Still alive

Sorry it has been so long. We have been super busy lately. We went to Fayetteville for my brothers wedding and Thanksgiving. We had a great Thanksgiving break. We were able to spend lots of time with family. When we left to come back home we both talked about what a great week we had. Now we are back home and we have both been sick. I walked in the kitchen one morning and the kitchen counter was sprinkled with nyquil wrappers, cough drops, and kleenex. I thought it was pretty reflective of what was going on in our home. Matt is doing better, but I'm still not feeling all that great.
Sorry for the lack of pictures but I didn't take any pictures while we were gone. I am really going to have to get better about taking more pictures or our lives are just going to pass us by and I won't have memories of what we have experienced.

We are Sea Wolves fans!

For Bosses day the staff at the BSU got Matt tickets to three Mississippi Seawolves hockey games. So this past weekend Matt and I went the games. The tickets were for Friday night, Saturday night and then Sunday night. So this weekend was busy going to all the hockey games. We had so much fun and our seats were great! I really thought the games were entertaining and I really enjoyed sitting so close.

This was taken during one of the fights. I don't know what happened but on Sunday when we went to the game, both teams came out ready to fight. I think this was the first fight and it happened like two minutes into the game and they fought like that the entire game. I don't know how many fights total there was but it was a lot.

All in all we had a good time. I've been battling a sinus infection so I wasn't on top of my game, so I didn't get a picture of Matt and I at the games but I'm sure it won't be our last game. So, I will have to get a picture of us next time.

I've been tagged!

Stephanie tagged me on her blog. I've never been tagged before, so I feel so honored! So here it goes!

The rules of the tag are as follows:1.Post the rules on your blog. 2.Write six random things about yourself. 3.Tag three people at the end of your post. 4. If you are tagged, JUST DO IT, and pass the tag along.

1. I can't stand to sleep in pants or anything on my legs. I can't stand when the bottoms of my pants come up around my calves and knees. And they get so twisted around me during the night. I just don't like it.

2. Matt and I sit in total darkness when it is just the two of us at home. I can't stand paying high electricity bills, so to save when it is just the two of us all the lights are off.

3. My middle name on my birth certificate is misspelled, so legally my middle name is different than what it is supposed to be.

4. I was involved in three car wrecks within the first three months of my sixteenth birthday. Two were my fault, one was not. All three were on rainy misty days, so now I have major anxiety when I or anyone else I know is driving in the rain (I mean major anxiety).

5. I have self diagnosed myself with having restless legs syndrome. Sometimes I get tingley feelings in my lower back and legs and usually when I have these feelings I can't sleep, but when I do finally get to sleep, my legs will bend in the middle of the night. Most of the time, I sleep on my stomach, so when I sleep my legs bend at the knee and feet point towards the ceiling or sometimes I sleep on my back and sleep with my knees bent and my feet flat on the mattress. It drives Matt crazy!

6. My hair used to be bleach blonde. I don't know why I did it or why I thought it looked good. I grew it out many years ago and I don't think that I will ever be doing that again.

I tag Jenny, Diana, and Micah. Have fun!

Matt's a Hero!

Matt and I drove to Fayetteville last weekend to visit our families. The trip home is long, so we decided to get up early and get on the road. We have our normal stops that we make all along the way. One of my favorite stops is at the Paul Micheal outlet in Lake Village. If you are ever driving through you should stop and browse around, plus they have the cleanest bathrooms between our parents houses and our home. So we made a pit stop at Paul Micheal and then got back on the road. Just a little while after we left. There was a bad car wreck just about three cars in front of us. I didn't see it, but Matt did. The car had flipped several times and landed on it's roof, so it was upside down. Matt pulled over and jumped out of the car. The car was smoking a little bit and you could see a small flame. He ran up to the car and helped the guy out of the car. The man was really disoriented about what was going on, but he was ok. Matt and I were both first responders in college, but it has been a few years since we took a class, but Matt jumped into action just like he was in class yesterday. I'm thankful that the man was ok and I'm extremely proud of Matt for jumping into action and helping the man. Needless to say we had lots to talk about the rest of the way home.

Long time, no see!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I have been able to write. I have been out of town visiting family. It was a really good time and I have come back feeling refreshed and energized. It was an eventful trip so I will post in the next few days about everything that went on.

Since it was our fall break here at the school Matt and I took the chance to go home and visit with family. Matt came back home early last week and he was gracious enough to let me stay through the week. I flew back last night. Before I got on the plane I went to the bathroom and here is what I saw.

I love these hand dryers! I always feel like my hands are so clean after I use them. I got so excited when I walked in and saw them lining the wall. It's the little stuff in life!

