and enjoyed the beautiful fireworks. It was beautiful!

We went to A Latte Fun for the first time this too. This is a Coffee Shop for mom's and dad's and a huge, super-fun, indoor playground for the kids. The boys loved it! Look how little they look....

We celebrated my 29th birthday, and continued praying for some new information on our house.
At the end of July there was still no news.

August 2010
So many fun things happened in August.
So, even though we were very blessed to have been able to stay with Erin for 4.5 months, it was time to move on.
We moved into a gated apartment complex with many amenities and beautiful scenic views. It was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom, and wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The boys really enjoyed living there.
We celebrated Bennett's 2nd birthday with family and a few days later went on our first trip(there were many to follow!) to Busch Gardens, and Elmo and his friends were there. Since we now had a Florida address, we could essentially pay the price of 1 ticket and get to go for a year after. So, since the boys were free, we thought this would be fun, and WE WERE RIGHT! We had a blast everytime we went, and loved getting to see Elmo and his friends!
Later on in the month Celena, Lance and Addy were staying in Daytona Beach and invited us to come stay overnight with them. We had a blast at dinner, on the beach, and playing on the water playground. Oh how we miss spending time with them!

September 2010
We finally found a new church that had everything(well almost) that we were looking for. Great music for praise and worship and a great kids program. This also is where Braeden starts preschool. Gabe will begin playing drums, and eventually I will sing on the praise team. We celebrated our 6th anniversary and went to our first St. Lucie Mets game!

October 2010

This was a fun month! We had fall parties and lots of fun trunk-or-treating at church. We went to a small fair at Digital Domain Park.

Toward the end of the month we finally got a call from the bank saying they accepted our offer! We were soooo excited!

November 2010

We moved into our new home in mid-November. It was close enough to Christmas for me to go ahead and decorate instead of storing everything away and then getting it out again later. This made me so happy! I LOVE Christmas and decorating for it in my new home felt so wonderful! The boys didn't even know what to do with all of the space. They had been sharing a small amount of toys and sharing a room in Erin's house and then in the apartment. Now they had their own room full of toys even Gabe and I forgot we had. It was so warm here, so for our Christmas cards this year we did something to make all of our cold friends from Tennessee and West Virginia/Ohio a little jealous. They turned out so super cute!

We decided to have all of our family over for Thanksgiving dinner, even though we didn't have a dining set yet, so we improvised with card tables and lawn chairs. It was fun, and I loved having everyone over.
And this is our new home decorated just after Thanksgiving!

We also took our first of many trips to Disney World. We did the Mickey's Christmas party and had so much fun! Did you know it costs just a few more dollars more per person to go the whole year as it does for just 1 day at all the parks?! What a great deal for us Florida Residents!

December 2010

Grammy came to visit at the beginning of this month. It was so nice outside, we took her to the beach to get some shells.

Please note the shorts and t-shirts. I promise it does get cold here, just around January/February!
We celebrated Braeden's 4th birthday and had a fantastic Christmas in our new home!

Christmas dinner was at my mom's house, and unfortunatly I had a serious kidney infection and kidney stone that caused me to miss out on all of the fun! I did have a nice ER doctor though!

January 2011

This is the month that I met some of the most fun girls/moms ever! We've become good friends and our kids have become good friends too! I love them and I am so blessed to have found them!

February 2011

Valentine parties and tons of fun went on this month. In the beginning of the month we went to West Virginia to visit our first neice/cousin Emma Reese.

We also had the pleasure of keeping Hailey for a fun day of running around. We met up with a few of my girlfriends to play and have dinner! That was much needed and I hope to do it again soon! Our first beach day was on the 25th! That is why I LOVE Florida. We were also able to swim in mom and dad's pool a couple days later!

March 2011

Fun at the St. Lucie county fair, friend's birthday parties, and building a new swingset for the backyard! Beach days, the boy's go to Dr. Ardalan the dentist, and spring soccer for Braeden is about to begin. We went on another trip to Disney as well. That is always fun!


April 2011

Soccer, fountains and beach days!

