That's How We Got to Memphis

I am finding that I am really enjoying blogging. Even if nobody ever really reads them, I REALLY like it. It’s something that I have thought about doing off and on for awhile. Since we are moving, I thought it would be a great way for our families and friends to keep up with us(if they want to) when we leave. I am going to use this blog to talk about our move. There are a lot of people that I am sure don’t understand this at all and that’s perfectly understandable. I am sure if somebody told me our whole story, I might think they were crazy too. I think some people still think we are going to back down and out of this decision. But, we aren’t crazy and we aren’t changing our minds. God has chosen this path for us and unless He changes it, we are still leaving for Memphis in June. Honestly, I think it took me a little while to come to terms with it all. That surprised me. In a conversation several months ago, the topic of Memphis School of Preaching came up, not for any other reason other than it was just a random conversation. After listening about it, we were quite intrigued. After a week of talking about it everyday, we started talking and having a Bible study on how to listen to God and what He wants us to do. We wanted to make sure that our own personal feelings weren’t interfering in the decision. So after lots of prayer and more and more talks, we were really leaning towards actually doing it. So we planned a visit to the school. We toured the facilities, sat in on a class and toured the apartments. Quite honestly, I shut down after the apartment tour and I started slightly freaking out. Okay, maybe more than slightly. I was in full on panic mode at the same time Jeremy was absolutely ecstatic and ready to face it head on. Change scares me beyond belief. And I think that is where I was struggling with it all. I cried when I posted our house for sale on Facebook and the day we put the “For Sale” sign in the yard. I don’t remember exactly at what point, I floated back to earth and back to reality, but I did and I am good with it. And please don’t misunderstand me, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to do this. I did, I was just scared.

We were told to not sound overly excited because people wouldn’t understand it. That was not meant to offend anybody but it’s because it would appear that we were excited about leaving everybody. I am a girl that for the most part, I wear my feelings all over my face. I can’t hide much. And it’s hard for me to hide my excitement. I try to keep it toned but I am going to voice it here. We aren’t excited about leaving everybody. We have lived here all of our lives. And most of our families live here and we love them. We may not see each other a lot and we may not always agree with decisions the others make and blah blah blah, but we still love each other. And it makes us sad to leave. I am also sad to be leaving my job. I never set out to be an insurance agent, but it’s where I ended up and where I have been for 9 + years. My boss is like another daddy to me. Not meant to replace my own daddy but I work with the man 8 hours a day and so a lot of times, he is who I go to for advice other than Jeremy. He has been so very good to me and treated me like one of his own children. I also am blessed to work with my best friend. If you don’t know Shannon Bell, you should. She is quiet and gets overlooked a lot, but she is by far one of the best people I know. And whoever doesn’t know her is really missing out. Despite the fact that every once in awhile her claws can come out, she is one of the most humble people you will ever meet. And not to mention all of my other fabulous, sweet and funny friends who I will miss like crazy. Our house, our first house that we have ever owned. It makes me sad that we are leaving our cozy little house and 1.42 acres. I love our spot of land and will miss it like crazy. There are lots of things about Pulaski that we will miss. I don’t know if God will lead us back here after the school is over or not, but we are willing to go where He leads us. Aside from all this, we are soooo excited. This is going to an experience like no other. My husband has become an amazing Christian man over the last several months. He has blossomed in an unbelievable way. Most people don’t know me and don’t know the things I battle on a daily basis, but I am looking forward to the experience of living in a complete Christian environment. I am looking forward to this making me a better person. I struggle in so many ways as a human being and as a Christian and I am hoping this will be a huge help…not hope, I know it will be. I have told Jeremy time and time again that he needed to go back to school and he is getting an opportunity to do it and work for God at the same time. What most people don’t know because they have never bothered to get to know it is that Jeremy is extremely smart. He amazes me everyday. If he had of tried when he was in school, there is no telling what he would have done. But everything happens for a reason, and I fully believe that everything we have been thru has been preparing us for this. So even if you don’t understand, that’s okay. We don’t expect you to. I ask for prayers, because all though people don’t understand it and they may be mad at us for doing this and even though we made this decision with God’s help, it’s not going to be easy and we can use all the prayers we can get. God Bless you all and thanks for reading!

911-What's the location of your emergency?

So I will be posting several blogs at one time until I can hook the laptop up to internet somewhere, somehow. I wrote a blog last night and saved it to my junk drive and tried to download it onto another computer but because the computer operating systems are different, it wouldn’t let me do it. I really like this laptop so I will continue to use it and download the blogs when I get the chance.

