Honduras 2013

It's been several weeks since we returned from the GO Trip to Honduras. In one word, the trip was AMAZING!

We were so blessed to serve with Joey and Katie Hale! Their leadership was so great, and they created an atmosphere of fun and laughter! Our team was wonderful. The Lord was so faithful to provide unity, friendship, servant attitudes and joy! We had so much fun getting to know everyone and loved having meaningful conversations, working alongside one another, and making fun memories!

Most of all, the Lord worked in the hearts and minds of everyone on the trip. Our God is at work everywhere! He is not limited to time, space, location or even our obedience. It astounds me that He is ALWAYS faithful even when I am not.

In Honduras, we lived intentionally for Christ and in community with one another. Since the children were out of school for La Semana Santa (Holy Week) our schedule was very flexible. It is amazing how much time is truly in a day when all the distractions of our busy lives are taken away. Although there was wireless internet access in the team house (except for when we lost power for a day!), we encouraged the team not to even turn on their phones and I know it brought us closer!

This mission trip to Emmanuel is not what would typically come to mind when you talk about "going to an orphanage in a third world country". Orphanage Emmanuel is definitely the exception in a broken world full of children hungry for food and starving for love and affection. God has been at work at Emmanuel for a long time!

We flew into Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, and saw people living in homes built of every material imaginable. People, dogs and trash were everywhere. It is definitely a third world country. This photo was our last glimpse of the city as our bus headed into the mountains towards the orphanage.

Emmanuel is located in the town of Guaimaca, and our bus barely fit through the narrow dirt streets. We turned into the front gate and suddenly, there were beautiful brick buildings and immaculate landscaping. The photo is of the front of the office and the chapel. 

Last year, we learned that everything at the orphanage has been given to them, whether through the labor of volunteers or through monetary gifts. David, who started Emmanuel with his wife Lydia, told us that the reason he keeps everything so clean and immaculate is to display good stewardship. He also said that as believers, we are told to look different from the world so that the world will look at us and wonder what we have that they don't. The answer, of course, is our hope that we have through our Savior Jesus Christ. The stark physical difference between the rest of Honduras and Orphanage Emmanuel is merely a representation of the difference people should see in our lives as believers. That is very convicting to me. 

The above photo is the team house we called home for that week. It was nicer than many retreat centers I've been to here in the U.S.! We had foam mattresses, three delicious meals a day, two patios, clean water, indoor plumbing and a meeting room. We were so blessed!

As we kept observing life at Emmanuel, we realized that in addition to the beautiful campus and accommodations, the 600 children all had clean clothes, shoes, three square meals a day, workers who love the Lord and teach them about Jesus, and access to a great school! As volunteers, it was difficult to imagine how we could truly serve when the children's physical needs were taken care of. This is when it became evident that simply being willing to do whatever the staff asked of us was such a huge help to them. Also, we needed to just love them like Jesus. One of our team members reported at GO Trip chapel that the children easily told us "I love you!" and we found ourselves saying it back without hesitation. How often do I tell those around me that I love them without reservation?

Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men..." This rang true in my heart as we painted pavilions, hiked with the toddlers (up a mountain- those kids are so intense!!), did slip n slides with the kids, fellowshipped with the staff, made puppets with the power (not paddle) toddlers, and spent time with each other. It wasn't until I had been back in the states for a few days until I realized that the Lord was showing me how I can live for him in every decision, conversation and action in my every day life as well as in Honduras. It has been such a challenge!

Every evening, we invited someone on staff and their families to join us for dinner and share their testimonies with our team. Each time we heard story after story of how God has provided for each need the workers had, many of them that they had not shared with anyone.

Austin and I walked away from those testimonies reminded of how God loves to pour out blessings on us and is not limited by worldly things such as money. We were challenged to pray more boldly, more specifically, and wait on the Lord more expectantly. We have really tried to implement this since we've been back.

