heading out

I'm getting ready to leave town! I have to go to Knoxville to oversee the Telefund for UTC until Thursday night. I know it's just a couple of days, but I am kind of dreading leaving David (he's pretty bummed about it too). It will be good (at least professionally) to have meetings with the system-wide folks there and to iron out some kinks in our Annual Giving efforts, but boy will I be glad to be home Thursday night!

Fortunately, I think I'll be able to sleep in a bit (since Telefund isn't until the evenings , I've scheduled my appointments for the afternoons), do some running and reading! I am excited about that. David and I have recently loaded up on new books for our reading and learning pleasure (and yes, David is excited about reading too!), so I'm hoping to dig into these:

My blog is usually full of pretty surface-level content, but be looking for some meat as I delve into these (and hopefully many more- recommendations welcome!) great books about being a godly woman and wife. I have so much to learn!

paint me a Birmingham

What a great weekend! David and I both took Friday of last week off work so we could spend an entire weekend with Ashley in Birmingham. It was definitely a wise decision, and it felt like a vacation for us! We got to stay up late and sleep in (which we never do... we're so old and boring) and it was great! On the way there, we stopped at a real nice KFC for a quick dinner and quickly noticed that my biscuit had already been partially enjoyed by someone else...

... yeah, that's a bite taken out of my biscuit. Sick. They gave me a new one, but I was still a little disturbed.

In addition to hanging out with Ashley over the weekend, we also got to watch Mary Shelton play two soccer games as a Samford Bulldog. We are SOOO proud of her! She was a walk-on to the team and now she's starting every game and playing every minute. Friday night we beat Elon 2-0 and MS scored!! We were so, so excited! Here's the article about the game and the picture of MS from Samford's website:

I had lunch with Jamie on Saturday and did some shopping with Ashley and David (poor kid... he wanted to be watching football but instead was trapped at the mall. He was such a good sport though!). Then, Saturday night we made Sheri's lasagna recipe and Peter, MS, Lynn & John came over to watch the Georgia v. Alabama game. We had a great time- even though Peter was a disappointed GA fan.

Sunday was a great game, but we tied 0-0 with UNCG (the team picked to win the conference preseason) after double overtime. It was brutal, but we totally outplayed them and MS was awesome. Read more about the game here.

Overall, it was such a great weekend and we can't wait to go visit again!

my apologies

So, apparently either my email or my blog is not working. I never got the emails with your comments on my "name by ipod" blog! I am so, so sorry. Sarah aptly informed me about the error of my ways, and I humbly apologize. (PS- Sarah, I fixed your link :) Everyone read Sarah's blog!)

On a very different and exciting note... Amy Roloff is coming to UTC!!

Amy is the mom from the hit (at least in my mind) TLC show "Little People, Big World" about a family with 3 little people. Both the mom and the dad are little people and they have 4 kids. Jeremy and Zachary are twins- but Zachary is little like his parents. The other two kids are Molly and Jacob and they are both average sized. It is so sad that I am reciting all of this from memory and I'm totally hearing the opening credits as I go... Anyways, I had a great meeting this afternoon with Bryon from the Office of Students with Disabilities on campus and they are doing some awesome things. October is National Disabilities Awareness Month, but because of the family pumpkin patch, Amy won't be able to make it to town until November 6. 3:30. UC. Auditorium. Though it's the day before our campaign launch, and I'm sure I'm expected to be super busy then- I'll be there. Hopefully in the front row. I'm not much of a star-struck kind of person and unfortunately from what I've seen on the show Amy's not a fabulous public speaker, but I really respect their family (minus her total lack of cleanliness... sick).

visitors and lists of 4

Last night I got to spend some time with the Masseys as they drove through town on their way back to Columbus from Michigan. Rachel, her three girls Payton (7), Eden (6) and Aiva (5) and their bunny "Silky" had dinner with us at Amigos and then hung out at our house for a little while before hitting the road for the final leg of their 14 (!!) hour day in the car. Those girls are troopers but man they had some energy to burn off by the time they got to the house! I wish I had taken a picture because they are the most beautiful girls, and because they packed for themselves on this trip and a little girl at a gas station along the way told Payton she looked like Hannah Montana. Bahaha! Just what every mom wants to hear.

