Our new daily sights!

So this will be mostly pictures, but for those who have never been to our farm you can see what we now get to see every day!

Since we own property on both sides of the county road the cattle often cross from one side to the other to go to fresh pasture and come back to be milked.  And yes Mom bought a specific sign for her Jerseys in case you can't tell!

I just wanted a picture of the girls grazing but they were all curious and had to come snif the camera for themselves!

The cows have been in a hoop barn on a dry lot for the last couple of months so they won't damage the pasture while the grass isn't growing.  They were allowed out on fresh pasture for the fist time this year and you have never seen happier cows!

You know its Spring when the daffodils come out!

The roosters had to be let out at the same time as the hens (we were working on the chicken houses), so lots of challenges were issued and defended yesterday.

I love Cochin chickens!  When they are bent over eating bugs or grass they look like they are wearing bloomers because their leg and tail feathers are so fluffy.

One of Mom's handsome men!

Daniel and Andrew recently received a pair of gorgeous coon dog pups.  They love to get in your face and sniff you all over.  Obviously they wanted to figure out the camera and got extra close!

Isn't she so pretty!  This is Kate and her sister is Beth!

 Andrew and his pretty girl!  He has recently developed a passion for coon hunting, when one of my Granddaddy's friends found out he was so tickled that he gave the boys a pup each!

Our new digs...

We are pretty well settled into our temporary home at my parents house. We have claimed the guest bedroom and it has become our bedroom, living room and study all in one! Below are some pictures of our new room!

The new study!

The new living room!

And bedroom all in one!

Our bed always stays occupied whether it is our cat or the kids cat Martina!

When it rains...

We are finally at Mom and Dad's safe and sound but it was a trip getting here! Packing continued all this week, as the house started looking less and less like home it was easier to think about moving. Dad and the boys came down Wed. to get the trailer and some of the heavy packing out of the way. On the way down they picked up Chris who had gone to visit one of his friends as he took his motorcycle to Louisville. It was a good thing they came down a day early since the weather decided to turn wet on Thurs. (our original moving day).

Apparently we have accumulated much more stuff than I thought! The trailer was all the way full before we went to bed Wed. and there was still a lot to go! Mom and the girls came down Thurs. morning to help load up the rest. In addition one of my friends took our futon and another took two of our bookcases, I really don't think all of it would have been moved if they hadn't taken those for us! Despite Mom's concerns, Dad managed to squeeze everything we wanted into the four vehicles headed North. Mom swears 'you couldn't have fit a Q-tip in any car' because we were packed so tight!

It was hard to say good-bye to the place where our marriage began and where we spent our first few married years. I know this is where God is leading us, so many ridiculous doors have been opened, but that doesn't diminish the pain of leaving a place with so many good memories. While fretting over this move Wed. night (while sleeping on our frame-less, box-spring-less mattress) I realized that's one of the cool things about the promise of heaven, the permanence. In this world things are continually changing, and we are continually fighting it (or at least mourning our losses during the changes), why is that so? C.S. Lewis has an explanation for this that makes all kinds of sense to me. We are saddened by change because our hearts, our souls, weren't meant for this world. This longing is universal and therefore indicates something innate to our nature, something we were created with. We were created for heaven, and to my knowledge, if there are changes in heaven they don't involve loss as they do here. You will be continually surrounded by the ones you love, the Bible only talks about one city so there's no more moving, and you will have all eternity to enjoy the Lord while learning more about Him. This is also Lewis' explanation for our preoccupation with being young and immortality, but that's a discussion for another day. Point is, remembering we have a home that will always be there, and we will never have to leave, made this temporary move/loss bearable.

As stated earlier Pandora knew something was up and has been kinda stressed through this whole process. When she went to the vet earlier this month for her check-up we talked to the vet about something to calm her down on the long car ride and she gave us some sedatives for her. We administered them to her an hour before heading out as recommended and the results were hilarious! Her eyes were dilated to different sizes, her third eyelid wouldn't retract all the way and she was really woozy/unsteady on her feet because she couldn't see too well. The kids were cracking up. Fortunately she was pretty much out of it during the whole drive up and didn't throw the normal fit about being in the car... she did however throw-up right as we got in the car port and were getting ready to let her out. Its gross but still a record for cat car trips!

