100 Things About Me...

1. I am a middle child.
2. I have two sisters.
3. My Dad and little sister, Channing, used to call me “Little Miss Perfect.” I always pretended that it annoyed me but I secretly loved it.
4. I am really close to all my extended family.
5. I am the only member of my extended family to live outside of TX voluntarily.
6. My sister lives in Beaufort, SC with her husband who is a Marine… They prefer TX.
7. I don’t really talk like I am from TX, except when I say the word “night.”
8. When I was little, I sucked my right index finger.
9. I always slept with a very soft stuffed animal.
10. I still sleep with a very soft stuffed animal.
11. Channing gave it to me in my Christmas stocking last year.
12. Sometimes I catch Blake sleeping with it.
13. I like bologna.
14. I had it for lunch today.
15. When I was little, Becky Smith (Evans) and I used to watch “David the Gnome” while eating bologna and potato chips… both dipped in ketchup.
16. Becky and I would play Barbies everyday.
17. I didn’t stop playing with my Barbies until I was in the 6th grade.
18. Packing them up and putting them in the attic might be the hardest thing I had to do as a child.
19. I still love Barbies.
20. Every time I go to Wal-Mart I walk down the Barbie aisle just to look at them.
21. I had a wreck the first afternoon I had my driving permit.
22. The person I hit was my (now) brother-in-law’s older brother. (I was too embarrassed to talk to him at Bevin and John’s wedding.)
23. I learned to drive a standard transmission before I mastered driving an automatic.
24. My first car was a 1966 (red) Mustang.
25. During the summer I had to take an extra set of clothes with me everywhere I went… it had no air-conditioning.
26. I was a member of the Student Council from 6th grade to 12th grade.
27. My senior year I was Student Council Secretary.
28. I was a member of the National Honor Society.
29. My junior year I was Homecoming Princess and Class Favorite.
30. My Senior year I was just on the Homecoming Court. (As Blake says… I peaked too early)
31. I loved high school.
32. I wouldn’t want to do it over again, though.
33. I went pot-luck my freshman year at ACU and LOVED my roommate Cheryl.
34. That same year I went out on at least one date with 12 different guys.
35. One of those guys was Blake.
36. He stood one person down from me during Freshman Sing Song.
37. I thought he was super cute and funny, too.
38. One day he stopped me in the Bean and asked me, “When are we going to have some Blake and Moriah time?”
39. I was so excited I ran to the other side of the Bean to tell all my friends.
40. Our first date was to an Italian restaurant and to Grace.
41. We started dating at the beginning of our sophomore year.
42. I used to cry A LOT.
43. Blake has calmed me down, BIG TIME.
44. I moved into a different house every semester after I moved out of the dorm. (4 houses in 4 semesters)
45. The only roommate that stayed consistent was Kenli.
46. I cooked dinner for at least 4 people most weeknights my senior year at ACU.
47. I loved the club I was in at ACU… Sigma Theta Chi.
48. I was the “Big Sig” (pledge mom) my senior year.
49. The pledges made me cry almost every day. (#43)
50. I wanted nothing more than for Siggies to win Sing Song every year.
51. I am very competitive.
52. I don’t like being Blake’s partner for games because he usually doesn’t care if we win or not.
53. I won’t do something unless I know I can excel at it.
54. My degree is in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Social Studies.
55. I decided during an internship at Abilene High that I did not want to teach.
56. I still don’t want to teach.
57. I’ve thought about going back to school, not seriously, to get a Masters Degree in Electronic Media… or something design related.
58. I love fonts.
59. I am kind of a font snob.
60. I hate it when I see a standard Microsoft font on a piece of printed material or used in a logo.
61. I love to scrapbook.
62. I have only finished 2 paper scrapbooks.
63. I am working on my first digitally produced scrapbook… I’ll let you know how it looks printed.
64. I love taking pictures.
65. I feel bad for people who don’t have fun/good wedding pictures.
66. I could spend hours on Facebook.
67. My favorite is to look at pictures of people I knew at ACU and from high school… weddings are my favorite.
68. I wish more of my friends had blogs.
69. I hate to sing in front of people I don’t know.
70. I cried immediately after the first time I sang in front of Blake without music. I sing really loud around him now.
71. Although I don’t like to sing in front of people, I like to pretend I’m a Broadway star when I’m driving.
72. Right now, Wicked is my favorite musical to sing along with.
73. I love Brad Paisley’s music. As soon as I got his new CD I scanned all the songs trying to pick out my favorite. I couldn’t ever decide.
74. It annoys me when Blake makes up his own part to any song… or when he tries to sing along when he doesn’t know the words.
75. I sometimes get mad at Blake because he won’t get mad at me. How stupid is that?
76. I hate it when I don’t get my way.
77. #76 doesn’t happen very often.
78. I am not ready to have a baby yet.
79. I REALLY want a golden retriever.
80. I love going to the lake with my family.
81. I used to water-ski a lot.
82. Now I don’t because I’m not very good at it. (see #54)
83. I love to sit in the boat while watching Blake ski. He is really good and pretty fearless.
84. In my family, you aren’t really water skiing until you can slalom.
85. My granddad bought me my own slalom ski the day I learned how. It hasn’t been used very much since then.
86. I spent a lot of time with Patmommy and Granddad when I was growing up. I spent most Saturday nights at their house.
87. They always had Mr. Goodbars, Dr. Peppers, and homemade sweet pickles for me.
88. I LOVE Dr. Pepper.
89. I will never stop loving it.
90. I have never tried to stop drinking it.
91. I hate exercise.
92. I tried to like running for 4.5 years and decided last July, that it wasn’t worth being miserable any more.
93. I haven’t run since then.
94. I have walked some… It’s not the same without my walking buddies from ACU.
95. I took “Walking for Fitness” at ACU and was the (self-proclaimed) motivator in the class.
96. I love to cook.
97. I really like having people come over for dinner.
98. I like to sew.
99. I’m still learning though… patterns still intimidate me.
100. I just realized I like to talk about myself. I think my list could go on for days.

