People for which I am thankful............

My husband. I couldn't imagine my life without him. He has taught me so much in the past almost four years! WOW, I can't believe that. We will celebrate our one year anniversary as a married couple November 1st and I can't wait! Dave thank you for always being forgiving, for always loving me, and for always making me laugh.

Kristen, my sister in law. She is much stronger than she thinks. She has the kindest heart, is a great mother to two wonderful children, and makes me laugh all the time. I truly enjoy being around you Kristen. I cherish all the wonderful memories I have with you and know there will be many more. I thank God for blessing me with you.

My mom, older sister, and twin. The Pecor women. I tell you one thing, the four of us are some of the strongest women I know. If we don't like something, you will know it. My mother was blessed with a serving heart. She does so many great things through her stewardship. She has taught me about perseverance, faithfulness, and unconditional love. Jenna is one of the most beautiful women I know. She is incredibly talented, funny, and outgoing. She loves to have a good time and is a great listener. Leslie, you are my very best friend. I could not ever imagine my life without you in it. No one but a twin can understand why. I love you with all my heart, one day you will realize what a special person you are. You have so many gifts and talents and will do great things in the years to come.

The Pecor Family, while my last name changed. I will forever be a Pecor, just a little modified :)

The Petty Family. Sherry and Gordon welcomed me into the family with open arms and have always been very loving. I'm grateful for all the children in the family, every niece and nephew have their own little personality and bring something special to everyone. Big Chris, Jenn, CJ, and Corey are all unique in their own way and make the family fun and I'm grateful to have such wonderful people to call family.

What are you grateful for? In the mist of everything that happens in our lives I think we forget how special it is to have family. To have people to cry with, vent to, share special memories with, and to fellowship with. Family is the one blessing I think we take for granted, I know I overlook this important blessing at times. And even though we fight, argue, dislike each other at times they are the ones that build us up when we are down, that love us when it feels like no one else does, and forgive us time and time again when we don't deserve it.

Today, I am grateful for every single family member in my life. I encourage you to tell someone in your family how grateful you are to have them in your life!

Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend come and gone! This weekend started early as we got out of work early on Friday. YAY!!! Friday night we headed out to the lake with Cody and Whitney to do some night fishing. We went out to Joe Pool Lake and it was a BEAUTIFUL night! We ended up getting on the lake about 730, perfect fishing time.

Dave and I on Cody's boat. Dave was super jealous because he has the exact same boat Dave has been wanting since like day one of us dating. We are still waiting on the perfect boat to find us (wink, wink) That wish item will not be had for quite a while I'm afraid.

Cody and Whitney. They are so fun, we very much enjoy hanging out with them. They are both graduates of Texas Tech, Whitney is a nurse and Cody is a Mechanical Engineer. We are very lucky to have a great group of people that live around us. Matt and Heather live next door and all three couples are just about the same age.

What a BEAUTIFUL night it was!!! There weren't that many people on the lake either, hmmm

Cody's fish he caught, you can't really see Cody but you can see the size of his fish. He is a pro!

My incredibly good looking husband. I love that hat, it's a good thing to because it's Dave favorite and he wears it all the time :)
Cody's fish, Fred (we had many different names for him, this was the only one that came to mind right now). Our plan was to catch alot so we could have a fish fry BUT that didn't happen. So luckily, Fred was set free before we left. Maybe next time!

My mom and I before we headed out to Golightly's. She loved it! I knew she would. There were some GREAT finds this week, to bad my bank account didn't agree. I got to just look this time but Mom got some great decorative napkins and we found some other super cute things too!

Aren't these dishes so CUTE! I had to take a picture because I told my mom we would need to remember what they looked like so hopefully when the time comes for a little girl she will have super cute dishes to play with :)

Tonight we went over to Heather and Matt's for dinner. It was fun, we haven't done that in awhile. Their daughter Avery is about three months now and she is just ADORABLE!! I actually held her this time, when she born we went over to visit but I just looked at her. I get nervous when they are that little for some reason. Avery let me love on her tonight though so Heather and Matt anytime you need some babysitters just let us know!!

