Almost New Year

Happy (almost) New Year 2009! I cannot believe that this year has almost come to a close. So many amazing things have happened this past year that are unforgettable. To start off the year, I switched departments here at Liberty down to Financial Aid. I absolutely LOVE what I do and wouldn't trade it for anything. There is an old saying that says, "If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life". That is exactly how I feel. The people are amazing and I love being challenged daily.

Peter and I were then married on June 7, 2008, which was the best day of my life:) We are so happy together and exciting about how the Lord has worked in our relationship and molded us as one. I graduated with my Bachelor's on July 4, 2008 while working 50 hour weeks and planning a wedding...needless to say, I am pretty impressed with myself for that. Then Peter quit his job at Lowe's and got a job at Liberty as well. It has been nothing but a blessing to have him in the same building. We are able to each lunch together every single day and we work the exact same hours and are able to get as much overtime together that we need. Peter absolutely loves what he is doing and is thankful for all the wonderful guys in his office. I was able to start my Master's in October as well. I am currently in the MAT program going for my degree in Secondary Education-Mathematics. Yes, you heard right..Math:) My job currently is a lot of accounting and working on taxes so I have developed a strong love for numbers and math in general.

We were also able to spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with both sides of the family, which has not happened in a LONG time. One of the things that is a close 2nd to getting married is being able to purchase our first home! Peter and I have been looking for a while, but had not quite found what we were looking for until about a month ago. We are so excited to move in after the New Year!

Another big milestone in our life is that we have been able to be financially stable and have only been married 6 months. I think for any married couple, that is quite an accomplishment to be almost debt free or debt free. So many Americans live outside of their means, hence why we are in the crisis we are in now, and expect to be 'bailed out' because of their own mistakes. We are just going to continue saving money from here on out and putting it away for a rainy day. If you have not read or gone through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover...do it! Especially, if you are a young married couple. There is no better place then to be debt free and not have the worries of having bills due every month. It is something that Peter and I have worked very hard on over the past 6 months and it has paid off. Thank God for His provisions during this year.

Well, tonight we are headed over to measure the home for blinds. We are looking at the Levelor faux wood shades at Lowes. They are the most durable and last a long time and of course look nice:) We also got a really cute hallway table at Lowes last night that came with two lamps and is perfect for the entryway. Amazingly enough it was on clearance for $39 for $88! What a steal! We looked at the washers and dryers there and are going to go for the Electrolux front loaders. We absolutely love the style and are very energy efficient. We will order those in a couple weeks to have sent to the house and installed the weekend we move in. Peter and I went to Target and Kohl's last night to look at colors for our 2nd bathroom. Our 1/2 bath downstairs we are doing in white and khaki for sure just because it is off the kitchen and I wanted something more neutral. The master bathroom we are keeping our robins egg blue and chocolate scheme for sure, just added a couple shelving units that we did not have room for in our apartment bathroom. The 2nd bathroom Peter decided that he wanted to do something a little more 'manly' so we are going to do it in a winterberry red. We will do some darker wood shelving units and use red towels. It is so fun to look at colors and get different ideas for decorating. We have so many great thoughts and cannot wait till it is ours to start moving things in.

I am back to work now from my lunch break so I better sign off. Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Back to Normal

Well, the week of families, Christmas, chaos, and fun is over. As many of you know, this was our 1st Christmas as a married couple. It was an amazing 1st Christmas, but also makes you realize the responsibility of being married and sharing families with one another. Peter's family is one that we see often throughout the year so it is not a rarity. My family, on the other hand, is different because we only see them 1-2 times a year on holidays. This year we were able to see them for Thanksgiving and they came down for Christmas! Two holidays of seeing my family is something I have not done since freshman year in college. We really enjoyed being able to see both of our families and having some time of rest and relaxation.

