Random Post

I haven't posted in a while and I have a few random pictures that I would like to share.

This is the puzzle we completed at Christmas only to find that we were missing a piece. We brought it with us to Chattanooga and started it there. When it was time to go to Atlanta Chad decided he just could not leave it or take it apart yet because we had made some progress. So, we transported it to Atlanta with us. Even though we tried really hard, we were not able to complete it before we had to go home. So, we then transported it back to Birmingham with us. The night after we got home we finally finished it. We were sad to find out that we lost one piece in all of the transporting. If you are wondering...it is Jelly Belly jelly beans. Wow! It was difficult!

Last year I decided I really wanted a nativity scene since I did not have one yet. After looking for one I finally gave up because I could not find one that I liked. Chad suprised me and bought me the basic pieces in the Willow Tree set for Christmas. This Christmas I got the other pieces to complete the set. I absolutely love it!

The girls in my Core Group took me (and Susan) out to celebrate our birthdays. We had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. They have been such a blessing and I am enjoying getting to know them even better. Pictured below are: Susan, Karen, Me, Dana, and Hayley (with baby #2 on the way)

After Thanksgiving, Chad and I bought a 50" plasma TV. That was our Christmas present to each other this year. Doesn't it look like Oprah is in our living room? We have really enjoyed it so far! We also purchased a media center since our new TV would not fit in our other entertainment center. We bought it from Home Decorators, which is the same place we purchased our desk and file cabinet from over the summer. I'm really impressed with the media stand, especially for the price. Plus, it really opens up our living room without the taller entertainment center.

Hopefully, we will have something better to share soon!

New Year...

The new year has begun! I can't believe it is 2009 already. We made it home from our Christmas travels, took down all our decorations, and are back in the swing of things with work.

I spent much of the day today trying to organize some things around the house and find a new home for some of our Christmas presents. Chad was away most of the day with recruits. We are looking forward to an afternoon together tomorrow between church and dinner out with friends.

After looking at the calendar today, the next 6 months are already looking busy for us. My goal is to be productive with my time, especially on the weekends so I can continue to organize and clean out some things in our house. I hope to be able to use my time wisely when Chad is gone to track meets on the weekends.

I already can't wait for the summer when things will be more relaxed and we will have more time to spend together again.

Friends..

We have so many good friends, but many of them don't live in Birmingham so we don't get to see them very often. Our friends Leah and Rick who live in Seattle were in Atlanta visiting family for Christmas. Our other friends Katie and Trey who live in Chattanooga were in the Atlanta area also visiting family for Christmas. We were all able to meet up and have lunch and visit for a few hours. It was so nice! All of them were a part of our wedding and they are very special to us! Thanks guys!

Rick, Chad, and Trey

Katie, me, and Leah

I'm 30!

Well, I can't believe it, I'm 30! Chad is very happy that he is not the only 30 year-old in our household now and he does not want me to forget it. For the last few years I have had the privilege of celebrating my birthday with Chad's family and my family so the celebration gets drawn out. It's fun to celebrate more than once! Thanks to everyone for going out of your way to make my birthday so special.

First celebration-Dec. 27th: Chad's uncle Mark's birthday is on Dec. 31st so we get to celebrate our birthday together. This year we each got our own ice cream cake. Yum!!

Second celebration-Dec. 29th: My very own homemade cookie cake-my favorite! Plus a gift bag with nothing in it. My mom wrapped a gift card in the small bag you see in the picture. When I went to open it there was nothing in it. We think the cats got to it!

Thanks for such a wonderful birthday! It is so nice to be able to celebrate with family.

A Wonderful Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! Here are some pictures:

Our unsuccessful gingerbread house

Christmas morning with Chad's parents and grandparents.

My new pashmina scarf that Teah and Ryan bought me in Prague




Dustin and Shannon-the newly engaged couple

The Pickle Game-We started this last year. My mom hides a small pickle in the Christmas tree and we take turns trying to find it. The one who finds it gets a special gift. Chad found it last year and I found it this year. So far it's a James family sweep. In the picture Dustin is looking for the pickle.

Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas so special and enjoyable!

First Sewing Project...

Here it is! I made 2 pillows this size for my couch and a smaller one for my chair, with a little help of course. They turned out well and I'm very proud of them. I hope to tackle some more difficult items soon. We took a break with our sewing classes during the holidays since everyone is so busy. We hope to start up again in January and learn to make some children's clothes.

Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! We are so thankful for all God has provided for us in our lives. We are so blessed by wonderful friends and family who support and encourage us. We are having a great time in Chattanooga with Chad's family. We will be here a few more days and then we go to my mom's for a few days before heading back to Birmingham. Enjoy the holidays, spending time with family, and get some rest!

Our Christmas Tree

Wishing You a Merry Christmas...

The Christmas decorations are all up and we are about half way finished buying presents. Hopefully this week we will get all the presents bought and my goal is to wrap the ones I have this weekend. That way we can have a stress free week next week with not much to do.

We survived hosting our first Christmas party at our house this past Sunday for our Core Group at church. We spent most of the day on Saturday putting up our lights and decorations outside, which you can see here:

This year we added the wreaths, which I LOVE, and the lights on the small bushes. Chad did a great job cleaning up the yard and putting up most of the decorations outside. We also cleaned the house on Saturday. Secretly, I love having people over because it forces me to clean my house really well and I'm always so glad it's clean when I finish!!! Last, but not least, we decorated our tree on Saturday night and it looks so beautiful. We didn't take a picture yet, but we will try to post one later.

On Sunday I finished some last minute things in the house and made some appetizers for our party while Chad went to the Samford track Christmas party. We worked really hard on our table decor and really enjoyed using some of our wedding gifts that we have not used yet. Here is the table we set up in the study:

We also had our kitchen table set up, but we didn't get a good picture of it. We had a great time visiting with everyone and of course the guys played the Wii for a while. We would love to do it again some time soon.

We are going to Chattanooga for Christmas this year and then to my mom's afterwards for my birthday and New Year's. So, lots of traveling, but we are looking forward to seeing our family and hopefully some friends along the way.

We have officially received 5 Christmas cards as of today and we are looking forward to receiving alot more! We love seeing pictures of all those babies!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

I'm so happy that Christmas is so close. I just love this time of year! We are doing well with our decorating. I decorated the house before we left for Thanksgiving and we bought our tree when we got back. Now all we have to do is decorate the tree and put up the lights and decorations outside. We are hosting a Christmas party this weekend for our Core Group and I'm excited because I love having people over to our house! So, we must finish all our decorating by then. Also, our Christmas cards are just about ready to be mailed. Everyday I go to the mailbox hoping to get our first Christmas card in the mail and we have yet to receive one. Maybe tomorrow will be the lucky day. Now I've just got to start buying Christmas presents!! Better get started!

Sew Much Fun

I know that is a cheesy title for my blog, but I thought it was appropriate. My first sewing class was lots of fun and very successful. It was just me and a friend from our core group, Karen, along with Chris, our "instructor." Chris was very patient with us as we are both very much beginners in the art of sewing. We started out by refreshing our skills on sewing a button and then quickly learning how to hem pants. That's all thanks to me since I brought my whole wardrobe to be fixed according to them. Then, we cut out all the fabric for our pillows and began making the cording. Chris finished up by making one of my smaller pillows so we could see what we were going to do next time we meet. I went to Hancock Fabrics today to pick up a few things for my new hobby. Luckily, they were having a sale for Veteran's Day. Many things were 50% off! Now, time to go practice! I will post some pictures once all the pillows are done.

Ready for the Holidays

The James household is ready for the holidays! The holidays are always great for us because we both have time off of work and we get to spend alot of quality time together.

As I'm writing this Chad is at the Alabama State Meet recruiting athletes for next year. I'm trying to get some things done around the house today as usual. We'll see how much actually gets done! We have been very busy lately! There has been alot going on at school that I have had to help out with and Chad is winding down the cross country season. They have one more race next weekend and then they are done racing until the end of January.

