Crazy Life...

So, we closed and we're SLOWLY but surely getting into our new home. We've finally finished some of the painting and we have started to get thing put away, beginning in the kitchen. (By started, I definitely mean we have exposed the tip of the iceberg only.) I promise a longer update on Saturday or Sunday when I'm not working. Brad's parents were here too this weekend, and I'll get those pictures up soon also. Have to be at work soon though, but here are a few.

...I lied. Blogger won't let me add pictures at this time, and I'm not quite awake for work..so updates will come at a later date.

Hope you have had a fantastic week!!

April 7, 2005

Good gracious, three posts in a day...AGAIN. However, I just now realized that today was April 7th. Three years ago today, a good friend passed away, and I try to remember her every year on this day. This year, it will be on here. The Lord used her death, and that horrible tragic time to help mold me into who I am today, and for that I am forever grateful.

During my freshman year at Olivet, I began feeling a tug from God to be an RA, and man did I fight it. I didn't want to be an RA, I just wanted to do school and friends and leave it at that. However, I made an agreement with God (apparently I thought I had that kind of clout) that I would do my best in every step of the process, but I did NOT want to be an RA and hoped He would understand. However, He had different plans, thankfully, and an RA I became. There are so many stories of His hand in that situation, amazing ways He showed that He was in control, but I'll not go into all those tonight. Regardless, sophomore year was the year I grew the most in my relationship with Christ, and I know and believe it has everything to do with being an RA.

My team: Amazing.
My girls: Amazing.
My RD: Amazing.
Period.

From the day I received the list of names of the girls on my floor, my life began changing. I began praying for those girls, and for the year we would have. I started planning and getting excited. I was pumped about my RA team...they all seemed great and I couldn't wait to get started.

A couple pictures...

Initiation. We had to wear these outfits around campus for a day, and then spell out Hollandsworth (our RD's last name) while doing jumping jacks if we ever ran into a current Williams RA. It was actually fun...here we are in all our glory.

This was move in day...we were ready to move those ladies in!My floor of girls!
So, the year began, and we 8 ladies, along with Donna, our director, started bonding. We had weekly meetings where we would talk about the past week, our struggles, our prayers, our praises. Amazing stories of our girls, tough situations with our girls. Everything. It was a time that I craved each week. My RA team was full of women who LOVED the Lord; I admired their faith. I think their examples helped me to stop sitting in a rut of selfishness and get active in my relationship with Jesus again.

Heather Wagoner, was one of those who I admired so much. I have never met a girl like Heather. She had a way to make us laugh...ALL THE TIME! She was so in tune with where God was leading her, and she followed Him without fail. I could not spend a day with Heather, and not leave without a smile. Heather and I were actually on the same floor freshman year, so I knew she LOVED Tim McGraw, she was crazy, and she had thumbs like me. You better believe I LOVED that. Sophomore year it only got better. She had one of the biggest floor of girls in the dorm, and they absolutely loved her, I mean loved. As the year ended, I was excited because we had really started to get close. Not just Heather and I, but all the girls, but I had started spending more time with her.

Our thumbs.
Explanation: Sometime in March of that year, we decided to write a rap of appreciation for Tom, one of the top guys in charge of the RA's on campus. He was pretty awesome, and I can't remember why we had written the rap, but we went to his office and performed. This was Heather on our way over to the office; this pretty much sums up who this girl was.
Right before the accident, she had decided to be an RA for an additional year, and was the only teammate who was returning to the dorm. I had to sit desk the night the new team was meeting for the first time, and after it Heather was off the wall hyper, and pumped about the new team. She came and sat desk with me, and we decided we would assign all the new floors. We had a whole plan. It was great.

Valentine's Day...spent with Court and Heather!
Anways...on April 1, 2005 there was an accident involving 4 girls from Olivet, three of which I was close to. Heather and Karen were RA's with me, Hannah was my freshmen RA, and Rachel was an overall sweet girl. Heather, Karen, and Rachel, were all treated and released that evening from the hospital, but Heather had to be taken to a different hospital and was in intensive care. We prayed for a week as a dorm, as a team, as individual's, and as a campus. We held a prayer vigil, we made pins that said pray for Heather. We all hoped. On April 7th, though, we got news that she passed away. It was pretty awful.