On Wednesday night at church Austin preached! He did such a good job! He taught on Exodus 16. We began by reading the scripture (in Spanish and English) and Austin drew the parallel of God providing the perfect amount of manna each day for the Israelites to Jesus being our daily bread. His sermon further reinforced that God is always faithful to provide, even when we are not faithful to Him.

Austin preaching!

Then there were the children. Beautiful children. Children who had no reason to be joyful because of what they had experienced in their short lives. The way they worshipped, the love they have for Jesus and how their faces light up when they see you coming was such a picture of what it means to be a child of God!

Here are a few of the children that especially touched our hearts. For the sake of the children's privacy, I decided not to post their pictures with their stories. Some of them have very difficult custody situations. If you look at my facebook album, though, you can put faces with names :-)

Jose is 11 years old and was in a wheelchair when we were there. He had surgery on his feet, so he couldn't play with the other boys. During the morning, Amy (one of the wonderful volunteers who is in charge of Jose) would take him to the Toddler House. Some of our guys met him there when they were instructed to take apart the trampoline. Jose was such a helper! After that, Amy and Jose would find our group at the store every afternoon. Austin, Michael and Tommy really built a relationship with him and he cried and cried when we had to leave. However, the day after we left (also Easter Sunday), we found out that he accepted Jesus as his Savior! It was such a wonderful way to end the trip, knowing that even if we don't get to go back to Honduras, we will see Jose in eternity!!!

Nicole really tugged at my heart! She is probably 14 or 15 but has the mental capacity of a 4 year old. She has such joy! She was amused at the most simple things, such as blowing little pieces of cotton out of our hands and into the wind, or throwing her doll up in the air and laughing as she would scramble to catch it. She reminded me that God adores his children and wants us to delight in him. I can't imagine where Nicole would be if the Lord hadn't brought her to Emmanuel.

It has been difficult to know what to write in this post, as there is still so much more I could say. There were so many funny stories, friendships formed, inside jokes, large insects, and other things like that. I will look back on those memories years from now and smile. Ultimately, the trip belonged to the Lord and I am so thankful that Austin and I got to be a part of it. Thank you to our team! Y'all are so wonderful!

Preparing for Honduras

We are so excited that in two weeks, we will be in Guaimaca, Honduras, serving at Orphanage Emmanuel! This will be Elizabeth’s second time at the orphanage and it will be Austin’s first trip. This is the first mission trip we will do as a couple! We are co-leading a group of 18 students with our friends, the Hales, through Union University’s GO Trips. We will depart from Jackson long before the sun comes up on Saturday, March 23rd and will return on Saturday night, March 30th, just in time for Easter Sunday! We will fly out of Memphis, get a connecting flight in Atlanta and will land in Honduras’ capital, Tegucigalpa. From there, we will take the orphanage’s bus to Guaimaca, which is about 2.5 hours away from the city.

Orphanage Emmanuel is the home to about 600 children ranging in age from babies to 18 year olds. Most of them are not actually orphans, but have been taken away from their families because of abusive situations or abandonment. The orphanage is located on about 1,200 acres of rolling farm land in the country. Each age group and gender has their own house with bedrooms, a living area and dining area. There is a church, a school, a clinic, a greenhouse for vegetables, a slaughterhouse for meat, a small store, and a barn that houses dairy cows and goats for fresh milk. The children have chores and are taught good stewardship, a good work ethic, and an appreciation for education.

Most importantly, however, the children are taught about the love of Jesus! David and Lydia Martinez began the orphanage over 25 years ago in response to a call from the Lord to love and care for His children in Honduras. It is absolutely amazing to see how God has provided for their every need! The vision of Orphanage Emmanuel is to evangelize and disciple the children so that they may grow up to be living lights and good examples in the ways of God to their countrymen.

