Happy New Year!

2006 has been a good year. I was trying to think back on the events of the past year. We've had some WONDERFUL moments and some sad moments but overall we have been very blessed.

January - Lost my mam-ma. Coached Upward Cheerleading
February - Scott went to work for Tyson
March - Scott turned the big 3-0!
April - Celebrated Easter with friends
May - I got promoted at work. Had the best vacation ever in Kauai, HI.
June - Beth Moore conference
July - Went to Dallas to visit my brother with my parents. Found out we were pregnant and lost the baby a few days later (but learned about God's faithfulness through the experience)
August - Traveled to Dallas with Guy and Julie to see DMB.
September - Football, football, football
October - Football, football, football
November- Celebrated 3 years of marriage, Game day came to Fayetteville, and spent Thanksgiving with my family
December - Scott got saved (the biggest event of our year), spent Christmas with Scott's family.

Makes me wonder what will happen in 2007. I know it will be a great year!

Razorback Basketball

My dad gave us tickets to the basketball games he couldn't go to so yesterday we went to Fayetteville and had lunch at Chili's and then went to see the hogs play LA Tech in b-ball. It was fun. I love basketball but I sure miss the glory days of the early 90's when the arena was always standing room only and Nolan wore his polka dot shirts and got at least one technical a game. The magic just seems to be gone. But we are looking forward to going to some SEC games later this season.
I made Scott take my picture with the hog statue. ha!

Happy 1st Birthday Emily!

Her first taste of sweets - welcome to the good life!
The dog puppet we got her
One year ago last night, Laurie called me to tell me she was going into labor. So I got ready and bought a big coffee and made my way to the hospital. I spent the night hanging out in the waiting room with Laurie and Steve's parents and waiting for Emily to come. We talked, read magazines and tried to sleep on the uncomfortable couches in the cold room but finally at 3 a.m. she arrived into the world. Emily Paige Ormon. I was so glad to see her in the first hour she was alive and tonight I got to help celebrate her party with the grandparents and with some of our other friends. Emily had a great time eating cake and opening gifts. Her friends Clay and Dominique had a good time too. Happy Birthday Emily! I love you! You will always be my little "niece"!

 

Weekend of Leisure

Scott and I were off work today and we have a 4 day weekend of leisure! We rented a bunch of movies last night to watch and have just been lazy. Today I hit the mall to look at after Christmas sales but I didn't really find anything. Then we went to see "Dejavu" this afternoon. It was pretty good. Anything with Denzel Washington is always good in my book. Dawson got his hair cut yesterday and he is very proud of how he looks! We took him to Lowe's last night since he was so good during his grooming. 

Martin Sleepover

Brother and Sister

The Martins

Last night my parents and brother Chris were here and spent the night with us. We went and ate at Copeland's and it was SO good! My brother drove home to Dallas from here early this morning and my dad had a dr appt in Fayetteville today and then went home. We had a good time hanging out. My brother got me the coolest vintage Razorback t-shirt in Dallas at Urban Outfitters for my birthday.

Christmas Summary

Well after a lovely Birthday evening - I came home to the worst stomach virus I've ever had in my entire life. Needless to say instead of getting up early and packing the car for Magnolia - I was praying for it to stop. Luckily it was just a short lived bug so I was finally able to drag myself to the car around 1:30 that afternoon and we headed south. I went straight in the house and crawled into bed and stayed there for the next 12 hours. But I woke up Christmas Eve feeling fine so the rest of the Christmas wasn't ruined.
Scott's aunt, uncle and son Drew came and we had Christmas lunch and opened gifts. We enjoyed visiting with them and then they went back to Clinton to spend Christmas at home. We got up Christmas morning and Santa had filled Scott and I's stockings with a lot of wonderful things. We had breakfast and then after getting ready we exchanged gifts. We got too many nice things to list. Scott's mom had his high school jersey and pictures framed for him. I know that means a lot to him and it will go great in his office. We had a nice relaxing day with Scott's family the rest of yesterday and this morning we got up and headed home. It's back to work tomorrow but it's been a nice break and a great time to spend with family and remember the reason for the season.

Today is my birthday! I've had a really great one! Even though there were only 5 of us in the office today - they decorated my office with pink and green streamers and balloons. (and they didn't even know that was TRI CHI colors. ha! ) Then we went to lunch at this little coffee shop on the square and then went home. Scott came home early too and we went and ate at Bonefish Grill. It was SO good! Then we went to see "We are Marshall". I've been waiting to see that since I heard about it and it came out today. It is WONDERFUL! It's a true story about the 1970 plane crash that killed the entire football team of Marshall University in West Virginia and how they overcame that to build a new team back up and eventually won 2 national championships. I loved it!
We head to Magnolia in the morning for Christmas! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! 

