sorry it's been so long...

I know we have been slacking, but we will try to do better. We wanted to give everyone an update on what is going on. We have been really busy, but it's good for us. We have been going to all the Razorback games, trying to be faithful fans. That takes up a lot of our weekends, but I really like it when there are games because everyone comes up. So we get to see our family and friends. We had a "Hog Wild Cookout" a couple of weekends ago. We had a lot of friends over for some great food and fellowship. We also made a trip to Little Rock for Justin's work. We got to see Heather and Andrew which is always fun! We LOVE hanging out with them. This past weekend my mom and granny came up for War Eagle. So while I was at work on Friday they went art and crafting. They stayed with us Friday night and we got up early to go to all the other arts and craft shows. I had a great time with them!! I think that it will be a tradition with us. We didn't buy a whole lot, but I did get a "Our First Christmas" ornament for Justin and I...so that was fun!!

Work has been busy for Justin. He is doing really well. Right now he is ranked 16th(out of 400) overall, which is very impressive. If he keeps up the hard work we will possibly get to go on a tropical vacation in Feb. So we are really looking forward to that. Work for me has been really good too. We are now a Christian preschool/daycare, which is a great change!! I can't wait for all the changes. They told me that they were going to let me make my own schedule for the 4 and 5 year olds, so I have been thinking and working on that. Rachel Rainwater sent me some of the stuff she is doing with her class, which was a huge help. Justin and I both enjoy going to work, so that is a great blessing!!

We look forward to this weekend...Rachel and David are coming into town, as well as my family. I can't wait to see Rachel! I hate that we don't get to see each other very much. So this should be a really great weekend! We will let you know how it goes!

Nothing beats family time!

So it's been awhile since I have updated, but here is our trip to Beaver Lake from Labor Day. We were so excited to get to the Ford's lakehouse so we could see Heather and Andrew. We don't get to see them enough so we were really looking forward to the long weekend with them. My parents came up too, but we were missing Sarah(she had rush). On Friday night we celebrated Andrew's birthday with a great dinner Mrs. Marsha made. Saturday we got on the lake to tube, wakeboard, and ski. That night the guys went to the Razorback game while the girls went shopping and to dinner. Sarah met up with us then. Sunday we pretty much did the same thing on the lake as we did the day before. Later we had game night. Heather won! We were all exhausted from the lake so we all slept really well. On Monday we went for a boat ride to relax. The weather was perfect for us all weekend. I'm pretty sure all of us had an amazing time with family. Can't wait for the Ford's to come visit us again!!

Andrew's birthday party!

We love our mommy!

Justin is holding on for dear life.

Finally Sarah hangs out with us!

All the girls

Our "layed back" ride

Our dad is the best!!

KANSAS CITY!!

It turns out that 6 of our friends(Rachel, David, Wes, Lindsay, Katherine, and Jay) moved to Kansas City recently. So last weekend we went to visit all of them. We left Friday after I got off work, so we didn't get there til like 9:30. We stayed the night with Wes, Lindsay, and Ruby so Rachel and David came over to their apartment(which is really cute) and the girls just sat around the computer looking at cats and dogs on petfinder.com. Saturday we went to the Legends which is an outdoor shopping center(it had a theme of The Wizard of Oz). The guys enjoyed Cabela's the most, well and I guess the girls liked it too. We left the Legends and headed to the Plaza for the Cheesecake Factory. Justin and I ended up buying a cheesecake to take home with us(our best purchase yet). After that we went to the Royals baseball game. It was a great time to just sit around and chat. We left the game and headed to David and Rachel's for game time! We played catchphrase and taboo. The guys won catchphrase because they are slow and the girls won taboo because we are fast. It was a great time! That night we stayed with David and Rachel in their house(loved it!). We got up Sunday morning and all eight of us went to church together because they are all still looking for a church. It turned out that all of them loved the church. After church we had lunch at Stroud's, which is "homestyle" cookin. It was YUMMY even though they didn't have sweet tea. From there Justin and I headed back to Rogers, but we didn't want to leave. We had such a great weekend, because we have the BEST friends ever!!!

Weekend at the Lake

So this past weekend we were invited to go to the lake with Brian, Sydney, Jenny, Daniel, Mr. Ross, and Mrs. Ross. We had a great time! We got there pretty late on Friday night so we just hung out at the condo. When we got up on Saturday we went on the lake early so we could ski and wakeboard before the lake got too busy. We had a little bit of boat trouble, but got it fixed in time to go out after lunch. We tubed that afternoon and just hung out in water because it was really hot. For dinner that night we drove over on the boat to Sam's Pizza. It was very good, but Jen and I thought we were gunna have heat strokes. When we got back to the condo we played MadGab. The girls won, of course. Sunday, we went out for a few more hours and then Justin and I had to head back to Rogers because it is like a 3 and a half hour drive. On the way home, we met up with my parents and Sarah in Alma for some ice cream. They went up to Fayetteville to move Sarah into her apartment. It was really good to see them for a little bit. Justin and I had a great weekend!

random things that some of you might like

Justin's office is a Razorback room, and his mom got him these razorback collectors plates while he was in college. We finally got some time to put them up.

It takes forever for the U of A to get the names of the sidewalk, so Justin's is finally there! I walk by it everyday on my way to class. It is in front of the Science Engineering Building, which is a high traffic place.

Some of you will really enjoy this next picture. It is of my precious cat, Tate. I couldn't ask for a better cat. WE love him. Don't let Justin tell you he doesn't.

Lauren's First Day

Well i survived my first day at Pinnacle Hills Academy!! It went really well. My boss did tell me that I had to wear socks and put my hair in a pony tail. Besides that I think everything went smoothly. There are some wild kids, but what do you expect. By the time I get to work all the kids are together and there is one other teacher with me. So we have from 1yr.-6 yr. olds. I probably won't every be with the infants, but that's ok with me. When I got home Justin had done the dishes...What a sweetie!!

Justin hard at work

Justin has been working in the yard all weekend. I wanted to show you all the hard work he has done. He has done such a great job keeping up with the yard. We have been getting a lot of rain then lots of sun so he is having to mow a lot. It is still a work in progress, but it is getting there. We are wanting to plant some flowers to give the yard some color.

Lauren's working!

This may come as a shock to most of you, but I got a job this week! Here is how it happened...There is a new preschool about a mile away from our house and they were looking for knowledgeable, passionate teachers so I emailed them my stacked resume. Surprisingly, I got a phone call from them the next day on my way home from class wanting me to come in for an interview THAT AFTERNOON!! Justin was so encouraging and kept telling me how qualified I was for the job and if they didn't hire me they were stupid. I went into the interview thinking that nothing was going to come out of it because I could only work part time. Little did I know that I was gunna leave there with a job and I would start on Tuesday! Justin and I celebrated when I got home with some Slim's Chicken...YUM!!

I'm really looking forward to going into work on Tuesday. I feel like it is a great place for me to be. Keep me in your prayers as I start my job at Pinnacle Hills Academy!!

I get to wear scrubs to work everyday. So here is a sneak peek!