U-Haul fun!

This is how you don't back in a 27 foot U-Haul on Magazine Street in New Orleans. The funniest part is at the end when Matt yells, "STOP! STOP!"

Home, sweet, New Orleans!

Don't have much time to update...we're exhausted but we're at our new home on Magazine Street in New Orleans! It is my dream come true. We live a few blocks from the zoo, the park, Whole Foods Market, and there is a coffee shop right across the street from our house! Can't wait to put some pictures up soon!

Wonderful friends!

I have some wonderful friends (Paul & Kelly) who put together this wonderful video for us. God has truly blessed us with their friendship!

Location: Opelika, Alabama

Here we are at an Econo Lodge in Opelika, Alabama. We got a late start today (I was hoping to leave around 11 am and we left at 3 pm), but it's all good. We're almost halfway to NO. Matt's dad, my mom, Kelly, & Paul all came with us...we are enjoying making memories with them. Here are some random quotes from our trip so far...

"That milkshake was so good when I burped it up it still tasted good!"~Me

"Do you have any tweezers, Mrs. Wackey?"~Kelly

Next time I update, we'll be at our new home in New Orleans!

exhaustion.

We're moving tomorrow.

I'm exhausted.

We still have work to do.

Can't wait until the move is over.

I'm still excited though.

55 hours

55 hours and we'll be back in the Carolinas.

It's so bittersweet.

We're ready to be back, ready to move to New Orleans, but not quite ready to say goodbye to everyone.

We have really had to branch out these two weeks, being in Nebraska and spending two entire weeks with people we don't know but we have to eat with, share a car with, spend 8 hours of training a day with, etc. We have met some great people but it makes us realize how blessed we are to have our friends in Rock Hill. It's going to be a challenge when we move, since we will be working 5 days a week (24 hours a day). We're going to have to be brave and step out of our comfort zones in order to meet people and make friends.

We're ready for this challenge, but continue to ask for your prayers as this is one of the biggest changes Matt & I will ever have to face in our lives.

Fun at Boys Town

We are finished with our first week of training and it flew by! This is by far, the most intense training we have ever experienced, but we are SO thankful that we are learning how to do our job to the best of our abilities! Every day, we are more and more impressed by the Boys and Girls Town organization. They have a heart for hurting kids and faith in God. We are excited to be a part of their team.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Taste of Omaha festival in downtown Omaha. It was lots of fun--we ate good food, heard good music, and even meet up with some of our friends from training. This morning, Matt & I attended the Protestant church service at Boys Town. It was a wonderful experience to worship with some 500 children and youth that live at Boys Town. We're spending the rest of the day relaxing and preparing for the week ahead. We have a test tomorrow morning on Corrective Teaching and Crisis Teaching. We're looking forward to another week of training and then heading back to Rock Hill for a few days before we move to New Orleans.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We can feel God moving in our lives and are so blessed to have this opportunity!

Here are some pictures from Boys Town & the Taste of Omaha festival...

*If you want to see all of our pictures, go here: http://winthrop.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037133&l=4dec4&id=45500189

We're in Omaha!

Here we are--at the home campus of the Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska. We arrived on Sunday evening and have been non-stop since then. We have training every day from 8-5 and then have homework to do for the next day. We are learning SO much about how to care for the at-risk youth we will be working with. And the campus is beautiful! We took a short bus tour of the campus on Monday, but haven't had the chance to get out and walk around yet between seminars & studying. We should get the chance to do that this weekend. We don't have internet access where we are staying--we drove to Panera tonight to check our e-mail and study for our test tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get the chance to update at least once more during our stay here.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful campus:

Leaving on a jet plane

Matt & I leave in a little over the hour to go to the airport to catch our flight to Chicago and then Omaha. We'll be in Nebraska until June 15th doing intensive training for our new job. I'm not sure if we'll have internet access, but hopefully I'll be able to update at least once or twice during our trip. Once we're back in Rock Hill on the 15th, we'll go see our nephew Will (who will be induced on the 11th if he isn't born by then) for a couple days and then pack up and begin the move to New Orleans on the 19th. The whirlwind of our life will continue for a little while longer. :) We'll try to keep this as updated as possible.

In other news, Matt & I bought a car last night! We traded in the Sentra and got a 2006 Hyundai Sante Fe. It is beautiful! We are also giving back the Lumina to Matt's parents because Michael (Matt's brother) needs a new car since his truck is eating up gas! In other words, we have one family car now--our Santa Fe. We actually will only need one car in New Orleans since we'll be working together and will be provided with a 15 passenger van for our girls. We are pretty excited the Santa Fe. It will be a great famliy car when we get ready to have kids!

Okay--I need to go finish packing and get ready to head to the airport. Once again, thanks for all of your prayers and support. We know we are greatly loved. Please continue to pray for us over this trip to Nebraska and the move to New Orleans.

Whirlwind of Life!

Yesterday definitely felt like a whirlwind of a day--being in airplanes for 8 hours, 4 airports, 4 states, and being in New Orleans for 5 hours. It was an exciting day and Matt & I got the job at the Boys and Girls Town! We will head out Sunday for training in Nebraska for two weeks. Then we will be back in Rock Hill for a few days and move June 19th/20th. We are SO excited and can't believe this is all actually happening! When we were in New Orleans yesterday we were able to meet some of "our girls" and a bunch of the staff we will be working with. We were very impressed by everyone and are excited to join their team.

