3rd B'day 'Fit for a Princess!'

Grace turned 3yrs old this past Tuesday. We celebrated last Friday evening with some new friends that we've met from church. Our little princess had a princess themed party:) She is really ALL girl and has lately, REALLY gotten into all the princess stories and some of the movies that she's seen. She LOVES dressing up with jewelry and all and prances around saying.. "I'm a princess, I'm a princess!!"........ So it was only fitting!

We used the gym at our church and had pizza, I made cupcakes, and we just let the kids run around and play. Grace had so much fun and was blessed with some gifts from our friends!!:) We are already SOOO thankful for a great group of friends we have here and Grace loves her little friends too:) John and Crystal was there with Josiah, and his little baby sister, Zoe. Paul and Amber brought Isaac, and Abby. And then, Liberty and Kallie joined us also...

Momma's 30th!!

I turned 30 years old last Friday (the 8th). I can't believe I'm 30.. I know, I know!:) We celebrated by taking a little trip to the Little Rock Zoo as a family and we invited John and Crystal and family, to join us.

We had so much fun and Grace and Josiah were so cute holding hands throughout the zoo!:) We ate lunch inside the zoo too. Grace seemed to enjoy the animals too.

After we left there we stopped by Target off of the Interstate in Benton, AR. That is the closest Target to us (40 min. away!). I've been missing Target so I stopped in and found a few clothes for Grace's B'day and a Easter dress for me and Grace. It was like a little treat!

The day after, Bob and Larry from VeggieTales was at Lifeway Christian Bookstore. We had to go check them out so we stood in line and got our picture with them. Grace wasn't so sure about them once we got to the end of the line... hence, that is why I'm in the picture;)

At work!

Since my last post I have been busier with some other things besides unpacking the house. Adam has been busy with his job at Lifeway, the church, and school. I started painting the interior of our house last week and finished our kitchen and dining area. I have painted the living room also except for edges and touch up. We are painting our entire house (except the laundry room) so we have a little ways to go.

We did take some time last Friday night for a cook out at John and Crystals with their family, Paul and Amber and family, and Liberty and Kallie. It was SOOO much fun. We laughed just about the entire night. They are so much fun! The kids had a blast too playing together!

I started hospital orientation on Monday which has also included computer training for the rest of this week through Thursday. I am really impressed with this hospital I am going to be at. It is a Catholic Hospital and I am amazed at how serious they are that our hospital is a "ministry"!! They put a gigantic focus on that and start every day with prayer. Included on the units they pray before starting the shift. Pretty awesome!

Their computer system is pretty amazing. They are just about completely computerized in EVERY aspect of and it's all integrated. It is pretty neat but also TONS to learn!!:) It does feel good to work again and earn some money!

Grace turns 3 on Tuesday. We aren't going to AL till the end of May so we had decided to do something small for her here and we will celebrate late in May with the family. Due to our schedules, we have decided to have it this Saturday at 6pm with some friends from church. We are going to have some of a princess theme and I am making cupcakes. Can't wait. It's gonna be great!



Grace has become quiet the photographer lately.. here some of her photography!! ha! ha!

Great Times!

Last Friday we went back to Family Park, here in Hot Springs, but this time with John and Crystal (our pastor and friends) with our kiddos. We decided to do a picnic lunch in the park and let the kids play and then fly a kite. We also handed out flyers to people in the park about our upcoming Easter Egg Hunt at the church.

We had a lot of fun with them, as always, and it was a first to fly a kite with Adam and Grace. Grace had so much fun! I am putting a video on here of us kite flying.. don't mind me in the video.. Ha! (silly Momma), I just wanted you to see how much fun Grace had:)











Around the house:
Adam has started his orientation at Lifeway this week. His schedule has picked up with school, church, and Lifeway but he is adjusting well. I start my job at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital on April 4th. We are really getting exciting about what is going on at our church. We have had some visitors the last few weeks that have come back and lots of things happening. Adam also found and ordered the curriculum for the Wednesday night program we are starting for the kids. As for the youth, I told Adam that I unexpectedly have already developed a love and interest for these kids (youth). We've also had some visitors in youth already.. so it's been fun!

