2012 In Review

What a year! I don't think I have ever had a year I remember more vividly than 2012. Usually when I reflect on my previous year it seems like a long drawn out blur. I think it's because I am not typically one of those people who keeps up with things, but 2012 was different. I feel like every single month was distinct and the whole thing flew by in about 5 minutes. It's probably been the best year of my life. Not the easiest, but the best. Isn't it funny how sometimes the best is not the easiest or not even what you would have wanted had you been asked?

In January 2012 I would have predicted that my year might involve continuing to work at my job in mental health, Andrew continuing seminary at the nearest NOBTS extension center and working, maybe a new ministry job and possibly buying our first home and finally putting down some roots. 

January 2013 finds us in new jobs in a new city with a new member of the family on his way. 

It has been wild and unexpected in every way but I wouldn't change a thing!

Here are some of the highlights: 

January

Ringing in 2012 with Katie and Kyle and really hitting the YMCA hard to reach my fitness goals. I've never told  you this on the blog but I lost 56lbs between 2010-2012. 

February

Getting more active in helping with the FBC Valdosta youth group. Helping teach Sunday school to middle school girls and attending LOTS of fun festivities for my BFF Katie's engagement!

March

Best bachelorette weekend ever to Mexico Beach. Disney World world with the Donaldson clan and Katie's gorgeous wedding. Talks about buying the cute little green house AND the first discussion of moving to New Orleans...

April

Whirlwind of trips to Port St. Lucie, FL for Easter, and an amazing 4 day weekend in New Orleans. God confirmed the plans; goodbye Valdosta, hello NOLA!

May

Started the blog. Started packing up the little Valdosta house and preparing for our new adventure in the even smaller New Orleans dwelling. Gave my notice at my job. And joined a running club so I would be able to exercise in NOLA without my beloved YMCA!

June

Surprise birthday party, turned 25, family vacation to Panama City Beach, colonoscopy (it's not all fun and games), weekend trip to visit friends, more packing.

July

Family BBQ at my dad's, squeezing in LOTS of friend and family time, packing like crazy, yard sale, saying good bye to our jobs and finally moving to New Orleans!

August

Setting up the new apartment. Getting my new job in the Psychology and Counseling Department on campus, meeting new friends, and... finding out we are having a baby! 

*Congratulations on making it three weeks in New Orleans! First prize is a baby!*

Oh yea, getting evacuated for hurricane Isaac and having new twin nephews!

September

Completely failed at Andrew's birthday due to morning sickness. So far I owe him cakes for the past 2 years. Went to visit my dad in Tifton. And I pretty much threw up a lot. But the teeny tiny baby did well!

October

Continued to battle the morning sickness. Basically fell out of life altogether. Had a really hard time processing all the changes in my body and surroundings. Kind of hated New Orleans. Went and saw The Birds in the sculpture garden at the art museum. Decorated a little to feel more like home.

November

Finally started to feel a little better. Had a fun weekend with my sister in law in New Orleans as well as my friend Autumn. Did the color run with Leah and Stasia. Great Thanksgiving with the Donaldson's. Started coming back around to New Orleans.

December

Felt nearly 100% better. Found out we are having a BOY, Baby James! Finally got back in the kitchen and did things I love like having people over and decorating. Celebrated our 3 year anniversary and didn't take a single picture. Spent an amazing 12 day Christmas with all of our families in Bainbridge, Tifton, and Auburn. Got lots of fun baby things!!

WHEW!

And the crazy part is that 2013 is going to top it. Is that even possible?! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

InstaFriday: Week in Pictures

I love me some InstaFriday's where I can link up with other awesome bloggers and share tidbits of my week in pics from my cell phone. Y'all know it really works for me since ALL of my pictures come from my phone.  I’m not complaining!

This week was colonoscopy week. I took some hilarious pictures that I won’t be sharing but trust me, they were good.

The day I got back to work we had a dance group called the Senior Strutters come in and perform. They are a group of senior adult women who line dance for entertainment all around Valdosta. Their most senior member is 90, and let me say they were fantastic! I mean they really could shake a leg. They performed for a solid 45 minutes. Here is a little shot of them doing the Wobble… yes you heard me correctly.

Andrew made an amazing bacon cheese burger with BBQ sauce. One thing is certain, my man can grill a hamburger. We can’t get too used to this sort of eating but it was well worth it!

I got a little crazy eating cherries but otherwise… it was a pretty uneventful week.

Only 36 days until moving time!! Have a great weekend!!

Updates and Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

HAPPY FRIDAY WORLD! 

