A time of Waiting

Whoever coined the phrase "patience is a virtue" is not my friend. Deep in my heart I know it's true, but it's still not an easy concept to swallow. God is definitely teaching me patience in my life right now. He has me in a "time of waiting" and it seems to get more and more frustrating everyday. I am in a constant state of battle with myself over what I know the truth to be, and what I feel at the moment. Conversations with myself go like this..."I know God has a great plan for me and whatever is around the corner is better than what I have now, I just have to wait for it to be revealed." but "I am so tired of waiting and I want an answer now!!"

I don't want it to sound like I am complaining because I am really trying not to complain, I am just having a hard time with the waiting. I know it boils down to trusting in God and knowing that He has a plan for my life. That just seems to make me feel worse because not only do I feel like my whole life is out of my control, but I also have to admit that I don't trust God like I say I do.

Recently, in the past 3 or 4 months, it seems that every major area of my life except my relationship with my husband has been questioned, and in almost all of those areas I have been told to just WAIT. Our business has been at a stand still for almost a year, its doing steady but not really growing. In the last couple of months it has started to pick up the pace, but it still feels like we are waiting for everything to start happening. With my job, we were told about 4 months ago that within the next year our whole department is going to be transitioning to a new structure and we will have to reapply for our jobs. This in and of itself is very stressful and again it is a waiting game to see what everything will look like for us next fall.

In August I applied for a job in another department on campus and have been waiting for a response back for the past month. I made it all the way to the last round of interviews and was one of three that they were considering. I have been wracking my brain with the "what ifs" and trying to imagine my life and how things would change for us if I were to get the job. Well I got word today that I didn't get the job, and I have mixed feelings about it. First I am disappointed. I really needed something good to happen for Daniel and I. I am so tired of being disappointed all the time by situations, finances, and people. I really wanted a win. The other side of me keeps saying that God is in control and I just have to trust that something better is around the corner.

Lastly, and probably the most trying of all the waiting situations in my life is waiting to find out when we can start our family. This one is bothering me the most. It seems like we are stuck in an endless loop...we have to wait for our finances to improve so we can afford to have a baby, but we don't have any new job opportunities available at the moment to help our finances improve, so no baby. Daniel and I have been constantly looking for a job for Daniel when he finishes his schooling, which should be this year, and I have been applying for jobs this year too.

So as it stands for the Perrys....we are waiting on God. Waiting for him to open doors of opportunity in all areas of our lives. We are waiting for new business contacts, new jobs, new family members. Please continue to lift us up in prayer and ask God to help give us strength and perseverance to get through the waiting times. I look forward to what 2011 has for us, and all the great changes that are to come.

We have gone to the dogs...

As if one puppy in our house wasn't enough, we decided that Cooper needed a friend to keep him company during the day when we were gone. We adopted Sophie into our lives on October 25, 2010. She is also a mini doxie, chocolate and tan coloring. She was born on July 6th in Bowling Green, KY. Here are some pictures of her from before we got her.

It is definitely an adventure around our house now. Sophie is still potty-training and her learning curve is much slower than Cooper's. She is a very stubborn little girl, but she is so pretty that it's really hard to get mad at her. Cooper loves her so much, and just like any little boy, he shows his affection by constantly pestering her. He growls, barks, bites her legs (lovingly of course), and steals her toys to get her attention. She, like a typical little girl, ignores him until she can take it no longer and then snaps. They are really fun to watch and its become one of our favorite forms of entertainment.

Halloween this year was especially fun because our whole family dressed up, including the dogs. We were Alabama Tailgaters this year. Cooper was the football player, and Sophie was the mascot, Bama.

Happy Halloween from Cooper

I decided that since the weather is turning cold, and they are so little, that I would crochet them some sweaters for the winter months. I did each of these sweaters in one night and I think I did pretty good for never having done this before. They look so adorable in their little sweaters.

A couple of weekends ago we ventured out to an event at the dark park called Barkaroo. It was a benefit to raise money for the Murfreesboro Dog Park. We had such a great time getting to show off our little guys and meet some new friends. Cooper and Sophie got to play with some new friends too and they both seemed to really enjoy it (Cooper more than Sophie). Sophie is a very shy little girl in public, but pretty outgoing and rowdy in the house. Cooper is the exact opposite most times. He loves to be around people and dogs, and when he is home he usually likes to curl up with one of us and sleep. They compliment each other well.

