20th Birthday

I am so thankful and so blessed to have such a great husband, friends and family that made my birthday so special! I am thankful to have another year under by belt and can no longer be teased that I am a teenager :) I had a great day celebrating with my family and my friends!

Ethan had class the evening of my birthday so this is a photo of us from a few days before. When he got out of class he joined us at my parents house to eat cake!

My sweet nephew James was excited that a birthday was being celebrated! He still doesn't fully understand that every birthday is not for him, but his mommy and daddy are working hard to teach him that he only gets one a year!
Some of the girls from our youth group as well as our pastor's wife, my mom and 2 of my sisters took me our to dinner for my birthday!

Me, My mom, Sister, Abby, and Emily(who I also claim as a sister)!

Kelly, Kaylee, Mrs.Jeannie, Whitney and myself!

James helping me blow out the candles on my yummy cake that my mom made me!

I am so thankful for my husband, my family and my friends! I am truly blessed!

Couch to 5k

I always said I would never become a runner. I secretly wanted to be able to run for miles at a time, but thought I would never be able to do it. I'm not really the athletic type. Therefore, I never even tried. My sister-in-law began to inspire me to run. She recently ran a 5k in Disney World along with my Mother-in-law. Then my cousin Katherine ran a half-marathon in Nashville, TN. Now, my oldest sister is training for a 6k. The last straw was when Ethan called me to tell me that he was going to run a 5k in Disney in February. That was it. I knew I had to began training because I knew that there was no way I was going to let him do it with out me :)



I had heard about this iPhone app called Couch to 5k. It takes you from nothing(couch) to running a 5k which is 3.1 miles. I started it 5 weeks ago. After the first week I had 2 friends join in with me and boy am I glad that they did. I don't think I would have kept up with it without them. We run/train 3 times a week. Each week it takes us to a new level and to be honest it has not been easy, but knowing that I am running a 5k keeps me going! I am excited about running the 5k in Disney this February and I am hoping that my running buddies are going to do it with me!



I am far from being a "real" runner, but I am proud of myself for doing something I used to say I couldn't do. I love running. I enjoy it! My plan is to run the 5k and then begin training for a 10k.



You can learn more about Couch to 5k at: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

This is a picture of part of the trail that we run on!

Disney-October 2010

We really love Disney World. Most of you already knew this :) And since it is only a few hours from us we go pretty often! Well, this trip was extra special! Ethan planned everything and then surprised me with it! I had no idea that he had been planning to take me to Disney! I had taken Friday off that week and was planning on taking care of some errands that can only be done during work hours. Well, on Thursday night he told me that he was taking me to Disney and that everything was taken care of! I was thrilled! I think the best part was that he planned everything himself and he knows just how much I love Disney!

We went down on Friday morning and got settled into our hotel. Then we headed to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is a special event that Disney puts on and they don't allow as many people into the park during it so there are hardly any lines! We road all of our favorite rides and then enjoyed walking around while enjoying all that the "party" had for us! There was special shows, parades, trick or treating, and fireworks! It was so much fun!

On Saturday we just chilled at our resort in the morning and then that afternoon we went to Disney Quest in downtown Disney! That night we went to dinner at the Contemporary which is one of my favorite resorts! After that we hopped on the monorail and road to Epcot. We didn't go into Epcot because it was getting late, but we did enjoy the ride and we got to see some of Epcot's fireworks as we were leaving on our bus! On Sunday we took out time getting ready and packing up and then we headed home. We stopped to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

It was a great weekend and we loved getting away! I am so thankful for my husband who knows what I love and plans special things for me! He is so thoughtful and I am so thankful for him!

Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Classic entering Disney Picture!

Main Street USA!

Magic Kingdom in the Fall is so pretty!

Waiting for the parade to start!

Minnie Mouse

Cinderella's Castle

Riding the Monorail!

Change is coming

Many of you know that God has called Ethan and I to full time ministry and that Ethan is currently finishing the last year of his bachelors degree at the Baptist College of Florida. Along with preparing for ministry through a formal education, he has been intern in the student ministry at the church that we are currently members of. We are thankful for this opportunity because it has taught us and grown us. Ethan feels he is called to Pastoral Ministry and I have been called to serve along side of Ethan.

