Cheesy Christmas Sweaters!

Last night we had an "Ultimate Cheesy Christmas Sweater Party" at our house. It was just a get-together for a group of our friends from Sunday School and the only requirement was that you had to wear a cheesy christmas sweater! It was so funny seeing all our frends dressed in this cheesy garb! The winner of the cheesiest sweater for the guys was definitely our friend Nate and the winner for the girls was his wife Erin. She wore more than a just a sweater...she wore a Christmas jumper as well!! We also had a ton of fun playing a Wii that our friends James and Suzy generously let us borrow.

The winners - they look so happy :)

Cheesin' with Hale and Andi

Our new Smyrna neighbors!!

The Cheesy Hosts!!!!

We spent all week preparing for it...we even painted the kitchen and the living room. We had assorted holiday beverages and a great spread of:

Hamburger Cheese Dip and Chips

Sausage Cream Cheese Bake

Ginger Creams with Icing

Snickerdoodles

Choc. Chip Cookies

Sugar Snap Pea Tea-sized Sandwhiches

Chocolate Oreo Filled Truffles

I was really proud of it, since I made it all from scratch and didn't mess up on any of it. That is a real first for me :) I even managed to keep the kitchen clean while preparing :)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time in Moriarty, NM visiting my side of the family for Thanksgiving. We arrived on Thanksgiving day, which was perfect for us because we got to miss all of the cooking and arrived just in time for the eating (sorry mom :)) We stayed until Monday evening and so enjoyed seeing my family that I don't get to see enough. I love having a big family. It was so fun to cram all 12 of us into Mom and Dad's home.

Anyway, dinner was wonderful. We loved seeing everyone and catching up. Hearing my grandparents tell stories, and mom and dad catch us up on whats going on in the church. Hear about Jordan's social life, interests, and just have fun with him. See Jill and Shawn (and Calvin) and hear about their excitement about their arriving baby. Of course, it is always good to see Travis and Reba and Zion. They are such a great family... tight knit, busy, and fun to be around!

Zion is walking and really got some practice in while we were in New Mexico.

Check out her pink shirt. It says "If you think I'm cute, you should see my aunt." I love this little girl! I can't wait to welcome my new nephew Calvin into the world in April!

He's Back!!!!!

Erin got home this evening. Yay!! It is so-o-o good to have him home. I've missed him so much. He is exhausted from all the travel and I'm glad he has a day to rest before we get on another plane and head to Mom and Dad's (Schenk) for Thanksgiving. We had some good ole' American food for dinner - a juicy burger from Red Robin - as a welcome back to the States dinner. Here are some pics from Riga, Latvia and Prague, Czech Republic. I know he probably won't post anything about his trip so if you want to know what all of these are pictures of, you'll have to ask him.

I do know that he loved the food in Latvia, got to experience their independence days, and that he saw some of the oldest buildings in the world from Prague. Very very cool.

What have I been doing?

I've been keeping myself busy since Erin has been gone.

Tonight I went to Publix to pick up some groceries to make dinner but I got lucky. They were having a special Thanksgiving celebration and were cooking different sample meals throughout the store. I just ate dinner there. (Slightly cheap of me but hey Dave Ramsey was proud). It was great. I had honeybaked ham, turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, green beans, cider, coffee, shrimp cocktail, egg nog, ice cream, cobbler, and they also had chess pie available. But, I had just gotten done working out so I only had one dessert :) It was free, it was good, and it kept me from having to cook. Hallelujah!



My friend Jessica Lacy (the one on the left with the fantastic reddish hair) came into town this weekend. She, Brittany, and I spent the entire day shopping and eating and laughing. Dave Ramsey even let me buy a fantastic pair of trouser jeans. I have been needing jeans that actually fit me so badly. Jessica then spent the night at the house. We stayed up way too late and dyed our hair on a whim. I haven't dyed my hair since high school, but fortunately I had the presence of mind to by a 6 day wash out. It isn't too horrible. In fact, I'm thinking about dying my hair permanently the color of Brittany's (the one just to the right of me).

I also kept Charlotte again this past weekend. I love this little dog!

