Our Weekend...last week together in Waco :(

Well, our weekend was a GREAT one. Forrest came home after a 10 day stint in Alabama. I was glad to have him home again! I had a garage sale with some church friends....guess making some money is better than no money huh? :) Saturday night we ate with 2 couples and then saw the DaVinci Code. I'm way to dumb to understand it all. :( Yesterday, our Sunday school class and some our co-workers got together at a fun BBQ joint ,RUDYS, to say goodbye to Forrest. This was his last weekend here with me...at church, etc...and we are running out of days for everyone to see him on an individual basis...so I put together a little after church lunch gathering. We are SOOOOOOOOO blessed to have such an amazing group of church friends and other friends...that is the the thing we will miss the most ...our wonderful friends in Christ. What a amazing group of young marrieds you are! :) Thank you for loving us for 4 wonderful years. We will miss you all more than you'll ever know.

Here we are outside of the restaurant...it's a big red barn and they have kept in step with the Baylor Spirit around town :)

Last but not least...Forrest and his lil' buddy, Coburn Reese, Brent & Betsy's lil' 1 year old..isn't he the cutest thing ever? His 1st birthday is on Saturday! We went to Dallas after lunch yesterday to try and recruit the "Reeses" to move to Alabama with us and have Brent coach with Forrest. How amazing would that be for me...and for Forrest...to have dear friends join us there...we have known them for a long time ....first meeting at MSU. If you think about that...pray for that decision...obviously it's a big deal for them to decide upon...Brent may "make the drive" on Sunday to Alabama...all 12 hours...to check out the scene in Athens. We'll keep you posted. Here's to 3 days left in Waco together...then I fly out to Memphis/ MS to join my sister-n-law...Forrest's sister, Ginger to head to the MS coast to do mission work as a part of 8 DAYS OF HOPE...to be continued... oh PS--please also pray for us in the decision to buy a home in Alabama in the near future....thanks everyone!

The boy in Alabama...

Not much to report...I had a FABULOUS weekend while Forrest was away...NO WORK...no deadlines. Friday, I went to a going away party at Jason's Deli for
a Sunday school couple moving to Missouri. Then Saturday a nice spur of the moment breakfast invite at a friend's home (pancakes and coffee) yum!! But no pictures because Forrest has our camera taking pictures of "potential homes for us." (I guess that is a good reason to have the camera right?) :) I then went to see a T-ball game of a little boy of a friend (adorable) . Then babysat another church friend's 3 year old little girl while she graduated from BU! Congrats Tiffany! Then I had another graduation party Saturday night for another church friend...married with 3 kids...Congrats Jackie! All the while, I was babysitting another church friend/couple's dog, Ruby.....well Bella is definately an alpha female and did not want another dog in the house...I think this morning she is VERY relieved that we did not get another puppy. :) She likes being an only child. Well here is Forrest and his shoutout from his school in Alabama. That was sweet of them to do huh? He is there til Saturday...so please continue to pray for him while he's away looking for homes and learning the ropes of Athens, AL :) PS- As you can see from the sign...they have a "Spring Jamboree" football game on Friday...so pray that goes well...I'm not sure if he'll be "head coaching" but I'm sure it will be fun for him none the less.

Back to AL for one of us...

Well, Forrest left this moring about 4:00AM to catch a plane in Killeen to DFW to Huntsville...and will stay and check things out for us, meet people, the coaches, and look for us a home. He will be gone for 10 days, getting back next Saturday! Yesterday after work, I took a quick trip to the Outlet Mall in Hillsboro (about 30 minutes from us towards Dallas) . I gave a couple of "happies" to him last night to let him know I'm proud of him and believe in him, (a new Nike golf polo (since he never buys clothes for himself and you only get to make a 1st impression once...right?) , a Nike t-shirt, and a card). The t-shirt was perfect for him with a powerful message "There's a man who thinks he can, and a man who thinks he can't. They are both right. Then on the back it says: "Which one are you? Football Matters." It had "FORREST" written all over it. So that is what's going on in the "moving front." We'd ask that you'd pray that Forrest will have discernment and 110% confirmation that it's where we are supposed to be and that he'd have plenty of time to do all he needs and wants before he returns...and that he'd find us the perfect home for the perfect price...so he'll have somewhere to move our things in a couple of weeks when he moves over for good.

