Nightmare Day

I know I am about to blow a lot of people's minds by updating my blog... but really I have nothing else worthwhile to do. Because I am stuck in the Charlotte International Airport. Let me tell you about this day. And by the way, Jack and I are on our way to Dallas for an Anglican Mission in the Americas annual conference.

So, it all begins several weeks ago when we were talking to Jack's cousin Cameron and her boyfriend Kevin... both are pilots and Kevin works for US Airways. Kevin said he could hook us up with some tickets to Dallas so we said, sure that would be great. Bad idea jeans. Not because he helped us out, but because the tickets are dadgum STANDBY.

So, I got up this morning at 4:45 AM so we could make it to our 7:20 a.m. flight nice and early. We made it just fine, got on the plane just fine, and then it was delayed. And then again. And again. We sat on the plane on the runway for almost two hours. NIGHTMARE. I was sitting next to this man who wanted to be my friend so badly, but I just wasn't up for it. He thought we had a lot of things in common, but we didn't. I was so glad when they let us get off the plane and go back to the gate. We continued to sit at the gate and finally boarded and took off close to NOON. We got to Charlotte at about 12:45 p.m., in plenty of time to make the 2:45 p.m. connecting flight to Dallas. No dice. We almost made it but there was only one seat available and we didn't want to part ways.

So, now we are hanging out in the Starbucks waiting to see if we can make the 6:20 p.m. flight. If we do that, we get there at 8:15 p.m. and miss the opening sessions, but at least we could get to bed early. If we miss that flight, we wait til the 10:00 p.m. flight and get there after midnight. Again, NIGHTMARE.

Unfortunately, I don't update this enough for people to check it regularly, but if you do happen to read this, you can say a prayer for us to get there before we absolutely give up and go home. (which wouldn't be bad either)

Also, congrats to new mommy and daddy Caroline and Patrick on the birth of their baby boy, Auguste Eliot, 7 lbs. 1 oz! We hated that we were on the way out of town when they went to the hospital, but that just means we get to make up extra time with him later.

Let's Go Red Sox!

Jack and I are watching Game 4 as we speak... Manny just messed up, but it just makes him even funnier to watch. His hair got in his way, or was it his baggy pants? He doesn't know.

Anyway, this past week J and I went to Mt. Pleasant, SC for some AMiA meetings. Well, he and Chris had meetings and I worked from there. I wanted to hang out and play too, but it rained the entire time we were there. Of course it was perfect sunny fall weather in Knoxville. So it was nice to come back home, just because it was so yucky over that way.

I am planning an event that is happening this Thursday. It's the Mizero Children of Rwanda.

I am pretty excited about it.. and about it being over. It is a choir of 12 orphans who are touring the states to promote awareness for Rwanda and to raise money for a school in Kigali. It's actually a really cool thing to be a part of. It's a non-profit organization, so they are not really that "together." For example, I really needed to get some yarn for our kids at church to make bracelets... the yarn was coming from a lady in SC. She was going to mail it to me. Today when we got settled back in at home, Jack checked the mail. The yarn was there. As was the return address label. The lady lives in Mt. Pleasant. Where we were for 4 days.

Everything has been pretty slow in coming together since people who are planning it are all over the country. It's a cool concept, but sheesh. So anyway, you are invited to come on November 1st at 7 p.m. And at about 9 p.m. I will crash with relief.

That has been most of what I have been doing lately, planning this event. I complain about it a little, but I really do love things like this. Our church is just smallish right now, so things tend to get planned at the last minute.

I have been hanging out with some girls lately and sort of taking on a ministry role with them... it's been really cool. (For those of you reading and know what Ella's job with RUF was... that's sort of me now, except not completely frazzled.) That takes up a lot of my time and energy... it can be pretty tiring to listen to a sixteen year old!

And we are coming up on our FOUR month anniversary! I love it. I love being married. I still don't have our wedding pictures anywhere so I can copy and paste (they are actual albums, or I can't copy them online), so here is a picture of me and my bridesmaids at the luncheon the day before....

(Jill, Ashley, Gina, me, Caroline, Jen, Jodie)

Congratulations to Gina on the birth of her second baby boy!! Joseph Dominic! He was born Oct. 25th at 7:19 a.m.

Ok, sorry this is a catch all post... I promise I will try to do better. I'm usually reading Edna's blog or Andrew Peterson's and I forget to write on mine.

Photos

Our wedding photographer was/is amazing!!!! Unfortunately, I can't right click and save anything he did for us. These are a few I swiped off his blog. You can see other pics here. And you can see a slideshow here. I like the slideshow... it is the bridesmaids singing before the wedding and interviews with me and Jack.

MARRIAGE ROCKS!!!

I have heard a lot of complaints lately (ahem, Justin) about my lack of blog entries, so here I am. There is a good reason I haven't written... my life is so... normal right now, that there doesn't seem to be anything exciting to blog about! Except that marriage is great, and we love our house, and our neighborhood, and our church. And we've watched a whole lot of movies lately. (This afternoon...hey, it's Sunday, we can do that... we watched Harrison's Flowers... a great movie, but just NOT what we were expecting it to be, since it was about the war in Croatia in 1991. But if you're into that, definitely watch this).

