Memorial Day Weekend and Getting Old

This weekend we went down to Georgia for my cousin's high school graduation.

Me and Clarke Before.

I had a blast. We didn't do much of anything, just spent a lot of time with my family. But, I love my extended family, all my aunts and uncles and cousins and my last grandparent alive, my grandpa.

My cousin Sara and her family and my mom's brother and his family live about an hour west of Atlanta. It is beautiful, out in the country with the rolling hills, or mountains as Sara calls them.

Clarke got to play with Hunter (Sara's son) a lot. He loved it.

As I said earlier the reason for this trip was to go to my cousin Anthony's high school graduation. This is the part that made me feel old.

I couldn't believe it when my mom told me that Anthony was graduating from high school. I remember when he was born. He is the first baby that I clearly remember holding and it seems like yesterday. For some reason I always think of him as being in middle school still.

Then to see my other "baby" cousins: Justin is driving, he got his learner's permit and Gabrielle will be in middle school next year! I couldn't believe how much they have grown since my wedding.

It was the weirdest thing, it was the first event in my life that really made me realize how fast time goes by. My baby cousins are not babies anymore.

But, as I reflect upon my life (and I had plenty of time on the 9 hour car ride home) I am happy with where I am. Is my life perfect? No, it's not. And yes there are things I would change if I could. But, I am happy and know that I am blessed. I have accomplished a lot in my 26 years here and have overcome a lot too.

When the graduation was over my cousin Sara looked at me and said "our baby cousin just graduated from high school!" I looked back and said "yep, I can't believe it."

I still can't believe how fast time goes by. But, it makes me thankful for everything I have done and experienced. It makes me excited about the future.

Picture Update

I feel I have been so bad lately at blogging! It seems all my free time goes to the house, or planning one of our trips for this summer. But, here is a quick look at what I have been up to:

Celebrated my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary!

(Some of us at Leonardo's)

We have been playing golf.

Went to a flying squirrel's game.

Participated in the CCFA walk.

I am trying to get back into the routine of blogging. So we will see.........

Updates

1. We are getting ready to go to Georgia this weekend! I am so excited. We leave Thursday and come back Sunday night. My cousin is graduating from high school, this makes me feel so old, I remember when he was born! I also get to see my other cousin Sara and her cute little boy Hunter. :)

2. The house is coming along. The only big things we have left are changing the vanities in the bathrooms. Once that is complete there will be no more big house projects....for awhile.

3. Yard sale was a success!! Had a great time with my friends and made some money.

4. At the staff meeting tonight my boss publicly thanked me for all of the hard work I have been doing. She also wrote me a hand written card thanking me for all I have done at the studio. This meant the world to me and it was exactly what I needed to hear.

5. Count down to Disney is less than one month away! We are sooo excited. I have most of the trip planned out, and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my husband. (It will be his first time there!)

Guest Room

I am so excited, I finally finished one room in the house! I know, we have been here almost a month (on Sunday to be exact) and I have only really finished one room? Yep. But, I am almost done with the others, there are just some little details that I have to work on. But as Charles Eames said "the details are not the details, they make the design." But I digress, the guest room is done! Here are some pics: 

On another note, I am really looking forward to this weekend. My hubby and I have decided that we will not be working on the house this weekend. There is still stuff to do, but we both just need a break. I am so burnt out, as far as house stuff goes, and I know he is too. Tonight we are going to a baseball game. Tomorrow playing golf and going to see this. I'm very excited!

The Current Situation

I feel like I need an update about the job situation. I have been so focused on the house for the past month that it was only recently that I really started thinking about next fall again. In a perfect world I would be teaching Art come the fall. But, it is not a perfect world. Although this is true God is still sovereign and is still in control, which I must remind myself of daily. With that reminder I think about what is next for me.

While I was in school I always thought I would work at my current job until I found a full time teaching job. I am a planner, I like to plan for the future, far and near. I have also learned to plan in pencil, because things change. Although I like my job, I feel it is not a right fit for me anymore. There is no room for advancement, I hate working weekends, and I need something more consistent. If by the fall I don't have a full time teaching job, I need to look for something else. This terrifies me. I am so comfortable at my current job, I am friends with everyone I work with and I am good at it. But those are not good enough reasons to stay.

So what is that something else? I am hoping it will be teaching. But, I have recently started to pray for God to help me to be open. Open to other possibilities. He has put me here for a purpose, and part of that right now is my job.

