We're here!

And it's so good.

:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

almost there

Sorry I missed my usual Monday morning blog post! After a great, full weekend I ended up with some sort of bug that sent me home early. Though I spent most of yesterday hovering over the toilet or asleep, today has proven to be a much better day.

Confession: I don't have a single picture from this weekend. I know, I'm such a slacker. But do not fret! There are pictures that serve as proof that we did, in fact, go to the Simpson's lake house for the weekend, but they are on Becca's camera. David and I had a ton of fun picking it up occasionally and playing around with a really fabulous camera all weekend. I've been wanting to get a nice one (a Nikon D200 perhaps) that will last forever, and I think David is warming up to the idea. We'll see.

Anyways- our weekend. It was great. To be honest, my favorite part was the ride up there on Friday evening. We just told stories and laughed a ton the whole way. Kate was perfect, which was awesome too. The house was amazing, and we were (are) so thankful for their hospitality. Saturday was full of sleeping in, taking Christmas card pictures for 4 families (here are two of them), loving on Kate, dinner for 16 and Settlers of Catan (which David and I own but never have anyone to play with- we're pumped about taking it to Ohio this weekend and teaching all of the Geyers!). We were worn slap out by about midnight and it was a great day.

I can't recall the last time I slept in until 10am- prior to Sunday. It was amazing. Though, my temporary crown falling out when I bit into a brownie was not amazing. So we packed and cleaned and cleaned some more and quickly hit the road home to fix my broken mouth. The timing worked out perfectly because a) we were able to meet up with Matt, Arrington and Stevie for lunch in Knoxville (which was complicated for me to do sans important molar) and b) Kevin Bryant happened to be working on moving into his newly remodeled office space just about the time we pulled into town and was graciously willing to glue my tooth back. Gross, I know, but it was killing me. Since we were already together, we obviously ate dinner at Amigos with the Bryants and then headed home to clean and do laundry.

MAN am I ready for tomorrow afternoon to be here! We are going to leave straight from work and head to Oxford for Thanksgiving- which we will celebrate on Friday with the whole Geyer clan. Here are a few things we are excited about over the long weekend:

• sleeping in
• riding the four wheeler
• playing with Brianna
• our first married Thanksgiving (and our first time to be at David's parents house married)
• cold enough weather to wear a scarf and gloves
• Geyer family Christmas gift drawing
• seeing tons of family
• helping cook the food Friday morning (I make the spoon bread :))
• no cell phone service
• cleaning out David's closet at home (ok, I'm excited about that... he's not so much)
• teaching everyone to play Catan
• my 4th Geyer family Thanksgiving

Though I'll miss my family in Columbus, it's been really special to share this holiday with the Geyer side for so many years. I really have a lot to be Thankful for this year (and every year)- and I do not intend to take any of it for granted.

no excuses

But seriously, I do have some excuses for my lack of blogging this week. Really, things are just becoming routine and that is such a wonderful blessing. For so long I have felt unsettled and I'm realizing that that is because being married to David is what my heart has been preparing for. Yet even still, we know that our current state is so temporary. The past couple weeks at Calvary Chapel the messages have been about heaven- and how it is an event so great that it should shape our every moment. Life is so great right now, I can hardly imagine heaven being better, but I know this life will pale in comparison to eternity with Jesus.

Anyways, I sat down to write this blog with no intentions of going there... but that's what came out :).

This has been an interesting week for many reasons, but overall I'm just thankful that it's over. It's been long and slow at work and I feel like I'm just buying time until Thanksgiving. And in my mind, Christmas is immediately after Thanksgiving (though it's not) which is a really exciting thought. We have 4 trips in the next month, and David and I are definitely ready. After at least one of us traveling every 10 days (on average) to see one another for almost 3 years we grew to enjoy it a bit. So we'll get our fix this month and then be ready to be back home, I'm sure. Our travels begin today (yes!) with a weekend getaway to Todd Simpson's (Becca's sister Diana's husband) family lake house on Lake Norris near Knoxville. We are PUMPED. We're planning to play outside, sit (for 2 minutes) in the hot tub, play board games and maybe watch a movie or two. Not to mention, I intend to love on Baby Kate as much as possible (have I talked lately about how much I love that kid? maybe that's a blog post waiting to happen). Anyways, it's going to be great. Unfortunately, Matt(earley), Arrington and Stevie are at our house now and will be there for the weekend without us! David misses Matt so much and we really hope they end up in Chatty one of these days :).

