Our Tree

This is our tree this year. I love it! Matt and I collect Christmas ornaments from everywhere we travel together. We have ornaments from our honeymoon, vacations we have been on, and several ornaments from other countries we have visited. I put our tree up early this year so we could enjoy it a little bit longer this year.
We had a good thanksgiving, but I don't have any pictures because I accidently left my memory card at home. I guess I could have bought a new one but really I didn't have a spare moment to even go pick one up. We spent part of the Thanksgiving holiday in Arkansas and then spent part of it in Oklahoma.
This week and next week are pretty packed full with Christmas activities, so we are going to be pretty busy but we are excited about everything going on. I think the next two weeks are going to fly by!

10 things

I saw this on a friends blog and thought it was good idea. I really don't anything important to update you on so I just thought I would come up with 10 random things that have been going on recently.

1. It has rained here everday for the last two weeks. Maybe not all day but at least of a little while everyday.

2. Big Brother has started and Matt and I are big fans of the show.

3. Several members of my family have come to visit us in the last two weeks.

4. Matt and I are starting to feel a little overwhelmed with school right around the corner.

5. Although we are overwhelmed I think I am ready for students to start coming back.

6. Matt has had to get some dental work done today.

7. We went and saw Harry Potter and I loved it and can't wait for the other ones to come out.

8. I found the best popsicles at Sams. They have real chuncks of fruit! So good!

9. I've been really wanting to plan a trip to NYC. I don't know why but I have just really wanted to go lately.

10. I'm reading a couple good books right now. I'm reading Crazy Love and Into the Wild. Totally different books but both really good.

Well, gotta go but leave me a comment and let me know what is going on with you.

Sorry so quiet

I'm sorry it has been so long since you have heard from me. We have been sooo busy, and I'm afraid it is only going to get worse. We went to Oklahoma and Arkansas a couple weeks ago to see family and we had a great time. Since we have been back home it has been one thing after the other. Part of my family came this week to visit us. We gave them the grand tour of Gulfport and spent a lot of time looking at houses. We had a great time with our family and were sad that they had to go home. It is pretty quiet now without any one here. I forget how quiet it is with just the two of us.
We will be having a busy next couple weeks too, so I will try to be better about posting more frequently. I would also just like to ask for your prayers Matt and I have lots of things going on (looking at houses, school starting, my job search) and we are just trying to sort thru everything. We need the Lord's guidance and we would definately appreciate your prayers.

Pyramids and Mt. Sinai

Part of our trip to the Middle East was spent doing touristy things. We had the opportunity to see the Pyramids and The Sphinx and then to climb Mt. Sinai. Both experiences were incredible. The pyramids are amazing. You can't see them without wondering how in world they were built. The pyramids are huge and suprisingly the sphinx is not as big as I had always pictured it (but still amazing to go see, I was just suprised at the size). Here are a few of the pictures that we took.

This is group picture of us at the bottom of the Great Pyramid. There is a rope around the bottom of the pyramid so you can't get close to it, but a very nice guard let us climb over the rope and take some pictures. You can see how tall the rocks are, the one next to me is about as tall as I am.

We also had the opportunity to climb Mt. Sinai to see sunrise. We had to leave about 2am to start climbing. Mt. Sinai is close to 7,000 ft. We were able to ride camels a little more than half way up the mountain. Riding the camels was one of the highlights of our trip. It was very dark while we were riding the camels so we got to see the desert night sky. It was breathtaking. Being there made the Old Testament come alive. I could never explain the awesomeness of the whole thing. It was just amazing!

This is me on my camel. It was so fun to be able to ride a camel up the mountain.

The Sunrise from the top of Mt. Sinai!

Just a landscape picture after the sun came up.

Overall it was a great life changing trip. We had so much fun and I don't think that Matt and I will ever be the same because of this trip. I can't even begin to explain everything that we learned while we were there. We learned lessons about ourselves, other cultures and religions, we learned about God's Word, and learned more about God's heart for the nations.

May

May was a crazy month for Matt and I. We spent the majority of the month traveling. The first part of May was spent in Arkansas for my sisters graduation from the U of A. She graduated with her Masters in Social Work. Congratulations Lyndsey!

We had a great weekend with friends and family celebrating Lyndsey's accomplishments. We are all so proud of her.

After Lyndsey's graduation Matt and I spent some much needed time with family. We were able to spend about a week just hanging out with family.

