Step By Step In Faith

New Pics Finally!

2008-11-20T21:58:00.001-05:00

The months have been busy since moving and I haven't had time to post. Here are a couple of pics of Nathan with his pumpkin and in his Bob the Builder costume! He continues to amaze us every day with all he knows and says. Tonight we were singing a song and he told me the Kookaburra song is 22. The CD it is on is my mom's, so I had to call her and check which number on the CD the song is. Sure enough, it is 22. She said that they haven't talked about the numbers of the songs for a couple of months. It amazed me that he remembered that!

We did take Nathan to a few houses for trick or treating this year and once he got the hang of it, had a lot of fun and asks to go again every so often.

We're In

2008-08-18T21:12:00.002-04:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. It's been busy and crazy lately, but we have been in our house now for one week! Yeah! It is such a blessing to be in our own house, not an apartment or a rent house. I finally feel like I can relax easier at home. Of course that will be better once all the boxes are unpacked and everything has found it's place. Until then the unorganization and clutter will stress me a little! Our house is amazing! Our builder did such a wonderful job. I will post the final pics soon! Now that we are in, everyone is welcome to come visit at any time! We have plenty of room!

Colors

2008-06-24T15:39:00.009-04:00

We finally settled on paint colors for the interior of the house. We got to pick 2 colors and a neutral that would be put in most of the rooms. We settled on a taupe color for the neutral which I love seeing it up on the walls. We picked a green for the kitchen/keeping room area and a color called spicy hue for the dining room/powder bathroom. It is definitely spicy! Like the color of chili powder! They put the cabinets in and will finish with a second coat of paint. We are looking at being able to close the end of July.
Nathan and I spent the morning at the pool with some friends which was very nice. It is a public pool at Harrison Bay State Park, so you can see the bay from the pool area which is really cool. I love all the scenery around here! The summer weather has been nice so far. It has only gotten up into the low/mid 90's and still cools off at night. July and August are supposed to be the hottest months here so we'll see how they are. Brent and I are going rafting this weekend for our anniversary. I am so excited! It is nice to have those activities nearby!

The stairs and family room with the taupe color
The tile in the master bath. The red room will
be an enclosed shower.

Our "spicy" dining room

The island/bar where the sink and dishwasher

will be. It is looking into the keeping room.

Where the cooktop will be.

The refrigerator, oven and microwave will be on this wall.

New Pics

2008-06-17T09:45:00.009-04:00

Master bedroom ceiling

Our stairs leading up to the loft/play area and

the upstairs bedrooms

Here are some new pics from the house. They are finishing all the inside trim and we are picking out paint colors which we hope look as good on the walls as they look on the computer or the little paint strip thing. After the paint, the cabinets will go in and we picked out all our light fixtures this past weekend. It is coming along nicely.

Healing

2008-06-05T12:03:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday night I ended up in the ER with stomach pains. After having them for about 11 hours, Brent decided it was time to go make sure it wasn't serious. I have irritable bowel syndrome, so I am used to getting through the day with having a lot of stomach pain at times. So, even with the pain, I just kept working to finish the day out, then walked our dogs that evening before dinner, and kept debating on whether or not it might be appendicitis. After Brent read some of the tests to see if it is and tried them and caused an increase in my pain symptoms, we decided to go get it checked out. We spent most of the night in ER and finally after my first CT scan wasn't discernable enough for the ER docs to say "yes it is your appendix", we were transferred to a room to await another CT scan with contrast and the arrival of a surgeon. The surgeon wasn't one hundred percent positive that it was my appendix, but decided it might just be the early stages and he should look at it to make sure, so within 15 minutes of talking with him, I was headed for surgery. It turned out that my appendix was slightly inflammed, so I caught in the early stages of something happening to in and thankfully the surgeon was able to remove it laprascopically so it was a quick procedure and I was ready to leave the hospital by late Friday afternoon. For an unexpected stay at the hospital, I must say that it was a good experience. I wasn't sure which ER to go to about the couple in town, but I am glad that I picked the one we went to. The Memorial Hospital staff were great. I have actually worked there a couple of days for my company, but all I knew was the therapy side, but since I was a little familiar with that hospital, we picked to go there and I am thankful. You never know with hospitals and I am very picky, especially with working in healthcare. I am healing and haven't taken any pain pills today so that is a plus! And, they even send me home with pictures of my appendix! I do appreciate Brent who waited with me all night and day and didn't get any sleep. It was good to have him there all day. I am also so thankful that my parents were here to care for Nathan so he could go through his regular routine with Brent and I being gone. Our pastor came to visit after the surgery was over and our lifegroup called, brought me flowers, and brought us food. God has definitely blessed us here with people who care!

