Losing Custody

Please pray for our friends Danny and Michelle. You may recall that they have been in an outrageous custody battle with their Toyota Sienna van. Well, they have once again lost the battle in court, due to Michelle's abuse. They are saying something about van endangerment or something. It seems the van was allowed to be hit on the side. It's back in the Toyota dealership to get fixed. Maybe I will post a picture of it at some point, if they ever have it long enough. Here is a picture of their temporary car.

Of course I wouldn't complain about having a fully loaded Highlander as a temp car. I think they must know someone at the dealership. If they keep this up, I am going to have to start another Arbonne rumor.

Last night, Danny, Michelle and the girls came over for supper. I grilled steaks and corn. Abbey cooked two new Paula Deen recipes. Everything was delicious. The girls wanted to stay outside and help me grill and they wanted to be pushed in the hammock. Aren't they cute. Cate is learning all kinds of new words and how to use the big girl potty. See their blog. Carah is supersmart and is always very helpful.

Addendum to "In Memory"

A part of Will's life was inadvertantly left out:

There was a period in Will's life between his time in Texas and Tennessee where he lived with his grandparent's, Rose and Bud. He lived with them due to his parent's inability to close on a home. As soon as suitable housing was found he moved from the Drake residence in Rosebud (a suburb of Walnut Grove, a suburb of Carthage, Mississippi).

In Memory - William "Will" Stradler Land

Springfield, Tennessee - William "Will" Stradler Land, loving cat and brother, passed away sometime during the week of March 25. He was found by his father in the woods behind his home. The cause of death is uncertain, but there seems to be no signs of foul play.

Will lived an extraordinary life. He was adopted in August of 2002 by loving parents, Jeff and Abbey Land in Jackson, Mississippi. He was adopted from the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. Jeff has often commented that he couldn't resist the loving smiles of Will and his brother Jack.

Will first became a Land as an anniversary present to Mrs. Land. His first home with the Land's was in Brandon, Mississippi. He was orinally named Mosey. His new parents debated for a while and ultimately named him Will.

Will became a traveling feline in 2003 when he traveled with his family to a new home in Fort Worth, Texas. While in Texas, Will enjoyed the close quarters of the mobile home which his family moved to. He and his brother Jack enjoyed countless hours of fun running back and forth in the home. Once, while in Texas, Will suffered a brief scare when his brother Jack broke out of the house one crisp evening that their parents left the windows open. He pushed the screen out and left. He returned home the following evening. While living at Seminary, the cats never had the opprotunity to have fresh air as they were considered contraban.

Like their parents, the cats found only little to love about Texas, so they were not in objection to moving to Tennessee. The cats quickly adjusted to their new home in Springfield. Several months ago, upon constant hinting that they wanted to live permanently outside, Will and Jack's parents let them move into the garage. Will loved being outdoors, sunning on the back deck and eating lots of cat food.

Will's life came to an end this week, but his legacy will live on. He was thankful to be a Mississippian by birth and he was a Southern Baptist. He is survived by his parents and loving brother.

Finally Friday

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, a week may seem to fly by and others go painfully slow. This week has been one of those SLOW ones.

I seemed to get a lot done at work and we really didn't have a lot to do at home. Abbey has had a great week at school. She said that her students have been really good. Tuesday night, we did the usual Chik-fil-a and then we went over to the Spicklers. We were just going over to drop off a camera that I borrowed and to take Frank a treat, but we ended up staying for a while.

Wednesday was church and meetings. Last night, Abbey cooked a delicious meal. We had pork chops with a homemade stuffing (from Rachel Ray), fresh mashed potatoes, and of course corn for me. It was really good. We just watched a little TV and then went to bed.

I am very sleepy now, because Abbey did not sleep very good last night. She was tossing and turning the whole night. I haven't made the bed yet, because today in clean sheet day. I've got to go up and do that in a while. Right now, I think that I might take a nap for a while because between Abbey moving around, talking, and stealing all the cover, I didn't get much of a nap.

I went in to work for a while this morning and got a few things accomplished. I guess that's all for now, oh yeah, those are Abbey's thank you flowers. We always get our flowers from Sherry's Florist in Springfield. She's does a great job. Never puts baby's breath or carnations in anything!

So Proud!