I had to come back to my list after finishing it because I forgot some very important things about myself. I went back through my list and picked out all the stupid things. No one tagged me, but I really enjoyed reading all my Otter Creek buddies’ lists, so I wanted to make one for myself. I also wanted all my ACU Blogging buddies to make lists!

So...

A long time ago, actually. We closed April 26th. Exactly one week after we closed we left for the Dominican Republic. Work has been crazy and I have been too lazy to blog. Not long after we got back from our trip I started tearing down wallpaper and border in the kitchen. It wasn't fun at all. The kitchen is slowly being finished and I will post before and after pictures when we actually finish. I was going to send out these cute little "We have moved" cards but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe you will see them at Christmas. Summer is flying by. This weekend we are going to TX for a wedding. It has been a really long time since I have seen my family and I've been missing them lately. A couple weeks after the wedding we'll all be meeting in Arkansas for our yearly trip to Lake Ouachita. But before we head to Arkansas... I'm going to New York. While I'm there...


I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. I have the ENTIRE soundtrack memorized and have been dying to see it for months (although it seems like years). I am going with Janet (from work), her daughter, and one of her daughter's friends. I just hope I can keep myself from singing every word. Blake thought it was a great idea that I go on this trip. I also think that he is a little sad he isn't going with me. Every morning I can always count on him to mix up all the words from "Popular" or "The Wizard and I." He sings them more than I do! Anyway... This blog had no purpose other than to share my excitement with my blog buddies. With all my trips coming up, you can bet I'll have lots of pictures to share!

