Hello, 2010! We are thrilled beyond belief that the beginning of the new year is finally here. God has so many wonderful things planned for our family in 2010, and we are ready to meet them head-on :)
We had a very blessed Christmas here in Memphis with Lance's family. Lance, his parents, his brother and I all went to the Christmas Eve service at Bellevue together, then everyone came back to our house for dinner. I cooked an untraditional lasagna meal, which was nice considering all of the turkey and ham we would eat over the next week!
Lance and I drove down to his parents' house after they left, to stay the night. It is a tradition for us to be there on Christmas morning to do our family gift exchange before the day begins.
The extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc. - all came to his parents' house for Christmas lunch. It was nice to see a few out-of-town faces and to have (almost) the whole family together. I missed being with my family that day, but it helped to be surrounded by lots of other people who we love and love us :)
On Christmas evening, Lance and I finally headed home. His mom had sent us off with tons of yummy leftovers - but after a day of eating so much holiday food, that was the last thing we wanted to have for dinner. So we followed in the footsteps of my favorite Christmas movie - A Christmas Story - and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. My very first time in a restaurant on Christmas. It was kind of fun!
New Year's Eve was a blast - Lance and I went to a party at our good friend Hang's house. We got to meet several of her friends, which was great. She made lots of yummy food, and we played Wii and laughed a lot. We didn't quite make it to midnight, but it was so much fun and I'm so glad we went. What a great way to ring in the new year!
Lance is back to working his long hours - til about 7:30 every weekday (except Fridays, woohoo!) and a full day on Saturdays. It's always a hard transition for us to make as a couple at the beginning of every year, but I'm trying to take advantage of some "me" time and also spend some quality time with my girlfriends.
We have a fun-filled weekend ahead - Mom, both sisters and two dear friends are coming to Memphis for a girls' trip! We have a few outings planned to see friends and Lance's family, and for them to join us for church on Sunday - then the rest of the weekend will be completely up to us! We can do as much or as little as we want. My sweetheart is graciously giving up his bed Saturday night so all of us girls can have a true Girls' Night In! Thanks, honey, for being so understanding.
I hope each of you had a very blessed Christmas and New Year - and that your 2010 will be a blessing to your families!
-JessWill :)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, December 07, 2009
Favorite Time of Year
The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and this year's has not disappointed! We are only two weeks in, but we've had so many wonderful things happen to us as a family. I know I won't be able to share everything here, but we can't wait to fill you in as soon as we can :)
Lance and I spent Thanksgiving in Houston with my parents, sisters, bro-in-law and nephew. It was fantastic! It is rare for everybody to be "home" at my parents' all at once, and we enjoyed every second of it. On Thanksgiving day, my parents hosted both sides of their families for the holiday meal. It was so much fun getting to spend time with all of our aunts/uncles and cousins. Joe, my bro-in-law, brought his Xbox so the little ones were entertained playing Beatles RockBand. We all enjoyed some very yummy food, and had lots of laughs together as a family.
Friday morning, we celebrated Christmas a little early - since we won't be back with my fam for the holiday. Quentin had such a great time opening his presents! Watching him is always my favorite part - Christmas is so different when there is a little one involved. You get to see it all through their eyes :)
It was hard for Lance and me to come back to the "real world" after Thanksgiving, but I must admit it was nice to be back in a routine again. Sleeping in, napping, having happy hour every evening on the porch - don't get me wrong, I loved everything we got to spoil ourselves with in Houston! - but as someone who craves consistency, I loved being back in our own bed again.
This past week was super busy, which seems to be the norm these days for us. Lance and his brother went to another Tigers basketball game Monday night, while I grocery shopped and got us somewhat unpacked from our trip. Then Lance volunteered at Starry Nights at Shelby Farms Tuesday night, while I had a last-minute happy hour with one of my all-time favorite friends, Hang. Wednesday was a great date-night at home - I made pasta and salad, which Lance and I got to enjoy together once he was finally home from work. Thursday was supposed to be Bunko night for me, but I was feeling pretty awful that day at work - stomach stuff, bad headache - so I opted out and spent the night resting on the couch. Thank God for such a wonderful husband who waited on me hand and foot. I am so spoiled!
Friday night was another date-night for us - but a real one this time! As one of our Christmas presents to each other, we had tickets to see Jackson Browne in concert at the Orpheum. Beforehand, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out. If you haven't eaten at Flight downtown yet (Main and Monroe) you are missing out! Lance and I both agree it is one of the best meals we have ever eaten in Memphis.
Saturday night was our Annual Christmas Party at home. The biggest treat is that my little sis Cynthia got to come in from Birmingham for the shindig. Lance and I got up super early that day, to put the tree up and finish getting the house ready for our guests. After Cynthia arrived, we enjoyed watching some football before everybody else arrived. It was wonderful having some of our dearest friends join us in celebration of the season. We had yummy BBQ, a gift exchange - and then we played a VERY fun Pictionary/telephone game (will explain another time). It was a blast, and we are both very grateful for all of the amazing people in our lives.
Sunday morning was the first Sunday for Crossroads to meet in our new/temporary home, the Cordova Community Center. We really missed our Sunday School group - it was so nice to see everyone again after being out of town two weekends in a row. The new meeting space is big and comfy. I think it's going to be a wonderful place for our church to grow and make new relationships with folks in the community.
We got to meet up with Lance's parents and bro for our usual Sunday afternoon lunch, and we were also joined by his aunt and uncle who were in from out of town. We haven't seen them both since our wedding! So that was a nice treat.
We have lots more coming up in the next few weeks, right up until Christmas. Lance and I are both extremely blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to spend time with, especially this time of year. We are thrilled for what God has planned for us as a family next year, and can't wait to take that journey with each of you :)
Love always,
-JessWill :)
Lance and I spent Thanksgiving in Houston with my parents, sisters, bro-in-law and nephew. It was fantastic! It is rare for everybody to be "home" at my parents' all at once, and we enjoyed every second of it. On Thanksgiving day, my parents hosted both sides of their families for the holiday meal. It was so much fun getting to spend time with all of our aunts/uncles and cousins. Joe, my bro-in-law, brought his Xbox so the little ones were entertained playing Beatles RockBand. We all enjoyed some very yummy food, and had lots of laughs together as a family.
Friday morning, we celebrated Christmas a little early - since we won't be back with my fam for the holiday. Quentin had such a great time opening his presents! Watching him is always my favorite part - Christmas is so different when there is a little one involved. You get to see it all through their eyes :)
It was hard for Lance and me to come back to the "real world" after Thanksgiving, but I must admit it was nice to be back in a routine again. Sleeping in, napping, having happy hour every evening on the porch - don't get me wrong, I loved everything we got to spoil ourselves with in Houston! - but as someone who craves consistency, I loved being back in our own bed again.
This past week was super busy, which seems to be the norm these days for us. Lance and his brother went to another Tigers basketball game Monday night, while I grocery shopped and got us somewhat unpacked from our trip. Then Lance volunteered at Starry Nights at Shelby Farms Tuesday night, while I had a last-minute happy hour with one of my all-time favorite friends, Hang. Wednesday was a great date-night at home - I made pasta and salad, which Lance and I got to enjoy together once he was finally home from work. Thursday was supposed to be Bunko night for me, but I was feeling pretty awful that day at work - stomach stuff, bad headache - so I opted out and spent the night resting on the couch. Thank God for such a wonderful husband who waited on me hand and foot. I am so spoiled!
Friday night was another date-night for us - but a real one this time! As one of our Christmas presents to each other, we had tickets to see Jackson Browne in concert at the Orpheum. Beforehand, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out. If you haven't eaten at Flight downtown yet (Main and Monroe) you are missing out! Lance and I both agree it is one of the best meals we have ever eaten in Memphis.
Saturday night was our Annual Christmas Party at home. The biggest treat is that my little sis Cynthia got to come in from Birmingham for the shindig. Lance and I got up super early that day, to put the tree up and finish getting the house ready for our guests. After Cynthia arrived, we enjoyed watching some football before everybody else arrived. It was wonderful having some of our dearest friends join us in celebration of the season. We had yummy BBQ, a gift exchange - and then we played a VERY fun Pictionary/telephone game (will explain another time). It was a blast, and we are both very grateful for all of the amazing people in our lives.
Sunday morning was the first Sunday for Crossroads to meet in our new/temporary home, the Cordova Community Center. We really missed our Sunday School group - it was so nice to see everyone again after being out of town two weekends in a row. The new meeting space is big and comfy. I think it's going to be a wonderful place for our church to grow and make new relationships with folks in the community.
We got to meet up with Lance's parents and bro for our usual Sunday afternoon lunch, and we were also joined by his aunt and uncle who were in from out of town. We haven't seen them both since our wedding! So that was a nice treat.
We have lots more coming up in the next few weeks, right up until Christmas. Lance and I are both extremely blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to spend time with, especially this time of year. We are thrilled for what God has planned for us as a family next year, and can't wait to take that journey with each of you :)
Love always,
-JessWill :)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Another Great Week
I know I haven't written at all about our cooking adventure... turns out there's nothing exciting or entertaining about cooking at all :) I did start off taking pictures of our first few recipes - but even those aren't exciting!
Mundane, ordinary family stuff is what our days are filled with lately - although I must say our lives are anything but boring. We've had soooo much going on - that I'm trying to remember in the midst of it all how blessed we are to be so busy and have such amazing people to spend time with :)
I won't try to play catch-up for the last few months - or we'd be here a while! - but Lance and I did have a great week.
I started off the week having dinner with an old coworker of mine, Diana. A group of girls who work or have worked at Disciple try to get together for Girls Night Out every few months. This time it was just her and me - and it was a blast catching up! She has two young daughters, and it was so much fun hearing about the goings-on of their family. It made me miss her even more...
Tuesday night, Lance and I met with our church's fellow Harvest Joy Festival committee members to hammer out the final details. We only have two weeks to go - and there's a lot left to do! I must say: Lance and I have loved working with these awesome people. It's been a great way for us to jump feet-first into Crossroads, and really give of our time and energy to this awesome church home that we've found (I was even lucky enough to get to name the festival and design the logo! fun fun!). I am really hoping that the event will be a great way for people in the neighborhood - and especially those looking for a church home - to get to know our church.
Thursday night I got to spend the evening with one of my dearest friends, Hang. She was sweet enough to cook dinner for both of us, and she and I got to hang out at her home and laugh and catch up. It had been way too long since the two of us had been able to spend time face-to-face, so it was a real treat for me. I love my Hang!
