Chase and Allison's Engagement Party

This weekend was Chase and Allison's engagement party. It was hosted by Devin and Ashley and was at Devin's parents house. We had such a great time. Before the party, Trevor and Tiffany came over to watch the GA/LSU game. (Go Dawgs!!! I cannot stand LSU).

After watching the games we headed over to the Taylor's home to enjoy the celebration for Allison and Chase :)

The happy couple :)

He's my everything <3

The newly engaged couple.....APRIL 18TH!!!!!

A quick shot with the girls :) Ashley is also newly engaged to Devin but I didn't get a chance to get a picture of them at the party! They are getting married in May 2009 at the beach.

It was a great party and a couple of us went out to Pub 261 afterwards, even though it was apparently the night the fire department hosted their Halloween bash and none of us were dressed up :) The next day Trevor and Tiff wanted to go hiking with me and Justin so we went through some trails by The Preserve that go behind Simmons Middle School. We took the dogs, Gizmo and Stanford. There was a point where we had to walk through a rather deep creek on some stones, but the dogs just walked straight through the water. It was fine going across them on the way there, but on the way back Gizmo pulled Justin too hard and Justin fell in the water. It was rather amusing and we were disappointed that non of us pulled out our cameras in time. As Justin says "He pulled a Rob". We say that because whenever we go on our hiking trips and Rob is with us, he usually falls several times each trip. Tiffany and I couldn't help but bust out laughing first! Of all of us, Trevor was the one to ask if Justin was OK. I promise, I'm a good girlfriend, it was just hilarious :)

What is your dream job?

One of the things I miss the most about Nashville is my old church Crosspoint Community Church and my old pastor Pete. Pete does a different series every month or so about a different topic. He has done some amazing topics while I was at the church and the topic he is starting right now is called "Dream Job". Here's the promo video for it:


Dream Job Promo from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo

This is such an awesome series and I wish I could be there to experience it. This kind of hits home for me because I truly think I have finally found my "dream job". I know accounting doesn't sound like a dream job for anyone, but the numbers is not the "dream" part that I was referring to. One thing I struggled with at my old firm was that there was only one person that I could relate to about my religious views. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the people I was close with at work in Nashville, but there was only one that was open about religion that I could relate my life and beliefs to. At my current firm, every time you turn the corner there are offices with crosses, religious quotes on a frame, or even Bibles. This firm has a "family first" policy and they actually enforce it!!! Not many CPA firms are like that and I am so happy to be a part of one. One of my favorite things in life is small group bible studies. I haven't been in one in a while and I miss it so much. But work makes it easier. Just being around Christians all day brightens my spirits and it makes a huge difference in my lifestyle. I am so happy to actually have my dream job!!

One of my favorite quotes in the Bible is Colossians 3:23-25: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites." Don't do your work for your boss, or for your bosses boss, or for your personal advancement. Work for the Lord! Everything we do has to be for Him!

On a separate note, I went to my friend Devin's house last night to watch the Auburn game. All of our friends were there: Devin and his new fiance Ashley, Trevor and Tiffany, and Allison. Chase had to work so he wasn't there and Justin was still in Colorado so he wasn't able to make it either. We had such a blast and I finally got to hear the story of how Devin and Ashley met because I've actually never heard it before. Devin and Ashley call each other soulmates and now I know why. I don't know if I've ever seen two people so in love with each other as they are. I am so incredibly happy for them and know that they will have a wonderful life together.

We also got to reminiscing about the good ole days back when I hung out with Devin and "Da Boyz" in high school. Devin reminded me of some times I had with Ryan Burkel that I had completely forgotten. You may not know Ryan, but he went to high school with us and was Devin's best friend. Ryan graduated from Hoover in 2000, but went home to the Lord soon after. Devin reminded me of a time (probably 8 or 9 months before Ryan died) that Ryan was teaching me how to drive a stick shift. Devin said that Ryan and I drove up to his house and Devin was outside taking the dog out. He saw Ryan's car pull up and was expecting Ryan to get out of the front seat, but I did instead. He was kind of shocked! I had totally forgotten about that until Devin reminded me. That's definitely something I love about hanging out with these guys again. I now remember so much from being with them 24/7 back in high school after hanging out with them all again. It's pretty funny how God plans things :)

Justin and I are still a little shocked that we're together. I seriously would NEVER have thought that Justin and I would have ended up together. Don't get me wrong, I had so much fun with Justin in high school, but he wasn't really serious about anything or anyone back then. However, most boys are like that when they're only 16 years old. Right when Justin and I started talking again it was so wierd because he was nothing like the old Justin that I remembered. I was even reluctant to date him because I thought that he was just "having a crush" and it would go away. But he kept trying and trying and did literally everything he could to convince me that he was different so I caved :) And I'm so glad I did!!! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am absolutely not just saying that because I am dating him nor am I overexaggerating. I have never loved anyone in my life like I love him and I have never in my life felt more loved by anyone than I do by him. I 100% believe that we were destined to be together from the beginning. Justin says that he's glad we didn't date in high school because we would probably not be together now if we did. It just goes to show you that everything happens in God's time. He knows what is best for you and when the best time is for something incredibly life changing to happen to you. We weren't suppose to be together in high school. I think we both had to go through certain events and relationships in our lives to shape the people we are today so that we could love and appreciate eachother the way we do today. What's meant to be will always find a way!

