And a warm welcome to...

Jack and I are so excited about our newest addition to the family...Leroy Jethro "Gibbs" Caldwell!

We adopted him from the Humane Society on Saturday and were able to pick him up today. He is a little over 2 months old and very sweet. He is a little bit scared with his new surroundings so far, but I think we have been able to bond. :) He is super cute and we couldn't wait to bring him home. We are officially pet people!

P.S. Yes, we are nerds and named him after Special Agent Gibbs from our favorite TV show, NCIS.

Ringing in 2012...

Is it just me or has 2011 gone by really quickly?? It seems like it has gone by in a snap. Overall, I would say that it was a good year, but I am looking forward to 2012. Not for any reason in particular, I just like the feeling of a new year. Here are some highlights from 2011:

• Two beach mini-vacations with the hubs
• My sister got married in March
• Went to my first national math conference in Indianapolis in April
• One of my best friends got married in May
• Dominican Republic mission trip with the youth group in June/July
• Finished my master's degree in July
• Made some new friends through church
• Georgia Southern made it to the semi-finals (GO EAGLES!)
• Celebrated our one year anniversary a few weeks ago
• Spent time with friends and family over the holidays

I am thankful for my husband, my family and friends, my health, and all of the many blessings that this year has brought. I look forward to 2012 with anticipation and I pray that God would continue to teach me more and more about Himself. Happy New Year to all!

First year of marriage in review

It's hard to believe that a whole year has flown by since Jack and I said, "I do." It seems like just yesterday we were enjoying our wedding day and embarking on our honeymoon. This first year of marriage has been absolutely wonderful, and I am so blessed to have such a great husband.

The first year of marriage is a "learning" year. We have learned a lot more about each other and have learned how to live together, work together, balance our schedules together, and love each other in new and different ways. We certainly don't have it all figured out, but I feel like I have grown in my relationship with Jack and with the Lord. We have laughed and cried a LOT, but we have made memories that I will never forget. We have gotten upset at each other over big and little things, but we learn how to deal with conflict better each time. We have made decisions together and talked about the future. We have encouraged each other and supported each other. It has been great! Many people warned us about the first year of marriage, and while we certainly had a lot of adjusting to do, we loved it. It wasn't scary or extremely difficult. I am looking forward to many more years together and excited about becoming a better wife each day.

So, to my husband, my best friend, and my love Jack:

Thank you for loving me and for giving me a wonderful first year of marriage. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband like you, and I thank God that He designed us for each other. You are a beautiful reflection of God's love in my life. You love me unconditionally, and yet you challenge me to become more like Christ every day. You make me laugh, you hold me when I cry, and you support me in everything that I do. I love you more today than I did a year ago when I said, "I do." You hold my heart and I look forward to continuing our lives together.

All my love,

Your wife :)

Happiness Highlights 6

December is flying by...almost halfway over already! I have 4 more days of school left until I have 2 weeks off for Christmas break. I. Can't. Wait. Here are some things I am thankful for...

• Successful Christmas baking (even though I have eaten WAY too much) - eggnog crumble cake, chewy fudge pie, peanut butter blossom cookies, sugar cookies, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies)
• Watching the Harry Potter series start to finish with my hubby over the past 2 weeks
• My Christmas village on the mantle :)
• DONE with my Christmas shopping
• Planning for my class Christmas party...it's going to be fun.
• Discovering new Christmas ornaments tucked away in different places
• Checking things off my to-do list, and looking forward to finishing it over the break
• Plans for getting in shape starting January 1st
• Singing Christmas songs at church
• Decorating Christmas sugar cookies with a friend
• Georgia Southern winning in the 3rd round of playoffs...GO EAGLES!
• Looking forward to our 1st anniversary this weekend

I love this time of the year. Seriously. It is my favorite time. I can't get enough of everything Christmas. Looking forward to celebrating with family and friends over the next few weeks.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Randomness

I interrupt the regular scheduled Happiness Highlights postings to bring you randomness from my day yesterday. This is almost too ridiculous. Ever had one of those days when crazy things happen one after the other? Yesterday was such a day for me.

My students are ready for Christmas break. I can't say that I blame them, but we still have 2 more weeks to endure the craziness that ensued this week. I called Jack after school on my way home to see how his day was. I had left him a note on the counter in the morning to run two errands. He tossed a dish towel on it and didn't see it all day. Sigh. When I got home, I asked him if he ran the dishwasher so that I could unload it. He said, "Oh I already unloaded it. I thought it was clean." Sigh again. We rummaged through the cupboards to get out all of the dirty dishes that had been put away. That was fun.

Last night was a dinner at the pastor's house for the RHUMC church staff. We signed up to bring bread and dessert. I decided to make this chewy fudge pie that I made for Thanksgiving because I still had ingredients left over. I made it and put it in the oven when I got home from school. It got done about 5 minutes before we had to go. I took it out of the oven and we decided that I would hold it on my lap (on top of pot holders) on the way there so that it could cool and then we would put it in the plastic container when we arrived.

That already sounds like a mistake, right? Well, it was pretty well-situated on my lap on the drive there, but Jack was driving pretty fast down the main road in Richmond Hill. He didn't notice that the car in front of us was slowing down until he got closer, so he had to slam on the brakes to stop. The pie started to slide off of my lap, so as I tried to grab for it, my pinkie finger caught it. Not by the side though, but by digging in the very center of it. Did I mention the pie was just out of the oven? I started screaming because my finger was still in the pie and I was still trying to keep it from flying off of my lap and it was dark so I couldn't see anything. He pulled over and turned the lights on. I was crying, the pie had a huge hole in it, and part of it had landed on the floor of the car. Oh. my. goodness.

