Arriving in Spokane!

So the trip went smoothly.  We had no hiccups in the travels except that I lost my gray sweater, which Joseph found.. and my bag was 15 pounds over the weight limit!  Haha here are some awesome pictures I have taken along the way!

Mountain ranges.. and then they just stop and there is a city at their base

Snow patches

Mt Hood

The land is in patches for some reason

Mount St Helen with Mt Ranier in the background

                                                         The front view of our house.  When we got there, they gave erica and I each a room key and a house key.  The room keys only opened one room, the other room key did not work.  I spent the first night of our visit on the floor in this house!  It is facing the forensics unit.. lovely.

The back view of our house

My bedroom with views out over the lake.  At night you sleep to the sound of bugs and crickets outside your window.  There is no air conditioner or internet... we discovered that we have fuzzy ABC and a VHS player! Our Monday and Wednesday nights will be spent at the public library using the internet.  They are only open 2 nights a week!  This is what they mean when they say small town USA.

My bedroom desk

                                                                    Our living room

Kitchen

The view from the back porch... It has the most beautiful morning sunrises.  I am amazed at the beauty God created!  I will definitely be taking some sunrise pictures.  I am still on MS time so I go to bed early here and wake up early!

Some more views from the house. That is the hospital in the upper right corner

The mule deer are EVERYWHERE.. they eat breakfast with us haha

On our way into Spokane, the metro area.  The mountains make for a beautiful backdrop!

 

The waterfalls at Riverfront Park! the pictures definitely do not do them justice.. people get killed here alot because of the power of the rapids!

The water fountain that all the kids play in at the beautiful park! the fountain goes as high as the ring on top!

The great Spokane clock tower

The tourist picture

The ginormous radio flyer wagon!

Of course I had to get my picture made on it!

Wonderful day!

Flight Schedule

From JAN (6:00) to Dallas Fort Worth (7:30).......American Airlines Flight 2750
From Dallas Fort Worth (9:35) to Portland (11:35)........American Airlines Flight 1185
From Portland (1:35) to Spokane (2:40)...............American Airlines Flight 7548

Mothers

So this is the week following up to Mother's day...

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my sister and I with my mom.

       I am so thankful for my mom and ALL that she has done.  She was married at 18 and then had me when she was only 20.  I cannot imagine that now; I would have a four year old!  She was young enough to play with me and close enough to be my friend, but never failed to be my parent.  She had my sister seven years later, and she was strong enough to raise another little boy, 21 years after I was born.  She has loved me through every stage of my life including the emotional teenage years. She fixed us dinner every night, even though then I only wanted to go out to eat and did not appreciate her cooking or her effort.  She has worked from 8:00-5:00 everyday since she was 20, while raising children and taking care of our family.  She supported me in decisions I made, even though they might not be the best choices.  She let me learn for myself.  She was always proud of my good grades, which made me want to achieve even more.  She helped me get through college financially and even after I am married.  She was at every football game when I was a cheerleader at State, and she dealt with highschool cheerleading and competitive cheerleading just so I could go as far as I did in college cheerleading.  She overcame her parents' divorce to have a happy marriage for herself.  When my dad hunted all of the time when I was little, she was the single parent.  She was my wedding planner in my wedding, and stayed up LATE hours with me and carried the stress with me.  My mom.  She allowed me to help pick our family church when I was just in middle school, just so I would like the church we went to.  I know she prayed for all of her children while we were growing up, so that we turned out to be godly people.  She has influenced me in so many ways that I now see coming out.  Since I have been married to Joseph, I find myself trying to cook like her and use her recipes.  When I get mad, I find myself acting just like she does!  I stand up for myself when there is conflict.  I cry like her at LITTLE things.  I try to plan out trips just like she did, even though joseph is used to just relaxing on vacation.  I love all of these little quirks! I can only hope to be as strong as her!  I love you momma!