As some of you know and the rest of you have been asking...we bought a new house! We actually bought it about 3 weeks ago, but had not told our parents until yesterday. We had it all planned out that Peter's parents would come up to go to church and have lunch with us yesterday since my family was in town. We took them by the house after lunch and completely surprised them! They were so thrilled for us and of course, my mom wanted to start decorating right away. The house is absolutely beautiful and it could not have worked out any better for us. It definitely was cool to see God's hand through every detail of looking and purchasing our 1st home. Peter and I are so excited to be able to get going and making the house our own. We close on the 29th of January and will be able to move in that day. We are in the process of purchasing a washer and dryer and a few other things that we do not have in our apartment now, but have the luxury of having in this home. The thing I love the most about it is that it is brand new. No one has lived in it to mess it up or have something go wrong with it. The other fun thing is that we can have a grill and have pets!! Stupid Lynchburg apartment rules say we cannot have grills...I know, I know there are many of you reading this in Lynchburg with a grill, but you do not have our landlord:) She would kick us out of there in a second. Peter's dad actually surprised him with a brand new grill yesterday so we are excited. I will post pictures later on this week. We have to go in and measure for our new blinds, curtains, etc. A month from today and we will be homeowners!! Thank you to all of you that knew and had prayed about this with us, it meant more than you know.

My parents left this morning around 7am to go back to Michigan. I was so happy to have them here and be able to spend some real quality time with all of them. On the other hand, Peter and I are excited to spend time together and get back in a 'normal' routine. I am back at work for the rest of the week and then we start a new year. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. So many exciting things have taken place, but that is for later on this week for my New Years post. Have a great week everyone!

Almost Christmas

So, I have noticed that I am the worst blogger on the face of this earth. I think the last time I blogged was over a month ago. I guess it has been very difficult to find the time to sit down and write. The holidays are fast approaching. Only 2 days before Christmas day and I am so excited! Peter and I have a fun-filled week ahead of us. We both are working today then heading to Greensboro, NC till Thursday night. We will both be working on Friday as well and then my parents are coming in Friday afternoon for the rest of the weekend! My brother and dad have not seen our apartment since I moved so it will be exciting to show them. My dad is excited about a "vacation in Lynchburg". I say to that, "Dad, do you know what is in Lynchburg, VA???"---not really a whole lot.

Peter and I have grown to love Lynchburg and have also grown to love our road trips to close destinations. Charlottesville, VA is one of our favorite. They have a mall, not huge, but better than the one here and we always go to Boar's Head Inn to walk around and of course get couples massages. If you have never been to Boar's Head Inn for a massage you are missing out! Peter and I are looking into a trip to NYC in the Spring to get in some REAL shopping and bask in the business of the city. We both wish someday he would be a coach of a college team in NY and then we could be close enough to the city to accomodate our love for shopping. Peter would love to live in a busy city and I would have to agree with him. We are excited to see where God leads him in the coaching industry.

Peter and I opened each other's gifts this past weekend and also unwrapped the stockings. We have such a busy week with 2 different families so we decided to have a calm Christmas together before it all took place. We don't like to rush so we spread it over 2 days. We both decided we are bad at Christmas because we like to give gifts early and also after it is all over with. I have to say he got me some amazing gifts. I got a watch I have wanted for a long time, about 5 pairs of shoes (because I need more shoes:):), clothes, 2 Emily Giffin books, a winter coat, and some other office supplies. I am constantly writing things down because I am so visual so Peter got me a great notebook to do just that. Peter was the hardest to buy for. He put a few things on his 1st Christmas list about a month ago and then decided he no longer wanted any of those items. Then he changed it again to another set of items and decided that next day he didn't want those either. His 3rd Christmas list he put 1 item on that list. What is this item? Well...you will have to wait till Sunday to find out what I bought him for Christmas (we are going to surprise both of our parents when they come up on Sunday). We have been talking and planning for this for a while and the Lord worked it out perfectly for us. No, I am not pregnant and do not want to be for another 4-5 years so don't get your hopes up:)! More details to come later!

Anyway, I am off to start working now. Hope you all have a great Tuesday and also Merry Christmas!