Onto another week! Dave has some good leads hopefully for a few job positions so we are praying he gets some interviews.

Can you believe it's already going to be September???

Sharing my thoughts

Today I woke up and I spent some time with God. Every morning I promised myself that my time to get ready and eat breakfast before work I would do in silence. I usually like to listen to the radio while I'm getting ready but after the past few weeks I have decided this would be a good time for me to just sit with my thoughts and talk to God.

The past week and half has been filled with many different emotions. I have been angry, scared, bitter, jealous, had moments of "at least we are healthy", and "I'm perfectly fine with working a second job if it means we stay a float". And last night I had a break down.

I cried, I was angry, I told Dave it's not fair. I have many mixed emotions about the whole layoff and how it happened. I worry that it will take a while to find another job, I worry that we will be living not being able to spend time together or with anyone else because we are working all the time, and I fear our marriage will take a toll and suffer.

We had dinner with my parents last night and sometimes I forget that they are right about certain things in life. As a child, I think we forget that our parents have lived through the same things we as adults are now experiencing. They shared about times they dealt with that were tough for them, how they handled it and how they persevered. They reminded me that this is the "worse" in the "for better or worse" part of vows we took. And honestly, it's not that bad. It's just emotionally and will be physically draining. I know this.

I also trust in my husband as the provider and spiritual leader in our family. Dave has an incredible way of always looking at the good in situations and being positive. He has one of the most giving spirits I have ever met, always wanting to do what he can to help others and truly understands that forgiveness is for yourself and not the other person. He has an amazing outlook at life and I trust him when he tells me it's going to be okay.

It's just a little scary at the moment but I know, and I pray to God that he will take the bitterness I have out of my heart and I know he has to deal with situation. But one of the best things I ever read was about talking to God. I have learned to truly talk to him, not pray to him but have conversations. To tell him my hurts and tell him I'm angry. To talk to him about my feelings and fears and that he can take it and that he likes it when we're honest. He knows our true thoughts and feelings anyway.

I'm not really sure why I shared all this as it is very personal but I just felt the need too. I hope I didn't totally bum out anyone reading this today. But it made me feel better, so sometimes thoughts written out do help to focus one's brain.

I appreciate the calls and prayers so many of you have shared with us. We are very blessed to have friends and family that care for us so much. Thank you!

Weekend Wrap Up

Already Sunday, where do the weekends go? This weekend was pretty good, although I started off Thursday not feeling well at all so I took a sick day Friday and literally tried to recover from the nausea and headache I had for the three days before that (no I'm not pregnant). I'm not sure what it was, I think it was probably because we had such an eventful week last week. But I started feeling better and we were off to Lipan, TX for the weekend to celebrate "the crew's" birthdays.

All of Dave's friends have birthdays in the month of August or September (well most of them) so we went out for a weekend of fun, skeet shooting, fishing, and fellowship with friends. I always enjoy going out there, it's so peaceful except for the extraordinary HOT temperatures. UGH!

We found out Jared and Addie (one of Dave's oldest friends) are expecting and that was so great! They have been married almost 4 years so it's about that time. Jodie, Jared's brother had his 4 month out there. Her name is Reese and she is beautiful!!!!

Kristen and Traci shot their first gun, how fun! I competed in the skeet shoot tournament and I must say to have been the only girl who competed I did very well. Held my own, that's for sure! Got to shoot my new gun too and it's AWESOME!!!!

We came back this afternoon and have been taking it easy. The dogs are SO tired, they are always wore out when we get back from Lipan. I counted this time and there were 7 labs out there! Yes 7! It's a freakin lab farm out there!! We truly enjoy it and the funny thing is all seven labs are related somehow. How weird.

I WOULD have pictures except one husband I know took the memory card out of my camera to use for his hunting camera and now one's wife's camera won't work....................hmmmm who could that be???

Thank you all for your wonderful support and prayers during the last week. We very much appreciate all the sweet comments and know that tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities!! I promise to keep you all in loop, good or bad, about his job hunting adventures. We have passed the point of being hurt and angry and are now in the laugh it off phase. What else can you do right?

