A Story of God's Provision (Part 5)

In case you need to catch up you can find Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here.

It had been about three and a half years since Collin got let go from his job with the defense contractor, and just over three years that he had been working in automotive. We were both so tired of having "just enough" money to get by, so tired of Collin coming home from work tired and dirty, so tired of not having normal weekends. We had been praying like crazy and feeling like God wasn't listening. We knew He was, He'd proven to us time and time again that He was, but it was really frustrating that Collin still didn't have a better job.

I mentioned that Collin had talked with both Air Force and Navy recruiters. His parents suggested while we were living with them that maybe he should consider the military. I was NOT pleased with this prospect. I struggled with it so much. It caused lots of arguments and many tears for me. I just didn't feel a peace about the decision, but I supported my husband. If it's what he wanted then I would "join" the military with him. He got pretty much nowhere with the Air Force recruiter though. It felt like she kept stringing him along. And it's not like he isn't completely qualified. The man got a 93 on his ASVAB; super impressive!! He more than qualifies for the physical qualifications (run, situps, pull ups). We just couldn't understand why the recruiter wasn't being more proactive about him enlisting. So Collin began to consider the Navy. He met with a Navy recruiter and he seemed really interested in Collin. But then he never returned Collin's calls, was never in the office when Collin would go by, failed to set up appointments, he failed to keep Collin in the loop. I know this isn't the case with every recruiter but it was VERY frustrating for us. Collin hadn't given up on the military yet, but he was just about done trying to force them to accept him, especially when it wasn't really something he was completely passionate about. He felt he needed to join the military as a way to support the two of us.

The end of January 2013 came and I got a text message from my dad's best friend, Randy, who happens to be a Project Manager for a defense contractor in the area. He (along with everyone else we know) knew that Collin was still looking for a job, so he sent me a link to a web posting for a job he wanted Collin to apply for. Collin applied immediately and was called in for an interview the next week. His interview went extremely well! Afterwards Randy couldn't wait to gush to my parents about how well Collin did in his interview! A few weeks went by and we hadn't heard anything yet, though we were very hopeful that this could be the big break we'd been waiting for! The third week of February Collin got an e-mail telling him that he HAD been selected for the job but they were waiting to send out official offer letters until the program finalized its budget. WHOA! We were super excited, but still trying not to get our hopes up because in the contracting world, budgets fall through all the time. Five days later Collin got a phone call telling him that everything worked out and that he could come pick up his offer letter and they wanted him to start on March 11!!

Collin started this new job almost three weeks ago. And so far, it is great! We are finally working the same hours, he's actually making more than me now, which creates some financial security for us, and the company will pay for Collin to take college classes! This is the job that we've been waiting for since August 2009.

Looking back, all those "unanswered" prayers about Collin getting a new job, all the frustration, the military seeming to not work out, having to live with Collin's parents, living in a tiny one bedroom apartment, it all seems perfect now. Everything we experienced, everything we went through has prepared us for this new job. God's timing is absolutely perfect! Sure, things would have been a lot easier and less stressful on us if neither of us lost our jobs shortly before moving, but we wouldn't be the people we are now. That job that Collin lost was at a locally owned company that shortly after merged with a much, much larger national company; and many of the people got laid off then or quit because they were treated so poorly. What if that had happened after we were married? Or that job that I lost that I was miserable at. I wouldn't have been able to be so relaxed during the month before our wedding if I had that job, and I certainly wouldn't be in my current job at a company I love surrounded by coworkers who are so fun.

The military not working out was exactly what was supposed to happen. I would have been miserable as a military spouse. It would have brought so much stress to our relationship. I can barely go a weekend without having Collin around so how would I survive six weeks of boot camp and then however many months for A-School? And what would I have done if he got deployed? I knew that the military was not the direction God was sending us, but we didn't know what else it could have been.

Living with Collin's parents, though stressful and hard, was so awesome. It allowed me to get to know them in an intimate way that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Since moving out I have a much, much deeper appreciation and love for my in-laws. Living with them helped me to feel like an actual part of the family instead of just an extension of Collin. Plus, there were all the financial benefits that we had living with them.

