Sweet Abby is growing up.

Relaxing with family on a Sunday afternoon...nothing like it.

Unfortunately, this is in the middle of our bedroom. We have made a mess in our new house. We've almost finished unpacking, but we started this painting project in our room, so we've just made a mess on top of a mess.
Sorry to be slow on posting updates! We are in Raleigh now, getting ready to enjoy the holiday with family, so we will have plenty of pictures soon. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Today we moved! Yesterday we packed up all day and drove 2 hours last night. It took the whole morning for us to get to Salem but we were here in time to get everything unpacked before dark- thanks to the moving help! We had a guy named KA help in Atlanta, and mom, dad, brother, and grandma were here today to help. It's a mess now, but we have a few days to work on it. Thanks for praying for our trip...we didn't have any trouble on the road.

The rest of the week has been hectic, but I was able to see some friends before we left. On Wednesday Laurel and I had breakfast and I was glad that her son Taylor joined us. Thursday Marcela met me halfway between Albany and Atlanta for lunch. Thursday afternoon we celebrated three soon-coming babies from the OIE office...Leslie, Candace, and Amy,

Yesterday I took myself to Virginia Highlands to paint pottery at Wired & Fired Pottery Playhouse. It was a blast. I spent almost 3 hours painting coasters! It was good to be able to relax and concentrate on something while being able to process all this moving stuff. Hopefully the coasters will turn out well.

Sorry to not include pictures with this post, but my camera batteries were dead this weekend. Just an update- after the interview on Thursday, I was offered the job. I'll teach ESOL to about 20 kids at an elementary school in Roanoke County. Sounds like it will be a great place to work! The only thing is that they need me to start work on Nov. 29...only a few days after we move. It will be a hectic transition, but after these 3 weeks here in Atlanta with nothing much to do and my sanity threatened as a result, it will be welcomed busyness.

This weekend we went out with friends on Friday night for dinner, and Saturday we drove to Clemson to watch State get beat again. How sad. It was still fun, though. Yesterday Aaron took me out to lunch after church to celebrate the job offer, and then we went shopping for the house. We met some more friends last night for dinner and had a great time. It was a good last weekend in Atlanta.

P.S. Happy Anniversary to Travis and Emily Howard today!!

We have had a lot of favor this week. Among many things, we were invited to a State game at Clemson on Saturday, I got a great job lead (and have a phone interview tomorrow), the sellers of our house offered to give more money at closing, and Aaron has gotten a lot of encouragement at work. We also found out that we will get a huge refund as a result of changing our auto insurance from Atlanta to Salem. Thank God!

Atlanta Apartment

This is much better.

Aaron and I went shopping today for home decor for our new home! We are homeowners again (well, we have a contract on the house, but the closing is not until Nov. 17)! We will be moving to Salem, Va in two weeks.
Aaron has resigned from Waste Industries and has accepted a job with my dad at Interstate Batteries. There are many reasons behind this- being closer to family, being settled in one place for longer than a year, and the business opportunity. We have enjoyed living in Atlanta and Aaron and I both loved our jobs and friends, but it's time to get things rolling!
I'll post pictures of the house as soon as I can get them. Thanks for being excited and prayerful with us.

Last night before Aaron got home from Raleigh, I had a chance to go out to dinner with some girls from church. This is kind of a weird picture, but you get the idea. We had a great time with meaningful conversation. I was very encouraged and spurred on toward love and good deeds.

We are breaking from the blog world this week. Stephen and Michael came to visit us this past weekend, so we have some pictures to post, but it will have to wait until next week! Have a great week.

Last night I came home to this gift bag on the counter. Aaron had bought me some new perfume (Gucci Rush 2)! What a thoughtful guy.

Last night we were able to go out to eat with a fun couple. Jana is an International Student Advisor in the office where I work, and she's been dating Shamus since last winter. We enjoyed good Mexican food, great conversation, and a chance to be encouraged by these friends who are obviously pursuing godliness in their relationship.

We had a pretty laid-back weekend...Friday night and Saturday morning we finished up Season 2 of 24. Saturday afternoon was about cleaning (I was in charge of the apartment, he did the cars). We went on a nice date Saturday night- Thai food has hooked us. After dinner we went to the movies and snuggled together as we laughed at Robin Williams' jokes.
Sunday was busy: we worshiped together, ate lunch together, went to the park together (where Aaron finished his longest run this season-18 miles, and I rode a bike beside him), visited Emory for an International Student Reception along with our friend Suk Hyun, and finally, fellowshipped at David and Laurel's.Aaron and Suk Hyun on Emory's campus.Connect group eating dinner together.