I got "tagged" a while back to fill out one of those A-Z survey things, but I would like to opt out and fill out this one instead. So sue me.

Here it goes!

Four, Four, Four, Four…..

A. Four places that I go to over and over:
1. work (UTC)
2. Bi-Lo
3. Wal-Mart
4. home (man, these are lame... I need to get out more!)

B. Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. David
2. Sarah
3. Beth
4. Becca

C. My favorite 4 places to eat (in Chattanooga):
1. Big River
2. Amigo's
3. University Pizza & Deli
4. Chick-Fil-A
(I'd add Cheesecake Factory if we were talking about out of Chattanooga)

D. Four places I would rather be right now:
1. home laying in the bed with David watching the Office (we're almost done with Season 2!)
2. Sanibel Island (well, the beach in general, but I could stay for free at this one :))
3. in Birmingham with Ashley (we're going tomorrow!!)
4. David's parents' screened in porch

E. Four people who read your blog:
1. Mark & Shelby Jenkins (yeah, they are 2 people, but I want to count them both)
2. Ashley (but only because it gets emailed to her when I update it)
3. Sarah
4. Beth

F. Four TV shows I watch all the time:
I haven't watched much tv lately, but when I do, these are them...
1. The Office (see D.1.)
2. Jon & Kate Plus 8
3. We just finished watching The Newlyweds on DVD, but I'm glad that's over
4. Little People, Big World

G. Four words that describe you:
1. Friendly
2. Helpful
3. Routine
4. High-strung

H. Four quirky things about you (I changed this one because it originally was about classic movie stars and I don't know anything about that):
1. I plug my ears when I get scared.
2. I don't start my movie candy until the actual movie starts (I won't even open it during the previews).
3. I pick my split ends.
4. I double click on words while I'm reading things on the computer. It doesn't matter what it is, but I like to highlight the words as I go.

I. Four favorite “old school” television game shows:
I don't really know about "old school" game shows, so I'm just going to say game shows in general (man, I'm being so difficult):
1. Jeopardy
2. Family Feud
3. The Price is Right
4. Deal or No Deal

J. Four favorite “old school” television shows:
1. “Full House"
2. "Step by Step"
3. "Boy Meets World"
4. "Flinstones"/"Jetsons" (they tie for #4)

K. List four things you liked best about Christmas when you were a child (I’m adding a qualifier here—BESIDES PRESENTS!):
1. Getting out of school for a week
2. Heart shaped waffles at Round Hill
3. The anticipation of seeing the living room full of presents (we weren't allowed to go downstairs until my grandfather woke up and had his coffee)
4. Leaving Round Hill to go home

L. List four things you liked best about Halloween when you were a child:
1. Having candy at home for months
2. Always having a better costume than Ashley (ie- I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and she was a pig)
3. candy corn
4. not really Halloween, but I loved the school Fall Festival

M. List four things you did not like about growing up:
1. Being the oldest and always getting held to a different standard than Ashley or Greg (definitely Greg)
2. When I didn't want to go to gymnastics but my parents made me because it was a commitment that I had made (though I'm thankful for that now)- and then watching Greg quit everything he ever started
3. Getting in trouble for back talking and not being able to watch Full House (a mild punishment) or getting my mouth washed out with soap (for really bad back talk)
4. My haircut

N. List 4 events that impacted your life:
1. Becoming a Christian (4th grade)
2. My mom's diagnosis w/ Multiple Sclerosis (2000)
3. My Aunt Barbara's death (October 2007)
4. Marrying David (August 9, 2008)

Whew...

I'm not going to "tag" people to do it themselves, because those of you reading either don't have blogs of your own or you've already done it on your blog. Feel free to start an e-chain that says the love of your life will find you within 48 hours if you forward this to your 4.8 closest friends in the next 48 seconds. That should be fun to bring back.

unexpected blessings

*I began this post yesterday and then got called away to a meeting that kept me busy until I had to run out the door. So, consider this from Tuesday.

