Christmas

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you & yours! :)

It's our first Christmas and we are very happy and excited about that :)

Here we are in front of our lovely Christmas tree at 12:16 a.m on Christmas 2010!

It has a few less presents under it in this picture than it did a short few hours ago when my family was over for our Christmas Eve tradition of exchanging gifts we've gotten for each other. We do the in-family gifts tonight and the "Santa" gifts tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will wake up together for our first Christmas in our house just US :) We decided to do that this year, but in the future we may stay at one of our parents houses on Christmas Eve, we'll see. Then after we have a little time here, we are heading to my parents' house to open the "Santa" gifts, then to my dad's parents' house to do lunch and Christmas with that side of the family, then out of town we go...to my mom's parents' house for dinner and MORE Christmas with the other side of the family. 

It's a whirlwind day that we repeat twice a year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) although, it is a little different for us this year being married! 

We love it. 

We love each other.

And that is what celebrating Christmas is all about...the LOVE that came into the world in the form of a little baby named Jesus that we remember at this time of year. 

I pray everyone enjoys the holiday festivities--Christmas and New Year's, too! And that everyone stays safe! 

Here are a few more pictures we took over the last few weeks, most are from tonight...

Our friend Annie not only MADE our bow, but she put it on the tree before she left E.City, too! :)

Us in a snow earlier this month :) one of the THREE so far in winter 2010!

And this was the picture of the tree BEFORE we started opening presents tonight!

A couple weeks ago, right after we set our tree up for the first time:

    

 And tonight, Christmas Eve:

Sorting out presents...

 

It took forever to get them all to stop eating, talking, etc...and SMILE! 

But when Joe finally got in there...success! I love my beautiful family!

Kara says, "Daddy rub my back!"

And now *almost* all the family has gone home...time for some Christmas early morning hour pictures....

 Ahh, but one "member of the family" remains..

The "adopted" brother, Daniel :) 

He's one of many we've adopted into the Pipkin/Cartwright crew! 

New Orleans ornament...special memories!

Mistletoe Ornament! MUAH!!

And the Snowman Ornament Grandma Peggy got us from Niagara Falls! 

These are just a few of the many...but for some reason, this day I decided to take a picture of these. :) 

Oh and tonight we watched Dennis the Menace Christmas & a veggie tales Christmas movie in addition to opening up our gifts. 

 This is a random post, but I've been doing many things while posting...and it's Christmas! So, I'm not putting one more minute into it...I'm going to snuggle with my HUSBAND on CHRISTMAS, for the first time ever. 

Good night & Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas music

When I was younger I didn't like Christmas music. Now, I LOVVVEE it.

It hasn't stopped playing at our house in the past couple weeks.

Right now I am digging this song :)

 
I just discovered it through target.com. They have a free cd of Christmas music you can download. That is one of them I really like! You can see all of them here. You can pick individual songs so you only get the ones you like.

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Hopefully I will do more blogging after this Friday.
Right now it's exam week.

And on that note...it's back to school work for me! :)

Husband

 He's a hottie.

&

He's pretty funny, too.

And I love him.

Dining In?

That's what you get asked when you walk into many fast food restaurants, "Will you be dining in or is this to-go? Well my challenge to myself (and you, should you choose to accept the challenge) is to "dine-in"...in my home. 

We have always tried to dine-in because obviously it is just plain CHEAPER. And let's face it, two full-time college students are far from "rakin in the dough!" :) But, that's okay because we're making it work--one frugal decision at at time! However, there are times when we slip up and head out to eat, mainly due to convenience and I want us to work on doing a better job at saying no and staying home. I was reminded to try harder, and encouraged too, tonight when I was checking my emails. 


 My mom has started forwarding me e-mails that she gets (essentially posts) from a blog called "The Simple Dollar" and below is a quote from a post he did while reviewing a book by Jeff Yeager, The Cheapskate Next Door--The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means.