Lance didn't mind my being away for the evening - he got to spend time doing one of his favorite things: watching baseball. His Mets had an awful season, so I think he's enjoyed watching the game again (he was basically on strike for the last two months!).
Friday night Lance and I got to host a long-awaited Game Night at our house. We had so much fun with the Strawns and the Grears! Jason and Kristin even brought along baby Nate, so I got to do some cuddling with him (baby fever, hello!). We played a new game that my friend Dave from Texas suggested, which turned out to be a huge hit. We decided that we need to play it at our annual Christmas party, when we have more folks there (I won't get into the details of what it was, but it's best played with more players). We ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples, which was really fun too. Lance and I loved having our friends over - we don't get to do that often enough - so it was a treat for us both.
Saturday morning, I joined some of the ladies from Crossroads for a brunch at a local catering shop. It was a really exciting event for me - I've been looking for ways to really get to know some of the women at church, and it did not disappoint! Our table was full of ladies from all walks of life and all ages. We had a blast laughing and sharing stories with each other. The food was amazing too. Vicki, Pastor Rob's wife, led us all in a mini-devotional after we ate. She stressed the fact that God knows each of us by name - and that our names are no mistake. She had a special treat for each one of the attendees: she gave us a picture frame that held a print-out of our name, the meaning of our name, and a Bible verse that goes along with it. It was such a special take-along for me to remember this amazing day.
Saturday night, Lance and I attended the wedding of a former youth friend of mine from Covenant. I met and worked with Leigha when she was 16, so to get to see her as a beautiful 24 year-old reciting her marriage vows was a real gift to me. I have kept up with her and her sister, Caitlin, through the years. It's amazing when I see how God has worked in each of their lives, as they matured from high school girls to young ladies to Godly women. It was such a blessing to me to be able to share in such a special day. And Lance was such a good sport! We even got to share a slow dance or two (in-between my dancing the Macarena, Electric Slide and all those other dances Lance wouldn't be caught dead doing!).
Sunday morning was our weekly Sunday School and church service at Crossroads. We love love love our Sunday School group - especially our leaders, Aronda and John. They have done such a wonderful job of making each person feel welcome and a part of the group from day one. We are really looking forward to the cookout that they are hosting for all of us this Friday night.
As a last-minute addition to our weekend schedule, Lance signed us up to attend one of Crossroads' Family Prayer Fellowships at the home of one of the church families on Sunday night. To be honest, I was not feeling very sociable. I really wanted to stay home and rest after such a busy week! But I am so thankful that he felt led for us to go. We got to know some really amazing people - faces that we see every Sunday but hadn't gotten the chance to really meet yet. The fact that so many people would gather to lift up Crossroads and pray for our leaders as a group - it was so moving. I am thrilled that Lance and I have found such a wonderful place to call home - and it's exciting to think where Crossroads will be in two months... six months... a year... There are so many changes on the horizon, but it is very cool to think that we will be a part of helping make the big transitions that are to come.
See? Nothing really exciting or out-of-the-ordinary to report - but our lives are so full of wonderful people and good times. Seeing all of these things listed just reminds me yet again that Lance and I are truly blessed!
I hope each of you has a great week, and I hope to be able to post some pictures soon.
Until next time...
-JessWill :)
Mundane, ordinary family stuff is what our days are filled with lately - although I must say our lives are anything but boring. We've had soooo much going on - that I'm trying to remember in the midst of it all how blessed we are to be so busy and have such amazing people to spend time with :)
I won't try to play catch-up for the last few months - or we'd be here a while! - but Lance and I did have a great week.
I started off the week having dinner with an old coworker of mine, Diana. A group of girls who work or have worked at Disciple try to get together for Girls Night Out every few months. This time it was just her and me - and it was a blast catching up! She has two young daughters, and it was so much fun hearing about the goings-on of their family. It made me miss her even more...
Tuesday night, Lance and I met with our church's fellow Harvest Joy Festival committee members to hammer out the final details. We only have two weeks to go - and there's a lot left to do! I must say: Lance and I have loved working with these awesome people. It's been a great way for us to jump feet-first into Crossroads, and really give of our time and energy to this awesome church home that we've found (I was even lucky enough to get to name the festival and design the logo! fun fun!). I am really hoping that the event will be a great way for people in the neighborhood - and especially those looking for a church home - to get to know our church.
Thursday night I got to spend the evening with one of my dearest friends, Hang. She was sweet enough to cook dinner for both of us, and she and I got to hang out at her home and laugh and catch up. It had been way too long since the two of us had been able to spend time face-to-face, so it was a real treat for me. I love my Hang!
Lance didn't mind my being away for the evening - he got to spend time doing one of his favorite things: watching baseball. His Mets had an awful season, so I think he's enjoyed watching the game again (he was basically on strike for the last two months!).
Friday night Lance and I got to host a long-awaited Game Night at our house. We had so much fun with the Strawns and the Grears! Jason and Kristin even brought along baby Nate, so I got to do some cuddling with him (baby fever, hello!). We played a new game that my friend Dave from Texas suggested, which turned out to be a huge hit. We decided that we need to play it at our annual Christmas party, when we have more folks there (I won't get into the details of what it was, but it's best played with more players). We ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples, which was really fun too. Lance and I loved having our friends over - we don't get to do that often enough - so it was a treat for us both.
Saturday morning, I joined some of the ladies from Crossroads for a brunch at a local catering shop. It was a really exciting event for me - I've been looking for ways to really get to know some of the women at church, and it did not disappoint! Our table was full of ladies from all walks of life and all ages. We had a blast laughing and sharing stories with each other. The food was amazing too. Vicki, Pastor Rob's wife, led us all in a mini-devotional after we ate. She stressed the fact that God knows each of us by name - and that our names are no mistake. She had a special treat for each one of the attendees: she gave us a picture frame that held a print-out of our name, the meaning of our name, and a Bible verse that goes along with it. It was such a special take-along for me to remember this amazing day.
Saturday night, Lance and I attended the wedding of a former youth friend of mine from Covenant. I met and worked with Leigha when she was 16, so to get to see her as a beautiful 24 year-old reciting her marriage vows was a real gift to me. I have kept up with her and her sister, Caitlin, through the years. It's amazing when I see how God has worked in each of their lives, as they matured from high school girls to young ladies to Godly women. It was such a blessing to me to be able to share in such a special day. And Lance was such a good sport! We even got to share a slow dance or two (in-between my dancing the Macarena, Electric Slide and all those other dances Lance wouldn't be caught dead doing!).
Sunday morning was our weekly Sunday School and church service at Crossroads. We love love love our Sunday School group - especially our leaders, Aronda and John. They have done such a wonderful job of making each person feel welcome and a part of the group from day one. We are really looking forward to the cookout that they are hosting for all of us this Friday night.
As a last-minute addition to our weekend schedule, Lance signed us up to attend one of Crossroads' Family Prayer Fellowships at the home of one of the church families on Sunday night. To be honest, I was not feeling very sociable. I really wanted to stay home and rest after such a busy week! But I am so thankful that he felt led for us to go. We got to know some really amazing people - faces that we see every Sunday but hadn't gotten the chance to really meet yet. The fact that so many people would gather to lift up Crossroads and pray for our leaders as a group - it was so moving. I am thrilled that Lance and I have found such a wonderful place to call home - and it's exciting to think where Crossroads will be in two months... six months... a year... There are so many changes on the horizon, but it is very cool to think that we will be a part of helping make the big transitions that are to come.
See? Nothing really exciting or out-of-the-ordinary to report - but our lives are so full of wonderful people and good times. Seeing all of these things listed just reminds me yet again that Lance and I are truly blessed!
I hope each of you has a great week, and I hope to be able to post some pictures soon.
Until next time...
-JessWill :)
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Recipe Inspiration
Hello blog readers ~ it's been a long time!
I won't make any excuses. I really have missed sharing our lives with you. Somehow the everyday, hum-drum stuff that Lance and I do doesn't seem like it's interesting enough to share, but I've realized that we live such blessed lives and that we should feel happy to share our laughter and triumphs and even our mundane stories with everyone that we love :)
The project that Lance and I will begin next week has been inspired by the movie "Julie and Julia". We both love to cook, and have always had more fun when we can share the experience together. After seeing the commercial for this movie over and over again, we decided that it would be so much fun for us to try our own cooking experiment. So we spent last Sunday at the bookstore, picking out a cookbook that we both loved - and starting next week, we will cook every single recipe in the book, from start to finish! And it's an American Heart Association cookbook, so we are happy about the fact that every meal we are making is healthy and good for us.
We are both very excited about it! We've gotten stuck in a rut at dinner - we always seem to cook the same meals over and over again - so we hope that this project will help us try some new flavor combinations and introduce some new regulars into our dinner routine.
We've decided that since the cookbook is divided into categories (appetizer, soups, salad, chicken, pork, etc.) it would be best to go a different route than literally first to last. We'll begin with the first recipe in each category, going from front to back, then start over again at the front. This will keep things interesting - and also keep us from having soup three weeks in a row :)
We figure we'll average maybe three recipes from this cookbook a week, and in-between we'll stick to our tried-and-true family recipes. Some of these new recipes call for some pretty unique and not-so-frugal ingredients, so we think it's best to spread them out.
Our official first meal will be next Monday. I can't wait to share with each of you how the first meal goes! I'm going to try to make a habit of documenting some of the meals through pictures so you can see how everything turns out - or doesn't turn out, which I assume will happen at least a few times! Lance and I have pledged to each other to try every single meal, no matter what - I'll even eat mushrooms and peas, and Lance has promised to try peppers and onions.
This will be a fun experiment and we can't wait to do this together. I have the most wonderful husband who happens to also be my best friend, and it's a true blessing to get to share our lives with each of you through this blog.
Love to you all!
-JessWill :)
I won't make any excuses. I really have missed sharing our lives with you. Somehow the everyday, hum-drum stuff that Lance and I do doesn't seem like it's interesting enough to share, but I've realized that we live such blessed lives and that we should feel happy to share our laughter and triumphs and even our mundane stories with everyone that we love :)
The project that Lance and I will begin next week has been inspired by the movie "Julie and Julia". We both love to cook, and have always had more fun when we can share the experience together. After seeing the commercial for this movie over and over again, we decided that it would be so much fun for us to try our own cooking experiment. So we spent last Sunday at the bookstore, picking out a cookbook that we both loved - and starting next week, we will cook every single recipe in the book, from start to finish! And it's an American Heart Association cookbook, so we are happy about the fact that every meal we are making is healthy and good for us.
