Soccer season...

I think this picture describes the Spring 2009 FCC Soccer season for the Slushy Scorers as well as I possibly could...
For anyone who doesn't get the reference, those are the Bad News Bears. Our team is 0-5 and we have been outscored by a cumulative 40-2. After taking 10-0 beatings the first two times out, I thought we had made some really nice progress by losing a close game by the score of 3-1. Getting on the scoreboard for the first time all season was awesome. When Izzy scored our goal, she ran around like we had just won the World Cup and proceeded to lift Dora off the ground in celebration (yes, we have a Dora on our team and she's adorable). In our 4th game of the season, we kept our goal scoring streak alive, but were again on the short end of a 10-1 loss. Yesterday, our goal scoring streak was broken as we took our 3rd shutout of the season by the score of 7-0. But, by holding the opponents in single digits, we're focusing on the positives of our 2nd best defensive effort of the season.

Our kids are great and many of them look like they're really starting to grasp some of the concepts that we are teaching them. While we may not be the best U8 soccer team ever (and that's an understatement), it's another fun season of coaching and watching young athletes learn the game.

"It's a Sign from God"

So, this weekend was the big house hunting weekend in Columbus, OH. The weekend was very successful and we now feel pretty confident we found the house that we will call home in Columbus. However, like everything else we do, it can't be that simple. There has to be a story behind it. So, here goes:
We arrived in Columbus on Friday and met with our wonderful realtor Charlene. She was amazing the whole time. We completely put our trust in her since neither one of us had done this before. She took care of us like we were her own children and for that we are so appreciative. Once we met Charlene, we loaded up and started the hunting. We probably looked at no less than 10 houses on Friday. We were not really impressed with many of them until the last 2. The first one that we really liked was on a short sale which meant that since it was bank owned the purchase was complicated and we probably wouldn't even know if we got the house for several months. The last house that we looked at that afternoon was the one we fell in love with. It seriously had all the amenities we were looking for in a house and we loved the neighborhood and proximity to Stuart's new office. So, we put that one at the top of our list and decided to sleep on it.
That night we talked about how we wanted to go visit this wonderful little brownie shop that had appeared on the Food Network at one time. Stuart had been there before but couldn't quite remember where it was. I just so happened to be flipping through a magazine all about Columbus and it mentioned the brownie shop and gave the address. The address sounded familiar and I realized it couldn't be that far from that last house we had looked at. We both committed that to memory for the next afternoon and enjoyed a nice dinner with one of Stuart's coworkers and her husband that evening.
The next morning we met with Charlene again and visited a few more houses. Even after seeing those houses, we still couldn't shake the feeling that the final house we had visited the day before was perfect for us. Charlene so graciously offered to take us back to that house to have another look so we could look at it with new eyes and make sure we hadn't imagined how much we liked it. As we were pulling into the neighborhood, I pointed out the street that I thought the brownie shop was on. Sure enough, we passed right by it on our way into the neighborhood. As we started walking around the house, I walked out onto the back deck. And that's when I saw it. The property of this house backs right up to the brownie shop. I quickly exclaimed to all who would hear me "This is a sign from God!!" So, we went back to Charlene's office to write an offer. On Sunday we learned that we had received a counter offer and we accepted. So, the hope now is that we will close on the house at the end of June.
Stuart was nervous at first that maybe this house was too good to be true (not because of the brownie shop, but because it has everything we want). That thought never went through my mind. I know that we have been praying for things to resolve themselves for quite sometime and I know that others have been praying for us. We feel that this was a part of God's plan for us. There were many signs along the way, we just had to take a moment and listen. One of the greatest lessons we have learned on our journey together is that God speaks to us in many ways. In the past 4 months, we have definitely learned to listen more intently and trust him whole-heartedly. That has not been an easy lesson to learn and sometimes it takes a major life event (or several) before one can fully grasp that concept. We are learning. We are listening. We are thankful for the blessings that God continues to pour out upon us.
The excitement we feel is bittersweet. We have always dreamed of a new house that we could pick out together. We never dreamed that new house would be in another state and that we'd be leaving our comfort zone to get it. We are nervous and apprehensive about leaving our church family and friends. We are excited for God's plans for us to be revealed.

TTFN

Spring has Sprung

Finally the weather is starting to feel warm!! This past weekend was awesome. We just left the backdoor and the windows open and enjoyed the beautiful weather. There's really nothing new to report on our front. Cameron only has a month of school left and then he'll be heading to day camp for the summer. This weekend the househunting will officially begin. Stuart and I will be traveling out to Columbus, OH for the weekend to start looking. It's all very overwhelming right now. We have met with a realtor here in Greenwood and we get our second appraisal today. We meet our realtor out in Ohio on Friday and will be spending a good part of Friday and Saturday looking at about 15 different houses. We have gradually started to declutter our house to prepare it for sale. We still have a lot to do though.
Last Wednesday night, Stuart and I attended the Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concert at the Murat in dowtown Indy. It was amazing. I think that was probably one of my favorite concerts I have ever been to. That's about all that's new with us right now. Hopefully in about 12 more weeks our blog postings will be infinitely more exciting.
TTFN