Our team has been preparing for our trip since October. Since the start of the spring semester, we have been meeting weekly, working through a Bible Study about sharing the gospel, organizing fundraisers, going over trip logistics, and learning some basic Spanish. While we’re at the orphanage, we will be assisting the full-time staff (about 25 people) with anything they need help with. Our key word is flexibility! Activities we did last year included: planting vegetables in the green house, laying concrete, sewing curtains, milking cows, and, of course, spending time with the children! We look forward to seeing what tasks we will be able to accomplish while we are there this year. Simply by being there, our team will almost double the staff.

Please pray for safety for us as we travel to and from the orphanage, and for our flights to arrive and leave on time. Pray for unity among our team, as we seek to serve the children, the workers and each other throughout the week. Pray that we will demonstrate the love of Christ in everything we do and say, and that we will proclaim the gospel boldly! Pray that the Lord will accomplish his purposes in and through us not only during the trip, but after as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for your encouragement! We can’t wait to share when we get back!

Birthday Celebrations

Last week, I turned 26. Somehow it just sounds more mature than 25. I am now officially closer to 30 than I am to 20, Hmmm... not sure how I feel about that yet. However, I had a wonderful birthday celebration thanks to Austin, sweet friends and precious family!

The morning of my birthday, when I went to work, this is what I saw:

Needless to say, I was surprised! The streamers in the ceiling were particularly impressive. They literally formed a canopy over my desk and extended over towards the student worker desk. I had no idea who had done it, but I marveled at the amount of time it took, as evidenced by these other pictures:

As you can see, my chair was wrapped, the computer screen was wrapped, and there were small pieces of streamers everywhere. I had to take it all in for a few minutes!

One of my favorite touches! 26! Wooo!

I started piecing together who might have done all of this when I started thinking about who had connections with Safety and Security! My suspicions proved correct when I discovered that Stephanie, Meghan, Kristen, Andey and Kensie were the awesome decorators! Here they are in action:

Thanks again, ladies!!

The morning was made even better by my co-workers giving me a scone (the benefits of having my birthday fall on a Thursday!!!) with a birthday candle and singing happy birthday! It was so happy!

Austin dropped by later in the morning and brought me a monogrammed gift basket with lavender body wash, soap, bath salts, and lotion in it with a note giving me permission to relax. He also included an awesome invitation to a birthday dinner that night!

The day was made even more special through numerous calls, texts and facebook posts to wish me a happy birthday. I truly felt so blessed!

Austin took me out to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, and that night we had a steak at Logan's (my favorite!!!) The day ended with him giving me beautiful pale pink roses and gorgeous drop earrings that have pressed dried flowers in them to match the necklace that he gave me for my birthday last year :-) It was a wonderful day!!!

The birthday festivities continued on into the weekend with a special trip to Patti's with Dustin and Jessie! It was our first road trip in the van! I was driving so I can't vouch for everything that happened on that trip, but some hilarious 90's VHS tapes might have been played in the VHS player! Old School!

We made it to Patti's (the place where Austin and I got engaged!) and had a lovely lunch. Dustin and Jessie had never been before and they enjoyed it! Here was the view from our table, just to provide a glimpse of the atmosphere:

After we ate, we walked around the grounds at Patti's, saw some bunnies and a huge black pig in the petting zoo, and showed them our chapel. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

Then, we got back in the van and headed to Paducah! Dustin spent a lot of time in Paducah with his previous job, so we all took a walk down memory lane, so to speak. Our first stop was the Ohio River. It is so peaceful just to sit and watch the water.

Of course, the boys decided to skip rocks! They were both very good at it. Jess and I were supportive and hope to improve our rock-skipping skills in the future. Here is Austin in action!

After skipping rocks, we walked around the downtown area for a little while. We found the Chocolate Factory, a quaint chocolate store, where we sampled delicious fudge and talked with the owners! Then, Dustin and Austin went to the Outdoors store while Jessie and I checked out my favorite shop in Paducah, The Victorian Parlor. Anything girly, vintage, feminine, beautiful, lacy- it's all in there! 

