Weekend Fun

David and I had the most relaxing weekend ever! We calculated and this was the FIRST weekend that we enjoyed with no traveling plans or somewhere to be outside of Starkville. Literally EVERY weekend since we got married we have been in Brandon, Memphis, or somewhere else! So we had so much fun NOT traveling anywhere!

We had the chance to babysit for one of our favorite families Friday night. We love our Lovings! This family means so much to us. Matt serves as one of the pastors at Crosspoint and Jenny is just incredible. And if the parents are amazing, you know the kids are too! We didn't keep Carson this time. He spent the night next door with his two buddies. So you can imagine the fun that we had with THREE girls. And I know what you're thinking, they were all over me! Actually, they were all over DAVID! They love him. It's probably because he does silly things to make them laugh, but trust me, they'd rather hang out with him any day if given the choice between the two of us! We started off our evening with some of this:


Last time we kept the Lovings Ava told her mom that they better eat pizza before we got there or else David would eat it all and there would be none left for them! Haha!


This is Isabelle, the youngest Loving. She didn't desire to pose for the camera.


This is Ava. The cutest curly red headed little girl in the world! Also the accuser of David eating all of the pizza!

And this is Tessa. I couldn't get a picture of her when she wasn't on top of or near David. She loves us being there, but especially David. I think it's because she thinks he's a jungle gym!


After trying to "wake" David up. He was "sleep walking." I told them they had to tell him a funny joke. I'll try to edit this post later and load the video. For some reason it won't load right now. It's pretty hilarious!


And finally, Tessa on David's shoulders. Ava and Tessa both love this game!

We had a great night with the three Loving girls. We usually have no bedtime with them, but by 9:15pm Ava and Isabelle were asleep. Tessa managed to stay awake until her parents got home, but wasn't far behind the other two! I think we wore them out! Pizza, watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, playing "wake up David," jumping on his shoulders, popping popcorn, and many other things all made for a fun night with the girls!

Saturday we slept in which I don't think we've done since our honeymoon! Speaking of honeymoon, I think I'll end this post with a few glimpses ! (so stay tuned) We spent the day relaxing, and finished it with our first attempt to grill together. We had chicken, green beans, and peas. I WISH I had taken pictures of the wonderful meal we threw together. It started raining towards the end of grilling, but David improvised and cooked under the porch. We finished Saturday night with chocolate chip cookies and listening to one of our Downline sessions. (more info on that to come in the next few days).

Sunday was a refreshing day that started with church and was followed by lunch with some of our very good friends, the McIntoshs. Alex, Chelsea, David, and I stayed until 2:30 pm laughing and visiting. It's so wonderful to have great friends nearby. Our new lifegroup kicked off Sunday night. We're studying David Platt's book called Radical, and we're really excited about gaining wisdom from people who've been married a lot longer then we have!

All in all, we had a wonderful relaxing weekend! Which is a good thing too since next weekend kicks off the start of Mississippi State Football! Can't wait for all of our friends to come to town!

For some reason I haven't uploaded ANY honeymoon pictures! So I thought I'd post some. We had a wonderful honeymoon to St. Lucia. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! It was such a fun trip and we came back with so many new memories!

On the plane leaving Atlanta! (on board with many other people with the same wedding anniversary as us!):


We went on a hike one day. This is the view overlooking from the top. Isn't it GORGEOUS!? Those red rectangles in the middle right is the roof of our resort. This is looking over Rodney Bay. We were at Captain Rodney's fort. If you know us, we laughed at the thought that it might be the same guy who has his namesake on bottles of Captain Rodney's boucan glaze and is responsible for Captain Rodney's cheese bake. I'll post that recipe sometime! It's to DIE for! :) Yum!
Looking over Rodney Bay on our hike:

After a morning in the sun, we came back up to our room while a small rain shower passed through and took some pictures on our balcony. This was our beautiful view.
My hubby on our balcony.

Dinner one night at a beach restaurant. The waiters were so nice to take pics for us!
Eating at the fabulous French restaurant!

Our last day in the sun! We stayed on the beach all day under the cabanas and palm tree umbrellas and both got super sunburned! So much for being shielded from the sun!


Our last evening on the beach. It was a beautiful sunset, but the picture doesn't show it!

Hope you enjoyed lots and lots of pictures! Until next time....

Rollercoaster of Love

I'm officially one of the world's worst bloggers! Really and truly, if I HAD been a good blogger and was updating our blog daily I would have literally posted something different everyday.

