Summer Fun

I figured it was time to change the blog background since it was still Christmas colors.

We have been busy, busy, busy since I posted last. As far as home improvements...we installed our tile backsplash in our kitchen, finished staining our deck (although we have decided that we are going to put one more coat on), installed a new garage door opener, and of course worked in our yard some more. I don't have any pictures right now, but I will try to post some soon.

We have had a FABULOUS summer and unfortunately it's pretty much over! Chad's first day back was today and mine will be on Wednesday. This summer we were busy traveling as always. We went to Hilton Head for a week and stayed in a different house this year that was beautiful. We also went to Destin, Florida with some friends, the Jeffs. I had never been to Destin and it had been a while since Chad had been there. This was the first time we have ever vacationed with friends, and we had a great time! It was so relaxing and we spent alot of time laying out by the beach, eating great food, and got to try paddleboarding for the first time. Paddleboarding is so much fun, but very, very hard when the water is choppy!

For those that don't know yet, Chad has a new job for this coming school year. He is changing school systems and will have an opportunity to coach cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. He will be teaching all Biology classes this year. We know this is where God wants him because doors just kept opening for him to have this job. I know he will enjoy it! We have been working hard in his classroom over the last two weeks. The students start next Monday so he has a week left to get ready. He has meetings all week, so not much time to work on his room. Hopefully I can help him later in the week.

I will be in the same position next year at my school. I have really enjoyed the summer, but I'm ready to get back in a daily routine.

Our Boys in Heaven

For those that don't know, we had a miscarriage in September. I'm finally able to talk about it without tearing up. I wanted to share about our experience in hopes of helping other women who may be going through the same thing, to help everyone understand and be more compassionate to those that experience a miscarriage, and share our story.

We have always wanted children. I always said I wanted 10 (meaning alot), and Chad keeps reminding me of that. We had been trying to get pregnant for about a year. Without going into details, we were getting frustrated that we still were not pregnant. I had decided not to worry about it so much and I was going to talk to the doctor next time I went in and explore my options. As perfect as God's timing always is, we got pregnant!

On July 24th, 2010 I took a pregnancy test because I thought I might be pregnant. It was positive!! I couldn't believe it so I went to the store and got some more tests to take. I took 5 in all and they all showed positive right away. It was a Saturday morning and Chad was taking a test to get his teacher certification so I had to wait for him to get home to tell him. I always wanted to do something special to tell him, but I couldn't think of anything. So, I had him come into the bathroom when he got home and had all the tests laying out by his sink. He studied them for a while and then looked at me and I said, "What do you think?" Apparently I kept repeating that question over and over and grinning from ear to ear. Beginning that day I had morning sickness pretty much throughout the day. I never got sick, but felt sick to my stomach most of the time.

It was really hard not being able to tell anyone. We wanted to wait until our first doctor's appointment for confirmation before sharing our news. I was about 6 weeks along at the time.

August 9th, 2010 was our first appointment and the ultrasound tech confirmed that I was pregnant and that it was twins!! She told us right away that Baby B was not developing. He was smaller than Baby A and his heartbeat was lower. She told us that usually when she sees this, Baby B does not survive and is reabsorbed. We were worried, but knew that everything would be ok. After speaking with the doctor, she wanted to see us back in 2 weeks to check Baby B's progress.

We went back on August 24th and Baby B's heartbeat was still low, but it had increased. There was also fluid in the baby's spine area. We were told this could be Turner's syndrome, which is only found in girls. I was sure at that point that they were girls. The doctor recommended that we got to a specialist so they could begin monitoring us.

On Sept. 4th we drove to my mom's house in Georgia where we met Chad's parents, my mom, and step-dad, Roland, to tell them our news. They were all shocked and even more suprised to learn that we were having twins. It was such an exciting day and we were so happy to share it with them. That day and throughout the weekend we called and skyped with other family and friends to share our news. I was exhausted from smiling and talking, but I felt so blessed to be able to share what God was doing in our lives with those closest to us.