These two little puppies have become the joy of our lives and have added so much to our home in the few short months we have had them. I cant wait for my NC family to finally get to meet them over Thanksgiving break.

Lead Me

Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Professor Perry...I like the sound of that

This past week marked the beginning of new journey for me, as well as a new journey for the 15 freshmen in my LEAP (Life Calling and Purpose) class.

I decided that I was ready for a new challenge in my life, and 15 new freshmen are just what the doctor ordered. We all got together as a whole Freshman class and did community service projects on Monday morning. Our group was assigned to paint a couple of porches at a house that is owned by Trevecca Community Church. They use this house to help men who are recovering drug and alcohol abusers to transition back into society after getting clean. I was surprised to see how quickly the team bonded and how hard they all worked that day. It was great getting to know each of them and to be able to bless these men as well. I'm sure they were filled with joy when they returned home from work to see their porches painted and looking good again. We hope our efforts were a blessing to them.

It is so exciting for me to get to influence and bless the lives of these young men and women. I cant help but put myself back in their shoes. It was only 9 short years ago that I was unpacking my parents van and beginning an amazing journey of self discovery and new friendships. It's so fun to see that innocence and excitement in their eyes too. I am also reminded that I am not as young as I would like to think (LOL). I am really interested and excited to see where God leads us all this semester, what friendships He will form in us, and where we will all end up on the other side of this 4 months. I hope that we can all look back on this as a very influential time in our lives.

Since I have been immersed in the Freshman life for the past week, it has really made me miss being in college. I have been reminiscing about all the fun times I had here at TNU. I especially have been missing my best friend from college. Its really strange not having Sara here, but I know she is soooo happy with her new hubby in Kansas. Love you and miss you Sara-bear.

The Dog Days of Summer

 Cooper

The Perry's have started a new chapter in our journey together...pet owners. I have been wanting, begging, pleading for a doxie since before I met Daniel. He told me it was best to wait, and I agreed. I still put pictures up of different doxies I wanted...some in my office, one on my fridge that I found in an advertisment. I even went as far as naming my soon to be puppy. Well, my persistance paid off and my wonderful hubby surprised me by saying one Wednesday night that I should start researching a puppy. He thought the time was right. So, two days later we were picking Cooper up from a family farm in Cookeville. He was one of four in his litter, the only little boy. We were immediately smitten with his cute little face and he took to us right away.

 He is the little guy on the right.

So, over the past two weeks we have learned what it takes to be "parents" in training. Cooper definitely has a personality all of his own and everyday we are learning something new about him. Here are a few of the many quirks about our little man:

1. He can't stand to be out of our sight for more than 10 seconds and he goes absolutely crazy. He starts barking, squealing, and crying like we are beating him. He especially doesn't like it when either of us take a shower. 
2. He is learning to go to the bathroom outside and is doing really well with learning. When he does go out he eats the mulch/bark that is in our front lawn area. He also attacks the plants. 
3. He LOVES other dogs and wants to play with them no matter how much bigger they are than him or how many times they growl or snap at him. He is unphased. 
4. He is a very social dog and loves attention from other people. He has quickly become the center of attention in our neighborhood. 
5. He has learned where our neighbor Rhonda's house is because she puppy-sat for us a couple of times. Now anytime he wants to play he runs to Rhonda's house and sits at her front door and cries. 
6. He is a total snuggle pup. I love that about him. He is a touch puppy too. He needs to be touching you at all times, even if its just one paw on you. 
7. He likes to sleep on his back just like a human.
8. He likes to nibble on your hands, and sometimes gets a little rough and bites. 
9. He gets really upset when we leave him, and "tells us off" when we get home. He also squeaks when he gets really excited.
10. He likes to eat ants. 
11. His new favorite thing to do is hide under our bed and run out and attack our feet as we walk by. 

Here are a few pics of our new baby. He has brought a lot of joy to our lives in just the two shorts weeks we have had him.

