Time is flying.....

Hey all! I hope and pray that y'all have had a good month. This month has been very good to me. Amber came up to visit over Valentine's Day weekend and we had a very nice time. I made arrangements for her to "look for" sevreal cards once she woke up on Valentine's Day. I also got her a bouquet of her favorite flowers and some candy. She couldn't make up her mind what dress she wanted to wear to the symphony (which by the way was EXCELLENT), so I finally pulled out the silver necklace that I had gotten her and told her to decide which dress went better with the necklace. She loved the necklace. She's even been wearing it to work and church, which for her (being a very private person) says a lot.

For Valentines dinner, we ended up eating at McAllisters. That was not my first choice, but the restaurant I wanted to take her to wasn't taking reservations and there was over an hour wait, three hours before the symphony was starting! Amber was very sweet about it all and she was cool with just having a simple dinner at McAllisters. She's a wonderful lady :)

So as I sit her, we still have two weeks to go before she comes back here. She's coming in on Friday March 13, and we're going to head out to Texas on Saturday morning. I am off for a few days and she is going to meet my family. I may be completely nuts about this, but I am nervous at all. I'm excited about her meeting them, and even more excited about the future. If you can't tell already, I am completely crazy about her and I love where I truly feel that this is headed.

I am (of course) looking forward to seeing my family. I haven't been home since October. A few days away from the hustle and bustle of FedEx will be nice as well. I plan on showing Amber around Texarkana...which may take all of half an hour, and then just relaxing. No pressures from work, no phone calls, nothing. Rest and relaxation abound.

Other than that, not a lot is going on. As you can tell, Amber takes up a great deal of my time, which I will never complain about :) I'm sure I will have more to post at a later date. Until then, I hope and pray that God and His blessings are abundant in your life!

~God Bless~
Greg

Is it February already??

Wow. Time really does fly. Seems to fly by faster and faster the older I get. It doesn't seem like it's been over a month since I did my last post. Ah well.

A lot has occured since my last post. We've now got a new president in office. I hope and pray that the man makes wise decisions and helps lead the country out of the financial mess that we're in now. Time will tell. I won't go into a political tirade about some things that he's already contradicted himself on. Now's not the time. I'm more than willing to give him time, and see what choices he makes, where he leads us and what the results start proving to be. What we're facing simply can't be fixed in a few months, muchless a few short days. Give him time, and then see how he's performing at his job.

I think people need to get themselves out of the warped frame of mind where everything is political. It's not. Some of us may be Democrats, some Republicans, some Independants and a few of us affiliated with another political party/faction, but first and foremost, we are all AMERICANS. No hyphenations either! AMERICANS! Pure and simple. We should all hope for and (for those among us who do this) pray for his success at his job. Put your country's well being first. I for one am positive that God will lead us out of this mess. It's cyclical. I just hope and pray that it is sooner rather than later.

Ok...now onto the best news :) Things with Amber (the lady that I mentioned in my last post) are still going very very well. She is such a wonderful Christian lady. We've got some pretty neat plans for Valentines Day. I am taking her to see the Alabama Symphony Orchestra Valentines night. After that, we're going to meet up with some friends of mine and go out for a late dinner and or coffee. Amber is really looking forward to going. I'm glad that I thought of it :) I have a few more small surprises up my sleeve, but I can't say what they are because she reads this blog every so often :-) Needless to say, I am going to try to make this a very memorable Valentines Day, and hopefully it will be the first of many that we get to spend together.

In March, she is actually going to go home with me to Texas to meet my family. I hope she doesn't run away screaming! My family can be a bit overwhelming, especially when all of us are together. We're a fun group though, I promise! I am pretty sure that my sister and brother in law and their two kids will be in town from Austin. I have warned Amber that if that is the case, that Jamie can and will talk your ears off til all hours of the night. I swear she'd talk to a fence post if she thought it was actually listening. After that trip....we'll see where things go. I will probably go to Tampa to spend more time with her family, to get to know them better. I have met most of them, and they really seem like a wonderful Christian family. Her Grandpa is a big fan of Bear Bryant and since I live here in Tuscaloosa where "The Bear" walked on water next to Jesus (according to folclore lol) I will have to see if I can find a souvenier for him for the next trip!

Well, other than that, not a lot is going on. Work is going well. After taking the 5% pay cut January 1st, turns out I am getting a 13% raise sometime in February. So basically I guess I am coming out 8% ahead of where I was. Funny how that works. I guess God wanted me to stay here in Alabama for a while longer. All in all, life is grand and I am extremely happy! I hope and pray that you are too!

~God Bless~
Greg