The next Wednesday, Sept. 8th, we had an appointment with a specialist. I was now 13 weeks along in the pregnancy. We were both hopeful for good results that day and thought we were just going so they could begin monitoring the babies. When we first went into the room the ultrasound tech did an initial ultrasound. We were told that their ultrasound machine would be able to show alot more than the machine at our doctor's office. Right away Chad knew that something was wrong because the tech was not zooming in close at all, in fact, we could not even see the babies. I was just assuming that the doctor would show us more when she came in. When the doctor came in she looked on the machine for a few minutes and then told us she had some really bad news. At that point I still believed that she might say that Baby B didn't make it, but she told us that neither baby had a heartbeat. Time stood still for a few seconds and then we both lost it. We were shocked and definitely not prepared for that news. The doctor left us in the room for a while to grieve and then came back to explain a few things to us. She said that most likely Baby B was showing a chromosomal abnormailty and if that was the case then Baby A also had the same chromosomal abnormality, but it was not showing yet. We went home after the appointment and it was nice to just be together. The next day I had a D&C and we both stayed home for the next few days to recover and grieve. My mom came to help take care of me/us. It always helps to have your mom there when you are hurting!

My doctor recommended chromosome testing on the babies just to see if we would possibly get some answers or know of some challenges we would have in the future. We went back to see her 6 weeks after my procedure and she already had the chromosome results back. We found out that there was no chromosomal abnormalities and they were BOYS!! I was shocked because I really thought they were girls. Even though we didn't get any answers, I felt really good about the information she was able to give us. Just like in our faith, we don't always get all the answers we want. I was just relieved to know there were no chromosomal abnormalities that caused the miscarriage.

Now I just smile everytime I think about the fact that our boys are up there in Heaven just waiting on us to come meet them one day. God has his arms wrapped tightly around them showing them how much they are loved. I can just see my Memaw trying to take them away so she can hold them as much as possible.

Even though it has been one of the hardest obstacles I have faced, I have learned so much through this process that I would not take it back for anything. God is continuously teaching me that He is in control of all things and His timing and ways are much better than mine. Last Sunday at church our pastor preached on Ephesians and showed us how God can do far more than we can imagine and He loves us far more than we can imagine. How appropriate that lesson was for me! Now if only I can remember that daily when things get tough.

Thanks for reading and thanks to all our family and friends who have been so supportive during this tough time in our lives. We love you all!

Granite Countertops

We LOVE them! Here are some before and after pictures.

Kitchen Before

Sink Before

Sink After

Kitchen After

Next up is our tile backsplash. We think we have picked out the tile. We are installing it ourselves so it may take a while! We'll keep you posted. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Lately

We have been busy lately as usual! Here are a few things we have been up to:

1. We have been involved in the same Core Group (small group) at our church for the last 3 years. The people have become some of our closest friends and we have enjoyed watching everyone and their families grow. This year we are the leaders and it has been great! It pushes me way out of my comfort zone, which is good for growth. God continues to bless our families and friendships. Yesterday some of us participated in "Baskets of Kindness" with our church and a local mission partner. We put together baskets with food for families to have for Thanksgiving, then we had the privilege of delivering 2 baskets to different families.

2. This year we are having Thanksgiving at our house. My mom and stepdad are coming here to celebrate with us. I'm so excited to be able to host a holiday at my house for the first time ever! It has been fun planning the meal, putting together the table decorations, and shopping for the food. I bought a turkey for the first time in my life! Hopefully we will get a little shoping while they are here, and of course we will eat well and watch LOTS of football.

3. The exciting thing in our life lately is that we are getting granite countertops installed tomorrow! We have been wanting to update our kitchen for a while, so we decided to start with the countertops. We are using a company in Atlanta that was recommended by a friend and they have been wonderful so far. We went to Atlanta to pick out our slab last week which was lots of fun and interesting to see their warehouse. We should be able to use our kitchen again on Tuesday. I hope everything goes well! Hopefully in the near future we will be replacing the floors and appliances. Kudos to Chad who did all the research and made all the phone calls to find us the cheapest company!

