Oh, to make some soap!!

Amanda, Christy, and I recently went to the Blooming Earth Studio (Old City Downtown Knoxville) to learn how to make soap! Here are our silly pictures :)

And all of the soap turned out perfect!!!



Christmas Time is Here!

Here are a few photos from Christmas Festivities! :)

 Our beautiful lights on the house! (Joshua put them up!)

 Our first REAL Christmas tree....last year's was a fake! :)

 We attemted Christmas Cookies.....

 Gingerbread men (And women) turned out grand!

 The snowmen....well, they became blobs. Ha!

 Our tree again!

 Joshua and I got to see the musical Cats!

 Our white tree owl <3

 Stockings! The three pups shared one!

 Cake pops!

 Festive Cupcakes!

 Annabelle and Joshua Cuddling <3

 I made a snowman birthday cake for Joshua's Aunt Barbara.

 Aunt Barbara with her cake. She's so cute!

And finally.....Samuel Jess Hickle III..........handsome little chunk! <3 him!

The Cox Family and the Chambers Family take on DOLLYWOOD!!!

I recently got some tickets to Dollywood (Thanks, Chelsey) and we decided to go with T.C. and Danielle Chambers. Here is the fun that was had!!!

Here we are...waiting in line for the train. It broke and we didn't get to go!

Danielle and I being goofy :)

Joshua and T.C. rode the Bumper Cars

The lights were beautiful.....here are a few more pictures:

Then we got an idea: Let's take pictures with a reindeer!

Fun was had by all!

Oh, Black Friday!

All I wanted was some fabric....so I waited hours!

Sweet baby girl.

Sometimes Joshua lets Finn on the couch.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHACO!

Chaco turned 4 on Monday, November 14!

I made her some awesome butterfly cookies, which were a HUGE hit with the guests!

Chaco even wore her bow for more than 2 seconds!

Once again, happy birthday Chaco Pup!

Lukewarm...

Haven’t blogged in a while….I may just start posting one each month….that way I don’t feel crazy about it all J

This blog post is certainly personal, but I felt the need to share so that others can hold me accountable. I need that. So here I go…..

I am a Christian. I say I believe in God and I love God, but can you even tell? I would say no. (Especially when things aren’t going the way I had planned!)

God uses a lot of things to get our attention….especially when we get lukewarm. He makes it clear in Revelation 3:16 when He says “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” 

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a dear friend of mine over the last year; my wedding photographer, Shannon Kelley. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. What makes her so amazing? SHE LOVES GOD. You can see it in everything she does. I’m not writing this to boost her up or even to brag on her…..but to show you how God is speaking to me.

I’ve been reading her posts about Haiti on her blog and there’s a quote…

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

I have all of these plans, but is God in any of them? Did I even ask God what He would have me do? I have discovered that even though I profess to love God and live in His will….I don’t.

Another way God has been speaking: Sunday morning, my Bible Fellowship teacher explained the cost of getting outside of our comfort zone. Do I do that? Never. Why?

BECAUSE I AM LUKEWARM.

Fancis Chan wrote about signs of a lukewarm Christian:

http://www.simplymissional.com/2008/06/are-you-a-lukewarm-christian/

I was struck to realize that I fit in all categories. My heart is broken.

I don’t want the lukewarm Christian life anymore. I am ready to have life and have it more abundantly! A lot of people assume such a lifestyle is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers….I am ready to be “radical” for Jesus!

And that’s it! Love to you all!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I have posted here!! But I finally entered into the world of smart phones....so I will be posting more often! Peace.

Our First Easter and MY (joshua's) First Blog Post

To Start off with, I had a rather long day at work yesterday and came home to the best wife any guy could ask for, which was enough in itself BUT my awesome wife got us a Tye Dye kit!!!! AWESOME, so I now know what we will be doing on Monday night!!

Changes, I have found a new friend named TC, he played guitar at our wedding and through a church event we started talking and its truly a blessing to get to hang out with him on Friday having just an awesome night in fellowship, fishing, and so much more. I really look forward to more fishing trips and just hanging out.

EASTER, I woke up this morning a little down b/c I didn't get the opportunity to attend a church service due to work ,BUT I am thankful for technology. I was able to stream the 11am service via the internet which MADE MY DAY and to top it all off in less than an hour I am going to be able to go home, see my beautiful wife and go spend time with my family.

As I sit at work thinking I have a wonderful and beautiful wife and an amazing family, I can't stop thinking how much God has blessed me and how He works in my life. I can't wait to see what else is in store for my life.

"He's alive and I'm forgiven, Heavan's gates are open wide"

A Barred Owl Named Pete

A week ago I thought I heard a barred owl.(I know what they sound like because I wen on an Owl Prowl with my friend Crystal Bishop when she worked at Henry Horton State Park.) So last night, Joshua and I were outside filling up my truck with oil (which is a whole other story!) when I heard it again! Every time I would call, he would answer! It was SO COOL! So we named him Pete. We are assuming he is a dude! We haven't seen him yet so we have no pictures....but this is what he most likely looks like seeing how they all pretty much look the same :)

Mayfield Dairy Farm

Joshua took me to the Mayfield Dairy Farm last week.....and this is what we did.....

The ice cream was the best!! :)

My Looses....and Joshua's Dogs

This is Chaco. She is 3 and is an absolute blast! She has more energy than 100 labs put together!

This is Huck! He is a chill pup. Very low maintenance and super sweet! He barks a lot!

And finally, this is Finn. She's my princess. She is the loving and cuddly one!