Ha! Amazing...

I. AM. AMAZING.

I say that because my last post on here was made back in September of 2010. I am quite sure by now there are absolutely zero people who keep up with attempting to read this blog. I really MUST be better about posting. The silly thing is, I get onto my blog almost daily to get access to the blogs I follow (see to the right) and read what everyone else is up to. Most recently, I have been captivated by the Hendricks' Blog and the mighty work God is doing in Haiti through this family. Every time I open a new "window" to read the Hendrick Blog, I pray God opens my heart to what He has for me - how can I help? how can I serve people in my community? What ugly things/thoughts are in my heart that are hindering Him working through me? Seriously, inspiring people those Hendricks are!

I don't want to say my life has been so utterly boring since September that there has been nothing to write about................so..............lets' think together and come up with some things I can put down to catch you up about life in the Floyd Home......hmmmmmmm

OH! Yes! Okay, here you go:

1. We had a lovely Christmas. I, Anna, got my FAVORITE Willow Tree Nativity set that I have been wanting FOREVER! It is so gorgeous!!! I was so sad that it was Christmas Day and technically I have to put it away for a whole 'nother year!!! I am SURE, due to my new nativity, we will be decorating on Thanksgiving day. lol

2. The day after Christmas, we received a precious, unexpected gift! A kitten (about 8mo) was wandering around outside out home as we were saying, "Bye." to some friends who had joined us for a post-Christmas dinner and we decided to let the kitten come inside. If you know anything about me, you know I am ANTI-cat and I am certainly ANTI ANY animal living inside the house. But, blame it on her sweet temperament, I openly agreed to keep this cat.

3. We now are in total LOVE with our cat! lol Her name is Evia, and she is truly a member of our family. I am called the "crazy cat lady" at work because I talk about her all the time, I follow all the instructions the vet and instructional cat books gave us (therefore, I brush her teeth weekly, bathe her monthly, scoop her litter box twice a day and thoroughly clean it out weekly). People think I am crazy......I call it LOVE. :)

4. We have really enjoyed our new church home. We attend Onelife, and totally LOVE it. God is present, people are real...genuine, and we have both felt challenged and encouraged. Great way to start off 2011!

5. Finally, I have loved that we have been quite diligent in trying to make all our meat, veggie and fruits that we eat be either locally grown or be grass-fed. We have been able to do this by purchasing all our meat from Yonder Way Farm. I make my order, monthly, and they deliver it to Pearland. All their meat is raised right there on their farm, is grass-fed, and has no added hormones. They also have fresh eggs and raw milk. We purchase our veggies and fruit from a couple local Farmers' Markets in our area. Most notably, Froberg's. You do have to be careful to make sure it is locally grown, and it is a little hard to get used to the fact that strawberries and watermelon are not in-season year-round, but I am feeling like these are all good choices to living healthier, longer lives.

Well, that is all for now. :) I will leave you with a picture of the newest member of our family, our sweet Evia!

It has been too long...

Sadly, I must admit to you, it has been way too long since I have longed for the Lord like I should. There was a time, when I first came to know Jesus that I could not wait to spend more time with Him. I seriously could stay at church all day on Sunday and not get tired. I yearned for more fellowship with believers....I hung on their every word about who Christ is and what He did for me. If I really am honest, I haven't been this hungry for the Lord since....my teen years at Fairfield Baptist Church.

Sad, I know.

I believe, I have steadily held a relationship with the Lord...but, it has been that kind of relationship you have where you were best friends in high school and then as you grow older, you call the person up every now and then to have coffee and chat for a bit. You catch-up during your coffee date...sometimes you decide to hang-out a little more frequently and sometimes life is just too busy at that, so you just decide to call for another coffee date a couple more months down the road to catch-up again.

I, honestly, have recently been blaming my lack of communication with the Lord on my recent church situation. The truth is, of course, it is 100% my fault. It is always hard when the Holy Spirit brings conviction like a train running you over at 90 mph. But what an awe-inspiring, humbling knowledge that He was right here all along just waiting for me to realize the truth so we could be best friends again and pick-up right where we left off...

As Promised...

We have really been doing a great job of not being "homebodies" and trying our best to use this time (before children) wisely. This past weekend, we had a 3-day weekend. I was worried we would spend all three days couped inside with Scotty not wanting to go anywhere and me DYING to get out. Instead, we played "house-sitter" at his parents' house and spent all day Saturday at his Aunts' pool with some great friends. Then, Sunday, we enjoyed church and then headed down to Jamaica Beach to visit some more friends that invited us to their beach house for the day. Monday was a day of re-cooperating, so I definitely did not mind being a homebody that day. Scotty headed home (to our house) for some time and I stayed behind to watch a marathon of White Collar - starting to really enjoy that show! :)

Now, we are headed into this short work-week.

