Getting Prepared for the rest of our lives....:)

SOOOOO I apologize for the time that has passed since I last blogged. These past 6 weeks of my life have been amazing, unique, and sooooo ultimately exciting I can't help but smile while I am typing right now!!!! I experienced my first plane ride and trip overseas the week after I finished my jr year at Berry, through fulfillment of a life long dream of mine.....going to ITALY!!! I stayed for 2 weeks, and it was truely life changing. It opened my eyes to history, culture, and a different way of looking at life. The Italian culture is so happy and stress free that it truely makes an American look down on such an industrial and fast paced lifestyle that soo many of us lead. In the words of a nice Italian I met, "you Americans are so stressed you have shakey hands, shakey hands!!! Enjoy what is around you, and take advantage of happy good things in your life!" WOW was my reaction when I heard that...truer words were never spoken. I feel sooo beyond blessed that I was given the opportunity for this trip. If Levi would have only been there with me to experience it as well, I'd say it was perfecto!!! :)

The day after I got back from Italy, my darlin and I met the attorneys and Mr. Carter at the bank, (the former owner of OUR house!) and we signed the contracts and numerous fancied up documents that basically stated...WE ARE OFFICIAL HOMEOWNERS!!!!! OMG!!!!!! That was such an amazing experience that we were able to enjoy together, and as I held the keys to our house, we just smiled and thanked God over and over for sending us eachother and allowing sooo many blessings and opportunities to constantly come our way. We have already been at our house doing yard work, and let me tell you, Levi looooves working in our yard!!!! He does such a great job, and laid back me finds great laughter and enjoyment working with him in the yard...we are truely a modern version of green acres! :) We have so much fun together, and I just cant wait to get inside the house and get to work. Carter will officially be moved out by the end of this month, and hopefully by then the Marine Core will have a date for Levi's August drill and we can set a date!!!!

BY THE WAY.....please keep us in your prayers as much as possible, because Levi was informed this past weekend drill that he may not have to go to complete his 6 week training in Alabama, but rather he may be able to complete 2 weeks here at the Rome unit instead due to financial situations, and his prior MOS training in North Carolina. This would soooo amazing and such a blessing, if it is God's will. We are both praying constantly that it is!!!! :)

We are now officially registered at JC penney, Wal-mart, and Target!!! We are soo excited about registering, and any and all contributions are most appreciated. Believe you me, as a young couple starting out, we are just happy to be together in 4 walls on 2.05 acres that we can call our own!!! :) They have the registry counteres in each store that can print off our registry list, and then it has a barcode that you have scanned when you make a purchase off of it. This allows the computer to check off what has already been purchased. Some of you may be aware of this, but this is all new ground for me! And it is beyond exciting!

Please keep us in your prayers, and I will try to be more tactful about blogging and keeping updates during this amazing and oh so fabulous time in our lives!!! :) Have a great day!

"We" signed a contract today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO EXCITED!!! :)

WE FOUND A HOUSE!!!!!!!! oh my goodness! Where to even start about the amazing blessings of this week! Last Saturday my darlin called me at work sounding very frantic. All i could think of was he got a massive bass, and I couldn't wait to hear about it! (Those of you who know him, know that his voice must have been pretty happy for me to be expecting that! haha) But boy was I ever wrong...he found a beautiful little house about 2 minutes from town, and he was beyond excited about it! So then of course, I became excited and just prayed to God that I loved it as much as he did! :) So after work we looked at just the outside, and it was GORGEOUS!!!! It is beautiful and antique, a house built in the 50's with a welcoming floral entrance, and a pecan tree and an apple tree! Those were two of my favorite things! :) The most exciting thing for me was that we were both excited and just smiling so big together, and the place suited us and our likes so well.

So then Sunday I had to work, and we made an appointment with the owner for as soon as I got off. Jenny and Keith and Cody brought my darlin and they all came and picked me up! We went and toured the inside, and it was just as beautiful as the outside. Everything about this house just beamed in my heart, and I was just overwhelmed by that intuition that God gives us females about things. I began to zone out while the owner was speaking, and I could just see us living in this house and starting our life together within those walls, and I could not have been happier!!! :) When we left, I could tell the look on Levi's face said the same thing as mine. We talked and decided this was the house for us, and we wanted to do anything in order to get it.