We are still settling in, but we have most of the unpacking/storing done for our 'layover' at Mom and Dad's. Hopefully next time I can post about our new digs and views!

Pandora and boxes...

So I know I just posted but I couldn't help sharing some fun pictures from my ever curious cat! It seemed like every time Chris and I turned around today she was into something hilarious! I'm not sure if she thought she was helping or just couldn't resist the various boxes and bags around the house!


Pandora loves bags with tissue paper so when one of my dear friends brought me a going away present she unknowingly also brought Pandora one too!


First box to be 'checked' was Chris' tool box on the washing machine.


Not sure if she is trying to help me here or break into whatever 'Mom' is doing...



Its a cat in a box! Her favorite place to be!

Packing...

Gah! My house is no longer looking like my house! We are making quick progress through the packing process. It was really hard when we first started packing, this has been our only home since we got married and lots of good memories have been made here, thus a few tears were shed as we began, but this was never meant to be our permanent home.

One of the bigger challenges is determining what clothes we are going to need for the 'layover' at my parents house. The weather is really starting to change but its not quite warm enough to give up all of my winter clothes! In addition Pandora is SO confused, some days she seems excited about all the boxes and new places she can go, other days I think she is stressed out. She was given up to the shelter because her first family couldn't take her with them when they moved, I can't help but wonder if she remembers that.

Emotionally I am doing much better with the whole moving prospect. Like I said the first few days were really hard but now I am looking forward to getting everything packed up and ready to go.... I think this is partly because once it is packed up I won't feel so claustrophobic with all the boxes and mess around! I'm still nervous about the coming changes, but conformations continue to pour in and they are soothing my heart. Well back to the boxes I go!

It's Official, Florida Here We Come

For those of you who don't know exactly how this option came about below is the Florida story!

Last semester my adviser, and several other professors, were encouraging me to explore the option of a PhD if I had any interest at all in ever pursuing one. Their reasoning was that if I put it off it would either never happen, or not happen for a long time. I did have some desire and knew their logic was sound (I mean, really, after I have babies a dissertation will not be high on my priority list!). Chris and I talked and prayed about it and decided that we would open doors and see which ones God closed. Well He closed the doors for Oregon, Washington, Michigan and North Carolina, four of the five universities we explored. Either the professors I liked were full of students, I would need a 1500 GRE or be a single mom or something tragic like that! Florida however, responded positively, they had a program I was interested in and an excellent reputation for Horticulture. I applied, started communicating with a potential adviser and waited to see what would happen next.

During this time I became unreasonably afraid of this decision. I assumed it was either me being my chicken self, or possibly God letting me know this was a bad decision. On the eve of our trip down I realized I was being followed by a spirit of fear and had one of the craziest spiritual battles of my life, in which I enlisted backup in the form of Mom and Dad, who were still awake at the time. That encouraged immensely, but I am still distrustful of my emotions.

We were able to visit the university on a minorities trip that would reimburse some of our expenses. Odd as it sounds I would be a minority in my field because I am a woman, that didn't keep Chris and I from feeling awkward as the only white people on the trip! During this time we were able to find out how much they estimated it would cost for an out-of-state student to attend... lets just say that without some serious financial aid I was not going to get my PhD. I should mention that before Chris and I went we decided that if we had to go into pretty much any debt for this it was not an option, that would be our version of a closed door. We also were able to meet my potential adviser, see where we would be working and discuss details. She informed us that if I were accepted they would hopefully offer me at least an assistant-ship, and at UF if you get an assistant-ship your tuition is waived!