I think the biggest thing about all this, if we both started out with decent salaries or if we didn't have to worry about our finances much, I don't think we would be as close as we are. Because we struggled, it brought us so much closer together. We know how to have fun without having to spend money, we know how to find great bargains, and we figured out how to get by with the things we have. These are all habits that I know we will continue to live with!

One of the amazing things about the past three years is how God didn't once let us down. When we thought there was no way we were going to make it he provided for us in more ways than we ever could have imagined. God is so, so faithful and He always does and always will provide!

A Story of God's Provision (Part 4)

If you need to catch up, Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here.

When Collin and I realized we needed to move out on our own again we began looking for a cheap one or two bedroom apartment. It is VERY expensive to live here in Southern Maryland. We live in the 14th wealthiest county in THE UNITED STATES. That's a big deal. There's a rather large Navy base here that pulls a lot of engineers, logisticians and other high salaried people to the area. Plus, we're less than 2 hours from D.C. so people even live here and commute. Because there is a lot of money in the county things are more expensive. But that makes it very hard for the people who don't make what those other people do. Sure I may work for a defense contractor, but I don't make anywhere close to the salary of some of those people. And with Collin working at Wal-Mart on cars, he certainly didn't make much. Now granted, if it weren't for my student loans, we would be okay, but those pesky payments are just enough that we really have to pinch our pennies.

We searched for a little while for an apartment and we found a cute little one bedroom in a community that we had previously wanted to live in. It was just the right price for our budget and we put down a deposit! We signed the lease and moved in May of 2012. It was a relief to finally be in our own place! We knew that when we moved we would have to be even more frugal with our money than we were living with Collin's parents. We would have expenses that we didn't have while with them, but we knew we could and would make it work.

We had not been making any of these decisions alone. Throughout every step we prayed and sought God's guidance for what we should do and each time we felt like the decisions we were making were the ones that He wanted us to choose. Therefore we knew that with His help we would be okay.

We were so glad to have our own apartment. But once we moved out and had a little perspective and a little bit of distance from living with Collin's parents, we saw what a HUGE blessing it had been. God provided us with a wonderful home, wonderful parents, and a chance to get our lives back together. That plan we made to live with a roommate that fell through before we moved in with his parents would have been the worst mistake, ever. If we had gone through with that, we would have had enough money from our paychecks to cover our bills but we never would have been able to pay down our credit card as fast and we certainly would not have been able to save money! Plus, that guy we were going to live with turned out to be in worse financial shape than us and we would have had to cover his part of the finances as well as our own and we would have been even worse off than before!

So after two years of marriage, we were finally at a place financially where we weren't freaking out and having to go into our reserve funds to pay for stuff. Money was still tight but we were managing it a lot better; eating out less, buying less clothing (in my case), being mindful of the groceries we buy, etc. However, we were still dealing with Collin's work. He had been at Wal-Mart for over two years and was miserable. The hours he worked were less than ideal and the only day that we both had off was Sunday; and those were usually busy because of church and then wanting to spend time with people as a couple. Throughout all this Collin had been applying for jobs all over the place. He even talked to both Air Force and Navy recruiters. He was tired of working at a dead end job, getting treated so poorly and barely making above minimum wage. Collin wants to finish college and do something exciting with his life.

In June of 2012, Collin got a new job at a locally owned tire & auto garage, one that had better hours and slightly better pay than Wal-Mart. At this job, Collin worked from 7:30-5:30 Monday through Friday and from 8-1 on Saturday. His base pay was less than what he made at Wal-Mart, but because he worked 55 hours a week he got overtime pay which was time and a half. It ended up being a good bit more than his pay at Wal-Mart. This seemed like a great step up for the time being. And it was for us financially and relational. We had a little more security with money and we were finally able to have somewhat normal hours together. Collin still worked Saturday mornings, but we had the whole afternoon and evening together! It was wonderful! But the job began to take its toll on Collin. He was so tired from being on his feet 55 hours a week. And his boss (the owner of the garage) was very firm and completely different from his boss at Wal-Mart.