Missing Fayetteville

Matt and I have days that we miss living in Fayetteville. We have days that we miss living close to our families, but we also have days that we miss living in Fayetteville. We love the actual town of Fayetteville itself. A lot of the days that we miss Fayetteville are during the fall time. We love having all four seasons and we love Arkansas football. Today as Matt and I were watching the Arkansas football game we both were talking about how much we missed Fayetteville and how much we wanted to be there today. So I thought I would go through some pictures and post some of our favorite parts of Fayetteville.

I love our pregame at Uof A football games. It is my favorite part of the whole game! Anytime we are in town on a game day you better believe we are looking everywhere for tickets.

Ace of Cakes

Matt and I have recently got cable and internet for our apartment. So right now I am a little overwhelmed with all the options that I have to watch on tv now. One show that I caught a few times has been Ace of Cakes. Have you seen this show? I think it is amazing what they can do with a cake! I never knew you could do such things. I think I like this show because I like to bake, but everytime I watch I am really impressed with the things that they do. What are some of your favorite shows?

Matt's Office

I have finally finished Matt's office! I feel like it has taken me forever. I finished his office last week. We got most of his books set up and we placed some pictures around too. I found some lamps at Walmart for $4.50 so I got a couple to go in his office. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

This is a picture right when you walk in the door. I still have one blank shelf that I didn't know what to do with, but I figured Matt could use it for whatever he wanted.

I didn't get any pictures of his tall book shelves. But to the right of this seating area there are two tall book shelves. I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of them, but oh well.

So this is Matt's office. I think he feels a little more settled now that his office is finally finished. Let me know what you think.

Did I find a pearl?

Matt and I wanted to try a new place to eat this weekend, so on Saturday we decided on a place and we went out for dinner. We went to a seafood place here in Gulfport. I hadn't had fried oysters in a really long time, so I decided that I would splurge and get them. I was about half way done with all my oysters when I bit down on something really hard. I didn't know what it was but I decided that I didn't want swallow it, so I carefully spit it out. This is what I found.

As soon as it came out of my mouth, I looked at Matt and said "Is this a pearl?" He said he didn't know. I didn't know what to do. I just sat there for a little while and stared at it. I still don't know if it is or not. I tried to do some research on it, but I didn't find any information. I'm afraid to ask anyone because I don't want someone to think that I'm stupid, but I just want to know what it is. What do you think? Is it a pearl or is it something else?

Update

Matt and I have had a crazy couple of weeks. Because of Hurricane Gustav, Matt and I had to evacuate from Gulfport. Matt's parents had planned on coming to visit us, but because of the storm they didn't come and Matt and I packed up and headed north. We had a great time while we were home. We were able to spend some good quality time with our families while we were home. We got home on Wednesday night and there was no damage to our apartment. Praise the Lord! Since we have been home I have been trying to get our apartment back in order. We evacuated with lots of stuff, so now I am just trying to get all that stuff put back where it goes. I'm glad it is the weekend. We really don't have any plans, but we have several things that we need to get done. Hopefully, I will productive this weekend and get somethings done! Hope you have a great weekend!

Finished

Here are some pictures of the finished BSU building. I don't have pictures of all of the final product because Matt's office still needs some work, but here is the big room. It looks so great!

Here is the view as soon as you walk in the door. The walls look a lot more blue here than it really is.
This is the view standing at the fire place looking at the opposite corner, where the entrance is.

Here is another view standing at the fireplace. The room with all the windows is Matt's office. We moved all the furniture out of this room because we were setting up for Survival. Survival was our big back to school bash for all the students.
So, that is what Matt and I have been doing the last few weeks. Almost as soon as our building was getting done we were setting up for back to school activities. It really came down to the wire, but it looks great and we are really excited abut the finished product.
Matt and I have been really busy this week trying to get everything ready for school to start. It has been a great week though.

Great Weekend

Matt and I had a great extended weekend. My brother and sister came to visit us in Gulfport. They got here on Saturday and stayed until Wednesday. It was a great relaxing time. Sunday after church we headed to the beach for the rest of the day. We had a fun day relaxing and laying on the beach. We went to Dauphin Island. This was Matt and I's first time to visit Dauphin Island and we will definately go back. It was beautiful.

The rest of our weekend was spent shopping, going to the pool at our apartment, and eating out. We had a great time and I am so glad that Lyndsey and Jesse were able to come and visit. I can't wait to do it again!

I can't believe that school starts this week!

