First Day...

Today was my first day of work! I was so nervous this morning and scared because I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out really good. I was assigned a waitress who showed me everything, gave me pointers, told me how to do things, and I followed her around and helped her with her tables. She was great and I learned a lot! I feel a lot more confident now than I did before. I think that I will end up really enjoying this job and the people there. Everyone seems really laid back and fun. I was able to take home a menu today and I have to memorize a few things for tomorrow. I go in at 5:30 tomorrow...that means no American Idol for me! :( So if anyone could record it for me I would really appreciate it! I am a little sad about having to work nights because Garrett works from 10 am until 6 pm. But it is only a few nights so that is fine and working nights means more tips! :) Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that it went great today and I want to thank all of you who have been praying for me and encouraging me in this!

Yay for Lone Star!

"Don't Mess With Texas!"

...haha....the slogan on the back of my shirt!

This & That...

Not too much been going on lately. Garrett just started his new job on Thursday and worked through Saturday.
Last night Garrett and I watched our youth pastor's kids and we had fun with them. We played with plato (which always leaves a weird smell on my hands), watched Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses movie, played house (I was the mommy...yes!), and once the kids were alseep I found a treasure! My favorite t.v. show is The Office which is on NBC on Thursdays @ 7:30. We started home teams a little over a month ago and we meet on Thursdays @ 7:00...so you see my problem! So, last night I was looking for a movie we could watch and I found a dvd of season one of The Office! I jumped up for joy and showed Garrett. He was excited for me, but has never watched the show before. Once he saw it he loved it and we spent the rest of the night away laughing! Thanks Keith and Chrisanna for letting us open it... I want to buy it for myself now! :)
Tonight we have a banquet to go to with our church and I am really excited! I love getting together with my church family and celebrating what God has done and what He is going to do!
Until then I think it will be pretty quite around here. I am catching up on some writing and emails, then I have to do the laundry and dishes, and then I will just get ready for tonight. Garrett is playing a video game and with that said he will be busy for another 2 hours! hehe. Well, not too much going on for now, but that is one thing a love about Sundays!

My Risks Come With Worries

You've heard the saying to the left before..."the greatest risk is not taking one." I believe this to be true, but to be honest I wish it wasn't! I am not a risk taker by nature. It is very hard for me to take a risk...mostly because of the fear or the unknown. It is hard for me to try something that might end up....see I don't even know the word! I just fear the unknown. I tell you all of this because I recently got a new job. I haven't started yet, but I go in today to pick up my uniform and schedule training. It is a waitress job and I have no experience serving food! I think that because I don't know what to do or what to expect I am really nervous and scared to start this! I think that I would be good at this sort of thing, working with people, and such, but I still have this feeling. I have been praying and reading the word over and over to comfort me, and I keep coming back to this feeling. I know that I must be holding on to a piece of my fear, because if I had given it all to the Lord then I wouldn't be worrying like this! I pray that I can give it all to God and trust Him with it all. I don't want to rely on myself...that will get me nowhere! I just want to ask for prayer about this. I want to fully rest on the Lord so I can build my faith in Him and have a peace in my heart... no matter what risk I am taking. Thanks so much! I will do my best to lose myself, let go of myself, and depend fully on God!

Six Months!

February 20, 2007 was Garrett's and my 6 month wedding anniversary! I didn't even remember, but my wonderful husband brought me home these beautiful tulips!

I love you Garrett, it has been the best 6 months of my life!!

The Never Ending Troubles of Money!

A lot has happened to Garrett and myself since we have been married...mostly good things, but with the word newly weds always comes the word poor! We do eat Ramen noodles occasionally, but we eat well...in fact we have both gained weight since we have been married, and I am not talking about just a few pounds! But, in reality I look around our little apartment and think we are so blessed! We have some pretty nice things like a computer, cell phones, new t.v., dvd player, all the kitchen supplies I need, and more! We really are a blessed nation! I have never gone without food when I was hungry, I have never fallen asleep cold because I had no blankets to warm me, I have never gone with out warm water to shower in (unless some people use it up before me!)...you see, we are blessed! The things that we think we need are actually luxuries that God has blessed us with and we tend to take them for granted.