At this point, the Navy was really starting to look like our best option. So we kept praying and waiting for an answer from God... just waiting like we had been doing for three years!

A Story of God's Provision (Part 3)

In case you missed them, you can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

March 2011 arrived and there we were with a credit card balance of almost $4,500, a savings account with less than $1,000 in it and paychecks that just didn't quite pay all the bills. It's not like we had been spending our money on ridiculous/frivolous things, or even big ticket items for that matter, we were really quite frugal. However, we definitely ate out more than we should have and I definitely bought more clothes/goodies than I should have. We were unfortunately living in a place that we just couldn't afford. Even with Collin's minimal annual raise in January and the small annual raise I was expecting in May, we knew our financial situation was not good.

A couple months before our lease was up, Collin's parents sort of casually mentioned to us that we could always live in their basement for a little while if we needed. I was dead set against that because I wanted to be independent. We were married now. Married people don't live with their parents. However, after our other plan fell through to move into an apartment with a roommate we prayed long and hard and felt God calling us to move in with Collin's parents. It was so uncomfortable having to approach them and see if the offer still stood for us to live in the basement. Of course they were more than gracious to help us out. And we even had our own private living quarters in a way. We had our own living room, bedroom, bathroom, fridge/freezer, microwave and sink downstairs. The only thing we needed to go upstairs for was to use the kitchen and enter/exit the house.

Before we moved in we sat down with Collin's dad and had a talk about our financial plan for while we lived with them. They wouldn't let us contribute financially to living there, but the deal was that each month we would put $500 into savings and $250 would go towards the credit card to pay down our balance. We still had to pay for our cell phones, insurance, car loans and my student loans, but our expenses drastically decreased! This was a huge, huge blessing for us! We could finally get out from under this money cloud that loomed over us.

Living with Collin's parents was not all easy. It was very difficult at times for me to live in someone else's house, especially after having lived on our own for a year. I felt like his parents, his mom especially was trying to do everything for us and I wanted to be as independent as possible. I wanted it to seem like we were still living on our own even though we were just underneath our parents. But I couldn't be completely independent; and so it made me very bitter and very frustrated with not being able to be the wife I felt like I should be. This caused some tension between Collin and I, and at times some tension between his mom and I. Collin and I even sought some counseling from our pastors at church (a husband and wife team) because we were fighting so much and couldn't figure out why. We had been married about a year and a half and it felt like we just fought all the time. We weren't headed for divorce, but we just wanted to be able to go a day without having a fight.

After about a year, I finally knew that it was time to move out. I was becoming a very negative person (totally opposite of my usually cheery, bubbly self) because of my attitude toward his parents. I LOVE Collin's parents. They are amazing people and so, so gracious. But I just couldn't get past the need to be independent. I couldn't see them for the wonderful people they truly are because all I saw was the couple "preventing" me from being the wife I wanted and to have the independence I wanted. We both knew that if we wanted to have a good relationship with his parents (and a good relationship between ourselves) we needed to find our own place again.

We were able to pay the credit card off by the beginning of 2012 and our savings had a bit more money in it than we started out with. It was still not a lot though because I got so antsy about paying off the credit card that I did take some money from savings to pay it. But with the debt gone and another annual raise for each of us we decided that if we found an apartment that was cheap enough we could indeed move out on our own once more.

A Story of God's Provision (Part 2)

In case you missed part 1, you can catch up here.

May of 2010 came and went and we were blissfully happy! We were married and living on our own, both of us for the first time. Before we got married we joined bank accounts, combined all our finances, and decided that to get the best benefits from our credit card we would use our credit card for all of our purchases to rack up points and earn cash back. This seemed like a really great plan. We would pay off the credit card every month with the money from our bank account, and we always had enough. Until we didn't.

