Winter Wonderland

Joseph and I are really ready to see some snow and cold weather. It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 80 degrees outside! We've been listening to Christmas music and decorating and even drinking hot cocoa although it's too warm for that. We've been to Christmas parties galore and I've shopped and bought presents like crazy and still it feels like July to me! I told my mom how much I miss the snow and she sent me these. Thanks Mom!

1 Year Anniversary

100 Things I love about Joseph

Just Kidding! I could name 100 things but I won't do that to those of you who might actually take the time to read this post! Instead, I'll just list my Top 10 favorites. Here goes:

1. He loves God and strives to put him first above all else.

2. He's hard-working and ambitious.

3. His attitude is almost always positive!

4. He treats me like a queen. (And thanks to Micah and Katie, he even calls me Queen Bandy sometimes)

5. Everyday he is excited about something new. He's a big dreamer.

6. He really, truly loves my family. He did from the very first.

7. He is confident and humble at the same time.

8. He's very complimentary. He tells me how he feels about me every single day and loves for me to feel good about myself.

9. When you meet him at first you see a good 'ol boy, but hang around him for very long and you see a quick thinker and sharp business man. I think that's what makes him a good salesman. People trust and like him right away. (Every once in a while he sounds like Mater from the movie Cars:)).

10. He's HOT!

When I look over this list I think about the time in college when Brooks and I made a wish list for the man of my dreams. I found that list not that long ago and it's really close to this one! What a blessing it is to have exactly the man I have wanted for so long.

We signed the papers on our condo on Friday so for our anniversary we got to stay there! We had planned to go to New Orleans but when we found out about closing we chose to do that instead. We had a REALLY nice dinner on Saturday at Ruth's Chris Steak House and felt really spoiled. We also went shopping together and bought ourselves a few nice presents for the condo. It was absolutely perfect for our first anniversary! We're just lovin' life :).

My Big Teddy Bear

This is right after he proposed to me!

1. Who is your man? Joseph Daniel Jaye (Otherwise known as Joe, Joey, JJ, Joe Joe, Joephies, studmuffin, and my personal favorite, Cutie Patootie.)
2. How long have you been together? One year and seven months (next Saturday)

3. How long dated? About 7 months, which still sounds incredibly short to me but I have to say that a year and 7 months later, the timing still seems perfect. God has really blessed me!
4. How old is your man? 27

5. Who eats more? Joseph, but not because I CAN’T match him, just because I CHOOSE not too!

6. Who said "I love you" first? He did, at my house in Iowa.

7. Who is taller? Joseph by about 4 inches.

8. Who sings better? Well, we both love to sing but neither of us is breathtaking. I might be just a little bit better.

9. Who is smarter? I think we balance each other out. There are so many things that he can do and understand better than me, but then there are some things I know more about.

10. Whose temper is worse? I get angry easier but if he ever gets angry, watch out!

11. Who does the laundry? Mostly me, he will sometimes put a load on but then he just pulls it out of the dryer and puts it somewhere in my way rather than folding it up so I would prefer to just do it myself.

12. Who takes out the garbage? Joseph
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Joseph

14. Who pays the bills? We split ‘em but I’m about to take over completely because after a year of marriage we’ve finally figured out a way to combine everything easily.

15. Who is better with the computer? We’re about equal on that one, I do the Mac thing, he does the PC thing.

16. Who mows the lawn? We don’t have a lawn yet but he will when we get one.

17. Who cooks dinner? I usually do. He will every once in awhile and it’s really cute because he’s really proud of his creations when he cooks.

18. Who drives when you are together? Joseph.

19. Who pays when you go out? Joseph usually, although I’m not really sure why since it all comes from the same place.

20. Who is most stubborn? That would be me.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? And that would be Joseph, he can be so humble.

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me at the airport before he left Iowa to go back to Alabama.

24. Who asked who out? He asked me out in a way.

25. Who proposed? Joseph, at Green Castle Park while the sun was setting. (See picture above)

26. Who is more sensitive? Me by far, although every once in a while he surprises me.

27. Who has more friends? About the same, we both have some really deep, long-lasting friends that we’ve know forever. As far as fun, new friends, we sadly don’t have that luxury as we work every free minute we have!

28. Who has more siblings? Me.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? Joseph (or so I make him think)

30. Who’s my favorite person in the world? Joseph Daniel Jaye

Thanks for the tag Steph. You know I love to talk about my man. Next week is our one year anniversary. I'm sure I'll be posting a mushy blog about Joseph again then. I just can't help it. I made a really good choice :)! I would tag someone else but my only friends that do the blog thing have already been tagged! I'll tag Brooks and Liz again because neither of them have done it yet. Get to it girls!

