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 :)