We went from downtown to a mini-driving tour of Paducah, and we ended up at my grandparent's house! It was so good to see them! Grandmommy, ever the gracious hostess, had chocolate silk pie for us, which we all thoroughly enjoyed! The visit wasn't long enough, but it was so fun to fellowship together!

No trip to Paducah would be complete without stopping at Chick-fil-A (especially since Jackson's free standing unit is closed for the next month for renovations!!!), so we enjoyed a yummy dinner there before heading back to Jackson! I would say without a doubt that our road trip was a success!

On Sunday, we made an impromptu trip to Nashville! Austin's immediate family was gathering to celebrate Adam's birthday from earlier in the month, so we decided not to let the opportunity to hang out with everyone slip by! We were so glad we went!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Newk's and enjoyed chatting and spending time together. Arica and Dylan had to leave earlier to do stuff for the play that Arica is in later this month, but we got to spend a lot of time with Adam, Leslie, the kids, and Austin's parents! We didn't do anything particularly special, we went to TJ Maxx and shopped, then went to Whole Foods and shopped and hung out some more, then ate dinner together at Tazikis, but we enjoyed every minute! We weren't ready to return to Jackson so we didn't- haha! Instead we spent the night in Dickson at Austin's parents house (who were ironically staying in Smyrna with Arica). It was good to just have a change of scenery.

Such a wonderful weekend! 26 has already been great!!!

Three Year Dating Anniversary/ Valentine's Day

Three years seems like a long time. Realizing that we were (nearly) 23 when we went on our first date on February 14, 2010 and now we're about to turn 26 seems unreal. It has honestly been the best three years! I'm so thankful that my first-ever Valentine is my one and only Valentine :-) I remember rolling my eyes when my mom would say that all the waiting wouldn't seem like any time at all once the right one came along. She was right.

This Three Year Dating Anniversary/Valentine celebration was lots of fun! I think Austin and I starting to get the hang of this! I realize that many people think that Valentine's Day is a commercial exploitation based very loosely on a semi-historical figure and I understand that opinion, but I am coming to the point in my life where I embrace the fact that I am cliche and a romantic. Valentine's Day includes both of those things, so I like it. To me, it is a happy coincidence that the anniversary of our first date falls on February 14th, because the whole point of Valentine's Day is to celebrate the blessing of love with the person you love!

Austin surprised me in the morning with a bouquet of beautiful red roses, a precious card, and a box of chocolates, which I loved looking at for the remainder of the day! Also, because it was Thursday, Beth Wilson baked scones for Barefoot's Joe, which made the morning even better! I felt the need to include it in the picture!

At lunch, Austin took me to Olive Garden, where we enjoyed the Soup, Salad and Bread sticks lunch special. Both economical and delicious!

When I came home that evening, Austin had cleaned up the entire downstairs and had the Big Band Pandora Station (my favorite!) playing on his phone. He even had on his hounds tooth blazer. I felt like we were transported back in time! So, of course, I put on my lovely apron made by my sister in law and began pulling out ingredients for dinner! We began doing this only to realize that Austin had put the chicken breasts in the freezer instead of the refrigerator, so our dinner preparations were temporarily postponed until they thawed out! Oops! I will check on that next time! 

Our menu included: Pan Seared Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Cream and Mushroom Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli and Sparkling Apple Cider.

It was so much better than a restaurant! Here is what our table looked like before we sat down to eat. It was so fun to pull out the china, nice flatware, tablecloth and candles! 

It's fun to think back to our first date in Paducah three years ago. We were so giddy/nervous/excited/awkward, yet we were at ease with each other and knew that God had a plan for us. We celebrate what He has accomplished in and through us since that time!

Throwback picture! Taken on February 21, 2010! Our first picture together as an "official" couple! 