4. I have to brag on my husband for one more thing. Let me start by saying that he is not naturally handy, but he is trying really hard to learn. After 3 years of our doorbell not working, he fixed it! I'm so proud of him for persevering. It worked for a while and then the other day it stopped again. We think we know what the problem is now, so he will be fixing it again soon!

*Update: He fixed the doorbell after I typed this! It's working again.

Furniture

We finally got our bedroom furniture and we LOVE it!!! Unfortunately we noticed a few flaws when we got it home. I called the store right away and they will be replacing it hopefully in November. After getting it all set up in our bedroom, I now see several other things I would like to change or fix in the room to make it just perfect. Hopefully, we will work on those soon. Here are some pictures:

9-Drawer Dresser

Lingerie Dresser

Chad's Night Stand

Tara's Night Stand

Night Stand up close. I love the detail!

Our bed all made up (which does not happen very often, but I love when it is)

These are some willow tree figures that our parents gave us. For now, they are on our night stands, but we hope to put them together when we rearrange a few things in our room.

For those that don't know, we had a miscarriage about 6 weeks ago. I was 13 weeks pregnant with twins. We were pretty devastated at the time, but the Lord has helped us through every moment since then. He has put wonderful people in our life to love and encourage us and each one has been such a blessing. The willow tree figures were given to us in rememberance of our twins. I just love them and I love that they are the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning when I wake up.

I'm planning on sharing more about the miscarriage later because I'm still working on finding the right words.

New Sofa and Chair

They are here and we LOVE them!!! We picked them up yesterday with Chad's parents help. I know the tag is still on. Chad keeps asking if we can take it off, but I'm not ready to yet. Here are some pics. Chad was sitting in the other chair on the phone so he got to be in some of the pictures.

View from the front door.

View from the kitchen/hallway.

The new sofa! I love the color and thankfully Chad does too. It is so comfy and soft!

The new chair. It glides and swivels and is super comfortable. It's hard to tell in this picture, but it's a herringbone fabric.

Our bedroom furniture is still not here! It should have been here several weeks ago so we are a little frustrated. We were told yesterday it should be here mid-September. We'll have pictures when we get it. I guess we just have something else to look forward to.

Washington D.C.

This year for our vacation we went to Washington D.C. I had never been and Chad had only been for a few days when he was younger. We knew that it would not be a luxury vacation and we would be hot, tired, and have very long days. It turned out to be everything we expected and more! We were HOT, TIRED, and my FEET HURT from all the walking. It was all worth it though to see this beautiful place and learn so much about our nation's history. Here are a few pictures we have to share:

Lincoln Memorial

U.S. Capitol

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument

White House

Our days were jam packed so we could see as much as possible. Of course, I had a strict schedule for us to follow including where we would eat lunch and dinner each day. We did pretty well sticking to our schedule and got to see everything we wanted to, but had to cut some things short because of time. It was pretty impressive overall and Chad and I both LOVED all the beautiful architecture of the buildings and all the natural stone that was used. I had many favorites including the Washington Monument, National Archives, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Chad love Mount Vernon and the U.S. Capitol. We are looking forward to going back one day to see more, but we are planning on going in the spring instead of summer. :)

Time Flies

Every time I see someone that reads our blog they ask why I have not updated it in a while or when I'm going to update it again. I guess I'm just not as good at this as I would like to be.

We are out of school for the summer and LOVE spending our days together. Everyone always asks us if it is nice having our summer off together and we always respond the same way...Absolutely! It is so nice not to have any worries or stress at least for a short span of time.

We went to Hilton Head with Chad's side of the family in the beginning of June and it was so nice as always. For a few days, the weather was beautiful and not as hot and humid as usual. It is always fun spending time with them! Gramps...you are one reason for this post.

