Just call me Martha....Martha Stewart that is!

 I am SOOO kidding! As you continue reading you will understand. Last Christmas Hugh bought me a sewing machine and it wasn't until this LAST weekend that I did anything with it. I wanted one so I could make crafty things for the home! Hugh's mom showed me some of the basics when she was here and I was off! My starter project was a heating pad. After my first stitch (shown below) the thread came out. It took me (and Hugh) 45 minutes to figure out i was turning the hand wheel the wrong way to get it threaded correctly! Now should we talk about this stitch? Yeah, let's not....

After I got over that hurdle I was off and the finished project was a success. I filled it with rice (pour some good smelling oil on the rice) throw it in the microwave for 90 seconds and you have a great heating pad!

Thanksgiving

My first Thanksgiving as a married woman!  We were in VA for the holiday and Hugh's parents, brother and aunt came and stayed with us for a few days. It was so nice being with family. This was the first time I ever cooked a turkey OR even a Thanksgiving meal. I researched the menu and selected dishes that had great reviews and it did not disappoint. The turkey was moist and we had cranberry salad, a sweet potato dish, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing  and a green bean casserole. It was yummy.

It was a great weekend to reflect on ALL the things to be thankful for. God has given me so much! This year has been an abundance of blessing and I am so grateful! 

Weekend...

I absolutely LOVE my husband! I got back last Thursday after being back in California for 10 days and walked into the house with the above signs. On the back of each note Hugh had written me little notes on why he was glad to have his wife back! :) Seriously HOW ROMANTIC! :) THEN on the counter he had a envelope with a gift card and a note to pack my bags because he was taking me away for the weekend.

He planned our weekend away in Richmond which is a little over two hours. We left Friday afternoon and got there around 4:00. We got checked into our hotel, went to dinner and then  a movie. On Saturday, we went shopping and Maggiano's for dinner! There was even a Hobby Lobby which I got SO EXCITED about. That was a learning experience as Hugh and I came to the full realization that we have different tastes! :)

Saturday night we had a night at home and continued watching LOST. We started this on our honeymoon and just finished season 4. We have settled on a church Heritage Baptist and decided on a sunday school. This is exciting as Hugh and I are starting to make church friends! :) We invited our leaders over next Sunday after church for lunch, It was such a fun weekend and I was reminded time and time again what a blessing marriage is and what a bigger blessing HUGH is! 

Virginia here we come...

Who would of thought we would end up in Lynchburg, VA....NOT ME! :) I can honestly say without a doubt I know this is where God wanted us! The day we got back from our honeymoon we realized we weren't supposed to stay in California and the Lord was making it very clear that we would be headed to Virginia.
The same day we got back I got the flu! Horrible flu! Can I just tell you how thankful I was to be married and having the flu?! I remembered the previous year getting the flu, I was all alone, so sick and just laying on the couch crying! I remember praying and asking the Lord to bring me a husband who would be by my side in these times. A year later...here I was laying on the couch SICK, and my husband was laying next to me, hugging me and reading the bible to me to encourage me. FOR REAL....doesn't get much better than that! I started crying and told Hugh about my prayer the year before and how thankful I was that he was there with me. Truly a blessing.
When I went back to work two days later I talked to my boss and he asked me to stay on staff and try working remotely.  I would fly back and forth as needed and the next week was finalizing those plans. God has been so good in this process. Not only were we quickly moving across the Country but I got to keep my job with TMC which I TRULY LOVE! Blessing after blessing.

The move across Country with my best friend was so great. We had a big group of friends come and help us pack up on a Friday night and we took off around 8 PM. We drove straight through to Texas and stayed with our friends Brady and Megan Schenk. So fun to see them in their home. Then Sunday morning we left early and drove straight to TN.

 Monday morning we drove about 4 hours and got to spend the day with my sister and her family. That was fun! Then on Tuesday we made it to Lynchburg. We drove straight to our apartment (which we had never seen) and I LOVE it! We even had about 8 guys show up to help us move in! The first week was so great making a home with Hugh! We would unpack, run errands and just spent time together. It was such a great time. We've been here a few months already and I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I am so grateful for this time with Hugh and the way the Lord has directed our steps. God is So SO SOOO GOOD!

Honeymoon

Three words....BEST. TIME. EVER. We ended up staying in Los Angeles the first two nights. On Saturday, we hadn't packed for our cruise and thought since our whole family was still in the area that we would head back to Santa Clarita to say goodbye to them. On Sunday Hampton and Abby picked us up at the hotel to take us to the port for our cruise. It was so fun to get to go away with my husband for the first time and get to spend a whole week TOGETHER!!!!

We ended up taking a 6 night cruise to Mexico. Hugh and I were wondering if that was going to be too long to be on the boat but it wasn't. We had tons of fun. On the boat we would take cards to the deck and play games, went to a couple shows, we borrowed the season of  "Lost" from our friends and we would watch hours of "Lost" every day and we read. It was such a sweet time. We were in Cabo two days and one of those days we went off the ship and took a boat tour and rented a jet ski. Then the fourth day we stopped in Puerto Vallarta. We ended up going on a tour of the city. It was a lot of fun. We went to the jungle and all around the city.

The best part was just being away with the person I get to spend my life with. We laughed a lot and just ENJOYED being together and not having to say goodbye! I'm married to my BFF!!!! Love it!

Wedding

Hugh and I got married at 7:00 pm in our friend's backyard. It was so special. Our wedding party walked down to "Great is they Faithfulness" by Cece Winans and I walked down to "You and I" by Steve Wonder (sung by Michael Buble'). 

Our good friend, mentor and my boss Mark Tatlock married us! In pre-marital counseling we had to write our own covenant to each other and we decided to use them for our vows in our wedding. I really liked this as it made things so personal for Hugh and I. We also shared communion for the first time as husband and wife. This was probably my favorite part of the whole ceremony. WAIT...i take that back....the first kiss was my favorite! :) I am so thankful to be Mrs. Hugh Jackson!

And I couldn't forget the cutest kids EVER....my neices and nephews!

McClain.....THAT FACE!

My Girls!

Mason....LEGIT!


I think Hugh and I win the award for the shortest reception!  We personally dismissed everyone from the wedding so we could say hello to everyone. We knew that we wouldn't be able to spend time with each person that came so this was our way of getting to thank everyone.  Once that was done,  we cut the cake and had the wedding party speeches. MY favorite was my sister's. She wrote words to the tune "Isn't she Lovely" by Steve Wonder and sang it to us.  We Loved it!

Not too long after this we took off! One of the ONLY things Hugh wanted for our wedding was to drive away in a cool car! We were able to do so! :) Here we are getting ready to leave as Mr. and Mrs. Jackson!

Family

I have been given a blessing in SIX new brothers and sister and a new set of parents! I love them. I have known the Jackson family for many years and have grown to love each one of them. During wedding week we did family pictures with my side and Hugh's side. Lots of laughter trying to get that many people together for a picture. I LOVE our FAMILY!