Our BIG dreams

For as long and I can remember, Josh and I have had big dreams for our future. We have always talked about what our life will be like in 2, 5, and 10 years. The amazing thing is that God has already made our plans for us and we are just following along with what he wants for us. We are so blessed to have found eachother. We both want exactly the same things for our lives and we both have BIG dreams. We have been talking a lot lately about where we will live when we have our first child in a few years. It's a big decision because we need to be close to family but love where we live now. We have put it in God's hands and are trusting in his will for us. I thought I would blog and share some of our big dreams with my fellow bloggers!

First of all, our main goal in life is to stay close to God and allow him to lead us and our family. We had a hard time finding a home church here in Tuscaloosa but we found one and we love it. It's First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa. We are growing in our Sunday school class and getting involved in other areas as well. One great thing about it is an amazing children's program and a great preschool.

That thought brings me to our second future plan. Josh and I both want to have 4 kids. It's not something that one of us talked the other into. We both just wanted 4. Right now we are waiting on God's perfect timing and we think that we will probably be ready to start in a year or two. We're not in a hurry and we are currently just enjoying our time together. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves when we see really cute baby stuff like this amazing baby bed. We have already named all of our kids. I guess you could say we're prepared.

Last year when we started working on our renovations in our house, we found a book of dream house plans. We bought it and looked at it and picked out all of our favorite plans. We chose one and have stuck with it. My Aunt Tina told me that when she and my Uncle Scott first got married, they put their dream house plans on their fridge in their tiny trailer. They decided that they wouldn't give up until they lived in that house. Now, they do. It's georgous. So, we have our plans and look forward to the day when we will be living in our dream house.

The last thing that we really pray about constantly and look forward to is both becoming teachers. I have one semester left until graduation and Josh is starting college next semester. I go to ASU and Josh is going to go to JSU. We are both going to be history teachers and Josh is going to be a basketball coach. We look forward to working together everyday and having such a normal and routine life.

Josh and I are very simple people and we love our life right now just like it is. We talk about our future and our dreams because we know that as much as we love our life right now, it is only going to get better as our family grows. We look forward to the future but we're not in any big hurry. We are so blessed and we thank God for everything he has given us and will give us in the future.

Bella

Josh and I have been talking lately about getting another pet. We LOVE dogs but it is hard to put another dog with Luke, he's a bully. So, we were talking about getting a cat. Now, I like cats but have never even considered having an inside animal. So, I just kind of dismissed it because I thought it would shed and all of that. Well, last night, Josh and I went to Gardendale to have dinner with Adam, Andy, and TJ. I said I wanted to go to the movies but he said we couldn't because he had a suprise for me and we had to pick it up. Well, I said, ok but we can still go to the movies and he said he couldn't leave my suprise in the car. When he said that I just new it was a puppy or a kitten. Well, sure enough it was an adorable kitten. His friend at work had her and she is only about 7 weeks old. She's so small and sweet and she's completely house trained. So, we brought her home and named her Bella. She's a little bit crazy but we love her already!

School and Melvin

I'm sitting in class right now...It hasn't started yet and since I severely need to pay attention during class, I thought I would blog before it starts to clear my head. Blogging is seriously my therapy. Well, I got my court date changed for my speeding ticket and now the only hassle will be finding a day that I'm not completely booked up that I can actually go to driving school. Ugh...Just thinking about it makes me sleepy! I'm working today and tonight on a PowerPoint presentation on WWII women that I will be using while I teach tomorrow at Holt. I can't wait for my Field Expereice to be over. I truly hate that school. I have three weeks left of class. Two big assignments and then finals. I feel like the little engine that could. I keep telling myself, I can do this. I'm almost there. I'm SO ready! I read the handbook yesterday for interns and it is going to be alot of work, but at least it will be the kind of work that I will enjoy doing...like lesson plans and evaluations.. Tiffany and I have decided to adopt the Varsity Cheerleading sponsor position for next year. I know, it's a little soon since I'm still about 8 months away from finding out if I will get a job there. Let's just say I have ALOT of faith about this one. The thing is that if we want to do it she has to step up to take over in March to hold auditions. So, she's taking a leap of faith. If, I was to not get a job there she will be fine because she has done it before. I just really, really, REALLY want a job there! 9th grade World History to be exact!! I'm praying for it everyday. I am also still praying devoutly for my internship to be at West Blocton. They will post that in a couple of weeks. I CANNOt wait for the Holidays this year. I love Thanksgiving and am sincerely looking forward to a week at home with almost nowhere to go. I will have a ton of studying to do but I don't mind that if I'm at home in my nice warm bed! Oh, and speaking of home, We discovered a mouse in our house!! AH!! As you would assume, I freaked out! Actually, I cried. (embarrassingly enough) Josh was like, it's just a tiny mouse(He then proceeded to name him Melvin as if that would make it less gross to me)... Well, it is living somewhere in our home and we have yet to catch it or see it again. There are traps EVERYWHERE... (Not the kind that splatter them...those are gross.) Until we do catch him, I refuse to spend time in our living room, because when we saw him, he ran under the couch. I should post pictures of all of the traps that are set up around the couch. (but I'm not at home.) Well, I think that is all the Odom family news right now.