One busy week....

This past week was a super busy week for me! On Thursday, me and a couple of girls from work donated our time (and amazing muscles) to Habitat for Humanity to build a house for a wonderful woman and her son. We were only there for a day so we didn't do much, but we were responsible for insulation and vinyl siding. If anyone needs vinyl siding on their house....I am now capable of doing it :)

 

From left to right these are some of my favorite girls in the office: Marcie Rogers, Marlene Cox, Melanie Shores, Allison Scott (the new homeowner), Ashley Brock and Jessica Hale



Trust me, this is heavier than it looks! The house won't be finished until close to Thanksgiving which is when we'll have the house dedication with the whole firm. It was nice to get out of the office though :)

In better news......our friends Trevor and Tiffany got engaged this week!!! Trevor and Tiff have been dating for a little over 4 years so it was definitely time. They are both very happy and excited and I am so excited for them! They've already set the wedding date which will be on April 18th. Hopefully work will allow me to have that Saturday off since it's technically still our busy season!

They got engaged at the Botanical Garden in Birmingham

The ring was absolutely beautiful!! Way to go Trevor!!!

Justin came back in town Friday after a delayed flight from Atlanta. He finally got home a little past 9pm and we didn't do much on Friday since he got in so late. On Saturday we went over to Trevor's house to watch the games and hang out with the newly engaged couple for a little while. Afterwards, Justin and I went out on our date night for our 6 month anniversary.....which was literally perfect! I am so blessed to have someone that cares so much about me and that does all the things that he does for me. He truly gives me more reasons every single day to love him. He took me to dinner at Sumo restaurant in Patton Creek and his gift to me is the "secret trip" that we're going on in November. I got his gift, but he hasn't received it yet so I can't say what I got him, but I will post pictures as soon as it comes in :)

At least this week his flight didn't leave at the crack of dawn on Sunday so we were still able to go to church. We met up with his parents at church but we weren't able to do our weekly lunch after church because him and his dad's flight was in the early afternoon so they had to go home and pack. Justin is now in Glenwood Springs, CO (which is also his favorite city to travel to) and he will be back on Friday at 2:45pm FOR GOOD!!!! I can't wait to see my boyfriend for more than 30 hours at a time :)

After Justin left for his flight I drove down to Tuscaloosa to hang out with my little man since I hadn't seen him in a few weeks. He blows my mind now-a-days! His vocabulary is excellent and he's always saying please, thank you and excuse me. He's all about spending time with Auntie M too....I can just tell he's excited when I come over. He also mentioned Justin a couple of times on Sunday. When we were driving home from Wal-Mart he said "I wanna go see Justin" out of nowhere! It was crazy!!! I wish I had taken pictures, but my boyfriend took his camera to Colorado and mine is broken so I don't have one.

I will end on this note.......

19 days until the secret trip :)

I love the Fall!

Not much has been going on lately. October has definitely been one of those really slow months that never seems to pass by. However I think the reason for that is because Justin has been gone for most of October. I've been so bored when he's not there for me to come home to, so I've done nothing but clean and decorate for two weeks straight! I absolutely love the fall, not near as much as I love winter, but decorating for fall is definitely second best to decorating for Christmas. I'm starting to love Michael's. I've gotten so much cute fall stuff from there and all of their stuff is DIRT CHEAP! Plus they already have Christmas stuff out too!

Justin and I ran the Race for the Cure 5K at Linn Park last Saturday. I ran the 3.11 miles in 30 minutes and 1 second (averages out to be 9 minute and 40 second miles). I was pretty proud of that given that I haven't run in at least two weeks. I came in 22nd place out of all women ages 25-29 that were timed and 89th place overall of all women that were timed. Just over 300 women were timed, but I don't know how many of that 300 were of the ages 25-29. The fastest I have ever done that distance was in 29 minutes and 51 seconds, so I didn't do too bad.

