Sunday, July 31, 2011

AJ.

Andrew starts FRL tomorrow. I'm gonna miss that dude.



In attempt to get a head start on packing up for our move, Andrew, his mom, and I spent a few days cleaning out ALL of his stuff at his parent's house - from a baby on up.

Here are a couple things we found that I couldn't resist sharing. :)

Andrew's "Battale Plans for Z Force" and his ninja names.



We were also lucky enough to find his first bathing suit...

Oh what glorious finds! I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him just a little more.

In the future, feel free to refer to Andrew as any of his aforementioned ninja names. He'll probably feel like a stud.



Abiding in the Word.

"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds."

Ephesians 4:17

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Lima Bean and other things.

Well it's technically time for my monthly Lima Bean update, but I haven't been to the doctor yet, so I thought I'd wait until then. I go this coming Tuesday, August 2.  I'm hoping to get an idea of how big our lil babe is and see if I could possibly get a few more pics printed out from the ultrasound.  We'll see how all that goes so be on the lookout for an update.

Nevertheless, I thought I'd let you all know that I have conquered two trimesters of my pregnancy thus far and have successfully made it through 3 weeks of my third trimester with seemingly no problems. I'm very thankful. Also... as of this weekend, I'll be 30 weeks! I can't believe how quickly time flies and that in as little as two months we might have our little Lima in our arms. Wowza!

In other news, Andrew starts FRL this coming Monday. FRL, or Fundamentals of Restaurant Leadership, is a 5-week course that all newly selected CFA owner/operators have to go through before they are officially handed over the reigns of their designated store. During this class, AJ will live down in Peachtree City at the Dolce and go back and forth to CFA Corporate for classroom lectures and hands on training. If you think of Andrew over the course of the next month, feel free to offer up a little prayer for him... that he will be able to understand and retain all of the info that will be thrown at him and that he will be encouraged and prepared to embark on his own as the operator of the Citadel Mall CFA.

Well that's all for now my friends. Here's a little video of Andrew and his sister while she was visiting us in Cheyenne... just for kicks. Happy Thursday to you all!






I'm over it.

Just so you know... my mourning for Turney is over and done with. I turned over a new leaf on Sunday and decided that I must move on. :)

Now we're off to bigger and better things. What those bigger and better things might be? I don't know yet, but I am trusting that the Lord shall provide according to His will (even if those things actually seem to be smaller and not so great).

To Him be glory and honor forever and ever!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Abiding in the Word.

"Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered."

Proverbs 28:26


Well bummer.

So it seems that Andrew and I are back to square one on our house search.

Apparently the homeowners of the delightful Turney Drive decided to sell the house after all... even after giving us the go ahead on the lease. In other words, it seems as if we got the bad end of the deal.

Boo.

Not only are we back to square one, but we're back to looking for houses with no other chances of setting foot in any homes prior to our arrival.

Oh me. If I said I was happy and looking at the bright side of all of this, I'd be lying. It's been a long time since I've felt so discouraged. I know I need to get past this, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to get control of my disappointment. I'm just down right sad. Maybe it has something to do with being in my third trimester and feeling tired all of the time, all of a sudden? I don't know. I'll move on eventually, but I'm really having to grieve this (relatively silly) loss. It's just a home for pete's sake!

Anywho. That's where we are.

If anybody knows of a really quaint place in Peyton, CO with over a 1/2 acre fenced back yard and upgraded fixtures like stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors (all within our budget), let me know... we're in the market.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hi from the Springs.

I have some exciting news to share.

Andrew and I found a home to rent in Colorado Springs!

We left for the Atlanta airport Tuesday morning and arrived in Denver before 11 am. After getting our rental car, we zipped down to the Springs to meet up with various leasing agencies and/or home owners to view some rental properties.

Tuesday did NOT go well. The places we saw were very disappointing, and coming off of a busy morning with traveling, both Andrew and I (me mostly, of course) were discouraged. That night we decided to refine our search a bit, and we moved further out to homes in Peyton, which is north east of downtown about 25 mins. We found a few places and set up times to view the homes on Wednesday.

I knew Wednesday was going to go well because it started out with my quiet time and having a breakfast burrito from CFA. :) I was ready to conquer.

When we arrived at the first home, the leasing gal couldn't let us in because someone forgot to return the key to the lock box. Great. So much for a successful day!! Our next showing wasn't until 10:15 so we had over an hour to kill in an area with not so much to do... unless you like to peruse the aisles of a Safeway grocery store... which we did. We did lots of driving through neighborhoods too.

At 10:15, we arrived at Turney Drive. The house was lacking in curb appeal, but something about just seemed to beckon us right in. As we toured the home, a calm swept over me. I liked it! "Maybe today won't be so bad after all," I thought. After walking through the 4 bedroom, 3 bath, ranch style home, I was smitten. Turney felt like home.

And guess what? Andrew liked it too! We expressed our interest in the home, but were informed it was also on the market to sell AND there were some potential buyers. We couldn't get too attached yet because 1) we needed to see if the owners wanted to pursue the potential buyers and 2) we had five more homes to check out.

To make a long story short, we didn't like any of the other homes and the owners agreed that renting was going to be in their best interest at this point, since there was no official sell in the near future and we seemed to be so excited about the place - plus we clearly looked like awesome tenants.

