sorry.

This will probably be the last one for today.
I've had my nap.
I am about to vacuum upstairs.
I need to run an errand and then start consuming large amounts of caffeine.
Did I mention that I am staffing an event that lasts from 10pm to 5am tomorrow?
With 1,500 Girl Scouts?
In a mall?
Yes.
Caffeine, you are my new best friend.
What is your favorite drink that contains caffeine?
I might be stocking up.

houston...

we have a problem.
I am slowly coming to the realization that we might need to take out a much larger loan than we were anticipating.
or maybe two.
One for the house.
and one for the things I want to put IN the house.
on the walls of the house.
in the bathrooms of the house.
oh dear.

do they allow Target/Ikea/World Market/Bed, Bath and Beyond loans?

I'm sorry - I couldn't help it! I just had to do another post of these pictures! I am trying so hard to decide which are my favorites to get big ones printed for the house. It is a really hard decision! Hopefully I will get my camera plugged up and I will show you the inside pictures of the house.

For now, I am headed to the office to man my shift answering the phone and then I will come home and clean, take a nap, and go to the mall tonight!

don't tell.

Dear Chad,
I stole your Matchbox 20 CD. Yes, you know - the one we were listening to in the car on the way to see baby Kolton and singing - maybe at the top of our lungs. Yes, that one.
I took it.
I am going to listen to it today on my way to work.
I might sing at the top of my lungs. Alone.
And love every minute.
Like I love you.
Have a great day!
Love,
Paula

cool story.

These are pictures of the front and back of our potential house. The home inspector took these but I did take some inside pictures so I will post those in the next few days (OK, this weekend maybe - when I have a chance to breathe!!)

My cool story for today and for our house:

I was at the house this afternoon - just a small part of my day's craziness - and I was walking around, looking out windows, taking pictures and noticed that the neighbor across the street was outside with her two small children. They were playing in the front yard, sidewalk chalking the place so I went over to introduce myself. I told her that we had a contract and we talked for a few minutes. Then she said..."well, I am so glad that you came and introduced yourself. I am thrilled that a young couple is moving in who will care about the house (not rent it out!), who are kind and fun and I just want you to know that the whole street has been praying over your house."

Wait...what?

She said that they had just been praying for the potential owners - that they would be good people, young, kind, fun - just like us! Apparently the house on the other corner (their backyard faces our side yard) is owned by some missionaries from South Africa and they had talked a lot and been praying for our house too.

We get to move into a house that has not only been covered by our fervent prayers but by the prayers of all of our neighbors.

Whoa.

God is so cool.

And He totally knew what he was doing.

oops.

To say that I am over-committed for the rest of the week would probably be an understatement.
A really, really bad one.
My today doesn't look that bad...flexing an hour this morning to make some calls about house stuff when people open at 9. Then work till 1-ish then driving to Knoxville for a big parent talk tonight. I might be home by nine, depending on how long it lasts.
Tomorrow is the doozie (is that how you spell doozie? I guess it is my blog so I get to pick!) Mall Madness stuff from 9 to 11, lunch with a service unit manager from 11 to 1, more Mall Madness from 1 to 4, meet the house inspector from 4 to 5, parent night at OLPH (school in my service unit) from 5:30 till ??. Yeah. Might just be too much.
Thursday looks ok. But Friday is another bad one...I have to be at work at the regular 9am and then our even starts at 10pm Friday night and goes till 5am Saturday morning. Can anyone say sleeping all the rest of Saturday?

another dime!

I can't really follow up cute baby pics and sweet couple pics with much of anything exciting...sorry!
We had a nice day off yesterday - the weather was beautiful here - but it seems like it will be the calm between the storms. Crazy bad weather on Saturday and we will probably have more rain today but it's OK because we need it. It makes everything so green too!
We had our first community/small group last night. I am pretty excited about it - it seems like the study we will be doing is something that is close to my heart (based on a series by the International Justice Mission about oppression, slavery, forced prostitution, etc. It should be really interesting). I'm a lot more excited about it than Chad is simply because of the topic of discussion but maybe he will get a really cool glimpse into the heart of God about this (and even to my heart and experiences in India) so I am just praying that God does a work in us on this issue even if the work isn't the same (it never is, is it?)
Long week at work - our big overnight in the mall event is this Friday night from 10pm to 5am so we are preparing for that all week. It should be loads of fun but also loads of work! Wish us luck and good sleep between now and then!

more!

