Icy Saturday

It snowed again last night, but the snow was not really on the grass that much. It was on the roads, and since the high today was 27, it really didn't melt that much. If it weren't for the ice trucks, all of the roads would still be icy.

We were supposed to be at the church today for a conference, but it was canceled due to the weather. That meant that Abbey and I had an unexpected day off. That was nice. We went to eat lunch at the Catfish House and then to Wal-Mart for a few essentials. We stopped by Hollywood Video on the way home and rented 3 movies. We have watched "Beauty Shop" and "In Her Shoes" so far. We have one more to watch tonight. So far, they have been pretty good.

We got an email today stating that Abbey's grandmother had been named Valentine Queen of the assisted living home that she lives in! Congratulations Mimi! Sorry for no pictures with this post. I just can't seem to find anything.

Our Day Off

Abbey and I had a lot of fun today. I love getting to spend my days off with her. Abbey had an appointment this morning, so she did not go to school.

This morning we got up around 8:00ish and decided that we would go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I had my favorite country ham and Abbey got to eat pancakes. When we got finished with breakfast it was not quite time to go to her appointment so we decided to go to Target.

If you do not already know, Abbey and I love to shop at Target. We spend WAY too much time and money there. Last year after Christmas, Target introduced a new line called Global Bazaar. Because it is similar to merchandise found in Bombay and Pier 1, we really like it. Especially because it is more in our price range. Last year, we got our kitchen table, chairs and stools from this section. They don't keep it long so we have to buy quick.



Anyway, this year, we have found curtains and rugs that we really like. There is actually more that we like but that is what we really wanted. Today there was only one more of the rug that we wanted. There was no price on the rug and the GB stuff is on sale for 30% off. I paged an employee to ask him how much the rug was. I know that it was originally $350.00. I told Abbey if he would say $100.00, we would buy it.

He called a manager because he didn't know the price either. He showed back up a few minutes later and said $104.00. Apparently the manager told him to charge us the price of the much smaller rug. Needless to say we got our rug today. In the picture, you can see the new rug, one of our new curtains, and couch and sofa that I have mentioned before. Abbey is the little head on the loveseat with the laptop in her lap.


We got to Abbey's appointment very early. They took her right away and we were gone well before the actual appointment time. We then went to eat at our favorite dowtown restaraunt Demo's. We ate with our friends Frank and Sheila. They are our Sunday School teachers and they are so nice! We just love them.

I have always wanted to live downtown, so Abbey and I decided to look at lofts for fun. (Note: DO NOT HAVE A HEART ATTACK, Mrs. L, we were just having fun) First we went and saw the Bennie Dillon lofts, circa 1927. They were not very LOFTY, and really didn't impress us, especially with the price. Then we went to Werthen Mills, circa 1870. They were fabulous. HUGE windows, soaring ceilings, exposed brick, beautiful floors, stainless appliances, and tons of character are only a few of the things that we loved about the loft. They just started selling the 4th phase this week (they won't be remodeled until Oct. 2007) and they have already sold most of them. If we were going to move to a loft, we would go here. I think Abbey's sister Ava needs to move here!

We then went to Maggie Moo's for a cool treat. Then we headed home. We rested a while, ate a small supper and then Abbey threw out all the old papers that we have been saving for no reason. I finally got together our tax information which we could file if one bank in particular (GRRR!) would send us our year end statement!

Now we are blogging and about to go to bed. We had a nice day! Tomorrow we have a leadership training at our church. There is snow in the forecast for tomorrow and it was 70 yesterday! The first picture is of Abbey's Valentine flowers and her new piece of pottery.

That's plenty for now!

Post Valentine's Day Report

We had an excellent day yesterday. Here is the rundown:

Abbey Got:
1. A new Peter's Vase
2. Flower's from Sherry's (which I had put in the new vase and delivered)
3. Cards everyday for the past week
4. Chocolate Covered Strawberries from Godiva
5. I got a hair-cut (thereby losing the competition!)

Jeff Got:
1. A neat paper-weight thing with our favorite verse and a nice picture in it.
2. A one-hour massage
3. A very nice card.

The Date:
We went to Chik-Fil-A for church bulletin night and then we went to bowl. Abbey did well and I did not. That's not our real date though. We are going to Pei Wei tomorrow night and then we are going to the Grand Ole Opry to see Casting Crowns.