The last few weeks we have been home and it has been REALLY nice! We celebrated our 3 year anniversary at home this year. We traveled on our first 2 anniversaries so we have never celebrated in Birmingham. It was such a nice day just spending every minute together. We woke up early and ran that morning. Actually, Chad ran with Aaron Bishop who lives back in town and I ran by myself, but we ran at the same time at least. Then, we had brunch at a quaint new brunch restaurant in town. I was going to buy Chad some Keen's for our anniversary so we went shopping, but he could not decide on any. We did some furniture shopping for several hours that afternoon...more to come on that later. Then, we had dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cocina Superior. Yum, yum, yum! We never ate the top layer of our wedding cake, so we had some that night and it was actually very good, especially since it was 3 years old.

On to the furniture story. I have been wanting a new sofa for about 5 years now, but we just didn't want to spend the money on it. So, we decided that would be our next large purchase. On our anniversary we went to a cute little home furnishings store in Homewood called At Home. I had been in there before, but it had been a LONG time. Let's just say that 6 days later we walked out of there after ordering a sofa, chair, and new bedroom furniture!! We chose a sofa we liked right away, but went back and forth on the fabric and trying really hard to compromise. Before we even looked at sofas, Chad found some bedroom furniture that he LOVED and once I saw it I did too. We had looked at some bedroom furniture at Pier 1, but Chad didn't love it so we decided to look some more. Well, we found something we both loved for sure! The chair was a complete splurge, but it will be nice to have more seating in our living room that is comfortable. We are so excited because we have not bought much furniture together as a couple and this is something that we picked out and purchased together. The bedroomm furniture will be in by the beginning of August and the sofa and chair will be in around the end of August so look for pictures later.

I also have to give a shout out to Aaron Bishop and Shana Ely Pardue. We had lunch with them last Monday and had such a good time. Aaron lives here in Birmingham and he and Chad have been running together and really enjoying hanging out. Shana has been in town some lately for cancer treatments at UAB. She has Hodgkin's Lymphoma for the 3rd time and is such a trooper. I admire her for her faith, courage, determination, and so many other things. She is such a positive person and always concerned about others that you would never know she has cancer. I'm so thankful for such a wonderful, selfless, and caring friend.

Maybe next time I will have pictures of our furniture!

Spring is Here!

Once again, I'm sorry I have not posted in so long!!

We really haven't had much going on, just the usual. Chad's track meets started in the beginning of March so that is keeping him very busy on Saturdays. I have to say that it is very nice that his meets are all here in Birmingham because I get to see him on Friday night and Saturday night after the meet. Plus, he gets to sleep at home instead of in a hotel!! It's now 7:00pm on Saturday and he just got home from his meet. It's so much better than when he had to travel!

We recently had Spring Break and did quite a few things to our house. It has been fun, but ALOT of hard work. I know Home Depot and Lowe's are loving us right now. I think we went every day over Spring Break and some days we went twice. Our big project was refinishing our deck. Well, that turned out to take much longer than expected and we are still not done. There was a red stain on it before so we are still trying to get it all off in order to restain it. We also cleaned the wood really well and it looks GREAT so far. As soon as we can get all the stain off we will restain it. Don't worry, we will post pictures when we are finished. We were also hoping to do a little painting to the front of our house over Spring Break, but we ran out of time because of how time consuming the deck was. So, that is what I worked on yesterday and today. I painted the wood around our garage door and our front door. They all need another coat, but they look so much better already. It's amazing what a difference it can make!

I'm just dying to plant some flowers and get all my hanging baskets out of the garage. I love all the pretty colors of the flowers in spring. I also can't wait for our grass to turn green. I fertilized it today so it should start looking better soon.

We have 9 more weeks of school and we are definitely ready for summer!