Speaking of Lindsey (hi!!) and her fabulous photography talent that is Linden Tree Photography - I made one of the best decisions I have ever made in the past few weeks. Lindsey offered the opportunity for me to buy the photos from our engagement/just got married session with her. I literally jumped at the chance and I can not wait to get a few more of these printed to hang in our upcoming new house! I have many things in store to surprise Chad with including a big canvas of this first one (I think this is the one I will order...I love it!)

I know we look totally different now (me with my MUCH shorter hair) but it is still such a special time in our lives that I really wanted to have more of the pictures!

Love this one...

We already have some of this one printed. It is one of my favorites...

I had forgotten about this cool wall in LaGrange...it made for some really cool pictures.

And I was probably laughing at Lindsey or Chad in this one but I just love it...I look happy and I am!

I think seeing all of these made me fall in love with this guy all over again...

as promised.

Unedited, but they are here!

Pictures of sweet baby and friends!

Aunt Paula and Aunt Jessica - the name on the board is her nurse, not me!

We love him already!
The little guy is getting some daddy love...

And then some momma love...

And then some auntie love!

Thanks Chad for all the pictures! I didn't take the first one yesterday! He knows exactly what he is supposed to do - let me love on the babies while he takes the pictures. Now I just have to teach him how to not use the flash! Maybe Lindsey could give us both some pointers on good picture taking!

wow.

Here is my day yesterday.
Wake up at 5am. Get ready for the Girl Scout Annual Meeting.
Meet the people who were going to ride with me to Knoxville at 6:30.
Leave for K'ville at 6:50am.
Knoxville from 8:30 until about 12 noon.
Drive back (through monsoons).
Pack my stuff at home, run an errand or two with Chad.
Leave for Birmingham at 4pm.
Arrive in B'ham at 6:30pm.
Love all over Kolton Luke Hanes (link is to Kris' facebook page - hopefully you can atleast see his cute little picture. Blond hair and lots of it. He's so handsome!)
I will post pictures at some point...
Leave B'ham at 10pm last night.
Get home at 12:30am.
Exhausted. But what a good day!

So my plan for today is a lot of nothing!
I am going to do some house cleaning (vacuuming is a priority at the moment!!) and then our small group is tonight and I am super excited!
The weather is like a 180 degree difference from yesterday - sunny and beautiful....like everything has been washed clean!

latest news.

My phone beeped this morning at 6:30am.
A text message.
Beth is headed to the hospital - baby is on his way!
I am thrilled for her. So excited I can barely contain myself.

And yet, I am super bummed out.
I can't go. I was planning on being there (you know, not for the business part, but for the immediately after part) - all 3 girls were going - to support her, love on her, kiss on a baby - and I can't go.
I know I am being selfish and that excitement is all I should be feeling but I can't help but be a little bummed out.
I have a meeting this morning for our event next weekend.
And tomorrow is our mandatory annual meeting in Knoxville - putting me 2 hours farther away from getting to Birmingham - the earliest I can leave K'ville will be 2pm tomorrow (after leaving Chattanooga for Knoxville at 6am tomorrow...whoa.)

Anyway, I will go to work, do my job, and then head there tomorrow. He's not going anywhere! There will be a lifetime of Aunt Jenna, Aunt Jessica, and Aunt Paula kisses. I'll update as I know more...I'm sure the one reader I have that knows Beth will be interested!

atmosphere.

There might be a change in the atmosphere around here. I might start doing YHL style and blogging about a house and making it a home.
Ok, I am going to do that.
And hopefully take lots of pictures to show you.
And do lots of crafty things to make our little rancher into a lovely home.

where the heart is.

The contract is signed.
The home inspection is next Wendesday...closing pending the inspection.
We will close May 28th if all goes well.
We are about a month and a week away from being homeowners.
I will take pictures soon and show you.

in other news.

We put an offer on a house last night.
We should hear by 5pm today whether they accepted or have a counter offer.
I am expecting a counter offer but acceptance would be a major blessing.
We would have a little money left over to do some things to the house.
And that would be wonderful.
Please pray that we will have peace with our decision.
and that everything will work out smoothly.

good news.