This past Sunday night, we started a new thing at the church. Instead of having a full Sunday night service (like before), we are going out into the neighborhoods to witness, pass out tracts, invite to church, Egghunt, etc. etc.

We are also getting to know people in the community that are a asset in Ministry. Adam and John had lunch with a guy that works with troubled youth in the area. On Wednesday, Crystal and I had lunch with the Central Baptist Association Missionary's wife as well as another lady that has been in the ministry with her husband for a long time (and she's a teacher at a local Christian school) and another Pastor's wife in the area. It was very good to get to know them and I know they will be a huge help with advice, etc. etc. The two older lady's were kind of like "ministry Mom's" to us. A very sweet and re-assuring meeting!!

As for Grace:
At home, our neighbors have had her Grand-kids this week and Windsor is the same age as Grace and Max is 5. Grace has had so much fun playing with the kids. Grace is also loving to sing more and more each day. Just wait........... I am attaching a video of proof that my hubby may make my daughter a little "hick". Ha! Ha! He taught her this song, that I had never even heard, but it's pretty funny to hear her sing it;)

We're here!!!--- Hot Springs, AR

So packing up the house was a whole lot more difficult this time around with a (almost 3 year old) little girl!:) So thankful that we have had my Mom with us to help with packing up, moving and even unpacking. Mom even took Grace to Puzzles Fun Dome on Mon. of last week as we were getting pushed to get things done and Grace was begging for attention. Of course, Grace loved it and I will attach some pics that Nana took while there and in Louisville.

We left on Wednesday about lunch time and arrived late that night. Our caravan went very smoothly on the trip to AR. Obviously, it was very LONG and we even ended up staying at John and Crystal's (the pastor and our friends) that night when we got to AR per their invite. We knew it was late and we wouldn't have beds set up and the heat hadn't been turned on yet at our house and it was cold here at that time.

Thursday, we got the entire truck unloaded and over the course of the past week have gotten TONS done! We still have some boxes in the garage, but most of that is garage stuff, yard sale, and things we don't even use right now. So we are still looking at going through that. We haven't painted yet. Have done a decent amount of cleaning and we are waiting to hang things on the wall until after painting.

So we have taken a break often this week to take advantage of the GORGEOUS Spring weather that we have had. Grace is LOVING her new yard and culdesac to ride her riding toys, etc. etc. Our big dog Bud appears to be LOVING it too!:) We have ended up getting him a really long tie out because he did NOT like the tiny privacy fenced backyard that we have. It isn't very appealing. Nothing to look at and it is small with not a lot of grass. So he stays on the tie out all day in the front and side yard and lays under the front porch for shade. He LOVES being able to see up the road and see every thing going on and loves having us outside with him when we come out to play. He has even suckered our neighbor in to pet him every time she comes out of the house:) Loving this attention and I'm sure the weather helps too! We bring him in the garage at night to sleep.

Mom flew out of Little Rock on Wednesday to head back to AL. Before she left we visited Family Park with Grace and went to the Mall, a few other shops, lots of Walmart runs, etc. etc. By the way, there is NO Target here!! Very sad about that! It is 40 minutes away to the nearest Target. They have just about every other store you would want but that one!!:(

Church has been going great. Adam and John have so many great ideas. We have a community Easter Egg Hunt coming up for the kids as well as VBS that they are planning. Also, working with the youth and some other things. Been getting to know the people and so far it has been great!! Trying to invite just about every one I run into to Leonard St. Baptist.

Here is some pics. I will be showing more pics of the house after we paint, etc. etc. We are really happy with the layout of this house. Every thing is SO open and convenient. Lots of closet space. The only real adjustment is the size of the master bedroom. It is a good bit smaller than what we are used to.





The below picture of Nana was taken by Grace. She is liking to take pics herself now. I thought it was pretty good:) The other picture is a picture of one of the Spa's on Bath House Row. Hot Springs in known for it's thermal waters so the spa's are very popular in this city.

