WE GOT THE HOUSE!!

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!

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.

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!

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

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...

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!!

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!!!