Memoirs of a Busby

New Website!

2010-03-23T14:15:00.002-05:00

We have a new website and I will be blogging from there.

Goodbye LSU!

2009-06-30T16:26:00.003-05:00

Today is officially my last day at LSU. It has been a very fulfilling 10 1/2 years working there (2 years as a student worker and 8 1/2 years full-time). I have worked under 3 different managers and with hundreds of different people. My first few years included working (and living) with my older sister Candi, just 1 cube over. I learned a lot from her about HTML and Lotus Notes. People always wondered how we could work together and live together, but we're just close that way. Then in 2003, she left me to have all my nephews and nieces, which was just fine with me... you know I wouldn't trade those kids for anything! Then in 2006, my younger sister, Sara, started working in our office. It was fun to have a good friend at work again. We lived together too, just like Candi & I did. Those were fun times! Then of course, I got married in December of 2007 and moved to Mississippi. Since then, I have been very blessed to be able to continue working (via telecommuting) for LSU. Thanks to my great manager, Robin, who always fought for my job! But as of 4:30 pm, I am no longer employed by the great Louisiana State University... Geaux Tigers! I hope that Sara will continue the "Stanford" legacy at LSU. FYI... My mom worked at LSU for about 25 years.

I am looking forward to what God has planned for me in my new job, as well as my duties as a wife and mother (in the near future hopefully!).

Prayer Request

2009-06-08T10:30:00.001-05:00

At the end of last year, I asked for prayer regarding my job situation. God was faithful and provided for us by allowing me to work for LSU full-time another 6 months. However, we are now at a crossroads again. My LSU contract is up on June 30th and is not being extended. I officially gave my resignation today. It feels like the end of an era for me, having worked there for over 10 years. It has been an emotional rollercoaster of sorts. However, I am sure that God has a plan for me & my job and He has been faithful (and will continue to be faithful) to take care of us financially.

As it was 6 months ago, I currently have 2 prospective job opportunities. And also, as it was 6 months ago, they are eerily similar. There is a job opening at church for the Children's Ministry assistant. I would work with the Children's Ministry assisting with many secretarial duties in that department and working with the children, of course. And you know how much I love kids, so I think this would be a good fit for me. The job would be 32 hours/week, which is considered full-time so I would receive benefits. I have an interview with the Children's Minister and the Children's Ministry Associate tomorrow morning at 10 am. So just pray that everything will go well (I hate interviews, by the way!). However, I know both of them fairly well, so hopefully I won't be too nervous.

The other job prospect is with a company called Team Halo. The owners of this company are the same people that own Fox Web Co, the company I've been doing work on the side for. I met with them last Friday and they presented a new opportunity to work with them as a personal assistant. They do a lot of public speaking for marketing consulting and are starting to focus mainly on that. This job would entail a lot of administrative work... keeping calendars, travel arrangements, putting together packets, etc... and I would also be the Website admin for their site, halobusiness.com. This job would be a salaried position and the work hours would be flexible, especially since Andy & Marianna travel a lot. I would also be able to continue to work from home (a great perk in itself)!

Please pray for Eric & I as we make this decision in the next month or so. I don't want to rush into anything because we feel the pressure financially. I just want to allow God to work through this situation and allow us to make the right decision. Thank you for your prayers and support, as always!

Party Pics from Levi & Micah's party

2009-06-04T14:33:00.009-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Levi & Micah's
birthday party last Saturday.

Levi NOT blowing out his candle...
I think he was just mesmerized by it.
I ended up helping him a little bit.

Micah licking her lips...
or making a pucker face b/c of the lemon icing.

Micah finally digging into her cake.

About as messy as she got...

Sara with her little friends... Hannah and Miriam.

Levi opening his present from Eric & me.

Levi's name stool

A tired Levi Bevi...

Cameron helping to open Levi's presents...
since he was too tired.

Princess Miriam

Cute cheesy smile

Another...

Miriam & Aunt Sara

The birthday girl

The birthday boy

Miriam & Micah

Levi & Miriam sitting on Levi's new name stool

Luke

I realized at the end of the day that I didn't get any pictures of Cameron (except the one of him helping to open Levi's presents). I took this one of Luke close to the end of the day because I realized I hadn't taken any of him either. They are always too busy playing.

Wordless Wednesdays > Just for Levi...

2009-05-20T14:03:00.006-05:00

Candi posted on my earlier Wordless Wednesday post that Levi wanted to know where his picture was. WELL.... I didn't get any good ones of him because he kept putting his hands in the way. Here they are though... just for Levi!

He's still a cutie even if you can't see his whole face!
Gotta love those blue eyes.

