2 weeks off!

...and boy, are they greatly needed!

Since my last update (I'm really bad at this), here's what's gone on with us.

1. We moved into a one-bedroom apartment down from a two-bedroom. Fortunately, we have not gone into any debt for Josh's seminary, but we had other debt we wanted to pay off. Downsizing gives us a few hundred extra per month to pay off debt. Goal = debt free.
2. Three holiday programs with my choir have come and gone. My PDAS appraisal came back with the highest marks. I should hear back about the two grants I was a part of writing in the next month. We started recorders for 4th and 5th grades. Life at school is wonderful!
3. My brother Elliot is only a few months away from graduating high school, then it's off to college for him. He's probably going to Arkansas, though it's not 100% yet. I will miss him tremendously when he leaves. He's the best little brother in the world.


4. We went to San Angelo over Thanksgiving break to see friends. It was nice to see everyone. We got to go back to Glen Meadows. Even though we like our church in Carrollton, GMBC feels like home. Dear GMBC...please relocate to DFW. Love, Sarah.
5. No new news about Colorado. God hasn't directed us one way or the other. If my principal had her way, I'd be staying where I am and Josh would find a job around here. It's been a trip trying to discern every little feeling we get. So, we are staying put for now, and when God says go, we'll go. Makes it tough to plan long-term, however.
6. We met up with the Powell's last night in Sundance Square in Fort Worth. The cool thing about this time of year with the 4 of us is that our anniversaries are 364 days apart. We were married on December 16th, 2006, and they were married on December 15th, 2007. Also, they were both in our wedding and walked together down the aisle at our wedding rehearsal exactly one year before they would do the same thing as bride and groom. We all went out for our anniversary dinner last night. I'm hoping this will become a yearly thing with the 4 of us.
6.5 Josh and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on the 16th of December. I am blessed beyond measure to have Josh in my life. He is my perfect match in every way.

One of our first pictures together. Thanksgiving 2004, Horseshoe Bay, TX

Benchwarmers Softball, Spring 2005

Our first engagement picture, Josh's house in Llano, TX, Fall 2005

Our wedding, Glen Meadows Baptist Church, San Angelo, TX, December 16, 2006

Married 3 years! :)

Adios for now. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

Soo....hey guys!

It's definitely been a LONG time!

Summer has come and gone, school has started again, and nothing too exciting has happened with the Lilly's. Maybe a bullet list is in order...

• Josh had no school this summer, a first for him in 5 years.
• We went to Seattle, WA, to help out a church plant from our church in Carrollton. It is an amazing place. I'm pretty sure we could live there.
• My mom, aunt, and I took a girls trip to Fredericksburg for 3 days in July. We had a blast! The cottage we stayed in was one block from Main Street. It was a wonderful retreat.
• I began my second year of teaching elementary music. So far, so great! I adore my school and mostly everything about it.
• We've been having some water damage issues with our apartment. So, because of that, and to save an extra couple hundred bucks a month, we are downgrading to a 1-bedroom in the same complex. We really need to be stacking up that savings account...
• I'm teaching 6th grade girls Sunday School with a friend of mine, who also happens to be the youth minister's wife. We have a good time with them every Sunday.
• We are PRAYING for God to fill us in on His plan for us for the next year. There are so many possibilities, so many options, so many "what if's" and all we want is the Lord's will. We are traveling to Colorado in October to check out some college campuses for Josh to start a campus ministry at, so being there may give us some insight. Who knows, though.
  

Anyway, that's what's up with us. Sorry for the long hiatus....I'm so bad at keeping up with this thing! You'd better believe I'm reading yours, though! Heehee...have a great week everybody!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

My first year of being a teacher is officially over! It totally flew by. I'm going to miss many of my kids over the break. My 5th graders won't even be back next year. *sigh* Training for next year begins on Monday. Yippeee!

Hey! Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I guess I'm better at keeping up with Facebook than this thing...