We are both very excited about it! We've gotten stuck in a rut at dinner - we always seem to cook the same meals over and over again - so we hope that this project will help us try some new flavor combinations and introduce some new regulars into our dinner routine.
We've decided that since the cookbook is divided into categories (appetizer, soups, salad, chicken, pork, etc.) it would be best to go a different route than literally first to last. We'll begin with the first recipe in each category, going from front to back, then start over again at the front. This will keep things interesting - and also keep us from having soup three weeks in a row :)
We figure we'll average maybe three recipes from this cookbook a week, and in-between we'll stick to our tried-and-true family recipes. Some of these new recipes call for some pretty unique and not-so-frugal ingredients, so we think it's best to spread them out.
Our official first meal will be next Monday. I can't wait to share with each of you how the first meal goes! I'm going to try to make a habit of documenting some of the meals through pictures so you can see how everything turns out - or doesn't turn out, which I assume will happen at least a few times! Lance and I have pledged to each other to try every single meal, no matter what - I'll even eat mushrooms and peas, and Lance has promised to try peppers and onions.
This will be a fun experiment and we can't wait to do this together. I have the most wonderful husband who happens to also be my best friend, and it's a true blessing to get to share our lives with each of you through this blog.
Love to you all!
-JessWill :)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tagged!
I was tagged by Carrie today, so here ya go:
8 things I'm passionate about:
my marriage, my family, my friends, my faith, justice, world peace (read: no more war!), education, travel
8 things I want to do before dying:
be a Mother, be a Grandmother, raise children who are faithful and productive members of society, stand in the Sistine Chapel again, go on a vacation (to anywhere) with my entire family, travel to every state in the U.S., take lots of roadtrips with my girlfriends, learn to speak a foreign language
8 things I often say:
"I love you", "Yall", "You ROCK!", "Seriously??", "Marvelous!", "I miss you", "Are you KIDDING me??", "Duh!"
8 books I have read lately:
Salem Falls, The Pact, Vanishing Acts, Skinny Dip, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart, Plain Truth
8 Movies I have seen 8x or more:
Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally, Princess Bride, Love Actually, Father of the Bride, Sleepless in Seattle, Parenthood, Center Stage
8 people I am tagging: If you read this, you are tagged!
Until next time...
-JessWill :)
8 things I'm passionate about:
my marriage, my family, my friends, my faith, justice, world peace (read: no more war!), education, travel
8 things I want to do before dying:
be a Mother, be a Grandmother, raise children who are faithful and productive members of society, stand in the Sistine Chapel again, go on a vacation (to anywhere) with my entire family, travel to every state in the U.S., take lots of roadtrips with my girlfriends, learn to speak a foreign language
8 things I often say:
"I love you", "Yall", "You ROCK!", "Seriously??", "Marvelous!", "I miss you", "Are you KIDDING me??", "Duh!"
8 books I have read lately:
Salem Falls, The Pact, Vanishing Acts, Skinny Dip, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart, Plain Truth
8 Movies I have seen 8x or more:
Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally, Princess Bride, Love Actually, Father of the Bride, Sleepless in Seattle, Parenthood, Center Stage
8 people I am tagging: If you read this, you are tagged!
Until next time...
-JessWill :)
Monday, April 21, 2008
God's Powerful Touch
We have had quite an interesting week in the Willis house! All is well now, but we had a couple of scary days. But God is good and we are aware and in awe of His hand in all of it.
Let me start at the beginning...
Last Sunday, I got back home from a weekend trip to Birmingham where I had joined my little sis Cynthia for a college campus visit. When I left Memphis on Friday, Lance was suffering from a bad cold/cough. He had actually missed work on Thursday because of it... but was feeling a bit better. When I arrived home on Sunday afternoon, he looked (for lack of a better word) awful. He said he had basically been in bed all weekend, trying to recover from whatever he had. We both knew that there was no way the meds they had given him at the minor med clinic on Thursday were working - so I told Lance he needed to go back and see what else they could give him. Thankfully the clinic was open late on Sundays... so Lance went, hoping for some more medicine for his sore throat.
As we know now... this was God's way of getting Lance to see a doctor. I received a call from him saying that the doctor needed me to come pick him up immediately and get him to an ER. His blood pressure was extremely high - dangerously high - and the doctors were very concerned that he could have a stroke. I got there as fast as I could, and we made it to the ER in record time.
Thankfully, there was only one other person in the waiting room - and we were able to be seen very quickly. Lance was immediately put on an intraveous medicine to get his blood pressure down. The nurse quickly guesstimated that the reason his blood pressure had gotten so dangerously high was because he had been taking over-the-counter decongestant. He said for someone who already has high blood pressure (which Lance had been told before; he had just never seen a doctor for treatment) that kind of medicine could literally kill you. He said that Lance can never take it again. It was obvious how serious the nurse was... and I think Lance was surprised because obviously he had never been told of the potential combination before. The doctors also told Lance that he had pneumonia, on top of everything else. They poked and prodded him, took lots of blood, and got him chock full of meds.
Lance was treated and given several prescriptions - and we were released in about 5 hours. The doctor told us in no uncertain terms, before letting him go home, that if his blood pressure went above 160/100 we were to come back immediately to the ER. I dropped Lance off at home, went to Walgreens to get his meds, then came home to get some rest. We both rested the next day, and made an appointment with a doctor to get some long-term treatment for his blood pressure. Lance felt good.
We had been told to keep monitoring Lance's blood pressure ourselves, so about 2:30 that afternoon, we went up to a local grocery store's pharmacy to have it taken. We were both completely shocked that the number was almost where it had been at the clinic the day before. We immediately ran home to pack a bag (I was convinced they would keep him overnight this time) and were back in the ER again. This time, we had to wait about 30 minutes before being taken back. They "upgraded" him to a Major ER bed, where the most serious cases are seen. He was plugged up to lots of machines and they drew more blood (poor guy... he has bruises up his arms and in his hands from all the bloodwork this week!). The doctor who came to see us said that he thought it would be best to keep Lance overnight so they could continue to give him meds... but when we told him that we already had an appointment set up for the next morning with a doctor who would be giving him long-term treatment, he called her and they agreed to let him go with the explicit instructions to report to her first thing in the morning. So once again, we found ourselves leaving the ER (after about 4.5 hours) and heading home.
We went to the doctor Tuesday morning - where they did an EKG, took more blood, did a urine test, etc. The doctor is doing a full work-up to monitor his health for any other problems. She adjusted his ER meds a bit, and added one more blood pressure pill to his regimen. She also gave us a recommendation for a blood pressure cuff that we could keep at home, and gave him instructions to keep a record of his blood pressure every couple of hours - at least for the time being.
This wonderful doctor is intent on closely monitoring him and keeping him as healthy as possible. We have faith that all is well now... luckily (as all of his doctors said) he is an otherwise very healthy, young guy - and with lifestyle and dietary changes, it's possible that someday he could be off blood pressure meds entirely.
He has already completely changed his eating habits - I think we've eaten more fruit this past week than either one of us had eaten in a couple of months! I'm so proud of him for taking this seriously and keeping an eye on things.
This was certainly a wake-up call to both of us... it's amazing how easy it is to take your body for granted and think "Oh, someday I'll get in shape". We've both discovered that now is the time to get started. I think overall, this will be a blessing for us both.
We realize how scary this could have been... without God's powerful touch, this could have turned out very differently. God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him... and we give thanks to Him for our blessings!
And this experience has also made us realize how many amazing people we have in our lives. We received countless emails and phonecalls from friends and family, telling us of prayers they had lifted up in Lance's name. Every single prayer was felt - and we are so thankful for each and every one of them.
-JessWill
Let me start at the beginning...
Last Sunday, I got back home from a weekend trip to Birmingham where I had joined my little sis Cynthia for a college campus visit. When I left Memphis on Friday, Lance was suffering from a bad cold/cough. He had actually missed work on Thursday because of it... but was feeling a bit better. When I arrived home on Sunday afternoon, he looked (for lack of a better word) awful. He said he had basically been in bed all weekend, trying to recover from whatever he had. We both knew that there was no way the meds they had given him at the minor med clinic on Thursday were working - so I told Lance he needed to go back and see what else they could give him. Thankfully the clinic was open late on Sundays... so Lance went, hoping for some more medicine for his sore throat.
As we know now... this was God's way of getting Lance to see a doctor. I received a call from him saying that the doctor needed me to come pick him up immediately and get him to an ER. His blood pressure was extremely high - dangerously high - and the doctors were very concerned that he could have a stroke. I got there as fast as I could, and we made it to the ER in record time.
Thankfully, there was only one other person in the waiting room - and we were able to be seen very quickly. Lance was immediately put on an intraveous medicine to get his blood pressure down. The nurse quickly guesstimated that the reason his blood pressure had gotten so dangerously high was because he had been taking over-the-counter decongestant. He said for someone who already has high blood pressure (which Lance had been told before; he had just never seen a doctor for treatment) that kind of medicine could literally kill you. He said that Lance can never take it again. It was obvious how serious the nurse was... and I think Lance was surprised because obviously he had never been told of the potential combination before. The doctors also told Lance that he had pneumonia, on top of everything else. They poked and prodded him, took lots of blood, and got him chock full of meds.
Lance was treated and given several prescriptions - and we were released in about 5 hours. The doctor told us in no uncertain terms, before letting him go home, that if his blood pressure went above 160/100 we were to come back immediately to the ER. I dropped Lance off at home, went to Walgreens to get his meds, then came home to get some rest. We both rested the next day, and made an appointment with a doctor to get some long-term treatment for his blood pressure. Lance felt good.
We had been told to keep monitoring Lance's blood pressure ourselves, so about 2:30 that afternoon, we went up to a local grocery store's pharmacy to have it taken. We were both completely shocked that the number was almost where it had been at the clinic the day before. We immediately ran home to pack a bag (I was convinced they would keep him overnight this time) and were back in the ER again. This time, we had to wait about 30 minutes before being taken back. They "upgraded" him to a Major ER bed, where the most serious cases are seen. He was plugged up to lots of machines and they drew more blood (poor guy... he has bruises up his arms and in his hands from all the bloodwork this week!). The doctor who came to see us said that he thought it would be best to keep Lance overnight so they could continue to give him meds... but when we told him that we already had an appointment set up for the next morning with a doctor who would be giving him long-term treatment, he called her and they agreed to let him go with the explicit instructions to report to her first thing in the morning. So once again, we found ourselves leaving the ER (after about 4.5 hours) and heading home.