Abbey and I are so proud to announce that we have encouraged two more people to start blogging. Apparently, it is harder to get someone to blog than it is to get someone to do myspace. Myspace scares me to death and I wouldn't do it, nor would I encourage anyone I know to. Trust me, you REALLY don't want to see what the people you know will write about or comment on. There doesn't really seem to be any kind of moral code between what you post on there and what you do at church, etc. So, anyway, that's why I blog. I think it is more fun anyway.

So, back to the point of this message. Be sure to check out Jane's blog and Lindsey's blog. There are links to the right. Jane is our good friend from Texas (yes, there are apparently a few good things there). We actually met her in God's country, Mississippi, at the greatest university, Mississippi College. Lindsey is my intern. See the information below.

Abbey's Event

Abbey had a great idea for the Women's Ministry at our church a few months back. Since that time, she has been working with the Women's Ministry Team to create a new and exciting opportunity for the women of our church.

On April 7, they are going to be having the kick-off event which will hopefully be one of the largest gatherings of women our church has seen in quite some time. There will be an excellent guest speaker and I am not just saying that because she is my Aunt. Betty Jones is highly sought after, so Abbey and I are thrilled that she will be here. I just wanted to post this in case someone reading might be around here during that time. I am really proud of Abbey for working so diligently to put this all together.

This Weekend III (or My FABULOUS Intern Lindsey)

My wonderful intern Lindsey is in the picture on the left. When the church finally agreed to hire me an intern, I was already hoping that Lindsey would take the position. She is excellent and she loves children! She is thinking about going into the ministry. I would fully support her in that endeavor. She comes from a great family and has made my job so much easier! It is excellent. She was a great help this weekend. The kids all love her too!

She is very responsible and helps administer some of the ministries of the preschool and children's ministry, as well as, serve as teacher. She is also very patient and compassionate, which are not too of my strong points. That's great when I have someone who needs a little extra attention!

Well, I am tired of starting new blogs, in order to post pictures, so you will just have to know that we had an EXCELLENT weekend and I think that our kids are closer to God because of it! That's wonderful!

This Weekend II

Abbey was our head cook for the Live Out Loud Weekend and she did a phenomenal job. Don't worry, I remembered to thank her. In fact, I sent her flowers today in the vase that Mrs. Linda gave her for Christmas. Abbey said that the flowers are pretty. Maybe I will take a picture tonight and put them on the blog tomorrow.

Her food helpers were Tammy and Lisa. They are two of the best helpers you could ever want! They are very willing and able servants. I wish that there were more like them in the world.

For some reason, blogger is not letting me put more than one picture per blog right now, so look for an exciting sequel "This Weekend III."

Ava's new Friend (an interruption of This Weekend II)

I have just heard from Ava and she has finally given me the go ahead to announce her new courtship. His name is Brooks or as his family calls him "Brookie." He does something at a bank and lives not far from Ava. I think that she really likes him. Ava told us a lot about him when she was here last weekend. We hope that things will continue to go well for the happy couple. Ava deserves the best! Ava told me that she will be getting some more pictures with him this weekend. They have some type of little bowling party they are going to. I wonder if Ava bowls as good as Abbey?

This Weekend

Over the weekend, we had 50-something children spend the night at the church. I called it the LIVE OUT LOUD weekend. It was fun. We had t-shirts designed, an excellent speaker, a band, and lots of service projects. It was designed to help children learn how to live out their faith. We did lots of things. The kids were REALLY well-behaved.

This picture of me was taken shortly before the event started.


I am having some extreme problems now uploading new pictures. So, I am going to publish this post and start another. Maybe then, it will work right. Stay tuned for This Weekend II.

Summer, Winter, Spring...AHH!

As is normal fashion for the way I plan events, the weather seems to not agree. This weekend we have our "Live Out Loud" event and I had planned to culminate the event with the fun service project of having a free car wash. The weather man says that the weather will be 46 degrees though. I don't think I am going to have 55 3rd-6th graders washing cars in that weather.

The picture to the left is of another time that the weather didn't cooperate. Last year at the Easter Eggstravaganza. My super-volunteer Kelly got her husband to cut a hole in a shape of a boy's head. Then she painted it. The staff got to stick their head through the hole and let children through colored-water soaked sponges at us. It was freezing and drizzling that day! Pardon the sour look on my face, I wasn't really into this thing, although the people on the other side were having a blast.