We're Just Doing Life

Tonight, as Austin and I were sitting in our living room, he looked over and said, "We're just doing life, aren't we?" That statement really sums up what we've been up to since the start of this New Year. I would love for our blog posts to be profound, funny or even ridiculous, but this one is just ordinary. I haven't been re-decorating our house, working on cute crafts, or making meals from scratch  I've been going to work, going to church, hanging out with friends, spending time with Austin, exercising and trying to stay dedicated to even cooking dinner. Despite the hum drum of our everyday lives, God is so good and is constantly providing for us! A wonderful example of that is that we have a new (to us) vehicle!

I had mentioned in the New Year's post that Alvey has, sadly, bitten the dust. Suddenly, Austin and I were in the process of looking at car options. All the options were really overwhelming. Something we had thrown around, jokingly at first, was getting a mini-van. I know what y'all are thinking, and, no, it is not indicative of plans in the immediate future! We compared prices and looked at our budget and nothing really seemed to click. Fortunately, God's timing is perfect, for several months earlier, Austin's mom bought a new van and put her old one up for sale. There had been a few interested parties, but nothing worked out. When we were at the birthday party of our beautiful niece, Ailidh, the last weekend in January, it hit us that we should ask about the van! Austin's parents were excited that we wanted it and we picked it up the following weekend!

So, yes, we are the happy and proud owners of a Navy Blue Nissan Quest mini-van! In Austin's words, "having a van is like having an enclosed truck!" Although we haven't yet had the opportunity to move anything big around in it, we're glad that it is a possibility. We also recognize the road-trip potential of a mini-van and look forward to that at some point! Of course, the comment we keep hearing is that now that we have a mini-van, we have room to fill it up with children! Yes, that is true! We're anticipating that season of life with joy but we're still enjoying life pre-children. In the meantime, we've got a sweet, smooth ride!

An immediate benefit of having a van is transporting me around with my injured knee! Last week I was exercising (doing a reverse lunge with bicep curl to be precise) and heard my knee pop as I was coming up from the lunge. The sound itself scared me and I felt that something wasn't right with my kneecap. Austin heard the sound from the other room and came running. He was so calm and reassuring as I was crying hysterically, convinced that I would never walk again (dramatic reaction, I know.) We ended up going to Quality Care that night. Tears still running down my face (this time from pure frustration that I hurt myself doing something good for my body!), Austin wheeled me around in a wheelchair and they took an X-ray of my knee. After the doctor bent it and stretched it every which way, he told me that the knee cartilage was strained. He told me that my ligaments and tendons were all fine, and I just needed to stay off my knee and let it heal, but that I wouldn't be down for long. That was music to my ears. He gave me some meds and sent me home. I missed work the next day to keep it iced and elevated and Austin did a good job bringing me what I needed. I discovered that I'm not a good patient when my mobility is severely limited! Long story short, we ended up going back to the doctor that night, to to make sure everything was still okay. It was, and I even got some crutches! I also learned that most people use crutches that are adjustable and start at 5'10". I had to get the mini-crutches, which start at 5'2". Ha!

We made it to the weekend, thankfully, and we had the best day on Saturday! Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sherry came to visit from Paducah! We ate lunch at Zaxby's, took a driving tour of Humboldt and Jackson (we even found Union's old campus!), played the Wii (hilarious!!!) and ate dinner at Catfish Cabin. They are such blessings in our lives and we always have a ton of fun when we're with them.

We went to bed Saturday night, exhausted. I woke up the next morning to find out that Austin had been sick multiple times that night. I slept right through it! Poor thing- I felt like an awful wife for not being there. At first we thought it was food poisoning (we're a little wary of land-locked local seafood places), but came to find out that the Australian stomach bug was running rampant on Union's campus. Needless to say, we didn't make it to church. Austin spent the day drifting in and out of sleep on the recliner, and I was stretched out with my knee propped up on the couch. We were quite a pair! Thankfully, Mary brought us some groceries and some dinner for me. Austin has made a full recovery, although the campus was closed down starting Monday at noon through today because there were so many cases of it!

So, Austin and I have been together almost constantly for the past 5 days. Pretty sure neither of us really knows what day it is, but it has been quite an experience!