Singalong

2009-05-20T11:55:00.005-05:00

Download Phil Wickham's new album, "Singalong"
FREE from his Web site!

http://philwickham.com/singalong/

Wordless Wednesdays > My girlie girlie

2009-05-20T10:27:00.003-05:00

John Piper's response to President Obama's statements regarding abortion

2009-05-14T11:25:00.006-05:00

A clip of John Piper responding to President Obama’s statement that abortion protects women and freedom, and that it’s a private matter:

View the manuscript here

2009 Churchmen Spring Tour

2009-04-29T15:12:00.004-05:00

Monday & Tuesday was the Mississippi Singing Churchmen Spring Tour. Eric & I drove to Columbus, MS on Monday morning. They had rehearsal from 1 - 5 pm at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Columbus. The church fed us dinner and the concert was at 7 pm Monday night. It was really great and they had a fantastic turnout. Here are a few pictures from Monday night. They aren't great because I didn't want to use a flash. But you can see Eric singing his heart out right in the middle :)

Tuesday morning, we drove over to Houston, MS for a concert at First Baptist. The concert was at noon and the church fed us lunch afterward. After lunch, we drove up to Oxford and had coffee with a few other guys in the churchmen, Joey Williams & Steve Reynolds. Joey is one of Eric's good friends from when he was in Natchez. I didn't get any pictures of them together... I'm slacking!

Last night was a concert at Anchor Baptist Church in Water Valley, MS. The church was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But everyone was really nice there. They fed us dinner at 5:30 and the concert was at 7 pm. Here's a few pics from last night.

After the concert, we had a 2 1/2 hour drive back home. We had a great time seeing everyone again. And each concert was a great time of praise & worship. And although it is always alot of driving, I do enjoy getting to go to all the little towns in Mississippi that I would otherwise never see. It really is a beautiful state and has a bunch of cute little towns. Can't wait until Fall Tour... I think it will be on the coast! Yay for the beach :)

Wordless Wednesdays > My GQ Man

2009-04-15T08:57:00.004-05:00

Our new grill!

2009-03-25T16:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Eric went to Home Depot and bought a grill! We've been wanting one for awhile but were waiting until the weather got warmer (and when we had some money). We got it pre-assembled at the HD, but really only because it's the only one they had... but I think it was worth it. It would've been annoying to put all those screws in. Anyway, to break it in, Eric bought us steaks to eat. He bought a filet for me (my favorite!) and a NY Strip for him. They were yummy yummy (even with my mouth half numb from the dentist). We ate the steaks with baked sweet potatoes and caesar salad.

Here's a few pics:

Our Char-Broil Silver Smoker

Eric's new toy :)

Eric lighting the charcoal

Our steaks marinated and seasoned

Eric putting the steaks on the grill

Just getting started...

Our yummy steaks!

I didn't get a picture of our whole meal. We were too hungry and ready to eat. Oh well. It was good though!

My loves...

2009-03-24T14:42:00.004-05:00

Last week, we were in Baton Rouge because I had a training class at work Thursday & Friday. While we were there, we had jambalaya at my parents' house and I actually got a picture of all my nephews and nieces :) I hate being away from them so much. They grow way too fast!

All my loves...

Luke (6)

Cameron (4)

Miriam (3)

Levi (almost 2)

Micah (10 mo)

And last, but certainly not least...

Eric (31)

I had to put his age because he's 6 months older than me ;)

Roses

2009-03-17T20:01:00.005-05:00

I was surprised when my husband came in from work this afternoon. He had an arm full of roses for me. How sweet!

Pretty :)

Happy Birthday Grasshopper!

2009-03-15T21:23:00.005-05:00

This is my favorite video ever of Luke!
The quality isn't great... but it still makes me laugh :)

Luke about 1 year old

Happy Birthday Grasshopper! I can't believe you're 6 already.

Darth Vader piñata

2009-03-10T16:38:00.006-05:00

The birthday girl

The birthday boy

Cameron Bob

My girlie girlie...

2009-02-13T23:44:00.004-06:00

I can't resist that face!
(Just ask Eric...)

Wordless Wednesdays > Black birds...

2009-02-11T08:45:00.003-06:00

or not so wordless...

I looked out of our kitchen window and saw hundreds of these black birds.

I wonder where they all came from?!?

Wordless Wednesdays > The Busby Brothers

2009-02-04T08:00:00.003-06:00

Eric, David, Charlie & Billy

Wordless Wednesdays > I've got no strings to hold me down...

2009-01-28T14:06:00.007-06:00

My new Logitech VX Nano cordless mouse next to my old Microsoft mouse. No more dealing with a short in the cord!

The Logitech VX Nano has the world's smallest USB receiver.
It's about the size of a dime. I'm excited because I can just leave it in all the time... even when I need to pack up my laptop!

The resurrection of my computer...

2009-01-28T13:41:00.005-06:00

UPS package from Amazon.com
Thought it was funny that it said "RED HOT"

New RAM - 4GB

Eric replacing the RAM

Removing the old RAM

The insides of my computer

Putting in the new RAM

Screwing the back on

Removing the old harddrive

The new harddrive!

Putting the new harddrive in the case

Installing the new harddrive

Screwing on the cover of the harddrive

The old 2GB RAM and corrupted harddrive

Eric installing Vista and telling the computer who's boss!

My computer back up & running! YAY!

Thanks to my loving know-it-all husband! I love you Eric :)

The death of my computer...