Two legitimate posts in one day- crazy! I am just in such a good mood that I had to share my afternoon with you all (well, at least the 5 of y'all that read this). One thing that has been discouraging about starting this new job (well, new almost 4 months ago) is that I came from a campus where I knew everyone and saw friendly, familiar faces every where I went. I know approx 3 undergraduate students at UTC and frankly, that isn't really enough to provide people I know everywhere I go- it's a big place. However, I just ran across campus and bumped into Aimee Long on the way there and Matt Bond on the way back (friends from camp)! Honestly, I didn't even really know that either of them were students at UTC, so I was extra surprised! It was such a boost to my afternoon to have a great chat with each of them, while standing on the sidewalk in the beautiful weather! Yeah! Thank you, God, for unexpected blessings!

Ruby Sue it is!

Thanks to Beth's suggestion (the only one I got... I guess no one reads this thing), my iPod will now be called "Ruby Sue" in honor of the best Christmas movie (or any movie) of all time. Christmas Vacation has been a favorite of my family's for ... well, ever. And David's side shares the same affection for this classic. It's a fitting name for my red iPod!

Monday already?

Where did this weekend go?

Friday we went to the UTC Step Show and didn't last long. The performances didn't leave much to the imagination, let's just put it that way. Five acts was more than enough, so we caught the tail end of the Baylor football game. We have really enjoyed spending time with Dr. and Mrs. Mosier (Lynn Bryant's parents) at all of their grand kids' sporting events. Dr. M loves to talk to David about the stock market and Mrs. Mosier loves just chatting. Since I've never had grandparents and David is far away from his now, it's been special having some adopted ones :).

Saturday was nice. I helped set up for the Homecoming Tailgate and it didn't take long at all, which was such a treat! I was even able to meet David, Patrick, Kevin and the Mosiers for lunch at Panera after Patty's cross country meet. I think I enjoyed lunch more than anyone because Dr. Mosier and I spent the entire time talking about UTC/UT/the UT system and fundraising in general. Everyone else was falling asleep.

While David watched hours of football, I spent some quality time with my new iPod nano. My old iPod broke so I got a new one for my birthday, but I waited for the new generation so I just got it last week. It's red and everything.

It's wonderful and a great motivator to start running again. Plus the weather has been so beautiful, it's kind of a disgrace to not be outside all of the time. I'm definitely enjoying it. Saturday evening we saw The Traitor with none other than the Rochas! The company was great, the movie was fine. It was well-done and all that jazz, but it definitely made me really sad. It's about terrorism and it had a very good ending, but the reality of it was a little frightening.

I spent yesterday helping Becca clean up and out and make over a room in her basement into a fabulous craft room. We had every intention to take before and after pictures and that just didn't happen. Take my word for it- it looks great :). After dinner with Becca and Keith (and Kate- who's room is coming together very nicely because she will be here in 3 1/2 weeks!!) we headed home and almost straight to bed! We are SO excited about going to Birmingham this weekend, but we aren't so excited about working to make up for our days off on Friday. We are working 10 hour days Monday through Thursday, which means getting in at 7am. It's only a 30 minute difference, but man it matters when it is pitch black outside! I've been struggling to stay awake today... but fortunately I brought my iPod along to keep me company :). I'm usually not the type to name my inanimate objects, but Melissa's post today is about her toaster named Lorelei and I'm kind of liking it. Kara's iPod in college was Lily (Lily Pad... Lily Pod... iPod... it made sense at the time, ok?) and I'd love your help naming mine! I'm Dorky McDorkerton (yeah, that's for you, Shelb) but play along just this once and I'll leave you all alone.

PS- the name-the-iPod challenge is also just a ploy to get you to comment so I know who actually reads this thing!

