The Puzzle Club

So go ahead and call us dorks!
The other day while J and I were strolling around in Walmart, we came across the puzzle isle. Oh yes, we bought a 1500 piece puzzle and have been working on the massive thing ever since. The only table we have the is big enough to work on it is our dinning room table. So, because J thinks we can't work on the puzzle without the TV on, we had to move to table into the living room. I would be very embarrassed to have anyone over to our house right now, not only because they would think we were the biggest nerds with this puzzle out, but also because that one piece of furniture out of it's place makes me feel like our whole house is a wreck.
I do have to say i'm a little addicted to working on this puzzle. Anytime I have a free minute I try to find another fitting piece. It might take us a year to finish this monstrosity, but we will get it done. Alyssa, LP, and Aly might know this feeling, because I do recall the summer after our freshman year in college they created "The Puzzle Club." I was not a part of this puzzle club but I'm pretty sure they invited Ryan (my brother in law) to be a part of this club. You have to know each of them to know how funny this is.
Oh well, I guess if me and my friends weren't so dorky we wouldn't be any fun to be around. And i'm so glad I married a dork too, to enjoy doing things like this with me!

Oh and did I mention I get to see Durham all weekend. We have a wedding in Lexington and get to spend the whole weekend with the fam! I can't wait to hold her and kiss her!

Just a little update

The summer is flying by and so many fun things have already taken place, but there is still so much to look forward to before the weather starts turning cold. Of course there is always more time to spend with my sweet little Durham, and that is always something i look forward to. Some other things to be excited about in our coming weeks are: Spending this weekend in Atlanta with J's family, Mama and I are going on a mission trip together the first week of August, and last but not least, our Family Edisto Beach Trip the last week in August (Durham's first beach trip).

I don't wish the days away, because I love summer time, but I am excited that there is so much coming up to be excited about. I love this summer weather...a lot of people probably think i'm crazy, but I would rather walk outside and immediately start sweating than walk outside and immediately have my teeth start chattering. I'm not a fan of winter weather. After Christmas is over, i'm ready for summer weather again.

All this to say, i'm soaking up the great hot weather while i can. Fall will be here before we know it!

I'm OBSESSED!!!

I had to work from 6:30am to 10:30am on Tuesday morning and as soon as I was off, I got in the car and raced to Laurens. I couldn't get there fast enough. I am officially obsessed with my new niece, Durham. I spent the day and night with Court, Ry, Mama, and sweet Durham and we had a blast. She is the sweetest, best smelling thing in this world. I could sit and hold her all day long and never move and inch, and be more than happy. I never thought I could love someone else's child so much. I know she has my name but I truly do feel a special bond to her. I can't wait to continue to watch her grow up to be a pretty young lady, but I don't want it to happen too fast, i'm loving watching this sweet, innocent, helpless in every way, baby!

Last night Courtney Shelton and Elizabeth Ann came to visit and meet Durham. It is so fun watching others see her for the first time! Courtney and Ryan are doing great and I know they appreciate all of mama's help this week. They are already amazing parents!

J couldn't go with me yesterday but I know he wanted to be there, because he kept asking me to text him pictures of Durham and give her kisses! I don't know the next time I will be able to go to Laurens, but I know one thing...it won't be soon enough! I left this morning to go back to work, but I hated leaving! I think we all know where I will be spending all my spare time in the next 5+ years.

Durham Cameron Molony

Welcome to the World little Durham!

As of July 9th at 3:35pm, J and I became an Aunt and Uncle. Durham Cameron Molony is the most perfect, precious, beautiful creature on the face of this earth. (Court has my camera so I can't post pics, but please see pics later on today on her blog www.teammolony.blogspot.com)
I can't tell you how much I already love her and love being an aunt!
We spent 15 hours at the hospital yesterday with a bunch of family and friends, and thanks to the cutest little boy in the whole entire world, Henry, we were all well entertained as we waited for Durham to make her entrance. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life and I can't wait to send some more of the weekend with Durham, Court and Ryan. We are leaving to go back to the hospital when J gets home from work in a little while and hanging out with them until they go home tomorrow.
Court did great and was the best sport, and I know she would not of been able to be such a trooper without Ryan being by her side through the whole amazing experience. So, Congrats new Mommy and Daddy! We are all so excited for you! You will be the best parents for Durham, bringing her up in a Godly household and always striving to show her God's love!
We love you and your new family addition more than you know!!!!

Wahoo for KRIS ALLEN!!!

