Good things and then not so much...

Well, it's been soooo long since we've updated our blog and now, there's a ton of stuff to tell you. It's about 3 am here and Dave flew out tonight for Sarasota until Sunday night. He's trying to finish up the documentary as soon as he can...but I can't sleep, so I'll fill you in all the drama:

First, we made the move back to Pensacola! Yay!! Pewter is adjusting well. He's actually venturing from the house to the garage now (he wasn't allowed to before) and now we're waiting to see when he discovers outside. Life has been unbelievably Crazy (with a capital C) the last few weeks. First it was moving in the middle of a tropical storm. Then one of my best friends called and I made a spontaneous decision to go on a road trip with her and support her while she tried out for American Idol in Memphis. (Got this? From Orlando to Pensacola to Memphis back to Pensacola all in six days...all driving!) Dave and I have been settling in since we got back and he's started his new job back with WHBR and things were going okay. Now, ever since my last week of work (several weeks ago), my car is the one we've been driving everywhere because his car overheated and I had to drive a rental until he came back from Sarasota. (A whole other story in itself.) So my car was the only good one. Key word...was.

We left Wednesday evening to go clothes shopping for Dave and he was driving my car. It had been drizzling on and off and we were about a mile and a half from the house when three or four cars slammed on brakes in front of us. Dave slammed on brakes and tried to veer, but on the wet road, my car just slid and didn't even really slow down. My little Sentra slammed into the back of a Dodge Ram with a hitch on the back. Long story short, we're okay (I have a nasty little bruise from the seat belt), but my little car that I have had for EIGHT YEARS, my very first car, is a total loss.

I know it's material, but you don't understand how emotional it is. I spent half of my teenage and adult life in that car. I drove it off the lot with 12 miles on it (12!), leased brand new, and it was with me the last two years of high school, all through college, summers, trips, cruising on the beach, homecomings, getting married and driving it off on our honeymoon, to and from Orlando, to and from Brian Free concerts, drove Brian Free in that car, high school graduation...honestly, anything that's happened to me in the last eight years probably somehow included my little Nissan Sentra. I knew I would have to part with it someday, but I never thought it would be like this. So now with a little over 165,400 miles on it, my good little car will be laid to rest in some salvage yard somewhere probably.

The next post I'll put up photos of the car and tell you about the little blessing in the midst of all of this. As for right now, it's one of those times you reeeeeeally don't understand God's timing and reasoning, but you just keep telling yourself to believe He's got a purpose in the midst of it all. Even though this makes NO sense to me (I'm not even teaching yet!), there has to be a reason this happened right now. I just don't see it yet.

July 4th Photos and More Pewter Pics

My aunt Glennis and uncle Addison making homemade ice cream for us


John, Jason, Ellen, Josh, Rachel, Cheryl in my parents' kitchen in line for food


Ellen, Jason, Teresa, and Ian


Moms and Babies...okay, here goes:
Rebecca, Cheryl with Talia, Rachel with Jenna, Carol with her little girls (sorry!), and Dee with Abigail

The flash on our camera is really bright, so Pewter's eyes are glowing evilly...


Cat in a bag


Handsome king of the house


Ready to pounce


He owns this bag


Fuzzy, but really funny...he hates us here (trimming his claws)


What he does most of the time...

Oh how I love him...

I just want to say how much I truly love my husband and how deeply in love I am with him. He's given me more than I could have ever hoped...he's my best friend, my soulmate and my forever love. He means more to me than words can say. And I'm so grateful he loves me. I'm so thankful he decided to spend his life with me. I used to say prayers for my future husband when I was younger, never knowing who it would be or what he would be like. All of my prayers were answered and God gave me someone even greater than I could ask for. He's my shoulder to cry on, my sounding board to vent on, my friend to laugh with, and one of the few that love me in spite of all the faults and shortcomings. Our love has only grown deeper and stronger the past few years. There's nothing else on this earth that compares to the peace and comfort of lying in the arms of the person you know is part of you, part of your heart. I believe with all of my heart that God created us for each other, and that no matter what came our way, we would find each other in this world. And we did. God led us to each other and my life became forever different because I met Dave. He's half of who I am. Because of that, I am the most blessed woman on this earth. I am forever blessed because of that.

Danielle's Graduation Photos

Me, Danielle, and Dave


Me, Dave, Nancy (Dave's former nanny), Bonnie McFarland (friend of the Flaton's), Danielle, Hannah (their new adopted daughter), David, and Mary


A very cute couple in love

If I was excited about July 4th...

Okay, so I guess it's time for an update from us. I was doing pretty good for a while. But things have been pretty crazy since we came back from our visit home.