This Saturday is Grandparents' Day. Be sure to send your grandma or grandpa a sweet card, cookie bouquet or fruit basket to say you are thankful for him/her and thinking about him/her on this special day!!!

Finally, before I head in to work.....

There is my new wedding band set, as promised. :) I LOVE IT! The picture truly does not do it justice. It is an amythist (engagement ring) surrounded by blue sapphires. Scotty's ring is a blue sapphire surrounded by amythists. :) (spelling is probably off here)

...until next time...

I'm Married!!!

I know, technically, I have been married for two years, but yesterday I got my real, offical wedding bands!!!

When Scotty and I got married, we could not afford buying a house, our honeymoon and helping to pay for our wedding all at the same time and also purchase wedding bands for both of us. So, we decided to buy temporary bands for both him and me until a later date. For our 1st anniversary, we bought his band. For our 2nd anniversary, we bought my bands. I LOVE them!!!! I will have to see if my awesomely talented friend, Lacy will take a photo that will do them justice so I can post a picture for all to see. :)

So...

After yesterday's blog, I truly was bothered by the idea that we (my Hottie and I) are boring people.

Do I really feel that way?

Are we really old and boring?

After swimming in my thoughts all day long about this, around 8:30pm last night, I came to the conclusion....YES! I do feel like we are kind-of boring people. There is nothing wrong with being "home bodies", and I certainly don't want to blow the budget ever weekend to have some crazy excursion. However, I do want this time in our lives to be intentional. We have agreed to not start a family yet. Therefore, if we are choosing to wait, we need to intentionally be:

1. Seeking the Lord and spending good, quality time with Him
2. Learning how to serve each other and working harder each day to be a better spouse
3. Sleep in and stay up late when we can
4. Have spontaneous moments of fun (picnics, hikes, a weekend away, visit the zoo, etc..)

All the above mentioned things are extremely hard to come by once a new baby comes into the picture. I don't want us wasting this season of life we have been given.

I shared all these thoughts with my sweet husband, and he concurred. We both got dressed at 8:30pm, headed to dinner and then went bowling till midnight. :) After bowling we enjoyed pie, coffee and conversation.

....maybe I will have some things to write about in the future... :)

7 months ago...

Seven months ago, I wrote on this blog. Ever since, I hop on here daily....truly, daily....to clickk on my blogging friends to the right ---> to see what whitty, insightful or eventful things might be going on in their lives, but have yet to update anything happening in mine.

It is quite possibly that I don't update because I NEVER take pictures. Seriously. I always forget the camera. Last weekend is a GREAT example of my horrible picture-taking abilities. It was our two-year anniversary. Both Scotty and I got all dressed-up to have a nice dinner at Marks, we were SURE to bring the camera...but, in the end both of us forgot to get a picture and at the last minute, the waiter took a picture of us and it turned-out pretty bad.

It is also possible that I don't update the blog too much because:
1. I refuse to talk about work on any internet outlet (facebook, twitter, blogspot, etc...)
2. I refuse to talk about family on any internet outlet
3. We are pretty boring people

Seriously. ALL...truly, ALL the juicy, dramatic, full-of-opinion stuff in my life comes from work and family. I would never want anyone's feelings hurt or anything that I type to be miscommunicated, so only Scotty gets to hear all that fun stuff, and he helps me to filter what we should be talking about and what we shouldn't (i.e. gossip).

Other than that, we really don't have much going on over here in the Floyd home. Until there are baby Floyds to talk about and little milestones to document for the blog world, you just might have to put up with my every 1/2 a year update. :) However, I will do my best to be better....

I have lunch with Ashley today! Maybe I'll get a picture or two and write about that! :)

It's Hard to be all Grown-Up

January has proved to be a difficult month in the life of being a new homeowner, newlywed, new year, etc...

Yes, I said "new" to both homeowner and partner in marriage; seeing as we have not even had our 2nd Anniversary for either events.

I am the designated "money person" in our marriage. Scotty's imput is necessary - as he is head of the household - however, I am the only bill-payer between the two of us. I was truly thrilled when January came around the corner this year - I had been budjeting all year long for our property and school taxes so those would not kick us in the teeth and I was excited to do our personal taxes early so we could put 1/2 towards our retirement account and use the other 1/2 to beef our savings back up (we bought a $5000 fence this year, fixed our chimney from IKE for $3000 and got trees trimmed due to IKE damage for another $500).

