14 Years And Counting

Today marks 14 years that my sweetheart and I have been married. He's my best friend and the only one who puts up with my many faults on a daily basis. After everything we went through in the four years leading up to our wedding day, I knew that if we had made it past that we'd stick by each other for a lifetime.

I remember it like it was yesterday...

My mom woke me up the morning of April 29, 1995 with breakfast in bed and the gift of my grandmother's diamond earrings. It had been a late night - after getting home from the rehearsal dinner and being too excited to sleep - I was pretty tired. We both got ready and headed over to my maid of honor's house where she and my matron of honor (yes I had both) were throwing me a shower with all the other bridesmaids, their moms, the grandmas and extended female family. We had a great time laughing and opening gifts but I was too nervous to eat much.

At lunch time Rex was over at his best man's house with the other groomsmen, dads, grandpas and extended male family. He was being given a tool party and cookout. Mine was a brunch 'cause it takes us girl's longer to get ready. Afterwards we all headed over to the salon to have our hair done. Just the girls by the way in case you were wondering.

We had arranged for the photographer to do all separate wedding party pictures before the ceremony so it wouldn't take us so long to get to the reception and so that we wouldn't see each other beforehand. This worked out great but it meant getting to the church a few hours earlier. Because I hadn't eaten much that morning I was getting pretty hungry, the wedding wasn't until 5:00, so I have video of me standing there in my wedding dress eating a hamburger and big cookie. What a sight!

It was a beautiful wedding. The sanctuary was filled with candlelight and flowers. I selected lots of music and solos - you know my love for music! I'm a big fan of The Sound of Music so I chose to use the Wedding March that Maria walks down the aisle to. Gorgeous, rich organ music filled the sanctuary. Just thinking about it gives me chills. I even recorded a song that played while we lit the unity candle. I knew I wouldn't be able to sing it live so I borrowed the idea from my friend/matron of honor. It was such a great day we decided to do it all again!

That's right, we had a vow renewal ceremony for our 10th anniversary. Same church (were I grew up), same flowers (they were silk), and same people - only there were fewer this time, just the original wedding party and our families. It was much less expensive too!

It's almost unbelievable the many things we've experienced as a married couple. Life, death, schedules, car accidents, travel, jobs, moving, school, surgeries... the good, the bad and the ugly.

Thanks babe for choosing me to go through life with. I pray that the Lord will continue to bless us and grow us closer to one another. I love you. Happy 14th Anniversary!

You know what? I'd still do it all again.

Another Job Update

Rex is finishing up contract work with the mortgage company this week. Severance ends and we thought insurance did too. Praise the Lord we have coverage for nine more months at 35% of what we were paying.

There's another contract job for May with a different company but we're not exactly sure when it'll start. Nothing permanent yet but we are being provided for month by month.

Keep praying that something somewhere will open up for him and give thanks for His provision thus far.

Spring Break, Easter and Everything In Between

Goodness Gracious! Has it really been three weeks since we talked? WOW!
Well, I'm glad you're here 'cause we've got some catching up to do!

Rewind to three weeks ago...
Spring Break was here and it was so nice to get away for a little while and have a change of scenery. After M's game we drove separately to my mom's. R and K in his car, Me and M in mine. Rex had to come home Sunday afternoon so he could go to work Monday morning, not to mention a short side trip Monday night to Chapel Hill. He and a friend went up there to watch the NCAA Championship game in the Dean Dome and to celebrate the Tarheel victory!

That's right baby, #1! WooHoo!

The kids and I stayed for three more days before coming home on Wednesday of that week. We made our usual stops - Piggy*s for ice cream and H*t D*g W*rld for, well, hot dogs. We had left comfortable, sunny, 70+ weather to look out the window while eating our hot dogs at snow flurries. I guess that's what you get when you visit the mountains. If you're ever in Hendersonville I highly recommend paying a visit to those establishments...YUM!

Two weeks ago...
Easter. What an incredible time of worship we had that morning! Words fail to express so I won't even try, wish you could've been there though. We also did the traditional stuff...dye eggs, new outfits, egg hunts. It was a beautiful day for Resurrection Sunday.

This is what happens when daddy hides the eggs...

And now one week ago...

The women's conference was absolutely awesome. I had such a good time with my mom and my singin' girlfriends, One Voice.

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun!

Finally, Thursday of last week, Madeline's school had a Boosterthon Fun Run. Students asked for pledges per lap or a flat donation. She completed 34 of 35 laps and had a great time doing it. Towards the end though she was pretty tired.

Each time the kids passed the finish line they received a mark so they'd know how many laps they had completed. To make it even more fun, laps were themed. For example: be an airplane, ride a horse, link arms with a buddy and walk. The coordinators did a fantastic job.

OK! I think you're up to speed now. There are some fun things coming up that I look forward to sharing so don't forget to check back. Thanks for stopping by!

Side note: the preview looked a lot cuter and was spaced nicely - not sure what happened?!

