There's a blizzard out there... literally

This past week, Seth and I had the honor of representing the state of Alabama in the ASA's Young Leader Program. We met so many fabulous people and gained great deals of information about ourselves and farming. The program took place in Johnston, Iowa (right outside of Des Moines). At first I was disappointed because the weather had predicted no snow. This forcast changed, however, at some point along the way. While we were there, we encountered a blizzard. Snow fell by the foot ( over 14 inches in some areas). The temperature was cold and the wind chill was absolutely bone chilling.

Seth & I couldn't believe how much fast it was falling... One person said that an inch per hour was falling.

The airport was all but shut down. Nearly every flight was cancelled... but not ours!

It was a very uneasy feeling to feel the plane slide about on the runway from all of the snow under the tires.

Lost and Found

I found the misplaced camera, finally.

Weekend at Work

This past week has been extremely busy on the farm. Seth hasn't been making it home til the wee hours of the morning (i.e. 5 a.m.) I decided that if I wanted to see him this weekend, I was going to have to suit up in my boots and work jeans and join him on the farm. Here are some pictures from the weekend-o-work.

p.s. Lucy got her cast taken off and she is doing fabulous. She still doesn't put much weight on her injured leg, but we feel she will get stronger every day. YAY!!

Lucy Update

Here is a picture of Lucy after she came home from the hospital.

Wishful Thinking...

As Chris and Caroline are enjoying their honeymoon, I desperately wish we were still on ours....

Chris and Caroline's wedding was absolutely beautiful. Caroline was stunning! I can't wait to hear all about their honeymoon.

Our prayers have been answered, and Lucy is back home. She is finally walking but has to wear a green cast with hot pink hearts. She still has many broken bones and other health concerns, but we are still hoping for the best. It seems she is improving everyday.

A Few Honeymoon Pictures

A Few Honeymoon Pictures... Better late than never.

So many days have already come and gone... in a flash! The weeks are zipping by. Seth and I are settling into married life and trying to train a puppy, Lucy. We have Buddy to help Lucy learn the ropes but they can both get a little rowdy.

Here are the latest updates:
*Seth was named as the Young Farmer Chairman for Pickens County. This means mucho meetings all over the state. (i.e. Carrollton, Montgomery, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, etc)
*Corn harvest is finished for the year... hooray!!
*Kindergarten is great! I love seeing the smiling faces each morning. Much more work than I anticipated (way more than preparing for 7th grade English)
*I am also teaching a Wednesday Night Bible Class.
*Haven't been able to upload honeymoon pictures b/c of internet malfunction but I'm working on it!

We miss seeing our friends and family in Memphis. Once things settle down on the farm, we will be there for some fun!

Tick, Tick, Tick

Time is ticking and I'm not sure if I want it to slow down or hurry up. Since school let out on Friday, May 22, I have been able to let go of that big ball of stress. (The last 2 weeks of school was nuts but that is a whole other story.) I have been trying to wrap up all of the loose ends of the wedding stuff, but it seems that there is always another loose end floating around waiting to be found and fixed.

On Tuesday, Seth decided that we needed to go ahead and move most (make that ALL) of my stuff to Aliceville. That would have been great except for the fact I didn't have it packed up. Seth & I, along with 2 guys enlisted to help (Thank you Tyler and Patrick!!) headed for Memphis. Really long story short, I was mostly moved out of my apartment by Wednesday night. Mom came to Aliceville and helped me get some things situated. We also met with some wedding vendors to finalize plans. Friday we were off to Smith Lake for our Bachelor/Bachelorette Trip.

Here are some photos from the trip....

Seth jumping from the "Cliff of Death" as I call it. Yes, I jumped too... It seemed like a good idea from the boat, but from the top it seemed like certain death. At first it was only us on the cliff, but soon I became a tourist attraction. It seemed like every boat on the lake pulled up just to "watch the scared girl jump." All jokes aside, there were more that 20 strangers yelling at me to jump. I even had a 2 year old (literally 2) jump off while I stood panicked on the edge. That has to be some sort of child abuse, throwing your child off of a cliff like that. Finally after about 15 minutes of suicidal contemplation and ridicule from the crowd, I did it. Oh yeah, it sucked. Real bad.

We have 9 days left... whoa dang!!!!

Today in my daily devotional, I found a verse that resonates even in today's troubled times.

The Apostle John finished his gospel with these compelling words, "Jesus
did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose
that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be
written" (John 21:25, NIV).

After reading this, I realized I am extrememly fortunate and must remember to be thankful for all of the ways God has blessed me. Sometimes when things are rocky or not going according to plan, it is easy to get upset and forget how much we have to be thankful for.

Each and every day God blesses us in different ways (sometimes our blessings are even in disguise). . .
For example, yesterday I was driving home when I saw a man walk out into the street in front of my car. As I got closer to him, I realized it was a police officer and he was motioning me to pull over. I did and I was given a ticket for going 40 in a 35. As I pulled away, I was fuming mad. How could an officer of the law give me a lousy ticket when literally blocks away from me stands drug dealers and prostitutes on every corner???? This was ridiclous. After calling my mom and aunt, they brought up a god point- Maybe God was saving me from something. Maybe my ticket was an intervention. A wreck, running over a nail and getting a flat, a thief.... you never know.

There are thousands of instances of God's good work in the Bible and that does not even begin to scratch the surface.

Count your blessings... Name them one by one... Count your many blessings, See what God has done.

Lauren's Birthday

Last night we all had a great time at Bennihana's celebrating Lauren's birthday!