"Dining out might seem like a normal routine for some, but if you add up the costs of it over a long period, it adds up to a lot of money. If you eat out twice a week for $30 when you could eat at home for $5, guess how much that adds up to over ten years? $26,000. If you can trim those meals eaten out down to once a week, there’s $13,000 you didn’t have before. Figure out ways to eat out for less or cut back even more on dining out and you put even more money in your pocket."

Well, I guess you can see why it was encouraging!? $26,000 of my hard-earned money going to restaurants & fast-food chains? Ughh....that makes me sick! Although I think that estimate would be a bit high for us, a)we don't eat out twice a week and b)when we do we do NOT often spend $30!

So I'm re-energizing my efforts of "dining-in" our own home! Plus think about all the other fun things that come along with "dining-in" 

• No gas money spent on going to and from! More savings!!
• Enjoy time cooking with your husband (or kids in some of your cases, in ours ONE day!) 
• Learn new recipes 
• Improve old recipes
• Compost what you can that you would throw away...maybe I'll do this one day? 

 So what other bonuses can you think of to "dining-in?" And what other tips do you have about this topic?  

And if you want to see the other 15 tips he pulls from Yeager's book, click on the link above titled "The Simple Dollar," and that will take you to his review where he lists all 16 tips for living more frugally. 

Our Chapel

If you missed it...

Here is the link to listen to our chapel...well actually it's a link to Chris Woolard's blog that has the podcast on it.

So what do I mean by "our chapel?"

Well in your junior and senior year at our college, you have to plan a chapel. We have chapel Tuesday & Wednesday mornings for the student body and the staff/faculty...and anyone else who wants to join us! And last Tuesday, right before we went on Thanksgiving break, it was our turn.

Joe and I invited Jordan Clark to do worship and Chris Woolard to speak. They both did a great job (as always)! Again, thanks so much for coming you guys!

Click on the link above to hear the worship Jordan led us in and the message Chris brought to us. I'm sad to say that the part Joe did isn't on the podcast because he didn't use a microphone...(mainly b/c he's got a big enough mouth without it...haha) But, he too did a great job! I was very proud of the little bit that Joe did--he introduced Chris by talking about how Chris allowed himself to be used by the Holy Spirit to work wonders in Joe's life. Joe said that he would not be where he is today if it were not for Chris & for what God did through him (and for that I'm very thankful b/c we may not have met!). Chris joked when he stepped up on the stage that he didn't need to speak because Joe already brought the message. Great job, honey!

So...please be encouraged to let God use you! You never know when he's using your life to touch another! I hope you guys enjoy the podcast; I promise it's worth your time to listen and be challenged!

Mainly to Remember....

This blog is mainly so I will remember the post talked about below in the future and refer back to it...

I. can. not. wait. to do things like this with our kids in the future.
(Read that as: I CAN wait, but I'm terribly excited!)

Kudos to Kelly for making memories with her kiddos that will help them forever remember what Christmas really means!

See her great blog post here for their plans for the Christmas season!

Natali goes to Mali!

Will you join me in praying for a sister in Christ?

Meet Natali.

You can learn more about her plans & story here, on her blog.

But to sum it up for you: Natali is heading to Mali on a missions trip. She knew she wanted to go...but she didn't know for how long.
So, she gave it to God in prayer...and she's going for an entire year!


This is a video she made:

This video allows us to see some of the faces, the places, and the lives that she will touch.

Will you say a prayer for Natali today? 

Will you pray for those faces, places and lives that she will touch?

She will be graduating from ECU in December and leaving shortly after for Mali. 

If you feel inclined to give to help Natali financially or to

know more details about her trip, see this post. 

Natali, 

Thank you for letting God use you! I'm thankful that God let our lives cross paths, even just for a brief time...but that we can now keep up with each other online. Please know that I am praying for you, and I will be while you are there as well! Keep serving Him! 