Life...In Random + Job Update

Things are just...normal. Busy, but normal. Busy in that we've had something nearly every night for the past two weeks - ball practice, church, school and volunteer activities. Normal in that none of those things make for interesting or exciting reading. Sorry if your bored all ready.

Madeline, or at this time of year aka Slugger, has really been enjoying softball. She has her first game tonight and is so excited. She's also been busy working on a dinosaur research project that was due today along with class pictures this morning and last week her elementary school put on their Spring Musical. It blesses my heart to see young children praising the Lord. The Children's Choir at church is currently working on their spring musical, I Know It, and she's part of a dance team and Mama gets to sing harmony in a back up ensemble. Can't seem to make it through one of those either without crying.


Our choir presented a program last night, 3:16 The Numbers of Hope, so Rex and I have been busy with rehearsals for that. I'm also excited about the upcoming women's conference that our ladies ensemble is singing for. So many fun and uplifting songs we're working on. Hope you're coming, the speaker is going to be awesome! To find out more registration info click on the button in the top left corner.

Rex has been working hard at finding a job. He's had to go out of town a few times recently for interviews that appear to be promising... The good news is, the current contract job he has wants him to stay on for another month to continue working on the project. Yea! We can eat for another month (although, it looks like I need to take it easy since shopping for an Easter dress has proven to be difficult).

Kenan just goes along for the ride as we play chauffeur. He's doing fine. A normal two year old, tantrums and all!

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OK, all that was supposed to go out yesterday...

It seems a stomach bug has found its way into our house, and as all loving families should do, we've shared it with each other. I'll spare you the details but lets just say, it hasn't been pretty!

We did manage to get to Madeline's game before the sickness hit. She did a great job and can make that ball scream!

Next week is spring break - and that's exactly what we'll be doing - taking a much needed and well deserved break!

Hope you're staying well!

My Laundry is Possessed

Seriously, I think my laundry pile has a disorder. It mysteriously grows, multiplies, triplifies...
I'm going to diagnose it as having Amoeba Disease - the pile reproduces all on its own. Hey, new things are discovered every day only mine is in garment form.
Don't even get me started on the whole missing sock issue...I'm still searching for a grey one that disappeared over 4 months ago!

It's Madness I Tell Ya!

March Madness is in full swing here in the Backes household. That means, lots and lots of tv, checking the internet, phone calls from 'fans', and extra sounds not typically heard every day. Sounds like hands slapping the carpet, mumbles, etc. Some of those can be good, some can be bad.
Things aren't nearly as interesting as they used to be. I had gotten used to (well, sorta) the yelling, hand clapping, and pacing. I'm not sure where this restraint of his has come from but at least it won't wake up the kids!
It's the annual wave we ride every March. As long as his team is on top and our arch rival (you know who I'm talking about) is losing, we're all happy - so go get'em TARHEELS!!!

oh yeah, i love me some Carolina too! :) Happy Madness Everybody!

Coincidence...I think not

I don't believe in chance, coincidence, whatever you want to call it. You heard me right. As a born again believer, I believe that our lives are in the control of the Almighty Creator who places us in situations or puts people in our paths at just the right time and place. Yes, we have free will to either ignore or follow the Spirit's leading, but too many things have happened in my life to just chalk up to "coincidence".

For example: On Valentine's Day, I was at my daughter's school setting up for the 2nd grade party and needed to walk over to the other building to get more lemonade. In the hallway I passed by a person whose blog I had been reading then for several months but had never left a comment on even though I was thoroughly enjoying it. Even in my hurry I felt led to stop and introduce myself and let her know I was following (I had signed up to follow, just not commented up to this point). She wanted to know if I had a blog, to which I replied yes, but had just started. She began reading and we became fast bloggy friends.

On her 100th post, she listed the '100 things about me', and on one of them I nearly fell out of my chair! You see, over the past two years I had felt like God had given me an idea that kept coming back over and over again that I either ignored or forgot about. She had been given the same exact desire and I firmly believe the Lord had us cross paths that day for this specific reason. I quickly contacted her and she told me of another friend, who I happened to also know, who had the same idea too and this past week we finally all got together to begin talking.

Here we are, Jeanette, Amy, and myself, meeting for the first time to discuss an adoption and orphans ministry at our church. Say what you will, but this was just too perfect a situation to have just happened the way it did, this was God! (It was St. Patrick's day by the way and we all had our green on!)

Another example: At our little get together, Amy asked if we had seen the movie Firepr**f. Nope not yet. This was the second time in a week that I had been asked this question by two different people. That afternoon, a third inquiry about this movie came my way. Okay, God, you obviously want me to see this movie. So tonight, our friends came over and we watched it while our kids played. WOW! Very good movie! If you haven't seen it, go watch it...now!...go! Thanks, J & V for sharing.

There are more examples, too many to share, but do you see what I mean? It's like pieces to a puzzle that all fit together to create something bigger than ourselves. God is at work all around us, in all the little details of our lives (which I love because I'm a detail person). I don't want to miss any opportunities He has for me, I want to see Him in everything!