I am 24 days away from my "secret trip" that Justin has planned for us. I haven't gotten anymore hints than the ones I posted in my previous blog. I tried to stop talking about it because I know that he really wants it to be a surprise. If you know me, you know that I love surprises, not because of the element of surprise, but because I love to try to figure out what the surprise is!!! Like I've said before, I think that I know what it is, but Justin swears up and down that this is not where we're going. I think we're are going to Acadia National Park in Maine. Acadia is one of the national parks that I have a huge interest in and his parents and grandparents went there last month. Here's some pics of Acadia:

Even though I think this is where we're going, it may not be. Others have had suggestions such as Niagara Falls, New York City (since he knows that is my favorite place on Earth), Shenandoah National Park, Washington D.C. and many others. I guess I'll find out on November 7th after our connecting flight. I don't even get to know where we're going once we get to the Birmingham airport. Justin is checking my bags for me so that I don't find out the airport code and he's holding both of our boarding passes for the second flight. (A little too obsessive don't you think?) I know the connecting flight is through Detroit, so when we land in Detroit we'll head to the gate of the last flight and that's when I will find out where I'm going.

Case of the Mondays...

I don't know about any of you, but I most certainly am having a horrible case of the Mondays. It's probably because I didn't get too much sleep last night! Rob rented 2 movies last night: 88 and We Are Marshall. He rented We Are Marshall because Justin's church officially started the contemporary service on Sunday and there is a 4 week lesson based on the movie. Rob had never seen it so he went and rented it after the 1st service. Justin hadn't seen it either until I made him watch it last week in preparation for the service. Anyway, while he watched We Are Marshall, I watched 88. In case you haven't heard of 88, it's the movie where Al Pacino plays a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI and after putting a rapist and serial killer in jail, he gets threatening phone calls saying he has 88 minutes to live. WATCH THIS MOVIE!!! I love Al Pacino's movies anyway, but I especially loved this one. I'm a big thriller fan and this movie keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time trying to figure out "who did it".

In other exciting news, Justin informed me last week that he had planned a trip for us in November. On November 7th through the 9th, we were suppose to be in DC because Justin was going to have to go to DC for a training class the next week and we were going to fly up early to enjoy the city a little bit. He changed the class and is now taking one in San Jose, CA next week so since we had that weekend open, he planned a trip for us. This is very unfortunate for me.....mainly because he won't tell me where we're going. I thought of a place off the bat that I thought it was, but he swears up and down that we are not going there, so I'm trying to think of where else we would be going, but I'm having a hard time. Here are the clues I was given:

• The destination is in either the Central or Eastern time zone
• We have a connecting flight through Detroit
• I have to be at the house by 4pm on Friday in order to get to the airport in time
• We will arrive at the final destination around 11pm
• We won't get back Sunday night until close to 11pm
• There is a 3 hour layover in Detroit
• We are flying Delta or one of their alliance airlines
• The high at this place in November is in the mid 50's and the low is in the 30's
• He refuses to tell me if there is a National Park involved
• When I ask him if he's been there before his answer is "I have and I haven't" (What the crap does that mean??????)
• I have a window seat for all 4 flights
• There will be some flying on small 50 passenger jet planes

Does anyone have a clue of what it could be??? Because I'm stumped. I've thought of a couple of ideas, but all of those ideas seem to get turned down. Justin is having a GREAT time torturing me about this by the way. We'll be watching TV or something and out of nowhere he'll say "Hey babe....we're going on a trip". His face just lights up when he talks about it. I can tell he's excited about surprising me, so I'm trying not to think about it anymore and let it be a surprise....but man it's hard!!!! Bottom line.....I HAVE THE BEST BOYFRIEND ON THE PLANET :)

It's a boy!!!!

So Susan and Todd found out the sex of their baby last night.....IT'S A BOY!!!! We're so excited about another little addition to the family. Pop and Gigi are going to have to build one giant playground by the new house :) We all really thought it was going to be a girl because Susan was craving sweets, which is what you usually crave when you have a girl. (Yes, I have become an expert on pregnancy and raising children.....thanks to Lindsey). Susan is due sometime in February so please be praying for her and this gift from God between now and then!

Not much else has been going on lately. Justin has been in town this week so I've definitely enjoyed that. This time of year is his "busy season" for work and he usually is constantly traveling. In September he went to New York, Oklahoma, and Mississippi and in October he'll be going to North Dakota, California, and Colorado. He always comes home on the weekends, but I'm still going to miss him :(

We've got a couple of races coming up. Next weekend is the Komen Foundation Race for the Cure. It's in Linn Park and it usually has TONS of participants. Justin and I joined the team led by his church. Most of them will probably do the 1 mile fun run/walk, but Justin and I will be doing the 5K. The big one is on November 1st, the Vulcan Run 10K. Training for these races and the Half-Marathon is pretty much all that occupies my mind and my time now-a-days, but I have really enjoyed pushing myself to get back to being physically fit and flexible again.

Oh yeah, today is Rob's birthday!!!! He is getting so old :) We're going to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight to help him celebrate it! Hope everyone has had a great week!!!