We paid for everything we possibly could with that credit card; rent, gas bill, electric bill, phone bill, insurance, groceries, water/sewer bill, clothing, eating out, Netflix, etc. It all got charged to the credit card. This was in addition to the money that was automatically coming out of the bank account each month for my student loan payments, car loan and our tithes to the church. And then there were the unexpected charges like when our cat, Stank, got really sick and we had to take him to the vet. Or when our "built-in" pantry shelves fell down and we had to buy something new to replace it with. Those things really add up, especially the unexpected charges!

Eventually it got to the point that we started having to take money out of savings to pay off the credit card completely. Our pay checks were just not enough. It started out as not much, just $25, then $50, then $100 and it kept increasing until we'd dwindled our already not very large savings account to just under $1,000. When this happened we ended up not being able to pay the credit card in full every month. Granted this didn't happen right away, it took several months for us to start racking up this debt. But by this point, my spending habits had been formed and it was REALLY hard for me to cut back. Before getting married I was so used to buying clothes whenever I wanted. I've ALWAYS been a thrifty shopper, but when you are really struggling financially, even being thrifty doesn't make up for buying frivolously. I never hid my purchases from Collin, but it got to the point where he would get really upset with me for buying something new that wasn't a need. And I would get really defensive and many arguments broke out because of my spending habits.

The first year of marriage is hard enough on its own, adjusting to life together, figuring out all the idiosyncrasies of living with a new person, but to add financial stress on top of that is no cake walk. It was hard. Very, very hard. We fought a lot and most of the fighting stemmed from something dealing with our financial situation. And it didn't make things any better that our work schedules were so different. I worked "normal" hours from 7-4:30 and had every other Friday off (still do), while Collin's schedule changed all the time. Working retail will do that. At this point the TLE (Tire & Lube Express) was open from 7am-9pm. Most days Collin worked from 12-9. However, that didn't mean he would get off at 9, sometimes it was close to 10 when he would get home from work and by that point I was ready for bed. And then even once the TLE began closing at 7pm, most days Collin would still be at work until 8 or 9, including Saturdays! That was hard in and of itself. We didn't have a "normal" life as I had always imagined it would be.

So our first year of marriage was quickly going by. We weren't getting to spend much time together (another bad thing for my shopping habits... when I was bored/lonely I would shop), and we were quickly accruing credit card debt. It came time for us to begin thinking about either renewing our lease or moving somewhere else. When we got our renewal notice in the mail, of course our rent had been increased. We both decided that there was no way we could stay in our town home, especially not with a rent increase since we couldn't afford it at the price it was. We started praying about what we should do and where we should move. We thought we had it all figured out but then our plan fell through. However, God provided us with a solution. It wasn't one that I embraced with open arms. But as I look back now, it was the absolute best thing for us at this point.

A Story of God's Provision (Part 1)

In July of 2009 Collin and I got engaged! One of the prerequisites we'd set for ourselves to get married was that we both needed to have full time permanent jobs. Until July, Collin had been working full time with a contractor but only on a temporary basis. He was then offered a full-time position with a new contract that was being awarded. Great news! Collin proposed and we were so happy. Then about a month later, Collin got let go from that job, we're still not completely sure why. We were crushed! We'd already set our wedding date; already started planning. So we kept up with plans, praying hard and just knowing Collin would find a job in the 8 months until our wedding. However, after months of looking, applying at all the government contractors and not even getting an interview, Collin knew he needed to just get any job. A friend of ours worked at Wal-Mart in the Tire & Lube Express. He urged Collin to apply, and though it wouldn't be an ideal job, at least it would be something until a better job came along. We'd been praying for something to come along, and this just seemed like it was where God wanted Collin to go for now. Collin was hired and started at Wal-Mart on January 1, 2010. Things were looking pretty good. With my salary and Collin now having at least a steady job (even though it wasn't the best pay or best job) we put a deposit down on a town home to move into once we got married.