Overall we really liked Gainseville, UF and my adviser, which was a bit of a surprise to me because I was really expecting to get down there and get some form of "no" through the atmosphere or adviser. During later communication I expressed my concern over receiving a large enough assistant-ship to support us during our time at UF and my adviser assured me she would try to get the amount I requested.

Earlier this week I received an email from her (my adviser) double checking my phone number and if she could call me. She was letting me know that I would be getting a letter in the mail next week with my acceptance and a fellowship (I think that's what it was called) for the amount I requested, along with tuition waiver and the option of health insurance!!!

So if that isn't a "Yes, duh, Diana! This is where I want you!" from God I don't know what would be!

During this time Chris was accepted to an online university, so he will be getting his next degree with me. We also talked extensively about baby timing, which was one of the things holding me back from this decision, and we determined that whether I get this degree or not we would start trying about the same time.

So now we are moving on this decision and trusting God that He is holding this door open for us. Chris is super excited... I am waffling, some days I am excited, but most I am still struggling with the fear of the unknown and fear of loneliness. But recognizing those fears as a lack of trust is helping me to slowly overcome them.

We won't actually be in Florida until sometime in June or July, but we are leaving our apartment before that and crashing with wonderful family for the in-between time. This has helped my heart immensely since I will get plenty of family time before moving.

So, if anyone is heading to Florida soon, give us a shout! It will delight us to have you!

My Sweet Hubby!

So this won't be long but I wanted to brag on my husband today! We have been running around like crazy the last few weeks and I am so excited to be home for awhile. My husband knows how much I like flowers and how they really cheer me up and make me feel like our home is more beautiful. As such he dragged me over to the flower area of Wal-Mart Sunday while grocery shopping and gave me free range to pick out the flowers I wanted, making sure they were Really what I wanted. Here are the results of that expedition!

Moving from fear to faith...

Recently our pastor has been preaching through Genesis, and his current focus is on Abraham. This may seem innocuous to most but has been really challenging to me. His major focus has been on the changes in Abraham's character as his story unfolds. Abraham initially trusts the Lord to leave his family and home when told to do so, but when hardship strikes in the form of famine he heads to Egypt where he hopes to be safe instead of trusting the Lord to care for him. While there he exhibits cowardly and deceptive behavior in addition to putting his wife in a horrible situation. The Lord rescues him from his own mess and even prospers him through it. Ol' Abe seems to have learned from this and is changed for the better the further we go in his story. First he lets Lot choose where he desires to settle and trusts the Lord to provide for him wherever he moves... That's not the grasping man we saw just a chapter ago. In making that decision he moves away from Sodom, an area that we know is infamous for its wickedness, but tempted Lot with its promise of prosperity. Next, he takes just under four hundred men to conquer four kings and rescue Lot. This is not the coward who asked his wife to lie for him so that Pharaoh would spare his life. Once Lot is rescued, he refuses treasure he rightly earned so that he will not be indebted to the king of Sodom. Again, not the man who accepted and kept the dowry from Pharaoh-for his Wife!

While we are not there yet in the sermon series most of us know where the story goes from there, Abraham messes up by not waiting on the Lord for his son from Sarah, but God forgives him and finally provides anyway. Then God asks for that son back, the ultimate test of Abraham's faith and love, and Abraham obeys.

Throughout his life we are able to see Abraham grow, he is moving away from fear and towards faith. Away from grasping at riches of this world and toward trusting God to provide. God keeps presenting Abraham with choices that force him to move one way or the other. He is doing the same for us today, I know he is continually asking me if I will trust Him. Which way are we moving? I know again and again I have seen God provide for us in tangible ways as we walk in the paths He has laid before us. Why are we afraid? Just as God was faithful to Abraham, so He will be faithful to us as we trust in Him. Just as Abraham failed, so too we will fail, but God is merciful and willing to set us back on the path if we are willing to follow Him.

In conclusion, which way are we moving? I intend to use this area to share with you opportunities God presents in my life for me to move away from fear and toward faith. I hope you will join me, encourage me and keep me accountable to this goal.