Armenia

Dear Friends,
I have a special request to ask of those of you who are prayer warriers. Our church (Two Rivers Baptist) is taking a missions trip to Armenia this summer. I would love to go on this mission trip. The cost of the trip is $2250. The church has guaranteed me a $1000 scholarship for this trip. I am asking that you would join Sean and I in prayer that the Lord would provide the last $1250. I also need prayer that I can get a copy of my birth certificate as well as a passport. I know that the passport could pose a problem at this point. The mission trip is June 13-22. Thank you so much for your prayers. I love ya'll!!!

Heather

Time Flies...

It is the middle of April and I am posting again for the first time in a couple of months. It's weird how fast life seems to go. In January I was going stir crazy waiting to find a job and now I have been there almost 3 months. Sean is plugging along and slowly gaining speed. I will hit the high points of the events of the last two months.

I am going to attempt to catch you up to speed on what has been going on since my last post. I will try in the future to not go so long in between posts...

I am full swing into work. The kids I work with as well as the teachers are already for school to be out. There are 23 and 1/2 days left before summer vacation. I have started working towards a Certificate of Specialized Training in Schools and Children Crisis Response Specialty. This is through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). I love what I do and feel blessed to have found a position like this straight out of Southwestern.

The end of February I embarked on an unique journey with Sean. Even though this trip only took us 30 mins south of here to Franklin it was a craz ride. The last weekend of Feb was a convention call Twist and Shout. Believe it or not there is a national convention for balloon twisters. Thats right I said balloon twisters. I only wish that I could post pictures of this crazy weekend. I actually had fun. I was around crazy people all weekend. Not necissarily crazy in the bad sense. Maybe unique would be a better word for this group of people. That being said, the things they created were amazing. I saw a large triceratops, a bride and groom, a giant laying being strapped down by tiny villagers, an underwater display and even clothes made out of balloons. Yes, actual people wore nothing but balloons at the banquet on the final night of this weekend. I watched some very funny routines and some not so good routines that weekend. I am having a hard time putting into words what that weekend was like. I am going to head to the Boston area with Sean this summer to attend a clown convention. I am not a huge fan of clowns but I am going to spend an entire weekend with them. Or... I may head into Boston and hang out at Harvard? :-)

The first weekend in March I had the opportunity to go back to my hometown and celebrate the retirement of my former music minister. That weekend was a memorable one as well as a time of reconnecting with people I have not seen in 10 years give or take. The church got ahold of as many former choir members as they possibly could. When all was said and done there were about 90 of us that showed up. For those of you have been to that church you know that it is not a huge church. The choir loft was not meant to hold that many people. (Although several choir members sat on chairs and the front pew while we were not singing).

The next weekend Sean and I were blessed to host the 11th grade girls for Livin XL weekend. I may have mentioned before that we do not have a large home. It is actually just a hair over 1000 sq ft. Friday night we had 6 girls, the Bible study leader our dog and us all under one roof. Saturday night we added 2 more girls to the mix. Now, if you could see the room they slept in you would wonder how they managed. (Again I wish I could post pics so you could see). The girls brought all of their stuff into the living room and layed side by side like sardines in a can both nights. We were blessed to have several good friends and a Sunday School class help us out with food. We had enough food to feed a small army and then some. Our kitchen counters and table were covered with food, not to mention that our fridge had fod stuffed in every nook and cranny. The music and the speaker that weekend were amazing. I am sure that the Lord was pleased with what went on that weekend and lives were changed.

One of the perks of my job is that I get to be out when the kids are out. So, for Spring Break, I loaded up my car and headed north. Thats right, I left comfortable spring like temps to go freeze in MI. I have to admit that hanging out with my sister, bro-in-law, neice and nephew made the cold temps and the rain ok. I got to hang out with with the kids in their schools and be a teachers helper for a day. Then I went to school with my sister (a kindergarten teacher) for a day. I love her and have a great deal of respect for what she does. I could not do what she does and remain sane. I also got to see family members that I have not seen in a good long while as well as meet a soon to be new member of the family (we hope). On the way home I stopped in northern and southern IN to do something I love to do and that is shop!!!

Easter weekend was a special weekend in our home. My mom came up from AL and my cousin came in from NC. Friday night I had the special privilage of singing in "Saviour." Sean's mom also joined us that night. On Sat, mom, Christine (my cousin), Sean's dad and I went to watch Bama play Vandy in baseball. I sat in the cold stadium and watched my boys (Bama) lose to Vandy for the 2nd night in a row. On Sunday my family and I headed off to church to worship our RISEN SAVIOR and then headed home for a feast. We had a grand total of 8 people in our home for that wonderful meal (that my mom cooked most of). That afternoon my father-in-law called and let me know that Bama had beaten Vandy! Later on that night Sean and I took Christine to see Opryland Hotel and made a pit stop at the Godiva store!