Another week

2008-05-17T13:40:00.006-04:00

A couple more pictures of the house. The outside just needs paint on the siding and the columns on the front porch and posts on our back deck for the screened in porch area. The hardwood floors went in this past week and tile is going in next week. It is coming along and very exciting to see everything. We are definitely blessed with this house.

I have been back at work for two weeks now. It has been harder than I thought. I am primarily working with adults now, which is physically exhausting and learning all the new locations with my job is hard too. I've been in one hospital and two nursing homes and will start doing some home health this coming week as well as get oriented to another hospital. It is different not having the same clients as I just go where different places need extra help or coverage. I really miss working with kids. But, it is the way that God is providing for us right now so I am thankful even with all the challenges that have come with working again. I am learning about some aspects of therapy around here and I will be keeping my eyes open for a pediatric position.

I am missing being away from Nathan more. I thought that adjustment would be easier since I worked before we moved, and am continually thankful that he gets to spend each day with Nana and Papa.

I got to spend the morning stamping cards with some friends from church while Brent hung out with Nathan and now Brent is at the movies with some friends so it is good to not have to think about work and everything else for awhile. Everything is going good. We are continuing to get involved in our church and are so thankful for God leading us there and giving us opportunities to serve. The weather has been awesome. I think the hottest it has been so far is maybe the low 80s, but it has mostly been in the 70s and cool at night. We are really enjoying the moderate temperatures here!! Enough of my rambling, I have things to get done around the house while Nathan is napping.

Progress

2008-05-02T08:34:00.004-04:00

The brick is finished and they have started the drywall this week. The exterior siding needs to be painted and the stone needs to be put on the front area that is not bricked. Brent and I have been picking out paint colors and need to go paint the two we like on the siding to see if they blend with the brick.

I go back to work Monday. Thankfully it is only 4 days next week and now that my parents are here they will be helping with watching Nathan. I am so grateful that they are willing to help with watching him. Leaving him again will be hard, but knowing he will be with my parents does make it a little easier. I am trying to decide what to do with him on our "last day". If I can get my act together here this morning, we will probably go downtown and ride the carousel he loves or do the aquarium again. Yesterday we went to the park with our dogs and Nana and ate lunch there and went and got ice cream. It was funny because we were blowing bubbles and I asked Nathan if he wanted to go get ice cream and he said "no, more bubbles" two separate times. I haven't ever heard a kid turn down ice cream for bubbles! I think he knew it meant leaving the park and he was having too much fun!

Coming Along

2008-04-21T16:29:00.006-04:00

the back of our house- the area where the roof is extended

will be a screened in porch and we'll have a deck extending from

that to the side of the house.

The roof is on, the windows and doors are in, and we have electrical wiring in. The plumbing should be put in this week. We are so excited to be able to walk in all the rooms and see how they are coming along. Brent and his two accountibility partners went out to the house a couple of weeks ago and prayed over it, that God would continue to provide for it and that He would use it to His glory to minister to others once we move in. We want our doors to always be open and for our house to be a place of refuge where all who enter to experience God's peace and mercy. God is totally blessing us with this house and we want to give it back to Him.

I go back to work in 2 weeks, so I will have to readjust to being a working mom again. I am so thankful for the time I did get to stay at home with Nathan and I will always treasure it and am even more thankful for my parents being here to take care of him for us.

