Merry Christmas 2010!

As this is our FIRST EVER Christmas card as a new family, I would like to start it off by saying that I have truly been blessed...this year more than ever.  I am so thankful for a wonderful husband, a warm home, and so many little blessings each day.

Andy and I were married on May 22nd of this year during a beautiful outdoor ceremony in my hometown of Flagstaff, AZ.  Despite many predictions by the locals of either rain or snow, the day was bright and sunny.  Oh, and very windy. :)  After honeymooning in Prince Edward Island (yes, I know my man is the sweetest!), we packed up my little equinox full to the brim and headed out to our new home in Mountain View, AR. 

Mountain View is a tiny little town nestled in the Ozark mountains.  With a population of right around 3000, everybody knows everybody and the Andy Griffith show feels oddly familiar.  It's very different from Flagstaff, but we love it here.  Life is just a little bit slower, and you learn how much you really can do without.  We have to drive 45 minutes to watch a movie, 1 hour to go bowling, and 2 hours to do any real shopping, so those things become very special treats.  Our Walmart Supercenter isn't even open 24 hours!

Since we got married and moved here, lot of exciting things have happened.  In June, on our one month anniversary, Andy brought home a little beagle puppy for me whom we named Sam.  She is the sweetest little pup and we are enjoying having her.  Andy have also gotten to travel to Texas, Missouri, Arizona, and Andy even got to go to North Carolina on business.  We are also enjoying exploring the area around where we live.  There is always something new and exciting. 


In August I began student teaching at a small school in an even smaller town than Mountain View, Timbo.  I was in a 2nd grade classroom all semester and loved it.  I am now finished with college, and Andy and I are praying about what I should do next.  Andy continues to work at Stone County Ironworks, where he is the head of product development.  We are blessed that he has such a good job in an area where jobs are scarce.  The business is growing steadily, and we are daily amazed by God's provision for us.

I don't know what the next year holds, but I pray that it is as full and rich as this one has been.  Marriage is truly a blessing from the Lord, and Andy and I are loving getting to build a new family together, as we fall more and more in love each day. 

If you're not from around here, come see us sometime...our door, and our guestroom, is always open.  Until then, keep in touch...snail mail, facebook, hsa, email...whatever you like.  Praying that you see God working in this next year! 

In Christ,

Andy & Caitlin & Sam too!

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Twenty-Two Years Ago

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Twenty-two years ago today, my parents embarked on that never-ending adventure called marriage.  Having been married myself now for just over 6 months, I can say that twenty-two years of marriage means a whole lot of work, but it also means a whole lot of blessings!  I know that times won’t always be bright and sunny, but it is the couples that persevere through the tough times that end up being the most blessed.

Marriage is a lifetime commitment.  Nowadays, so many young couples spend years courting and dating in order to “find out if they are the right one”.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t know someone well before you commit to spending the rest of your life with them.  I don’t think it takes years though.  To be honest, you’re never going to fully know someone before you marry them…that takes a lifetime.  So, make sure you line up on the “big issues” and then jump right in.  Know that life will not always be rosy, but commit to your spouse through it all.  Know that the day you say “I Do”, that person becomes the right one for you…God’s perfect match of two imperfect people.

I am so blessed to have watched my parents and their commitment to the sanctity of marriage over the years.  They have held on to each other through the tough times, and have become a beacon of hope to a world full of divorces.  They, along with other married couples like them, are an inspiration to me in my own marriage, and I hope they are to you in yours.

Happy anniversary to my wonderful parents! 

“So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.  But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.  The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” ~Genesis 2:20-24~