We'll it is finally here. School is starting. The students are starting to move in. It seemed like this day would never come, but here it is. School starts on Thursday. Matt and I have been really busy this week, trying to get our building and programs ready for school to start. We are having a good weekend though. My brother and sister are in town visiting, so we are enjoying our time with them. Having them here is a good distraction. I will blog more about our weekend later this week with more details. See again soon!

Unforgettable Moments

Today I wanted to write something fun. I didn't want to write about Matt and I's day to day activities. I went to the Imagination generator for ideas today. It suggested that I write about 10 unforgettable moments in my life. Immediately several came to mind, but I'm not sure that I have 10. I'm just going to start and we will see how many I have. I'm going in chronological order, so here I go.

1. The moment that I became a believer in Jesus Christ. I was talking with my mom and dad when everything became clear about Jesus and the sacrifice that God made for me by sending his son Jesus to die for me.

2. The moment that Jesse, my brother, had fallen off of the top bunk of his bed while he was asleep and realizing that he had asked me earlier that night to sleep on the top bunk because he was scared for some reason.

3. The moment that I came face to face with the two men that were robbing our home one night.

4. Leaving Barnhill arena after my high school graduation. I got in my car, rolled the windows down and turned the music up. I felt so free.

5. Taking off in a plane, going back to the states after I had spent the summer in Nepal. I knew that my heart had been changed forever.

6. The phone call that I got when my mom passed away. I just remember being on the phone, feeling like I was going to collapse and like the whole world was spinning around me and I was the only thing standing still.

7. My 21st birthday. My family planned a surprise Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood birthday party. I walked into the living room at my dad's house and the room was full of friends that I had all growing up, my grandmothers, my aunt, etc. They had all traveled in for my birthday and had written letters to me about memories and friendship.

8. The day that Matt proposed to me. The moment he got down on his knee.

9. The day that Matt and I got married. Specifically they moment that Matt and I got in the car after the reception. It was so quiet and even though we had been in the same room all day and had even said our vowels to each other, it felt as if we had not seen each other all day.

10. When Matt and I moved to New Orleans. After our wedding and honeymoon, we drove from Fayetteville to New Orleans for Matt to start classes. Once we got to our apartment and unloaded everything and closed the door, it was just the two of us. It was my first time to move away from home and Matt was the only person in New Orleans that I knew. It was a hard day.

Ok, so I ended up having ten. I think I actually have more than that, but these are just the one's that I thought of sitting here. What are your unforgettable moments?

Before

Sorry about our long blogging haitus. We have had a couple busy weeks. I have actually sat down twice and started writting but was distracted so I had to quit both times. I have been coming to work with Matt a few times a week, so I can help out a little bit. He has a lot on his plate right now with remodeling one of the BSU buildings, overseeing everything he is responsible for, and getting ready for school to start at the end of this month. I can't believe that school starts this month! We are in the middle of remodeling one of our BSU buildings. So we are picking out colors, looking at flooring options and trying to get everything set up for school to start. Here are some pictures of the before and we will put up pictures of the after when it is done.

Here is a picture of the main room.

This is a picture of Matt's office. Major updating needs!

This is a picture of the main room looking at Matt's office.


This a picture of the main room from the front door.

So here are the before pictures! I'll post some after pictures when everything is done. Hopefully, everything will be done before school starts.

Sandwich Shops

I love sandwich shops. So one thing that I am always looking for is a good sandwich place. I love Atlanta Bread Co., Panera Bread, Subway, I'm not very picky. But some of my favorite all time places to eat are in Fayetteville. I love Loafin Joes. I always try to make a stop when Matt and I are in town. When I was in high school Fayetteville had a sandwich place called Lenny's. I absolutely loved Lenny's! However, sometime when I was in college Lenny's closed. I wasn't really all that sad about it because there were other sandwich places to eat. But every now and then I would think about Lenny's and wish that it was still there. Well, one day when Matt and I moved to Gulfport we were driving around and low and behold, there it was in all of it's glory, Lenny's! So we stopped and ate there for dinner. It was just as good as I had always remembered it being.

Pow Wow

Two weekends ago, Matt and I went to my family reunion in Oklahoma. Not a lot of people know this, but I am part Native American. I know I really look like it! I really am. I am part Potawatomi Indian. I never really cared anything about being part Native American, until I started college. You see the Potawatomi Nation paid for a good chunk of my tuition at the U of A. Every year my family has a family reunion in Oklahoma, this family reunion also happens to be the yearly Pow Wow for the Potawatomi Nation. It is a weekend event, complete with dance competitions, golf, softball tournament, and lots of free food. Every year the tribal council chooses 5 families to be honored at the Pow Wow. This year was our year to be honored. This just means that we get to dance/march around the circle when we do the big ceremony. This was the first year the Matt has got to come. I think he really enjoyed it. It is a good time to just see family and relax, even though there are lots of events going on there is no pressure to do everything. Here are some pictures that we have from that weekend.

