Fall Favorites

Every year Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier. It's like when Halloween is over it's time to break out the Christmas decorations. Not in the Weaver household. My entire life, I have stuck to the rule of Thanksgiving first. I am not a Scrooge, I just happen to like to savor the season we are in and currently we are in the fall. So I thought I would post a few reasons why I love this time of year. These are some of my fall favorites.

Pumpkin patches just make me happy.

Pumpkin pie, one of my favorite fall treats.

I love Thanksgiving. It's one of my fall favorites not only because of all the great food, but because now that we live away it's an extended time home where we get to visit our family.

As far back as I can remember, I've watched the Macy's Day parade. Still one of my fall favorites.

The pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. Only around during fall, if only it didn't have so many calories in it. :)

Daniel and I watched this the other night, while we ate pumpkin pie.

The night we fall back is one of my favorite nights of the year. Because that means an extra hour of sleep. Since I am a good sleeper, I took advantage of this last weekend.

For some reason, You've Got Mail is one of the movies I have to watch during the fall, not quite sure why. It just has some great fall parts in it.

The changing of the leaves is one of my favorite things of fall. During the fall Alabama's campus would always be gorgeous with all the leaves changing, but this particular tree would always catch my attention. If I had to pick a favorite tree, this tree would be it. It stands on a corner of University Blvd. I would walk by this tree every day during my fall semesters at Alabama and it would look like this, bright yellow and beautiful. It had to make my fall favorite list.

A year in numbers

2 people in love.
1 wedding.
1 Trip to Mexico
1 move.
5 jobs.
3 car key lockouts.
1 new car battery.
4,000+ miles home and back.
1 burnt pot of soup.
1 more national championship.
2 snow days.
Countless study hours.
2 birthday cakes.
2 dead plants to prove amanda doesn't have a green thumb


= 365 days of wedded bliss.

This year has flown by.

Update On Our Life

This blog is in much need of an update! So much has happened since my "near heart attack" in April . Daniel finished his 1st year of seminary in May. We spent Memorial day weekend with my family at the Lake, fishing pretty much the whole time, and we spent 4th of July with Daniel's family eating good food and swimming all those calories off.

Our biggest news over the last few months is new jobs for the both of us. Talk about transitions. Daniel was working with the College at Bellevue but in June he transitioned to the Senior Adult Ministry. He has really enjoyed working at Bellevue.

The week before Memorial Day I was on my lunch break and I get a call from Daniel telling me I needed to send my resume to Bellevue because they were hiring a graphic designer. Had my interview a week later and got the job.

Over this past year we have seen how God provides. In July of last year two days before we moved to Memphis, I was jobless and so was Daniel. I received a wedding gift with a cute tag on it. I don't know why but at 11 that night while I was recording the gift info to send the thank you note I flipped that tag over to find that the company that makes the stationary was located in Memphis. I immediately visit their website to find they are hiring a graphic designer (coincidence? I think not). At that instant I sent them my resume to get a phone call at 8 the next morning (the day before we move) and set up an interview time the next day (the day we move to Memphis, coincidence...nope). I met with the owner of the company her name is Ellie. I showed her my portfolio then left with a job. She didn't parade me around, or make me do a design test, like she usually did with interviewees, she simply hired me. It wasn't because I'm an awesome designer, or because of my charming personality it was all God. I honestly believe God gave me that job. Which I started the day after we got back from our honeymoon.

The Tag the started it all.

Was it perfect, absolutely not, the first month I wanted to quit everyday. It was a huge test. I wasn't praying for patience but God must have thought I needed it because my patience was tested nearly everyday. I thought I was patient until I started working there, but God provided me with even more patience. Although my patience was tested and it was a tedious job, I'm thankful for my time there and the people I met along the way.

He also provided when my hours were cut back in February. He made sure all our bills were paid and we never missed a meal. Over the past several months the company was going back in forth about staying in business. That's a pretty scary thing to walk in work not knowing if you are going to be told you no longer have a job. But we trusted God and again he provided in way of a new job. I wasn't avidly looking for a new job, it just came. God's timing is perfect.

So now Daniel and I both are Bellevue employees. Which by the way is directly across the street from our house, talk about saving gas money. I now have a real office, not an old bathroom for an office that smells of sewage fumes (true story), I work on a Mac and not an old crashing Dell, and I get to eat lunch every day with my best friend, God is good!

A few pictures of Summer:

"Near Heart Attack"

I should be less dramatic when texting my husband. I learned this lesson this past Friday.

Friday started rushed and hurried and with me spilling half a bottle of water on sleeping Daniel
(it was by accident, I leaned down to kiss him goodbye and my lid wasn't on tight, all he said was "I'm cold")

Anyway I was excited, it was after all Friday and we had fun plans for the weekend. Little did I know what worry this Friday would bring.

The day before I had designed and printed 1,000 invitations. That's a lot of invitations and a lot of money. Well Friday I had moved on from this project, until my boss comes in and tells me she went to have them cut. It immediately dawned on me that I had designed the invites 0.25 in. too big, that doesn't sound like a lot but it's enough for them not to fit in an envelope.

