Well it's Official...

We're Floridians!!!

Did I mention that this is our 5th state to live in (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee (east, west, and middle), Texas, and now Florida, but hey who's counting :) Things here are going good. We are still in the process of getting everything unpacked and put somewhere, but we make a little more progress everyday. Things here in Florida are not a whole lot different from other places we have lived. As always in the south, it is HOT and HUMID!!! We have gotten quite a bit of rain lately, which they were in need of, so that is a good thing. The kids have adjusted well, as they always seem to do. They start school here the 22nd, and Carley is more than ready. She is my social bug, and needs more interaction than just me and her brother every day. Now onto what we have been up to. Other than the obvious of unpacking and getting the house set up, things are busy as usual. Carley turned 8 back on July 3. It is so hard to believe that my last baby was born 8 years ago. That really kinda makes me feel old. We found out that Jacob will have to have some oral surgery on Monday. He has an extra tooth under the gum above his front teeth, so that has to be cut out. We also learned that 2 of his baby molars need to come out. The ligaments that allow your baby teeth to grow and let the permanent teeth push through, have calcified to the bone, stopping the growth of those 2 teeth. I know, if it's something strange, it's my child. Anyway, since they will be putting him completely asleep to take out the extra tooth, they are going to go ahead and remove the molars at the same time. After all that heals, they will come back and put spacers where the molars were to allow room for the permanent ones to come in. I really feel bad for him. I hate having teeth removed. I have been fortunate enough to only have had my wisdom teeth removed, but I will admit I sat in the floor and cried because I didn't want it done, and yes I was 16! Anyhow, I know he will do just fine because he's my trooper, now Carley on the other hand may need to be sedated for a week :) Next weekend we are having some super special guest coming to stay with us, but that's all I will say on that for now. You will just have to check back in to see who it is :)

Time to Move On

Well, God has once again provided for us the way he always has...We have a new job! We will be working with the congregation in Marianna, FL. We will be making the move the first week of July. We are very excited to start a new chapter in our lives, and did I mention it is only 1 hour from Panama City. As most of you know, we LOVE the beach!!! It will be hard leaving the great friends that we have here, but I guess that is just the life of a preacher. As Brad always says, "We do not say good-bye, but see ya later." I will try to update everyone after we get moved and settled. It will definitely be a busy next few weeks with Father's Day, Brad's birthday, Carley's birthday, and of course moving (whew that wears me out just saying it!) Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Way to go Jacob Bradley!

I just had to let everyone know that...JACOB IS SWIMMING!!!! I know most of you are thinking, "so what, big deal???" but it is a very big deal for my chicken of a child. We are talking about a kid who would not even get his face wet in the shower, and is now swimming (with his face under the water and all). Carley is also swimming, but she never lets Jacob get one over on her. I am one proud Mama! Hopefully one day I will get some pics up to show you, because if your like me, you can't believe it!

So Sorry to Leave You Hanging...

I know after my previous post, some of you have been wondering, "What in the World Happened?" Sorry to leave you guys hanging in suspense like that, but things were crazy and I just wasn't ready to talk about it. Things are still a little crazy, or maybe a lot, but at least now I can feel you in on a few details. Before I go into that here are some verses that I have been going over A LOT lately...

"For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." 1 Thess. 3:8

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7

"...that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." Phil. 1:27

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." Eph. 6:13-14

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Gal. 6:9

It has been there verses, along with several others, that have helped me to press on and know without a shadow of a doubt that we are doing the right thing. Without going into a lot a details, let's just say our work with the congregation at Fairview took a turn for the worst. Me and Brad decided that we would stand for what God has said NO MATTER WHAT, and needless to say, others did not see it that way. We strongly believe that every one is responsible for their own salvation ("...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Phil. 2:12). Because of this, we have stood for the truth and lost our job. That may not sound too fair, but it is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We had much rather suffer here on this earth, than to burn for eternity because we went along with what some man told us to do. We are making it just fine, due to the providence of God. Brad has been able to find work until we can decide on a preaching job, and we have already had a couple of tryouts with more prospects to come. We hope to be able to start our new work by July 1 and until then will stay with the awesome friends we are with and just make it day by day. Please continue to pray for us, for we know God has a plan. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

A "FYI" Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are no longer working with the congregation in Fairview. We are however, doing fine thanks to many wonderful friends and family. Brad has been extended several preaching opportunities, and when we decide when and where we are going we will let you all know. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we go through yet another transition in life. I know that God has a plan for us and he will use us to the best of our abilities.