So, last week, I go to pay our property taxes only to find they almost doubled the amount I budgeted for! REALLY?!? Was I that careless? I thought...."It's okay...we have that amount in checking, and we are about to get our savings right back where we want it..."

Yesterday, I excitedly begin to do our personal taxes. I answer all the questions the little online touturial is asking:

Do you have kids: NO

Did you purchase a new home in 2009: NO

Did you buy any new energy effecient upgrades for your home in 2009: NO

....on and I went, until I got to the very last page to put in my bank information....

I eagerly typed in the info and clicked "CONTINUE"...

"You owe $698"

WHAT!?! We owe money??? Are you saying that even though neither Scotty nor I claim anything on our W4's and the IRS takes the maximum amount out of our paychecks each month - all year long - we STILL owe an additional $700????

I swear, I almost cried.

So, today, Sunday - our usual day of rest and relaxation - has turned into a day of hard discussions and re-budgeting for 2010. Lots more money will have to be allocated into our end-of-year property tax payment. We will have to visit the possibility of changing our W4's to include the IRS taking more than what we have already allocated, so maybe next year we won't owe, and some vacations/small trips that were on 2010's calendar will no doubt we pushed back.

Oh the joys of being all grown-up..........

2010....

Can you believe it is 2010? I can't believe we have passed the days when we day "two thousand ____" and have moved into they days of "twenty ten"! Definitely seems surreal.

2009 (two thousand nine) was, I would say, an okay year. Nothing truly amazing or spectacular happend this year in the Floyd home to define the year for us. We took some fun vacations, celebrated our 1st anniversary and had a big pary for Scotty's 30th. We did recently settle on a church - Calvary Houston.

We are pretty excited about being part of a church family again. Me, I'm sure, more than Scotty. Recently I have felt depressed....not like end my life depressed....just feeling sad every day. Scotty realized this and we sat and talked about it for a while. The last time I felt like this, I worked for a church. They had no office, so the office was in my apartment and day in and day out I would just sit at home answering the church phone (which sometimes would ring at 2am, by the way), creating e-mails to be sent out and trying my best to keep up with my pastor. I never saw anyone. Sure, I had a church home, but I volunteered each Sunday and never sat in service. Sure, I had a life group, but they talked weekly about the sermon that was preached the Sunday before and, of course, I couldn't really follow b/c I didn't hear it! It all boiled down to the fact that I had no friends. No one ever stopped by my little office apartment just to say hi. No one ever invited me to lunch to just get away. Nothing. If I needed anything, I had those friends for sure: Ashley, Beth, Kristy. But, at the time, I really didn't realize what I needed. Thankfully, the church split, and all I really felt was FREEDOM! I was free to not be at church from 6am-1pm. I was free to not put on a fake smile each week because I was a "Leader" and was supposed to "be on stage" each Sunday. I was FREE.

Now, however, in 2010 I am realizing I am close to where I was then. When Scotty and I were engaged, I imagined we would find a fun couple - maybe in our premarital sessions, maybe in our new church, maybe in our neighborhood - that would be our "friend" couple. Know what I mean? That couple both you get along with. The ones you want to have over for dinner and you all go see movies together and such. I truly believed that would happen. However, as much as I have tried (i.e. inviting people over, having parties, etc...) we (I) have no friends. Everyone we know has kids. This doesn't bother me, but people with children befriend other people with children so their kids can play together and they can walk each other through the times they are in. The only person who still will hang out with me (kids or not) is my very best friend, Kristy, but she lives over an hour away.

I say all this, not to whine, but to simply hope that our new church and 2010 brings some new freindships we can cultivate. I also pray that if there is any feeling or thought in my heart that is not totally God honoring, that He would reveal that to me. Feelings are a dangerous thing, and satan can definitely take-hold. Please pray with me.

HP TouchSmart 600 Giveaway!

Friends, Jen from My Charming Kids is participating in a giveaway for a fantastic HP TouchSmart Computer....go see!

From my family to yours...

Merry Christmas (a little early) from:

Diana Fite, MD (my mommy) AND

Tracy, Anna, Arthur, Elizabeth, Alexandria, Renee', Aaron and Amanda Patton

My new hair cut. :)

Just thought I'd share...

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

Today is another Sunday.

I used to enjoy Sunday's so much. I would eagerly get out of bed and get ready to go to church to be with my friends and serve in the children's area.

Now, I practically dread Sunday.

Since Scotty and I have been married, we have attended about 10 different churches. Unfortunately, none have really stuck us as "our" church. You know that feeling you have when you find a church home? You sit in the service for the first time and just know that you want/need to dive-in and serve in the area God has called you to. You just know you want to linger a bit longer after church to find-out how to get connected with people there.