We're just doing life! We're so thankful that the Lord is so gracious and patient with us. We're thankful that our bodies are healing and that we're able to work and do things we enjoy!

Reflections on 2012; Looking Ahead to 2013

Happy New Year! We enjoyed bringing in the New Year with dear friends and family at home. New Year's at our house wouldn't be complete without explosives of some kind and a game of Quelf!

A tradition we have started is that New Year's night, everyone shares what their favorite moments were from  the previous year and shares what they are most looking forward to in the upcoming year. I thought it would be fun to share some of them here.

Austin and I both agreed that 2012 was a challenging, yet good year for us. It was our second year of marriage (which is an accomplishment all by itself). It started off with Austin leaving his job doing security at Union and getting a job in his field at Health Connect, which was a huge answer to prayer. We've had our ups and downs with that as he's learned how to do his job and maintain a certain number of clients. We've learned how to live on less, make a dollar stretch, and ask for help when we've needed it. We went on a much needed, relaxing trip to the mountains with our wonderful friends, the Mayfields (as well as watched The Bachelor and The Bachelorette seasons). March was my trip to Honduras, a life-changing experience, that helped put my own life into perspective: how truly blessed we are with what we have. It was such an encouragement to see those at the orphanage (both the workers and the children) trust the Lord for everything they have and display that it is possible to have joy in any circumstance. May was the much anticipated celebration of Austin's graduation with his Master's degree, marking the end of a three year journey of post graduate education! It was so fun to get both sides of the family together! Austin, Dad and our neighbor, Dan, built a gate for our fence and did some other repairs to it! I planted yellow rosebushes in front of our house. We made a trip to Atlanta, a few trips to Birmingham (one trip to celebrate the wedding of our friends Kyle and Melissa), a Fourth of July trip to Paducah, a trip to Gatlinburg for the Ward Family Reunion, several trips to Nashville and a Thanksgiving trip to Chicago. We became members of our church, First Baptist Humboldt, joined the choir, and became a part of our newlywed Sunday school class. We worked hard, laughed, cried, and prayed- A LOT.

The Lord has blessed us with so many fond memories of this year and people to share them with. We are so thankful for our family, who has been supportive of us in so many ways and a constant encouragement to us. We can only promise that we will bestow the same blessings to others as we have been given. Our friends in Jackson and elsewhere are so precious to us. It is wonderful to know that we are a part of such a wonderful family of faith. It's so fun to share life together- our work, our struggles, our goals and our celebrations!

Something we have prayed for consistently throughout 2012 that will continue on through 2013 is for us to learn reliance on the Lord for providing our needs and for trusting in His timing. We realize that this season of our life is so special and we can never have it back once it's gone. It's all too easy for us to wish it away when we're constantly thinking about what's next. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us, but we yearn to be content in all circumstances, as scripture so clearly instructs us to do.

Living in the present doesn't mean we disregard the future! I'm the biggest planner ever! We love to dream and think about what our lives will be like. Here are some things we're looking forward to in 2013:

In March, we are co-leading the GO Trip to Honduras! This will be our first mission trip together! It will be wonderful to serve the Lord together alongside our awesome team in a place that is already dear to my heart.

We will be purchasing a new car! My car, dear Mr. Alvey, has seen much better days. Austin drove him 17,000 miles over the past year for his job. Repairs are not worth it anymore. The car search is underway...

We are excited about strengthening our existing relationships and making new friendships! Specifically, we're excited about really plugging into our church and serving.

As cliche as this may sound, what we're most excited about are things we have no idea about yet! We look forward to seeing what opportunities the Lord will give us and where those will take us. Although not easy, we look forward to circumstances that will challenge us and mold us further into the character of Christ. We pray that our marriage will be ever strengthened and blessed so that it may be a reflection of the gospel to the world.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Christmas 2012

We hope that you and your families all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with the love and joy of Christ. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This year, we were very blessed to be able to celebrate with both our families!

