Chattanooga

so, ben and i went to chattanooga a few weekends ago. we have just had enough time to post some pictures, though of what a great time we had. we started off the weekend by eating breakfast at this amazing coffee house called aretha frankenstein's. this was my favorite part of the weekend. they had amazing coffee, breakfast, and it was right up mine and ben's alley. here's some of the aquarium which is pretty cool actually. they have a river part and an ocean part, then we also went to the imax 3-d ocean. it was a blast as well.
These first three pictures are of the aquarium. we saw the world's largest turtle shell (ok, mybe it was a replica, because they're keeping it in pretty good shape) and ben and i really like turtles (as you can tell from the next pic;)). we did have a blast at the aquarium. there's so much to do in chattanooga as well. it's a great place for a mini-vacation if anyone is looking for a place to go sometime soon.
 
 
 
 
we ate at a place called sticky fingers which has AMAZING bar-b-que and ribs. i ate a WHOLE HALF a slab of ribs. usually i only eat about 1/4 or 1/3. it was so so so good!
 
Then, this is chattanooga 1/2 mile pedestrian bridge. it's really cool and it overlooks the tennessee river (which we all know isn't THAT great, but hey, it's water!) we ate ice cream (after sticky fingers) at a great homemade ice cream parlor called clemmy's and then walked around for a long time downtown. it was so much fun and it has a great atmosphere about it.
 
we ended the weekend with rock city where you can supposedly see 7 states. i don't really know if i buy all of that. but, nonetheless, it was beautiful little hike that we went on to get to the top. this pic is of what they call lover's leap. there's a story that goes with it about 2 indians that were desperately in love with each other, but were forbidden to be together, so one leaped off the cliff and the other came tumbleing right behind! anyway, that's my favorite picture from the weekend. we hope all is well and look forward to hearing from you soon!

yea for days off

well, ben finally had a day off that he could take and do anything that he wanted to. we thought it was a bit ironic because on his day off from sitting in front of a computer, he sat in front of a computer all day...hehe. he has a couple of other blogs that he is working on. i think i've mentioned before that we are hosting a Bible study taught by walton padelford on friday nights and are going throuh the book of Romans. it has been AMAZING!!!! i have never had the opportunity to be taught like this and i love it so much! ben has sat under walton's teaching before on a regular basis and to be taught by him is simply amazing. anyway, (i'm way off track) ben decided that he would type up the notes from our study and post them on a new blog. it is thebookofromans.blogspot.com. you can read all of his notes. i actually accidently got on another one, bookofromans.blogspot.com and it seemed that it might have some cool things on it, too. the other blog that ben is working on is one called southern orthodoxy. This is a magazine idea that he has had for awhile now and it is just now coming to somewhat of fruition. it's really exciting and if it ever does become a real magazine, it would be really really cool. so, if you know any publishers, let us know. :) also, e-mail us and let ben know what you think about southern orthodoxy. we'd love to hear your take on the Gospel.
on another hand, we are going to take a little trip to chattanooga to simply get away for a weekend. we took sunday off of church and are leaving on friday and will return sunday. we really don't have any plans...we've talke about alot of things, but haven't nailed down anything, we're just excited about getting out of jackson away from the norm and having a little time to ourselves. with that said, we have to go to bedb bath and beyond. (i love that store) to get more towels. we hope all is well with everyone and hope to hear from you soon!!!

A few more

Here's a couple more of Leah's going away party. We'll miss you, Leah.
Oh, yeah, thanks to Cilla and Cindy for the amazing Baby Monk cake. It ROCKED!
 
 
  

Cherish the Ladies

A few weeks ago we went to the Jackson Symphony Caberet and saw a GREAT Irish girls' band called Cherish the Ladies. Here are some fun pictures of all of us that went. If you've never heard of them, you should check it out.
 
 
 
  

Good times and Sad times

Hello, all. It's been awhile since we have written anything and we know that more people would probably look at our blog if we updated more, but we wanted to share some of our pictures with our friends on here. I (Janie) have really realized the value of friendship since Ben and I got married. It has been a real adjustment as far as getting to know the other ladies at our church and feeling a good connection with them, and also realizing that God has plans for everybody that might not always include me. Right now, a lot of my best best friends have moved out of Jackson. I have had to trust the Lord with all that I am to know that everything is going to work out. These first pictures are of Leah Cashion's going away party on Friday night. Leah is moving to Denver, CO to pursue greater things that God has for her that can't be accomplished here. We love Leah so much and will miss her so much. But, we pray God's blessings on her new life in CO and with Joe. The crazy one that looks like little monks are actually little baby monk salt and pepper shakers. You can ask for a story on that later. I love our friends and Ben and I are so thankful for them. I hope everyone enjoys these pictures and thanks for everyone's friendships that aren't in the pictures.
 
