November... what?

I mean really... I have no idea what happened to November and the first two weeks of December... they were here and now they are gone!

We celebrated Thanksgiving up in Minnesota-- which is always fun, though the driving is always a little much. We keep trying to get them to come here for a holiday, but it never happens! We got to stay with my cousins, who just had a little baby boy Tyson, which was so fun! The other part of the time, we stayed with my Uncle Brent and Aunt Michelle and their kiddos-- which was also a blast! To make things even more fun, Damon's little sister Ellie came down to Arkansas a couple days before Thanksgiving and made the treck to Minnesota with us! :) We came back to Arkansas and got to spend a couple more days with Ellie, setting up the Christmas Tree, etc! :) So fun... I LOVE this time of the year and wish that it moved so much slower.

I also celebrated my 25th Birthday! I still can't believe that I have hit 25 and I realized and said to my mom that I was closer to 30... my mom preceeded to tell me that I wasn't that close yet, but that she had thought about it and can't believe that she has two kids that are closer to 30! CRAZY!! My great husband bought me a Nintendo DSI for my birthday which has been so much fun!! :) The games are great! :)

I have been busy making more invitations and Christmas cards... which I LOVE!! I will have to post some more soon!

Oh, and Damon got his yearly review-- which went GREAT!! I am so proud of him! His boss told him that he was the only one out of 15 reviews that was getting a raise and he got an even bigger bonus that he anticipated!! YEAH! The owners told him that in 30 years of business, he had never given a review like this... and in a good way!! They just complimented him over and over again!! We also had his company Christmas party-- which was great!! It was at 1620! We had Butternut Squash Bisque Soup or Duck Salad for the appetizer (I got soup, Damon got salad) and then Filet Mignon for the main dish and Souflee for the dessert! AWESOME!! :) The company at our table was pretty good as well!! It was fun to finally meet everyone Damon works with-- you see, even though he has worked for them for a year and a half, I haven't really met people because the Christmas party last year was cancelled due to ice...so it is great to finally put some faces with these names I have heard forever now! :)

Well, it is about time to leave work (speaking of which, I still LOVE my job!!) and we have to get some Christmas shopping done... FINALLY!! Until later!

Lindsey

Well, I am officially EXHAUSTED!! I (along with a few others!) successfully pulled off a baby shower, and a SURPRISE anniversary party for my parents in 2 weekends... and then this last weekend, Luis Palau! Wow... All I have to say is that iti is amazing I am still breathing... so forgive me for not updating lately... I have been just a LITTLE busy!! :)

The baby shower was great!! Magen looked beautiful... and the shower was perfect timing-- less than 2 weeks later and little Audrey is here!! YEAH!! :) We already love her! I know they are going to be great parents... and if she turns out half as great as her momma (and daddy) she will be one of the greatest little girls you have ever met! There are a few pictures below of the shower and Audrey!

Here is the invitation... :) LOVED IT!

The Food... YUMMY! I put tags on all the food and had all the recipes printed off for people to take with them!

Decorations!

We put diapers out for everyone to sign... It was fun!! That way, whenever Magen is up changing diapers at 3:00am, she will at least have some fun notes to read!

More Decor...

The cake!! IT WAS SOO CUTE!!

Lamp post outside-- help everyone find the right house!

Magen with the hostesses!! YEAH!

My parents surprise party went sooo well and they were SHOCKED!!! My mom started bawling when she walked in, which proceeded to make all of us girls start bawling... Gosh, thanks mom! :)

All of us kids (including Damon and Kathrine) wrote them letters-- just telling them thanks for everything they have done... I would post that, but then we would all be in tears again... (and the fact that it isn't on this computer!!) We also had a couple of visitors via video-- which again, made everyone tear up... and then my dad talked... and cried... and then everyone cried again... My goodness... sounds like we just had a cry party, but it was really so much fun!! :) Pictures will come later, for now, you just get to see the invitations... :) Told you I had been in a crafty mood--- I just had to wait to post them!

Luis Palau was fabulous!! My daddy did an awesome job with everything!! Oh, and speaking of which, as if my life wasn't busy enough, my dad asked me to 60 centerpieces for the luncheon he was in charge of... My goodness... This involved rolling 600 newspapers!! AH! I got it all done though and they looked FABULOUS if I do say so myself-- however, there are no pictures... I just forgot in the craziness... BUMMER!!

Ok, well, that is the scoop for now... Hope !
everyone is doing well... Now that my crazy life has calmed down... I hope to see all my friends again and get back to "normal" life. :) Oh, and if you want to see some of my other invitations that I have done... See the link below... Good bye
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026753&id=183501030&l=4843031450

Pictures

I told you they would be coming soon-- so here you go!! :)

Master Bedroom-- I LOVE the new bedding! :)

The Bed...

New Shower Curtain

Living Room- Upstairs... Pretty much new everything!

New Couch, New Lamp, New Art

New Chairs (my absolute FAVORITE!)

Most of this we had-- other than the bamboo thing in the corner-- which I think is really cool!