Other news:
I have been invited to attend a field essay and interview in conjunction with my application to the doctoral program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It is on March 3, so pray for me!

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. Regardless of the fact that everyone realizes that VD is a ploy by retailers across the world to get men and women to spend lots of money on mylar balloons and chocolate shaped lips, I still like the day, as would any hopeless romantic. I really like to try to get things for Abbey that she is not expecting. Because I am not sure when she will read this post, I will have to give you a post-VD report. Abbey will probably still think that her best VD present was yesterday when she got a snow day off from school for no apparent reason. Attached to my computer monitor is poem that Abbey wrote for me some time ago and it has been in my office for the past 3 jobs that remind me of how much she loves me. But I think I would like to post it here to Abbey, because it echoes my feelings for her.

Is it possible to explain,

Or even comprehend-

That God would send

Someone like you

To someone like me.

Here's a renewal-

Of a promise we made,

4 years ago (edited for obvious reasons),

On that memorable day.

When someone like you,

Promised to love,

Someone like me.

Somedays it's tough

I don't know what to say,

Will I ever do enough?

To prove to you in everyway

How special I feel

To have someone like you

Love someone like me

Things get so busy, so fast

Many times you feel left out

Or that you come in last

Leaving you filled with doubt

It's a wonder that

Someone like you

Loves someone like me

Very few will ever be blessed

To have someone like you

Love someone like me

I'm so glad God gave me

Someone like you

To love someone like me.

Snow White

One of the things that I love about our house is the big picture window in our bathroom. Every morning after I look at my beautiful wife, I look out the window from my bed. The window opens up to our backyard. Thankfully our lot blocks up to a heavily wooded area. This morning, I received a special treat. This is what Abbey and I saw when we woke up this morning. Of course, Abbey was not thrilled with me wanting to see the snow at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. It would be a totally different story if this was a schoolday.

For several days now, I had been wanting IHOP, so I mentioned to Abbey that we should go this morning. We looked out and saw that while the snow was everywhere, it was not on the ground. We gave ourselves 20 minutes to get completely ready. We did it in about 15 minutes and we were off to Goodlettsville where, oddly, there was no snow. This is a picture of our house this morning. We came home from breakfast and a quick trip to Sam's and I hung curtain rods for Abbey. Yes, that's right, after just over a year in this house we have curtains.

Our Current Living Quarters

It occurred to me that I had not ever put information about our current house on our blog. This is our living/dining room. The dining room is hardly ever dined in, but we do have a table with two-mismatched chairs. Oh yeah, the furniture is different. We finally got a new couch and new loveseat. After nearly 5 years of marriage, we have our first NEW living room furniture. The old stuff was second-hand. It was nice, but it was not new when we got it.

This is our kitchen. We replaced the stove and dishwasher when we moved in to match our refrigerator. It is stainless look, but it really isn't stainless. It doesn't get fingerprints! Abbey loved the kitchen when she saw it. It has a nice island in the middle and a large eat-in area. I love the cabinets. We have replaced the floor with a tile-look wilsonart laminate. It is very nice.

This is the final stop on our tour of the downstairs. This is our foyer. It is actually the same room as our living room and dining room, but it is distinctive with the hardwood floors. You can also see the half-bath through the open door. My mother-in-law painstakingly put the wall-paper up in that room to make sure that all the patterns would match. It was the most expensive room in the whole house that we redid.

This is Carah's room. Carah adopted this room on her first visit to our home. She has added some of her own decorations. One time, Ava had spent the night but she had not made the bed. Carah came in and went directly to her room where she said, "Someone has been sleeping in my bed." She made it up. She has even spent the night in her bed. When we have a baby, this will be his or her room. I hope that Carah will share.

This is our fun bathroom. It is ORANGE, and it is not a tribute to Tennessee. We just wanted a bright room with lots of color. I think that we succeeded. It is definitely the brightest room in the house, even though there is no window.

This is our bedroom. When we bought the house the room was big bird yellow and there were pink lace curtains. They painted the ceiling a light yellow color and the high trey ceilings were also big bird yellow. It was definitely not what I would consider romantic or comfortable. We painted it a nice caramel, replaced the ceiling fan, and changed out the curtains. Now, it is very comfortable. So comfortable, that Abbey and I like to stay there until very late on Saturday mornings!

