Goodbye Oh-9, Hello Twenty-Ten!!!

Whew!! It's been awhile.....things have just gotten so busy that I neglected my poor, little blog. To me, that's just a reflection of how truly amazing this year has turned out to be!!

2009 might just go down in the history books as one of the best years yet. So much has happened, and Jonathan and I have been blessed in so many ways this year. When I think back to everything, I am amazed at not only how merciful God is, but how much He loves his children and pours His grace on us daily.

In honor of 2009, I've decided to end the year's blog posts with a list of the 10 best moments/happenings for 2009.

The Top Ten in Oh-9:

10. House/dog sitting for President Barker and meeting him and his wife in person.

9. Being at every home game to watch the greatness and talent of CJ Spiller in his final year as a Tiger. That boy is going to do great things.

8. Seeing the Tigers play for the ACC Championship for the first time in 18 years. We will tell our children about this one for sure.

7. Seeing historical landmarks in person that I had previously only read about in history books.

6. The countless first time experiences and many different people we met during our travels. Europe has afforded us some very special lifelong friendships.

5. Traveling all over Europe with my best friend.

4. Signing a lease that was longer than 5 months so that we could finally have a somewhat place of our "own."

3. Getting my job back at Calhoun and the many blessings that continue to follow this.

2. Celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary with the love of my life.

1. Finally joining our church, alongside my parents.

          

The President's house, THE best running back in the country, and an ACC Championship game. 

      

Stonehenge, the Parthenon, and the Roman Coliseum. 

       

Luca, the Italian boys, and my #1 traveling buddy! 

            

A place to call home, the amazing Calhoun Kindergarten crew, and leftover wedding cake for our 1 year anniversary.

As you can see, 2009 was nothing short of a landmark year for the Edens and we have nothing to do but to give all the glory to God. He has given us all that we have needed and much more.

2010 will no doubt have its ups and downs, but I pray that no matter what, we will lead a life pleasing to our Father.

I leave you with my favorite New Year's song by Regina Spektor. Hope 2010 brings you and yours lots of happiness!! 

Happy New Year!!! 

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: Wait and See, Brandon Heath 

This song is so amazing. The first line of the chorus is what made me truly fall in love with it; "There is hope, for me yet, because God won't forget, all the plans he's made for me..." 

I heard it on the way to work Tuesday morning, and being that my drive is so long (35-40 minutes there and back each day) I have a lot of time to think about things, whatever they may be. 

Being in a new grade level (kindergarten), as well as coming on board a bit later than when everyone else started, I have many days where I become very discouraged about how I'm doing in this new environment. I haven't gotten the confidence quite yet where I feel comfortable in this new curriculum, setting, and set of responsibilities. Everyone thinks, "Oh, kindergarten and first grade are not that different;" oh.....but yes they are!! 

I'm truly loving EVERY minute of my new kindergarten life, but It's taking some time to become adjusted to this change. I know that eventually the self confidence will come because, He's not finished with me yet!!!! :) :) :) 

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: TIGER RAG, Clemson Tiger Band

In true fashion, with my Tigers season opener against MTSU this Saturday at 6:30PM in THE Death Valley, what better song for this week's Tune-in Thursday.......I LOVE MY TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot tell you how unbelievably, amazingly, off the wall PUMPED I am for Tiger Football to be here!!! We missed out last fall because we were in Charleston, and Jonathan's rigorous school schedule did not allow us to do any traveling to the upstate. 

I WILL be wearing my orange at work tomorrow (and it's color week this week, and the 2 colors for Friday are black and white.....well, I'll be wearing orange, hehe!!) and I will be shouting to the top of my lungs and jumping up and down with 80,000+ of my friends on Saturday evening in Death Valley!!! 

GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Speaking of friends.....

In relation to my choice for this week's Tune-in Thursday, something amazing happened to one of our friends on Tuesday. I wanted to share that day, but of course, the school week got the better of me.

One of our dearest and bestest friends, Brad, became a father.
This was huge because Jonathan and Brad have literally grown up together and lived some of life's greatest moments together. Their friendship is so awesome!!