March 2010 arrived and we were so close to our wedding! Things were going good and we were both really excited for the future! Then I find out that I'm being let go from my job. I'd been there just under a year, and though I didn't love it, it paid really well. My last day of work with that company was March 26, only 29 days from our wedding, and the exact day that we signed the lease on our town home and Collin moved in. You guys, this was scary. Collin working at Wal-Mart was NOT enough to support us. Not even close. I immediately applied for unemployment benefits, not sure that I would get them, but thank goodness I was approved. I hated having to use government help, but without it, we would have struggled much more. Having a rent payment, two student loan payments (that add up almost to our rent payment), cell phone bill, a car loan, and now all the expenses of living on your own (utilities, food, etc.) we needed that unemployment check.

I began praying hard. I didn't know why God would do this to us. So close to our wedding day; so close to beginning our future. I had no idea why God would let me lose my job. But I prayed, knowing that He could and would provide me with a new one. Fortunately I found a job within two weeks of my last day of work. However, I didn't start until after our wedding, because really, I would need to take a week off after only working for a week. I discussed this with my new boss and he was perfectly okay with me starting my job on May 3, after the wedding and honeymoon were over. And this is when I realized that God used the loss of my job for good. It allowed me to focus solely on wedding planning. That final month before the wedding would have been the most stressful month of my life, but because I was unemployed, because I found a job shortly into my unemployment, I was able to focus all my time and attention on the last minute details of our wedding. It was the BEST blessing, ever. So after the wedding was over and we returned from our honeymoon, I started my new job. And as excited as I was for my new job, I was NOT excited to have to take a $4/hr pay cut. When we looked around for where to live months prior, we took in to account our salaries. That pay cut was going to hurt, but little did we know how much!

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

This past weekend we were sick. Ick! Collin came home from work on Friday evening feeling chilly and achy. I took his temperature and it was 101.8. Poor guy caught the flu from his boss at work. =/ Not sure why his boss came to work with the flu, but oh well. Anyway, Collin was down for the count Friday-Sunday and started feeling better Sunday afternoon. However, Sunday afternoon I started feeling bad. I definitely didn't have the flu like Collin but my sinuses had been acting up since a week before Christmas and it finally decided it wanted to settle in my chest. Monday I felt horrible. Yesterday I began feeling better though and today we're both doing much better! So it wasn't too exciting of a New Year's Eve for us. We stayed home by ourselves in our PJs and watched TV, movies, and played video games. Collin wanted to watch the ball drop but since we don't have cable he streamed a program online. I went to bed around 11 because I was tired and didn't feel like staying up any longer. =) Some celebration we had!

The only pictures I felt like taking this weekend were of our kitties. They most definitely knew that we didn't feel good because they were extra lovey and sweet to us! I love that animals can sense when you don't feel good and they just want to be with you to make you feel better!

Happy Wednesday! I hope that you enjoyed a much more exiting (and healthier) New Year's celebration than us!

Cindy

A New Addition...

We've added a new addition to our little family! And no, it's not what you're thinking... we're not having a baby. But we did add a "baby" to our family. This weekend we adopted a kitten! =D He is the cutest, sweetest, most playful little thing! We picked him up on Saturday afternoon and have been loving having him around ever since. Stank hasn't been *too* happy but he's warming up to him. His name is Seabass. It's short for Johann Sebastian. =)

Last weekend we had stopped by Petco just to look at the cute kitties they have for adoptions there every Saturday. We saw this adorable little orange and white kitten and even held him but we hadn't discussed adopting before going there (we go all the time so it wasn't unusual). But we fell in love with this kitten. We took some contact info and went home and talked about it and decided we did want to add to our family. So we made some calls and everything was all arranged for us to pick him up this past Saturday at Petco!

Anyway, other than getting our new kitty we did have our great date night on Friday! We had a delicious dinner at Chick-Fil-A followed by filling our cart with the things from our list at Target. And Saturday evening our friends Jeff and Jeannie came over and we played some games. Then Sunday after church my parents came over for lunch and we also played a game with them. It was a great weekend!