My Favorite Restaurants

I was tagged by Carrie in her post regarding her favorite restaurants. I might do three lists... one of Nashville, one of Fort Worth, and one of Abilene. When we were in the DR with TJ and Holly, Holly suggested that we take a food vacation. In this vacation we would go to Abilene and eat at all our favorite places. I think it's a pretty good idea although, I'd like to add Fort Worth to the itinerary. Actually, I'm not going to do three different lists, I'm going to make them all one.

1. Chili's . Brentwood, TN . By far my most favorite place to eat. Blake and I love to go to Chili's. It doesn't matter where... Brentwood, Abilene, or Fort Worth. Brentwood is the best and Kevan Albright is by far the best waiter in the whole world. The Quesadilla Explosion Salad is heavenly! You must try it!

2. Cousin's Barbeque . Fort Worth, TX . The BEST barbeque you will ever eat. There are a few locations in the metroplex. If you ever fly through DFW airport, you must eat there.

3. Puffy Muffin . Brentwood, TN . I love Puffy Muffin. I love their chicken salad, tortilla soup, chocolate chip pancakes, hashbrown casserole, and mocha crinkles. It is always filled with Nashville's most adorable moms... I don't fit in, but I don't care. Even Blake loves eating breakfast there.

4. Spaghetti Warehouse . Abilene (or Fort Worth), TX . It isn't the same as the Spaghetti Factory in Nashville. It's WAY better. It's cheap with great bread and even better salad. I can't wait to go again.

5. Copper Kettle . Nashville, TN . A great "meat and three." I didn't even know what that was until I moved here. They have the best pot roast I have ever eaten. It's so delicious! We haven't eaten there in a while... Just in case you want to go, it's only guaranteed that they will have pot roast on Thursdays.

I have many more "favorite" restaurants. Rosa's Tortilla Factory, Luby's, Subway, Carrabba's, Blue Mesa, Outback... The list goes on.

I still have over 1,000 pictures to post from our trip to the DR. Maybe I'll get to that this week. Oh yeah, Blake and I bought a house almost a month ago. I spent all weekend pulling down two layers of grape border and wallpaper. I'm letting Blake take down all the nasty glue. Hopefully we will be able to paint tomorrow. We'll see!

Playa Grande

Here... and loving it!

We are safe and sound in the DR. I will post lots of blogs about our experiences when we get back... or during our 6 hour lay-over at JFK. Just wanted to share a few pictures!

Frisbee Sunday...

ACU #3

He's Really Great!

He really is great! This is the article that was in the WPLN Newsletter about Blake. It's really cheesy and he wrote every word of it, but it's just kind of neat. Blake has been working super hard lately. Not that he didn't work hard before he started hosting Morning Edition, it's just that he's been working extra hard lately. He gets up super early (3:45am), gets to WPLN at 4:30am, and usually doesn't stop working until 5:00pm. He's been WPLN's workhorse lately but he really loves it. He's motivated to go out and find news to cover or feature stories to write, which I would never have the drive to do. Here's to Blake!

Blake went to bed at 9:30 tonight, and I am trying to overcome my desire to sleep whenever he does. I have been sleeping so much lately (atleast 9 or 10 hours a night) and all I want to do is sleep. I think I have always "needed" more sleep than most people, but not being able to DRAG myself out of bed at 7am is getting annoying. So... I'm trying a new plan. I'm going to stay up after Blake goes to bed and straighten the house, exercise (pray for determination), and do a little Spring Cleaning (more organizing than anything). It's 10:07 right now and I'm fighting weariness. I'm weak and I know it. Blake is strong. He will get 6 hours of sleep, work for 12, and then go run for an hour. How's that for determination. I'm off to attepmt #2 on my list of things to do. Here goes nothing!

By the way, Kenli is coming to visit on Saturday and staying through Wednesday! I am SOOOOO excited!

I Love Sing Song... and Siggies!

This is for my fellow super-competitive, Sing Song loving, Siggie gals!

Weekend in Abilene #1

The sweetest thing...