This past weekend. I dragged Sean to Judson for J-Day and introduced him to the unique world that is my alma mater. He experienced his first step sing. He met my Judson big and little sister, along with other friends and a couple of profs. He also had the pleasure of meeting some of the MMI cadets that I hung out with that were in town for the MMI homecoming weekend. Sat afternoon after all of the activities were over, I had the privilage of being a part of a recording of senior songs, that will be compiled for a CD. We recorded 3 songs that weekend. They will be put with the songs recorded last year and the ones that will be recorded next year to be sold to students and alum. This is also a way of teaching future Judson Girls the songs of their history. Sunday we worshipped at Siloam Baptist Church, which is the church I attended while at Judson.

I know this has been a long post. I apologize for that. If there is anything that I did not post and you want to know, post a comment and I will let you know. I hope that this finds all of you doing well and I pray that the Lord will bless you this next week!

finally a new post!!!

I admit that it has been a while since Sean and I have posted. I have not forgotten about the blog, I just have not thought about it in a while. Since I have recieved some slack (Andrea and Susan, the loudest :-) ) I thought I would update.

Sean and I are staying busy. For Sean things are starting to pick up and gigs are starting to come in. He has had 3 this weekend and is getting calls to for gigs this spring. We have been to one balloon jam this year and he will be planning another one soon. Sean is also preparing for Twist and Shout the last weekend of this month. He is looking foward to teaching as well as seeing people he has not seen in a while. He has also gone back to Chic-fil-a in Cool Springs on Tuesday nights and is back at El Chico in Rivergate on Thursday nights. (For those of you in the area pop in and see what he does).

I have started in my new job at Centerstone as an MIP Counselor (MIP: Moderate Intervention Planning). I have actually been training and will continue in training through the rest of this week. I will be in 4 middle schools in the Donelson area. I am excited to actually be in the schools and work with the students. I am also back in Choir at Two Rivers Baptist. I actually auditioned for the Worship Choir and was invited to join. (this is the auditioned group that comes out of the choir). I still am hesitant about Praise team. Jon says in a couple of months but I am not there yet. I will also be hosting my first Pampered Chef party on Mar 15th. I have been to a couple of parties, but I have never been the one to host. I am excited to see how that goes.

Sean and I hosted a Super Bowl Party at our house. At first I thought it would be 3 guys and me and to my happy surprise 2 other couples and an adorable little boy (Yes, Susan I am talking about Carter) came over. We had a great time. Sean and I had enough food to feed a small army and we are still munching on some of what was left over. Rodney thanks for leaving some of the Mt.Dew's, they have helped to wake me up in my first week of work.

Sean and I are hosting 11th grade girls for Living XL weekend. We may be nuts, but we are excited. We have had some offers to help us with food and transportation that weekend. For those of you who are prayers please be praying for this weekend. It is Mar 9-11th. This is very much like a D-Now weekend. The youth guys are bringing in a speaker and the praise team will be the worship team. Please pray for all involved and that the lives of the youth will be changed and maybe even some of the adults involved as well.

Crimson (our dog) is growing like a weed. She has those moments when she is absolutely adorable and loving and then those moments when we want to strangle her. Right now as I am typing this she is laying in the door of the office. She loves to play fetch with her tennis balls. She also loves her buddy (the long looking weiner dog from the Pet Smart commercials). She is completely crate trained and is almost house trained. For the most part she is great about letting us know when she has to go out. She will either scratch at the back door or she will sit at the back door and bark. She does not like to be left alone or like it when one of us leaves. She will sit at the front door and whine. When one of both of us come home, she gets very excited. Sean and I have decided that Crimson is our training ground for parenting. Even on those days when she is not being cute, we remind ourselves that she like the children we hope to have are non-returnable.

If there is anything that you want to know and I have not mentioned it, email me or post a comment and I will update you. I will try to be better about posting.

Have a blessed week!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know it has been a while since we have posted. Things have been a little crazy for us. Just to get you up to speed... Sean, my mother and I got our apartment in Fort Worth packed up. I DID graduate (PRAISE GOD AND HALLEUIAH!!!!!!). We survived the move back to Tennessee. My mother helped out a great deal during this move, so a great big THANKS to her! Last week Sean got me an early Christmas present. We adopted a 3 month old German Shepher/ Chow mix puppy. I named her Crimson (for those of you who are not Bama fams, she was named for the Crimson Tide!!!). We are trying to get settled into our new home. I am currently looking for a job and Sean is trying to pick up where he left off before he moved to Texas. I will post more later. Take Care and may the Lord Bless your New Year!

Drama! Drama! Drama!