So I'm working three days a week (Tues-Thurs), and we go to the gym together. I've been doing a Body Pump class that is good, but I miss my little Blount Memorial Wellness in Alcoa. Speaking of Alcoa, we're going to the Alcoa/Maryville game in two weeks... you should ask my husband how excited he is about it. And all the movies take up some time... and we got our wedding pictures back! They are great. They're not online yet, but they will be soon for all to see.

Jack has been cooking a lot. We got a grill and he is quickly becoming the master of the indoor and outdoor kitchen. Jack's birthday is tomorrow and I was out running some errands for his birthday this afternoon. I was at Bed Bath & Beyond, and I thought "Hmmm... he needs more toys for the grill. Hmmm.. he needs a thermometer." So, I found a great grilling thermometer for him and right as I was about to pay for it, he called and asked me to see if I could find a meat thermometer for him. HA! So when I got home, I wrapped it up for him and gave it to him. It was a brilliant moment.

And that's the most exciting thing. Jack's friend Aaron is coming to stay with us tonight through Tuesday morning and he is going to make me eggs benedict. Have you seen the movie "You, Me, & Dupree"? Well, Aaron is Dupree. There is a scene where the wife and Dupree are having breakfast and reading the paper together and Jack says that is me and Aaron.

I will try to blog again before next month!

Mrs. King

Well, since I last posted, LOTS of things have changed. Ok, pretty much everything in our lives have changed. Obviously the biggest change of all is my name. And my address. But I don't want to put my address on the blog. We might get robbed. Anyway.... Pastor Jack and I got married!! On July 7th. It was wonderful and beautiful and we loved every moment. I will post the link to the photographer's website, whenever I get it from him. He took about a million pictures, so you should probably block off a few days when you want to look at it.

We love being married and we love living in West Knoxville. We are also working together at Apostles Anglican Church which is really fun. We are still unpacking some things and figuring out different things, but it's great.

Our honeymoon was probably the best one ever taken. We had a blast and once I figure out picasa web album, I will show you the pics. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We went to Healdsburg, CA and then to San Francisco. We both highly recommend wine country for a vacay.

I know this is a short-ish blog, but I will post the link to pics later.

Holy @#$%!

Ok, so Pastor Jack and I have been house hunting. Well, today the hunt ended! Jack found a great condo yesterday and we went today to look at it. There was an offer made, and then a counter offer, and then we jumped in and stirred things up a bit. We made an offer and then tonight we got a call that they had accepted it! We are soooo happy about it. The house has a bay window, its 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, a giant kitchen and a fantastic backyard. The backyard is probably our favorite part! It is landscaped around a giant, old tree that is so homey and shady. OHHH!! We are just so happy. Now, when we get wedding gifts we can picture where they will go! It's such a relief. Our free time won't be spent finding a house or looking stuff up online.

So I thought I would tell blog world. It's about 4 miles from the church and about a mile from some of our very dear friends, Buddy and Renda (they're not married, just neighbors and two extremely special people). Anyway... if you have any furniture arranging advice or space sharing advice, let us know. Yay!!!!

She's Baaaaack!!!

Dear Bleaders,

I am back! I have my degree in hand, I got it in the mail today, and I am ready for this new season! My graduation was on Saturday, and so was Bo's, and so was Justin's new wife's! (Justin has a wife... wow) I didn't walk at graduation, but Bo did and it was great.

The past few days (well, months, but we are sticking with the past few days) have been an absolute whirlwind. My last day at Greenback was this past Wednesday. The kids were awesome! My senior class got together and all gave me a card to say goodbye. They also gave me a huge giftback, complete with a note that said, "Miss Emily, May God bless you as you Serve the Bread of Life and the Living Water." And in the bag was a beautiful bamboo serving tray, a bread box, and coasters. I got a little teary... all my hard work did pay off. We had talked so much about current events, environmental issues, etc. that they wanted to show me they had learned. I love those kids and will miss them.

The next day was my Exit Interview where I officially completed the teaching program... The next day I met with my new "employers," looked at a house, and celebrated my graduation... Saturday we went to Cookeville for Bo's graduation and Nashville for Justin's wedding... Sunday we were in Nashville... Monday was wedding things. And today I got a massage. :) I got a deep tissue massage which I needed ever so badly. The girl that did it was impressed with the giant knots and creatures that live deep within my muscles and tendons.

So anyway... I do officially have a job now. I am the Communications Specialist for Apostles Anglican Church. I am SUPER excited about it. The job description fits me to an absolute T. It's all things that I love doing... newsletters, setting up meetings, keeping calendars, communicating between people, bulletin boards, and tons of other stuff. I start a week from today. I'm sure I will keep you up on it. It's going to be great to have a "big girl" job that does not include a transition. This is the first job I've ever had that I am not getting because it will carry me to the next thing, or I need it "because..." I feel really good about it and it's good for the ole self esteem too!

I got to catch up with some college friends this weekend and introduce Jack. It was so good to see everyone. It's crazy that almost everyone is married and several have kids. And I was thinking... I have known some of them for seven years! That's a long time! So, cheers, guys, to seven years!

I've gotten really bad about taking pictures, so if I had some I would definitley post... but I don't. All I have are pictures I am working on for the slideshow at the rehearsal dinner. Some of them are hilarious, but here is 2 year old me. Classic.