Easter Pictures

The Brodester

This is what happens when Grandma gives you sour candy in your Easter basket

An Easter family picture

My 3 favorite little boys

3 to go

Yep, 3 months from today is my due date. Tomorrow we have another ultrasound because I'm measuring large. My thought is that it's probably all the Mexican food I've been eating lately. So, this past weekend we managed to get registered. It was an experience to say the least. Who knew there was so much stuff out there for babies? What did they do back in the day before fancy travel systems, bouncy seats, and exersaucers? Seriously, it was all a bit overwhelming but if you're interested in finding out what types of things we did end up registering for you can check it out at Target, Wal-mart, and Babies R Us. In our defense, we really had no idea what we were doing and Stuart had the scanner (thus the 6 bottles of baby lotion we're registered for at Wal-mart).

In other news, Cameron's soccer season is up and running. So far the Slushy Scorers are 0-2 and Coach Stuart is feeling a bit down about the start to the season. Not only are they 0-2, they have been outscored 20 to 0 in 2 games. Needless to say, it's going to be a long year.

Preparations for our move are continuing. Stuart has started to fill out all the paperwork associated with our relocation package. In 2 weeks, he and I will be traveling out to Columbus to look at houses. We have started to look a little bit online but it's all too overwhelming for me. I'd rather see the houses in person. Like I've told Stuart, I don't want a huge house, I want a house with efficient use of space.

The custody arrangement for Cameron is going to be the hardest part of this whole thing. We've started that process and are hoping that a resolution comes quickly.

I promise I'll put some pictures on here at some point of our Easter weekend down in Washington. TTFN

Hometown Proud

UNC won the national title game last night. I'm normally not a big UNC fan but have become one since one of our hometown boys now plays for them. It's fun to cheer for a team because you actually know where one of the kids comes from. Go Heels!!!

That's How We Roll

Bears, Indians, sharks, horses, mountains, hiking, golf...you name it, we did/saw it on our vacation. We just arrived home last night from our little 4 day get away to Gatlinburg. The travel party included yours truly, Stuart, Cameron, Grandma Gill and Grandpa Steve. It was a great time and we were all sad to leave but it was nice to come home and sleep in our own beds. I could probably write a novel on all we did/saw on our vacation but here's a quick rundown: The Dixie Stampede, The Gatlinburg Aquarium, Miniature Golf, Cherokee,NC to see the Indians, Picnic, Hiking, Bears along the side of the road. Here are just a few of the 150 pictures we took.


Chief Thundertongue as Grandpa Steve named him. Cameron got to see some authentic Indian dancing and then got to have his face painted like a warrior.

Cameron with Grandma and Grandpa in the Smokies.

We played mini-golf one night. Grandma Gill showed us all up so she had to buy ice cream for us losers when it was over.

The Gatlinburg Aquarium. This was an exhausting outing considering the pace at which Cameron wanted to view everything. Ahh, the boundless energy of six year old boys.

This was Cameron after the Dixie Stampede. What a night!!! We absolutely loved this show. Cameron loved having an excuse to eat with his fingers.

This was the view we had from our chalet in the mountains. When we say in the mountains, we mean almost on top of the mountains. We thanked our lucky stars every time the van made it up another trip. Grandma Gill handled that thing like a pro though (as long as she kept her eyes on the road).


On the last day we were there, we took the bypass by accident. We got stuck in traffic and we thought maybe there was an accident up ahead. It turns out there was a family of bears on the side of the road. It was very cool!!!

So, that was our Gatlinburg vacation. It was such a nice time away from our crazy lives. Stuart has been done with radiation now for about 10 days. He is still recovering from the fatigue that the last few treatments brought. He also ended up getting some burning on his arm. He is healing up nicely though and now we can breathe a sigh of relief that it's over, hopefully forever. We did go celebrate with our friends on the night of his last treatment but I'll leave that for another post.

In other news, the pregnancy is progressing well. We are just about to enter into our final trimester. It's funny how time flies when you have so much else to focus on. Here in the next few weeks we are planning on registering for baby things.
Because the Rogers' family can't have one big life change at once, it has been decided for us that we will most likely be moving to Columbus, OH shortly after baby arrives. To make a really long story short, Stuart's job has been transferred to Columbus. So instead of preparing to welcome our baby into this home, we will now be spending our time looking for a new one. We are not thrilled at the timing of this move but we are so thankful that Stuart still has a job in the economy we're currently living in . We will continue to look for the silver lining in the clouds and just roll with the punches. We didn't know when we entered 2009 all the challenges that lay ahead for us. However, because of the support and prayers of all of our family and friends, we have never felt more blessed.

So, there's your update for now. I am home from work today recovering from vacation and savoring the silence (Cameron is at school). Back to reality tomorrow.

Go Heels!!!

TTFN