CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Tonight is Christmas Eve and I just got home from work! I wish so badly that I was at home with my family, but I am thankful that Wesley and I are going to get to go to Decatur with them this weekend!

I had a wonderful birthday weekend 2 weeks ago! I got so many sweet phone calls and voicemails that made my day! Wesley suprised me and took me to dinner at Callaway Gardens and then we went to Fantasy in Lights! Then on Sunday my parents and Amy came to Auburn and my WHOLE family (which includes Wesley and Matt) went to Keyboards and Carols at FBC Opelika and to dinner at Amsterdams! It was such a great weekend!



Wesley moved into OUR FIRST HOME today!!!!!! I am just giddy thinking about it! We've still got a lot to do to make it feel like home, but we are both so excited about our little house! Here are some pics from move-in day!

Wesley and Anthony Cain

The outside of the house...it was a very rainy day!

the dining area where we will have our kitchen table

the den

our RED kitchen

the master bathroom...brand new tile floors and granite countertops!!



our green guest bedroom (we have decided not to change paint colors)

our ORANGE bedroom...still not sure what we are going to do with this!!

and finally our master bedroom!! :)

Recently....

First of all let me say just how happy I am about these two getting engaged.





I NEVER would have thought that this was going to actually happen, but William (one of my best friends from High School) and Bethany (one of my best friends from college) are getting married!!! I couldn't be any happier for them and look forward to their wedding in Orlando this summer!

Since the Iron Bowl was in Auburn this year, Chatty and I had some company this weekend!!! I absolutely LOVED every second with these girls, and wish that I got to see them more often!



Wesley and I have been doing a little bit of shopping for our first home. We are still not exactly sure on the exact move-in date, but it will most likely be the beginning of December. We have been on a shopping spree and have bought a new mattress, bed, dresser, and sofa. Wesley really wanted a sectional sofa, and it really works well in our den! I am so excited about getting to play house and decorate our first home! We will be using several hand-me-downs from our parents, but we are so excited about the new furniture that we have bought!







Thanksgiving was great this year, even though we were apart on Thanksgiving Day. Wesley and I went to Dothan Monday and Tuesday, and then he left to go back to work on Wednesday and I stayed in Dothan to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family! I was so thankful that my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all willing to celebrate a day early so that I could be there too! I had to come back to Auburn and work on Thanksgiving Day and Wesley was off so he met his parents, grandparents, and extended family at his Aunt Polly's house in Birmingham. It was definitely a busy week, but we have so much to be THANKFUL for!

BUSY, BUSY!

It has been a very busy fall so far! I've been driving back and forth to Dothan to pick out invitations, work on the guest list, etc. and Wesley has been working full time AND teaching ICU clinicals for Auburn's School of Nursing. In our spare time we have been house hunting, but we think that we have found the PERFECT one for us...(yes, I have said that about 15 times, but this time I think it is the one!) Wesley is in the process of selling his trailer and so he will move into our new home first, and I will move in when we get back from our honeymoon!

I was so happy that so many of my best friends came into town for the Auburn v. Ole Miss game! Jenny, Lindsay, and Kacy stayed with me and Chatty! I got to watch the game with Wesley, Erin, and Alana at the Auburn Oyster Bar which was a lot of fun...at least for the girls...we mainly talked weddings! Morgan stopped by the condo after tailgating, and like always it was so great to catch up and hear what is going on in her life!

We had our first wedding shower this past Friday night. It was a Tool and Garden shower hosted by Wesley's friends' wives/girlfriends. (I am going to stop saying that they are "Wesley's friends" because they really are my friends too!) They served BBQ, and then we all sat around the fire pit since it was so cold outside! Wesley got a lot of great things, and I got some "tools" for the kitchen!


Me with the wonderful hostesses!

Some of the guys!

Wesley checking out some of his new tools!

Sneak Peak

Wesley and I got our engagement pictures taken last Thursday by our wedding photographer. She is going to mail me a CD with all of the pictures on it...I cannot wait to see them. Here is one that I have gotten to see (ONE of the 283 pics that she took that day!) I'll post my favorites when I see them!

Quick update...