Nana and Papa Are Here!

2008-04-09T10:53:00.006-04:00

My parents arrived here in Chattanooga yesterday and Nathan is thrilled to have them here. I think he will be very happy when he realizes that they aren't leaving. We took them out to show them the house last night. They are starting on the roof. It is cool because we know can walk into every room and get a good feel for the house. Have a great day!

BMW Ultimate Drive

2008-03-28T14:29:00.004-04:00

I spent the morning at the BMW dealership here in Chattanooga (not a place I normally hang out!) with a group of ladies from our church. The dealership was hosting The Ultimate Drive which BMW donates a $1.00 per mile driven to Susan G. Komen for breast cancer research. Anyone with a valid driver's license can go and drive as many times as you want and pick the BMW you drive. I drove the X5 since I love SUVs, but the other ladies I was with drove convertibles and some others. I also got to drive 12-15 miles on the course they map out, so it was nice. I'll post a picture later when I get it from my friend. It was fun and cool getting to drive a very nice car and knowing I was helping a great cause. I know that BMW does this nationwide, so I would encourage you to check out to see if it is or will be going on near you! www.bmwusa.com/theultimatedrive

My First Trip to the Driving Range

2008-03-27T16:21:00.004-04:00

We finally took Nathan to the driving range a cou[le of weeks ago. He loved it. And thankfully he only tried to go running out toward where everyone else was hitting only once. They had a practice hole with a flag that noone else was using so we hung out there most of the time so he wouldn't get in the way of the other golfers. Now Brent just needs to make him his own clubs. Nathan loves playing golf at the park. He would run around hitting his ball for hours if we would let him.

The Walls Are Going Up!

2008-03-26T23:10:00.008-04:00

After 3 weeks of delays with our bank, we finally got things straightened out and our builder started framing this week. It is so exciting to see the walls going up and to get a feel for how the house will be. God is blessing us so much with this house and hopefully we will glorify Him with how we use it and spend our time in it. Visitors will be welcome at any time!! (once we are in of course, right now it might be a little cold at night! Ha!)

Everything is going well. We are getting involved in a great church, ChristWay Community Church. Brent is getting to help start the men's ministry and I am going to help in the preschool and have been asked to speak at a breakout session for the next women's event, so it is exciting to be used and involved again. We are going to a lifegroup and beginning to make some great friends. God is so good!

Enjoy the pics of the walls!

The side/front

The dining room

My Kitchen, which is going to be so awesome! And one of the reasons we why picked our builder. He came up with the design and I loved it after seeing it in his home.

The back of our house with a door to the storage area

or Brent's "tomb" as he is calling it.

The front of the house

More Pics

2008-03-07T11:19:00.013-05:00

Here are some more pics of the crawl space/foundation area of the work that was done this week to finish up the foundation and get the house ready for framing. We are excited for the framing so we can see how the house feels. It is a different experience just picking out a house you like from a floorplan, not ever having been in it.

Nate throwing rocks into a puddle in the 'garage'

Brent standing at the tallest point, 11 cement blocks high

Brent standing on the wall between the garage
and what will be the kitchen.

Nate loves all the rocks!

Nathan and me on our future driveway

Up and Running Again

2008-03-03T14:14:00.006-05:00

I haven't written in a very long time. We had to change our routine with living in a second floor apartment with a two year old and 2 large dogs and that routine pretty much consumed our time, so I had no time to write and share what God has been doing in our lives. We are now in a rent house, a huge blessing from God, and have begun building our house. That is another HUGE blessing from God. God has been doing so many awesome things in our lives lately and I can't wait to share all about them. However right now I really need a shower after working out and taking Nathan to swim lessons at the YMCA this morning and to spend some time preparing for the Bible study I am attending tonight. So, I will leave with a picture of the current status of our house, the cement blocks for the crawl space, exciting to us, maybe not to you, but here it is!! (It looks kind of like a prison at this point. This is a side view.)