Love, Kristi

Painting the Church

I do not claim to have written this...I do not know where it originated from, but it's share-worthy...so I'm sharing :) 

There was a Scottish painter named Smokey Macgregor who was very
interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down
his paint to make it go a wee bit further.

As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually
the local church decided to do a big restoration job on the outside
of one of their biggest buildings.

Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the
job.

So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks,
and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down
with turpentine....

Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly
completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the
sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from
all over the church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to
land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale  
puddles of the thinned and useless paint.

Smokey was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty,
so he got down on his knees and cried:  "Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?"

And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke..

"Repaint! Repaint!
And thin no more!"


:) 

Today...

...it has been FOUR years and one month

 since we became boyfriend&girlfriend 

on October FOURth, 2006.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

...it has been 2 years and 1 month since our 2 year anniversary

that we celebrated on October FOURth, 2008 at

the Melting Pot in Virginia.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

...it has been 19 months since

we got engaged on April FOURth, 2009

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

...it has been FOUR months since we got married

at FOUR o'clock on Sunday, July FOURth. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

I guess you could say 

we have a thing for FOURs...

But most of all, we have a thing for each other. 

I love him. 

I love my HUSBAND. 

He is my number ONE! 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

And...he is just so beautiful...

see?

Joseph William,

I love you baby...

I look forward to many more years...in multiples of FOUR, and ten and fifty. 

Thank you for being the best husband I could ever ask for....so good that I filled up a whole page of reasons in minutes. ;)

 And I'm glad you loved that! 

But, I'm most glad...that you love me, too. 

xoxoxoxo, 

Your Wife

Today it RAINED! :)

Today it rained....

and I wore these!

I've been looking for rain boots, for MONTHS....like over a year I think. Thanks to those of you who helped along the way in my search & to target.com for finally being the winner that I bought from because they have such a great selection! 

So...finally I found the lovely ones you see in these pictures. They are black with multi-colored polka dots! :) I purchased them online last week, and they came in yesterday.


It made me happy wearing them today. Yes, I admit I am amused by the small things! But, realistically...if you've ever walked on our campus on a rainy day....you understand.

Our "sidewalks" become rivers. Yeah...that really happens. Our well maintained lawns that perfectly frame the sidewalks (which look great, of course) also make for the perfect water collecting location.

But did that stop me today? Not one bit! Did it slow me down? Nope! Did I have to hold my pants legs up so that they wouldn't be soaking wet for the next 4 hours? Sure did not!

Did I have FUN trampsing through those puddles like a kid? 

SURE DID!!

WOO-HOO! 

:) 

So, my rain boots came in JUST in time (the package arrived yesterday) and today it rained. Good timing? I think so!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

However, there is a negative side to this thus-far cheery post....I'm sorry to ruin it but, I just have to do it.


 I must vent about stupid drivers in this town. 

For those of you who don't know a lot about our school...we have a street through the middle of our campus. Well, I guess it's be better described as our campus is on both sides of a street....ehhh, tomAtoes, tomAHtoes....

Anyways, on the river side of the street we have the dorm & apartments, the library, the gym and the chapel...and then on the other side of the street we have a building called "Heritage" where our classrooms are, the staff and faculty offices, the cafeteria as well as buildings that house the administration, admissions, student life, and financial aid.

So....how do we go about getting from where we LIVE (dorm/apartments) to where we attend classes? eat? visit teachers? visit our super cool admissions counselors? the awesome financial aid officers? or in my case, go to work?

Well in theory...we walk across one of these:

This is a crosswalk. 

However, I say that this is in theory because people driving cars don't understand how they work. Drivers think that they do not need to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. This is in fact, false.

THIS IRRITATES ME....On days that it's NOT raining.

Today, it was pouring...and MULTIPLE people drove by me on different trips across the street, as I stood there dripping. Literally...dripping!