This is our bathroom. We have high cathedral ceilings, a jacuzzi tub, separate sinks, and a separate shower. We're going to paint it red at some point. Don't forget to check our blog tomorrow. We're going to have picture of our snow covered house! We're expecting 6 inches tonight!

Abbey's Tantrum

It snowed yesterday. It snowed and it snowed. The problem is that it did not freeze until late in the night, so the snow only built up on the roofs and yards. We were really hoping that it would freeze and Abbey would be out of school this morning. We woke up at 5:30 to see if "Snowbird" was going to report that Abbey was out of school. We were listening intently and finally Snowbird said "Robertson County," however, it is what he said after that that caused the tantrum. He said that Robertson county would be opening 2 hours late. Abbey went into an immediate fit of rage (well, not really), but she was mad about not getting the whole day out. I hope that she is doing better now. She did end up getting to go back to sleep, but she said that it took her 30 minutes because she was so mad! On the bright side, there is accumulation expected tomorrow night. The bad thing is that Saturday is not a school day.

Our "Older" Friend Michelle

This is our "older" friend Michelle. Today is her birthday and she is officially well into her 30's today. She turned 31. She has not blogged about her birthday and therefore I am unable to make fun of her. So, I have taken matters into my own hands and done it for her. This is her on "Backwards Night" at Awana!

She sent off for her hoverround this morning and she is looking into purchasing some SAS shoes.

Our Finest Hour

This picture was taken our the "Hillbilly Hoe-Down" Harvest Festival at First Baptist Church in Cedar Hill. I've gained about 30 pounds since that picture was taken, but I would definitely say that I think I look better now than at that moment! Abbey is beautiful no matter what she is wearing!

Reminiscing II

This is a picture of our living room. We painted a nice neutral tan color. When we first moved in, we painted a ridiculously loud mustard color. We thought it was going to be gold. The great thing about our home was the fact that there were ceiling fans in every room. We really enjoyed our time in seminary and in our cozy trailer.





We loved the color of our kitchen. It was red. We bought the paint from the "oops" counter at Home Depot for $5.00. It was the cheapest and best thing we did to the house. We're going to paint our bathroom in our house now a similar red color. Every house should have a red room. You should take notice of the flooring in this room. It was a parquet look "peel and stick" vinyl tile. I installed it myself.

This is the second bedroom. It doubled as a guest room and our office. It was REALLY small! We had enough space for a twin bed a chest of drawers (two of the drawers would not open as the were almost touching the foot of the bed) and our computer. It was also easy to vacuum. The comforter and curtains are from Abbey's dorm room.




The tour is almost over. This is the third bedroom. It was a little larger than bedroom two, but definitely not too big. We had my "13th birthday" bed in this room. We still have my old cast-iron bed. We don't use all the white bedding anymore though. We have a more trendy look. You can see our cross collection when it was much smaller.




The second bathroom is right here. While I am on bathrooms, have I mentioned that our water pressure was nearly non-existent. To top this off, Fort Worth water is NASTY! This bathroom was also very snug.








So, there it is folks, our seminary living quarters. While it was certainly modest, it was definitely a great time. We did not love Texas, but the friends that we made there were incredible. God blessed us immensely and I don't think that either of us would trade our experience. And yes, it is possible to have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths in a 896 square feet.

Reminiscing

I enjoyed a lunch of stew today at Danny and Michelle's home. We were talking about houses, etc. and I started telling them about our seminary days. Most who read this blog know that when we were in seminary we lived in a 16 by 60 mobile home. I prefer to call it a trailer. We did a lot of cosmetic work to the inside and I will post the interior on this blog. That way you can know how we lived in seminary.
This first picture is February 14, 2004, the day it really snowed in seminary.









This was the master bedroom. Boy was it large. The way the bed was positioned we were only able to walk around the bed. There was about 1.5 feet of space between the chest of drawers and the side of the bed. Needless to say it was easy to vacuum.








This is the master bathroom. It was lovely. You cannot see it, but I replaced the floor. You'll notice the traditional step in tub. This bathroom was the most convenient bathroom I have ever used. You could sit on the toilet, turn the water on in the tub, and wash your hands in the sink all at the same time.

