I'm still alive.....and an answered prayer!

Sorry for the 2 week hiatus. I do have a good excuse though. As most of you know, Paul and I have had 2 houses (which of course comes with 2 mortgage payments) since we got married. Paul's house has been on the market for almost 2 years now and when we tried to put mine on the market a year ago, we found out that the amount we'd lose just to sell it wasn't an amount we were even close to having or willing to give up if we did. It's been a long, exhausting and very trying time. Both Paul and I had roommates before we got married so it's been quite a financial hit for us. The Bible says in Psalm 37 that "the righteous will not be forsaken or have to beg for bread" and God has proven that to be true in His provision for us during this time.

We were going to list my house the first of January in hopes of the market being a little better after waiting another year. We were very much dreading having both houses on the market, especially knowing we would most likely end up losing a substantial amount to sell mine, after waiting for only God knows how long. But God had something far better in mind. My mom was to buy my townhouse!!! From the second that possibility arose, it was so obvious that God's hand was in the midst of it all. After a long wait and a sure-fire test of patience and trust, God has just freed us of having 2 mortgages! My mom closed on our house yesterday afternoon.

My good friend Ashley told me several times throughout this trial, "Get excited, because the longer you wait and the longer you persevere, the bigger I think God is going to answer this prayer." Boy was she right! I never would have dreamed it could turn out this good. You'd be here reading this all day if I listed all of the blessings that have come from this. My mom and us are both being blessed far more than we could have ever imagined.

The last several weeks have been spent packing, moving and all of the other fun logistics that come with selling a house. Needless to say, it's left very little time for blogging. We have moved into Paul's house and will be here until his sells. Although we often feel anxious for his to sell so we can be settled in a permanent home, we have clearly seen that His timing is perfect. Only by God's help and unending grace, we are learning to be content where we are instead of always thinking that "if just this would happen, we'd be happy."

As my dear friend Alexandra would say, "YOU BETTA PRAISE HIM!" And trust me, we are certainly praising Him!

Snowed in

Welp, we are on day two of being snowed in. Sort of, anyway. They were calling for the snow to start early yesterday morning so school was called off Sunday night. By 2:00 I had worn myself out from pouting all day about us not having one bit of snow yet. Snow days are fun, but only when it's actually snowing. I have to say that from what the weather idiots were certain was coming our way, the school system did the right thing by calling off school. It seemed like the snow was all around us, everywhere BUT here. But finally around 2:30 it started snowing and we ended up with about an inch. Now a nice layer of ice is on top of that, so who knows when we'll be back to school. I try not to get worked up about when we're gonna have to make the days up and just enjoy it now. It is SO nice that Paul and I are both teachers and get to be snowed in together. We may or may not get out of our PJs today.



I've been a little slack on the blogging lately; there hasn't been much to report from the Hicksters. Life is sweet and things are going well but we just haven't had anything new or exciting that is blog-worthy. Stayed tuned though, I'm thinking 2011 is going to bring some great things for us :)

Happy New Year

I can't believe another year has come and gone. They seem to get faster and faster every year. I am humbled when I think about all God blessed us with in the year 2010!

Just to name a few...Paul and I celebrated our first year of marriage, we had wonderful vacations with our families, I had the privilege of going back to Kenya-with my mom, lots of my friends had babies, we got to celebrate new marriages with several people very close to us, my cousin had her first baby and Paul and I got the honor of becoming his godparents, Paul's soccer team won the Soccer Spectacular for the first time, my Gram celebrated her 75th birthday, and I could go on and on. Although Paul and I had 2 mortgage payments throughout 2010, God's provision never failed and we are being refined through the process. We have so much to be thankful for.

I look very forward to what's in store for 2011. Happy New Year y'all!

2 years ago today...

Was one of the best days of my life. Paul and I had decided he would go to his parents right after getting out of school for Christmas break and I would head down on Christmas day. It was late morning on Christmas Eve and I was on the complete other side of town headed to my Gram's to help her wrap a few last minute presents and load up the car. Paul called and asked if I would go to his house to get a package that had arrived. He had told me weeks prior to this that he ordered a Christmas gift but it was on back order and would probably get there while he was gone. He had given me a key to his place and I was going to go put the package in his house when it got there. After all, he lived in a townhouse and didn't want the package to sit there for days and most likely get stolen. Sounded completely normal to me.

So back to when he called...I was on the other side of town and was already running quite a bit late to Gram's house so I wasn't thrilled about turning around and driving all the way back to Paul's. He said he tracked it and that it had been sitting there since the day before and he begged me to please go and get it. So, I turned around and headed to his house. Not happy about it at all, but I was going to rescue this package for my wonderful boyfriend who I knew would have done it for me in a heartbeat. I decided not to call Gram and hope she didn't notice that I was going to be an hour late getting to her house. I called my friend Ashley so I'd have someone to talk to on my drive across town and back. When I pulled up to his house, I was relieved to see that a box was still there. I had my phone in one hand and picked up the box in the other. I opened his door to put the package inside and I saw lights on the floor. The box was so big that I barely had the door cracked. True story-my first thought was, "When did he put Christmas lights up? And did he really leave for a week and forget to unplug them?" So I told Ashley I would call her back, I opened the door, walked in, and this is what I saw...



