The Davenport Duo

Baby Update!

2011-12-13T17:34:00.005-05:00

Today I am officially 2 days past my due date (December 11th)! I cannot believe how quickly this entire 9+ months has flown by....I still remember the day Cody and I found out we were pregnant and now we are days away from meeting our little lady!

Speaking of meeting her, we had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I went into the appointment a little excited, nervous, anxious....ready to hear some news (be it good or bad!). I was waiting to get called back by the nurse when I looked down and realized I was shaking! I didn't know if it was because I hadn't had lunch yet or if I was excited/nervous! Anyways, I did the routine weight check (YIKES!!) and then had my blood pressure taken. My bp has been excellent throughout the entire pregnancy, so I'm grateful it was only yesterday that we had an issue. Anyways, the doctor came in and told me it was a bit higher than normal and since I've had a little swelling, they wanted me to go downstairs to the Labor/Delivery floor to get some blood work and have a non-stress test done on the baby.

Cody and I headed down to Labor and Delivery and I'm not entirely certain I breathed the entire walk! I got to the check-in desk and Cody whispered to me "BREATHE"......I took a big deep breath and told the lady, 'sorry, i'm really nervous'!

They took us to a triage room where I was hooked up to 2 monitors and a blood pressure cuff. One of the monitors showed the baby's heart rate and the other showed if I was having any contractions. A few minutes later a lab tech came in and took lots of blood (not a fan!). After 3 hours and like 15 episodes of That 70's Show later, the doctor finally came in and said blood work came back normal and good, baby is still doing great and my blood pressure finally went down. Then, we chatted about our options.....we discussed induction and c-sections and everything in between (if you know me, you know how many questions I asked!).

Cody, myself and the doctor agreed upon inducing THursday evening at midnight (technically Friday) and starting with some natural options, then if those don't work getting Pitocin to get the ball rolling. We packed up and then headed home.....actually we stopped at the nurses station and asked if we could see an actual room because I couldn't remember what the sleeping situation was for the husband. Poor Cody has a half of a futon thingy to sleep on, but I'm hoping to pack some extra comfy stuff to make it a little more bearable for him!

All in all, I was looking back at yesterday and I'm so grateful it happened. Not that it was really a 'crash course', but it kinda took the sting off of me walking into the L&D floor when I was in labor and having no idea what to expect. Plus, it's kinda nice having some 'light at the end of the tunnel' knowing that if she doesn't come before Friday, we are inducing then. I'm thinking my baby girl might have a little bit of my 'planner personality' ;)

Lots of people have asked us 'do you need anything?' or 'how can we help?' --as of right now, we are set, but my deepest desire is for prayer. I KNOW that the Lord is in control and I've had His peace my entire pregnancy. But, yesterday, when the rubber hit the road and something was wrong, I kinda freaked out a little. So, please pray that my focus is set on Jesus, that my mind is calm and my heart is ready for this little lady to come. Pray for Cody to be calm and an excellent partner in labor, for his heart to be ready and prepared for his daughter. Pray that this will be a beautiful experience for him and I, as we welcome our 1st child into the world. Please pray that above all we have a safe and healthy delivery for mom and baby (be that any means necessary). Of course, I would love to also pray for a short, uneventful, smooth, natural delivery; so if you feel so inclined, you can toss that one up there, too! :)

We love each and every one of you so much and cannot wait to introduce our new addition to you soon!

Until then, we join you in prayer and thanksgiving of God's mighty blessings in our lives!

Merry Christmas,

LaRae

A broken promise

2011-12-04T22:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, well clearly I broke my 'I promise not to be vacant from here' promise, from the previous posts. I should have known I would get busy (story of my life...can I get an 'amen'??) Anyways, things are going well...today I'm officially 1 week from my due date. Boy, did this day sneak up on us! We have our Christmas tree up and decor is being finalized in the house. We even got Harper her own little pink and green tree to match her nursery :)

Hopefully, we will have a baby in the next week or two, so we can introduce you to our little lady! Until then, I hope you're enjoying the beginning of winter and more importantly, taking time each day to remember the TRUE reason for Christmas; Christ our Savior being born!

Merry Christmas!!

Love,

The Davenport's

EASY Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!

2011-11-08T14:32:00.007-05:00

I have an obsession....it's Pinterest and all things pumpkin :) So, I've decided to combine my loves and make some muffins!

I have seen a few different recipes for pumpkin muffins, homemade pumpkin cream cheese muffins and some streussel muffins, so I've combined all three to make my own!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese filled Muffins (makes 24 muffins)

Muffin:
1 box yellow cake mix (I used 'golden butter')
1 -15 oz. can 100% pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie mix)
1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cream Cheese filling:
1 'brick' of cream cheese (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar

Streussel Topping: (sorry no picture)

½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees--Combine cake mix, pumpkin and pie spice in a bowl until well blended, using a hand or stand mixer.
2. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar using a hand or stand mixer, set aside.
3. Combine all ingredient for topping and put into the refrigerator to get cold.
4. Line muffin tin with liners or spray with baking spray.
5. Put about 2-3 tbsp of muffin mix in each cup, not very much is needed!
6. Put a dollop of cream cheese filling on top of the pumpkin muffin mix (press into the mix, so it's not too high above the liner)
7. Sprinkle streussel topping over each muffin
8. Make at 350 degrees for about 20-25 mins or until streussel is light brown.
9. ENJOY!!

YUMMO!!

Thanksgiving Countdown!

2011-11-01T14:59:00.006-04:00

As you've probably gathered from my previous post, I adore Thanksgiving and Christmas.....basically the season of fall until New Year's day is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love seeing family, the decorating, the Halloween fun and craziness, FOOTBALL season, then the two best holidays ever---Thanksgiving and Christmas! But, to boot, this year, we are adding our little girl to our family in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is going to add ANOTHER fabulous holiday, for years to come!! But, I'm getting ahead of myself... since this year we will be celebrating the holidays from the comfort of our own home (I'll be about a week and a half from my due date come Thanksgiving day and the Doc says staying home is best....I'm secretly very happy!! I've ALWAYS wanted to have Thanksgiving at my house!) We will desperately miss our extended family and friends, but we are happy to open our home to some college kids and families who are, also, unable to go home for the holidays! PLUS, my parents and Cody's parents are coming in town to celebrate with us, too!!! AHHHH I'M SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM!!!....oh wait, i just did :)

Wow, I'm wordy today! Well, enough blabbing---I'm going to start putting up decor ideas, recipes for Thanksgiving, thoughtful insights, and possibly even do a giveaway for the holidays! WHO KNOWS!?! But, I'm promising to not be vacant from here any longer :)

Let's kick off November with a DELICIOUS holiday recipe that I just made and is insanely simple and SOO YUMMY!

picture from Ourbestbites.com --I forgot to take a picture of mine!

Cinnamon Toffee Dip (adapted from ourbestbites.com)

1 8-oz. package cream cheese (you can always use light/fat-free cream cheese)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Toffee bits (1/4 to 1/2 a bag depending on your preference)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg
Optional: chopped roasted pecans/walnuts
*I was making this for our office Halloween party, so I doubled the recipe and it still worked great!

1. Let cream cheese soften a bit, but not too much (about 10 mins on the counter)
2. Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT toffee bits and nuts (if using), with electric mixer and refrigerate
3. Before serving, add toffee bits to dip
4. To finish add a few toffee bits and roasted nuts to the top of the dip.

Serve with granny smith apple slices and homemade cinnamon chips (recipe below)

Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Chips

8'' soft tortilla wraps
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
*cinnamon/sugar ratio can be altered depending on your taste preference

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1. Either cut out pieces of tortilla with holiday cookie cutters or cut into triangles with pizza cutter (I did both and they came out really cute!)
2. Place on a cookie sheet (I used a cooking stone at first and they didn't get crispy...use a regular cookie sheet)
3. Using a pastry brush or really even your finger, brush each cut tortilla piece with melted butter
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture

Bake 10-12 minutes (check them at 9 minutes to see if they are browning) If you only have a baking stone, keep them in about 15 minutes to get them crispy.

They are DELICIOUS and go great with the dip or by themselves! Hope you all enjoy!

Happy Fall,
LaRae

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T14:55:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween from our growing family to your lovely family! We hope you each had a fun and safe holiday filled with lots of yummy goodies! Now, on to the best holidays ever...Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! WOOHOO!!

It's Fall Y'all!

2011-10-07T16:03:00.004-04:00

I absolutely LOVE the season of fall :) There is something about the weather, college football, pumpkins, apples and cinnamon that makes me so happy! This fall is particularly exciting because it marked a few days closer to us getting to meet little Miss Harper Gray Davenport :)

Life has been so busy, I haven't even really had time to take pictures or upload any of the very few I have been able to take! But, I do have one special picture I want to share! We had an appointment today and the doctor's office let us get a 3rd trimester ultrasound and we FINALLY got a good picture of her cute little face. Cody is determined that she has my little upturned nose (poor girl!!) But, I'm hoping she gets his fabulously gorgeous and pouty lips! So, without further ado, here's our little gal....

Wait on the Lord...it's worth it!

2011-08-08T16:06:00.010-04:00

As many know, Cody and I's relationship would have been considered 'tumultuous'. It may have been compared to a roller coaster or something similar, a time or two. All this craziness, made me depend on Jesus, like WHOA, for my trust and day-to-day sanity!

One of the verses that meant so much to me, during this time, was Psalm 130:5.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in HIS word I put my trust!"

Talk about scripture being honey to a dry and weary soul, this one did the trick every single time! Granted, I strayed from this verse and tried to take things into my own timing (I can hear faint "AMENS" from our group of friends, scattered all across the world!) But, ultimately, my heavenly Father always reminded me that His timing is perfect and best for my life.

This year, I didn't write an anniversary post. I'm not sure why and it absolutely wasn't due to lack of gratitude or love for my hubby. I think so much was going on with being pregnant and our trip to California that it just kind of got put to the side. Well, I think now is the time! I'm sure Cody is going to be embarassed by some of the details I'm going to unveil but, I just hope he sees it at 'me, being me' and striving to be authentic and real with everyone.

I just wrote on Twitter about how grateful I am for a husband who isn't perfect, but who was perfectly made for me. Our anniversary, this year, was the best example of that! This year we had just returned from a fabulous trip to California and our anniversary was the following week. I had big plans of going to a nice, fancy restaurant and eating like VACATION KINGS, one last time, before returning to our ordinary life and recipes. I made the reservation and told Cody to be ready at such and such time! For whatever reason, I felt like I really wanted to plan our anniversary night, since he is always in charge of date nights and romantic stuff! So, I picked a STEAK HOUSE (yes, men, I am a good wife) haha, just wait, it gets better!

Well, 5:00pm was just about to roll around and for whatever reason I checked our online banking account to see where we were financially....boy am I glad I did that! Our account was hit by some unforeseen charges and our account was low, like "you're kidding yourself if you're going to a nice restaurant and not washing dishes afterward" kind of low! So, I had to go home and break the news to Cody. I was so sad and mad all at once! I mainly do the finances, so I felt completely responsible for ruining our anniversary dinner!!

I walked inside the house and told him I had bad news, we aren't able to go to a nice fancy dinner tonight. I explained the situation and without skipping a beat, he said it was ok and we just got back from a fantastic vacation, so don't worry about it. (that's not verbatim, but it was something like that). After talking some more, we headed to the pantry and fridge to figure out how to make a delicious dinner from a post-vacation fridge and pantry! I must say, I'm quite impressed with our skills....actually, Cody's skills. He seriously made us the most delicious and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had in my entire life! Seriously, I wish I could remember the non-sense that was put in that thing, because at 23 weeks pregnant, I want to replicate it!

But, seriously, that night was perfect. We stayed in, ate stuff from home and just hung out! I honestly can't remember all the details of that night, but I specifically remember us talking about how, of course, we were 'bummed we couldn't go to a nice, fancy dinner; but tonight was so fun and perfect.' We laughed, were goofy, and just enjoyed being together...I'm sure at some point during the evening we gazed romantically into each other's eyes and cartoon hearts formed above our heads :).

You know, sometimes in life things don't turn out the way you anticipate...HECK, when do things EVER turn out the way we anticipate?? But, most of the time, if we wait on the Lord, they turn out pretty incredible....not necessarily in the way we think, but in a way that is so much better. Even now, a few months later, we haven't gone to the fancy steak house, but I don't think a great steak could replace the perfect evening we had...ok, maybe Cody would disagree with that!

To my honey:
You are incredible. Each and every day I'm grateful for the path God has given us and the sweet story He allowed us to have of His grace and faithfulness. I pray that each day I can be a joy and honor to you, as you are to me. Thank you for loving me and all my flaws :)

Blessed to be your wife,
LaRae Davenport

Gratitude

2011-08-08T14:06:00.004-04:00

In the past year, I have tried to be grateful....but, I fail miserably. But, on those days/hours/minutes/MOMENTS where I am successful, I've noticed that the Lord blesses that obedience. Honestly, if I wanted to dwell, there is plenty to complain about in life. But, if I check my perspective and realize the true blessings in my life, they out weigh the 'negatives' every single time!

Cody and I don't live an extravagant life, we are comfortable and far from poverty. But, I would find myself always finding what I was 'without'. Often times, I would complain or just have a nasty attitude towards Cody, but I realized that I needed to start taking my complaints to the Lord, first and foremost! In all reality, He is the one to change my circumstance, if that is what really needs to be corrected. Then again, it's usually my attitude that needs an 'adjustment' and He is the one to do that, as well :)

I've started to turn my 'complaining' into prayers--and honestly, my complaining has decreased significantly! It's something about talking to the Creator of the universe about how 'bad your life is' that seems to put things into perspective, huh?

Hope this helps you today, like it has me :)

It's a.....GIRL!

2011-07-19T16:26:00.007-04:00

This past Friday, we had a little get together with some family and friends to reveal the gender of our first little tot!

We had such a great time and are truly grateful for everyone who came to celebrate with us and rejoice in God's workmanship! In true 'gender reveal fashion' we had everyone wear pink or blue to signify their 'vote' of what the gender would be!

Team BLUE!

Team PINK!

After we had everyone enjoy some food and festivities, we headed outside to have the big REVEAL! Since Cody and I found out earlier in the day, we took the color balloons of the gender and put them in a box--we wrapped the box and then opened it and all the balloons floated up! It was quite fun!!

We are so excited and really shocked at the news of a baby girl, but we are gradually getting our head's around it! :) We are still thinking of names, so I'll let you know when we have settled on one for sure!

Thanks for all the love and well wishes, we are so grateful for those! Please be praying for us as we continue to prepare for parenthood, labor & delivery and being the parents to a little girl!

Love & Blessings,
Cody, LaRae & little baby GIRL Davenport :)

Recent Happenings

2011-07-12T13:17:00.006-04:00

This Friday is our appointment to find out the gender of our little dino. We're so excited, but I just hope the little tyke cooperates and isn't shy with showing us the goods, haha!

We will be SURE to let EVERYONE know when we find out :)

As far as names, we haven't settled on anything for certain, but here are some that we love!

BOYS:
Boston Cole
Hollis
Boone (but for a middle name)

GIRLS:
Harper Gray
Hollis
Abigail
Henley
Madeline

After Friday, I guess we will have to get cracking on this name stuff :)

On a non-baby note: I'm heading down to FL at the end of July (for a baby shower, haha), so prayers for safe travel are MUCH appreciated....and the intense heat down there...definitely not looking forward to that!! Also, Cody is going to start recording his album at the end of July, too, so we're very excited about beginning this new venture! Also, please pray for him and those involve, that they will make it a collaboration that's glorifying to the Lord and ultimately reflects His goodness and grace! Plus, pray for Cody choosing songs and songwriting; he's wanting to include some familiar worship songs, as well as some originals, too!

Well, that about wraps it up here! Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying the gorgeous summer!!

