Great Friends

I just want to give a shout out to some great friends of ours...Chris and Carissa! Since they got married and are living so close to us, we have been able to hang out with them A BUNCH. They are the type of friends that you don't have to put on a show for. They are the type of friends that you can call at the last minute to make plans. They are the type of friends that I want to be for others. I don't feel like I have to look my best when they come over (or when I go over there) b/c they've become like family to us. We can be "real" together and that's something that I appreciate so much!

I've been hanging out at their house a lot lately (b/c of open houses or b/c Jarred's working late or coaching Upward, etc. etc. etc.). I just want to say that I LOVE it. They make me feel like family. When we get together it's usually to eat, cook, or watch some LOST, The Office, or Community! It's relaxing and I'm thankful for friends like that.

I don't have much else to say today...just that I'm thankful for ALL of our friends. We've been very blessed to make all the friends that we have out here. I just wanted to give Chris & Carissa a shout out and let them know that we love them and will be very sad to leave them when we move! I pray we stay close and continue to hang out as much as we can.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!

On the Market

Our house is officially on the market...has been now for a week. We've had some great activity so far and we've already had an offer. Didn't accept it but it was an offer! Anyways, if you're interested in moving to Maumelle, let me know! I have a great house for ya!

Love Worth Fighting For

So while I was driving to work this morning I was listening to KLOVE (this is becoming a regular occurrence b/c I like starting the day off on a positive note and remembering to be thankful for the day first thing) and they were interviewing Kirk Cameron! You know, Kirk Cameron from Growing Pains. They played the theme song to the show and now I'll be singing it all day long! Anyways, Kirk Cameron is heading up this Marriage Conference with singer Warren Barfield (whom I've never heard of) called Love Worth Fighting For. I'm intrigued. I really liked the movie Fireproof and I just really appreciated the message. Something that Kirk said this morning on the radio really spoke to me. He said:

"If you are trying to make this divine thing (meaning marriage) work without having God as the center of your own life it will never happen."

He said that MUCH better than what I just paraphrased but you get the point. See, I guess I don't think enough about how marriage is a DIVINE relationship that God WANTS for us. He designed the marriage relationship. It's almost like when Kirk said that a light bulb came on for me. It was an "AHA" moment. Jarred and I don't have major marriage problems but we do argue and fight, we're selfish, we're human...I just think that if you think about Marriage as something GIVEN to you from God it can change you. If you think about how you can make your marriage better just by having a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father you'd want to do it, right? I mean think of the blessings that would come if you and your spouse were trying to be more like Christ and one with him individually- it would naturally bring you together as a couple. I heard (at a marriage conference a couple years ago) that you can picture a pyramid. You at one corner and your spouse at the other, God being at the top...as you each grow closer to him you grow closer to one another as a result.

This is just something that hit me this morning, I'm still trying to gather all my thoughts on the matter but I wanted to put it out there for comments...I want to remember that my relationship with Jarred is a gift from God. I want to remember that sometimes if I'm wondering why we're not on the same page or wondering what's wrong, maybe before blaming Jarred for whatever it is I should look at myself first and wonder what my relationship with God has been like that day/week/whatever.

Looking for Something to Read??

I have recently (meaning in the last 2 years or so) become a reader. I would have to say that growing up this was NOT something I enjoyed doing. I don't know if it was because my parents really didn't push it on me that much and I just didn't think about it, if it was because I had no interest in the books my school wanted me to read, or because I had a cousin who was reading CONSTANTLY and I knew I could never keep up with that so I just didn't care to read. What I know now is that if I find something I really like...oh my goodness, watch out b/c that's all I want to do until I've finished it. I understand her love of books now. My affection started with the Harry Potter books. I read all 7 (see I started after they were all out) in about a month. Around the time I got really into the series we took a beach trip with several of our friends from church and they can all testify that that's ALL I did, that entire week. I think I read 3 of the 7 in that one week. Since then I've read the series all over again. I just LOVE it. I never thought I would get into something like that but I did. I also got really into the Twilight Series! I read the first book in 2 nights...it was ridiculous. Anyways, I'm learning that I enjoy reading. I don't necessarily like self help books or non-fiction books but anything that I can get lost in I enjoy. I like books that I can read and not have to think to stay with them. You see, about a month ago I tried to get into Jane Austen books...I LOVE the movies so I thought I would probably love the books. However, my simple mind couldn't do it. There were too many people named "Thomas" and "Edmund" or "Edward." I couldn't keep all the characters straight and when you don't have time to read every day it's hard to keep it all straight when picking the book up 3 days later. So, I've decided to stick to teen fiction! :) I know this probably sounds pretty lame but I'm telling ya, I'm in to it! I'm not afraid to say it! Here's the two books I just finished...they were so fun! They are both part of a series so I've got to borrow the next books in both series b/c I'm dying to know what happens.

I finished Maximum Ride not too long ago...here's a picture of the cover. Yes, it's about mutant kids. And Yes, it's good. Trust me on this one.

I also just finished (on Tuesday) The Hunger Games. Yes, it's awesome, it's set in the future, it's got a little love story (kind of) and I loved it...I'm dying to get the second book!

If you trust me, you should try these books out. Last night I started The Lightning Thief (based on the movie that just came out- or is coming out this weekend, I can't remember). So far so good, I'm only 3 chapters in. Here's the cover of it...I'm interested in seeing the movie but I wanted to read the book first. I'm new to this whole "reading the book before you see the movie thing" but so far I'm enjoying it! At least I'm enjoying it when the movie is good and doesn't leave out too much from the book. That makes me mad! Aka...the first Twilight movie! I thought they did a great job on the 2nd book though. I was happy about that. Hopefully it will just get better with the 3rd and 4th and not worse.

Well, that's what's been going on with me lately. I hope you don't think I'm crazy now- since you know I enjoy teen fiction, don't judge me till you try it!! I bet you enjoy it. It's fun reading!

Until next time...

Getting Ready...

So, since Jarred's new job is an hour away from where we currently live we are in the process of getting ready to put the house on the market! There is SO MUCH to do! We've already had several things done but my list isn't completely finished just yet! We've had painters come and paint and now the house looks better and brighter!!

We have a few more items that we're going to finish before we put the house on the market but the official date is FEBRUARY 16th!! I'm pumped! We meet with our realtor to talk about buying tomorrow. We're heading out to Benton/Bryant...somewhere over there. Not sure EXACTLY where but it'll be in that area. That will make for a much more pleasant drive for Jarred and we'll get to eat dinner together again (at a decent hour). Jarred's loving the job! We are SUPER happy about that. Things are going well at the Crow house just need to make it through this move and we'll be good to go! :) I am excited about a new house though, it'll be fun to get it organized and fixed just the way I want it. I LOVE organizing things so this is right up my alley!

Anyways, that's a little update for now...more to come later!