31st Birthday

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. It was such a great one! My very favorite, of course, was 3 years ago when I had just gotten engaged the day before, but this was definitely up there with the best. I pretty much had a day of doing what I wanted to do, which is a rarity with so much to get done all the time. I started out by going to get a manicure and pedicure. It was so relaxing! I got black paint on my toenails just for fun. Then, my friend, Katie, treated me to lunch at a great restaurant called The Blue Plate. It was very unique and had a great atmosphere. It was so good to spend some time with her in person rather than just talking to her on the phone. She is due with her first baby in about a month, so I helped her organize her nursery after lunch. It looks great so far and it's pretty much ready, but she has been blessed and received lots of gifts so there is alot to organize. After that, I met Chad's family for a quick game of bowling. I did horrible and came in dead last on my team, but I didn't let that ruin my day (even though I'm really competitive). Chad was going to take me to dinner and we had a little time to kill so he took me to the mall!! He never goes shopping with me because he despises it, so it was quite a treat and I loved every minute of it. Then, Chad took me to a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner and we got to have a conversation without the TV on, it was so nice!! When we got back to Chad's grandparents house his family had a cookie cake waiting for me along with birthday presents. They spoil me and always make my birthday special! I got more of my china, stemware, and flatware, which I'm trying to collect. Chad got me a massage gift card and some beautiful pearl earrings that he picked out all on his own! It was so nice to have the day off and spend it with friends and family doing whatever I wanted.

Christmas Party

Tonight we had our Core Group over for a Christmas Celebration. We had such a good time visiting with them and we ate come yummy food from Zoe's. It is always so good to get together with them and just catch up with one another.

Chad and I are looking forward to only 5 more days of school and then being out for 2 weeks! We have been so busy lately and barely even get to see each other. We are looking forward to spending some time together over the break with no stress. We are both like 2 different people when we are not in school. It is always a great time for us.

I hope to update again soon because I have been so bad at posting lately. Until then, I hope you enjoy our new Christmas theme.

Yard of the Month

I finally got our pictures downloaded from the last few months. I will have to do one post at a time because right now I'm too overwhelmed with the amount of topics to write about. The first topic up is Yard of the Month. We got Yard of the Month in our neighborhood for the month of September! Here is our sign:




One morning I walked outside to put something in the mailbox before leaving for work and I saw the sign in our yard. I was so excited! Chad had already left for work so I called him right away to tell him. Later that day, I remembered reading in our neighborhood newsletter that if you get Yard of the Month then you get a $50.00 gift card. That night when Chad was home and I was not home yet, a lady from our Homeowner's Association knocked on our door and gave Chad a $50.00 check. They are very prompt because the sign was out of our yard on Sept. 30th.

We were both so proud of this award because we have worked very hard on our yard throughout the last year.

Check back soon because there is more to come!

Happy Fall!

It has been way too long! I really need to download some pictures because we have had lots going on that needs to be shared. I'm gonna try really hard this week to get some pictures downloaded to share. School is in full swing and busier than ever for both of us. In August I went to Dallas for a wedding shower for my new sister-in-law. Then, we traveled to Dallas in October for my brother's wedding. Plus, we got Yard of the Month in our neighborhood in September! We were so excited and glad that our hard work paid off.

It just got cold here on Friday and has lasted through the weekend. We can feel the winter coming! It's a nice change.

Check back soon! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new background.

Almost Back to School

We are back from our last vacation of the summer! We were in Hilton Head, South Carolina last week with Chad's family and had a great time. While there we played games, went on bike rides, got a tan, relaxed, had a luau, and ate some great food.

Now that we are back we have been working hard to get the rest of Chad's paperwork filled out and turned in and trying to get his classroom ready. Tomorrow is our first official workday, so our summer if officially over. It sure was a great one though!

We will be busy the next few weeks with school stuff, but I will try to update when I can!

Other News

Now that I got the Costa Rica update posted, there are a few other updates that we would like to share.

1. After being home from Costa Rica for 2 days, we went to my mom and stepdad's house in Atlanta for the week of July 4th. My sister, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew were there as well. We got to meet our niece and nephew for the first time! It was so great to meet them, they are both precious children.

Greg is 12 years old and all BOY! He loves sports, video games, riding his bike, and pretty much anything outside. He really liked Chad because he is so active and Chad can hang in there with him. One thing Greg does not like to do is eat. He is a very, very picky eater. He puts me to shame in that category.

