New Promotion

So, although I just accepted a promotion a few weeks ago. this week I was offered a new one! I officially accepted the position on Wednesday and moved in to my new office on Thursday. My new title is now the Executive Assistant to the Managing Partners of ColeJenest and Stone, P.A. I will be assisting all 3 partners, the HR Manager, and still maintain one team (Residential/Commercial) for now. If this proves to be too much then I will have to let my team go - however, hopefully, I'll be able to handle it all. I'll stay crazy busy - but it makes the work day go by faster :) I really do enjoy my job and I'm very pleased with my promotion. I've only been at CJS for 13 months and I've manager to work myself up from the receptionist to the Executive Assistant's position (which is the highest level of promotion I can achieve with this firm). Wish me luck . . . pics from the new office are forthcoming . . .

Becoming Jane - Official Trailer

my absolute most favorite new movie! A MUST-SEE!!!

News . . .

Keep C hris is your prayers today. He has an audition with the worship department at our church to play his guitar (for the worship band) as well as for the vocal team. He's very nervous and excited and it would be great if all went well for him tonight. His auditions are at 5:30 and 6:00 pm. Afterwards, he and Pat White (our good friend) will be participating in the Billy Graham Evangelical training (that will continue for the next 4 weeks). I started a new acountability group last night with some girlfriends and I know that it will really be blessed by the Lord - I am SO excited about it!

My new promotion . . .

Last week I accepted a new promotion at work and I am SO excited about it! For the last year I have primarily supported two teams of landscape architects and professional engineers. Together, they totalled 21 people that I've supported administratively. I have now begun the transition to a new position. I will be giving up one team (the Commerical/Civic Team), remaining with the second team (Residential/Commercial Team) - whch I totally love working with - and transition into being the sole assistant to the Firm Administrator/HR Manager on the corporate side of things. This, I'm sure, will mean many new responsibilites and probably a ton more work - but it will also lead toward the path of being the Executive Assistant to the Managing Partners. I certainly see a very promising future for me at ColeJenest & Stone, PA! I hope to be there for a long time (or at least until I start a family) :)

Okay, Okay, Okay . . .

Well, it's been a long time since our last update, much has happened to keep us very busy! Chris and I went to Carolina Beach for a week in July for our summer vacation. We had a really great time relaxing on the beach, eating some great seafood, walking through historic downtown Wilmington (like 4 nights out of the week!), visiting the NC Battleship and taking the Screen Gems Studios Tour. But if you ask Chris what his favorite thing about vacation was, he'll tell you it was cable TV! LOL! He's so deprived ! Whatever!!! LOL! We also celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on August 2 - cannot even believe it's been that long already! The good news is - we can still tolerate each other (LOL) and are still just as in love as ever! We're both really busy with work (as usual). Chris especially - he has several different projects going on at the same time that he's trying the manage in this 100+ degree heat! I don't know how he does it - but he's sure exhausted when he gets home. I have been offered a promotion and will slowly transition into a new position. I will continue to support the Residential/Commercial Team of Professional Engineers within our office, but I will also be solely assisting the HR Manager/Firm Administrator in that aspect of the company. I am VERY excited about this transition - this is the type of work I am meant for! Chris just wrapped up softball season. They started out a little weak but came back to be very strong in the end! Chris pitched them straight through to the second round of the playoffs - I was such the proud "cheerleader" wife! Now it's time to start getting revved up for NFL Football season - SOOO excited! Last night was the first televised pre-season game - Cowboys vs. Colts. We watched the game with some good friends over a box of pizza in front of their big screen HDTV - It was awesome! This weekend, we are solely dedicating all our time to nailing down new living room furniture! We've been searching for months and it's time to just make a decision. Well, that's all for now - we hope you all have a wonderful weekend of rest and relaxation!

So, I aplogize for the delay, I know it's been a while since our last entry - but things have been super busy for us (I'm beginning to think they'll never slow down again). We do have some news to report. Chris and I met with our fertility doctor last week to discuss Chris' test results and our future course of action. Thankfully, to date, we both are checking out fine. However, my next step will be to have a dye test done (outpatient surgery). This will let us know if there is anything being blocked which would prevent fertilzation from occurring. After that, Dr. Whitesides has recommended that I add another fertility drug to the already existing medication I am currently taking. We'll give that a couple of months before moving on to anything more invasive. However, if time reveals to us that we need to move forward, then the progression will be as follows: 3 rounds of IUI (insemination) and then a laparoscopy (outpatient surgery). The last and final option that we have is IVF - and neither of us feel confident in going that far. We will resume with adoption after the laparoscopy if necessary. To quote my mom "I think we'll have some good news by Christmas" - I certainly hope so! It's been a very long and emotional 2 years on this train now and we're ready to get off!

Chris has started playing softball with church - his first game was supposed to be tonight, but it got rained out (which is okay because our lawn could use the rain!). There's always next week! He also has been enjoying spending time weekly with a buddy of ours playing the guitar and singing.