2009-01-26T13:37:00.004-06:00

Saturday evening, Eric and I were working on our taxes using TurboTax. When all of a sudden, my computer locked up. I gave it some time to try to figure itself out and then I tried to do Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up Task Manager. But that wouldn't work. So I ended up just powering it off. I've had to do this before and never had problems. However, when I turned it back on, it would start to load and then all of a sudden I would get the "blue screen of death" that said "UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME". We tried numerous times to restart Windows... normal mode... safe mode... last known good configuration mode. But nothing worked. Then Eric started the troubleshooting. We got the Vista install CD and tried to run all of the repair functions. He was finally able to get it up and running... at least enough for me to pull off all of my documents. He was then going to try to wipe the harddrive and reinstall Windows. However, it kept giving him errors and finally it just wouldn't do anything. We looked into getting a new computer, but then just opted for buying a new harddrive. This option was much cheaper, of course. He found the harddrive that he wanted on Amazon for $90 + overnight shipping for only $3.99 with Prime! So we ordered it and it should be in by tomorrow. He also decided to upgrade the computer to 4GB of RAM. The combo of these 2 things will make my computer much faster! YAY! Some friends of ours at church had an extra laptop that they are letting me borrow for a few days. I'm very thankful for that. At least I will be able to get a few things done - like write this blog :) I don't have all the software I need for LSU on this computer and I don't really want to install it for just a few days. So I'm working on another way to do that work right now.

Computer problems are no fun at all. You don't realize how much you rely on them until you don't have them anymore. Especially for me, since I need it for my job! But I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband that has the knowledge to be able to fix things like this. There are some benefits of marrying a computer nerd! I love you, Eric!

Wordless Wednesdays > Riding the 4 wheeler

2009-01-07T17:23:00.009-06:00

Carter & Luke

Carter & Cameron

Uncle Eric & Miriam

Praise Report

2009-01-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I asked for prayer regarding my job situation. Eric and I had been praying about where God wanted me to be for my job. I had two job interviews right before Christmas. And I have actually been working on a project with FoxWebCo. However, on December 19th, I received a call from my boss at LSU. She informed me that because of the state hiring freeze they weren't sure they would be able to change my contract from a professional full-time employee to a contract part-time employee because that change would have to go to the state legislature to be approved. Therefore, they were suggesting to just keep me on my current contract. And she said that we could just decrease my hours or I could continue to work full-time. However, she just didn't want me to pass up any other job opportunities here just so I could continue to work for LSU. I told her that I understood that, but any job offers that I would have right now would only be part-time anyway. So after discussing everything with Eric and praying more about it, I am renewing my telecommuting agreement with LSU for 6 more months! And hopefully, I will continue to work some projects on the side with FoxWebCo in order to build that relationship with them for a possible future in their company. I just want to say thank you to everyone who prayed for us during this time.

Isn't God good?!? He has shown His sovereignty in this situation and has provided for us once again. We are truly unworthy, yet He continues to bless us. I pray that God will receive all the glory from this situation and that I will use this blessing to help further His Kingdom!

New Year's Eve

2009-01-03T11:44:00.000-06:00

On New Year's Eve, Eric & I drove down to Amite, LA to visit with Adam, Jeannie and the kids on our way back to Baton Rouge. Adam was the pastor at Eric's church in Natchez, where we got married. He was also the officiator at our wedding. He and Eric are really good friends. However, they moved to North Carolina in July so that Adam could attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. So, we haven't seen them since the summer. They were in Amite visiting Adam's family for the holiday, so we decided to take a trip down to Amite to see them before they headed back to North Carolina. It was great to get to visit with them. We roasted hotdogs, made s'mores and had fireworks for the kids. I showed Miriam how to do the sparklers. I know that was a little dangerous... but she did fine. I was actually the one that ended up getting burnt :( But not too bad. Of course, Levi didn't really like them. I think they were too loud. But he was fine as long as Eric or I was holding him. Here are some pictures from the night.

Miriam napping on the way to Amite
with her LSU headband that I broke :(

Levi and "Boo-dog" napping

Miriam playing with a sparkler

Uncle Eric helping Levi with a sparkler...
he didn't really like it and started crying right after this.

Miriam with another sparkler

Eric & I with Levi Bevi

Eric, Miriam and Levi
(probably tickling them to try to get them to smile)

Me & Levi (notice the tear)

Classic Levi face

Levi smiling after Eric tickled him

Noel and Miriam watching the fireworks

Miriam holding her ears

Miriam and Natalie watching the fireworks

Eric & I with Adam & Jeannie
(notice Levi on the left staying close)

Adam, Jeannie, Me & Eric (oh & Levi of course) by the fire

Watching the fireworks

Reading of the Christmas story

2009-01-02T08:15:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting a chance to post this. It took awhile to upload the videos.

For Christmas, Candi and Craig bought Luke a new Bible (a Bible with his name on it!). On Christmas morning, Candi had him open that present first. He read the Christmas story out of Luke chapter 2 (with Craig's help) for the family before we opened the rest of the presents. He did a great job! I was really impressed at how well he reads.

Wordless Wednesdays > Miriam's new bow

2008-12-31T11:11:00.001-06:00

Experiencing parenthood on our 1 year anniversary

2008-12-30T22:26:00.000-06:00

This week Eric & I are taking care of Miriam, Levi & Micah while Candi, Craig, Luke & Cameron are in Atlanta for the LSU game. We've been having a good time so far. There hasn't been any problem with the so-called "trouble-makers" (I hope I didn't just jinx it though) and Micah has been eating just fine... her baby food AND bottles. She even held her own bottle today.

Miriam napping on the way home yesterday...
with her sunglasses on her head.

