Dear Britney.

Sometimes all you really need is a friend...and their baby. :) 

Britney, a co-worker who happens to live down the street from me, has been a dear friend since I moved to N. Augusta. Early in the school year she suggested we ride together when we can to save on gas. Our shared morning commutes have been just what I needed. We went from strangers to close friends in no time at all - and Hannah, her little 21 month old, adds a smile to every morning.  Sometimes it is nice to have a conversation with someone other than your husband, parents, and middle schoolers (Side note: I love them all dearly). It's nice to be able to talk about education, babies, and shopping (among lots of other issues)  and not get a yawn for a response because I wasn't talking about UGA football statistics.

On the way home the other day, knowing that I would be dropped off at an empty house and it was 70 degrees F outside and sunny, Britney suggested we go down to the river and play outside with Hannah. We spent about an hour and a half running around seemingly playing fetch with a 21 month old.

I just thought I'd take a moment to express how truly grateful I am for all of the lovely people God has placed in my life. Britney understands the loneliness I'm going to feel in a couple of weeks and has already expressed that by letting me sleep on her couch when Justin was out of town. God knew I needed a friend, and He gave me a great one!

Meet Britney and Hannah:

 

 

 

 

Results from Our Househunting Adventure.

McComb, Mississippi greeted us at 12:45 EST early Friday morning. After a nine and a half hour drive from Athens, we pulled into the Holiday Inn Express parking lot and headed to our room. Getting a good night's sleep would be essential if we were going to make it through the days to come. 

For the past nine months Justin and I have made a running list of all the things we wanted in our next home. It was a pretty long list - fireplace, workshop, front porch (the bigger the better!), a dishwasher, a stove without coil burners, a refrigerator with an ice-maker, an indoor laundry room, an kitchen island, and separate bathrooms. We also have a strong preference for historic homes, because they have so much curb appeal and character (at least when they are well-maintained). We knew our wish list was pretty demanding and we were prepared to make a couple of concessions on some of the less important items.

We began our search with high hopes, having scoured the internet for the previous week for homes that matched our criteria and fell within our meager price range. We scheduled an appointment with a real estate agent for Friday afternoon and were prepared to spend all weekend searching for the perfect home.

Our cunning real estate agent started us off with the biggest, most beautiful home that we could possibly have afforded. When we say big and beautiful that's what we mean - 3800 sq.ft., 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, courtyard, 3 car garage, huge Greek columns on the front porch, 12 ft ceilings, and fine woodwork throughout the house. Of course the home was not without its flaws. Right behind the lot there was a big brick quadplex with broken windows, blaring rap music, and beer bottles littering the ground. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the house would cost a half million dollars if it were on a hill in the country. We were smitten!

The rest of the day we discovered that the thousand words a picture paints are not the same words you would use to describe a scene in person. Many of the homes we looked at were either good homes in bad neighborhoods or bad homes in good neighborhoods. We were getting more and more discouraged with each passing hour. Our real estate agent dropped us off at our hotel just as it was getting dark. We had a lot on our mind and a lot to discuss, but there was still one house we were anxious to see.

 Our real estate agent was not able to show us this house, because it was listed on forsalebyowner.com. We had contacted the seller earlier in the week and arranged to see the home on Saturday, but we simply couldn't stand it any longer, and we asked to see it on Friday. He called us back about an hour after we got to the hotel and said we were welcome to come and see his house as long as we didn't hold it against him that it hadn't been cleaned. We eagerly agreed, but we were nervous that the house would not be as perfect as it seemed to be in the pictures (especially after our experiences earlier in the day).

As we walked through the front gate and into the back yard, Justin and I exchanged subtle smiles - we both knew immediately that this house was "the one". Our tour of the inside confirmed our first impression. It had everything we wanted! Justin was smitten with the huge two-car garage that would serve as his workshop. I couldn't stop drooling over the wrap-around porch with the blue-painted ceiling.

We had already agreed to meet the real estate agent on Saturday morning for another day of house-hunting, but it was hard to give anything else a fair chance knowing that the one we really wanted would be shown to two other people that day. As soon as we parted ways with our real estate agent, we grabbed lunch and made arrangements to do a more thorough inspection of our dream home. Justin spent two hours crawling under the house and through the attic and walking around the outside of the house and the garage. Meanwhile, I was inside playing with the homeowners' children and making friends with the wife. I was getting tips on good shopping locations while Justin took care of business. He finally emerged from under the house covered in dust and ready to make a deal. Without much haggling, we agreed upon a price that made us all happy. We met again after supper and signed a contract.

Without further ado, I present our dream home:

 

We stole these last few pictures from the website: 

Love Life.