Perhaps the sweetest looking 10-day-old we've ever seen.
This is Hannah Rivkah, the first born of Shrebekawn - as we like to call them - Shawn and Rebecca Brown.
From all accounts, the new family is doing well.

blake

Snow!

Rebekah's Baby Shower

Sorry, no pictures.

I am in Orlando right now for a Children's Ministry conference. I know you are probably thinking, "Moriah, you aren't a children's minister. You were an intern once, but that doesn't make you one." Believe me, I know I'm not a children's minister. I kind of stick out like a sore thumb here: Young girl, Pumas, jeans, computer satchel (not a padded bag), no perm, no orthopedic shoes. Now, I have to say this... The women I came with from Otter Creek are not like this either, but they don't stick out like I do. I don't get really excited when a group comes out on stage to perform their songs (lip-singing with a track) all while their cartoon counterparts are projected on the side screens. (Once again, Janet, Melanie, Donna, and Nan don't do this either.) Janet and Melanie asked me to come at the end of last week when someone had to drop out because her father was sick. I was so excited that they thought of me. There is a whole "media track" that so far, has proven to be really great. I've never been one to want to sit and listen to people talk for hours on end, but my classes have been great so far. It is really fun though, the older people in my classes always want to talk about what they do in their churches, and not what the "teacher" is talking about. They want to talk about the videos that they have edited and the tools they used to do it. It seems strange to me. They also really love to name drop. Not people's names but things like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier, firewire, pixels, and Photo Shop. Nobody cares that they know what those things are. Everyone under the age of 30 know what those things are. I don't want to sound mean, but the teachers could say A LOT more if everyone else would just listen. They should practice what they preach to their kiddos, "Only one person is allowed to talk at a time." I should mention that all the people in my classes are men. Not a judgement, just stating a fact.

Well, its 4:18 here in Orlando, dinner starts at 5:00 and people are lining up outside the ballroom that I am sitting outside of. Waiting in line for 45 minutes to get a table for dinner? Crazy. They will not run out of tables. Maybe they are really super excited about hearing Max Lucado speak after dinner. Although you might not know it was actually him speaking, because this morning the emcee announced that "Mack Lucatto" would be the key-note speaker. He is only one of the most popular Christian authors, how could he not know how to pronounce his name. Oh, well. Since the line is beginning to grow I should probably close my computer. I'm getting funny looks. I'm sitting on the floor, leggs crossed, listening to "Wicked" on my iPod, writing a post for my blog. I might just be the image of what they don't want the kids in thier ministies to become... Girl on a trip, going crazy because she can't find anywhere that has reliable wireless internet access ($10 for 24 hours), wanting to check her e-mail, facebook, and the many blogs that I can't get behind on. So much for leaving the world behind. I just can't do it. Thats not true. I could do it if I wanted to, I just don't want to. The only time I will voluntarily leave the comfort of my web-based world is to go visit Holly and TJ in the DR. I'll do it, but ONLY for you guys!

Now it is really time to go. I've been accidentally stepped on twice in the past five minutes. (Please, don't think poorly of me for this post.)

Love,
MoMo

S'mores

All About Ben & Drew

These boys are Ben and Drew, the twins sons of Michael and Heather some of our friends from Otter Creek. We got the chance to play with the boys for a while last Saturday night while Heather and Michael went to dinner. We had a blast with the boys, as you can see, they are incredibly adorable. The cutest little set of twins I've ever seen... so far. I know that Sheets boys are going to give them a run for their money when they are born! Holly and TJ actually went with us to the boys' house, so they had plenty of attention. Somehow, Drew (dark hair) still managed to get a pretty nasty bump and bruise while we were there. It took four of us to take care of two of them. We'd love to do it again, as long as the boys will have us!

Trying something new, the blogcast

I thought I might periodically share highlights from my radio work, the funny stuff. Check out this self-titled 'bad mamma-jamma.'

