TownHome Update

Well while Brandon worked in landscaping today for some extra money, Raymond and I went to go see what was new at the TownHome. And the only thing that looks different is that the landscaping was done, the new black door was on there, the floor was cleaned off and the paint was all complete! So we're supposed to be moving 2 weeks from today and they have to:

• bring in washer and dryer
• bring in refrigerator & stove
• put in shelves in all the closets
• hang up mirrors
• clean

So I think we're still right on track to close on the 13th!!! :) What a busy month this will be. Easter weekend is next weekend! Then on Monday, the day after Easter, is my first day out of training at work - so I'll be answering phone calls for the first time! AHH and then we close that Friday!!!!!!! :) I'm getting so anxious!

I'll be praying that Satan won't stress me out - like Susan said. and just prayers that the transition time this next month won't be too hard on everybody!

(I love that the windows in this house are SOO big to allow the light to come in! and Lennox will love that they are so low so he can see out! I also LOVE the colors we chose. I LOVE the fans in each room -- and I LOVE the lighting. Anybody who has been over to our current house knows what I mean -- our lighting is so old here - so dim, no updated electricity, no outlets in the bathroom, dryer is outside in the shed, windows are so small and old --- so I'm ready for NEW stuff!!!)

Thank you GOD for this incredible blessing we are receiving - I know it's from you alone, and I promise to do my best to take care of it and appreciate it every day! Thank you!

Our First Little Home

Well we are closing on our first little home on April 13th!! It's a cute little townhome right on the outskirts of the City limits and we are sooo excited about it. It is in a brand new development - it will have sidewalks & a pool - 2 of the things I always said I wanted! :) It's a perfect start for us. We won't have to worry about the lawn and we LOVE NEW nice things - so it will be great! It will be finished being built really soon. We got to pick out the colors and everything - how exciting. We went there on Saturday.

It's small - but it's high quality inside - so we're happy with it! We'd rather start small high quality and then move our way up to bigger high quality! :) I LOVE that it has a screened porch - those Carolina breezes will feel so good back there! :)

I'm so scared for the move and the weeks after with the unpacking - and just kinda scared for all the changes, but God is so good and I know He'll be walking us through it all and as Brandon always tells me, "it will be okay" :)

It's an exciting time! Yet deep down - it is bittersweet knowing that I am now officially putting down some roots so far away from my family. We can always sell and move if we need to though!! We'll see where God takes us.

God is so good and we appreciate anything He gives!

MY NEW NEPHEW IS HERE!

YAY!!! :) Christian James Warner is here! Arrived yesterday at 2:10 pm. 8 pounds 10 ounces!!!

Bigger than my baby Raymond -- which is amazing to me because my older sister is so much smaller than me and so petite!! No wonder this one hurt worse than her first!!!

Christian James is the 2nd son of my only sister - it doesn't seem real. I am just pretending it didn't happen until I get to meet him (which I don't know when that will be).

It is hurting me so bad not to be able to be there to meet, hug and love all over him TODAY!!! (and my sister and brother-in-law too!) When I came down to school in North Carolina I knew it was where God was leading me - I just felt a call to come down here - and once I met Brandon that first week (who is now my hubby!), I knew I had made the right decision - I was on God's path for my life.... but even though I have learned so much and have been able to really mature and grow and become the person I want to be - it doesn't make it any easier to be away from my side of the family. Now that Roxie and I both have kids - it makes it a million times harder. I want to go shopping together for our little munchkins, have lunch dates, have play dates - babysit each other babies! I want to be able to rescue each other when we have one of those mundane yet hectic "i need a break" days!

It just stinks quite frankly -- but I know that God is planning something big and that He will make things work out the way they are supposed to. I'll just keep praying for Him to light my path to help me make the right decisions - and if we are meant to move back up there - I know He'll make it possible - and if they are supposed to come down here - I know He'll give them the options and the 'pull'... so I'm just waiting on Him. I'd rather do things His way then pretend I have control over my life and do it 'my way'.