Yet, after her death, and even in that week up to her death, God began to work in our hearts and move in ways I can't describe. Girls that Heather had prayed for began to spend time together, bonds that she prayed would form, did exactly that. It was amazing. I can only truly talk about what happened in my life, but I can tell you that He worked that terrible event into a miracle. As for me, I learned to lean on God more than I ever could. I learned that no matter what happens on this earth, He is in control, and I will never have to live a day without His hand on my life. I learned that everything I do on this Earth serves an eternal purpose. I needed to stop being selfish, and to stop being someone who claimed faith but didn't live it like I should. I needed to START talking about Jesus, and showing other's the love of Christ. He has been guiding ever step I have taken since the day I was born, and I took that for granted I think. I was able to pray out loud for the first time in my life. As much as I hate that it took Heather passing away for me to get my heart right, I am thankful for the life she lived and the example she was. I know I'm not the only one who's life was changed.

If I could just do one more little statement. I truly pray that you know the Lord. I pray that you don't take the time we are given here for granted. Earth is temporary, but our time here determines our time in Eternity. We have been given Salvation, and not in any way due to anything we have done to deserve it. God gave us Jesus, his SON, to bear our sin, so we didn't have to. If He loves us that much, can you imagine an eternity with Him?

That's pretty much it for now. I just thought it was time to share. I've been so wrapped up in our life lately with the house and getting to go home. Today reminded me.

Have a great week...more updates with the house changes soon. We're trying to get all moved in, so updates may be sparse. Take care!

Surprise...Round 4!

MONDAY! Monday was a busy busy day!

Early Monday was breakfast with Manders at our place! Oliverio's has been our breakfast spot since high school. Every time I came home from Olivet, Manders and I would do breakfast. There is nothing like biscuits and gravy or pancakes from Oliverio's. Manders gets coffee and I get hot chocolate, and then we discuss how why not plug in the carbs, and continue to order english muffins, biscuits, pancakes. BRING ON THE DELICIOUSNESS!! Love it! Candy, one of the owner's, knows us by name and she always says hi when she sees us. It's a beautiful tradition. Our one picture is blurry, but I don't care..here it is.
After breakfast, headed home and took a quick nap and then headed to lunch with Becca. FYI: I ate out a LOT at home. Lunch was at Pita Pit, which was a first for me, it was amazing! I had a great time catching up with Becca. She and Jared have been such great friends to us, it's always great to see them.

After lunch, I met up with El at St. E and got to go say hello to my former coworkers. I was so spoiled at St. E, talk about loving a job! El and I then picked Rox up and headed to the dress store to pick up our dresses for Rox's wedding. They're really pretty. They fit pretty well, which is a blessing! We saw Rox's dress too; it's stunning! It's going to be a beautiful wedding. Mom met up with us too, secretly I think Mom misses the craziness of planning our wedding. Right mom? :) Actually, she came so we could go get coffee, which we did after the dress store. I don't think mom and I have ever actually just gone for coffee. It was great. We got to sit and talk and relax, and we should have been doing that so long ago!!

After coffee, Carly called to see if I would like to go see Laura's apartment. Laura also went to McCutcheon, and though we didn't hang out that much, we have now become stalker's of one another's blogs. She is getting married in May, and I read her blog literally daily. I have read all about her soon to be husband, and their adorable apartment, so I was so excited to go see the apartment. It is truly adorable, by the way. It is in this house, upstairs, and it's so homey and looks to be the perfect first home. Her fiance is very sweet too; they're so cute together. Laura just glows too...love it! I had a great time with she and Carly sharing stories. It is so neat to hear where everyone is now, and to grow friendships even from far away.

Finally Monday evening, I came to my final destination: babysitting Emily. Dad and Luke were there when I got there, Dad had stopped by to make sure I could see him before I had to leave on Tuesday. Rox, Jake, and El came over also to help with the babysitting, or for just a chance to visit. Either way, it was good to see them one last time before leaving.
I just love her!Finally, after Sarah and Phil came home and we had some chat time, I headed home and watched Enchanted with Luke. By the way, such a cute movie! I MAY have slept through some of it, but every time I woke up, it made me laugh.

