Life, Death, and Everything in Between

We had a good date night last night. Dinner at WOW Wings (World of Wings) and then we went to see Transformers 2. For those haven't seen it, the movie was highly entertaining and better than I thought it would be. There's a ton of funny parts throughout the film, lots of action, incredible special effects as expected and pretty good acting for the most part. The one thing I would say that I wasn't a huge fan of was the language and innuendos that were mainly said by the robots. It wasn't awful language, but just felt random and that it didn't really need to be in there. I still like the first one better, but this one was really good so I will definitely buy it and look forward to the third one.

In the last three days we have heard news of the deaths of 3 pretty big celebrities...Ed McMann, Farrah Fawcett, and the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. While I do not condone MJ's lifestyle or private life in general, he was probably the greatest musical entertainer of all time and I love his music. It's fun to sing, dance to and just doesn't get old for the most part. He was bad, dangerous, black and white, the man in the mirror, and wasn't afraid to tell people to beat it or that the kid is simply just not his son. Michael, in one word, your career was simply "thriller".

Although the Braves have been about as mediocre a team can be this season, I still love them (not romantically) and cannot wait to see them play the Red Sox on Sunday with my boy Russ. He invited me to go so I just could not turn it down. It will be weird seeing Smoltz in the other dugout, but I hope we can get a win while I'm there. Nothing like seeing a ballgame at the park, although I'm not sure how happy my wife is that she isn't going, haha, it will be okay though.

I know this has been long, so I will end this post with a personal thought, then a really good quote. I have been blown away by how faithful God is the past couple of weeks. The funny thing, it's not been due to things in my life, but His provision to people close to me. I can't go into too many details because I don't know how much these people want others to know, but let's just say that the Lord has provided a fiance', a job, a baby, and great news regarding someone else's job that was not expected and is exciting. The Lord is good and his timing is absolutely perfect. He is constantly working for our good and even during our trials and hardships, he is shaping our character and strengthening our faith and ultimately causing his name to become greater. Remember that when you are finding it hard to be patient, struggling to have faith, can't seem to see the way, or whatever you are going through, that if you are a child of God, your King, Savior, Deliverer and your Great Father is working for your good at all times and will work everything out for your good and for his glory. That is reason to rejoice and respond to Him in worship. I'll finish with this quote by Pastor Harry Reeder:

"Circumstances don't dictate our character, they reveal it and give us a chance to improve it."

C&B
Hayes Party of Two

One Year!!

Well, it took a little long for us to post, but after no further adieu, we have details of our one-year anniversary trip to Chattanooga. We have been married for one year!

We drove up there Friday afternoon and when we arrived, we went to the movie theater to see The Taking of Pelham 123. Other than it having a lot of language, the movie was excellent. There was action, comedy, drama, suspense and of course two great actors in Denzel and Travolta.

After the movie we checked in to the Stone Fort Inn, which is a 100 year old Bed and Breakfast in downtown Chattanooga and we loved it. They had an antique pool table that we played a few games on and a very nice suite with two rooms and a large bathroom.


Chris and I played some pool.




Friday night they had a wine and cheese hour from 6-7, which was pretty cool.




However, we aren’t big wine drinkers so after a few sips we opted for a couple of cokes instead. The cheese, crackers and fruit were all very good though and served as a nice appetizer before we went to dinner at Big River Grille.

We walked from the B&B about 8 blocks to get there and back, but it was a nice night and a nice town to walk in so we enjoyed that very much. Before going to bed that night, they had videos you could get and watch in your rooms so we watched Kindergarten Cop, haha…classic!


On Saturday we woke up and went down to breakfast, which was very good. Brittany opted for some cereal while I had some fruit, fancy hash brown stuff and some crepes filled with applesauce, which were awesome. They also had some fresh orange juice. The service was excellent and we really enjoyed our stay there.

After checking out we drove to Ruby Falls and did the tour through the caves to the underground waterfall and then after lunch we went to Rock City and enjoyed that as well. Guess we figured it was important to do some touristy things while in the city.