Blessings,
LaRae

A cool God story

2011-06-27T15:56:00.003-04:00

Before I became pregnant, Cody and I had discussed the possibility of having children and what that would look like in various circumstances: socially, relationally, physically and financially. Honestly, all of the other areas I was perfectly fine with the changes and had really thought about the changes. The aspect I was most 'concerned' with was financially.

So, when I did become pregnant some realities were about to start taking place! We had both discussed and desired for me to quit my job and prayed that the Lord would honor that request, but never really knew!

So, I had started crunching the numbers and began a hypothetical budget with just Cody's income... It didn't look good! We had a deficit that we had to have in order to pay our bills. It was small, but still a deficit! So, I began to pray and just give it over to the Lord. I knew He would either change something, provide in another way or simply change our hearts for me to return to work.

Going back a few months, I wrote about Cody's ordination, here. It was an awesome day that I feel God smiled on. To tie it all together, when someone is ordained they are able to claim 'clergy' status on our taxes and it changes a few things about our taxes (honestly I have no clue about the ins and outs). But, I finally got around to updating our taxes (right around the time I began praying for God to show us direction with this budget/one income stuff). Well, a few weeks went by and we didn't really talk about it anymore. But, around the end of May Cody said he got an email where his paycheck amount would change a certain amount starting the next pay period. The amount it would increase was nearly the EXACT number that we needed to have to survive on one income.

It was such a cool feeling! God had provided and had confirmed this decision we felt was from Him. To be super honest, when the discussion about going to one income began, The Lord was really working in my heart about materialism and how tightly I hold our finances. Aside from tithing, this was the largest decision (about finances) I had really just let go and let God take over. Who knows what the future will hold, but it's amazing to know that the Father has His hands wrapped all around us! So grateful to serve a might God!

Life in our House!

2011-06-01T14:40:00.007-04:00

Well, it's been quite a while--life has taken some incredible and crazy turns, we've been so busy with the end of the semester and our College kids graduating and going on to the 'real world' and then there's the big news :)

If you read this blog, you probably already know, but Cody and I are going to be parents (pause for screams of the possible 1 person who doesn't know). Yup, it's true. Our little one is scheduled to make its appearance December 11, 2011 (12.11.11) that shouldn't be too hard to remember :)

But, more than just incubating a human, life has been so busy for us! We have been traveling to see family and friends, working our tails off towards the end of the semester and just plain BUSY!

One incredible thing that has been occurring in our home since last Thanksgiving is weight loss! Cody and I both have been really working on getting in shape and losing weight. We both packed on some pounds in college and the first few years of marriage and we knew we wanted to be healthier, especially if the Lord ever blessed us with a child. We really started back in August of 2010, but really got his tail in gear this past Thanksgiving. Pregnancy aside we both have been able to lose lots of weight--25 lbs for me and 100 lbs (and still counting) for Cody. Here's a picture from Easter.

Since then, I've gained about 7 of those lbs back with the pregnancy, but I'm still so happy that I got down 25 lbs before I actually had a reason to gain some back :)

Anyways, on to the next.... as many of you probably know, aside from the Worship Pastor, Cody is also the College Pastor at Northstar. We have had an incredible time getting to know so many amazing college students. We are surely going to miss those who just graduated, but excited that some are sticking around or coming back in the fall for jobs! A much belated, but still hearty CONGRATS to:

Emily Reed Love
Josh Wilson
Emily Bailey

We love you each so much and are so excited for God's plan for your future :)

Well, I guess on to the elephant....errr...baby, in the room....I'm pregnant! Yup, for whatever reason, God saw it fit to let Cody and I bring life into this world. Sometimes I'm still wondering if He made the right decision! But, nonetheless, we're on this train that doesn't stop until December and we're striving to enjoy every minute of it (minus the nausea, food aversions and exhaustion). I must give a shout out to my hubby--he's been seriously incredible. It's been so cool to see God begin to shape his heart and mold his character into becoming a father. He has always had such a loving, thoughtful and tender heart, but this new chapter has brought on new and incredible dimensions to our relationship. We (mostly me) are still adjusting to the idea of being a parent--so surreal! I am officially 12 weeks and 4 days...each Sunday is my 'week renewal'. So, starting Sunday I'll officially be in my 2nd trimester! Just in time for our vacation to California!!

Well, that about wraps it up--hope everyone is doing incredible and starting to enjoy the heat--oh boy, I know I am!!

Grateful,

LaRae

What's cookin' lately...

2011-03-29T15:16:00.004-04:00

These are lemon cupcakes with fresh (organic) raspberry icing! I started selling them with my at-home bakery "Bloom {a cupcakery}"!

Hope this makes you anticipate the spring!

Seasons

2011-03-23T10:20:00.006-04:00

This past week, there's been a very obvious transition from Winter to Spring (thankfully the weather cooperated with the First Day of Spring memo)! It's been so encouraging to see the changes! Aside from the typical exchange in shoe attire (HELLO, FLIP FLOPS! You have been so dearly missed!) a deeper change is occuring. I've been so aware of seasons within our lives as humans; single, married, children, empty-nesters, etc. The season we are in can be described in a few different ways, but most prominently we are labeled "Quasi-young married with no kids" (we're closer to thirty, now, so I felt obligated to write quasi-young).

I must admit, I'm so grateful for this stage. The past two years and nine months (we're 3 months away from 3 years, PEOPLE!) have taught me so much about myself and about my Lord, Jesus Christ. I have finally come to terms with the fact that I'm selfish and not as amazing of a spouse and I thought I was. I have flaws, way too many that I want to admit, and I have deep sins in my life that I never wanted to 'fess up' to. I have finally come to terms with God's plan being so much better and sweeter than I could ever imagine one of my own and I've finally begun to learn what true, deep forgiveness and grace looks like.

But, one of my absolute favorite parts of this season has been realizing that Jesus truly is my best friend and ever faithful Father. It seems so obvious and I knew it was true before, but really relishing in it and LIVING it is something completely different. I've begun to learn to worship and love on Christ, even when I don't feel like it or even when I have a million thoughts going on in my head. Laying those at His feet, KNOWING and being so utterly confident that He has them under control has given me a peace that truly passes all understanding. Seeing verses come to life within your life is astounding and amazing.

Another incredible season that I'm stuck smack in the middle of, is learning to be loved. I think once you begin to creep out of the 'honeymoon' stage of marriage, you begin to really see that this person loves you and even LIKES you for who you are. You don't have to be perfect or sweet (well, it's usually appreciated to be those things), but you can truly be yourself, in your good and bad. It really has been amazing how many times I think, "Wow, I would not be surprised if Cody threw in the towel today and did not want to be married to this monster!" His love for me has been a wonderful example of Christ's love for His bride, the Church. I am beyond grateful for his grace and love, his never ending apologies and even apologies when I should be giving them! He still has not stopped pursuing me and 'dating' me, even three years in!

Even when life is hard and even when times are tough, I am reminded that Jesus is faithful and He loves us with every ounce of His being.....He DIED for me; a concept I still have a hard time wrapping my head around, but something I'm ever so grateful for each day.

So, I guess my question for you is, what season does God have you in? How are you seeing Him work in that season and using you for His glory?

Hope y'all have a great day and enjoy some sunshine :)

In Him,
LaRae

A Chocolate Souffle Miracle

2011-02-18T09:48:00.011-05:00

In continuation of my '27 before 27' (I may consider modifying the name, since I'm nearly half-way to 28, now! But, I wrote down some goals and started crossing them off my list...which brings me to #3 (Bake a Souffle!)

Last night I tackled #3 like a WWF wrestler and I won! #3, see ya lata!

And now the photo commentary....

I added 2 tbsp. granulated sugar with 1 tbsp. dutch process, cocoa powder and 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour...whisk that together...

It should look like this....

Now, add the cocoa mixture to 3 tbsp of low-fat chocolate milk over medium heat.... constantly stir until smooth (about 2ish minutes)

While your chocolate mixture cools (about 5 or so minutes) take the egg white of one large egg and start whisking......and keep whisking......whisk some more.....now add (gradually) a tbsp. of granulated sugar...continue the whisking......and a bit more whisking......

Until soft peaks start to form...like this....

Now, your chocolate mixture should be a bit cooler, now gradually fold in the chocolate to the egg whites. Then fill your greased ramekins half way and put in your 350 degree, pre-heated oven for 15 mins. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN, or they will fall!

TA-DA!!

Humbly Surprised

2011-02-09T08:32:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, family and friends joined us in Blacksburg, as Cody was ordained into ministry. I'm sure some of you may be thinking, "what is that?" and to be honest, that thought crossed my mind a time or two. But, as the weeks led up to the service, I began to understand what it truly meant. To be ordained literally means to 'set apart', it's very similar to sanctification. Another aspect I thought was interesting is that it wasn't just contrived by the modern day church as some self-glorifying act. It originated in scripture, as I Timothy 4 depicts, the elders "laying hands on Timothy".

I've never seen or even been a part of an ordination service, never mind being the center of one! So, this past weekend was quite a humbling surprise. Never in my life have I had the opportunity of having hundreds of people join together and pray over me and my husband, our marriage, our ministry and glorifying God for our presence in their lives. I don't say this to brag or to even bring attention to ourselves, but I say it to bring attention to our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the days before the ordination, my time with the Lord had an overwhelming theme of grace and sacrifice. I didn't think much of it since, well, it was a devotional and that's kinda the point! But, on Sunday morning, as our church body, family and friends gathered around us and began to pray. I couldn't help but be reminded of God's grace for our lives. I was reminded of a girl who had no clue in high school, a girl who haphazardly chose University of Miami to attend and floundered. A girl who really never lived an abundant life and made so many horrible mistakes. But, a girl who then found the only real answer in life and surrendered with reckless abandon.

The feeling of gratitude cannot be explained unless you've been saved by Christ and realized your desperate need for His grace and salvation in your life. This feeling beats any high, any buzz and any adrenaline rush you'll ever know....sadly, I know! It's like your heart is so full of peace and joy and contentment that in that very moment it might just burst and you'd be 100% ok with that!

One other aspect of this weekend that really struck me was this past Saturday. Unbeknownest to me, Cody had to go through this 'interview' process and basically be asked any and all questions about his faith, theology and doctrine. I'll be honest, I was a bit frightened for him! THEN, he drops the bomb on me that "oh, and by the way, they asked that you come in for part of it, too." By the end of that sentence I think sweat beads had already started forming! I felt like I needed to get ready for the lion's den or something! Well, Saturday came and my mom's (my mom and mother.in.law) took me shopping...I was so grateful...I needed something to take my mind off the constant wondering of questions they were going to be asking! I would be lying if I said I hadn't looked up a few scriptures that morning! haha But, to my (happy) surprise, the interview ended up being a praise session for God! I think the most difficult question was "Should Northstar ordain Cody and why?" haha! just kidding! But, it was so incredible to see how God has used us in other people's lives. It honestly hasn't been ANY of our doing, He just chose to use a broken couple, trying to figure out this life together (which we wickedly fail at daily) and occasionally He has to kick us in the tail to motivate us.

This past weekend was truly a once and a lifetime experience, I mean a boy can only get ordained once! Aside from our wedding week/day, this has been one of those weekends where it was just perfect and I'll never forget it! My parents, his parents and grandparents came into town, friends who love and have been a part of our lives came to celebrate God's glory and be there with us, not to mention the weather was gorgeous {thanks God for that special touch ;) }

Words truly can not express how grateful I am for those who drove hours upon hours to be there just for a few hours, for my parents who flew in just for 3 days and for everyone at Northstar who chose to be a part of the ordination service. My heart is so grateful and glad that I have been chosen to live this life with you and seek after the Lord together!

Humbly,
LaRae

Picture Update :)

2011-01-21T16:27:00.008-05:00

We landed in Florida and headed south to see Ashley!

We had professional pictures taken for Mom & Dad...here are some behind the scenes pictures

Outside of McGregor (my home church) on Christmas Eve

The whole fam together for the Christmas Even candlelight service

Mom & her best friend, Debbie at the annual Christmas Eve party!

Christmas morning stockings!

Representing THE Ohio State

Christmas morning is never complete without orange rolls!

Spending time at the Millage's

Ash came to visit again!

New Year's Eve--we had a delicious dinner at Shula's!

A little inspiration

2011-01-10T14:20:00.005-05:00

Ever have one of those days where you have no idea what to make for dinner?? Or you you're just stuck in a 'chicken and asparagus for dinner' rut!? Well, you're in luck! This website, tastespotting, is amazing! I've been using it for a few years now and it never ceases to amaze me.

It has so many delicious and fabulous recipes, some I could only barely attempt at making! But, nonetheless, there are some easier ones, as well! All in all, if you need some inspiration or just want to make your mouth water ....click away!

Tastespotting: A Visual Potluck!

Happy virtual eating (and drooling),

LaRae

psst: How are we liking the new layout and design of the blog? I added a few tabs at the top and hopefully will be updating them with some new house pictures!

Happy New Year

2011-01-07T10:07:00.003-05:00

This is going to be a boring post...I'm just warning you. I have no pictures and basically this is just an update, so here she goes! BUT, there's good news...pictures ARE coming and will be ready in a few days :) Don't you just love good news!?

Well, it's been QUITE busy at the davenport domicile, so I haven't had a second to even let everyone know what's going on! We headed south for Christmas this year (I was so over the snow!) We went to Florida to spend time with my family (we had a blast!) Then, we came home to Virginia (sadly) and Cody headed south, once again, to go to the Sugar Bowl with Jeff and Jeff's son, Sam. (MANY pictures and stories to come on that!)

Well, that's about it--I promise pictures, soon!! Let's be honest, no one wants to read how we're doing...they want to see it...they want us to show them the goods! So, I promise, I'll deliver....soon ;)

Until then,

LaRae

The First Christmas present(s)...a la Polar Express

2010-12-14T15:20:00.035-05:00

Since Cody and I are flying to FL this Christmas, we had Christmas a bit early with just the two of us (oh how I love these times!)

We had a nice Christmas dinner (I even busted out the china and crystal!) and then we took some pictures and started opening presents! It was a perfect evening...here's a few moments from the night.

I wrapped his iPad in the huge box that our kitchen trashcan came in....the whole week he kept saying that I bought him a tricycle because the box was so huge!

a trashcan?? he was quite confused at this point...

What!?

Best progression of pictures ever!!

haha

A UM hoodie I really wanted! Cody said "Of course I'm going to buy you a hoodie!!"....Carolyn and Jeff Noble will appreciate that comment :)

stockings :)

He was so happy!

my mac man :)

We had such an awesome Christmas together--can't wait to spend it with our families! Hope each one of you have an amazing and joy-filled Christmas. Remembering the true and sole reason we celebrate. The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the most incredible blessing and gift that Cody and I could have ever asked for. We pray you have His gift of grace, love, peace and joy in your life today! We love you!

In Christ's Love,
Cody & LaRae Davenport

November Fun

2010-12-14T09:32:00.013-05:00

Well, it's been a while! I'd say the majority of November was consumed with me being sick...no fun!

But, in the meantime of being sick, we did do A LOT!

First up, we traded in the Jeep and bought a new car for Cody. We're pumped to be getting better gas mileage :)

Next, we headed North to Ohio for Chad and Heidi Elser's wedding! We had a great time with Cody's family and seeing the newlyweds! Cody, also, got to sing at their wedding...he did AMAZING (as always!)

Then, a few weeks later, we headed BACK to Ohio for Thanksgiving! We had a great time with Cody's family and it was such a relaxing trip!

We went to the good ole' Wooster Movie Theatre :)

One day we headed up to Cleveland to the Market--this place was amazing!!

Then, we headed to the Great Lakes Brewery for lunch---oh.my.gosh. DELICIOUS!!

Robin likes my 'stance', so I was teaching her how to do it!

The next day all of Cody's family came to his parents house and we had a great dinner! Afterward, we all got a family portrait...that was a doosey!