We went to the doctor Tuesday morning - where they did an EKG, took more blood, did a urine test, etc. The doctor is doing a full work-up to monitor his health for any other problems. She adjusted his ER meds a bit, and added one more blood pressure pill to his regimen. She also gave us a recommendation for a blood pressure cuff that we could keep at home, and gave him instructions to keep a record of his blood pressure every couple of hours - at least for the time being.
This wonderful doctor is intent on closely monitoring him and keeping him as healthy as possible. We have faith that all is well now... luckily (as all of his doctors said) he is an otherwise very healthy, young guy - and with lifestyle and dietary changes, it's possible that someday he could be off blood pressure meds entirely.
He has already completely changed his eating habits - I think we've eaten more fruit this past week than either one of us had eaten in a couple of months! I'm so proud of him for taking this seriously and keeping an eye on things.
This was certainly a wake-up call to both of us... it's amazing how easy it is to take your body for granted and think "Oh, someday I'll get in shape". We've both discovered that now is the time to get started. I think overall, this will be a blessing for us both.
We realize how scary this could have been... without God's powerful touch, this could have turned out very differently. God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him... and we give thanks to Him for our blessings!
And this experience has also made us realize how many amazing people we have in our lives. We received countless emails and phonecalls from friends and family, telling us of prayers they had lifted up in Lance's name. Every single prayer was felt - and we are so thankful for each and every one of them.
-JessWill
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Pointless But Fun
1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
books, manilla folders, Bible, gloves
2. When was the last time you threw up?
a few months ago
3. What's your favorite word or phrase?
I love you
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Lance, Mary and Amy
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
working... been at work for 30 min already
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
procrastinating
8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
nope
9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"Great, thanks Gary. Talk to you soon." (a client)
10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Sheridan's wedding cake concrete, yummy
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
water
12. What are you wearing right now?
jeans, black shirt and pink jacket
13. What was the last thing you ate?
we went for Mexican today (although what passes for Mexican in TN is not quite the real thing...)
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
nope
15. When was the last time you ran?
me? run? haha
16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
watched Memphis kick butt on Sunday! wahoo!!
17. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
back to Bali, Indonesia - most peaceful and gorgeous place I've ever been
18. Who is the last person you sent a comment/message on myspace or your email?
just emailed the girls - the Today Show will be here on Friday and I'm gathering a crew to come Downtown with me :)
19. Ever go camping?
once, a long time ago
20. Do you have a tan?
yeah right
21. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?
I'm sure I have
22. What is your guilty pleasure?
People Magazine
23. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
sure :)
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
nope, don't drink soda
25. What did your last text message say?
I actually just erased 'em all cuz my Inbox was full... so I couldn't say
26. Are you someone's best friend?
yep
27. What are you doing tomorrow?
nothing exciting - working, then probably home to cook dinner and start a new book
28. Where is your mom right now?
Texas
29. Look to your left, what do you see?
a bulletin board covered with pics of people I love
30. What color is your watch?
don't wear one - and as obsessed as I am with time, you'd think that would be a problem for me
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
boomerangs and kangaroos
32. Ever ridden on a roller coaster?
love em! although not as much as I did when I was young
33. Birthstone?
emerald
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
drive thru
35. Do you have any friends in your address book that you actually hate?
probably some from back in the day, ha!
36. Do you have a dog?
nope
37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
see number 9
38. Have you met anyone famous?
I've seen George W. Bush and the president of China from afar (they were at the Civil Rights Museum, right behind our building, and we stalked them from the balcony, ha!)
39. Any plans today?
going to see miss Mary Sofia, Carrie and Billy tonight for dinner... then playing with MS til she drops!
40. Who'd you get this from?
Amy
41. Are you happy?
definitely
42. Where are you right now?
at work
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
trying to lose this weight... it never happens fast enough!
44. Last song listened to?
Britney Spears is on now, yuck
45. Last movie you saw?..
we watched "The Lives of Others" this weekend - was pretty good
46. Are you allergic to anything?
apparently I'm allergic to almost everything... my allergist said I tested positive to all but one thing... but luckily I don't have any symptoms - wahoo!
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?..
my Wallabies
48. Are you jealous of anyone?
nah
49. Who makes you feel like everything will be okay when you think it's not?
Lance, always
50. Is anyone jealous of you?
probably not
51. What time is it?
3:43
52. Do any of your friends have children?
yes
53. Do you eat healthy?
I'm trying to do better!
54. What do you usually do during the day?
work during the week... we always have something going on on the weekends
55. Hate anyone right now?
nope
56. Do you say hello daily?
sure
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
29... so close to the big 3-0!
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
yep - love it
60. How did you get one of your scars?
had a disastrous rollerblading crash in downtown Mineral Wells with David Burch... why did I think it would be a good idea to go down that hill????
-JessWill
books, manilla folders, Bible, gloves
2. When was the last time you threw up?
a few months ago
3. What's your favorite word or phrase?
I love you
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Lance, Mary and Amy
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
working... been at work for 30 min already
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
procrastinating
8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
nope
9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"Great, thanks Gary. Talk to you soon." (a client)
10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Sheridan's wedding cake concrete, yummy
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
water
12. What are you wearing right now?
jeans, black shirt and pink jacket
13. What was the last thing you ate?
we went for Mexican today (although what passes for Mexican in TN is not quite the real thing...)
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
nope
15. When was the last time you ran?
me? run? haha
16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
watched Memphis kick butt on Sunday! wahoo!!
17. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
back to Bali, Indonesia - most peaceful and gorgeous place I've ever been
18. Who is the last person you sent a comment/message on myspace or your email?
just emailed the girls - the Today Show will be here on Friday and I'm gathering a crew to come Downtown with me :)
19. Ever go camping?
once, a long time ago
20. Do you have a tan?
yeah right
21. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?
I'm sure I have
22. What is your guilty pleasure?
People Magazine
23. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
sure :)
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
nope, don't drink soda
25. What did your last text message say?
I actually just erased 'em all cuz my Inbox was full... so I couldn't say
26. Are you someone's best friend?
yep
27. What are you doing tomorrow?
nothing exciting - working, then probably home to cook dinner and start a new book
28. Where is your mom right now?
Texas
29. Look to your left, what do you see?
a bulletin board covered with pics of people I love
30. What color is your watch?
don't wear one - and as obsessed as I am with time, you'd think that would be a problem for me
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
boomerangs and kangaroos
32. Ever ridden on a roller coaster?
love em! although not as much as I did when I was young
33. Birthstone?
emerald
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
drive thru
35. Do you have any friends in your address book that you actually hate?
probably some from back in the day, ha!
36. Do you have a dog?
nope
37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
see number 9
38. Have you met anyone famous?
I've seen George W. Bush and the president of China from afar (they were at the Civil Rights Museum, right behind our building, and we stalked them from the balcony, ha!)
39. Any plans today?
going to see miss Mary Sofia, Carrie and Billy tonight for dinner... then playing with MS til she drops!
40. Who'd you get this from?
Amy
41. Are you happy?
definitely
42. Where are you right now?
at work
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
trying to lose this weight... it never happens fast enough!
44. Last song listened to?
Britney Spears is on now, yuck
45. Last movie you saw?..
we watched "The Lives of Others" this weekend - was pretty good
46. Are you allergic to anything?
apparently I'm allergic to almost everything... my allergist said I tested positive to all but one thing... but luckily I don't have any symptoms - wahoo!
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?..
my Wallabies
48. Are you jealous of anyone?
nah
49. Who makes you feel like everything will be okay when you think it's not?
Lance, always
50. Is anyone jealous of you?
probably not
51. What time is it?
3:43
52. Do any of your friends have children?
yes
53. Do you eat healthy?
I'm trying to do better!
54. What do you usually do during the day?
work during the week... we always have something going on on the weekends
55. Hate anyone right now?
nope
56. Do you say hello daily?
sure
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
29... so close to the big 3-0!
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
yep - love it
60. How did you get one of your scars?
had a disastrous rollerblading crash in downtown Mineral Wells with David Burch... why did I think it would be a good idea to go down that hill????
-JessWill
Friday, March 28, 2008
Mary Sofia is Finally Home!
Our dear friends, Carrie and Billy, have been on a year-and-a-half long journey to bring their daughter, Mary Sofia, home from Guatemala... and we are thrilled that the three of them are finally home in Memphis!
Hang, Carrie, Mary Sofia and me - with our homemade "Welcome" signs - at the airport
A big group of us met them at the airport last night - we were so blessed to be a part of their homecoming! Mary Sofia is absolutely stunning... all that hair! those eyelashes!!
What a beautiful and precious girl!
And there is no doubt that Carrie was made to be her Mom! Look how in love they are with each other :)
Mom and daughter greeting their friends
She's having a hard time warming up to Billy, but they know that will just take some time. Before they know it, all of this transitional stuff will all be a memory!
Carrie's Mom, Carrie, Mary Sofia and Billy's Mom
So welcome home, Mary Sofia! God has blessed your family, and has finally brought you all together. It will be a joy to be a part of your life and we can't wait to see you again!
Welcome home, Mary Sofia!
-JessWill
Hang, Carrie, Mary Sofia and me - with our homemade "Welcome" signs - at the airportA big group of us met them at the airport last night - we were so blessed to be a part of their homecoming! Mary Sofia is absolutely stunning... all that hair! those eyelashes!!
What a beautiful and precious girl!And there is no doubt that Carrie was made to be her Mom! Look how in love they are with each other :)
Mom and daughter greeting their friendsShe's having a hard time warming up to Billy, but they know that will just take some time. Before they know it, all of this transitional stuff will all be a memory!
Carrie's Mom, Carrie, Mary Sofia and Billy's MomSo welcome home, Mary Sofia! God has blessed your family, and has finally brought you all together. It will be a joy to be a part of your life and we can't wait to see you again!
Welcome home, Mary Sofia!-JessWill
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Being A Christian
I got this from a friend today. I think it's very powerful and I wanted to share it:
Christians by Maya Angelou
"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'"
I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!
What a beautiful reminder of what being a Christian is all about. Thanks, Barbara, for passing this along!
-JessWill
Christians by Maya Angelou
"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'"
I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!
What a beautiful reminder of what being a Christian is all about. Thanks, Barbara, for passing this along!
-JessWill
Monday, March 24, 2008
What's Up
Just thought I'd fill you in on what's been happening in our lives the last few months...
At the end of February, I threw Lance and his twin brother, Reed, a surprise 30th birthday party. Our closest friends and our families were able to join in on the surprise - and as you can see, both Lance and Reed really didn't have a clue!
The big reveal!
We had a great time and enjoyed having all of our favorite people together too. As you can see, Caroline (our friends Amy and Steve's daughter) and our nephew Quentin really hit it off!