Iowa, You Make Me Smile

My oldest sister April

Katie Grace and Micah Kearns

My Mom and Dad at Pray Over Iowa

The weekend before last was my trip home to Iowa. It was wonderful! I got to see everyone in my family except for my brother, John Hurston, who lives in San Francisco now. I also happened to be there on the same weekend as Pray Over Iowa which is like a big, statewide prayer meeting. I saw a lot of people who I’ve known forever. And I got to hear my daddy-o preach not once but twice! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and reminded me why Fall is my favorite time of year up there. I felt so refreshed after being there, and the only thing that could have made it better would be if Joseph could have gone too! I sure do have a precious family :).

Roll Tide!

Well, it's official. I've been converted to an Alabama fan, right down to the Houndstooth hat! I didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter because my in-laws might have kicked me out of the family if I didn't cheer for the Crimson Tide :). Joseph and I went to Wings this weekend with some friends and watched the first game of the season. It was really fun! The place was packed with fans and everytime something happened everyone in the restaraunt stood up and screamed. One of the elders at our church played on the '69 Alabama championship team for Bear Bryant so you can't get away from discussions about football, even at church! And when Alabama wins on Saturdays, all the men wear their Alabama ties on Sunday! On one hand, some people take football a little too seriously around here but on the other hand, it's really hard not to get caught up in the excitement. It's like high school football in Texas all over again!

Yea!!!!

Thanks to my very thoughtful Father-in-Law, Danny, and his Delta Points, I get to fly home in September to see my family!!! I haven't been there since Christmas but I did get to see my parents in May. Still, five months is too long! Mr. Danny knew that I have been missing my parents and so he booked me a flight. He's so good about making you feel appreciated. I'm not sure this family business would work well with just anybody, but Joseph's dad does a great job of making sure we are taken care of. He continuously shows appreciation for the work we are putting in. It definitely makes the effort worth while. I could not have been blessed with better in-laws!

Angels

I tell you what, God had to be surrounding my dad with angels on Saturday. After a few days in the hospital they were able to see that his heart and his brain were in good condition. They sent him home where he discovered that his bicycle was stored in the garage where he doesn't usually put it. When he took a closer look he saw that the back wheel was bent at a 45 degree angle and his helmet was cracked in pieces. He decided to check the clothes he wore on Saturday and discovered that there was a rip, blood, and tire tracks on the back of his shirt! He doesn't remember anything but it looks as if he rode his bike about a block away to get fresh cantaloupe and had some kind of crash on the way back. It also looks like somebody must of brought him home and put his bike in the garage for him because otherwise he would have had to carry the bike (because of it's condition) and the cantaloupe home. He hasn't been eating sugar for awhile and he had a couple of brownies that morning so they think his blood sugar might have plummeted, which would explain why he might have crashed. All that to say, God has really blessed my dad. There was a very flat spot on his helmet where it appeared that his head hit the ground. Without that helmet he would have been gone! It also explains why he has been so sore. THANK GOD FOR MY DAD!

Prayers for my Dad

Saturday night my sister April, who lives in Minnesota now, called me and I could tell right away that something was wrong. Her son (my nephew) Micah was staying the week with our parents just to have some alone time with them. My mom left my Dad and Micah at home yesterday and did a little shopping. While she was gone she got word that a very close friend of our family was in the hospital with possible strokes. My mom went home to get my dad and Micah and go to the hospital. When she got there my dad was walking around the house, very disoriented and he kept asking her what day it was. My mom told him that they really needed to go to the hospital to see Keven. Once they were at the hospital my dad continued to act groggy and disoriented (very unusual for him) and he began to complain of chest pains. My mom said that he was shaking and having cold sweats as well. They took him to the emergency room and began working on finding what could possibly be wrong. They did a CAT scan and a chest x-ray and both his brain and his heart appeared to be working normally. They did discover that he was bleeding from his colon and he had an infection in his bloodstream. They kept him in the hospital in Marshalltown over night and in the middle of the night his heart rate plummeted to 30 BPM a few different times. One of the worst parts is that my mom who just isn't quite as strong as she used to be, was there trying to take care of my dad and Micah (who is 3) and Micah would not go with anyone else (poor guy was probably really scared). My sister April was six hours away and her car had broken down on her earlier in the day causing her to need all new tires! Her husband was fishing way off in the boonies and couldn't be reached so she was stuck and starting to panic. She called me and we talked and prayed until her husband got home and they headed to Iowa as soon as they could. On Sunday, due to my Dad's heart rate dropping and the fact that they could not figure out what was wrong, they transported him by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. He is in the cardiology wing but will also be seeing a neurologist today for all kinds of testing. Please keep him and our family in your prayers. They mentioned something about a pacemaker and I'd really like to pray that it will be something more simple than that. He has been so healthy for a long time. He works so hard and he exercises at least 5 times a week. For Father's Day we got him an outdoor bike and he rode it 25 miles last Saturday! We are a little worried that he might have overdone it but they haven't said anything about that. Please pray also that I will know if I need to go up there or not. Given our history with my Mom, my initial reaction is to jump on a plane, but it really may not be necessary. Both of my sisters are there now taking care of my parents so I know they are okay. They just need lots of prayers. My dad really is the backbone of our family and it's really hard to see him down. I just have to remember that God is in control. Now that I've rambled on and on, I'll just ask one more time for your prayers! Thanks.