It has been a while since I have posted. This is going to be a long post. Feel free to skip parts or read it in pieces. Things have been crazy. My Thanksgiving week was fun and crazy all at the same time. It was that Saturday that I learned about my grandmother. She passed away a week ago today. The funeral was Monday...

Let me start at the beginning of this crazy ride. About a month ago my grandmother fell and broke her hip. The doctor said that she would recover physically but mentally she had gone down hill. For quite some time my grandmother had been slipping away from us mentally. She would tell us the same story several times over the course of a conversation. Some of these stories I enjoyed hearing because they involved my wonderful, loving grandfather and their courtship and marriage. Unfortunately after her fall she slipped farther and farther away. The doctors also said that at some point she had suffered a heart attack. They had no way of telling when that was. The week of Thanksgiving my grandmother had been on life support. On Thanksgiving Day, the decision was made to take her off. She slept until she passed around 2:00am on Wednesday. She has now joined my grandfather, my brother, my father and my two unborn angels in Heaven.

Last Thursday night my mother flew to Texas. She came in on the night of a nasty winter storm that had covered most of north Texas. The next morning she and I set out to make our drive to Denver, CO for the funeral of my grandmother. As we left Fort Worth we realized that it was going to be a long interesting ride. The roads were covered in ice and snow. The speed limit was 60 but we were only going about 20. At one point on hwy 287 about 70 miles give or take outside of Fort Worth we made the decision to turn the car around and head back, determined to get back up on Saturday morning and try again. As we got back turned around I got frustrated and nervous driving on the thick layer of ice that covered the highway. So, I pulled over and let my mother drive. We got a couple of miles down the road and decided that turning around was not such a good idea. So, we found what seemed like a safe place and decided to keep on trudging foward. Well, that was an ok decision. As we turned back around and started back on our trip we came to a complete stop. We sat in the car at a standstill for about 45 mins. Once we started moving again we saw that a truck was having problems and the cops and tow truck were trying to help him out. As we continued on our journey we saw many cars that had slipped off the highway and had landed in ditches. As we drove through Texas, there were many times that we would ask each other if we were smart? We should have made it to Denver in about 13 hrs. After 14 hours on the road we made it as far as Pueblo, CO. We booked a room at a hotel and then went to dinner (where my mom treated me to a very nice steak dinner). We celebrated the fact that the Lord had carried us this far and had kept us safe.

As we watched the news that night, we saw that another system was moving in. We felt ok in that the system was supposed to hit the next afternoon. We both fell into bed that night extremely exhausted and grateful to be safe. The joke was on us. We woke up the next morning to 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground! My mom and I were going to just give up and hang out in Pueblo, but decided to try and drive the last 120 miles that needed to be driven. After I dressed and put on my heavy coat, I went downstairs and brushed all of the snow off of my car. Instead of it taking 2 hrs we made it in 3.

When we got to my grandmothes condo, we had to wait on everyone to get back from picking my cousin up at the airport. This is where even more drama begins, but I will not go into all of it for the sake of protecting my family. Lets just say that not everyone in my family gets along. That afternoon my aunts decided that we needed to go to my grandfather's grave site. I think this was the best moment all weekend. At one point my two aunts are having a snow ball fight and my mom and I were having a snowball fight and all six of us there were laughing. This is a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am saddened to think that, that was probably the last time that the 6 of us would ever be like that again. That night we went through some of my granparents things and each took some of the things that meant something to us.

The next day we had to make an emergency trip to JC Penny's because my cousin did not have anything to wear to the viewing, my mother had only a skirt and hose to wear to the funeral and I had left my outfit for the funeral hanging in the doorway of my hallway in my apartment. When we were all fully clothed we ran to pick up some lunch and then headed back to my aunts' house to change. We went to the viewing and I met people that I had no idea who they were. Some I had met at grandpa's funeral. At some point during the viewing my cousin and I slipped away to the chapel. There we sat and caught up on each others lives and reconnected. This was wonderful for me. I feel that even though some of my family may stay disconnected she and I reconnected and will hopefully remain connected.

The funeral was on Monday. This was a day that I thought would never end. We were at the church at 11:30am. The funeral started at noon (give or take). Father Tran presided over the service. (By the way my grandmother was a devout Catholic). There were many things that I did not agree with at this funeral (that involved theology), but Father Tran brought in humor and stories of my grandfather. My uncle, 2 aunts and my mother all shared about grandma. I think my favorite was when my uncle got up and said that he disagreed with Father Tran about my grandmother not cooking. He said that he was certain that she was doing a great deal of baking and that the Lord was probably eating a good amount of lemon meringue pie. I thought to myself He is also enjoying M & M cookies as well. After the service and the reception, we headed to the Catholic cemetary in Denver. This service was short but sweet. As my uncle, mom and 2 aunts were pouring "holy water" on her casket, they semi managed to get each other which brought some more laughing. We were certain that if grandma could talk she would be getting onto all 4 of them. T

That night we went back to grandma's. My mom, uncle and I went to dinner at Apple Bee's. The manager found out that we had buried my grandmother and gave us dinner and dessert on the house. This was an unexpected blessing. That night we went back to grandma's to pack up and get ready to head out the next day.