    So I forget sometimes what my husband’s job is, other than being my husband. ;-) For you that don’t know, he is a 911 dispatcher. To some people, that may sound like nothing and to others it may sound like something exciting! I think a lot of people think about the police officers, the paramedic and EMT’s and the firefighters and sometimes forget about the 911 dispatchers. Everybody in the quote unquote emergency field have highly important jobs so I am not trying to do this to say that the others aren’t important. I am just extremely proud of my husband for the job that he does. You call 911 when you have a wreck or when you think you see a drunk driver on the road and some people honestly probably call for things quite silly. But people forget that when their house is on fire, or they are getting beat by somebody, or they are about to commit suicide-they call 911 first. That’s who gets the call and it’s the dispatcher’s job to stay calm and to keep these people as calm as possible. They are the ones that have to listen to the horrible things going on in the background and to listen to the person on the other end of the phone crying in terror. It’s not always something dramatic. But for the times that it is something critical, their job is important.  It’s also something that they take to the heart sometimes. How could it not be? A few months or so after Jeremy got this job, he had to take some classes. In one of those classes, they talked about how 911 dispatchers have a shorter life span than a lot of people.  Sounds crazy, huh? But it’s because they spend their time getting their adrenaline pumped up during a critical call and the majority of the time, they never find out the outcome. It’s also an important job because they are the ones that are in charge of finding out where the police officers, medics and firefighters are suppose to go. All these people can’t do their job without knowing where to go. I know some of the other people that work with him but I don’t them like I know him. He has a huge, gentle and caring heart. And I know that he doesn’t take those calls with a grain of salt and he doesn’t just forget about those critical calls. So this is a shout out to the 911 dispatchers and to say thanks for the job that y’all do. I also give thanks to all the police officers, medics and firefighters that work towards doing the best job that they can do. I know those jobs aren’t easy and I commend them all. So next time you see one, say thank you!! God Bless!

Projects, Projects and More Projects

I am sitting here at 10:45 on a work night with dirty dishes in the kitchen waiting on me to finish washing them, clean clothes in the laundry room that needs to be put up, dirty ones that need to be washed, coupons that need to be organized, a spare bed that needs to be cleaned off which consists of putting clothes in storage and I could keep going…yet here I am sitting in here on the couch in front of the TV typing up a blog that I won’t be able to actually put online until tomorrow. I am currently feeling extremely overwhelmed with everything. And a lot of it I have brought upon myself. After hanging out with two very crafty and décor conscious friends this past weekend, I got my sewing machine out and did some sewing with them. And if you know me and my mom and sister, you know that this is a miracle. This is something my mom has probably dreamed about since Vickie or I either one as ever really gotten into sewing. But anyways, I really enjoyed it. I am not crafty so I don’t know where this will go but I am going to try it. I will keep you updated. This also comes after working on a very detailed and organized notebook of coupons last week. Again, this is a miracle. I am one of the most disorganized people ever! Just ask anybody that knows me. It drives Jeremy and my boss crazy! AND not to mention the fact that we are moving 3.5 hours away in approx. 7 months. We are moving into an apartment and we will have to get rid of a lot of stuff AND we have to sell our house. I feel like there are a million things to do and here I am sitting here doing nothing. Well I am typing this and this is therapy for me. I use to write in a journal all the time before I got married. Anytime I was upset, that’s what I would do. Jeremy usually takes the weight of it now but when he is not here to listen to me, this is a good way to release it all…even if nobody ever reads it. When I get like this, I wonder if I could ever actually handle kids. This leads me to- I don’t know what I would ever do without Jeremy. God gave me a wonderful gift when he gave me Jeremy. He really keeps me from going insane sometimes. People have NO idea. Well this blog was really all over the board, but that is how my brain works. I told you I was undiagnosed ADD….I really wasn’t kidding. By the way, the dishes are still dirty and it’s now 11:35 pm. I need to learn better time management skills. God Bless!!

I said I had an addictive personality...

And I was not joking when I said I have an addictive personality...
So several months ago, I started TRYING to coupon. And I did a couple of CVS and Wal-Green trips in one day and that about did me in. It was my first big "haul" as a couponer and although I did good, I was disappointed in myself. And I guess because I was disappointed in myself, I lost most of the interest after that. I was still couponing some, but I was not as pumped about it as I was or needed to be. I am today though. I have been slowly getting back into it. And my addictive behavior kicks in sometimes. I could potentially see myself having one of those "crazy" extreme couponing rooms. I currently have a whole Vera Bradley box full of something I purchased this last weekend.  In my defense, however, it is something I use quite often. And I am directing it all at our move to Memphis in June. I am trying to stockpile so that it is less stuff we have to buy during the 2 years that we will be on a limited income while Jeremy is in school. On another note, I also have a huge addiction to dish detergent. I currently have 12 bottles of it in my closet. And that's nothing compared to those people on Extreme Couponing, but I am nonetheless proud of it.