Hopefully everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving....can't wait for Christmas in FLORIDA!!!

Free Christmas Cards!!

2010-11-18T15:33:00.004-05:00

Hey Bloggers!!

This is a great opportunity to get some free Christmas/Holiday Cards from Shutterfly!

Shutterfly has some incredible products for Christmas and I can't wait to order our Christmas cards this year! :)

Click here for more info about shutterfly's holiday card collection and happy shopping!!

Here are some of my favorites...maybe you'll see one in your mailbox soon :)

Mom's Story...she's a serious champ!

2010-11-18T12:22:00.008-05:00

Well, I promised I'd write about mom's story so here it goes...(it's going to be lengthy!)

Well, first off, let me just say that mom doesn't like to write! So, when she had committed to give her testimony during the month of November at their Sunday School class monthly fellowship dinner, all the way back in May, she started thinking of what to write around that time! Fast forward to last weekend. Cody and I had a quick trip (less than 48 hours!) to Ohio for a wedding and I was just getting over bronchitis.

Mom and I had talked about her testimony earlier that week and I was so excited with her story and how she was sharing it! Well, we tried to connect on a few occasions during Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but with both of our schedules, it was hard to get to talk. But, email was our best friend and we talked more and more via the web. She emailed me a final copy and it was amazing! It was so cool to read my parents story and see how God had, had such an evident hand in their lives and the working of our little family. But, it seemed that Satan was really attacking my mom. She was just going through a hard time and it was pretty evident that it was major spiritual warfare!

Ok, so last Saturday, mom and dad were having dinner with friends and had a great evening. Simultaneously, Cody and I were driving back to Virginia from Ohio after Cody sang at the wedding reception (side note: Congrats Chad & Heidi!!) Mom wanted us to text her when we got in, so around 12:30 I sent her a text that we were home. Around 1:15 she woke up and saw the text, but she also had a horrible stomach ache! She thought it was probably food poisoning or something like that. She tried to go back to sleep, but was in and out of a deep sleep. I woke up around 6am and called her to talk about her testimony. She mentioned she wasn't feeling well, but she thought it was something she ate last night, but strangely dad was feeling fine and they had the same thing to eat! We kinda blew it off and got to work on the final details of her testimony. (Side note: her Sunday School class dinners are at a family's house and this month, it was at my parents!)

Her and I talked more about her testimony and the poor thing kept saying how bad her stomach hurt! I said it might be spiritual warfare and it would probably go away after she spoke, or maybe it's nerves! She wasn't sure, but thought it'd go away as the day went on. Her and dad went to Sunday School that morning and the pain got worse. She went home afterward and laid down. She had some crackers and ginger ale, but that' didn't help too much. Since everyone was coming over she also had some cooking and cleaning to do, so she was busy do that, as well. This stomach ache was not going to get in the way of Traci Lee! :)

Well, dinner was at 6:00 and she said she'd be speaking around 7:30, I called her around 5:45 and she sounded horrible! She said "the pain had gotten worse, but [she] was determined to give her testimony!" My mom is seriously a champ! I got off the phone and started praying for her. praying that God would either heal her completely or take away the pain just for the few minutes she was speaking. At 7:30, she gave her testimony and she had no pain. She said she was calm and not nervous at all!

Well, after that, she went in her room and laid down. The pain was back and with a vengeance! Around this time, everyone was leaving and I was texting her symptoms of either appendicitis or kidney stones (that's what we'd narrowed it down to!) Thankfully, God placed friends in my families lives that are doctors (gastronurologit, to be exact) and she got in touch with him. Dr. Bays told my mom to go straight to the ER and he would meet them there. She met Dr. Bays and the Nash's (friends of my parents) at the hospital and they immediately took her back to get an MRI and ultrasound. They said it was for sure her appendix and they would need to do surgery immediately. Unfortunately, the surgeon on call was in a nearby town (Cape Coral) doing surgery, so they didn't have a surgeon available. Dr. Bays called a friend, Dr. Kowalski (just happens to be the top surgeon in the area) and he said he'll be there in 15 mins!

The rest of the story is from an email my mom sent out....

"First of all thank you for all the help, it was so much appreciated. At the time I didn't know how serious I was but I was not going to miss a party for those of you that know me.
I wanted to tell you how amazing my hospital stay has been. First of all up till now I've not ever had surgery. So I can now join that club.
From the moment we arrived at the hospital the Lord has orchestrated the whole thing. We had friends that insisted on being here when we arrived. How sweet, it sure did calm both our nerves. They also called a Dr friend to oversee everything. So that Dr came to the hospital as well. Within a few hours they had determined that my appendix needed to be removed and soon. So the surgeon on call was at Cape Coral hospital with a very complicated matter and our Dr friend that was here called an associate of the Dr on call his name is dr kowalski. Dr Kowalski used to be our neighbor a few years ago, he also has treated other family members. Dr kowalski was here at the hospital within 15 mins. He began setting everything up. The ER staff were very compassionate people. As I arrived in waiting area of surgery the nurse there had told mitchell she attended Mcgregor and had been for several years. Her granddaughter and our granddaughter go to school together. Well all went well.
I have been placed on the heart floor for lack of space at hospital. The nurses here are amazing. I have been sharing" my story" with everyone. A few nurses have ask me about church. You know we live out our testimony in our everyday life not only at home and work but even in the unexpected moments. Mitchell brought my bible study here, I read this morning in Matthew 5:16. No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed (or desk). Instead, she puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can SEE the light. Because who is the light? (One of my questions in bible study) JESUS. John 8:12 I am the light of the world!
Well hopefully I will go home today.
Love you all,
Traci"

Honored to call her my mom :) Hope you're encouraged, today!

Love ya'll,

LaRae

New Opportunity!!

2010-11-15T13:14:00.010-05:00

Well, you may already know, but I have joined the Thirty-One organization! For those of you who do not know what Thirty-One is, let me have the pleasure of explaining!

Thirty-One is a direct sales company (think: Pampered Chef, Scentsy, etc.). They sell a wide variety of items (bags, cards, luggage, etc.) but they are specifically known for their fabulous purses and bags, with the option to monogram! They are also known for being a Christian company and firmly stand on business principles grounded in the faith.

Their name, thirty-one, is derived from Proverbs 31.

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

¹⁰ ^b]">A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

I'll be honest, I rarely, if ever, fit this mold! But, it's great to work with a company that has this passage of scripture in the fabric of it's foundation.

Well, just thought I'd share the news....and if you ever want anything, don't hesitate to ask!!

Striving to be more like Him,
LaRae

Giveaway--check it out!

2010-11-02T16:33:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! The fabulous Mrs. Devore is having a giveaway on her blog--check it out and enter to win here!!

~LaRae

Stand in Confidence

2010-10-29T08:57:00.001-04:00

This morning I was reading in my devotional about the Truth of scripture. The passage of scripture was 2 Timothy 3:14-17, such a great passage! The author of this story went in to discuss how believers use scripture to tell people about Jesus, but the person there talking with stops them and says "the Bible can't be trusted, it's a book written by men, just like everything else!" And well, typically, this is where the Christian may stop and get embarrassed and secretly begin to question their own faith (I will be the first to admit this!). The author, also, gave a quote he read from his local newspaper. It read, "Believers cite that the Word of God is infallible, but I see no apparent reason to believe that the words written in the Bible by man are any more infallible than the words written in a science journal by man."

I'd have to make 2 comments to this.

1) Show/find me one science journal, nay, ANY book that was written over a span of 1600 years with 66 books written by 40 different authors ( oh and don't forget the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testament) but from start to finish tell one, clearly evident, unified cohesive story? I'm confident there is no other book!

2) He clearly has never read the Bible

Just thought I'd share some confidence with y'all! Go and tell the world about Christ--He's worth it!!

~LaRae

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

2010-10-24T18:51:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone! I hope you're having an incredible fall, so far! I've finally gotten around to making something with pumpkin and I'm so excited to share!

I got this recipe from Jaime at My Baking Addiction; so head on over to check out her site with hundreds of delicious recipes, including this one!

Del-lish!

*I think I'm going to start selling these and many other flavors for the holidays! Let me know if you want some!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

~LaRae

Baby (decor) Fever

2010-10-21T11:08:00.017-04:00

Since I now have to start using my toes to count the number of friends that are 'with child' or have just had a baby (check out these precious new cuties here and here), I thought I'd jump on the baby train....well, the baby DECOR train, that is!

I may or may not take a few minutes out of my workday and peruse the Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids or cute online baby boutiques. But, seriously, who can blame a girl! These nurseries are to die for! So, I thought I'd post a few of my favorites...you know, for those secret pregnant ladies who follow the blog! So, here are a few of my favorites...hopefully this will diminish the baby bug :)

I just love the pink and browns of this, but more than anything the fantastic storage! It eases my mind knowing that everything has a place, so this is the general appeal...plus it's just so stinkin' cute!

I'm not a big fan of the colors (peach hasn't been hot since it made it's debut in the 1980's bridesmaid dress circuit)...BUT, the huge windows and the overall layout is so bright and beautiful!

(Pause for audience gasps)--ok, now let me explain. Yes, the baby girl may go blind from the extreme HOT pink color, but I really love the textured wallpaper and the navy accent color---I think LOTS more navy should've been added, though! Ohh, and that monogram...love!

Remove the stuffed animals and baby books....I'll use this as inspiration for a guest room! I LOVE this brown polka dot chair and the light blue and light chartreuse accent colors...too cute! (p.s. not a fan of the circles on the high walls, though)

This may be a bit too much drama for my taste, but chartreuse and black is such a fabulous color combo!

I kinda hate the pastels, but the artwork above the crib was too cute not to share--ABC,123!

Really love this--though it's a bit bright, I think the chair is my favorite part!

Probably one of my favorites for a boy--the deep tan wall color really makes the other soft colors pop....and I'm a glutton for blue and white stripes...my poor kid has no choice but to be a prepster!

This was just so calming to me! The colors are so complimentary that I just imagined a mommy cozying up on the chair and cuddling her little peanut!

Who doesnt love an aqua crib!? This was so fun!

This was picked for Cody--this nursery has his name ALL over it! For some reason it reminds me of Chuck Taylors...which our kid will surely be rockin'!

This one reminds me of those of those gift shops where there's so much stuff that the second you walk in you're on sensory overload! But, I did like the cute ribbon and painted frame details....just take away a few accessories...Would a solid color be so bad?!

If this picture didn't illicit an 'awww', you have no heart. It's just too precious!

And for my all time favorite---I adore this one! Don't be surprised that you'll see a near replica whenever we have a girl! love it!

Hope you had as much fun as I did--ok now, back to work!!

*All images were found here

Quick weekend getaway!

2010-10-18T13:30:00.016-04:00

This past weekend, I headed south (just a bit) to Boone,NC to visit my parents. Side note, Boone in the fall is truly a small glimpse of heave that God has given us--it's gorgeous! I digress. So, I headed south and had a sweet, relaxing weekend with my parents...but, we sure missed the other Lee gang (my brother, sis.in.law, and their daughter) and my hubby! Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Breakfast at the Grandview Restaurant!
(L-R: Friends of my parents, Kathy's brother and sister in law, my family, Juan and Kathy)

Valle Crucis Festival (aka Apple Butter festival)
*These guys are up at 3am to start making the apple butter

Our guys at the festival (and my dad's crazy hat!)

This artist is paralyzed and paints with a paintbrush between his teeth--it's seriously incredible!

finally getting some roasted corn!

They're so cute :)

Dad and I enjoying football on Saturday

Sunset from our back deck--gorgeous!

Evening walk around the mountain

#11

2010-10-12T09:12:00.008-04:00

Well, you read here, about my 27 before 27...here's my proof of finishing #11

Recent happenings!!

2010-10-07T20:51:00.034-04:00

Hey everyone!! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post!! So much has happened since then, so hopefully I'll be able to give all the updates in this post :)

Well, I made a 27 before 27 list a few weeks ago, you can check it out here. I've made some progress to it in the past few months, you can see that here. But, since then I've made even more progress...including knocking out one of my biggest fears...singing in public, on stage! This one is happening, this Sunday, on my actual birthday....10/10/10....I love that, that's my birthday this year!! It's so fun!!

Ok, so here are the one's I've marked off even since my last update of it!

1. Train for and then run a 5k--I haven't found one that works for my schedule for me to run yet, but I'm still training and getting addicted, I'm loving it!!

7. Read the entire Bible...I've atleast started on this one!!

10. Finish decorating our new house! --This is QUITE gradual, but I'm having fun finding new things!!
11. Sing on stage with Cody...without wanting to throw up from fear!..THIS SUNDAY!! YIKES!!

14. Pray more, TONS more! --This has been an incredible addition!

17. Successfully plant something and actually have something grow from it! --i planted 3 new plants this summer...2 are still alive :)

18. Get Cody recording time to make his demo! I was so happy to knock this off the list--I surprised him when we were in Charleston with 4 days of recording time with a recording studio & producer in Charlotte, NC (kinda a belated anniversary present/super early Christmas present/just because I believe in you present)

25. Lose weight & get in shape! (I'm happy to announce that as of today, I've lost 13 pounds...and counting!)

Ok, so that's about all I have to update the '27 before 27' list--hopefully I'll get some of them marked off by the end of October!!

A few weeks ago, Cody and I headed down to FL to visit my family, as my granddad wasn't doing well, health-wise. So, we made the decision to go visit and see him. Not many pictures were taken during this trip, but one morning my parents and I were up and I took some gorgeous pictures of their backyard sunrise....they live directly on the lake, so it was just gorgeous!

In other news, we had our annual women's retreat last weekend. It was incredible! I really prayed for the Lord to bring 25 women to the retreat and we ended up having 28 women signed up! We had a few that were really sick and a few who had family issues and couldn't make it. BUT, we ended up with 24 ladies at the retreat! :)

All the girls!!

My incredible planning team!

Some of our fun decor

One of our mascots the weekend...Norah!

What women's retreat would be complete without a trip to Bubblecake!

Next up, my 27th birthday!!!

There's always NEXT year...

2010-09-15T13:35:00.023-04:00

Well, I'm sure by now you know...the score was 36-24, Ohio State. BUT, it was an awesome game...and we had so much fun! Honestly, it was one of the best weekends I've had in such a long time! Here's the breakdown...

We got in Thursday night and hung out at the hotel; joking, laughing and trash-talking!

Decorated Hotel Door

Well, Friday morning, we woke up and had our Family Weight-Loss Challenge Weigh-In!! A little backstory...the 6 of us (us, cody's parents, my parents) all started this weight loss challenge back in May...we were supposed to weigh in after Josh & Kelsie's wedding, but that didn't go so well...SOO, we moved it back to September! So, the day was finally upon us...the big weigh-in!

I won't divulge the exact weights, but we didn't win....nor did we lose!

1. Cody's Parents (lost 16%)
2. Us (5.27%)
3. My Parents (5.22%)

I was quite proud and excited...at least we didn't get last! hahah (sorry Mom and Dad) So, to spur us on, we have renewed the bet and we'll be weighing in again the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. We're headed to Ohio this year for turkey day, so we'll skype my parents in for the weigh-in!

Ok, enough about that...later Friday morning we headed out to do some shopping (pictures below) We headed to Polaris and Easton---it was so fun to finally have good shopping! We had such a great time...it was fun to just hang out with my mom and get some new goodies :)

The 6 of us at lunch

My mom is so cute!

Mark & Me

My silly husband!

Enjoying the shopping experience :)

After Friday's entire day of shopping, we had dinner at McCormick & Schmick's (delish!!) and headed home to relax! Saturday morning, we headed over to a friend's house, Isaac Alwine, and had a little tailgate!

My cutie pie mother in law

Gameday tailgate!

Ready for the excitement!

In front of the "shoe"!