I gotta say all Fridays are blessed events but this one is particularly good for me because it marks the last day I will be flying solo without my boss at work. He has been gone on an amazing adventure out West and I have been acting as his stand-in now for 2 weeks. I'll tell you what I told him... Boss, I'm definitely not after your job. Whew, being in charge is not my cup o tea but thanks be to GOD, I've gotten through it!

We bought the dresser I mentioned in this post. It was originally marked at $65 and we got it for $60. Woohoo! Not the most impressive negotiating, but it's a start. After getting it into our house we think we probably overpaid but it was our first big thrift item so maybe we made up for it in education. I think we will make much better deals in the future.  We are planning to overhaul it this weekend and I'll hopefully post all about it next week. Here is a pic now that it is an official member of our home!

Now for a couple of miscellaneous updates:

1. Our official moving date is July 28th. T-58 days until we become true Cajuns (but not LSU fans).   I couldn't be more ready! 

2. I added a new little feature to the blog that you can use to drop me a line. It's fittingly called "Contact Me." It's at the top, under the big title and again on the right toward the bottom. I would love to hear from you so please say hello!

3. Last but most importantly, I baked a ridiculously easy and delicious bread and it must be shared. I found it on Pinterest but it is originally from Real Simple.

{This is a sweet and savory bread. It has a dense/cakey consistency. We had it with spaghetti for dinner and again for breakfast the next morning... bon appetit!}

Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use any nuts)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• grated zest of 1 lemon (1 tablespoon)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sweet white wine or apple juice
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly coat loaf pan with vegetable cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, rosemary, salt, and lemon zest.
3. In another bowl, blend the eggs, wine, and olive oil; stir into the dry ingredients.
4. Transfer the batter into pan and smooth surface. Bake 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Getting new jobs

Since my last post focused on quitting our jobs, I thought I would write one about getting new jobs in NOLA. When I picture our life there, I mostly see myself decorating our apartment, hanging out with awesome new people, doing fun things in the city and eating my weight in shrimp. For one reason or another I, ahem…. NEVER envision myself working. Hmm. That’s not gonna work. Pun intended.

Andrew plans to try to get a job on campus when we get there. I think they usually work around class schedules and afford some study time on the job. Me on the other hand, I’m just downright mixed up about what to do. I have a Master’s of Social Work degree and am even licensed (LMSW) in the state of Georgia. However…

I don’t really want to do social work. There, I said it.

I don’t mean I never ever want to do social work, just not right away. New Orleans is a big new city. I’m positive there are many opportunities for social work. But to be honest, I have had some frightening experiences in my field and I am just not up for potentially frightening experiences in a completely unknown place. The interstate will be terrifying enough.

So here is what I am currently thinking of doing:

1.       Becoming a nanny, again. I was a nanny for an amazing family in Athens and absolutely adored it. I think it fits well with my future mommy aspirations.

2.       Get a job on campus. It’s not my favorite choice but it is on the list because it is a very likely possibility and I need to accept it. I just don’t want to get trapped in a bubble and never get off campus. If this is how it turns out we will just have to be proactive… hold me accountable!

3.       There is a weird part of me that just really wants to get a job in retail. I know I should be careful what I wish for. But seriously, I could spend my days (and nights, weekends, holidays) in Anthropologie. Or Sephora, LOFT, Banana, or even Saks… a girl can dream.

Sidebar: there is no Nordstrom in all of Louisiana… what tha what?

It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Things don’t typically go according to plan so there is a high likelihood that the mere act of creating this list will eradicate it altogether. No big deal!

On a side note, we are trying collect our pennies in such a way that we are able to survive the month of August without me having a job. This will buy me some time to find one, and give us a chance to really settle in. If you are in the business of praying for us, this would be a great area to lift up a word. Thank you!

I apologize for the tedium (thanks Microsoft Word synonyms) of this post. Maybe something in our lives will merit pictures soon!

I'll leave you with this picture I pinned on Pinterest a few days ago. I just think it is adorable!

Easy and hard

Some parts of moving to New Orleans have been really easy. Going there on vacation and eating tons of seafood was easy. Meeting new friends was easy. Getting a better apartment than we hoped for was easy. Deciphering when to tell our jobs we were leaving was hard.

I intended to tell my boss I would be leaving once I found out that we were actually getting housing. In my mind that was the most sure-fire approach because once we had housing this whole thing would be real. The problem is, I didn’t expect to find out about housing until late June.

When we found out last week that we got an apartment on campus we were thrilled but it really threw me for a loop about when to tell my boss. Late June was going to be perfect because it would be enough time to give a month’s notice.  Long enough to leave well but short enough to not be too uncomfortable. 