Isaac James Dalton was born on Tuesday, August 25th, coming in at 8lbs, 2oz, and 21 inches long. I don't know that I have ever been more excited for a baby to arrive!!! He is beautiful. And I cannot wait to hold him in my arms and love all over him.

Brad and his wife, Amanda, live in Columbia so we were not able to be there for the birth like we really wanted to. :( We hope to plan a day to drive down to meet Isaac very soon. And I have insisted that I be called "aunt Lu-Lu...." so we'll see. :) :)

Congrats to mom and dad!!! We love you both, and precious Isaac, more than we could ever express!!!

Baby Isaac!!

Okay. This one just melts my heart. Seriously.

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: These Friends of Mine, Rosie Thomas

I've been super busy, so I chose something very simple for this week's Tune-in Thursday. Rosie Thomas is an artist that I discovered almost exactly a year ago while we were living in Charleston. I fell in love with her sound and style of music immediately. This song is the last one on her album, "These Friends of Mine," and since the first time I have heard it, it always puts a smile on my face. I've been thinking a lot lately about my friends and how thankful I am for each one of them and all the wonderful memories that we have shared together. Although many of us are spread out all over the state of SC and other surrounding states, and we are so busy with the day to day life, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't still feel that connection to each one of them. I love my friends so very much and I am so blessed to have them in my life.

If you are one of those friends (and you know who you are) this song is for you!!!! :) :) I think about you each day and hope you are living and loving every moment of today!!!

Sidenote: I did not like the video that was put with this song, so for this week, you just get the music :)

Ahh!!!!

Life has been CRAZY lately!!! CRAZY, but SO, SO good!!! 

Updates coming soon.....can't wait to share what all has been going on!!!! :) :) :) 

I will leave you with one picture (very low quality) to tide you over until I have more time to blog.....

Our AWESOME kindergarten team for 2009-2010!!! I love them!! :) 

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: The Weight of Lies, The Avett Brothers 

Hey all, this is Jonathan (Lindsey's husband). Lindsey asked me to be a "guest" writer this week for "Tune-in Thursday" because she had to go to bed. She has been busy all this week with her shiny new classroom at Calhoun. So, here goes:

This is a song that I have been listening to non-stop since I got this album. This is by the Avett Brothers, not a new band...just new to me, from North Carolina. I really like their sound. They pull their style from many different influences, but still manage to retain a heavily "southern" sound. There are two brothers who play the guitar and banjo (primarily) and a third guy who plays the upright base. "The Weight of Lies" is a fantastic song that showcases the band's incredible songwriting talents (be sure to listen to the lyrics....it's good stuff). But don't take my word for it:

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: While I'm Waiting, John Waller

I don't know why I continue to be surprised by God. He is never failing, and always shows up, in whatever way, at all the right times. And, although I know He is faithful in all His promises, I still allow myself to be surprised when He does His thing. That's called -not having enough faith in My father. I'm working on that and I have been given some great opportunities this summer to do so. 

This week has been......well......a week full of waiting. Waiting on opportunities, waiting on answers, waiting to see friends who I haven't seen in far too long.....just a whole lot of waiting. I haven't been in contact with anyone outside of my husband much at all this week, nor have I spent much time on any technological outlet (Facebook, Twitter, Chats, etc) that so wonderfully keep us afloat with what's going on in each other's lives. A lot has been going, a lot that I just haven't been quite ready to share with others. The job situation has come to a peak I believe, and I wanted to wait to see what God was going to do before I shared with others. I can't wait for Him to reveal His plan for me; He has shown up in a mighty way in just the past 24 hours. But most of all, when He gives me His answer, I can't wait to praise HIS name, and tell others about what HE did. 