Hilarious sign we saw in the tailgate parking lot

The Horseshoe

Coach Jim Tressel leading in the Ohio State football players

Old man doing the O-H-I-O

Dotting of the i

Gametime---we had awesome seats!

Final score :(

Sunday morning we headed to Cody's brother's church, Covenant. Cody lead worship that morning and it was such an incredible service! It was fun to see God working through Travis and how their church is growing!

Then lunch with the fam and we headed back to Wooster....WAYNE COUNTY FAIR TIME!!

Cody and 'Stel

Noah and his friend, Gavin

The family

Cody and his mama

A lady seriously had a chicken on a leash....

Us :)

Some favorites from the fair!

Fair lemonade is my absolute favorite!

Then the ultimate...Lerch's donuts!!

We had such a great time! I'm so happy we were able to enjoy this with both of our parents...we had such a great time...we're blessed beyond belief! LOVE YOU ALL!!

Can't wait until NEXT YEAR...Ohio State comes to MIAMI!!

~Cody & LaRae

Columbus Bound...aka Revenge is sweet!

2010-09-01T13:40:00.010-04:00

VS.

Well, some may know this, but for the unknowing reader, my husband and I have a little unfinished business. You see, before we even met one another, our fates collided at the Fiesta Bowl. That's right, our two teams University of Miami and Ohio State played one another in the 2002 NCAA National Championship game in Tempe, Arizona. I remember it like it was yesterday (it was my freshman year at UM and I was bleeding orange and green like WHOA!) My family was on vacation in Colorado and we watched the game there (needless to say, I was a tad upset I had to forgo my game tickets for the family vacay...but oh well)....and it was there, in Steamboat, Colorado that I vowed I would never befriend a Buckeye after they stole our Nat'l Championship! Well folks, never say never...cause I married one!

Well, my family has waited a good long while for this day and September 11th will be our day of revenge :)

So, we each bought our tickets (his parents, my parents, Cody and I) and are headed to Columbus for the rematch of our LIVES (enter dramatic music!)

I can't wait--it's only about a week and a half away and we are getting SO excited!! (I'm browsing Miami apparel online as I type haha)

I'll be back with pictures and more importantly, THE SCORE!!

LET'S GO CANES!!!!!

until next time,
LaRae

Our FIRST Vacation and some updates!

2010-08-24T09:30:00.009-04:00

Well, as you may have read here, I can now successfully cross off a few of my goals from my 27 before 27 list!

9. We bought our first painting for our kitchen....it's not from a gallery, but give us some time to become art aficionados! I'll post a picture later!

15. I've probably gotten worse at this one....I have a great explanation, though!!

16. Successfully crossed off the list!!!...enter pictures from Charleston!!

Cody and I have quite a busy summer (see previous post) and we have always used our 'leave time' to either go on family vacations, him singing in weddings, weddings in general, etc. and holidays that we have never really had time with just him and I going away to a new place. So, since we bought a couch for our 2nd anniversary (super romantic), I decided to surprise Cody with a trip to Charleston, SC.

Our fabulous hotel, within walking distance of EVERYTHING!!

Cool, old church

DELICIOUS restaurant-82 Queen

The remains of my Shrimp and Grits (my parents would be so proud of my continuation of our southern heritage!)

Dinner :)

Outside of 82 Queen--he's a goof!

Site-seeing after dinner...some old historical buildings

Then, it was time for the beach :)

And, what trip is ever complete without tracking down the local cupcake shop?!

Delish!

Our last day, we came back to the room to find chocolate covered strawberries and ice cold Perrier from Cody's parents! They knew how special this trip was for us and it was so sweet of them to do that for us! And those strawberries were quite possibly the largest I've seen...ever!! Thanks Mark & Robin aka Mom & Daddy D :)

Our last day was quite eventful....There's a street in Charleston called King Street...let's just say, it was heavenly (Pottery Barn, Boutiques, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, etc.) They even had a Mac store! So, we strolled in and I just leisurely asked if they had any iPhone 4's in stock...the guy WHISPERED, 'we just got a shipment this morning'....apparently, they aren't allowed to say they for sure have them, as to not cause a RIOT!! SO, we made the decision for me to get an iPhone :) It was a glorious surprise!!

After walking around, we ended at The Mellow Mushroom. A place with organic brick oven pizza!! DELICIOUS!!!!

And my new favorite place, EVER....FreshBerry!!

We had an incredible time! Thanks to Jeff for letting Cody off of work, Cody's parents for the sweet treats and Jenna & Josiah for all the pointers of WHERE to go!! :)

Until next time,
The Davenport's!!

The Summer of Weddings!!

2010-08-23T14:44:00.007-04:00

Traffic started congesting and the amount of people in the lines at Target began to grow, as of last Wednesday. (the sure tell of whether kiddies are back!) So, sadly it's the end of the summer.

But, we've had quite a great summer...I guess it could probably be summed up into one word...WEDDINGS!!

Starting in May we traveled near and far ( and through tornadoes) with our last and final wedding this weekend in Lynchburg (Ryan & Miha). It's been such a blast being a part of so many 'special days' for our friends and loved ones! Here's a few pictures from each of the fabulous affairs!

Sarah & Conley

Kristi & Clay

Emily & Nathan

Carissa & Dan

Kelsie & Josh

Tara & Michael

Ryan & Miha (engagement pics)

We love each of these couples so much and have been honored to get to share your wedding day with you!!

A reminder of His promises!

2010-07-29T08:23:00.007-04:00

Last night we had a Womens Retreat Planning meeting. It was a smaller group, as a few of our ladies are out of town or have ahusband's with a drug dependency (just kidding, her husband had minor surgery on Tuesday). Well, we got so much done and really had a great time just talking about our vision and expectations for the event (our theme is from Psalm 34:8...remember that, it'll be important in a few seconds). Towards the end, I expressed that I was scared; scared the event would be a flop and said verbatim "I'm afraid no one will show up!" Most of this fear came because we have to sign a contract with the hotel we are going to be using and contracts just make me nervous. So, Kimberly and Tina reassured me that we can do this and we will have a great turn out. I'll be honest, I sort of believed them (sorry girls, just being honest!) I went upstairs and started talking with Cody, but still had that nagging feeling of...well, of defeat, it seemed like!

So, this morning, I went for a run, made some breakfast and settled down to have some time with the man upstairs. I flipped through my devotional book to today's date, July 29th. The passage of scripture to read was from Psalm 34:1-7...it was on fear. I find it incredible and quite humbling that God had ordained this passage for today! Humbling because God used the very same passage that we're using for our retreat to remind me of His promises and not to fear!

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ²My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. ³Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Now, the feeling is gone and I'm confident the Lord has placed this vision and idea on my heart for His glory...phew, that's a relief! Anyways, if you think about it, please pray for our retreat and that God will show up in major ways, all the kinks will be worked out and ladies will actually attend!! :)

If you want to attend, it'll be on the weekend of October 1st & 2nd (yes, it's a VT away game) and will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Roanoke, VA! The theme is from Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"....yes, there will be great food, fun, and cupcakes! :)

Hope you can come!!

~LaRae

a brass transformation: UPDATE!!

2010-07-21T14:25:00.008-04:00

When we bought our new home it came stocked with brass hardware and accessories. Not hot. One of my favorite beauties was this brass chandelier in the dining room.

I was about 2 seconds away from ripping it down and buying a new one when I came across this little bit of blog o' confidence --Dwellings by Devore. Seriously, this gal can transform ANYTHING! I don't have nearly that much talent, but I saw my ugly duckling brass chandelier as a challenge....maybe I could save a few bucks and use what I have! After reading nearly every page of her blog, I was armed with enough confidence to think I might be able to do this! Mind you, this was my first experience with this type of thing so I made a few mistakes and learned a few lessons!

Step 1. clean chandelier of all nastiness and dust

Step 2. Prime her up--I used KILZ primer and it worked great (just beware, it produces an insane amount of dust/residue that basically gets EVERYWHERE!)

Step 3. After being covered with primer, we made Em this little get up (gloves and old sheet..so happy they are finally coming in hand!)

Step 4. Spray paint the ugly out of her! This isn't that great of a picture, and I still have a few touch up areas, but I'm pretty happy! I used Rustoleum metallic "oil rubbed bronze". I am going to put little black and tan gingham shades on the lights, so that it will look a ton better! I'll give an updated version later...but I was pretty proud of myself!

UPDATE: Here's what it looks like now! (I even got a new picture to hang up and we painted the walls in the kitchen)

close-up!

My mom found these great mini lampshades at Lowe's for $6 each!! (for those who don't know..that's a great deal!)

New picture and new chandelier :)

Lessons Learned
- Even though it's a pain in the tail, move EVERYTHING within a 100 foot radius away from your painting area

- Also, even though it's a pain, it's worth 'de-wiring' and taking down from the ceiling (I was afraid of getting shocked so I left mine up haha)

- Cover every inch of your body with something--especially for the primer stage, it produces a fog of dust like particles!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little experiment and it gave you confidence that if I can do you, you FOR SURE can do it!!

Love ya'll,
LaRae

Update

2010-06-30T09:31:00.010-04:00

Our summer has been quite busy, thus far...but it's been so fun! I'm going to try and give you a 'rough' update of what's been going on lately, so hopefully it doesn't get too lengthy!

Well, first up in Cody's life, the church moved offices and now they are relocated in the Lancaster Home (Historic Home on VT's campus). Everyone is so excited about the new location and how God will use this new opportunity to reach MORE student for Jesus on Virginia Tech's campus. I can't wait to see God move this fall!

Here's a pic of Cody's new office -he's always wanted a glass desk :)

After that, the 2nd wedding of the season occurred. So, me and 2 other girlfriends loaded up in the car and headed to Illinois for Kristi & Clay's wedding! It was quite a trip, but we stopped halfway, in Columbus, and stayed with Matt & Maria (thanks, again, it was a Godsend!)

So, this is where the story gets interesting...if I had to put a label on it...I'd call this section, Tornadoes. So, me and the girls get into Columbus around 6:30pm on Wednesday, and then we all decide to go out to dinner. So, we pack up in the car again and Maria tells us about this new place to eat (story on that later). So, we get lost (of course) and I'm driving in this tiny little town outside of Columbus and I pull into a small gas station to turn around and then these sirens start going off. The girls inform me that, that means there's a tornado near!! Now, I'm from FL, so I have no past experience with tornadoes {give me a hurricane ANYDAY!} So, I'm kind of nervous now (not to mention another girl in the car is kind of freaking out, so that doesn't help!) So, I quickly turn around and furiously scan the horizon looking for tornadoes and anxiously thinking of how I plan to 'out run' it with Danielle's car! We turned on the radio and sure enough a tornado was in our vicinity...so I keep speeding and try to get out of this weather! Well, praise God, no dodging of the tornadoes! We made it to the restaurant and finally got something to eat at around 8pm! It was quite an experience! I'd love to say that was the end of it, but oh no...

Well, after that exciting night, I was ready to get to Illinois (the irony of that is too funny, now!) We get to Illinois and start helping out with all the last minute details. It was a lot of work, but we had such a blast doing it. It was so fun because we all were "bachelorette's" that weekend, because none of our husbands were able to join us. Well, Saturday finally came and the wedding was gorgeous (pictures below).

Then the reception started....and about 2 hours into it, a man gets on the microphone and says "The fire department has just informed us we are in a tornado warning, and one has touched down about 3 miles from here. If everyone could please make their way to this secured hallway, that would be great." Me and Danielle just look at each other and laugh. I honestly thought this was a joke! So, about 100 or so attendees cram into a hallway and just wait. About 15 minutes goes by and they say, "it's made a huge mess of the town next to us and is headed our way! Everyone needs to get into these bathrooms immediately; kids first, then women and men." When they dropped the "kids first" I knew it was serious. I think I was legitimately about to hyperventilate. My hands were shaking and I was thinking "I can't believe I'm going to die like this!" So, me and Danielle and Emily Nichols cram into this bathroom stale (picture below) and wait it out! There are probably like 50 people in this bathroom--it was insane! Some lady even got everyone's attention and starting praying that God would break up the storm. Even right now, as I'm writing this, I'm nervous thinking about it. haha. I just can't believe that happened..TWICE in one week! I was texting & calling Cody, my parents and Em (back home) and asking for their prayers. It TRULY was an answer to prayer that we are alive. The tornado dissipated about half a mile from the church and touched ground right past the church! Needless to say, I was done with the Midwest!!

We packed up that night and left at 5am the next morning! I wanted to see my hubby!! The girls dropped me off in Columbus, where Cody was leading worship for his brother, Travis', FIRST launch service at their new church, Covenant (shameless plug...if you live in the Columbus area, check them out!!! Covenant Church Online)

We had a great time hanging out with Travis, Vanessa, Noah and Estella (cutie pie pictured below). We also had such a fun time double dating with Matt & Maria (so wish I had a picture of that!!) Ness, Stelli and I went shopping and we had a great time just talking and hanging out! This was also the time Vanessa guilted me into training and running a 5k with her and her sister, Hannah!! (see previous post)

Well, then Tuesday morning came and we headed back home!! We had about two weeks with NOTHING TO DO!!! It was so glorious! We celebrated our 2 year anniversary and spent so much time together! Since we bought a house, we thought an appropriate anniversary present to each other would be furniture--haha! So, we bought a sectional for Cody's man cave!

In recent happenings with my job, I've applied for a new one! It's an event planner position within Alumni Relations at VT. I've really started to LOVE event planning, so I thought I'd give applying a shot! I'd honestly LOVE the opportunity, but I know that God is sovereign and He is in control...so I'm ok with whatever happens! I'll keep you posted!

This past weekend we went to wedding #3, Emily Reed and Nathan Love! It was such a precious wedding, with her father, a pastor, giving the message! They are such a dynamic amaznig couple and their wedding was so lovely!

Fuzzy picture, but they have 80's sunglasses on!

Part of the reception--this truly doesn't even give it justice! It was beautiful!

Well, I think that about wraps it up!! We have been pretty swamped, but life is amazingly good and we're so grateful for each day! I'll try to keep you posted a little more regularly :)

Up next: July 4th in Boone and Carissa & Dan's wedding :)

Love y'all,
LaRae

27 before 27

2010-06-29T13:16:00.011-04:00

As some of you may know, I'm turning 27 this year. I'm not sure why this is such a strange/frightening birthday for me! I think it's just the sound of it TWENTY-SEVEN. It echoes in my mind, reminding me of how old I'm getting and how much of life has already passed me. Now, let me get this out of the way, because these comments are inevitable. yes, I realize 27 isn't THAT OLD, and I'm still a youngin', blah, blah, blah! Ok, that's done.

Ok, back to my rant, where was I? Oh right, TWENTY-SEVEN (echo)...It's just so strange. I remember being in high school and wondering what my life would be like at 27...never would have guessed this!! So, I was thinking this morning, since I'm feeling so old and that life is darn near passing me by...it's time to make a list (surprise, surprise)!! So, here is my 27 before 27 list....27 things I want to do before I'm 27 (or maybe the year I'm 27...I have to give myself a buffer! I only have 14 weeks and 5 days to complete it!)

So,here it goes....(in no particular order)

1. Train for and then run a 5k (thanks V for the motivation!)
2. Get a new job (hopefully!)
3. Bake a souffle!
4. Cook something new each week
5. Write more handwritten letters
6. CONQUER budgeting
7. Read the entire Bible (ok, that may be an entire year one)
8. Get a cool, new, professional blog design
9. Buy our 1st painting
10. Finish decorating our new house!
11. Sing on stage with Cody...without wanting to throw up from fear!
12. Go an ENTIRE work day without going on facebook (haha)
13. Write letters to each person I love and tell them why they are so incredible!
14. Pray more, TONS more!
15. Eat less sugar/dessert (funny how 15 contradicts 3)
16. Go on a vacation with just ME & CODY...NO ONE ELSE!
17. Successfully plant something and actually have something grow from it!
18. Get Cody recording time to make his demo!
19. Learn more about international & domestic adoption
20. Have more grace & mercy
21. Go hiking with Cody(I'm writing this with my teeth clenched and rolling my eyes)
22. Refinish SOMETHING/ANYTHING made of wood!
23. Purge my closet and give it all to those in need
24. Send more cards and buy more presents for friends & family!
25. Lose weight & get in shape!
26. Laugh everyday
27. Go to Paris and kiss Cody at the top of the Eiffel tower (Hey! A girl can dream!!)

and one for good luck....

