Purity Ball 09

Cuttin' a rug...


What a beauty...


They've got the moves...


Little lady...


Daddy and daughter...

25 Random Things About Me...

A little about me...

1. My middle name is Joye - like Joy - but with an "e". I've never met anyone else with that name. I've also never met anyone else who spells Catrina with a "c".

2. I can barely function without a list or calendar.

3. I've only been on an airplane once - to Orlando - and I made the woman next to me take my picture. I was 20!

4. I started dating my first (and only ever) boyfriend at 16. I married that man, my amazing husband when I was 18 years old - he was 21 - and I wouldn't change that for anything. I still get butterflies when he smiles at me.

5. I grew up with the most amazing parents and brother on 8 acres of imagination. Other than my husband, there is no one on this planet that I respect and look up to more than my Daddy.

6. I had a 4.0 in high school and a full 4 year scholarship to Texas A&M. I planned to become a Marine Biologist.

7. I take being a wife and mom VERY seriously. And feel like I'm the worst at those things.

8. Hearing my two girls laugh really hard makes my heart happy.

9. I can't decide if I want to live in the country or the city. It keeps me awake at night.

10. I don't wear my beautiful engagement ring because I knocked the diamond out of it a few years ago - in the washing machine. I found it but haven't been able to have it fixed yet.

11. I LOVE to pray and believe that to be one of the most precious gifts our Lord could have given us.

12. I love to cook. Especially organic and whole foods. But I find it frustrating & difficult to maintain such high, healthy standards on a budget. I also believe that if we ate according to the Jewish dietary laws, we'd be oober-healthy.

13. I don't like to dream, but I always remember them.

14. I've been saved by Grace from a wicked amount of sin and rebellion. I am scandalously blessed by our Great God.

15. I feel awkward all the time.

16. I have drawn hundreds of house plans. I remain certain I'll never be "home" until Heaven.

17. My best friend - Melanie B. - is the most godly woman I know. I aspire to be like her. I'm not worthy to be her friend.

18. I've learned more about my Father, God from being a mother than I could have ever imagined.

19. If I ever meet Beth Moore, I'll pee my pants. Her daughter left a comment on my blog and I almost did.

20. My favorite thing is having people in my home and knowing what will make them feel special and loved when they are.

21. I love disecting things in lab.

22. I really dislike the word "moist", puppets, clowns and small children singing nursery rhymes.

23. I wish I could have another baby. Really bad.

24. I've lost my temper less than 4 times in my life.

25. I can't wait to be a nurse. I feel blessed the Lord has called me to this special ministry.

Tell me a little about you?!

Date Night!!

Thanks to our sweet, sweet Uncle B & Aunt Lauren, who rangled the kiddos last night and this morning, we enjoyed a great date night!

Friday night:

*Uncle B picked up the girls and they were so EXCITED. They promptly buckled themselves in and politely asked for hugs and kisses and for me to please go back inside so they could leave! I'd be hurt, but I know how much they LOVE their Uncle B & Aunt Lauren and how much their Uncle B & Aunt Lauren love them! I'm glad they have so many people who want to spend time lovin' on them!

*Mike came home from work and we headed out to eat. We decided to stay in town and try a new place. Since we were planning to see a movie we chose Ciao Bella. It was great! Good food, friendly service and right across the hallway from the movie theatre.

*Walked right up to the window and bought 2 tickets for Paul Blart: Mall Cop. We still had an hour before the movie started so we just wandered around the mall. We NEVER do this...I mean it has literally been like a year since we just walked around the mall. Being Friday night I really thought it would be worse, but it was only about 6:30 pm and I'm guessing that's why it wasn't. Anyway, we went into Borders and saw the most hilarious display of "music love" by this man who obviously DID NOT care that the store was full of other people who could see his not-so-awesome dance moves! We laughed really hard. He just looked SO happy! Then we headed to Kirkland's, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE store (well, right behind Lifeway)! We didn't buy anything in either store, but it was fun to look! Then Mike spied a PS2 baseball game for $3.99. We got it for his Papaw to play when he comes to hang out with us!

*We headed back to see the movie and noticed the line was incredibly LONG! We were SO glad we bought our tickets ahead of time. Got great seats for the movie and laughed our faces off! It was clean (except for a few potty words) and funny...a good combination in my opinion!

*Headed out into the COLD for some Starbucks (sorry Krystle, Lasaters closes too early!!) and a stroll through Kohls. Again we didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look without trying to keep two very uninterested children contained!

*Pooped out and headed home to watch Ocean's Twelve.

Saturday Morning:

*Got up early to try Silke's Old World Bread & Cafe. If you haven't already, I would HIGHLY recommend it! I had a ham & cheese stuffed croissant and cinnamon roll. Mike had an apple & oatmeal coffee cake. Then we bought a loaf of Walnut, Raisin Sourdough bread and Whole Wheat Farmer's Bread to take home. Delicious!!


