Yesterday was my older brother's birthday. He is now 25! Fortunately, this is the only picture on this school computer that I could find of him and his fiancee Sierra. Here they are posing as the older versions of themselves. This picture is to remind you, Joey, of how thankful you should be to be such a young whipper-snapper this time around. Hope you had a great one! We are thinking of you.

This past weekend I visited Aaron in Atlanta. It is definitely different than Albany! We spent most of the weekend marveling at all the lights :)
Friday night I had a chance to freshen up and then Aaron took me out on a big city date. We went to a restaurant near downtown that one of his co-workers recommended. It was amazing! The name was Murphy's. The atmosphere was unique, and the food was delicious. We will go there again I hope. It was a very romantic outing. On the way out, we stopped by his new workplace and he showed me where he gets the job done everyday:

That thing on the wall in the back was his Christmas present from me: his diploma framed. It has come in quite handy!

On Saturday we slept a little late and just hung out together. We went looking for apartments but only toured one...we got kind of distracted with Chik-fil-A. We headed downtown to browse in the Underground shopping area, and we ended up touring the Coke museum. Aaron knew about the part where you get to sample all the different flavors and brands of Coke, and he promised to drink until he got sick. He sampled all the drinks, but thankfully didn't get sick! On Saturday evening we met with Tom and Sarah and their new baby, Noah. We ate dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant (almost too nice...the food was really fancy!). We were thankful to get to know a wonderful couple. Tom works with Aaron. They had Aaron over for dinner last week so he didn't have to eat pb&j in the hotel room! Afterwards we quickly ran by the Perimeter Mall to find an Anne Taylor Loft. Jackpot! I found some cute dressy things. If you're wondering about my birthday coming up... :)

Sunday morning we were invited by Aaron's boss to go to church with them. We really enjoyed it. They have a beautiful family (two sweet girls) and a God-glorifying church. The folks in their Sunday School class were so welcoming! After church we ate near Stone Mountain and drove around to look for rental houses. We didn't find much, but we aren't discouraged. We know God has great plans for where we will live.

It was a fun weekend. Now back to more testing and lesson plans! Have a great week.

I am heading up to Atlanta to enjoy spending time with Aaron. We will look for a place to live, visit a church, and maybe even go shopping!

It's been a difficult work week...thanks for all your prayers for patience and joy. Please pray for my students. God, pour out your grace on these young people!

Aaron and I couldn't take it anymore...we had to see each other! We agreed to meet halfway between here and Atlanta, which is a city called Macon. We ate at Carabba's and loved it. It was a special date and not at all like talking on the phone. Thank you for all your prayers...it's not easy being separated!

This is a big week in Lee County... we are giving our students THE test (here it's called CRCT...). The tension level is high and the kids are pumped, but I'm looking forward to when things calm down. I am proud of them, though. Hope you are doing well!

Happy Birthday to Peggy (mom)! We can't wait to celebrate with her this weekend. The Fernandez family is making the long trip to south Georgia on Friday. We will also have a chance to celebrate Easter together. It will be fun to post pictures when I get back on Monday! (no school on Good Friday)
For your reading interests, here is a sermon devoted to the glory of God at Easter:
http://desiringgod.org/library/sermons/83/040383.html

CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS!

Crown him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon his throne;
Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of him who died for thee,
And hail him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Crown him the Son of God,
Before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where he hath trod,
Crown him the Son of man;
Who ev'ry grief hath known
That wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for his own,
That all in him may rest.
Crown him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o'er the grave
And rose victorious in the strife
For those he came to save;
His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring,
And lives that death may die.
Crown him the Lord of Heav'n
Enthroned in worlds above,
Crown him the King to whom is giv'n
The wondrous name of love.
Crown him with many crowns,
As thrones before him fall;
Crown him, ye kings, with many crowns,
For he is King of all.

Amen.

Aaron and I have been so fortunate to be loved on by others so far this week. God is really showing his faithfulness through other people. On Monday night Aaron's boss and his wife invited him over for a feast in Atlanta! He was able to spend time with good people. Marcela invited me over for dinner on Monday night so I didn't have to eat pretzels by myself at home. And last night, a woman from church invited me to their house for a Bible study! But even if we spend an evening alone, we are not really alone :)

This weekend was full of joy. Aaron got home a lot earlier than I thought he would on Friday and we were able to go out to a nice dinner to celebrate- the Riverhouse. On Saturday we spent time outside when it was not raining. I got to talk with Molly! She is doing well in Kentucky. She is teaching Spanish at an elementary school and really loves the church God has involved her in. We went shopping together for some snacks that he could keep in his hotel room. Aaron studied the Bible on Saturday night while I read it. He led the college S.S. class on Sunday morning! He did a wonderful job. He talked about risk as it relates to Christians. Ask him for a more detailed explanation :) I also baked him a Congratulations cake on Saturday night.
We borrowed a pressure washer from the neighbors and Aaron thrived with this toy all weekend. Here he is on Sunday afternoon...we are cleaning up a little for this weekend!

