"We built this house... on rock and roll!"

Ok, it's an old song, but it actually works in this case. Our house and yard are on like a mile deep's worth of rock! It will probably take a while for me to till my garden and watch it flourish... :l

But anyway, look at this thing! Last Monday we rejoiced over our cement slab and small brick and gravel foundation. Then last Wednesday right before racing to a weekend-long competition for Grant's choir in Atlanta, we stopped by and the bottom level was completely framed! After we returned from Atlanta on Sunday evening, the second story was done, too! What a productive and well-deserved weekend (Grant's choir won first place, did I mention?).

Today is Friday, so in only 5 short days (not without more than a light shower of rain, I might add), the roof has been laid and windows have been installed! Yesterday a few men were

unloading the bases of our bathtubs in the front yard (pretty sight), and I assume they loaded those inside as well.

For about 30 minutes yesterday afternoon I sprawled a blanket out on the splintery game room floor upstairs and read my Bible. I am so thankful for this beautiful house, and I am often overwhelmed by the awesome excitement and

responsibility of it all. I have needed these times often lately to pour out my overactive emotions and leave these anxieties at the feet of Christ. Grant and I are working on a scripture for every room in our house. We plan to write these verses on the framed walls of each room (an idea we got from Jacob and Rachel - who are moving in across the street from our house -

this very moment in fact!!). We pray that these verses will encompass all that happens in the rooms of our home.

Our first year of marriage is coming to a close here in the month of May. We may no longer be able to distinguish ourselves as "newly-weds". We have enjoyed all the "getting to know you" aspects about our relationship, especially learning how to live with one another. We will definitely continue to learn more every day of every year, I am sure. We have begun to experience the uncomfortable feelings of insecurity and inadequacy regarding careers and

money, especially during the purchase process of our new home. In addition to all this, we are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (13-week course in money management and dumping debt for good), and we are constantly learning so much about things we haven't thought about before! We are enjoying every minute, but it's so very overwhelming.

"Blah, blah..." you old married veterans are saying right now (Blake and Mo and Lori and David, two couples who are celebrating 5 years in May!; and Adam and Michelle who just celebrated three years this month)! Well, the truth is, we have learned a great deal from you. Thank you for being great models for our relationship. And for letting us pick your brains about all sorts of fun facts! This post is dedicated to you, my friends. :) Enjoy the pics, everyone. Be back soon. :)

Firm Foundation

"How Firm a Foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God's excellent Word."

How exciting - we have a foundation on our little plot of beautiful land! I told Grant when we visited last night that I feel like this house project is almost like having a child. As we walked around the barriers and "rooms" of our house, we prayed over every room and everything that may happen to our family in this house. Watching it arise literally from the ground up is such a cool process. I've never had a kid, but this really feels like a very small version of that, I think! I already love everything about our land and our house. Ya'll will probably get so sick of hearing about it! :) But you're reading this, so I guess that's a good thing! The 7 day forecast looks very sunny and dry - perfect conditions for a lot to do be done this week. Keep checking back for more!

"...because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building being joined together grows into a Holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." - Ephesians 2:20-22

Well, friends, after a six or seven month hiatus, I am trying to blog again. I knew this would be an on-again, off-again sort of thing, so I'm still working at it. My sister-in-law thinks she's slacking when she waits a few weeks to make another post. Holy moly, she's way better than I am - plus her blog is customized and way cuter than this one! :)

A few things that have

happened in the last few months during the first year of marriage of Grant and Megan Farmer... continued trucking away at our teaching jobs, joined a wonderful church that we absolutely love in Providence, took a very wet camping trip along

the Natchez Trace during Fall Break, Meg started an online grad school program, Meg withdrew from an online grad school program, spent Thanksgiving with the whole Farmer family in Manhattan, spent a wonderful Christmas with the Tozers in Murfreesboro, sought out more grad school opportunities for Meg, stayed a weekend at Andi and Bill's ranch house with their foster child, and bought a house!

Yes, friends, Grant and I have purchased a house in the Bradford Park sub

division in the Providence community in Mt. Juliet. It's a great starter home neighborhood. Our home is all vinyl siding, 1483 square feet, two story, three bedroom, 2 and a half bathrooms with a fireplace and a cute little wrap porch in the front. We were able to choose many of our options from floors to electrical outlets and hardware fixtures to appliances! So many decisions to make, and we enjoyed the process (me probably a little more than Grant!). I would like to document each time there is a change to our beautiful little lot, so keep checking back if you're interested. Here are so

me pictures of our lot when we first purchased it on March 19. One picture has all our supplies in the "yard". That is taken today after our construction meeting. Tomorrow our concrete slab will be laid!! I have every intention of posting again soon. :) Good night, dear friends!

Two tired teachers...

Goodness, friends. Two teachers in the family makes for very early mornings, endless work days, regrettably too few home-cooked meals, and literally collapsing in bed by 9:00... at the latest. How amazingly our lifestyles have 180'd since college!!

Grant very much enjoys teaching his high-schoolers, and I think they're warming up to him well. Right now, adjusting to a brand new director is complete culture shock for 16 year-olds who don't adapt well to change! But they like him a lot, are very talented, and are extremely motivated to sing well. So Grant has walked into a wonderful program. I'd love to tell you more, but my plan to get him blogging is obviously still a work in progress. (sigh)

Three weeks into teaching 20 four-year-olds each day has undoubtedly defined my life's passion. Though it's certainly not easy every day serving two meals family style, taming 6 temper tantrums/melt-downs, cleaning up 3 "number 2" accidents, answering 20 screaming"Mrs. Megan!!"s, and preventing a handful of mild injuries; I am completely in love. The kids are really starting to get used to our routine, and are trusting Mrs. Lori and Mrs. Megan to teach them, keep them safe, and make every day full of fun! They are doing so well.