Jonathan and I have been obsessed with American Idol this season and did not miss one show. Of course we were pulling for Kris Allen and we were so pumped last night after they announced that he had won. He is a quiet, humble guy with an amazing voice. He's the type of artist I love to listen to. That acoustic, Jason Marz/Jack Johnson, type and I can't wait till his first album comes out! And to top it off, he's a Christian and I pray that he will continue in his faith even when the fame and fortune can get in the way. Kris and Danny were our two favorites throughout the whole season and I think the reason we were so drawn to them was because even without saying so, you could tell they were believers.
The only sad part about all this is I don't know what we will watch on Tuesday and Wednesday nights now. I know, it's sad we have our "shows" that we have to watch each week, but I guess this will be a good excuse to get off the couch and go for some walks after dinner this summer.

Mother's Day

Happy Late Mother's Day!
We had a great time celebrating the day with Mama. After church we took her to a restaurant called Motor Supply Company in Columbia. The food was awesome and the company was even better. The rest of the afternoon we just had fun being lazy and hanging out with my family.
I am so thankful to have the most amazing mama and the best mother in law in the world! Hope you both had a great Mother's Day! Love you both!!!

Early Birthday

It's been a busy, yet fun weekend. Both Jonathan and my parents came into town on Friday night to celebrate my birthday a little early. We went to a new restaurant called The Chop House and then went back to our house for some yummy cake! J's parents spent the weekend with us and it was so great to hang out with them. This spring has proven to be very busy for J and I, with something every weekend. The next two weekends we will be out of town for weddings, and in the midst of that, we will be trying to move. Not sure how it's all going to come together, but I know that the good Lord will help us with the transition. I have already been collecting boxes from work to use for the move. I will probably start packing up some of the house this week. It will be sad leaving this house where we started our married life together. We've loved it here. It's the perfect size and I don't have any complaints. We hate to move, but because I plan on going back to school to get my masters at USC, we have to get back to SC so that I can receive in-state tuition. In the long run, it will be worth it, but it's just hard right now because we have so much going on and trying to move at the same time. Mama is coming up on Thursday to help me pack up some and from there we will ride together to Greenville for Hanna's wedding weekend. I am very excited about the fun weekend ahead of us!

On another note, J already gave me my bday gifts...he can't keep things a secret for long...he gets too excited. So, he wanted to go ahead and give me my presents early. He did WAY too much! I got a Garmin (because I always steal his from his car), a new pair of awesome tennis shoes, and a shewing basket and sewing materials. J's mom gave me her sewing machine and for the past few months, i've been talking about how I want to learn how to sew. I was very surprised by all the gifts and love how thoughtful my awesome husband is. He must get it from his mom because she gave me a box full of new clothes this weekend. I am so thankful for such an awesome new family that I have become a part of since J and I got married!

A Weekend at the Masters

Jonathan and I spent this past weekend at Augusta National. It was nothing short of amazing. Everything about the course and the Masters was way more than i ever expected. The scenery is beyond beautiful and seeing all the pro golfers up close was very cool. When we were watching replays on TV on Sunday night, I kept saying to J, "I can't believe we only live 5 miles from there." You feel like you step into a different world. You def don't feel like you are in Augusta. I am so thankful that we were able to go this year and experience the Masters while living in Augusta.
Ansley gave us the badges and so it was great to hang out with her for two days. I can't thank her enough for asking us to go both Sat. and Sun. On Saturday we met up with Catie and Will and a few other friends, and then on Sunday we hung out with Ansley and some her of friends for half the day before we started on our trek around the course. We decided to follow our fav, Phil. He was paired up with Tiger Woods, so of course the crowds following them were ridiculous. Despite the crowds we were still able to get pretty close on certain holes. We were hoping that Phil would come back and win the Masters, but with a few mistakes on his part, it didn't happen. I am not too excited about Angel Cabrera winning, but oh well. I'm just glad Tiger didn't win.
Overall, it was an awesome, yet tiring weekend. All that walking wore us out.

27....so old!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS!!!
Court turned 27 today, she is officially in her "late 20s!"
Hope your birthday was awesome and I know this year to come will be amazing. Courtney will become a new mom in July and this next year will be filled with many new memories and a lot of excitement. I can't wait to be an aunt!!!
I love you Court!

Spring Fever

Besides the fact that my computer still won't let me post pictures, i'm loving life. This spring/summer weather puts me in the best mood. I make any excuse to go outside, even taking out the trash. I canceled our YMCA membership yesterday because I now run outside and will all summer and through the fall. The winter is really the only time i hate to run outdoors, so I decided to save $65 a month and endure the hot weather and exercise outside! I am so thankful we aren't like our friends in Fargo, North Dakota with the terrible snow flooding. I can't imagine having that cold of weather in April.