This week in my kindergarten/2nd grade class, we made a book together about a picnic. We learned new vocabulary words (one of which was picnic- they didn't know what it was and had never been on one), and used a wordless picture book to make our own story. Today I took them on their first picnic and we read our book! They loved it...there was a lot for conversation about picnics. We had popcorn, cookies, chips, and Coke. It was a great experience for me.
Another fun teaching moment happened today- we are doing a unit on "famous things" in my 6th grade class. We have read and talked about the history/facts of such things as coffee, gum, Braille, soccer, and today we did neckties. We did a listening comprehension activity in which they had to follow my directions to tie a tie. They actually got it! The funny part is that I had never learned how to do it until today- I got some directions off the Internet and taught myself before going to class. It worked great and now we all know how! They were so proud :)

Aaron has accepted a job in Atlanta with Waste Industries! This came as a big surprise (not so much to me- I know my husband is great at his job!) on Tuesday of this week. We haven't really had time to think or talk about it much because he had to start work there yesterday. It's been a blur. Since I am still working in Albany, I will stay here until the end of school and he will come on weekends- this is still our home. I am so proud of Aaron and his commitment to excellence in his work. He is a great example to me.
We are sad to leave Albany. This has been our first home that we've made together on our own and the people have been so good to us. It is the close of a good season of our life, but we know another great season is ahead. We marvel at the unmerited favor of God.
Please pray for our transition and time apart from each other. Pray that we will find an appropriate place to live there, and that we will find the perfect church (for us), a job for me, friends to know, and that Aaron will feel comfortable in his new job right away.
Congratulate Aaron, if you have a chance! His email address is afernandez@waste-ind.com
He will drive back tonight and I can't wait to hear how his first 2 days were. We'll let you know!

Aaron's grass experiment is finished. Jonathan (zorbacon) was right...the lack of drainage in our baking dish caused fungus to grow and kill the grass! I don't have a picture to show you its pitiful plight because I was quick to throw it out and wash the dish. I was getting tired of looking at it in the kitchen every day!

Acella before the birth. Even small women's bellies get round!

A happy family...

A happy and tired dad! She's beautiful. We can't wait to meet her soon.

I can't believe Spring Break has already come and gone! It was a perfect one, though. I have a lot to tell since I haven't been able to get online until now.
Not this past weekend, but the one before, we relaxed. Aaron and I saw the new movie Inside Man and recommend it (watch for language, though). He played golf on Saturday with church friends, and among other things I went to see Mussrat and her growing baby Mushan. He is a happy baby! I left on Sunday after church for Savannah. It was a nice drive...Molly, I listened to sevillanas music quite a bit! I met mom, grandma, and Marie at the hotel before going to eat at Outback across the street. We watched TV and read Sunday night to prepare for the touristy day ahead. On Monday we ate a Cajun breakfast on River Street after getting lost trying to find a bakery.

Lost...already :)

We took a limousine to our trolley tour (??) and toured all of downtown Savannah (the historical district). The old houses are beautiful and the azaleas were in perfect bloom all over the city.

After the trolley tour, we drove ourselves to Tybee Island nearby to see the lighthouse and enjoy the sound/ocean. On our way back in to Savannah, we ate again! We had Uncle Bubba's- great seafood.

On Monday night we took a Ghost Walking Tour- we walked around the historic district and listened to a man tell stories about strange things that people have seen in Savannah. He was entertaining! Mom and I of course had to stop by Starbucks on our way back to the room. Tuesday morning we slept a little later and walked to Ms. Wilkes' for an early lunch- we thought it would be an early lunch. It turned out that there was a long line out front and they were only letting 15 people in at a time. We waited for an hour but it was worth it- very impressive spread of country cooking! It's a popular spot in Savannah and we were glad we had the experience.

Tuesday afternoon we went on a Riverboat cruise on the Savannah River. This is where we got a lot of Savannah history and fun facts. Afterwards we strolled along River Street in search of candy (found it!) and praline sauce.