Lately, we seem to have a theme song to our marriage. And it goes something like this...

"Rollercoaster of love. Rollercoaster. Ooh ooh ooh ooh."

I really only know that one lyric of the entire song so forgive me if it has bad references in it that I don't know about! It just popped in my head, and I thought, "how appropriate!" It really feels like David and I have been on the biggest roller coaster of faith with God this past month. But we are in love on that rollercoaster. So we're on a "rollercoaster of love." Excuse the cheesiness! (I hate rollercoasters by the way!) Our plans change daily. And God is reminding us daily that it is He who is in control of ALL things. The big and the small. He has all the details under control.

But for two kids who just got married, it is tough to fully trust Him that it will all work out. It is a struggle to remember that even when the world feels like it's caving in, His plans are still the best and they are so worth waiting for. I know God can accomplish His plans in other ways for His glory, but we want to be a part of what He has planned. We want to wait on Him, but that doesn't make it easy! I'm so glad that David and I have each other during this time to remind each other of the promises He has made to us. And we're both so thankful for the people who serve as our "prayer warriors." No matter how many times I send you a note to tell you of our ever changing plans and ask you to pray, you respond with such encouragement. There is no doubt in our minds that God put you in our lives for a reason. God has used so many of you to help strengthen our faith in Him. I have struggled with updating our blog about the transient stage we are in, but then I realized we could use it as a tool to ask you to pray.

I'm honestly not sure what to ask you to pray for. Maybe God can direct your prayers better then I can as He is continually changing ours. A very wise woman and friend told me earlier in this journey that she and her husband never feel closer to God then when they are going through a trying time, and because of the path He walks them through in brokenness, they are never closer to one another. And it is so true of us right now.

For right now, all that is clear is that today we are in Starkville. God has kept us planted here for a reason, and as another friend shared with me the other day, God calls us to grow where we are planted. So we will, until He thinks it's time to move us to a new place to be planted. I keep thinking about flowers that are planted inside in a comfortable tiny pot because they are too small to survive outside in the "elements." And then, when they are old enough and grown enough, they are transferred outside to grow into something magnificent. They often don't make up the entire yard. Instead, they are a small detail in a beautiful masterpiece. They play their part well. Maybe we just haven't grown enough in our "comfortable little pot" called Starkville. God has more to teach us here. We'd rather spend more time growing where we are right now so that God can plant us when He's ready and use us in his masterpiece. I'm working to finish my master's degree. David finished his MBA in August and is looking for a job. He is also looking to substitute teach in Starkville while he waits on the job God has for him.

I'll keep you posted. Until then, keep us in your prayers!

Pickwick Vacation

I just realized I'm doing a bad job of updating our blog! It's harder then it looks! We haven't really had any terribly exciting adventures and I cannot remember to take my camera with me ANYWHERE so of course we don't get any pictures. Blog posts without pictures just don't seem right!

Luckily, I did come away with a few pictures from this past weekend. David and I traveled to Pickwick, TN for his family's annual vacation with another family. The men spend their mornings golfing and the women lay by the pool, read, and relax. Then the afternoons are spent on the boat with skiing and tubing for everyone except not-so-brave me. I love riding on the boat, just not risking my life with water sports! We left on Saturday to meet the guys for a morning of golf. The women usually come later on Saturday, but since we were coming from Starkville I came along early. That meant killing four hours in Corinth and meeting the boys for lunch later. I could have gone golfing, yes, but WHO would want to be out in the 125 degree heat? Seriously now! Y'all know me better than that!

And so began my four hour journey of Corinth! I went to Belk and killed an hour. It was tax free weekend and David and I had already ordered him some clothes from Belk online the day before. You cannot find this man's size ANYWHERE except online! That's what I get for marrying a 6 ft 5 inch guy! :) So I truly killed time in Belk! Nothing that I really needed. Although since David's and my deal is that I get a pair of shoes when he plays golf, I did buy a $10 pair of shoes. What can I say? I love shoes! And yes mom, you'll be glad to know that I threw away a pair! Just for you! I walked around downtown and went into the cute shops in Corinth. I like window shopping! Then I went to Books-A-Million and decided I needed to get a book to read on this trip. With it being so gosh dang hot out, the girls spent most of our mornings in the air conditioner! Glad I found the perfect book....The Help. If you haven't read it, get it! It is by FAR my favorite book I've read since the Twilight series! It's set in Jackson, MS and a lot about civil rights in MS. I read all 446 pages in 3.5 days. I couldn't put it down (except to go out on the boat of course). And because I love posts with pictures, this is what it looks like:


After Books-a-million came Wal-Mart, followed by Cellular South. And because I know you don't want to know all of the details of those two trips, I'll just say I bought cereal and had my cell phone upgraded to Android 2.1.

On to Pickwick....

We spent a lot of time relaxing (and reading). And eating! It will take forever for David and I to work off all of the calories we took in this weekend, but it was well worth it. We visited the Adams' and Bailey's favorite restaurant The Catfish Hotel on Sunday night. David's dad has been eating there since he was a kid coming with his family growing up. And we wore our bright red t-shirts Mrs. Patti had made. The two families were celebrating 20 years of coming to Pickwick. I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of the backs of the tshirt, and I guess I could go grab mine out of the dirty clothes pile that I'm working my way through, but I'm pretty sure it's in the washing machine now. The back had a bunch of words that were unique and special to the trip. I'd post them, but you probably wouldn't understand! (I don't know what some of them are since I've only been going the past 3 years). The Catfish Hotel was on there though and all of the waitresses at the restaurant thought that was really neat!

David and I at Catfish Hotel

David's Brother Jesse

David's Mom and Dad

Us with Pickwick in the Background

Not only where there t-shirts, but some funny videos from way back when. It is always fun to see David when he was a little kid growing up! The stories these two families have on him (and his siblings) on this trip are priceless. We can't wait to go back next year!

We ended the vacation with a birthday party for David's sister Danielle. She turned 17 on Tuesday, and we all went to a Mexican restaurant at Pickwick to celebrate! After dinner, we had cake and the nice Mexican waiters brought out the sombrero and fried tortilla with cinnamon and sugar (don't know what it's called). They sang happy birthday and of course put the whipped cream in her face. David and I gave her a cowbell since we're pretty sure she'll be headed this way next August for college. One can never be sure, but we weren't trying to sway her decision at all! (SSSUUUURRRREEE!) I still remember when I got my cowbell. I'm pretty sure I was three and it was from my grandparents. Needless to say, I still ring it. It got retired a few years ago because I was worried about sneaking it in. It will be back this fall! Can't wait to see how many old school cowbells come out just because no one will try to take them. Wonder if my parents will bring in their really cool ones from their college days? And just because I feel like this post needs more pictures, I'll leave you with this:

30 days till football season! WOO HOO!


And now it's time to get back to work...my lunch "break" is over! David and I still don't have definite plans for now to update you on. We're still in Starkville, for now. Would love it if you come and visit us! And would for sure appreciate your prayers!

The Pioneer Woman

I'm obsessed with this woman! I recently found the Pioneer Woman (PW for short) off a friends blog. I was definitely doing some "blog stalking" and ran across a link. She is a city girl who married a cowboy and now lives on a cattle ranch. She obviously has a blog, but it's unlike any blog before! She posts recipes, photography, random confessions, etc. And if you need a laugh or an idea for dinner--this is the place to come! If you've never heard of her, don't quit reading my blog, but when you finish, go to this link: http://thepioneerwoman.com/

I've been trying to find new recipes to cook. I cooked for David before we got married and I feel like some of my recipes are a little old. He's tried most of them, and while they are good, I want new options. So began my journey with the PW! She has tons of recipes, and here's the best part--WITH pictures! Yeah, that's right! I'm the person that has to SEE it before I'll make it. She not only has pictures, but she shows you a step by step guide. Love it! So far we've tried the BBQ Pineapple Quesadillas (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/05/grilled-chicken-pineapple-quesadillas/) and the Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwhich (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/marlboro_mans_s/). The Marlboro Man would be what she references her husband as, but let me tell you that MY husband LOVED that sandwich. Given that two of her recipes have been a great success, I thought I'd share the Pioneer Woman with you. Plus she gives away great prizes! And the desserts look WONDERFUL. We just don't need to eat that much dessert all of the time!

My goal is to try a new Pioneer Woman recipe every week. We'll see if that actually happens! Oh and word of warning, this woman likes butter more than Paula Deen. Not everything is healthy, but I have at least used Olive Oil when possible! Haha! Enjoy.

Pictures below of the two recipes I've tried. And no, they are not my photos. They are the PW's.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich: Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwhich

Grilled Pineapple and BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Wedding Weekend

So it's about time I post about our wonderful wedding weekend and honeymoon! So get ready. Judging by the fact that our ceremony lasted an hour and five minutes, it's a safe bet that this post will be really long!

