Monday, May 24, 2010
Pictures from the busy weekend!
The party was Mexican Fiesta theme. That is the reason for the flowers and mustache :) No, that is not our everyday attire!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
STOP and enjoy the moment :)
First, I want to say that a post about our vacation along with pictures are coming soon! I just have to find a minute to upload pictures. Life is always crazy busy after you return home from a vacation.
This weekend my Uncle Keith (uncle here in Bartlett) is graduating with his bachelor's degree from Union University. This is very humorous because he has been working as a Nurse of Anesthesia for about 25 years. When he got his RN back in the day you were just required an Associate degree and now you have to have a Bachelors degree. So in order for him to advance anymore in school (Master's or PHD) he had to go back and get his Bachelors degree. So that is what he has done and has finished. To say all of that, his dad and wife (My granddad) are in town visiting and they are staying with us. Granddad will be 88 in August and is retired from the Air Force where he was a Chief Master Sergeant (VERY high rank). They live in Smyrna, about 15 minutes from Murfreesboro, so we get to see them occasionally but not enough. So their stay has been very enjoyable and he has great stories to tell. It is a joy watching him enjoy Layla. Not many people get to spend time with their great grandparents. What a blessing. We are celebrating the graduation with a big party tomorrow so I am sure that there will be pictures to follow.
This weekend reminds me of how important family is and how much we can learn if we will listen. Yes, the times back then were VERY different but we still need to value advice and knowledge that our elders share. I am grateful for my Godly heritage, and what I will get to pass on to my children. I pray that my parenting will be so that my children wish to pass some of my wisdom on to their children. What pressure to know that the example that I am will affect my family generations to come, in a positive or negative way. When I am living in eternity all people are going to remember are those sort of things anyway! I pray everyday that God would give me guidance in these things.
Hope everyone is having a refreshing weekend. This is the last weekend that we will be "living" in Memphis. We are leaving Thursday or Friday to head to Murfreesboro for Memorial Day and Lucas flies out to NYC at 12:00pm on Monday. Definitely, bittersweet but the road ahead is SO EXCITING! Pray for us :)
This weekend my Uncle Keith (uncle here in Bartlett) is graduating with his bachelor's degree from Union University. This is very humorous because he has been working as a Nurse of Anesthesia for about 25 years. When he got his RN back in the day you were just required an Associate degree and now you have to have a Bachelors degree. So in order for him to advance anymore in school (Master's or PHD) he had to go back and get his Bachelors degree. So that is what he has done and has finished. To say all of that, his dad and wife (My granddad) are in town visiting and they are staying with us. Granddad will be 88 in August and is retired from the Air Force where he was a Chief Master Sergeant (VERY high rank). They live in Smyrna, about 15 minutes from Murfreesboro, so we get to see them occasionally but not enough. So their stay has been very enjoyable and he has great stories to tell. It is a joy watching him enjoy Layla. Not many people get to spend time with their great grandparents. What a blessing. We are celebrating the graduation with a big party tomorrow so I am sure that there will be pictures to follow.
This weekend reminds me of how important family is and how much we can learn if we will listen. Yes, the times back then were VERY different but we still need to value advice and knowledge that our elders share. I am grateful for my Godly heritage, and what I will get to pass on to my children. I pray that my parenting will be so that my children wish to pass some of my wisdom on to their children. What pressure to know that the example that I am will affect my family generations to come, in a positive or negative way. When I am living in eternity all people are going to remember are those sort of things anyway! I pray everyday that God would give me guidance in these things.
Hope everyone is having a refreshing weekend. This is the last weekend that we will be "living" in Memphis. We are leaving Thursday or Friday to head to Murfreesboro for Memorial Day and Lucas flies out to NYC at 12:00pm on Monday. Definitely, bittersweet but the road ahead is SO EXCITING! Pray for us :)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Mid way through vacation update
I have missed you guys!! I have gotten so used to my daily blogging that I just feel like I am forgetting something, so I decided to take a minute tonight to say hello. We are half way through our vacation. We arrived in Atlanta about 8pm eastern Wednesday night after spending 5 days in Orlando. Layla has been such a trooper through all of our travels. I know that she has a lot of catching up on sleep to do when we get home. Oh well, sleep is for the weak right?? Today, Lucas and I made a big move... we joined to 404 area code! We both have Atlanta numbers now. If you don't have my new number, message me and I will be more than happy to give it to you. We also spent all afternoon looking at apartments here in Atlanta. Going from owning a house to renting an apartment is going to be such an adjustment. I just have a hard time giving that much money away in rent! I have to remember that renting is only temporary for us. I am just believing that God will lead us to the perfect place where we can get the most for our money.