Near Death Experience

Yes, that's right. Joseph was at Wal-Mart today buying some quick groceries when it was hit by a tornado! He said that you could feel the air pressure leave the place and people were panicking as well as getting sick in the aisles!!! I attached a picture from the news channel of the funnel cloud. God had to be watching out for my Joseph today! 8 people were sent to the hospital but otherwise the storm just did some pretty serious damage to our neighborhood Wal-Mart. So, we don't have food but I do have a husband and I would much rather have him any day:).

Lucy and Friend

Some of you know already, but for Christmas Joseph gave me a cute, cuddly, little puppy dog! Since we aren't prepared for baby mode yet, Lucy is a nice beginning! It's surprising how much joy a little dog can bring :). She's just about the sweetest dog I've ever had and a very quick learner (although I have found a stubborn streak in her!). Her favorite place to be is sitting right between me and Joseph, touching both of us. She'll play full blast with him for as long as he will play and then she crashes on me! Her second favorite thing is the duck you see in these pictures. It goes everywhere she goes and as you can see, it is almost as big as she is. It makes a sound like a real duck when she chews on it so it sometimes feels like we have more than one pet! Last weekend we decided to take Lucy with us to a barbeque out in the country at Joseph's boss' house. Unfortunately Lucy got into a bed of fire ants and her face was swollen to about twice it's size! Her lips were so huge that they felt like they were going to pop when I touched them! We had to give her Benadryl and now she's back to normal. We still call her Big Lips though and occasionally Angelina. (Jolie, that is)

Our "House"

Okay, so it's not a house yet but this is our street sign! And I also posted a few pictures of our lot where the house is being built. It's difficult to tell in the pictures but they left us a really nice wild Cherry tree in the front yard and a group of really nice Oak trees in the back yard. Right beside our lot is a beautiful green path that we followed for awhile and it really leads you to nowhere! We're happy about the fact that we don't have neighbors surrounding us yet and are hoping that it will be awhile before any houses are put in behind us. Not that we are anti-social or anything, but it is sooo nice and quiet out there right now and we are excited to get away from the noises and crowds (and muggings) of our apartment complex! We are also hoping that they start the foundation on the house sometime this week so maybe I will have more exciting pictures to post soon! We feel so blessed to be getting this house and thank God for the excitement!

My Mom

For those of you who know about my mom's illness, she is doing very, very well. I think her trip down here was the longest she has taken since she was so sick and she did great. I don't know if life will ever be quite the same for her or any of us for that matter, but I guess that's because a challenge like the one she faced is life changing and definitely forces you to grow. We are all very thankful to still have her with us and have learned to value even more, the time we have together as a family. Joseph and my parents just LOVE each other and for that I am very thankful as well!

Graduation

I forgot to mention, Joseph also graduated with his Bachelor's of Business Administration in February. We had so much fun that weekend. My parents came down for the first time and we got to show them around Alabama. It was so good to have them here for a little while and I'm pretty sure they loved it down here! Particularly the boiled peanuts which was a new phenomenon to them. My parents gave Joseph a PDA for graduation and he and my dad spent most of the weekend with their faces buried in them! We were very proud of Joseph for going back to school and finishing his degree.

Current Events

Well, I am finally trying this Blog thing as it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep updated with the people we love! Joseph and I are staying extremely busy right now with the new business but we are hoping that we start to see results in the next couple of months. We are both working during the day and trying to get the business going at night and on weekends. We are also hoping that in about 3 months our new house will be completed and we will be moving across the Bay to a pretty little town called Loxley. These past seven months since we got married have absolutely flown by! God continues to take care of us and continually bless us in so many unexpected ways.