Had I not had on a rain coat and RAIN BOOTS! (woo-hoo!) I would have really, really been aggravated! But instead I was only aggravated with ONE really. And I looked at them....like this:

Haha!

...or something like that!

None-the-less I was left standing on the side of the street until a kind driver stopped and let me cross. (Thank you kind and decent stranger who chooses to obey traffic laws; specifically when it is RAINING!) I waved/mouthed thank you multiple times to show them that I was grateful they were not punks like the TWO cars in front of them.

But...now the rain has stopped & I do not have to cross the street again and today was just a day I spent having a good ol' time in my rain boots! 

"CHEESE!"

Well, really I worked most of the day...but still I was wearing my RAIN BOOTS! 

Now for the rest of the night:

• hang out with buddies, 
• do some reading, 
• take a movie back to red box, 
• play in our first intramural bball game,
• and whatever else the night brings....

because HEYYY my 8 a.m. class is cancelled! holllla! :)

Hope everyone else had a lovely rainy Thursday! 

And next time you see a cross walk, stop and let the people waiting cross. 

Jesus will love you if you do. :)

....Okay, fine, He'll love you if you don't.

But I can't promise that *I* will like you much. 

This Day of November #2

Woke-up/Got ready/Gave Joe good morning kiss! 8:15-8:50
Work. 9:00-12:30
Lunch. 12:3-1:30
Work.1:30-3:45

Library 4:00-5:30 [[completed assignment 1 of 3 on to-do list for the day.]]

Cooked & ate dinner. 5:30-7:00

Relaxed....7:00-9:30

Prepared for/Took a quiz 9:15-10:00 [[got a 95/100, which is awesome considering my last one was a 75! I hate history! This was assignment 2 of 3 to be completed today. ]]

10:15...husband is home from bball! yay!

And now we are doing our final assignments for the evening and settling down to watch a movie. Then we're doing some reading....maybe. =]

Oh and our favorite other married couple buddies are coming over to watch the movie with us...

I heart our Brian & Annie!

This is Brian, in a play at our school a couple years ago...he was a scary character!

And my Annie, dearest! I love her so much! :)

What...it's Friday!?

Welp, it's Friday! I don't know how that happened! This week felt like it FLEWWW by.

Summary of Events for the Week: 

Monday was pretty typical, except I skipped my night class to get work done that was due Monday night by midnight. I hadn't missed that class yet this semester, so it's okay! :) (Hey, you got skips for a reason-use'em! That's my philosophy. I hope my future kids don't read this! haha! Side note: the semester is nearly over and I haven't missed a class and I am doing well....so it's okay! You hear that kids?)

And at 3:00 Carrie & Amy came over and we tye-dyed shirts for bball season and because this week is spirit week so Friday (today) is SPIRIT DAY! Go Mustangs! No, that's not an actual picture of the shirts we made ...unfortunately. ;)


So then came Tuesday: I worked from about 8:30 to 2:00, had a meeting and then left at 3:30 to head to Kara's game with mom....threeeee hours away. Shew, at least it was worth it because those Lady Bruins pulled out a win in the 2nd round of the state playoffs! Read as: I AM SO PROUD OF MY SISTER! Varsity HS volleyball plays the best 3 out of 5. Well, they went in and dropped TWO games. That's right, the other team only needed to win ONE game to have ended Camden's season. BUT, our girls came back, fought and won THREE straight--fantastic! We got home about midnight so it wasn't unbearable...but when I got home Joe and I jumped into studying for a test we had the next morning at 8 a.m.

