Date Night… At Home

Eric and I wanted to go to the movies last night, but there wasn’t anything out that we wanted to see. I told him it was okay if we didn’t go out, if we had spaghetti (my favorite) and a movie at home. We rented the Incredible Hulk and started it while we ate spaghetti – yummy! My favorite food with my favorite person – what a night! And the movie was REALLY good. The graphics were great, especially in Blue Ray. To top it off, we were in bed by 9:30 (I was really tired). We had the best date night. :)

I Caved In

Everyone has been talking about how amazing the Twilight series is. It’s spurred my interest for a while, but the clincher happened after I talked to Stephanie. She told me how good they were and I just had to read it. I goggled the series and read inserts from the books. I was immediately drawn to it. Who doesn’t love a love story with twists? I went during my lunch break and bought the first book. If I like it, then I’ll just have to order the rest from Amazon. So I'm going to start it tonight and see what the rave is all about.

So American

Eric and I went out to early voting this weekend. Our first try was Saturday. The line was way out the door and the man working there said it was probably close to a two hour wait. Since we had a lot to do Saturday, we decided to come back Sunday. We went straight after church and arrived at the voting location thirty minutes early. I thought for sure we would be one of the first in line. I was wrong. The line was already snaked around like Six Flags inside the building. Eric and I stood outside and waited for the booths to open up. Just ten minutes later the line extended through out the parking lot. Once the booths opened for voting, we stood in line another hour. But, we voted! I told Eric that I felt So American. We executed our right as a citizen - Get out and vote!!!

It’s Finished!

Eric came home from work late last night, so I went over to my parents’ house. My mom and I were able to work on my wreath. Actually, my mom did it and I stood by her and talked. I helped her cut the flower stems, but I didn’t want to get in the way of her genius. The wreath turned out beautifully! It has three giant sunflowers – yellow, red and orange, fall leaves, berries and a bow. It looks a lot prettier than any I've seen in the stores. :) It’s hanging inside our front door now. I smile every time I see it – it’s so cheery. I’ll try to upload a picture later.

Fabulous Weekend

Things that made this weekend wonderful:

o Dinner with friends on Friday
o Buying items to make a Fall wreath
o Baby-sitting for a five month old – so sweet!
o Cleaning house
o Eric throwing away and organizing some of his piles
o Hanging pictures
o Re-arranging furniture
o Finding the perfect boxes for our love notes and wedding cards
o Going to church and worshipping in our new sanctuary
o Sunday afternoon nap
o Going out to eat with Eric
o Strawberry Freckled Lemonade
o Relaxing on the couch and reading my magazine
o Watching Eric play video games
o Putting our new comforter on the bed

I can not tell you how nice it was to stay at home over the weekend and work on long over-do projects. Eric was wonderful and I had the best time just being with him.

Happy

I’m so happy its Friday!!! I’m spending the weekend at home with my precious husband. We haven’t been home on the weekend in over two months. It’s amazing how it’s the little things like sleeping late in our own bed, hanging pictures, organizing, relaxing at home and working out that we miss so much. And we’ll get to worship in the new sanctuary at church for the first time. I’m super excited!

A First

My dad just called. A bromeliad plant was delivered this afternoon for Eric and me in memory of Eric’s dad; I’m so excited!!! I’ve never had my very own plant, and it’s even more special because it’s “our” plant. I told Eric that we need to take really good care of it, and maybe we’ll be more prepared for children one day. I’m going to look on the internet and research how to care for bromeliads. I can’t wait to go home and meet it!!!

Goodbye Mr. Laughlin

Wednesday, October 1st, I was putting on my make-up to get ready for work, when I heard the elevator. I looked at the clock – it was 6:20. I thought Eric must have forgotten something on his way to work. I came out of the bathroom and I could tell by his face that he received a phone call from his mother. His dad’s lungs were filling up with fluid and there wasn’t much time. We tried to pack and remember what all we needed as we fought to see through the tears. We were on the road by 7:15 when we received another call, but this time it was from the pastor’s wife. It was too late; Bill had already taken his last breath and gone to heaven. The rest of the drive to Goldthwaite was sad and quiet. We wanted to say goodbye. But God let me remember the last words he said to Eric and I that Monday – “I love you.” What wonderful last words to leave someone.

When we arrived to Goldthwaite, the house was full of people and food. Donna held on to us a long time and cried. Soon after that we went to the funeral home, the visitation was the next night, and the funeral was Friday. Everything happened so quickly. We stayed through the rest of the following week. You don’t realize how much stuff you have to do once someone leaves this world. Eric didn’t want his mom to have to do it all alone, so we did about a months worth of stuff in a week. I told Eric we were so busy that I don’t feel like we had time to mourn.

We came home late on Sunday, October 12th. It would have been Bill’s 60th birthday. Texas Longhorns won the day before – he would have been happy.

We love him and we miss him terribly. Praise the Lord that we have a hope that is beyond this world. We will see him again one day, but until then we will hold on to the memories. His cousin spoke at his funeral. She mentioned a song called, “I love you Bill, I always will.” So true.

Appreciation

I haven’t written in a while. I didn’t realize how long until I logged on today. It’s been a whirlwind lately with all the hurricane stuff – as I’m sure you all know. Eric and I were able to go to Goldthwaite a day early and stay a day late last week since we had off work.

Last Sunday, the Goldthwaite community held an appreciation celebration for Eric’s dad. There were close to 300 people in attendance. They had a time where some of the staff from the church told funny stories and stories about some of the work Bill has done at their church (he’s been the Music Minister there for the past 28 years). Then some one sang, “Thank You” by Ray Boltz; I cry every time I hear it. As he was singing the song, some one else brought them money tree filled with money. After we dried our eyes, everyone lined up to tell Bill how much they loved him and how he has impacted their lives. Just when we could see the end of the line, more people came. We were there for a couple of hours talking to everyone. As I saw the line forming and the people coming forward I thought of the words from the song:

One by one they came
Far as your eyes could see
Each life somehow touched
By your generosity
Little things that you had done
Sacrifices you made…

Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave

Most people do not get to see the impact they have made on other people’s lives until after they have passed on. I praise the Lord that Bill and Donna were able to experience people’s gratitude here on earth. What a precious blessing!

The community has really come around their family. They receive phone calls, visits, cards in the mail, monetary gifts, and some one brings food to their house every day. God has been so good to show His love and grace through this tough time.

I encourage you to think of some one that has impacted your life and give them a call or write them a note to tell them just how much they mean to you. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Great Site!

Eric and I finished our wedding book this weekend! It’ll take two weeks to come in and I can’t wait! A friend shared the best website (blurb.com) with us. We downloaded the program, put in our pictures (close to 600 of them) and uploaded it back on the site. Ta Da! Our book was complete. I’m going to start using that website for everything now. I want to make a book about how Eric and I met and put some pictures of us when we first starting dating all the way through our engagement pictures. Our kids will enjoy reading it. How perfect would that be for baby books (I'm getting ahead of myself). And it’s so much cheaper and easier than scrapbooking. The site is very affordable.

Eric and his dad also finished our wedding video. We relived our wedding all weekend through video footage and lots of pictures. It was so fun!

Here's the what the front of our book looks like: