bad and good

Bad

I have lived in the Conroe area for going on 3 years now and not once have I ever been summoned for jury duty...until today. I am scheduled to show up on May 24th at 8 a.m. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, BUT it just so happens May 24th is my 2 year anniversary AND 2 weeks before I am moving to Clarendon! Not that Aaron will be in town to celebrate our anniversary, but come on, what are the odds that right before I move and on my anniversary I have to go sit in jury duty.

Good

23 days until I get to see Aaron again

and

36 days until we are finally living under the same roof!

new direction

These past 2 weeks have been emotional...to say the least. I have had to say goodbye to my husband who left go to work, bury Aaron's grandad who died suddenly, say goodbye to Aaron AGAIN after the funeral, start packing our house and dealing with tying up of loose ends of our life here in Montgomery. As the school year is ending and I am coming closer to the realization that yes, we are moving over 500 miles away, my emotions are unpredictable. Really these past 2 years have been emotional and draining. As every newlywed couple has experienced its hard to balance, work, finances, and marriage. We have dealt with infertility, uncertainties about buying a house, changing jobs, and so forth.

This past weekend was amazing. I was able to see my beautiful niece, Alexia, dance in her first spring show, watch my nephew play in a soccer game and score 2 goals, and lastly, find out that my youngest niece Maddy will begin playing violin next year as she enters junior high. While I am grateful for the time I have been able to spend with them, I am also saddened that I will not be able to continue watching them grow up as closely as I have been up to this point. I love them to death and its hard to realize that I won't be able to drive an hour to watch Jordan play or see Maddy have her first orchestra recital. I know that God has a plan for us. He has revealed himself to us in so many ways and opened doors for us that we didn't know existed, but at the same time it is hard to leave everything behind that we have become accustomed to.

On the other hand this move will give us the opportunity to spend time with Aaron's family and our other niece and nephew. They are so little and it will be great to be a part of their lives as they grow. Since Aaron was laid off back in January we have really been praying for God to show us his love and able us to hear his voice in this hard time. In times of such turmoil it is hard to hear Gods voice, but He is faithful and true. God has shown us without a doubt that we are making the right choice in moving to Clarendon. Everything in the past 2 years that we have struggled with came to light. 1.We never bought a house 2. Before Aaron was laid off we decided to hold off on fertility treatments 3. The week Aaron was scheduled to begin his new job in Clarendon, his grandad took a turn for the worse and he was able to see him before he passed 4. Aaron has had a few job offers and teaching positions began to randomly open up in Clarendon when before nothing was available for us here in Montgomery, etc...I wish I could list all the ways He has spoken to us, but these are just a few. How awesome is our God!

I know this blog is all over the place, but I guess its just another way for me to process what our lives are like. I miss my husband dearly, but I am thankful that he is so faithful and dedicated to providing for us. I can't wait to be with him again and start our lives in Clarendon. I will miss this place and the people here, but I know we are headed in the right direction. God is good.

Proverbs 23:18
1 Peter 5:10-11

Love, Amy

changes!!!

Oh my, has it really been over 6 months since I last posted? I know I always seem to do an update in my blogs about our lives every time i write, but I REALLY have a lot of updating to do. Honestly there is so much to write about it overwhelms me. So here is the short and sweet version of the Kidd family as of March 28th! Our lives pretty much turned upside down back in January. Aaron and I were at a place where we didn't feel completely settled here in Conroe. We were happy, but we always thought there was something more out there for us. We had always planned in the next 5 years or so to move towards the Dallas area, we were just uncertain of when that would be and what it would take to get us there. I mean why up and move our lives when we have jobs, a place to live, and so on? Well God took care of the wondering for us, in a really unexpected way when Aaron lost his job. Talk about a crappy start to a new year! Although it was s shock and things have been tough, God has been good to us through it all. We have learned to rely on each other and actually talk to one another more often. I think life gets so crazy sometimes its easy to just get in a routine and forget to sit and talk to your spouse, but we have had some good heart to hearts about where we are at now and what God is trying to teach us. Obviously, Conroe is not the place for us, I think we felt that all along, but we didn't expect to have to make changes like this. We have some things in the works and are desperately trying to be patient and let God lead us where he wants us. When we find out where the next step in our lives is we will share with you. Right now I am just thankful that we can feel God working in us and we know he has an awesome plan. It is a blessing in disguise that we are going through all these changes, I think we are both just ready to be on the other side of it all!

And I believe that is all she wrote. For today anyway, maybe I will be really ambitious and write again tomorrow. That would definitely be a first!

Have a great night!!
Love, A & A


P.S. Did I mention that I have the best husband ever because he made me Chuy's creamy jalapeno sauce?!!

money, money

Recently I've noticed a bit of a craze for clipping coupons. I did this some in college and to be honest, I didn't really notice a difference. I mean I would save $1 here and there, but overall I just didn't think it was worth it. Until now... Aaron and I both work full time, but our jobs are not the highest paying, at least in monetary value. We love our jobs, and wouldn't trade them for anything, but it does make our budget tight. So I've started actually shopping around and using coupons whenever I can and I honestly have noticed a small difference this time around. I read it takes time to really build up savings and find good deals, but from what I have done so far I am excited! Its somewhat time consuming, but there are lots of great deals out there, you just have to search.

We have some medical bills we are trying to pay off and some credit card debt, but I see us making progress and its encouraging. We took Dave Ramsey's financial peace course when we were engaged and even though I don't remember every detail it has helped tremendously. I can definitely be doing a a way better job than I am now with our money, but we are finally getting on the right path and looking forward. It will nice to be completely free of medical debt and be able to concentrate on our credit cards. (They really shouldn't let college students get credit cards!)

So its tough when your a minister and private school teacher, but we are getting there step by step!

Good luck!
Amy

why i love him

I have poison ivy...again....

I had it back in May when school was almost out and it was all over my arm and legs. Well this time school starts in less then a week and yet again the poison has returned! I will spare you pictures of what it looks like because basically its just disgusting. I have it on my arm, leg, and a little on my belly button (I have no idea why) and it REALLY HURTS! The first time I got it I was trying to help Aaron clear out the vines along our back fence so the dogs wouldn't get into them and eat them. Well we didn't know there was poison ivy in it and needless to say a week later I had it all over me. This time we think the dogs passed it to me. With the heat and no rain the vines and weeds have grown so big that it touches the ground and the dogs play with the neighbors dog along the back fence. Before we figured since it had been all summer and I never got poison ivy again that it was gone...until the beginning of this week when that all familiar red rash started to appear. Gross I know!

So Aaron has spent all evening in the backyard trimming the vines and branches to make the nasty stuff go away! There is nothing I can do to help him because I am so allergic to it. He however is not allergic. A husbands of one of the ladies at work has a home exterior business so we are going to have him come out on Saturday to give us an estimate on clearing out the roots and everything so it doesn't grow back. Thank God!

But for now I am thankful for my hubby who is by himself, wearing pants, a long sleeve shirt in the summer heat, cutting away so I don't itch anymore.

This is one of the many reasons why I love him!

growing up random thoughts

So i was making a birthday wish list in my head the other night, you know just thinking of a few things that I might want for my birthday and this is what I came up with...

1. A salad spinner

2. Serving spoons, the ones with the holes in them so juices can drain

3. Medium sized mixing bowl (Apollo ate part of our old one)

4. Clothes...a constant on any list of mine :)

5. jewelry from James Avery is always nice

6. Jason Mraz CD

7. Britney Spears concert tickets

When I look at the list is just reminders me that I am not in the "college" stage of my life anymore or the "fresh out of college doing my own thing" stage. I have officially entered into adulthood. I never in a million years would have thought I would ask for a salad spinner or serving spoons for my birthday! But here we are fixing to turn 27 this year! I can't believe how fast life has flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was celebrating my birthdays on 6th street. Oh good memories! So much has changed over the past 10 years and its amazing to see how God has shaped my life.

Everything I said I wouldn't do, I ended up doing, and they are things that have changed my life for the better. Here are just 2 examples. First, I said I would never marry a minister. I thought I was too opinionated to be married to one, but God knew me better. Second, I swore I would never meet anyone over the Internet. I thought it was stupid and a waste of time. Now, I do still truly believe that Aaron and I would have meet at Mary-Hardin Baylor, but I was stubborn back then and didn't want to let God take over my life, I thought I knew it all and transferred out of the college the same semester Aaron transferred into it. Just a couple examples...

I guess all of this to say, its just amazing to me that I am going to be 27 this year and to see where I am. Just 3 years ago I had no idea where my life was headed and what was in store for me, but God is good and He knew it all.

Let go and let God, He knows what is best for you and He has perfect timing. :)

So yay for being 27 this year!!

And yes, I am VERY serious about wanting Britney Spears concert tickets too....

Amy

update

So apparently some people (all family members, but thats ok!) actually read our family blog. Just thought I would write a little about our summer! Summer has gone by so incredibly fast! Aaron and I have traveled to Clarendon to surprise our family for the 4th of July, to Lumberton, TX for junior high mission trip, and to College Station for our high school mission trip. It was all very exhausting, but so much fun. While we were in Clarendon I got to experience my first turtle race, and it is no small ordeal, its huge! I have never seen more people in my life gathered in one place to watch turtles cross a finish line. I loved it! The whole atmosphere of the 4th of July with my in-laws deepened our desires to have children so they too can experience a 4th of July in Clarendon. I can't wait to have our kids enter the children's parade with their cousins, race turtles, and eat homemade ice cream. Although they might have to stay clear from their dad when its comes to to the fireworks part... jk!

Now that summer is coming to an end I am getting ready to head back into my classroom. I thought at the end of this past school year, that i would dread going back after such a long break, but I am actually excited! I am doing a teamwork themed classroom for the kids and I am having a lot of fun decorating and planning. It has been a great summer, but I'm ready for a routine again. Any ideas for my classroom are very welcome! :)

Puppies are good. Well i guess they aren't puppies anymore, but they are to me. Apollo is going for his annual check-up in a couple weeks and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. Yes, I know we can weigh him ourselves, but every time we do it is never accurate. I estimate around 70lbs. I just know he is huge and i swear he thinks that he's a little Chihuahua or something. I don't think its possible for me to go one week without getting a bruise on my leg from him, but we are working on it. He's just a little slow at learning. I wonder if they have special dog obedience classes for "slow" learners like him...hmmm....

Aaron is wonderful. He constantly working away and finding new things to get into. This past week it has been a BB gun. He somehow managed to tear apart my air soft gun and turn his BB gun into some supped up type of thing that now has a laser to help aim with an extra trigger that does something...I don't really know. I DO know we now have a shelf in our garage with a rug on it as a background with tons of targets attached to it. I also heard him say that we need to get small plastic men to set up as targets on the shelf? I guess its better then back in the day when we would shoot each other with nerf guns. I love being married!

Here's some pictures of the puppies that I love....

And soon I will have a video of the man that I love, it hilarious and definitely worth the wait! Stay tuned!

Love you all!