Now, not only do I have one wonderful mother, but in the past year, I have gained two more wonderful mothers!  I am so thankful for the way they have molded Joseph to get where he is today!  He is such a gentleman and very kind to everyone.  He is a leader among everyone around him.  He was shown love growing up because of all of the support he had.  There was ALWAYS someone cheering him on no matter what he was doing!  Because of that, he is going to be a great father.  He is a strong Christian and has not strayed off the path too many times, and I know this all comes from the love and support of Mrs Corinne and Mrs Pam.  He had also sworn off girls right before he met me, good thing he got encouragement in that area!  Thank you for all that you have done!  I am honored to have gained two more beautiful women that I can call my family!



These are some quotes about moms that stood out to me!

"The mother, more than any other, affects the moral and spiritual part of the children's character. She is their constant companion and teacher in formative years. The child is ever imitating and assimilating the mother's nature. It is only in after life that men gaze backward and behold how a mother's hand and heart of love molded their young lives and shaped their destiny."

                                                                                     ~E.W. Caswell

"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power."

~ Maya Angelou

OT 3

I have finished finals week...and I am officially an OT3!!! Only one more year!  Our class got together to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and our accomplishments!! We are all going to spend the next twelve weeks all across the nation.  We haven't spent more than a month apart in the past two years!

Senorita!

OT 3's! One more year!

Hahaha Good Memories!

4 Days until Washington!

This is my last week in Mississippi and the South for a while, and it is going to be a busy week.  Joseph gets to celebrate his 24 birthday three times this week!  Friday night, we are going to eat at our favorite Southern restaurant, but we haven't decided which one: Cock of the Walk, Julep, and Walker's are all three in the mix!  I fly out at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning, which means I will have to be at the airport at 4:30! Guess who gets to take me!  That same day will be the State Track Meet! (Go ARROWS!) Then, Kat is moving into our apartment all on that day!  Joseph will have his birthday on Monday and then Joel Varner's wedding, teacher appreciation and his 2nd triathlon all next weekend, and I am going to miss all of it! :(

We did finally secure a place to stay... third time's a charm!
It's actually in Cheney, WA which is 15 minutes from Medical Lake.  We are going to be living in The Grove, which are apartments like 21 apartments in Starkville, I believe.  They are just for students and come fully furnished!  Here is a picture of the inside!

Spring Fever

      So it is now April, and I haven't posted since January!  Alot has been keeping us busy!

We found out we will be spending the summer in Spokane, WA!! So excited!!  We found a one bedroom cottage to rent May through July.  We subleased our apartment for the summer.  I will be flying out May 15 and Joseph will get to Washington June 5.  It will be like a 2 month second honeymoon! There will be plenty of blogposts on this!

Track season is in full force and Clinton is doing awesome!  They just had their district meet and won (Boys and Girls!)! Next weekend is the regional meet in Madison and then on to North Half in Tupelo and then State!

I cut off 8 inches of my hair for Pantene Pro-V beautiful lengths program!

Before

During

And After!!

We FULLY enjoyed the biggest snow day I think I have ever seen!

It snowed 5 inches!

Joseph making Earl's bottom half

Our little, cozy apartment!

Meet Earl

My mom, sister, and I took a girls only trip to see John Mayer in concert!

On the Trolley

Heather's first experience on Beale Street!

Hard Rock on Beale


In the nosebleed section with our binoculars

John Mayer is AWESOME!

I have learned to put siding on a house!

We celebrated our 5 month anniversary last  night by going to see Date Night!

We celebrated Chuck's 50th Birthday!!
                                  
They had just returned from HAWAII!  Chuck's goal was to go to all fifty states by the age of 50.  Hawaii was the last one!
Here is just a picture of my hot hubby!

 
I put my creative skills to the test.  I made this all by myself!!

We got our first China Cabinet!
 
We joined a our first couples small group at Pinelake and have made some of the best friends!

More pictures to come...

We visited the zoo

We have painted Picasso-style self portraits of each other.. which are now hanging above our bed!

and...I am still writing thank-you notes!