So many changes!

It has been several months since my last post. I have lots to update you 2 or 3 readers on, so get ready for a lovely bullet list.

• Josh and I are moving to Colorado! Even more...we're moving there in 2 weeks! July 30th will be our last day in Texas for awhile. It's a bittersweet move, but the Lord is in this, and we are being obedient. Along with that move comes some new things like....
  - a new place to live - a cute townhome next to a large park with a bike trail and disc golf course.
  - a new job - teaching elementary music at Lopez Elementary on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
  - a new culture of people - open-minded, worldly, not interested in anything religious, yet still loved by the Lord.
  
  
• Moving to Colorado means leaving some precious things behind. Our families, for example. My wonderful job in Trophy Club, for another. Great friends, great churches, and all things familiar. This has proven a tough emotional undertaking. It will be tough for awhile. But, we hope in what the Lord's will is for us. He promised never to leave us or forsake us. He also promised to provide for us what we need. It has been so humbling to see His work in the intricate details.

In other news...

• For the past year, our attitude towards children has been "not preventing." On May 20th, after a few days of strange symptoms, I had a positive pregnancy test. I was so ecstatic!! I told Josh, we told our families, and everyone was really excited. I felt strange, though, and had some symptoms that didn't seem right. After inquiring about them at my doctor's office, she decided to closely monitor my HCG and Progesterone levels. I went to the doctor every other day for over a week. With slow-rising (then declining) HCG and low levels of Progesterone, the pregnancy was short-lived. I was told that I miscarried.
  
  This tore me apart emotionally. Comfort from family and friends was of great help, but healing took quite a while. Some days, it still bothers me, but I know that the Lord has a plan. The miscarriage occurred naturally, so no surgery was needed. Things returned to normal in a...normal way. My doctor has no concerns about conception later on, which is encouraging. In fact, she said that miscarriage is very common, more common than we think. Most people don't talk about it. Women miscarry, then go on to have healthy pregnancies with healthy babies. So, I have no worries about my next pregnancy, though I'm sure I'll be very cautious at the beginning. And I definitely won't be telling anyone too early! :)
  
  
• My little brother Elliot graduated high school! He's the best little brother anyone could ask for. He and I have a very close relationship, which I'm extremely thankful for. He is becoming a Razorback (soooie pig!) at the University of Arkansas. He'll be double-majoring in Music Education and Performance. I'm so proud of him! My parents are having to deal with me moving to Colorado and Elliot moving to Arkansas in a 2-week time frame. Please pray for them on this.
  
  
• Josh graduated from Southwestern in May. He now has his Master of Arts in Christian Education degree with a concentration in Collegiate Ministry. He is simply amazing. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me like Christ loves the church. Thank you Lord!
  
  
• We sold the Dodge Ram and paid off the Vibe. Way to be (almost) debt free!

A big CONGRATULATIONS to all friends who have had babies, will be having babies soon, or are newly expecting. Praying for a happy and healthy 9 months/delivery/baby for you!

If you haven't checked out our campus ministry blog, please do! It's great!


Love you guys!

Strep throat has kept me home from school today. Why not blog?

We spent the weekend cleaning, relaxing, and going to the doctor on Sunday morning. Yesterday was miserable! Thanks to antibiotics and steroids, I'm feeling better today. My student teacher took over my morning classes, and a sub will be teaching the afternoon.

Josh and I have made a decision about where we'll be next year.

Please visit http://www.lillyfamily9497.blogspot.com

Anyway...nap time! Have a great week everyone!

What a great morning to be up! This is the day the Lord has made!

We had a playoff-watching party last night with our dear friends, the Porters. It's always fun to be around them. We had even more fun when the Cowboys won! YAY!! I got to sport my Bob Lilly jersey that I got for Christmas, so that was fun too.

It was an interesting week at school because it was our first week back from break. I'm pretty sure that no one was ready to come back. It made for some interesting class periods! Lucky for us, school was canceled on Thursday for ice. Also, this coming week is a 4.5 day week, AND then we have the following Monday off. SOOOO thankful for days off! Some fun things will be happening this semester.
1. I will be finding out soon whether the grants I wrote this year will be awarded to me. I'll tell you what they are after the grant patrol has come around. In case anyone on the grant committee stumbles across my blog...
2. TMEA. February 10-13. San Antonio. To make it even better, if my brother makes the All-State band, he'll be there too. Also, since it's Valentine's Day weekend, Josh is coming down on Friday!
3. I am getting a student teacher this semester! I was surprised when I was asked to have one...I'm pretty sure you have to teach longer than 1 1/2 years before a student teacher comes along. But, I'll do my best to give my student teacher an arena to try out strategies and lessons.

Gotta get ready for church....have a great day everyone!

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...