Miriam and Levi

Miriam after her bath last night

Levi eating his quesadilla at lunch

Uncle Eric feeding Micah eating her lunch

Micah eating her fruit

Miriam drinking her lemonade

Micah enjoying her bottle

Micah holding her own bottle

Levi hogging the balls

Let them eat cake...

2008-12-30T22:04:00.001-06:00

Since this is our 1 year anniversary, of course, we had to eat our wedding cake. It's been a few different places throughout the year. Eric's parents froze it for us and kept it for the majority of the year. A few months ago we brought it home and put it in our freezer. This morning, we got it out to let it thaw. Then after our dinner tonight (with the kids), we cut into the cake. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty good and tasted just like wedding cake. Here are a few pictures that I took of the momentous occasion.

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine

2008-12-30T09:21:00.000-06:00

December 30, 2007

The happy couple

Walking down the aisle... trying not to cry!

Giving away of the bride

Listening to the sermon

Congregational worship

Eric's vows

Laura's vows

Vows

Giving of the rings

Rings

Prayer

Introduction of Mr. & Mrs. Eric Busby!

The sanctuary

We're married!

Stealing a kiss at the back

We're outta there!

I can't believe we've been married a whole year... a very busy one filled with a lot of new changes. We moved to a totally new city (and state)... Eric started a new job... we have a new church... we bought a new house. Looking back, I can see God's providence for us, not only financially but also in other areas of our marriage. We've had some wonderful times, as well as some very trying times. But through it all, I am so thankful that God has put Eric and I together and I am looking forward to all that He has in store for us. I also pray that our marriage will be the "mysterious" example of Christ and the Church that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:22-33.

Prayer Request

2008-12-17T13:13:00.001-06:00

As the New Year approaches, Eric and I will be facing some new challenges. The main one being my job situation. For the last year, I have been able to work for LSU full-time as a telecommuter (work from home). It has really been a blessing and we have seen God's providence for us constantly during this first year of our marriage. He is always faithful! However, my full-time contract with LSU ends December 31st. I have been approved to move to part-time contract work for LSU effective in January. This is one opportunity that we are considering for me.

In the last few weeks, there have been 2 other opportunities arise. The first being a part-time job at our church. It is for a Missions Ministry Assistant. Today I interviewed with the Missions Pastor and it seemed to go really well. This is a new position in the church, so it will be a completely new experience for everyone involved (no one really to say how it was done in the past). However, I think it may be a rewarding job as well, since I would be helping to fulfill the Great Commission by assisting in the mission work of our church.

The other opportunity is with a Web Development company (FoxWebCo) based here in Clinton. This is a small business owned by a couple in our church. I had lunch with them Monday to discuss the job and their company. They are looking for someone to help manage their Content Management System for the Web sites they develop, which is basically what I do for LSU. Since it is a smaller company, they are offering me a test project to do with them. And if they think the experience goes well and that we all work well together, they will offer me a more permanent job. However, this will not be until mid-January at least.

One other factor for us to think about is that none of these jobs offer benefits, the most important of which is health insurance. I can get on Eric's insurance at the church, but it will come out of our pocket. And it is really expensive. The other option is to do COBRA insurance with LSU. Again, of course, this is much more expensive than what I currently pay for insurance. The job with FoxWebCo may offer benefits, but it wouldn't be until I was with the company for awhile.

I ask that you pray for Eric and I as we make this decision. It really is a difficult one, especially for me. I've never NOT had a full-time job. We know that God will provide for us as always. But I also want to take this opportunity to see where God wants me to be in regards to my job/occupation.

Winter Storm Watch for Clinton, MS

2008-12-10T10:19:00.001-06:00

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

A LARGE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO AND INTO ALABAMA TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. THIS WILL INITIALLY BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN TO THE ARKLAMISS BUT AS THINGS COOL OFF LATE TONIGHT THE RAIN WILL BEGIN TO MIX WITH SNOW. ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE RAIN SHOULD START TO CHANGE COMPLETELY OVER TO SNOW EARLY TOMORROW MORNING AND PERSIST THROUGH A GOOD PORTION OF THE DAY. SNOW WILL BE MODERATE AT TIMES LIKELY LEADING TO ACCUMULATIONS EVEN IF THE SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE STILL A FEW DEGREES ABOVE FREEZING. AT THIS TIME SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE LIKELY AND THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT A LINE OF HEAVIER SNOW WILL DEVELOP WHICH WOULD LEAD TO GREATER SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.

I was excited when I got this e-mail from the Weather Channel in my inbox this morning. Of course, Eric thinks I'm silly. But I want it to snow. It's so close to Christmas... I could say that I've actually had a "White Christmas". That would be awesome. Anyway, we'll see. It's supposed to be tomorrow sometime. For now, I'll just stay curled up by the fire so I can try to get this cough to go away.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2008-12-08T08:33:00.000-06:00

It's been about a week since we started putting up our Christmas decorations. We started the Saturday after Thanksgiving and finally finished this past Saturday. The tree took awhile because (1) it's new so we didn't know how many lights or what extra decorations we wanted and (2) it's really BIG! The tree that I had broke last year, when it fell over in Eric's apartment. So, we were blessed to be offered a nice tree from our church's music department. They bought some trees to decorate the church during the holiday season. However, the 8.5 foot trees they bought weren't big enough... yes weren't BIG enough. Crazy, huh?!? Anyway, they offered one to us and we were very thankful to use one since we didn't have one and didn't really need to spend 100s of dollars to buy a new one. However, we did spend some money on new lights. Eric wanted clear lights and I wanted colored lights. So we splurged a little and got both. I think we ended up putting 2300 lights on the tree. But it looks really good :) We also got some tinsel for the tree to add a little extra something. It's messy... but I think it adds a little sparkle. The only thing we haven't found is a lighted star. So we just used my old one. The bad thing is that you can't see it at night. Oh well... maybe next year. Here are some pictures of our decorating. As you can see, it was a few days process.