I bought this beautiful bunch of sunflowers from the Amish on Saturday morning!


Snuggling with my Stanky-boy while waiting for Collin to get off work on Saturday

On the way home with the new kitty!

Stank was just kind of staring at Seabass the whole day on Saturday. He would hiss any time he got too close.

Seabass sitting still for the first time since we brought him home.

At this point everyone in the apartment was taking a nap except me. haha!

A GLORIOUS morning sky on the way to church. It was especially beautiful because it rained all day on Saturday and then stormed pretty much the rest of the day on Sunday!

Seabass actually fell asleep on the couch next to me yesterday for a few minutes.

Funny sleeping position on Sunday evening while we were lounging on the couch watching a movie.

So all in all I'd say it was a pretty fantastic weekend! We're looking forward to getting to know Seabass more and watching him grow and develop his little personality; and for Stank to finish warming up to him (he's finally stopped hissing at him every time he gets close)! I hope you had a fantastic time as well!!

Cindy

I'd Rather Be Married...

Two of our friends got engaged recently and one is currently ring shopping. I am so excited for them!! This is an absolutely wonderful time in their lives and I love seeing my friends preparing for and getting married!!

However, it got me thinking about our own proposal and engagement and how sweet and wonderful a time it was. And I got a little sad/nostalgic. Our proposal was so fun and sweet and I loved telling people the story! I remember how much fun we had in those days of being engaged. Getting to spread the news and planning for our wedding and for our future as a married couple. It was great and fun! Those were some very happy days and I look back on them fondly! But hearing about these friends getting engaged it brought me back to that time in our lives and I missed it.

But then I realized, I'm MARRIED to my best friend and love of my life! Sure we had fun in the "beginning" while we were planning for our future together but we're still having fun now! And when we were engaged I wanted so badly to just be married already. And now we are and have been for over two years! Being engaged is great but being married is SO MUCH BETTER! It's okay to look back on our engagement period with happy memories and fondness but I don't need to be sad that it's over because this period of my life (and the rest of the periods of my life) are great because we're married and living our happily ever after!

I can't wait for our friends to experience the wonderful blessings that come with marriage! And I can't wait to continue experiencing those blessings myself with my wonderful hubby by my side!

Photo by Tiffany Blackstone Photography

Cindy

Blogger 411

My blog friend Meagan posted this neat little getting to know you Blogger 411 today and it linked me to Becky over at From Mrs. to Mama. I think Becky has a great idea for getting to know other bloggers better and since my blog is a journey of my life I thought it could be fun for you all to learn some more about me through some fun questions.

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?
I started blogging in December of 2010, so almost two years now! I started blogging because I was already a big part of the community (I read and commented on many blogs) and I wanted to journal and form relationships with the many wonderful ladies I had already met and would soon meet! My blog hasn't really changed too much. I didn't exactly have a real format. I've tried certain things that I kept up with for a little while (my Friday series stuff) that I don't do anymore and I've added other random things but mostly my blog is the same, a hodgepodge of different posts. I am proud though that my posts are accompanied by original photography now instead of finding random photos online.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
I went to Messiah College in the tiny town of Grantham, PA. I studied music. Started out as Music Education and ended up as Church Music. It may have been expensive (and put me in debt) but I wouldn't trade my experience there for anything!

3. Where have you traveled?
Well, growing up my family didn't go too terribly far away for vacations. We didn't have a ton of money so if we went a long ways from Maryland is was pretty much to visit family. So as a kid I went to Phoenix and Tuscon (in the same trip), the Chicago suburb area, Louisville, and New Hampshire; and then we went to VA Beach a lot and went to numerous campgrounds in the states of VA, MD, and PA. Then in college I went to Austria and Czech Republic with my choir on an international tour, I went to Miami for an ACDA Convention (choir convention), I did a New England fall break tour with the drama ministry group, Spirit Force, I was a part of, and I went to NYC, NJ, DE, and some random other places in PA for choir tour. One summer while I was in college my family went to Las Vegas! That was also to visit family but it was such a fun trip. And then since I've been with Collin I've been to Orlando, Ormond Beach, Atlantic Beach, NC, the Poconos, Williamsport, PA, and on a cruise to the Bahamas. I REALLY love to travel. I would travel all the time if we could afford it!