May 2011

Natalie, Emma, and Dreama came to visit. We had fun with them at the beach and swimming in the pool. There were more beach days, preschool was coming to an end and we went to our first Lowe's Little Builder's session. This is the most fun thing to do with the boys. They love it!

June 2011

We took a trip to Disney! That place will NEVER get old! My sister took me to Fort Lauderdale for a weekend getaway for my upcoming birthday. We went to the Katy Perry concert which was so much fun! We went out dancing and then got to sleep in and go shopping at the "Alligator Mall"(Sawgrass Mills Mall). I also got all of my hair cut off toward the end of the month and started the 4 Hour Body Diet with Gabe. I was determined to lose 14.5 pounds.

July 2011

We continued the diet this month extrememly well. There was no cheating, except on cheat days, and I was moving surprisingly quickly toward my goal! Independence Day weekend was fun! We saw fireworks, and had a cookout. My 30th birthday was a blast! I was pleasantly surprised when Gabe had some of our friends and family surprise me at the Roller Skating Rink for an 80's themed birthday party! Wow, what an awesome husband I have been blessed with! We were having an amazing summer with friends and family!

August 2011

I have surpassed my goal of 14.5 pounds. I got all the way down to 116lbs., 4lbs passed my goal weight. I had no idea it would be so easy! Bennett's birthday was this month and Uncle Benji, Aunt Natalie and Emma came in to surprise the boys! They were so excited to see them! Since last year's party was without friends and just family, we decided to let him invite friends and have a pool party at Nina and Pop Paw's house. We had a bounce house and a sno cone maker! The kids had a blast! His favorite present was his umbrella from Aunt E. This is Bennett with Samantha. Aren't they adorable?!

We had the preschool open house where the boy's met their teacher. It was fun and it really made them super excited to go to school the next week.
It's hard to believe how big they are both getting!
I also had the privilege of going to L.A. with Heather Williams. She is an amazing Christian singer/songwriter. I had a blast(even though I broke my toe the night before and walked on it all weekend....boo)!
Along with starting preschool, Bennett started a class at My Gym. He does a little gymnastics and they learn how about listening, colors, getting along with others and many other things. He really loves it.
Braeden will be starting Soccer next month, so he will have an extracurricular activity also.
They both started preschool at Little Friends at Morningside Church. Braeden is in Pre-K4 and Bennett is in Pre-K3. They are both loving it! We are blessed to be able to have them there!


Okay, so wow. This has taken me a while to write. On and off the past few days, but I hope you enjoy reading it, if you get even halfway through it, and I hope to be able to keep up with this blogging at least on a weekly basis. It's nothing other than things about me, my faith, my family and my friends.


Deuteronomy 28

A time of frustration

Wow. My 21 month old is REALLY getting to me. He can't talk. He can't understand everything we say, so overall, we are all getting frustrated with him and he with us. Of course it all comes out when we are out to dinner or in public. He is not satisfied with anything and he can't tell us what's going on. Don't get me wrong, he is talking so well for his age, but not in depth and with good understanding. I know it will pass, as it did with my 3 year old, but WOW it's definitely getting old fast.

 

I can't believe how he is growing up! He swims around the pool all by himself. It's so cute to watch!

 

These boys LOVE the beach. They could be there ALL DAY LONG if I let them!