Andrew and I filled out an application and had a credit/criminal background check completed. Today, we stop by to check out the lease agreement and put in a deposit. After that, it's our place baby. Woohoo! :)

Today is also exciting because I get to meet with my future OBGYN. I drilled him with a few questions via email, and he said he'd love to meet and discuss the questions in person. I'd like to think that this makes him seem even more like the type of Dr I want to have. I guess we'll see at 11:45 am MST if he's the Dr for me.

I think we are going to swing back by the house today and take a few pics. If it all works out, be on the lookout for a little preview of the future Jones pad.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

We love you Granny.

It has been a sad week for Andrew and his mom's family. Andrew's "Granny" went home to be with the Lord this past Thursday.

Five and a half years ago, Granny was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Since then, she had a few bouts of cancer, but she was always a fighter and had a positive attitude. Overall, the last few years of her life were filled with sweet family time and lots of travels. She never let the cancer get the best of her.

Granny's funeral was today, and she requested in advance that Andrew speak. Of course I'm partial, but I thought Andrew did a very good job. I was proud to see him stand up there representing his family. It's so neat to see how the more time I spend with Andrew,  the more I see him as a leader and well-respected man. I'm truly fortunate to have him as my husband. (AJ, I love you!)

In honor of Granny, I wanted to share with you bits and pieces of what Andrew said at the funeral so you all could get just a little taste of the delightful woman I've been able to know for the last few years (beware it's a little long)...


"I want to start out by giving you all a glimpse into Betty from the aspect of her grandchildren. Over the last couple of days, I have been able to spend some time with a few of the grandkids, reminiscing and talking about some memories from growing up with Granny.  The first thing that keeps coming up from everyone I talk to is how steady and strong she was.  Regardless of what life threw her way, she seemed to just take it in stride, and fight back extremely hard, when necessary. And as we all know, she continued this tenacity as cancer came into the picture.  She fought longer than anyone thought she should or could. Unfortunately, for all of us grandkids, we got to experience this same tough side of Granny everytime we seemed to forget our manners or get into mischief that we should be avoiding. But she did this because she genuinely cared about how her grandkids were going to turn out when they grew up.  She wanted to take pride in us when we grew up...


... During her final days, my father-in-law told me that he had spoken to my mom by way of email, and she said to him: 'even though the end is so vividly clear, I still learn things from her everyday.'  That is how Granny worked - she was always looking at ways to help out other people and make their life more comfortable and drop that little nugget of wisdom at the most unlikely times...

... As tough as the last week has been, I definitely have to look at this time as an opportunity to rejoice.  In Philippians 1, Paul tells us that 'to live is Christ and to die is gain,' and that 'to live in the flesh means fruitful labor,' but for Paul, he said: 'my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.' How exciting to know that Granny has finally gotten to depart; something that Paul longed for, she has gotten to experience.  Later, Paul explains that the time that we stay in the flesh is for Christ’s sake.  We do not have to worry about departing from the flesh until we have satisfied what the Almighty God of heaven has set before us to do.  How satisfying to know Granny has run her course and fulfilled God's intent for her...

... Once again, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we are celebrating someone that is no longer at home in the body, she is where we would all rather be, at home with our Lord." - ARJ

Granny will certainly be missed by all who knew her. But as Andrew said, we celebrate knowing she ran her course and is at home with our Lord.




Abiding in the Word.

"...while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

Hebrews 2:4

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Abiding in the Word.

"I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

Psalm 40:8

In other news, Andrew is HOME! Yay. I picked him up at the airport this morning at 6:30 am EST... so 3:30 am PST. Needless to say he was pretty pooped when he got home.


I'm so glad he's home (as are the dogs, can't you tell?).

Friday, July 8, 2011

Blueberry picking.


One of my favorite things to do during the summer is go blueberry picking with one of my favorite people in the world, my mom.  This is a tradition that Mama and I have had for many years. We put on our grungy clothes, and head for the bushes in the early morning while it's still cool tolerable.

I can't wait until my lil babe(s) are old enough to appreciate such a simple, but delightful activity. It's little pleasures like this I hope they can treasure all their life as I have and always will.

Just starting out...



Lima Bean and the berries.





Two gallons and three full bellies later, it's time to head home. :)



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

4th with friends.

Andrew is still in Phoenix if you were wondering.

So I celebrated July 4th with the next best crowd... my parents and family friends!




We enjoyed a cookout at the Parker's. Burgers, beans, chips, and fruit...

Sorry it didn't focus well!


And you can't forget dessert! Ken Guy's famous pound cake and Jane's homemade peach ice cream. Sorry I couldn't control myself... this is all I got for proof...

The remnants :)
Besides pigging out, we enjoyed some good chats and vigorous games of bocce ball.







Please excuse the pregger's bad hair day.
Thank you Jane and Russ Parker for having the Fowler clan over. It was a delightfully relaxing evening.

The grill master


Unfortunately we weren't able to enjoy a grand fireworks show... rain got the best of the night. 

Hope you all enjoyed celebrating freedom!



Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!

I'm celebrating the birth of our country all day. I've already been swimming. The dogs are nice and clean thanks to an outdoor bath. I ordered a few new baby books to read. Now I'm off to some friends house for a cookout. :)

Hope you are celebrating too!



Sunday, July 3, 2011

Abiding in the Word.

"...in whom [Christ Jesus] we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him."

Ephesians 3:12