Angels Among Us

2007-12-18T09:13:00.000-05:00

Almost everyday in the afternoon I take Nathan and our dogs to a nearby park to walk the dogs and then I let Nathan play golf and whatever else he wants to do. It was colder yesterday, in the mid 40s, so the park wasn't busy. Usually there are a lot of kids playing and a lot of people walking or walking their dogs. There were a few kids that left as we arrived and one other couple walking. When I was nearing the end of walking our dogs, the couple stopped me and asked how much longer I was going to be at the park and I said that I was going to finish my walk and then let my son play for awhile. The man said that they didn't want to leave me in the park alone. I said that was fine as I had been there with just Nathan and the dogs before, so I didn't mind. Then they pointed out that there was this van in the parking lot that kept changing parking places and it appeared strange to them. I had noticed the van when I arrived and that someone was sitting in it, but then didn't pay anymore attention to it. As they told me that I looked over and saw that it was in a different place. They said they could do a couple more laps if I was going to be a little longer, as I needed to let Nathan run around a little bit before we left. I headed back to my car to put the dogs in and as I was doing so the van drove away. The nice people stayed until Nathan and I were finishing up on the swings. So I don't know if the person/people in the van had other plans, but praise God for good people who took the time to care and look out for a complete stranger. The other strange thing is at the beginning of that last lap before the people talked to me, my one dog who is our guard dog kept walking in front of me and stopping so I couldn't go any further. I just thought she was cold, but maybe God was trying to get my attention through her and then had to use the people since I wasn't listening. I will definitely stay more alert now, as I never thought about it or felt unsafe at that park before. I am very thankful for my "angels" who were looking out for me.

Psalm 91: 9-12 "If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your dwelling. For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone."

Ready for Christmas

2007-12-14T14:11:00.001-05:00

Nathan was busy playing with his Snoopy snowglobe and a small nativity set today. I had to get a couple of pics as he had put the Santa hat on himself while he was playing. He loves the nativity set and has been carrying baby Jesus around today. He has a book that describes the Christmas story in simple pictures and words for him to understand at his age, so when he saw the nativity set today and I told him all the names of the people and animals that are the same as in his book, he was very excited and stood there naming everyone and telling the story in his own words. It was very cool to watch him!

Visiting with Nana and Papa

2007-11-20T21:54:00.000-05:00

My parents came to visit the first part of November. It was wonderful having them here. I wanted to get some pictures up from our visit and I will write more about it later.

Knoxville Zoo

2007-10-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

Saturday we took Nathan to the Knoxville Zoo so he could see some of the larger animals like elephants, zebras, giraffes, that they don't have at the zoo here. He had a great time. He couldn't see the gorillas at first when they were on the far side of their habitat, but luckily we were still nearby when the zookeeper came by to feed them, so we went back to watch them and Nathan was running along the path looking off into the bushes saying "Gorilla? No, no gorilla." It was really funny. He really liked the zebras and elephants. They had a cool play area at the end of the zoo for kids to run around and play which was nice for Nathan after being in his stroller most of the time. Here are some pictures from our visit.

Another Favorite Park

2007-10-17T15:19:00.000-04:00

These are from a park that is only 5 minutes away that I have been taking Nate to frequently. It also has a great walking trail that I have been taking the dogs a lot to get them out of the apartment since they get very stir crazy not having a yard. I love this park because of the squishy track surface under the swings and slides. Nate had to go in search of some dirt and bark to play with, though. He is a typical boy who would rather play in the dirt!! I am so thankful for these days that I get to spend with him and not worry about working. They are SUCH a blessing. I love hanging out with him and taking him to the park or somewhere to play each day.

Our Day at the Corn Maze

2007-10-14T20:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Enchanted Maize that is held in Lookout Valley every year. Nathan had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day to be outside. The maze was fun, but finding our way out turned into being a challenge. Each maze had a set of questions, when answered correctly, would give you directions on how to get out of the maze. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to get the answers right as we found ourselves going around in circles. So we decided to find the way we got into the maze and just get out that way. I guess we need to find out more about corn farming and Chattanooga history to answer the questions for next year. Plus, Nathan decided it was more fun to play in the dirt rather than follow Brent and I through the maze. After the maze, we let Nathan ride the cow train and we all went on a hayride where we enjoyed eating Kettle Korn the entire time. Yummy!! Nathan also got to pick out a small pumpkin to take home. It was a fun morning.

