Happy Birthday Gregory!

I'm so grateful this man was born 29 years ago today. I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him on the blog in a special way. So...in no particular order - here are the top 10 things grateful to my husband and best friend:

1. I'm grateful that he lets the Lord lead him
2. I'm grateful for the way he leads our family
3. I'm grateful that he loves me for truly who I am
4. I'm grateful that he helps me with the household duties
5. I'm grateful that he loves to listen but also gives really good advice
6. I'm grateful that in him I have a very best friend and soul mate
7. I'm grateful for the awesome daddy that he is
8. I'm grateful that he's an incredible teacher
9. I'm grateful that God made him just for me
10. And last but not least, I'm grateful that he picked me to spend the rest of life with!

Happy birthday to the best husband and friend ever! I love you, Gregory!

Live. Love. Laugh

Live. Love. Laugh.

I have always loved that motto. But I feel like it really describes my marriage. We do life together. We love fully. And most importantly we laugh. And laugh a lot.

This Friday, May 20th, 2011 - we will celebrate 5 years of marriage. And add that to our 3 years of dating and we have been together a total of 8 years. 

The truth is - my husband is my best friend. He is always there for me. He is an amazing leader for our family. And I'm blessed that God put us together so early in life. His love for me is just as its described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

As we get to the 5 year mark, I wanted to list my top 10 most favorite things about marrying Gregory. In no particular order.

10. I love how silly we can be around each other.

 9. I love that coming in to the Walkup family I was given a HUGE love and appreciate for Puerto Rican food. Where would I be without my Goya Adobo and Olive Oil???

8. I love what an amazing person Gregory is. Thank you Abba and Papi for raising such a wonderful son!

 7. So happy that I gained a sister by marrying Gregory!

 6. I love that I turned a cat lover into a dog lover. Savannah was our first baby!

 5. I got a mini-Gregory when Finn was born. :)

4. Happy to share in life's triumphs with my best friend - G running a full marathon and us running a half marathon together.  We just keep crossing off items on our bucket list!

 3. I'm so grateful to have a husband who really enjoys yard work. This is my favorite part in our yard - in the back, it's a trail leading to a tree he planted when Finn was born.

 2. Pictures with Jason Pendley. Forever grateful to him for capturing such wonderful memories of my family! I love the little family God has given me. And yes, I would like more children if God blesses us with them.

May 20, 2006

May 7, 2011

 1. Most of all, I just love sharing life with an incredible person. I am so blessed. Happy 5 years my love! Praying God continues to use us to minister & show Christ's love to others. We are here for others to see Christ in us-Amen!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

No easy task

Sometimes the pendulum of balance swings more in one direction than usual. In today's post, I'll explain how I "try" to keep things balanced between work and home.

We had Drive Conference at my work the last week of March. That means I worked from Sunday to Thursday - I put in around 50 hours that week. On a normal week, I work 32 hours a week. Of course it was worth it, Drive is one of my favorite things about working for North Point Ministries. I got to meet and talk to leaders from almost 500 churches. I can definitely say I ran on total adrenaline that week. Little sleep and on my feet all day!

This brings me to this past week - it was SPRING BREAK! And since my husband was home we did all kinds of fun activities. We went to the zoo, we took Finn to an indoor jumpy house, and did plenty of eating out. It was wonderful. When I was home, I was fully home. No work! And on top of that, my awesome husband landscaped our front yard. He did an awesome job.

Below are some pictures for you to enjoy.

 Finn and Daddy in front of the Panda exhibit

 Finn really loved watching the orangutans

 I love my little boy!

 Checking out a komodo dragon

 Happy boy - he loves the ZOO!

 My little cub

 Watching the elephants

 All 3 of us on the train

 The tree behind him was planted when he was born - we call it "The Finn tree"

 Finn and daddy in front of Finn's tree

 The beautifully landscaped front yard - I really love the border he designed

 A little done to the side to help with erosion

And here's the whole front! 

All the pics are blurry from Kangazoom - but this one is my favorite, Gregory's face is priceless.

So - that's how I "try" balance home and work. I try to keep my time as equal as it can be. If my time swings towards work a lot for a week then the next week I'm all home. And of course, it's always a good thing to have the pendulum of balance go more towards home.

