And the two shall become one...

Jake Stump and Sarah Butler tied the knot this afternoon. It was such a wonderful wedding and God was so evident in their ceremony. The Butler family is such a great example of keeping Christ first in life. It is so exciting to see this new family form with Jake and Sarah, knowing that they will do great things for our God!

Audrey was one of the flower girls and as you can tell, she hammed it up. Mom kept joking about how nice it was that Audrey lets us live in her world. She kinda has a point! :)

As Drew would say, "I'm gunna go get edumacated"

That's right, I'm going back to school. After a year at Word of Life Bible Institute in New York, a year at Virginia Western, a year doing an online program for Medical Transcription, and a year off, I'm ready to take the next step. There is a degree through Liberty where I can combine all my WOLBI and Western credits for one bachelors degree. It will be a Multidisciplinary Degree with cognates in Religion and Psychology. I'm pretty excited about it. I am going to take classes at Western this year and then will hopefully finish with Liberty classes the end of this school year and next year. My goal is to graduate May 2012. Only two years off course but I wouldn't trade the lessons learned these past four years for anything... except maybe some of the transcription stuff, I wasn't a big fan of that.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas and a happy... August?? ;) My mom decided to start a family tradition of Christmas in July. It was this weekend and we had a blast! It was just like Christmas with crazy hyper kids looking forward to presents and Elf. It was NOT like Christmas because of the HOT weather and the fact we spent both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day outside watching the kiddos swim. It was nice to have a weekend set aside to relax and enjoy each others company.

To the lake we go!!

The Farmer family is very big into Claytor Lake. I remember going there when I was little, I know my dad did for years. We used to go camping, had a boat, and all that jazz.. The past several years we have only been able to work out a day trip where everyone could come relax, eat and swim at the 'beach' but it is just as fun!! So Thursday we headed up there for food, games, swimming, relaxing, and just catching up with everyone!! It is such a blessing to have a big family and the weather was perfect!!






You can definitely tell who the center of attention is at these events. We love our Audrey!! :)

Date #5 - Monopoly

Okay, so you might think I am a horrible wife for what I'm about to say, but I did get permission. Drew and I started out our Tuesday evening getting ready to make dinner. For those of you who don't know, Drew started P90X on Monday. It is an intense diet and exercise plan for 90 days. I mean, crazy eating habits and workouts that enable him from moving after he is done... Needless to say dinner has been difficult because although I want to support him, I also don't want to eat some of the yucky stuff he is. So, he graciously told me I could eat whatever I wanted. It was quite a dilemma but in the end, I chose pancakes and eggs over his healthy food... and I enjoyed ever bite, is that a crime??

After dinner, I graciously told him we could play Monopoly. He used to play with his granddad all the time and not many people want to play anymore, including myself. He got this Monopoly City for Christmas that was still in the package. So although I had no clue how to play, (I think I have played once in my life??)I humored him and let him teach me. It was actually pretty fun, until 6 of my properties were taken by the bank and I gave up. ;)

We didn't take any pictures, Drew accuses me of enjoying life behind the camera too much, so I'm working on it. :)

Date #4 - Frisbee Golf

It was my man's turn for our date this week. I was impressed when he told me on Monday he knew what we were doing... then I found out he decided to do what he does 3 or 4 times a week anyway! :) Here is a hint....
He LOVES Frisbee Golf. It's a mission of Drew and his friends, to find all the Frisbee Golf courses within a mile radius of here. They have been to Ferrum, Franklin County, Walrond Park, Fishburn Park, Christiansburg, and are already talking about the new one opening up at Liberty University in Lynchburg. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me when he wanted to go play with me. We had a great time being outside and just enjoying each others' company even if I was horrible! :) All Drew wanted was to share an interest he has with me, so from this I think I should try to seem interested even when we do things that are WAY down on my priority list. :) Just one of the many ways he feels loved.

Date #3 - Parkway

Drew and I had a great evening together! We started it out playing with Hiro while grilling dinner. I enjoyed a few minutes taking pictures with my semi-new camera...


Drew challenged me in Othello... I'm getting better but he definitely continues to beat me ever time!

After dinner we went on the Blue Ridge Parkway, drove a little while and then stopped at an overlook of the Roanoke River.

I don't know if you knew this but I LOVE being outside. So listening to the river, with our feet dangling over the side, wind blowing, sun setting, and good God-conversations definitely make for a perfect evening!!


We played a game of Rummy (a favorite of ours) and then headed home due to lightning and getting dark. Even our drive home was fun as I quizzed him for probably 20 minutes of all the movie quotes he could think off.. THAT was amusing, and I've gotta say, my man knows his media. :)

Happy 4th of July!

Drew and I had a great day together! We started out with a great church service. Then we went to Olive Garden. Just so you know, Olive Garden is empty on July 4th! :) After that we came home to finish our bathroom and then headed to meet Steven and Lauren for Rivers Edge! I love hanging out with friends, eating, playing games and just catching up with people we haven't seen in a while. It is such a fun atmosphere with the live music and great firework show!!

Date #2 - Painting

I am not very good at taking pictures when Drew and I spend quality time together. My friend Lauren definitely puts me to shame, ;) but Drew and I did set aside Friday night to paint our downstairs bathroom. Several hours were spent ripping a border down and painting over a not-so-pretty blue. Songs were sung, the office was listened to..( *side note - Drew and I LOVE The Office, we know the episodes well so even though we weren't watching it, we were quoting the whole thing to each other!) and lots of talking took place. I love that we are making so many memories fixing up our house together! :)

So there is this dating challenge thing...

My friend Lauren wrote a post about how she has not been dating her husband as often as she should. She has two little kids and well, life just gets busy. You can read about that here. http://darrenandlauren.blogspot.com She is starting a dating challenge where she is going to go on 52 dates this year. (that's one a week) She asked if anyone wanted to join her and I decided it would be a good idea to be more consistent with Drew and our dating habits. The rules are:

- No kids (not a problem for us yet ;))

- No cell phones, computers, email, facebook, etc...

- 2 hour minimum

- No repeating a date within the month (creativity is not my strength)

- The guy has to plan once a month :)

Drew and I do a decent time at spending lots of time together, BUT we are not so great when it comes to variety and not getting interrupted by cell phones. So it sounds like a lot of fun!

Last week Drew and I walked around the mall, at at buffalo wild wings, he offered me ice cream,(those of you who know me at all know I'm OBSESSED with ice cream. Unfortunately I was stuffed and didn't want any!) then we came home and watched a movie WITHOUT computers on our laps! It was so nice! I'll try to keep you updated when possible! Would love it if you join me!! :)