Then, there is Izabella, or Bella as we call her. She just melts my heart, especially when she calls me "Aunt Tawa." She seemed to cling to me at first and even though I would like to think that she loves me the most, I know it's really because I was a new face. She just turned 3 years old and is very tall and mature for her age. She is tall and skinny and has light brown hair, just like I did when I was a child. My sister thinks she looks like she could be my child, and I don't deny it. Bella is sooooo smart, mischievous, and manipulative for her age. She is a girly girl and loves to wear flip-flops. She loves to be held and loved on.

I just love these kids, they fit into our family just perfectly and add another great aspect to our time together!

While in Atlanta, we went to the pool several times, went hiking, shopping, ran the Peachtree Road Race, watched fireworks, and ate, ate, ate. It was great!

2. Chad got a job! It is amazing how God worked it out just perfectly. He will be teaching Biology and coaching girls track at Shades Valley High School next year. It is a Jefferson County High School and the feeder High School for my school. So, eventually, Chad will have some of my students in his classes. He went in for an interview in mid-June. To be honest, he was not really excited about the interview, but when he called me after it was over I could tell he felt differently. He felt really comfortable with the principal during the interview. The princial told him that she would probably contact him later that day. I was shocked! I have never heard of a principal saying that, especially that early in the summer. I knew they mut have really liked him (but who wouldn't?). Low and behold, she called later that afternoon to offer him the job! It's still amazing to me how it all worked out and I know this is where God wants him right now. Now he is trying to figure out how to get his teaching certificate so he will be qualified for other positions. I'm ready for him to get into his classroom so I can get all this stuff out of my house! I can only take it for so long.

3. We have been home now for about a week and a half. Last Friday, Chad woke up and decided it was time to clean out the garage. That has been our latest project. We hung more shelves and used hooks on the walls to hang some other things up. We also used hooks to hang our bikes from the ceiling and that made a huge difference in giving us more room. It looks really nice and I hope we keep it that way! In the process, we also decided to hang another shelf in our laundry room for extra storage space and that made a big difference as well. It's all neat and organized. That also led us to clean out our "junk drawer" in the kitchen. You know, we all have one of those where you just throw things in. I just need to get some baskets and that will be looking great. We are hoping to do some more home improvements this fall. We'll share them when we do!

We still have one more beach vacation coming up! We are going to Hilton Head with Chad's family. We are excited! I will give an update when we return.

Costa Rica

We returned from Costa Rica! It was so much fun and we highly recommend it as a vacation destination. It is a 4 hour plane ride from Atlanta to Liberia and then we only had a 45 minute drive to our hotel. It was nice to not spend our whole day traveling and we got there with plenty of time to tour the hotel and grounds before it got dark. There was so much to do in Costa Rica, we could have easily stayed there a few more days. We stayed at the Paradisus Playa Conchal, which is an all-inclusive resort right on the beach on the Pacific side of the country.

The resort was beautiful, had great food, and lots of things to do. All the rooms were suites situated in small villas. We had a sitting area, minibar, bathroom, and our "bedroom" that was up two stairs in our suite. The room was very quaint and romantic.

The resort was spread out and required alot of walking. We didn't mind at all because it was so pretty and we were able to see many "critters" during our walks. We saw iguanas, something that looked like a cross between a raccoon and an anteater, squirrels that looked different than the ones we have here, and a variety of birds.

There was 24 hour room service and many restaurants open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We tried all of the restaurants at least once and we were very impressed. For dinner, there was a buffet open each night, or there were 3 specialty restaurants that required reservations. There was an Italian, Mexican, and Asian Restaurant and all of them were wonderful. We liked the Italian restaurant so much that we went twice. Each restuarant was very "up-scale" and offered many appetizers, entrees, and of course dessert. Since it was all-inclusive, we just couldn't help ourselves! We went a litle overboard a few times, but it was worth it!

The resort also had free activities such as: bike tours, kayak tours, sunset boat cruise, bike rentals, kayak rentals, canopy, exercise classes, dance classes, etc. Even though we wanted to do a few of these activities, we just ran out of time. We did go on the sunset boat cruise though and it was awesome! We also participated in water aerobics class 2 different days while we were at the pool.

