The BIG 3-0!!!!!

I can't believe it. I am 30 years old!! WOW!! Time sure does fly! One of my friends said to me today (who is still in her MID twenties I might add) that the 30's are the new 20's. Thanks, Jessica, for lifting my spirits! :)

I was born July 2, 1978 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas to Kent and Becky. I am the oldest child. I have a younger sister, Lindsay. Let's take a look back over what has happened in the last three decades. (Thanks MK for the great idea.)

1. All of the fun moments of growing, starting new foods, learning new things.

2. Really no significant events this year...that I know of. :)

3. Several things this year. I did a forward roll and stuck a pencil in my hiney.Very exciting! My sister was born in August of 1981. I started gymnastics this year.

4. I started taking dance. This was the only year until I took again in 7th grade. Those were it. Only two years....maybe that should tell me not to enroll in any dance classes any time soon. :)

5. Started Kindergarten at Pleasant Run Elementary in Lancaster, Texas. I had a WONDERFUL kinder. teacher...Ms. Enoch.

6. I got into an argument with a friend of mine at school and the teacher told us to go the Principal's office. I marched on down there and halfway there I looked back and the girl that was supposed to be coming with me had turned around and was in the classroom. So, the teacher had to walk us down there.

7. My 2nd grade class got to sing a song on the radio. I do believe it was Texas,My Texas. Not really sure though. That summer I was saved at VBS.

8. 3rd grade we had a new elementary school built and I started there...Millbrook Elementary. Got my first dog ever...Chunk (yes, he was named after the movie "The Goonies".

9. We got our second dog Chelsea. My dad was not really happy about that.The girls (my mom, my sister, and myself) took over and made the decision.

10. 5th grade was really uneventful. I remember slumber parties, UNITS, New Kids On the Block.

11. Now, 6th grade on the hand was pretty eventful. I HATED 6th grade. I said a bad word about a "friend" of mine and from then on out her friends wanted to beat me up. They cornered me every chance they could. I was MISERABLE!!

12. We moved and I started a new school...West Junior High.

13. We moved again to Lake Highlands. I met a great friend there...Lauren. :)

14. Still at Lake Highlands. Quite a bit of sneaking out...sad to say. And then we moved after spring break. I went from a junior high to high school.Pretty crazy I thought. I met my husband there! He was actually the first person that talked to me.

15. Some of my fondest memories are spending the night with one of my good friends every Thursday night. We would make a snack for the football players, get up, go to McDonald's on Friday and then the pep rally.

16. I was in the school musical, "Annie". No, I wasn't Annie, I was Duffy. I got to go to Florida to Disney World that year to sing at a choir contest. A whole lot of baseball, since the guy I dated in high school played fall ball, spring ball, and summer ball.

17. Senior year!! I was in the musical, "Singing in the Rain!" My mom actually made it rain on stage. Pretty cool. We took a choir trip to Washington,D.C. More baseball! :) Graduation!!!

18. I started my freshman year of college at Collin County Community College in Plano. I started out with a nursing major. Then, I realized it was way more than I was disciplined for at 18. So, I switched to teaching. I also had jaw surgery that year.

19. Decided to switch to Eastfield and took 20 hours of summer school to get my grades up!!!

20. I transferred to Sam Houston State University and pledged Chi Omega.I met some life long friends there and had some amazing times!!

21. I FINALLY turned 21!!! I was one of the last ones. My friends took me to Lake Conroe and celebrated. I had an apartment that summer with a"great" friend of mine. Ha! :) (I could write a whole book on that.) Nathan and I met up again and started dating.

22. I did my student teaching, graduated from college, and started teaching at a wonderful school. I taught 6th grade English. I met some amazing people whom I basically consider family. Love you girls!

23. Nathan took me to Vegas and proposed to me. TOTAL shock! We built our first house!! We got married on June 22nd.

24. We find out around Christmas that we are going to have our 1st baby!!

25. Regan was born August 15th!! In March, we find out we're moving to AR(the first time). I got to stay home, but I was miserable because I knew no one close to where I lived.

26. We moved back home to Texas. Amen!! Found out around Christmas that we were expecting our 2nd baby. We had some wonderful neighbors move in that year...JJ and Pops.

27. Kennedy was born August 24th.

28. We moved into our house on the lake we built, and then two months later put the house on the market. We moved back to Little Rock. We bought a house there, joined a WONDERFUL church and Sunday school and met some TERRIFIC friends! (whom I MISS dearly!) Found out in June that year that we were expecting baby #3. Went to Cabo (my first trip out of the US.)

29. A lot happening: kids' school, Bible studies, get togethers with mommies,Sunday school, etc. Carter was born February 25th. We moved back to Texas (we aren't leaving the state/city again).

30. I am looking forward and am interested to see what God has in store for us now....and the next thirty years.

Regan put the crown on me for my birthday crown. :)

"Mountain" Pleasant

Tonight we went to a wonderfully fun birthday party in "Mountain" Pleasant, as Regan calls it. We were so excited to go! They are already starting to fight over who's boyfriend Zachary is...Regan's or Kennedy's. Starting early, I know. The birthday boy was Trent. Now, he is quite the ladies man. :) Here are some pictures of the fun party. And we are proud new owners of a FISH!! Thanks for the wonderful party favors, MK!! We love y'all!

Trent, the birthday boy!

Enjoying some pizza.

The fun bounce water slide!Trent's new 4 wheeler!!The fish party favors. :)

MK...one of the greatest friends that I could ask for!!!