I am writing most of this to help myself more than anyone see that I have been given much and that the Lord will always provide! You see, recentley Garrett and myself quit our jobs. It was a risk, but we felt it was right. We knew God would provide us with new jobs and we prayed that the Lord would give us new jobs before our last check came from our previous employer... that was a week. We searched and applied and were interviewed and prayed and the day before we recieved our paycheck we were both given new jobs!! I know that that is God! There is no way that it could be anything else but my faithful Lord! He has promised to provide and I know He will, but that doesn't mean we won't go through hard times. Even though we have jobs once again and recieved our last paychecks we are still needing to trust on God to provide.

The paychecks we recieved were smaller than what we had estimated and the wages at our new jobs are a little less than we were making before, but I know that God will provide, somehow, because He has promised to.

I have been told that financial issues are the number one cause of divorce right now in our country. Garrett and I went to a few crown classes to help us with money issues (sorry we couldn't finish Barry!) :), and I am so glad that we were able to do that. It really helped us to see that this money that we recieve, no matter where it comes from, is given from God. It is His money and He has given it to us to be stewards over it. That helps me so much and I have to remind myself of that truth constantly, because I am tempted to think that I earned this money and I will spend it on whatever I want! But, what a waste that would be! I don't want to waste what God has blessed me with and I don't want my marriage to fail because of something that was intended to be good that we misused. Money isn't the root of all evil, the Bible does not say that. God uses money to fulfill one of His promises He made to us, to provide.

It is a hard time when you aren't sure how you will make through until the next paycheck, but I am learning not to worry. As long as we are doing God's will then He will provide.

Valentine's Date!

For this Valentine's Day Garrett and me
celebrated on Friday so we could go for a day trip. We had such a great time together! We decided not to buy eachother gifts and to use the money to go out and do something fun instead. It was actually my idea, because I rather have a great memory for valentine's than a gift that will probably fade away. However, don't get me wrong I love presents as much as the next girl!


Anyways, we went to lunch at Blimpie and then we headed out for Miracle Hot Springs. It is just past Hagerman. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but that was a good thing. We had a great time talking, laughing, and singing our favorite songs! We saw some pretty views like the one above and we spent quite awhile trying to get Garrett's mouth at the right height where it looked like he was eating a car! haha. It was fun. When we arrived we got a private room for an hour. It is like a hot tub with walls all around it and no roof. It is so beautiful and I love how there is no roof and a window to the outside so the wind blows threw. It was such a beautiful day, especially for February! It ended up that the private pool was extremely hot and we could only stay in it for a minute or two until we had to get out and stick our heads out the side window to cool down! My legs were really red afterward. But we had a good time anyway, it was pretty romantic being alone and looking at the pretty scenery from the pool. After our hour, we went into the public pool which is much cooler in temperature! They also have bars where you can swing on and do pull ups in the water. So Garrett and me had a competition of who could hold themself up longer above the bar...I won...both times! Haha!



Right next to the hot spring they have an alligator farm! So we went there next and Garrett took a few pictures. The coolest one is the one shown above even though you can't see his head. I felt bad for the alligators, because they didn't have much room and I thought that they probably missed their home in Florida. :( Oh well, I moved on from that pretty quickly. Then we headed home and had a good drive back. It was a really great getaway for the both of us, and it will be a good memory.
I love valentine's day because it is just another day that I get to show love to the greatest husband! I love you Garrett and am so thankful for every minute we get to spend together!

My Photo Did It!

I am so excited for myself today! haha. But, really. I entered the Jones Soda contest for my photography class last January and I found out today from a former classmate that my photo was on a Jones Soda box! I couldn't believe it... I was never informed by Jones Soda or anything. So in disbelief I headed down to Winco and went through the Jones Soda boxes until I spotted my photo with my name (well, maiden name) and with my town written right on it! Of course I bought the box of soda! My photo is the one on your left. It is a photo I took of Garrett's fingers playing his guitar. This one below is a close up. I just wanted to share with everyone my excitement! And if you want to get one, because you love me so much, it is on the fufu berry flavor box...my favorite kind!