Birthday Bash

Tonight I got to have a pre-birthday celebration. My parents and my Aunt Linda came over today and did a little shopping and then they came over after I got off work and we went out to eat. We were going to go to P F Chengs but they had an hour wait so we went to Outback. It was so good. My aunt got me some very cute things for my birthday and my mom got me a Rachel Ray cookbook! :-) My mom also made me and my aunt a cookbook with all the recipes she found in my mam-ma's house that she had hand written out. It was so special to have some of my mam-ma's favorite recipes in her own handwriting. I'm SO glad my mom did that for us.

Quiet Time

I have always struggled with having a consistent quiet time. I've been a Christian since I was 6 - grew up in a Christian home, went to a Christian college and worked at Christian camps and I've always had a good relationship with God - but I've never stuck to spending a designated time with Him every day.
Once Scott got saved - we committed to doing our quiet time together each morning and even though it's only been a couple of weeks - it has really been wonderful. I told him today that the change in him has changed me because now I have a built in accountablity partner and we get up early every morning 7 days a week. God even had the perfect plan for us by providing us a wonderful study of grace that has been the EXACT study Scott and I both needed. Last night we decided to begin using our 29/49 prayer guides that we got at church last year to help us with our prayers and that is going to be a blessing as well. Each day we will pray for something specific - like our government, missionaries, our church, our roles in the church and spiritual gifts, the lost and daily we will pray for specific prayer requests we have. We will log those requests and then log our praises as they are answered. I am so blessed to have a husband who is helping me grow in my spiritual walk. I think 2007 is going to be a life changing year for us!

Sugar cookies, Mexican Food, the Nutcracker and the Lord's Supper

Our weekend was busy with last minute holiday errands and a small shindig to attend on Saturday night.
Sunday was (as always) the highlight of our week. Church was very good on Sunday morning. We got to talk about "Baby Jesus" in 4 year olds and decorate Sugar Cookies. After Church and Sunday school - we went out to eat with 3 other couples at Acambaro. Acambaro is always yummy and cheap but maybe not the best choice unless you want to smell like smoky fajitas the rest of the day.
After lunch - I went with Julie, Elizabeth, Kacy and Ginger to see "The Nutcracker" at the Bentonville arts center. It was so good and went by really fast. The little kids were SO adorable - especially the little mice.
We got home in time to freshen up and head back to church for the candlelight Lord's supper. It was fun to sit together with all of our friends and enjoy the service.
Now it's back to work for the final full week of work before the holidays. Have I mentioned I love this time of year?

Biggest Loser

I don't know how many of you watch The Biggest Loser but Scott and I got real into it this year. A girl from Black & Decker that I worked with, Amy, was one of the finalists. Last night was the finale and we were just blown away by how much weight they had all lost. This is Erik - the guy who won. He started at 407 pounds and he is down to 196. Unbelievable. When he started - he could barely walk without breathing hard, had heart problems and diabetes. Amazing how this changed his life.
About half the contestants lost 100 lbs or more.......Unbelievable. Of course, I kept asking Scott why I couldn't seem to lose even 5 lbs (as I drank my diet coke and contemplated eating a reeses peanut butter cup). Hopefully this show will give me a little motivation. :-)
P.S. If I could have a wish this Christmas - it would be for Bob Harper to be my personal trainer. I think he could inspire anyone to become thin and fit!

Christmas Lights

Tonight was the Stamps' Tour of Lights. We loaded up Dawson and drove around Bentonville to look at Christmas lights. We stopped at the square to walk Dawson around and look at lights and the ice skating rink. Then we stopped in the new coffee shop Java on the Square (which we highly recommend) and Jennifer Reeves was there and she gave us tips on what to get! We ended up getting European hot chocolate which was basically like a melted hershey bar. SO good! Then we went through some more neighborhoods and headed home. What a fun night! 

O Holy Night

Yesterday was a great day! Scott helped me with the 4 year olds and I was so glad he was there because I had planned to make these jingle bell necklaces for us to use to sing Christmas songs with and I couldn't get the yarn to go through the jingle bells but he figured out a way and helped them get made. He really is good with the kids. One of the little girls just latched onto him and was hugging on him.
Scott walked the aisle and it was a really neat experience. He admires our pastor so much so when Bro Phillip prayed for him by name in front of the whole church - it meant a ton to him. And it was so nice to have so many people line up to say a nice word to him.
Last night we went to Keyboards at christmas at church. It was so good. Our friends Julie and Monica played in it and they did so good. They are both VERY talented. It made me wish I had stuck with piano lessons. Afterwards our Sunday School class went to Mazzios to eat. There were around 22 adults and a dozen children that went so that was fun way to end the weekend.