Once again, here in Tennessee the weather is changing. I wore a t-shirt and flip flops on Monday and need a coat today. It is beautiful out though. Start praying that April 8 will be sunny and warm, so that we will have great attendance at our eggstravaganza.

Abbey's granny fell, so she might have to go spend the night with her, so please pray for them both. Sorry we didn't post any pictures of Ava and Abbey together, we forgot! Their nails are pretty though!

I've not Forgotten to blog

We've been so busy this weekend, because Ava is here. We are excited. They've been having a great time together. I got appointments for Abbey and Ava at a salon and they had pedicures and manicures. We'll post pictures tomorrow. They said that they weren't cute enough tonight to take a picture. Ava will go home tomorrow, but we are going to spend some more time with her in the morning.

Life's Little Questions

Before I blog, I wanted you all to see the beautiful sign that our church's graphic designer Kim did for us. Check her other work at McBride Design. Anyone around on April 8 is welcome to come.

Now for the fun stuff. Below you will find a few questions I have been contemplating this morning.

1. Who designed Nasvhille's interstate system? My guess is that it is someone who does not have a job right now, because they are horrible. Even at 6:30 this morning when I was on them.
2. Who do people talk to on the cell phone at 6:30 in morning? NOT ME! Who wants to talk that early in the morning. However, I saw many people doing it this morning. I kept wondering, did you wake someone up? Are you preventing someone from spending a few minutes with their child before they go to school? Are you that lonely or inconsiderate? If you haven't gotten it yet, don't call me "just to talk" before 9:00 AM, please.
3. Who would schedule a dentist appointment at 7:00 in the morning? A few days ago, I received a postcard reminding me that my 6 month check up was today. Two days ago, I received a reminder phone call that told me it was at 7:00 AM today. And so I woke up and showered and went to my appointment. I was the only one there when I arrived, so I got to go right back to the dental chair. Apparently, I liked it, because I will be going back in September at 7:00 AM (Guess what? No extra work this time, no root canals or cavities! I know you're thinking "WOW!")
4. Why would anyone drive 45 minutes to get to the dentist? That's one I am still working on. I think it is because I like driving past 100 more convenient locations, plus my dentist is really nice!
5. Who would have thought I would get most improved anything? Well, not me, but I did get "Most Improved Average" in our bowling banquet last night! Go me, right! Abbey was a little miffed because she did not win.

In other news, Danny and Michelle are the only friends we have ever met who splits custody with their vehicle and the car dealership. They bought a new van and it kept have a mysterious leak, so the dealership kept having to take it back. When they didn't have the van they had a 2006 Avalon and people at the church were beginning to question why Danny's salary was so high, so I started rumor that Michelle sold Arbonne. Anyway, the courts have decided that if Danny and Michelle are the only ones paying child-support for the van in the form of loan payments, they deserve full custody of the van. They have it back now, for good, we hope. If you here of any Amber alerts for a van, you know that the dealership got angry and van-napped it.

Another Weekend Past

Just an update. My interview on Friday went wonderfully. I should probably hear from them by April 1. That is exciting. Abbey and I had a fun weekend. We are trying to eat out less, thanks to us now using Quicken and realizing that we spend WAY too much eating out. So Friday night, Abbey was at a meeting and I was driving home. She didn't get home until LATE, but she told me that she was going to be early. Does anyone out there agree with me that she should have called? I shaved my goatee off on Friday night. There aren't any pictures because Abbey had the camera with her.

Saturday we worked on our budget and getting everything caught up in Quicken. I cleaned the kitchen while Abbey cooked breakfast. We had a light lunch and then we went outside to clean the garage. It was treacherous. I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill, while Abbey finished sweeping up. I had to return something that we bought when we moved in to Lowe's and so while I was there I checked out a new shelving system for our garage to help keep it more organized. Maybe I will tackle that in a couple of weeks.

Saturday evening, we went to Brentwood and ate at Pei Wei (www.peiwei.com). It's the best! We ate with Danny, Michelle and the girls and our friends Jim and Tish their sons. Then we went to Maggie Moo's (www.maggiemoos.com), YUM! Finally, we ended the evening with a store that we are sure Ava will love this weekend when she comes (YEAH!), a combination Home Goods and TJ Maxx.