The ones at the top right are called Bear Claws...mMmMmM

On the eve of our departure, we relaxed in the room and made a point to see American Idol. Everyone was pretty into it :) Check out Grandma and Marie waiting for it to come on:

It was a great trip. Thanks, mom, for inviting me! On Wednesday I got home in time to have lunch with Aaron. The rest of the week was filled with errands and laundry and a new book. This past weekend we spent a lot of time outside putting down pinestraw. We're getting ready for when the Fernandez' (Aaron's parents and Brooke) come to visit in less than 2 weeks!

On Sunday I have been invited to meet mom, Grandma, and Marie in Savannah for a vacation! Next week is Spring Break for me, so this is a perfect chance to tour a new place. This is the hotel we are staying in...River Street Inn. I think mom has some fun things planned for us to do. The only problem is that I'll have to leave my husband for a few days! He'll be okay we should assume...I've already ironed his shirts in advance so he won't be at a loss. Since the blog doesn't disappear just because I'm out of town, we'll leave the posting up to him. Just don't be too surprised if it gets crazy!

Tonight Aaron is taking me out (he promised) and tomorrow he'll be golfing with men from church while I clean and clean some more. It should be a relaxing weekend!

Last night I was invited to learn how to make beaded jewelry with some girls from Sunday School. We met at Michael's to pick out our beads and then went to Ginger's home for the attempt. It was pretty interesting to say the least...but I made three pair of earrings! Everyone there had much more creativity than I, but I was still happy with my creations. We all had a great time laughing at ourselves because our fingers kept getting in the way, because we twisted so hard that the wire broke, because at times we heard little beads fly all over Ginger's kitchen, and because we were just being silly. It was a good chance for me to get to know more women in church! Even though it was a fun girls night, you can see how we anticipate contact with our husbands with all these cell phones on the table. Ginger is concentrating. I am so thankful that she got us together and opened her home! She even made dinner and served us. It was a treat.
The woman on the far right is the one who came to teach us, and she brought her friend (in front) so that they could have some good laughs at our lack of capability. :) They both go to our church as well.

Aaron left last night for Atlanta. He has to make two presentations today, about the roll-off line and the residential line ?? We all know he is doing a great job, as always! He should be back tomorrow.

Today (March 20) is my granddad's (and for Aaron-Mr. Register's) birthday. We hope you have a wonderful, memorable day...you deserve it! Sorry we couldn't be in Pinehurst to celebrate with you yesterday. We'll make it up to you next time we see you!

This is my beautiful creation from last weekend. How uniquely lovely!

On Sunday we had an unexpected party at our house! When we got to Sunday School that morning, our shower plans for Jeff and Anna had changed because Rebecca was sick (it was going to be at her house). They were going to have it at the church, but Aaron and I offered to do it at our house. I've never cleaned up so fast in my life! We had some people even beat us there after church and it was a disaster inside. Aaron and I make a great cleaning team, though. When everyone arrived, Aaron was caught outside in his suit blowing off the back porch. :)
We had plenty of goodies to eat! Everyone was gracious to bring food and it turned out to be a great shower.
Jeff and Anna are getting married in May. They are a really sweet couple...we didn't have any hesitation in showering them with gifts!
This was the most people we've had at our house at one time so far. It went well, but we decided our kitchen is just a little bit to tight.

The good thing about not having a dining room table in your dining room is that you have room to dance! Aaron and I got up a little earlier this morning to dance to Ashokan Farewell- the song we used for our first dance as husband and wife at our reception. We haven't practiced in a while, so the steps might have been a little off. Nonetheless, it was a perfectly romantic way to start off our Friday!
You can listen to the song here (it's beautiful):
http://www.jayandmolly.com/ashokanfarewell.shtml
You can click on the audio clip at the bottom of the page.

P.S. Tomorrow we will be married for 15 months!

I know we're all excited that Aaron has learned how to make postings on our blog. We are in for a treat, I promise. :) On a frustrating note, see this article I read this afternoon on foxnews.com. When I was in the Netherlands in August 2003, I saw the shame of the liberal culture swallowing the country; I wouldn't have known how ridiculous it actually was until reading this...

Dutch Immigrants Must Watch Racy Film
Thursday, March 16, 2006
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The camera focuses on two gay men kissing in a park. Later, a topless woman emerges from the sea and walks onto a crowded beach. For would-be immigrants to the Netherlands, this film is a test of their readiness to participate in the liberal Dutch culture.

If they can't stomach it, no need to apply.

Despite whether they find the film offensive, applicants must buy a copy and watch it if they hope to pass the Netherlands' new entrance examination.
The test — the first of its kind in the world — became compulsory Wednesday, and was made available at 138 Dutch embassies.

You can read the rest of the story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188079,00.html

"there is a lot more where this came from if you will go to the prom with me"