We went on two excursions away from the hotel. The first one was an ATV/Canopy Tour. First, we rode our ATV's to the canopy. It was a good introduction canopy tour and nice because we were alone with our tour guides. Then, we rode the ATV's for 2 more hours on dirt roads. It was neat to see the daily lives of the people that live there. We saw some school children walking and riding their bikes to school and 2 boys raced Chad on their bikes. We rode by the beach for a while and got to stop and take pictures. We also saw howler monkeys during that time. There were a ton of them together in several trees and some had babies on their backs. Our second excursion was our favorite day of the entire trip. It was called "Adrenaline Adventure Combo" and boy was it a combo! We were gone from 6:30am -6:00pm that day. First, we drove about 2 1/2 hours to a canopy tour. It took an hour and a half to complete the canopy tour. It was built around a canyon and we went back and forth over the canyon on the zipline. At one point we were lowered down 25 meters into the canyon, did a "Tarzan" swing back over the canyon, and the rock climbed back up the canyon. Also, there was a section where we had to rock climb horizontally to the next line. It was so much fun! I was glad when it was over though because my nerves were pretty much shot! For those that know me, it was very scary for me, but I did it all. Chad was loving every minute of it, he is such a dare devil. Next, we went on an hour horseback ride to a waterfall, where we got to jump off a rock into the waterfall. Then, we had lunch, and we to a "Costa Rican" spa for the rest of the day. At the "spa" we went in a sauna for 10 minutes, took a mud bath, let it dry, and rinsed off in a freezing cold shower. It was supposed to be good for our skin, but I'm not sure about that. Then, we went to a hot springs, where the water is naturally heated from the lava in a nearby volcano. The whole day we had a tour guide that taught us alot about the Costa Rican culture.

While we were there I treated myself to the spa and Chad played golf on the course at our hotel.

Even though we went during the rainy season, the weather was not too bad. When we first arrived, it was very hot and humid and I was worried that the whole week would be like that. Luckily, that was the worst day! It was very warm during the day, but we got at least a short rain shower each afternoon. Two afternoons we got thunderstorms. The resort provided us with an umbrella in our room, which was convenient.

We had a great time! It is so nice to escape the stresses of daily life and refocus, relax, and rest. We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Happy Summer!

We just love the summer, but why does it always go by so fast! We have been busy, busy since the last post so now we have lots to update about. I hope you enjoy the new template, I thought we needed something summery with bright colors for this time of year.

First, I would like to update you on my newest sewing ventures. I took my grandmothers sewing machine to a local sewing machine store and was able to get all the parts I was missing. While I was there, the lady told me about introduction sewing classes for my machine. I was able to attend a 2 hour class a few weeks ago and learn some basic things about the machine that I did not already know. It was wonderful! My newest project is learning how to applique, which was much easier than I thought it would be. I made some kitchen towels with a personalized applique for a thank you gift. I would not recommend starting with the letter "S" because it is probably the hardest one, but I didn't have a choice. I bought some cellophane bags at Michael's and wrapped them up with a ribbon.

That is all I have time for right now, but check back soon for updates on our Costa Rica trip and my new niece and nephew!

Why...

did I wake up so early on my first day of summer? That is so frustrating to me sometimes, but at least I can take a nap later if I want. I woke up at 7:15 this morning, which is my first day of summer. I know this is not early for some of you that have children, but it is early for me when I want to sleep in, and I didn't go to bed that early last night.

It has been a while since I posted, so there is alot to tell about:

1. It's SUMMER! Yea! This is always such a great time for us because both of our schedules allow us to spend lots of time together in the summer and it's so great for our relationship. Plus, we are both in very good moods all the time because we are not stressed out from work. While we have a very busy schedule already this summer, all the things we have planned are fun things that we choose to do and don't have to do. As I've said before, we will be going to Costa Rica this summer! We will also be going to Hilton Head for a week with Chad's family, meeting our niece and nephew for the first time, running the Peachtree Road Race with my mom, and having several visitors throughout the summer.