Hospital Hoopla

Today is Thursday. It is the 4th day of the longest week on record. It has been a very stressful week for the Perry's, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel (and its not a train!) Daniel was admitted to the hospital on Sunday afternoon with Diverticulitus. Its basically an inflamed and infected colon. Its typically seen in older people, but not unheard of in young adults either. He started complaining of a pain in his abdomen on Friday evening and it got progressively worse as the weekend progressed. By Sunday he was doubled over in pain and we went to the emergency room. After a couple of hours of getting a CT scan and being on pain meds and IV fluid, he was diagnosed and admitted to room 406. He was put on IV antibiotics and pain meds and by Wednesday morning (his 28th birthday) he was released to go home with the best nurse he could imagine (ME)! He is recovering very nicely and the doctor says he should be good as new by the weekend.

Now that the update is complete, I want to share the real reason I am writing this blog. I am using it as therapy. LOL. I tend to flush things out better if I write them down, so here it goes. This week has been a very trying one for me, and I know it has been for Daniel as well, but he is less apt to talk about it. Anyone of you reading this that is married or in a very committed relationship can attest to the fact that when that person is hurting it is the most awful feeling in the world, especially if you can't do anything to fix the hurt. To make matters worse, ever since we got married Satan has tried to attack me with fears that I will lose Daniel at an early age. Now I don't accept this lie of the devil, but in times such as this, when he is lying on a bed, hooked up to IV and not knowing what is wrong, those lies start to creep into my brain. There were many times this week when I was so close to breaking down and letting the fear take over. I'm not proud of that, but its the reality of the situation. That mixed with the stress of staying in the hospital, eating junk food, not exercising, thinking about hospital bills (ughhhh) and trying to stay positive was exhausting.

Things are getting better each day and today I finished the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. I read a few passages that really spoke to me.

"Lock eyes with the lion. Why would God be putting it in front of you? What good thing might God have waiting for you on the other side of this challenge? Maybe there's a lesson He wants you to learn or a blessing He wants to give you. Don't just focus on the fear factor. Try to see the bigger picture. What will you miss out on if you let your fears dictate your choices? Is being "safe" really worth it? Maybe God wants to show you something about yourself or Himself, but you'll never know what it is unless you chase your lion. And once you have the lion cornered in the pit, you'll discover that his roar is worse than his bite when you've got God on your side. " ~ Mark Batterson

We want to thank all our friends and family who have sent greetings, prayers, and encouragement to us these past few days. Its so amazing to be reminded what great people God has placed in our lives, and to see how loved we really are. Thanks again!

Boys will be Boys...

This past weekend Daniel and I ventured down to Hazel Green, Alabama to spend some quality time with the Lovell family. Daniel's grandparents have a wonderful little haven away from the world there and we really enjoy spending time with the family. Everytime we go visit it seems like the house is full of people. This weekend Daniel's mom brought the four nephews down with her. We spent the weekend swimming and playing in the yard with the boys. They live in Cookeville, TN so we don't get to see them very often.

Daniel loves being their uncle and is insistent that they have a good, positive role model in him. He also loves acting like a kid with them too. I would like to take a minute and introduce to you "the boys".

Caleb Logsdon, age 8

Caleb is your typical big brother, but he's not your typical child. Caleb is high spirited and is smart beyond his years. He loves technical things and figuring out how things work. He loves to question...everything....and everybody. He learns different languages in school, and plays football.  He can be bossy at times, but overall he has a protective nature over his little brothers. 

Gavin Logsdon, age 5

Gavin is a very unique little boy. He is a book worm already and loves Magic Eye books and Where's Waldo type books. He follows Caleb everywhere, sometimes against his better judgment. He has already shown that he can pick up on activities and sports very quickly. He is very inquisitive and asks a lot of questions. He already has big dreams...aka: a limo ride for his 5th birthday!

Elijah Logsdon, age 3

Elijah is a little ball of fire...a bulldozer of sorts. He is full of life and mischief. He loves taking things apart and putting them back together. From a very young age he would break the toy...then figure out how to fix it. He is very loving, but very hyper at times too. He idolizes his big brothers, and loves to have his picture made. 

Luke Logsdon, age 14 months

Luke is a bundle of joy with a head full of beautiful curls. He is super loving and playful and picks up on things quickly. He just started walking recently and is into everything. We spent a lot of time together this weekend and he is a joy. He loves to eat whatever you are eating and once he warms up to you, you have a new best friend. Plus, he is the only one of the boys that knows me only as "Aunt Starr", not "that girl that uncle Daniel married". LOL. 

These are "the boys". I also have my own set of "boys" (Trey, Todd, and Jason)  and my "mini me" (Rebecca). I will introduce you to them soon.