This song is perfect for this week's Tune-in Thursday; ironically enough, I discovered it today. Yeah, I know. God is good. It is my theme song for this week, and today specifically. It's probably old news to the rest of you, but I just discovered it (thanks to an awesome friend who had posted some of the lyrics as her status on Facebook). This song is from the movie, Fireproof, and oddly enough, my parents sent a package to Jonathan and I while in Italy that included this movie. We never (and have still not) seen that package. Therefore, I have yet to see this movie and had no clue of this song. If we had received that package, we would have no doubt, already watched the movie and I would be very aware of this song, because it's awesome. Instead, I heard it for the first time on a day like today. 

Ironic?? Not even.

God giving me peace?? Definitely. 

This song came to me in His timing, which was perfect. And always will be. :) 

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I would also like to add, that as soon as I finished this post while listening to HisRadio, this very song was the next song to come on. No joke. Wow. I just had to come back and share that. Too cool not to. 

Tasty Treats

I didn't realize when I got married that I was getting my very own Chef Boyardee (or in my case, Chef BoyarJonny). This weekend was filled with all SORTS of yummy, delicious, and tasty meals made by the one and only, Chef Jonathan. 

Here's what we had: 

Dinner for two on Friday night.....

...broccoli and cheese, grilled, seasoned shrimp, and grilled tilapia with homemade blueberry sauce. Oh my word. 

Always have to get the chef with his hard work!!

Dinner on Saturday night....

.....spicy shrimp and tuna sushi roll. My man KNOWS what I like!! 

Saturday night's treat....

Chocolate, cinnamon, ice cream and coffee drinks. 

Chef Jonathan was pretty excited about these lil' drinks!!! I LOVE how big he's cheesin'!! 

I know ya'll don't think so, but, I promise.......I do cook!!! :) :) 

Tune-in Thursday

This one is very, very special and I have been excited to share it with you all week!! ;) I truly hope you will take the time to listen. 

Listen of the Week: Lord, You're Holy, Whitefield Baptist Adult Choir with soloist, Holly Randle

There aren't enough words to describe the talent that God has blessed our church with. Every Sunday is more than a worship experience; it's like revival. God continues to show up each and every week in a way that is simply indescribable through our music and worship. 

Our choir has put out two CD's, both of which are amazing. My favorite time to listen to them is when I have some distance to go in the car, by myself. You can honestly have an unbelievable worship experience with the Lord and be moved in a mighty, might way. 

This particular song is on the choir's 2nd CD and while listening to it this past weekend, it dawned on me that several of the songs would make for great Tune-in Thursday's. One song in particular was really moving me and I so badly wanted to be able to share it with others. I am always raving about the sounds of Whitefield, and this way, some of you can get a taste of it instead of just having to use your imagination. 

The song did not have a video; it was just the music. So I took some time, and made a video for this incredible song and uploaded it to my YouTube account. I used a couple of pictures from the web, but most of the pictures you will see are my own; from our travels across Europe. It's amazing....after all of the places we were able to see, I can sit through this video and tell you EXACTLY where each of these pictures came from and what country and what church they were taken at. They are that significant in my mind and the experiences meant that much to me. What better way to connect the beauty of Christ........through sight and sound. 

This video has been shared on Facebook already by Miss Holly, the young lady who sings the beautiful solo. If you've already seen it, that is awesome!! And, if you haven't, I hope you enjoy it and are touched as much as I am every time I hear the choir praise Him. If you've never joined us, I invite you to come experience Whitefield. We would LOVE to have you!!!! 

One year has passed already??!?!

Our 1 year wedding anniversary has come and gone. And I cannot believe it has already been 1 year!!!! It has FLOWN by, but then again, we've been to A LOT of different places, seen A LOT of different things, and done A LOT!!! It's been the most incredible year of my life....so far. ;) When you're married, I imagine it just gets better and better with the one you love as each year passes. 

Two very fun shots from our wedding day, courtesy of the fabulous Lindsey Mart!!

Just a brief (and I know what you're thinking....Lindsey be brief???? yeah right!!! but I promise) run through of our non-eventful, but very easy going and relaxing weekend together. 