Laundry... Told you my "artsy/crafty" side was coming out lately!

Continued improvements downstairs... still haven't gotten to the intimidating shelves!

New art-- I had to convince Damon that these were really cool!! I LOVE THEM!

Mark's Room-- one of the roomies-- we have been working on his room as well!

Brian's Room-- other roomie-- Mark and I did this room as well (minus the plants).

Well, now you have seen most of the house... all decorated!! I know that it will be continued work-- as I will find more I like and things I want to do-- and eventually a baby's room! :) Hehe! That's it for now though! Night!!!

Man- This is not EASY!

I have found that I am not the best about keeping up with my blog... I have been ridiculously busy... with work and life... and making invitations... and finally finishing our house!! I feel like I haven't really slept a lot... and my eyes are tired as I write this.

It is nice today because my boss had to go to Birmingham-- and the phone hasn't been ringing much, so I am having a little bit lighter day... which is GREAT! I have a little music playing, and other than the occasional phone call, I am working on catching up... blogging, and finishing up some invitations as well. Ahh... now if only I had a pillow, I could catch up on some sleep!

I can't believe it is already the middle of September... it just seems like time is going by soooo fast... Christmas is around the corner. We are really hoping that some of Damon's family can come it, but we are not sure if that is going to happen... tickets are SOO expensive!! Why?! I mean, we are still quite early to purchase plane tickets for December, right?!

I have noticed that lately, I am more likely to cry... not sure why, but I just tear up more easily. I mean, there have been a lot of tragic things happen... Some of our good friend little boy passed away in his crib in June... and that just makes us want to die! My heart just breaks for them-- though we all know that God is in control and HE IS GOOD! Then, the husband of one of the couples in my parents community group passed away... I didn't know them personally (just through my parents), but he was only 28/29 years old with 2 small children at home. It is just something that you never think anyone should have to go through... as a wife, child, mother, father... Tragic. I just have to remember that in all these circumstances, and with my life, that God really is good... and He has a plan for me... and EVERYONE!! We HAVE to hold on to that to have any sort of peace in our lives!

I have been doing a lot to the house and I can't wait to post pictures to show everyone!!! I just have to actually take pictures.. maybe tonight!! The living room upstairs is the room that has been most recently completed- compliments of Heather Fuller! My mom gave us a house warming gift of her coming to decorate this room for us! I LOVE IT and it was so nice to not have to think about that room!! YEAH! I also got some new bedding for our room, and new art for downstairs-- as well as knick-knacks everywhere-- which definitely makes it more "homey".

I also can't wait to share with you my recent invitations/programs I have done... I have been in the "artsty/crafty" mood lately... and it has come out in this area (as well as our home). I promise... Pictures soon!!

Job and More

Well, I have officially been at my new job for about a month now... and I am LOVING it!! :) It definitely plays to my strengths of organization, etc. I can't believe how God just provided something for me... when I wasn't at all expecting it! I miss Sephora a TON! Gosh, it was such a fun job-- I mean what girl doesn't want to spend all day doing other people's makeup?! :)

I am working with Men's Fraternity as the directors assistant. I just get to organize, book flights, hotels, etc on a daily basis... I am doing well and the director keeps encouraging me!! I felt more appreciated here after 2 weeks-- than I did in 2 years of working at Ink. I hear that they laid off a bunch more people again... I am kinda sad for them... which is a huge deal because before I was so angry with them, that I wanted to see them fail! Praise God for bringing me to a place of almost complete forgiveness!!

On another note, my dad finally has a job! Though it is temporary... it is with Louis Palao (sp?) Association. I think it will be a great place of service for him. And I am excited because it means for now, he will not be moving anywhere.

We have also continued to plug away on the house! We finally got our tax credit in!! So we bought furniture for upstairs and new bedding for our room... Now we just need to get new furniture for our room and finish decorating the upstairs living room!! Not far!! I will post more pictures soon so you can see the updates! :)

Enough for now... I am at work and better get back to it!!

The House!!

Well, I have been a little MIA lately because we haven't had any internet or cable with moving into the new house!! We have loved the house and have loved decorating and working on it! The only problem is, there is just not enough furniture!!!!! Going from a one bedroom apartment to a four bedroom house, has been CRAZY!! I know it will all get done eventually, but I want stuff done NOW! Ha! :) Here are a couple of pictures!

House Update

Oh man!! I can hardly believe that I am typing this out!! WE HAVE A HOUSE!! God definitely provided a perfect one for us! The inspection was just completed and even though there were a couple of major things that had to be fixed, God has graciously provided a great seller who is going to fix all of it- no questions asked and even better than he is required to!! The house is about 2600 square feet-- way bigger than we thought we could afford-- in the Treasure Hill area! It is 4 bedrooms and 2 bath so we can definitely grow into it! It also has a HUGE yard, which was really important to both Damon and I! He has redone much of the house-- including the carpet, wood floors and tile! :) WOO-HOO!! Anyways, it looks like our closing date is on schedule for May 22- just 1 week from today!! I can't wait!! Pictures will be coming!