Sweet Home Alabama

It's official.  Stephen and I are moving back to Alabama.  Stephen will be finishing his seminary at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary extension in Birmingham.  We're excited about the leadership of the extension program provided by Dr. David Platt.  He is a fantastic pastor and expository preacher.  It works out really well for us because we'll be moving back to Sylacauga (where his family lives).  They have very graciously offered us this incredible house to live in while he finishes up his seminary.  It was his grandparent's house and it's currently unoccupied, other than by Uncle Lee for about a weekend every few months.

The house is incredible.  Stephen's mom and uncle worked pretty hard renovating the inside over the last few years and finished it up just in time for our wedding last September.  It's beautiful on the inside and out, and we are so thankful to be able to live there and save a little money while he continues with seminary.

We're excited about the move back home, but at the same time sad to be leaving our church family here in California.  They have been amazing...encouraging Stephen and I in our marriage and walk with the Lord, faithfully teaching us God's Word, befriending us, discipling us, doing premarital counseling, giving us the opportunity to serve and pour into Jr High students...the list goes on and on.  They are what we will miss about California.  The relationships and friendships that are so valuable.  We can only pray that God will bless us with a similar church family in our new church home.  And we trust He will.

There's lots to be said about the move and everything that goes along with it.  It's actually happening pretty quickly.  I will be heading out in 2 weeks to begin my new job, and Stephen will follow 2 weeks later after he wraps some things up at work and with our apartment here.  We've spent a lot of time packing in the last week or two and our apartment is starting to look pretty sparse.  I've been taking some pics, so I'll post as we go.

Pray for us as we continue in this process.  We're confident in the Lord's leading in our lives and look forward to the ways He is going to grow and refine us during these times.

Vacation Weekend!

Hooray for Memorial Day!  I'm so thankful for all the men and women who have served in the armed forces defending our country.  Today our grandpa's came to my mind, as well as Stephen's cousin Joe who is in the Marines.  They are men I am proud of.

And I'm also thankful for Memorial Day because it meant that Stephen and I both got the day off from work!  And boy did we need it!  We took it pretty easy this weekend, mostly staying home and doing stuff around the apartment, sleeping in, and having fun relaxing together.  The extra day added to the weekend made it feel like a mini vacation. 

 

I love spending time with Stephen.  We really only left the apartment on Sunday for church and then on Monday to go see Indiana Jones.  The rest of the time we just hung out.  He is constantly making me laugh.  He is really helpful and always ready to jump in when I need an extra hand with dinner, the trash taken out, a drink from the fridge, anything.  Such a servant.  And the fact that he usually jumps to do those things rather than complaining or having a bad attitude...he sets a great example.  

And I love dreaming with him.  Dreaming about our future, dreaming about kids and a family, dreaming about serving in a church, dreaming up big plans for investing and businesses we could do, anything and everything.  The great thing about those dreams is they can change and grow with each passing day.  Some get closer, and some farther away, but we know that all the while we will continue to strive to honor God with our lives and look forward to the ways He will use us, whether in ways we dream, or even in ways we haven't thought of dreaming about.  I just know that I'm thankful for today and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead!

Narnia!

This weekend we got to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood!  The El Capitan is an old Disney Theater right across the street from the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Blvd (heart of the sight-seeing district).  They play one movie at a time (whichever Disney movie is out), and they use props, set pieces, and costumes from the movie to decorate the whole theater.  We had a really great time and kinda made a day out of it.  Here's some pics from our time:

We got there early, so decided to grab some pizza from one of the little shops on Hollywood Blvd.  This was seriously the biggest slice of pizza either of us had ever seen.  Stephen almost ordered two, but then the guy showed us how big they were and we decided one would probably be just fine :-)

Next up, to the theater!

With a stop for a picture with Mickey outside

While we waited for the movie to start, there was a guy playing all the classic Disney movie songs on an organ decorated for the movie.  It was pretty fun...a great way to pass the time til the movie started and to get you in the happy Disney movie mood.  

Then, once the movie was over, we walked down to the set/prop/costume area where we got to see some of the things used in the movie.  Most of them looked better in the movie than they did in real life, but there were a few pretty impressive items.

Then on the way home we decided to stop at the Hollywood sign and take a few pictures.

I love this view below the sign looking towards the city and the lake.

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mom's Day Stephen and I made a special trip to Alabama to surprise his wonderful mom.  The surprise didn't exactly work out...she knew we were coming.  But we did get to spend some great time with her and the rest of our family there.  It's always great to be around them and the whole community in Sylacauga, Alabama.  They are so loving!

Sadly we couldn't be in two places at once, so we gave my wonderful mom a phone call and reminded her how much  we love her and are so thankful for her!  She's the best!

We also got to have dinner with my awesome friend and former roomie, Alison, and her fiance!  I'm so excited for them and for what God has in store for their lives together.  Praise God for marriage!  

Oh, and I have to mention that we ate at one of my most FAVORITE Birmingham restaurants, Jim 'N Nicks!  SO good.

Hmmm, what else.  We did have a few other adventures while in B'ham for the weekend, but I'm going to have to save those until next week.