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
I would pay off all my student loan debt. Then once that was done I'd buy us a house and a Disney cruise to Alaska.

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?
1. Hmm... This is weird but coughing. I can't stand to hear people cough. Ick.
2. People who don't know how to drive/break driving rules. And I don't just mean like driving too slow or what not. I mean people that pass on the right on a solid white line. People that talk on their cell phone/text while driving even though it's against the law in MD. People that don't use their turn signals. Just stuff like that.
3. When someone doesn't put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher but doesn't rinse it off and/or stacks the dirty plates filled with food. EWW. So gross!!! When I go to put it in the dishwasher (i.e. if it was full and/or clean when the new dirty dishes were made), I do NOT want to touch nasty food stuck to the bottom of a plate or smell icky caked on stuff.

6. What is your favorite movie?
It's too hard to choose. Here's my top 5. Up, Ocean's Eleven, RV, National Treasure, and Rat Race

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?
Of all those options the only one I drink is water. =) And that actually is my drink of choice.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?
I love to play piano, play frisbee golf, or read.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
Only one store? That would be really hard. But I suppose either Kohl's or Marshall's. And I'd probably still only buy sale/clearance priced merchandise.

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.
This is the hardest to come up with. I know I have had NUMEROUS embarrassing moments in the past (and present) but I can't think of any. I guess I just block them out! haha. I suppose I can share with you one that happened in middle school that traumatized me forever. I was in band throughout middle school and we always had to play at the 8th grade graduation ceremony. This was in 6th grade and we had finished playing and went to lunch all together as a band. Because we had to be dressed up I was wearing a knee length black skirt with my band shirt. Our cafeteria at the time didn't have AC in it so they had these gigantic industrial fans in there to keep it cool. Well, I was walking from the table to go get in the lunch line and I tripped over one of the fan cords and landed face first on the ground. Upon standing up I realized my skirt flew up revealing my underwear to all who saw me fall. But the worst part was, the boy I had a crush on was sitting RIGHT NEXT to where I fell. I was mortified. At least it was the last day of school and everyone had forgotten about it over the summer. =)

11. What day would you love to relive again?
Either our wedding day (it was SO MUCH FUN) or our Day At Sea on our cruise in 2010.

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?
Kate Hudson.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
I had a lot of different jobs. In high school I worked for Peebles Department Store for a few months, I babysat, and then between high school and college I worked for a government contractor. Then during my college breaks I worked at a daycare one summer, as a behavioral specialist for a child with autism one summer, I babysat one summer, and I worked as a substitute teacher for a little while. Then after college I worked for a Temp Agency before getting my first "real" job.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.

Collin and I at the Senior Banquet in High School. We weren't dating, we didn't really know each other all that well actually. haha! I love how it looks like we're in love though. Proves we were meant to be together! *Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. This is a scan of a physical picture and the original was kind of washed out, too*

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?
Italy. I would go to most of the country actually but definitely Venice. And I'd ride in a gondola.

16. Show us the most current picture of you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you.

This may not be the *most* current picture but I love it. And it still looks like us. It was taken last December. We haven't really changed much at all. Except my hair is now longer. =)

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?
5 years from now I really have no idea! Life is so up in the air. I suppose in 5 years I hope to be pregnant and possibly owning a home. It just all depends on where we are financially. At least 5 years from now my car will be paid off and my smallest student loan will be mostly, if not all the way, paid off!

I hope you guys enjoyed getting to know a little but more about me! It's fun to fill these things out. It gives me a bit of introspection into myself. And I even had to think about things I'd forgotten about!