Sweet Emily

This afternoon Scott and I babysat Emily while Laurie and Steve went and saw the best movie ever "Facing the Giants". Emily is so much fun! I fed her "puffs" and green beans (baby food) and we read almost every book she had and played. 

For unto us a Child is Born

This morning Scott and I got to work in our church's annual Christmas shop. Scott helped work the floor and I helped in the children's area with refreshments. What a blessing to be able to serve and how proud I am of our church for meeting needs of those in our community. Not just material needs but spiritual needs also. Our pastors shared the news of Jesus with the people who came and there was also a prayer team available. When we left at noon - 3 people had been saved!

Joy to the World

Something very exciting and wonderful has occurred at the Stamps house and I want to share it with you.
For the past couple of weeks, Scott has really been seeking God and studying his word, praying, listening to our pastor's sermons on-line and struggling with the fact that he didn't know for sure whether he was ever truly saved. He knows he walked an aisle when he was 12 and got baptized but he didn't feel like he ever changed. He said "he didn't come out of the church that day any different than when he went in".
I've noticed a distinct change in him ever since mid November. He's had this peace and joy that I can't explain about him. One night this week - I sat him down and asked him what had changed. He opened up and shared what he'd been going through and told me he'd like to talk to Jason, our Sunday School teacher, so I encouraged him to do so.
Last night, Jason came over late after his work Christmas party and talked to Scott. Scott poured out his heart and was just broken before God. He then prayed a prayer of salvation. A very humble and powerful prayer of salvation. And I have never been more proud of my sweet, strong husband than I was last night.
We stayed up late talking and crying. This morning we started a 40 day study on Grace by David Nassar. I'm so excited about what God is doing in the life of my husband and in our marriage. Scott said he's finally figured out what is important in life - not money, not fame, nothing really matters but Jesus. He told me he just wants to serve God all the rest of his life. With God all things are possible!
Scott is planning to walk the aisle Sunday and ask to be baptized. This is the best Christmas gift I could have ever been given.

Christmas 20 Questions

I've read this on nearly everyone's blog so I decided it was time for me to fill it out myself.

CHRISTMAS 20 QUESTIONS:

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Since anything "egg" makes me gag - I'm going to go with hot chocolate. YUM! I just discovered 2 years ago that I actually do like hot drinks. But I would still pick a Sonic vanilla diet coke any day!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? When I was growing up - Santa always left the presents unwrapped. I loved running to the tree with my brother in the morning and seeing all the barbies/dolls/etc that he had left me. I hope to follow that tradition when we have kids.

3. Colored lights or white? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but this year when Scott went to buy big bulbed lights at Lowe's and he called to ask "white or colored lights" - my answer - was "White, of course, colored lights are SO tacky". (just a personal preference)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No - but we don't need a plant hanging in the house to want to kiss!

5. When do you decorate for Christmas? As soon as I can. Usually the weekend after Thanksgivng but if we are gone that whole weekend - I try to do it the weekend before.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? I love when my mom makes potato casserole and green bean casserole. Nothing says "good" and "Southern" like anything made with cream of mushroom soup.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Probably spending Christmas at my mam-ma and pap-pa's house most years and Chris and I would share a bed and talk about what Santa would bring us and then we'd get up real early to start playing with our gifts and my dad would sit in the living room and play with us while we watched "The Today Show" and "Regis and Kathie Lee" and my mom and mam-ma made us a big lunch.

8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? What? Santa isn't real? He's still bringing me presents.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I'm very particular about my tree. My house is mostly decorated in green, red, chocolate brown and gold so those are the only colors I want on my tree. I have a smaller tree that I put in our kitchen that is only done in gold. We always buy a christmas ornament every where we travel (in lieu of souveniers) but we need to get a small tree to put those on because they really don't fit on our main trees.

11. Snow. Love it or hate it? LOVE IT - but I don't want to have to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? Really slowly holding on to the wall. :-)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I would probably say Dawson. Scott got him for me 4 years ago. He's the gift that keeps on giving.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Spending time with family and remembering why we are celebrating. I'd also say that I'd rather find ways to help others or give to the needy more than I enjoy recieving gifts. I think this time of year helps you to remember how very blessed we are.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My mam-ma's chocolate pie. This will be the first year I won't have one (she passed away in January).