We had a great time, and to hear tell, so did the girls! Thanks Uncle B & Aunt Lauren! You are Rockstars!

If you would...

...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16



Please pray for this man. (For obvious reasons...haha)

**But specifically for his interview this Saturday morning at 8am**

Father. God of the heavens and the earth. You know the plans we have made in our hearts and all the same we know that You determine our steps and Your purpose prevails (Prov 16:9; Prov 19:21). You alone, Lord, have brought us here. Be glorified. In Your name, Amen.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Faith of a child...

The other day I overheard Gracie & Autumn playing in the playroom. I sensed they might be playing a little rough. Maybe it was Mother's intuition...maybe it was that the house was practically bouncing up and down on the foundation. Either way, what I heard next caused great laughter followed by a thankful heart!

Autumn: Dear God. PLEASE help me with Gracie. She's too tall for me to win! Thanks, Lord. Amen.

Gracie: Autumn! No fair!

I think she meant. No fair going over my head like that! Oh, to have such faith in practical matters!

Car Help by means of a "Roll Call"

We are starting to think about having to replace the car that was totalled back in November. We are looking for something with great gas mileage (I'll be driving back and forth to Hopkinsville several days a week for clinicals come August) and a high level of safety for the family. I DO NOT care about names or what's highest in the social circles. We do however, need it to be reliable. We waited a long time to buy our other car so that we could take on as little debt as possible and would love to do the same this time. If you have any recommendations or suggestions, please...PLEASE share! We don't plan to buy until sometime in March, Lord willing. We are just trying to get as educated about what's available as possible. This whole process honestly makes me wish we all still rode around in horse and buggies....

I'm also making this a "Roll Call" because I think everyone has something informative they could contribute! So if you read this blog, leave a comment and let me know you're out there...although I'm pretty convinced that I might be the only one who reads this thing!

Thank you so much! You may be the one to help us choose our next car! Promise we won't send YOU the bill...

A Tour of Christmas...

Ok. It's not the holidays anymore. I know. But here's the thing. I don't have professional and totally amazing daily blog skills like some people I know. So if you want to re-live our Christmas events with me then read on! *Also, these pictures are in no specific order, I didn't feel like fighting with blogger to get them chronological.* Anyway, these first few are from our annual trip to Opryland to see the lights. We had our favorite Nanny with us this year. She is the most wonderful Mother-In-Law on earth and I could not be more happy to call her mine! For anyone who likes to go to Opryland to see the lights - Note to self: DO NOT GO ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! (Atleast not with small children. There WILL be wailing and nashing of teeth and it will not be from the children.) But all in all it was a lot of fun - just VERY crowded which is scary to an obsessive Mom who is afraid her children will be lost forever in a sea of Christmas decorations and people - and we continued our ice cream tradition as well. Good times! Really!

Our family with my Gramma Dunn (my Mom's Mom) and my Uncle Eddie (my Mom's brother) & Aunt Karen who flew in from San Diego to hang out with us for Christmas! We had so much fun and the girls LOVED them. This was the first time for them to meet Autumn in person. Gracie was a little Tot when they were here last. Guys we miss you already! Love you! Please come back soon. Or make us a spot on the couch. Because I hear CA is warm...really warm....

Here are a few pictures from Christmas at my Momma & Daddy's house. We always go out there after our fun at home on Christmas morning. Growing up, Christmas was truly a magical time for my brother (pictured in the gangsta hat below!) and I. Somehow my parents still make it feel that way for us all!

Another huge blessing this year was having my cousin Billy and his beautiful wife Leah here to celebrate with us. They have 3 cutie-patootie boys with a 4th on the way (due in Feb...we're praying for a pink baby this time!) I really love it when we get to hang out with them. Our kids have the best time and act like they get to play together everyday. If I didn't totally understand why they live in Michigan with their families, I'd seriously pout about them not living here! Come back soon! I want to pinch new baby cheeks!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with family at our house. It was relaxed and fun. We stayed up way too late with B-dub & Lauren playing RockBand. You guys, I'm old. And I have kids who wake up at 7am. Where were you the next morning when I needed to sleep in?? (I'd totally lose sleep to hang out with you guys...I'm just saying...) We'll work on that next year!

Thanks for hanging in with the long recap. We had an incredibly blessed holiday season! We are looking forward to a truly wonderful 2009. Praying the same for each of you! All our love!

Happy New Year!

My goodness. It's hard to believe we are into another year! 2008 was full of love and blessings for the Williams family! We are looking forward to a beautiful year and pray that each of you have one too! I'll have pictures from our Christmas festivities up soon. I've just been enjoying time with Mike and the girls and haven't spent much time fooling with the computer! Love to each of you!