Lyrics of Life

I was listening to Pandora today at work and one of my favorite songs came on the radio. It was one of the songs from our wedding that my wonderful friend Sara sang during our communion ceremony. This made me start reminiscing about that day and all the special songs that we spent so many months picking out. You think I'm joking when I say we spent months picking out our songs, but I'm being completely serious. I love music, and I love knowing all the lyrics and singing them over and over. I also love how music makes me feel, how it has memories associated with it, and how it can completely change a mood in just a few minutes.

I wanted every detail of our wedding to be special to us, and this included the songs. We meticulously picked out songs that held special meaning to us, had a memory associated with it, or reminded us of special people in our lives.

Looking back on that day, I remember it going by so fast and I remember not really paying much attention to the songs. I'm sure other people didn't either, but I know how much time and effort we put into making those songs mean something. I burned our wedding and reception songs to a CD and I keep it in my car. I listen to it often to remind me of how truly blessed I am. I have put together a play list of some of the key songs from our wedding and our reception. My wish is that you will listen to each song with a new understanding and think of Daniel and I when you hear them.

Our Songs:

1. When you say nothing at all- Allison Krause (Communion Song, sang by Sara McAdoo)

2. Indescribable- Chris Tomlin (our recessional song)

3. Better Life- Keith Urban (introduction of the wedding party)

4. Myspace Girl- The Afters (introduction of US!, b/c we met on Myspace)

5. God Bless the Broken Road- Rascal Flatts (first dance song)

6. My little girl- Tim McGraw (father/daughter dance)

7. Song for Mama- Boyz 2 Men (mother/son dance)

8. Love you Madly- Cake (cake cutting song)

9. Just a Girl- No Doubt (bouquet toss song)

10. Firecracker- Josh Turner (garter toss song)

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

I'm feeling "Risky"

Why is it that I have this desire to jump off perfectly normal cliffs into the water below? What makes me have the urge to jump on the back of a motorcycle? Why does learning martial arts all of a sudden thrill me? What motivated me to start a business with no background knowledge in business ownership? What possessed me to reach out to a stranger online (who ended up being my husband)?  I'm not sure what is happening, but lately I have been feeling rather risky. Am I just wanting more adventure in my life? Am I testing the limits of my abilities? Is God preparing me for something major? I hope its the last one.

I have been reading the book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. Its an amazing book and its stretching my mind to think outside the limits. I read this page today that resonated with my so loudly....

"Obedience is a willingness to do whatever, whenever, wherever God calls us. And that looks very different for each of us. It doesn't always necessitate going halfway around the world. Often the most courageous actions only require us going across the room or across the street. 

I'm not sure what lion God has called you to chase. It may mean teaching at an inner-city school or starting a business or becoming a foster parent. It may mean ending a relationship or beginning a new one. But one thing is for sure: You can't remove risk from the equation.

Part of me wonders if we've been sold a bill of goods. Is it just me or does it seem like some people act as if faith is the reduction of risk? They act as if the goal of faith is to eliminate risk so our lives are, in the words of the old hymn, "safe and secure from all alarm." 

Have you read the Bible lately? Faith is risky business.

The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk. In fact, the greatest risk is taking no risks. Isn't that the principle in the parable of the talents? Jesus commends the two men who take a risk and make a return. But the servant who buries his talent and breaks even is called "wicked." Why? Because he wasn't willing to take a calculated risk. Maybe risk taking is at the heart of righteousness. Maybe righteousness has less to do with not doing anything wrong and more to do with doing things right. Righteousness is using your God-given gifts to their God-given potential. And that requires risk. Maybe our view of sanctification is too sanitized. Maybe our view of Christianity is too civilized. Maybe we need to reconsider what made our spiritual ancestors heroic."

Go out and take some risks today...Chase your lion!!

Art abounds

I would never had thought that we would become "art collectors". I love art and always have. It was a vital part of my adolescence. I often say that if it wasn't for my art and photography classes in high school, I never would have made it out with my sanity. I owe a lot of that to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Hill. She was an inspiration to me back then, and was always so willing to sit and listen to the childish rants of teenagers...you know how hard life is for a 16 year old. Art was my escape from the stresses of life, school, home and work. It was time for me to be creative and explore talents that God has given me. It was the pressure relief valve of life. Sadly, I haven't kept up with my art in a LONG time. I still have unfinished projects from senior year of high school that still beckon for my return. Life got busy, and I got lazy. Plain and simple.