How do you keep things in balance? Any tips?

A Great Accomplishment!

Today I write about my amazing husband.

He trained hard for 9 months all for a cold Saturday morning in the beautiful scenery of the Chickamauga Battlefield in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA. That's right, yesterday Gregory ran 26.2 miles.

What a true accomplishment. What an inspiration he is to me. Below are a few pictures and then a video of him coming through the finish line. Tonight I smile because I am a very proud wife.

 The cheering committee (minus me the photographer)

 Almost half way there and looking good! He wasn't even sweating.

 Waiting at the finish line!

 Finn was looking for dada

 Bro and sis at the finish line!

Uncle E and Gregory at the finish line!

Gregory and I at the finish line-so proud!

 

And here's the video clip of him coming through the finish line-Great job Gregory! You are truly an inspiration to us all!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Hebrews 12:1

Being a mom

I love what this cartoon represents. Being a mom has many challenges. And there are many times Finn has been crying and I have wanted had to cry as well. But being a mom is the greatest experience in my life thus far. It has made me have a whole new perspective on life, God, my husband, family, and friends.

I have felt closer to God. I have a new found respect for God and how he feels about me. Unconditional love means something completely different to me now. My relationship with my husband has changed for the better. Not that anything was wrong before, its just like we work together like a well oiled machine. Both with the same goal in mind for our child and looking out for each other. I already knew he was my best friend and soul's mate but it's like we have gone to a new level.

Anyway, it's funny I knew all of these things would happen (from reading books like Sacred Parenting) and now that they have I am overjoyed. I love my new chapter in life and I know it will just keep getting better everyday.

These men make my life complete when they smile at me. I love you Gregory and Finn!

Fun time with friends

Meredith, Me, and Deana

Kristie, Joel, Greg, Matthew, and Majors

Me and Gregory

Justin, me, and Kristen

Me and Candace

Me and Kristie

Me and Matthew

And last but not least-me and Gregory!


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For Gregory's birthday, we went to the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta. The have beer tasting and also take you on a tour to show you how the beer is made. It was so much fun! Thanks to everyone for coming out. We love you all! There was more people at Mellow Mushroom after the brewery but I forgot to take pictures :(

Happy 26th Birthday Gregory!!!

Today is Greg's 26th birthday, so in honor of him I'd like to list 26 things that I or others love about him :)



1-He's fun to be around
2-He always makes you laugh
3-He always has a positive attitude
4-He balances me out so together we make a super human
5-He is one handsome man!
6-He's really smart (made Dean's list all 4 yrs of college)
7-He is a true friend for life
8-He's a total sweetheart
9-He loves children (obviously since he teaches 2nd grade)
10-He is extremely responsible
11-He can have fun doing nothing
12-He likes things neat and organized (just like me)
13-He has a great sense of humor
14-He puts God first
15-He has good taste in clothes
16-He is a great decorator
17-He loves working in the yard and it shows
18-He is a great planner
19-He is fearfully and wonderfully made
20-He loves the Lord with all his heart
21-He is an awesome dancer
22-He is an amazing leader for our family
23-He always has a smile on his face
24-He is a diligent worker
25-He loves me so much and is really good to me
26-And last but not least he is the best husband around and will be an amazing father someday!

True love...

Aren't we so cute together! I really love my hubby and I'm so blessed to have him in my life. His birthday is this upcoming week and I have made him a special gift that I know he is going to love. I love our little family and the life we have just him and I. I have really been praying for him lately because between his job, getting his masters, and church-he has a busy life. I just love that in the middle of all that craziness he finds time to send me a text or call me just to say I love you. I know this is a sappy post but I just love him so much and i'm so lucky he's all mine! I will leave you with the verse I have been praying for him. Hope you are as blessed as I am to be married to your souls one true mate!
Love-RW

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

It's hard to believe...

This New Years Eve will be 2 years since Gregory asked me to marry him!!! Time goes by so fast. I still can think of that night like it was yesterday. I found this video as I was going through a bunch of wedding folders we had on our old computer. So I thought I would share :) It's only a minute long. Short, sweet, and to the point! Have a look and listen closely for when the countdown ends. I loved that night. I have never been so surprised in my whole life.

So, a new year is on it's way...what's your new years resolution??