Wednesday: 8 a.m. test, 8:40--back home and in bed! Slept until next class at 11:00. Then it was time to get down to work....homework time, that never happened. I was all over campus this day, meeting with advisor to fix my schedule, in mom's office and doing various other things...it was like the afternoon ran away from me! For dinner, mom, Joe & I went to the fantastic Bojangles for dinner! But not just any dinner, a MOSTLY free one! What, you want in?! Go to this site! www.imakenews.com/bojangles/signup. And it's that simple, put in your info and you get a coupon for a free biscuit straight to your inbox. HINT: Sign up with all the email addresses you have! ; )


After dinner, Carrie & Amy came back over and we worked on our shirts that were now dried and laundered since we tye-dyed on Monday. It was time to paint! We did one side Wednesday and one side Thursday...but not only did Carrie & Amy come over. We practically have a party, and it was awesome because it was a totally unplanned wayyy fun night! We had 10 people in our house until ONE in the morning. But, eyyy, it was worth it because we had a blast! We just hung out, had music rockin through last fm on the xbox & then played scattergories which is always a good time and provides everyone with a great laugh!

Then it was Thursday and I worked again until a little before 2:00 because I got all my work done and got off early due to there being nothing left to do! Today is the 3rd round of state playoff day for my sister and I knew that I had work I HAD to do before I could leave to go to her game...so when I got off work, I hopped to it! I got most of the assignment done and knew I'd have time to finish it before class on Friday so off to her game I went...this time with mom AND dad. Thankfully it was much closer, we only had to drive about an hour to my mom's home town of Williamston. Well, if I'm being honest, I didn't think our Lady Bruins were going to make it past Tuesday night's game but when I found out we had to play Williamston, errr...River Side, I just knew the season was over. And, the first game it looked like it was going to be an ugly, lose three and go home, kinda match...until they won the second game. And even though River Side took game 3 in a tight match, our girls came back and won game 4 making it 2-2 and heading into the 5th and decisive game. Well, I think in between game 4 and 5 our girls left and some how put images of themselves on the court pretending to play because it was literally like they were not there. RSHS took a commanding lead and held onto it to win the match. HOWEVER, I was very proud of the way that Camden fought it out and gave them something that I know they were not expecting--a 5 game tight match! Way to go Lady Bruins....and especially especially especially that Kara!! I love you, sis! xoxoxo! So we got home about 10, I waited for Joe to get out of bball practice and the girls were coming over again so we could do our shirts. We worked on them/hung out again until after 1 in the morning! But they are done, and hopefully I will get up pictures of me in mine later...I am wearing it now because it's FRIDAY--Spirit day!!

So....that brings me to TODAY! It is nearly 11:00, which means my class is quickly approaching and so far today I've had one class, came home and did homework and I'm about to head to another one with my lovely husband. I love that I have all my classes but one with him. It's so great. But next semester it's the opposite, we only have ONE together. Sad! But, I'm glad we have that one! :) So...today holds for me, a nap, more t-shirt decorating (I haven't done Kara's yet...oops!) And then the pep-rally, and GAME tonight against Trinity. Can I please mention that I really want to beat Trinity for Daniel's (my adopted brother/son) sake because he just transferred here after playing there last year...and well, you know how it is to beat people you left after not so great terms arose and all that other jazz. But really, I just want our boys to do great! They've been workin and practicin and it's time to shine!

GO MUSTANGS!!

....AND ESPECIALLY GO JOE! 

Saturday, October 23rd.

 Today...

woke up at 8:30 to pick up Angelfood (this is a service/ministry that is greatly helping Joe & I to keep grocery costs down, check it out!)

Came home, put food up & went back to sleep...it's Saturday and we are college students, give us a break! haha :)

I got up, took a shower...Joe STILL sleeping. :)

Then Joe got a shower, mom came and picked us up & we all 3 headed to Kara's game.

Kara is on the varsity volleyball team at Camden High  (Sidenote: I'm super proud of her, she is the only sophomore who made varsity! Okay, proud sister moment over...continuing...) and they had their first state playoff game today.

They played Columbia High School which is a team that was in our conference back when I was in school. Camden was a #4 seed out of their conference and Columbia was a #1 seed out of theirs...and to give you a comparison of the level of play in the different conferences, we at a #4 seed STOMPED them at a #1 seed. We won three games straight, they play best 3 out of 5.