You may need some backstory first. At least once a month I work for a public radio show in Los Angeles called Weekend America. Part of their show is a montage of sound from all over the country, regular Joe's talking about what they're doing this weekend. I also ask a few questions that might pertain a story on the show that week.

I'm always looking for the ideal place to do these 'vox pops.' I need lots of people in one location who aren't in too much of a hurry to talk to me. I went to the park across from Nashville's downtown library, informally known as the homeless park. I didn't get much that I could use, but I did laugh...especially at Raymond Isabella.

Raymond was sitting next to the fountain, minding his own. I asked if he would allow me to pick his brain. I ran through my questions, looking for good answers. I said, "Raymond, tell me a song that makes you want to get up and dance."

The reply required Raymond to close his eyes and rock back and forth. Then this came out. My favorite part is when he finishes the song.


Click here to get your own player.



(this is not actually a picture of Raymond, but it's close enough.)

Caught up on 24

It's been a tough row to hoe, but Moriah and I have watched all five seasons of 24 in the last six months. That makes 120 separate episodes, which is certainly no small task, especially since Moriah bought the first four seasons on eBay for somewhere around $120 - only to find out we had purchased bootleg versions with Chinese writing all over them and subtitles.

We waded through the mess and cultural barriers. Let me share with you an exerpt of the fine print on the back of this packaging.

"This DVD is authorized for or [sic] rent only in the country where originally sold, only in the HONG or only in Canada, respevtived Unauthorzed reproduction, sistribution or exhibition viotates federal laws with severe penaltees and vilates Colubia Tnstar Home Entertainment's standard terms of trade."

My favorite part is the word "viotates." Can't you just hear a small Chinese man pronouncing the word in broken English.

Anyway, thought our friends should know of this milestone. We're prepped and ready to go for the two night season premiere.

Share with us your own 24 experience. If it's anything like mine, I'm trying to use the words 'protocol and schematic' more in my day-to-day conversations. I've found myself saying stuff like, 'You'll just have to trust me." And what I really mean is, I'm getting annoyed with the redundancies. I mean, can we assume that there will be an attack on CTU Los Angeles some time during the sixth season? yes.

Won't stop us from getting addicted.

b

Mo's Side...

Mom's Rolls

More on Christmas later!

Christmas came early

I guess you could say Christmas came early this year...but for no apparent reason other than Moriah's impatience. I could take some of the blame, but Moriah takes the cake. She can't keep a good secret. Moriah loves getting her Christmas shopping done early, but it's really become a problem. She's stressed because we haven't gotten a gift for my grandmother yet, but seriously, my mom called me yesterday asking what I want for Christmas.

Point is, Moriah bought my gift the week of Thanksgiving. She let me know it was in a big box in the back of the jeep and that she wanted to give it to me. As if those weren't enough clues, but I was strong.

A week later, we're lounging around, waiting for our favorite HDTV shows to come on. She says, "Why don't you try and guess what your present is?"

I'm thinking 'If I don't guess it, she's going to think she's a bad wife.' I explained this but Moriah insisted, so I listed what I thought it might be: a desk chair, a road bike...no...a surround sound system?

Her face lights up, giving it a way to even the most retarded of human beings.

(This story is getting long, so I'll get to the meat of it.) Even then I tried not to get to the details - brand, color, watts. I wanted to at least have the unknown size of the subwoofer be my Christmas surprise.


It was no secret that Moriah was going to get a digital SLR camera, and this week, Tuesday, it came in the mail. I made it for one day, but I couldn't keep the anxious box in my closet any longer. We exchanged gifts Wednesday night before church.

Sadly this isn't the first time we've fallen prey to the pre-Christmas jitters. Last year we exchanged at least a week early.

We're definitely going to be bad parents.

p.s. I'm writing this in part because Moriah told my my last post sucked hard. So, sorry for those of you who had to endure.

p.p.s. Here are some photos we've taken, playing with Moriah's new toy.