"O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing!" - Psalm 103:1&2

It is raining.
Overcast, light and steady, it is falling from the sky.
Like every drop is a blessing created just for my family.
Oh how we needed this rain.
Not only for our land (and our pollen!) but for our hearts.
A little promise that God is handling the wildfires today.

possibilities.

There might actually be a house we are interested in.
We might actually be able to put an offer in on it this week.
Please pray that we will have peace about our decision and that if this is supposed to be our home that it will work out.

On other subjects, I am home alone today. We got up and went to early church so Chad could come home, eat some lunch, and go to work. They will probably be there from about noon till 4:30 or 5. I will probably spend the day doing laundry (he mentioned this morning that he just might be out of clean underwear...hm.) and cleaning up in the house. Hopefully I will have time to wash my car and do a few little projects before he comes home so then I can spend tonight just hanging out. We are going over to his parents for burgers (Hi Bill - sorry you are in Canada and are going to miss it - We will eat a burger in your honor!) and hotdogs (or would you rather us eat a hot dog in your honor - your choice!!) so I have to go to the grocery store and buy potato salad fixin's and stuff for weekly lunches. I like Sundays!

sick.

Not me. The computer.
It is very sick.
Not one but two viruses.
They ran a scan and cleaned up the computer but found two.
And offered to fix it for $200.
No thanks.
They actually told me not to fix it if I am going to buy a computer in a few months. They said I should just save my $200 and put it towards a new computer.
But I shouldn't do any banking or online shopping where I am giving someone my bank info or personal info.
Yikes. Because we bank on that computer.
Oh well. I guess we just need to be careful until we get a new computer with better security.
I'm currently using the other computer at the moment.
And no, I'm not contagious.

not yet.

Seems like everyone is buying a house but us.
I am going this afternoon to see one other house and if we don't just love this one, we will probably put on offer on one that we saw a while back. It is still available and we like it - it is in a good school district too which is something we just started considering recently (no, I'm not pregnant - just aware of the decision!).
So, I am off work the rest of the day and other than that on my calendar, I am also taking our computer to the Geek Squad to see if they can help it. My Dell is just on it's last leg I am afraid and we need it to hold on until the fall. We can't really afford to buy a new computer (on top of buying a house!) at the moment so we are going to save for one and hopefully be able to buy one in the fall when they are tax-free for kids going back to school. Neither of the ones we have (mine or Megan's hand-me-down) really works effectively. They freeze up, won't let you use the internet, lose things, and just run slowly in general. We pay all this $ every month to have great internet and now the computer itself is what is slowing us down. Of course, I also dream of saving to get the newest version of Photoshop when we get a computer so I can actually use it effectively. I have an old, old version of Elements which isn't even the full Photoshop anyway so I am struggling to find instructions for it. Oh well...there is my dream for the day. Maybe the Geek Squad can keep us up for a while at least...

wish us luck.

My sister sent me a message yesterday while I was at work...she and F bought a house! Well, they put in an offer that was accepted so they are well on their way to buying a house.
I am super excited for her - quite more that just a little bit jealous that it happened so quickly for her - but super excited!
We are going tonight to look at a couple more houses. I think maybe we are too picky - or what we really want just isn't available in our price range. So we are compromising. And now we are worried that we are compromising too much. We have marked houses off the list completely because they didn't have enough bedrooms and now we are thinking that we don't need that many bedrooms. We marked other houses off the list because they didn't have enough square footage and now we are looking at things that are a bit smaller that we were originally. It's almost like we should just re-evaluate and start over from the beginning.
Which, frankly, makes me want to cry.
So here we go - thinking positively - to look at more houses.
Wish us lots of luck.

Oh a different note, Chad and I finally got signed up for a small group at church this past Sunday. I am thrilled at the idea that we will get to hang out with other young couples, study The Word together, do life together, hang out together. And even better, it meets at my friend Emily and her husband David's house! I also think that we (meaning me really!) are really going to enjoy the book that the leader picked to study. Something about justice in the oppressed world...uh...doesn't get much better for the girl who spent 3 months in India dealing with just that very thing! So yeah...I think it is going to be great!

::small sigh::

It was such a wonderful weekend.
No fire calls even though the weather was warm and beautiful.
I am so thankful...for just a simple weekend, running errands, and being with my sweetie.

I hope that I am growing into a place where I am more thankful for the small, simple things.
The cup of well-creamer'ed coffee in the morning, the few minutes to just sit and talk, the snuggling on the couch watching a movie, the afternoon folding clothes and hanging out.
These are the best days.
These are the days I want to remember.