Grant and I have managed to have some fun of our own during the past few weeks too. We were able to visit the Tozers and the Farmers during Labor Day weekend, which was so fulfilling and relaxing. We also made it to the legendary Wilson County Fair two weeks ago. This is not just any fair, my friends - we're talking #1 in the state (surpassing even the state fair!) and among the top 50 in the nation! A couple quartets from Grant's choir actually performed one night, so we made a date of it! From the top of the ferris wheel....

My New Job!

So I'm trying hard to get Grant involved in this whole blogging thing, and I may have him convinced before long. "Blake sometimes blogs too - it's not just for girls, dear," I encourage, lovingly. I think the day is coming soon, so just you wait.

My husband is off to his first booster club officers meeting with his high school choir parents. Yikes! He's a little nervous, but very excited all the same. I'm excited about his job too because not only have we scoured his classroom the past couple of weeks (yuck), but tomorrow I get to attend the freshmen meet-and-greet - and eat free pizza! Families of faculty are allowed, so I'm taking full advantage. :)

So after three weeks of unemployment and doing fun wifely duties at home (i.e. ironing, baking, organizing, cleaning, etc.), I have landed a job!! I will be an Educational Assistant for a Pre-Kindergarten classroom at Byars Dowdy Elementary School in Lebanon. I am so very excited! (Yes, this does mean that since we have moved to Mt. Juliet, we have both accepted employment in Lebanon. Not a bad drive at all though, and totally worth it to live in MJ.) Anyway, my teacher is Lori, and I can already tell we will get along very well. My first day of in-service was today (I was just hired last Thursday, so the prep time was minimal.) I will spend the next three weeks cleaning and preparing the classroom, making home-visits to all our students, and doing half-days with each of them a few at a time. The Lebanon Special School District is exceptional, and their "phase-in" method for Pre-K really helps the children adapt to school easily.

So not only will I be teaching children (something I have always loved), but Grant and I will be on the same schedule all year long which is so wonderful! Our districts are both on year-round schedules, so we will have a slightly shortened summer with nine week quarters separated by 2 week breaks throughout the year. Perfect! This was certainly an answer to prayer, and we are so thankful. Another bonus - I have been seriously considering pursuing a master's degree in education so I can teach, and this would be perfect practice and experience if I began taking classes soon. We're very happy; can you tell?!

On another quick note, our bed came in last week! (This was somewhat unexpected since our last order took nine weeks, and this one took a mere three days.) Needless to say, we were excited. AND that means that now we have a proper guest room! No more blowing up the air mattress, so come visit!!!

Saturday's Sticks-N-Scramble

Ok, so we are idiots. This afternoon we attended a lovely wedding in Murfreesboro. Our friends Joshua and Sarah, fellow MTSU School of Music alums, were married, and we were so happy to support them on this special day!

We thought this trip quite convenient because our dresser and nightstands from Sticks-N-Stuff furniture store in Murfreesboro finally arrived at the store! This order was six weeks late, people. We purchased these before our wedding, and it has been a nightmare to get them here. (Our order was still in the name of 'Tozer' so the store clerks always referred to Grant as "Mr. Tozer" when he called and complained to them.)

So we pick up our enormous boxes after Joshua and Sarah's wedding, and we realize that they are just a wee bit too large to fit into the Jeep. I know, we didn't think this through very well. We managed to slide the dresser into the back (with all the seats down) and one night stand strapped on top of the Jeep. The second nightstand wouldn't fit anywhere but in the front seat. Therefore, Meg lost her seat. I climbed through the hatchback and carefully slid sideways in between the dresser, the spare tire, and a nasty tool box. All the while wearing my cute little sundress and being completely covered in dog hair (since we haven't cleaned the Jeep since Mav's backpacking trip with us).

Grant stifled and laugh and muttered, "I love my wife!" as he drove our 100-pound heavier Jeep down Broad Street dodging Uncle Dave Macon Days attendees. I lied as low as I could so to avoid the police officers stationed at every corner! The story ends well as we drove the 40 minute drive to Mount Juliet going 63 miles an hour as Grant yelled "Bump!" too late every time he hit a bump in the road. We huffed and puffed as we carried the three boxes upstairs to our third floor apartment, and all was finally well in the Farmer home!

Goodness gracious, what a day! At least the end result is pretty. :)

Backpacking with Maverick

What a great couple of days! After my last day at work, Grant and I decided to go backpacking. We really enjoy it because it's a great way to get away and spend time in nature. We went to Stone Door, a park in Monteagle, TN. They have some pretty great sites and tough trails. We've been there once before, and this time Grant wanted to do the roughest, most challenging trail... with me... and with Maverick, Blake and Mo's puppy. Well, he's more like a horse. :) But he's wonderful!!

We walked a total of 10 miles - 5 miles to our campsite and 5 miles back the next day. The trail was very strenuous. Parts of it were endless boulder fields, one area in which we climbed 500 vertical feet. We crossed three swinging bridges. It took a couple times for Mavvy to get used to those. :)

These kinds of trips are so rewarding, but I'm not going to lie: my body was extremely exhausted on the second day. We had to take lots of breaks for my sake! Maverick did so well. He is very well-trained and listens to commands so capably. He was full of love and had a great time. (He sprawled out between us in the tent, and definitely took up most of the room!)

So, to Maverick's proud Mommy and Daddy - he was terrific and gets a gold star for the trip. Here are some pictures to prove it!