Today is Wednesday and that means CVS and Wal-Greens ads came out. Can we say EXCITEMENT? That made me feel pathetic and old. But I was ecstatic because I just purchased some $3 off coupons from ebay in hopes that they would run a good sale on it somewhere soon. And they are!!!! YAY for me, actually, YAY for Jeremy because it's something he uses.



And like I said in my about me blog, I am unorganized. So that makes couponing a little more difficult. Some of you very organized people would faint at the site of where my coupons are currently being stored or how they are being stored. In an attempt to change this, I purchased  a set of clear plastic coupon organizers from ebay. I CANNOT wait to try this out. I hope I stick with it. I am ADD when it comes to things and I really need to learn to keep it all together if I am going to be a preacher's wife.

Next, I am slowly becoming terribly addicted to Pinterest. And I say this in a couponing blog because I ran across a good blog where a lady is talking about her VERY organized coupon binder. I am going to give it a try. It looks awesome!

I guess that is all for my rant on couponing...I am sure I will talk more about it later!

Something New

I don't really know how this whole blogging thing works. But, it's something I have been considering for awhile and finally decided to take the plunge. Who knows how it will work out.
I am going to start my first post so you can get to know me. I am sure there are lots of people that have been around me for a long time but don't really know who I am. So here goes randomness...
*I am a Christian
*I am 28 and celebrate my birthday in October
*I have been married 5.5 years to the most amazing man(Jeremy)
*We have a wild child puppy dog that is spoiled beyond belief
*We don't have any children, but have been trying for over 4 years
*I wear my feelings on my shoulder and all over my face
*I am adopted and it was the most wonderful gift
*I have 2 sisters and 4 brothers
*I get embarrassed very easy and you know it because my face turns bright red
*I care a lot about everything, and I mean EVERYTHING-this also means that I worry about
EVERYTHING too
*Starting in June, Jeremy and I will start a journey. He is going to school to be a Church of Christ preacher.
*I like to shop
*I enjoy reading but I don't do it as much as I use to
*I, odd as it may seem, enjoy gaming. Call of Duty is one of my faves.
*I have an addictive personality
*I work as an insurance agent. I have been at my job for 9 years and I love the people I work with
*I have some awesome friends
*I can be a spitfire but usually to chicken to really speak my mind
*I am very prideful and I don't like asking for help
*I am a control freak
*I am very unorganized
*Despite the above, I am very OCD about some things
*I get a thrill out of couponing even though I am not great at it
*If I could have any career in this world it would be bringing babies in, whether it be as a midwife or a OB but I would prefer to be a midwife
*I am not a fan of summertime, I like cold weather much better
*I still have a lot to learn about life and I like learning it with my husband, no matter what mistakes we may make. I said I was prideful...too much so.
*I don't like for people to take advantage of me although I usually let people run all over me and then just fuss about it later. I am slowly coming into my own skin though.
*All of my life, I have been and done what everybody else has wanted, I am trying to learn to be my own person and not conform to everybody else.
*I am shy but at my job, I have confidence(sometimes) and I like to talk to my clients
*I like big cities and I like driving in them
*I am good at directions and I take great pride in that
*I want to be a mommy but I am afraid that I will fail miserably, I look around and see how hard it is to turn a child in the right direction. And I personally think that a lot of parents in this day and time don't want to put the time and the effort into parenting and they let their kids do whatever and say whatever they want. I don't want to do that, I want to raise a Christian child is very respectful and well mannered. You don't see that much anymore.
*I LOVE Vera Bradley-it makes me happy. But I usually buy retired stuff because I can get it on some REALLY good sales
*My husband knows me better than anybody other than God...it's really scary sometimes. He usually knows what I am thinking before I even say it and I am being very serious
*I am impatient
*I am undiagnosed ADD
*I forget far too easily
*I love dogs and wished that I had a HUGE farm and could have a dog rescue facility
*I am scared to drive at night
*I am scared of the dark
*I don't really like being outdoors unless it's cooler weather when no bugs are snakes are around
*I can't stand spiders
*I love turtles and if I see one in the road, if it's where I can, I will stop and pick them up and move them so they don't get run over
*I want little boys if I can ever have children. I love little girls and think it would be fun to dress them up, but I don't think I am capable of handling the kind of girl that I was in high school
*I don't have a decorating bone in my body-well maybe one or two small ones, but for the most part, I am clueless
*You can ask most anybody in my family or Jeremy's and they will say that my fave food is chicken fingers, but it's really not. I am just scared to order beef most of the time because I will NOT eat it if it's even slightly pink.
*My favorite food ever is chocolate. I am very much addicted to it.
*I love McD's coffee
*Dr. Pepper is my fave drink but I try to not to drink it a lot
*My fave color is pink, hands down

I think I have covered too much and not enough all at the same time. But it's a start. Maybe this blog won't be this boring all the time. ;-)