This is picture of Dad and Rebecca at the dance competion on Friday night. They won first place for the couples category. We are so proud!

At the end of the weekend we have a final ceremony. At this ceremony is where people dress up in their costumes and we march around the arena. This is a picture of Matt and I at the final ceremony. The headband and fan were made by my grandfather. He has made all of the girls headbands and fans.

Here is a picture of one of the professional dancers that dance during the ceremony.

I wasn't able to get the best picture because he was dancing and I really need to get a new camera. But you can see his costume. Anyway, we had a lot of fun this year and can't wait to go back next year.

Congratulations Christina and Josh!

Matt and I went to Fayetteville this weekend for my step-sisters wedding. We had a great time and we were able celebrate with Josh and Christina. It was a beautiful wedding and Christina was a gorgeous bride.

We had a great time spending the weekend with lots of family. Because I am not currently working, I was able to spend the whole week at home and help with wedding plans for the last week. I had so much fun spending time with all the family and I am really missing everyone this week. Congratulations Christina and Josh! Matt and I wish ya'll the best and we will continue to pray for you guys.

Update

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, but we have had a couple really busy weeks. We have moved now. Everything with the move went very smoothly. The movers came last Tuesday and unloaded all the boxes and were gone by 12 noon. So Matt and I started unpacking boxes. We unpacked for 6 hours straight until we both started getting really sad about our new move and missing all of our friends, so we decided to take a break and get out of the apartment. We were two depressed people. We went to Walmart and this is what we came back with.

Needless to say, we were having a bad day! We are doing a lot better now. That was just a major moment of weakness. I think that the whole thing had just gotten to us that day. Oh by the way, both of these flavors of ice cream were very good. Matt and I are not very big Ice Cream eaters but we were really impressed with both of these.

Adventures!

After hurricane Katrina, Matt and I had to move several times to get our lives back in order. (That whole part of our lives is a crazy story that will have to be told later) Because we moved so many times we decided that we were not going to refer to moving as "moving", but that we were "starting a new adventure." So here we are three years later ending one adventure and starting another one. This week has been a little crazy with talking to movers and getting everything ready to move. We have started our goodbyes, which is the hardest part. My office had a party for Matt and I this week. It was great. Thanks Diana and Laura for putting it all together. Thanks for making Matt and I feel so special! I am really going to miss ya'll!
Tomorrow is Matt and I's last day at church. It is not going to be an easy day. Matt and I love our church here in New Orleans. When Matt and I came to New Orleans, we struggled to find a place where we felt like we could serve. After the storm Matt and I found Edgewater Baptist Church. After the first Sunday we knew that Edgewater, was where we were supposed to be. We knew that we could plug in and serve the people of the church, community, and the Lord. We knew that the people of Edgewater took the Bible seriously and taught what it said, and we knew that Edgewater's desire is to reach the nations with the message of Jesus. Matt and I are very sad to leave Edgewater. I tell Matt everyday "I don't want to leave our church." But I know that God will provide a church for us. I know that He will take care of us. So here we go on another adventure...

Blank

Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with stuff to blog about. Sometimes the details of my life are not very exciting. I recently have found a website that I can use to come up with topics to write about. http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html
So I went to the creativity portal today and one of the suggestions it gave was to list 25 things I would like to do in my life. I thought that was a good idea, but my list is only going to be 5 items long. (I thought 25 was a little much, and I really don't want to think about it that much) So here we go.
#1. I would like to be a mother one day. The pressure has definately risen in the last year or so to start on this one. I think Matt and I are asked about 17 times a week, when we are going to start trying. I try not to let it bother me too much.

#2. I would like to go to Alaska. I would like to take a cruise there. I think that it would be so beautiful.

#3. I would like to learn another language and be fluent in it. I took spanish in high school, but it did not stick. I think part of the problem was that I was in high school and I didn't care one lick about learning Spanish at the time. However, now I wish that I would have paid a little more attention.

#4. I would like to learn to play the guitar. My brother plays the guitar and He has tried to teach me. The problem was I have no rythm, so I had problems strumming. He kept telling me to keep trying and that one day it would just come naturally. That day never came, so I maybe one day I will pick up the guitar again.

#5. I want to grow old with Matt and sit on our front porch in our rocking chairs. I want to sit and let the world fade away around us. I want to laugh together and love each other more than we ever thought possible.

These are just a few things that I would like to do. I'm sure I could go on and on, but I won't at this time. What are 5 things that you would like to do?