You're FUN!!!!
Lance is still in awe that so many people would come together to celebrate just for HIM (and it's this humbleness that's one of the things that I love the most about him!). We are so thankful that so many people could make it for a wonderful evening.
Lance and me with our awesome families :
Martha, Lance, me, Bill, Reed, Erica, Quentin, Joe and Dad (Mom was sick and couldn't make the trip from Texas)
Lance and me with our amazing friends :
Reed, Billy, Carrie, me, Addison, Nate, Lance, Helen, Steve, Caroline, Hang and Amy
We recently had a fun night out with our good friends Carrie, Billy and Hang. Carrie and Billy are thisclose to bringing their daughter, Mary Sofia, home from Guatemala - and we enjoyed a night out in celebration of this life-changing event! After a yummy dinner, we played a game of Trivial Pursuit. And of course, the girls won - would you expect anything less? :)
Hang, me and Carrie post-victory!
At the end of February, I threw Lance and his twin brother, Reed, a surprise 30th birthday party. Our closest friends and our families were able to join in on the surprise - and as you can see, both Lance and Reed really didn't have a clue!
The big reveal!We had a great time and enjoyed having all of our favorite people together too. As you can see, Caroline (our friends Amy and Steve's daughter) and our nephew Quentin really hit it off!
You're FUN!!!!Lance is still in awe that so many people would come together to celebrate just for HIM (and it's this humbleness that's one of the things that I love the most about him!). We are so thankful that so many people could make it for a wonderful evening.
Lance and me with our awesome families :Martha, Lance, me, Bill, Reed, Erica, Quentin, Joe and Dad (Mom was sick and couldn't make the trip from Texas)
Lance and me with our amazing friends :Reed, Billy, Carrie, me, Addison, Nate, Lance, Helen, Steve, Caroline, Hang and Amy
We recently had a fun night out with our good friends Carrie, Billy and Hang. Carrie and Billy are thisclose to bringing their daughter, Mary Sofia, home from Guatemala - and we enjoyed a night out in celebration of this life-changing event! After a yummy dinner, we played a game of Trivial Pursuit. And of course, the girls won - would you expect anything less? :)
Hang, me and Carrie post-victory!We also went to the wedding of our friends Catherine and Brandon. It was great to be a part of their special day, and to enjoy a night with some of our favorite people!
The happy couple
Lance and me
All the girls (almost!) :
Me, Amy, Lashlee, Shelley, Hang, Molly and Stephanie
Billy and Carrie
Carrie and me
Hang and me
The happy couple
Lance and me
All the girls (almost!) :Me, Amy, Lashlee, Shelley, Hang, Molly and Stephanie
Billy and Carrie
Carrie and me
Hang and meThis month has also been full of other great things: the Return of Breakfast Club at Hang's house! She got the ball rolling again on this yummy tradition, and hosted the group at her house for a Cereal Buffet last weekend. She is such a wonderful hostess, and we had a great time.
I helped host baby showers for two good friends, Jen and Christy. Christy is an old friend from church, and Jen is one of her old coworkers who I was blessed to become friends with myself. They are both having boys, and really loved being pregnant at the same time. Jen and her husband, Corey, welcomed little Jacob last week - and we are all counting down until Christy and Jeremy welcome their son, Wesley!
And the latest news.... Lance and I got back yesterday from three days in Little Rock. We were there for the 1st and 2nd rounds of play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament! Go Tigers!! Four games on Friday, and two games yesterday - I'm pooped! - but we really had a great time. And because this is the middle of Lance's busy season at work, he had to work all day on Saturday from our hotel room while I did some shopping :) He and I really enjoyed these days together, since it is a rarity this time of year for us. We had some really yummy meals, went to a local comedy club, and mostly just enjoyed some "us" time. And of course it helps that the Tigers made it to the Sweet Sixteen! yay!!
So that's all from here... I hope each of you are doing well and that God is continuing to bless each of you as He has us.
Will have more to share soon.
-JessWill
I helped host baby showers for two good friends, Jen and Christy. Christy is an old friend from church, and Jen is one of her old coworkers who I was blessed to become friends with myself. They are both having boys, and really loved being pregnant at the same time. Jen and her husband, Corey, welcomed little Jacob last week - and we are all counting down until Christy and Jeremy welcome their son, Wesley!
And the latest news.... Lance and I got back yesterday from three days in Little Rock. We were there for the 1st and 2nd rounds of play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament! Go Tigers!! Four games on Friday, and two games yesterday - I'm pooped! - but we really had a great time. And because this is the middle of Lance's busy season at work, he had to work all day on Saturday from our hotel room while I did some shopping :) He and I really enjoyed these days together, since it is a rarity this time of year for us. We had some really yummy meals, went to a local comedy club, and mostly just enjoyed some "us" time. And of course it helps that the Tigers made it to the Sweet Sixteen! yay!!
So that's all from here... I hope each of you are doing well and that God is continuing to bless each of you as He has us.
Will have more to share soon.
-JessWill
I've Been Tagged
I'm supposed to share 10 weird or quirky things about me. Oh gosh, how in the world am I supposed to narrow it down to 10?!? :)
1. I hate feet. Absolutely hate them. I have a hard time wearing flip-flops because I know that's forcing the rest of the world to look upon mine. Wonder whose God-awful feet traumatized me as a child?
2. I have to sleep at night with the TV on. I used to have the sound on too - just loud enough to hear, but not loud enough that I could understand what was being said (because of course I would just lay in bed and watch TV). But Lance got me to agree to mute it while we sleep. I don't know, I guess it's like having a night light?
3. I have to park on a certain side at Sonic. Somebody told me this was "the cool side." I don't know about that... all I know is that I have to be facing the direction of the street. Don't ask me why - these are quirks for a reason.
4. I can't eat anything off of a bone. Nope. Just something about tearing meat off a bone with your teeth and hearing the tendons rip. Ugh...
5. I have OCD! After I clean I have to put every picture frame, every decoration back in the exact same spot. If it's turned even a slight bit from its original position, it drives me insane. And yep, I'm the girl who straightens the crooked photos on the wall at your house.
6. One of my secret obsessions is "The Hills" on MTV. Kind of embarrassed to admit it... but a new season starts up tonight and I'm already counting down, ha!
7. I have a little bit of a photographic memory. If I'm recalling something from a book that I'm reading, I can remember which side of the page and how far down the page it occurred.
8. I do not like to shop. At all. Hate malls like the plague.
9. I can't leave the house without mascara on. Anybody who's seen me without mascara on knows why :)
10. I am always "typing" with my fingers, either physically or in my head. I'm always spelling out conversations or song lyrics. And the craziest thing is that I'm counting the letters, and always try to go for an even number of letters in a sentence or phrase. If it's not even, I go back and "re-type" it until I'm convinced it can't be worked out right. Crazy, huh?
So there you are. If you read this blog, you're officially "tagged" and you have to do it too. I can't be the only one who shares her quirks with the world! :)
-JessWill :)
1. I hate feet. Absolutely hate them. I have a hard time wearing flip-flops because I know that's forcing the rest of the world to look upon mine. Wonder whose God-awful feet traumatized me as a child?
2. I have to sleep at night with the TV on. I used to have the sound on too - just loud enough to hear, but not loud enough that I could understand what was being said (because of course I would just lay in bed and watch TV). But Lance got me to agree to mute it while we sleep. I don't know, I guess it's like having a night light?
3. I have to park on a certain side at Sonic. Somebody told me this was "the cool side." I don't know about that... all I know is that I have to be facing the direction of the street. Don't ask me why - these are quirks for a reason.
4. I can't eat anything off of a bone. Nope. Just something about tearing meat off a bone with your teeth and hearing the tendons rip. Ugh...
5. I have OCD! After I clean I have to put every picture frame, every decoration back in the exact same spot. If it's turned even a slight bit from its original position, it drives me insane. And yep, I'm the girl who straightens the crooked photos on the wall at your house.
6. One of my secret obsessions is "The Hills" on MTV. Kind of embarrassed to admit it... but a new season starts up tonight and I'm already counting down, ha!
7. I have a little bit of a photographic memory. If I'm recalling something from a book that I'm reading, I can remember which side of the page and how far down the page it occurred.
8. I do not like to shop. At all. Hate malls like the plague.
9. I can't leave the house without mascara on. Anybody who's seen me without mascara on knows why :)
10. I am always "typing" with my fingers, either physically or in my head. I'm always spelling out conversations or song lyrics. And the craziest thing is that I'm counting the letters, and always try to go for an even number of letters in a sentence or phrase. If it's not even, I go back and "re-type" it until I'm convinced it can't be worked out right. Crazy, huh?
So there you are. If you read this blog, you're officially "tagged" and you have to do it too. I can't be the only one who shares her quirks with the world! :)
-JessWill :)
Friday, February 15, 2008
60 Things
Just saw this funny survey online - and since I got "tagged" I have to post it myself. You know, the rules of "tagging" are finite and unquestionable. Yup.
60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me
1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
a basket that I specifically bought to put junk in that would normally be on the floorboards or back seat of my car - it's full of random papers, our Bibles, fuzzy purple gloves and empty manilla folders
2. When was the last time you threw up
hmm... probably been 6 months or so
3. What's your favorite curse word?
like I'd write that on my blog
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Lance, Alison, Diana
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
eating donut cake (yummmmmmmmy)
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
starting on a new project at work
7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
hopefully arriving home and staying there for awhile
8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
nope
9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"bye!" (our part-timer gets to leave at 2:30 - lucky)
10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Baskin Robbins pecan pralines n' cream
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
water
12. What are you wearing right now?
jeans and a shirt that has a big blob of BBQ sauce on it - nice huh?
13. What was the last thing you ate?
ribs, baked beans and rolls at the Rendezvous - it was bday lunch day at work - I tried to be good but I got sucked in...
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
nope
15. When was the last time you ran?
hahaha
16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
Lance and I watched a little bit of a college bball game one night this week
18. Who is the last person you emailed?
Hangerz
19. Ever go camping?
nope
20. Do you have a tan?
the last time was 2003
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
sure
25. What did your last IM say?
don't IM
26. Are you someone's best friend?
I like to think so :)
27. What are you doing tomorrow?
getting my hair did at 10:30... hopefully meeting up with my friend Heather... cleaning up around the house... organizing my recipes (fun Saturday huh?)
28. Where is your mom right now?
home sick :(
29. Look to your left, what do you see?
my bulletin board covered in pictures of people I love
30. What color is your watch?
don't wear one
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ?
boomerang
32. Would you consider plastic surgery?
never say never :)
33. What is your birthstone?
Emerald
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
I'm a drive thru kinda gal
35.How many kids do you want?