I'd rather please Him than do whatever I want for myself - I know His ways are in my best interest. Life isn't always about being happy and pleasing myself anyway - although I believe God wants that for us too. I can choose to be happy in whatever circumstance I'm in - but it doesn't mean my circumstances are going to be peachy.

Anyway --- I didn't mean to get into all that - I just wanted to express how absolutely excited I am for Christian to have joined this family!!! I wish him a life filled with purpose, passion, truth, and fun!!! :)

What I've Done So Far

I saw this on somebody's blog, and thought I'd copy it to show some adventures I've had so far in my life... What I have done is in bold.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink (no but my dad sure did have a huge bar bill to pay from my wedding!!)
02. Swam with wild dolphins (I FINALLY DID THIS! but wait, they were not wild)
03. Climbed a mountain (well, yeah --- camping at Mahlon Dickerson looking at the NYC skyline!)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive (not yet!)
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (no, and never will)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it (only about 1,000 times a day)
09. Hugged a tree (definitely - but I'm not a tree hugger - just a christian that loves this earth)
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (how about gone THROUGH a huge storm on a cruise!)
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (Yankee Stadium - David Cone perfect game!!)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables (well moms and grandmoms)
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars (I can't remember -- feel like I have)
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (HAHAHAHA Have I ever....I am a pro)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (we all have a past!)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity (well -- it's never more than I can afford - God always provides)
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (about every other day growing up - school, church, everywhere)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger (That Dairy Queen kid -- what a dork I was)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can (quite often - a good release)
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster (LOVE THEM!)
35. Hit a home run (YAY! -- I miss those days)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (Lisa and I pretending we were spanish)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (want to!!)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk. (don't care to re visit that)
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales (YAY! Whale watch 8th grade)
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (but just one of those teenage "not love but feels like what I think love is" things)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (will see it to the end too)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site (maybe 'old' not 'ancient')
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (hopefully someday...)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date (oops)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (townhomes count?)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship (twice!)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery (no but a plastic surgeon zipped up my poor face twice)
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart (which really I think ended up hearting me more than them in the end!)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (fingers broken & cheekbone chipped--- no more for more though please!)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach (this just makes me laugh that this was on here HAHAHAHA)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (Fernando at Mickey's Retreat)
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream (maybe a day here or there)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you (yeap -- $.05 for a colored picture from our wagon)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Finished a marathon (but I never started one either - so it's not like I started and did not finish)

Nature

We took a drive this past weekend -- usually either Saturday or Sunday we get out and drive to do errands - and end up going someplace 'fun' - and this time B took me a new park he discovered on his lunch break one day last week.

It's on the Cape Fear River --- and it is just a truly beautiful park. There is a pier that goes out to the river - but the rest of the surroundings - and the land on the other side of the river just was so untouched and beautiful. I have been wanting to find new places to explore with Raymond to get him to see nature --- of course we'll hit up the beach (like every day) when it gets warm -- but I really have felt a calling to surround myself with God's beauty. And I think I would love to go hiking in the mountains ----- but then I think about the snakes, bears, panthers, spiders, and ticks --- and so then I realize I am perfectly contently with parks like this for now.

There is something so incredible about untouched land. No man-touched thing is ever as beautiful as God's original design for it.

I think I also love it because I love history and tradition and to learn about 'the olden days'. Their simpler life just seems so appealing to me -but then I think about not having electricity or running water and I know God let me be born at the exact right time. But I just love being able to look and see things the way they used to be.


I loved hearing the reeds sway in the breeze, the water move, the birds - it was just a nice 20 minute escape from the hustle and bustle.


I have always been attracted to water - obviously growing up on a lake, being a competitive swimmer, and now living near the ocean --- something about it just draws me in - I can't get enough! I think water is one of God's most beautiful creations. Water of all kinds - streams, waterfalls, oceans, lakes, everything! :)


I really enjoy where we live - we are always finding new places in our county -- I know there must be sooo many more untouched wonderful places and I look forward to finding them!!