Tomorrow I am starting a sewing class and I'm so excited about it! One of the mentors in our Community Group is a wonderful seamstress and has agree to teach some of us the basics about sewing. I'm really looking forward to learning how to sew so I can make things for around the house, gifts, and hopefully children's clothes one day. I'll keep you updated on how it is going.

For those of you that don't know, my mom had surgery last Wednesday to remove a benign tumor on her ovary. We were all very relieved to hear that it was benign! God once again showed us that He is in control of everything and we just need to trust Him.

We are going to Houston for Thanksgiving this year probably for the last time because my dad is moving to Florida! He has been out of a job for a while and finally got an offer in Melbourne, Florida. He has already started working there, but will go back to Houston to be with us for Thanksgiving. I'm sad that this will be the last time for me to stay in the house I grew up in.

I've already begun my Christmas shopping and I have found lots of presents that I'm excited to give! I'm about half way done at this point and I'm hoping to finish early as usual. I love getting my presents wrapped early and under the tree to admire.

Halloween

Chad was out of town for a cross country meet for Halloween this year. I invited 2 of my new friends from work over for a girls Halloween night at my house. We had so much fun! I made a big pot of chili and chocolate delight for dessert. We carved pumpkins, which you can see below, ate, played the Wii, and watched a movie. Unfortunately, we only had one group of trick-or-treaters so we had ALOT of candy left.
On Sunday, Nov. 2nd, our Community Group had a Fall Party where we dressed up in our Halloween costumes. We dressed up as Olympians! We had so many clothes to choose from that it was hard to decide what to wear. Here is a picture of us and our Core Group at the Halloween Party.

Fall is Here!

I just love the fall weather and colors. I bought mums a few weeks ago for our front porch. My mom advised me to get some that had not bloomed yet so they would last through the fall. I tried to chose the best one from the selection at Home Depot, but they are already dying and I'm so sad! I may just have to buy some more because they are so beautiful. I also bought our Halloween candy to give out at our house, which was a BIG mistake. I even tried to hide it from Chad so he would not get upset with me for buying it and then not having willpower not to eat it. Well, that didn't last long because he found it and every time he eats a piece I HAVE to eat a piece. It was in the low 60's today in Birmingham and so nice! I hope this weather stays around. It sure it helping out our power bill.

Back To Our Routine

Chad is home! He has been home for about 2 weeks and it has been hard getting back into the swing of things here at home. He has been so tired and has had a hard time adjusting. For about the first 2 weeks he went to sleep each night between 8:00 and 9:00pm. That is very uncharacteristic of him. I think it was a combination of the time difference and the lack of sleep he got while away. He is finally back to normal (I think) and we have gotten back in our day to day routine. I actually had to get used to him sleeping in the bed with me again so I did not sleep very well for the first few days he was home. We are as busy as usual, but we are hoping to make some time to do some more home improvements this fall.

24 More Hours...

until Chad gets home!!!! I'm so excited and I think he is finally ready to be home. I spoke with him briefly tonight and for him it was the morning of the day he leaves. The Closing Ceremonies were last night, but he didn't tell me alot about it besides he took his video camera this time. They asked them to not take cameras to the Opening Ceremonies, so he followed the rules and didn't get any pictures of his own. He was hoping to get pictures from other people though and I hope he didn't forget. Before he leaves he was going to try to take pictures around the Paralympic Village since he hasn't taken many yet. Well, it's time for me to go clean a little around the house so the house will look nice when Chad gets home! I probably won't post for a few days, please forgive me!

Initiation

Well, I was officially initiated to Gresham today. I was on duty in the lunchroom this morning during breakfast when I look over to see two boys in the breakfast line with their arms around each other and one with his arms around the others neck. I could tell it would not be good. The next thing I knew, they were out in an open area throwing punches at each other!!! I have never been in that situation so I just reacted without even thinking. I attempted to break them up for what seemed like 10 minutes, but I'm sure was only about 30 seconds. At the same time I was yelling at the top of my lungs for them to let go of each other and stop. Right about the time I got them separated I was happy to see another teacher running in my direction to help. She took one and I took the other and we marched them straight to the office. My heart was pounding so hard and I'm sure I was beat red! It took a while for me to calm down, but by the end of the day I had forgotten about it. Needless to say, the two boys were suspended from school for 3 days. I really hope next time I'm not in the right place at the right time to break up any fights.

On another note, I have been glued to the news all night watching hurricane Ike progress. My grandparents live about 30 minutes from the Louisiana border and were able to evacuate. They are VERY worried about their house and are hoping the flooding is not bad. I hear most people in the Houston area are hunkering down, so I will call tomorrow to make sure they are all ok. Please pray that everyone will be kept safe and that there won't be much damage and flooding.

One More Week...

and Chad will be home. I will be picking him up at the airport next Thursday night at 8:54pm, assuming his plane is on time. I can't wait!

I have not been as busy this week, but it's been good. I have gotten quite a few things done around the house that need to be done, but I still have alot more to do. I will have all weekend to try to get some of those things done.

Tonight we have Open House at school and a Ribbon Cutting for the new renovations in our building. I'm resting a little at home before I have to go back to school. I used to stay after school until Open House because it was too far to drive home and back. It was so nice to be able to come home today after school.

School is going well! We finally know which children we will be working with and we will start our "real" schedule on Monday. I'm ready to start working with the children so I can start seeing some results!

Keeping Busy

I continue to keep busy. Yesterday I treated myself to a massage and it was so nice and relaxing. I sure do wish I could get one at least every other week. I am slowly beginning to get some things done around the house. I have many things on my "to do" list to get accomplished before Chad gets home, so I better get started soon! This week I have a few meetings after school and we have our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House on Thursday at school. By then, it will only be one more week until Chad comes home.

I woke up early this morning to call him. He had been shopping all day! I hope he didn't spend too much money! He had to go to a meeting so I'm waiting to call him back. He said the Opening Ceremonies were amazing and a few times while he was there he got overwhelmed and was so glad that he made the decision to go and be a part of it.

Also, last night I got to talk to 2 of my friends on skype. Abbey and Jan somehow found me on skype and called while I was on my computer. That was fun! A little later, Chad called on skype! So, I got to actually see him for the first time. He was in a room that was set up like a computer lab. The computers had webcams built in and each computer had a headset with it. It was really cool!

New Cell Phone

I finally spoke with Chad again tonight. Apparently, something was wrong with his old cell phone so they gave him a new one. He did not have much time to talk, but it seems he is doing well. Please be praying for a couple of the athletes and their classifications. Last night they reclassified several of the athletes, which may mean that some of them cannot compete at all. Their classification is determined by their disability and the amount of mobility they have in certain body parts. After going through tests with the officials, some athletes have been reclassified into different groups which means they may have to throw certain implements that are much heavier than they have been practicing with. Also, a certain mark is required in each classification to be able to compete. Since these athletes have not been competing in that classification they do not have the mark. That is the short version of the story! This is just very frustrating and sad for those athletes who have been training for this for 4 years. One more thing...the coaches were told they would not walk in during the opening ceremonies, but Chad found out that they are letting them walk in after all. How exciting!!! He can't decide if it would be better to walk in or watch from the stands so that he can see everything. Everyone that walks in is kept in a hallway and is not able to see the opening ceremonies take place. Personally, I would rather walk in to have the experience and watch the opening ceremonies on-line or TV later.

Half Way

Tomorrow is the half way mark for Chad being gone. I REALLY miss him and it's especially hard not being able to talk to him much. I'm sure it will only get worse over the next two weeks as he gets busier and busier. I'm trying to keep myself busy to keep my mind off of it. Several of my friends here in Birmingham have been wonderful. I have gone to dinner with many people to catch up on life. Tonight I was invited to dinner at Adam and Karen Blair's house and had a great time visiting and holding little Charlie! Thanks to those who have gone out of their way to hang out with me!