Levi called the man back and made him an offer and Monday morning we were at the bank filling out loan papers!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH it is beyond amazing how God takes care of us and our relationship. I love that man more than anything on this earth, and we cannot even believe all of this is happening but we know it is right. We do not know everything by any means, but that is the joy of it all...exploring life together. We do know we love eachother, and this house is for us. I felt it when we went inside, and I just cried that night thinking about how blessed we are to have eachother and such wonderful people working wth us! :) As of today, I have been going back and forth to the bank throughout the week, and Keith and I met the owner to sign the papers this morning that holds the house for us in time to process the loan! He signed for Levi, and I signed my name, and I literally could not contain myself!!!!! :) So to hear the bank put it, in a few more weeks, it should all be processed with hopefully not any problems, and the house will hopefully be ours!!!!! :):):):):):) I went and spoke with a lady at the bank to finalize some information this afternoon, and I have another appointment the first of next week with another banker. It was the best feeling ever having our names together on that piece of paper! To potentially have something that is ours, in our name, and the start of our life together. Nothing else matters as long as we have eachother, not the furniture, the paint, vacations, jewelry, I just want to be with my darlin in that house and for the rest of our lives!!!!! :)

My parents are coming up this weekend, and I am sooo excited!!! My little mama has already started offering to come up and provide some floral help, because she is amazing at growing flowers!!! I cant WAIT!!! :) Also, we decided, that if we get this house, that is the place we are going to get married!!!!! :) I've always wanted to be that girl getting married in her front yard, and I told Levi that if we get the house, I just couldn't imagine any other place being more romantic or more perfect than getting married in the front yard of our very first house together!!! :):) We are still figuring out a date, cause its going to be before May 09, our original date, we just don't know when yet. But after this busy week, we can take some relaxation time and figure out a date that works for us! This week has been amazing, and oh yes, I have the start of our paperwork already in a folder that i entitled, "our first house" documents!!!!" I called Levi today to tell him about it and he just laughed! :) I took a few minutes to decipher what the best name would be for our folder, so there you have it! haha It made me sooo excited just writing our house in the same sentence!!! I can't wait to learn all the things that come along with being a homeowner and a WIFE!!!!!!!! And most importantly, I get to learn and experience all these wonderful adventures and life changing things with my partner, and my best friend. We always tell eachother that everything is a partnership between he and I in all that we do, and that is all that matters. I love that man soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much....he is truely amazing. :)

I am BEYOND ready to marry that man and finding this house was nothing short of a miracle. We are so thankful!!! I love this time in our lives. It is sooo exciting and it just feels great to make our own decisions together, and to make them as a team. The only opinions and concerns we have are with one another, and I think that with all that love and consideration for one another, our house will be the warmest and happiest place on earth!!!! :) Please say prayers that everything continues to run smoothly!!! :)

Thank you Lord for sending us this place!!!!! and Thank you for sending me such a wonderful life partner and best friend!!!! :)

SO ITS BEEN FOREVER & A DAY....!

So it has been forever and a day since I have written, and I do apologize for non-updates!!! This semester has been CRAZY busy, but in 4 more weeks, I will be almost done, and my darlin will be home for a while from school! YAY! :) I was so excited because I went to stay with him and lacie earlier in the week for a couple of days, and we had such a great time! He had to come back home during the middle of the week for his monthly drill date, and he will be qualifying for the rifle range. I pray he gets expert, because that is the class he really wants, and I know he can do it. I miss him Like CRAZY, (2 crazy's in one entry, boy u can see how busy my life is right now!! haha) but thankfully I just got to talk to him, and he will be coming home tomorrow night! :)

As of right now, I am about 5 weeks away from heading to Italy for 2 weeks for a class required for my major. Well, the Italy destination is not required, but it sounds much better if you say it is! :) I'm a little freaked out about the plane ride, but you know, overall, I know It will be such an AMAZING experience! I especially stoked because I am going to get to actually teach a lesson in an Italian school setting! YAY for some culture!!! Hopefully this experience will better my teaching, and help me learn so much more!

My papa celebrated his 80th bday today, and I was so thankful that God gave us another year with him. He is such a fabulous papa. I miss him so much, and I wish I could see him more than I do now. It's so hard with a busy lifestyle and especially rising gas prices to make trips 3 and 4 hours away to see my family. (even though my fiancee does it constantly, bless his heart) I have had guilt about that many a times, but I know in my heart that I do make the best of the opportunities I get to see my family, and phones are always available for usage, and I use them! :)

We are currently looking for houses and wedding sites, and nothing is set in stone yet. We have found a fabulous wedding site; however, and we found a precious little house last weekend that just struck us in a good way! I love the adventures we have together in starting our life together! It's amazing learning and exploring life changing steps with your life "partner" whom u love so much. I love having this time to be with one another and make big decisions between the two of us, and being a wife just makes me smile soooo BIG everytime I think about it, (which is many times throughout my day!) :):) But anyhow, I have been procrastinating a paper that I should have wrote earlier, so I reckon I will go try and get on that...or maybe I'll put if off one more day till tomorrow and go to sleep!?!?....oh life is good! :)

I love love!!!!

"I adore you more than my own life..."
These words came out of my mouth about 15 minutes before my darlin left to head back down to tifton. :( WOW!!! I am soo blessed to be able to say those words and really, truely, 110% mean every bit of its in depth meaning. I miss him sooo much, and it just tore me up to watch his truck lights become more and more distant as he pulled out the driveway.