28. Love Jesus with reckless abandon more and more each day!

Now, it's your turn...what is something you want to do before a big birthday or before you die?!?

My fabulous friends!

2010-06-14T18:50:00.010-04:00

Next Monday, Cody and I will celebrate 2 years of marriage. wow, TWO YEARS!! I can’t believe it. So much has happened, it’s crazy! I’m sure you (the reader) are expecting me to elaborate on how much I love Cody and all that gushy stuff….well, I’m not. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m so in love with Cody! Life today is even more sweet and cherished than it was two years ago! But, I’m going to talk about my bridesmaids….all 9 of them :)

If some of you don’t know, Cody and I just bought our first house. Yes, it’s exciting and couldn’t be happier, but with moving/buying a new place comes boxes…LOTS of them. Honestly, in our old place we could barely move around, never mind enjoy our ‘things’ we had stored in the guest room of our 1^st place. Well, now that’s not the case. We have tons of room (so grateful) and TWO guest rooms now (come stay!!) But, as is our fashion, we always have a ‘drop area’. You know what I mean, a place where you just put stuff for “a later time” to rifle through or organize, but in the meantime you shut the door! Yes, well we surely have one of those. It’s our upstairs guest bedroom. This holds everything that encompassed our ‘home office’, Cody’s closet and all things that didn’t find a home in the previous house and subsequently have still not found a home here! Well, the day finally came (today) to UNPACK THIS ROOM!! This afternoon, I started in on the pilgrimage to my perfectly unpacked and clean room mecca! Boy, it was a task…quite the journey! But, I had a blast in the process! (I’ll post pictures later, when there is actually something in the room…it’s empty—praise God – right now!)

Ok, that’s enough backstory…as Cody would so kindly say, “please get to the point!” Well in the midst of this glorious trip, and yes, I say trip, because this was a serious journey down memory lane! Boxes of old pictures, old cards, clothes, etc. (Here comes the point, I promise)…In the midst of all this, I found this!

(For those of you who don’t know, this was a scrapbook my bridesmaids made me and gave me a few nights before my wedding)

I was able to sit and look through it and just appreciate everything that was written and all the fabulous creativity that was put in it! Now, I can’t think of who to start with, so I’ll just go in the order they appear in the book. First up, Bailey!

Bailey Alexandra Smith Hulslander, friends since 6 months of age. I can’t believe we are still friends, today. Even as college and moving has drawn us away from one another, you are considered a best friend of mine. You were so much of my childhood! So many memories I have consist of the fabulous times we had; from Wellington Academy, McDonald’s birthday parties, to playing dress up, gymnastics, to the Three Stooges and Odyssey of the Mind. We’ve been through Sarah Plain and Tall, first kisses and 5^th grade together! And let’s be serious, we were basically sisters…we even had the blonde hair and fair skin to match :) I think of you often and I’m so proud of the woman you are today! No doubt you are as an amazing wife, to Ryan, as you were a friend to me. Love you, Moe! Love, Larry :)

Tara Morgan Propp Morris, friends since I was 5 years old (about 1988). Tara, my goodness….two words, Hartland Street. You were my first friend when we moved to our new home and I can’t believe we are still friends. We had so much fun together…you seriously were my childhood! In every memory I have, we were always having fun and laughing! I’ll never forget the ‘fancy lady dress up tea party’, when Ramsey and I first learned the word prostitute on the bus (hahahaha, thank you public school) your white knee socks, REBELS cheerleading, the Estero Beach Club, the skating rink,, missions trips, concerts with our moms and ski trips!! Your family, was and is, truly my family. You are beautiful, inside and out, and I’m so grateful God gave you and your family to mine. I can’t wait until we’re all old and talking about those silly stories in Oakbrook! I miss you terribly; I wish Indiana wasn’t so far away!! So happy we’re penpals :) Love you, TP! Did we seriously meet Jerry Springer outside of Cracker Barrel?!?!

Emily Jean Millage, friends since 8^th grade. I can’t even write this without tearing up! How to do you say thank you to someone God gave to you as the sister you always wanted? Em, you get me. Plain and simple. You are my biggest cheerleader and you have always been used by the Lord to show me the woman He sees me as and created me to be. Your thoughtfulness is beyond words. Even when you were in Korea, you sent Cody and I a 1 year anniversary present!! I am so honored to call you my best friend. Thank you for the late night AIM chats and phone calls our freshman year of college. God used you to draw me back to Him and that is something that counts for eternity! Even though we get separated, often, we pick up right back where we started! To even start listing our jokes would be trite, this blog would get much longer than it already is! Thank you for accepting me exactly as I am and encouraging me to be me every moment! You are my sister and I love you so much I basically married the male version of you :) Thank you for being you! God’s plan for your life has been and will be amazing and out of control…can’t wait to be there there whole time! Love you, emma. Love, Kazoo (hahahahahahahaha)

Ashley Dawn Cherilla, friends since Junior year of college. Ash, what can I say, you are Cody’s best friend and I knew you were going to be mine, too. Laughter and Tears…those are our two words. Hahaha. whenever we were together we were doing one of those two! My last college roommate and there for all the craziness! I’ll never forget our talks, we could write a flippin’ book!! God used you to keep me close to His heart when life was horrible and to share in the laughter of all the rest! College, concerts, cooking and cranium! …..so much more, I can’t even begin to write it! You are K-fed to my Britney :) Watching Friends until 3am, that one night we had dinner at the bar of Waterstone Pizza, collecting Pashmina scarves, POG, TrueID, South of the Border, going to the club in Roanoke, those hussies decorating OUR Christmas Tree!! It has been a sheer joy to be there for you when you were laughing or crying J 135 Primrose forever. Take care of Florida for me (and Matt Wertz)! Love you, Perscilla Cherilla!

Abigail Michelle Reighard, friends since Senior year of college. The Thanksgiving Flight that changed our lives J With the same middle name and love for designer labels, how could our friendship not bloom! You are truly my soulmate! Your heart is so kind, it inspires me to love others! The cards you wrote me for each day I was in Haiti was more of a Godsend than you will ever know—God used them to keep me going EACH day I was there. You have the most incredible strength I have ever known and yet you never complain. You are my inspiration and my role model. You are more than just beautiful, you are STUNNING and have the incredible heart to match your gorgeous self! 734 and POG. You made our senior year fabulous!! I miss you more each day we are apart! I get giddy just thinking of how God will use you and your story—you are incredible and one of a kind! Thank you for my Ramones shirt and teaching me to love as Christ loves us! “There’s a 30% chance it’s already raining”! LIPS!!!!!! I love you, Regina! Love, Karen

Lindsay Marie Crosby, friends since Senior year of college. Cady, you are so much fun! Every time we were together we were probably getting in trouble and laughing about it! The night I was skanky Britney Spears and you were Slash from Guns-N-Roses, our destiny of friendship began! You are beautiful and probably the only home-schooled person I know who is normal, with the exception of Lindsey Lohan (no offense to home schoolers)! You can always make me laugh and let loose! Thank you for your humor and just letting me be stupid with you! You have an uncanny ability to make any shirt (ugly or cute) look fabulous! I loved our first trip to the monogram and the photo shoot that ensued afterwards!! Nashville is still one of my favorite memories from college! We had too much fun…especially with your sketchy relationship and then Beth thinking I liked him!! Ummm YES, ummm NO! We even looked hot in those gay shirts! You are truly the easiest person to be around and I miss you so much! God has been and still is using you in great ways! Tell Karen Kingsballs, hi for me and Abs! J I love you, Bing!

Jessica Ream Beckles, friends since 2005 (otherwise known as the year Cody and I started dating). Our, now husbands, then boyfriends are best friends, so how could we not be friends?! It seems we are the final ‘better halves’ of 333 Stafford! We have had such a great time being “house moms” to our boys! You and Cedric are Cody and I’s only hope of getting some color in our family tree, so we’re praying your gorgeous daughter will have a thing for our pale red-headed son! J Thank you for being there for everything and keeping us all together (especially our Sunday Family Dinners). It’s been such an incredible joy to see how God has worked in your life and seeing your immense growth! You’re probably the only girl I know who would hop a plane to change her entire wedding to the Bahamas, just for her man. You have incredible strength and determination…not to mention a fabulous ability to make the perfect sweet tea!! Thanks for all the yummy recipes and scrapbooking tips! Love you, Jess!

Danielle Rae McCarthy Ware, friends since my first day at Liberty University! My goodness, we’ve been through it all! You were there the night I came home from my first date with Cody and listened to me cry when we broke up (EACH time!) You are the most compassionate woman I have known and I love you dearly! We have had some insane times together…even as most recent as our tornado scares! Dani, we are such opposites, but God drew us together and we complement one another so well! You and I could, seriously, talk for days! I’ll never forget that first night at Liberty! God used you to reassure me that I was exactly where He wanted me to be, that night! You have challenged me and God has used you to sharpen me, “as iron sharpens iron”. You are my favorite little Italian Mexican! J You know what’s so ironic, that phrase from Forever 21 basically fits everything we’ve gone through “umm, did that seriously just happen?” Tell Alexi I’m sorry for being a horrible influence with his credit card J I think it goes without saying that Liberty would not have been the same without you! We thought we owned that place; we were so crazy! You are such a beauty and I’m grateful God knew to put you in my life J Love you, Dani!

Brooke Maclarion Lee, friends since my brother brought her to meet the family! My sister in law! Brooke, you have been a wonderful addition to our family. God knew exactly who could keep up with my brother! The strength you have is incredible, you are a strong woman! I’m so proud of you and I’m so grateful for your determination in your marriage. You are truly a beautiful example of grace! Thank you for being a part of our special day and always supporting Cody and I! I wish we lived closer! Until then, we’ll have to just enjoy our crazy family vacations (ours might be the only family to go to and actually ENJOY a woolie worm festival) Our family is crazy and I’m glad you can keep up with us J Thank you for giving me a beautiful niece! You’re a great momma! I Love you, Brooke

Girls, with 9 of you, it was hard to get you as wonderful a gift as I wanted to buy each of you! I hope you knew (2 years ago) and still know today how much I love you and cherish your friendship! Thank you for everything! LOVE YOU!!

And p.s. I had the most gorgeous group of ladies stand by me!!

Just to catch up...

2010-06-09T11:01:00.008-04:00

Ok, so to catch you up--the garage sale went pretty great! We sold a ton of things and later that afternoon we took all the rest to goodwill...it felt great to get rid of all that stuff!! Hopefully someone will love the things I loved :)

The same weekend as the garage sale, was the weekend of Memorial Day! Cody and I didn't have any plans, so on Saturday morning (as we sat in front of our house selling our junk), we thought we'd have a Memorial Day BBQ on Monday. We had a great time and just invited a few friends over who hadn't been to the house yet, for dinner.

We, also, purchased a new patio set (see picture below)..it's so cute and has a great big green umbrella :)

Later that week, Cody and I headed out of town. I was heading towards Chicago for a wedding and he was heading to Columbus to help with his brother, Travis', church launch service on Sunday. So, that's 1 wedding down and 5 to go!! I'll write another post about the wedding and that entire weekend...it was CRAZY!!!

Well, until then, have an amazing day!! Love ya!

Garage Sale-in' it Up!!

2010-05-28T11:28:00.004-04:00

Some great aspects of living in an HOA (Home-Owners Association):

1. Someone else cutting your grass and trimming your bushes

2. Immediate snow removal (I would have given my limbs this winter for this sweet amenity!)

3. They pressure wash, stain and clean the outside of your house and porch

and last must surely NOT least.....

4. COMMUNITY GARAGE SALES!!

This weekend, our HOA is having a community garage sale! They have taken out a few ads in local papers and done all the publicity for it--it'll be our first one since moving in, so I'm super excited!! I hope we make tons!! (is that bad??? haha) --one man's trash is another man's....well, I would say trash, but the saying goes....treasure! And if buying my old microwave from college makes another person feel they have found treasure, then by all means I can't take that away from them!!

Anywho, WISH US LUCK!!! I'll let you know how it goes!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY---EAT SOME BBQ!!!

Love ya,

The D's

Summer Favorites

2010-05-25T11:00:00.027-04:00

SUMMER FAVORITES!!

{2 posts in 1 day....I'm sure this is some kind of blogging cardinal sin, but I just had to share}

*Life Beautiful Magazine* -- My friend Megan introduced me to this fabulous magazine! It's basically a Christian Real Simple (which if you have known me for even 30 seconds, you know is my absolute favorite magazine!) I know this may sound mean/bad, but what I'm most impressed with is the relevance, professionalism and 'goodness' of it. Typically most things that are "Christian" made or produced specifically for the "christian bubble" are, well, bad. And I realize it's not always the talent that is behind it, but usually the funding...so it makes sense. BUT, this is not the case! This is a great magazine and I'm loving it!! Only pitfall, it comes out 4 times a year :( -- get a subscription and maybe they will increase to 12!!
{Can typically be found at Wal-Mart or the "spiritual" section of magazines in Barnes and Noble}

*Print Cardigans* - As the heat waves become more and more frequent, I've been scouring my closet for some print cardy's! I have a whole slew of the solid color ones, but I'm realizing...I'd like some prints! I haven't found too many, but I'm loving the one below from Target!

Reminds me of the ocean and a fantastic clambake!

*Event Planning* - It's no secret that the majority of Cody and I's vacations this summer will be dual purposed...it's wedding season and it's on with a vengeance! But, we are loving every second of it and I'm so happy to be helping with some of the planning. In particular, Cody's best friend Josh is getting married this summer to Kelsie! Josh's mom has asked me to help plan the rehearsal dinner. When Linda, Josh's mom, asked me for help, I gave her a resounding YES and my mind started buzzing!! They are having a casual BBQ type of event, but want to make it as cute as can be! She gave me some key words like: mason jars, no electricity and color! SO, needless to say, some creativity will be in store :)

Josh and Kelsie came over for a night and Kelsie and I brainstormed some ideas--here are some pictures we are using for inspiration...I can't wait to show you the finished product, it'll be GORGEOUS!!

--In addition to all the wedding/baby/bridal shower stuff--I'm planning our 2nd annual Women's Ministry Retreat!! We haven't settled on an official date, but this year I put together a team of ladies to help with all the details. Our theme is "Sweet"--- and our verse is Psalm 34:8 "O, Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" It's going to be fun and bright and full of SWEETS AND DESSERTS!! (So, basically heaven on earth for me!) Here are some pictures I've found for decor inspiration!

*Grilling* - This summer I can not wait to utilize our new back patio and have some great friends over for summer food and fun! I recently bought this fun 'grill it' cookbook from Pampered Chef (also, an absolute favorite of mine!) It has so many delicious recipes--I can't wait for Cody and I to try with some friends!! Get yourself a copy here ASAP!

*Decorating* - Oh my goodness, I can not wait for the time to actually get to start decorating more of our house!! Pier One, Crate & Barrel, Ballard Designs and so many other stores have some of the greatest pieces for such fun inspiration, for the summer!! I'm focusing more towards our back patios and our 2nd guest bedroom....any suggestions?

I'm loving this outdoor chair--the orange and brown are still bright enough for the summer, but will flow great into the fall as we pull out the fire pit!

This just looks so cozy for a guest bedroom!