I have found a wonderful thing! A concept from India has solved my eyebrow waxing/plucking problems. With plucking I couldn't get the right shape, and waxing always damaged my skin. Threading has saved the day! It was recommended to me by a coworker. The place I went is right down the road from home, and from the time I walked in the door until the time I left, it was literally just 6 minutes. It is an amazing new phenomenon for me.
What a shallow blog post! Thanks for reading it, anyway.

Sunday morning, Aaron ran 16 miles while I slept, and then we went to church together with his family. The wedding was in the afternoon on Sunday.

It was a perfect wedding. The ceremony was very Christ-centered, the bride was gorgeous, the guests were entertained, the food was delicious, the music was great, and there was this one groomsman that swept me off my feet with his dashing good looks. Jonathan, the minister (Brian Frost, pastor at Providence), and his dad, the best man.We were patiently waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle! Peggy, Mike, and Brooke offered great hospitality while we were there. Can you pick out the groomsman I was talking about? :) Here they are! Man and wife. I wish I had gotten a better picture of the dress...it was very elegant. It was just as yummy as it was beautiful!

Saturday night we helped celebrate with Jonathan and Joy at the rehearsal dinner. They are very loved! It was fun to hear people speak about Joy, to get a better sense of where she came from and what a wonderful friend she is. There were several stories told about Jonathan, too, that were entertaining.

We had a fun table. I was able to meet some guys that Aaron refers to all the time in his stories. Great picture of David and Susan! I was glad that she was there...one of the few ladies in the room that I knew! Aaron spoke and I was really proud of him. He worked pretty hard to make sure his message was captivating. Ask him for a copy of it!

Brooke is third from the left.
On Saturday afternoon we went to downtown Spring Hope for the long-awaited pumpkin festival. Brooke was participating in the parade, and we couldn't miss it!
She was a part of the Nashville Praise and Worship Center dance float. I was able to get a good idea of the community surrounding Aaron during his growing up years.

The rehearsal was held on Saturday morning. It was a little chilly and drizzly, but everyone was in high spirits! Jonathan had been hunting that morning, hence the camouflage.

Aaron and I left Atlanta on Friday morning but went through some traffic, so we didn't get to Raleigh until around 7. Aaron dropped me off in Cameron Village so that I could have dinner with Emily. It had been almost a year since I had seen her...it was a huge treat! We ate at my favorite restaurant in Raleigh...Piccola Italia. If you get a chance to go there, get the meat-filled tortellini.

Emily and her husband Travis are doing very well. Thanks for spending your Friday night with me, Emily!Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of Emily and me on our dinner date. This is their engagement picture from 2 years ago!

I will post pictures and narrative of the big wedding soon, but in the meantime we thought you would enjoy this phenomenon:
http://choosemyname.blogspot.com/

We recommend a book of prayers called The Valley of Vision. You can buy it here. Here is an example:

O God the author of all good, I come to Thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without Thee I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Thy power. Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe.
Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite Thy inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take Thy name in vain.
May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Thy will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to Thee be the glory.

A dear friend has become engaged! Molly (a bridesmaid in our wedding) is getting married to Nate on December 16, 2006. He proposed last weekend. Congratulations, Molly! Enjoy the planning and the prayerful engagement. I am really happy for you.

Before we went to cheer on the Braves, we had to get something to eat! No one contested the decision to eat at Maggiano's in Buckhead. It was the best meal I've had in a long time!
The Braves lost to the Astros, 5-4, but they made a good run out of it in the end, and we were entertained the entire time. It was a blast.

The birthday weekend was perfect! Thanks, Mike, Peggy, and Brooke for making the trip down to visit us.

It turned out to be a beautiful day on Saturday, so we spent most of it outside! We went shopping for Aaron's new shoes (to go along with the iPod bday gift- here he is in Niketown trying them out on the treadmill). We also went to Atlantic Station to appease the women's shopping itch, with a Marble Slab ice cream break of course.

Aaron was very surprised to see his parents and Brooke at the door on Friday night! After getting over the shock, we had a great birthday dinner at the apartment. The birthday cake was a pumpkin spice cake, although it tasted just like carrot cake! Brooke played the Happy Birthday song for him on her clarinet, and he opened presents. He has been wanting an iPod to use when running, so he got that and the Nike+ censor to go along with it. This means that his iPod will tell him his mileage, pace, time, etc. while he's running. I think he liked the gift! It was a fun party.