2
36. Do you have a dog?
nope
37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
my Dad
38. Have you met anyone famous?
don't think so
39. Any plans today?
heading home from work in exactly 2 hours and 1 minute - then Lance and I are chillin' at home tonight
40. How many states have you lived in?
two
41. Ever go to college?
yes - go Texas Tech!
42. Where are you right now?
work
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
debt
44. Last song listened to?
listening to "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae - that girl can sing!
46. Are you allergic to anything?
nope
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
comfy Bass leather slip-ons
48. Are you jealous of anyone?
I try not to be
50. Is anyone jealous of you?
yeah right
51. What time is it?
3:01
52. Do any of your friends have children?
yes, and they're adorable :)
53. Do you eat healthy?
I'm trying to eat healthier these days (just ignore question 13)
54. What do you usually do during the day?
work
55. Do you hate anyone right now?
hate isn't good
56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
sure
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
29
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
I love me some Six Flags
60. How did you get one of your scars?
rollerblading down a steep street in the middle of Mineral Wells with David Burch... got going too fast and out of control... slid on my side down a sidewalk... ahhhhh to be young and stupid again
60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me
1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
a basket that I specifically bought to put junk in that would normally be on the floorboards or back seat of my car - it's full of random papers, our Bibles, fuzzy purple gloves and empty manilla folders
2. When was the last time you threw up
hmm... probably been 6 months or so
3. What's your favorite curse word?
like I'd write that on my blog
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Lance, Alison, Diana
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
eating donut cake (yummmmmmmmy)
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
starting on a new project at work
7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
hopefully arriving home and staying there for awhile
8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
nope
9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"bye!" (our part-timer gets to leave at 2:30 - lucky)
10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Baskin Robbins pecan pralines n' cream
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
water
12. What are you wearing right now?
jeans and a shirt that has a big blob of BBQ sauce on it - nice huh?
13. What was the last thing you ate?
ribs, baked beans and rolls at the Rendezvous - it was bday lunch day at work - I tried to be good but I got sucked in...
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
nope
15. When was the last time you ran?
hahaha
16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
Lance and I watched a little bit of a college bball game one night this week
18. Who is the last person you emailed?
Hangerz
19. Ever go camping?
nope
20. Do you have a tan?
the last time was 2003
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
sure
25. What did your last IM say?
don't IM
26. Are you someone's best friend?
I like to think so :)
27. What are you doing tomorrow?
getting my hair did at 10:30... hopefully meeting up with my friend Heather... cleaning up around the house... organizing my recipes (fun Saturday huh?)
28. Where is your mom right now?
home sick :(
29. Look to your left, what do you see?
my bulletin board covered in pictures of people I love
30. What color is your watch?
don't wear one
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ?
boomerang
32. Would you consider plastic surgery?
never say never :)
33. What is your birthstone?
Emerald
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
I'm a drive thru kinda gal
35.How many kids do you want?
2
36. Do you have a dog?
nope
37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
my Dad
38. Have you met anyone famous?
don't think so
39. Any plans today?
heading home from work in exactly 2 hours and 1 minute - then Lance and I are chillin' at home tonight
40. How many states have you lived in?
two
41. Ever go to college?
yes - go Texas Tech!
42. Where are you right now?
work
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
debt
44. Last song listened to?
listening to "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae - that girl can sing!
46. Are you allergic to anything?
nope
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
comfy Bass leather slip-ons
48. Are you jealous of anyone?
I try not to be
50. Is anyone jealous of you?
yeah right
51. What time is it?
3:01
52. Do any of your friends have children?
yes, and they're adorable :)
53. Do you eat healthy?
I'm trying to eat healthier these days (just ignore question 13)
54. What do you usually do during the day?
work
55. Do you hate anyone right now?
hate isn't good
56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
sure
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
29
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
I love me some Six Flags
60. How did you get one of your scars?
rollerblading down a steep street in the middle of Mineral Wells with David Burch... got going too fast and out of control... slid on my side down a sidewalk... ahhhhh to be young and stupid again
Monday, December 17, 2007
Merry Christmas!
I just wanted to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas! Lance and I are very blessed - God has shown us once again how gracious He is - we hope that everyone can recognize the same feelings of peace and love that He shows us all every day.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
-Jessica and Lance
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
New Pics Coming Soon
I HATE that I cannot post pics on my blog from work. For some reason I can't view the same post options as I can from home, on our PC. That's why I've been such a slacker and haven't posted any pics for a while - because once I'm at home I barely get on the computer, since I'm on one all day at work. Sorry excuse, I know, but it's true.
Ugh.
But I do promise to try to remember to do a post from home this weekend. I have lots of new pictures to share. I don't even remember the last time I put some up here...
Anyway, I hope everybody's having a mahhhhhvelous week - ciao for now!
-JessWill
Ugh.
But I do promise to try to remember to do a post from home this weekend. I have lots of new pictures to share. I don't even remember the last time I put some up here...
Anyway, I hope everybody's having a mahhhhhvelous week - ciao for now!
-JessWill
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Five Things, continued
Okay, so I received another fun survey and thought this would be a good way to answer it. Besides, I know my friends are sick of receiving these kinds of things from me over email. Yup.
So here it goes:
FIVE THINGS YOU FORGOT TO DO TODAY
1) Shave my legs - my poor husband! I usually don't do that until the weekends because I could use that extra four minutes in the morning to sleep. And believe me, that extra four minutes makes all the difference. Cuz I am NOT a morning person. And again, I say - my poor husband!
2) Bring my lunch - I slept in late this morning (ugh!) so I didn't have time to stop in the kitchen on my way out the door. Luckily I have about 27 Lean Pockets in the freezer at work, from all those other days that Burger King or Arby's sounded better. Sometimes being a (former) fast-food-a-holic IS a good thing!
3) Bring a movie to a coworker to borrow that I've been promising for a week - I swear, I need to start setting everything out at night before bed because in the morning, the only two words that I can focus on are "shower" and "keys".
4) Mail a card to a friend - I was going to stick it in the mailbox before I left for work this morning, but... well, please refer to numbers 2 and 3.
5) It's only noon, so luckily anything else that may have slipped my mind before now will come to me before I go to sleep tonight. Unless, of course, it involves me making any sort of effort in the morning.
FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD BUY TODAY IF COST DIDN'T MATTER
1) An airplane - so I would never have to pay American Airlines or Continental to fly me to Texas again.
2) A pilot - well, please refer to number 1. I don't think having a big jumbo jet parked at the airport will do me much good.
3) A new house - closer to the city, with enough rooms for all the kids that we can now afford to have since money doesn't matter. Also a pool, a guest house, and a bad-ass kitchen. Oh, and a whirlpool tub and a... Well, you get the point.
4) Brad Pitt - only so I can watch him clean our new, aforementioned pool. With no shirt on. Actually, now that I think about it, let's go with a naked Brat Pitt cleaning my pool. Why? Because I can.
5) A new computer - I'm sick of having to restart our current computer every time we want to get on the internet. It kind of defeats the purpose of having high-speed internet if it takes you 19 minutes to restart every time, huh?
FIVE PLACES YOU WOULD VISIT IF YOU COULD LEAVE RIGHT NOW
1) Pangkor Island, Malaysia - cuz it rocks. And last time I went I forgot to buy the all-important shotglass to commemorate my trip. And a trip isn't a trip without a shotglass.
2) New York City - it's definitely on my list of places to see. And since I'm assuming cost doesn't matter on this one either (just because I like it that way) we'd stay near Central Park and see every Broadway show we could squeeze in. Oh, and bump into Matthew McConaughey a few times on Fifth Avenue.
3) The beach, any beach - because it's so darn cold here right now, the thought of being some place warm makes me happy. Not the thought of being in a bathing suit in public, of course, but I think sun trumps cellulite.
4) The church where my parents were married - it's always been on my list of places to visit, but every time we're in Houston we're busy with something else. They met there and sang in the choir there and did who-knows-what-else there - it'd be nice to see where the whole thing started.
5) Dallas - to tuck my nephew Quentin in to bed tonight. Cuz I miss him so much and I just want to see him again. Oh, and to see Erica and Joe too. Sorry guys, but now that he's here you're at the bottom of the list. I hate it for ya, but that's just how it's gonna be.
That was fun. If you have a blog, copy this quiz and answer it for yourself. And if you don't - well, email me your answers. I can't wait to see what everyone else will say. Pretty please!?! Come on, how can you deny a girl something as simple as this?? (I mean, I already know I'm not gonna get Brad Pitt - the least you could do is make it up to me by answering a stupid quiz).
Um, yeah.
-JessWill :)
So here it goes:
FIVE THINGS YOU FORGOT TO DO TODAY
1) Shave my legs - my poor husband! I usually don't do that until the weekends because I could use that extra four minutes in the morning to sleep. And believe me, that extra four minutes makes all the difference. Cuz I am NOT a morning person. And again, I say - my poor husband!
2) Bring my lunch - I slept in late this morning (ugh!) so I didn't have time to stop in the kitchen on my way out the door. Luckily I have about 27 Lean Pockets in the freezer at work, from all those other days that Burger King or Arby's sounded better. Sometimes being a (former) fast-food-a-holic IS a good thing!
3) Bring a movie to a coworker to borrow that I've been promising for a week - I swear, I need to start setting everything out at night before bed because in the morning, the only two words that I can focus on are "shower" and "keys".
4) Mail a card to a friend - I was going to stick it in the mailbox before I left for work this morning, but... well, please refer to numbers 2 and 3.
5) It's only noon, so luckily anything else that may have slipped my mind before now will come to me before I go to sleep tonight. Unless, of course, it involves me making any sort of effort in the morning.
FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD BUY TODAY IF COST DIDN'T MATTER
1) An airplane - so I would never have to pay American Airlines or Continental to fly me to Texas again.
2) A pilot - well, please refer to number 1. I don't think having a big jumbo jet parked at the airport will do me much good.
3) A new house - closer to the city, with enough rooms for all the kids that we can now afford to have since money doesn't matter. Also a pool, a guest house, and a bad-ass kitchen. Oh, and a whirlpool tub and a... Well, you get the point.
4) Brad Pitt - only so I can watch him clean our new, aforementioned pool. With no shirt on. Actually, now that I think about it, let's go with a naked Brat Pitt cleaning my pool. Why? Because I can.
5) A new computer - I'm sick of having to restart our current computer every time we want to get on the internet. It kind of defeats the purpose of having high-speed internet if it takes you 19 minutes to restart every time, huh?