*The Bachelorette* - Yes, yes, I know the groans are happening all across the blogging world, but this one I'm particularly interested in because Ally from last season's Bachelor is now the Bachelorette! And, let's be serious, I think the Bachelorette seasons are SO much more interesting than the "boy" ones! I'll have to warn Cody to make room on the DVR every Monday night :) Plus, she's a doll and a blonde...I have to support :)

"Looking for God" by Nancy Ortberg

2010-05-25T10:31:00.008-04:00

Over the past few months, Carolyn (our pastor's wife) and, I have been reading through this book, Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu & Pronouns. Sadly, our schedules got the best of us and we couldn't finish meeting. But, I had to finish reading this book (sorry Carolyn for going on without you)!! I initially was intrigued with the book for 2 reasons, 1. I loved the name and a book referencing tofu and tattoo's has my immediate attention! 2. Her husband is an incredible author; thus, my hope was some of his writing abilities rubbed off on her via osmosis or something!

This book did not disappoint! It's an incredibly easy read and keeps your attention throughout its entirety. My favorite part is that she has this uncanny ability to make you laugh, cry and motivate the hades out of you (quite literally), all in the same sentence!

The Lord truly used this book to motivate me to do something beyond myself and to stop putting Him in a box, live an ABUNDANT life and stop settling for the status quo in life and with my relationship with Christ. I can't wait to see how God will continually use Nancy's words in my life, but I know it will be perfectly fit for me!

I probably should've known this book would help me "look for God", but in all reality, I felt I had already found him and when I initially started reading, was hoping for a deeper notion than just "looking for God". But, it's incredible how God uses her words to show you Himself in EVERYTHING (tattoos, tofu, and pronouns, to give a few examples!!). I can't wait to buy a few copies and give them away--or to start reading this again!

My only, 'con', if you will, would be to say that the ending wasn't what I expected, but you'll have to read and decide for yourself. But, it's only about 2 pages, so I dealt with it! In the words on the lovely Meg Ryan from You've Got Mail, "Read it, I know you'll love it!"

Time flies...

2010-05-14T15:45:00.007-04:00

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's already May 14th! Where has the time gone?! I guess with buying your first home, packing up the other place and moving and unpacking into another, time gets away from you!

The past few weeks have been so fun (moving, bridal showers, family visiting, work, etc.), and the ones ahead are so exciting, as well! Currently, our refrigerator has 6 wedding invitations on it, yes SIX! I, honestly, am so beyond excited for all of them, this summer is going to be packed with bouquets and tuxes and DJ's!

On a separate note, I honestly am considering having my water flown in from somewhere else--it seems that EVERYONE I know is pregnant, I'm afraid to drink the water!! I can count 15 right now that I know---15!!! HOLY COW! So, I'm sure some baby shower invites will be added to our wedding collection :)

Speaking of weddings, I've begun to pray about the Lord leading me to start my own event planning company! It's been funny how I've prayed and prayed "WHY GOD DO I HAVE A JOB THAT I HATE?! WHY AM I WORKING HERE?!" and it's been so amazing to see His hand throughout it all! My job has gradually morphed into event planning and I think I've found my love! In all humility, I feel it's a gift that God's blessed me with...I should have known when I was the one always having people over and planning stuff with and for my friends in College :) So, it may sound silly, but please be praying that I'm lead by the Lord to the next step. I want this to be about Him and how His name can be extended further...and if I have a job I love in the process, I'd be more than happy :)

Hopefully, in the coming days, I can get a camera working and take some pictures of what's going on in our lives in all the many areas! In the meantime, sit tight and have an amazing weekend!! :)

p.s. MY PARENTS ARE HERE AND I'M SO HAPPY!!!!

Lots of love,
LaRae

Our first home!

2010-05-04T16:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, well I have officially been MIA from the blogging world, but I have a good reason! We have just bought our 1st house and well frankly, that thing takes up a LOT of your time! But, it's so exciting and we are loving every minute of it! We're currently in the "taking out all the old fixtures/hardware and replacing them with non-early 90's fixtures/hardware"...it's good times!

I would show you pictures, but who wants pictures when you could watch a movie!?! But, here's the disclaimer--it's not anywhere near done, so this is just a teaser of what is to come when we get it all done and finished :) Hope you enjoy and we REALLY hope you can come and experience it for yourself when you visit us!

Click here to watch the VIDEO!! - part 1

Click here to watch the VIDEO!! - part 2

Disclaimer--sorry for the woo-hoo's and awesomes..I was clearly very happy :)

Enjoy,

LaRae

Yesterday was a whirlwind...

2010-04-24T08:11:00.013-04:00

(FOREWARNING: This is lengthy!!)

Wow, where do I start?! I feel like I'm accepting an award at the grammy's....First, I'd like to thank GOd for this amazing house...no, but seriously, I do. Yesterday when we were moving in, everyone kept saying how great it was and I was just overwhelmed at God's provision to how He got us here. But, I feel I'm getting ahead of myself.....it all started early this week.

We have been working with Cody's best friend, Matt Shanlian, for our mortgage. A-MAZING! If you ever have any mortgage needs, he is absolutely the person to call! I digress, so we're working with Matt, I'll call him Shanlian as to not confuse, as our Realtor is also named Matt, Matt Hicks-a great and wonderfully sweet and patient realtor...once again, if you ever need 'realtoring things' call him!! Ok, too much digressing--I'll start the story!

Monday, Cody left for a conference in Orlando, Florida with Jeff (senior pastor), Dave (connections pastor) and Jim (awesome sound and tech guy). So, that left me to fend for myself and all this mortgage-y stuff (awesome timing, honey!! haha) Since Shanlian is a good friend of ours, we typically talk often anyways--but this week, I feel our email and phone accounts were inseparable! We hadn't gotten the final 'approval' for our loan, so I was trying to get any and all conditions met, as quickly as possible! On Monday, it seemed all was moving smoothly and we were on track to close Friday, the 23rd. Matt, ironically, was down at the conference in Florida, as well, so him and Cody chatted a bit about the things we needed-later this genuinely proves to be a God thing they were in the same location!

So, about Wednesday we start getting info from the processor that they are needing a few more things (making me quite nervous). So, I quickly forward emails and documents like rapid fire and try to appease their demands. We still aren't 100% sure if we can close on Friday. So, in the midst of packing up the rest of the house, switching over cable/internet/utilities, I'm trying to figure all the mortgage-y stuff out! Oh one side note, Matt's sister, Leah (the most incredible loan processor EVER...but I'll get to her later), has been out on maternity leave and has been doing as much work as a woman can do with a newborn. So, they are utilizing the loan processor in California that works directly with their underwriter. (If you don't know what these words mean, just go with me, I don't either!) Anywho, this California loan processor, let's call her Matalie, is well a bit on the slower side of things. Let's just say if California wasn't on the other side of the country, I'd probably drive there and have a nice sit-down chat with Matalie and her boss. Also, needless to say, the time change added quite a lovely dynamic to this entire process, as their 'close of business' is around 10 or 11pm, our time!!

So, Wednesday Matt says he will know for sure on Thursday if we can close on Friday. So, I wait as long as I can and then finally cave to text him "any news yet?" And of course, he's already been on the phone and has asked his sister Leah to take a look at what's going on. Leah is what we like to call a beast of the loan processing world, she slays loans like, well, like something that slays things a lot (clearly, I don't watch action movies). But, she is on the phone to California the second they open their doors and between Matt and her, they are knocking this thing out of the park! So, we wait and wait and wait, answer more questions, wait more, sign more paperwork, fax it back and have it faxed to Cody and Matt in Florida, answer more questions and wait more...the loan is still not finally approved (come ON, Matalie, you have had 2 months!)

So finally, I can't keep my eyes open any longer and I fall asleep with cell phone in hand, waiting for the beloved "we're set to close!" text to come in.....I must have been dead to the world, because I woke up at 2:30am and I had gotten a text at 11:30 from Matt with those glorious words....but wait, there was more "we put a rush on docs and let's hope for the best in the mornig"....First of all, what are DOCS and second, WHAT!? So, I spend the better part of that hour thanking God, but lifting up ONE more prayer... Cody finally rolls in from the conference at 3:30am and I finally drift back to sleep...hoping "for the best in the morning".

8am Friday morning rolls around and we still don't know if we're closing! I had planned on not coming in to work that day because I needed to get all the stuff together for closing; but I, begrudgingly, walk into my office and answer the "why are you here?" questions and sit at my desk... trying to explain to those who are helping us move that night that we may or may not need them (I'm sure that email made LOTS of sense! haha) Well, the night before Shanlian had raised the option of talking to the realtor to see if we could ask the seller's to let us move in early, since we had so much already set up and ready to go for Friday and Saturday. I brushed that off because I didn't even want to think about asking the sellers for one more thing, especially we hadn't even been officially approved for a loan!

Well early that morning, Leah and Matt get back on the phones and they are doing their thing--they are kicking butt and taking names! I was so excited to have the two of them working so hard for us, even if we weren't friends we'd be happy to know them! Well, things start to get quite crazy---it's about 10:45am and I'm pretty certain we aren't set for closing at noon. So, I email Matt (the realtor) and explain the situation to him, "we are approved, but the documents are moving quite slowly and we still have to send it to the lawyers for review...could you ask the sellers if we could move in this weekend, but officially close on Friday?" Honestly, I thought that was a waste of time, the sellers had seemed to be quite unaccommodating, so we were pretty much gearing up for a "no" to that question. About a thousand emails and phone calls later, we are speeding to our realtor's office to sign an early entry form! They let us in EARLY!! Honestly, I was SHOCKED! God was so good to us, even if this whole thing was way more complicated then I had imagined haha, He always has our best interests in mind! I got a call in the afternoon from the lawyers office explaining that they would feel more comfortable if we moved the closing to Monday at 2pm, but we can pick up the keys and sign the form for early entry around 2pm.

Well, we scrambled to tell everyone that we ARE ON for moving, but we didn't close (also, that email/text/phone call probably made a ton of sense to everyone!) But, we had people at the house and helping us clean the new house, load boxes at the old one and cranking this move out! We had nearly everything moved into the new house in nearly 4 hours--with the amount of junk we have, that has to be a record!! We even got the bed set up and we were able to sleep in our new house for the first time last night!!

Yesterday was seriously a whirlwind, but it was incredible. I was unpacking books with some of the other girls and it was so surreal, the living room didn't feel mine yet; it was as if I'm just here for vacation and seriously overpacked on the books!

More than a new house, I have been overwhelmed at God's provision with finances, timing and just plain providing all the help we need and then some, for the move! God is too good to us, I only pray my life can be a smidgen of gratitude back to Him!!

Love you all,

LaRae

A HUGE shout out to the following people for all their help yesterday and in the days leading up to the move:

Mama Lee

Daddy Lee

Hayden Wayland

Jeff Noble

Sam Noble

Megan Carver

Kimberly Fickes

Kelly Ann Thomas

Emily Reed

Cynthia Rancourt

Josh Wilson

Brad (Josh's friend who never met us and came to help!)

Kate Kroy

Dave Farris

Jim Rancourt

Tom Pridgen

Tucker King

Norm Vaughn

Adam D'Alessandro

Shane Carver

Shane Carter and his awesome trailer!

THANK YOU!!!!

FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!

2010-03-19T10:26:00.006-04:00

Hey everyone! A friend of mine (via the blogging world) Jamie at My Baking Addiction is having an incredible giveaway! Check out her website to get a chance to win a fabulous apron from The Hip Hostess!

Click here for her site: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/

Let me know what YOUR favorite apron is by leaving a comment...maybe that will inspire me to have a giveaway of my own!?!?!

SURPRISE!!

2010-03-17T14:59:00.010-04:00

I feel that 90% of the people reading this post are going to think this post is about me being pregnant...and I have to say, sorry mom...you're wrong! But, maybe someday soon :)

Anywho, a few weeks ago (sorry for the delay), we had a birthday boy in the house! Cody turned 26 (FINALLY, he can stop harassing me that I'm closer to 30 than 20!) Well, if anyone knows Cody, they know that his boyhood consisted of sitting under trees, wrestling with his older brother and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! So, in an effort to make him feel young again, I threw him a SURPRISE birthday party with a Ninja Turtles Theme!! Here are a few pictures from the night!

surprise!!

Reese wishing "CoDee" a happy "birfday" (He's so adorable, I hope our kid is that cute one day!)

Scoping our the decor!

His favorite turtle--Michelangelo!

Just a few of the great guests!

Food :)

Yup...I forgot to bring the 2 candle...so he just had the six candle!!

Improvising for the "2"

Thanks everyone, so much, for making this a special day for Cody! A HUGE thank you to Carolyn & Jeff Noble for helping me plan and set up for the party....since I was near deathly ill that night, it was a huge blessing to have all that help!! WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!

Until next time,
LaRae :)

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!

2010-02-25T14:28:00.005-05:00

I'm sure many of you already know by now, but they accepted our offer and we got the house!! Our closing date is April 23rd, but may be sooner if all is wrapped up earlier! We are so excited and can't wait for the new chapter of home ownership! Thanks everyone for all the prayers, it has been so needed and so felt! The Lord put the tug in our hearts around last October to start looking for a home to buy and we set out on the search, almost 6 months later, we have a house under contract! Now, all that's left is the home inspection and (don, don, DON...) the loan! Please continue to pray that all will go well and that the Lord will receive 100% of the glory in this process...even if things go bad or get frustrating! Can't wait to have you over!!!

here she is!!

Life is going too fast!

2010-02-18T11:30:00.004-05:00

So many wonderful things have been happening lately! We ventured south to FL for Valentine's day and my mom's 50th birthday! We started looking at houses to buy and last night, we put an offer on a house! We're really praying for the Lord's direction on this one!

I'm trying to get some pictures from our Disney trip, but my camera isn't cooperating! Hopefully soon! In the meantine, here is some video of the house we hope to make our home!

The video above is of the front of the house

This video is of the upstairs

gratitude.

2010-02-05T20:43:00.008-05:00

Today, in light of numerous recent events, I feel compelled to just be thankful.

Thank You, God, for hot water - hot green tea - beautiful newborn babies - a husband with wisdom beyond his years - parents and inlaws that call us and love on us daily - a job - a love for the culinary arts - DVR - humor - scripture that comforts and encourages - seat warmers in the car - candles - hot showers - a pantry full of food - a happy husband - hershey kisses with almonds - cotton t.shirts - epiderals - great friends in the New River Valley - God's perfect timing - thank You, God, for clean water - digital cameras - nearly any genre of food being delivered to a hospital - Ellie Grace & Megan - my health - God's provision - an amazing pastor and his family - frito chili pie - salt to melt the ice - wireless internet - great working cars - thank you for, warm and comfy blankets - ski pants - sleds - grocery stores - blogs - the intelligence you give us to create delicious recipes - sleep - lavender anything - down comforters - great books - the ability to look deeper into life - thankful for my worth in Christ - electricity - my amazing stand.mixer - marrying a man who values and cherishes his family - peonies - my mom and every bit of me that resembles her in looks and personality- decaf coffee - cupcakes - picture frames - shopping online - a Christian co.worker - birthdays - de.icer - fabulous accessories - wonderful memories - annual leave time - matt answering any and all of our mortgage questions - my relationship with vanessa - great magazines - Giada- HGTV- a dishwasher - a Christian realtor - examples of marriages that honor Christ - a dad with incredible wisdom - so grateful for living in America - bubble bath - a funny brother in law - j.crew - New Tech Fitness - my iPod - Father, thank you for your unending leave - for Christ and His redemption in our lives - two beautiful nieces and one handsome nephew- unexpected friendships - a wonderful example of a pastor's wife for a mother.in.law - best friends in korea who inspire me - God, thank you for 2nd, 3rd and 1,050,789th chances - organic milk - traveling - weddings - the miralce of childbirth - football - a father.in.law who loves me like I was his own daughter - colors - music - my husbands amazing voice -my lovey down in venice -friends who love missions- forgiveness through Christ - decaf caramel macchiatto's- Disney - a protective brother when I was growing up - TARGET- kisses- my desire to always learn - foot massages - ice scrapers - The Weather Channel -surprises- being snowed in with just Cody- vacuums - board games - the refuge that is the house in Boone - the still small voice of God's word- cheetos- trail mix - fluffy, warm towels - king.size beds - hangers for my clothes - fruit - my Ugg boots - a well.worned Bible - Cody's incredibly creativity - POG and 437 - Excel budget spreadsheets- Starbucks - my oven - debit cards - electric tea kettles -intimacy- winter coats..especially cute ones - my degree- VT closing - big coffee mugs - food that isn't contaminated - a house - my ability to hear- Xbox for Cody - hair elastics - face wash - remote controls - and last but surely not least, dare I say...SNOW.