The festivities began on Friday, December 21st when we went to Dickson and attended the Dickson County High School Christmas Concert. Austin and Arica were both involved in the choral program when they went there and it is tradition that at the Christmas concert, alumni are invited to join the current choirs on stage and sing "The Hallelujah Chorus" and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You". That was definitely the highlight of the concert for us. 

We hung out with Austin's family in Dickson Friday night and all day Saturday. My awesome mother-in-law and I made and decorated Christmas cookies and Saturday evening concluded with a fun game of electronic monopoly with Austin's parents!

Sunday afternoon was the celebration with Austin's mom, maternal grandparents and siblings at his sister's beautiful new home. Arica and Dylan were gracious, fun hosts and the time together was special. We had an array of tasty goodies: Chick-fil-A nuggets, meatballs, chips and dip, veggie tray, cookies, candy, cheese and crackers, peanut butter fudge. Sadly, our nephew, Ewan, wasn't feeling very well, and my allergies were acting up, but it was good just to get to spend time with everyone. We received wonderful gifts: books, CDs,   a racquetball racket, a beautiful apron for me made by my very talented sister-in-law, Leslie Ward, photos and other keepsakes. The most priceless gift however, was a collection of recordings by Austin's grandparents, telling their stories. We are so excited to listen to them! Such history!

As is customary at Ward family gatherings, we took a group photo! This one is definitely getting framed and put up in our house!



Left to right (starting in the second row): Austin, me, Nancy Zamora (Grandmomma), Al Zamora (Granddaddy), Arica, Dylan, Adam, Leslie, Ewan, Ailidh and Carol.

After the time at Arica and Dylan's, we hit the road and headed to Paducah (only after a slight detour on the incorrect interstate!!!) We listened to my new CDs, the "Walk the Line" Soundtrack and Two Cellos. Before we knew it, we were at my grandparents house!

Christmas Eve was spent mainly visiting, eating, meal planning, running to the grocery store and doing some last minute wrapping. Mom, Mary, Larry and Donna Maye (our precious puppy!) all came up from Atlanta. Out of my mom's three brothers, two of them live in Paducah with their wives, so we had a fun gathering for Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas morning we all slept in, then Mary and I prepared a breakfast casserole for brunch. We were both excited to open our presents from "Santa" (the tradition has been that we open our stockings and presents from Santa in the morning, then open presents from family that evening after dinner), but since it was already mid-afternoon, we went ahead and opened up all of our presents- haha! Austin and I each brought one gift for each other. He gave me a gorgeous infinity necklace encrusted with tiny diamonds. I love it and have worn it often since! I gave him a wallet keychain, which he had been wanting (due to his keys having caused damage to several pairs of slacks!).

Christmas afternoon, we prepared for dinner that night with the entire family (minus Uncle Wesley and his family who arrived the day after Christmas). My mom's oldest brother, Uncle Richard, brought the most delicious, tender ham for the main course. We also had mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn pudding, Sister Shubert's rolls, grape salad (brought by Aunt Sherry), and mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Everything was so delicious! Somehow we managed to squeeze everyone into that small kitchen!

After dinner was the gift exchange. It's so fun to watch everyone open presents and see wrapping papper and ribbons cover the floor. It makes me miss the my childhood days when it was considered "cute" to play in the wrapping paper. Now, I would get strange glances :-)

We concluded Christmas Day by going to the movies at 9:35 p.m., braving icy sleet to see "Les Miserables". Oh. My. Goodness. If you have not seen it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so! The music, acting, costumes, set, history and the timeless theme of grace versus law are outstanding!

The next day we relaxed and looked forward to seeing my cousins, Michael and Matthew, and Uncle Wesley and Aunt Joan that evening. It was a joyous reunion when they arrived, as we barely missed each other last Christmas. We enjoyed a delicious meal from Texas Roadhouse, then Austin and I said our good-byes and headed back to Jackson!

I realized this after the fact, but we didn't take any pictures from our time in Paducah. Sad!