As we were driving into Atlanta on Wednesday, I just felt such a peace and excitement about the things to come. I am very excited to be a resident of this city for the next phase of our lives and I have no doubt that this is where God wants us to be for a little while. We had dinner tonight at a restaurant in Decatur. We ate outside as the weather was absolutely perfect. I just love the small town feel in the big city. More updates later on what we did during the rest of our vacation. Just wanted to touch base with everyone! Hope you are having a great week!!
As we were driving into Atlanta on Wednesday, I just felt such a peace and excitement about the things to come. I am very excited to be a resident of this city for the next phase of our lives and I have no doubt that this is where God wants us to be for a little while. We had dinner tonight at a restaurant in Decatur. We ate outside as the weather was absolutely perfect. I just love the small town feel in the big city. More updates later on what we did during the rest of our vacation. Just wanted to touch base with everyone! Hope you are having a great week!!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Forgot what it was like!!
Today was probably the longest that I had been away from Layla during the day since she was born. Sad I know but that is how things are when you are breastfeeding. Layla has been taking or leaving the lunch time nursing so I didn't think she would miss me if I wasn't there. I left her about 11:00 and her grammy fed her lunch at 12:00. She then went to bed about 1 and slept till about 4 which was about the time I got back home. I had several things to do in preparation for our vacation and I also had a Mother's Day present to buy since we aren't going to be in town for that.
It was so nice to be able to jump in and out of the car and run from one store to the next. Layla is not necessarily a bad shopper but it is just different toting along a baby. I took my time looking at make up and trying on as many pairs of sunglasses that I wanted :)(Didn't buy either but it was fun to look). We were both happy to see each other when I got home. Living in a different city as grandparents has it positives and negatives. Not having someone to watch your kid while you can have "me time" is definitely a negative. I took every advantage of the opportunity today and enjoyed every minute!
It was so nice to be able to jump in and out of the car and run from one store to the next. Layla is not necessarily a bad shopper but it is just different toting along a baby. I took my time looking at make up and trying on as many pairs of sunglasses that I wanted :)(Didn't buy either but it was fun to look). We were both happy to see each other when I got home. Living in a different city as grandparents has it positives and negatives. Not having someone to watch your kid while you can have "me time" is definitely a negative. I took every advantage of the opportunity today and enjoyed every minute!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
BIG CHANGES for the Kairdolf Family!!
I am finally able to share this information with you and it makes me SOO excited. Lucas is starting his own company (Summit Elevator Company) and we are moving to Atlanta!! I know all of you are reading this and thinking whoa... where did that come from? Trust me, there has been much planning and prayers that have led us to this decision so I will share with you some of the journey...
Let me start by saying that if you know my husband well at all you knowthat he has an entrepreneur spirit. He has had many life experiences that have taught him leadership skills and the attitude to take charge and make things happen. He also has a father that taught him excellent work ethic and how to work with his hands. (This benefits me when the toilet breaks). So after about 7 months at Otis he started talking about the possibility of running his own company, I knew that this was something that was pretty much inevitable. He would come home everyday and tell me all these details so one day I just looked at him and asked what he was waiting for?? Also if you know my husband you know that he is not big on taking chances or risks so he had to know that he knows that this is the future that God has for us.
So at the beginning of the month of April, we made a list of specifics that we were praying about. With #1 being that we would know for sure if this was God's will or was it just something that we were trying to put together. Our biggest prayer was from Revelation 3, that God would open doors that no man could shut, and that He would shut doors that no man could open. After many open doors were presented, we decided that this was a God thing and that we would walk through those doors. Sparing a lot of details, let my just say that by April 28th , Summit Elevator already had a 15 week job in contract and Lucas was turning in his notice at work.
Why Atlanta? There are a few reasons that we are going to Atlanta. The work potential there is a lot better than it is in Memphis, we really don't want to be in Memphis forever so why establish a business here, we have immediate family that we will be close too, and probably the main reason is because Lucas did not want to burn any bridges with Otis and be immediate direct competition. He has made a lot of business contacts while being in Memphis and it would just not be right to stay and do that.
So what is the next immediate step? Lucas's last day with Otis is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, he will be headed to New York City with his business partner. They will be going back and forth for hopefully about 6 months. They have immediate connections there to earn money so that they can get some money in the bank and avoid a loan before we head to Atlanta. Our house in Oakland is already on the market. As for Layla and I, we will be spending the summer in Murfreesboro and then just kind of see how things are going then. Our hope is to have residence in Atlanta by August or September.
Obviously, this has been a faith journey for us and will continue to be every step of the way. Now is the time in our lives to take a risk like this and really depend on God as our Provider to meet our everyday needs. Here are a few ways you can pray for us along the way:
Pray that our house sells quickly in Oakland
Pray that God will continue to open up doors for more work
Pray that the transition from city to city will be as smooth as possible, especially for Layla
Pray that our faith will be increased daily and that no matter what happens God will be glorified!