I am so looking forward to this week at work. I am learning so much, asking a thousand questions, figuring out how to do the every day things and the big things. I am enjoying learning something new. I told Chad on Saturday - I really like my job, so far. I asked him to remind me of that when I have a bad day. I got to spend the morning at camp (my favorite!) - answer the same question 100 times, teach, laugh - and it was great! I hope there are so many more days like it...

good.

I think I will call it a good day so far...even though the house we were going to see this afternoon went under contract this morning. I forgot it was Friday, thought it was Saturday, so I thought we were safe from real estate business for the weekend. Oops. Oh well. I guess that one wasn't meant to be either.
Chad and I slept in (yes, I consider 7:45 in the morning sleeping in!), watched a movie (The Brothers Bloom - it was cute. funny. weird. and sweet. I liked it.), ate a nice lunch, I drank diet Dr. Pepper (joy! - lent is over!), and we just spend a couple of hours working in the back yard. I "accidently" let go of Wooby's leash (yes, we leash the cat because I think her brain is very small and she would not be able to find her way home since she likes to chase things without thinking about where she is going) and she climbed a tree. And then couldn't figure out how to get down. See? Small brain. It took a bag of treats and some conversation with her mom (that's me!) to convince her it was safe to come down. Yes mother - I remember you telling me that you have never seem a cat skeleton in a tree so they will come down sooner or later - but still. It makes me nervous.
We have now baked ourselves on the patio and we are going to run a few errands and look at another house.
I think my feet are sunburned. Chaco tan lines anyone? I apologize if I blinded the neighbors with my pale legs. I'm working on it folks.

oh thank you, thank you.

Dear God,
Thank you for bringing Chad home safely last night (this morning?) at 3am after having been at work since 7:30.
Thank you for letting them successfully put out fires that crazy people intentionally start.
Thank you for letting us both have jobs that allow us to make money to not only pay our bills but also allows us to bless others.
Thank you for jobs that allow us to take other days off when we have already worked far too much that week.
And last, but most importantly, thank you - no really, deeeeply and sincerely, thank you - for the beautiful rain that has been falling from the sky since about 5am (the only reason Chad was able to come home). That rain is a blessing to our family far, far beyond what most people understand.
Love,
Paula

hello spring!

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted...I'm sure you missed me.
Uh huh...
I have spent every available opportunity in the past few days enjoying my Chad and being outside. I'm not really sure if the cold is coming back or if it is just going to get hotter and hotter so I will enjoy decent weather while it lasts.
I've been taking my lunch breaks outside, working on my limited tan (you know...knees and down and shoulders and down..it's gonna be great!) but it has been so nice to sit in the sun and enjoy a few moments of rest and relaxation! I worked at 10 hour day Monday, 12 hour day Tuesday and 9 hour day today - probably another 11 or 12 tomorrow - earning myself a Friday off for our comp. time. I'm pretty excited about that possibility.
I haven't heard from Chad this evening; after trying to call and getting no answer, I can only assume they are out on a fire. We are supposed to get rain tomorrow and we oh-so-desperately need it so pray hard! We need more than just scattered showers - we need a downpour!
I guess I will go swim then come back and start dinner even though I might be the only one home to eat it!

trying to plan.

It is pretty much impossible to plan things during fire season. We had another appt. with the real estate agent this morning to try and get Chad into the two houses I liked from yesterday. He got a call before we ever got to the first one but he was brave enough to tell them that if he could hold off for a while, we really needed to try to get in this house. Finally! He got to see the one that I really liked from yesterday and of course, the voice of reason Chad, noticed a bunch of stuff I wouldn't have ever noticed and asked a lot of questions that I hadn't even thought about.
He is back at work now and I am cleaning up the kitchen, doing some laundry, and planning dinner. We had a sprinkling of rain this morning but not enough to really help the situation so keep up those prayers! I want to grill some brats tonight for dinner and I am completely willing to do it in the pouring down rain if that is what we can have!
I don't think Chad will be able to go to Atlanta tomorrow for our big family Easter get-together at my sister's house. We are hoping for a big more rain but if that doesn't happen, he will just have to stay here and I will go down with his parents in the morning. It is a little sad that I won't get to spend Easter with him, celebrating, since I did just miss his birthday but he won't let me not go and spend time with my family too.

sweet pictures.