Falling Into Place

Well, it seems as though things are falling into place for Matt and I's move. We have found an apartment, picked a moving company, organized our entire apartment, and now we are currently trying to eat all of our food that is left in our apartment. I'm starting to feel more settled now that some of the major things are being taken care of.
Matt and I had a good weekend. We didn't really do a whole lot. We just tried to go through our stuff and either throw away or give away things that we don't need anymore. We spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday going through things.
This is our last full week in New Orleans. I don't think that it has really hit us yet. I don't think that it feels real yet because we aren't packing any boxes yet. Right now it just feels like we are spring cleaning. I'm sure it will feel a lot more real the closer to time it gets.

Matt's Birthday!

Sorry it has been a while since we last posted. We haven't really had much to post on. Things haven't been all that exciting, unless you consider researching moving companies and trying to figure out moving plans exciting. I don't. In the midst of all of the moving plans, Matt celebrated a birthday. He wasn't too excited about this one because he feels like he is getting older, so he wanted to keep it pretty low key this year. We just celebrated by going out to dinner with some friends and then having cake and ice cream. Since Matt wanted to keep his birthday low key, I planned a day out on the town. Since we are not going to live in New Orleans much longer we are trying to see some of the things that we haven't seen already. So, I planned a trip to the National World War II Museum.

We had so much fun there. It was incredible. I would definately recommend if you are in the area to take some time to go there. Make sure that you plan lots of time to go, because Matt and I spent 4 hours there and we could have stayed longer. It was really nice to go and just walk around and look at the pictures and read all the captions. Matt and I both walked away with a better understanding of WWII and what our country went through during that time.

These are Higgins boats. A man from New Orleans is the one who invented and built these.

These are the uniforms that our men wore while they are fighting in WWII. They are made of wool! Could you imagine wearing wool and trying to fit a war!

This is a plane that is in the museum!

This is Matt and I at the end of our tour of the museum. We had so much fun, I think we could go back and still learn lots that we missed. After we went to the museum we went back to our apartment and spent the afternoon by the pool, one of our favorite things to do to relax. It was a good weekend!

Big News!

Matt and I have big news this week! It's official now. Matt has just accepted a position in Mississippi as a BSU Director in Gulfport. So, at the end of this month we will be moving to Gulfport. We have a lot to do before now and then, so it is going to be a busy month. We are really excited though. Please pray that we would be able to find housing and that the transition would be very smooth. We haven't found anywhere to live yet. We still aren't really sure what to do about housing yet. We are praying that the Lord will provide exactly what we need. Sorry there are no pictures with this post. Matt and I went to Jackson, MS this past weekend for our last interview and I didn't really feel right taking my camera out to take pictures of everything. We had a good weekend though. It was lots of fun and relaxing. We got to enjoy one of my favorite things to do. Stay in a hotel! I love to stay in hotels. I think I like it because I get to stay and leave and I don't have to clean anything. Not that I leave the room in a mess, but you know what I mean. And, Not only did we get to stay in a hotel, but we got to stay for free! I was really excited. Well, I better be off to trying to figure out what I should be doing.

12 hours

I really hate to admit this because it makes me sound very lazy but after the fact I was mad at myself for doing it. I slept 12 hours last night! From 7pm to 7am! I don't know how I did it and I don't really have a reason why I did it. I'm not sick, I don't feel bad. Last night around 6:30 I started getting tired, so after Matt and I ate dinner, I layed down on the couch and thought "I'm just going to lay here for 10 or 15 minutes and then I will get up and start working on stuff around the house", next thing I know, it's 8:45 and Matt is walking me to the bed. I thought for sure that I would wake up early this morning, but I didn't. I slept all the way until 7:00 this morning, which by the way, is me sleeping in because I get up at 6am. I can't believe that I did that! When I woke up this morning I was mad at myself for not doing all the things that needed to get done last night. Oh well! What can I do now? It's done, I did it, and I'm not proud of myself. What a waste of an evening!

Road Trip

Matt and I took a road trip this weekend, to go see one of our nephews graduate from high school. It was a quick trip but it was still a lot of fun. It takes us 10 hours to get from New Orleans to home, so in that time we have to come up with things that entertain eachother. Some of the things that I do is look at magazines, look at our favorite houses as we drive by, I have a coloring book that keeps me occupied for a little while, but my favorite all time thing to do is play "Middlecamp Karaoke". We find a radio station and then we both take turns singing the songs that are played. You have to sing the song that comes on, even if you don't know it. Then when you are done you get rated on a scale of 1 to 10. This past road trip I got my highest score ever! I got a 9 for singing some song that I can't remember right now. I'll have to let you know what it was when I think about it. But anyways, we had a good time and we always get a kick out of one another singing.