Then, Matt and I had the opportunity to go to North Africa to visit some friends. We had a great time and were able to experience new things.

This is Matt and I standing where the Nile River meets the Meditteranean Sea. Matt and I were out one day and a taxi driver that we were with asked us if we wanted to go see "where salty water meets fresh water", at first I had no idea what he was talking about. He kept talking about it saying it was where everyone goes to visit. The more he talked the more I realized what he was talking about, then I got excited. I had no idea how close we were. It was literally right down the road from where we were. Matt and I were so excited that we got to go and so grateful that he took us. I would have been so sad if I would have known we were that close and didn't see it.

I'm not going to go into all the details of everything in this one post, because there is too much. I learned so much while we were gone and I am still processing everything that happened. We are still struggling with jet lag a little bit but other than that we are feeling good. Hopefully, the next few posts will be about our experiences that we had and things that we learned while we were away.

Blogging Break

Matt and I just returned from a great weekend in Nashville. We went to Nashville we went to The National Collegiate Summit. It was a great time with other college ministers. It was great to see friends and family. Matt and I were definately feeling worn out and discouraged when we got there, but we left feeling encouraged. It was a much needed weekend.
Well, I think we are going to be taking a blogging vacation. We have a lot going on this month and to be honest I was planning on not blogging until the end of everything. So, I've just decided that I'm going to take this month off. I needed to just be able to enjoy the things that we have going on this month without the pressure of updating the blog about everything that is going on. I will update you the first of June about everything that has happended during May. Well, I need to get going. Ya'll have a good month and I'll see you in June!

It's time for another blog. I really don't like having such long periods of time between posts, but I guess that is just how life is right now. Stuff at the BSU is going good. We are ending the school year so things are pretty busy right now. We are finishing up some Bible Studies this week, we have pancake dinners during finals, movie nights, and several other things going on. I can't believe that school is wrapping up already. This year has flown by.

It's been a while since I have used the Idea prompter so I decided I would see what ideas it had today. It suggested coming up with titles for my autobiography. I thought this would be something fun to do, so here goes....

1. "There's always an adventure" - It seems like when my sister and I get together you never know what is going to happen. Some of the most random things that have happened in my life have happend when my sister and I are hanging out. We have a good time together and we laugh a lot.

2. "It's Jacque." - Because of the spelling of my name a lot of people miss pronounce my name. When I was growing up in school, I hated when we would have substitute teachers because when they would call roll they would always stop at my name and say "Ok, tell me if I pronounce this wrong.... jock?...jack?" and all of my schoolmates would say "It's Jacque". Even when I was in college I had a professor that called me Jack all semester and I finally got tired of correcting him, so I just let him call me Jack.

3. "No Driving in the Rain" - When I was sixteen I had a series of car wrecks all in the rain. Because of these car wrecks I hate driving in the rain and don't like other people driving in the rain. I get really anxious when I have to drive in the rain, or I know someone I love is driving in the rain. I try not to be anxious about it, but my husband will tell you it's pretty bad.

Well, I think that is it. I don't think I will be writing a autobiography anytime soon,but it's kinda fun to think about a possible title. What do you think about these? What would you title your autobiography?

Update

We have been super busy! There has been so much going on with the BSU the last couple weeks. This past weekend we took a group of students to a Leadership conference. It was really good. It is sad to see some of our students getting ready to leave and move on, but I understand that it's just part of college ministry. On the other hand I really look forward to see what God has in store for us next year.

When we got back from the Conference Matt and I headed over to New Orleans for an engagement party for some friends. Our friends Daniel and Janna got engaged a couple weeks ago. Matt and I are so excited for them and can't wait to see them get married.

I have known Daniel for most of my life. We grew up together in Arkansas and grew up just blocks from each other. I would have never imagined growing up that we would be as close as we are today. Matt and I met Janna while we were at the seminary and we are so happy that they getting married! Congrats you guys! We love ya'll!

This week we have been busy at the BSU. We had an outdoor movie night and cookout to raise money for summer missions. We had a good time despite the fact that it was freezing outside, but we raised some money for our summer missionaries. I have a feeling that Matt and I are in the middle of a full on sprint to the end of the school year. Just because we have so much going on from now until the end of the school year. I can't believe that our first school year is almost done.

Well, this is what has been going on with us the last couple weeks. See you later!

