1 YEAR TODAY!

I have been married to my sweet boy for a whole year!! Last year on May 19 we were saying our vows and celebrating our love and commitment to one another in Christ with family and friends on a gorgeous sunny day. What an awesome day that was...and now today we are celebrating God's faithfulness and grace in our marriage! It is amazing how God has brought us even closer together, by his grace and not without some trials from his fatherly hand, he is sanctifying us through his wonderful gift of marriage! It has been SUCH an awesome year - lots of big stuff happening: Steve graduated, we got married, moved into our apartment, steve started a new job, he started coming to SGC, I began my last semester at ODU taking 18 credit hours, we started leading an Access community group, we bought a house and have been in the process of remodeling it for the last few months, I graduated from ODU, and we started the Equipped course for small group leadership and are going to lead a caregroup...probably starting next month!! Just to name a few...haha. Wow, it's been quite a year! So many blessings from his hand!

We are very thankful and humbled at the place where God has brought us, and we are looking forward to whatever's ahead! Steve is such a man of faith and humility...it is so evident that he lives his life being led by the spirit. He continually lays down his life for me and for so many others! I am so thankful for him and always amazed by his maturity, self-control, humility, ability to lead, and love for our Savior! I love the best friend I have in him!

Here are some pictures from our weekend getaway to the Outer Banks. We left Friday after Steve got off work, ate dinner at TGI Fridays, got Starbucks, and then drove out to Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Steve sippin on our white chocolate mocha :)

This was the incredibile view from our balcony!!
We rented this cute blue house (on the right) for the weekend! Beautiful, huh??
Just kidding!! We didn't rent a house..we stayed in an oceanfront hotel called the Colony IV by the Sea. It was really nice and we could open our door onto the balcony and listen to the ocean!

Lovin' some DQ snickers blizzard :)
We layed around on the beach most of the day Saturday, and then that afternoon we drove a couple miles down to see the big dunes at Jockey Ridge State Park. They are supposedly the tallest on the East Coast. It was pretty cool...nothing to write home about though haha. There were a bunch of people hang-gliding off the dunes, so we watched and laughed at them for a little while. Steve thought it was a pretty lame sport..he would much rather sky dive.
us on the dunes

lookin all serious...

Doing a little shopping for souveniers
Saturday night we ate at Barefoot Bernies...a laid back local place. The food was good and it was a fun atmosphere. Then we drove around looking for a coffee place so we could get coffee and take it down to the beach (it was kind of cool that night) but everything closed so early! So we got seven-eleven coffee (yeah baby!) and drank it on the beach. So fun!
Sunday we drove to Cape Hatteras. The drive there was so gorgeous! We made a couple stops along the way.
This is the Bodie Lighthouse.
Visitors center

me and the lighthouse :)


a beautiful spot where we stopped to collect shells.

There were TONS of beautiful shells!



The Cape Hatteras lighthouse

We got to climb it...287 steps!

Looking up from the bottom

The view from the top! Breathtaking!
Looking up into the top where the lights are.
excited face...

the ranger took our picture

amazing...

from the top looking down...
me by one of the windows
lighthouse and the flag...cool shot.

lighthouse reflected in Steve's sunglasses
us looking a little windblown but having a great time :)

We were both so thankful for that time to get away together and enjoy a whole weekend to ourselves! What a precious time of laughing and having fun together, reflecting on the past year and what God has done in our lives, and goals for the future! We feel very rested and refreshed from that time away. We went and saw Prince Caspian last night after we unpacked. Loved it! I thought it was a great movie..very well done. So today, our actual anniversary, we are going to take it easy, eat a dinner of Chicken Marsala, mashed potatoes and salad, maybe some chocolate dipped strawberries :) and just enjoy an evening at home together.

Happy Anniversary my love! Excited about each and every year we will have to spend together!

brian and jess.

Last night I had the distinct priviledge of hanging out with these two :) Steve had to work late, so Brian invited me to have dinner with them at Panera! They are so sweet. We had a great time laughing, talking and going over wedding details :) Then we went on a field trip to Garden Ridge where we got to watch Brian take a running leap onto a big center display of throw pillows! No joke...it was hilarious. But, needless to say, Jess and I just kept on walking hehe. Leave it to Brian to make an ordinary trip to Garden Ridge a memorable experience. For those who may not know, Brian is Steve's brother and Jess is his fiancee!

I am very thankful for the friends I have in these two. Brian, it has been great to have a brother to joke with and laugh at over the last year :) Thanks for all your encouragement during school and always calling me during the day to see how my long days were going. You are so thoughtful and I really appreciate you and all your crazy ways :p Thanks for being willing to put in lots of hours working on our house, even when you'd rather be hangin with your girl. We are so thankful for all your help! We are so excited about you marrying Jess! What a great wife she will be. You are very blessed bro!

