Goin' down to the river to pray...

My whole life I've grown up going to Copperas Creek in Junction during the summer for family reunions. This summer was especially special because I got to bring my husband with me! He got to see the place I have so many childhood memories and that's always special. Plus, it's just nice to go deep into the woods with no cell phone service and be with family.

Judson saying, "Jump Knox!" and Christie and I saying "Knox you HAVE to jump FAR out! DONT HIT THE ROCK"

Morning coffee time

Holding all the babies

Knox loves his Uncle Judson 

Judson reading his bible

TRU LUV

By far my favorite memory of the weekend was Judson giving the sermon at our little church service on Sunday. I had no idea what he had prepared so it was all a surprise to me. It was the most genuine message and I had tears in my eyes the whole time.

serendipity and a teacher's hope

Do you ever feel like God is telling you, "You are exactly where you are supposed to be."?

Well, I do and over this past year He has practically been yelling it at me.

I'm a little stubborn and maybe a tiny bit of a control freak. I like to feel like I control situations in my life. Guess what, I DON'T. I never have and I never will. The Lord took control of me and my life a long time ago, THANK GOODNESS, because I shutter to think where I would be today if He hadn't.

Sometimes God does things to continue to remind me that He has my back. He's good like that.

Let me preface what I'm talking about by telling you that since I knew my numbers and letters, the number 3 has been my favorite number because it is an E backwards. Pretty simple. I chose "3" my whole childhood in things, and as I got older I loved it because it is also a symbol for the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). 3 was my number in sports and if I was lucky I even got to pick 33. I love the number 3!! Okay?!

Then this boy Judson came along, you may have heard me talk about him before. After 3 months of dating we told each other we love each other. At 9 months of dating (3x3=9, yeah I'm a math teacher) he proposed to me with a ring that has 3 diamonds on top. I see You, God, telling me I'm where I need to be.

The only date in the whole entire summer that we would be able to get married was August 3rd, 2013. August THIRD. two thousand THIRTEEN. So many people thought we were rushing it, but God knew. He set it up in a way that assured me. Good one, God!

And it was perfection.

When it came to the stress of job searching and TOWN searching, it was really hard for me to not have control over the situation. Our number one priority was Judson getting a job and then I would find whatever I could. Well San Saba asked for both of us and offered Judson his dream teaching and coaching job. They told me I would be teaching 5th grade math. 5th grade is at the MIDDLE SCHOOL. Not even elementary school anymore! That really made me uneasy.

I have always seen myself teaching little ones. I'm good at teaching little ones. I'm comfortable with teaching little ones. These are BIG ones! Same height as me ones. Pre-pubesent ones. Will they like me? Will they respect me? Doubt. Doubt. Doubt. Unsure. Unsure Unsure.

Is this where I'm supposed to be? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?

The principal gave me a tour of the school and brought me to my classroom. Classroom number 3.
MIND BLOWN.

I literally giggled out loud and said, "Classroom number 3, huh?" My principal said, "Yup, this is your classroom. Classroom number 3."

I said, "That's perfect. It's my favorite number." as I beamed inside knowing God was once again telling me that He pre-designed this all for me.

So there's another story of God's faithfulness. I couldn't get it all out of my head today as I was decorating my room.

As I scooted desks around, organized books, and studied my kids previous STARR results, I had butterflies in my stomach. There's so many things I'm nervous about as a first year teacher, but there's so many MORE things I'm EXCITED about.

I’m excited to know their personalities. I'm excited to hear their discussions. I’m excited to see all the good that I know is lying within them. But, the thing that I am most excited about is getting to tell them:

You are so loved. You are valuable. You can make a difference in this world.

I want those messages to radiate through them every day, every week, every month. I hope that all my words and all my actions represent those things to them. My hope is that someday those messages will stick, that they will bury so deeply in their hearts that they will KNOW them to be true.

I will leave you with this picture of Judson at his new coaches office desk because even though he hasn't said the words exactly like I just said, I KNOW he feels the same way about all of his football boys and his students. Sharing the same passion is really awesome. And, look how cute he is!

marital advice

This past weekend I was in my BEAUTIFUL dear friend's wedding. We were roommates all 4 years of college and she is just so precious to me. Plus: LOOK HOW PRETTY!

She was glowing and it was such a beautiful night! I don't live remotely near any of my friends anymore so it is so sweet/special/FUN when we are all reunited!

At the reception the wedding party and their dates were seated at the head table. At each table there were cards and envelopes to write marriage advice for them to read on their anniversaries. The one at our table was for them to read at their ONE year anniversary, and since in a matter of days I will be celebrating my one year anniversary (WHAT?!?!?) I thought man, I HAVE SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE TO BESTOW.

Also, can I just say, this guy is my favorite dance partner everrrrrrrrrr.

So Judson and I were sitting there wondering what to put in this card, because SO much happens in your first year of marriage. It is the biggest life change! Then Judson said, "You should just write, 'Hug It Out, Bitch'."