This past weekend Wesley and I went to a wedding outside of Birmingham and came back in time for the Auburn football game! It was one of the most fun games I have been to....it is rare that I stay at a football game until the play clock runs out. Katie Martin, a good friend from nursing school, gave us tickets. We sat with Katie and her date Brad. I didn't have my camera, but she took a few pics so when she e-mails them to me I will add them to this post!

Wesley and I have been house-hunting for a few weeks now. We are looking to rent something in Auburn or Opelika. Last night at work, one of my co-workers suggested that I check out a house in her neighborhood. It is about 5 minutes from the hospital and about 3 minutes from our church. I drove by it today and fell in love!!! I called the realtor and she showed it to me this afternoon! It is an older house that has been recently updated. Wesley and I are going to look at it together in the morning! I have loved being engaged and planning a wedding, but today I have been giddy about the idea of "playing house" and decorating a home for the 2 of us!

We are taking engagement pictures tomorrow...we are praying for good weather. We had to reschedule them from last week because of all of the bad weather recently. Wesley's mom is meeting us after the pictures and we are all going to Dothan to look at rehersal dinner locations...it should be fun!

Thanks to Alisa, I now have a much cuter blog! She gave me tips on how to give my blog a make-over, and it looks so much better! Thanks Leesie!

Guatemala and Auburn football!

We had such a great trip to Guatemala! It was so great to be reminded just how BIG that God is. The trip was filled with His blessings. We saw over 1600 people in just 3 days of clinics. The people were so gracious and patient to wait for us to see them. Wesley and I both got food poisoning while we were over there and were out for a whole day, but still the trip was wonderful and we cannot wait to go back!

This is Wesley and me with Pastor Jorge, the pastor of the church that we worked with. His church staff did the evangelizing while the patients waited to see a Doctor or nurse.

We were glad to make it back to Auburn safe and sound....and just in time for the start of football season! Yesterday we tailgated with some friends and went to the game. It still feels so different not sitting in the student section, but we had a great time! I especially loved seeing friends that were in town for the game that I rarely get to see anymore...it's definitely one of the perks of still living in Auburn! And it was great that we began the season with a win! War Eagle!!

Guatemala Bound!

Wesley and I are heading to Guatemala this week on a medical mission trip. We are going with the church that I grew up in - First Baptist Church of Dothan. My dad really wanted us to go on a mission trip last year, but having just graduated and starting a new job, we didn't feel like we could take a whole week off. We are both really looking forward to it this time! I am a little nervous that I am not going to know exactly how to treat the people there since my background since nursing school has been Mother/Baby, but I have been reading about the diseases that are most commonly seen in Guatemala, and I am praying that all of the info that I learned in school will come back to me! Please pray for our safety and the health of the team going and that we can minister to the sick people of Guatemala.

P.S. I am going to be Mrs. Wesley Pack in 200 days...but who's counting??

Mr. and Mrs. Steppe

This past weekend was Alana and David's wedding in Dothan! It was a lot of fun to get to see so many of my closest friends that I rarely get to see now that we have all graduated. All of my best friends from high school were bridesmaids in the wedding, and most of my college friends were in town for the entire weekend to attend the rehersal dinner and bridesmaid brunch. The wedding was different than most weddings because it was a military wedding. David is in the US Navy so he wore his dress whites for the ceremony, and then after the wedding they had the sword cermony! The reception was at the Wiregrass Art Museum! We all had a great time dancing...Wesley especially enjoyed the food! They served pizza, barbeque, and mashed potatoes...what guy doesn't love those foods??

Here is a picture of some of the girls at the Dothan Country Club for the rehersal dinner Friday night.

Me and Wesley at the reception

It was such a fun weekend and I am so happy for Alana and David!

Joining the blogging world!

For the past year or so I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs. I never started a blog because I felt like I didn't have much to blog about! I have decided to start blogging as a way to journal and as a way to keep in touch with friends. The title "Becoming Part of the Pack" refers to my recent engagement to Wesley Pack. Ephesians 5:31 says "a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh," so techinically I will indeed become part of the Pack! We are getting married in March of 2010. We cannot wait to begin our lives as husband and wife!