Sad Day

Today is a very sad day in my world. I gave my sweet kitty to a new family. I already miss him so so much. He has been with me for nine years. I adopted him right after I graduated from college when he was only three months old. I immediately took him to my Mamaw and Papaw's house to let them meet my new fur baby. It was there that he got the name Petey from my Papa w Pete. I have so many great memories of my sweet boy. It was very hard to give him up but I am sure in the long run it is what is best. The nurse at school and her daughter took him in. You can just tell that it is going to be a great place for him if he can't stay with me. They even said I could come visit whenever. That helps some but I still miss him a lot!

Testing

So I am learning how to post from my iPad. I just did a quick update post but was in the wrong blog so it is not here. I will have to copy and paste it later. Overall, life is good and busy. Maybe I will post more now that I have an iPad app to do it with.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Wow, so who would have thought that getting married would take up so much time you didn't have time to blog.  It has been an amazing, busy, crazy, wonderful, etc. 6 months since I became Mrs. Jarrod Cansler.  Let's see how to best sum up the last 6 months.  The wedding was amazing and everything I had ever dreamed of...the honeymoon...not so much.  We spent our first night in Shreveport, LA and then went south to Biloxi, MS.  It started out okay but then had a dead battery in the car and a VERY sick husband.  Jarrod came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease and was down for a couple of weeks with it.  Not the best way to start a marriage when you are supposed to be finding a new place to live, actually move, get ready to start a new job and of course, enjoy being a Newlywed.  Despite his illness, we managed to accomplish all of that and moved to Lowell, AR where we settled in just in time for school to start back.  I then began my job as a Literacy Facilitator in Rogers, AR.  It was kind of strange to be out of the classroom but so far, I have really enjoyed the job and the new challenges it has brought. I am right in the thick of things with the implementation of the new Common Core state standards.  I am often sad for my Texas friends that Texas is one of the few states that has chosen not to adopt Common Core.  It is a different way of thinking, but I really do think it will benefit our students.  Jarrod and I are both very involved in our church and love it.  We host Bible study at our house about once every 6 weeks and then both help with the kids on Wednesday night.  I do book time with the 4th-6th graders and Jarrod works with the teens.  It is exciting to be serving God with my husband.  I know that there is even more of that in our future. The year was progressing along rather well until my mom was involved in a nasty car accident the week before Thanksgiving.  She broke many bones including a nasty, nasty break in her leg which will still require at least one surgery to repair.  She is off work and getting around rather well in a wheel chair.  I am most thankful that she is still with us and thank God regularly for that.  Jarrod and I enjoyed a great holiday season shared with both of our families.  Miraculously, sharing the holidays worked out well for us this first year.  I pray that it does that every year.

Now we have entered 2012 and our first full year as a married couple.  I look forward to all the possibilities the year has to offer.  I have several goals set to start the year off.  Jarrod and I are going to once again attempt the Couch to 5K giving ourselves permission to repeat a week if we are not quite ready for the next week.  I am hoping this will prevent me from just giving up like I did last year.  I am also attempting to read through the Bible using an app on my IPad.  I started it back in October but let life get in the way and only made it about 19 days.  I plan to be better about that.  In just those short 19 days, I learned things I either hadn't learned or had forgotten while reading.  I look forward to what else God will teach me as I read through his word.  I feel closer to Hiim than I ever have.  With all the changes that have taken place in my life over the last year, I have really had to cling close to him to help me through them even the great things!!!  I am also going to try to blog more often if for nothing else than to give me a place to express my thoughts.  Who knows what turn this blog will take over the next year.  Also, who knows what all 2012 will bring.  Could it bring the possibility of the pittar patter of little feet?  Could it involve more moves?  I don't know about any of that, but I sure know who does and I look forward to growing closer to HIM this year!!!  I also look forward to more time with my wonderfully amazing husband who I fall more in love with every day as I learn more and more about who he is!! 

I must close by saying that I am one blessed women.  I have my struggles and days I wonder if I can make it through but over all I am so thankful for all that I have in my life.

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Mrs. Jarrod Cansler...in less than a month :)

It is hard to believe that our wedding day is now just under a month away.  It has at times seemed like it would take FOREVER to get here but at others like the year has flown by. 

Now is the time to start letting go completely of my life in DFW that I have had for the last 8 years and look forward to my new life with my new husband.  I can't wait.  Are there things I am sad to let go of...ABSOLUTELY!! 