 
 
  

The great afternoon

Hello, all. I don't have a lot of time, and I don't have a lot to say. I just wanted everyone to know how much I enjoy the afternoons. I'm training for a 1/2 marathon right now (that is on April 29...i still have plenty of time) and I'm up to about 5 miles right now. It's crazy. So, I didn't run on Friday or Saturday, or Sunday for that matter. So, Monday rolls around. After a long day at school, and a cold that I'm trying to get, I decided not to run today. It is amazing how great you feel when you're not rushed! I hardly ever stop for anything, and this weekend has been a whole weekend of stopping and a lot of hanging out and not HAVING to do anything. Now, if I do this all of the time, my life would be a mess; however it's not all the time, and I don't want to give it up yet. On a normal afternoon, I would rush home, change clothes, run however many billion miles I'm supposed to run, get home just in time to fix dinner, and not really stop until 7:00 at least. Well, today, I just had a meeting at 4, then fixed dinner...it was great. I have time to blog, I have time to do what I really need to do. I'm very excited about that today and that I'm going to go and watch the Bachelor with my girlfriends makes me happy, too. I hope you've had an excellent Monday...an out-of-the-ordinary Monday, and if you haven't, maybe tomorrow will be that way. Have a great day!

 

Well, on this particular Saturday night, Ben and I are finally at home together after having a long day of errands and work (for Ben). However, it is so peaceful coming into our home and knowing that it is ours and that we are at HOME. My friend, Glenna Marshall has just moved to Sikeston, MO, "the home of the throwed rolls!" Well, not only is this the home of the throwed rolls, but now it is the Marshall's home as well, and it's finally feeling like home to them, after 6 long months of being there. I feel like that tonight, for one of the few times in mine and Ben's marriage (almost exactly 5 months ;)). We walked into our house from a long day of doing things that can't get done during the week, and it was SO peaceful to walk into our house. Ben is sitting here playing his guitar, Petey is playing with his rope, and I'm just enjoying all of it. There really is "no place like home." I know that's a little cheesy, but I think that Whiz is my middle name sometimes...ok, a lot of the time!
Tomorrow we have church in the morning and we're going to have lunch with my dad, Sam, and the Tankersleys (my sister and her family). I'm very excited about church tomorrow. Ben and I lead worship together at our church, and Ben and a friend of ours, Craig Davis, are about to start a website for the church. He is SOOO excited about this because he gets to do what he loves for ministry purposes, not just ar VIP. It's great leading worship as two people that represent Christ and His Church. This is what I've always longed for, and Christ has truly blessed me to be able to be a part of this ministry with my husband. Well, I'm pretty much just rambling, but I wanted you all to know about this great feeling I am having tonight. I hope your Saturday night is just as good as mine. May the Lord bless you tomorrow.
P.S. please be praying for both Ben's grandfather and my grandmother. They have both been in the hospital recently and are sortof on the mend. Both of these amazing people have been such an influence in our lives as Godly mentors. Please lift them up and pray and plead for God's healing. Thanks in advance for your prayers! 

in the house

 

Some of you have asked to see pictures of the house. these are the most recent that we have, but we'll have a scrapbook waiting when everything is done! it's really exciting to see where it has come over the last few months! we love all of you and hope to hear from you soon! 

PETEY!!!!

Michael and Zoe dressed up like Mary and a king for Papa to recite the Christmas story from Luke 2 and they acted it out. It was awesome! We can't wait till we have the whole Nativity Scene able to be acted out!!

I'm a happy mom!!

Petey loves his daddy!

This Old House

As many of you know, Ben bought a house a year ago that needed a LOT of work. We had not started dating yet, but we did about four months later and, needless to say, the house got put on hold. Well, Pop, Ben's dad, came to town last week, and we all know that when Pop comes to town, things get done. We LOVE it when he comes ;). He painted a lot of the downstairs' trim and Ben and him put the first coat on the living room. THEN, Ross and Ben hung crown molding in the living room, entry way, and dining room on Saturday. I must say that I was very impressed as neither of them had ever done this on their own before AND they did all three rooms in 5 hours. Pretty rad! So, our rooms are now painted except for the breakfast nook and the entry way, however, they all need another coat except for the bedrooms and bathroom. Ben has also turned the upstairs into his study. He and Ben Hickey broke it in the other night with a couple of pipes, and the first-ever game of darts in the Williams's house. They had a GREAT time. With all of the house stuff going on, we haven't had much time for much more, although we have been incredibly busy. It's amazing how much we forget work over the holidays. I have to find all the pictures of the house before and after, but I will tomorrow (since State-employed workers are off tomorrow) and I will post them as soon as that happens. We love our house and would love for any of you to come and visit anytime. We have a spare bedroom, so whenever you would like to come, you're welcome!
We are also very excited about a great opportunity that we have starting in February. Walton Padelford, one of our elders, is going to start a Bible study on Romans, verse by verse, simply teaching the Word of God. We are so excited about this and about having everyone in our home for soup and study at the Williams'.
Also, many of you have asked about Petey. He is doing excellent and his personality is really starting to shine through. He's becoming a lot more energetic (although not as crazy as gunther) and a lot more fun. His vet says he's growing as he should (he's doubling in weight every time we go to the vet!) and everything is going great. Here's a picture of him...(look up). We hope all is going well with everyone. Come see us anytime...you're always welcome. Love you guys!