That's right, it's already (almost) April. So much is happening this month...so many birthdays, a bachelorette party, a fun wedding, the Masters, Easter, and lots of work. This weekend i'm heading to Charleston for Megan's bachelorette party and then next weekend Jonathan and I are going to the Masters on Saturday and Sunday...thanks to our wonderful friend Ansley for the tickets. This will be the first Easter that I am not going to church...kinda weird...of all times to miss church i would def think we wouldn't pick Easter Sunday, but we couldn't pass up Masters tickets. We've never been and now that we are living in Augusta, we wanted to go even more!

And one more thing...please be praying for Jonathan and I over the next month and we will find the time in our busy schedule to look for a new apartment or house to rent in North Augusta. We have to move to South Carolina so that when i go back to school I will get in state tuition. Please pray that the Lord will make our transition smooth and that he will open doors at the right time! THANKS!!

my world

Sorry for being so slack lately on my posts. Frankly I just didn't think there was anything worth posting about and I didn't want to bore my many readers! :)

All that said, the past two weeks have flown by and so much has happened. Besides our trip to Boston, there have been a lot of changes in my life. Many changes that I have been praying about for soo long and trying to wait patiently on the Lord for. He took his time, but when he answered those prayers, he answered them in a big way! First of all, most of you know that the past month and a half I have been looking for a new job. It was getting very frustrating and hard for me and just when I didn't think I could take it any longer, I got an email of this lady who needed a babysitter for her 4 children a few afternoons a week. I met with her and she offered me the position. A week later, I had an interview with the Director of the Preschool/Kindergarten program at the church Jonathan and I attend, First Baptist Church of Augusta. I applied to be a teacher next school year for a 3 or 4 year old class. In the mean time I got an email asking if I wanted to apply for a sales position at the Gap. I applied for it, interviewed and the next day got offered the job. That same day I got a called from the Director at the church asking if I could be interested in coming for a second interview in front of the Kindergarten committee. That interview will not be until later in April, but all these things happening at once have been such a blessing. I started at the Gap this week, and i've been babysitting for two weeks now.

God has def answered my prayers and all those others praying for me. This season in my life has been so good, the Lord has taught me so much about his providence in my life. He is always at work in me and he is always working for MY good. The Lord knows how to rescue us, he is just waiting for us to trust him to do that. Never in our wait is God in-active. There is nothing more tiring than waiting, but if we are waiting on the Lord, he will renew our strength. God is passionate about us, that is why he is so patient with us each time we step off his path. I am so slow to cast my cares on the Lord and give him the weight of my worries, but as i've seen in the past when I finally give it all over to Him, he takes it and fights for me!

I am learning what it means to be a woman of God and what it means to be a godly wife. Day in and day out, season by season, God is chaining all these events and circumstances together to become beautiful in HIS time. I will probably always struggle with patience and waiting on the Lord, but one thing I am sure of is, if I wait on Him, He will do a good and beautiful work in me. (Eccl 3:11) Life is so good and God is great!

I just finished the Beth Moore Esther study last night and I cannot say enough good things about it. Praise the Lord for giving Beth the gift to speak, write, study, and research! God spoke through Beth to me over and over again in this series about the "Reversals of Destiny" and how God will turn our lives around for our good, but only when it's in his timing. "For such a time as this" (Esther 4:14) I want to wake up each morning believing that the Lord gave me one more day on this earth, for such a time as this to live out this day to the Glory of God!

excuse my computer

For some unknown reason my computer will not let me upload pictures to my blog right now. As soon as I can figure it out, i'll have pictures from Boston posted!

BOSTON

Two weeks ago (March 13-16) Jonathan, Elizabeth Ann, and I took off to Boston for a long weekend. Tyler Holley, a friend from college, was getting married and we used his wedding as a great excuse to take a fun vacation! It was awesome. Tyler and Amanda had a great wedding and we are so excited for their future together. It was great to see some other friends from PC that had traveled north for the occasion. Even though we had other friends in the city at the same time, we only hung out just the three of us the whole time. We had a blast! I didn't stop laughing the whole time. We experienced a lot of walking, train riding, more walking, and some cold weather. Jonathan got the train system down pat after the first 5 minutes, whereas EA and I didn't quit pick up on it so fast. The first day, after a 3 to 4 mile walk to Harvard, we decided to go see Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox). We were standing in the stairway of one of the train stations, looking at our map (typical tourists) when a lady passed by us (with plenty of room I might add) and made the comment: "Great place to stop and look at your map" in very sarcastic, rude tone. That was our first and only experience with a rude northerner. When we finally decided which train to get on and which stop we needed to get off of to get to Fenway, we set off up the stairs to get on the train.