I was panicking, a million scenarios rushed though my mind, 1,000 invitations weren't going to fit in the envelopes! At this point I was the only one who knew this fact, so I kept this to myself until I knew for sure the situation. My boss said she meant to take an envelope with her to the cutting place to make sure they fit, so I volunteered to go on my lunch break for her. Hoping I could have them re-cut to fit on my dime.

I was praying the entire way that the cutting people cut a little extra. I get to the place, heart rate racing, and the girl behind the counter took the envelope and said, "I had to cut a little extra off", as she slid the invite perfectly in the envelope. I can't describe the weight that was lifted, I wasn't going to get yelled at! The invite fit! I didn't have to pay for the 1,000 invites! I was still going to have a job! I went from panic attack to rejoicing in 5 seconds.

In the midst of my worry I tried to call Daniel so he could bear some of my burden but he didn't answer. So I text him after everything was fine, "Pray for me I'm recovering from a near heart attack." Because he didn't know what I had just been through he literally thought I had a heart attack. He told his friend that I had a near heart attack and they prayed for me. He was getting ready to come find me in some hospital room surrounded by doctors and nurses. Fortunately my worried sweet husband text me back and I ( the one who had no clue he really thought I had a heart attack) filled him in on the situation. I felt really bad, but I said did you really think I would send you, my husband, a detailed-less text like that if that had really happened?

So we both learned valuable lessons: No more dramatic texts, men think literally, and facts first then you can worry.

Give Me a Bargain and I'll Be Your Best Friend

The first time Daniel and I went grocery shopping as a married couple he learned something about me...and that is I'm cheap. Find me someone cheaper and we'll be great friends. As we walked down the Wal-Mart isles (because we hadn't discovered Aldi yet) that very first shopping day I declared "Don't put anything in the cart unless it's Great Value!" He was scarred when I told him he couldn't get any orange juice because it wasn't a "necessity". I realized to him it was, so he got his O.J. and I figured I might be going just a little over the top.


I'm not cheap because he's in seminary and we have to be, I've just always been this way. I get such a thrill form saving money! Daniel and I received a lot of gift cards for our wedding and what did I do? Go straight to the sales rack, shopping isn't fun unless you get a deal. Hence my love for Aldi, if you've talked to me in the past 6 months you've probably caught on to my obsession. Why spend $2.39 on eggs when you can spend $1.09? Who cares if they don't carry name brands? So what if I have to deposit a quarter to get a shopping cart? It's saving me money and I prefer it that way! Check out my Aldi receipt from yesterday.




A whole weeks worth of groceries for 43.88...yes please!


So re-cap reasons I love Aldi and you should too:


1.) Hello...it's dirt cheap


2.) It's not big so I don't spend forever walking around looking for something that clearly isn't where it should be, thus saving me not only money but time.


3.) Since Aldi is pretty much just groceries I avoid the need to buy that People Magazine that's calling my name. If I go in Target or Wal-Mart I end up spending money on things "I just have to have". Kudos to Target and Wal-Mart for being such great marketers they get my money every time.

So if you feel you're too much of a spender and you want to be just like Daniel and I because we are cool savers, go to Aldi and then you can thank us. (I think I should be the official Aldi spokesperson.)

6 months

I can't believe it, we've been married 6 months (yesterday). Time really does fly, it seems like yesterday we were counting down the days and I was about to lose my sanity, but we made it to the wedding day and now we've made it 6 months past the wedding day. In the past 6 months I have learned the following:

1.) I have one awesome husband! I know everyone says y'all are newly weds of course your going to say that. But when you come home from work and dishes are put away all the garbage is out and the bed is made, you realize how awesome of a husband you have and you're thankful for it!

2.) God provides. We've been in Memphis 6 months and both of us have had a pay check the entire time, in this economy that's awesome. Two days before we were to move our stuff to Memphis I sent my resume to a company at 11:30 at night, got a call back at 8:30 the next morning, had an interview the next day the day we moved our stuff to Memphis, came back from our honeymoon and started work the next day. God's timing is perfect. Now this job has definitely been a learning experience and my patience has been tested but in the tough moments I think back to how God provided this paycheck and how many people are out of work and I am truly thankful.

3.) Daniel is not a night person and I am not a morning person. I used to think I was a morning person until I married Daniel, he pretty much has to drag me out of the bed every morning like a child. And after 10 pm he turns into a child so we both have our 5 year old moments everyday it's pretty entertaining.

4.)Memphis drivers are perhaps the worst drivers in America no explanation needed.

5.)Aldi is a seminary couples dream come true.

6.) I have a really smart husband. He completed his first semester with straight A's.

7.) Since I have a smart husband that means he studies' a lot so being a seminary wife to me means I get to brush up on my leisure reading. So while he reads to learn I read for fun (something that Daniel just doesn't understand).

We've had a great past 6 months filled with lots of laughter a few tears in between and enough funny stories to make us laugh through everyday life.

We are the Champions.

Well after 17 years The University of Alabama has finally clinched another National Championship. Our 13Th Championship that is. It's pretty exciting, but on our way home from watching the game with friends I got to thinking. If that's all your living for, your living a pretty empty life. National Championships will fade, star players get hurt, life is uncertain. But what is certain is who holds tomorrow and that's Jesus Christ. If you don't have him in your life, well what do you live for? National Championships? That dream job? Your spouse? Your kids? All of which can be taken away in an second. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through him.

Football is fun but it's not everything.