Now before you think that he is extremely distasteful and crude, this is a mantra we have actually applied to our married life. Anyone who is anyone who knows us, even kind of, KNOWS we are absolutely crazy about each other. I'm sure it is nauseating to some people how mushy gushy lovey we are and I DON'T CARE. It's who we are! But let that not fool you to think that we don't argue and fight. We have argued and disagreed on the most arbitrary things. What kind of toilet paper we should get, daily habits, how long to microwave something, HOW TO FALL ASLEEP (reading vs. tv watching), etc. See what I mean? Going from being your own person to becoming one unit is a HUGE adjustment.

Judson HATES it when we don't get along. I hate it too, but I tend to hold on to it a little bit longer than he does. Yes, okay, I hold a grudge. BUT I'm working on being better at letting things go. And, depending on the argument sometimes the roles reverse and he is the one that is holding on to it. Needless to say, we had to figure out a way for us to become neutral so that we can either discuss the issue or drop it because it was pointless to argue about anyways. Enter: Hug It Out, Bitch.

Because EVERYONE needs hugs. Especially, when you are angry or upset. It makes everything better. Sometimes we have to hug it out like 4 or 5 times before we are actually not upset anymore.

hehe.

We had to abbreviate it to saying HIOB, because I started getting offended when he would say "bitch" whenever I was already upset. So now we literally say HIOB (HE-OH-BA).

Sometimes we even have to HIOB from a distance. We had a disagreement while he was at coaching school this past week and he could tell from my not mushy response the next morning that I hadn't let it go yet. Classic case where HIOB has come to the rescue.

So let's all HIOB when we have disagreements. Why doesn't anyone ask my opinion on how to obtain world peace? Sheesh.

spontaneous trip and adoption

Last Thursday, Judson came home in the morning from football workout and I was just sitting in our sunroom painting. He said, "Pack an overnight bag with a swimsuit and something nice to wear to dinner!" I was all like "Whaaaa!?" Remember my last post where I said I love surprises!? Well, another side note is that I HATE being rushed haha, I know I'm a piece of work. But knowing that will make the fact that Judson said, "There's no rush, just whenever you are ready to leave we will go." SO GREAT.

We got packed up and headed out! The drive was beeaauutifuuull. He took me to Fredricksburg! The MOST adorable town in Texas. It's only an hour from our home so it was super easy and stress free to go there. He also got us a room at the most adorable hotel!! The Inn on Barons Creek - I highly suggest it! I was just so giddy about the whole situation.

So beautiful and peaceful! After walking around, we put on our swimming suits and hit the pool for the whole afternoon!

Spoiled rotten.

After getting some good rays, we cleaned up and headed to a DELICIOUS STEAK AND SHRIMP DINNER. YES, IT WAS SO GOOD IT DESERVES ALL CAPS. 

Our tummies were so full we were basically waddling when we left. We headed to Luckenbach, 15 minutes away, for some live music and livestock.

It was just the best day. We woke up the next morning to FREE breakfast in the lobby and shopped till we dropped downtown. And just in case you were thinking I was really cute while we were shopping in this super cute town in cute stores, here is proof, I wasn't. Also, this is Judson's favorite picture from the trip and his current iPhone background. Boo.

After 24 hours of fun and excitement we spent the next night just simply watching our sprinkler water the front yard. Laughing nonstop at nothing. No make-up on. Ahhh, small town living. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

           

 

Onto our next spontaneous adventure: 

We were just sitting on our back porch the other night enjoying the twinkly lights and bugs getting zapped by the zapper, when we heard a rustling underneath us. 

MEOWWWWWW. OMG. A CAT. UNDER OUR PORCH. 

We got flash lights and started inspecting between the slats of wood. Only to discover it wasn't a cat in the far back corner under our porch, but a KITTEN. Little tiny baby kitten. We tried to lure her out with lunch meat and baby talk - no luck. So we took it to the next level and got a big skinny stick and started trying to poke/scare her out. It was kind of working but this little thing could barely even walk. Long story short, after an hour and a half of crawling around with sticks, flashlights, and towels - WE CAUGHT HER. She didn't even try to fight us. We brought her into our sunroom to discover that she is super sick. Skin and bones. No strength.

She can barely hold her head up or stand at all. We put her in a box and tried to feed her some milk with a dropper, but honestly we weren't even sure she was going to survive through the night. 

SHE DID! So we took her to the vet to get her checked out. We found out she weighs 1.5 pounds and is in survival mode. He shot her full of fluids and vitamins and even sent some shots home with us to continue to give her. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that she will make it! She's SO sweet. And I mean, why get a healthy kitten that you can play with when you could have a kitten with medical bills, that needs injections, has diarrhea, use latex gloves around her, and force food in her throat with a dropper!? Ha. Our life sometimes. But we really have just fallen in love with her. Anytime I can't find Judson in the house, he's back in the sunroom just watching her. Rylee is still unsure of kitty sister. 

We haven't named her yet in an attempt to not get too attached. Here's to little kitty friend!