Wedding weekend kicked off with my Bridesmaid Luncheon Friday at the Veranda. After David and I got engaged, I was approached by a woman at our church in Starkville about doing the Bridesmaid Luncheon. She gathered up a bunch of special people in our life and asked them all to be hostesses. Before I knew it, Mrs. Kathy had the Veranda booked and ready for the day. It felt like it would never come! You can see those special ladies below. They all mean so much to me! All of them have prayed for me and watched me go through many chapters of life over my college years. At the end of the Bridesmaid Luncheon, we had a special prayer time, and I asked any of them to pray who wanted to. Their prayers are something I will cherish forever. I so wish we had recorded them so that David and I could go back and hear them throughout our marriage!

From L to R: Mrs. Martha Watkins, Mrs. Dana Brooks, Mrs. Cynthia Travis, Mrs. Jenny Loving, Mrs. Ann Sansing, Mrs. Myra Keasler, Mrs. Kathy Edmondson, Mrs. Cathy Shipp

We had such a fun time of eating and laughing! It was such a blessing to have my bridesmaids all in one place before the craziness of the weekend began. This was actually before the weekend became a blur, and I was so thankful just to enjoy some time with them. And of course, you know wherever we were, there was lots and lots of laughter!

Mothers and Daughters

My mom, Cousin and flowergirl Sydney, and Aunt Pammy

Wonderful bridesmaids and flowergirl

Mommy!

Bridesmaids: L to R (back) Danielle, Kate, me, Bethany, Brittany (front) Megan, Anna, Katherine, Laura

Next was the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner. Such a blur! Our rehearsal was held at FBC Starkville with the dinner following at the State Theater. Luckily, the Adams family hired a photographer for the event and we got such wonderful photos from the night! The photographer was a close friend of my family's, and I spent a month navigating Lima Peru with her for summer missions one summer. She did such a fabulous job.


And then it was on to the Rehearsal Dinner. Since it was at State Theater, David's mom decided to do a Movie theme. It was so cute. Below are some pictures of the decorations and room. You can tell by the expressions on our faces that it was such a special time for David and I! There were plenty of stories to be told about us both. Some funny, most of them making fun of my habit of talking frequently, and some that made us tear up. All of them were special, and I am thankful we have a DVD coming with all of them on it. This was such a special time to be surrounded by our closest family and friends!

If you've made it this far, I'm really quite impressed! Our day was so special. Rebecca took photos all on Saturday as well. But I made sure to tell her that I wanted candid pictures of people and not traditional shots! That's what my real photographer was for. Below are some pics that give you an idea of the weekend:








If you made it to the end, here's a link to all 180 photos that Rebecca shot. Remember that she didn't take my formal photos and there's more pictures to come!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233113&id=204713740519&l=6f085155d1

Also, you can find a few of my photographer's photos on her blog at:

http://maggiephipps.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/28/sara-and-david.html

Honeymoon photos to come!

Home

So obviously this post is late! I've really been meaning to write one with honeymoon and wedding pictures. So just to update, we're settled into David's apartment in Starkville for the moment, and packing boxes for storage. Trusting God on our next steps and knowing it's going to be a fun journey. I've yet to start thank you notes, but I promise they are top of the list tonight!

As is another blog post with wedding and honeymoon photos! I promise! Until then, here are ten that my wonderful photographer took to appease your appetite.

http://maggiephipps.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/28/sara-and-david.html

Now I must go appease mine over lunch with my best friend!

The Most Glorious Weekend

I'm a tad bit late on this post, but I wanted to post anyway! Memorial Day Weekend, my bridesmaids and I all went to an unknown-to-me destination. I guess it isn't fair to say unknown. The weekend started Friday afternoon when my good friends Anna and Bethany took me on a scavenger hunt around campus complete with clues that would eventually reveal said unknown destination. The first stop was the Drill Field. You can see Bethany and I hanging out with President Lee. He was hiding my clue which told us to "go to the place that it all began." That had to be Sessums Hall.

Anna and I moved into Sessums Hall as roommates six years ago (wow, I feel old!) We had NO idea what fun memories were ahead. God really was faithful to bring us both such wonderful Christian young ladies and encouragers. I look back and am in awe of His goodness and sovereign plan. Anna and I had to take a picture outside by our favorite dorm. Home to so many many memories.

