ALOHA

Sorry for the delay but we've been in the process of moving into our new house and it took a while to get Internet up and running. So much has happened in the last week that I need to blog about though!

So, as I said in my last entry, our Sunday School class threw us a going away party Saturday night. It was so awesome! They went above and beyond any expectations we could have had. The party was luau themed and the decorations were over the top. There were coconut candles, miniature palm trees, flower lights, flip-flop shaped straws and thanks to Stephen and Whitney there was a life-sized cut out for everyone to take goofy pictures in. It was so great. And that was just the decorations. For dinner they served fajitas, but not just any fajitas, Phil drove all the way to Dallas to get the food from Chuy's. Our favorite restaurant! You'll see a picture of me in the slide show holding a big tub of creamy ranch jalapeno dip. That stuff is so good I could make a meal out of it. Then for dessert Holly made cup cakes, which were delicious. There was significance to them too though. She arranged them all on a square platter in straight rows and there were two missing from one of the rows. It was fairly obvious that there were missing cup cakes, but I didn't want to be negative, so I didn't say anything. I was told later that the two missing represented Matt & me. It is the little things like this that are so thoughtful and considerate that I love about my friends. We ate and laughed and enjoyed our time together and toward the end of the night we gathered in a circle where a few stories were shared and prayers were lifted on our behalf. It was such a precious time to feel so loved and so appreciated.

Matt and I were also able to give out some magnets that we made for our friends. We used some scripture that really expresses our heart for them and adapted it into a prayer and at the bottom we included our new address.

Here are pictures from the weekend. It is one that we will hold in our hearts for years to come.

Goodbyes

Cheesecake and Tears

Speaking of blessed, after such a fun day seeing our son for the first time and working on baby registries we were treated to a night with our friends. The guys got together and ordered pizza and played poker. They were thoughtful enough to get Matt IBC Root Beer (his favorite). The girls and I went to Cheesecake Factory, one of my faves and ate dinner. We laughed and really enjoyed each other's company. Afterward we walked over to a fountain in the shopping center and took pictures together. I felt so silly because the place was packed with shoppers and the regular dinner crowd and here we are, these grown adults taking picture after picture in front of this fountain. After dinner we went back to Cara's house to eat our cheesecake and just spend time together. We laughed and talked and then they brought out a gift bag for me. I opened it and found two scrapbooks inside that they all worked diligently on for days. They were so beautiful. I cried before I even opened one. These girls took the time to make over 100 pages of photographed memories of our time together over the last 3 years. I laughed and cried and felt so loved. Again, we are so blessed. I can't imagine the time and money these girls put into such an effort. They have been such an amazing and special part of my life that I can't really imagine not seeing them often and regularly. We laughed about how different some of us look from when we met and cried over some really fond memories made together.
I believe that the Lord gives us some friends for a season and some friends for a lifetime. The friends for a season are significant and special and can teach us so much. They are immensely valuable. However, I know in my heart that some of these relationships are not for a season, but for life. I am not delusional enough to believe we'll see each other twice a month and alternate who drives to visit, but I believe that we will be connected for years to come. These are blessings that the Lord has lavished on us that I am unwilling to let go of any time soon.

Tonight there is a going away party planned for us. I am very sure that more tears will fall but I cannot express how grateful we are to be so loved. We have been given abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine. Thank you Lord.

Drumroll...

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to see our baby for the first time. We've heard the heartbeat three times now but now we saw him. Yes, I said HIM. It's a boy! We are just about giddy right now. It is just becoming more and more real as these things continue to develop. The bummer part is that we had our girl names down to two that we love, but we can't decide on a boy name for the life of us. We have it down to a couple, it really is just a matter of deciding which first name with which middle name. I'm sure he'll let us know soon enough what his name is.

Anyhow, here are the pictures we got from the ultrasound. He was doing leg presses so there are two of his legs, one bent and one straight. Then there is a picture of the fact that he is a boy although it is hard to make out in the printed picture. Finally the last one is a profile of his body with his head turned and looking at us. We are so excited and truly already smitten with this child. He is completely healthy and growing strong. We are so blessed.

Okay, I think I've figured out how to successfully create and add the photo shows. Sorry for the confusion.

Anyhow, this was another jam-packed weekend for the Moore's. We left early Friday to drive to San Antonio for a wedding. My good friend Lauren Cottle got married and I had the privilege of being in her house party. On the way to SA though we stopped in The Cove to see the house that we now have a contract on (2409 Lindsey.) There were people there working and the builder happened to stop by, so it was a good time for us to be there. We got more details on the timeline of what is expected to happen and when. We still need a driveway, sidewalk, grass, A/C, a front door, all the door knobs, etc. At first glance the house seems just about ready but upon further inspection it's really not quite there. We are so excited about it though. It has 4 bedrooms, a separate dining room, a large living room and no rear neighbors! Ever! The house backs up to a creek so we have a good amount of privacy back there. We are sad that there are no trees on our lot but we plan on planting one (or a few) and at least there are plenty behind us to look at.
Once we got to San Antonio we had to quickly get ready for the rehearsal dinner which was at one of our favorite restaurants - Paloma Blanca! So yummy. We spent a little time with my family Friday night but I had to get up early Saturday morning for the Bridal Brunch which was just wonderful. During that Matt, my dad & brother went to see the moving "The Happening," which they said was a big let down. The wedding was at 5, so I rested and got ready. I had to be at the church early for pictures and to set up my guestbook table. It was such a great job for me because I got to see so many old friends as they came to sign in. The wedding was just beautiful. I love going to weddings where the presence of the Lord just fills the room. It is such a blessing. After the wedding we went to the reception and visited a little more with old friends and then we hit the road for DFW. Since we only had 2 Sundays left up here we made it a priority to be back for both of them - in spite of it being Father's Day weekend! We made great time and I slept a little in the car.
So, now we are in full swing with the packing business. We have dismantled the guest bed and have boxes and bubble wrap galore in here. In fact, I better get to work. There is much to do in the next week and a half.
Oh! I should mention that we have our sonogram scheduled for this Friday to find out the sex of the baby! We are so excited and will share with you as soon as we know! Please pray everything is healthy and growing on schedule.