I'm just glad to make it home at the end of the day, have some dinner, and go to bed early (depending on my TV schedule) :) There's not too much going on with me these days :)

REACH test results

So Chris' test results came back from REACH and my Doctor looked them over. He confirmed that Chris checks out just fine. So, we have arranged a consultation with my doctor on Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 2:15 pm to thoroughly go over his results and discuss our next steps. Will keep you posted. Keep praying!

Biblical Assurance

Each morning I get a new Bible verse/commentary in my email to encourage me throughout the day. Check out what the Lord encouraged me with today . . . He's so amazing!!!


Today's Verse:

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:35-38 (NIV)

Commentary

Elizabeth - A Spiritual Mentor Elizabeth is described by Luke as a woman of integrity and obedience (Luke 1:6). As both the daughter and wife of a priest (v. 5), she lived a righteous life, even though she carried a quiet sorrow because of her childlessness. Then a miracle occurred. Her husband Zacharias, who served in the temple at Jerusalem, was the first person in four hundred years to receive a direct word from God. While he was burning incense, an angel appeared to announce that his wife Elizabeth would have a child who would be named John (v. 13).Elizabeth was the first to recognize Mary of Nazareth as the mother of the Messiah. When Mary came to visit during Elizabeth's sixth month of pregnancy, John leaped inside Elizabeth's womb when Mary spoke (v. 41). Elizabeth understood immediately the imminence of the Messiah's birth. What a joyful time the two expectant mothers must have had as the godly Elizabeth shared hospitality and wise advice with her young cousin. Her interaction with the young Mary clearly distinguishes Elizabeth as an outstanding mentor (see Titus 2:3-5).Mary left after three months, but Elizabeth's joy continued with the birth of her own child (see Luke 1:14, 24, 25). Not only did Elizabeth miraculously conceive a child in her old age, but also God once again came to His people in fulfillment of centuries of eager anticipation. John the Baptist became a powerful preacher of the message of repentance and the forerunner who introduced the Messiah. Jesus said that no one was greater than this son of Elizabeth (Matt. 11:11).Elizabeth could have faced her old age with a sense of failure and waning faith, but her vibrancy of spirit serves as a reminder that God watches over every woman with loving care. Elizabeth trusted and God rewarded her. She shared herself liberally with Mary, and undoubtedly she trained her son in the Lord while she lived out her faith before him. See also Luke 1:5-25, 57-66; notes on Aging (Is. 46); Infertility (Gen. 11); Mentoring (2 Kin. 2)

“Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:2

Good News . . .

Chris has an appointment at REACH to get tested onWednesday at 12:30 pm. Please be praying for him during this time - it's very difficult for him (or so it seems). Soon we'll be able to have more answers and we can put this whole thing behind us.

We had some friends over tonight for a cookout and games. It was SO much fun! Chris made steak and shrimp kabobs, corn on the cob, and roasted potatoes. I also made a fruit trifle for dessert. Everything was great and it was really fun hosting it at our house - we should really do that more often :)

We've been pretty busy this week. Outside of our jobs, we also have done a lot of home decoration this week. We completely switched out our guest bedroom and office. It looks really great, but it was a lot of work!

Hope everyone continues to have a nice weekend! Love to all!

it's been a while . . .

So I've been SUPER busy lately and haven't had a chance to write more often - sorry about that! Chris and I left for Alabama on Wednesday night after work to spend the Easter holiday with Harmony and her family. We left around 7:15 pm from Charlotte and arrived in Prattville at 12:30 am (however, that's really 1:30 am in NC time). We had a GREAT time while we were there! We went shopping at Steve & Barry's - a totally cool clothing store that's REALLY affordable, the hubbies played paintball all day on Saturday, Harm and I had a "Felicity-fest" while the boys took their afternoon naps, and we ate some REALLY delicious food!!! We went to Easter service at their church (Destiny Christian Center) where Donovan (the 3 yr. old) sang a song on the platform about L-O-V-E LOVE!!! He was the best one up there!!! We had a great Easter meal then watched the boys do their easter egg hunt (with their super cute pottery barn kids easter baskets that I bought them!). I hated that we had to leave on Easter Sunday to come back home - but it was nice to get back as well. Now we're just back to the daily grind. Stephen (chris' boss) is out of town for the majority of the week, so he will be pretty busy keeping things together in Stephen's absence this week. I, too, am still crazy busy at work. I'm hopeful that it's gonna slow down sometime soon!!! But, at least the days fly by faster when it's this busy!!! Hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday! Have a great week!

WOW . . .what a weekend!!!