On nights like this, after a hard, tiring, emotional day, I sit in bed with my cup of hot chocolate and listen to music. Usually I snuggle with the hubby and we talk about our thoughts: what's scary, what's exciting, and what we eventually want.

But tonight is a little different. Tonight, we don't share thoughts, we don't snuggle, we don't smile. We're apart. Tonight, Justin is exactly where he needs to be - with his parents. The future has hit faster and harder than we thought it would.

Tonight I think about what is really important and what really is not. I think about relationships.  I think about arguments. I think about long talks, slamming doors, sweet surprises, and the frustration expressed over toilet paper and toilet seats.  What matters and what doesn't?

Out of a list of positive and negative daily occurances, it is easy to point out the enjoyable moments and the moments we hope to never have to re-live. Throughout life, it is more important to say I love you often, to never go to bed angry, leave kisses on cheeks and lips, and smile more than you frown. Yes, I admit, some days I have a hard time doing any of these things. We all get lost in our selfish meanderings and forget that our life is right now. We are not promised tomorrow, we do not know what is right down the road or around the bend.

My challenge: Smile even when it is hard (research shows that, even when you fake it, smiling makes you feel happier!),  accept the things you can't change, pay people compliments, say 'I love you', give hugs (giant ones), pray more, gossip less. Remember to enjoy life as you live it - one day at a time.   

Unbelievable.

The couple who has the most unfortunate luck with automobiles just added another incident to their quickly growing list. Really, it's unbelievable how much can go wrong with cars. And who really has two self-destructing trucks in their first year of marriage?

 Yesterday started off normal. I woke up, went to work, and received a phone call from Justin around 11 or so telling me he was on his way to Athens. Almost immediately after our conversation ended, my phone died. That's when the trouble began. I called him back a little later on the school's phone to tell him what happened, but he had a much more interesting story.

Shortly after our conversation, Justin began to have problems himself. He was on I-20 towards Atlanta when all of a sudden his truck began to sputter, he drove a couple more miles, then he heard what sounded like an explosion under the hood and  was immediately unable to drive over 40 miles per hours.

At that point he pulled over and popped the hood. Oil was everywhere. All over everything. Once the truck was turned off, it would not start again. He called his dad, who was an hour and a half away, and asked him to come tow him to an exit with an auto shop.

Thankfully Mr. Tony did and they were able to drop the truck off. The auto shop told Justin they'd call him later with an estimate to fix it. When I called him to check in later and to ask what the estimate was he took a deep breath, probably bracing himself for my reaction, then said, "The truck is totaled." Really long pause. "What?" He repeated, "The truck is totaled. (Yes, I heard him the first time, 'What' was really a rhetorical question, the only thing I could get out because I didn't know what else to say.) The auto shop called and said it was the engine." The price they quoted us was only $200 less than what we paid for the truck, just a few months ago. 

So, we're down to one car, a husband moving to Mississippi in a few weeks, and a wife who stresses out a little too much....

Our life is never boring. It's often an unbelievable adventure.

To read about our first truck mishap: click here. 
To read about a crazy morning where both of our cars broke down: click here.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Don't you just love an excuse to dress in red, cut out little hearts out of pink and red construction paper, and wonder what creative surprise you'll have waiting for you when you get home? Admittedly, like many women at some point throughout their life, I used to hate Valentine's Day. I think it started in middle school, actually. All of the girls would get giant balloons and stuffed teddy bears that would, if their boyfriends really liked them, sing and dance, and on occasion, light up. This disdain did not stem from jealousy, oh no - I always had a valentine: my dad :). This uneasiness, this dislike, this annoyance really stemmed from not understanding the purpose - if you love someone, or even really like them, aren't you supposed to show them everyday? Aren't you supposed to give them flowers on more than one day out of the year? And tell me, how much love does a teddy bear really show? (Just curious.)

Flowers from my dad!

 After being reminded of days of middle school past, and seeing all of the balloons and having to tell the girls to stop eating their chocolates if they weren't going to share with the entire class, I began to think how differently I see Valentine's day now that I'm married. Justin and I do try hard to show each other on a regular basis that we love each other. We try to do little things and leave little reminders often, however, sometimes there is the oh-so-dreaded little rut. Sometimes we get stuck, day in and day out, going to work, paying the bills, playing around on the computer, cooking whatever is the easiest, and we forget, we ignore, and ultimately we become selfish.   So, now I see Valentine's Day as a day to break from our ordinary routine. A day set aside in the American society to ensure that couples take time to spend with each other, to say 'I love you' in a form other than words. Maybe I'm going to like this day after all! :)

Flowers from Justin.