And that was my Monday! Wonderful day...and on to Tuesday!!

Tuesday, I accidentally overslept (I was worn out by Tuesday) and was late for breakfast with J.D. I got there eventually, though, and it was great to have a chance to catch up with him. I only got to see him briefly over Christmas break, so it was good to visit! He's in grad school at Purdue, smart guy that one.

After we finished, I had to go get all my things since I was in such a rush when I left for breakfast. I then ran over to Grandma Roth's house. Grandma Roth, for those of you who don't know, is my great-grandma. She is 97 (6?) years old, and one fiesty lady. Aunt Jo was there too, so I spent a little while just talking with them. At one point, Aunt Jo and I were chatting, and Grandma started chuckling all to herself, she then told us a pretty funny story about getting ready earlier that week. She's spry I tell you. She let me pick out some figurines that she has collected to take home with me. That's so special to me, any family memories are something I cherish so much. For my shower this summer, Grandma gave me some of her cookbooks that have notes all over them for long ago when she was using them, and two more figurines. These are displayed in our little cabinet with my Willow Tree angels.

I then headed over to meet Mom, Sarah, and Emily for lunch. It's so hard to say good-bye. As Mom was leaving to head back to work, we were both a little tearful. Poor little Emily, it was adorable, her eyes got all big and she reached out to touch Mom. I decided she was trying to comfort her Grammy.

Then it was on to Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house. They live right around the corner from Grandma Roth. I always thought that was pretty cool growing up, if I visited one I could walk right across the little field and get to the other's house. We didn't do a lot of that, but I always thought it was neat. It was so fun to visit with them. They read our blog and were up to date on all the new things in our life, it was fun to fill them in on all the details! I spent almost an hour there, but ended up having to leave because it was time to head to the airport. Time flies so fast at home.

Finally it was on to Nana and Papa's. Had to say by to Luke, Sarah, and Emily. So hard. It's funny how you take things for granted when you have it all at the fingertips. Nana and Papa then took me to Indy for my flight. I was so thankful they happened to get home on Thursday before I did on Friday, so I got to see them too. Next time, I need more cards though. They are planning on coming down in July too...I'm pumped for them to come see our house and show them Austin!

And that was my trip...hopefully I haven't forgotten anything.

After that, it was two LONG flights back to my husband. I don't know if they were actually long, of if I just missed him so much it felt like forever, but man was it good to see him when I landed! I feel pretty strongly about not leaving that man here in Austin without me again...I've grown pretty attached.

One funny story... on the flight from Dallas to Austin, I fell asleep I guess before we had even taken off. Then during the flight I woke up, and looked out the window and could not figure for the life of me if we were flying or we were still on the runway. I had a good 3 minutes of confusion, and then realized there were light below us and they were announcing we were about to descend into Austin. That was a pretty good feeling!

Alright...now back to life in Austin.

Surprise...Round 3!

Sorry for my absence, busy week we have had. On to Sunday/Monday/Tuesday, quite possibly broken into multiple posts. Here we go...

Sunday was family day! I got to go to Kossuth in the morning, I love Kossuth and the people there. I have missed them all! I didn't get to see everyone I had hoped, but most. I ended up going to Sunday School with Sarah and Phil, so I was able to see Becca and Jared, who we have missed tons! We had hoped to get to see them in March, but they are expecting a BABY so the trip was postponed. Though an absolutely amazing reason, we missed them! I was so excited, so Becca and I made Monday lunch plans. Erica was there too, she is supposed to come in July! I'm pumped to have visitors! Erica has been at Kossuth since we started attending back when I was 10, so it's great to have any chance to catch up!

After church, Dad, Mom, and I headed to the mall. I haven't shopped with Mom in awhile, and Dad and I didn't get our yearly Christmas trip, so this was actually pretty fun! Mom and I got to persuade each other into buying things for fun, it was great! After that my afternoon can pretty much be summed up into one word - NAP!!!! Oh I love Sunday naps; it was FANTASTIC!

That evening we went to Arni's for pizza; I had been SERIOUSLY craving Arni's. There is just nothing like it. I had an Arni's Jr. and some cheese pizza. Woohoo. Almost all my family came, I have really missed family. As much as we love Austin, we really do miss our families. I have felt bad about missing out on some important things at home, so the chance to be with them all was wonderful! Plus, time with pizza is always amazing. Here are some pictures..

