Tic Toc

Only a few more minutes and I can go home to my sweet husband. He’s cooking me dinner tonight. He’s too good to me – I like it. :)

Date Night

Eric and I had a fun date night Friday night. He picked me up from work and we went to Dave and Busters. Eric had a ton of points left over from his bachelor party, so we didn’t have to buy any. We had a blast! I was surprised that I actually beat him in a couple of games. He always wins, so it was nice to revel in the glory of winning for a change. I won’t mention how many games he won compared to me. :) After dinner and games we went to one of my most favorite places – The Chocolate Bar – AMAZING! I just love that place. Just when I thought the night couldn’t get any better, we invited my parents over to play hand and foot (a card game). It was the first time Eric and I beat my parents at that game. I guess we were just in the winning mode. Most of our date nights are lower key, but I must say that I will never grow tired of dating my husband. With trying to get the house in order and everything else we do during the week, it’s nice to take a break, have fun and enjoy each other.

On another note: My dad left for a mission trip to Panama for three weeks. Please be praying for him and my mom (she’s already cried a few times because he’s going to be gone so long). He and the group are going to be building a feeding center for the children in the village and on another island they will be building a church. Please pray for protection (the conditions are not ideal), traveling safety (they travel by canoe to the islands) and most of all for people to be saved!

FINALLY!

I just wrote my last thank you card for the wedding presents! I’m so excited to be finished! I feel like it’s taken me forever and I feel bad that I haven’t sent them yet. But as soon as we buy stamps, they’re on their way. YAY! :)

Coupon Clipping

I’m trying to be a better steward of the money God has entrusted to Eric and me by stretching our dollars as much as we can. One way I’ve started doing this is by cutting coupons and checking the grocery adds. It’s more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I’ve been spoiled in the past about going wherever I wanted to go and buying whatever I wanted not paying attention to the cost. I started looking at our outrageous grocery bills and I felt convicted that I needed to start doing something about it. So I’ve been cutting coupons and matching them to the grocery adds in the paper. We saved six dollars in coupons at CVS last night and received seven extra care bucks for our next shopping trip. It’s a start. I think it’ll get easier once I get the hang of it. I must say I now have new found appreciation for my mother’s savvy shopping.

Little Anna

Eric and I took dinner to Robbie and Ashly last night. We had an ulterior motive though – we wanted to see the baby! Anna's almost three weeks old and she’s so little bitty and absolutely precious. I just love babies!

… While I’m on the subject of babies, I’m going to venture into a mini rant (not that Robbie and Ashly said anything about it last night, but I’m going to go there). When I was single, people asked when I was going to start dating. When Eric and I started dating, people asked when we were going to get married. Now that we’re married, people are asking when we’re going to have a baby. We haven’t even been married two months! All I’m saying is that we need to enjoy the place God has us – enjoy every minute. Single – enjoy the freedom that comes with it. Dating – enjoy getting to know the person you’re with. Engaged – enjoy the planning process of a wedding. Married – enjoy living with your spouse. Too many of us are never content where we are; we always look to the next “step”. If we’re always looking ahead, then we’ll miss the blessings God has for us in the stage He wants us to be in. Enjoy life where you are.

Bedtime and Pillow Talk

I love snuggling up to Eric as we lie in bed and talk before going to sleep. Our new sleep number bed is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on; we’re so blessed. Every night we sink in the bed next to one another, read the Bible and pray together. I love reading God’s Word, discussing it with Eric and praying. It draws us closer to one another and to the Lord. I am amazed at the gift God has given me in Eric.

The other night before we went to sleep, Eric looked me in the eyes and told me how pretty I was. I laughed because I had no makeup on and I had on my lovely mouth guard. He must really love me! Then he jokingly laughed as I talked back to him; I have a lisp when I talk with my mouth guard on. This may sound funny, but before we married I wondered what he would think of my mouth guard. I mean how can you feel sexy with a mouth guard and a lisp? God is so good to me. He brought me a husband that thinks I’m pretty even when I look my very worst. And that’s how God sees us. Sometimes, we may think we’re ugly to God, but when He looks at us, He sees us through the blood of Christ and He thinks we’re pretty. Thank you Lord!

Now that doesn’t mean we should stay in our sin, but we should feel encouraged that God meets us where we are and rejuvenates us to reflect His glory. He loves us too much to let us stay stagnate. Do I hear an Amen?

