So...yesterday was my birthday and being the wonderful husband he is, David finished the deck! It looks so great. We now have a 3 level patio with a huge pond that runs underneath it. You see, one of our favorite things to do at home is watch HGTV. We have gotten so many ideas from that channel and I have a feeling there will always be some little project we will be working on. Our next one is framing the bathroom mirrors and tiling the kitchen and bathrooms. Home ownership is so fun! :)

Yesterday for my birthday we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Both sides of the family were there along with some of my closest friends. I love times like this because it really is hard to deny how blessed you are when you look around at all the people who care about you and support you. God has blessed me with 23 years of being loved by family and friends. But I couldn't help but think last night how much better it is going to be when I get to spend ETERNITY with Him. Knowing how incredible it is going to be should make us want to tell everyone about it! Why is it that it's too often the opposite? I really want to do a much better job of that this year.

This weekend, David is going to be taking me to San Antonio for a birthday weekend celebration. I cannot wait! San Antonio is one of my favorite cities. I love just strolling down the River Walk, but my favorite part of all is Sea World! I get like a little kid when I go to Sea World, it is truly one of my favorite places! One day, I wouldnt mind putting the music thing to the side and becoming a trainer! :) Ha, that would be awesome!

Backyards, Birthdays, and Africa

So...just a quick update on our backyard oasis. We finally got the pump for the waterfall and David is still in the process of getting the deck finished. Being the smart woman I am, I reminded David that my birthday is next Wednesday and I would love nothing more than to have a finished backyard to celebrate and eat cake in. He caught on and realized what I was doing but he will still feel guilty if it is not finished! We women are so smart! :) So, I have complete faith that our backyard will be finished by next Wednesday.

On another note, both David and I have been reading this great book called "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". It is an awesome book and I highly recommend it for everyone. The main purpose of the book is talking about how as Christians, we are called to "chase lions" and live a bold and daring life. Christ never called us to be boring believers whose faith is only lived out in a church service every now and then. We are called to go out and live like Christ, who definitely did not lead a boring life! I know most of my huge setbacks in life are my fears. I let fear and uncertainty hold me back from living the life God has called me to. Recently, I have a felt a huge desire for missions. I just want to go out and help the needy and bring them Christ. I get so comfortable here in our nice little house with our nice little jobs in our nice little town. I don't ever want to get "comfortable". I want to enjoy where God leads me and embrace uncertainty. With that being said, a dear friend of mine shared with me Family Legacies, a group that travels to Zambia each summer and works at a camp with orphans. After looking it over, I knew David and I had to do this. With summer right around the corner, we are planning on taking this trip summer 2010, but I do want to ask you to pray for us. Pray that we follow God's will in this. Also, we will need to raise a very large amount of money in order to go. I have full faith that God will provide, but pray that we don't get discouraged with finances. We have over a year to get there, but too often we let a number frighten us and hold us back.

Here are a few pictures of where we would be going. I know this will be an amazing trip that will bring us closer together as husband and wife and also closer to our Creator.

Still Learning!

So I have not been good at keeping up with our blog at all. I will try to do better. I am still learning how to do all the fun stuff like post pictures and videos and stuff. I'm not nearly as technological as I would like to be. But in the mean time, I will write!
So much has happened since our last post! It would take me forever to try and catch you up on everything so I will try and hit the fun stuff. One of our biggest adventures has been our new dog, Phoenix. He is quite the handful! With him being our 3rd dog, it can at times feel like they are our children!! That might sound crazy to some of you, so let me explain. Phoenix has to be crated so alot of times our schedule revolves around when he needs to be let out. And, any time he is out we have to watch him to make sure he doesn't grab something he is not supposed to have. Last Saturday, David was working in the backyard with his friend Brad. They had to make a Home Depot run and when they got back, one of the dogs had jumped onto the stove and turned the gas on high. They had to open up all the windows and wait outside until it had cleared out. I have no doubt that there were major angels around our house protecting it. That could have been so much worse! But needless to say, there is always some kind of adventure happening with those dogs!!

Speaking of the backyard, David has been having so much fun with his project. Originally, we just had a concrete slab as our "patio", so my husband decides to take a sledgehammer to it. In it's place, he is putting in a pond and bigger deck. I have no doubt it is going to be wonderful! The only thing that has been frustrating is the fact that David and I both have pretty hectic schedules, so it is taking a little longer to finish it than expected. Any time it rains, our pond hole fills up with water and then creates a nice mud pit for the dogs to trample through. We then have to stand at the door and wipe their feet off one at a time before they come in. Thankfully, David now has the pond filled so we are well on our way!

A couple weeks ago, we took a trip to Delray Beach, FL to visit my best friend Laura and her husband. We had such a great week with them! That Wednesday, the 4 of us took a roadtrip to Charleston, SC. I know we all fell in love with the city! Even though we didn't have the greatest weather, there was still so much to do including visiting an aquarium, doing a ghost tour, dolphin watching, and seeing lighthouses! Plus they have some great little shops all around. I could not have had a better week. It was so great to get away with David and get to spend time with my best friend and her husband! Thank you guys for letting us come stay with you!! Here are some pictures from the trip...

This weekend, we have the senior retreat for the high schoolers. We are heading to one of the student's lakehouses for the night. It should be fun! We are supposed to have rain but I'm sure we will still find some stuff to do!