Eric unwrapping the bottom layer of the tree.

Eric & I stringing lights (we did it by sections)

Hanging ornaments

Eric hanging ornaments on the top of the tree
(that's a TALL tree)
Our newest ornament
(First Christmas in our new home)

Eric putting the star on top

Final results at night after the tinsel

For our mantel, we wanted to add a little Christmas touch. So when our family was here for Thanksgiving, my mom made us a swag out of the extra corkscrew willow branches we had. We bought some holly berries and ribbon at Hobby Lobby (for 50% off) to add to the swag. We put the holly berries in the swag and then I made the bow and attached it. It was the first time I've ever made a bow... so I think I did pretty good. We hung the swag up on the front of our mantel and hung our stockings on either side. We also got some red, green & white tapered candles to put on top of the mantel. Here's the final result.

My homemade bow

Our Christmas mantel decorations

With the fireplace (which we use quite often)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Voice Jury

2008-12-04T14:44:00.000-06:00

I've been taking a voice class this semester at Hinds Community College with Dr. Terry Fletcher. It has been a great experience. I think that I have learned to recognize some of the things that I do wrong... or incorrectly when I sing. I have also seen that when I relax, my sound is much better than when I try to push out the sound. You'd think I would've realized that by now. Anyway, today was my voice jury, or "final exam" for the class. I sang in front of the voice faculty. I've been sick all week so they didn't make me sing all of the songs I had been working on. I only sang two songs (one of my choice and one of theirs). My choice was Puccini's "La Canzone di Doretta" and I also sang "Un moto di gioja" by Mozart. Eric went with me and videoed my performance. Here's Doretta's song... there's one really bad part in the middle. But for the most part, I think it went pretty well.

Final decorations for our mantel

2008-11-25T10:12:00.000-06:00

Awhile back, we made an art piece to go over our mantel. We decided that we needed something to go on either side of it. So while we were in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago, we found a set of 3 pillar candle holders at my parent's house. They were gracious enough to give them to us... of course they were just sitting on the floor in the hall... taking up room. Dad even put them in a bag for us to take! Anyway, last week, we finally found some candles that we liked to put on them. On the other side of the mantel, we found a big vase at Walmart that we liked. We decided that we wanted to put something tall in it. Some kind of big branches... or something like that. Eric mentioned that there was a tree at his parent's house that has long curly branches. It's called a Corkscrew Willow (or Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa'... as Eric would say). So he thought that might be a nice decorative touch... a free decorative touch (might I add)! So this weekend when we were in Winnsboro, he cut some branches to bring home. Here are some pictures ... and the final product on our mantel!

Eric and the tree

The Corkscrew Willow tree branches

Eric cutting a branch

Eric cutting a high branch

Eric and his loping shears

Me & my man with our matching glasses
(it was early... and COLD!)

Our mantel decorations

The vase with the corkscrew willow branches

Weekend with the Busbys

2008-11-24T09:16:00.000-06:00

This weekend we drove over to Winnsboro to spend time with Eric's family. When we got to his parents on Friday morning, 3 of Eric's nieces (his middle brother's girls) were there. We had a good time hanging out together. We played with playdoh, colored, and jumped on the trampoline (well they did). Then Friday night we drove up to Monroe to meet his brothers for dinner... a Chinese Thanksgiving dinner ;) It was nice to get to see everyone before the holidays. Here are some pictures from our weekend with the Busbys.

Alana

Cassie

Sadie

Me & Alana

Me & Sadie

Me & Cassie

UncE and MawB making meatloaf

Cassie & Alana

Papaw

MawB

Alana & Missy

Sadie jumping on the trampoline

The girls jumping on the trampoline

The Busby girls

Trying to keep warm

Cute Busby girls

Alana sporting my scarf & sunglasses

Cassie wearing my sunglasses

Sadie showing her busted lip

UncE (I think Sadie took this picture)

New Furniture!

2008-11-17T15:51:00.000-06:00

So Saturday, while Eric and I were out and about... we saw some people holding signs for a furniture store going out of business. So we randomly decided to drive by to see what they had. And we actually found a table and chairs that we liked... for a great price too! So we bought the table (with leaf), 8 chairs and a china hutch/buffet. It was delivered today (free delivery also)! Anyway, we're really excited especially since we have everyone coming for Thanksgiving next week. Can't wait to set up everything in the hutch and use the table :)

Vegetable Soup... yummy!

2008-11-16T14:48:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the high here in Clinton was 55° (and it was pretty windy too) and the low last night was in the mid-30s. So Eric & I decided to make some vegetable soup. That is a good "cold weather" meal. So when we were at our new Kroger yesterday, we got all the makings for homemade vegetable soup. Here are some pictures of our dinner:

Browning the stew meat.

Added Veg-all.

Added extra vegetables - corn, peas, green beans, potatoes.

Added tomato juice
(we also added a can of rotel tomatoes for some spice)

Brought to a boil... then let it simmer for a few hours.

Our piping hot bowls of soup.

Soup with cornbread ... yummy!

Then Sings My Soul Saturday > "Jesus Messiah"

2008-11-15T20:59:00.001-06:00

Today Eric and I were in the car a lot... driving around Jackson & Clinton. It seemed like every time we got in the car, this song was on the radio. The truth of the lyrics really touched us. So we thought we should share them with everyone. Hope you enjoy it.

"Jesus Messiah" by Chris Tomlin

He became sin, who knew no sin
That we might become His righteousness
He humbled Himself and carried the cross
Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Jesus Messiah
Name Above All Names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of All

His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled and the veil was torn
Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Jesus Messiah
Name Above All Names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of All

All our hope is in You
All our hope is in You
All the glory to You God
The Light of the World

Jesus Messiah
Name Above All Names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of All

Jesus Messiah
Lord of All
You're the Lord of All
The Lord of All

Our new Kroger!

2008-11-15T13:26:00.000-06:00

Today, our new Kroger store opened. Eric has been really excited all week and couldn't wait for the store to open. So we actually got up at a normal time, ate breakfast and went on an outing to Kroger (along with the rest of Clinton). It was PACKED! The new store is just a little closer to our house, but a WHOLE lot bigger. It is 80,000 ft²... 30,000 ft² larger than our old one. We now have a full-line bakery, a sushi bar and a much larger deli. The frozen food section is twice as big as that of the old store, which makes room for more Bluebell flavor options :) There is also a drive-thru pharmacy, so I transferred my prescriptions there from Walgreens (sorry Chris!). But we get 50 points on our Kroger gas discount for every Rx we get filled there (100 points=1 tank of gas at 10¢ off per gallon). So that pretty much sold us on transferring them. One other big thing is the parking lot. The old store had a HORRIBLE parking lot! The new store has at least double... maybe even triple the parking. So it will be much easier to get in and out! Here are a few pictures from our outing this morning:

The front of our new store

A drive-thru pharmacy!

A whole lot of spaghetti sauce...
I guess at least we have some options now!

We enjoyed roaming up and down the international food aisle.
Scandinavian? Really?

Kosher? Yay... now we can eat biblically... or at least Jewishly.

My excited hubby enjoying the store!

This is a really large section of specialty olives...
who knew there were so many kinds?!?

Awesome chips!

These looked good (but we didn't buy them).
I took this picture for Sara... thought she might like them.

This is what they said when we left... after spending $189!
(I liked the packaging on this)

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

2008-11-13T08:15:00.000-06:00

Congratulations on 37 years!
1971 - Wedding Day

Now fast forward a few years...

2003 - with Luke

2004 - with Luke

2004 - with Luke

2oo4 - with Luke & Cameron at Christmas

2004 - with Luke at BR Zoo

2004

2006

2006 - with Luke & Miriam

2007

2007 - my wedding day!

2008 - still being kids ;)

2008 - in Gulf Shores

2008 - at Blue Angels show in Pensacola

I love you :)

Eric's Birthday Surprise

2008-11-10T11:35:00.000-06:00

Friday was Eric's birthday. Because we were in Houston, I wanted to try to do something special for him. He really loves music, especially operas. Unfortunately, there weren't any operas that weekend at the HGO. So I looked around at some other sites and found that the Houston Symphony was having a performance of one of Schubert's Masses. I thought it would be interesting, especially since the Mass also featured the Symphony Chorus. So Uncle Randy and Aunt Pam were able to get us tickets (THANKS UR & AP!). UR gave me the tickets on Wednesday and I put them in my purse (trying to hide them from Eric). I did pretty good until Friday morning (on his birthday) he saw them in my purse. Well, at least it was already his birthday! So that morning, we finished off the WFX conference. Then went over to the Houston Center (a little mall in downtown) and ate lunch. After lunch, I bought Eric a birthday cookie (one of the double doozies) from the Great American Cookie Company. I felt bad that I couldn't make him a cake so I had to do something. (Maybe I'll make him a cake this week). After that we drove up to IKEA and walked around. Then around 5 pm, we went back downtown to eat dinner at The Fish (a sushi restaurant recommended by Lauren). It was really nice. After dinner, we drove down to Jones Hall for the Symphony. We had a great night (albeit we were pretty tired)... especially since our day started at 5:15 am and ended around 11:00 pm. But I think he had a pretty good birthday :) Here are some pictures from the day:

Eric eating his birthday cookie

Almost gone...