He is my best friend, and the one person in my life that I know wants to stay by my side through anything and everything without a moments notice. I know my parents, and close friends and family would too, but there is just something about having a love whose also your bestfriend that allows anything that life brings our way to seem as not a wall, but merely a bridge to help transport you over or through something onto something else. Levi is my bridge, and as we prayed together tonight before he left, it is only because of Jesus that we even know how to love. WOW!!! something else that seems so simple to say, but could keep one with their jaw dropped when they actually take in its meaning. God showed us love through Jesus's coming, and by giving us all life! Thinking about my feelings to levi reassure for me how blessed we are to ALL have God as that best friend, the person who is ALWAYS by our side walking and being with us constantly. God is also our bridge, and it is amazing what blessings He brings in lives to those who want to adore Him more than their own life. It's amazing how God sends us people to love in our lives that allows us to gain a smidget of a clue to His love for us. WOW!!!! Bad days are over people!!! that is amazing!

I start classes on wednesday, and then im heading to tifton on friday!!! i cant wait!!! The days without being with my darlin just make me realize how lost i feel without him. I am sooo thankful for the love that we have for one another, and for the faith that comes with that.

Even though im sitting on the couch thinking about him and wishing he was sitting here next to me, I realize how blessed we are to even be able to love eachother in the way that we do. That in itself is a miraculous gift. :)
Come on' friday!!! :)

I'm Back!!!!

*This was my remedy for alleviating itchy eyes from slicing onions!!! It worked!!!*

Let's just start this blog by saying....WHEW!!! It sure has been a long day!!! I had to come back from tifton :( where I have spent Sunday--this morning with my amazing darlin' and my bestest lacie mawie. I MISS THEM SOOO MUCH ALREADY!!! I had to be back for work this afternoon so It was a long drive, and then a long work shift. Now I am back at the Smith residence!

We had the BEST time this week!!! It always seems to amaze me how the long work weeks seem to never reach an ending point, yet fun and exciting days with the ones you love most seem to fly right out from under you, bop you on the head to force you back into reality, and then they are past memories! However, that is why it is always important to try and make the BEST memories!!!

Earlier this week, I had a cellulitous (sp?) infection on my arm that my precious second mama jenny cured with her T.L.C and extreme in depth knowledge about the medical world! Levi doctored it for me everyday in Tifton, twice a day! :) We hung out with lots of friends there, and I was blessed to meet some of the nicest people! It made me happy to see him have such great people to call on and hang out with while he's there! Lacie and I also got to have a lunch date together and have great conversation. She's such a great person, and I love her like a sister. We also got to lounge around for a bit on Monday and watch a great movie together!!! I love my lacie mawie!!!!!

We cooked last night (Levi & I).....i reiterate WE cooked...meaning I cooked too, and it came out great!!!! lol Like anyother 21 year old female, (I hope I'm not the only one! haha) I am working on,(in the little bit of spare opportunities I have in my life right now) trying to learn how to do some basic cooking so my future husband levi and I don't starve!!! haha We both made salsibury steak patties on top of warm buttery rice, and topped it all off with a helping of hot creame corn...YUM!!!!! It was wonderful!!!! I was sooo proud of us! We were cooking, singing and dancing, and occasionally passing some sugar to one another......... oh these are memories to cherish!!! :)

I can't Wait to head back to stay with them next weekend!!! Thank you Lord for such amazing people, and the amazing moments you allow us to have with one another!! Memories with the ones you love most, are truely what make life soo special :)

Words of Wisdom from my daddy...

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one. Therfore, what God has joined together let man not separate."

Matthew 19:4-6

A prayer for my best friend~Friday January 4, 2008

Tonight I made a phone call to one of my dearest friends, and perhaps my most inspirational influence in my life-Scott. He is an amazing person with a heart that could fill the entire universe with love. I love him sooo much, and he is going to be the ring bearer in mine and levi's wedding! It is because of his friendship and his gifted indescribable spirit that have led me to the education profession. Meeting Scott is truely an incredible life experience.

His voiced dropped when he picked up the phone, and when i asked him was he okay, he replied, "Im really sad, my mom has cancer." My heart dropped, and I could feel tears fill up my eyes, but I didn't dare want to make the situation any more difficult on him.

Long story short, his mom had felt a soreness in her throat, and when taking Scott to an ear checkup at Emory, they biopsied the growth. It was indeed melanoma cancer. His mom is such a strong willed and tough woman, that when she talked with me on the phone, I could hear her sense of strength and emotion beginning to turn to fear and worry. All i could do was listen, and reassure her that prayers will be sent her way. So PLEASE anyone who reads this, please prayer for Scott and Bonnie whenever you think about it, and please spread the word to others. Scott will be leaving in a week to start college in Warm Springs, a place that allows exceptional children like him to learn how to drive, live on their own, and function to their highest degree of potential in society. They are wonderful people, who are in desperate need of prayer...

*This really made me think about the day to day worries we all have....a walk in other's shoes makes us realize that forgetting to mail that letter, or forgetting to make that deadline really aren't that big of deals.*