I started a Beth Moore study called "Living Beyond Yourself". I have actually done this study but found myself needing to really study the Fruits of the Spirit again. The fruits of the Spirit should be very apparent in every aspect of my life as a follower of Christ, yet I know they aren't. It has been really powerful so far. One of the things that hit home for me this week is this: we talk politically about how people aren't entitled to anything...especially when it comes to border control issues, amnesty, etc. But, we also need to remember that on a spiritual lever. The only thing I'm "entitled to" or deserve is death. "For the wages of sin is death." Thank you Lord that I'm not getting what I deserve. Only by grace do we have the wonderful lives that we have. We should expect suffering. We should count our sufferings a blessing because no matter how severe, they aren't as bad as eternal separation from our Creator.

Last week I got all caught up on the show HEROES. It is really cool. It makes me want a super power. But, I guess all super powers have their cons. If you heal from anything, you can't die....which seems cool but I'd get tired of this earth around 100 years old when all of my loved ones were dead. The technopathy superpower is cool though... being able to get technology to do anything you want through your mind. Anway, it is a really neat show. But, don't get the wrong idea, just because I like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Heroes, and Lost does NOT mean I'm a sci-fi fantasy dork. Or maybe it does. Whatever.

Erin Update

Erin had a wonderful time in Latvia. His workshop at the conference went really well. I'm so glad that he had a good time there and that he got to minister to the missionaries and church communicators there. He said that they are very passionate about their faith. Yay!!

He also enjoyed the Latvian culture. Erin absolutely LOVED the food. Of course he did; it is basic food: meat, potatoes, stews, and soups. Maybe he can bring back some recipes for me; of course I won't be able to read them since they're in Latvia! I don't want to spoil the fun of storytime for him when he gets back but I will tell you that he took in the Museum of the Occupation, an Independence Day Celebration, and an Opera while he was there. He'll have to give you details himself.
He got into Prague, Czech Republic yesterday evening. Unfortunately, this destination isn't going as smoothly as the last one yet. There was a mix-up with the hotel and Erin got stuck in a tiny "jail cell" hostel last night, moved to a crowded apartment room (with other people) tonight, and will finally get moved to his own room with internet access tomorrow. Please pray that things start to pan out a little better for him there.

I miss him and am ready for him to come home.

When I'm bored

When I'm bored I watch the best show on TV (besides LOST): The Office. Here are some of the best moments. Erin needs to come home soon. :)

Pray for Erin

Erin left this morning for a 2 week trip to Eastern Europe. He will be in Riga Latvia until Nov. 12 when he heads to Prague, Czech Republic. He'll be back on November 19th or 20th. He is 7 or 8 hours ahead of us. Pretty crazy. I'll let him write a post all about his trip with pictures when he gets back. But, for now, please pray for his safety and an effective ministry conference while he is there.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

For Halloween I wanted to give you the moon!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!

We had such a great time this halloween passing out candy to the kids. Erin was a Sensai Tai Kwon Do Judo Chop Dojo Master (can you tell I made that name up? I think that is the technical term). He wore his Gi and had several people ask him if it was an authentic black belt... which he was truthfully able to say it was real. I was a tired old beauty queen. And my crown is real too

We'll post pics later. :)

Proposal Anniversary

Anniversaries are dangerous. Everyday is an anniversary of some sort. If you're not careful you'll have too many anniversaries to celebrate. But, this one was an important one... Erin proposed one year ago today! We've been married almost 6 months and I love Erin more each day. I'm so glad that he wanted me to be his wife and that he took me to Leiper's Fork that day. Yay us!!! May we have many more years of anniversaries.

So You Think You Can Dance

Lots happened today. First, Erin left for Charleston on business today. :( I don't like it when he is gone. But, tonight I got to do what I've been looking forward to for months. I went to the "So You Think You Can Dance Tour" with my friends Tanya and Kim. It was such a fun night. We had dinner first and then headed downtown to the Sommett Center for the show. I watched this show all season...I mean I didn't miss a single episode. We bought the cheapest seats for the tour and I figured we would need binoculars for it. But, when we got there our seats could not have been more perfect!! They were literally the best seats in the house! They were just above the floor level seats which ended up being perfect because we were stage level and were looking straight on at the dancers. So, perfect! My absolute favorite dancer was Danny. I've never seen anyone like it. Every technically trained dancer I know has said that he is one of the best dancers they've ever seen. But, I liked some of the other too, of course. Here are some of the dances we got to see.