It was interesting for me to find out that most of the Lovell side of the family (Daniel's family) are very talented artists! When I met Daniel's grandfather Charlie, who used to have his own darkroom and is an avid painter, I knew we would be instant friends. He inspires me too, but just like me, he hasn't done as much art work lately. When Daniel and I went on our cruise back in the spring, we took the opportunity to attend an art auction on the ship. We did it in an attempt to kill an hour or so during a rainy afternoon, and for the free champagne (HA). Well it turns out that we really enjoyed the art and left the ship with 4...count them...4 pieces of art for our house!! So, I guess we got thrown into being art collectors after all. Here is the beginning of our collection.The first three are all in our guest room, and the last is a stand alone investment piece in our hallway.

The first two are by an artist named Linda Le Kniff.

This one is by Itzchaz Tarkay (Little Round Table #7)

And the legendary Peter Max (Woodstock Series: Profiles)

Updates on Life

These past couple of weeks have honestly been a whirlwind of emotion and looking back its pretty hard to remember all that has happened. Fortunately, I am one of the "lucky" ones in my city/state that was not effected by the flood financially. I was however affected emotionally, and I still find myself weeping at the sight of homes destroyed, or hearing stories of utter compassion from complete strangers. It amazes me to see the way our towns, cities, communities, and state in general have all come together to help our neighbors. I haven't been able to help out as much as I want to, but I know the work will go on for months and I will have many opportunities to help my neighbors.

So a quick run down of the last couple of weeks (that is if I can remember it all).

Saturday, May 1st:
We had a new group getting started in our MHR Program that morning so I had to get up at 6:00 and drive to Franklin. I arrived in Franklin around 7:15 and the rain started. It was raining buckets all morning and after the convocation we went to brunch. I left Franklin to drive back to Smyrna around 10:30. Now this 45 min trip took me over an hour because the small two lane highway leading back to Murfreesboro was starting to flood in areas and honestly, I was nervous. I finally got home around noon and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. When I awoke, the rain was still coming down in buckets and we started watching the news. After about another hour (3pm) we got a call from our friend Anthony. He was calling to tell us that he was stuck in traffic on I-24 near Bell Road and that the water was rising pretty fast. In the couple of minutes that we were on the phone with him, the "small creek" that runs beneath the interstate was in his car and rising fast. He and two friends had to bail the car, jump the concrete barrier and start walking back towards Nashville to the nearest exit. He talked to us on the phone as we watched on the news his car get completely covered with flood waters. We felt so helpless because we couldn't get to them to come pick them up. We spent the rest of the evening watching the news in utter disbelief and trying to figure out how to get Anthony, Jonathan and Dallas back home.

Sunday, May 2nd:
We had stayed up pretty much all night the night before watching the weather reports because they were calling for tornadoes overnight and the rain kept coming. So on Sunday we decided to sleep late, I mean we couldn't go anywhere. I got up around noon and went and turned on the news. I was sitting in utter shock at what had transpired overnight. The pictures were unbelievable and it was just getting worse. I spent most of the day on Sunday in my pj's watching the news and crying. I found out that one of my coworkers had lost her home completely, one had flooding in the basement, and one had flooding in part of her home. Again I sat feeling helpless and in shock.

As the rest of the week passed, I continued to be engrossed in the news stories, even though Daniel was tired of watching it. We went back to work, and started figuring out ways to help our co-workers.

Wednesday, May 5th:

A group of my co-workers and I went to Candis' house to help clean up debris in her yard. We spent a couple of hours over there and it felt so great to be a helping hand.

Thursday, May 6th:
Daniel and I had our first dental appointment at our new dentist in Smyrna. We walked in and one of my old co-workers from Outback was sitting behind the desk! It was so neat to be able to catch up with her. We really like our new dentist, even though the appointment lasted over 3 hrs b/c they had to do the x-rays, cleaning and tell us about cavities and such. Plus they only had one hygienist working that day. We left and went home to see that the contractors had started working on our new floors in the townhouse. By Thursday night they had all our floors ripped out downstairs so we spent our evening upstairs watching Hulu and Netflix, and packing for our trip to Virginia Beach the next day.