Merry Christmas

So this is Christmas...

Moriah insists that she won't send out official Christmas cards until we own a house. I suppose she's just lighting the fire under my seat to start makin' them dolla's. Point is, this is it. Merry Christmas from (if you'll refer to the stockings hung by our fake chimney with care) Joy and Noel. You can guess who's who.

I feel like a fish out of water on this blogging thing, but I think you're suppose to give the news from the homefront. David and Lynn are back in town, never to leave again if we have any say. TJ and Holly are back in a bit more than one week. We miss them too. Skype video conferences just aren't a suitable replacement for friends.

Fort Worth is calling our number for Christmas. We'll head down there Dec. 22nd and come back the 26th, a quick trip which will likely get us sad eyes from the Steward family. Before then, Grant (my brother) and I will hit the slopes in Snowshoe, WV. That's assuming there's any snow left. The temp won't get below freezing there until this weekend. And don't give me this 'global warming is a myth' bit.

Hope for a white Christmas, but expect sunny skies and 70's. We love you all (unless our stalkers are reading this).

Signed,

Joy and Noel

Time for an update...

Kristen Norman's baby shower was today. At that shower I had three friends mention that I needed to update my blog, so here it is. Every day during my "lunch break" I start with Holly and TJ's blog and make my way through their list of friends that I know and love. Next, I go to Rosie's blog and use the links on her page to check if any of my friends from ACU have updated their blogs. I will tell you that I am usually disappointed in most of my Siggie friends' blogs. Cassie is the only one who regularly updates her blog. Cassie, I thank you for giving my lunch break excitement. My Otter Creek friends are much more regular about updating their blogs and they are GREAT about posting pictures of their adorable little ones. Kara, you will HAVE to be dilligent about posting pictures of your little boy and girl (purely speculation on my part). Jen, you really aren't unemployed and living with your parents. You live with Rosie (whom I found out has some interesting info that she hasn't shared with me yet). I'm sorry, I didn't mean to launch into a blog-dis. I love you all regardless of whether or not you update your blogs. I'm not that great at it and I think that I have pledged three or four times to be better about updating my blog. I did pretty well for a few weeks... this is another attempt. On to another topic... my favorite song from November.

I'm sitting on our love seat, waiting for Blake to come home from Searcy, updating our blog, and watching (shamefully) the Big in '06 show on VH1. I'm writing the above paragraph and who should appear on my TV screen but one of the most famous "Members of the Church" ever... Weird Al Yankovick. He just happens to be the artist who sings my most listened to song from November... "White and Nerdy." If you have not heard this song I highly suggest that you find it online and listen to it. While you are at it you might as well look up the video and watch that as well, it only helps you to understand what he is saying. He is so clever it just kills me. Almost every day, while on the way to work, I actually laugh out loud at so many parts of the song. You will have to just listen to the song to understand what I am talking about. Self-proclaimed nerds (Kara) will most likely love this song. It would also be a great song from Brax to dance to, Darci! As a side note, Flava-Flave was just on the show, and he is DISGUSTING! Well, thats all I have to say for now. Thanks to everyone who puts pictures on their blog... I like pictures the best!

Self Explanatory

As you can see... The Albrights were WAY better at this than we were!

Waiting...

Waiting for next week's "Studio 60"
Waiting for dinner with Jeff and Linde
Waiting for my scrapbook retreat
Waiting for Thanksgiving
Waiting for my family to come visit at Thanksgiving
Waiting for my friends to update their blogs
Waiting for Holly and TJ to come home and visit
Waiting for Zach and Kara's babies
Waiting for Hannah "Dakota" Brown

My day at work was kind of slow today. It isn't usually like that, its actually pretty crazy. Mondays are slow but today was exceptionally slow. I found myself waiting for tomorrow when the ministers would be back and I would actually have something to do. I realized I am always waiting for something whether it be good or bad. I am waiting for all those things and can't do anything to help them get here faster. This is going no where. I just thought I would list the things that I am not so patiently awaiting.