I have had that feeling before. It is wonderful, and when you give of your time, talents and treasure to your church home - you feel like family. However, like family, churches are made-up of people - not perfect, sometimes self-seeking people. Therefore, beyond that "feeling" I have to make sure I am becoming part of a healthy church. One who truly puts God first, who desires real worship with Him, one who holds people accountable (both leadership and the church body), one who desires to serve the world around them and one who places such a stong emphasis on family that they don't schedule events all week long and anticipate volunteers or leadership to be apart from their families so much that they lose touch with eachother.

*sigh*

You see my delima. One church we found that is just amazing and Spirit-filled is a church in Dallas, TX. The Village, pastored by Matt Chandler, has pretty much become our model for what we are looking for in a church. Of course, pastors will be different, but their structure and beliefs are right on target, and when we visited - Scotty and I were both ready to sell our house and move to Dallas. If you have an opportunity, download some of his sermons here.

Today, we are visiting a church called Calvary Houston - recommended by Scotty's aunt. Please join us in prayer that God might lead us to the church He wants us to be at and serve Him from. We pray and hope Calvary Houston is it.

Man, we need an update!

CRAZY! Can you believe how long it has been since I updated this thing??? Admitadely, I get on my blog almost daily to check the other blogs I am following (see on the RIGHT). I have really loved reading about Heather's current passion to know about the company you purchase your everyday clothes/household items from. She has recently found some GREAT companies out there making everything from shoes to clothes to water bottles, and each of these companies gives a percentage of their profits to better the world (i.e. build water wells, educate women, etc...). Anywho, check it out!

So, this morning, I decided to not only check on the blogs of people I enjoy reading from, but to also update my own blog.

Below are pictures of our recent happenings.

Scotty and I took Christmas pictures. :)

Lacy, our AWESOME photographer, grabbed our rings and this is the outcome. :)

We visited Grandma Floyd in Oklahoma. Here we are in front of Lake Murray.


Grandma and grandson.

We also visited Uncle Alan, Aunt Kayla and cousin James in Ft. Worth.
This is the rainforest at the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens

too pretty

I loved all the leaves changing

And, just for some fun....on Halloween Scotty and I attended Leyel's 30th birthday party. We had a great time and got all dressed up. :) I was "Robin" and Scotty was "Space Ghost"

Leyel and I

Us. I'll have to find one w/ Scotty's mask on - he looked amazing! :)

Well, there you have it. Our life in pictures as of recent. The holidays are coming up, and we are definitely excited to spend some time with family. Hopefully, our next chat won't be so far away and I can share some Thanksgiving Day photos with you!

Boy, do I feel stupid........

So, I know I am WAY overdue for an updating-type of post.....I promise that is on the way (along with TONS of pics, including a COMPLETED fence pic!!!). However, today's post is about what I did last night....

About 9:30pm, we received a phone call on our home phone from "an inmate at the Harris County Jail..." I decided to accept the call since I have so many siblings and one of them might be in trouble. After I accepted the call, a gentleman got on the phone stating he was an officer and had a young man in custody by the name of "Michael Smith" ("smith" right...) and Michael had given him my number for immediate family. I explained that I did not know this young man, but that I accepted the call for fear one of my siblings might be in trouble.

The officer seemed very sweet and apologetic about the mix-up. He explained the charges would be removed as long as I immediately called *721-713-979-**** after we got off the phone and when the machine kicked on stated my phone number, his name "Officer Johnson" and his badge number #1459. I thanked him and immediately called.

Well, for the rest of the night, my phone rang once then hang-up. No caller ID. No one on the other end of the phone. I tried *69, but it would just ring and ring. I eventually turned off the ringer and went to bed.

Finally, this morning, I decided to do some research b/c when I turned the ringer back on, still...1 ring then hang-up. Turns out, it was a SCAM!!! By me dialing *72 before the number (1-713-979-****) I had forwarded my phone, allowing multiple inmates at the Harris County Jail to make collect calls to their relatives ALL NIGHT LONG while charging MY PHONE!!! I immediately pressed *73 to unforward my phone, but the damage had been done. I will have to contact AT&T on Monday to have the charges removed and to find-out the total cost of the charges (I'll let you know...).

CRAZY, right?!?

So, now you know too!!! NEVER, EVER let this happen to you.

*sigh*

DARN YOU RAIN!!!

So, I FINALLY find someone to come and fix our fence....

OVER A YEAR AFTER HURRICANE IKE....

and rain decides to POUR down in sheets yesterday and today!!!

*sigh* I just want this crap fence taken down and a new one up!

...pictures to come soon....