Oh, and my husband is great. Last night he came home with this:

which happens to be from Publix... my favorite cake place ever. Unfortunately, Chattanooga is just starting to learn about the beauty that is Publix and the only one in town is far away. It took David an hour to get home from work, but it was well worth the wait :). He's the best.

another dress up event

After seeing the new Bond movie and eating a great, late dinner at Crust, David got a phone call from Kevin Bryant. They found out there were a couple of available seats at their table for the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala on Saturday night and they invited us to join them. We thought it would be so fun and great to spend time with them. SO, Saturday we got all put together again and ventured out!
And- yet another promish pose! This time the photos were available online, so you get a better look at it. The food was fabulous and so was the company. We were a little (ok, I was a lot) stressed out about being underdressed (it was a formal event), but it turned out just fine. There was plenty of variety on attire, and we fit right in. And- we (I) learned how to tie a bow tie. Quite an accomplishment, I must say. Doesn't David look so handsome?!

overdue

Last night I spent some time with the fabulous Jenkins fam. It had been WAY too long since I had spent any time with them, and it was great to catch up. I know Shelby and I could talk for days without end (and we have done just that), so a mere 4 hours was hardly enough. They were precious as always, and I hated to leave!

Oh, and I don't want to make the mistake of leaving the big guy out, so here's to you- Silent Bull :).

We missed having David with us (he had class), but we won't let ourselves go this long without spending time together again! I love you, Jenkins family!!

weekend recap

I'm going to quit the small talk and cut to the chase- another fabulous weekend! Here we go:

Friday

Crazy day. Our office spent the day setting up for our UTC Campaign Launch event. It was a gala dinner and it was wonderful. The day was long and tiresome (physically and mentally...), but I got an unexpected break in the afternoon which made all the difference in the world. The event went beautifully and David and I enjoyed mingling with the guests. We didn't take any pictures ourselves, but we had a photographer take (really awkward) (prom) pictures of all of the guests. Forgive the flash spot... I just wanted you to see our prom photo:

Saturday
SLEEP. Oh it was so good to sleep in! We made it until almost 9 and it was glorious. We finally got up, made breakfast and quickly took a nap. Perfect Saturday morning. When I finally hauled my lazy self off the couch, I got to work being crafty. We are spending Christmas with my fam in Columbus (I cannot wait!!), so David needs a stocking. Rather than buying him some cheapo cheesy one, I decided to copy a cute one I saw at Charlotte's Web. The shape is a little off, but other than that it turned out really well. I still need to do his name across the top, but I have some time:

Saturday evening we had a real treat since Kara and Ryan Hamilton were in town! It was SO good to see them and catch up. We hung out at the beautiful Branches (an amazing family-owned property at the bottom of the back of Signal Mtn.), walked around, listened to the band (featuring none other than the infamous Cliffton Charles Cook- the blue hooded man) and played Jenga! It was so fun!

After we left Branches, we made it just in time for Brandon Hudson's birthday party. It was good to see our friends and celebrate his birthday!

Sunday
Lately Sundays have been a source of stress for the Geyer household. I know- not what Sundays should be be like! However, as we venture through this "church shopping" process, David and I find ourselves so anxious to be settled in a home church. The problem is- there are SO many great churches in Chattanooga - with GREAT friends and worship and teaching and fellowship, etc. - that we've struggled with knowing how to choose one. Yesterday we revisited (only for the 2nd time) Calvary Chapel. Overall, it was such a huge time of affirmation for us. We were there a little early, so we sat in an empty row, but by the time the service started we were sitting in between Patrick Miles (who I work with) and Becca's awesome sister Jessica Power, in front of the Spillmans and behind this random guy who we sat by last week at Northshore. It wasn't that huge of a deal, other than we felt so at home. Additionally, after the service we spotted some old EKU friends of David's (who I've hung out with too) who are Chattanooga residents now. Ben and Andrea Lamb have been in Chattanooga (and at Calvary) for about 4 years now and they are in the process of raising support to go on staff with Campus Crusade at UTC. It was amazing how the Lord orchestrated our reconnecting yesterday! We ended up enjoying lunch together and coming back to our house to hang out some more! They are an amazing, Godly couple who we are really excited about spending more time with in the near future.

