Adios 2010

Wow! I can't believe another year has gone by!

2010, God has blessed us with another GREAT year and I can't wait to see what He will bring us in 2011!

Let's see in 2010....

January:

-My older brother moved in

February:

-Drew and I celebrated out 2nd Valentine's day being married, and our 7th Valentine's day together in all! :)

-It snowed in Columbia, SC!

March:
-Drew and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary!

April:
-I celebrated my 24th birthday

-I got braces!

-I sold my very first car I ever drove and owned! My KIA SPECTRA! :)

May:

-I graduated with my Master's Degree from Columbia College

-My two best friends in the whole world got married! :) Brendon and Katie Sharpe!

-My cousin married his sweetheart Tiffany! Congrats Chris and Tiffany Campbell!

June:
-My awesome class of my second year teaching graduated to first grade! :)

-My awesome teaching assistant, Christy Gainey, moved away :(

-My two friends Justin and Janet Davis celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary!

-Drew and I celebrated our 7th "dating" anniversary (yes I count that)

-Baby Hunter was born! (June 22, 2010)

July:
Summer vacation! NO SCHOOL!!!!

August:

-Drew and I went to Beautfort for our mini-vacation! :)

-School started back for me!

September:

-Went to my only USC football game of the season, but that doesn't mean I love my GAMECOCKS any less! GO GAMECOCKS!!!

October:

-my brother moved out!!! :)

-Precious Baby Sophie was born October 15, 2010 (precious sister of a former student)

November:

-Drew celebrated his 25th birthday!

December:

-Sonic caught on fire, and was closed for two weeks!

-I got to see my family in Virginia who I haven't seen in over 2 years!

-Drew and I started a new Christmas Eve tradition: eat breakfast for Christmas Eve dinner!

-It snowed in Columbia, SC for the 2nd time this year!

-Sonic reopened!

-I got my widsom teeth taken out! :(

God, thank you so much for the year 2010! I cannot thank you enough for your many blessings! I know that 2011 will be even greater and we have You to thank for! May God bless us all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has had a beautiful day! I hope it was filled with lots of love and laughter. I also hope Santa was very good to each and everyone of you. And most importantly I hope you took the time to remember the true meaning behind today!

"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
... Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

I am so thankful that we have today to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I am so glad that...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

We have so much to be thankful for, not just today, but everyday.

I found this link about the true meaning behind Christmas...I loved it...check it out below...

http://llerrah.com/truemeaningofchristmas.htm

(I am still learning how to link, so I don't know if it worked or not, but if it didn't copy and paste the link into your browser, I promise it's worth seeing)

Have a very Holy Christmas as Dr. Lincoln said at our Christmas Eve Service last night, not just a Merry Christmas, but a Holy Christmas! So have a very HOLY MERRY CHRISTmas!!!

Be blessed my blogger friends. Be blessed.

Smiles and Prayers

In my previous post, I mentioned that Drew and I had went to Sumter today. And I said I would explain...so here I go...

We went to Sumter because the operating partner of Sonic in Sumter (Mike Gerbode) wife (Nicole) is very sick. Earlier this week she was diagnosed with leukemia. In less than a week her entire life has changed She went from working to being in the hospital, to holding her baby, to holding IVs in her arm. She is only 28 years old and has a precious baby boy named Nathaniel who is only 10 months old.

In November, Nicole was feeling sick so she went to the doctor. They gave her some meds for a sinus infection and sent her on her way. She still wasn't feeling very well, and so went back to the doctor. They gave her meds for strep throat. A few weeks later she was still sick, so she went back to the doctor this past Monday, and they did some blood work. They immediately sent her to the hospital and she was given the official news on Tuesday that she has leukemia. The doctors said they didn't even know how she was still walking.

Today Drew and I drove down to see her. Well Drew mainly to see Mike, because Drew was going to run his store next week since Garners Ferry store was closed, but....anyway....I tagged along, because I wanted to see Nicole and pray for her. She was my first real Sonic friend from all the operating partners at Sonic and we just had that special friend connection. She helped me learn all my Sonic lingo, and what the operating partners did, and everything about being a wife of an operating partner. She is very special to me for taking me under her wing. Although, I don't see her as much as I would like b/c she lives in Sumter, we always pick up where we left off...

I wasn't sure what I would see when I walked in the hospital room to see Nicole. I thought I might see her shriveled up, sad, depressed,  I honestly didn't know...after all I had never seen a cancer patient before.

But when the door to her room opened I was immediately greeted with a big smile. I walked over to her and gave her the biggest hug I could. She was hooked up to an IV, but she was in such high spirits. She laughed while I was there and she was staying strong in her faith.

And as I looked around the room with her mom, sister, brother, husband, all sitting there they filled the room with hope too. They talked about their faith, they asked me for my prayers, they just knew that God was going to take care of Nicole. That she is young, that she has everything worth fighting for, and that she will survive this.

A few minutes later, the church chaplain came into the room. As he prayed I laid my hand on Nicole's arm and I could just feel God in the room as we prayed over Nicole's healing. The tears starting rolling down my cheeks, and I really didn't know if I could contain myself.

I thought to myself how could God do this to such a sweet young mother? How could she survive this? What type of strength must she have?

I quickly erased those thoughts, as I looked into Nicole's eyes. I know in my heart that she has everything to fight for. She has a beautiful 10 month old baby to take care of. A young marriage that will only grow stronger over the years, and a family that is filled with God's love and hope.

Nicole is going to beat this cancer. I know she is. I know it because when it's all said and done she said she's going to get a tattoo that says "I kicked cancer in the a**" :) Heck yeah! Amen to that!

Sitting with Nicole today made me realize how lucky we are. How lucky we are that no matter what struggles we face in life God will be there to pull us through it...after all ...

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

and of course my other favorite bible verse....

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.


God has plans for each and everyone of us. Plans to prosper us. I know that Nicole will beat this cancer. She is already an inspiration to us all. To sit there with someone so young, to have just found out she has cancer 2 days ago and to be in such high spirits is so beyond me. It's so inspirational.

To think about what I complain about in a day, and to have sat there with Nicole, and she didn't complain not one bit about being hooked up to all those meds at Christmas time. It brings tears to my eyes. Tears of sadness for her news, but tears of joy to know that she and her family already know that God is taking care of her. What an AMAZING feeling that is!

I ask, my blogger friends, to please say a prayer over Nicole, her husband Mike, and their baby boy Nathaniel. I know it's only going to get harder as she begins her chemo but to start out with such strong faith and spirits, well she is on the right track to beating this cancer. God will be with her and I ask that you just keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers as she kicks cancer in the butt! :)

Thank you my friends! Love you all!

God Smiling on Sonic Employees

Today was a GREAT day!


I don't know if many of you know or have been following me on Facebook, but last Sunday December 12th there was a fire at Sonic (my husband's job). The fire caused a lot of damage in the kitchen and they were closed down. The original goal was to open on the 17th, which that turned into the 20th, and then that turned into January 3rd. The pressure was building, and everyone was stressed out, especially my husband. The employees were stressed because they didn't know when they were going to get a paycheck again.


So I started thinking to myself and praying to God asking him what I could do to help everyone. I sent an email out to the school that I teach at (WINDSOR ELEMENTARY) and the church we attend (SHANDON BAPTIST) and told our story. I asked for donations to help these hardworking employees through the Holiday season. I wasn't sure what type of response I would get, but boy oh boy was I surprised at the amount of money we raised. We raised $3,000! It was AMAZING! I couldn't believe it!


So I hand wrote Christmas cards with a special message inside for each employee. I also took money envelopes and decorated it with sayings like "PROOF THAT GOD LOVES YOU" and also included one of my favorite bible verses:

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

My dear friends, The Sharpes wanted to help too. With the help of Katie and her friend Ashley, they baked 17 containers of cookies and goodies for us to hand out with the Christmas cards.


So we asked everyone to meet at Sonic tonight for a meeting at 5pm. We didn't tell them why we just asked them to meet us.


Earlier today, Drew and I went to Sumter (another post coming soon) and while we were their Paul (Drew's boss) calls and says DHEC will be at your store in hour and half when originally they weren't going to come until January 3rd. So Drew calls the store and tells everyone to get ready and we race back to Columbia.


DHEC was scheduled to be there at 5:15pm...Employee meeting was at 5. Everyone put their heads together to gear up for DHEC and guess what? WE PASSED! Now all we have to do is wait for the fire marshal to come on Monday.... :) THANK YOU JESUS!!!


Now, after everyone calmed down we gathered everyone on the patio, and Drew began his speech. Within the first 3 words he started tearing up. Tears started rolling down his face as he told each one of his employees how much he appreciated them. It was the sweetest speech ever. He told them how through God's blessings  we were able to raise money to help them through the holidays and that none of this would have been possible without the help of our community: Windsor Elementary and Shandon Baptist and of course with out the Grace of God. As I looked up while my husband was talking, I saw tears rolling down his employees faces. Tears of joy, tears of appreciation, tears of love.


I began passing out the beautiful containers of goodies and the Christmas cards and the hugs started coming. It was one of the best nights of my life. To be able to witness to those around me and to feel God's love around me. It felt so good to be a part of something so much bigger than me. God is SOOOO GREAT! And I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people around me!


I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to those who helped make tonight possible....


-WINDSOR ELEMENTARY!
-SHANDON BAPTIST!
-Brendon and Katie Sharpe!  (with the help of Ashley Easterly)!


Thank you for opening your hearts to the employees of Sonic. Thank you for being witnesses of God. And thank you for being so supportive and giving during this holiday season.


May God bless you always and I wish you all a very


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I finally made one!

Hello Bloggers and Readers!


I have been reading blogs for quite some time now and I have been planning the creation of my blog in my head for so long now! :) My plan was to start a blog once Drew and I became pregnant so that I could track our new life together, but I decided I would start a blog before then. So no...we are not pregnant at this time :) hehe. Sorry to get your hopes up. But the good news is we are trying. Well, I guess we are not officially trying, but we are not not trying. If that makes any sense. Hehe. Our plan is to get pregnant in February or March, so we are all ready beginning the steps in making that happen. But of course, whatever God's will and plan is that is what will be done! So please pray for us during this time and the plan God has for us!


Most of you know that Drew and I have always had a plan since dating in high school.


THE PLAN
1. Finish College May 2008
2. Get Married June 21, 2008 (our 5 year dating anniversary)
3. Get pregnant in Summer 2011 (yes seriously, it was that detailed for the pregnancy, haha, I wanted to be pregnant during my 4th year of teaching and have the baby Spring 2012, so that if I chose to stay home after working off Teaching Fellows I could)


But we all know what our plan is, is not always God's Plan. We did both graduate May 2008. But instead of getting married June 21, 2008 we got married March 8, 2008. Which was a blessing in disguise. I actually got Bells Palsy the Summer of 2008, so that would have been an awful wedding. My dear friend Janet, did get married on that date though, so although I was a messed up smile bridesmaid, at least I wasn't a messed up smile Bride. :) God's plan is God's plan for a reason. I don't question it. So anyway, we have been praying to God about when to start a family, and lately God has been pressing on our hearts to not wait till Summer to try, but to begin trying earlier. So that's what we are going to do. Let God's Will be done. If we get pregnant before Summer we do, if we don't then well, we just keep trying until God's perfect timing.


But I figured I might as well start blogging now, so I could work out some of the kinks of learning to blog and actually began blogging at the start of us trying for a family! :) Might as well start at the beginning when all the thoughts are coming! :)


I am not sure how good I will be at blogging, but I sure am going to try! I love reading everyone elses' blogs so I figured if I could read it, I could write it! :)


So wish me luck on my new blogging experience and I'll try my best to keep ya updated on The Smallwoods! :)

*Oh and if you have tips on helping me create a more appealing blog, please let me know, like I said I am learning, I need a new template, and have no idea, why I have white background behind my writing. So please feel free to help me and give me some great suggestions! Love you all!!!