Jess, I have LOVED getting to know you more and more over the past few months! When you and Brian started hanging out more and we began to suspect that you guys weren't going to remain 'just friends', I was so excited at the thought of having you as a sister. Your life is such a testimony of the Lord's faithfulness! I love your thoughtful and caring heart. You are always encouraging in the way you speak - whether to Brian or to me and Steve or whoever - the love of Christ is shown through your words and actions. I love to see the ways you serve Brian. You are going to be a great wife to him and I'm excited to watch the ways you guys will grow together as a married couple. What an exciting time of life you are in!

Love you both a whole stinkin lot :D
From your seeester and 'angel-in-law,' abbey.

GRADUATION!

Well I've officially graduated from college!! Saturday's ceremony was great...looong..but fun. There were a few surreal moments when I wasn't quite sure if this was really my graduation that I was sitting through haha. My family was all there - Steve, Mom, Dad, Rachael, Rebekah, Brian, Brian Crabb and Jess. I really appreciated their support and encouragement! They were troopers for sitting through that THREE hour ceremony. Geesh. After about the nine hundredth person walked across the stage I thought I would go crazy. But all in all it was a great day of celebration. I was able to find a couple of friends from previous classes during our sign in process, so I was able to sit with them through the whole thing. Steve took a bunch of pictures, so here are some of them.

before everything began...

the stage

there I am finally coming in! I was near the back.

I had a good view of my fam in the audience.

this is me on stage getting my certificate. they couldn't zoom in enough, so he took a picture of the screen :)

me and my love..he's been such a huge encouragement!

my parents have also been great supporters and encouragers :)

bro and soon-to-be sis in law

me in front of the Convocation Center

me in front of BAL..where almost all of my classes were. I've spent countless hours in that building..but no more!!

can you tell we're excited?!?!?!?!


Afterwards we all went over to my parents and had pizza and hung out for the evening! That was so fun! Thanks Mom and Dad for your generosity and being such AWESOME parents! I'm very thankful for you both.

And a big thank you to my sweet boy for all that he's done to support me through this last year as I balanced a full school load while learning how to serve him as his wife and take care of our home! You are the most amazing, loving and patient man...I love you more than you know.

I'm Done!

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I took my last exam yesterday, so I am home free!

Yippee!

beach date...

Steve and I went to the beach last night for our date, and let me just say, it was SUCH a beautiful night! We got coffee at Starbucks and there was a band playing at 31st street across from Catch 31, so we took our blanket down by the ocean and cuddled, sipped coffee, talked and listened to the music in the background. I'm so glad we decided to make the trek out there...it was so worth it! We had such a special time, especially after this past week which has been pretty stressful. It was so good to be able to talk and reconnect and encourage one another. We also had some fun with the camera :) enjoy.

the creepy silhouette of the metal detector ghost man...he was crackin' us up. he was so into it!


my baby...I love this boy.

house update...

We had a great time with Dad C. this past week. He was such a huge help with the house, and his trip down here came at the perfect time! He was able to help finish the electrical and get the majority of the plumbing all done! We are so thankful that he took the time to come down and help us with this massive project we've gotten ourselves into :) It was so great to have him here and we enjoyed getting to hang out for almost a whole week! Here are a few pictures.

the man himself

my hottie :)

Steve stripped all the paint off the door and then Brian put on the hardware, replaced one of the glass panes and sanded edges so they would fit snugly. Now we just have to paint it!




For some not-so-good news, the city inspectors came yesterday to check out the plumbing and electrical, and unfortunately they didn't pass. Apparently there are issues with some things not being exactly to "code," so they wouldn't pass them. As you can imagine Steve was pretty frustrated and discouraged by this after they worked so hard to get it all done over the weekend. He's trying to figure out who to get in there to look it all over and tell him what's wrong (the inspectors weren't too helpful) and then decide what to do from there. We would appreciate your prayers for this whole situation..it will probably set him back a while, depending on what all needs to be changed, and Steve feels overwhelmed by all that still needs to get done. We know it will all get done eventually, but we need grace for the process and wisdom to know what the best thing to do is now.

final exam countdown...

It's at that point when I can start a checklist of exam dates...woohoo! Here's what I have left:

1. Thursday, April 24 - World Literature Final Exam (done!)

2. Monday, April 28 - official last day of class (done!)

3. Thursday, May 1 - turn in Shakespeare take-home exam

4. Friday, May 2 - turn in Women Writers take-home exam

5. Monday, May 5 - Civil War History Exam, Media Law and Ethics Exam

6. Wednesday, May 7 - Middle East History Exam

Saturday, May 10, 2008...GRADUATION!

I covet your prayers for the remainder of the semester. The Lord has been so faithful, and I know he will see me through the next week and a half, but I will definately be needing his grace and strength!