Wow, just when I think God is letting me down, He picks me up and then shows me what He did and He had it all under control.
I checked out a TON of places before we moved to Florida. I made a TON of phone calls and came up with nothing. There was one little outpatient imaging place that I thought would be "a nice little place to work", and I even showed it to Gabe. When we got to Florida, I made those same calls and even drove around handing out my resume. When I called that particular place, the lady said there is a possibility of a job in about 3 months. I didn't really think anything of it, but I mentioned it to Gabe, and we talked about how it is all in God's timing.
Well, 2 and a half months later on Monday, the administrator(D.) of the office called me and said she had my resume and asked me to come in for an interview. I was pumped to say the least. This was the place I had "envisioned" myself. LOL I went to the interview, and phrases like "I think you'll fit in well here" were a part of the conversations. I was then asked to come back to meet the owner(W.) of the facility. If he didn't like me, there was no chance. I met with him on Thursday, and he said he would have D. give me a call. Well, I just knew I had it in the bag.....or did I?! She didn't call on Friday...But if I didn't start monday, then I wouldn't have 2 weeks of training (the girl's last day is April 28th), oh no, I didn't get it....but he said she would call me. Gabe and I came up with excuses like, "maybe she wasn't in the office", or maybe they has some other things to check on....Anyway, I called Friday evening around 5(they don't close until 5:30) and nobody answered. Were they just ignoring my (615) number? OMG, I was so nervous all weekend!! So, Gabe and I decided that if she didn't call Monday morning, I would give her a call Monday afternoon! Well, I couldn't wait, and I needed to tell another place that I got a PRN position, what days I was available, so I called and let her know that I needed to let the other place know something, and she was like, okay, I'll give W.a call and call you right back. Wow, was she serious? Was she gonna call right back?? She did call just 5 minutes later. She asked me when I could start, I told her right now....lol and she said well, we'll see you in the morning.
Isn't it amazing how God REALLY does have everything worked out?! I will admit, I was tired of waiting and starting to lose my faith, but something just kept me going. It's hard to explain how excited and nervous I am feeling right now. I hope I really like it and I hope it works out!

Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

Now we can move on with our lives. A house will be next, so now we are on to trusting God with finding the RIGHT place to settle down.

Philippians 4:6-7

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ.


Wow! This pretty much just sums it all up for me right now. Sometimes I feel like I am annoying God by praying to Him and telling Him my same needs over, and over. And then I get frustrated because nothing is happening. Is there something I am missing? Do I need to do something different? I need peace! I need HIS peace!!!

It's been 34 days....

since we've been in Florida. We are all doing great and having a great time. We are still staying at my sister's house and so far so good. We are all getting along and having fun. I believe the warm weather is here to stay!! It is so gorgeous here! My kids love playing outside, and I love to be outside in the sun with them! We are so blessed to have a fenced in backyard with a beautiful sparkling pool! We are all doing good with exercising 5 days a week and eating well, then we just chill on the weekends going to the beach and trying new restaurants. We are supposed to head out on the ocean to fish in Jake's(my sister's boyfriend) boat this weekend. I can't wait. It will be so fun!
 

I am still looking for a job everyday. When I say everyday, I have a routine of about 10 websites I check for any job postings. I usually do that 2 times a day. I have hand delivered resumes about 2 weeks after we moved here and just yesterday, I faxed a ton more to the same places and some others. I know I will find a job, a great one, when I am supposed to have one. It is all in God's timing, and all I can do is trust in Him!
Bennett is now 19 months old now. He is getting so big and learning so many new words. He is such a sweetheart, but he has a mean temper! I have chosen a pediatrician to take him to for his 18 month shots. I take him tomorrow, so pray for it to go smoothly and pray I chose the right Doctor.
 

Florida

Well, we've been here now for 2 weeks now. It was a long trip down for sure. My mom and I stopped halfway and stayed in a hotel with the boys and then headed the rest of the way the next morning. When we got here it was a nice 70 degrees. The boys got to meet dad's bird that visits his backyard everyday to be fed! It's quite a large bird!
 

You can tell how nice the weather was....the boys wanted to hang out in their underwear!! lol
The weather has been just that way the whole 2 weeks. Never below 65 during the day and not above 78. It's been gorgeous! We have gone to the beach, to a nature center, and a turtle hospital.
 

We are all having a great time. The boys just love being here with family, and the family enjoys them too, and that means more date nights with my hubby, or just hanging out with a great family! We live in my sister, Erin's house! It's not bad at all, but I am so ready to get a job and find our own house.
Today I went to several imaging facilities and took my resume to them. Most of the places look pretty nice. I really love the hospital here in Port St. Lucie the most so far. The little old lady volunteers are adorable!! lol
It's really hard for me right now. It's all on me to get the job so we can get a house, put the kids in preschool, and get on with our lives. I feel so heavy sometimes. I just can't wait to find the position God has for me.