Preparing For CHRISTMAS

Well, didn't get to work anymore this week. However, gave me some extra time to prepare for the holidays!!!! I had a checklist and I was almost through by Saturday. As I awoke Saturday morning I ran Garrett to the school and started my day. I began to clean my house, it is always so nice to come home to a "mostly" clean house. Garrett's parents stopped by they were in town to see the Opryland Shows. This allowed them to be able to see our tree, new couch and other decorations. It meant alot that they came a little out of their way just to swing by and take a look!! Then I finished up my wrapping and started getting ready for a wedding that afternoon. I had snapped a few shots of our house at Christmas, thought I would share.
Our little tree, hoping to catch a sale after Christmas for a bigger one

All my wrapping

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!!!! Thanks to ZGallerie!

We decided to go in and get us something for house instead of individual gifts!

This is at Garrett's Big Brother in Fraternity's wedding on Saturday. I was taking pics of the bride and groom when our digital camera we have had since 2003 decided to break. Oh well, I made a trip to Best Buy quickly, I can't have a blog and go through the holidays without a camera!!!

Well as I am typing this we are in Medina,TN at my parent's house. We will have Christmas here with both sides of my parent's families and then will travel to Birmingham to Garrett's parent's families. Then we will come back to my side to do one more thing before we head home this next weekend. WHEW!! Lots of road time.

Hopefully I will choose to spend my time wisely. In January I am starting Kay Arthur's precept on Matthew bible study with some friends in neighborhood at a local church. Kinda nervous, Kay can get pretty deep, but I know God will choose to reveal the things he sees necessary. Well I will post pics later of where I grew up and our families here!! Hope you and yours are enjoying this holiday season!!!! Will be praying for good health and safe travels!!!

He Will Provide, Above and Beyond

My NLT Bible

"And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 2Corinthians 9:8"

I should probably go on and explain my work situation. This is something I will ask each of you, to pray for me to be given discernment as each day passes whether or not I should be looking at other job opportunities. I love my position as an RN at Summit Medical Center. When I hired on I chose to be PRN (working on an as needed basis), but when meeting with the directors on the two floors I would be working on I spoke of still wanting to work pretty much full time hours, which is 3 12hour days per week. So that they would have the needs for me I would have to be shared between the 2 floors. In October of 2006 this started. There are benefits and risks of working PRN. You get great flexibility, only work one Winter Holiday and one Summer Holiday, 2 weekend days in a 4-6wk period, and the pay is greater than fulltime. Living away from family and with Garrett being a coach I sure did want the flexibility, and the fact that it paid more and the low requirements on the Holidays were also appealing. I get benefits elsewhere so that is not an issue. The risks include, when the census is down and they don't need someone who is scheduled I get called off first. Well Starting in July/August the census has been low and high. One week I might be called off 2 days and one week I might have overtime. Not real sure this wild ride of a schedule is what I was looking for. If I get on call I have to show up within 1 hour of being called in. This is an example of being on call: 0450 Leah your on call today we are several away from needing you, 0530 still lying there thinking what if I don't get called in, I really need to work, 0630 Garrett's leaving for work and I am probably back to sleep by now, 0800 probably waking up and making sure my scrubs are ready and I am showered incase I get called in, 1100 Wonder if they are gonna need me today?? Should I go to grocery?? What if I get in line with my frozen things and they call me in and I have to get home un load, dress, etc. Well I could go to the gym, but what if I get called in during my workout and have to race home shower and get there, hum....what to do, I guess just hang out here, do laundry, wrap presents :), organize, clean, Get my drift?? Usually by 3pm if I havent been called in then I probably want be and I will then do the things that I was holding off on. HOWEVER****if I do get called in while on call you are paid time and a half. Our check periods are for 2 weeks. The bottom line is every week God has provided through sometimes providing overtime one week, or call back pay another, or the most random ways some weeks that can only come from above. Some time I will share some crazy ways God has provided. When I was home a couple of weeks ago after discussing options with Garrett I sat down with my dad and with a calculator. To not go into to much specifics we determined that it just didn't pay to go fulltime. I was at peace about it hearing if from someone else. Then this week I was on call all day Monday and Tuesday. I was scheduled yesterday and at 0450 they placed me on call and at 0520 they had a call in so decided they could use me. Well during those 30mins when I could have slept I worried. Man such a struggle of mine. It is hard right now to plan for tomorrow but not worry about tomorrow.