It Finally Feels Like Fall!

2007-10-11T23:36:00.000-04:00

Today our high was 69 and it was a beautiful day!! Our low should be about 47 and the high tomorrow is going to be around 73! I love cooler temperatures. I would wear a sweater and jeans year round if the weather permitted. Our last few weekends have been filled with looking at neighborhoods and houses in Chattanooga and north Georgia. We are trying to get a feel for where we might want to live and learn about school districts and find places convenient for Brent to get to work and all that. It is kind of overwhelming, but at least we have some time to decide. Since I hadn't posted anything in awhile I thought I would share a couple of pictures from tonight of Nathan wearing his new Spiderman jammies that he got from Brent's parents for his birthday. He likes to scrunch up his face trying to smile for the camera. The other picture is of my boys watching football. Nate loves to watch football and golf, especially golf, with Brent. He will ask for golf and then get his club and study the players while they swing and then copy them. It is very funny to watch!

This weekend we are going to a corn maze which is a huge annual thing they do here every fall, so it should be fun. So, we'll see if we can make it out easily or not. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures from that.

Another Day at the Park

2007-09-26T09:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took Nathan back to ride the carousel and to play in the splash fountain. It has been warmer these past few days, so playing in the water was nice. I splashed around with him! It is so nice not working for now and getting to spend more time with him. I am so thankful for this time!! Today I am thinking that we'll go to the Y so I can work out and then head to a park to play.

Zoo Trip

2007-09-24T21:19:00.001-04:00

"Fried Pickle anyone?"

"Nice goat, nice goat!"

"What are you looking at?"

"Ridem cowboy"

"No Nathan, the cougar is just sleeping."

"Hello Mr. Big Monkey"

"My first monkey visit"

Saturday we took Nate to the Chattanooga zoo, which isn't very big, but he seemed to enjoy it. They have primarily smaller animals, with the largest being the chimpanzees, snow leopards, a cougar, and a camel. Unfortunately no elephants or zebras, which Nathan asked about zebras when we told him where we were going. He liked the friendly chimpanzee at the window who made faces back at you and ran right up to the goats and donkey. So, even though it was small, it was a good first zoo outing. We'll have to take a trip to Atlanta, Knoxville, or Nashville, whichever has the larger zoo so Nathan can see some zebras and elephants.

After our zoo trip we drove around for awhile and found a restaurant called Bones Smokehouse. The picture is of our fried pickles and we had already eaten a lot!! Nathan even liked the fried pickles and liked dipping them in ranch. Brent had a stuffed baked potato with pulled pork, I had a salad topped with beef and a BBQ vinaigrette salad dressing, and Nate had chicken fingers. It all was so yummy! We will definitely be going back.

Nathan's Birthday

2007-09-21T22:11:00.000-04:00

At 10:30 pm we will have had Nate in our lives (in addition to the 9 months I carried him) for 2 years. I posted one of the first pictures that was taken of us as a family. It is hard to believe that he is now 2. He is so amazing and such a wonderful gift from God. He is saying new words everyday and knows the names and sounds for most animals even if he can't say them perfectly. He can also name all of the Backyardigans and the Wiggles characters. Pablo is his favorite Backyardigan and he draws out the 'y' when he says Tyrone and it cracks me up. I guess he is getting his southern Tennessee drawl! I took a picture of him when he woke up this morning. He had a good day. Waffles for breakfast, then grocery shopping with mom having fun naming all the fruits and vegetables, and then I took him to lunch at Panera Bread for grilled cheese. After that we went and bought balloons for his birthday and came home. I made his cake while he napped and then Brent got home early and helped me make spaghetti for Nate's birthday dinner, which is one of his favorites. We ended the day with cake, presents and talking to Nana and Papa (my parents) and Grandma and Grandpa (Brent's parents) on the phone. Nate got lots of fun presents including a stuffed hippo from Nana and Papa. He is in this hippo obsession stage. He loves hippos! Brent and I got him a play hut and he got much needed fall clothes and pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa. He also got some other good things. Nathan loved his Pablo cake and had to move his piece of cake to each of the different Backyardigans plates that I got. He ate off of his Pablo plate, then wanted his cake on my Tasha and Uniqua plate and then on Brent's Tyrone and Austin plate, talking about the characters the whole time. Tomorrow we are taking him to the zoo to continue the celebration.

