Always be joyful.

The past few weeks have gone by so quickly - but almost too quickly! We have been working with our FABULOUS realtor, Justin (FYI, if you are thinking about buying a house, the only advice I can give you is to enlist the help of Justin - trust me) and the bank to finish all the details out regarding the house. I can't tell you how excited I am about moving! We officially close next Friday, and Saturday is our big moving day! We are having a moving sale this weekend to get rid of the things we don't want to take with us to the new house. Hopefully we'll make a little cash along the way :) I've been making a list of things we need before we move into the new house.

In other news, my small group at church has really taken off. It has truly been one of the best decisions I have ever made to join this small group. My leader, Diane, has been a blessing to me in every way possible. She challenged us last week to find a "life verse" and have it with us at all times. She told us to say it out loud and memorize it - you have no idea how absolutely amazing it is to speak - out loud - the Word of God. It has already made a HUGE difference in my life in just the few short days I have been doing it. I will share my life verse with y'all - I have been wanting to be more grateful and joyful in all situations - good and bad, so I chose I Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

Today is Halloween - so Happy Halloween. Don't eat too much candy. As for me, I will have my one faithful trick-or-treater tonight, and I have already made him a wonderful bag full of candy! I'm taking a half-day today - wanna know what I'm doing? Decorating The Write Impression for CHRISTMAS with my mother! Oh believe me, starting tomorrow this girl will be cranking up the Christmas tunes!

For those of you wondering, only 55 days until Christmas!

Sleepwalking nightmares???

I thought I would leave a funny post to lighten up your day - funny for you, but not so funny for me....anyways, when I was younger, I used to do a lot of sleepwalking. I mean a lot. I always dreaded whenever my parents would have company over, and they would stay the night. Wanna know why? Because, I would most likely embarass myself. I can remember one instance when some of my dad's old baseball buddies spent the night at my house. They stayed in my bedroom, and I slept with my younger sister, Katy. I, of course, do not remember this at all, but apparently, late in the night, I went to my old bedroom and begged the man to let me get in the bed with him!!! I must have been about 8 years old, and it was quite the embarassment to hear about it at the breakfast table the next morning.

Anyways, I have not done any sleepwalking in the past several years, but for some reason unknown, it re-occurred last night. Brad had to go over the scenario for me this morning because I had no idea what happened. Apparently, last night, I threw the covers off and jumped out of the bed, ran straight to the television and turned it off (we always fall asleep with the television on - a habit I'm trying to break), Brad then said he heard me walk straight into the bathroom door frame with a loud THUMP. I then remember feeling this AWFUL pain - in my nose. Brad ran to me to make sure I hadn't broken my nose. It was the worse pain I've ever felt. I didn't get much sleep after that, and I awoke to a swollen nose and two black eyes this morning. And it still hurts - badly.

What a great way to start my day. I may just keep my sunglasses on all day.

Home sweet home.

I'm full of happiness and excitement today, as Brad and I have made a HUGE purchase today....

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! (well, we have a contract on a house!)

Anyways, we've been looking for the past month or so, but let me tell you, we were getting discouraged. We got pre-approved and all, but we made a decision to find a nice house under $140,000. And that is NOT an easy feat - at least for me, because I'm extremely picky. We working with a WONDERFUL realtor, Mr. Justin Holder. I really couldn't have asked for anyone better. Justin explained everything in detail to us - since we were first-time buyers and all. I'm truly grateful to the good Lord above for Justin.

We love living in downtown Murfreesboro, but Brad and I soon came to the discussion that we would not be able to find a move-in ready house downtown. Everything we looked at in our price range was in horrible condition - it would have taken lots of time (and even more money) to make it a home.

Justin was patient with us, and he emailed us this past Friday with a new listing - he said it was really cute, and we should definitely check it out. So, we looked at it on Monday at lunch, and I WAS IN LOVE!!! It was everything I wanted and MORE. My parents were able to come look at it again with us on Monday night - it was really important for me to have my parents' approval. Although, if they had said they didn't like it, I might have ignored their opinion! We put in a contract, and thank the good Lord they accepted! They are a young couple with a new baby, and they said they were excited to have someone move in that would appreciate all the hard work they had done on the house! We are very blessed to have this opportunity, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us now!

I have attached some pictures of the house for your viewing pleasure - I will have to attach new ones after we move in! Enjoy!

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. - Psalm 67: 2-3

I will try to post some more pictures later of the outside of the house!

'Til later, y'all!

What a weekend!