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK EVERYONE!!!

Emotional Week

This week has been quite an interesting one for us. We found out Tuesday that Dave is being laid off. His last day with the company will be next Friday the 28th. There are still some possibilities but we aren't for sure if he is going to be able to keep some type of position at the company so we are just waiting. It has been a week of lows and highs as everyday it seems like something else happened and we end up talking about it all night long. Just emotionally draining and while we are trying to stay positive it's still a bad situation. But we are trying to keep our faith and pray about it and that's all we can do.

Good news is that we have spent much time with our neighbors this week and we have enjoyed it. Cody started working with Dave about two months ago and his wife is very funny. We are just taking it day by day and hoping for the best! We will keep you posted.

Weekend Wrap Up

So, like I said I went down to San Antonio for some training and we did get a night to go out to eat. We went to this Mexican food restaurant that supposedly Bill Clinton LOVES. They have this painting up on the wall because he comes in every time he is in town. I thought it was great!

The name of the restaurant. If you are ever in San Antonio, I highly recommend it. They have literally a wall full of pastries, every kind you can imagine. I didn't have any because I ate way to much food.

So, I heard about this tea room from another blogger who sales jewelry there and had to check it out. Golightly's is right off of 183 and Davis Rd. and it has so much great stuff there. I got a bracelet and necklace, picture frame, and cute little decor for my bathroom. They have everything! I plan on taking my mom there sometime soon.

Yep, then it was off to the Hunter's Extravaganza in Ft. Worth. Surprisingly it was really fun! They had tons of stuff, all hunting relating somehow. All sorts of deer blinds, bows, stuff to hunt with, you name it. Plus, our neighbors are hunters too and they met us out there.

Okay, so there was this guy there, Joe Martin and they had all these rattlesnakes. It was stinky and really kind of mean in my opinion. They were like taunting the snakes to make them mad, but according to Dave and Cody (our neighbor) the floor was really cold so the snakes weren't moving very quickly. It was interesting to be that close to a rattlesnake though.

Ha! Cute right! I wouldn't ever really get a deer blind that looked like this BUT

it is pretty cool to make it more a girly feel.

After the show Dave and I went with our neighbors to grab some dinner and then had a night out on the town, which actually ended at 10:30 because we were all beat. I mean, yawning and just ready to hit to sack. How sad are we? But it was a ton of fun being able to hang out with Cody and Whitney!!

Today was full as well. We went and had lunch with Brian at Texas Roadhouse, Leslie was working so we got to see her too! After we headed over to Logan's party at Pump it Up in Arlington, how much fun! Which by the way, why didn't they have those types of things when we were younger? He got lots of good stuff and after we headed to home to get ready for another week! Full weekend, just flew by!

Peace out, hope everyone has a great week!

Home Sweet Home

Well I made it back from my trip. I went down to San Antonio for training (work related) and while it was a good change of pace, I'm glad to be back. It was two full days of information about the Master's degree in Education we will be offering in Sept. All I can say is, if you are interested in teaching math, science, or special ed and have your bachelor's degree these programs are AWESOME!! I am praying and thinking about doing the Master's degree in Science with teacher certification. It's a great program and I think it'll be the best way to go if I want to teach (there is student teaching required in this program so WOOHOO!)

Anywho, we have a full day today! Going to Golightly's (I have been meaning to get there for about two weeks now and work has been crazy!) and then to a hunters expo and then off to dinner with our neighbors. I'll post some pictures later!

Happy Saturday everyone!!!

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend of course came and went like all the others, fast as can be. And here it is Sunday night and work again is calling my name tomorrow morning. This week will be a hectic one too, I have a career fair Tuesday and Wednesday and then off to San Antonio for a work conference. But one day at a time, that's the key! :)

A few fun things were done this weekend though. Friday night I headed over to Amber's for a girls night. It was just what I needed actually. There were six of us there, all went to high school together and it has been a while since we have all hung out. We worked on something (which will need to remain a secret) and chatted. About our lives, our marriages, friendships, families. Sometimes you just need those nights. Oh yeah, and we LAUGHED!!