EA: "I hear the train, let's hurry and catch it"

Me: "Ok great" as I start running right behind EA to catch the train

Jonathan: "why are ya'll running?"

EA get on the train and I am about to step on when the door to the train closes. EA is on one side with her hands on the window looking at me with a "what do we do now?" stare, and i'm on the other side looking at her the same way. I then realize that we just got separated in a city we have never been before, and all i could do was laugh. Thankfully EA is a very independent woman and doesn't get freaked out by being by herself in a new surrounding. In the mean time, Jonathan does not find this situation as funny as i do. We finally found each other at the stop near Fenway! This is probably one of those "you have to be there moments" but i had to share!

There are many other funny stories, including EA having to walk to the train station by herself in the middle of the night and then the train being closed so she had to walk back to our hotel (a mile) by herself and sleep on the floor of our room. She stayed with a friend in Boston and was trying to get back to his house after the trains shut down for the night. And this again is probably another "had to be there moment."

We did end up getting to Fenway Park and even took an awesome tour of it. Like I mentioned earlier, we walked around Harvard's campus, went to a really awesome restaurant in "Little Italy", joined other locals after the wedding at Mac Caldwell's house for a keg party(if you know Mac you will think this is funny), went to the St. Patty's Day parade (supposedly the largest in the country), and walked part of the "Freedom Trail" (a tourist way to see all the history of downtown Boston. We ate at other great restaurants, but didn't gain any weight because all we did was walk walk walk. Everyone in Boston is skinny, because they all walk and run. Even in 10 degree weather! The coldest it got when we were there was in the 30's but that's very cold to me.
All in all, we had a fantastic time and I love Boston. I wouldn't want to live there but it was great to visit!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

It's snowing outside my lovely window and as I watch the snow fall down, I am not sitting on my couch with hot chocolate or snuggled up in my bed. Nope, i'm at work. It's hard growing up and realizing that even on days like today, when I get excited about a few snow flakes, I still have to go to work. When I was in college they would cancel class if there was even a chance of snow or ice. Well, i'm not in college anymore, and to work I go, even in this beautiful weather!!! And to make it worse, mama called me this morning to tell me that Courtney and Ryan both had school cancelled today, and don't have to go into work. So, yes i'm a little jealous!
But to all those outside playing in the snow and making snowmen...throw another snowball for me since i'm stuck inside working at this job that I hate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!!!

Jonathan turned the big two four yesterday! We had a great weekend celebrating with friends and family! Friday night we went to a Japanese steak house (J's choice) with some friends! We were all so full and tired by the time dinner was over, all we wanted to do was go sit in front of the TV and crash for the night. I woke up the next morning pretty early to clean the house a little and start cooking. Saturday both my family and J's family came over to hang out for the day and stay for dinner and desert. The girls went to the mall for the afternoon and the boys stayed at home watching basketball. When we got back, we got the rest of dinner together and J put the meat on the grill. We had the best meal and a great time with the family! Thanks for all the cooking help I had from the ladies! After dinner Jonathan opened presents, which consisted of: a golf shirt, 2 polo shirts, a new wallet, a pair of shorts, money, and a new pink Calloway golf bag. Yes you read that right...PINK. My mom ordered Jonathan a black and white Calloway golf bag for his birthday but never thought to look in the box once it was shipped to the house. So, we all had a good laugh when J pulled out a big Pink and White golf bag from the box. Mama is taking care of returning the bag for the right color, but it sure was funny! After gifts, we had desert and everyone headed back home. Yesterday it was just me and Jonathan. We went to church, chilled out, walked around the mall, and then went to dinner at Olive Garden. It was a great weekend and I hope J has the best year yet!!! Happy birthday babe!! Love you!

Christmas Pictures

The three pictures above are from the bonfire we had up in Daddy and Mama's field the weekend before Christmas...hopefully it will be the first annual bonfire!

My little cousin HENRY wearing Daddy's glasses. He and Shelby came and visited right before Christmas!

The Whole Family in our Christmas PJs

Mama showing off her new Brighton Sunglasses

My excited Christmas face!

Santa was very good to Daddy...check out all those gifts!

Our traditional Christmas breakfast...we've had the same menu since I can remember

J, Me, Court, and Ry...we couldn't show off our new Christmas clothes cause it was too dang hot!

Our First Christmas together!!

That night we got in the car and drove to Atlanta to do Christmas with J's family

Here's Mrs. Rolande smelling her new candle!

And Josh checking out his new Lauren's Academy Shooting Shirt...compliments of Ryan!