Candles and flowers everywhere. It was the most surreal feeling in the world. I mean, surely I knew what was going on at this point but it felt like I was in a dream. He was not even in town, he was 4 hours away at his parents! I just knew he was, I had just talked to him and he was hanging out with his dad. So, I walked in and there was my handsome prince. In a shirt and tie, sitting in a chair, about to ask me to marry him. OH. MY. GOODNESS.


I kept asking him when he got here, when did he do all of this, etc, etc. Our favorite Journey song was playing in the background, he was all smiles and told me the sweetest things in the world. And then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. OH. MY. GOODNESS. AGAIN! I can't even describe the moment. I was so happy and excited but so shocked. I kept hoping I wouldn't wake up from and it all be a dream. I really didn't expect for him to propose anytime real soon and I especially didn't expect it when he was 4 hours away at his parent's house! He had it all planned for weeks and I never had one clue. He had come back home the night before and of course I had no idea. I always knew I wanted to be completely thrown off and surprised, but I never would have dreamed it would have been that perfect. Paul said he never wanted to use a holiday as a time to propose, but this just happened to be the one time he could throw me off like he did. It couldn't have been better timing in my opinion. It was Christmas Eve which meant we got to celebrate with our families. And he got the whole thing on video! It was truly one of the most amazing days of my almost-3o years of life.




I can't believe it's already been two years and now I am married to someone I can honestly say is my very best friend in the world. I am truly blessed beyond measure!

Christmas Vacation...thus far

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time off so far. Here's a little of what we've been up to...

We went to a Christmas party at the newly wed home of Ron and Alexandra. Such fun times with some of my most favorite friends.





Lindsey and the boys stopped by one night.



We went to Greensboro for the day to see my grandparents and aunt. My aunt had just gotten back from visiting my cousin and our godson so I got to see lots of pictures of sweet Cole. He is growing up so fast and I hate we don't get to see him more.

This is my most favorite aunt. She's my only aunt, but she would totally still be my favorite even if she wasn't my only one.




I managed to sneak a picture of Cole.


Sophie has really enjoyed Christmas break too. Life is so much better when her mommy and daddy are home.

All up in it

Yesterday was definitely an ALL UP IN IT kind of day. We found out on Wednesday night that school was cancelled for Thursday because of the snow/ice storm coming in. We got to stay up late and best of all, sleep late the next morning. Sleeping until 9:00 is rare for me anymore and it felt SO good! We stayed in our pajamas until well after lunch and then finally ventured out to get some Christmas shopping done. It was a very successful shopping day and hardly anybody was out so it was so nice not to have to fight the crowds. I am happy to say I only have one more present to buy. Last night we wrapped presents and watched White Christmas. It was just the most lovely day and evening.

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break. And it's a very special day for these sweet children. They get to come to school in their pajamas and watch The Polar Express! I am glad school wasn't cancelled today because I know a lot of kids that would have been very disappointed.

Happy Friday y'all!

Good Times

What a fun weekend it was for the Hicksters! Friday night Paul was gone hunting with my brother and nephew so I went solo to our friend Andrew's birthday party. It was the big 3-0 I might add. I hate I don't have any pictures to recap the night. My camera has seen better days and I think the end is in very near sight for her, so most of the time I don't even bother busting it out. A nice camera is definitely on the "when the house sells" list.

Saturday was sweet little Fletcher's first birthday. It was a Dr. Seuss theme and could not have been any cuter! My camera cooperated for the most part and I did manage to get a few pics at the party.



Green eggs


Seuss sweets




My good friend Abbie has recently gotten in to baking cakes and she did a Cat in the Hat cake for the party. It was so stinkin cute!


Fletcher had the best time digging into his own little cake. I think he had more on him than what actually made it into his mouth.





Saturday night we headed to Burlington for an engagement party for my friend Stephanie. She lives in Chicago so I do not get to see her much. It is very unfortunate that I didn't get any pictures that night either. I will plan on stealing someone elses at some point and maybe I will post a few then. The party was a lot of fun and I cannot wait for their spring wedding in Chi-town!

Sunday we enjoyed some Mexican food after church with our BF class. I was going through Mexican withdrawal. I think it had been almost 2 weeks since I'd had it. That evening we went to Abbie and Chris' house for a game night. I don't think I have laughed that hard since...well, probably the night before. But still, I laughed until I nearly peed my pants.

I got to spend time with a lot of friends this weekend and it was such a good reminder of how blessed I am by all of the special people in my life. Thank you Lord!

I will try to make this the last time I rub it in, but this is the last week of school before Christmas break. I look very forward to having 2 weeks off with my wonderful husband!