Friday, May 7th:
We got up and left our house by 8:30 because the guys were there to work on the floors again and we didn't want to be in their way. We went and picked up Anthony and took him to where his car had been towed so he could salvage what he could from the car. The car was pretty crazy to see. We ran a few errands and got on the road around 1pm to drive to Virginia. 11 hours later we arrived in VA Beach for the weekend.

Saturday, May 8th:
Daniel wanted to show me Naval Base that he used to be stationed at, so we drove to Norfolk and took the guided tour of the base. It was really interesting and it was fun for me to get to see that part of Daniel's life. He seemed excited to show me all those things too. I was very proud of him that day. He bought me a Navy t-shirt and we spent the rest of the day hanging out with our friends, playing volleyball, and eating!

Sunday, May 9th:
We got back on the road to drive back to Nashville around 1pm. 11 hours later we arrived back in Nashville. We walk in to our townhouse, exhausted and ready to crash, and the first thing I see is our house in shambles!! The contractors that did our floors did not finish on Sunday like promised and just left our house a wreck. I was so upset and then I couldn't sleep.

Tuesday, May 11th:
I awoke to go to work, still mad about the house. I got to work and emailed my landlord and spent the day chatting back and forth with her about how to remedy the situation so we could actually use our house. Daniel started his week-long trek to help Anthony find a new car. I get home and my landlord's neighbor shows up at my front door and says "I'm here to fix your house". So part of me was really happy, part of me felt humbled, so I rolled up my sleeves and helped her put my house back together and clean. Even in the awkward situation, I made a new friendship stronger and by the time Daniel got home, the house was clean again.

Wednesday, May 12th:
I got home from work to see the contractors back at my house finishing the floors. It was a welcomed sight :) I put my stuff down and changed clothes and went to Publix to try "couponing" for the first time. It was really fun and I saved $37.50 on groceries! I was so proud when I got home and Daniel heard about my conquest for at least an hour. We also went to our first neighborhood watch meeting that night and got to meet some more of our neighbors. I felt so grown-up.

So that brings us to today. As you can see, its been an eventful, tiring, and stressful two weeks for the Perry family. But it has also brought us closer together and strengthened our friendships even more. We love our life and are so excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Updates on the Nashville Flood

Hello, as most of you have probably heard by now, my beloved city is flooding. As of Tuesday morning, there are still major sections of Nashville underwater, including Riverfront Park downtown, the Titan’s stadium, the Opryland Hotel and Mall, and most of Bellevue. There are hundreds of people around the city and surrounding counties that are homeless now, including 3 of my coworkers. If you have not had a chance to see some of the photos of this tragedy, you can visit the Facebook page below, or look up the local news channels (2, 4, or 5) in Nashville. 

I survived the Nashville Monsoon of May 1st Click Here

I would like to take a moment and introduce you to one of my co-workers who lost her home on Sunday to the flood waters. Her name is Darla Sansom, and she along with her husband Johnny, and 18 year old daughter Abby have found themselves in a devastating situation with the total loss of their home and all their personal belongings. (please see the photos below) The first flood picture is of their home on Saturday evening. By Sunday, the house was completely underwater, including the roof. They fortunately have flood insurance, but it only covers the structure, not the contents of their home. They are currently living in a rental home of one of their church friends, but have nothing to fill the home. 

Please understand that Abby is graduating from High School in a few weeks and is planning to go to college, but now has nothing. Daniel and I want to help in any way we can and we wanted to share the opportunity to help this family that is so close to our hearts. Please see the list of items below and consider going to our website to purchase these items for Darla and her family. Even if you are out-of-state, you can order the products online and have them shipped to Daniel and I and we will make sure Darla receives the gifts.

Suggested items to purchase:

-      Laundry care items (detergent, fabric softener, bleach)

-      Cleaning supplies (LOC, scrub buds, Multi-purpose cloths)

-      Canned chicken and tuna

-      Boxed cereals

-      Shampoo, conditioner, body wash

-      Facial cleaners

-      Shaving gel/razors

-      Hair care items

-      Toothpaste

-      Paper products/trash bags

They have also registered at Target so that church friends and family can purchase items for them. We would appreciate your help to bless this wonderful family. If you would like to order through our website, please visit:

Http://my-Libertas.com

Password: health

If you are not currently a customer, please create a free account and have the products shipped to our address:

Daniel and Starr Perry

155 Oak Valley Circle

Smyrna, TN 37167

Thank you so much for your generosity!! Please spread the word about our amazing city and let America know about us J So proud to be a Nashvillian this week!!