Let me start by saying that if you know my husband well at all you knowthat he has an entrepreneur spirit. He has had many life experiences that have taught him leadership skills and the attitude to take charge and make things happen. He also has a father that taught him excellent work ethic and how to work with his hands. (This benefits me when the toilet breaks). So after about 7 months at Otis he started talking about the possibility of running his own company, I knew that this was something that was pretty much inevitable. He would come home everyday and tell me all these details so one day I just looked at him and asked what he was waiting for?? Also if you know my husband you know that he is not big on taking chances or risks so he had to know that he knows that this is the future that God has for us.
So at the beginning of the month of April, we made a list of specifics that we were praying about. With #1 being that we would know for sure if this was God's will or was it just something that we were trying to put together. Our biggest prayer was from Revelation 3, that God would open doors that no man could shut, and that He would shut doors that no man could open. After many open doors were presented, we decided that this was a God thing and that we would walk through those doors. Sparing a lot of details, let my just say that by April 28th , Summit Elevator already had a 15 week job in contract and Lucas was turning in his notice at work.
Why Atlanta? There are a few reasons that we are going to Atlanta. The work potential there is a lot better than it is in Memphis, we really don't want to be in Memphis forever so why establish a business here, we have immediate family that we will be close too, and probably the main reason is because Lucas did not want to burn any bridges with Otis and be immediate direct competition. He has made a lot of business contacts while being in Memphis and it would just not be right to stay and do that.
So what is the next immediate step? Lucas's last day with Otis is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, he will be headed to New York City with his business partner. They will be going back and forth for hopefully about 6 months. They have immediate connections there to earn money so that they can get some money in the bank and avoid a loan before we head to Atlanta. Our house in Oakland is already on the market. As for Layla and I, we will be spending the summer in Murfreesboro and then just kind of see how things are going then. Our hope is to have residence in Atlanta by August or September.
Obviously, this has been a faith journey for us and will continue to be every step of the way. Now is the time in our lives to take a risk like this and really depend on God as our Provider to meet our everyday needs. Here are a few ways you can pray for us along the way:
Pray that our house sells quickly in Oakland
Pray that God will continue to open up doors for more work
Pray that the transition from city to city will be as smooth as possible, especially for Layla
Pray that our faith will be increased daily and that no matter what happens God will be glorified!
Nashville Flood of 2010
We left for Murfreesboro on Friday night to take our dog Lilly to live with my parents. After much going back and forth about what to do with Duke, I just never felt comfortable with him anywhere around children so we took him to a rescue where they will find him a suitable home. My parents live on 55 acres with cows, horses, another dog, cat and a ton of rabbits to chase. So Lilly should have a great time.
The rain came in Nashville on Saturday and never really stopped. The news coverage was unbelievable. There were houses and cars literally floating down I-24. At one point I heard that there was about 30,000 people without power and they were worried about the eventul condition of the drinking water. After all the rain finally stopped sometime Sunday evening, many parts of Nashville were devasted. Opryland Hotel even had to be evacuated and ended up with 6 ft of water in it. There is a lot of work to be done and many prayers to be said with people who have lost everything in an area where most do not have flood insurance. Memphis also got rain but not near the downpour that Nashville received. I think on Saturday alone in Nashville, it rained 10 inches.
We have a somewhat busy week ahead of us getting ready for our first family vacation. We will be spending 5 days in Orlando and then 3/4 days in Atlanta. Leaving to go anywhere with an 11 month old is a packing challenge, but when packing to fly on an airplane it is somewhat more of a challenge because you are limited on what you can bring. Hope all that are reading survived the rainy weekend without any significant damage and are enjoying this beautiful week full of sunshine!!
The rain came in Nashville on Saturday and never really stopped. The news coverage was unbelievable. There were houses and cars literally floating down I-24. At one point I heard that there was about 30,000 people without power and they were worried about the eventul condition of the drinking water. After all the rain finally stopped sometime Sunday evening, many parts of Nashville were devasted. Opryland Hotel even had to be evacuated and ended up with 6 ft of water in it. There is a lot of work to be done and many prayers to be said with people who have lost everything in an area where most do not have flood insurance. Memphis also got rain but not near the downpour that Nashville received. I think on Saturday alone in Nashville, it rained 10 inches.
We have a somewhat busy week ahead of us getting ready for our first family vacation. We will be spending 5 days in Orlando and then 3/4 days in Atlanta. Leaving to go anywhere with an 11 month old is a packing challenge, but when packing to fly on an airplane it is somewhat more of a challenge because you are limited on what you can bring. Hope all that are reading survived the rainy weekend without any significant damage and are enjoying this beautiful week full of sunshine!!
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