I think deep down I knew it was time to tell the minute we found out about housing but I didn’t want to face it. I really like my job and I have an amazing boss. The last thing I wanted was to disappoint him. He has invested a lot of time into training me and teaching me how to be a good therapist. His lessons have been golden. When I got my job I had every intention of staying at least 5 years. That is the impression I gave him when he hired me and that was something he was looking for. I knew the whole time that telling him about New Orleans would be the hardest part of the whole thing.

This morning in my quiet time I was really resistant to the Spirit leading me to go ahead and let my boss know today. I basically prayed that God would allow me to wait. He asks that of me so often anyway and I am so prone to jumping the gun. I assumed this would be my opportunity to show Him I could really do the waiting thing after all. He more or less said no. I read this verse which falls under a heading in my Bible that says “Paul’s change of plans,” how fitting.

We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. 2 Corinthians 1:12

At that point I had to stop denying what I knew I needed to do both ethically and to be in good-conscience. I decided I would talk to my boss today. Andrew decided he would too.

I was extremely nervous and felt way too unprepared for something as big as quitting my job. I just laid it all out there. I tried to be totally honest about the situation and not sugar-coat or over apologize, I’m really bad about that. For the most part, I think I did OK. What really blew my mid was my boss’ response.

He was the epitome of understanding and acceptance. I guess that’s the perk of having a therapist as a boss. He told me some really nice things that made me feel better about it and then he told me that it was a shame I was leaving when I had really started making a mark. That hit me pretty hard.

I was pleased to know that I was doing good work but something in me felt that the work was being abandoned prematurely.  I will have to trust God with that one. And with a host of other impacts I’m sure this move is bound to have.

I once heard Beth Moore say something to the effect of: “God deals with the consequences of our obedience to Him.” I know he will take care of my job… the work didn’t depend on me anyway.

Andrew’s experience with his boss went as well as it could have. He hated to see Andrew go but understood. Our last days will probably sometime around the end of July.  Our excitement still far outweighs the difficulty of today. I am thankful that the difficulties we face are so extraordinarily easy compared with many brothers and sisters around the world. I am thankful for a God who is faithful even to us. And I am thankful I can share it with you.

What's in it for me?

I have never known what I wanted to do with my life. I’m the sort of person who can be pretty good at most things except math. I wouldn’t say that I am particularly gifted, but that’s the problem. I have been fortunate enough to have not failed at too many things but subsequently have never found the thing that truly thrills my soul.

Growing up I was a dancer. I was passionate about dance and I loved performing. I always tell Andrew that if I could sing we probably wouldn’t have made it because I would have been off to Broadway, but alas… I can’t. I had enough logic and lack of whimsy to know I couldn’t dance myself into a real career and ever since I decided to quit, I have been searching.

I have prayed. Believe me I have prayed. I have prayed and read and tried and tried, but nothing. No love of career. No dream job. No drive. I willed myself through six years of college and two degrees. I realize how terrible selfish and privileged that sounds. I also realize how unfair it is that I feel that way about it when some people would die to trade places with me. I have unresolved guilt.

The summer between my two years of grad school I was blessed with nothing to do. I had no classes and not enough time to get a job. What I did have was a new husband and a pretty, if tiny, little white house. I filled my days with rest and cleaning and reading and moving and cooking. I cut fresh flowers and put them in vases. I found the farmers market. I returned phone calls. I fed others. I welcomed people at my door. I engaged in conversation. It was Heaven.

Within a couple weeks I remembered what it felt like to not be tired and stressed. I discovered what it was to feel healthy. I began to understand what it meant to nurture something; my home, my husband, myself. And I loved it. I began hearing that still small voice, which by the way was suddenly more audible. Lay down your burdens. Find rest for your soul. I have made you for a purpose. And I knew that I had found it.

I’m not so naïve to think God was calling me to an earthly life free of stress and strife, that’s for eternity. But I had found something so much more fulfilling than anything I had tried. I delighted in making my home a welcoming place. I loved being present enough to listen to what Andrew was saying. I felt satisfied in every seemingly menial task that led to peace within our four walls.

Being a wife had become a priority and it felt so right. In the time since that summer God has been leading me in discovering what on earth that role really means. Is it to be a doormat? A domestic genius? A perfect hostess? A child bearer? These are things the world has told me. These are not the things of God.

As we shift into our new life in New Orleans I have the opportunity to begin exploring my role as wife in ministry. I am curious and eager to figure it out. I don’t know what I will find but I know without doubt that seminary is as much for me as it is for Andrew and I can’t wait.