This weekend was a lot busier than I would have liked it to be - but that's how things go! Friday night was spent with my 5-year old cousin, Tessa. My mom took her out shopping for clothes, and she begged and begged her mom to let her spend the night with me. We had a blast! Of course, we had to go eat mexican at our favorite restaurant, and then I had to buy her some cute outfits as well! She stayed up until nearly 11:30 playing video games with Brad - bless his soul, he let her win everytime! It was hilarious!
We both fell asleep watching "Hannah Montana," and I awoke to someone tickling my nose and giggling. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the clock. 5:45 a.m. And she was ready to get up. It was STILL DARK OUTSIDE! So much for sleeping in! Brad made breakfast, and we decorated the front lawn with fall decorations. I had to work at the shop from 10-2, but I don't really consider that work! I got to freshen up some of the displays and even had time to buy a great Mom agenda for my good friend, Keisha, who is expecting a sweet little boy in November. For all you moms out there, if you don't have a Mom agenda - YOU NEED ONE! They are FABULOUS!
Saturday afternoon was spent at Walnut Grove with the MidSouth Bank crew for their team tailgate! It was lots of fun - good fun and great friends! I got to see a lot of my ADPi girls that I haven't seen in quite sometime. The game was close, although we would have LOVED to see the Blue Raiders pull out a win!
My weekend was so long, Brad and I decided to sleep in and skip church (I know, shame on us). We got a lot of cleaning done around the house - it needed it BADLY! I'm such a neat freak that it kills me if it's not SPOTLESS. I then went to Keisha's baby shower which was so much fun - I can't wait until little Landon gets here!
Last night, I worked on my stuffed tomatoes for my Junior League meeting/potluck that it tonight. Let me just tell you, stuffing little cherry tomatoes, is NOT fun! They tasted pretty good - we'll see how they are tonight!
Thanks for the prayers that are being sent my way in regards to my health issues - they are very much appreciated!
Have a wonderful week, y'all!

Like a child...

It's been almost a month since I have posted last. Every once in a while, I think to myself "I need to update my blog!" So, I have a few minutes before my weekend OFFICIALLY starts, so here goes!
I have some really good news - after months of wait and MANY interviews, I have FINALLY been placed with a little sister. And I couldn't love her more. She is seriously my new best friend!
Her name is Kayla - she's 15 - when they first called me, I was hesitant to take such an older girl. They assured me that Kayla was really excited about the program, and would be a wonderful little sister. Her father is disabled and going through many health problems, which can be a potential problem for Kayla. I just hope that I can be a good role model for her through her pain and suffering. ANYWAYS, she's ADORABLE! She's very little and full of personality. We get along very well, and we even share a favorite restaurant - TOOT's! I am very excited about the possibilites with Kayla, and I think we're going to be great friends. We already text message each other daily!
In other news, I have been going through a lot of pain lately with migraine headaches. I had gotten so used to having a headache every single day, that I began to ignore the pain. Last week, I experienced some of the most horrific pain at work. I did visit the doctor and was given some pain medication. I will have to visit a neurologist to make sure nothing serious is going on. I am also experiencing a lot of "woman" trouble - there might be some issues as to whether or not I will be able to carry children, so please pray for these things in my life.
I do hope that those of you that read get something good out of it - it's really my way of telling my story for those that are no longer near me anymore.

I hope you each have a blessed day and weekend!
'Til later, y'all!

Busy as a BEE!

Ha, since it has been over a week since my last post, I guess y'all can see how busy I am! I'm actually taking a break between projects at work to clear my mind so I can tackle the next task! Things are going great in my new position at United Way - I'm learning SO many new things, and I'm just continuing to thank my Jesus for giving me the chance to make a difference in so many lives every single day.

I am going to a new women's small group at church, and I am loving it! I wasn't feel "attached" to my church in the past, so I thought this would be a great way to not only get me more acquainted with other church members, but also strengthen my relationship with Christ. We are using a book that is solely centered around women in the Bible - I will have to write more about the discussions we have each week - they are completely awe-inspiring! I am also reading Max Lucado's "Come Thirsty" - WOW, that's all I can say about it so far...when I have more time, I'll write more about the things I am learning through that!

Things are moving along quite nicely for the Warnock family, and I cannot WAIT FOR COOLER WEATHER! We are dying in this humid, hot, sticky, make-you-sweat-walking-to-your-car weather! I'm so excited for temperaturesin the 60s and FOOTBALL!! Looks like we're going to be dealing with these 100+ temperatures for a few more weeks :( Oh well!

'Til later, y'all!

God is GOOD.

I keep telling myself this over and over - GOD IS GOOD!!!

Things have really been changing in my life lately - but all for the better!

We (at United Way) hired a new Director of Campaign and Communications in July - well, last Monday, she turned in her letter of resignation! Things were just not working out with her, and she felt like she should just step down before she got too involved in things. Well, I had been feeling like I needed to talk to my boss about adding some duties to my job description - basically, I was wanting to work more with marketing and communications because that's my real passion. It is, after all, what I went to school for. God was really pressing me to talk to her about it. So, after Jessica turned in her resignation, I felt like this was the right time.

And boy, was it! My boss was so incredibly excited that I wanted to become more involved with marketing. So, I now have TWO titles - Director of Project PASS and Director of Marketing and Communications! I am so excited about learning new things and challenging myself each day. God is so good to me.

'Til later, y'all!