Another Mini Trip

Eric and I are leaving again today after work for a mini trip but this time it’s to Corpus and we’re staying longer. I’m excited! He has a conference for work, but he doesn’t have to go to all the classes. We get a fun weekend getaway! I’m ready for a nice hotel, sleeping late and the beach. Oh and Dark Knight. We’re making sure we see that this weekend. Yay! Two and a half more hours and I’m out of here.

On another note: While I’m typing this, the ceiling is falling on my desk – literally. They’re doing construction over my head and little pieces of the ceiling keep falling all over the place. I keep expecting the whole thing to fall down one day.

Mini Road Trip

Eric and I drove to Austin last night for dinner. We met his parents, uncle, and cousin at Cracker Barrel. It was a long drive, but I’m glad we went. His cousin, Maddy, is six years old. When she saw us she started jumping up and down and ran to give us a big hug. The whole night she was talking a hundred miles an hour and had the biggest grin on her face. She informed me that her dad said that we were now cousins. That makes me happy. I’ve never had a younger cousin. It’s so fun having an additional set of family members. We were able to catch up a lot. We haven’t seen his parents since the wedding. Yes, I’m tired today (we crawled into bed at half past midnight last night), but it was worth it.

Hehe

Eric’s former bachelor showed through last night. After dinner he saw that I only wiped my mouth one time with the napkin, so he put it back in the napkin holder. When I questioned him about this, he replied that it wasn’t that dirty and I could use it later. I smiled and threw it away. I love my husband.

So Happy!

My Eric came home Saturday! I was so excited that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I knew I missed him but I didn’t realize just how much until I saw him. This may get a little too mushy, but I must say that he gives my heart wings. Every time I’m with him I feel as if I could fly. I could not get the cheesy grin off my face all weekend, and I’m still smiling. My insides are smiling and it’s spilling over on the outside. Thank you Lord for my sweet husband! He was definitely worth the wait and heartache over past relationships. Somehow, I think it made me appreciate him more. There were many days and nights that I would pray and cry and pray some more for my husband to come. God answered my prayers over and above with Eric. He’s more than I could have ever hoped for. I could go on and on, but Eric would probably be somewhat embarrassed if I did. I’ll wrap up by saying I’m so happy he’s home with me!!!

By the Way

ERIC COMES HOME TOMORROW!!! :)

Smiling...

After five weeks I finally went to the Social Security office and changed my name to Kelly Nichole Laughlin! I'm so excited!!! After work I'm heading to the DPS office to do the same; now I only have 101 more documents to change.

Notes of Interest

I talked to Eric last night and he said 5 guys accepted Christ last night! Praise the Lord!

He also told me that they shot a hog and ate it for dinner Tuesday night. I like eating meat; I just don’t want to see it alive first.

Julie Riley and I went to Starbucks last night. We talked and talked and towards the end we were yawning and feeling tired. Turns out it was past ten o’clock. We talked over three hours without stopping. We need to get together more; there was too much catching up we had to do.

I stepped in gum yesterday. I was wearing really cute silver Jessica Simpson shoes (yes, she has an adorable shoe line!). I was not happy.

Erin Hollister makes me smile. We went to lunch yesterday.

It’s Thursday! Only two more days and Eric will be home!

Letting Go

I miss my Eric. He’s at boy’s camp this week for troubled teens. At 10 am Sunday morning, he was off to Medina, so we’ll have to celebrate our one month anniversary later. It’s hard letting him go, but God reminds me that Eric is ultimately His. HE gently confirmed that HE is first in Eric’s life, and Eric needs to follow after HIM even if it means physical separation from me for a little while. It was a hard pill for me to swallow after a month of marriage, but I’m happy and excited for him. He’s connecting with the kids, and I’ve been praying that God will use him in a mighty way in their lives. Eric is so good with teenagers; he’ll be able to reach them in a different way than the older men. He calls me a couple of times a day, and he’s told me about the great things God is doing so far. One guy accepted Christ last night, and several others are opening up more. He even told me about one teen that didn’t know who God was; he’s asking a lot of questions. Praise the Lord for giving Eric the opportunity to minister to these kids. And praise the Lord for teaching me to let go.

I'm Back

I've re-vamped my blog and changed the name; I guess you've noticed. I thought it was appropriate since I've started a new chapter in life. Here lately I've felt like blogging. Now that things have settled, I'll have more time to write. I loved the wedding planning process, but I must admit, I'm so glad it's over. Being married is a lot better than being engaged! :) God has been teaching me so much about my relationship with Eric paralleling with my relationship with HIM. HE is good. More on that later. I have to run, but I wanted to post a little blurb.