It's a Hard-Knock Life...Preacher's Life That Is

To say that being a preaching family is hard might be the biggest understatement ever made. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my church family, and I love the work that we are doing for the Lord here in Fairview. This is really an appreciation for all that our dear friends go through every day trying to work for the Lord. I guess when I went through the preaching school and listened to all that the instructors told us about how it would really be, I guess deep, down inside I never really truly believed that it would be that way. There are so many days when you feel like you work your fingers (and heart) to the bone and no one really cares. Not only do they not care, they say horrible, hurtful things that makes all your work seem to have been done in vain. Not to mention those doing the talking are 99% of the time doing none of the work. But that's o.k. I know that if I continue to pray to God, he will fix it. He will open my eyes and make me realize that regardless of what people do, think, or say, he is proud that we (meaning preaching families) have decided to dedicate our lives to bring souls to Him. To all my friends, I pray for your work everyday, as I know you pray for ours. Just remember what Brad always says, "Our retirement is out of this world!" It is such a sobering thought to think that one day all of this hard work will pay off when we hear those words "Well done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant" Matt. 25:21. Hang in There Guys...We Love You All!

13 Years Ago Today...

I married my Best Friend!!!

Love you Brad!

2010 in Review and a Look Into 2011...

Well let me start off by saying Happy New Year to You and Your Family! It is so hard for me to believe that it is the year 2011. It seems like the older I get the faster time goes (oh, that's what my parents were always saying :) As always this year has been a year of change in our family. We started our new work here at Fairview, and so far (keep your fingers crossed) things have went great. We have met and been accepted by a wonderful Christian family here. They are very active (as compared to most congregations) and we keep very busy. The kids are very involved with Lads to Leaders and I have watched them grow so much spiritually this year. To watch my shy little man lead singing at the devos makes me want to cry, it's amazing! The church also started a pre-school program this year, which I am director. I love it! We are going to expand the program into this summer and I am very excited about the possibilities it holds. This summer me and Brad got to renew our vows at Tybee Island. It was wonderful to get to have that experience and renew my love with Brad. This fall I had to have my hysterectomy. It was a long recovery (due to my unique condition), but was soooooo worth it. I am feeling great right now. All my pain is gone and no periods...WHOO! WHOO!!! As far as the new year is concerned, I have lots of goals (as always :) My number 1 goal is to lose some of the weight that I gained during my recovery. Some great friends at church are helping with that. There are several of us couples at church who are competing in a "Biggest Loser" competition. Since I am super competitive and HATE to lose that should keep me on track! We shall see :)

A Parent Must-Have!

For all of you parents of small children, this "Elf on the Shelf" is something you must get. I will admit that I have never heard of this little guy until some friends here at Fairview introduced us. He comes with a story book that tells all about him. How he works is once your child gives him a name he comes to "life". He shows up sometime before Christmas at your house. He hides out everyday in a new place and observes what is going on. At night, he goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa, then returns to your house in a different location the next day. Christmas Eve night, he gets to go back to the North Pole with Santa until the next holiday season. Jacob and Carley have had so much looking for "Samson" (our elf) every morning., plus it works as a good threat :) Here in Nashville you can find him at most Hallmark's and Gift Shops, but he is also available online.

Snow Days...

Well it's official, Nashville has had there first snow day of the season. We measured somewhere between 4 and 5 inches. We were out of school Monday, late start Tuesday, and early release Wednesday. Talk about a crazy week.

Look at my handsome husband (all for that ugly hat...hehe!)

Here's my little angel all bundled up. It was a balmy 6 degrees!

Here is my rough and tumble ALL boy. His favorite thing to do is throw snow at people.

But pay backs can be dangerous!

The best part of a snow day...Hot Chocolate!

Finally Made It...