Honestly I have thought about a baby. But, if I am honest with myself, I am just not ready yet. There are some things me and my husband want to do before we have children, and we just aren't there yet.

One thing that I have been thinking about for a long time is being an Instructional Assistant. I would work one on one with a student with special needs. It would be full time and I would be in a school. When I was student teaching I loved working with the special needs children. I think I really connected with them and even in my recommendation and evaluation my teacher noted that as one of my strengths.

Another thought was teaching preschool. I know all of you who know me well are saying what? I never had any desire to work with younger children until recently. Some of the Art classes I have taught through work were to younger students and I really enjoyed it. Also, if I taught preschool at a church I could tell the students how Jesus loves them. I would love that.

So, the job search is still on. I try to stay positive, but honestly it is hard. Chesterfield just let go of 150 teachers, my friend who is a teacher in Hanover just told me tonight they let go of about 100 teachers as well. I know God is bigger than that and bigger than the economy. But, it seems He might have something else out there for me right now. And I honestly believe I will be a teacher one day. It might not be in the near future, but God has put this desire in me and God doesn't set us up for failure.

I think of a quote from my pastor. I think it is my favorite one. "God would rather hurt your feelings than hurt your future." So true. I think we go though hard things, like rejection because God has something better planned for us and we just can't see it right now. I go back to reminding myself that God is sovereign and in control.

Lastly, I would love your prayers. Please pray for God to guide me where I need to be. Please pray that I would be open to what He has for me. Please pray for courage to pursue it.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28

The Chair

For the longest time I have been looking for the perfect accent chair for our family room. I have thought about so many different choices and options out there. I know it doesn't seem like such a big deal, but we will have this chair for a long time and I want it to look good.

At first I thought I wanted this one beautiful chair from Pottery Barn. When I went into the store to see the fabric swatches the chair I wanted didn't come in the color I wanted. Then, I thought I wanted the matching chair to our couch, but I decided I didn't want to spend that much money on a chair. So, after much debate and thought I have finally ordered it from Target!

Gerber Upholstered Chair

I love it! The only thing I am worried about is the color. It is online only, so I am hoping that the actual chair is the right shade of yellow. Can't wait for it to come in the mail soon!

Can't Wait!

I can't wait for Saturday Night Live tonight!! I am not a huge SNL fan, but I do watch it occasionally. But, tonight my favorite actress ever is hosting it!!! BETTY WHITE! Yes, I know, I'm a huge dork.

I just love Golden Girls, I own every season on DVD. I know, again, huge dork. I love Betty White so much I also named my cat after her.

If you read this before it comes on tonight you should watch it. I know it's gonna be great!

Future Children's Names

Today over at Kelly's Korner it is Future Children's Names. I just had to participate!

For the longest time I have loved the girl's name:

 Olivia Mae

I don't know why but I do. Me and my husband have talked about it and have decided on it for awhile now.

But, recently I have started thinking about a different name for a girl:

Nina Mae

This was my paternal grandmother's name. Pronounced Nine-ah. She was such a strong influence in my life and I loved her so much. I would love to name my future daughter after her.

So with that said if I was lucky enough to have two girls I thought about naming the second one:

Olivia Grace

Love it, I hope I have 2 girls.

For a boy's name I have always loved the name:

Lucas Fitzhugh

We would call him Luke. Fitzhugh is a family name on Clarke's side. Both his dad's and grandfather's middle names are Fitzhugh, as well as his. He would be the 4th Fitzhugh!

To play along, visit Kelly's Korner.

A Labor of Love

The stripes in the den are finally done! It's been 3 weeks since we moved in, but finally they are up and look awesome!

I did not anticipate how much work they would be. The measuring, leveling, remeasuring, taping, painting, and touch up was a lot. But I really wanted to do something fun and different. Glad they are done and I can just enjoy them now!

Summer Plans

I have finally finalized most of our summer trips and vacations! I am so excited!

For our big family vacation we are going to Disney World. Clarke has never been, I am so excited to get to go with him for his first time. Growing up we would go to Disney all the time, we had season passes. (My family also lived in Florida, so that helped.) Disney holds so many great childhood memories for me.

Dumbo ride with dad and Chris!

Me with my brothers. I think the sun is in my eyes!

We are also going to the Outer Banks with my friends for a long weekend! I am especially excited about this. It's hard for all of us to coordinate all our different schedules, so the fact that all of my favorite friends will be there is so great. I can't wait.

I am hoping to make it up to Baltimore to visit dad and go to an Orioles game and a camping trip as well. I am sooo ready!!