Google Picasa

I'm having fun learning Google Picasa for an upcoming project at work and I thought I'd use some wedding photos as my guinea pigs. Here's the first one from our play day at camp the day before the wedding (oh ps- I know the date is wrong, I'm just too lazy to change it):

"where your stylist speaks your language"

If you haven't heard that tag line before, you haven't been to your local Great Clips in a while. Don't worry, you're not missing out. But seriously, there is a poster on the wall that says, "Great Clips: where your stylist speaks your language", and unfortunately that was false for me on Sunday. David and I both needed a quick trim so we popped in after a grocery run to Bi-Lo. The sweet lady, though she's lived in America for 18 years, is still working on that English sentence structure bit. I wouldn't have really thought much about it had it not been for the ominous sign. Also, you know you've made a poor hair cut decision when the first thing you do when you get home is pull out the scissors and the clippers. David's sideburns were a good 1/2" different from one another and I had a rat tail.

Lesson Learned: pay more than $11.95 for a hair cut or be prepared to just do it yourself.

things I've made

I wish I had eloquence and wittiness to offer, but all I bring today is yet another list. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I have a quite a few blog topics to catch up on. So, here are all of the recent blog-worthy things that can be categorized as "things I've made" as of late.

1. Onezies for Kate- I stole the idea from my good friend Laine, and made iron-on onzies for baby Kate. David helped a ton and we really had a fun time. They turned out pretty well :)

*notice the one on the far right- it says "Emily and David love me" :)

*I love this one with her monogram on it!

2. Messy food. It has been officially determined that I am incapable of making ANY food without simultaneously making a huge mess. Here is evidence that I can't even make a waffle in a spill-proof manner. It doesn't really work out well for David when I pull the "I cleaned so you cook" line.

3. Wedding shadow box. Don't let the picture below confuse you- I did not make the Bryant children. However, while I was watching the UTC football game from the Chancellor's box and Kevin and Lynn were at a Young Life banquet, David had Patrick, John and Hayden over to hang out. They ordered pizza and watched a movie and had a blast. When I got home from the game I solicited their help with a project I had wanted to complete and it turned out pretty well! John and Hayden both had some great ideas and it made it much more fun!

You can't see it really well, but this is what all is in it: the handkerchief was a gift from my mom that has our names and wedding date and the lace is from my great great Aunt Louise's wedding dress (who I was named after), the red roses and the flower petals are from when David proposed, our invitation of course, my bouquet and David's boutonniere, there is brown fabric wrapped around the sides and the roses that is from the bridesmaids dresses and the tie on my bouquet is made from my mom & grandmother's wedding dress (my mom wore her mom's dress), Aunt Louise's dress and my great grandmother's wedding dress.

So many things!

Ok, I've retrieved my camera and can now complete the previously promised posts:

New rug. Check.

2nd of 4 football games. Go Baylor!

Skiing. Check.

Loving David. Double check.

I've noticed a theme in my life... I don't know how to label it, but here's an example: My office phone never rings- UNLESS I'm on it. As soon as I make a phone call, without a doubt someone else will call and I'll have a voicemail. It's so annoying because I kind of hate that little red flashing light. But the same concept applies to my blog life. I guess the theme could be something about how "when it rains it pours"? Does that really apply? Now that I've been struggling with topics to blog about for a while, I'm inundated with things to talk about! Oh well- I guess it's a good thing for now at least, because my blog will be active for the next few days! I'm trying to refrain from several posts in one day, but I kind of have issues with patience, so we'll see :).

I made dinner!

It's true. I cooked. I know, all of my family probably just fell out of their seats, but get back up and look at the meal I made! Granted, it's hardly fancy, but it was very yummy. David is really proud of me for trying new things and even attempting to eat a little bit healthier (note the green).
Here it is: broccoli, mashed potatoes (that David made of course) and country fried steak with mushroom gravy.
Baby steps, ok?

I forgot the best thing...

TODAY IS OUR 1 MONTH ANNIVERSARY! Woo hoo!

To celebrate, we are each going to spend time with our favorite same-gendered friends (in other words- go to Bible study). But we will actually celebrate tomorrow when we dine at Big River and watch Baby Mama! Yeah! I love David more today than a month ago- and I never thought that was possible. Praise God for the gift of marriage!

hold your horses

I know, it's been almost a week since I've blogged. I'm telling you- if there's nothing exciting going on, there's no post! However, there have been fun and exciting things that have happened since last Wednesday, but I can't find my camera to upload the coordinating pictures :(.