She's so brave.
The guys
Dad, Phil, Papa
I was able to get these two to smile on commercial break from the basketball game. :)
I love them!All the girls!!
Sarah was feeding Emily the milkshake Papa had brought for her...clearly, she LOVED it!

After Arni's, we headed over to Sarah and Phil's for some DS Mario Kart and cards. I pretty much had a rough night of losing in both games. Phil, Luke, and I played Mario Kart, and I really bombed. I think that I needed to practice a bit more; next time I will definitely be more of a competitor. They better watch out! After the Mario Kart, Dad, Nana, Papa, Phil, and I played some Euchre. Nothing like a good game of euchre, even when I lose. I just wasn't on my A-game...it's been too long! Next time...next time.

Basically, Sunday was wonderful! I loved the time with my family!

Speaking of next time...next post: Monday!!

Surprise...Round 2!

Note: You may wonder how I have time to write three posts in one day. I really haven't sat around doing nothing all day, but Brad's at work, and I have the night off so I decided now or never before our crazy few weeks we have ahead. More about that later...

On to Saturday!!

Saturday morning started bright and early! Mom wanted to get up by 6am...that's 5 am my time. Whoa. I may have slept a little over, but by 6:30 I was up and ready! :) Impressive! Ran some errands, and then picked Nana up to head out to Roxanne's shower. Mom just beat us out there, then Nana and I walked in. Rox ran out to meet us when she realized it was me, and some tears were definitely let loose on both our parts. The shower was so much fun! I love weddings, and I love showers; I'm such a girl! It was great though! Ellen was of course there too, and Rose, and Brittany and Carly. Jan, who hosted the shower, did such a good job. I've known Jan, what feels like most my life, and she is just SO sweet! The dishes even matched the theme of Rox and Jake's wedding. The food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I wish I could describe it all..but I'll stick to just the strawberries!
Huge fresh strawberries
Cored out, and covered and I believe filled with cheesecake
Dipped in dark and white chocolate
Made to look like tuxes
It was like an entire meal in a bite..I can't even explain!
Some pictures from the shower...
After Roxanne's shower, Mom and I headed to a baby shower for an old family friend. Then back to Nana and Papa's. It's always so easy to relax at Nana & Papa's. Then, the girls called and said they were headed to Olive Garden for some dinner. Well, this girl LOVES Olive Garden so I jumped at the opportunity.

Spent some time catching up with Roxanne, Jake (who I had not seen since before our wedding), Brittany, Carly, Lora, and Lindsey. Lora and Lindsey I haven't spent much time with since high school, so it was great to see both of them and catch up with their lives. Brittany and Carly, I always look forward to a chance to catch up with those girls when I am in town! They both are so easy to just pick up where we left off and spend some time chatting! It's fun to see how the Lord has worked in all our lives to bring us where we are now! It was so great to see them both!
After dinner Rox, Jake, and I headed over to El's house to see her and Ryan and the rest of the Butera Clan. Always a good time! I hadn't seen Ryan since the wedding either, so that was fun! There is something special about being in Ellen's house, they have always made us feel welcome and like part of the family! One of the places I miss the most in Lafayette. El is in nursing school too, I love when we get to talk because I can totally feel what she is going through now!

From El's, I took Rox and Jake home and Rox filled me in on all the wedding details I hadn't been caught up on yet! It's going to be gorgeous. I seriously love details, and it was fun to get filled in. Their wedding is coming so close, and they have tons of new plans coming up in their lives, pray for them as they find out where life is headed in the next couple of weeks. Brad and I secretly are hoping that Roxanne gets placed in Houston for her dietetics internship next fall...we're also pulling for Ellen and Manders to get down here too. :) Basically we love Austin, and feel everyone else should too!

Came home late on Saturday, but Dad still woke up to say hi! I hadn't been able to see him yet, because he was in Evansville for a softball tournament. It was great to see Dad though, and it was my first time seeing Luke! Luke may join us down here this summer, I think that would be great!

And that was Saturday....next post will be Sunday, but I need a nap so I can get up and get some things done before work tomorrow night/tonight as it is 1am.