The Rodeo

Tonight for JJ's birthday she invited us to go to the Rodeo. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We had box seats, great food, and drinks. The kids absolutely loved it. Before we left Regan and Hayes were so excited about signing up for the event where the kids ride the sheep (I forget what it's called). We got there, signed them up, and then had a ticket fiasco. So, once we signed them up they had a drawing and neither one of them got picked. They were both so sad. So, we ordered dinner, ate, watched a little bit of the rodeo and then were off to "face" painting.

The "face" painting ended up on the arms as tattoos. :)

Next to the face painting was the big huge bull. The mommies decided to get up there and get their picture taken. Then my girls wanted on it too. They were so cute.

Me, Jennifer, & Stephanie--the mommies

Regan, Kennedy, and me

The funny, but stupid thing was that while the girl was taking pictures JJ and Jennifer's mom, Cheri had our cameras taking pictures. Well, once we got off the bull, we hoped over and bought pictures...not realizing/thinking we already had some on our camera. DUH!!! $10 A PICTURE!!!! $20 later!! Crazy! It was so fun though. Good times, good times. Maybe next time we'll actually get to take Nathan.

Cowboy Pops

Happy Birthday, JJ!!!

JJ with Regan, Holt, Kennedy, and Hayes

JJ and Pops (Jane and Jim) have been our dear friends since they were our neighbors on Calistoga. They have loved our family like we are their own. I absolutely LOVE and ADORE them. JJ is such an inspiration to me. She defines what it means to be a Godly woman. Happy birthday, JJ!!! We love you!!

(I do have to say Happy Birthday to Kassie and Chad B. This is a day full of birthdays! Hope you have a good one!!)

A Picnic at the Park

Today we had nothing going on, so told the girls I would take them to the park and have a picnic. It was so fun...and HOT!! We asked if JJ wanted to come and bring the boys. They had such a good time. The highlight of the park is ALWAYS the swings. That's all they wanted to do, so I had to limit the time on that.
Then, after all the sliding, swinging, climbing, digging we had a picnic and came home and took a nap. Thanks JJ for going and bringing the boys!

Isaiah 40: 28-31

I have come to absolutely LOVE these Bible verses. It really tells us just how strong God is...and we're not.

Isaiah 40: 28-31:

28 Do you know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can

fathom.

29 He give strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Just a little something so that you know you're not alone. God is there and He is the strong one, not us. And that's okay. Just someone to hold you up and draw strength from and lean on. STRENGTH...such a strong word.

Bible Study

I started a new Bible study yesterday. I am so excited about it! I am doing Beth Moore's Stepping Up. I have never done a Beth Moore. I have heard they are EXCELLENT! She inspires me....and I've only done one day. Crazy! One of the things she was talking about was about people being low, down, feeling like they are never going to get out of the situation. And then she said something that I should have known and realized all along, but it really "hit" me then. She said, "You are only passing through the moment. You are not stuck here!" She was talking about the pilgrimage to God. We read Psalms 84: 5-7:

5 "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their heart on pilgrimage (going to God).

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength til each person appears before God in Zion."

It just really hit me. We are on a journey to God, to be closer to God. We are ONLY PASSING THROUGH the moment. That just hit me like a ton of bricks. I have several blogs that I read daily...if not more than once a day. One of the ones that I read, I read last night. She was talking about Psalms 84: 5-7. Do you think God is telling me something? We have been through a HORRIBLE year. In fact, I am so ready for 2009, but we're only passing through. AMEN!!!

6 years and still counting!

Nathan and I have been married for 6 years today! We have been through A LOT in our short married life. More than most people will ever go through. I love him dearly, and I am so thankful that I have him in my life. He is my best friend, a good husband, a GREAT dad, and a good provider. I've always said that because he is so crazy, he will always keep us young. I love you, Nathan!!

Happy 9th Birthday, Hunter!!!

Hunter, the birthday boy!

We went to our dear friend's birthday party this morning at the spray park. It was so fun to watch all the kids run and play. Hunter is turning 9 years old (next Sunday). I can't believe it! I remember the day you were born. Happy Birthday! We love you!!!

Kennedy hitting the pinata

A Sinner's Prayer

This morning the girls and I got up and headed out the door before 8 to get some good ole Chic Fil A breakfast. We were early to VBS, so we sat in the car and ate. While the girls were eating they were watching a video that has all of the songs and motions from VBS week. As everyone knows, Regan is always so curious. She wants to know what every words means. Then, she has more than enough questions to follow that. Well, this morning she asked what eternal life was. I explained all of that to her, and she said, "I want to have eternal life." Oh what a happy day! I have tears now just thinking about it. So, I told her that she could have eternal life by confessing that you are a sinner, and that Jesus died for our sins. I told her that if we acknowledged that we want Jesus to lead our life and ask Him into our hearts, that we could have eternal life. So, we prayed the prayer. She is so excited!! She went into her class and told her teachers. They all talked about it in class and the other kids wanted to know more about it. What a great story to tell!

On a more personal note, someone asked me the other day how well I knew my friends. Well, I could name people first and last, kids, husbands, and sometimes jobs, but the one thing I couldn't say was my friend's story of salvation. I would love for you to email me (alpurnell02@yahoo.com) and share your story. I think they are all unique. Plus, it will help me KNOW you better.

I will post more once we talk to Pastor Aaron and find out when Regan will be baptized. Nathan and I are elated. Now she'll get to see her baby brother for the first time...next to Jesus!!! Amen.