Skip ahead to his dance...its worth it!



This dance was about a flower and hummingbird.

Shari is in town

Shari came into town again for another interview. She interviewed with Coke today. We didn't really do anything too exciting. But, you know you are good friends when you can sit around, watch TV, eat, and call it a good time! She is leaving tomorrow but I'm glad she got to be here for a few days. Erin especially likes it when she is here because she is a good cook!

Zion's Birthday

Zion's birthday was today. She is one year old! Erin and I absolutely love Zion because she is our only niece, plus her birthday was the same week that Erin proposed. So, we had an eventful week. We got her a remote control car specially made for 1-yr olds. Here is her saying thank you!

Business Trips on the Beach

Erin had a business trip to Pensacola Beach this week. So, I took two days off work and went along. It was beautiful weather.

Erin had Thursday as a travel day but we decided instead to leave Nashville Wednesday right after work. We then had all day Thursday to spend at the beach. It was wonderful! We actually think that Pensacola has a prettier beach than Jamaica.

Erin worked Friday and Saturday while I had some beach time.

It is currently Sunday and we are watching the Titans game and then heading back home.

Money Money Money

Erin and I heard today from Mama McAtee that our Garage Sale grossed somewhere between $450 and $500!!!! Woo hoo! I must admit that I was a doubter. At the beginning I would have much rather thrown the stuff away because I didn't think it was worth the hassle. But, I have changed my mind. This will go straight towards our "Get out of debt plan." E and I are so excited. So far, we have paid off my car, two of my student loans, as well as a few miscellaneous debts; and we've only been doing this for three months! Next month we pay of his truck. It is amazing how much you can do when you just cut back your spending. We don't go out to eat anymore, but I'm becoming a much better cook because of it. We don't spend much money going to the movies anymore but we've gotten more creative with what we do for fun. So, this whole Dave Ramsey plan is actually helping us as a couple as well. Plus, it is a goal that we get to achieve together. It is great fun! (well its usually fun... but I would really LOVE to go get a pedicure :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH MCATEE PARENTS!!!
WE APPRECIATE YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!

The Go-To Dog Sitter

Somehow I have become the dog-sitter amongst my friends. I think it is because Erin travels a lot and I like the company. This week I am keeping Charlotte while Sarah is out of town. Charlotte is Sarah's yorkie and she is adorable. Sarah doesn't know it yet but I am keeping her permanently. She is so sweet, happy, and snuggly. She even worked out with me. When I was exercising she was right there beside me running, doing jumping jacks, jumping on me when I did crunches. Sarah has obviously taught her that exercise is an important part of being healthy.

She is so tiny!

Sweet Face

Unfortunately, Bootsie the cat hates all dogs...including sweet ones like Charlotte. We have to keep them separate.

The Best Husband

My hubby is incredible. He went to buy himself some new shoes this week (his were stolen...see previous post). He also brought home a pair of shoes for me. How sweet. He knows 2 things: I needed a pair of ultra casual brown shoes for work and one of my love languages is gift giving. He gave me the shoes above except in dark brown. It was a very good surprise.

Crazy Funny Busy Exausting Sickening Weekend

Wow... What a weekend!!! It's Monday and I am exhausted. These are the highlights:

Phlegm and More Phlegm

I got the first bout of my fall-spring bronchitis marathon mid way through the week. To make matters worst, I lost my voice. What do I do for a living? Oh yeah.. I'm a trainer and have classes every day. Yeah that was interesting. Fortunately, I was able to take Thursday afternoon and Friday off to try and recover.

Garage Sale Stuff Gone

Erin and I have been planning to have a garage sale for months. But, unfortunately we just haven't found the time to do it. So, Mama McAtee volunteered to hold it for us if we would meet them halfway with the stuff. Erin and I worked ourselves silly to get everything priced and boxed up. We then drove to Sikeston, MO on Friday afternoon and met his parents for a yummy dinner at Lamberts...yum! Thanks Mama and Papa McAtee!

Friends in Town

Lindsey "Tapper" Pruitt came into town this weekend. Her husband, Zack, was asked to judge a pageant this weekend and Lindsey joined him in Nashville. So, on Saturday morning, Brittany, Lindsey, and I met for a day of fun. I can tell you that we ate, talked, and shopped. I cannot tell you what we ate (it was a caloric day), who and what we talked about, or where we shopped (hehehehehehehe). I will tell you that we had a BLAST!!!...except for the point when when they didn't have the cute red and brown tweed shoes in Lindsey's size, or the point where I remembered I was on the Dave Ramsey plan and couldn't buy the shoes in SHII, or when Brittany got everyone in Off Broadway to look for a pair of shoes that matched Lindsey's new dress. But other than that..... :)

Shoes and Logans

Everytime Brittany and I go out, Erin and Scott play golf. Its just the way it works. And, there is usually some sort of drama that accompanies one or more of us during the day. This time, the drama fell to Erin. First of all, it took them forever to finish their round of golf...slow pokes in front of them. Then, Erin returned to his truck to find that his shoes had been stolen out of the back. We all went out to dinner afterwards and Erin had to wear his golf shoes to dinner. Click Clack Click Clack against the floor. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I found it hilarious. Erin did not. As I have said many times, bad luck accompanies me and anyone who knows me. Erin got off lucky only having his shoes stolen. Besides, it is hilarious that somebody stole gross size 10 tennis shoes. Who does that?

Finally Done with Some Projects

It has been a while since I've posted. We have been extremely busy as always. But, we have good news. The building/shed and the mailbox are finished!!! In fact, they have been finished for some time now! We finished both of these projects in the same weekend .... about 2 weeks ago. As you can see in the pictures, it has been a very hot summer and all of our grass is dead and gone. I think we'll be reseeding in the fall.

Here is the finished building. We are just going to stain the ramp but everything else is done. It is so wonderful! It holds all of our lawn equipment... both lawnmowers, rakes, tools,etc. We are excited to get the garage cleaned out and be able to park our cars in it!

The finished product! Good job E!

We also cleaned up the mailbox mess and rebuilt a new one. I think it looks great although it was very hard work. We were so ready to just be done with the whole affair that we set up lights outside and worked into the night. We only wanted to rent the wet brick saw for 1 day. But it's done! Plus, by doing it ourselves we were able to take the insurance money and apply it to our Dave Ramsey "Get out of debt plan" Woo hoo!!

The front...and some dead grass

The back


Me working hard... I'm hot, tired, and look like white trash :)


Erin working hard...He's hot and tired too

Busy Busy - More Later

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since we've posted a blog. I promise we'll be back with a legitimate update soon. Next post we'll have updates, pictures, and the whole shebang! More later!

Bethany

Credit Cards and All

On Friday afternoon, I was studiously perusing my personal email, myspace account, and various other frequented blogs, while waiting patiently for the work week to end. As I was doing so, I noticed a new email pop into my work email account, but being that it was 4:48 on a Friday, I decided to ignore it. At 4:59, I checked my account (just to make sure) and found that it was actually an email from a girl I worked with about 2 years ago at CJ Advertising. It was titled "Did you lose your wallet this week?"

This peaked my interest. Valerie (ex-coworker: oh that sounds harsh) wrote to tell me that a man from a grocery store in Lavergne, TN found an old business card of mine in a wallet that had been dumped in their parking lot. He was calling to see if I had lost my wallet.

I immediately called the grocery store because I had in fact had my wallet taken (or I left it, one of the two) from a gas station in Smyrna. The man verified that all of my credit cards, gift cards, forms of ID, check book, and receipts were still there. I was so excited that it was found because it is a really nice leather wallet, and I would hate to have lost it permanently. Plus, now I don't have to stand in line for hours and take a day off work just to get a new ID. God is good! :)

When I went to pick it up that evening, I couldn't help but laugh. It was a pretty disgusting, trashy little supermarket. It was the type of grocery store that I wouldn't buy produce from, even if you offered me $$$$. After seeing the type of place that my wallet was dumped at, I think that the culprit was one of these 4 people:

Almost Done

E is almost done with the building. He has all the siding up now (even though the pic shows some missing siding at the peak...taken earlier).