Fourth of July weekend was so much fun for us! We got to spend more time with friends and family...and the best part was obviously the party on Monday night. We had the chance to hang out with our Harvest friends, and Jason and Ellen, Josh and Dee and Abigail Rose...it was such a nice time for us. We didn't get blown up by all the fireworks, thank God. For a while before the party, Dave didn't think he was going to set them off because of the burn ban. But, despite the power going out several times, we had a lot of food (my aunt made homemade ice cream), a lot of friends (and babies), a great fireworks show (with only one dud), and we just had a great time hanging out with our closest peeps. Again, because we don't have a digi camera anymore, I'll post some pics once we get the film developed and the pictures scanned. (The old-fashioned way!)

As most of you already know...things have been really crazy because we're making plans and getting everything ready...to move back to Pensacola! I'll try to contain my excitement. Basically, the short version of it is, we both felt as though our time in Orlando is finished. Dave is finishing the documentary, and we realize that the smartest decision we could make would be to move back and cut costs for our financial obligations and to help save money for a home in the next year or so. We'll be staying in my parents' house, which is large enough for us to have some space until we are ready to purchase a home. So...we're giving up having a place of our own for a while, but then we'll get to have a house warming party, and I can paint the walls and decorate however I wish! We both have peace about the decision and things have fallen into place since we decided to go back. God has been confirming it to us in different ways and we're excited to see what's ahead of us. Right now, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted knowing that we will be able to be prepared financially for our future and getting much of our debt down. It's definitely a "God thing" that the timing has really worked out and God has given me favor with my employer here. So, more details to come...but for now, we'll be heading home on Saturday, Sept. 2nd. And of course, it's a holiday weekend...but this time, we'll be there to stay!

Can you say I'm excited?

I can't wait to go home next week. It's going to be like a little mini-vacation...we're going to see my family, our friends, go to cookouts, and best of all...relax! I haven't had a paid vacation since New Years'...this isn't paid, but I sure miss taking a little vacation.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Dave and I will probably be going back down to St. Pete to this great record store I heard of last week. We went there for his sister's graduation, he went to Sarasota this week to work on the documentary stuff, and now he wants to go again! I think he knows the drive will be worth it, though. He's kinda stoked about this record "warehouse." Yeah.

I just realized how badly my car needs to be washed and detailed. I might do it this weekend...I don't know. I need to clean it, though, before we take it home next week. Poor Dave...his car is about to go out on him. He's so tired of it, he wants to set the thing on fire and watch it burn. We're trying to decide if it's worth putting the money back into it or just bite the bullet and have a car payment. In any case, it needs to have stuff done to it before we trade it in or sell it. No more Chryslers, Dodges, Plymouths, or Jeeps for us...EVER. My little car has been with me since I started driving, pretty much. It's been through a lot, and it's a little beaten up, but it's been such a good car to me. My dad has maintained it so well, and now Dave has been passed the torch. It has about 155,000 miles on it, and it's never needed anything major replaced or anything. Just good maintenance. I love Nissan. My dad's trying to get like 300,000 miles or something crazy like that on his 1990 Maxima. Of course, every other day it seems, he's being brought home by AAA. The towing service guys know him by name...no joke. But he's set on keeping his little Maxima. My funny daddy.

Busy last week

Last week was a pretty busy week for us. We had a lot to get done around the house, Friday was Danielle's (Dave's sister) high school graduation and Saturday we had company over for lunch.

The graduation was good...it reminded me a lot of my graduation. (I went to a small Christian school.) Danielle was homeschooled and the cirriculum she used was from a school (I think) based in Seminole, outside of Tampa. It was held in a big Baptist church which was pretty full with all the graduates, families and friends. Dave and I were so proud of Danielle. She graduated with honors and has recieved a scholarship and is going to Oral Roberts University (ORU) in the fall to major in Pre-Med. It had been a long time since we had seen her and this was definitely a good place to see her! (We accidentally broke our digital camera, so we had to use film to take pictures...so we'll have some up as soon as we can.)

While we were there, we met Dave's nanny (when he was little), Nancy, and saw one of their family's friends, Bonnie. The last time we saw Bonnie was at our wedding and it was so good to see her again. We invited both of them over to our place on Saturday for lunch and fellowship. It was so wonderful to sit and chat with these two ladies. They were so gracious and sweet...it was a blessing to have spent a couple days with them.

For those of you who are in Pensacola, we'll be making a trip home for July 4th. We'll be leaving Friday night, June 30 and we'll be there Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and part of Tuesday. I'm happy...usually, if it's a long weekend, we have to leave on Monday. This time, we get a little extra time to spend with family and friends. Always nice.

Little things make me happy. When Dave started school after we moved to Orlando, I gave up my highlights as part of our "bare" living expenses. Now, you've got to understand, I started getting highlights when I was like 12 or 13..and had consistently had them done up until Dave starting school. It was traumatic letting them grow out...I had forgotten what my natural color looked like! I made due and soon, my whole head was DARK brown. Dave has since graduated school and is working consistently and I've gotten a better-paying job...soooo...I decided it was time for a little TLC for my hair again. I got highlights last week (blond and reddish) and it looks SO great! I'm so happy with the way it turned out and I am so happy not to look in the mirror and see brown! Okay...I'm done. I just wanted to share my little happiness with you all. You'll see when we post the pics how much of a difference it makes. Thank God for highlights!