This is everything I could think of from just the past few days....I can't imagine if I let myself think about my entire life! God is beyond my provider, he gives me more than my abundance!

Team Shanlian is Complete!

2010-02-03T18:30:00.013-05:00

A few weeks ago, we headed North for a much anticipated event, Matt and Maria tying the knot! We drove up on Wednesday afternoon and made it in town around 7pm for a GREAT dinner with amazing friends at the House of Hunan in Medina, Ohio.

Next night we had the rehearsal dinner, the boys were so excited to be together again--but they missed Brenner, who is in Hungry until July.

The wives/fiance's watching on

Next couple down the aisle--Josh & Kelsie!

Our favorite Bahamian couple, Cedric & Jessica (so glad they made it up for the wedding!)

FINALLY--the big day has come! The boys looked so handsome in their tuxes! Matt looks anxious and excited!

The gorgeous bride and her dad :)

Cody singing "I will not take my love away"

Mr & Mrs. Matthew Shanlian--can you tell they're excited?!?!

All 8 of us :)

Ebony & Ivory reunited...and it feels so good!

The entire wedding party

Dancing with my honey

Cutting the cake--her theme was feathers, it was gorgeous!

Brothers :)

Travis & Vanessa-they're too cute

Ness and her two beauties-Noah and Estella

The fab 4 (Us, Cody's Brother and his wife, Vanessa)

We decorated their car in the snow--too fun, not the snow but the decorating!

The boys final group hug to say goodbye...it was so cute, but so sad!

The next morning we headed to church and Cody lead worship in the Sojourn Service. We had a delicious lunch with Cody's parents and grandparents! We are so incredibly blessed with amazing family and incredible friends. What a perfect weekend :)

Love ya'll,

Cody & LaRae

Recent Happenings

2010-01-20T14:46:00.015-05:00

Well, I know, I've been MIA, but the past two months have been quite crazy, but in such a great way! We've had Christmas, New Year's, baby showers and weddings and all the fun things in between.

To kick off this post, I'll be a little delayed in wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you each had an amazing holiday and more importantly were able to spend it with the ones you love!

Cody and I had a great time in Ohio, for our first white Christmas together! His family is so sweet and we had such a fun time! We also got to spend a couple of days with Cody's brother, Travis, and his wife, Vanessa. They recently moved to Columbus to plant a church and we got to see their new house--love it! (Shopping in a big city wasn't too shabby, either!!...Sur la Table is my new favorite place on earth!)

Anywho--we had a great Christmas in Ohio, then headed down to the cabin in Boone for Christmas with my parents! We had a blast spending time with my aunt, uncle and their two boys! We enjoyed the tremendous amounts of snow, laughed at the newbies learning to ski/snowboard and even built a really crappy snowman!

Well, I know that leaves much to be desired, but I have to run...will post much more later! To make up for it, I leave you with a video of our new niece, Estella...I think you'll fall in love like we already have..thanks Travis for the 'looks who's talking' rendition :)

Love & Blessings,

LaRae

Ten years in the making...

2010-01-01T13:16:00.028-05:00

So, I'm starting off the new year right by ripping off my husbands idea on his blog and making a "ten year in review" post! I have a horrible memory, so this should be fun....here we go!

2000- The middle of my sophomore year in high school and the pinnacle of the Y2K scare! This was my first year at Fort Myers High, as I had just switched from ECS. I loved it! I had just gotten my license in October and my parents got me a new silver VW Beetle! I'll never forget that day :) This was also the summer we went to New York City as a family and had dinner at Windows of the World, the restaurant on the top level of the World Trade Center towers. A dinner we didn’t know would be as special as it truly was.

2001- Junior year. The start of everything. Met Lyndsey Martin in Art 101 and we got into way too much trouble! She introduced me to a great group of friends...Paul, Clint, Ryan *Butcher*, Matt, BJ, Tara, Ammi and the list goes on! They made my junior and senior years amazing :) This was also the year I had my first serious boyfriend, Cristos (yes, he was greek). Also, the year of September 11^th and the moment I felt true love for being an American…and a lover of George W. Bush J This year we also got two additions to the family, my sister.in.law Brooke and later in the year, my niece Jordan.

2002- Senior Year/Freshman year of college. How life had changed over the past year. I started the “college search” and we went on an eastern-seaboard road trip to find my dream school! Senior year I had my heart set on Vanderbilt, but (long story short) ended up at University of Miami. Miami in one word was FUN. My random freshman roommate ended up being my best friend, Ali D’Andrea…we had an amazing time! Also, joined a sorority and enlarged my circle of friends to include my besties Amy & Amanda. It was a great freshman year of college, and wouldn’t have asked for anything better!

2003- A year of changes, the second semester of freshman year in college and a summer that changed my life. Spring semester was rough at Miami, but it also brought the renewal of a high school friendship with Emily Millage (who, to this day is still my best friend!) I digress, that summer my friend Melissa asked me to spend those three months with her working at a camp in Michigan. I said yes and my life was never the same! God used that summer to grab my attention and get me serious about Him and ONLY Him. At the end of the summer, I knew I needed to change schools, but didn't know what to do...so, I finished out the semester and made the change in January.

2004-The year of the unknown. This year started off with me finally getting the courage to leave Miami and take a semester off of college (much to my parents dismay), but I knew it was what the Lord wanted. I spent that semester and summer really searching for what God wanted (and getting into a little trouble with Melissa, Colin, Wade and Brad!) In August, I packed up and headed to Liberty University. I knew probably 3 people, but had that peace I hadn’t had in years and knew this is where God wanted me. That first semester was rough, but the Lord brought me my best friend, Danielle McCarthy and later in the semester, Cody.

2005- This year started off with such excitement, as Cody and I had just gone on our first date and had talked the ENTIRE break on the phone. The rest of the year was confusing. Those first few months were, simply put, BLISS. The kind of love story I thought would never happen to me, but I was living and couldn’t believe it! Then the fear set in and we broke up….then the drama really began. The rest of that year can be summed up in one word, too….TEARS! A rough start in the fall, but also the beginning of God’s call to ministry in my life. I spent the rest of that year on True Identity, a traveling ministry team for girls 6-12^th grade. This is when I began to fall in love with Jesus, and be filled with HIM and not a boyfriend.

2006- This year is kind of a blur, Cody and I had gotten back together in January and were together until November. This year was full of incredible ministry opportunities and great friendships. I met such incredible women, like Sarah Wetherington and started living with Ashley Cherilla, a friendship that grew into a sisterhood. But, I’d say the best part of 2006 was the plane trip back to Virginia over Thanksgiving break. I met a friend I’ll love forever, Abigail Reighard. We hit it off over cute shoes and Paige premium jeans…and crazy boys. The rest of 2006 was my favorite part of college. Hanging out in 734 and laughing until it hurts with Ashley Cherilla and Lindsey Crosby...otherwise known as P.O.G.

2007- Probably the craziest year of my life! Cody and I were Lord knows what in the relationship department, I went to Haiti on a missions trip with True ID and learned to cling to Jesus in a way I never had before. In the summer, we decided to end the ‘on-again, off-again’ drama and call it quits. I was sad, but also knew that the Lord was going to do great things because we finally stopped trying to control our lives and gave it over to Him. Ironically, I never thought it would be us getting back together and getting engaged at the end of that year, in December, but God has a different plan....and I couldn't have been happier!

2008-An amazing year of new beginnings. That year started with us apart, as Cody took a worship pastor position an hour and a half away in Blacksburg, Virginia and I was continuing my Masters at Liberty and being the Director of True Identity. June 21, 2008 was the day that changed it all, our wedding! Also, the day I gave my life away for ministry and tried not to look back! It was a rough transition being a 'pastor's wife', but it helped us grow in our marriage and learn to trust in the Lord so much for fulfillment and friendship. Also, the year I had my first 'grown-up' job at Virginia Tech..not my favorite, but still a blessing to help pay the bills :)

2009- We celebrated our ONE YEAR anniversary! It was a year of weddings and babies (our newest niece, Estella Ruth)! So many friends got married, we were able to be a part of it all! This past year has been an incredible one. We've finally gotten into a groove and have been able to learn the balance of jobs, ministry, marriage and family! But, God's still growing us and helping us to love Him more! We've also been blessed with a new pastor at Northstar and great new friendships with the Carver's, Fickes', Card's, Rancourt's and the list goes on and on! God has truly blessed our obedience and I'm so grateful!

2010- I can't believe it's been ten years and the start of a new decade! I can't even fathom what the next ten years will hold, but I can't wait!

Christmas giveaway winner!!

2009-12-05T18:26:00.013-05:00

The Christmas giveaway has come to a close and I'm happy to announce that our first-ever blog giveaway winner is..........(drum roll please)............

Amy Perry! This was Amy's entry:

"My favorite tradition is having hot chocolate and cookies on Christmas eve and reading the Christmas story all together as a family. This is really special to our family because it gets our hearts in the right spirit the night before to remember what Christmas is really about! And since my mom always wants good pictures on Christmas day we open one gift which are always pajamas for us to wear Christmas day!"

Amy, let me know if you accept and I'll get your goodies right out to you!! Thanks everyone for participating--can't wait for the next one....I'm thinking some New Year's goodies???? We will have to see!

Since a few have asked, we have a huge number of traditions in the Lee/Davenport household. Before I was married, my family would always go to the candlelit service on Christmas Eve and then over to our family friends house, the Propp's, for a big Christmas Eve dinner party.

Cody said his favorite Christmas tradition is going to his grandparents house on Christmas Eve, his family all sitting around and each person goes around and opens up a present, eat orange rolls, sausage balls and the elusive "Elvis" white elephant gift!

Now that Cody and I are married, we're starting our own new traditions. The past two years, we have picked a day to go get our tree (real, of course...no fake trees for us!) We spend the evening decorating it and putting up the ornaments and talking about the new ones we bought that year (this year we got one in Maine for our One Year Anniversary-it's a cute little red lobster, one at the P.Graham Dunn store and two at Disney). I'm sure we will come up with some more as the years continue, but until then those are our fun Christmas traditions!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY!!

2009-11-30T08:49:00.010-05:00

It's finally here--my favorite time of the year...CHRISTMAS!! Aside from the obvious good things regarding the holiday, I love that it's a time to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Regardless of our life situation and circumstances, we are all so terribly blessed! So, in the light of this charitable season, a giveaway is in order!!!

Giveaway Details:

Here's what you get if you win...
1. Rocky Road Brownie Mix
2. Christmas cookie cutters
3. Mini-red spatula
4. Peppermint sprinkles
5. a few more surprise goodies!!

*Sorry clarity is bad--took it with my phone!

HOW TO WIN...

1. For a chance to win, please comment on this post with an answer to the following question:

"What is your favorite holiday tradition?" OR "What do you want to start to be a holiday tradition for Christmastime?"

RULES:

-One winner will be chosen on Saturday, December 5th and notified that day.
-The winner has until Sunday, the 6th to accept the giveaway or another winner will be chosen
-Please make sure I have a means to contact you (either leaving your email address or blogsite with your comment)
-Only one entry per person to win!

GOOD LUCK!! Can't wait to hear about all the great traditions!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Possible Christmas Giveaway??

2009-11-14T21:08:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, Cody and I perused many great stores! So, in light of the uber-early display of Christmas items (come on, it's not even Thanksgiving)! I digress, I want to have a giveaway!! I keep visiting all these fun blogs and they seem to have one thing in common--GIVEAWAYS!! So, I'm thinking of doing one---BUT, I want it to be worthwhile, sooooo WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED?!?! It would have tons of great Christmas things for decorating, baking, etc!! So, leave me a comment and let me know if you'd participate! I hope so, because I want to buy some of this stuff SO BADLY! :)

*Even if you aren't a blogger, leaving a comment is super easy!! Scroll to the bottom of this post, click the # of comments, and just leave your name and the comment :)

**If you are reading this in an email, visit our website at www.thenewdavenports.blogspot.com

to leave the comment!

***Even if you don't live close, I'm planning on mailing the giveaway goodies!

HOPE YOU WANT TO JOIN!

Meeting Estella Ruth!

2009-11-12T14:09:00.010-05:00

A few Sundays ago, Cody and I quickly said our goodbyes and packed up our things from church and headed north, to Ohio! We were so excited for our quick trip and getting to see family! The reasons for the trip were two-fold, 1) Cody's Brother, Travis and his wife, Vanessa, just welcomed a second child (the first GIRL) to our family. 2) Since we're heading to Florida this year, for Thanksgiving, we won't get to see the Davenport side of the fam until a few days before CHRISTMAS! So, we headed up and we had a great trip!! The pictures are basically of little Estella, but we had a great time with everyone else, too!

The October girls--holding little E for the first time (and getting baby fever!)

Cody holding Estella for the first time and getting FREAKED OUT!!

Getting warmed up to the idea :)

Robin, Cody's mom, falling in love with her new granddaughter

The great-grandparents loving on little Estella

Proud daddy!

The next day, we headed around Wooster to some amish towns and landed at this great homemade cheese store (I hadn't had carbs for over a month, so I was so excited to find something I could finally eat!!!)

My honey :)

Happy grammie, dreaming of ways to spoil her!

Her favorites: green paci and big bows :)

The Big 2-6 (slightly late)

2009-11-10T15:43:00.007-05:00

So, ever since my 21st, I've been going to the mountain house in Boone to celebrate my birthdays! This year was no different! With Cody leaving me a bachelorette for the majority of the week as he was at the Catalyst Conference, I packed up Thursday afternoon and headed to the land of coziness and beauty! This birthday was probably one of my favorites--rivals my 16th when my parents surprised me with a car and a cake with a picture of me picking my nose on it (thanks mom!), I digress! Nothing was too special about the weekend except that it was spent with my parents and the food over the course of those 4 days was indescribably scrumptious!!

The first night we just hung out and snuggled up by the fire...boy was that needed!

The next day, Mom and I headed into town and she surprised me with a trip to the Spa!! After the week I had, had it was heaven sent! Mani/Pedi & Facial was just what the doctor ordered for this 26 year old! :) Mom and I had such a great time together!

Friday night, they told me to pick a restaurant with the only stipulation being that it had to be new, a place none of us had ever been! I knew exactly where I wanted to go- The Osceola Lodge. My parent's friends had raved about this place for months, so I thought it'd be the perfect way to ring in 'official adulthood'! So, we cleaned up and headed over (the boys even have to wear coats--FANCY and my kind of place!!)

On the way to the Lodge, mom and I thought the leaves were too gorgeous to not get out and take some pictures! So a photo shoot ensued (these are only 2 of the 20 we took!!)

My parents are the cutest!

In front of the Lodge-pre.dinner!

Mid.Dinner (such great conversation and I have never laughed so hard in such a long time!!)

My momma!

A little fuzzy, I knew I should've had the desk clerk take two!! :)

2nd mini-photo shoot :)

Mom and Dad letting our huge meals settle in the Library

Saturday was BIRTHDAY DAY!

*Opening some presents with my other 'sister', our dog Abby!

