We are church members as a married couple! Today we made the walk to join First Baptist Church of Leesburg. We have been visiting this church for the past 2 months and feel we have been placed in the right ministry for us. We have found a young married Sunday School class that we enjoy, and we have already made friends. Bobby Harrell, the senior pastor, introduced us to the 11 o'clock congregation this morning. He mentioned that we had moved from North Carolina and then added, "She's a talker," before moving to introducing another family. !!! Now when people ask what my most embarrassing moment is, I'll know what story to tell. Members came up to the altar afterwards to meet us and we felt very welcomed. Even though both of us have been baptized, we are joining by baptism so that the congregation will know of our faith. That will be sometime in August.
It has been an important day in Albany, GA!

Aaron took me to Home Depot this week to get a weedeater. We had to rush through dinner so he could get outside and use it...very exciting moment for us. He's proud of his yard!

Aaron has gotten back into the groove at work, and I have just started. On Tuesday I attended a new teacher orientation at which they went over benefits, payroll, etc. It was interesting because it was a first time experience, but to be honest, by bottom got sore after a while. I met great people and received helpful information. Yesterday and today I have been at the primary, elementary, and high school doing my own orientations. I spent most of today trying to make my bulletin board at the elementary school look nice for the kids. Tomorrow I will do the same thing at the primary school. I have a feeling there will be a lot of repetition this year! Tomorrow I am scheduled to meet with a lady at the middle school to discuss schedules. And Monday is blast off! Thank you for your prayers...I know God has been and will be providential in this new adventure. Let's praise Him together, for He has done good things.

...because he's driving the whole way to Disney

The Sheraton Vistana Resort
So many people!





Aren't they gorgeous?

After the Fantasmic show, we were sidetracked on our way out of the park by a DJ and his dance party. We got right up there in front of him and danced along...there were moms and dads doing the Twist and Shout with their children. It was so fun! It was strangely similar to an aerobics class :) This is a picture of dad and son (oh and I see Peggy and Caitlin!) gettin' jiggy with it.

Aaron and I were invited by his parents to spend a few days with them on their vacation in Orlando this past weekend. They are so generous! We had a blast...we arrived Saturday afternoon before the rest of them in order to decorate the villa with streamers and balloons for Peggy's birthday that we had missed in April. We baked her a cake, too! When they called to say that they were in town, we met them at Uno's Chicago Grill for pizza and pasta and a big reunion (we hadn't seen them since the first of April!). After dinner Aaron and I, along with Brooke ( sister) and Caitlin (cousin), beat the parents to the villa to get ready for the surprise. We sang to her and then told her how much she means to us. We spent all of Sunday at MGM Studios (12 hours!)...seeing the shows, standing in line for rides, and enjoying the magic of Disney. We were glad to have time to rest on Monday at the resort. We lounged around the pool, but around 4 we headed back home. It was a beautiful vacation. Aaron was thankful to have a break from work, and I was thankful to get away before everything gets hectic. We were both very glad to be around the Fernandez family for a few days! Mike and Peggy- thanks for having us! We look forward to seeing you again in September.

Yesterday Ben and I ventured to the Flint Riverquarium in downtown Albany. We wanted to expose Ben to the extraordinary cultural emphasis of this small city :)
We saw river turtles, snakes, alligators, and extremely excited 9-year-olds. We learned about the ACF river system. The Flint River starts in Atlanta and runs south through Albany until it meets the Chattahoochee River at the southern corner of Georgia. A lake is formed there...Lake Seminole...but on the other side of that the Apalachicola River finishes it off by flowing right into the Gulf of Mexico. Amazing.
We played a weather game in which I devastated Ben because of that geology class I took last summer. We also played a video game about water conservation and Ben took his revenge. Overall, it was a positive experience and I have been further educated on matters of the area I now call "home".

We finally painted over that awful green in the dining room! Ben and I are taking on some projects this week while he is here, and today we've given the whole house a different look by painting that room. We all love it. The color is called Blanket Brown.
Ben's been a good sport- he went grocery shopping with me this afternoon. We also went to the gym and met Aaron for lunch at Chick-fil-A...Ben said he's been dreaming about the #1 Combo (original chicken sandwich) for months.

We had a pretty eventful weekend- quite the social butterflies we are. On Friday night we invited a young couple to our house so that I could play hostess. Aaron grilled pork chops and I tried to imitate Grandma's barbeque sauce. We had a great meal with good conversation. The couple lives about 30 minutes from us in a small town called Sylvester, and we first met them a few weeks ago because of that oh so beloved game of golf. Saturday evening we were invited to one of Aaron's coworker's place on Lake Blackshear...what a treat. Neil's wife is also a teacher at Lee County Primary, so I will be working with her as Aaron is working with her husband. We enjoyed the company. We drove to Macon, halfway to Atlanta, and stayed the night before getting up this morning to meet Ben at the airport. Aaron thought his plane from Frankfurt, Germany arrived at 11, so we were there at 10:30. His plane was really scheduled to arrive at 1:30, so we had a long wait. It was worth it, though, because we were thrilled to see him and bring him back home with us! Another great thing about it was that we came back through Macon around dinner time and Aaron took us to Olive Garden- a "luxury" we do not take for granted since having lived in Albany. We are ready to begin a beautiful week.

Aaron and I interacted with each other tonight on the putting green. After dinner (I cooked!), we went up the road to the RiverPointe Golf Course to have a putting contest. I think he had forgotten about all those summers at golf camp in Myrtle Beach where I mastered the art, because he was surprised when I actually beat him.
It could have been that he was just tired- he got to work around 5:30 a.m. this morning!

I did some work today to get ready for school. I made class lists, and it looks like I have more middle schoolers than any other age level. I also talked to a colleague in Raleigh about the way she sets up her classes.
I am anxious to get started- I hope the kids are as cute and as fun as these that I taught in Raleigh!
It's been a great day that's about to get better...I'm going to make some milkshakes.

This is our first post, so we're trying things out. Our friend Kristen McCutchen in Raleigh told us about this opportunity to "journal" on the Internet so that family and friends can see what's going on. We love the idea! Now you all can have a better picture of how we are and what we are doing down in the deep South.
This picture was taken several weeks ago. Aaron has started to take an interest in golf, and so one Sunday he took me to try it. I enjoyed watching him try to impress me. He is asked to play often for work- "politickin'". He is getting better all the time and I know it's the "natural athlete" coming out of him.
You can see I got my hair cut shortly after moving to GA. I love it...a "wife haircut".