In Austin news...we close on Friday. As in 2 DAYS!!! Whoa! I am currently looking at a definitely unpacked apartment...lots to do! So exciting though!!

More updates soon...sorry for the play by play..but it was a great weekend! It's great to be back though, I missed Brad, and I missed our little apartment, and our friends here. I even slightly missed work. I'm sure that will change tonight. Have a great week!

Surprise!!!

So, I just arrived home in Austin from a FANTASTIC trip back to Indiana over the weekend! Brad, the sweet husband he is, recognized that I was in need of some family time, and a perfect opportunity came up. He said I could go, and therefore we spent our first 5 nights apart since we were married. I've decided not to leave him again, but it was an amazing weekend!

As a warning...these next posts could be LONG because I have pictures and stories, and I have to touch on EVERYTHING! :) I'll try to break it up...but no promises!

So, a couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to Rox's wedding shower. I had been having some major missing Indiana friends and family moments over the past few months, and this seemed like the perfect time to head home for a visit. I even had time off around the day. I asked Brad, and we decided now might be a good time, and the tickets were even priced well. So, I decided to make a surprise for Rox at her shower. I'm not very good at surprises either, so it was a tough couple of weeks! So worth it though!

On Friday I headed toward Lafayette to meet Mom, Nana, Sarah, and Emily at the airport. I was a big ball of tears all day. When I left Brad in the morning, I was tearful with leaving him. Then as soon as I saw my family pull up, I was a mess all over again. So, I calmed down a bit, and we headed to Friday's for dinner. Yum...and just a nice chance to have some lady time.
Story for Friday's: I tipped the waiter extra because he was really nice to the table next to our table to help that waitress out, and he didn't get mad when we were indecisive...then I left my credit card at the table. He literally chased us to the car, and as Mom started the car he knocked on the window with my card. I was stinking glad I tipped him well after that! :)

After we finished dinner, we headed to Target so I could get Rox and Jake's gift. Plus, Emily LOVES Target! (Who doesn't?) After parading around the store, and changing my mind 20 times, I finally picked out a gift and we headed home. On the way we stopped by Sarah and Phil's new home. It's beautiful! They did such a great job on it! I know they miss their home in Florida too, but this one is great. Plus, it is one street over from Nana and Papa, and Papa keeps them supplied with a daily dose of milkshakes..I'm a bit jealous.

Also Friday, our surprise was almost spoiled! I had told El early on that I was coming home so that we could hang out. I was supposed to go to her house after I got home, but Rox had decided she was going to hang out with Ellen. Poor Ellen, good thing she's a better secret keeper than I am! I called and she pretended it was her mom so Rox would not find out. Thanks El! We didn't get to hang out after all, but I appreciated her help! We got some quality time later on in the weekend.

It was such a great start to my home visit...

Next post: Saturday!

Soooo many updates!

Easter...I never updated after Easter.

This Easter was the first away from our families; however, it was perfect! We went to church in the morning, and had an amazing service and worship time. Then we headed over to the Peterson home for an Easter Brunch. I can't even describe all the delicious food. Brittany and Steve are pretty much awesome hosts, and Brittany can make some fantastic caramel bread and egg casserole. Sweet Brittany then shared the recipes with the ladies, Brad specifically requested one for me. :) I'll have to surprise him someday soon with some of the sweet bread. I didn't take many pictures, but I have one of some of the ladies.

It was hard being away from the family, but I'll tell you that we are SO thankful for the way the Lord has blessed us with amazing friendships down here. These people are just flat out amazing. Period.
First Easter married. So fun!

Sunday evening, the now owners of our soon to be home, invited us over. We spent almost 2 hours just chatting with the couple. They truly are so very sweet. It is hard to think of how they have to leave this home that they love, but we are so thankful for how sweet they have been to us through the whole process. Just this past week, they agreed to move a week early so we could close and lock in a lower rate. I think we owe them.

Now for a sad update. I truly have bombed on the NCAA tournament. BOMBED. Greeny and I are on bad terms now. I picked UT and Georgetown for the final game...you can imagine how I'm feeling right now, as Brad picked UNC and UCLA. So much for the underdogs. Boo. I think life may go on though.