Jonathan gets off from work on Fridays at 12pm so that made for a nice, early beginning to our weekend celebration of our first year of wedded bliss. :) :) We went and spent some time laying out by the pool, (which is always FAVORITE of mine) and then came back in to nap!! We also LOVE naps!! 

After piddling 'round the house (if you're unsure, "piddling" is a word Southerners use to express that they are doing pretty much nothing) for a couple of hours, we finally decided around 9pm to think about dinner. In addition to researching a weekend get away (which was extremely expensive and out of our budget) Jonathan had also planned to take me out for a nice dinner. I suggested, to save money, that we go to the grocery store and cook together instead!!! 

So off to Ingles we went, and so began "Anniversary Appetizers." My favorite thing to order when we go out to eat are appetizers, so my creative husband decided, why not get all the ingredients to make all of my favorite appetizers.....brilliant idea!!! So, while I did some more "piddling" that night, my amazingly thoughtful husband went hard to work in the kitchen making, "Anniversary Appetizers!!" They were oh, so very delicious!!!! 

            

Cooking up a storm of appetizers in the kitchen!!  

Final touches.....oooo, weee!!! Looks good!!

       

THE spread. 

 Mmmmm, those shrimp crackers were my favorite!!! 

So we kicked back with Madea Goes to Jail and devoured our "Anniversary Appetizers......" it was a great way to get our anniversary weekend started!!! 

Saturday, we didn't really do anything "anniversary" related, but we were able to spend the entire day together!!! That is certainly enough for me. :) That morning we were at the McCall 50th Anniversary Celebration (which I will blog about eventually, ha!!) until late that afternoon and then we rushed, and I mean rushed back to the house, changed clothes, freshened up, and headed just a few miles down the road to Occasions at Wedgefield to see one of my most favorite people ever, Loretta, get married!!! Loretta and I not only worked together at Calhoun, but I had the honor and pleasure of doing my fall practicum with her senior year in college. But, there's a later post to come about all of those fun things!! ;) 

The 50th Anniversary Cake!!! 

She was a GORGEOUS bride!!!!

So Saturday came and went pretty quickly and we were pretty tired. Which led to our actual wedding anniversary, Sunday, and some sleeping in (yeah...we skipped church, whoops!!). Oh it was sooooo nice!!! Jonathan actually got up before me, but I didn't even hear him, and when I woke up around 10:30am, there was a WONDERFUL smell coming from the kitchen!!! My bebeh had gotten up, went to the grocery store to get my favorite breakfast items that we didn't already have, and he made me a DELICIOUS, candle lit breakfast!!! Ohhhhhhh it was amazingly good!!! It was such a simple thing, yet so very thoughtful. It was the perfect way to start off our anniversary day!!! 

My favorite part to our whole anniversary day!! 

After this awesome breakfast, we had stuffed ourselves full, so what better thing to do then go BACK to bed, hehe!!! ;) ;) Yeah, we didn't wake up again until around 3:30pm that afternoon!!! LOVE it!!!! Then we went outside and played some, hung out by the pool, and watched some tube together until dinner. 

For dinner, we had some options and then chose a mutual "gotta taste for it" place, and ended up at the Chinese place. Sooooooo goooood. :) AND, to top it all off, THIS was my fortune: 

I know it's hard to see, so, it says: "Today is a good day for being with a companion!!" 

Back at home we immediately dove into our anniversary cake!!!! Oooooooooooo it was gooooood!!!!! :) :) It really was!!! And SO pretty!!! Gretchen is the WOH-MAN and our wedding cake was dee-vine!!! It was neopolitan, all 3 flavors!!! 

For memory's sake, our actual wedding cake on our wedding day. 

And our anniversary cake....LOVED our colors!! 

Us about to dive in!!

Look at all those flavors!!!

After we STUFFED ourselves, we discussed our anniversary present to one another, which we had hoped to be a set of chest of drawers. Probably sounds like nothing big and over the top, but we have little to no furniture with all of the traveling we have done in our first year of marriage, and since money is so tight right now, being able to get this for one another was going to be HUGE!! My clothes have been nicely folded, but lining the entire bedroom wall since May, so I was REALLY excited about this purchase!!! 