I also have posted several pictures from Race for the Cure Waco (my friend just sent them to me since they were on her camera). This is my friend, Katie, who has a very similiar story as I...she and her husband, Reagan, are moving to Midland, TX at the end of the summer for him to accept a position in a law firm. He graduated from BU LAW a couple of weeks ago. We love "the Butts" and will miss them greatly. We know them from church. They too are traveling to Midland to try and look for a home this weekend, so I am babysitting, Ruby, their golden retreiver in the picture, for 4 days. I'm sure it will be just fine. She is sweet ...I just hope Bella & her behave :) This other picture is of a dear cheerleader of mine, she's a Kanakuk girl too...simply precious. We have done a couple of races together, including the Dallas White Rock 1/2 marathon. Love you Bailey! Forrest was sweet enough to get up early and be the "dad" and take pictures and hold our junk along the route.

Last but not least, pictures from the Connally HS athletic banquet on Monday night. This is Forrest's head coach and his wife. They are such a great couple and have twin 3rd grade girls. They have taken us under their wings and are great examples of what it means to be successful and significant (head coach & wife). We will greatly miss their friendship and leadership. Thank you Johnsons!

Anyway...better get ready for work...things are winding down at BU. Students are DONE with finals, but there is still plenty to do with my job...reording equipment for camp and football season, taking inventory, and getting them set up for next year...to make things a little smoother and easier before I depart :( But we aren't talking about that quite yet. Have a good one!

Little projects this weekend...

Well...here's what we were up to this weekend. On Friday night we slept in our closet for an hour because tornadoes touched down about 2AM...luckily not too close to our house...and no one in Waco was killed but many houses and businesses were damaged. We packed up at least 1/2 our home so Forrest can move it all over with him on May 27 (yes as in 20 days from now!!) It was sad and there were tears shed along the way...thanks to a song we listened to...uhhh have you heard "MY WISH" (click on MP3) on the new cd of Rascal Flatts? I think it was written just for us. You gotta listen to it!
Then I had time to do a few business and personal projects (new paintings for the store, a gift for a co-worker, and a birthday present for my soon to be 2 year old niece, Abby. I just love how Abby's collage turned out! If you want a custom canvas order let me know...I'd love to do it! Happy Sunday!

Sweet Home Alabama

Well...except for signing the contract...it's official that we are moving to Alabama! We are heading back to the "OTHER SOUTH." My 5th state to live in since graduating high school. I'm sure it won't be "sweet" at first...but we'll get used to it because that's where God wants us to be at this time. Forrest is very excited to get the opportunity to be a head football coach and the athletic director at a 3A school in Athens, AL (Huntsville, AL). He'll move over at the end of May and I'll move over sometime in July after finishing work and life here. It's of course bittersweet because we have grown to LOVE our life here, despite the workload we both have. Over the past four years, we have really made some amazing friends at church and at our schools. We'd appreciate your prayers in just ALL of the logistics of moving 12 hours from where we are now. The great thing for me to look forward to is that we'll be 3 hours from Memphis and 4 hours from his parents in West Point, MS and MSU. We look forward to rekindling some of the our college friendships with frequent visits to MSU for sporting events! We love you all...thank you for your love, prayers, and support. PS--This is a picture I took on the Baylor vs. Army football trip this fall in New York. I'm sure Forrest is going to be the end of quite a few "Forrest Gump" jokes now that Forrest will live in Alabama :) Disclaimer: This guy is our crazy waiter at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

The start of something good??

Well fellow bloggers and canvas girls...today I embark on a new road of taking my new found "hobby and talents" to the next level. A co-worker of mine suggested that I make a couple of canvases for her to take to her shop to see if they would sell!! Now, this is not just any little, single shop...this is a warehouse of vendors that is in downtown Waco...and a "premiere" shopping location for unique gifts and the latest presents. (sorry no links available). It's too many buttons to click and explore.




Here is what I did yesterday...wish me luck!
This John Deere birth announcement is my first "job." :) Always room for improvement...but a start. Jenny & MK ...I definately used that one website for inspiration...is that plagerism to get art ideas from other people? Another vote...how much would you sell them for to start off? The sizes are 8x10, 11x14, and 12x16.