I think the hardest part is the people I am leaving behind but thank goodness for sites like Facebook that will allow us to stay in touch.  I couldn't even imagine what it would have been like just 20 years ago when the phone was really your only constant communication let alone 100 years ago when you didn't even have that.  I recently read a book with my students about a girl that left her home in Germany to come to Texas back in the 1800s.  The family she left behind, she left behind forever.  I am so thankful that I do not have to do that.

There are also several things that I will miss.  I will miss my church home here and the wonderful group of ladies that I have met with weekly to grow spirtually with over the last two years.   I will miss going to Texas Rangers games although Jarrod has said that at some point we will have to come back for those on occasion.  I will miss all the concerts I have attended but know that these singers come to Arkansas too!  :)  There are some local restaurants I will miss. 

Lots of things that I will miss but on the other hand, I so much look forward to the new adventures and the new favorite things I get to discover with my husband.  It's crazy to even say that word and realize that I will soon have one...and not just any old husband...the best possible husband any girl could even hope for.  I am so lucky in the man that God has provided for me.  Jarrod definitely makes the long wait 100% worth it.   I absolutely cannot wait to be his wife and begin our lives together!!

Please continue to pray for us as the move begins and the job hunt continues.  It would be great if God would provide a job before our wedding but we'll be patient and wait on his time either way. 

My Crazy Life

My life is offically crazy but a good kind of crazy.  It takes a lot to find a job, plan a wedding, get ready to move and do the normal day to day stuff.  Most of it is good and will be totally worth it.  Work is not great but not anything I will post on here.  God is definitely making it easier to close that door.  It's a little sad in general to be closing doors but the ones that I am opening are so worth it. 

Jarrod and I get married in 3 and a half months.  I am so excited and can't wait to see all that God has in store for us.  Yesterday, I went down at his church and said that I wanted to be baptized and become a part of that church.  This was a big step.  If you know me, you know that I was raised Methodist and went through a Methodist "baptism" when I was 5.  Over the last 10 years, I have questioned whether that was right and should I be baptized as an adult by submersion.  About a year ago, I felt like God was telling me that I should but I wasn't sure where or when.  The big church I went to in Irving just did not feel right.  Being baptized with my future husband present in a small setting with Godly people totally feels right.  I will be baptized on April 3 at New Hope Baptist Church in Rogers, AR.

On another wedding note, we had our first shower on Saturday in Little Rock.  It was a small shower hosted by my college friends, Ashley and Kristy.  I am amazed by my college friends and how close we all still are.  I definitely think those are some of the most lasting friendships I will have in my life.  Oh there are and will be others but they are different from the college group.  The shower was a blast and we got some useful stuff for our Kitchen.

This is Jill, Rachel, Jaime, Me, Stacia, Whitney, Ashley and Kristy!!

The adorable cake!

Some of the cool stuff I got and my new apron!!


Please continue to pray for Jarrod and I as I look for a job.  Pray that one is found quickly so that other decisions can be made such as where we are going to live.

I am Engaged!!! :)

My life is currently at a point of amazement.  On December 18, 2010, Mr. Jarrod Cansler made me the happiest woman in the world when he asked me to be his wife.  Of course I said yes!  :)  It still amazes me how much my life has changed in less than a year in ways that I never could have imagined.  At this time last year, I was struggling to get along with a long time friend and really felt like I would be single forever.  I was starting to lose hope that my future husband was even out there.  Then April came and Jarrod and I started texting.  I had a feeling from the beginning that this was something totally different than anything else I had ever experienced.  If you go back and read past posts from last April and May, there are several times that I alluded to it but never came out and said it.  In June we had our first date and by July I think we both knew were this was going.  I feel so blessed and I totally believe that God made my wait totally worth it.  I can't imagine life without him and have so many great thoughts about what the future holds for us.  I cannot wait to be Mrs. Cansler!!  It will be weird to have a new name but exciting all at the same time.  I mean, I have been Trudy Moore for 30 years...Trudy Cansler will take some getting used to.  On top of loving Jarrod so much, I think his family is absolutely amazing.  I will be gaining some pretty awesome in-laws!!  Now, I just have to work on finding a new job in Fayetteville and planning a wedding.  Our wedding date will be June 25, 2011.  I am starting to get things figured out...I bought my dress over the weekend...it is GORGEOUS!!!  June 25 cannot get here soon enough!!!