Memorial Day Cookout

I reposted this so that it wouldn't start every time someone opened the page and so that the music would work correctly. I didn't add anything new. I'm still learning on here!

Another Busy Weekend

On the Move

This was taken Saturday night at the potluck.

We have returned from a very big weekend. We left early Friday afternoon for Copperas Cove so that Matt could go "in view of a call," which simply put means that the church members had an opportunity to vote on Matt coming to be their Minister of Discipleship. The vote was nearly unanimous (only 4 negative votes).

To back up though, the reason we left on Friday is because we've decided to pursue buying our first house! We are working with a realtor who is a deacon and Sunday school teacher in the church and with his help, had compiled a list of houses that we wanted to go see. Matt and I did a preliminary drive by of all of the houses Friday night and were able to eliminate about 3 of them based on neighborhood & such. We went into the weekend thinking we'd found our perfect home and all we needed would be to see the inside for ourselves, and we'd be sold. Well...this house (216 January) left us wanting a little bit more. We knew the landscaping was very overgrown and needed serious work but we thought the inside and the neighborhood were completely worth it. When we got there, I was disappointed in the layout of the house. The formal living, dining, kitchen and family room are all lined up along the left side of the house with the office and bedrooms along the right side. It felt very segmented to me and did not flow very well. I could certainly deal with those imperfections, except that the second and third bedrooms were tiny! I was very concerned that our guest bed would not be able to fit into the rooms, and if it did fit into the room, the door would most certainly hit the edge of the bed every time it was opened. That just does not work! So, this house, that we were so sure about, was demoted. Still on the list of possibilities, but much lower. We really like the neighborhood though. A few church members live there, it has mature trees and an established feel to it.

Moving on, we looked at a number of new houses in an area that is growing rapidly. It is a new neighborhood that is very large and has some great houses and some very blah houses. We typically don't like newer neighborhoods where everything has been mowed down and all the houses look the same. There are some streets in this area that fit this description but the farther East you go, the more variety there is in the homes. We found a house that we really liked here. It also has 4 bedrooms, a formal dining room and a great master bathroom and closet. Matt and I really enjoy clothes and are in need of a great big closet! This house (2409 Lindsey) also backs up to a creek which means we would have something of a view and never rear neighbors, which is so appealing! Again, there are no trees or landscaping really to speak of but the house had so much of the other things we were looking for, I think we are willing to put in some of our own sweat equity on that stuff.

So, by Saturday night we had it down to these two houses. We went that night to a potluck dinner at the church where we were the guests of honor. We ate and then there was time for church members to ask Matt questions about his position as Minister of Discipleship. We had prepared for the worst, not knowing what people might ask about, but in truth, it went really well. There were no off the wall subjects or obscure questions. Any of the difficult questions, Matt handled with grace and confidence. I was so proud of him. Actually, the people made it pretty easy on us. They were very warm and genuine. They really made us feel so welcomed. And the way everyone wanted to shake our hand and talk to us, I kept thinking it felt like my wedding reception all over again. We were center stage and all eyes were on us, except I knew everyone at my wedding!

After that we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel and Matt worked on what he was going to say in church the next morning. There are two services and he was told to speak for 5 or 6 minutes on his vision for discipleship. Again, I could not have been more proud. He was so articulate and truly allowed his heart to show through to all of these strangers.

After he spoke in each service, the members voted and in the second service, the chairman of the search committee came and sat with us and the pastor. He said that the vote passed and asked Matt if we were ready to accept the position. Matt said yes, of course and Pastor Mark stood and walked to the pulpit to announce the newest staff member.

At that moment it all became very real to me. Up until that point I had not really let myself comprehend the life change this would be or the certainty of it, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I kept thinking about how big this is and how young we are. I kept thinking, "Don't they know we're just kids?! We don't know what we're doing." It was so humbling to stand there and process that this is certainly where the Lord has called us and that He has equipped us for such a time as this. I still have a very young perception of myself and the Lord was very clear in that moment, that He has brought us this far, He will continue to guide and direct us and provide for us. That is such a comfort to me; because I am irresponsible. Responsible adults don't leave dishes in the sink over night or allow their car inspection to lapse!

Anyhow, the truth is that the Lord uses a willing heart and I have told that to people so many times, but He had to remind me that morning. So I stood there with tears running down my cheeks and neck hoping I didn't look too sad while we sang. The harder I tried to stop them the more they fell, so I just had to let them. Once I made my peace with our new life that was coming, I began to picture the faces of my sweet friends I'll be leaving behind. I have been so blessed in these last three years to make friends that are so valuable to me. They are kind and generous and compassionate. I have learned so much while living here in the concrete jungle, as Matt refers to DFW.

So thank you sweet friends. You have blessed our lives more than you know.