Sign at entrance to Jones Hall

Our tickets

Eric waiting on the symphony to begin

Eric & I waiting (don't ask me why my smile is retarded)

Symphony and Chorus

A tired birthday boy (at intermission)

Eric & I at intermission

Lakewood Experience

2008-11-07T08:37:00.000-06:00

As part of WFX, they were offering a chance to go to Lakewood Church (the largest church in America) and tour the facilities there. So last night, Eric and I went to check it all out. It is in the old Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets use to play. The facility holds something like 16,000 people. Craziness. I think he said they spent like $80 million renovating it. As I'm sure you can imagine, it really nice, especially from a technical standpoint. The night started with a keynote address from Joel Osteen, himself. He talked about his background with media and how they got to where they are today. Then, we were actually able to go tour their media floor. They have a whole floor dedicated to just media. It consists of a large machine room (for all their computers and backups), a recording studio (where we got to hear the group Anointed record a track), an audio mixing studio, as well as 6-7 video editing rooms for post-production video work. Amazing was all we could say. The team there was very helpful and informative and it was nice to see how such a big production is run. I think we left with an appreciation for how much work they do each week to make everything run smoothly. Here are a few pictures of our experience:

The signage at the front of the church (what you see from US 59)

Walking from the parking garage

From the back entrance

A few of the camera operators

Joel Osteen's keynote speech
(notice the camera on the large boom in the top left)

On the awesome big screen LED's

Under the big screens on each side of the stage are waterfalls...
yes waterfalls with running water. Craziness!

Their LSU stage... GEAUX TIGERS!

Eric & I in the worship ~~center~~ arena

Happy Birthday, Eric!

2008-11-07T02:00:00.000-06:00

Today is Eric's 31st birthday! We're in Houston, so I planned a surprise for him. Can't wait! I'll post info later :) In the meantime, here are a few pictures from past birthdays.

Eric - age 7
How cute!

Eric - age 29!
Now my cutie :)

My visit with MawMaw

2008-11-06T10:44:00.000-06:00

My grandmother (MawMaw) has alzheimer's and is at a facility in Houston (actually Sugarland). I haven't seen MawMaw since last Christmas. And since we were in Houston this week, I wanted to go over to see her. So, UR and I drove over there to visit her. When we got there, we couldn't find her anywhere. It seems that she likes to roam around and then she'll just go take a nap in someone else's room other than her own. UR and I walked around for about 10 minutes looking for her, but we didn't want to just barge in every room and disturb other people. So we enlisted some of the workers there to help us in the search. About 15 minutes later, we finally found her in someone's room asleep. It took awhile for us to get her up. Of course, she didn't know who either of us were. We told her our names and UR told her I was her granddaughter, Ricky's daughter. But I don't think she really has any concept of what that means. Anyway, we walked outside with her to let her get some fresh air (it was a beautiful day) and to take some pictures. We visited for awhile... I tried to talk to her and show her pictures of the kids (her great-grandchildren). But I don't think she really understands pictures. It's also interesting how she talks... it's like she's having a normal conversation with you (with inflection and all), but the sentences she forms don't make any sense. Ex: I said to her "It's a pretty day" and she said something like "yeah, it the clouds and come and rain to be there good." I guess at least she had some 'weather' words in there. It's just a sad disease. And it's pretty tough to see someone you love go through it. But it was good to see her even though she's not really "MawMaw" anymore. I think about her a lot this time of year... especially since Thanksgiving is soon. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner was our special time together. I miss her.

I heart the HOV lane!

2008-11-06T10:20:00.000-06:00

This morning, I got up bright & early to accompany Eric to the WFX Conference. It is in downtown Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center. However, we are staying to UR & AP's house in Clear Lake City (which is southeast of Houston). So it probably takes at least 30-45 minutes to get downtown with NO traffic. Unfortunately, the first session Eric had today started at 8 am. So we got up about 5:30 AM to get ready. We left the house at 6:20ish and went to get kolaches (of course). When we got to I45, all 5 lanes were already packed (at 6:45 AM!!!). But because we had 2 people in the car, we decided to take the HOV lane. And let me just say... it is AWESOME! We drove constantly at about 60-65 mph... flying by the people at a dead stop on the interstate. It only took us about 20-25 minutes to get downtown. YAY for the HOV! It definitely took the stress out of the morning commute!

The HOV lane!

Lots of interstates (and bugs on the windshield)!

Glad we weren't over there with the rest of the city on I45N!

Wordless Wednesdays > Kolaches!

2008-11-05T10:22:00.000-06:00

mmmm.... kolaches!
yes... I cheated on my diet. But it's kolaches! I had to have one ... or two ;)

Trip to Houston

2008-11-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

This week Eric and I are in Houston. Eric is attending the Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX) Wednesday - Friday. Monday night, we drove from Clinton to Baton Rouge and stayed with Candi & Craig. And yesterday, we drove from Baton Rouge to Houston, where we are staying with my uncle and aunt. Here are a few pictures we took yesterday at the Texas Welcome Center.

Eric in the Big Texas Star.

We are here... or around there at least.

Eric in Texas... literally.

Me & my love :)

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-03T10:32:00.000-06:00

Luke, Miriam holding Micah, Cameron & Levi

Cute Micah face

Micah & me

Levi Bevi

Miriam's smile :)

Cheetos fingers

Micah's ghetto face

Luke & Micah sliding

Me & Eric on the slide

Cameron posing on the pole

Sara sliding

Luke on the hippo

Levi sliding

Micah on the train with Mommy

Miriam on the train

Luke on the train

Sara & Luke on the train

Scary faces in the tunnel (Micah's face is priceless)

Eric's scary face in the tunnel

Pwincess Weia (as Miriam says it)

Going Trick-or-Treating as the Star Wars Clan
Levi as a jedi in training, Miriam as Princess Leia, Micah as an Ewok,
Luke as Luke Skywalker, and Cameron as Darth Vader

Micah's cute Ewok face

Our Zoo Tradition...