Justin is a romantic. He always has been. Yesterday he surprised me by showing up at school around 11:15 with lunch and flowers in hand. He was a good sport as our lunch date was interrupted several times by co-workers coming in to ask questions or just wanting to chat. When he left I was so giddy, kind of like I was a middle schooler again and he was holding my hand for the first time.

But he didn't stop there. When I pulled in the drive after work, I was immediately greeted with an amazing aroma - someone was grilling something. As I approached our front porch, I realized it was our grill creating that wonderful smell. Justin came out and showed me "the lovebirds" and told me what else we were having for dinner.

 

Lovebirds (more commonly known as Chicken)

Garlic Cheesy Biscuits!

Potatoes, Peppers, Onions, and Sausage!

Creative touch: Justin converted my pie dish into a flower arrangement and candle holder.

My Plate.

My lovie's hard work and thoughtfulness really meant a lot to me. I love him dearly and I am very happy that I am the lucky woman he chose to spend the rest of his life with! :) Oh, and the chicken was as good as it appears to be!

Our Newest Family Member.

No, we're not pregnant, but we did just make a purchase that would be very close in cost to a delivery room visit. I've been begging for a nice camera for oh....about 6 months now, and drooling over them for even longer. Justin and I came to an agreement a few months ago - when he got a well paying job, I could get a camera! ...And it happened! (If I can add an opinion, I'm certain that it helped that he is leaving me in a few weeks, and he feels a smidgon guilty about it!) He did make it clear that this was an early Valentine's Day present, Birthday present, and probably will carry over into a Christmas present, too. (While reading this outloud to him, he added Anniversary present, also.)

After several hours of researching which SLR would be the best fit for us, we were dead set on the Canon XS. Review after review said how awesome and user friendly it was. It was considerably less than other SLRs, too! We made our trip to Sam's and made our purchase. Laying it bed that night, as we were both on the brink of sleep, Justin whispered, "Now don't think just because you whine about something for 6 months you're going to get everything you want."

I've read the manual, I've watched the tutorial video, but I still have A LOT to learn!!

Check out some of our most recent shots!

My Parents' Cat.

 

Front Porch

Pelican Landing.

Walking Paisley on the Bay.

Close-up of Paisley.



My Lovie.

 

Old Finishing Mill in North Augusta.

Oysters.

 We went home to my parents' house this weekend and the weather was beautiful. Justin and Ben woke up early and took the boat out to get oysters. The temperature was about 32 degrees F and the windspeed was only about 5 knots. They bundled up and hit the road for the boat landing.

After about a 20 minute boat ride and around 40 minutes to collect the oysters, the boys were on the way back. Crossing the bay, Justin looked over his shoulder and noticed the game wardens were gaining on them. Justin yelled back to Ben and asked, "We're not doing anything illegal, are we?" Ben said, "No," but it turns out the game wardens suspected otherwise. They asked for Ben's fishing license, and he handed it to them. Then they asked for Justin's - innocently, he didn't have one. When they saw his out-of-state driver's license, they really went crazy. They asked a million questions like: Are you telling me you didn't gather oysters? Why are you pants wet and your boots muddy? Where is your fire extinquishers, whistle, boat registration? etc. Justin and Ben assured the wardens that Ben was the only one collecting the oysters, but they made it clear that if they had caught Justin picking up oysters, he would have been arrested...Yeesh! Turns out these two bushel of oysters only cost about $10 when you include the price of gas, but they could have been a lot more expensive.



Justin's muddy boots.

 

Dumping the steamed oysters.

 

Fresh Jones Creek Oysters!

 

Justin about to eat his very first steamed oyster!

 

Ben opening the oysters. Daddy eating them.



"I hope you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your shoes."

Here We Go.

I'm still in a state of disbelief. I never thought I would say this, especially now that everything is finally moved in, situated, and we recently discovered more storage space in our house in North Augusta.

 We're moving to Mississippi.

Why, exactly? Let's rewind. Since Justin's first week working in Augusta in June 2010, he determined he needed to find a different job. Eight months later, he was still looking. Numerous resumes were sent out and a couple of phone interviews were conducted, but nothing came of them.

About a month ago, Justin was called by an HR representative from Weyerhaeuser and informed that they wanted to interview him for a position in McComb, Mississippi. He had sent a resume to the company in late June of 2010, but he never heard anything back until a long-time friend who has worked for Weyerhaeuser for many years gave a "shameless" (his own words) recommendation to an upper manager. I guess it's like they say, "It's not what you know, it's who you know".

 

Two weeks later, Justin was on a plane bound for New Orleans for an interview. The interview went very well, and he came back excited about the company and with the people he met while in Mississippi. They told him they would be in touch the next week, and sure enough, the following week he was told that an offer letter for employment was on the way. As excited as he was about the prospect of a better job with a better company, we were still very apprehensive about moving so far away from our families. When the offer letter came, however, we both knew immediately that it was an offer we couldn't refuse.