Over the hump that is. I finally got to live a somewhat normal life yesterday after 5 weeks. I was able to go to church yesterday morning, out to eat with my hubby, by the grocery store with Brad to get a few things, and back to church for singing last night. I will tell you by the time church was over last night I was in a lot of pain, but the good news is I made it. I did come home and lay on the couch and take a pain pill, but overall am feeling pretty good. I am just glad the worst is behind me and hopefully all this will soon be a distant memory. Hopefully I can start getting ready for the holidays. The cold weather this weekend made me want to Christmas shop :)

A Little Better

Well it has now been a little over 4 weeks and I am still getting a little better everyday. This week I have actually managed to get out quite a bit. Brad took me to get my hair done, which was sooooooo overdue. I cannot even begin to explain how bad my color looked. I also got out to vote, went to see Jamie play ball, and went to Target today (oh how I've missed thee). Jamie actually got to play basketball last night at Vandy. It was so neat to get to see her playing at a big SEC school. They lost, but at least they were there. I still move really slow and am sore, but am trying to get my body back to moving again. I am hoping to go to church Sunday for the first time since my surgery. I have missed being in worship so much! The only set back I am worried about is being able to sit on the pews for a whole hour. Sitting is still really uncomfortable, so we will keep our fingers crossed that I'll make it.

BORED, BORED, BORED...

To say that I am bored would be a major understatement! On a happy note I do feel better most days. I do have good days and bad, which is what the doctor said would happen. The problem is I still can't get up and do anything. I can walk for maybe 5 minutes at a time, then have to sit down and hurt for about 30 min...NOT FUN!!! Tomorrow marks 3 weeks, which means half way there. I am trying to find things to keep me busy, but I HATE to be still. I always feel the need to be up and doing something. Plus my emotions are all over the place (good thing they didn't take my ovaries or I might be suicidal). I think it is just because I am just sitting. I really couldn't wrap my mind around actually being down for this long. I thought it would be more like when you have a baby and they tell you it takes 6 weeks to recover, but you feel pretty good after about a week. Well so not the case with this. It has been 3 weeks and I have not held a blow dryer or put my contacts in, which may seem small, but to me is a big deal. Sorry to vent, but I just need to let off some of that steam! Hope all is well with my blog friends and I will keep everyone posted on my recovery.

On the Road to Recovery

Well so far all is well at the Tate household. My surgery went as planned (left both ovaries) and I feel a little better everyday. The hardest part right now is having to stay down for 2 weeks. Everyone thinks they would love to stay in bed for 2 weeks, but trust me it gets old real fast! After my 2 weeks are up (next Tues.) I can start walking around the house some, but NO lifting until the doc clears me. He said don't pick up milk, my purse, big shampoo bottles...NOTHING! I go back Nov. 15, so life is going to be super boring until then. On a good note, Brad has been awesome! My mom and MawMaw and PawPaw have rotated so far to help out, but Brad has managed to run the house and take care of Jacob and Carley with minimal complaining :) I am so very blessed to have him! It is times like these you find out how much someone really cares!

Getting Scared!

I had my dr appt and pre-op on Friday. The dr just wanted to go over the details of my surgery and answer any questions we had. After all of that it became reality! He explained that the surgery would be about 2 1/2 hours long and that I would be on a morphine pump through the night. I didn't have c-sections so that is new to me. The next day we would see if I could eat and get up and if so I can go home late Wed afternoon. Once home, NOTHING for 2 weeks. Then 6-8 week for recovery. (What happened to 4-6 weeks?) He said I would have so many internal stitches (from taken my cervix), that it will be a long recovery. He said stay off my feet as much as possible and NO lifting for the 6-8 weeks. Needless to say I didn't sleep Friday night and only slept last night due to pain meds. I am super nervous, scared whatever you want to call it. Although today I have been in lots of pain (I guess God telling me this IS what I need). I know things will be fine, but it is for sure going to be a long week!

Two weeks from now...