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? My family usually always goes to the movies at Christmas. That's one of my favorite things to do.

17. What tops your tree? A whole bunch of sparkly sticks. (Refer to decoration pictures if that doesn't make sense).

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Definetely giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? I have SO many I don't know if I can name just one. I'd say my two favorites are "Mary did you know" and "Strange way to save the world"

20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum? Not too fond of the peppermint candy.

Lunch Break

Clockwise from L: Stacy, Trenton, Missi, Laurie and Emily

Today I got to go to one of my favorite places (P.F. Cheng's) with my best friend, an old friend and a new friend.
Laurie (and Emily) and our old friend Missi and our new friend Stacy (and her son Trenton) all met for lunch. Laurie and I got to be friends with Missi back in our swinging single days. Missi had gone to OBU a few years before us and we met her at church. She is one of the sweetest people I know. She has an identical twin, Krissi, and they were both homecoming queens at OBU. Stacy and her husband have begun attending our Sunday School class. She is so sweet. We discovered that she used to work with Missi and they are good friends. So we all got together for lunch today. It was a lot of fun and Trenton and Emily were so good.

Seasons Greetings

My favorite part of Christmas has began!
I love Christmas. I love the snow. I love Christmas music. I love Christmas movies. I love all the Christmas parties. I love Christmas decorations. I LOVE LOVE LOVE lights on houses and the town and the square. I love drinking hot chocolate and eating Christmas cookies. I love Christmas programs at church when all the kids are in the cutest ever Christmas outfits and sing. I love Christmas presents but that is my least favorite thing about the season.
My VERY favorite thing about Christmas is Christmas cards! I always loved to get mail. When I was in college and worked at a church camp I would live for when people would write me letters or send me cards. (of course this was all before e-mail).
But I love the month of December because every day I open up the mailbox to find another sweet card. And my favorite are picture cards especially when I get to see cute pictures of all the kids of my friends. I save them all in albums from year to year.
And yesterday - I finally got my first two cards! Here is a sneak preview of our Christmas card!

Razorbacks, Birthdays and Dream Homes

I've had a very busy but fun weekend. I'm so sad because I've had three fun events in a row that I failed to take pictures of. This post would be must more interesting with pictures but you can use your imagination.
We got to watch the frustrating loss last night with the Nichols and the Greens. Although I'm sad we lost - I did enjoy watching it with good friends. The hogs still had a great year and we are going to a good bowl so there is nothing to hang our heads down about.
Today has been a CRAZY busy day but a very fun one. Today was the hanging of the green service at church where all the choirs from the 3-5 year olds and up sing and it was very good. Then Scott and I had our first Sunday on the welcome team. It went pretty good. I had to show a couple of people to SS classes. Then we went to Johnny Carino's with 3 other couples to celebrate Julie Green's birthday! Her actual day is not till Tuesday but it was nice of Guy to invite us all to lunch. We had a great time visiting.
Then after lunch, my friends Elizabeth, Laurie and Hillary and I went on the junior league tour of homes. We got a late start and only hit 4 out of 12 homes but it was so fun. We are already ready to go again next year. But next year we are starting right at 11 so hopefully we can hit more. One of the homes we went to was worth our whole trip. It was 9000 square feet and just unbelievable. A plastic surgeon, his wife and their soon to be 8 children live there (they have 6 girls and are adopting twin boys).
I got home and we went right to church. We had a special guy who did a one man drama of the life of Jesus. It was very good. I love Sunday night church.
What a fun weekend!

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

I love the way Elizabeth is cheesing in this picture. :-)
They guys in the kitchen - you can tell they are REAL excited about the ornament exchange

Last night was our annual progressive dinner Sunday School Christmas party. Julie planned it and she did a great job. We thought we might have to cancel it because of the snow but the sun came out and cleared the roads just in time. Everyone came to our house to start for dinner. We had a potluck and it was really good. Then we went right around the corner to the Murrays new house. They just recently moved in and it is already fixed up so cute. We had dessert and an ornament exchange there. The hot ornaments this year were some that a girl in our class hand made - they were razorback (so cute!) We had 27 people come - it was a great success. We are very blessed to be apart of such a wonderful Sunday School Class. Everyone has become such dear friends to us and we are very grateful to have such faithful teachers - Jason and Michelle.

 

Winter Wonderland

Here's how things look for us this morning. Scott just left to go to work. I'm going to work at home for another hour or two and then I might venture to my office.