RA's and GA's

On Wednesday nights at church, Matt and I both teach the RA's and GA's classes. Matt teaches the RA's and I teach the GA's. While it is totally exhausting some weeks, it is always a lot of fun. One of Matt and I's favorite times of the week is when we are driving home from church on Wednesday nights and we exchange stories about things that the kids said or did in class that night. One of my favorite stories from last night was from Matt.
Once a month the RA's have a prize night in class. They recieve tickets for good behavior, bringing their Bibles to class, memorizing their scripture verses, etc. All the tickets get put in a hat and then once a month they have a drawing to see who gets a prize. So last night after our GA's time, we took the girls to the playground, where the boys were already playing. I went outside and sat at a nearby table so I could see everyone. All the prizes that the boys had won were laying on top of the table. One of the boys was sitting there with a frown on his face. I asked him why he was upset and he told me it was because Mr. Matt told him he couldn't touch all the prizes, then he left and went on playing.
Later, in the car Matt and I were talking about the prizes and the boy and Matt told me that right before we had come outside, the boy was playing with all the prizes that didn't belong to him. Matt had told him twice to stop touching the prizes. After the second time he came over to Matt, looked up at him and with his teeth clenched together said, "If you don't stop telling me not to touch the prizes, I'm going to stomp on your toes". I was rolling in the car. I thought it was so funny! These kids crack me up and wear me out all at the same time.

Wow!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted anything until today. Sorry about that! We have been pretty busy lately. We went home to Arkansas to see my brother graduate from college. Congratulations Jesse! We are so proud of you. We had a great weekend and we were able to spend lots of time with our families while we were there. We were able to fly so that saved us lots of time. We had a great time being at home. Here is a picture of Jesse and I at his graduation party. I have more pictures but none of them really turned out. I think my camera is on it's last leg.

This past weekend Matt and I really didn't do a whole lot. We went to the graduation here at the seminary because we had several friends that were graduating. After graduation Matt and I spent the rest of our Saturday at the pool. It was so relaxing to just sit in the sun and read my book and hangout with friends. We had a pretty relaxing weekend.

Date Night, Baby Shower, and Pancakes

-Just a warning I forgot to bring my camera, so pictures will have to come later.- Sorry!

This weekend was very eventful, but it was lots of fun. On Friday afternoon Matt called me and let me know that we were going to go on a surprise double date with some of our friends. I love surprises so I was really excited. He wouldn't give me any hints about what we were doing but he gave me a time that I needed to be ready by. So about 6:15 we meet our friends and off we went. The hint that boys gave us in the car was, "This is a two part date, the first part is for us (the boys) and the second part is totally for ya'll (the girls)". ***Little background, my husband loves to eat out. So, when he told about this surprise date, I knew that it was just his way of getting me to agree to let him go out and eat. *** So, our first stop was to eat. They took us to Phil's Grill.

Phil's Grill has great burgers and is a total guy place. Currently they are running a deal called "Burger Palluza", where some local celebrities, like Saints players and sports reporters, built special burgers to raise money for charities. If you get one of their special burgers you get a free t-shirt. So that is what the boys did and those burgers where huge! They were definitely built for big eaters like NFL players.

After we ate, we got back in the car and by the direction we were driving I knew we were going to the movies. I was really excited because I love to go to the movies, but we just don't get to very often living on a seminary budget. We went to go see Made of Honor. We got our tickets and turned around and there were three Hornets players standing behind us. All four of us stopped what we were doing and just stared at them. Then we stood around saying "Matt, go talk to them.", "No, you go talk to them.", "I don't know what to say, you go talk to them." Needless to say no one said anything to them and we went into to the movie theatre. But it was the highlight of the night. My favorite part of going to the Elmwood Theatre is the bathrooms. The Elmwood Theatre has the best hand blow dryers. They are crazy powerful. Every time we go I like to go wash my hands before and after the movie.

The movie was good. I really liked it. I thought it was cute, very predictable but cute. It was a good night overall and we had a good time just hanging out and not worrying about all the other stuff that we needed to get done, like dishes and laundry, etc.

Saturday was Baby Shower Day. Some of my friends and I had a baby shower for our friends Cole and Chad. There were so many people there and so many desserts. It was a good time. I always love an excuse to have a party.

Sunday was a good day. Matt and I got up and went to church. Then that afternoon we took naps and just worked around the apartment getting things done. Then Sunday night we headed over to the University of New Orleans to help out with the BCM's Midnight Pancake Supper. Matt and I have helped out several times and we always enjoy it, even though getting up to go to work the next day is a struggle. We always have a good time.

