Christmas Time

Well, we know it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but Ben and I have been listening to Christmas music all the time. It makes us so happy. It's like exercising or something like that. Something inside of you just makes you feel good. We haven't posted in forever! A lot has been going on and we are so ready for October to be over. Ben was in Knoxville two weekends ago, last weekend we lead worship for a church here in Jackson and heard an amazing guy speak, Paul Washer (heartcrymissionary.com). I reccomend him to anyone, but be prepared to be smacked around a lot. So, we were exhausted in every form and fashion on Sunday, but we ended up at the Denker's house that afternoon which was absolutely wonderful. We love Brian and Cindy. Anyway, that brings me to my next topic...POOKIEPALOOZA!!!!!! We do a birthday party for Brian Denker every year and this year it's called Pookiepalooza (for more on Brian Denker, go to bdenker.blogspot.com). We went all out this year and can't wait for it. We're doing a bonfire with s'mores, hotdogs and the works, then it's also a fall festival for the kids at the church, Walton Padelford is speaking on the Reformation, and Russ Pflasterer is playing a set. HOLY COW!!!! that's amazing. Anyway, we love our friends. We're totally excited about this. Finally, we are getting heat in our house. It's been very interesting to not have heat through this cold front. However, we will have heat by the end of next weekend...YEA! Good times beginning on the house and ending on the house. We love each of you and next time I have my wedding pictures, I'll try to post more. Let us know how you're doing!

More pics

Yea!

The Wedding

Some of you have been awaiting to see these for awhile. Sorry it's taken us so long to get them up and going. It's hard for us to blog sometimes because for some reason I can't access blogger from school, and Ben's just busy all the time. So, these are some of my favorites from the wedding. I'm going to put a couple more above this post of the reception. We were so blessed (and continue to be) from our friends that stood with us at our wedding. It brings us joy to have shared it with some of the best people in the world. We hope to hear from everyone soon. We're doing well. Ben has been in Knoxville this weekend (IT WAS SO HARD BEING APART!!!!) and he gets home in about an hour and a half! YEA!!! Our friends Kristen and Ethan (she's the blonde bridesmaid that's taller) are here this weekend and I have loved hanging out with them. It's been a blast. Then, my father-in-law, Tom, is coming to meet with some heating and air guys for our hosue this week, too! Things are getting accomplished at home and that feels awesome. We're going to paint the kitchen green (it's a really cool color) and the hallway needs another coat and it will be done, too. So, we love having people over and it's been a lot of fun to get things ready to have guests. We love each of you and are so blessed by you! Have an awesome rest of the weekend!

i'm having issues...i'll try to fix it later. sorry you only got one picture!

The House

For those of you that don't know, Ben bought a house last January and we are finally getting some things done on it. It has been an ordeal because we have totally redone a lot of it. There's been a lot of painting and sheet rocking and gutting that we have done...but I can see the light!!! So, today, since it's Columbus Day, my husband and I both had the day off, so we spent the day working on the house and hanging pictures. It's been great because when you hang pictures, it feels more like home. We also hung up our name plate that my mother-in-law gave us as a wedding present. Two people in the neighborhood have already stopped by to see it. YEA!!!! Anyway, I love our house, and I'm constantly reminded that our home is ours, and Christ has given it to us. We love it! I hope everyone is doing well and that we hear from you soon!

Yea for Fall Break

Yea for Fridays! Yea for being a school teacher! Yea for slow days after production! and Yea for Fall break!!!! I am on Fall Break until next Wednesday. It is great to be able to do the things that you want to do everyday and don't have time to do. I kept my precious niece and nephew today and ran around, had lunch with Ben, Lee, and Lili, and now we are about to leave to go to North Carolina. Ben's cousin is getting married tomorrow, so we're off for another very quick trip (we get back on Sunday...CRAZY!!!) but we will get to see Ben's family and share with them our wedding pics. They turned out SO good!!! anyway, I have to go now. We are leaving VIP and heading out to Nashvegas in about an hour and a half. Must pack lightly! anyway, we love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!

Oh This Beautiful Life

well, since we've been chewed out by friends for not posting, i decided i'd take some time to post. not a whole lot is going on right now. ben's in production for vip tennessee and i'm hanging out with leah and jenny (just like old times!!!!!) for dinner. hopefully, ben won't be working tooo late. it's our one month anniversary today, and it feels like it's been a lifetime. (that's super cheesy, but oh well!) life has been very very busy for us. we spent the weekend after our honeymoon in chicago with my family. the guys went to a baseball game (cubs won the one they went to...YEA!) and lili and i shopped. it was so much fun. while lili and i shopped, mom kept the kids, cause that's what mimis do! then, we came back, finished our bathroom completely (2nd room in the house that's completely done!) last weekend and then, this weekend, had a baby shower for our good friends chad and holly. they are due november 1 and we are so excited to be uncle ben and aunt janie to something other than cats for them! we've been so reminded of how much we love our friends and are so thankful for our church. last night, we hung out with kirby and cilla, and it was the best, most encouraging time. we also had some missionaries at church on sunday from ethiopia and brazil that ben knows from when he went to ethiopia. their names are nagash and marciano. it was so cool to be welcomed by them like a sister since they knew my husband and that's all they knew of me. they are here for the IOI banquet. IOI is indigenous outreach international and is run by our friend patrick beard. he founded this ministry about 7 years ago when he and his family came back to the states from ethiopia. it's a ministry that trains indigenous pastors and focuses on church planting. it's amazing to see what the Lord is doing in ethiopia and it's very encouraging to be indigenous here in the states. oh, the boldness that i wish i had! we have the banquet that will hopefully raise some money for IOI tomorrow night and it's just so neat to see the Lord praised in so many different languages. anyway, these are just some thoughts that the Lord placed on my heart yesterday at church. in lieu of IOI, it makes us even more excited of our friends and makes us sad that we have to travel so much. we hope that life slows down soon and we're able to hang out with everyone like old times...yea for that! i'll let everyone know how the banquet goes, and if they have a website, i'll let you know that, too. it's a great organization to go through if you're planning on missions anytime soon. i must go meet leah and jenny, but we love everyone and hope to hear from you soon!

i want to post some wedding pics...any help? thanks