Things Remembered

2008 has been a whirlwind for Benji and I.

Early in the year we found out I was pregnant. I spent much of the first part of the year in a nauseous haze, taking classes and working at Starbucks. Benji was still taking classes and working.

January, Benji started looking for a job. He began the process of sending out his resume. Like 40 resumes. January went by, then Feb, March, April, May, June.......the whole time we were just praying for the perfect job for him.

In May I graduated from seminary and Benji quit his job driving the bus, but still caddied. In mid July I quit mine.

July, Benji finished his classes. Then he got a call from Brushy Creek....and then Emery was born.

August we put our house on the market(in this economy-yeah).

Benji got a job, we moved two weeks after Emery was born, sold our house 7 weeks after putting it on the market.

September I moved to Ga to stay with my mom while we found an apt. Benji moved to SC to start his job.....he slept on a couch of a gracious church member.

October, Emery and I joined Benji in SC, lived in one apt...moved to another apt....

November, Emery finally started sleeping through the night really well. We had Thanksgiving for the first time in 4 years with both our families.

It was also the first Thanksgiving in 4 years that I did not have to work.

November, we also began the house hunting process, we've made one offer that didn't work out, but have recently found another that may be the house.

December, Benji finally officially graduated and put an end to our seven year marathon through school.

Emery rolled over for the first time yesterday. And rolled, and rolled again.

I saw her first tooth today....

Makes my head hurt just thinking back on it all.

We have been so blessed this year with so many milestones.

I want to make sure that you all know that I take no blessing for granted. We are not worthy of any of the ways that God has chosen to bless us. And while it is hard sometimes to accept, we know that God is good no matter what the circumstance.

He sold our house, provided a job, created Emery and intrusted us with the responsibility of raising her. We are so undeserving of all the good that comes from God, yet we rejoice and with full hearts accept it gladly.

Looking forward to 2009.

The Cheese Sample

Scene 1: Setting: Costco
Fat Girl: played by Kristi
Cheese Lady: played by Cheese Lady

Fat Girl walks into Costco alone and innocently approaches the sample counter.

Cheese Lady: "Hey, go ahead and take some....it's good for you....."

Fat Girl: Takes a sample of aged cheddar. "Thanks."

Cheese Lady: ".....It will make that baby come out faster......."

Fat Girl: "Ha ha..... I'm not pregnant."

Scent Of A Woman

Based on appearance, most of the time you would never know how much I love beauty products.

Sephora is my absolute favorite store in the world. I love to buy cosmetics, but ironically, hardly ever wear them. In a perfect world I would shower every day, dry my hair and "put on my face...."

I'm lucky if most days I get my hair brushed after showering.

One of the beauty rituals I love most is putting on perfume. If you know me well, you know that I have a slight obsession with perfume. I think nothing of throwing down 100 bucks on a 3.8oz bottle.

Perfume has a magical way of conjuring up memories from years past. One whiff of a perfume I wore through the years and I can tell you exactly what it reminds me of.

Ralph Lauren's Romance reminds me of my world travels. I took a bottle with me when I lived in Argentina, when I spent time in Africa and then recently in China. This is the perfume that I have bought the most bottles of in my life. I will wear this as long as they make it.

Victoria Secret's retired scent, Halo reminds me of my year of waiting tables at Macaroni Grill.

Marc Jacob, my time at North Greenville, specifically my last semester working in the Registrar's office.

Banana Republic's W, the summer Benji and I fell in love. When I wear it now he always says that I "smell like his girlfriend".

Lancome's Miracle, reminds me of Benji's wreck. I wore it all while he was recovering in the hospital.

Thierry Mugler's Angel, my time at Southern Seminary and at Starbucks, Prospect. I actually found out about this perfume from one of the customers that used to come in....I had to have it. If you are looking for a new perfume, this is also one of my all time favorites. I will wear it forever.

Vera Wang, reminds me of the last few months we spent in Greenville. Specifically one night when we ate at The Peddler steakhouse.

If you don't wear perfume I suggest you start. It is an intangible way to collect memories....

And it gives you an excuse to skip a shower every now and then.

Post Partum Blues

My hair has finally started falling out. This is unfortunately one of the side effects of pregnancy. They don't tell you when you ARE pregnant that all that luscious, thick, shiny hair falls out after the baby.....

So while you are sleep deprived, scarred with stretch marks (in places you didn't even know could get stretch marks), fifty pounds over weight, still wearing maternity cloths (five months later).....your hair will start to fall out in clumps.

Oh the joys of motherhood.

Benji Finally Walked

Here is my shout out to my amazingly smart, disciplined, and determined husband. Benji finally got his diploma. He is officially a "Master of Divinity." As if you could ever master divinity....but I digress...

Benji finished his classes in July, but had to wait all the way until December to receive his diploma.

Needless to say I am sooo proud of him. Southern Seminary is one of the most difficult schools in the country. The academic expectations are like no other Seminary in the country. Benji worked full time, often two jobs, and took a full load of classes. For four years straight.

We set out on our journey together seven years ago, with no college degrees, no job, and obviously no money... Education has always been such an important part of our life, to finally be done feels weird and a little sad. We loved our time at North Greenville and at Southern Seminary.

We are officially in the real world!

My Girl E

Carter Connections

Let me tell you a little bit about our friends Matt and Carla Carter. This is them at Halloween. Matt was Ed McMahn, Carla, the first woman to win the Publishers Clearing House and Scout, their daughter, was the camera man(girl,kid...whatever).

The Carter family has meant alot to us over the years. I first met Matt in my first class at North Greenville, when we lived in Greenville 6 years ago. Through talking with him I found out that his dad was a pastor at a local church. Benji and I had just moved to the area and were looking for a church.

We decided to visit Matt's dad's church. We ended up loving it. That church was Brushy Creek, where Benji works today......

We ended up in the same Sunday School class as Matt and his then fiance, Carla. Benji and I had moved to Greenville with no jobs, no money, just a bunch of hope.....

Matt mentioned to Benji one day that a guy in the church had offered him a job working in his company's warehouse, Matt wasn't interested in the job, but he thought Benji might be....

Benji ended up taking the job. He loved it and it was one of the greatest blessings of our lives. The job sustained us throughout our last years in college. The company even paid Benji while he was recovering from a bad wreck he had in 2002.

Now that we are back in Greenville we have loved getting to hang out with all the Carter clan again.....Matt is even our real estate agent.

The best thing about the Carters, however, is their knowledge of obscure baby products.

Emery had a cold this past week and much to my horror, the pediatrician told me the only thing I could really do to help her was to use that useless bulb thingy that I stole from the hospital when she was born.

Carla called me up after she found out Emery was sick and mentioned that she had this device that......get this.... PLUGS INTO THE VACUUM CLEANER and sucks the snot out of their noses...

I know, you're thinking, "that would suck her brains out!" That's what we thought. But I'm telling you, this little thing is the most AMAZING invention ever!

Somehow the suction is lighter because the device is so small. So you just plug it into the attachment hose on the vacuum, turn the vacuum on, and suck away!

I know, you're also wondering "where can I get one of those!?" Good luck. They are only made and sold in New Zealand. You may be able to find one on Ebay. The proper name is actually, Baby Vac... but I prefer Turbo Snot Sucker.

Emery was a little scared of the vacuum noise, but she did not mind the suction as much as the bulb thingy, she hates the bulb thingy.

Thanks, Matt and Carla for all your blessings! Especially the turbo snot sucker!