 

Count your blessings

Well its April, almost May and this year is flying by. So many amazing things have happened this year and we are both so thankful and blessed. In January we celebrated Sara and Adam's wedding in Kansas City. We got to travel to a few new states together on that trip and got to experience my first blizzard. Then later that month we celebrated my 27th birthday with a great dinner together and a game night with friends. In February we celebrated our first Valentine's Day together as a married couple, although we didn't really do anything special b/c we were preparing for a cruise...and Daniel loves to remind me that he doesn't conform to the traditions of Valentine's day b/c he wants to celebrate that day anytime he wants to, not when the candy companies tell him too :) We also moved into our new townhouse in Smyrna in February. That was such a blessing to us and we still love every minute in the new place. The beginning of March we celebrated our 1 year anniversary with an amazing cruise to the Bahamas! What an amazing time for the both of us to spend some quality time together. Now we are back and the weather is beautiful and Spring is in full bloom. We are anticipating a wonderful summer and we can't wait to see all that will take place for us. As I look back on our 2010 so far, I am reminded of how blessed we are. We have been able to spend countless hours traveling this year and have been able to spend quality time with friends and family. We are diligently building our business and creating a future for ourselves. We have also been blessed to meet some awesome new friends through work, school and business. One of these great couples we were blessed to have dinner with last night and although both of them are in wheel chairs, they are so incredibly inspiring to me. They remind me how extremely blessed I am and how I often take God's blessings for granted in my life. I strive to make sure that I count my blessings everyday. I encourage you to do the same.

Perry's in Paradise

Well, maybe not Paradise, but at least we are going to Paradise Island at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas! 5 days and counting! I am so excited to be going on this trip. I have never been on a cruise and I look forward to experiencing something new and adventurous with my hubby. We are going on this cruise to celebrate our one year anniversary/Valentines/Christmas! In the weeks leading up to this cruise, life has been hectic at times between dealing with the weather, school, big events at work, and projects with the family. I am ready to escape it all and just spend time relaxing, and eating!! I look out the window today and its snowing, again, for the 50th time this winter...and I think about how in 5 days I will be laying out in the sun in the 80+ degree weather. Ahhh...thats the life. In the mean time, I still have to worry about packing my suitcase...which is proving to be a burden. I have no idea what to take, what I will need, or what types of bags I should take to make sure I'm not ever missing something. Since I am a planner, I am freaking out a little bit. I am also in the midst of working on our taxes, which again...burdensome. Taxes are different this year because Daniel and I got married, merged our businesses, moved, and he started school. I dont even know where to begin. We are also trying to finish decorating our new house, planning a trip for my parents to come stay with us over Easter, and preparing for a few more big events at work. All that to say...I need this vacation desperately!!

On the up side of life...I have made some new friends at work, we have reconnected with some old friends in our business team, Duke is playing Carolina on Saturday night, and we played dodgeball again last night :) That always puts a smile on my face.

 I look forward to posting pics from our trip and posting updates along the way. Be blessed!!

Living out of boxes...

Well, this weekend is quickly approaching as Daniel and I begin to pack all of our earthly belongings into boxes and start the next step of our journey. As most of you know, we have been living in a very small one bedroom apartment in Antioch for the first year of our marriage. It's a great thing that we love each other so much and that we love spending time together and being close, because we couldn't get away from each other in this place if we tried. Its been a great place to start our lives together, but we are sooooo ready for a change of scenery. We are about to move to a three bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse in Smyrna, TN. This house has been such a blessing to us already and we can really see God's hand working in this move. Its a pretty great story how we came to find this place.