Changing Styles

I finally got a new hair cut this Saturday! I have been wanting to for awhile, I was just getting tired of my regular hair do. In getting ready for this day I chose 3 hari styles, printed them out, and asked my friends and family which one they liked the best. It was so funny because Garrett would get so annoyed of me bringing out the pictures and asking everyone. Oh, well it really did help me make a good decision! So I chose the style with the most votes, and not to mention I liked it the best as well. I wouldn't get a hair cut that I didn't like just because the majority of people told me to! Anyways, here are the results and I really like it. When I went to wash my hair this morning I was a little shocked when my hair just stopped...it seemed so much shorter! Right after I get a new, shorter hair style I always use way too much shampoo for at least a week because that is what I used to use. I am sure you girls can relate. :) I just wanted to share the change with you and I hope you like it as much as I do...even though what I think is all that matters! Hehe.

Hair Do...or Don't :)

Cute, huh? Hehe. My little sister-in-laws had a great time doing my hair on Saturday night. We took turns doing eachother's, and I had forgotten how fun it is to do that. When I was about their age I would do my mom's hair all the time and always had a great time making her look silly. Plus, she liked it because it feels good to have your hair brushed and stuff. I love doing all the girl things like that, and I have never had any sisters to do it with, until now. :)

SuPeR bOwL!!!

We were rooting for the Colts ALL the way!!

















Like our matching shirts??










Ahh! We are crazy for football!












We went to my Grandma Shirley's house tonight for the Super Bowl. Most of my family was there and the majority of us were rooting for the Colts...but then there is my step dad, George, and he counts for at least 10 Chicago Bears fans! haha. This was my first family gathering to ever bring food. Of course my grandma kept insisting that I don't have to bring anything, but I told her that I really wanted to. I thought I am married and an adult now, I should bring something when we get together. So, I decided to make a dip...which I have never made before...It is called Tennesse Sin Dip. I have had it before from the Fiesta Bowl one of my friends made it. So I knew it was good, but I was uncertain of how well I could make it. It has cream cheese, chedder cheese, bacon, red bell peppers, green onions, and sour cream in it. You serve it in a bread bol, bake it, and serve it warm. It turned out to be a huge hit! I was SO happy! Everyone kept complimenting me on it, and the first bowl was gone so fast! I thought is was delicious too, if I do say so myself. :) We had a ton of great food there and I just couldn't stop snacking on it all! It was a really fun night, and I am glad all of my family could get together. And the Colts won!!! Woohoo! ...sorry George, maybe next year. :)

Love, Weddings, and Honeymoons

I've been thinking a lot about weddings lately. I think it is mainly because my friend, Katie, is getting married this July and I am helping her with some of the planning. It is my job being the maid-of-honor and all. :) We will brainstorm ideas that we could do and it makes me want to go back and plan my wedding again. It was just so much fun...and stressful...very stressful! But when I really think about it I wouldn't really change a thing about our wedding (besides having the unity candle lit before I was walking down the aisle!) haha. It was just such a great day, and even more so the days that followed. I just love being married. There are a lot of hard things that come with being married, but if you are married to the right person and have God leading your marriage then the hard things are easily forgotten. Everytime I think about Garrett and me I always think about how much love we have for eachother and how much fun we have! The arguing, stress, and financial difficulty don't come to mind! I am thankful for that. When things get really hard with my job or between Garrett and myself I always say, "I want to go back to Disney World!" That is where we went on our honeymoon...thanks to Garrett's wonderful parents! :) But really I sometimes wish that we could go back there and stay. First of all, Disney World is a place of magic and second of all when you are on your honeymoon you are so full of love, happiness, and a carefree feeling. I want that! I am so glad that Garrett and me had the chance to go on a honeymoon like that. Not every young couple gets to. I think that it is so important that you get that time alone and time to not think about anything but eachother. Anyways, I have just been thinking back to 5 months ago when Garrett and me had our wedding and our time away from the real world...sigh, those were good times. I am excited for Katie and Bryan to be able to have a day of their own and a special honeymoon afterwards. I just love weddings, honeymoons, and love itself! :)