2. My Memaw passed away on April 24th, 2009. The entire family was there for her funeral and it was so good for us to all be together to honor her and celebrate her life. While we were all there we got to take some of her sewing items since we were all together to divide it up. My sister and I are sharing her sewing/embroidery machine and I got to take it home for now since Teah has her hands full with being a new mom. It is so special to me to have some things that belong to her and I know she would be so happy that my sister and I enjoy sewing. Hopefully, I will come to love it as much as she did and be even half a talented as she was.

3. Chad lost his job at Samford a few weeks ago. The new Head Coach, who has been there for about a year, decided he wanted to start over with all his "own" coaching staff. So, he let all 3 of his assistants go. Chad is taking it pretty well considering he LOVED coaching at Samford and he probably would have stayed there forever if he could have. He is now looking at his options. We know that God has a plan for his career and it does not include Samford at this time. Please pray that God would provide something that Chad would love just as much, but would also allow him to spend more time at home and get rewarded finacially for all his experience, certifications, and hard work.

Those are our big updates since the last post. I am hostessing a baby shower tomorrow so today I will spend most of my time planning for it and making sure we have everything we need. I do have to go back to school on Tuesday for a teacher workday, but that is no big deal. I already have all my work done so it will be an easy day. Chad is at the Regional Track Meet this weekend and will not be back until Sunday evening. This is his last track meet at Samford, he has 1 athlete competing so he wanted to go support him. Please continue to pray for him in his job search.

Assistant Coach of the Year Nominee

Chad is one of the top 5 nominees for Assistant Coach of the Year at Samford. I'm soooooooo proud of him and I'm glad he is finally being recognized by other people for his hard work and dedication. He does work so hard and puts so much into his job because he loves coaching and he loves Samford. A banquet will be held on Monday, April 27th to reveal the winner. Even if he doesn't win, he is already the winner in my heart! Good luck Chad!

The Final Product...

Here is a picture of my latest creation. I just love it! I sewed it together about 2 weeks ago and all I had left to do was sew the button holes and buttons on. Well, I thought that would be easy, but the buttonholes turned out to be very difficult to do on my machine. I had to play around with my machine a bit, but I finally got it and they ended up looking great and being pretty easy to make after some practice.
I hope to make many more of these in the future! I already bought some fabric to make for my new foster niece (more on that later). I have a similar pattern for a boy, but with shorts of course. Hopefully I will be brave enough to try some with trim, pockets, and other decorations.

I know my grandmother would be very proud of me and I wish I could share it with her. She is the first one that inspired me to want to sew and she and my grandfather bought me my sewing machine a few years ago for Christmas. She also gave me lots of sewing items to get me started.

For those that don't know or have not heard, my grandmother is not doing well. She was moved into a nursing home on Jan. 31st of this year and since then has gone downhill quickly. Her alzheimers is progressing at a very quick pace. She had a seizure about two weeks ago and has not been the same since. She is unresponsive and is not eating. The doctors have recommended that hospice be called in. Please pray for her to be comfortable and pain free. Also, pray for my grandfather during the difficult time.

On a happy note...I have a new foster niece and nephew!! Teah and Ryan have been foster parents for a few weeks now and they LOVE it! I am very excited for them and I can tell how much happier Teah is already. To read more about them, look at their blog. The link is on the left side of my blog under The Doyle Family. Izabella (Bella) will turn 4 in about a month and Greg is 12. It has been so much fun to hear about them so far.

Chad is on his way back from a track meet right now. I had a nice relaxing day today. I worked out with a friend this morning, went to the grocery store, worked a little around the house, and sewed for several hours. It was nice to have a large amount of time to devote to sewing, I sure feel like I got alot done.

Tomorrow is Easter and we are excited to be able to go to our church for the first time on Easter. It is such a wonderful day to celebrate Christ's resurrection. I just made us a reservation for a lunch buffet tomorrow after church!

Sorry for the long update all at once. I'm off to bed now!