Done!

It was another wonderful weekend with some great friends! We watched several movies we have been wanting to see and made white chicken chili. It was so much fun!

Sunday morning we had everyone over for brunch and worship/Bible study. We discussed more details of the church plant and we are getting ready to launch our first few branch groups (a.k.a. small groups or home groups) at the beginning of next month! This is a very exciting time full of constant changing and growing and we are very excited to see what God has in store next.


Also, (drum roll please) we finally finished the last little bit of our Christmas shopping!! We didn't buy a ton of gifts this year, but we did get a a few small things here and there. We had to finish up getting gifts for the names we drew with Brandon's family and we were able to do that this weekend. It's such a relief to be finished. Now I just have a little bit of wrapping left to do and we will be ready! :)

 And in other news...as most of you know this has been a very exciting year for me (MaryBeth) school and career-wise. I graduated, took and passed the bar, and started my first legal job. Today, I finally received my bar number from the GA Bar Association, which means I can officially practice now! Yes!


I suppose that is all I have to share for now! More to come soon.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

For some reason, I have been super-excited about Christmas this year. I had my tree up before Thanksgiving, we actually put lights outside, and for the first time in a couple of years we made photo Christmas cards. We found a great deal where we could get 50 photo cards with the envelopes for free! They look really cute and I can't wait until they get here so I can start sending them out.

Also, each year Brandon and I pick out a "special" ornament to add to the tree that year. Usually we pick out something from the Hallmark store or Belk's, etc. This year, the site that we ordered the Christmas cards from was running a special on their custom ornaments, so we ordered one with Dietrich's cutie-pie face on it. I am so excited to put it on the tree!

I can't put too much detail here because it's a surprise, but I am also pumped about the gift I ordered Brandon. I think it's one of the most creative gifts I've ever given him! Yay! :)


Well folks, that's all for now. Life's pretty busy but not super "exciting" right now. More to come soon.

Ugly sweaters abounded...

Last night, Brandon and I hosted our First Annual Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. It was a HUGE success. We had a white elephant gift exchange that left many attendees with some awkward and some-what questionable souvenirs of the night's activities.

There isn't much else to report right now. I mainly just wanted to get some pictures up from the party. I'll be writing more soon.

Getting started...

I have been meaning to start a blog for almost 5 years now; I've just never taken the initiative. I guess now is as good a time as any. :)

The past few weeks have been very busy for us. For some time now, Brandon has known that it was God's will he plant a church. We just thought it would be way down the road...until recently. God opened the door and somewhat shoved us through it. If there's one thing I've learned, it's when God tells you it's time, it's time. Fortunately, He never asks us to do something without providing the resources. We have been blessed with a team that possesses a multitude of talents and we are so excited about the mission laid out before us.

Our church plant will be called The Vine, in reference to John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." There will be MUCH more information to come soon as we begin putting God's plan into action.

In the midst of all that, we've had a wonderful time the past couple of weeks visiting with family and friends for Thanksgiving. We took some great family pics with Brandon's side of the clan, and hopefully we'll get to do the same with my folks here pretty soon.

An old one...but it will do for now

I also got the chance to Skype with my sister this past weekend! She's been stationed in Alaska since July, and it was great to see her face. Please keep her in your prayers. She's far away from home, doesn't have a car there, and it's snowing constantly. We're hoping she can change career field soon and get stationed somewhere a little warmer.

I've already finished most of my Christmas decorating and I am very much looking forward to all the Christmas festivities.


Well, I guess that's all for now! Until next time...