The pie did end up surviving and my finger was okay. It was one of those moments when I was like, "Really???" I wanted to just rewind and start again. I guess everyone has days and moments like that and luckily, neither of us were really hurt. It is slightly funny now. :)

Today has been a nice day of relaxing for me and the hubs. I got my hair cut this morning, Jack went to watch the RH Christmas parade, and we have been watching the Harry Potter marathon on ABC family. Tonight, we are going to a restaurant here in town for my school Christmas party. It should be fun. :)

That's it for now. Happiness Highlights will resume in my next posting.

Happiness Highlights 5

My week off has been wonderful! It went by oh so quickly, though. It is amazing to think back over all of the events and traveling that we have done in a week's time. It is a bit of a blur! I am thankful to have had some time to rest and spend time with my family. Here are some highlights...

• Delicious Thanksgiving food (turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, asparagus, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce, corn casserole, macaroni and cheese, mmmm...)
• Successful dessert baking for my families (chewy fudge pie and pumpkin pie)
• Hanging out with Jack's grandparents
• Decorating our house for Christmas :)
• Christmas M&Ms (we are on our 4th bag now)
• Christmas shopping halfway done and gifts wrapped!
• Making Christmas ornaments with my mom
• Singing Christmas songs at church
• This time of the year...did you notice how often "Christmas" is in my highlights??

Three more week of school and then I am off for 2 weeks for Christmas break. Oh yeah, and Jack and I will celebrate our one year anniversary in three weeks as well! :)

Happiness Highlights 4

This past week has been a blur! That one day off on Veterans' Day was a tease for the week off ahead of me. My students weren't too bad and we made it through the week with no major incidents. I stayed late at school on Friday so that I could get everything done before my break. No school work for me! It's a good feeling.

Yesterday was our annual church BBQ. It is a HUGE event with lots of volunteers and places to serve. I helped out on the serving line in the morning, making to-go plates. I also helped at the dessert table, cutting and serving desserts. I made a pineapple coconut cake with cream cheese frosting and it was a hit! There were no leftovers. It was a long and tiring day, but I was glad to be able to help out. I then spent some time with my family last night, eating dinner and hanging out. We had a lot of fun. :) I am ready for my sweet hubby to get home. He has been in Atlanta this weekend for a youth worker's conference. He will be home tonight.

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

• Pulling out the Christmas decorations and getting ready to decorate our house
• A week off of school (as mentioned above)
• Beautiful leaves in my yard
• ONE cold day...come back fall!
• Christmas music
• My church family
• Planning the Thanksgiving menu for my family meal
• Getting my students' Christmas presents in the mail
• One month away from our 1 year anniversary!

God has blessed me in many ways and I have felt His presence this past week. Life is good! :)

Happiness Highlights 3

Happy Veteran's Day! I have today off of school in honor of the veterans past and present that have served our country. I am very thankful for the men and women who choose this important career to bring freedom to Americans. Since we live in such a highly-populated military area, I have come to know many military families. It is a huge sacrifice!

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

• A 4-day week at school...my students are getting restless for the holidays!
• Christmas music (yes, I am already listening to it)
• A spontaneous brownie creation with ingredients in my pantry turning out AMAZING
• Fun time making BBQ sauce with the youth today at church
• Tuesday night dinners with my mom and stepdad
• Time to relax and read at home - going through the whole Harry Potter series right now
• Beautiful fall leaves
• NCIS being on USA pretty much all the time...we love that show
• Christmas gift shopping
• Making two new recipes for dinner this week
• GSU Homecoming game...and an 8-1 season

I hope your weeks are filled with happiness and blessings! :)

Happiness Highlights 2

My tendency is to want to focus on the bad things that happened over the past week, so I think it is a good idea for me to continue my happiness highlights so that I can focus on the good things instead.

• A sweet husband to take care of me while I am sick (nothing big, just a cold)
• Cute trick-or-treaters on Halloween and my first time ever handing out candy at my own house! I didn't buy too much candy and we didn't run out. :)
• A FUN Sadie Hawkins dance with the youth group at church - we had a blast!
• The beginning of my favorite season... complete with music, commercials, lights, and the wonderful holiday smells.
• Hot chocolate...always.
• Talking to my dad on Skype for the first time
• Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread
• Colder weather that might be here to stay??
• Planning our first anniversary weekend

I am thankful for all of the wonderful blessings in my life. God is good and the more I focus on Him, the more evident His blessings are to me! :)

Happiness Highlights...

I read about this blog idea on Twitter, of all places, and decided that it was appropriate, given my difficult week last week. I do have a lot to be thankful for, and it will probably change my perspective a bit to focus on the good instead of the bad.

• Cool fall weather...absolutely perfect.
• Carving pumpkins
• Dinner and games with friends
• Singing harmony in worship on Sunday
• Shopping with Mom
• New Christmas craft projects
• Hot chocolate
• Students that make me laugh - most of the time... ;)
• Georgia Southern's awesome football season (7-0)
• Discovering the most addictive and yummy cookies at World Market in Savannah (dark chocolate laceys)
• Skyping my sister while in Peru
• The sweetest and most wonderful husband in the entire world - and that is the TRUTH!

I am very blessed. While life certainly hands you lemons sometimes, God tends to bring light into the darkness when you feel like you are all alone. I am thankful for the people around me that make me smile and that support me. I am also thankful for the little things. They are what make the difficult weeks much better.

His mercies truly are new every morning. One day at a time is about all I can handle anyways.