And BABY makes 3!

So its official if you haven't already heard. I'm PREGNANT! Hooray! Only 25 more weeks to go!

Happy and Sad

Well today is our 2 year anniversary! Hooray! Sometimes it feels like only yesterday that I drove past Herty Field with the empty white wedding chairs in rows just a few hours before I got married. When I saw those chairs set up, waiting for everyone to come and sit in them at my wedding, I knew it was really happening; I was really getting married. It really was the best, most perfect day of my life so far. And now I can't picture my life before that day without having to try hard; being married to this man is just so right that it feels like forever. And so sometimes it also feels like I've been married for so much longer than 2 years. I don't think I even have the words to say exactly how I feel right now, but if my life is shorter than I think it will be, or if nothing else good happens to me, this is enough. The Lord has truly exceeded every expectation I ever had about marriage and my husband and given me so much more than I thought possible. I am so grateful for these past 2 years, and so humbled that this much grace, love, joy, redemption, and fullness was spent on me. To Him be ALL the glory.

Now onto the sad. David's Pop, John David Parks, Sr, for whom David and his father were both named after, died Saturday. His funeral was yesterday. He had a long life of 91 years, 69 of which were spent with his wife and David's Nanny, Marcus. They lived together in a house they built here in Athens back around 1950. Pop was a quiet, humble man who loved the Lord, his family, and his church, Prince Avenue Baptist, of which he had been a member since 1958. We all miss him, especially Nanny Marcus. We have felt God's presence with us, and know that Pop is right there with Him, and that brings peace. Pray for Nanny Marcus, for continued peace and strength, and for comfort when she's lonely and misses him being at her side. We love you Pop!

Happy Birthday at the Beach!

We went to the beach for my birthday, and took all 3 of our dogs! Their first beach trip ever! It was so much fun, and they loved it! And we did too! Can't wait to go back in the summer!

And Birdy makes 3!

Well we got a new dog. Actually a puppy, my first one ever! And actually we got her Nov 29, 2008, and she was 6 weeks old. A little behind the times again; way to ring in the new year! But anyway, we love her! Her name is Birdy Lou, used to be Birdy Blue, but then her blue eyes changed to green. She is so cute! She is a chocolate lab/australian shepherd mix, so she is mostly brown with a white stripe on her chest, white feet, and a tiny white tip. She is so funny and so smart. And Penny and Scout love her! At least now; for about a week they were really ticked off, but now she is a part of us! She snuggles with Penny and plays with Scout, so it all works out! She is mostly potty-trained; most of her accidents now are when I am at work and she's home with her daddy. But those don't happen every day anymore so the parenting skills are improving!

In other history, Christmas was great last year. We actually got to go to Meemaw's house, which I haven't been to on Christmas for 3 years! It was so nice to get back to my memories of "how its supposed to be;" I mean 3 years is a long time to spend away from the 30 nearest and dearest relations on my mom's side of the family! We spent some time with my dad's side too because they all live in the same town, which is convenient. We were actually gone from that Thursday to Sunday and so it felt a little like we were on vacation. Oh and we got a real tree this year! That we actually cut down ourselves! It was so fun! We didn't put one up 2 Christmases ago because we had just moved and there were boxes everywhere, so this was our first real, house-decorated, tree-up Christmas!


In current news, what was coming this year will be definite in a couple of weeks, right after my birthday acutally. No details yet until its finalized, as there are still some uninformed members of the family who should know before its out here on the web. And in even more exciting news, we are currently NOT trying to "not be pregnant," if you know what I mean! So 2009 could be the biggest year of our short little married lives! And I will keep this thing updated more often with actual news instead of history as we get news to share.

The only real resolution that I made that I actually intend to keep this year is to better my relationships with people other than David, my immediate family, an in-laws. Sometimes those are the only people I talk to for like weeks, except who I work with and go to church with. I mean if you don't live here with me or you didn't raise me, I probably haven't talked to you in months, maybe longer. And I am sorry about that and want to change it. I mean, other people matter, you know? It's just been so easy to settle into the people immediately surrounding me and neglect those out of my reach. So watch out-you may be hearing from me soon.



We had a Thomas Family Picture Day over Christmas-here are a couple of previews!