As I told you before, I got to take some pictures of my sweet friend Beth while she is still pregnant and it was such an honor to do it! This is just a small sample of the pictures I took that day of her and her fun (and funny!) husband....
I haven't really edited any of these yet. I am sitting at the computer doing it now but I wanted to get them up so you could enjoy them while I edit...so excuse any crazy coloring/brightness issues. I am resolving those as we speak.
Instead, enjoy the pictures of this super cute best friend of mine and her sweet, little (but growing!) family!

In the baby's room...she picked great colors and it already looks so sweet and comfy!

I can't wait till there is a sweet little boy in that crib though!

I just realized that these pictures are in a crazy order, sorry! - thanks Blogger!

This one took some practice but it is one of my favorites..they are so sweet together!

Love it. Love that you can see their rings - a sweet promise to always be a family to the one that is still inside.

These are in a really nice little park...she is such a cute pregnant person!

Doesn't she just look happy? I am so thrilled for her and K.

They will be the best parents!

i'll answer that.

I can answer that question for myself...yes, Paula, you are absolutely allowed to be miffed. Irate. Upset. Frustrated. and Sad.
But you can choose not to be.

Thanks Self, for the pick-me-up.

It isn't Chad's fault and when I talked to him on the phone I was already mad and took it out on him. So then he got mad.
And then we were both just mad.
About something we couldn't control.
And that is the worst part.
He has to go - he doesn't get a choice.
I can choose to go look at some houses - narrow it down a bit - and the super cool, understanding, flexible real estate agents said that they can go back to the two I liked tomorrow afternoon if the poor guy catches a break.
I found one that I really, really liked. It is short a half a bathroom (it has 1 and a half and we really wanted two so guests could have their own!) but the rest of it is awesome!
My sweet Chad is already pretty deep in overtime for the week so maybe they will send him home soon.
Will you join me in praying for rain?
And for my attitude if it doesn't come and he can't spend time with family for Easter?
Thanks!

stupid, dumb fires.

Chad has been at work since about 5:30 this morning after an early morning wake up call for us both about a fire.
Doing work that I am sure someone else could do for just a few minutes (though he works hard, is valuable, strong, willing, and smart!)
But he is still there.
And we were supposed to meet the real estate agent in 20 minutes.
Am I allowed to be a little miffed?

shopping?

Yesterday was a good day - long one - but good. My meeting for last night was canceled which was a major blessing. It meant that I got to go home and spend some time with Chad and that I didn't have to try to stuff any more information in my brain on one day. I did feel a little overwhelmed but hopefully as I get more comfortable, things will work out. One of the meetings I went to was a "webinar" (seminar on the web...it was pretty cool!) that introduced us to the new Girl Scout branding. Changing the logo a bit, making the colors and designs a little more modern...the new stuff looks great!! The media campaign for the Hispanic community launched this month (I will explain why they are different if you would like to know but it isn't at all offensive...it is based on the idea that the Hispanic population is steadily growing and is the most unreached group in the U.S. for Girl Scouts so it is an obvious and sensible target!) and the rest of the campaign will launch in July. I spent quite a few hours in meetings and then cleaned and rearranged the furniture in my office. I didn't like the idea of having my back to the door! I am in desperate need of a rug, a lamp and some art and I can probably scrounge up those things this weekend and take them in on Monday or Tuesday. This morning I am headed to the mall - no, not to go shopping - but to do a walk-through for our overnight event that is coming the end of this month.
However, I need a new brown belt. Gwendolen destroyed mine a long time ago and I haven't needed one until now...and I need one today!

the 1st.

Well, it is April 1st.
Happy April Fool's day.
I got nothin' for ya here.
Too busy to plan cute practical jokes.

Today is my first official day at the Girl Scouts.
I'm excited, nervous, happy, and looking forward to a really busy day.
Staff meeting at 9, conference call at 2, unit meeting at 6.
It might be a long day!
You wanna read a blog post about little ole' me and maybe tear up a little?
Check out my mom's blog today.
She's too sweet.
I called her yesterday while I was on the road back from seeing Beth in middle Alabama and had to leave her a message that said "I am on the road, early morning, drinking my Fat Free French Vanilla, listening to Jesus music, thinking and praying...I think I am turning into my mother. And I kinda like it."