We started looking for places to live about two months ago in the Smyrna area. We knew we wanted to be closer to Murfreesboro (where Daniel goes to school) and we thought that Smyrna was a great small town that would be half-way for both of us to get to school and work. We knew what our budget was and we started spending the weekends perusing Smyrna searching for our next home. I started looking on Craig's list as well. I printed off quite a few possibilities and we started calling around. We found one right before we left for Kansas that stuck out to us, but we didnt have time to go check it out until we got back. There were three contenders when we returned home from Sara's wedding. We went and looked at those three and they were ok, but we still felt uneasy about them. We found the phone number for this house and decided to call. The lady's name was Jaime and she said we could come by and check out the place. As soon as we pulled into the development we knew it was special. Jaime actually is the landlord's daughter and lives right next door. She is our age and has a young son. She goes to school with Daniel at MTSU and we hit it off right away. We stepped into the house and it was beautiful!! The kitchen blew me away and I fell in love immediately with this place. I was a little reluctant because it looked way out of our price range, so we asked her to remind us how much it was. The price was the same as the other ones we had been looking at and it had an extra bedroom!!! Praise the Lord, we were home! Daniel and I spent almost a hour there talking to Jaime and just hanging out. We took the application and left. We got in the car and looked at each other and said..."thats the one". From there we contacted the landlord, Chris, who lives with her husband in Illinois and got all the paperwork worked out. The whole process has been a blessing. We came to find out that Chris has been diagnosed with late stage 3 ovarian cancer and is going through cemo and radiation treatments. It has been amazing to see how God has placed these people into our lives so that we can minister to them and show them God's love. They have done the same for us. I cant wait to see what kind of friendship grows between us and this family over the next few years.

So, as we continue to pack up our stuff and maneuver through the boxes that fill our tiny apartment, please remember us on the 6th of February, and if you are free to help move furniture, we would love to have your help!! Love you all...We will be inviting you over soon.

New Year Update

Hello everyone, I know its been a really long time since I have updated this site. Life has been a little hectic the past couple of months for the Perrys...wonderful, but busy. We all know how the holidays pull us in a million directions at once, and the same goes for us. This was our first Christmas as a married couple and it was great, but brought challenges as well. We are still trying to figure out how to blend our families and how to accommodate all our families in a short period of time. Luckily, Trevecca gives me an almost two week paid vacation around the holidays so it allowed Daniel and I to travel. This year was even more blessed because Daniel is in school and still gets paid the GI Bill even during the Christmas break so we didnt lose any money during our travels. We really enjoyed trying to figure out and implement new family traditions for our family now that we are a family in our own right. We decorated our mantle and bought each other stockings to hang by the fire place (even though its covered up by a couch). Even though we started some of our own traditions this year, it was still difficult to be away from our home for almost two weeks, living out of suitcases and driving over 1200 miles. We love our families so much and really enjoyed spending quality time with them. We all make sacrifices for those we love. Maybe next year we can have Christmas at our own home, and we will really be able to start our own Christmas traditions (Although I doubt my family will like that idea).

Well, after all the holiday travels were over, we left to go to Kansas for my best friend Sara's wedding. The week of the wedding they had 12 inches of snow on the ground and were expecting 3-5 inches more to fall on the day we were scheduled to arrive. I have never seen so much snow at one time! It was definitely an adventure. We drove through the blizzard on Wednesday night and spent the weekend in Kansas City for the wedding and then a business conference. Some people ask us why we travel so much and they remark with such statements as "You guys are going to burn out soon, you go way too much", or "you never stay home, you are always doing something." I try not to let these kind of remarks bother me because I realize that the way Daniel and I live is not like most of our friends and family. A lot of people dont understand why we do the things we do. To them we seem odd and thats ok!!! I like being odd! And I love spending quality time with my best friend and husband. We have traveled so many thousands of miles together in the past two years and every journey has been an adventure. I only wish that all my friends and family could experience life like we do.

Anyways, after the Kansas trip we came home and began searching for a new place to live. Our lease runs out in March and we are looking to move to Smyrna, TN. Its a cute little country suburb of Nashville that is half-way between Daniel's school and Nashville. Its a growing town but still has the small town charm. We have been so extremely blessed by God, because He led us straight to the perfect place for us! We signed the lease today and will be getting our keys the first week of February! We are so excited and cant wait to invite all our friends over for a dinner party.

My birthday is coming up next week...I will be 27 on the 27th! I was joking with Daniel earlier this month because I always used to say "27 on the 27th is going to be a big birthday for me! Its so far away and by then I am sure to be an adult." Well guys...its here and I guess I'm an adult, although most of the time I still dont feel like it. We still have a few more adventures in the works for the next couple of months. We are going to Indiana at the end of January and the Virginia a couple weeks after that. And lets not forget about the big cruise coming up the first week of March!! Be sure to check out all of our pictures from the past couple of months on our Facebook accounts. Until next time...keep on living the dream!!