Ok, FINALLY the blog is allowing me to post pictures. Woohoo! Here are about the last month of pictures from the house, and Brad's parents visit. We'll start with the visit...then on to the house! :) So here goes....

On Saturday night, I thankfully was given on call at work instead of having to go in to work, so we were both able to spend time with Brad's parents. After waking up in the afternoon, I joined Brad, his parents, and Shauna and Aaron over at the house. Brad's parents were weeding for us, and Shauna and Aaron were sweetly helping Brad prime the rooms. So thankful for them!

After we finished at the house, we headed to Gumbo's with Brad's parents. Can I describe how much we LOVE Gumbo's? If you recall, in a WAY early post on my dear blog I described a FANTASTIC meal from Gumbo's. Well, they did it again. Brad's dad and I both had the chef's special...steak of course. Steak with 3 shrimp that were with cilantro , in this tomato sauce with these delicious mashed potatoes. Brad had pork tenderloin, and Brad's mom had pasta with chicken. The portions are perfect...I even finished the entire meal. Delicious. You just come on down to Austin, and we'll take you to visit our favorite place! Pictures...On Sunday we cleaned like maniacs. Brad's mom helped me get the cabinets cleaned out, and Brad's dad mowed the lawn for us. (This could have been Monday too, it was a busy couple of days.) As you see, I had to do some acrobatic moves to get a specific cabinet cleaned out...I really struggled with my gag reflex when I opened this cabinet...see below.

Post scrubbing....how sweet is that!!

Sorry for the blur...Rosemary kicking the cabinet's caboose. We had tuckered Carl out, taking a breather from mowing the lawn I believe.

My painting maniac husband. Also on Sunday, after church we headed over to THE place...Hula Hut...YUMMMMM! It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend of weather too!
Monday night, our softball team had a game, and Brad and I were both playing so the four of us headed down south for the game. We won...no thanks to me. I played pretty much my worst game of the year. Two fielding errors..pathetic. Brad kicked butt, and my teammate announced it was good that I brought Brad to cover for me. :) The other team cracked up. No offense was taken, as it was all in good fun and I really was TERRIBLE that day.
Overall, we had a fantastic visit. Carl and Rosemary were our first family visitors to see our new home! We love having family time, we miss that down here.

Now on to the house pictures...this picture below...we had just closed on our house. Yay!

Alright, so a sort of picture tour, although I apparently skipped that whole area on the left in the picture. That area is the "formal living/dining area." I'm not sure what we'll do with that yet. Straight ahead...the front door. On the right is our office. Office...very front of the house.
Guest bathroom ,we like the accessories they have hung in here, and we're leaving it brown, as it matches our bathroom set that we have. I really like the mirrors.

This is the living/dining area we'll use the most. Pre paint/prime. Kitchen...empty. We're deciding if we need to paint or not...but currently we're undecided so it shall be staying this color. We like the color..so we'll probably keep it for awhile. We'll need a backsplash however, as there is a white patch behind the stove, and some stains I can't get off the wall.
The fridge we love. Not in the best shape when we moved in...spotless now..these are for you Mom. You have to see how clean I've turned out to be...
Every time I finished I made Brad stop painting and come look at my accomplishment...I actually had the bottom drawer out of the freezer and was sitting in between the slide out door and the actual freezer. Our cabinets that are starting to fill up. Coincidentally, the whole 5'1" of my frame does not allow me to reach higher than the 2nd shelf without a step stool, so I am attempting to put all the important things on the lower levels. Haha...the life of a short family.
These are the wires to the speaker system they have installed in the house...we have absolutely no idea what to do with these yet...hopefully we'll figure that out. It's there though, so that's a nice bonus.
Painting man...getting rid of the pink room.Check that out...Our bathroom, clearly not decorated yet. Our bedroom...storage for the Mullin's ladder.
Painting the living room...we have gone through sample after sample and we finally landed on this color..which we love.


Prior to paint...our primed WHITE wall. We just finished last night...we will have more pictures soon. The backyard. We love the trees behind the yard...we also have a rock quarry back there..and Brad says he has heard it twice. Kinda bummed about that..but we still love the house.
We bought some hedge clippers last week. We have many things to do to the landscaping...but the bushes look much better now! This was post hedge trimming to the bushes on the right front of the house. These are the out of control bushes in the front of the house...Post trimming...so much better!Garage..not usable for two cars yet...but soon. And...so that is our house. We love it! Sorry not much explanation yet..we have errands to run. But soon, so soon.

Had a fantastic weekend. Katie G's shower was this weekend, we met some wonderful ladies, and the shower was so fun! I almost overslept...by almost I actually did after working on Friday night. Sweet Katie didn't mind, and thankfully Shauna called and I woke up and made it prior to games and gifts. Can't wait for Katie and Evan's wedding! After the shower, we ladies headed down to the Family Reunion baptism service at church to meet the guys. Amy, Shauna, and I got a smidgen lost...but we had a great time doing so. We caught the tail end of the baptisms. There is something so amazing about watching someone get baptized...tears every time for me.
Saturday night, Brad was super excited abut the UFC fight so he went Adam and Blair's, while Blair joined Shauna and I up north for some TBS movies. LOVED it! Would have been doing the exact same thing if I had been at home, but I had people to talk to. :) Apparently Brad's favorite won too.

Yesterday, we finished up the living room. We had a great day! I finished a little more organizing and we met some more neighbors.

Alright...hope you all have a fantastic week!

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!