I really wanted to come on here to share a link I found. It's for modest yet VERY cute swimwear. Here it is...

Lime Ricki Swimwear

I'm glad there is a company who notices that not ALL women want to flaunt what their momma gave 'em every time they wear a swimsuit. I know many husbands who would love their wives to keep it secret.

Here are couple of my favorites...

Countdown to Spring Break: 4 days.

Josh and I are heading to Colorado for Spring Break. His family has graciously offered to pay for all of our food and our stay there (Pagosa Springs, to be exact)...how could we say no? Not only will we be out of state for Spring Break for the first time...ever....but we will also be going to check out 1 or 2 colleges around Colorado. It's a place we are seriously looking at to move once Josh graduates. His deep desire is for campus ministry, and there is a dire need in Colorado. Josh's collegiate ministry professor was the BSM guy at OU for 30 years, and is on the board that chooses who goes to which campus to start a ministry. He's been in contact with Josh over the past few months, and has been instrumental in getting us to go to Colorado. Whatever happens, it's going to be a great trip.

Over the past month, lots has happened. Here goes...

-Josh and I worked at the D-Now at our church (called "Elevate") and both had seniors. It was an amazing weekend, and very spiritually renewing for me. I grew close to my girls, and we shared tons over the weekend. God moved in a huge way that weekend.

-TMEA in San Antonio was amazing. I learned SO much about music education and have begun applying lots of that new knowledge in my classroom.

-Valentine's Day apart from Josh was no fun. But, when I came back, he had all of these little notes posted around the house. At the end of the note trail was a brand new digital camera! Now I can take pictures!

-On the day after Valentine's Day, Stacey and Wes welcomed Makenzie Grace Jordan into the world! We have been waiting patiently for her to arrive. Last weekend, Josh and I made the trip to San Angelo to see the Jordan's. Everyone seems to be doing well, and Makenzie is precious. I love her and she's not even mine.

-This week, I'm starting Financial Peace University at church. Has anyone taken this already? I've heard great things about it. Any sound financial advice is always welcome in the Lilly house.

One last question. Are there any natural family planners out there? I'm curious. I'm stopping birth control for a few reasons, and am looking into nfp. If you have any insight, I'd love to hear it if you're willing to share.

Have a WONDERFUL week, everyone! I'll end with a couple of pictures...

Me with Makenzie. She's sleeping, and just by looking at her, I don't think she looks comfy...

Me and my love, Josh. He's fantastic!

No school yesterday or today. It's kind of like having a weekend in the middle of the week. Why can't this be a permanent situation? :)

A few updates...

-My "Winter Around the World" program was WONDERFUL! There wasn't even standing room left in our cafetorium (fancy elementary school word). All of the comments I received, principal included, were positive and supportive. I was even given TWO bunches of flowers, one from Choir, one from the third grade class. As a director of a program, that is the most humbling experience. It also reminded me that, yeah, sometimes class/rehearsal is rough, but we respect eachother and have a common goal despite those things. Josh came to watch, and even he was impressed.
-Christmas was great. We made our "Tour of Texas" the week after Christmas. On Christmas morning, my parents came over and I made breakfast for all of us. I gotta say, it was kind of wierd having Christmas morning at my house instead of theirs. It's the whole growing up thing...
-School is back on for Josh and I. He completed and "I-Term" last week and earned 3 hours of credit for college ministry. He absolutely loved that class, and more and more each day, we are moving toward the possibility of doing campus ministry full time. That, most likely, means we would be raising our own funding and moving to a state like Colorado. More on that later.
-Tomorrow is a half-day for me, which means no teaching. However, I have lunch duty from 10:15-noon! Much longer than I'm used to, but at least I'll get to spend time with the kids. Grades need to go in tomorrow, as well. In the afternoon, I'm hosting a meeting for the other elementary music teachers so we can work on choreography for a choir concert in May. Should be fun.
-No school on Monday! MLK Day!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend!