Who we are...

Our Pastor speaks alot about defining our "worth"ship thru worship and I must say that this is something that really speaks to my heart. I have often found myself not feeling adequate or out of place...maybe even inferior to everyone else.....most of my life I have defined who I was by what kind of things I had....what kind of house my family lived in, the kind of clothing I wore, what kind of cars we drove.....especially in JR high and high school, I always wanted to be someone else and went to great lengths to try and hide reality because I felt that me and my family were not "normal". I thought that we went thru things and struggles that no one else did. Even though I am a fairly successful adult, I still carried some of those same feelings and have struggled with it.....but now listening to our Pastor I have realized that I need to start listening to more of what God wants from me and less to the world that tells me that who I am is in how big my house is, what name brands I wear and how many friends I have. While there are some things that I would like to have, I realize that unless I learn to be thankful for what I have and enjoy the blessings that God has already given me, I will never be satisfied and my life will end up with alot of regret.....and that I want friends that like me for me and not for the things I have or neighborhood I live in.....So, I am very happy to say that the Lord is helping me define who I am and I am excitd about the places He wants to take me and my family! I know that he will deliver us from this little apartment soon!!! I also want to say thank you to all of my friends that let me share in their lives and show me that I am not so "abnormal" after all!

Burning the Midnight Oil

Well, it is 2AM and to my dismay and dissappointment (I had rather hoped to be in very deep stages of REM sleep at this moment) I am wide awake! The last two nights Zach has run a fever and it seems the Motrin that I gave him has given him a new found energy in the middle of the night! We have played for two hours now and he has finally decided to go to bed. Hopefully soon I will be able to follow. Hope everyone is having sweet dreams!

A New Post At Last!

What craziness my life has been lately!!! Please, friends, don't say, "what's new".....you have to have at least one crazy friend in this life....it makes things interesting! Well, I'll start with Washington, DC....that was an interesting trip.....thanks Keyonna and Sandy for driving me around our beautiful capitol without getting me arrested or in a car accident, although the argument with the parking attendant made me a little nervous (HA!HA! I think he had one too many validations that day).....the metro ride was definitely an experience in city culture.....I really was OK with it until a strange guy plopped down beside me on day 2 and then a group of young teens surrounded me on day 4....I think their primary goal was to see how many curse words they could use in a sentence. So much for minding my own business and keeping to myself....the cab rides were an interesting venture as well.....actually they were uneventful until day 3 when the cab driver kept asking me for directions to where I was going...go figure.....it's a good thing that I had taken the same ride several days in a row and I knew where I needed to go because he did not have a clue......all in all I had a great visit.....however, I don't believe I want to ever go to the Cherry Blossom Festival (or whatever it is called) by Wednesday night my allergies were in full swing and by the time I got home I had to stay in bed for two days because I felt so bad.....they were very pretty but did not do me any favors!!!! I am sure that there is alot of other things I am leaving out about my trip....oh, like the walk three blocks too far on my trek to find Feline's Basement (an upscale Fashion Shack) only to turn around in defeat and see that it was diagonally across from the hotel from wence I came!!!! Seriously, though, I had a great time sight seeing with Keyonna and her friend, my new friend, Sandy....maybe next time I can come and visit without having to go to class all day!!!

Zach's First Haircut

Well, I finally broke down and took Zach for a haircut! I could not bring myself to let her cut off all of the curls, though. A couple of the other gals in there asked if I was getting the curls cut because if I was they were not going to watch!! Zach was very good for his haircut...of course the seat that looks like a car helped A WHOLE LOT! Now if I could just figure out how to get him to behave while I get a haircut?!?!?!?!

Zach's Twin

I think that most everyone got my email and the pictures of Zach and his "twin" at Books-A-Million, but for those of you who didn't, here they are! That experience was so NEAT! What are the odds that something like that would happen...right down to the shirt?? Zach had alot of fun playing with his "twin" for about an hour....good thing the other boy's name was David....I'm not sure what we would have done if they had had the same name!

The Holidays

Well, the holidays are past and I am glad that the hustle and bustle is over but sad that it will be a while before I see everyone again...we started a new tradition this year....we spent the night at my parents house on Christmas Eve...my Mom of course loved that we were there on Christmas morning and that Santa once again visited her house on Christmas Eve! We decided to do this because we didn't have a tree (or very much furntiure) at our house in Anderson and I thought it would be more fun for the boys if they had decorations! I really had fun running around to all of our family's houses and I video taped everything this year...Dan got me a video camera for Christmas and I love it! I hope all of you, my friends, had a very Merry Chirstmas and have a Happy New Year (beginning today)! Remember to count your blessings and remember just how good (and gracious) God is to all of us!

It is Cold

It is definitely winter in the Great Smokey Mountains!!! last night it was 14 degrees!!!!! and we didn't even get any snow with it! There were snow flurries all day yesterday teasing us but nothing lasting!! We were in SC for Thanksgiving but we didn't get to see many people because of the short visit and Christmas will be even shorter. Dan is making plans to move here finally even though it is a slow process...we are thinking of just renting our house in SC house...but the business is the main thing....hopefully it will all work out soon! Zach and Joseph are doing well although they fight alot now (most of them are started by Zach)!!!! Of course they can be mean to each other but no one else better hurt one of them! Joseph is always quick to rescue Zach when he gets in trouble. That's about all that is going on in Sevierville, TN! We are adjusted and like it very much....everyone remember to come and visit!