We purchased a set that we have been looking at for some time at IKEA, which is part of the MALM series and also matches our bed, so it was perfect!! Jonathan's parents just happened to be passing through Atlanta that night on their way home, so they so very graciously stopped by to get it and then dropped it off that night at our apartment around 10pm. Jonathan went to town immediately putting it together, and it was set up with clothes and everything before we went to bed!!! 

                

Putting it all together.

And the final product!! So nice!!! 

All in all, it was the perfect way to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We have so much to be thankful for and have had an incredible first year. I can't wait to celebrate many, many more years together!!! :) 

Tune-in Thursday

Listen of the Week: Over the Rainbow, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole 

This song is sweet, simple, and to the point. There are many versions of this song, originally sung by Judy Garland for the movie The Wizard of Oz. In fact, the title is usually referred to by most people as Somewhere over the Rainbow. I however, like this particular version which I first heard on the movie, 50 First Dates, with Adam Sandler. 

It's the song that my daddy and I danced to at my wedding. :)

And, it was a favorite song of a dear friend who passed away this summer, which she used in her classroom on a daily basis. 

I hope you like it too!!! :) 

Blessings :)

This weekend was not only awesome, but also a reminder of just how GOOD God has been and continues to be, to our family. We are so very, very blessed. I know for sure that I do not tell Him thank you nearly enough, and yet, he still keeps pouring blessings all over us. 

Just wanted to share a few of those blessings from our incredible weekend. 

1. A husband who loves me so much, that he would think to bring home 2 hot dogs from Skins to his wife for lunch. 

Oh, he is my special friend!!!

2. Dinner at Ryan's on Friday night with Jerry and Sandra (Jonathan's parents). Haven't spent quality time with just the two of them in a while. Conversation was refreshing. :) 

3. Staying up until 2:30AM that night watching McCall videos and reminiscing with Jerry. Those videos are great. 

Just a small taste of the awesomeness that is Camp McCall. :) Hilarious. Thanks Whamm!!! 

4. After said stay up, being able to sleep in until 12PM with my husband on a Saturday, with nowhere to have to rush off to. 

5. "Yard sale sittin" with Grandmother Dot and Papa Charles and just talkin' 'bout nuthin'. 

6. Grilling out burgers with Jerry and Sandra that were not just any ole' burgers, but chilly burgers. Oooo weee baby. My favorite. Mmmm, pour on a lil' bit (a LOT) of Texas Pete, and go to town baby!!!! YUMMY!!!

Cutting up fresh potatoes to make fresh fried potato strings. They were SO good!!!

7. Homemade ice cream over at Judy's on the front porch swing. Talkin' 'bout the good ole' days and just enjoying one another's company. 

8. Church at Whitefield. Enough said. If you want to hear the most amazing music EVER, come see us!!! 

9. Lunch in downtown Greenville with Rick and Muchell (my parents), then furniture browsing. Precious memories. 

10. Movies with my mama. Just me and her. :) Need I say more???

Self portrait before going into the theater. Hehe, we couldn't get the camera to work properly!! 

11. Jonathan and Rick golfing. BAHAHA!!! I bet that was fun(ny)!!! 

12. Watching Dennis Swanberg with Rick and Muchell. That guy is HI-larious. 

13. Dinner at Cracker Barrel (SURPRISE! haha) with Rick and Muchell. Again, another quality time with parents and refreshing conversation. It's so cool that we began and ended the w/end the same exact way.......parents, eating, and talking at the restaurant for at least an hour after we finished until they were about to close!! :) 

14. The MONSOON of a storm in Central after we got home. It was AWESOME!! Sat on the screened in balcony and just listened. So cool. 

We managed to get a video of the rain. It's dark and you can't see very well, but you can hear really good!! That's all that matters anyways. :) 

It's kind of blurry, but if you look hard you can see the rain!!!

Rain down. 

God is so full of love and grace. I hope everyone had a wonderful, summer weekend!!