Nother Picture

We're wee.

This was in Bricktown in Oklahoma City with Aunt Nette, Uncle Jim, Jennifer, and the two of us. We had a great Christmas and a great night walking around downtown OKC.

Three Kings and a Baby

It came and went. Janie and I had a wonderful first-christmas together with our families. We had an early Christmas with the Myatts and an on-time Christmas with the Williams/Stovers. We played games, sang carols, exchanged gifts, danced and sang kareoke! What more could we ask for.

Now the sad part is upon us: the discarding of Christmas. As we take down our nativity sets and Christmas trees we return to normalcy. In our church we celebrate the church calendar which means Christmas is still upon us. Traditionally, December 25th marks the beginning of Christmastide, a 12 day season in the calendar (hence the 12 days of Christmas my true love gave to me; more on that later). The birth of Christ should be central during the entire season. Sadly, Janie and I have had difficulty with this because tradition demands distraction. I am thankful that we still have an entire season afterward to focus on the birth of Christ. We would like everyone who might check up on our blogspot to know how important this season is to us. A group of men, long ago, traveled through hell and high water (probably) to worship a king who they seemingly had no business worshiping: the God of Israel. The three wise men were probably more than three (the number three is due to the three gifts brought to Jesus). They had no business worshiping Yahweh because they were not Jewish. Janie and I are not Jewish either yet we are able to worship Christ. This fills us with tramendous joy: the God who spared a people by delivering them from bondage into a land flowing with milk and honey is also naming us with those he has spared. The birth or Jesus is significant not because he was a good man here only to teach us how to be better people, but because humanity is in bondage. The wise men knew this, otherwise they would have no need to worship a god not thier own. Prior to the birth of Jesus, hope from bondage was only in his coming. After the birth of Jesus hope that he came is the only hope from bondage. Without this hope, Christmas will only be the gathering of family and exchanging of gifts, originally intended to reflect the nativity and the coming of the wise men. Although these are worthing things to spend money on they pale in comparison to the celebration for which Christmas provides opportunity.

You may already know this but I wanted to share with you all how important this season is and has been to Janie and I. You may not share the hope that there is a God and that He became incarnate and took on flesh in order that He might offer himself as a ransom to become guilty of our wickedness and satisfy His own wrath. It saddens us that we cannot share the same joy in these things with all of you but if there is ever curiousity regarding why we do certain things at Christmas, please ask. We may or may not know, but we'll have a good time talking about it.

We love you all and hope you have a great and safe New Year. We certainly encourage the consumption of a moderate (if not slightly more-than-moderate) amount of libation to bring it in. This is a hard life but let us forget that for a night.

God bless you all.

Ben

and here are my 2nd and 3rd graders. they went on a scavenger hunt to find hidden messages. once again, good times!

this is my 2nd grade class. my mom came and did a lesson and they loved it! good times!!!

it's almost here!

well, i'm sitting here with my christmas lights on and my dog in my lap, and i'm so happy! christmas is almost here...we only have 4 1/2 days of school left! YEA!!! then, a nice little break where bill, mel, zoe, and tessa are coming friday (you can see a pic of zoe and tessa below) and then ben and i are off to oklahoma to see the stover and williams girls (jen's pic is below too). we cannot wait for christmas to get here. i'm listening to ben folds right now...a song he wrote about his son. it's great, and it really has made me think about how there's such a short time that parents have to teach their kids everything they need to know and pray that all goes well and that they end up in the Lord's will doing what He wants them to do, not what they want to do. (you can read the lyrics at benfolds.com. he looks a little wierd but is a great writer!) anyway, i guess i often forget about how Christ was a little boy with a snotty nose, that had to be potty trained, and then had friends that he would hang out with. and all that time, God was preparing Him for the three years of ministry that He would do on earth. i can't help but think that He was doing ministry before then, too. anyway, these are just some thoughts i've had this Christmas. I pray that your christmas and holiday time is filled with all kinds of family and friends and wonderful times of drinking and eating. may God bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you all the days of your life. peace of Christ.