I'm ready for a break! Somehow we keep filling our weekends up with events and I think I'm finally ready to cool it for a while! This weekend was SUPER fun - but busy :) Friday night Chris and I went to Ryan and Valerie's house to decorate their basement for our Sunday School Thrift Store Formal. We had a great time working on it with a bunch of our friends - but we didn't leave their house until 1 am!!! Saturday was busy with errands and the like - but Saturday night was all fun and games! We had our first ever thrift store formal and it was a blast!!! As you can see from the pics on the left, many memories were made and many laughs were shared! There's some great shots of Chris participating in Limbo and the hoola-hoop contest! :) Chris and I were the winners of the "Newlyweds game" and we also took home the 2007 Thrift Store Formal King and Queen crowns!!! We just has SO much fun with all of our friends! Sunday we went to church, grilled out for lunch, took a very short nap, and went to the Charlotte Checkers hockey game with some more friends! The Checkers won (in sudden death) and will now advance to the playoffs . . . whoohoo!!! This week will probably be super busy for me at work. However, my good pal Amy will start working for CJS tomorrow and I get the pleasure of training her this week - that will be fun! Chris and I are leaving after I get home from work on Wednesday night for Alabama. We will be spending Easter with my sister Harmony and her beautiful family!!! I can't wait!!! We'll come home on Sunday (it will be very late I'm sure!) :) So . . . there's lots going on this week - I hope you all have a nice week and a wonderful Easter weekend!!!

Facebook Show

Wolfpack or Tarheels?

This week

Well, it has been a very busy week - good, but busy! There has been something planned every night after work and I'm ready to chill out a little bit. Tomorrow we'll leave to go up to Raleigh for the weekend. I'll be going to the Josh Groban concert with my family friday night, then sat./sun. we'll be celebrating our familes birthday's and anniversary. Hopefully we'll get to spend time with both our families - it would nice to see them all. "The Holiday" was released on DVD on Tuesday and I'm happy to report that I now own a copy! Even Chris (who watched it with me last night) said it was a good movie. I'm stuck in meetings all afternoon today - so I'd better get all my other work done before they start rolling around :) Catcha lata!!!

Hope you enjoy the new pics and tunes :)

Kristin Chenoweth singing "Taylor, the Latte Boy"

I LOVE this song!!!

Weekend Report

So, our weekend has been fabulous! Our dinner engagement was so much fun! We played numerous games - including Mad Gab, Tribond, Catch Phrase, and Pictionary - I have recently begun to remember how much fun board games can be!!! Today's missions work at the Charlotte Rescue Mission was so great as well! We met some super nice people that live there/work there and it was so humbling to be able to serve others who were so grateful for any little thing they could get. Even a smile and a "hello" meant so much to them. We will probably be doing this pretty often looking forward - perhaps every other month. It's a great service opportunity and we're privileged to participate in it. Tomorrow we'll go to church and fellowship with our friends then hopefully have a very relaxing Sunday afternoon! Sunday's are great for R & R!!! I'm just beginning to unwind when Monday rolls back around again :( Oh well, that's life!

Weekend Plans

Well, per usual, our lives don't slow down much on the weekends - here's what's on tap for us this weekend. Tonight, Chris and I are meeting 4 friends at one of their homes for dinner and board games. Should be a lot of fun!!! Plus, the menu consists of chicken parmigiana, salad, bread, appetizers, and dessert - just can't go wrong with that, you know?! :) Then tomorrow, Chris and I will be joining another group of friends in preparing and serving dinner to the members of the Charlotte Rescue Mission. We've been studying up on that organization in our Sunday School class these last few weeks and it seems like a great opportunity to serve. I imagine in our "down time" we will do the usual "weekend items:" laundry, X-Box (for Chris), grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc. What fun!!!

Meditation for the week:

"If anyone considers himself religious yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:26-27 (NIV)

Lyrics to my favorite Christian song:

"In Christ Alone"

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

Our weekend

Our trip to The Westin on Friday/Saturday was very nice - we enjoyed getting away for a short while. As you can see (pics to the left), the view from our room was beautiful. It's certainly not anything "new" to me considering my office is uptown and I am there 5 days a week :) But Chris rarely gets to go there and I know he appreciates it. Rumor has it that George Clooney was also staying at the Westin over the weekend as he is currently filming a movie in the Charlotte metro area. We must have just missed him :) We had dinner at the Ember Grille - attached to the hotel- which was delicious! But my FAVORITE part was the gourmet "breakfast in bed" - it was heavenly! :) Hope you all had a nice weekend as well :)

Weekend Plans

Tonight I start a new Bible Study with my gal pals on the book of Daniel by Beth Moore. I'm really excited about this because I think Beth Moore is so awesome and I learn so much through her studies. Afterwards, my parents will be coming into Charlotte to spend the night with us on their way out to Alabama (where Harmony and her family lives). They will be our first guests in what I have nicknamed the "Shabby Chic Guest Room - Phase I." Unfortunately they cannot stay long as they will be gone again after breakfast tomorrow morning - but at least they could stop by for a quick visit. They'll also be staying with us on their way back in on Sunday night. This weekend is going to be a very busy one for me. Tomorrow night I'm meeting some girlfriends for coffee and a movie. Saturday I'm hanging out with my Meredith friends (in Raleigh) for lunch and then Jennifer's baby shower. I'll also be spending the night with my BFF, Corrine. Sunday will be church at "The Prov" then back to Charlotte I go - just in time for my parents to meet me back at my house :) Busy, Busy, Busy! Chris will - hopefully - be at home painting this weekend! :) Before I sign off for the day, I'd like to give a big shout-out to my nephew, Donovan - "Happy 3rd Birthday, buddy!!! I love you!"