First Day at Verizon

Well I did it! I left Raymond with Kristen, a new babysitter that we have for the first 2 weeks of my work until Reagan can come watch Raymond. And it went well. This week is more tough because she has him from 9:15 until 2:30 instead of my usual shift which will be 3:15 - 5 but they both still did well together. I'm so proud of him all the time. He's just such a good baby! :) He seemed to have a lot of fun - she couldn't get him to go to sleep except in the swing - but that's okay! :) It's tricky - every little one has their own routine and it's hard to duplicate it just like mommy & daddy do! :)

But I'm exhausted and this is only day 1!!! :) I just didn't sleep well with the anticipation I guess and Brandon and I switched sides of the bed so maybe that was it! :) BUT all in all the day was good and Brandon is headed to Raleigh tonight to be at his mortgage class tomorrow morning - so I'll go to sleep early tonight!! :)

We had our nightly walk before dinner so Lennox was happy about that. It was in the 60's today.

As far as the actual work day went - it was really good. There are 8 of us that got the position (all of which seem really nice and include my friend Natalie from Kohl's!) and 222 people applied externally and around 200 applied within the organization to transfer - so that is pretty impressive! It really seems to be a sought after department and location to work in! Activations where I'll be working is a great department in general but this Wilmington location was rated best in the company for 2006! So there will be high standards and challenges which I LOVE! :)

But really as far as today, as I sit through all these trainings - I can't help but feel 'bored' I guess is the word... I feel like I should be designing the core values or designing this teaching - not being the one that is being taught! With all the education and experiences I've had these last years - Marketing Classes, Disney Internship, BWW Leadership Training --- I really am far ahead of my peers. And it doesn't make me better than anybody - I simply have been extremely blessed and have made good decisions to continue working on myself through books and association. So anyway - I look forward to getting into the actual training and not so much these beginning days! :)

But it was another good day at the Rooks house. Now I have to go sit on the couch and just 'be' for a while. :)

Sunny Monday @ the Beach

The beach was really fun. It was really hard to drag the stroller and Raymond out to the water -- but it was a lesson learned - next time I know to just put him in the carrier and forget the stroller!!! I'm sure I gave a bunch of people a good laugh as they watched me trek across the beach so that's good to know I could make somebody's day haha. We went to the South End - "our"(me & B) spot.....

I don't think either of us had ANY idea what God would have in store for us the next 2 years and that pretty soon I'd be taking pictures of my SON in front of that house! :) WOW! :)

I finally found it was easiest to just drag the stroller behind me so I did --- we got down to the water, walked a bit and then just sat out there and I took off our shoes and socks and Raymond was just coo-ing like crazy with his feet in the sand. He was really mesmerized by the water and the waves and the sounds.

It was a great experience for all his senses I think! I was exhausted afterward but it was a great feeling!

Another crazy thing I just noticed was that Raymond's sweatshirt says, "Sunset Beach" - which is where Brandon and I were married of course!! :) Everything is connected! :)

When we came back to the house I felt bad we didn't take Lennox so I put Raymond in the front carrier and took Lennox & him for a walk down the street. The first time Lennox pulled I said no, the 2nd time I just made him sit and stay so he knew he wasn't allowed to pull and then the third time he did it I just beat his butt and embarassed him in front of his dog friends and he didn't do it the rest of the walk!! So I'll have to do that more often! Walk him I mean not beat his butt!! The walk was really fun. Raymond actually held the leash (but I held it too in case Lennox did pull) and Raymond just laughed - I don't know if that was from the bouncing or from the feel of Lennox tugging or just watching Lennox walk in front of us but Raymond thought it was FUN! :)

Now it's nap and shower time and then off to the grocery store when daddy gets home!

A wonderful day in sunny North Carolina!!!! :)