May

I don't know what it is about the beginning of new months, but I love them. Maybe I like it because I get to tear off a page in the calendar, maybe I like it because I feel like it is a new beginning, I don't know what it is. I think it might be a mixture of lots of things. However, I'm not too excited about the start of this new month. This is one of the busiest months in the year for the Middlecamp family. We have something major going on every weekend of this month, and that doesn't include all the stuff that is going on during the week. Oh well, I don't want to complain. We are going to get to see our families a couple times this month and that doesn't happen too often. I'm excited that we will get to see everyone. So maybe May won't be so bad.

5 Favorite Things

Matt and I really don't have a lot of blog worthy events going on in our lives these days, so I thought I would just list a few of my favorite things. I'm sure that there are more things that I could add, but these are just the things that I came up with off the top of my head.

1. My Kitchen Aid Standing Mixer

Anyone that owns one of these will tell you how much they love it. I love mine because I can just throw all the ingredients of whatever I am making in the bowl and let the mixer do its magic! It makes baking a lot faster and easier.

2. My Chi

I love my Chi because my hair is naturally curly. It does the best job of straightening my hair and getting it to stay straight. I have that problem since I live in the most humid place on earth!

3. My Redken Guts Volumizer

This picture is really small but it doesn't matter. I still love this stuff. This stuff adds so much volume to my hair. It is amazing!

4. Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches

I'm not really much of an ice cream eater, but I love these. These are a great treat for me after dinner when I want something sweet. They are low fat, but don't taste like it. I could eat one right now.

5. Bath and Body Works Wallflowers Room Plug InsI like these because they really freshen a room. Bath and Body Works has lots of scents that you can choose from. Some of my favorites are Fresh Linen, Coconut Lime Verbena, and Spiced Cider in the Winter months. Currently I have Japanese Cherry Blossom in our living room and the smell makes me feel so at ease when I walk in the front door. When I'm in the mall and they are on sale I tend to go a little crazy, but I've got to stock up!

These are just a few things that I love and a few things that make my life a little easier.

What are some of your favorites?

Sick

For the last week now I have been battling a sinus infection. I'm now on my second round of antibiotics. I hate being sick. But really, who likes it? What I really hate is the fact that I can't sleep. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday I woke up at 3am and could not go back to sleep. Poor Matt I try to go in the other room so I don't keep him up while I'm tossing and turning. He takes good care of me though. He knows I'm bad about taking medicine, so he is always making sure that I take it.

One night while I was up late I finished a book that I have been reading for a long time. I'm a slow reader. I wish that I was more of a reader, but for some reason I'm just not. So, since I am not a reader I get really excited when I finish a book. The last few months I have been reading The Heavenly Man.

This is a good book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. It is the true story of Brother Yun, a Chinese believer, who endures lots of hardship and persecution because he is a Christian. One reason I like this story is because many of the events that he talks about have happened in my lifetime. This book shows that even today, all over the world, Christians are being persecuted and killed for their beliefs. I think we often forget that not everyone lives in places where Christianity is accepted. This book also has made me reflect on my own life. Would I be able to endure what Brother Yun has endured? Do I have God's Word hidden in my heart so that if it was taken from me, I could remember what it says? Do I have the kind of faith that Brother Yun has? These are just a few of the questions that I have asked myself while reading this book.

Congrats Jesse and Jenny!

My little brother is engaged! I can't believe it. Jesse proposed to his girlfriend Jenny this week. I couldn't be more excited for them. They are so cute! I couldn't have picked out a better partner for my brother and I am so excited that she is going to be part of our family. This is one of those weeks that I wish that New Orleans was a little closer to home because I want to be there to celebrate with everyone, but that is just me being selfish.

Congratulations Jesse and Jenny! We love you both!

Matt and Jacque

Martha's Last Day

Today was a bittersweet day at work. Today was my friend Martha's last day at work. Seminary is weird place to be during these times because in a way it still feels like college sometimes. People come and you get to know them and once they graduate they move away. Martha's move is bittersweet because she is going to a new full time job here in the city. I know that this is an amazing opportunity for her but I am being selfish because I enjoy working with her and having her as my friend. Martha brings so much joy to the atmosphere of the office. Diana and I joke that instead of having interviews for Martha's position, we need to have auditions! Martha always keeps us on our toes in the office. She is really going to be missed.

This is a picture of Matt and I at graduation with Martha.