So, in order to keep your suspense building and to satisfy pesky Mark Jenkins (just kidding about the pesky part :)), here is an outline of blog topics to come:

• We got a new rug. Please, try to contain your excitement.
• I set a personal record and watched 4 football games in 3 days.
• I improved my skiing skills, learned how to knee board and unsuccessfully attempted slaloming.
• I love David and he loves me (no new news there!).
• I can't wait for Friday to get here so I can enjoy another fabulous Chattanooga weekend!!

I hope that will contain you for a little while!

thankful hearts

Happy Birthday, Jim! Today is my father-in-law's birthday (he's 60 something... 64 maybe? but you would never know it!) and today is also the first time I've ever referred to him as my father-in-law. Weird. It stinks to live far apart from family, but it especially stinks on birthdays and holidays. I hate that I'll mostly forget that today is his special day because we won't get to celebrate it with him. Beth will deliver our group gift (a digital picture frame with pictures already installed :)), and I'm anxious to find out what he thinks!

There have been so many wonderful things going on lately, yet every time I've sat down to write on this thing, my mind has drawn a blank. I guess I'll just touch on everything a bit... (just to warn you, this may get long and boring).

I, like every working person in America, wish every weekend was 3 days! It just makes life better! We had a fabulous long weekend being with our friends. Friday night we had dinner and hung out with the Rochas and thus began our Rocha-infested (sorry, I couldn't resist the play on words! no negative connotation intended :)) weekend! Saturday Keith rescued me and watched the Ohio State game with Dave at Buffalo Wild Wings (though- do not fear, the lady called yesterday to inform us that we now receive the Big Ten Network. Thank goodness. I was having a hard time sleeping at night :)) and I hung out with Becca for a little bit to help work on things for Kate's room. Oh, and while we're on that subject, I ought to inform you that David and I have been dubbed (by ourselves, no less) "Auntie Em" and "Uncy Dave". We are just so excited to have become such good friends with Becca and Keith and we cannot wait to share in the joy of watching Kate be born (not literally) and grow up! David cannot wait to teach her how to water ski :). Saturday night we had such a fun dinner with two of our favorite families: the Jenkins and Harrisons. It was so good to see them and catch up! We love them!

Whew, that paragraph was getting kind of long. I'll start a new one just so your eyes can rest (since after all, we only just finished Saturday!).

Sunday was our August birthday celebration for Alex, Sarah, David and me and it was so fun! Post-celebration, we went out on the Bryant's boat for a brief trip. I skied pretty decently (which is a new thing) and David got up on a wake board on his first attempt! We hope we can squeeze some more time in out there before the weather gets too cold!

Monday was soo fabulous. We slept in late (well, about 8), David made me breakfast in bed and then we had the whole day at our disposal! What a great invention that Labor Day is! David & Keith went to the driving range for the morning and then we headed to the Rocha's for a pool party cookout! We met some great new people and really had a good time!

Now, man, aren't you regretting even attempting to read this post? I guess my writer's block is healed. Lucky you.

Last night I got to spend the evening with my dear Sarah, and it was great (sorry, I don't have a song for great). We have kind of dropped the ball on talking through our Bible study book, but we had quality conversations that totally made up for it. Becca came over when she got out of her learning-how-to-be-a-mommy-and-make-sure-my-child-eats class, and our good talks just continued. By the time David got home (from his new Bible study group), we both were just brimming with excitement over our amazing friendships. A-MAZING. I can't even explain how huge of a blessing it is to have moved to a new town and be immediately immersed in probably the most authentic friendships I've ever had with girls- and the same is true for David, just with boys. It's just incredible how the Lord has prepared all of us for these relationships- we are each so unique, yet perfectly similar such that we all fit together seamlessly.

I have really been challenged by Becca & Sarah lately in a couple of key areas that I consistently struggle with, but usually don't intentionally work on (being judgemental, complacency, and loving David in the most Christ-like way possible). It's amazing how these sins have really surfaced lately, and I have really faced my convictions because I know I have that accountability. Whew. God is cool (and sneaky, right S? :)).

All of this to say, the Geyers are just blown away with thankful hearts.