On to more exciting things... Things have been good in Nashville these days, cool weather and changing leaves. I miss the exciting thunder storms of the spring and summer. I miss looking at the radar and seeing a huge storm blowing in from Memphis bringing lightening and thunder with it. I miss the red and yellow mass that covers all of west Tennessee. I don't like tornadoes or the havoc they bring with them. I just want the rain, wind, thunder, and lightening. For some reason I really do love www.wunderground.com it is one of my "favorites" on my toolbar. I check it atleast 10 times a day. Patmommy always told me I would be a great weathergirl. She always told me I was much cuter than Rebecca Miller on channel 5 in Fort Worth. Maybe I missed my calling. Oh well.

-Mo

Lunch Break!

This is what Vicki and I did on our lunch "break" today!

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

30% Dixie

5% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

You Are 56% Lady

You're part lady, part modern woman. Etiquette is important to you, but you brush aside rules that are outdated or silly.

Are You A Lady?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Something to do...

I'm sitting here in front of my TV watching "Project Runway" where I have been since I got home from work today. I haven't actually been in front of the TV since I got home... I made dinner and ate it in front of the TV. Blake is working on a story in the office for Weekend America. It is about a man who makes gates for the entrances of caves to let bats in and keep people out. Anyway. I'm in the living room with Heidi and Vera so I picked up the computer and decided to check everyone's blogs. I get to Kat's and decided to give her something to look at while she is at work.
Speaking of work... I have a new job. I am no longer working at Dr. Hunter's office. I work about 100 yards south of there, now at Otter Creek Church. My title is "Information Coordinator." I do their graphic design, print design, media presentations, and all other tech stuff. It is a really great job that I already love... Besides the fact that Vicki and I have to sit in the hall and we have no airconditioning... I really do love it. Its not that I didn't love working at Dr. Hunter's office, I really miss everyone there... I just don't miss what I was doing. I was unchallenged and bored most of the time so my new job has been great. There is one down side to my new job. The reason this job opened up was that TJ and Holly McCloud are moving to the Dominican Republic. They have been so wonderful to us since we have been here and we are going to miss them so much. Two years will go by fast... hopefully. Something good that is coming out of their move is that Kevan and Sharon are moving into Holly and TJ's duplex. They are going to be super close to us which I am REALLY excited about! I haven't said anything that is even remotely exciting, but maybe it will catch you up on me a little bit.
Just so you know... My next post will be about mine and Blake's rocking time at the Dashboard concert at the Ryman last week!

Mis-Judged

I just wanted to set the record straight and let you all know that I thought the post was really funny! I'd like to see more like them... as long as they are not vulgar!
-Moriah

Photobooth

Have you ever been bored at work? I have.
Ever heard of "Photobooth?" I have. 
You ever looked retarded? I have.



Moriah is going to kill me for messing with the family blog.

Bunnies!!

Our new house has some permanent pets that we were not aware of when we moved in, but I love them! We have a big back yard and there are bunnies that live in the trees behind our house. I don't know how many of them there are but it seems to be quite a few. They are the most adorable little things with white, cotton tails. I have been trying to get as close to them as possible but have not been very successful in my endeavors. They are very skittish but will sometimes let you look at them for a few moments before they hop away. The only sad thing about the bunnies is that a couple of them have been run over in front of our house. The street we live on is used as a cut through for many people driving in Green Hills and they drive so fast that they don't even see the adorable little creatures. At one point Blake and I counted at least 6 dead animals on our street (Squirrels included). So if you EVER drive down Warfield Drive in Nashville please slow down, there are bunnies that live there!

P.S.
I made this sign in Photoshop!

P.S.

For some dumb, unknown reason my pictures did not post. Here they are...

Summer?