New Years Resolutions

Jonathan and I started talking about our New Years Resolutions last night, going back and forth about what we want to focus on this coming year! Here are a few that I came up with for myself:


1. Cut down my food portions and eat healthier
2. Do my quiet time daily and always be aware of ways to help strengthen my faith
3. Do unexpected, sweet things for Jonathan more often
4. Exercise more than three times a week
5. Continue to be more organized
6. Wash my face each night before bed (i'm terrible about this)
7. Cook at least 3 nights a week
8. Be more creative with how we spend our free weekends
9. Continue to read more good books instead of watching TV each night before bed
10. Get accepted into grad school

Beer Bread

I decided to bake for some of our Christmas gifts this year. I have my office Christmas party tomorrow night and wanted to bring everyone some sort of gift, so the cheapest thing to do was bake. Court gave me the recipe for Beer Bread. She said it was easy, and no offense, but if Court says it's easy, it has got to be EASY! hehe (jk court, you really are a good cook!!!) So anyway, since this recipe only called for 3 ingredients and didn't take much prep work, I decided to do a trial run last night before I made all six loafs tonight. Here's the recipe:

1 cup sugar
3 cups self rising flour
1 can of beer (12 oz.)

So i mixed it in the mixer and in less than a minute it was done, ready to be poured into a loaf pan. In the mean time I still had our dinner cooking in the oven, so i set aside the bread to be put in the oven as soon as the quiche was done. I came back into the kitchen after about 2o mins and realized that the bread had already risen. It was HUGE, overflowing on the sides! So i quickly put it in the oven with our quiche thinking that as soon as the heat hits it, it will die down...oh no. It only got bigger and bigger and bigger. It was all over the oven by the time it was done. But sure enough after 1 hour at 350 degrees, it wasn't pretty, but it sure did taste good! So now that I've learned that I have to put it in the oven as soon as I mix it up, I will make my other 6 loaves tonight.
But, seriously, now that you have learned, from me, the only mistake you can make with this bread, you should try it. It's the easiest thing in the world and it taste awesome. It's that sweet kind of bread that you don't need any butter with!!! I bought green cellophane that I will wrap them up with and tie it off with a pretty red bow! How cheap and easy of a gift is that?

Finally some Pictures!

This weekend was the best weekend i've had in a while. There are many reasons for the wonderfulness of the weekend. To start out, I got up at 6:30am on Saturday morning to get ready and be at the testing place to take the GRE at 8:00am. This is my second time taking the test because the first time I didn't make the score that I was hoping for. So, I was back again taking the test. Thank the Lord I made my goal score and was out of there by 11:30am. Enough time to still enjoy my Saturday! But I was so excited and so thankful that the Lord answered many prayers (thanks to all those praying for me Sat morning)!


Reason #2 why this weekend was great: We got to stay home and enjoy a relaxful weekend while in the midst of our Christmas decor! Mama came up last Tuesday night and helped me decorate my tree. It was so fun to have her come up on a random night to hang out and decorate! She def has that decorating eye and I can always use that help! Mama made the big bow on top of the tree and she also made all the small bows to go as ornaments on the tree! I have been spoiled by her help this year, so I hope she can come back and help me every year from here on out!

This weekend I even started wrapping a few gifts to put under the tree. I have to go back to walmart today to get some more boxes to finish up the wrapping!

Our ornament we got the day we got engaged (and we actually got engaged a year ago today! Dec 8, 2007

Our Make-shift mantle

This is my centerpeice on our coffee table

The cute coffe cups that J's mom bought us a few weeks ago!

The beginnings of our Willow Tree Nativity Scene

The wreath for our door

Our new Christmas China

Reason #3: Jonathan's co-worker needed someone to watch her dog for the weekend and J of course volunteered our services. I was a little hesitant to take in a strange dog for the weekend, but there was no reason to worry. Maggie was the sweetest, most well mannered, obedient dog i've ever been around. She is a boxer and so much fun. We had the best time taking her on long walks. Saturday afternoon we went to the Savannah River Walk and took a long stroll to wear Maggie out. She was pooped the rest of the afternoon as we watched football, read, and took naps! Even last night as me and J got Chinesse take out and ate in front of the TV, she didn't even seem to care that there was food within inches from her. I'm used to Beau and Gracie (mama and daddy's dogs) that will beg and beg for people food, so this was very suprising to me. Maggie slept on the floor right beside our bed each night, J woke up on Saturday morning with her licking his hand (hanging off the bed). She was so much fun and an entertainment for our weekend! Maggie is def welcome back to our house anytime, even though now J has dog fever and wouldn't stop talking about us getting a dog.