New Years Resoultions

So this year I decided that I was going to set a New Years Resolution for myself. I am not a reader, I never have been because I am a slow reader. I read everything really slow and sometimes I have to re-read things because I'm not focused on what I am reading. My Resolution was that I would read a new book every month of this year. So far I have the Twilight series this year. I really have liked it but I am drawing to the end of the series. I'm trying to come up with other books that I would like to read or that I should read. This is where I need your help. I'm looking for suggestions of good reads. I think I would like to get a wide range of books, so that is why I'm asking for suggestions. I know that everyone will have their own opinions of good books. I have a couple on my list already but if something better comes along I may move your suggestions to the top of my list. I'm hoping that by the end of the year that I will enjoy reading more and that maybe my speed will increase.

Here are a couple that I am thinking about reading at some point this year. Let me know what you think and any other suggestions that you have.

I always like Beth Moore. I've never read a book of hers. I've only done her Bible Studies. But I'm sure that I will enjoy this book just the same.

I'm interested in this book because it is a tragic true story of a group of people that climb Mt. Everest. I became interested in this story because I went to Nepal one summer and I got to see Mt. Everest. I loved being in Nepal. Being there was when I really started to sense God moving in my heart and my heart for the Nations and His people.

So let me know what suggestions that you have. There are still nine months left in the year and I don't want to miss any good books!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The last couple weeks have been really busy for us. After Valentines Day we went to St. Louis because Matt's grandmother was having a suprise 80th Birthday party. So we took some time off during Mardi Gras to go visit. It was a good weekend, but just not long enough. The next weekend I spent in Dallas for a friend's wedding and to see some family. I was so ready to get home. This past week was our Spring Break. We took a group of students over to do some work for a couple days. We had a good group go on the trip and it was a lot of fun. Matt and I have spent some timek resting this week since it was our Spring Break. Matt's parents also came and visited this week for a little while. It was good to spend some time with them. We spent some time shopping and eating out and just relaxing too. It has been good to spend some time at home this week without anything on the agenda.

A couple weeks ago I got on this Brady Bunch kick. There was a marathon on tv one day and I got excited about it and since then I have thought about all the shows and cartoons that I used to watch when I was growing up. So I did a little research to see if I could find some. I remembered that there were a couple cartoons that I liked that had a narrator, but I couldn't remember much more about them, but I found them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuYdY125fmg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vPJkQsP20A


Well, I ended up just posting the link to the Youtube video. Hope that you enjoy these and that they bring back some childhood memories like they did for me.

Valentines Weekend Continued

Sorry this is a little late, but I wanted to finish the rest of our story about Valentines Day! So, Matt and I went out and ate on Friday night for Valentines Day, but I still felt like we should do something special on Valentines day. So, the morning of Valentines Day Matt went and got breakfast from Chic-fil-a. They have the best breakfast! Then we went to the movies. Going to the movies in the morning is one of my favorite things to do and it is so much cheaper than going in the evening. We went and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was pretty cute.

After going to the movies I had an idea. I didn't want to go out and eat again, so I decided that we should cook together. We both love to cook. So we went to Barnes and Noble and went to the cookbook section. We looked at lots of recipies and we choose what we wanted to make. It was fun just to go and sit and look at books and magazines together. Then we headed to Walmart to pick up everything that we needed.

I took some pics, so you could see what we choose to cook. We had a lot of fun, but were extremely full afterward. We ended up cooking most of the evening because we would make one thing and eat it and get full, so we would wait to start on the next until we felt like we could eat it.

Caution: The following pics are full of calories, so beware! This was a diet free night!

First was our appetizer, We chose to make Roasted Red Pepper, Spinach Artichoke dip. It was so good and pretty easy. I would definetly recommend if you need to take a dip to a party or something.

Next was the main course. I can't remember what this chicken is called, so we just call it Yummy Chicken in our house. I rarely make this, but it is very good. This one we didn't pick out at Barnes and Noble, this is a recipe that I had already, but this is what Matt wanted, so I decided I would make it for him.


For dessert Matt chose to make Camellia Grill Apple Pie. Camellia Grill is a restaurant in New Orleans. We like Camella Grill, so when Matt saw this recipie I wasn't suprised when he picked it. I was really easy to make and it tasted really good.

So that was the last of our Valentines Day adventures. It was a great weekend and we just enjoyed spending it together. I didn't get any pictures of Matt and I on Valentines Day, I think I was just excited about all the food and sampling everything that we made together. I also enjoyed this because we had leftovers for several days and I didn't have to cook for a few days.

