Go Hokies!!

This past weekend was Alysa's birthday and we celebrated by making a trip to Virginia for a VT vs. Duke game. We met with Marks sister, Lois, and her family, brother Doug, Chris, and brother Alan and his girls - one of which, Kara, is in the VT band. In all honesty, I loved the time we were all able to spend together - mostly talking around Lois dining room table the next morning where it was warm- but it was so incredibly cold at the game, I really couldn't enjoy it much. In fact, I started checking the clock before the game even started to see how much time we would have to suffer. We took a bathroom break at half time and Mark and I got separated, which really didn't bother me at all because the bathrooms were warm and by the time we got back to our seats, the 3rd quarter was almost over. Yeah!! I love being closer to Marks family and spending time with them. But tailgating in a cow pasture while the wind is whipping the low 20 degree temperatures around and everyone huddles for as long as they can stand it and then disassemble to various automobiles is not my idea of quality time. The up side is that in the end the Hokies won, 14-3.... Yeah, Hokies!

What's Going On

For the past 2 weeks I have been running, running, running. I know my life these days are typical days for a lot of you. But I come dragging in every evening totally exhausted! I will be so happy when the house is finished and we arefinally moved in.....for a number of reasons. First of all, because, well, we'll be living in our new home. We've been so excited watching the progress from the dirt pad to what it is today. And after renting for these past 8 months, it will be nice to see our money going towards owning. And I'm ready to get all the boxes unpacked and everything put in its place. I will say I think I've done rather well living with no decorative items, nothing on the walls, just the necessities, while all my "stuff" is still sitting in boxes right where we dropped them the day we moved in. Yikes! Those of you who know me, know this would normally make me go absolutely mad. And, I will be glad for life to slow down a bit and get back into a routine, where I clean on certain days, cook real meals and have a little more structure to my time. Right now I'm spending most of my time in my car, which I now call my "mobile office". I have run more errands, organized birthday parties, conducted "house" business, made dentist appointments, handled my church callings, checked in on friends and family, and on and on and on. I don't know what I would do without my Palm Treo - which I LOVE. We don't even have a home phone anymore because it just wasn't being used. In case you're interested, our target move-in date is December 15th. Yes, right in the middle of the Christmas holiday hustle and bustle, we will be packing, loading, moving, unpacking and putting away everything we own (except a number of items I fully expect to "get lost" or just plain do away with because I don't want to deal with it anymore), working around Alysa's school and activity schedule, Christmas shopping and mailing, holiday decorating...just a little, and possibly working part time for Mark (I know what you're thinking). After all of this, though, I have to say I am SO thankful for my life, hectic as it may be, my family, my friends, my surroundings, my health, the opportunity to build a home we never dreamed we'd ever own, and many more blessings I thank the Lord for every day. Life is a joy.

Snow?!

Right now it is 40 degrees and rainy. The temperature is supposed to continue to drop and they are saying we should expect snow flurries later today. Nothing to accumulate - just flurries. Still! How exciting!! Alysa has never seen snow before. It did snow when we were up here looking at houses last January. But her eye was infected (scratched cornea) and she couldn't open either of them at all , so she totally missed it - and it was beautiful! I am already looking forward to making some hot chocolate and settling in for a good movie later. I will be sure to get pictures for all my friends and family that are living in the "warmer" states that rarely / never get to experience snow.

10 More Things I LOVE........

1. Soft skin
2. Warm, cozy sweaters
3. Candles - the light they give off, but their scent mostly - Hazlenut.....yummmmm
   
4. Ibuprofen (taken only when needed, of course)
5. Sleeping, all wrapped up in a soft blanket
6. Chocolate cake - homemade is the only way to go!
   
7. Fabric softener - I walk around sniffing clean clothes and towels
8. Thick, creamy lotion - Vanilla Bean Noel is one of my favs
9. My Palm Treo - it has made life so much simpler, especially since my memory isn't what it use to be
10. Making other people smile / happy
    

Alysa's Awards

This past week, Alysa's school had an awards ceremony for the end of this 9 weeks. We were invited to attend, as Alysa received 2 awards....all A Honor Roll and Good Citizen. She absolutely loves her new school and her teachers and is really doing great! Her school ranked 5th in the entire state of Kentucky. We're just thrilled she is where she is and is enjoying it so much. Thanks to all those responsible for making her experiences so wonderful and memorable. We couldn't be more proud of her and her accomplishments. Keep up the good work, sweetie! We love you!