When we were leaving, Cate got upset because she wanted to come home with Abbey and me. Don't you know that made me happy!

A Night Alone

Last night Abbey and I did not sleep in the same bed. This was, of course, not by choice. I am in Louisville awaiting my interview with the doctoral committee at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (www.sbts.edu). Abbey was home alone. When I talked to her this morning, I found out that neither of us slept well. I was not nervous about my interview until yesterday when I found out that 29 people were applying and there are only 12 slots. I guess we'll see how well the goatee worked! Abbey is at school today and I can't wait to get home to see her.

The End of an Era

(As edited by Abbey, post-published! It's not perfect, but it's much better.)

I am sure that the title would lead one to think that I was going to blog about the death of Don Knotts. I am not going to speak of that loss, but I will speak of the loss of our beloved Joelton Bowling Alley.

For the past several months, Abbey and I have had the pleasure of bowling on our church bowling league. A few weeks ago, the alley announced that it would be closing its doors on February 28. Thus, tonight was our last night to bowl. We had a great time, and I even bowled a Turkey (that's three strikes in a row if you're not hip on bowling lingo). Abbey and I have learned so much from bowling like the term "sleeper"not only refers to a sofa but also means there is a pin hiding behind another one. A "split" is not talking about your pants ripping, but when there are pins with a big space apart. "Pick it up" is not refering to the ball, but when you are trying to get a spare.

On top of having a great time bowling, we also had the opportunity to meet so many great people. Our team consisted of Chris, who often found her name on the highest score list, Barb, who was our church receptionist and just became a Grandmother, and Ryan, our faithful sub and one of the nicest 17 year olds I have ever met (yes, they do exist apparently).

We also met many people who we would have not known otherwise such as Maigon, whose grandfather promised her a car if she would score 250. There was Mr. George who always let out a yell if he didn't bowl a good frame. Cheryl, the bowling president, always prayed for and encouraged the other bowlers. Each person had their own unique personality which contributed to part of the fun of bowling. We thoroughly enjoyed our time.

It's hard to read, but the sign on the right etched a piece of history. The board always had the highest scorers for the previous week. Our teammate Chris will be the last person on this list for her score last week of 198.

Bowling taught me some things. We should look to make friends wherever we go. Certain things can cross all generational lines. We are so blessed to be a part of our wonderful church that has so many wonderful people.

A New Definition of Express

How do you define express? I began to wonder this today as I was sitting in Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express. AFter the first thirty minutes, I began to wonder if I had gone to the Quick Lube if I would be out by now. Then at 45 minutes I was beginning to believe that if I had gone to Fast Lube I would definitely be out by now. Finally at 1 hour and 15 minutes I knew that I would be out if I had gone to Kwik Car. Certainly, Wal-Mart does not understand the term express, or do they? Maybe they do understand, maybe they are comparing express in terms of eternity. Now, I really think that 1.25 hours is not a long time in terms of eternity. Truly, Wal-Mart must be a Christian company that terms their services on the basis of eternity! NOT! Wal-Mart is so slow! I guess I will have another opportunity next week, when I will go back (yes, I'll go back, despite the 5 other places that I could go in town) to take my Jeep this time.

That brings me to the next part of this blog. I have transformed Abbey's Highlander back to its original color. It is now white once again. The frozen roads for the past two weeks has reaked trouble on Abbey's vehicle. It was a ugly color of gray when I began. Check it out now in the picture. I even cleaned the inside!


As you probably can tell, Abbey is not here today because she is at a conference. I never like it when she is not here! I added cut four new slats for our bed today because I tired of the box-springs falling in the middle of the night! I am ready for her to be home! Only a few more minutes I hope! I have also added a picture of my current goatee status. Despite several comments in veto of this endeavor, it is actually coming along quite smoothly.