Louisville... Coming to a Close

My notice ended at work last Monday evening. I worked that Sun. night and Monday afternoon. On Sunday night, some of my night shift crew surprised me with a going away dinner and cake. They also gave us a little cash gift to help us with our travels, etc. I was very grateful and sad at the same time. Linda, one of the nurses I work with (whom I just LOVE!!) put all of that together and also left a card in my locker that I later found. It was one of the SWEETEST cards I have ever received. I just CRIED AND CRIED as I read this card in the middle of the night on Sun. night. On Monday, the day and evening shift had a going away party for me and another nurse that was retiring. It was so nice and thoughtful. I brought my camera this day and got some pics of a few co-workers, but unfortunately didn't have my camera the night before. That evening after my short shift, I said my final goodbyes which was ROUGH!!!






On a positive note, I was looking forward to seeing my Momma last Monday night when I got home from work. We flew her here to Louisville to watch Grace while we went to Hot Springs to find a place to live and to help with our move, etc. She arrived last Monday night. We left out on Tues. am. Adam and I drove to Hot Springs, once again for a hurried trip to find a place to live. It was very weird traveling without Grace. The trip went just perfect. We were able to find a place to live quickly that is just what we were looking for and also had our job interviews with (me) St. Joseph's Hospital, and (Adam) with the new Lifeway Christian Bookstore that is opening. He is going to do that on the side in addition to the part-time position at the church. They went great and Adam has already found out he has the job too (yay!!) and I will find out the end of next week. They did send me for a drug test also while I was in town. It looks promising for me too, thankfully. I had an interview with the nurse recruiter and the nurse manager on the floor. They even gave me a tour of that floor and introduced me to some people. It seems like it will be good but of course, it will be a change at the same time. They do things a little different. I told them I could start hospital orientation on April 4th. They acted like it is just pending backgroup check, and drug screen, etc.

We had gotten into town about 4:30pm on Tuesday and by Thursday morning we were signing the papers on our house that we are renting. It is just a cute basic little rental house. It ended up being a great deal and we are excited that it is a newer house so it has "updated" kitchen and bathrooms. We had looked at some that was OLD and rough too! All this house needs is some paint, and cleaning. The walls on the inside are all white and just dirty. We asked the owner to paint the house as part of the agreement for the lease but she stated she was unable to have it painted by Wed (when we are moving in), but agreed to knock off $100 from the rent every month for 12 months. How cool is that!!!! So we are going to paint. Thankfully, all of the flooring is nice and the carpets were just recently cleaned. It has the wood laminate flooring in the dining area and living room and tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. Also, a major bonus for a rental in this area, is a garage!! It is a 1 car, but we are just thankful for that! It's also on a cute little FLAT street with a FLAT lot, and is at the very end of a culdesac AND has a fenced in yard for Bud. We are also SUPER excited about working with our friends at this church. John and Crystal (John is the Pastor we are working with) are just awesome. We have so much fun together and relate to each other so well. They have the same visions, etc. as we do. This excites me!!

Overall, we were very happy with our trip and got back to Louisville about 11pm on Thursday night. Since then, Adam had to finish out his notice and work last night and tonight AND get LOTS of homework done by this weekend before our move. Me, Grace, and Mom spent yesterday running lots of errands and I took advantage of our good insurance and went to the doctor for a check-up and to Dentist (since I was overdue:) When we move I am going to be working PRN so that I don't have to work the every other weekend with a part-time position. Because of this, I can't get insurance so we will have to get health insurance through Guidestone.. which really stinks, because it is not that good.

Since then, I have packed boxes about non-stop. Mom has been helping some with packing and also with Grace, etc. It is a huge help to have her!

We will start loading the moving truck on Monday and Tuesday and will leave out on Wednesday morning for Arkansas. Next time you hear from me on this blog, we will be living in Arkansas!!!:)

Goodbye Louisville!! It's been great and we'll never forget how special this city, our experience, our friends, church, our neighbors, and memories that happened here!! Grace came in to the world in this great city and many special memories with her here since then. Four AMAZING years!!

Okay, now that I am in tears... I will go;)

Our house.. I will give you the before and after pics of the inside of our house later:)