Cindy

My Week via Instagram

Since I haven't really had too much of a "real" update in the past week or so, I thought I'd show you what's been going on in my life!
I bought some new shirts at Old Navy last week and they are so super comfy!
My daily reminder here at work.
This isn't the best quality picture, but that bright blob is the moon. It was HUGE and sooo bright.
Think it's time to take my Christmas tree home from the office?
(just so you know I took it home that afternoon)
Chocolate peanut butter drink. It wasn't a milkshake and it wasn't a smoothie. It was basically chocolate peanut butter milk. So good!
He gets so cozy and actually loves being covered by a blanket.
The sun was extra bright on my way to work Friday morning. The sky was filled with orange.
I love wearing blue and I especially love it when my hair is wavy.
I much prefer to sit barefoot at work.
We watched an IMAX movie called Sharks and Stank was intently watching the tv. During the movie there were 3 (out of 4) animals sitting with us. Collin playing around on his ukelele.
It snowed Saturday night! Just a dusting but it was pretty on Sunday morning. My boys napped on the couch after church while I addressed my Valentine's.
Addressing the Valentine's I made on Saturday. I made 14 cards!

It's been a fun week! I didn't document any pictures of my card making with my friend Jeannie, nor did I document any pictures from our evening with Jeff and Jeannie. We went to Olive Garden for dinner with them and then back to their apartment to play some games. We had a blast! And then yesterday after church our youth group made 120 Valentine's to deliver to a local nursing home. The kids really enjoyed making the cards and I should have taken a picture of them in all their creative-ness. It was so fun to watch!

Anyway, what have you been up to this past week/weekend? I hope it's been filled with lots of fun and happiness as mine has been!

Cindy

Ya'll Come Back Now, Y'Hear?

So going around on the interwebs has been this fun little dialect test/vlog thing and after Ashley at Hudson's Happenings posted it this week I just really wanted to do it. So... here's a little video of Collin and myself showing you our "accents". =)

The instructions are to say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

So... what do you guys think? Do I have an accent? Do Collin and I sound anything like how you would have imagined? I just love Collin's deep voice! He sounds like a radio personality or something, doesn't he? =) We hope you enjoyed our first little "vlog". We had fun making it!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! It's cold here but we're not predicted to get any snow just some rain but other places are supposedly gonna get hit pretty hard. So if you're one of them, good luck - stay warm and safe! See you all Monday!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

This is just a typical evening at home. Sitting on the couch in comfy clothes with slippers on. And we're either playing something on the PS3 or watching something via Netflix on the PS3. =) I love our everyday "routine".

Cindy

Wedding Week - "Day After" Shoot

I call it our "Day After" shoot because it was more like a 6 months after shoot! Our wedding day was wonderful as I talked about in my other posts but unfortunately we didn't have enough time for many romantic shots of Collin and me. The ones you saw in my Ceremony and Formals post were pretty much the only ones we got. I mean, there were a few extras but they were all generally the same poses and what not. And I really wanted some pictures taken outside. So, our awesome second shooter photographer at our wedding Chrissy Wolfrum took a bunch of photos for us at Greenwell State Park so we could have some nice romantic shots! The great thing about when we did it, it was the week after my sister's wedding and Collin hadn't returned his tux from their wedding yet!

Our pastor who married us always incorporates props into his sermons and so therefore he uses props during his marriage ceremonies.  He finds a prop and somehow ties it into both God and marriage.  Our prop was a set of walkie talkies.  The best thing, the couple gets to keep the props so we used them during our photo shoot.  In these photos we are actually talking to each other.  Which is apparent on my face at least. ; )

When I found out it was going to be rainy on our wedding day I had really wanted to take a picture of me in my pink golashes while wearing my wedding dress.  I figured this was a good opportunity since the beach would be kinda gross for heels...

This is the same horse that I encountered at my bachelorette shindig!!

It was a fun afternoon taking pictures and I was very pleased with how they turned out! I could totally be a model. =P It was great to be able to have some pictures of Collin and me taken without the hectic schedule of a wedding day and I love the love that's evident in the pictures!

Cindy