So...good luck to the Lady Bruins on Tuesday when they play in the second round of state playoffs! 

So they won in three quick games, total time played was only 55 minutes, so we drove longer to get there than it took for them to beat the other team. Then we went out to eat dinner at Andy's there in Columbia, that's where we always eat when we play there or in Creswell.

Next stop was back in town at the theater to see PARANOMAL ACTIVITY 2! :)
I loved the first one and I loved this one too.

These movies and Strangers are the scariest movies ever (in my opinion). And I love me some scary movies, as long as they aren't dirty. I'm not for all that language and gore. I could've done with a little less language in P.Activity 1 & 2.

Then after the movie, which was a blast. Everyone came back to our place, everyone being me, Joe, Mom, Dad, Kara and Emily (penelope!) ....Kristopher and his date went from the movie to Fright Nights, a "haunted" attraction here in town built inside the old Middle School, and they came to our apartment after for just a bit before he had to get her home before her curfew. cute.

Me and mom then watched Paranormal Activity 1 because mom hadn't seen it (she watched 2 before 1, silly momma!). Kara and Emily watched some of it with us, but they didn't make it through...at about 10:00 they went to our bedroom and crashed in our bed...after having been crashed on the couch for most of the movie.

Then mom, Kara and Emily headed out. Kristopher took his date home and it was only me, Joe and dad left....

....so of course we played some ping pong in the lobby.

Photo from: http://www.timtim.com/drawing/view/drawing_id/705

And yes, I SKUNKED my father. That's right, 7-NOTHING. :) Then he beat me 22-20, putting us tied 1-1 and I took him 21-14 in game three to win the match 2-for-3.
Hahahaha, ohhh it's good to beat dad!!

And now, it is ridiculously late & I am going to bed.

------------------
I should add (so you can laugh at me) that I started writing this post about an hour ago, then I came and got ready for bed and took Joe's phone to play a game of Bejewled while he finished up using the computer...I thought I was doing awesome playing the "action" version where you can't let the time run out or you lose...I have only ever gotten to level 6 and I was in the teens when I started to get suspicious if I had clicked the wrong choice and instead of action was playing "endless"...

....well, I had clicked "endless." And while I thought I was kicking the game's butt, really I was just robbing away time from my night's sleep.

Oh well....good night all. :) 

I want to be used.

You should go to this site. It is Chris Woolard's blog.

For those of you who may not know Chris, he is the youth minister at Christ's Church and he does an amazing job there with the youth along with the awesome group of volunteers I had the honor of working with. I am happy to have worked as a sponsor with Chris during the year that he was mentoring Joe as Joe served there as an intern for a year.

The specific blog post I've linked to contains three skits performed by some of the youth group and some of the sponsors as this past year's CCYC (Carolina Christian Youth Convention).

These skits are moving.  You should take the time to watch them. (probably less than 10 minutes total).

And join me in praying for all those who attended CCYC this past year and for all those who sponsored the trip with the many youth groups and for the churches they came from. Pray that God blesses CCYC so that it can continue to impact our youth and grow them in their relationship with Christ.

I'm thankful for the time that Joe and I spent at Christ's Church & while I miss them dearly, I am just waiting and praying for where God leads us next. I'm trying to make it the cry of my heart for God to use me...and really mean it. It's hard to mean that, it's hard to ask God to send you WHERE ever HE wants you. It's hard not to be selfish.

I'm trying God. I love You, Lord. And I DO want to serve YOU with my life.

There is a very negative connotation in the term "being used," unless you are a Christian...I want God to use ME.

I want to be used.

Two "P"s In a Pod!

Click here to see a necklace I've fallen in love with...

And here's why I love it:

2008 Halloween Party at our college

What a good memory 

:) 

I'm glad to be the second pea in the pod with my wonderful husband. 

He really is the best.

I couldn't ask for anything more & I'm so happy I'm married to him!