I haven't felt like I really belonged to a church family since college. There is the church I was raised in, (though somehow not Baptized in), and they are the closest to home because it's pretty much all I knew as a kid. Briar Hill was just where my family went to church, so it's where I went to church. Then cue the new Man in my life, and he doesn't really have a preference. He wasn't raised particularly religious, but he was baptized as a Methodist baby. He is supportive, and goes wherever I want to go. So there's that.

We visited a few churches in Guam, and we found the one we fit best into just right before we left.. bummer.

Then, in Hawaii, I did a little Google searching and a large Presbyterian church with a wonderful childrens ministry very close to us. I went alone one Sunday because Jason was at sea, but after that, it was our church. We love First Prez at KoOlau, and I'm sure we will faithfully attend when we get back to Oahu. (Which, by the way, is totally going to happen.)

But now, here in Memphis, we've made some leaps and bounds in our spiritual walk together. I guess the first step was going to Hope Pres. Wow, that church is awesome, and for the most part, right up our alley. We loved the music, we loved the preaching. The only thing we didn't love was the drive. We could have even learned to deal with the fact that it was a massive church and nobody would ever miss us if we were gone. (They haven't) But the drive was just too much. 45 minutes to church? Still have to unload babies in the nursery? No way.

Our next venture came with me making a friend, and finding out that said friend went to the church where I was considering placing Garrett for Mom's Day Out. She invited us to Sunday School with them, and we went. It was very nice, and I can see these people are a great group of Christians. We just didn't feel like it was "our" place.

So, on a whim, we visited Bartlett Baptist Church, and we immediately fell in like. Yep, just like. We liked it enough to come back the following Sunday. The next Sunday was a special all-day-long conference on marriage and family. Well, it saved my husband's eternal soul, I will say that. It made me think hardcore about the way I've been approaching our marriage.

And then, as if those two things weren't wonderful enough, we made some friends!

We made friends who invited us to Wednesday night dinner/church. So we went.
Then they invited us to Sunday School. So we went.
Then they invited us out for dinner with another new couple. So we all went, and we've all become friends.

This is amazing to me. But it shouldn't be.. this is how Military life works, and I should be used to it. You're told "You'll make friends as soon as you open up to the possibility of friends." Well, I guess it took me this long to really open up, because here the friends come, and I am loving it. I am loving Bartlett Baptist Church. I'm loving that I skipped service this morning because I wasn't feeling well, but here I am MISSING that worship service. Missing the praise music, missing the lesson from Brother Michael. Missing that little bit of Jesus I can feel during and after the service. To say I'm loving this time in my life is a huge understatement. And now, my new friends are going to read this and think me a total weirdo. And then they might read old posts and just KNOW me a total weirdo :)

August 29, 2010 - 5 days old - roughly 3 lbs

First night home!

Bed time?? Who has time for bed?!

Blowing bubbles with her friends

Since it's the time for thanks and all, I've been thinking about what I'm really thankful for.  Since I'm home right now, being thankful for my closest friends comes to mind a lot.  I do have ladies on Guam that I like, and some that I could call for dinner plans, and I've made one really good friend out there that I know I could call in the middle of the night if I needed her.  But nothing beats the feeling of a friend that you've had forever, who knows the worst parts about you and still loves you.  I've got a few of those here, and this blog is for them.



Thank you for knowing things about me that you'd never tell anyone else, much less hold against me.  In fact, thanks for knowing the worst parts of my personality and still loving me.  I can be obnoxious, judgy (not judgmental, judgy), neurotic, and snotty.  I know those things about myself, and I fully accept them.  There are probably more bad things I could add to the list, but I'm choosing to not do that right now :)  I so appreciate that my best friends accept me just like I am, neuroses and all.



Thank you for being there when I was sick and KB came so early.  And I don't mean just the ones that were there in body.  I mean thank you for being pushy and making somebody keep you up to date on what was going on.  I mean thank you for not listening to me when I told you there was no reason for you to come to the hospital - that I was just fine.  Little did I know how NOT just fine I was, and the fact that you basically ignored me means a lot.  It means that I have friends who really love me, and that means more than any of you know.  I never thanked you for that, so I'm saying it now.  Thank you!



Thank you for keeping on top of me when I get busy with life in Guam.  I'm not the best at making phone calls, especially with the time difference.  But you girls are so good about poking at me and saying "Hey, I haven't talked to you in a few weeks.  Your ass better call me!"  Even when I don't call, I'm keeping up with each of you, and thinking about you.  I just get so busy that things get out of hand.  So thank you for pushing me!



Thank you for being Katie Beth's aunties.  You've all been so sweet to us, and so loving to her, that I can't even thank you enough.  You probably don't realize what a huge help it is to me when you do something as simple as offer to take her while I finish eating.  Just holding that baby makes you a great Auntie!  But all of you loving on her like you is so precious to me.  I'm so happy that she'll grow up surrounded with so much love.



Also, thanks for the little bits of moral support, advice, etc.  Sometimes I feel like I'm totally lost on this Mommy thing, so it's nice to have friends who have already done what I'm doing.  I'm also super glad that KB will have a few "friends" around the country.  She may not realize it, but having friends in different parts of the world makes her a pretty cool kid.

Isn't that how Pumba put it before Timon corrected him?  It's been a while since I saw The Lion King, but I'm pretty sure it went something like that, and boy is it true.

So much has changed in my life in the past two years, I can't even begin to list it all.  The major thing, obviously, is Jason.  I mean, my life did a 180 in just three short months (And thank God it did!).  Not only did God send this amazing man back to me, but in doing so, it got me out of here for good.  Never ever did I see myself married to a Sailor and living in Guam.  It was more like, married to a high school history teacher and living in Brandon.  It's funny how God has such a grander plan, and you never ever know how it's going to work out.  I'm rambling..

Anyway, being home brings a lot of things to the surface for me.  There's a memory on every corner around here, and not all of them are associated with good feelings.  There are things that I did and can't take back, and there are things that were done to me that still hurt.  I wish I was one of those people who could honestly just move on and get over the past.  But I'm not.. nowhere close.  Case in point: I've searched for my elementary school best friend on Facebook for years now, when we haven't actually seen each other since we were 12. * In case someone knows her, her name was Kim Thompson and she left Pearl to go to St. Andrew's after 5th grade.  Somebody find her for me :) *

My point is, when I'm not home these things don't bother me nearly as much.  Since I can't drive past my former best friend's street, I don't think about her.  I don't wonder how her life is going, or what she's doing.  She's a former friend for a reason, and it probably needs to stay that way.  Some people just aren't good for other people, and that is definitely the case here.  But I still wonder.  I don't have to do that in Guam, and I prefer it like that, I think.  I can't be the only person who feels this way.

And now I just want to say that I hope KB listens to me when I tell her someone is bad for her.  It will happen.  If she's anything like me, she'll spend her life thinking she can fix the unfixable, and they'll eventually bring her down to their level.  So for future reference:  Katie Beth, your mother is a font of wisdom and you should listen to everything she says, even though she will NEVER tell you the stories that caused her to gain such wisdom.