Hair

For anyone who has seen me lately, you've probably noticed that my hair is a lot longer than it usually is. I am in a competition with James, a guy from our church. People often confuse us for each other, despite the fact that I am MUCH younger than he is. I am just kidding! The real distinguishing factor is the fact that he is from New Zealand, and everyone who has ever heard me talk knows I am from the South. He has not cut his hair in a while and it is getting long and curly. Mine is doing the same thing, so I decided that I would not cut mine until he cut his. I hope that I have enough strength to keep up! I am not a big fan of long hair! Neither is Abbey, so that will probably be the deciding factor.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Carah came home with us yesterday after church. We decided that we would watch "The Incredibles". This is not unusual for us when Carah is there, because it is the only DVD that we have that she wants to watch. I had not seen the movie in a while, so I watched it with her. It really is a neat movie. I understand why so many of our kids want to be Dash or Elastigirl. Carah was great as always. This blog is starting to be very Carah and Cate heavy. They have their own blog now. Check it out. There is a link to the page under links.

Night With Carah and Cate

Our first stop on our night with Carah and Cate was the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills Mall. We had a great dinner, but the girls really enjoyed playing in the store beforehand. Carah really liked petting all of the animals and climbing on the rocks in the restaraunt.





Next we went to Build-a-Bear workshop where Carah and Cate busied themselves making new stuffed friends. Carah chose a purple bear with a light Cinderella outfit. She appropriately named her bear "Cinderella." Cate chose a very cuddly light brown bear which we named for her. Based off of my dream of one day becoming a grandparent, we named her bear "Papa Jeff." The girls did not want any help carrying their new best friends.



On our way out of the mall, we just had to stop at our favorite beverage shop. It was just after Christmas so Starbucks still had their peppermint mocha (mine) and peppermint hot chocolate (abbey's). While I stood in line, Abbey had the girls on some chairs not far away. Carah came to me with her beautiful eyes and innocent smile and said, "Misser Jaff, I want to hot cocoa." How could I deny the girl Starbucks? So, here it is world, Carah with her first Starbucks. She could be my own!




We finished off our evening by going to look at the Christmas lights at Opryland and for a ride in the boat. Carah was surprised that we could ride a boat inside a building. Cate was just happy to be on a boat. It was not the same as her Papa's (on the lake) boat though. All in all we had a great time. The girls were great, but that shouldn't surprise you! However, when it was bedtime, Carah wanted Abbey to read her a story and she did not want me to! That hurt my feelings, but her Dad tells me it is the same way with him.

Snow Day

It finally snowed in Tennessee! Abbey, as you might have guessed, was thrilled to have a snow day! I was at Writer's conference all last week in downtown Nashville, so I missed most of the snow. It did snow down there, but Abbey told me that the yard and the house were covered. I have attached a picture of the daughters of our Minister of Education and his wife (who loves the song "Christmas Shoes"). Until Abbey and I have one of our own, we like to steal Carah (left) and Cate (right)away and spoil them. If we can ever find the cord to the camera, we will be downloading some pictures the day C and C spent the night. It was a blast! They are sweet girls! Cate is finally starting to say our names. For a while, Abbey and I were both known as Dah. We are hoping that we will get a really good snow sometime this winter! I thought that when we moved to Tennessee we would be seeing a lot more snow. So far, this just hasn't been the case. I will also post a picture of my writing team from Writer's conference if the EIC remembers to send it to me!

Finally a new post

I am sure that no one ever looks at this blog, but I will post with the hopes that someone might actually stumble upon it and have some type of life-changing revelation. We had an excellent Christmas which included time with both sides of our family. We got to see my brother Bobby's new (historic) home. Abbey and I are really jealous because it is a great house and we love older homes. We'll just have to visit more often.

December turned out to be one of the busiest months I have had so far at church. On top of that, I was ordained as a minister and I graduated from seminary. Abbey and I were caught off-gaurd by our sentimental feelings about Texas when we were there for my graduation. Life has yet to slow down for us. Abbey and I are now both looking into how we will further our educations. I am set on Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for my doctorate, but I still have to convince them. Abbey knows she wants to do something, but she has not decided yet.

