WELCOME AUGUST!
I have been anticipating this month for a very long time! On the 7th, I will officially graduate from Alabama with degrees in Secondary Education and English. Switching my major twice and killing myself trying to catch up now results in 156 completed hours and my first paycheck this Friday. It was all worth it!
I apologize in advance for how random and all over the place this post is going to be! July was one heck of a month!
Starting off on a Debbie downer, the major heartache of the month was the passing of my grandmother’s incredibly loving husband, JW. He died on July 8th. Some of you may remember my family’s excitement for their wedding on Valentine’s Day 2009.
My grandma lives in a mother-in-law suite that’s connected to my family’s house, and JW moved right in with her. Their 17-month marriage was filled with a lot of travelling, laughing, pigging out on my grandma’s Italian cookin’, and just having the absolute best time together. If she went to the store, he went also. If he went to the doctor, she went with him. They were inseparable, and it’s pretty hard to see her alone again in the apartment.
It’s hard to put a finger on what he died from, but over the course of five weeks in the hospital, he finally went home to be with Jesus. He was a very healthy man, who was incredibly good to our family. He had the best laugh, the best stories, and more love for my grandma than he could share. They were a true testament to love. She never left his side at the hospital.
He served three tours of duty with the Army, so he had an incredibly beautiful military burial. My grandma asked Jamie and Josh to be two of the pallbearers because JW loved the boys and their passion for the Army. Both of their parents were present at the funeral, and it was a great feeling to see both my sister’s and my fiancés there with their parents. Being home the first few days were hard without JW sitting around the table with us, but it’s getting easier. We are all extremely grateful that he came into our lives when he did.
On a HAPPIER note, I traveled through a whole lot of states this month, and did all of it with the most fun guy I know! We travelled to Indiana for five days to visit his family and had the best time! They spoiled us rotten the entire trip and neither one of us were ready to leave when we did. The next time we go back will probably be when we’re married which is VERY exciting! We left for this trip the morning after we got engaged, and it was SO nice to have nine hours of just me and Jamie as we smiled the whole way talking about the day before and all that we have ahead of us.
Nine days after getting back to Ttown from Indiana, we left for a five day trip to Arizona! Check out my facebook album for pictures from our trip. Being able to explore this beautiful country with Jamie was such a blessing, and we had so much fun! Considering we were in the car for 1,600 miles together, we didn’t bicker or snap at each other one time, but instead just enjoyed the incredible opportunity we were given to take this trip! I found myself always stopping on the Christian radio stations I found while scanning because the music just fit my thankful state of mind. My professer didn’t mind that I missed a few days of class, which helped to make this trip more fun. Dr. Beidler is the best!
That was two weeks ago, and I have NOT STOPPED since then! As soon as my plane landed in Huntsville, my dad drove me to Tuscaloosa, packed up some furniture, and I hit the grounding running with catching up in class, packing up the apartment, taking care of miscellaneous stuff around Tuscaloosa, and soaking up every second I could with friends! I’ve been up at St. Johns fixing up my classroom EVERY second I’ve had, and I finally finished it up yesterday! This week will consist of orientation every day and a LOT lesson planning! Everyone says that you won’t feel ready on the first day no matter what, but I’m REALLY GOING TO TRY! I HATE not feeling prepared, so I’m going to work very hard this week. I CANNOT believe that school starts next Monday! CRAZY!
A few more pictures from this month…
July was great, but I’m glad it’s behind me! Dad and I started off the month on the right foot (literally) today with a 7 a.m. four mile run and then headed to church. Jamie flies in on Friday, and his parents will be in Tuscaloosa on Saturday! SO much excitement, but SO much to do!
Oh yeah… and wedding plans! They are happening! I’ll save all of that for another post.
Hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. – Psalm 27:14
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo