Photos and...Help?

Sorry to you all who have to view this montage of photos. We are getting close to being DONE with the house. With Jeff out of town and in-laws out of town I am posting a lot of boring house photos. Dont worry I will soon be less single minded in my blog posting. (Jessica, I totally voted for you .. you are the blog queen. No one deserves it more that you!!)

I see other topics in our near future. Hang in there! 

HELP! If you ladies or gents are available during the 3rd or 4th week of September..I could use some help moving! Jeff wont be here so I can do some, but with the heavy things I could use some help. (amy and julie---maybe you can be my furniture and decorating consultants??) Just let me know. Thanks ya'll.

Billy

pics

We made it!!!

Jeff and I have been married for a year! Wow! We made it. This first year of marriage was really tough on Jeff and I. We got married, then Jeff left town for 4 months the very next week. Also, I think we both came into the marriage with certain expectations about what marriage would be like....and were totally wrong. We have seen the best sides of each other and now the side not many see. When just dating someone, or having relationships with the rest of the world for that matter, we were both able to present the side of ourselves that we wanted the other person to see. The "representative" if you will. When married the un-kept side is revealed! A good analogy would be like wearing a really tight belt that held all your fat in and everyone thought you were really thin, then one day taking the belt off and letting it all hang loose. Totally exposed. It is rough. I have learned about that side of Jeff and he has learned about that side of me. {oh no!} And, when just dating and things get sticky...You just break up! Well, jeff and I both made a promise to God and to each other that we will be in this for the long run. This is totally new territory. I have never been in this place with any other human being I have come to have a relationship thus far in my life. What a task!

I have never been stretched this far to learn how to love unconditionally (as God loves us) and be committed to a higher calling than just my own flighty self-will.  I truly believe God made marriage to refine me and step-up my spiritual life. I fail terribly at it ALOT. I am still new. But I have learned a lot this year.  God is our sole source for contentment. We are BOTH wrong. Marriage is a tool of refinement. Refinement defined as "the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance. The improvement or clarification of something by making small changes ."  Outside of marriage I would never have to face these things in myself. 

Although we have the stresses of fiances, careers, and our major personality differences, we are glad to have each other to go through it together. 

WE MADE IT! yippie! I am so looking forward to the years to come! From what people tell me,The first year is the hardest. Not only was it the first year, we had "road-life" and the stress of a new house on our plates. So I am really grateful to God for granting us grace and carrying us throughout the first year. The glory goes to him~I could never had done it.

For Jeff

Update

Well,
Things are going well. I officially finished my chemistry class. Yippee, I got an A! Do-do-do, Do-do! That is me tooting my own horn. I am so excited. It was a really hard class. Thanks to God, to my study group (Fernando and Yolanda mostly), and to Jeff, without all of them I wouldn't have done so well. Jeff helped me with my paper. I am really good at studying and doing practice problems but I am not very good at writing. So, I had Jeff proof read what I had done. Jeff says that the introduction and conclusion are the two most important parts of any paper. He sat at the computer with me and VERY slowly went through every sentence of the introduction and conclusion making them spectacular. (all of you who know Jeff well can picture this) I tried to follow his lead with the body of the paper. I got my paper back and I got a really good grade! The funny part was what my teacher wrote as her comment. "good job--on the summary and conclusion" he.he. Jeff was so proud.

Jeff and I had a rare chance to spend some quality time together yesterday. We went canoeing. It was a great day for it. It was not too hot and not that many people where on the water. It was a nice peaceful afternoon and jeff patteled me all the way to the finish. Jeff doesn't have that many more days before NY. Boo.

I am currently a total bum! I lost my job and my summer-school class is now done. I feel totally useless! I would get a job, but I plan to go on vacation to st. John with Jeff (care of Kenny) in the beginning of September for a week and from there I will fly to NY to stay with him there until middle of October. So, I feel like waiting until I get back would be the best bet. For now, I think they need to make a new show "Desperate housewives of woodbine." I lay in bed and eat raisins. Then I get up and think about cleaning something and then I take another nap. Then i eat some trisckets. Then I feel bad for sleeping. Then I put on make-up to not feel like a total bum. Then I watch TV, then back to bed. Ok. I am making it sound worse that it is. That was only one day and I have been sick. But really, I prefer being busy.

The house is coming along. I am getting so anxious for it to be done. Ekk!

Also, I am doing BootCamp at the YMCA. This is an exercise class that is meant to totally kick your butt and blast you into the next higher fitness level. It is is 4 weeks long and Monday through Friday 5:45-7:00am. It is REEEAAALLLY hard. I am so proud of myself though. This is week 2 and I only missed one day(today) cuz my knees was hurting and I am trying to get over this cold.

I start A&P and Lifespan development on the 25th and they are both web classes. So, that is on my horizon. I am grateful for online classes because I can go to my bible study my AA meetings and get up and go with Jeff to NY! Also, I am a little nervous about the "online" part, I so love being with people and having {study groups}. Pictures below are: Summer Chemistry Peeps, Canoeing, and More house pics.

Here you go Jeff.

Pictures of the house!

Just a few pics for marie