By the time we got settled down, it was close to dinner time! We spent the evening clipping coupons (that will likely expire before we use them), watching Extreme Makeover- Home Edition, and starting to watch The Green Mile. Mostly though, we just enjoyed one another's company. Honestly, that was the best part of the entire weekend. David and I had a blast with each other all weekend! Not that we don't every day, but this weekend was especially fun and carefree. We laughed a ton- I didn't want it to end.

another Friday

Amy Roloff was a BIG hit at UTC. There were over 500 people there, which mandated an overflow room with a satellite feed of her talk. Even though I was an hour early, I didn't get a seat. However, it pays to be friends with the A/V guy so David and I sat in the booth with him. Amy talked for 1 hour and 45 minutes and though she was super cool and laid back, she wasn't a very polished speaker. We wanted to have our picture taken with her (shoot, David wanted to take her out to dinner), but the line was wrapped around the UC. Oh well.

Tonight is our UTC Campaign kick-off event. We have about 250 important people coming to the cocktail hour and then dinner/program, and our office is pretty excited... about it being over! I really haven't done much of the hard work, but we've all been involved through the planning and organizing process. Fortunately David is coming tonight, so once the event starts we'll be on our own. We are sitting with the dean of the college I work with, the president of the alumni association and some big donors. That will make things fun at least! Oh- and the food is going to make the entire night worthwhile. Look for pictures in the near future! We're getting all fancied up :).

Oh PS- IT'S FRIDAY! Even though I'll be working until late tonight (we have to clean up/break down the entire event), I could not be more excited about it being Friday! KRay and RyRy are coming tomorrow and we can't wait to hang out with them at Branches!! Again, look for pictures next week :)

more ways to pray

After I posted Dr. Mohler's blog on the last post, I checked out what he had to say today. You can read the whole post for yourself here, but here are a few more great things we can be praying for:

"We must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom. He and his family will face new challenges and the pressures of this office. May God protect them, give them joy in their family life, and hold them close together.

We must pray that God will protect this nation even as the new President settles into his role as Commander in Chief, and that God will grant peace as he leads the nation through times of trial and international conflict and tension.

We must pray that God would change President-Elect Obama's mind and heart on issues of our crucial concern. May God change his heart and open his eyes to see abortion as the murder of the innocent unborn, to see marriage as an institution to be defended, and to see a host of issues in a new light. We must pray this from this day until the day he leaves office. God is sovereign, after all."

small things

Our closet was just about the only reason we wavered on buying our house. It is tiny. Most people have advised me to kick David to a guest room closet, but I just can't do it. I really love sharing everything with him right now- including our mini closet. Thus, we've had to be intentional about getting rid of stuff and organizing. I really enjoy organizing, so it's been a fun process. Surprisingly- winter clothes are easier to store! Sweaters stack well and the cubicles have been a welcome addition.

So, while the world laments/celebrates political demise/victory, I'm going to enjoy the little things in life... an organized closet.

(However, on the political side, here's a great post on Albert Mohler's blog about how to pray for election day. Obviously that is over, but a lot of the prayer needs remain. )

You're dressed like what??

I was pumped for Halloween. We didn't dress up or go to any parties (we watched D3 at the Rocha's with a group of friends, which was super fun), but I was so excited about passing out candy! I had my big bowl ready to go, but the kids didn't seem to find our house appealing. Actually, there were no kids. We had 3 trick-or-treaters! A parent dropped all of them off in my front yard. I was excited - even though they weren't walking the neighborhood like they should have - to find out what they were dressed as and dole out some [cheap, hard] candy. MUCH to my dismay, the very first girl I asked "what you are supposed to be" replied by saying "I'm dead Hannah Montana. This is a bullet!" And yep, that's what she was- Hannah Montana who had been shot in the head- bullet painted on and all. I almost started crying.

What is this world coming to?

Bright School election

This morning I rushed to work early so I could get a few things done before taking a super early lunch. I went to see Hayden Bryant star as Sarah Palin for the Bright School's 5th grade presidential debate! It was aaamazing. Seriously, the kid who played John McCain probably could run for president. Hayden had one line and she was precious.

(my camera is terrible... sorry)

Here I am with the star herself! She was really glad that I was there, and I was equally excited :)

yet again

We had another great weekend! They've been pretty consistently great lately. I realized that my blog is probably boring... every Monday I post a long post about every single thing we did that weekend and then through the week it's just about anything exciting we have going on. I'm going to try and be a little more creative in the future. But the future isn't here yet, so I'm going to resume my Monday-morning-what-we-did-this-weekend post :)

Here are some highlights:

- Todd made us a cake

- Breakfast with a house full of friends (including 3 fabulous house guests- Kristin, Megan & Rachel and Drinkwine and Alli!)

- Coolidge park for soccer, snacks, a rowing tournament and great friends

- Going to bed early

- Hanging out with my favorite baby

- Spending 2 1/2 hours at Walmart with Becca & Kate

- Stinky boys after playing golf
- Loving where we are and who we're with.