FIVE PLACES YOU WOULD VISIT IF YOU COULD LEAVE RIGHT NOW
1) Pangkor Island, Malaysia - cuz it rocks. And last time I went I forgot to buy the all-important shotglass to commemorate my trip. And a trip isn't a trip without a shotglass.
2) New York City - it's definitely on my list of places to see. And since I'm assuming cost doesn't matter on this one either (just because I like it that way) we'd stay near Central Park and see every Broadway show we could squeeze in. Oh, and bump into Matthew McConaughey a few times on Fifth Avenue.
3) The beach, any beach - because it's so darn cold here right now, the thought of being some place warm makes me happy. Not the thought of being in a bathing suit in public, of course, but I think sun trumps cellulite.
4) The church where my parents were married - it's always been on my list of places to visit, but every time we're in Houston we're busy with something else. They met there and sang in the choir there and did who-knows-what-else there - it'd be nice to see where the whole thing started.
5) Dallas - to tuck my nephew Quentin in to bed tonight. Cuz I miss him so much and I just want to see him again. Oh, and to see Erica and Joe too. Sorry guys, but now that he's here you're at the bottom of the list. I hate it for ya, but that's just how it's gonna be.
That was fun. If you have a blog, copy this quiz and answer it for yourself. And if you don't - well, email me your answers. I can't wait to see what everyone else will say. Pretty please!?! Come on, how can you deny a girl something as simple as this?? (I mean, I already know I'm not gonna get Brad Pitt - the least you could do is make it up to me by answering a stupid quiz).
Um, yeah.
-JessWill :)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Thank You
So I was thinking today of all of the people who make my life as wonderful as it is: family, friends, coworkers... And thought it would be a good time to say a few Thank Yous:
Thank you to my husband - for some reason, God has deemed me worthy of this man. He is literally the most patient, honest, thoughtful, doting, carefree, relaxed, and faithful soul I have ever met. I never thought that I would find my soulmate at this point in my life (I truly thought I'd be single for a few more years) - but Lance came into my life and I haven't looked back. I cannot imagine life without him, and I look forward to waking up next to him every day for the rest of my life. Thank you, Lance, for being you.
Thank you to my girlfriends - I am blessed with the absolute best and dearest friends I could ask for. They are my prayer partners, my shoulders to cry on, my EP-obsessed happy hour buddies, my "inside joke"-sters, my email pals and my make-me-forget-all-about-my-bad-day gals. I truly don't know what my life would be like without each and every one of them. I hope that they all know what a blessing they are to me, and that I consider them all my sisters. Thank you, friends, for being you.
Thank you to my parents - I feel blessed every day to have been raised by these two people. Every day in our house growing up was full of heartfelt laughter, passionate conversation, true interest in each other's lives, and a true sense of belonging and acceptance. I hope that someday I can pass on these qualities to my own children. I know that the close relationship that I have my parents is rare, and I fully realize what a blessing it is. They also provided me with the best gift possible: the example of a loving marriage. I am thrilled to not only be their daughter, but their friend. I can only hope that I have been as good of a daughter to them as they have been parents to me. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being you.
Thank you to my sisters - oh, where do I even begin?? I'm getting a lump in my throat even thinking about these two women. I literally cannot think of a single day that one of my sisters has not lifted me up, encouraged me, laughed along with me, cried with me, or inspired me. Erica has truly been my soulmate since the day we were born. We learned each other's language before we could speak; we held each other's hands as we ventured into this big bad world together. I do not have one single childhood memory that does not involve her (when I tell childhood stories, I even say "we" instead of "I" because she was along side me every step of the way). She is interweaved into my life in a way that can never be undone. And Cynthia - she has blossomed into a confident, funny, outspoken, caring, nurturing, and loving young woman. Watching her grow up has been such a blessing; she has found her place in this world in a way that is inspiring. She makes me laugh every time we speak. She is the girl that I never was; the young woman that I always wanted to be. I hope she knows how special she is and what a mark she will leave on this world. Thank you, Erica and Cynthia, for being you.
Thank you to my coworkers - I spend more time with these people each day than anyone else, and I could not have picked a better group of people to spend my day with. From the laughter and the music-playing to the honest conversations and the encouragement, I appreciate each and every one of them. I have had so many heart-felt and enlightening talks with these people, and have learned so much about myself and about this world. This is the first time I have ever felt "at home" among my coworkers, and I thank God every day for the opportunity to come to work here with them. Thank you, Disciple Design, for being you.
Okay... well, I think that's a good place to end for today. Obviously there are many more people out there that I could write for hours about - but these are the people that make my world turn; the people who literally allow me to wake up every morning and smile.
Thank you, all, for being you.
-JessWill
Thank you to my husband - for some reason, God has deemed me worthy of this man. He is literally the most patient, honest, thoughtful, doting, carefree, relaxed, and faithful soul I have ever met. I never thought that I would find my soulmate at this point in my life (I truly thought I'd be single for a few more years) - but Lance came into my life and I haven't looked back. I cannot imagine life without him, and I look forward to waking up next to him every day for the rest of my life. Thank you, Lance, for being you.
Thank you to my girlfriends - I am blessed with the absolute best and dearest friends I could ask for. They are my prayer partners, my shoulders to cry on, my EP-obsessed happy hour buddies, my "inside joke"-sters, my email pals and my make-me-forget-all-about-my-bad-day gals. I truly don't know what my life would be like without each and every one of them. I hope that they all know what a blessing they are to me, and that I consider them all my sisters. Thank you, friends, for being you.
Thank you to my parents - I feel blessed every day to have been raised by these two people. Every day in our house growing up was full of heartfelt laughter, passionate conversation, true interest in each other's lives, and a true sense of belonging and acceptance. I hope that someday I can pass on these qualities to my own children. I know that the close relationship that I have my parents is rare, and I fully realize what a blessing it is. They also provided me with the best gift possible: the example of a loving marriage. I am thrilled to not only be their daughter, but their friend. I can only hope that I have been as good of a daughter to them as they have been parents to me. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being you.
Thank you to my sisters - oh, where do I even begin?? I'm getting a lump in my throat even thinking about these two women. I literally cannot think of a single day that one of my sisters has not lifted me up, encouraged me, laughed along with me, cried with me, or inspired me. Erica has truly been my soulmate since the day we were born. We learned each other's language before we could speak; we held each other's hands as we ventured into this big bad world together. I do not have one single childhood memory that does not involve her (when I tell childhood stories, I even say "we" instead of "I" because she was along side me every step of the way). She is interweaved into my life in a way that can never be undone. And Cynthia - she has blossomed into a confident, funny, outspoken, caring, nurturing, and loving young woman. Watching her grow up has been such a blessing; she has found her place in this world in a way that is inspiring. She makes me laugh every time we speak. She is the girl that I never was; the young woman that I always wanted to be. I hope she knows how special she is and what a mark she will leave on this world. Thank you, Erica and Cynthia, for being you.
Thank you to my coworkers - I spend more time with these people each day than anyone else, and I could not have picked a better group of people to spend my day with. From the laughter and the music-playing to the honest conversations and the encouragement, I appreciate each and every one of them. I have had so many heart-felt and enlightening talks with these people, and have learned so much about myself and about this world. This is the first time I have ever felt "at home" among my coworkers, and I thank God every day for the opportunity to come to work here with them. Thank you, Disciple Design, for being you.
Okay... well, I think that's a good place to end for today. Obviously there are many more people out there that I could write for hours about - but these are the people that make my world turn; the people who literally allow me to wake up every morning and smile.
Thank you, all, for being you.
-JessWill
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
A New Year, A Time for Change
Hello 2007! I really can't believe that the year is already over. It really does go by faster every year (wow, I really am starting to sound like my Mom) :)
So, we (Lance and I) have decided that 2007 is a year for change. We have a wonderful life - but know that there are a few things that we could be doing for ourselves to improve our outlook a bit.
We have already started a big change: we joined Weight Watchers in November with several friends, and so far have done very well. We managed to stick it out through the holidays, the hardest part of the year. My weight loss has varied according to many different scales, so I don't know an exact number - I just know that my pants are already fitting differently and in a couple of weeks I should be down a pant size! Whoo hoo! I'm really proud of both of us, and for our friends and family for making it easy on us through the holidays. I also took the step of joining Curves, a women's-only gym, last night. I really think it's going to be a motivating place for me to get healthy and start to work on having a body that I can be proud of.
We are also going to be taking more control of our financial future. We came into this marriage with some debt, and Lance has been diligent about doing what we could this past year to get us to where we need to be. We sat down last week and made a financial plan for the next two years. It will take some sacrifice on our part (no more vacations for awhile!) but we both feel like this is the time to make some changes. We got ourselves in this position, it's our job to get us out of it. In two years we plan on being absolutely debt-free (except for the mortgage and my car note) - and that will be the time to start looking for a new house. Two years sounds like a long way off, but it really isn't: two years ago from now we were newly-engaged and planning our wedding. Amazing, again, how time flies!
Beyond these two major changes this year, these are my New Year's Resolutions (they're not promises, they're goals - because a broken promise sucks):
1 - I will try to not yell at other drivers, even if I am cut off by someone not using a signal and turning from the wrong lane and blocking my way (I think I just described every Memphis driver).
2 - I will do a better job of telling my husband how much I appreciate all the special things he goes out of his way to do for me. I am so blessed to have such a sweet and doting husband - and I want to make sure that he knows how much all of those everyday things mean to me.
3 - I will do a better job of eating leftovers. I'm notorious for letting old food sit in the back of the fridge until it grows its own twin - and I will try to do better and not waste as much food.
4 - I will do small random acts of kindness. This is something that I used to do quite often, and I need to get back into the habit of passing on "happies" to strangers: give the person at the drive-thru window 5 extra bucks to help pay for the person behind me, let the person in line behind me at the grocery store with two items go ahead of me, etc. I think those little things add up - and I never know how that small act can change someone's entire day.
I'm sure there are plenty more, but I'll start there. I'll come back and add more as my list grows.
2007 is going to be a wonderful year, I can feel it. And I can't wait to see where it will lead!
-JessWill
So, we (Lance and I) have decided that 2007 is a year for change. We have a wonderful life - but know that there are a few things that we could be doing for ourselves to improve our outlook a bit.
We have already started a big change: we joined Weight Watchers in November with several friends, and so far have done very well. We managed to stick it out through the holidays, the hardest part of the year. My weight loss has varied according to many different scales, so I don't know an exact number - I just know that my pants are already fitting differently and in a couple of weeks I should be down a pant size! Whoo hoo! I'm really proud of both of us, and for our friends and family for making it easy on us through the holidays. I also took the step of joining Curves, a women's-only gym, last night. I really think it's going to be a motivating place for me to get healthy and start to work on having a body that I can be proud of.