All my problem should be gone! Well not all my problems, but at least all the health issues I've been having. My procedure has been scheduled for Oct 5 at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. The doc decided he is going to do a LAVH- laproscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy. The details of the actual surgery are a little graphic for blog, so if you're curious google it. He also said he needs to take my cervix because he said he feels that is causing a lot of my pain. Also to quote Dr. Brown, "While I'm in there I am going to take a good look at your ovaries because they have not been behaving". Please pray that they can leave them because if I have to go through menopause at 30 I am pretty sure I will be divorced! He said the recovery will be a good 4-6 weeks because of taking the cervix. I am starting to get a little scared, but I keep looking on the bright side...no more pain, periods, or pap smears (the dreaded P's). Just keep me and my family in your prayers, it's about to get super crazy around here!

Dear Body, Don't give up on me now!

Sorry I have been MIA the last couple of weeks, but I have had a rough go. For any of you who don't know, I have been having some "female issues" that the doctors have been trying to get fixed. In the middle of the other issues I had an ovarian cyst that had to be drained, in which has caused the other problems to be worst. To make a long, complicated story short, I have to have a hysterectomy. We are hoping for only taking the uterus, but may have to also take 1 ovary. Right now we are buying time with pain meds to find the "right time" like there is such a thing. Not exactly sure when I will be doing this, a lot of it depends on insurance and what they will pay when, again very complicated! Right now I am hoping to make it until Nov 4, which is the day my doc. returns from maternity leave. If I can't make it that long I have a great backup doc. We will just have to see what happens. Please keep the prayers coming, I need them!!!

I Do...Again!

As you already know, me and Brad decided to renew our vows after 12 years of marriage. We never had a "real" wedding and have always wanted to do this. So while on vacation to Tybee Island we decided to "tie the knot" again!

PawPaw actually did the ceremony for us and it turned our beautiful!

This time, we prepared our own vows. After 12 years together you have a lot of different things to say :)

It was slightly windy on the beach that day!

Carley and her JoJo...so much alike, it's scary!

My lovely family. Wouldn't trade them for the world!

Me overlooking my favorite thing in the world...the ocean!

I LOVE this picture with the sunbeams coming through!

Brad's favorite thing...the lighthouse!

Again, it was a little windy that day!

I have more pictures on my facebook if you're interested in seeing them. Also my friend Amanda, who takes awesome pictures, did all the photography and is making me a disk. When I get those I'll post some of those pictures. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad we made the decision to do this. I love you Brad and am so grateful to have you in my life!

Hit the ground running...

Well we did make it back from vacation to Savannah/Tybee Island. While we were there, me and Brad renewed our vows on the beach, and it was great! (one day I'll get the pics off the camera and on the computer to see) Since we have been back, it has been nonstop!!! Jacob practices football every Mon, Tues, and Thurs from 6-8, and school started Thurs...CRAZY!!! Jacob has his 1st scrimmage game tonight at 6:30 and Brad has a wedding to do at 6:30 (tell me one more time how single parents make it???) The preschool starts in a few weeks and my living room looks like a supply storehouse!!! It is driving me insane. My goal next week is to get everything ready and moved to the church and out my house. I hope hubby is prepared to help, b/c its going to be a BIG project. JoJo...aka baby sister...left for school yesterday. She is transferring from Wallace to Delta State in Mississippi. She is 6 hours from home and won't be home again until Christmas. Her first basketball game is Nov. 4 at Vanderbilt, how exciting!!! We will definitely have to make plans to attend that. My sister playing against the SEC!!! Anyhow, hope all is great with everyone and hopefully in the near future I will have some pics to show everyone!!!

Bithday Celebration

Due to the fact that both of my children have summer birthdays a month apart, we decided to do one big party. We had a "Splash Party", where the kiddos have kiddie pools, slippin' slides, sprinklers, bubbles, water guns, and all that messy, fun stuff. It was a blast! We served cupcakes and ice pops and let the kids have a ball.

There were lots of presents...

Some messy faces...


Some bubble fun...

A few water gun fights...

And Mr. Brad even got in on the action...

Overall the kids had a great party.

Now onto a full week of stress. We are leaving for Savannah/Tybee Island Friday to which I have not even begun to pack for. We are also renewing our vows, to which I have not written. What has happened to me. The planner who does everything months in advance. Also Jacob starts football tonight. He will practice every Mon., Tues., and Thurs. with games on Sat., so that means life as I know it is over until Nov. Oh well, we will make it, we always do!