House - Week #12

These past 2 weeks have probably been some of the most exciting ones in building our new home, mostly because there seems to be SO much going on every day. At any given time, we can drive up to the house and see heat and ac installers, electricians, concrete layers, painters...........the list goes on and on. Just this past week alone.....the concrete driveway was poured, slabs for the ac and gas units and drive and walk for the back yard crawl space, the pea gravel sidewalk in front and the front porch, set the ac/heating units, ran the septic lines and system, grated the yard in preparation for seeding and landscaping, primed the inside walls, installed the garage and crawl space doors, installed the lighting inside and out, installed a good part of the trim outdoors (it rained all day Friday and halted a lot of scheduled work), built the base for the back deck, bricked the decking posts........that's about all I can remember. But that is a LOT!!! I'm sorry....I didn't take inside pics, as I said I would. I planned on doing that today, but the high was only 44 degrees and we didn't spend much time out there. I will try to do that this week sometime. Here's what we have of the outside.....

New Calling

Today I was "officially" given a new calling at church (sustained last week).....I taught my last lesson in Relief Society and am NOW the Compassionate Service Leader. This is exciting for me, as I have never had this calling before. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know and love all the sisters in my new ward. Plus, it's an answer to prayer for me to be able to serve more and better and to grow spiritually. I feel this calling will really help me do all of that and get closer to my Heavenly Father, which is the greatest feeling ever!

House - Weeks #10 & 11

Since we were gone to NC to welcome Perry home, I did not get week 10 posted. So I'm playing catch up now with both weeks. Sorry. When we returned from our trip, we were astonished to see all that had been done while we were gone. To recap: the brick was completely finished, the roof was finished (except over the front porch, where the rock layers were working - but it was completed today), the rock was hand cut and laid, being completed, the entire house was dry walled and was sanded today, lighting was picked out and ordered, and appliances were ordered. There's just as much going on for this week, but I'll save it to go with the new pics, which will probably include the inside. Sorry about all the pics to come...

Halloween Fun!!

I know I'm late getting these Halloween pics up. Sorry! Friday, Alysa went to school wearing Halloween "dress", but not her costume. She promptly called me asking me to bring her costume to school, since she'd JUST learned she could have worn it. I did take it to her and was so glad I did because when I got there, the ENTIRE school was in an assembly where all the teachers and faculty were dressed up and doing various skits. It was a reall "scream" (pardon the punn). She quickly changed into her costume and went back to the fun. Later that night, we took pizzas to our friends, the Jacob family, and rode on a hayride around our soon-to-be new neighborhood. We had a great time and look forward to many more trick-or-treat nights out there.

Happy Birthday Wes-Wee (Wesley)!!! and Sissy!

Tomorrow (Nov. 2) is my Wesleys 25th birthday!!! I can't believe he's already 1/4 of a century old!! Oh my, what does that make me?? I can remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday. He woke me up @ 4 am, twisting and turning best he could, trying to get out. But he didn't actually make it until 5:22 that afternoon. It was a long day...but SO worth it. Wes has brought us years full of laughter and smiles and wonderful memories. It has been such a joy to watch him grow up and acquire a family of his own. And what a beautiful family they are.....we love them all so much. Seeing him interact with his own children is amazing. We visited them this summer (waiting on Briley to show up) and were so touched to see the love in their home.......just what a parent wants for their children. Happy Birthday, Wes!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

It also happens to be my sisters birthday, Jeri Ann. She's 2 years younger than I am and quite the clown. She's so much fun to be with....I really miss her. She has always delighted in the fact that Wesley was born on her birthday.....she got to get out of school to come to the hospital! She's always called him "her baby", being that they share the same birthday. Here's to you, Sissy!! We love you bunches!

Perry's Home!!!!!

After 7 long months in Iraq, Perry is finally back on US soil. I can't tell you how happy we were to see him. Mark, Alysa and I drove to North Carolina to see him in, along with Marks' sister, Lois, her husband, Mike, and their two teens, Nate and Margaret, AND one of our neices, Megan. Perrys dad and little brother, Jay and Tex, were there too. The weather was beautiful that day....good thing too because we were expecting him in at 10:00 am and he didn't actually make it in until around 3:30 pm. But we just enjoyed the day, watching all the other Marines seeing their families again, some of them meeting their babies for the first time. It was a very touching and humbling experience. It really made us think about and appreciate what these men (and women) are sacrificing to serve
our country.





Perry looked wonderful and it was fantastic to actually be able to hug him and know he was real and safe. We had a great visit with him. He was able to reunite with his buddy, Khris, from Louisiana, who is also stationed at Camp Lejeune. They even brought their guitars and gave us a private concert. It was just like old times. Of course, Perry was glad to get back to his "baby" (truck). I can't imagine what it would be like to not drive for 7 months - other than a Hummer every now and then. It was so hard to leave him again so soon. But the world keeps turning. At least we can keep in touch via phones a lot easier and more often now that he's home.




Thanks, Perry, to you and all that serve along side you. All our love.......