Happy birthday Nathan!! We love you!!

A Day at the Park

2007-09-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

Nathan and I spent the morning yesterday at Coolidge Park in downtown Chattanooga. It was a fun day for Nathan with riding the zebra on the carousel twice and playing for a long time in the splash fountain. It is really cool with different levels of water that spray up and with the stone animals, like the lion, all around that squirt out water intermittently. After that we went and watched boats on the river before heading home.

Today we went to the YMCA so I could work out and Nathan could play with the other kids in the childcare area for awhile and then headed to the park with all the wooden structures to play. So it has been two busy mornings with lots of fun for Nathan!

Our Weekend

2007-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend consisted of driving down to Calhoun, GA to the outlet mall on Saturday. It is about 50 miles from where we live, but it didn't seem like a long drive with all the trees to look at along the way. I found Gap jeans for $27, so I will definitely be going back. All of the pictures are from Sunday. We didn't make it to church as we found another church we want to try and it is only meeting every other week at this point and it meets next week. Instead we went to the Chattanooga Market, which is an outdoor market with musicians, food, and booths for people to sell crafts they've made and local farm produce. It was small but nice, and meets every Sunday April through December. Nathan got a balloon puppy there and unfortunately insisted upon draggin puppy's nose on the ground until puppy popped. He just didn't understand where puppy went. When we got in the car he kept asking for "puppy". After this, we went to Coolidge Park, which is only a few minutes from where we were, so we went to take Nathan on the carousel. He loves the zebra and kept saying 'zebra' when I was talking to him about what animal he wanted to ride. After that we went and watched the boats on the river and got an ice cream cone at a local place called Clumpies http://www.clumpies.com/ . We really like Clumpies. We can get an ounce of ice cream in a cup for Nathan, which is just enough for him and pick from all their different locally made flavors for a cone for us. One of the strangest is Firecracker, tutti frutti ice cream with pop rocks on top. I haven't ventured to try that yet.

That was our weekend. We love having downtown so close to us. I am thinking that I will take Nathan back to a splash park that is next to the carousel this week. He was mad that he couldn't go play in the water yesterday. So, hopefully I'll have more pictures from that this week.

Why I decided to write

2007-09-12T12:11:00.000-04:00

I never thought I would write a blog. I read them, but I am not really one for sharing my thoughts with just anyone, but with our move to Tennessee and that I am not working right now, I have more time and thought I would set something up to keep family and friends in on what we are up to here. Also, it is clearly evident that God directed all the steps of this move and we just had to step out in faith, something Brent and I don't always like doing because we like our comfort zone. But, to see God work in the past several weeks has been incredible. He has ordered all our steps, recent events in our lives both good and hard, to this point. I don't know what all He has for us here, but I am excited to see. While taking a step of faith is often hard, especially to nudge yourself to do it, God is always faithful in return leading and confirming that step. One thing I am loving is all the trees! After growing up in part of the Rockies, our land bordered on a national forest, and then ending up in Dallas, the trees, landscape, and nice views were lacking. The Smokies and Appalachians look totally different than the Rockies, but to have trees and small mountains again, I love it!! I can't wait for the leaves to start turning as it cools off. Here are a couple of pictures from one of our new favorite parks. There is a walking trail, an awesome wooden and tire play structure and a train to climb into!! We have made several trips to this park already.