We both know the next few months are going to be kind of rough. His start date is March 14 - the Monday following Nathan (his brother) and Megan's wedding. Since I am under contract and have to finish out the school year in Aiken, I will continue to live in our 2 bedroom, 1 bath house in the ghetto until June 3rd.  After several nights of sobbing and lots of complaining and whining, I finally think I have come to terms with us moving. I say this, but I'm sure this month is going to fly by and I will be back in sulking and self-pitying mode very soon.

We have lots to do before he moves - looking for a house, getting approved for a loan, packing most of our stuff, etc. I'm sure the next few months will be full of smiles and tears (and a few arguments) as we try to get our new life straightened out. We will both find it hard to live so far away from our friends and families, but we are excited about the opportunities that await us at the next place we will call home.

Doggie Photoshoot.

 Meet Lucky!

Man of the doghouse!

He was inquisitive.

Meet Lucy!

Lucky may be the male, but Lucy is the boss of their doghouse!

Lucy was curious what the black object I kept shoving in her face was! 

Lucy liked the camera.

Our Two Stooges!

Prayer.

    These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

                                   John 16:33

    To start off, I just want to take a moment to brag. I know there are a lot of books based on outrageous in-laws, and it's very popular for characters in movies and TV shows to dread visiting family on the holidays, but I've got to admit, I've got it pretty good. I'm blessed to have a wonderful family of my own, and last May I married into one that a bride can only dream of. The friendship, the support, the love, and the understanding that surrounds all of the members of my family is really remarkable.

   I do not say it enough, I do not show it enough, but I am extraordinarily thankful for my families. Many of you know that my mother-in-law has Alzheimers, and ever since the Christmas holidays, her condition has seemed to take a turn of the worse. As the Tyson's struggle with many difficult decisions concerning what is best for Mrs. Mona, we are reminded how important family is - not just our relatives, but also our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are thankful to have our faith and the unconditional love of our Father, who has promised to be with us every step of life's journey. Hebrew 14:5-6

    During this emotional time, I would like to make a few prayer requests and ask you to please keep the Tyson's in your thoughts and prayers We pray for peace, understanding, acceptance, wisdom, and guidance in these difficult days ahead. Help us remember the blessings that surround us, the memories we have, and the love we share.

My Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come before you with a humble heart, broken and asking for grace. Forgive me for all of my sins and shortcomings, as I call upon your name for healing and peace. Lord God, my family is hurting as they are faced with many difficult decisions. My parents-in-law are struggling with a disease that many 53-year-olds aren't even beginning to be concerned with. We know you have promised to never leave us or forsake us, and we ask for your hand to guide us through every twist and turn that life throws us. If it your will, please slow the progression of Mrs. Mona's ailment. If it is not, Lord God, give us the understanding and acceptance for things in which we have no control. We thank you for the loving and supporting family we have and ask now for you guidance in the days ahead.

Amen.

Bowl.

    Since we do not have television and are not able to watch the Superbowl tomorrow night, I felt it only appropriate to take the opportunity to create a bowl of my own. I've got to admit that this was not entirely my idea, nor was it an innocent suggestion made by my husband. You see, he knew that once I started this bowl, I would want to see it through to completion -  giving him plenty of uninterrupted time to work on his projects in the shop.

  One of Justin's most recent additions to his wood collection is this piece of catalpa. He selected this piece for me to start with  because the wood is still green, making it easier to shape.

    After a few practice rounds, too big of cuts, and wanting to give up, I competed the outside of the bowl! I felt like I had just accomplished something magnificent, a true work of art - then I remembered I still had a long way to go.

  Carving out the inside of the bowl was, believe it or not, more frustrating than I could have possibly imagined. Justin kept walking over to check out my creation, each time, trying to be helpful of course, pointing out more bumps and lumps that I couldn't seem to make disappear. Eventually my redheaded temper came out and I told him to leave me alone until I deemed this beauty worthy of his inspection.  

    After the center was finished, this project was smooth sailing! All that was left was to sand, oil, and wax. Sanding was to make the bowl smooth!

Smooth!

Oiling the bowl was to darken the wood and give it a shinier appearance.

I oiled the bowl three times, and then waxed the outside in order to protect it and to give it a little more shine than the oil alone.

Once the inside and outside were both finished, it was time to take the bowl off the lathe.

The stub on the bottom of the bowl is left so it can be clamped to the lathe while hollowing out the inside. I didn't want it on my finished product, so Justin used a handsaw to cut most of it off, and then a hand plane to smooth it out.

Ta-Da! My first bowl!



   From log to table ornament in approximately 1.5 hours! Woo-hoo!