Thankful

So it looks like its been a while yet again. I guess timeliness isn't one of my qualities or ambitions of late. A lot has happened since the summer, almost too much to recount. So instead of trying to go back and highlight the past 5 months, I'm just going to skip right to present day. And here we find Thanksgiving. Can't believe the holidays are here and 2008 is about to be over. The year has simply flown by. I actually thought that we would never get here, that it was so far away in the future, but here we are. And what comes after this year is a life-changing, exciting, scary, uncertain, dream-come-true kind of thing that cannot be dwelled on now for risk of missing the present, yet cannot be ignored either for risk of being unprepared. I therefore must choose now to be in the present and hold off on what is coming until that too, becomes more present.
As we are in the season of being thankful, here goes. I am thankful for my husband, obviously. He has been the best surprise of my life. I am so thankful for the man he is, the man who follows God where He leads, no matter how hard it gets. And I am so thankful for the man he is becoming, the man God has big dreams and plans for yet. I am also thankful for my family. They don't always understand the decisions I make or the paths I choose, but they always support me. And now they are doing that for David. I am thankful for fall, and this one in particular. I love when the leaves change colors, and this year has been the most brilliant ever. Despite the drought and how ugly things looked in the summer, fall came in with an incredible display of beauty. Only God can do that. Only God can make something out of nothing, only He can make beauty from drought. And I am so thankful for what He has done in my own life. He truly has dreams bigger than I could ever dream, and I am thankful that He gives me the chance to live them. I am thankful for the places He has brought me out of, and how He has used those places to make me into who I am right now. I am thankful for the life He breaths into me everyday and that I don't have to do it on my own. And I am thankful for the people He has surrounded me with, the great cloud of witnesses, who come along side of me when I can't walk it alone. I am truly blessed and I shouldn't be, and I am thankful. Only God can do something like that.
Here's some pictures of what He's been doing up here, although its not the same as actually being part of it. Hope your Thanksgiving is great and that you are thankful too.







PS- Jenny, Laura Susan, if yall read this, or if you know them and can pass this on, I miss reading your blogs! Please let me back in! Sorry I'm late with my request!

We're going to the Beach!

HOORAY! We areleaving in 6 days for the beach! We are going to Jekyll to stay in an apartment with my mom and Erin and Brandon, and the whole rest of my mom's family will be just a short walk away. All 25 of them. So it should be a blast! And who knows? Maybe we'll see some Fritchies while we are there! HOORAY!

Where has the time gone?

Yep, it's definitely been almost half a year since my last post. Isn't that ridiculous when you say it? We've been as busy as ever, though we have definitely learned when to just rest and love each other instead of feeling obligated to do everything we are invited to. Mostly that translates into having not finished painting our house yet. We have been done with the kitchen and den for a long time now, and recently finished 3/4 of the hall before we ran out of paint. And of course we have not been back to Lowe's to get more. But oneday, it will be done and we will invite people over. It's not like I even mind painting, because I don't. I actually enjoy painting, once I can make myself get started. But we will deal with my procrastination later; on to more important and more fun things.

I have had a birthday, David has had a birthday, and we have had our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY since my last post! We went up to Pigeon Forge for a few days and stayed in a cabin and took in the sights and had so much fun. My favorite thing was going to Dollywood. Since I was a little girl I have loved Dolly Parton, so I loved every part of Dollywood. David had fun too, but with a little less enthusiasm than me. We ate a ton of good food in Tennessee and took tons of pictures. We also had a lot of time to just be together. I feel like we do a good job of communicating, which is big if you knew me when I was younger, and I love just talking and sharing and snuggling and dreaming with David. I am so blessed and truly REDEEMED in my marriage, and its only been a year. People say that the first year is the hardest, but ours hasn't been very hard at all honestly. Of course there have been a couple of bumps, but we weren't broken or bruised from them, we just got over them and came out stronger and more unified and ONE on the other side. And so I am thankful for the foundation we have built during this first year, and that it wasn't hard. But I also wonder if that hard year is somewhere else down the road. Sometimes I try to tell myself that its not, that since the first year is supposed to be the hardest and ours wasn't that we're home free, but I know that is not reality. So then I just have to say a little prayer that God would continue to draw us into Him and into each other, and that the foundation we are building would not crumble when things get hard.

On another note, I am moving departments in the hospital. I will still be working nights, but only for a little while longer. I will be on 6th medical and there are a lot of people closer to my age there, so who knows what could happen. I will miss my friends on Neuro, but its just time for a change. I am going to be cutting it close for our vacation this year, so pray that I can get the week of July 4th off. We are planning to go to the beach with Erin and Brandon and mom, and I have the time off, but my request will be last minute since I don't start until May 13 and I can't ask off until I get in that department. Our schedules are for 4 weeks at a time, so that means that on the first full schedule I work, I will have to be off for a week. So pray pray pray that I can get the time off, otherwise it'll be like last summer and we won't go anywhere again!

Here's some pictures of our trip; enjoy!



Riding the sky lift in Gatlinburg, Tennessee



Dolly was waiting for me when we checked in to our cabin



Such beautiful scenery-one of hundreds of pictures



Happy first anniversary Davey-I love you forever!