For Christmas, I received many great gifts. None were quite so life-changing as my PDA. I was able to retire my notebook in which I listed my daily activities and then distinctively checked them off with a red marker. Now I can sit at my computer or through a boring meeting and come up with tasks. I can even assign them to my assistant! That is so cool! I love it.

Abbey has had a hard start at getting back into the swing of things at school. She's an excellent teacher, but I am not sure if she thinks its her passion. We're still praying for a baby, so any extra prayers are appreciated.

I have some great pictures to download, but my wife, who is very methodical (in her VERY own way), has somehow lost the cord to the computer. We want to show you our night with Carah and Cate. Maybe this weekend we will get the closet where Abbey's THINKS she might have put the cord clean!

A Post a Month

While I do not think that it is a good idea to only post once a month, I think that I have been reduced to that type of blogger. Well, actually, I have just been too busy. I would like to point out that Abbey has never posted. She is a busy girl too. We made it back safely from a wonderful vacation AKA visit with parents, family, and friends. Since then, we have worked tirelessly on many things including schoolwork, homework, housework, churchwork, and probably some other work that I am not listing. The great news is that I am about to finish my degree from Southwestern and I will then be able to make application to the Ed.D. program at Southern. You know it would be out of character for me to slow down. Abbey is also looking at prospects for her next degree.
Abbey and I also stay busy with our bowling team every Tuesday night after we eat at Chik-Fil-A (it's church bulletin night so we eat for $5.00). Lately I have not broken 100, but I did get to a point where I was decent.

Vacation

Well, it's finally here. It seems like we have been waiting to go on vacation for a long time. I am so excited that today we are leaving for a week off from work. Hopefully, our vacation, which is really just a trip home will be one filled with our parents waiting on us hand and foot. Considering they did this the whole time we were growing up (HA), I am certainly expecting. We are planning on visiting old friends and I am also planning on getting some schoolwork done. I have got to get caught up enough that I can study for the GRE. I would like to be able to get that done in early November. Abbey said that she has NO plans for the week other than to sleep late and rest. That is good, she needs it. School is very stressful. I don't know how people are teachers. I am so thankful that we have them, but it is such a daunting job. The cats are planning their escape. We have some WONDERFUL friends from our church who are going to be taking care of Jack and Will while we are gone. Burglars beware, out CATS are ferocious!

Travels

It has been a really fun past couple of weeks. I traveled to Las Vegas and San Francisco/San Jose to teach some courses for LifeWay. It was a very interesting experience for me, as I have not been to either of those places. It is really crazy how all of the hurricanes have been affecting America. Of course, my brother Trae decided that he would move (well, actually, his apartment was destroyed) to Galveston after Gulfport got blown away. Our church sent a group down to Mississippi today. They are going to Ovette. I don't actually think that I have ever been there.

Time Flies

Somehow I knew when I started this shin-dig that I would not be very good at updating and alas, I have not. Since the last post, Abbey and I have been busy traveling and working. We spent Labor Day weekend at the amazing home of some of our friend's parents. It is right on the lake and so we rode jet-ski's (Well, Abbey only rode for about 2.3 minutes - something about a previous accident where her husband (me) made her fall off - well, actually, the whole thing flipped), tubes, and water skis. It was a blast. Our friends serve with us as Minister of Education at the church. Danny and Michelle have two beautiful daughters, Carah and Cate, whom Abbey and I totally enjoy spoiling! This past weekend (well, really it was like a 26 hour period between 6:00p on Friday at 10 p on Saturday), I was in Las Vegas where I taught a Preschool conference. Contrary to what one might think, there are some VERY nice Christian people in the sin-city. It was exciting to see these people so excited about teaching preschoolers at church. I will be teaching a very similar conference in San Francisco this weekend. I will have a little more time to breathe at this event. Abbey is going next weekend to the Beth Moore Conference which she is really excited about. School is going well for Abbey. She is an excellent teacher and has worked hard to teach her children that although a southern drawl is a wonderful thing, it is possible to speak and write correctly. I just wish that I could learn better grammar so she would have to proof everything I do! We're gearing up for the Harvest Festival here at church which should be really exciting. Above is a picture of some of my older kids at church!