2008-10-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

Eric & I were in Baton Rouge to visit my family this weekend. Friday, we took the kids to the zoo for a play day. It seems that every time we go to the zoo, it's sort of a tradition for Miriam to ride on Eric's shoulder. Here are some pictures of them through the last few years.

May 2007 - Baton Rouge Zoo

June 2007 - Audubon Zoo

September 2008 - Jackson Zoo

October 2008 - Baton Rouge Zoo

MS Singing Churchmen

2008-10-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, our church was host to the Mississippi Baptist Singing Churchmen, a group of Music Ministers from churches around Mississippi. Eric has been part of this group for about 6 years. They had their annual banquet last night at Morrison Heights and are singing today for the MS Baptist Convention at First Baptist Jackson. I wasn't able to go to the concert today because of work, but it was nice to see everyone last night at the banquet. They only get together a few times a year for concerts, but it's always nice to get to fellowship with them. When they all get together, they are worse than a bunch of ladies!

Eric & I at the banquet last night.

Feels like Christmas...

2008-10-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

So a few weeks ago we had a little cold front come through here. I commented to Eric that it felt like Christmas to me. He made fun of me for that... and continues to. But it did! I grew up in South Louisiana all my life where normally it only gets cold in December or January. So, I equate cold weather with Christmas! He said I was going to be surprised at how much colder it would be here than in Baton Rouge, which I'm actually kind of excited about. I like cold weather. Anyway, it feels like Christmas again today (58° right now)! So, although it's only October...

Great is His Faithfulness!

2008-10-26T14:27:00.000-05:00

So during the process of cleaning and finally unpacking boxes, we found 2 Walmart gift cards that we received from our wedding last year (one for $15 and one for $50!). It's almost like finding cash in your coat pocket from last winter! Especially since you can pretty much get anything at Walmart nowadays. I really see these gift cards as providence from God. He always knows what we need... and exactly when we need it. He has proven to be faithful to Eric and me time and time again. And He continues to amaze me daily!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Weekend Projects

2008-10-25T19:37:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Mom came up to help Eric & I finish unpacking and organize. While she was here, we actually hung some things on the wall. And that got me thinking about what other decorations we needed. All of the walls in our living room were bare. Especially the large space over our fireplace. So Monday night, Eric & I drove out to Hobby Lobby to see what kind of art they had there. And we found a few things that we liked, but nothing big enough to go over the fireplace. But we did buy a few other things that we thought might look good in our living room... and they were all 50% off! While we were there, we looked at the fabric and actually found one we liked. So we had the idea of stretching the fabric like canvas on a frame to hang over the fireplace. We figured that would be cheaper than any piece of art we could find. So, today we went back to Hobby Lobby to get the fabric and to look for a frame. However, we couldn't find a frame as big as we wanted (48' x 60'). Eric thought we could make it ourselves, and for much cheaper than we could buy one that big. So we went to Lowe's and bought the wood and accessories to make the frame, as well as a hand saw and mitre box for Eric to cut the wood. While we were watching the LSU game this afternoon, we cut the wood and assembled the frame. And finally stretched the fabric and stapled it on. It only took about 3 hours :) See our assembly pictures and final result below (I forgot to take picture while we were assembling the frame itself). I think it turned out pretty good!

Eric stretching & stapling the fabric on the frame.

Watch out, he's dangerous with a staple gun!

Lending a helping hand to my hubby
while he's stapling the fabric on the frame.

The finished product :) It's almost as tall as Eric!

Here's the final result on our mantel!

Eric also hung a few of our other purchases in the living room.

Above our front door

Our "junk" hanger, just inside our living room by the garage door.

Praise You in This Storm

2008-10-23T11:24:00.000-05:00

This song has been an encouragement to me the last week. My desire is to continue to praise God through the storms of life, no matter how rough they may seem. I hope it encourages you as well.

I was sure by now, God, You would have reached down,
And wiped our tears away, Stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining.

As the thunder rolls, I barely hear You whisper through the rain, “I’m with you.”
And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives, and takes away.

I’ll praise You in this storm, and I will lift my hands.
For You are who You are, no matter where I am.
Every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hand.
You never left my side and though my heart is torn,
I will praise You in this storm.

I remember when I stumbled in the wind.
You heard my cry to You and raised me up again.
My strength is almost gone.
How can I carry on, if I can’t find You.

As the thunder rolls, I barely hear You whisper through the rain, “I’m with you.”
And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives, and takes away.

I’ll praise You in this storm, and I will lift my hands.
For You are who You are, no matter where I am.
Every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hand.
You never left my side and though my heart is torn,
I will praise You in this storm.

I lift my eyes unto the hills.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
I lift my eyes unto the hills.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

I’ll praise You in this storm, and I will lift my hands.
For You are who You are, no matter where I am.
Every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hand.
You never left my side and though my heart is torn,
I will praise You in this storm.

A New Beginning

2008-10-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is a time of new beginnings. So, I have decided to start a blog. I am hundreds of miles away from my family and friends. They have blogs where I can keep up with them, so I thought I might try to do the same. My life may not be quite as exciting as theirs are (because they have kids), but I can at least post things from time to time to let them know what's going on here. We'll see how this goes...