The next clue told us to go to the place where I had mentored and been mentored. Now for Anna and Bethany, this was the bakery. If you've met me in the past two years, you know we've changed locations to the Starbucks in the Union. On a side note, I love what God is doing in Starbucks. I know that it may not be true for every Starbucks, but I am always so encouraged by His evident presence in the Union Starbucks. I look around, and I see people encouraging one another, disciplining one another, and digging deep in God's word. BUT for Anna and Bethany, this all took place at the Bakery. So off we headed to the Bakery. Here we took a photo op of our shadows. I'm not sure why, but it turned out so cool! Glad we did it!

The final clue sent us to our favorite place on campus. It is a place that we have shared so many memories. A place that taught us how to be "ladies!" Haha! Seriously, a place where we spent MANY nights up too late, many tears, many laughs, many exchanges of clothing, etc. The Chi Omega House. We just sat on the porch swing and sang every Chi O rush, special, etc. song we could think of. I am surprised we remembered so many of them! Bethany and Anna gave me my last clue which told where we were going. Of course it was Princess themed thanks to Bethany! We were going to Fairhope Alabama to stay at the Grand Hotel. For those of you who have been out of college for a little bit, you know how hard it is to get your best friends all back together for a weekend. We began planning this weekend in October so that everyone could be there. I was beyond thrilled to learn that we were going somewhere where we could relax and just be girls. And relax and just be girls we did!

We left for Fairhope early Saturday morning. Katherine Wiley, Anna, Bethany, and I all left from Starkville and met the other girls there. After a fun filled drive down, we stopped at this cute place called Panini Pete's. It was featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. And if you know me, you know how cool I thought that was! We all wound up getting the same thing that Guy got when he was there. The waitress found out we were there to celebrate a Bachelorette Party and had Pete come out. So we got our picture taken with him. He was beyond thrilled that Miss Mississippi was at his restaurant! Yummy doesn't begin to describe this meal! (See picture at bottom!)

After lunch, we headed to check in at the Grand. The afternoon followed with wonderful catch up time by the pool and mini beach that they had. So very relaxing and such an enjoyable time just to BE together.

That night, we went to eat at the hotel restaurant. Brittany had made us all the cutest matching t-shirts. All of the bridesmaids were pink with rhinestone letters to spell Bridesmaid on the them. Bethany's was the same, but read Maid of Honor, and mine read Future Mrs. Adams. How cute! Needless to say, we stuck out like a sore thumb. It was obvious to all what we were doing there. We enjoyed such a fun meal together while acting like 8 year olds. I'm sure the people around us were ready for us to leave. We passed around a candle at the table to have our own candle light, and finished the night with a quick game of telephone. Yes, that's right, telephone! I told you we acted like 8 year olds! At the end of our dinner, I heard a voice behind us say, "Excuse me." I thought, oh no, PLEASE don't let us be in trouble for being too loud! I turned around to see this lady with the cutest little girl on her hip. The mom said, "we just want you to know that we think you are the prettiest princess ever!" HOW CUTE IS THAT?! We found out the little girl's name was Ellie, and she was three. They were at the Grand celebrating her first dance recital. I remember my first dance recital! Oh the stories my parents could tell. It was kind of surreal seeing that long ago flash before me. I wanted to tell Ellie to remember all of this because before you know it, you're getting married, and you're all grown up! I so wish we had taken a picture with her. She was so respectful. While we were talking to her mom, she said, "Mom, can I talk to them now?" Haha! So super cute! She went back over to where her dad was, and just as they were about to leave the restaurant, she ran over and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek! So cute...I'll never forget that!

After dinner, half of the group went for an "adventurous" trip to "Sonic." When we got back, the rest of the gang had decorated the hotel room! We were hanging out, laughing, dancing, etc. and forgetting we were in a hotel surrounded by families. At 10:20pm, we got a BANGING knock on the door. Of course, what did we do? HIDE in the adjoining room. Because if we couldn't see them, they couldn't see us right!? Typical. We would get in trouble. But they did go away, and they never came back. Of course, we were super quiet the rest of the night to avoid the possibility of being evicted!

We had some special times that night opening presents, looking at pictures, and reminiscing on the past. I think the best thing about my friends is while we remember the past, we don't dwell on it! We know that any time we are together, we are creating just as many new memories. We crashed that night so that we could get up early and go shopping.

We went to a cute little coffee shop the next morning followed by a late morning of shopping at the outlet malls in Foley. It was without a doubt the most glorious weekend ever! After so much stress about getting all of the wedding plans together, it was so nice just to BE with my friends. I cannot wait until I have them all back together again for the wedding! They are so special to me!