My NLT Bible says:

- "Don't worry about anything; instead,pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he ahs done. Philippians 4: 6"

-"...Your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. Luke 12: 30-31"

Well PRAISE THE LORD for my 12 hours yesterday!!! Will appreciate your prayers as I see what the New Year brings at Summit!!!

Our Fun Weekend, All Happenings Very Spontaneous

The weekend was great. Friday night we went to some friends house in the neighborhood for what they call "Neither Day". Neither Thanksgiving or Christmas. It was a Mexican theme and we played games and watched all the kids run around. Hate I forgot my camera, but i will post one pic of a couple of these precious kids.

This is Emma and Georgia Darnell, Kelley and Landon's kids, minus Nate.

Then after staying up late Friday night I was looking so forward to sleeping in!!! Garrett had to be up at school for elementary intramural games so I had nothing I had to do. Well the phone started buzzing at 8:04am, it was Garrett saying "you wanna go to preds game tonight". I responded with I will go and support and have fun if you wanna go, you can make that decision. Well off we went that night! I had just a blah attitude at first, but we had so much fun. Even though we don't have kids, we get caught up with lounging and not doing much just the two of us so it was a great date night!!

Predator's Game December 2008

Then Sunday came after a great day at church and a Sunday afternoon nap, I decided I needed to move my body a little. So I bundled up and went outside to get a little exercise. After the Titans lost, Garrett was pretty upset. Didn't take him to long to get over it. Later that night we went to our friends church to see there girls sing. (The girls in the pic above). Then the family the Johnston's I had spoken of earlier, came over for pizza and snacks.

Whew our abs were sore after all the laughing. They were so precious to help assist in our photo shoot, very unprofessional, for our Christmas Cards.

Then the week began. Garrett has had exams this week for his students, and I was suppossed to work and have been home on call. The hospital census has been so low. But man God has provided this far. I will talk more about my job and praying for discernment on whether or not I need to look at other hospitals. Well enough for now, Garrett and I are headed with friends to Christmas shop and EAT!!! (what we do best)!!

A Little Bit of Our Travels

We have done many fun things since we have been married. However, there are many things left on our wish list. Just thought I would post some photos of some of the trips we have been on.

This was our first traveling experience together it was wonderful!! Other than coming down with a left kidney infection, man was that a memory made with the jamaican Dr. We went on our honeymoon to Negril,Jamaica in May 2005
Our year anniversary took us to Chicago. Garrett is a Cubs fan and I had been to Chicago before with my family so I was excited about the shopping and eating!!
My first trip with his family. Summer 2006 to Destin. This Garrett's parents who pretty much treated us to this trip and his brother Anthony.
We then went as chaperones on the 9th grade trip at DCA to Washington D.C. in March 2007. I had been in 8th grade but appreciated it much more since I was older.

My second family trip. This is us in Destin Summer of 2007 with Garrett's precious grandparents. We went to Gulf Shores Summer 2008 with friends from "Back Home". I am on the left with Allison in the middle and Kortney on the right. We had a great time. I will elaborate more in a coming post about our relationships "Back Home" with several couples.

These are the husbands, mine is in the middle, Kortney's is on the left and Allison's is on the right. We love them and are so thankful for them, even when they complain about us making them take pics!!

Garrett, myself, my brother Micah whom I adore, and my Mom! We are eating seafood in Seattle in October 2008. My darling dad who pretty much treated us to the trip got stuck taking pics.

Us on top of the Space Needle.

Us at Pike's Place Market. It was so much like a movie, I wish we could experience something like this close to home.

We would love to make it to New York City before we start a family. Garrett has been but I have not. After buying a house though I have feelings of wanting to put the money into things for it. So who knows if we will cross New York City off our list anytime soon.

GOD'S TIMING IS ALWAYS PERFECT!!!

Three years and we were still renting. Somedays I would struggle and let my flesh tell me we needed a house and so on. Finally I quit thinking about it. I had become content with telling myself we were in the exact place God wanted us to be. I bought a new centerpiece for out apartment table and hung a few new pictures. Well 2 months later we closed on our first house. It was a situation that had been prayed over in a very short amount of time. I had met a girl at work named Lauren, she was doing her clinicals for Pharmacy School there. We bonded immediately. She told me she lived in "The Village" and that it was near one of my coworkers Kelley. One Sunday night we were invited over for a cookout and that next week we were meeting with a realtor just to look :). And the next week we were making an offer. To make a long story short, my bubble was busted and they didn't take it and decided they were gonna take it off the market. Tears were shed and prayers were prayed, but I just had to trust God that it was not for us. 24hours later sitting at our favorite little mexican joint in town, the phone rang and it was our realtor saying some changes had come about. Oh the feeling I got inside, but oh so hesitant because I knew what had happenend just a few days ago. Well July 10th 2008 we were offically home owners!!! It is this little neighborhood with sidewalks and neighbors that have been there for 30yrs and neighbors that have been there for a couple months. It is just its own little community. At this point in my life I love it!!!