A Night By Myself

I am by myself tonight because my beautiful wife is off being adjudicated (I know that I have a couple of people who agree with me on this, but why can't the handbell people just be judged. No, they have to be adjudicated. I mean even the ice skaters are judged. What do you call the people who adjucate? I am thinking adjudes or adjuders.) with the handbell choir from our church. I have been left here alone. I spent a good portion of the day down at Vanderbilt in the Divinity Library research articles for the paper I have to write next week at my doctoral interview. Jack, one of the coolest kids in the world, tells me that I put too much information on my blog, so maybe I should quit with this, but I am not. Thankfully, my friends Frank and Sheila rescued me from a night of boredom by inviting me to join them for coffee at our favorite place, Starbucks! It was mucho yum. Cinnamon Dolce Latte is my current favorite! I just found out that you can see how many calories and sugars, etc. are in the drinks at the www.starbucks.com. Anyhow, I am trying to limit my sugar intake currently so I am drinking lots of sparkling water and I am eating soy nuts for snacks. Kim, another friend of mine, is trying to help me become a healthier eater! It's going to take a lot of prayer. While this has been a blast, I must go fold clothes and put the clean sheets on the bed!

Facial Hair

Much to my wife's dismay, I am attempting to change my clean shaven face into one with a goatee. Since I am going for my interview for the doctoral program next week at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I think I need to look a little older. I don't think that I will be able to keep up with the facial hair for very long, so I am only giving it a little over a week. I have tried it several times since I have been married and Abbey always vetoes it. I must say that it is better than one of those V-shaped hairy things below the bottom lip that people seem to be quite fond of these days. Anyway, tonight is Survivor and we will miss it because we have a dinner here at the church. Someone let me know who gets voted off! A cool thing is that you can now buy the episode off of the website. I haven't gone there yet.

Monday's Musings

Everyone once in a while, I get somewhat nostalgic. The past couple of days have been those days. This is a picture of some of our VERY best friends in Texas (note: Blanton and Jaime are also our very best friends, but they are not in this picture). From left to right, I will introduce you. Abbie is one of our friends that thankfully moved to Jackson only a couple of hours away from us. She works in marketing for the city of Jackson now. She is very funny and runs EVERYDAY! Wes is one of the most awesome people I've ever met. He wasn't my favorite person in the world when I first met him, but now I would give him a leg hair transplant if he wanted one. He is the Equipping Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church (www.fellowshipjackson.com). He is an excellent Bible scholar and he laughs at almost everything I say. Caroline is a counselor and it mother of Hunter. She is calm and very easy going. She would have to be in order to be married to Todd. Todd is great and the most friendly person I have ever met! He also LOVES to buy cars. He has had SEVERAL in the past couple of years. I can't blame him though, I love to get different cars. He is a professor now at Dallas Baptist University. Todd and Caroline's son Hunter is a really TALL kid who has a wonderful personality. And then you know me and Abbey. I think that's about all. Abbey isn't here right now, and I am finishing up the laundry that she didn't get to today on her day off. The laundry is my job, but Abbey did a great job today cleaning up the house! She's so great! I just love her!

Queen of Fairfield

If you knew my Mimi, being named Queen of her assisted living facility is a major ordeal. As much as I love her, she's not big on socialization at all. I remember being flabbergasted when she once told me she didn't like Christmas. However, I am quite proud of her recent ascent to royalty. So, this is a tribute to her. The picture on the left was taken during her 80th Birthday Celebration. These are some of my cousins on the Drake side, beginning with the bottom left: Courtney (she lives in Hattiesburg with her husband and 3 children), Mimi, Ava (my sister), Me - Abbey, top is Chris (he lives in Louisiana with his wife and son; he has been instrumental in reestablishing network connections/communications in New Orleans after Katrina), Ben (currently attends MSU), Richard (lives in Batesville (our old house, even!) with his wife and son), Molly (currently pregnant! but I can't exactly remember where they live...starts with a C I think), and Sam (lives in Conyers, GA). Unfortunately, my favorite cousin in the world, Jason, is absent from this picture. He was bonding with his father in Colorado. The good news is he is getting married July 22! In case you cannot tell, I love my family and am very proud of all of them. We don't get to visit much, but they aren't far from my mind.

The picture on the right is a close up of Ava and Mimi.

(You're probably shocked that I (Abbey) am posting, but Jeff is getting somewhat carried away with his blogging! Because we were home for more than 10 minutes, he provided you with a minute by minute play of our life recently. As some of you already know, my standard response to Jeff's actions is, "I'm sorry.")

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!