One of the things that Matt and I have struggled with since we moved over to Mississippi, was that we couldn't find anywhere that we loved to go and eat at. We love to eat out. We try to keep the eating out to a minimum, so we really one only go about once a week. We like to try new resturants, but we just have not had much luck finding a good place to eat. Some of our students told me about a couple places that were supposed to be really good. So, for valentines day we decided that we were going to try one of these places. We decided to go to the Blow Fly Inn. It was so good.

But here is the exciting part! When we walked in there was a note on the door that said that the night we were there The Blow Fly Inn was going to be featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. Matt and I were so excited. We love that show! It was so fun to able to eat there and then watch the Food Network and see what they said about it. We had a great Valentines Day weekend! I'll have to post more later about the other details of the weekend.

Behind

I know I am really behind on blogging, but the truth is I really am just lacking material to blog about. The last couple weeks have really just been routine weeks. This past weekend we were able to go to New Orleans on Friday and see lots of friends. It was really refreshing to go back and see some friends. I think Matt and I both just needed to get out of town for a little while.

My girls Bible Study has started on our campus. We are doing a Beth Moore Study called Stepping Up. I hope and pray that the girls who are involved in this study will grow exponentially. I know for me that college was a time of major growth in my life and I just want the same thing for these girls.

Well, I think that is about it for tonight. Hopefully, I will post again sometime this week, even if I don't have much to say.

I faced a giant today....and Won!

I have a bad habit. I like to do laundry, but I detest hanging it and putting it away. I don't know why I do it because I like our room to be clean and neat, but for some reason I sometimes get lazy and just put the hanging clothes in this rocker. Most of the time it isn't this bad, but sometimes it just sneakes up on me and it gets to the point where I can't stand it anymore. So here it is! It was tough, but I defeated the giant and now the rocker is empty. Does anyone else have the same problem?

Help!

I need help. Matt and I need a new camera. The camera that we own right now is old and everytime I take a picture I literally say out loud "I hate this camera". I used to love my camera, but the last couple years, we have really grown apart. I have got some money for Christmas and my birthday and I'm thinking about getting a new camera. The only problem is that the one I want is really expensive. I have the money to get it, but it is just so much money. I'm trying to decide if it is worth all that money. Wolf Camera is having a really good deal on Nikon D60's, so I have to decide pretty quickly. What do you think I should do? Should I get the camera and spend all my money or should I just buy a cheaper one and pocket some of the other money? Is it worth all that money? Let me know what you think...

Christmas, Birthday, and Anniversary

Matt and I went home for Christmas and it was great time with family. This year Christmas was spent with my family. So all of my siblings came in town and spent the majority of the time all together. We spent about two weeks in Fayetteville and is was a blast. We spent a lot of time playing board games and playing on the Wii.

The presents this year were a little crazy. We love Christmas in our family and we all get a little carried away around this time of year, but it is always fun!

This is my nephew setting out the cookies for santa. Also notice the presents. This is the rest of them. The presents literally came out to the middle of the floor in the living room. It was a little hard to walk around in there.

While we were in Fayetteville my grandmother came to visit and ended up buying a house, so she is going to be moving to Fayetteville sometime this spring. We are really excited about her move and can't wait to help her get all her stuff moved and set up in her new house.

School has started back now at our campus, so Matt and I are back now, but this week we have celebrated my birthday and our anniversary. I had a great birthday, my sister came back with us after Christmas to visit for a little while. The morning of my birthday I woke up and Matt and my sister had made breakfast in bed for me. My sister makes the best breakfast burritos! Matt had to go to work, so my sister and I watched movies and then went and got pedicures. It was so relaxing. After Matt got off work we all went to New Orleans were we meet some friends at my favorite resturant.

It was so good! I had such a great day. I didn't even know what to do with myself. Matt and I also celebrated our 4th anniversary. To celebrate we went and ate at Mary Mahoney's. It was very nice and the food was great.

This is a picture of the outside. The resturant is in a really old house, but it is beautiful.

This if were Matt and I sat. This is the glassed in front porch. It was really romantic. We had a good time just eating, enjoying eachothers company, and talking about some of the memories that we've had from dating until now. Now we are excited for the weekend. We don't have any plans, but we'll see what comes our way.