There is Always More Room

I'm sorry for my absence lately. Matt and I had a crazy week last week. My self imposed "Rear in Gear" week didn't really work. However, I have now declared this "Rear in Gear Week Part 2"! I did good at the beginning of the week but then Matt and I had a death in family and we had to leave town on Thursday afternoon. My step-grandmother passed away this past week. Tommie was a beautiful woman who loved the Lord very much. After my mom passed away and my dad remarried, she always made me feel like I was part of her family. Trying to blend two families definately has its awkward moments, but she always made us feel comfortable and welcome. She taught me many things about opening my heart to love other people. There is always room in my heart to love more people, I just need to make a little more room for them. Sometimes I still need to be reminded of this. Sometimes I have the tendency to block people out and not let them in, so I need to be reminded to let people in. Tommie is loved and missed, but I know that she is busy now dancing and praising the Lord!
We got to see lots of family this weekend because of the funeral. It is always good to get to spend time with everybody. I think one of the sweetest times for me this weekend was on Saturday night at my Dad and Rebecca's house our immediate family all got together and we spent sometime just talking and laughing. Now this is rare because each one of us has major life transitions going on with new babies on the way, finding new jobs, moving, starting grad school, weddings, and graduations. I think that is why this time was so special because we all stopped and we all focused on each other the joy of family. All of us were there My dad, Rebecca, Kortney and Josh, Matt and I, Lyndsey, Christina and Josh, and Jesse and Jenny. There are a lot of us but we were all together in one room laughing, talking, and spending time together as a family should. It was the highlight of my weekend and I wouldn't trade times like that for the world. I hope and pray that we have many more years filled with times like these.

Rear in Gear

Well, it is time. It is time to get my rear back in gear. Lots of people know that I have been doing Weight Watchers for about 6 months now and I have lost over 25 pounds. I have really loved losing the weight but I still have a long way to go. Since my dad was in town last week with his BCM group I took off for the week because I knew we would be eating out and I wouldn't be disciplined enough to workout. Well, now I have to get started again. I feel like I am starting all over again. I'm am looking for new motivation. So far today I haven't done bad, but I didn't get up this morning to go to the gym. I usually try to go everyday at 6am. That is when I like to work out. I like to just get it over with and not have to worry about it the rest of the day.
I also have several other things that I need to catch up on this week. Here is a list of things I need to catch up on:
1. Back on the diet and working out schedule
2. Laundry
3. Pay the bills
4. Get back on a normal sleep schedule
5. Household chores

So tonight I will be doing lots of laundry, making dinner, and watching some of my favorite shows. Tonight I will be watching The Bachelor. I always say, "I don't think I am going to watch it this season" but it always sucks me in!

Favorite Places

Having Dad's BCM group here has been a lot of fun. Matt and I have been able to show them around the city. When people come and visit we love to take them to some of our favorite places in the city. Here are some of the places we would take you if you came to visit.

1. The French Quarter

There is always something to see in the quarter. We like to just go and walk around. There is lots of shopping to do also! I love to walk around and listen to the bands playing on the street. There is always some person dressed up in a costume somewhere having a good time. Matt and I were just down there this weekend and I saw a man driving a car with a puppet of a monkey sitting in the passengers seat. But the monkey was singing along with the music that was playing in the car. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen and I wish that I would have had time to get my camera out.

2. The Big Tree in the Audubon Park

Matt loves to go here. This tree is huge! Some of the limbs grow all the way down to the ground and then back up again. We like to just go here and sit in the shade and relax.

3. Eating at Ninja!

Ninja has great sushi. Matt and I definitely frequent there. We love the food and the service. I think that they put something addictive in their sushi because I crave it all the time.

These are just a few of our favorite spots. There are definitely lots more places that are great to go to, but these are just some of our favorites!

So Far

Well, so far blogging has not been going well. I think my first problem is that I don't like the way my blog looks. I am embarrassed to even let anyone know that I have a blog. I'm am still trying to figure out all of this stuff. I feel like I need to take a class or something. Whatev...

It is so pretty outside today. I would really love to go to the beach. There is a group of girls going to the beach this weekend and I really wish I could go with them. My dad is bringing a group from his BCM to New Orleans next week, so Matt and I are going to show them around the city. It should be fun. I'm glad they are coming because New Orleans could still use all the help it can get. Don't get me wrong Matt and I love living in New Orleans but there are things about this city that are unhealthy. We will be sad when it is time to move away from here.

I will post some pictures soon, for some reason it isn't letting me post any pictures. Oh, well. I will try again later.

Hello Blogging World!

Well, I did it. I have decided to start a blog. I have always loved to read other people's blogs, but have never really kept up with one myself. To be honest I go back and forth about this whole thing because I really don't think that my life is all that exciting to write about. But I will give it a shot. I hope you enjoy my blog and that you are able to take something new away from my life experiences.