Saturday I had to work for a little bit and then met my Mom, Aunt, sister and some other ladies to celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday! Yes, another milestone for Angie. We went to Texas Roadhouse and had good food and cake! We did take pictures but they are on my Mom's camera, so another day possibly I'll post them :)

I did get a good book from my Mom I started today called One Month to Live. I think it'll be a great journey for the next 30 days. It's kind of like Purpose Driven Life, you know you read a chapter a day. I'll write about the journey from time to time. I am also on the like the fifth book I think in the series of the Left Behind series, The Indwelling. Although I have to read a little at a time because it's slowly becoming more and more scary!

Sunday night, I cleaned the house today and now am watching the romantic movies they always play on Sundays and my house is smelling great! I made roast and potatoes, yummy! I LOVE roast!! Off to eat and spend sometime with Dave before another week starts back up! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Show us your Life! Reception and Honeymoon

Kelly's Korner is hosting the weekly "Show us your Life" so here is our reception and some honeymoon pictures. We had an outside wedding and our reception in the barn on the land behind where the ceremony was. The weather thank goodness was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't have asked for a better day. We ended up getting married on Opening Day of Hunting Season (my husband failed to mention this when I picked the date and started booking everything) so for the next 50 years or so we will probably be celebrating our anniversary in a deer stand. Don't be jealous girls!!

This is a picture of a page in my wedding album. Rice crispy treats are Dave's favorite! So my mom and I made all those rice crispies! We literally ate them for like a month!! But it was a great idea!! By the way, my cake was "suppose" to be a four tier cake. There was some confusion and they got the square part right but brought all the layers seperate. So of course the day of I could have cared less......and I still don't. It was so good!!
My mom had this window and thought of this idea. She of course is super creative and it turned out to be a great keepsake! Haven't figured out where to hang it in my house, any ideas????

Us waiting to be announced by the DJ, he took FOREVER! We were ready to eat!!

All the kids on Dave's side, from the left it's Brenna, Braiden, Ethan, and Bailey. PRECIOUS!

Kelly and I, I literally feel like I said hi took this picture and didn't get to talk to her the rest of the night. All that planning and the night just flies by!

Where the ceremony was, the pictures turned out really pretty with the background.

Our first dance as Mr. and Mrs. David Petty. We danced to "The Day Before You" by Rascal Flatts. It was our song from one Valentine's Day. That's another story :)

Me, Leslie (my twin) and Jenna my older sister

We went to DisneyWorld for our honeymoon, and we had the BEST time! Happiest place on Earth!

The Honeymoon Suite at the Wilderness Lodge, our kind of place! It was great. On the top floor where they had happy hour practically all day long, snacks, breakfast, you name it. That's the way I'm traveling from now on. Yeah, right!

We took a Segway tour and it was a blast! This was in Epcot and very cool. Dave kept getting into trouble because he would go to fast and not stay in line. Dave had a specific name for the tour guide but I don't want to offend anyone so I won't say it. It was a hoot though.

Our last day :( Of course we had to buy souveniors and drag them all over....so we were pooped!

Thanks for coming to visit! Have a great weekend everyone!!!

We are now secure! And full!

Yep that's right, I made enchiladas. Yummy!! They actually turned out pretty good, but I think next time they need more sauce though. But they were goooooooddddddddd.

Last night we had a security system installed. This wasn't exactly our plan but we got a SWEET deal. APX took care of all the installation cost and we just had to take care of the activation fee and then of course the monthly fees. I know security systems don't totally prevent people from breaking in but it makes me feel better. I don't like when Dave goes out of town and I'm home at night alone. It scares me.

Now they have these things were you can turn your alarm off and on by remote. Geez, technology today. It's VERY cool though.

And then of course, we keep this sign in the yard for advertisement for them. It's solar powered so at night the light shines on it. And the sales guy and guy who installed it was very very nice. I HIGHLY recommend them.

Tomorrow night I am getting together with the girls from high school! Should be tons of fun, can't wait. There is actually a reason we are getting together but it's a secret so I can't say anything. I will share what it is for in the future :) I'll make sure to take some pictures, should be interesting!