Chris being silly........

I followed and was silly as well.........




Overall, it was an amazing trip because we got to spend it together and honestly it didn’t matter what we did. This first year has been filled with everything and we cannot wait for however many more years God chooses to give us. Hopefully next year we will be able to do something a little more fancy like a cruise or a nicer vacation, but it was a nice first year anniversary indeed.




When we got home, we got to eat our first year cake. I am going to be honest friends and say it was not the best thing in the world.


The funny part was that it was too tall for the cake topper to cover it. So, Brittany made her own topper. We had no toothpicks in the house, but we did have straws. :)




C&B
Hayes Party of Two

Updates On Life

I thought today would be a good time to give everyone some updates on our lives and where we are at. Obviously, Brittany is still teaching but is off for the summer and has begun her first of 6 weeks of summer Grad classes. Since she is taking 3 classes this summer, she will be able to graduate next May. Pray that she gets though this because it is a lot of class time and a lot of work at a high level. She will return to teaching at Excel Christian Academy in the fall for her third year there.

As for me, I recently took a new position at DFCS (Department of Family and Children Services). I am now a Family Team Meeting Facilitator. Basically what that means is that when a family has an ongoing case with the Department, we do a Family meeting involving the parents, case managers, service providers, etc and develop a case plan and talk about the family's strengths, needs, and things like that. It's a really cool part of the process that seems to be very effective and successful. We also do one right before we close the case to celebrate the good work of the family and to help them look out for things in the future. I enjoy it for the most part, although there is a learning curve involved so as I continue to understand the process, get organized and come up with a solid routine, it gets easier.

I started getting up earlier in the mornings this week and have been running. It's a struggle, but I hope to keep it up. I stay pretty active during the week in the evenings playing basketball, volleyball and disc golf at least 3 nights a week, sometimes more. Hopefully I will be able to lose some weight, get in better shape and be healthier all around. I'm just not the kind of guy that likes running unless there is a ball or some purpose or sport involved so it is a challenge, but hopefully God continues to give me strength and motivation to get up and do it.

Lastly, Brittany and I are so excited about heading to Chattanooga to celebrate our one year anniversary together this weekend. Stay tuned for details and pictures. I also got my haircut, but didn't think anyone really cares to see pictures of me, it's short like it always is, haha.

C&B
Hayes Party of Two

Changes

So....if you know me, you know that I am not one for changes! I love my comfort zone. It is the best way for me to remain non-stressed. Last Friday, I decided it was time for change. I got my hair chopped off! This was big for me, but I love the result.

FIVE inches were cut off!!!



I love the result though!

Simple Pleasures

So, I know what most of you are thinking....."it's about time the Hayes' got a blog, I've been dying to know what is going on with them". Well, your dreams have come true because we have joined the blogging world and can now tickle your fancies with our musings, anecdotes, and with whatever we feel like talking about. Now to the good stuff.

I came home Wednesday evening after a long day of work then a couple hours of basketball to find my beautiful wife at home who told me to go shower and get ready, she had a surprise for me. We had a nice spontaneous little mini date as we went out and got a drink from Sonic, then some Chickfila for dinner and brought it home to enjoy together. She's amazing and was so cute and it really was a lot of fun. We had some friends come into town this weekend to stay with us for a wedding that was today and that was fun. We also got to go to Cartersville and do some shopping because I desperately needed some clothes and Brittany wanted to get a few things as well so our friend Keri joined us.

I'm excited about worship tomorrow at Three Rivers, we are doing some really awesome songs like: Everlasting God, Satisfied, Holy Hands, O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing (Crowder version) and Mighty is the Power of the Cross. Come out and join us tomorrow if you are looking for a church, or just want to try something different.

We have now been married for 51 weeks and they have been the best of our lives. Stay tuned to hear about our anniversary adventures and plans. Rock on and God bless!

C&B
Hayes Party of Two

The First Post

Our First Post.......interesting huh?