We are also going to be taking more control of our financial future. We came into this marriage with some debt, and Lance has been diligent about doing what we could this past year to get us to where we need to be. We sat down last week and made a financial plan for the next two years. It will take some sacrifice on our part (no more vacations for awhile!) but we both feel like this is the time to make some changes. We got ourselves in this position, it's our job to get us out of it. In two years we plan on being absolutely debt-free (except for the mortgage and my car note) - and that will be the time to start looking for a new house. Two years sounds like a long way off, but it really isn't: two years ago from now we were newly-engaged and planning our wedding. Amazing, again, how time flies!
Beyond these two major changes this year, these are my New Year's Resolutions (they're not promises, they're goals - because a broken promise sucks):
1 - I will try to not yell at other drivers, even if I am cut off by someone not using a signal and turning from the wrong lane and blocking my way (I think I just described every Memphis driver).
2 - I will do a better job of telling my husband how much I appreciate all the special things he goes out of his way to do for me. I am so blessed to have such a sweet and doting husband - and I want to make sure that he knows how much all of those everyday things mean to me.
3 - I will do a better job of eating leftovers. I'm notorious for letting old food sit in the back of the fridge until it grows its own twin - and I will try to do better and not waste as much food.
4 - I will do small random acts of kindness. This is something that I used to do quite often, and I need to get back into the habit of passing on "happies" to strangers: give the person at the drive-thru window 5 extra bucks to help pay for the person behind me, let the person in line behind me at the grocery store with two items go ahead of me, etc. I think those little things add up - and I never know how that small act can change someone's entire day.
I'm sure there are plenty more, but I'll start there. I'll come back and add more as my list grows.
2007 is going to be a wonderful year, I can feel it. And I can't wait to see where it will lead!
-JessWill
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Blessings
Yep, I'm a slacker.
Let me just skip that part and get on with my blog...
This has been the week from Hades!! I am relieved that today has been somewhat calm and relatively normal. I needed a break from all the madness!
I had a big project at work - knew I would have to work long and hard on Monday - and I couldn't figure out all day Sunday and Monday why I felt so sick. It's amazing what stress can do to your body! I just have to learn how to take deep breaths and close my eyes while I'm in the middle of the craziness. Tuesday and yesterday weren't any better - I even cried at work yesterday - so you can see why I'm thrilled to have relative calm today :)
But what this blog should really be about: my wonderful friends! Monday night was a regularly-scheduled Girls' Night Out. I was really debating whether I should go, since the day was so crazy - but I am so thankful that I did! My friends have a way of making me forget all about my problems and letting me focusing on the blessings in my life. I can laugh and cry and burn my fingers (long story) - and all else falls away. Amazing, huh??
Tuesday night was great too. Carrie had a Taste of Gourmet food party at her house. What's better than friends and food? My girl Shelley cracks me up! Plus, we got to eat some yummy treats that I would've never served at my own house :)
So bottom line - I have the best friends in the world! - I just need to slow down and realize the blessings in the middle of the chaos sometimes.
-JessWill
Let me just skip that part and get on with my blog...
This has been the week from Hades!! I am relieved that today has been somewhat calm and relatively normal. I needed a break from all the madness!
I had a big project at work - knew I would have to work long and hard on Monday - and I couldn't figure out all day Sunday and Monday why I felt so sick. It's amazing what stress can do to your body! I just have to learn how to take deep breaths and close my eyes while I'm in the middle of the craziness. Tuesday and yesterday weren't any better - I even cried at work yesterday - so you can see why I'm thrilled to have relative calm today :)
But what this blog should really be about: my wonderful friends! Monday night was a regularly-scheduled Girls' Night Out. I was really debating whether I should go, since the day was so crazy - but I am so thankful that I did! My friends have a way of making me forget all about my problems and letting me focusing on the blessings in my life. I can laugh and cry and burn my fingers (long story) - and all else falls away. Amazing, huh??
Tuesday night was great too. Carrie had a Taste of Gourmet food party at her house. What's better than friends and food? My girl Shelley cracks me up! Plus, we got to eat some yummy treats that I would've never served at my own house :)
So bottom line - I have the best friends in the world! - I just need to slow down and realize the blessings in the middle of the chaos sometimes.
-JessWill
Thursday, August 17, 2006
This World of Ours
Isn't the Age of Technology just wonderful??
I was just thinking about how many of my friends have websites/blogs. I love that at any moment I can catch up with what's going on in their lives (assuming, of course, they keep the sites updated). Hopefully they're better at posting than I am!
Do you even remember the days before the internet?
Before email?
Before webcams and chat rooms and Google?
I honestly don't know how I kept up with everybody so well before email came about. I guess I was a much better phone-talker then. I would so much rather send an email than pick up the phone and call somebody... Don't know why, I guess it's that "instant gratification" thing.
Plus, I can do it at work without everybody hearing my conversation :)
My new nephew has his own website (themaesefamily.babywindow.com) - and I've so enjoyed checking every day for new pics and a new journal entry from Erica.
When Lance and I planned our wedding, we absolutely loved having our own wedding website (which is active til October, by the way - whooda thunk??). It was a wonderful way for people - in town or out of town - to keep updated with our plans. I loved that so many people left us guestbook entries - it made us feel connected to people while we were in the middle of wedding planning chaos.
Anyway, that was my Random Thought for the day...
Thanks to those of you who made it to the end of my rambling blog. You deserve a cookie - and I'm not even talking about a fat-free low-carb cookie - a gooey, chocolatey, sugary treat. That's how awesome you are :)
Til next time...
-JessWill :)
I was just thinking about how many of my friends have websites/blogs. I love that at any moment I can catch up with what's going on in their lives (assuming, of course, they keep the sites updated). Hopefully they're better at posting than I am!
Do you even remember the days before the internet?
Before email?
Before webcams and chat rooms and Google?
I honestly don't know how I kept up with everybody so well before email came about. I guess I was a much better phone-talker then. I would so much rather send an email than pick up the phone and call somebody... Don't know why, I guess it's that "instant gratification" thing.
Plus, I can do it at work without everybody hearing my conversation :)
My new nephew has his own website (themaesefamily.babywindow.com) - and I've so enjoyed checking every day for new pics and a new journal entry from Erica.
When Lance and I planned our wedding, we absolutely loved having our own wedding website (which is active til October, by the way - whooda thunk??). It was a wonderful way for people - in town or out of town - to keep updated with our plans. I loved that so many people left us guestbook entries - it made us feel connected to people while we were in the middle of wedding planning chaos.
Anyway, that was my Random Thought for the day...
Thanks to those of you who made it to the end of my rambling blog. You deserve a cookie - and I'm not even talking about a fat-free low-carb cookie - a gooey, chocolatey, sugary treat. That's how awesome you are :)
Til next time...
-JessWill :)
Thursday, August 10, 2006
August Already???
Wow... I really can't believe that the summer is almost over! Although I must admit I'm soooo ready for fall to be here - I can't take any more of these 100-degree days. I've had some hot summers before but I think this one takes the cake. Ick!
Okay, so we've got a lot of catching up to do...
First of all, our new nephew Quentin is six weeks old! Erica's officially back at work this week, so they're working on their new schedule. Fortunately, she and Joe picked the World's Best Babysitter so they feel happy with where he spends his days. I know that is such a relief to them!
We had a lot going on the past month. Where to start...
I got to hang out with my girlfriends several times (dinner with Barbara, an old CSG buddy; happy hour and karaoke night this past Friday with the girls to celebrate Hang's birthday). I am blessed with the absolutely best girlfriends - I thank God every day for each and every one of them. My life in Memphis would not be complete without them!
We also had a lot of family time with the Willises - Lance's great great aunt Gladys was in town and we enjoyed a nice visit with her. I want to be as smart and happy and thankful when I'm 97!! We even got to have dinner and see a movie with Reed two weeks ago. For those of you who don't know, that's a rare occurence - his schedule is always crazy - so Lance and I enjoyed catching up on his life. We had dinner with Lance's folks one night last week, and got to spend this past Sunday evening with the whole fam - parents and bro Reed. That doesn't happen very often, all of us together, so that was a blessing!
Lance and I had some wonderful times together this past month too - some fun days, some romantic dinners - but every day we're together is better than the day before!
This Saturday we're meeting everybody for breakfast club - we missed last month so we can't wait. What a great idea Helen had for us all to get together every month. Now that folks are having babies, weekends are much easier than weeknights since our schedules are all so different. Can't wait to catch up with everybody!
Well, that's about all for now. I'll post recent pics of Quentin when I can get to it. They're about to shut down Blogger for maintenance in 2 minutes - so I don't have time. Hopefully tomorrow.
Til next time...
-JessWill :)
Okay, so we've got a lot of catching up to do...
First of all, our new nephew Quentin is six weeks old! Erica's officially back at work this week, so they're working on their new schedule. Fortunately, she and Joe picked the World's Best Babysitter so they feel happy with where he spends his days. I know that is such a relief to them!
We had a lot going on the past month. Where to start...
I got to hang out with my girlfriends several times (dinner with Barbara, an old CSG buddy; happy hour and karaoke night this past Friday with the girls to celebrate Hang's birthday). I am blessed with the absolutely best girlfriends - I thank God every day for each and every one of them. My life in Memphis would not be complete without them!
We also had a lot of family time with the Willises - Lance's great great aunt Gladys was in town and we enjoyed a nice visit with her. I want to be as smart and happy and thankful when I'm 97!! We even got to have dinner and see a movie with Reed two weeks ago. For those of you who don't know, that's a rare occurence - his schedule is always crazy - so Lance and I enjoyed catching up on his life. We had dinner with Lance's folks one night last week, and got to spend this past Sunday evening with the whole fam - parents and bro Reed. That doesn't happen very often, all of us together, so that was a blessing!
Lance and I had some wonderful times together this past month too - some fun days, some romantic dinners - but every day we're together is better than the day before!
This Saturday we're meeting everybody for breakfast club - we missed last month so we can't wait. What a great idea Helen had for us all to get together every month. Now that folks are having babies, weekends are much easier than weeknights since our schedules are all so different. Can't wait to catch up with everybody!
Well, that's about all for now. I'll post recent pics of Quentin when I can get to it. They're about to shut down Blogger for maintenance in 2 minutes - so I don't have time. Hopefully tomorrow.
Til next time...
-JessWill :)
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