He just knows!! This one is worth reading..........

Isn't this just what I needed to hear, literally. God is good, no God is GREAT!!

I Choose NOT to be Offended
4 Aug 2009Wendy Blight"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

What did she mean by that?

Why does she always hurt my feelings?

Why does she treat me that way?

Do any of these phrases sound familiar to you? It took my 15-year old daughter to show me that these words played through my head on a continual basis. She ended many of our conversations over the last few years with, "Why do you get your feelings hurt so easily?" or "Gosh, Mom, we are always hurting your feelings." Or, "Mom, you're so sensitive." At first, her words angered me.Over time, I finally began to hear what she was saying. God used my daughter to teach a powerful truth to me.

For years, I allowed people's words to hurt my feelings. In turn, I harbored anger for those words. The anger took root. Satan fed the words to me over and over again. I replayed them in my mind. Each time I replayed them, the anger grew deeper roots.I would find myself sitting in church listening to a sermon and saying, "I wish ______ was here. They really need to hear this sermon." I never heard the sermons for myself because the words of others consumed by thoughts and stole my time.About this time, God called me to teach a Bible study on the book of Proverbs. I spent days and weeks absorbed in this amazing book of Wisdom. One afternoon, God brought this verse across my path, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Proverbs 18:11).

Wow! It leapt off the page and into my heart.I had a choice here. Up until now, I received people's words, jumped to a conclusion, and chose to be offended. God's Word spoke and said, "Wendy, you have another choice...choose to look past their words and not receive them with an offended heart." I discovered that I needed to LISTEN objectively and ask: What is driving their words? Do they have a valid point? Do they have a deep hurt? Do they need something I am not giving? Are they someone who is just plain mean and negative?The responsibility was on me to stop the words from entering my heart and taking root. I discovered in this process that I NEEDED the approval of others. Yet, God's Word clearly says that He is the only One whose approval I need. When I accepted this, my heart changed.

Yes, it took time, and I am a work in progress. But, now when someone speaks a hurtful word, I check it at the door of my heart. I hear the words, I recognize my issue, and I speak Truth over my heart. I literally say, "It is to my glory to not receive this as an offense." God is pleased because I honor Him with this choice. It is a win-win for everyone because I do not ruin the rest of the day by pouting and making it all about me. I do not soak in self-pity. I let the words go.

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am created in Your image. Thank You that in You I find my identity. Thank You that it is only Your Words and Your opinion that matters. Lord, give me Your ears to hear. Help me not to be easily offended and easily angered. Help me lay down any offenses to which I am currently holding. Let me live in the freedom of Your love and forgiveness. Help me live not in my flesh, but supernaturally in the fullness and freshness of Your Spirit. I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, My Lord, Amen.

Weekend Wrap Up

Well this weekend was much needed! Dave and I had a very stressful week, best way to sum it up is, do you ever feel like your and your hubby are just not on the same page? This was one of those weeks for us. We spent much of the week working a ton and the time we were home we were both just short with one another and had problems with our communication (that is the nice way of saying we fought most of the week right :) Let's face it we all have those weeks, so we went down to the lake to spend some time fishing and playing nice!! It was good and we needed it so it's nice we have that little hobby together we can do to help ease our tension sometimes.

Today was spent trying to find my friend Amber's church, it was not a successful trip but maybe next week. I ended up at Walmart getting groceries for the week and had planned to get a pedicure but that didn't happen either. I bought a SUPER cute dress but had to go back to Walmart and exchange it for another size. So with cleaning the house and getting ready for this week, I ran out of time for a pedicure. And this is why I LOVE my husband. He got nominated to take off my polish so I didn't look so homeless with my half painted toe nail polish. He LOVES doing this by the way :)


And this is what I am getting for graduation. My friends love to make fun of me, actually Amber calls me red neck but I don't care. I plan on using this for dove season, I haven't graduated to shooting deer yet. But it sure is fun to shoot skeet, I got pretty good at it last year. Opening day for Dove season is only about a month away!!