I cannot believe that it has been two whole months since I have lasted posted something new. So much has happened and I should have been blogging as the events happened, but I didn't. Sorry about that. I check everyone's blogs daily and expect them to post new stories or insights, and yet cannot keep up with my own blog. Well since I last blogged a few things have changed in our lives. We have moved, no not to our loft (November 2007) but to a new duplex about 2 miles from where our old apartment was. It is really cute but also bigger than our loft will be, which has made us wonder if we will really like our quaint loft as much as we thought we would. We are still looking forward to moving there in just a little over a year and a half.
Blake and I were talking the other day about how it doesn't really feel like summer. For the past almost 18 years the end of school meant the beginning of summer, and now we don't have that significant event to begin our summer. Which leaves me feeling like it is not summer at all. I don't know if I will ever get that "summer" feeling back again. I would probably have to teach to get that feeling and I don't think I want to do that just yet! The big event that has been surrounding our lives is this... all of our friends are leaving us. Dave and Lynn are leaving for New Zealand this coming Wednesday for 6 months, David Vaughn left for officer Candidacy school on Friday, Hunter is in Alabama working as a youth intern, and Holly and TJ are moving to the Dominican for TWO WHOLE YEARS! You heard that right, they are moving to the DR to do mission work which leaves us very sad but with a great vacation destination. This just makes us all the more thankful for the friends that we have in the Browns and the Albrights. We love every one of those people and are slowly trying to ignore the fact that they are going away for a while. Another thing is that we celebrated our one year anniversary on Tuesday. Well, actually we celebrated our anniversary on Monday by going to Carrabba's and went to eat with Slubbs (who was on his way to Virginia) on our actual anniversary. This has been a very boring post and I will try to do a better job keeping this blog updated. For now I will leave you with a few random pictures.

Lofts to Say...

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have posted, a lot has been going on and this blog is to tell you about it! It all started about a month ago, the journey that Blake and I have taken has been kind of a whirlwind. Our lease at Woodmont Terrace is up on May 14th so we decided that it was time to start looking for a place to live. We finally decided that we might as well start looking at buying something because we would be paying as much for a mortgage as we would for rent. We spent ONE Saturday looking and got really frustrated because everything we saw was either too big, ugly, too much, or in an area of town that we really did not want to live in. So we decided to look for another place to rent, and that is just what we found. So as of May 15 we will live in an adorable duplex in Green Hills, an area of town that we really love. We would love to live there permanently but is WAY too expensive to buy anything there. So we found this duplex on Friday and by Sunday we had made even more plans for our future... No we are not pregnant and not trying anytime soon! That Sunday we went to Blake's parent's house for lunch and then went to an open house at the Werthan Mills Lofts, this really great old factory that has been turned into residences. We looked at them open lofts and fell in love with them all over again. Back in November Blake and I looked at the lofts for the first time and wanted to move in immediately but they were WAY out of our price range. So in November 2007 Blake and I will be the proud owners of a beautiful loft just north of downtown Nashville. They are currently renovating the 3rd phase and we will be living in the the Phase 4. We are sooo excited. Let me just describe it for you. Exposed brick, original hard wood floors, 15 foot ceilings, stainless steel appliances, and granite counter tops, washer and dryer, and only 700 square feet. Yes only about 700 square feet but it seems so much bigger. We ended up being able to purchase unit 222 because the Werthan Mills got TIF money to help renovate the lofts, and because of that they have to sell 20% of the units to people who make 80% of the median income or less. Blake and I did... according to last years tax return. Anyway, we will hopefully close in late October or early November and get to move in shortly after. Don't worry, we aren't worried about space. Last weekend we spent about 3 hours in IKEA, in Atlanta, with Kevan and Sharon Albright and found thousands of way to make use of a small space. We are SUPER excited and can't wait for all of you to see it! If you want to look at the amazing place we are going to live just go to www.WerthanLofts.com I can't wait for everyone to come and visit... and have to stay in a hotel! Ha! Just kidding, we'll make room!