(hopefuly before 2010)

Happy Birthday, Scotty!

Today is my sweet husband's 30th birthday!

James 1:19-20 says: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Scotty totally embodies that verse. I love many things about my husband, but one of the most wonderful qualities he has is that he is very quick to listen and try to understand what is going on in a situation before jumping to conclusions so as to avoid conflict. He does not tear others down with his speach and is very slow to anger. Unfortunately, these are all things I need to work on, but I am blessed to also have patience in my sweet husband. :)

Last year, Hurricane Ike took out any "plans" we might have had to celebrate Scotty's birthday. Therefore, this year, I felt it necessary to REALLY celebrate! I planned a "surprise" party for Scotty, but ensured it was not too much of a surprise seeing as he is not really that found of spur-of-the-moment events. :) Enjoy the photos below...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thank you, Lord, for my amazing husband! I can't wait to spend his next 30 years by his side!

Wedding Shower...

This week on Kelly's blog, she is asking everyone to share pictures and memories of their wedding shower as part of her weekly "Show Us Your Life"...

My Cake...

My wedding shower was full of fun games! I got to prove what I knew about Scotty with a series of questions he had answered previously, I got to feel bags full of kitchen utinsils and try to guess what items were in the bags, and I got to pin the "kiss" on the fiance' (using "kiss" post-it's and a huge picture of my to-be husband). However, among those common games, there were a few unusual ones...

In this game, Scotty was asked to grab random items from his wardrobe and the hostess (my best friend, Kristy) grabbed items from her wardrobe and with a blind fold, I was asked to get dressed for the wedding night...

This game, I really do not recommend anyone try....

I was touched and very thankful to have all my friends around me and to receive such beautiful gifts...


Interesting pose with my "bride-to-be" ribbon...

So, there you have it! I actually was blessed to have three wedding showers!!! Unfortunately, I only found pictures on my computer of this one. :( Thank you, Kristy, Ashley, Bobbie, Tracy, Debbie, Mandy and Jennifer for hosting all of my wonderful and very memorable showers!

1-Year Anniversary!

Yesterday, Scotty and I celebrated being married one year! We had a wonderful dinner together and spent the evening flipping through our wedding album and watching our honeymoon cruise video. :) This Friday, we will be heading to San Antonio to have a small "anniversary trip" together. Enjoy the photos:

Table setting before dinner was served. Flowers were a gift from Uncle Bob and Aunt Connie.

Dinner is served....

We cooked dinner together - Ribeye & Shrimp w/ Alfredo sauce and Wild Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli's w/ Alfredo sauce (spinach salad on the side)


Top layer of our wedding cake we froze. :) Of course, we had to add our cake topper!!!

After we cut into it.

It actually tasted pretty good!

Dad and Mom (in law) bought us both these beautiful Willow Tree figurines (my fav!)

"Anniversary" (left) "Wedding-cake topper" (right)





Scotty's anniversary gift - permanant wedding band

*hard to see, but has blue sapphire in the middle and 1 amythyst on either side*

Scotty bought me 3 beautiful picture frames and filled them with some of our favorite pictures of us so I can have them for my new office at work, since I now have my own office!!! :)

Stay tuned for more Fabulous Floyd Fotos to come from our anniversary vacation! :)

Mr. George Strait and some lingerie...

*Whew* Another weekend over....

This weeekend was packed with TONS of fun!!! On Saturday, I went with some family to see George Strait. The opening acts included Julianne Huff (dancing w/ stars), Blake Shelton and Sugarland. Sugarland was definitely the best of those three, and I think I will probably purchase one of their CD's to listen to in the car. However, no one out-did Mr. George Strait. I just really love his simple, classic songs. Here are some photos of the concert - we had GREAT seats!

My sis (in-law), Rayna and I getting ready to hear some George...

Then, on Sunday, I had the privilage of attending sweet Susan's lingerie shower. I am thrilled for Susan because she has found the man she believes God has intended for her. She also has continued to honor and serve the Lord in her single life by saving her whole self for marriage. Here are some photos from the shower.

Bride-to-be and one of her sisters, Adele.

Yummy food and AWESOME Sangria (sp?).

Beautiful flowers and chocolate fountain

Party favors - edible underwear. lol

Ha! The outfit of the night! Susan just graduated nursing school. We all loved it!

I'm excited about the upcoming weeks. I really only have 4 more classes left, my exam and then "graduation" for my Director's Certificate! Next Saturday, Susan says, "I do", I celebrate my sister's 21st birthday and get to see my best friend's baby! Then, on the 24th is my anniversary! Time is definitely flying.....but for now, I must sigh and push on through Monday...