MY HUBBY LOVES

Overwhelming Love

WEDDINGS,WEDDINGS, and more WEDDINGS!!

Some we attended, some we were in alone, and some we were in together. It was fun but man it kept is busy. I apologize in advance if we are missing yours I was not always good at taking my camera places, but I will get better.

Alison and Russell McNab's Wedding May 2006

Jonathan and Heather Kee's Wedding June 2006

Allison and Drew Yates' Wedding July 2006

Kortney and Matt Valentine's Wedding November 2006

Emily and Kizer Clemmer's Wedding November 2006

Brittany and Joseph Brasher's Wedding September 2007

Amanda and Mitch Sims' Wedding May 2008

Blessings From Above

We have met many great people along the way!!! DCA families who have been so supportive and welcoming. Our church does a mentor/mentee program and I was blessed with a wonderful mentor. You know a women's stressor is finding a hair stylist when you move far away and boy have I ever, she has became one of my best friends. Many other women have touched my life in this short period, two others are Jennifer and Christy whom we met mostly during a financial class we were taking at church.

One of the most precious families, The Johnstons!!

Me,Christy, and Stephanie (my hairlady)

My precious mentor, Teresa

There are so many other people and families who have been placed in our life for some reason and who we are so thankful for. I just don't have pics of all of them. I am sure of they hang around long enough I will talk about them sooner or later!

As A Relocation Occured on Earth, God Was Moving In My Heart

Whew, God has done some amazing things in my life as an individual and our life as a couple. Life moved on after moving here and as each day passed it began to feel more and more like home. God helped us adapt to the things here and we grew closer together since it was just the two of us and no one else we really knew. We joined a church after visiting several times and that was so great to help us get acquainted with couples our age and couples who had a few years on us. I began getting involved with the women's ministry and met some amazing godly women through it. Some of them have blogs I follow. Garrett has loved his job, this is so important to me that my husband is happy in his career. I also love my job and the flexibility. I work 3 12hour days/week most of the time. It was always fun to pack up and travel back to West TN but within a few days we got used to the feeling of wanting to go back to our home. Both of our families have been through some emotional, exciting, scary, situations since we have been here. I can't wait in the coming days to be able to share with each one of you the things God taught me and continues to teach me as I have fallen to my knees.

Looking Back and Catching Up

This is us in our dating years I believe we were engaged at this time.

We began dating when he was a Senior and I was a Junior in High School. The greatest thing was the great friendship we already had from the beginning. He stayed close around in college and so did I. We had good times and bad times like most young relationships!!! Man was it a learning experience. Then once the engagement occured, reality set in like it never had before and I knew this was the man God had meant for me to spend the rest of my life with. Since May 10th 2004 I can honestly say our relationship has been wonderful!!! We have had to give and take in many situations and had many discussions when there might be a conflict but overall the "next level" after dating has been greater than I could have ever imagined.

This is at our church shower before our wedding.

The Most Amazing Day of Life Thus Far!!!!
May 28th 2005

It was perfect!! I did lose my shoes so I went barefooted the entire time. And we did have a groomsmen faint, but oh well it just gave us another memory!!

This is where our life began!!! In this little duplex in Milan TN, so many mermories were made here!!

Garrett has officially graduated!! He started looking for a coaching and teaching position. This pic is of us and his parents. Not sure where his brother Anthony was.

I had offically graduated and would start my RN position after I passed boards later on that month. This pic is of my parents, brother Micah, and us.

After almost a year we when our lease was up we thought we would move in with my parents who had so much extra room and it was kinda like an apartment expect we would have to share a kitchen. We thought this would be smart to save money, as Garrett looked for a job and we looked for a house. We did not know God had other plans for us. After our one
year anniversary trip to Chicago we planned on moving in with them.

However Garrett began to interview in the Nashville area and before long we were packing our bags and moving to Nashville. Whew what a whirlwind. It was difficult and the first several months were such an adjustment not being close to our family. I was still driving back home to work until I got a job in October at Summit Medical Center. Below are some pics of our apartment.