White Christmas

It finally happened! We had a White Christmas in Georgia!
Nick and I left KY the day before Christmas Eve and headed straight to Georgia. We arrived at my parents house late and spent the whole next day with the fam. It was so good to see my family. Grandma was in from Houston, and I almost cried when I saw her. We hadn't been together since my wedding 2 years ago, and she looks great! :)

Nick and I feel that we have essentially missed the past 2 Christmases. Last year, I had wo work, so we both were apart from family and traditions. The year before we were in Jamaica on our honeymoon (sure it was a great trip, but nothing related to christmas occurred). So we were super psyched about Christmas this year.

We did it all. At my parents, we went to the candle lighting service at my home church (Nick even found seats in the full sanctuary for us), ate our ham sandwiches, and watched It's a Wonderful Life. Nick and I opened half of our presents that night. The next morning, after opening stockings, we headed to Athens for 2 days. We opened gifts, ate a huge dinner, and then WATCHED IT SNOW! The next day we attempted sledding (no go), had a snow ball fight, and built snow men followed by hot chocolate... mmm!

We are now back at my parents house where we are getting ready to eat (again :) and then just relax. I love my family!

So I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

And let me leave you with a bit of my favorite Christmas carol, O Holy Night...

Long lay the world, in sin and ever pininig,
Til HE appearred, and the soul felt its worth....

Truly HE taught us to love one another,
HIS law is love, and HIS gospel is peace.
Chains shall HE break, for the slave is now our brother,
And in HIS name, all oppression shall cease!

Some times I feel like my soul is still pining for HIS grace, and there are moments where my soul suddenly feels its worth. This line calls to me, or rather calls to the Lord from my own heart. Christ is the Lord, and brings meaning and truth to all who believe. Merry Christmas!

2 years...

Nick and I celebrated our 2 years of marriage yesterday. We went to the Lexington Ballet's Nutcracker (OK but not as good as Atlanta's) and then to the Melting Pot (which I know is too expensive, but worth the yummy food and the 2 hours we spent talking) where Nick surprised me with a second wedding band! So beautiful!

While we were waiting for our food to cook, we reflected on the past year... both good and bad, and how the Lord's hand was in it all.

We spoke about Nick's Grandpa Schneider and the pain he has brought.
His Grandpa Wilbur and the pain his loss brought.
Nick loosing his job at Best Buy and how tight our pockets got.
About how we miss Georgia.

We spoke about how the Lord is using the Grandpa Schneider thing to teach us to trust him.
His Grandpa Wilbur and how to praise the Lord through grief and death.
About Nick getting the job at the hospital and how the Lord has now provided him greater flexibility with his schedule and health insurance (pretty awesome health insurance actually).
About how we miss Georgia and are trusting the Lord would bring us closer.

About how awesome our puppy Yoda is.
About how He provided a new house for us.
How He is providing for our future as I am in school for my Nurse Practitioner degree.
And how He loves us as shown by our own deepening love.

We are so excited about the new year, the next year together... We love that the Lord will provide for us and keep us with Him.