Before Dinner we headed to Fred Mercantile on Beech Mountain, i love getting pictures there for the fall!! Such great decorations

We went to Jacalope's for dinner--I had never been there, but since it'd been over 10 years, we thought it was "new" again! It was such a great dinner--the food was DELICIOUS!!

And of course, my birthday was complete with Bananas Foster (my favorite!!)

Mom and Dad, thanks for an awesome birthday!! I had such a wonderful time hanging out with you two!! You made the birthday without Cody so fun (even if I thought it wouldn't be) Love you both so much--thanks for all the great laughs!

Love your girl,
LaRae (keedar/sissy)

Wedding Season!!!

2009-10-19T09:15:00.010-04:00

Cody and I are so blessed to have such amazing friends! We are also, so excited for that group of friends to be continually expanding! This past weekend, Cody's best friend, Josh proposed to his girlfriend, Kelsie and she said YES!! We are thrilled for their upcoming July nuptials!

So many weddings are coming our way and we couldn't be happier!!
*Plus, I LOVE buying wedding presents and perusing registries!!

Corinne & Brad: November 6th

Matt & Maria: January 16th

Carissa & Dan: July 10th!

Josh & Kelsie: July 24th!!

**We love you all and we're so excited for the Lord bringing you into our lives and into each others lives!!

M-I-A-M-I, Let's Go Canes!

2009-10-13T13:51:00.011-04:00

Mom and Dad are finally in town! Heading to dinner with the Rancourt's!

Always time for a pic with my hubs!

Our 2nd mom and dad here in Blacksburg--Jim and Cynthia Rancourt!

Mom and Dad!

Root beer and Pizza before the game :)

Cody representing both families in his green Ohio State shirt!

Of course game day it was POURING! We had green ponchos because we still had to represent even in the rain...and of course, mom and dad got Cody a red one for Ohio State!

*During the weekend they were here, we found out that the Miami Hurricanes and Ohio State Buckeyes signed a two year contract to play each other next year and the year after!! We already have plans to rent RV's and tailgate the weekend away!! Nothing like a little payback from Tempe! :)

Finally at the game--God was so good! We were sitting in one of the two rows that were over the awning--we were dry the entire game!!

The boys coming onto the field...

My canes getting fired up!

GAMETIME!!

Halftime!! It was raining so bad that the band played from the stands and didn't come out!

So excited to be there together :)

*Needless to say, we didn't take a picture of the scoreboard at the end... it was a horrible game. But, hopefully we'll have another matchup with the Hokies at the ACC Championship :)

We had an AWESOME time with mom and dad--we can't wait for next year to play the Buckeyes!!

Happy Birthday, Estella Ruth Davenport!!

2009-10-01T22:04:00.009-04:00

Today, around 2:50pm, the Davenport clan welcomed a new beauty to our fam, Estella Ruth Davenport at 20'' and 7 lbs, 14 oz! Cody's Brother, Travis, and wife Vanessa had their second child, Estella, this afternoon. This is the first girl for the davenport clan in quite a while!! Cody and I can't wait to meet her and give her tons of kisses! I'm so glad I now have a friend to share my October birthday with!!

Proud Papa

our little baby sugar!

happy grandpa

gorgeous mother and daughter!

Congrats!! We love y'all!!

~Cody & LaRae

Today's Miracle and Blessing

2009-09-29T15:00:00.006-04:00

Ok, so this is a little silly, but it spoke volumes to me! Since Cody and I got married we have been trying so hard to pay off as much as we can on our debt and eventually be debt-free (some months, it's much easier than others!) But, this month, we were able to pay a lot down on our debt and still have some wiggle room! Well, this past week, my parents were in town and they were so good to us! They were so helpful and loving while Cody and I had to work all day, everday!!
On top of all their love and generosity, mom and I went shopping at Ann Taylor LOFT. I found this gorgeous jacket, but it was a little expensive and I didn't want to ask her to buy me something with my birthday less than two weeks away! So, she reminded me that I had a jacket I bought earlier in the summer, but I had never worn it (still had the tags on it!!) I had the clerk check the computer to see if it was on sale yet, since I'd lost my reciept and wanted to get the full price! Well, this new jacket I loved was more expensive than the origianl one I bought, so I was thinking of how I could save up some birthday money to pay for the remaining amount. Meanwhile, the lady came back and said the coat was still full price (SCORE!) and that I could return it for store credit.

Well, me and my selfish "I need it now ways" started scheming how I could pay for it on the credit card and then just pay it back when I get some birthday money! I was justifying and justifying, but just couldn't pull myself to ruin our great progress in the debt-field! So, then I heard about this program called LOFTlovesteachers.com . This program gives 15% off every purchase to teachers! So, since I started being a teacher's assistant and co-teaching this semester, I asked if I qualified!! They said yes and actually the first purchase with the program you get 20% off! I was so excited!! I would still have to pay about $10 for the jacket, but I was pumped!
So today, I head home on my lunch break to get a snack, then head to Ann Taylor LOFT. As I was leaving, I thought to check the mail....this was truly a God thing beacuse I never check the mail!! So, what do you know, in the mail was a 30% off coupon for any purchase over a certain amount at Ann Taylor LOFT!! So, I marched on over to the LOFT and purchased my jacket, with $12 to spare on my merchanise credit!! I couldn't believe it!! Honestly it was such a God thing. I have been so bummed and frustrated lately about money and having to pay so much of it to debt and not really doing anything fun. This was just such a great smile from God about our obedience. I feel so blessed, makes me want to pay even more debt off and be more obedient with our tithes and offerings!! AND I still have my 20% for teachers still to use!! woohoo!! God is good even with the small little desires of our hearts!

Here's my cute new 30% off JACKET!!!

Happy 31st Anniversary Mom & Dad

2009-09-23T14:19:00.006-04:00

Yesterday my parents celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary! Wow, it just blows me away! I am so grateful that they've stuck it out through the hard times to make it these 31 years! My parents are two of the most incredible people I know. They have sacrificed so much for my brother and I, have given us every opportunity in the world to achieve our dreams and they have and still always love us unconditionally. Even when my brother brought home a dog freshman year of college and it became their "second daughter" or when I wrecked their brand-new car less than 24 hours after they bought it....talk about LOVE!

It has been amazing seeing their relationship through the years. It's taught me that love doesn't always have to be gushy, candle-lit dinners. It can be a strong commitment when you are just so frustrated with the other person or it can be a sweet email saying you're just "happy he picked you". The best part about my parent's marriage is watching their perseverance and grace throughout their relationship. They have taught me so much about forgiveness and loving someone because Christ loves them. They've shown me that love is not just about feelings, but about a bond and a vow you made before your spouse, and most importantly, before God.

Thank you mom and dad for loving me and Justin and our families every single day. For giving us more than we deserve and being an example of Christ's love in our lives. Thank you for your sacrifices and always being willing to bless us with home-made dinners, free vacations to the cabin or just life-learned wisdom (even if we don't take it!) I hope and pray that Justin and I can have the perseverance and love in our marriages that you have in yours.

All my love,
your daughter

Fall Favorites

2009-09-08T09:57:00.013-04:00

Just as the weather is starting to cool and the leaves are beginning to turn, everyone's fall lines are hitting stores! I have found some fabulous fall favorites to share-enjoy!!

This headband from J.Crew is adorable! It keeps the fun of Summer, but with great fall colors!

This shirt, also from J.Crew, is fabulous! The necklace-esque adornments on the neckline make this chic and fuss-free for those "I woke up 30 minutes late" mornings!

Who said fall has to be filled with muted color palettes? This is a great tunic for those days your sick of wearing brown!

This jacket is my FAVORITE!! It's a beautiful structure to give the illusion of a super tiny waste, has the feminine touch of the ruffles and the "popped" collar is fierce (thanks Christian Siriano) a la Miranda Priestly in "Devil Wears Prada".

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE skirts in the fall with knee-high boots! This Anthropologie gem is fun and flirty, but still has that rustic look, great for a fall dinner date!

And how can we talk about fall clothing without a nod to fall's fashion friend: the tight! These are textured and wonderful, so when the temperature starts to drop, you can still sport your summer-toned legs!

These new Ugg boots are a must-have! They have a great wedge heel for a more comfortable longer wear and the thin layer of sherling inside will keep your toes warm and toasty on those cool nights!

For some reason, the fall season reminds me of "Yesteryear", the 1950's and just simply put: classics! I love lockets and broaches on blazers! This Anthropologie necklace reminded me of just that! It'd be gorgeous over a black cashmere turtleneck; so classic and elegant!

Fall would not be complete without a cute wrislet! This Marc Jacobs find is perfect to carry all your necessities to apple picking, pumpkin carving and fun fall festivals!

Hope y'all are enjoying the beginning of fall and the fabulous brisk air! The first snow will happen before we know it! Until then!

Love ya,
LaRae

Our short trip to the 'ville

2009-09-07T13:52:00.012-04:00

This past weekend, Cody and I headed west to Louisville, Kentucky! We both took the day off on Friday and hopped in the car. It was a 5 and a half hour trip, but well worth it! The main reason we were heading that way was for Jenna & Josiah's wedding reception. They had a destination wedding in Mackinaw Island, Michigan on July 31st with just their immediate family. So, this weekend they invited even more people to celebrate with them. We even got to see Brooke & John Malko, who now live in Louisville, too!

Starting our trip off right!

Finally into Kentucky!

Since we got to Louisville a little early, we had some time to spare. We went to Boyce College where Cody attended college, his first year.

The campus is beautiful!!

One of the chapels on campus. This is where Cody's brother and sister.in.law were married 5 years ago! It was so adorable!

I kept asking him to show me all the places from his time there! This is where he used to live!

Their apartment--he was telling me all kinds of hilarious stories from this place!

The beautiful bride & groom!

The FABULOUS cake! It was so intricate and delicious!

Cutting the cake :)

They had these chocolate cupcakes, too! They were the most delicious things I've ever had!!

First dance as Husband and Wife

Brooke & Jon cuttin' a rug!

Me and the hubs!

We had such a great time--can't wait to go back!

Update

2009-09-03T21:24:00.003-04:00

Hello!!! I know I've been vacant, but it's been quite crazy in our lives! We had our big kick-off for church on August 30th, "officially" welcoming our new pastor Jeff and his family!

-We had the first week of school-CRAZY!!!! Our town just exploded with 30,000 more people!

-I'm a Teaching Assistant for a new course, so that was a new change! I'm even going to be teaching a few of the lessons!! WOOHOO!!

-With the first week of school came many HUGE events that I've been planning all summer!

-We have a great event called Connect to the CLAHS Community: an event for new students to come meet and have dinner with faculty in our college. We had over 250 new students and about 50 other volunteers, faculty and staff.

-This past Tuesday we had our College group kick.off! We had a lot of new people, so that was very exciting!!

-This weekend we're heading over to Louisville Kentucky for Jenna & Josiah's wedding reception!

-Then we're having some visitors in town for Labor Day!

PICTURES TO COME!

Hope you're all having a great September so far!

Love ya,

LaRae

Steppin' Out

2009-08-19T13:45:00.007-04:00

Steppin' Out is an annual Blacksburg Tradition! It's a festival the first weekend of August where downtown is shutdown and blocked off for vendors!! There were HUNDREDS of vendors and people from all over the New River Valley came to participate!! So, as an outreach we gathered together as a church and passed out over 300 bottles of water, to show the love of Christ in a practical way! We had a great time, got the name of Jesus out to the community and told them a little about Northstar while we were at it!!

loadin' up the coolers

some volunteers

Cody and Sam workin' the corner :)

We gave out all of our waters in like 30 mins, so we headed to the other teams and helped out!

Our new pastor and his daughter chatting it up with some townies

Just a small part of the festival

Erin and her kids trying to hoola-hoop

All the Pastor's and their families (minus Carolyn, Jeff's wife, taking the picture!!)

We had a great time!! It was also quite effective because we've had a ton of people come to church the next day saying they got our info at Steppin' Out from when we were handing out waters!! Awesome experience--hope you can be a part of it next time!!

Blessings,
LaRae

www.northstarfamily.org

Dinner with the Neighbors

2009-08-18T14:55:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, Cody and I went over to Sara and Traci's house for dinner! Sara was one of our college students at VT and was a great member of our small group! She used to live across the street from us, but her and Traci just moved two doors down from us!! :)

Our lovely host preparing great food!!

Old Married Couple!

Sara, Xavier, and Traci (Xavier is Sara's boyfriend)

Thanks Y'all for having us over for dinner!! It was so delicious and we had a great time!! Thanks again!! :)

Oh Canada!!

2009-08-07T08:55:00.023-04:00

So, I've had some inquiries (mom) about what a "blogee" is....webster's dictionary defines it as...haha just kidding. I'm not quite sure it is a word, but since I'm the BloggER, I figured the readers were BlogEES! haha. ok on to important matters--VACATION!!

This past week, Cody and I were northernbound! Cody's family has a cottage on a lake in Canada and we packed up with his family and didn't look back!

*The funky read arrow is about exactly where the cottage is on Kagawong Lake

The road trip begins!! The drive from Ohio to the ferry in Canada is TEN HOURS!!! Cody's family has a tradition of stopping at the first Tim Horton's (think America's Dunkin' Donuts..donut holes included) after passing the Canadian border. After 5 hours driving from Virginia to Ohio, then another 6 hours in the car, I was ready for a break!!

We finally made it to the ferry--we left at 7am and had a 2 hour boat ride to Manitoulin Island. *at this point, i was just happy we were only an hour away! I'd been up TOO long already!

Cody and his nephew Noah spending quality time on the ferry--Noah was sure he saw a few humpback whales (ahhh to have a 3 year old's imaginiation!!)

We finally arrived at the cottage...Noah had his priorities in line, first things first...FISHING!

Later that night, hanging by the fire and roasting marshmallows

First of many gorgeous sunsets

Noah finally caught a fish!!

So did Mark, Travis and Cody!!

Fish for the fryin'

Noah was pretty pumped for his little fish

Travis learning the ropes of fish fileting

meanwhile, I was inside making the fam some world-famous banana puddin'

Before dinner, we had a little game of cornhole. Me and Grandpa v. Travis and Vanessa

close game

But, the rookies won it in the end!!!

Wednesday, we headed to the town's farmers market--Vanessa got some fresh swiss chard and we had it for dinner--YUM.OOO

Cody's grandma was haggling with the granolas

the gals, and noah :)

Robin checkin' out the sea gulls made out of wood.

When the girls returned, i came home to this....scuba steve???

the boys were 'fishing' for crawdaddys for bait

Vanessa cutest preggers was holding the bucket

Mark, always the fire starter

Grandpa and Robin always the spectators

Noah showing me his muscles

Local waterfalls

beautiful

under the falls

jet skis!

family photo!

Cody's brother, Travis, and his wife Vanessa and son, Noah.

our little fam (noah wanted to join in on)

We had such an awesome time in Canada---We even got a little sun, so we aren't various shades of 'see-thru' anymore!!!! Hope you're all enjoying the summer and taking a few of your 'sick days' to enjoy the sunshine!

Until next time,

LaRae

A Prayers Fruition

2009-08-06T09:24:00.008-04:00

Hello blogees!!

Well, I know I've been missing in action but there is much to explain and tell!! As I've explained a few times, our church has been on a Senior Pastor search! Well, after much prayer and consideration WE FINALLY HAVE ONE!!!!

I'd like to formally introduce you to Jeff Noble and his family, Carolyn (wifey), Sam (son) and Adelyn (daughter).

Jeff's first Sunday was July 26th *the day we left for Canada, but more of that later* and it was amazing!! The week before that was Jeff's first week in the office and Cody came home every night encouraged and excited about Jeff's vision and desire to see Northstar get out into the Blacksburg community and reach them for Jesus Christ!

We are so excited for the days to come and to see God's plan in using him and his family in our community!!!

Welcome to Blacksburg Noble Family!!!

Check out the Nobles blog and our church's website at
www.northstarfamily.org