It's the weekend!

Today is Saturday and all is wonderful...it's the weekend! I got to sleep in and today we're just going to chill and run some errands. Actually, Dave had to be at the TD Waterhouse to help load in for the Faith Hill/Tim McGraw concert this morning and he has to be back later tonight to load out...but besides that, we're just gonna relax today.

Things have been going well here...we went home to Pensacola last weekend for Memorial Day. We had a lot of fun with family and friends. Saturday, Dave and I went to see his jeweler-friend, Kristina, because I wanted to set my engagement ring (the diamond) a little higher, so we left the ring with her so she could change it for us. We hung out at the mall, went to a few stores, and hung out with family for the rest of the day. Sunday, we to church with my family and went to lunch and then Dave went to Harvest to practice for the very last Kids Stuff. It was so good...it was chaos and fun, and they had so many characters back for one last night. After Harvest, we went to visit our friends' new house, Rich and Jenn. They had just bought a new house the day before and had everyone over for pizza and fellowship. We ended up driving around Perdido Key after we left, trying to find a safe place to walk out to the beach. There are SO many new condos going up at Perdido...which is cool, but our spot where we would park and walk out to the beach was gone. So anyway, we found a place finally and spent a little while with each other on the beach. Monday, a bunch of us met at Rave to see the new X-Men 3 movie. It was not my idea. I only went because I knew Dave really wanted to go and he really wanted me to go with him. Yeah, it was...yeah. There was me, Dave, Rich, Jenn, Rich's brother Tim, Ian, Teresa, Rebekah, and James. In all, it was a really good weekend. Just went by too quick.

Dave is doing good. The documentary is coming along...he should start editing it next month. In the mean time, he's doing extra stuff so he won't get too bored with weddings. I'm doing well...in case you didn't know, I'm a Market Research Analyst for Antelco. They manufacture, market, and distribute micro-irrigation products. I'm thinking about possibly getting my teaching certification, maybe going into teaching...we'll see. I like where I am now, but I still don't know if it's where I should be. We'll see.

Our little kitty is not so little now. He's probably 20 pounds or so and he's really not that fat. He's just a big kitty. And he's only 10 months old! Since we have gotten him neutered, he's filled out more...not as skinny as he used to be...but he's our little baby. We love him so much. All of our friends who got married around the time that we did are having babies. We're just not ready for that yet. We still like having our freedom and we're still young...we don't want the obligation of a child yet. So, for now, we have our little kitty. And he's enough of a handful and responsibility for us right now. And that's our little, happy family.

Our little kitty is growing up...

Precious.
Pewter can be found here often
Waiting on the bugs...
One of his favorite places to be
One of his favorite toys...a milk jug ring and a rope

Not so much...

Fun times with our kitty

Hello everyone...just thought I'd share some funny photos from our kitty cat Pewter. We had a big bag full of tissue paper that 'someone' got into. Dave emptied the bag out and lots of attacking and hiding ensued. Here ya go...enjoy. (If you see him under the paper, chances are, we didn't cover him up...he ran under them and was in hiding...)

Fell in the hamper Trying to get out

And one of us

Some fun on Saturday

This past Saturday, one of my very best friends, Laura Scheuch, celebrated her birthday. She had a few of her friends go out with her and her parents to have some fun. We all went to a very cool place in Kissimmee called Old Town. It's one of the coolest free things to do here. Beautiful (and not so beautiful) classic cars are parked along the streets and then cruise down the main road later. They have live music and dancing, cute little shops, rides, ice cream shops...it's really nice. And the best part...it's free! Here are some pics from Old Town...

Laura's friend, Torrell, and Laura

Laura and her friend Mark

Torrell and her dancing partner

My mother in 15 years

Granny's cutting a rug out there

A Chevy Roadster

Herbie

Oh what an itty bitty car..the Nash Metropolitan

Saved the best for last...the Shelby Cobra.

Mama and Daddy Scheuch. How sweet.

Some fun pics

As I last posted, Dave and I went home for my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary party. We had so much fun. I helped get the program running and flowing, Dave helped with emceeing and did such a good job. Here are some photos from the weekend:

Us all dressed up and purty

Glennis, Mom, and Ricky (Ricky is their nephew...my uncle - their brother - passed away years ago, so he's filling in for Elmer)

Addison, Glennis, Ricky, Rena, Mom, and Dad

Dad, Mom, Leah, and Dave

Okay, our poor little Pewter. We ended up having him neutered this past weekend as well. I was so anxious about him hurting, but thankfully, we had some pain medicine for him. Hopefully, now he won't be so aggressive and he'll be more loving and laid back. Here's a couple of cute photos of our little baby:

Intently watching a squirrel outside the window, wishing he could get to it

Our little kitty curled up in Dave's chair

Some photos of us