Keep us in your prayers while we are in training/packing/moving. I'll be sure to keep the blog updated as much as I can!

Oh, and when we returned to the airport last night, Kelly, Paul, & Grant met us there with signs and balloons! It was so sweet! We have such good friends.

And I can't forget to write about my heaven in the airport. Matt & I are rushing through the Cincinnati airport yesterday (we had less than 30 minutes to get to our next gate adn we had to eat) and Matt tells me to "Look!". I turn around and see an entire Vera Bradley store! Oh it looked like heaven to my eyes! Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry we didn't have time to go in, but it sure looked glorious! We did get a picture of me in front of it though--I'll post it later.

Going Home

In less than 24 hours I will be in the city I already call home. My heart is there and my spirit is there. And in a few more weeks, my dream will come true and I will be living there. I know I say this a lot, but it's true...God is good.

I'll update either tomorrow night or Thursday morning about the details of our job.

Memorial Day Weekend

Here are a few pictures from our random memorial day weekend fun! If you want to see more: http://winthrop.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036361&l=996ef&id=45500189

Less than 3 days and we'll be in New Orleans. I love the thought of it!

Welcome to the world!

Welcoming baby Logan Alexander Beasley to the world!

Born at 7:30 am on Friday, May 25th, 2007.

Weighing in at 10 lbs, 7 oz.

Measuring 21 1/2 inches long.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

In honor of my Dad's birthday tomorrow (Friday).

Because you're my dad, I am a social worker.

Because you're my dad, I am a people lover.

Because you're my dad, I love music and can't spend a day (or even an hour) without it.

Because you're my dad, I am a technology junkie.

Because you're my dad, I will always and forever love Strossners cakes with orange cream filling and will share that love with my family.

Because you're my dad, I will always have wonderful memories of 103 Gilstrap Drive.

Because you're my dad, I know that just spending time with children makes a difference in their lives.

Because you're my dad, when I have my own office, I will have to have starburst jellybeans there for anyone who enters the door.

Because you're my dad, I will continue to have a love for books and always remember your library (literally) of an office at Epworth.

Because you're my dad, I will always cherish those father/daughter dates we had when I was growing up.

Because you're my dad, I have a special place in my heart for Garden City Chapel.

Because you're my dad, I will remember those exhausting "Take Your Daughter to Work Days" that lasted until 10 pm (the joys of social work).

Because you're my dad, I know that social workers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I will take great pride and joy in the work that I do.

Because you're my dad, I know that no matter what, God can and will pull us though our tough times.

Because you're my dad, I know that a father's love is irreplaceable.

Thank you for being the best Dad I could possibly ask for. I love you!

New Orleans, here we come!

7 days until Matt & I are in New Orleans for our final interview!

Our flight out of Charlotte is leaving at 6 am on Wednesday (the 30th) and we will arrive in New Orleans at 9:37 am (with a layover in Atlanta). We will have our interview and get the tour of two of the girls homes and meet the girls. And then our flight leaves at 3:40 pm and we'll arrive back in Charlotte at 9:00 pm (after a layover in Cincinnati).

If we are offered the job, we will fly out the next Sunday (June 3rd) to Nebraska for training for two weeks.

My dream is coming true!

God is good!

craziness

The last few days have been craziness in our job process. First, they told us they would fly us down for our final interview. Then we got a call and they said they didn't have time to fly us down because they had to make a decision by today. So, we had a third phone interview yesterday. It was a quite intimidating and tough interview. A few minutes after our interview, Matt got a call back and they said that they ARE going to fly us down for a final interview. So--we will find out by today at 5:30 pm when we will be flying down for the final interview. All this is waiting is nerve racking! I'll let you all know when we'll be going down and all that good stuff!

This week is my last week at the daycare and Matt's last week of school. I'm gonna miss my cute kids!

6 mile paddle

Matt & I went on our first kayaking adventure of the year. Last year we always went from under the I-77 bridge to River Park, which is 3 miles. Today we decided to go from the Lake Wylie dam to River Park, which is 6.48 miles! Whew! It was a trek! We saw lots of beautiful wildlife (turtles, ducks, spiders, herrings, lots of other birds). Matt even saw a badger! I'm exhausted now, but it was totally worth it. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon on the Catawba river.

We got the call!

Well, kind of...Matt called the guy back and he finally answered. He said they were very impressed with us and we were very qualified for the position. He said he would call us by Wednesday to let us know exactly when they will fly us down to New Orleans for our final interview! Woo hoo! We're making progress! :)

heavy hearted

I have been on the verge of tears for the entire evening. My heart is heavy for two reasons.

One, for the loss of DeAndre. Though i did not know him, he made an impact on everyone who ever saw him (both on and off the court). He had such a passion for life (and including with that passion was a huge smile and abounding energy). The funeral is Monday in Atlanta. I wish we could go, but I don't think we'll be able to because of work. There will be a memorial service at Winthrop sometime next week after the funeral. We will be sure to be there.

Another reason my heart is heavy is because we still haven't gotten a call back from the program director about the job we interviewed for. We have left him two messages and keep waiting. I'm quite frustrated and starting to think we didn't get the job. I put in my resume to two more places last night. I'm glad God knows what's best for his people, because I sure don't at this point. Once again, it's that trusting in Him thing that is hard for me.

God said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12.9-10