For the most part the trip home was calm and the roads were clear. Mom and I did have 2 scary moments driving back. The first was an 18 wheeler blew a tire in front of us and started weaving a little bit. When we passed him, we tried to tell him that he blew a tire but we are not sure that he knew what we were saying or that he had blown a tire. Second, most of the highway is divided. At one point a couple of hours outside of Fort Worth, we met a car coming toward us on our side of the highway. It was not until after this car past us that we realized that it was on the wrong side of the highway. We just hoped and prayed that he/she would realize their mistake and go back to the other side of the highway before meeting another car or 18 wheeler head on.

There is so much more to this past weekend. If you want to know more you can always call me or email me and I will fill in some more of the details. Although I have probably bored you as it is.

On top of all of this I learned that baby Claire Cox (a little girl I introduced to ya'll in earlier blog) had passed away Tues morning, the day before my grandmother. He parents have posted their last blog. I encourage ya'll to read it.

I am happy to post that I will be graduating next Friday!!! The official countdown is 1 week and 1 day!!!! (To our Nashville crew, this means that we will be home for good in 1 week and 2 days)!

I know that I have thrown a lot at ya'll in this blog, but I want to say thank you for reading and sticking with me. You guys mean a great deal to me and I dont know where I would be without you. When I look at the friends that Sean and I have I know that the Lord has blessed us in a very special way. I wish that I could sit down with each and every one of you. I pray that as you head into you weekend that the Lord will bless each and every one of you in a very special way!

Roll Tide? What in the world happened?

OK, I am writing as a dusgruntled Bama fan. Come on, what in the world happened? This game was not played as well as it could have been. I know, I know we have not had the best season. That being said when it comes to the Iron Bowl the entire season is wiped out and both teams come in on an even playing field. I am a little worried that Shula will no longer be the Bama coach come Monday morning. I think this would be a travesty. We have a young team and are in desperate need of a new kicker. I am sorry but Christianson has been nothing but a disappointment all season. Hall and Darby are good players but have been inconsistant throughout this season. I do have to give props to Wilson, he had a pretty good game today. I hate that the Bama seniors have never known that sweet feel of defeating the tigers. I hope that next year, the seniors walk off the field celebrating and telling tuberville and the tigers to shove it!

I sat next door and watched this travesty of a game with an auburn fan and a trader (he used to be a Bama fan and then switched teams when he married into an auburn family). For the most part we were civil. There were a couple of times when thing got a little heated. My fomer roommate and fellow Bama girl was at the game. I was hoping that she would get to celebrate this victory on our turf, but that was not to be.

Next Year we WILL WIN mark my words!!!

I will remain a true Bama fan. So in parting ROLL TIDE!!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

4 weeks, 5 days to Graduation, Prayers and a House

I was so busy this past week that I forgot to update our blog on Friday. Wednesday will ONE MONTH to graduation!!! I still have a great deal of work to do on both portfolios before the end of the semester. The Gaylord Christmas Season starts this Thursday and Sean will be busy with them every night until our move (with the exception of Thanksgiving week). Sean and I are in the not so fun process of cleaning things out and trying to pack up the apartment. Before I share the house situation, I would like to ask for prayers for another special little boy.

Lane Wilson is a special 5 yr old boy. His parents and the doctors were not so sure that Lane would see the age of 5 and he has continued to surprise everyone. They were told he would not live and he has. They were told he would not walk and he has. He has a sweet and loving dispostition. This morning Sean and I recieved an email that Lane has been admitted to the hospital because he has had a major seizure. I am not sure of all the details at this moment, but please lift up Lane and his family. We met this family while we were members of Two Rivers in Nashville, TN. His father Mike was the youth minister before I left and he is now working with the college students. Mike is going out and sharing his family's story. If you get a chance check out his website. www.mylifespeaks.com

As far as the house goes, there are 2 that we are seriously looking at. The first one is in Hermitage, close to Sean's parents and sister. The other one in the Pennington Bend area over by the church. We are waiting on phone calls right now to see which house we will be moving into. We are praying that by weeks end we will have a house! We have decided to rent for a year and a half before we buy. This will give us some time to save a little more as well as get re-established in Nashville. So... Please pray for us in this endevor that that Lord would open a door for a house for us and that it would be the right house for this time in our life. Please pray that our move back to Nashville would be smooth and that everything would fall into place like we need it to. The bottom line is WE ARE MOVING HOME!!!!

I hope ya'll have a wonderful week!!!