In preparing for ministry Ethan will be attending seminary. As we first began to pray about what seminary the Lord was leading us to we were drawn to Southern Seminary. I think that this was due to us being up there a few years ago and also us having friends there. It seemed to be the easy choice. However, the Lord really began to show us that it wasn't our choice. It was His and that we needed to patiently wait for Him to guide us. We began to do more research and and prayer. We began leaning towards Southeastern seminary. Neither of us had ever been to Southeastern, but knew people who had been so we began to ask lots of questions to try and get a feel for the school. This was very hard for me. My heart was so set on Southern for many reasons and I was torn. I had to ask the Lord to change my perspective away from my will and towards His. He answered this prayer. I became open to the idea of Southeastern and began researching housing etc. Ethan had planned to attend the 9marks conference at Southeastern and we were both praying that during this trip the Lord would really make His will known. When Ethan got back from the conference he was 50/50. Even more torn then before he visited.

There are many reasons that we were drawn to both seminaries. They are both great, God honoring seminaries and the education and training that both Ethan and I would receive would be great. I think that is what made it so hard.

After what seemed like forever to my type A personality, the Lord began to draw us back towards Southern Seminary. I was so confused by the change of heart for both Ethan and I, but I am convinced that this was another way for our heavenly Father to teach us. He desires that we wait on His will and even though that is also the desire of our heart it is not always easy.

We now come to the present:

Ethan mailed in the first part of his application to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on Monday. This is so crazy to me. He is applying for his Masters Degree!

I am so thankful that the Lord has lead us to this place. He so graciously draws us to Himself and His will. We know that just like he brought us to this place He can change our hearts. We are open and willing. There is no better place to be then in the will of our Lord. Of this I am convinced!

Our plan is to move in July. We have begun preparing for this in all ways possible. We know that ministry is not easy and that this calling is a high one with a great deal of responsibly and we are humbled to know that our Savior would see fit to call us to this.

We are very excited to see where the Lord is going to take us. We are excited for this new stage in our lives and look forward to where it leads!

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to seek God's will and strive to live a life that brings glory and honor to our God! Please pray for us as we make some changes in order to help us prepare to move in July. Pray that regardless, we will honor our Lord.

We are so thankful for those who love us and have prayed for us! You are a blessing!

Pumpkin Carving

In case you didn't already know this, I really love fall! As a kid we always carved pumpkins. We never used the fancy kits that help you. We just did it ourselves! Ethan had never carved a pumpkin before, so we set a side some time to pick out our pumpkins and carve them. We got one for my mom because she loves to carve them too!

Ethan did a great job carving his pumpkin! He said he was going for a scary look and I think he succeeded!

Here are a few pictures for you!

PS. My brother Dave helped me a little bit and he also took the pictures! So I wanted to make sure to give him credit!

Mom and I!

Mom, myself, and Ethan
Ethan and I!

Very proud of our finished product!

Cutest Kid Ever!

I cannot even begin to tell you how much this little boy means to me! I love this picture of him! We were playing with his trains and he LOVES trains!!

Tagged

My friend Carlee over at: http://carleejoy.blogspot.com/ tagged me in a question/answer post!Such a fun post to get tagged in, because now I get to answer 7 questions that Carlee asked me, and then in turn, I get to tag 7 other bloggers and ask 7 new questions :)


1. What is the vacation that you hope to take one day? I would love to visit Australia. No particular reason, other then the fact that I have always wanted to go there.

2. What is your "comfort food" meal? Corn Nuggets with ranch and a sweet tea(From Johnny's!)

3. Favorite thing or event about fall? The cooler weather and being able to decorate my house with fall decorations and I love the smell of "fall"candles!

4. What makes your husband the perfect man for you? He is the opposite of me! I stress, he is calm. I am a planner, he is spontaneous! Where I lack, he doesn't! He is my best friend and he pushes me towards godliness! I could go on for hours!

5. Which celebrity would you want to trade closets with? (In other words, Which celebrity style/clothes do you want?) I really love the way that Kari Jobe dresses. She has a very funky style and I love it. Sadly, I don't think I could ever pull her look off :)

6. What craft or hobby do you hope to learn one day? I would love to learn how to make bows and cute outfits for my girls one day. Lord willing we will have a little girl one day :) I have a friend who makes the cutest dresses and bows for her two little girls and I would love to learn how to do that one day!

7. What is your favorite movie and why? Pride and Prejudice . I am a sucker for a good love story and this one exceeds them all! I love everything about this movie!

The 7 bloggers I am going to tag are:

1.Whitney
2.Tessa
3.Abby
4.Kendall
5.Kelly S.
6.Kelly D.
7.Lauren

Your 7 questions are:

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

2.What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?

3. Which season is your favorite and why?

4. If you could trade places with anyone for one day who would it be and why?

5.What is your favorite thing to cook or bake?

6.If you where given a $1000 dollars where and what would you spend it on?

7. Who is your Favorite football team and why?