He is now working on the door. Phew...he'll be glad to get this over with. Its been over 100 degrees every day for the past two weeks. He's hot...of course I think so...hehe :)

Tires

All I'm gonna say is "two tires in two days". We had another tire blow on the interstate today. We, once again, are thankful for the warranty.

The Adventures of Unlucky Bethany

It's official. I am the most unlucky person ever to grace God's green earth. Now, I know as a Christian that I am not supposed to believe in luck. I know that I am supposed to view all of this as an honor that God has deemed me hardy enough to handle all sorts of things with HIM at the helm. (this is true after all). I have also decided to view it as unadulterated comedy. I am also starting to view it as a major money making opportunity. For years, my friend Lindsey has told me to write a book of all the random things that happen to me. Like the time I got stuck in the tanning bed buck naked and had to have the worker girl cut my hair out of the hinges. Or how about the time the Arby's drive thru girl told me she was "Gonna Take My @#% Out! Most embarrassing was the opening number at Miss Tennessee where during my dance my halter top fell down exposing my skin colored Nu Bra on stage for all to see! hahahaha....

Anyway, this week has been another one of those unlucky weeks, or as Sarah would say, a "Bethany Moment" week.
1.) I left my wallet on the back of my car while filling up at the gas station. It was either stolen or I drove off with it still there. Not sure which.
2.) I realized that the Target gift card and Bed Bath and Beyond gift card from the wedding was in my wallet.
3.) Erin accidentally left $20 in cash at the Walmart self checkout register and realized it no more than 2 minutes later. He called the store where the receptionist put him in a never-ending phone loop so she could go take his $20 (nothing like innocent til proven guilty huh!)
4.) I decided to take a Starbucks break at work but went out to find a very very flat tire. Not to mention they were brand new tires.

But, at the end of it all, God has been so wonderful in blessing us despite our stupidity. I was able to get the balance of both gift cards reissued to the tune of about $500. The folks at Bed Bath and Beyond were amazing and went the extra mile to track down the gift card number for me. Also, we had a warranty on the tires and I paid $2.78 for a brand new tire today. GOD IS GOOD!!!

Maybe one day I'll write a book document all these moments for people to laugh at and for me to make back the money I have spent on all my unlucky or stupid moments!

exCELLent

I finally got a new cell phone! I have had this phone for almost 2 years and I was starting to get a little bored with it. But, my "new every two" with Verizon finally came up and this is the sweet free new phone I got:

But, family and friends, I am having to cut back on the amount of minutes I use. So even though I have this great new phone, I may not be able to call ya much!

I think Erin is a little jealous of my sweet phone even though for a while he had the newest sweetest phone. NOT ANYMORE... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA :)

I LOVE BEING AN AUNT!

I check Travis and Reba's blog everyday. It is so much fun to see how Zion is growing. I just love her to death. Isn't she so cute? She is already walking and talking at just 9 months. Check out Trav and Reba's blog to see.

One on the way!

We were so excited to find out last night that Shawn and Jill are going to have a baby!!! We are so excited about this. I get to be an aunt again!!! Wow, this aunt thing sure is fun :)

We are just praying that the pregnancy goes smoothly for Jill. You know she will be such a cute pregnant lady!

Continued Progress

The roof is on now and the OSB walls are up. Erin is hoping to finish the rest of it this weekend. It even has a nice window. My husband is so good at everything. I mean...HELLO!! He is an incredible pianist/musician. He is a good dancer. He is a huge technology geek (in a good way). He is a seasoned business professional. He maintains and fixes all the cars himself. He is a black belt in TaeKwondo. And, thanks to the teachings of his dad from an early age, he is incredibly handy. If I were going to build my own shop/building (don't laugh!), I would make a floor, 4 walls, and a roof...right? Who knew you had to have air vent caps at the top of the roof? Or that you even had to plan how air will circulate through a building? Or that there would be so many steps to making those 4 walls, floor, and roof? Anyway, I'm very proud of my superman husband :)