School news

I stayed home from school today because they were just doing presentations and I wasn't going to miss anything. So, I stayed home and am working on laundry and studying for a test tomorrow. We are out of school on Wednesday for Veteran's Day so I only have to go to school for two days this week. Tuesday (tomorrow) I have a test in 20th Century Europe. I haven't made much progress studying so far but I am working on it. Next week is my last week before Thanksgiving break. I can't wait! When I go back from Thanksgiving break, I only have two weeks left of school. I have like a bazillion things to do to prepare for those last two weeks of finals. I also have a 10 page paper due and a unit due on December 3rd. I'm stressed about getting it all done and having a good grades but I just keep telling myself that I'm done FOREVER in a few weeks. I registered for my internship this morning and my tuition for the spring is going to be half of what is has been in the past. So, that was great news...and I found out that I will graduate on May 7th!

Totally random update

I have 2 weeks left until Thanksgiving break and I can't wait to have some time to be at home and relax. I officially have only 4 weeks left of this semester! I have some big assignments due in 3 weeks and then finals the week after that. I cannot wait to be finished with school but I'm bracing myself for the next few weeks because I have a lot to do...

I got a speeding ticket Thursday morning on my way to school. I was coming down 69 going towards Dodge City and was still in Pineywoods when I got pulled over. He said I was in a construction zone even though I wasn't really to it yet! Well, I went online this morning to see how much it was going to be. It is $257!! Wow! I did not see that coming! So... I guess I will be spending a Saturday in Driving School real soon... We can't really afford the ticket or what it will do to our insurance but even more than that is that I already have one ticket from April (driving as much as I do will do that to ya) and if I get another one within the year, my liscence could be suspended.

In good news, our renters decided to stay for another two months so we don't have to look for new renters right before Christmas. That is always so stressful... So, we feel really blessed to know that we don't have to deal with that right now.

I got an adorable peacoat the other day on sale! It's white with black buttons. I LOVE it! These days its rare that me or Josh get anything new...With me not being able to work at all and trying to save up for Christmas things are tight. So, I was so excited when I found this adorable jacket (that I have wanted for over a year) on sale for $39.99!!

I get to wear my new adorable jacket next month when I am hanging out in the mountains!! What a great way to end my career as a stressed out college student...by spending a few days in the mountains! I take my last final (EVER) on the 16th and we are leaving for the mountains the next morning! I can't wait! I absolutely love the mountains. It's romantic and relaxing and beautiful...I'm so excited!

I get my student-teaching placement in 3 and a half weeks. I can't wait to find out where I am being placed. I am praying hard for West Blocton!

I'm still praying hard for that situation that I posted about a week or two ago. It will all be resolved in about a week, good or bad. I know that God has a plan. I am trusting in his will.

I think that's all for me now! I know this was a totally random post!

My new state-of-the-art, fool-proof, stuff-that-you-already-know-but-still-don't-do, DIET and EXERCISE plan

I am always complaining about how I have gained weight since I got married and other people tell me that it's natural and I just accept that and pretend like it doesn't bother me...but it really does. None of my old (cute) clothes fit me anymore and it is quite depressing. My amazing husband constantly tells me how beautiful I am and how he does not want me to lose any weight but let's face it...I'm sure that it wouldn't bother him if I did! :) So, I have made up my mind (for the 50th time) to lose some weight! Now, I'm not going to say how much I weigh but I cetainly have a goal in mind! I bought some new groceries and have a good plan.

1. Diet & Exercise-- I have learned in my experience with dieting and exercising that they really do go together. You can't really do one without the other and expect to see a change. My goal this time around is to make a LIFESTYLE change. This is important to me because I have dieted before and lost a few pounds but it all comes back immediately if you do not change your eating and exercising habits.

2. Goals-- I am going to set immediate and long term goals. It is hard to stay motivated if you are constantly focused on a long term goal because losing weight is a slow process. So, I have decided that this time I will have a long term goal and a weekly goal.

3. Weigh-ins--I tend to go overboard with my weigh-ins because I get obsessed with my weight when I'm dieting. I want the scale to change every single day and if it doesn't, I lose my motivation. So, this time I am only going to weigh myself once a week. Friday mornings as soon as I wake up.

4. Support-- With it being almost time for the Holidays and all of those pictures coming up, everyone is in diet mode. This is a great thing for me because I have an excellent support system. Dieting is hard but doing it all alone is almost impossible! My mom, sister, and mother-in-law are all dieting with me. This will help me to stay on track and not lose my will!

5. Daily reminders-- Changing the way that I eat has proven impossible for me in the past. So, this time, in order to keep my focus on the future, I am going to give myself daily reminders that will keep me motivated. For me, these are things like my skinny jeans hanging where I can see them and the pictures of myself when I was skinny!

I am not wanting to lose a massive amount of weight. But, I am at that point in my life where I need to start teaching myself new eating and exercising habits because I cannot depend on my crazy hyperactive thyroid to keep me thin anymore. The pace of my life has sped up and there is a lot more drive-thru days and a lot less gym time for me. I have just got to stay focused on being healthy and happy!

Updates to come! Wish me luck!!