"We must have been really good, Momma. Santa came early just to see US!"

That is what Gracie said to us! Mike and I were SO shocked yesterday evening when we heard a loud and jolly "Ho! Ho! Ho!" outside our door (actually it took us a few minutes to realize it wasn't on a holiday cartoon Autumn was watching!). I'm ashamed to say I was STILL in my PAJAMAS - dern ya'll - but Santa didn't seem to care! He had to be the REAL thing! His eyes really twinkled people! My girls mouths fell open as he handed them gorgeous red bags with their names embroidered on the front. Santa's sack was overflowing with beautiful, quite generous gifts that the girls just squealed over! Now folks, I must say I tried to hold it together...at first I was so shocked I couldn't do anything but nod when Santa asked the girls if their names were Gracie and Autumn....then I began to realize that someone or someones had heart strings stirred by our Gracious Father to bless our family in a way that Mike and I never could have this Christmas. The tears started falling and poor Santa witnessed the "ugly cry" no doubt! Again he didn't seem to care. Then Santa pulled a present (literally) out of his sleeve for Mike and I...I can't even begin to express how generously stuffed this card was! The Lord's provision right before our very eyes! Now, anyone who knows me at all knows how unlikely it is for ME to be SPEECHLESS...but dad-blab-it....I COULD NOT MAKE MY MOUTH FORM WORDS! Oh, my heart was sending up groans only the Holy Spirit could understand....but words had left me! Poor Santa, I wanted to hug his neck so bad...but I just couldn't possibly move! I was afraid if I started hugging Santa I wouldn't stop or I might just bowl him over into the front yard and God Bless Him...as I said he already had to endure the "ugly cry" the "hug of death" might have been too much! If I could do it over however, I would at least muster more than a wimpy "thank you" with my eyes all bugged out!

It was a real live Christmas miracle and this family is not likely to forget it in a million years! I struggled so much with not being able to say thank you in a way that seemed comparable with the enormous blessing Santa and all his helpers brought for us last night, but God knows my heart and it is so full of love and thanks I'm about to explode! So beware. If you run into me I'm liable to hug YOUR neck off! The need to hug has to be used somewhere people!

So without further adu...here are some pictures from last nights surprise visit from Santa!

Here's Gracie playing the new VIDEO GAME SYSTEM Santa brought...WOW!


Here she is swooning over a necklace/bracelet making kit....MY GOODNESS!


Here's Autumn with her eyes all bugged out at her new ART SET! SWEET MERCY!



Here she is getting all dolled up with her new LIP GLOSS!

It took Gracie all of 10 seconds to get her first necklace made! It said Gracie Williams!

Sorry about the little panty-waist here...she had just come out of the potty and there was no time for getting dressed! And she was way to interested in the beautiful presents to care anyway...here she's getting fancy with her new PRINCESS brush and mirror set!

Each of the girls had beautiful, scrumptously soft Christmas blankets in there sacks! BOTH girls fell asleep under them last night. They were totally exhausted from all the fun with new toys!

Here are the GORGEOUS sacks the girls toys were in! Simply GORGEOUS!

Last night was a memory that I'll store in my heart and treasure for the rest of my life! And one day, I'll get to watch the "playback" in Heaven with all the generous people responsible for it! I don't know exactly who to thank. So for now I'll pour out my thanks to the Lord from whom all good gifts come and ask Him to bless times a thousand those who gave from their hearts and chose to be the Hands and Feet of Jesus during this season when the greatest miracle and gift was given to us all - Jesus Christ the Lord! So celebrate with me, a Babe born in a manger, the Savior, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Hosannah in the Highest, Emmanuel! Our Lord so big and mighty, yet so personal, He leaned down from on high and whispered a song of love to someone who sang it back to us last night! God Bless you! Merry Christmas!

Baby Girl

Gracie,

Daddy and I wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to you, our sweet baby girl. Our first born baby - you came blazing into this world on a cold December night 7 years ago and we have treasured every moment with you since! We could never have dreamed of a more amazing child to break us in to parenthood. You make being parents easy and lovely! You bring us so much joy. You make us laugh everyday with your funny poems and pranks. You are so kind and loving. You have a heart for the Lord and a tenderness toward people that is such a blessing to watch. You are absolutely brilliant and beautiful.

Some of your current likes:

-CLOTHES!!!
-SHOES!!!
-music & dancing
-wrestling with Daddy
-jump roping
-homework & reading
-riding the bus
-Sunday school
-Family Night
-board games

Some of your dislikes:

-onions
-for Mommy to tell you what to wear
(and that's pretty much it because you are always so positive and easy going)

Some of your funny sayings (words):

-owbrays (eyebrows)
-bump (forehead)
-"In the Gherto" (this is what you sing when you sing the Elvis song)
-crawlapillers

We are so thankful that the Lord allowed us to be your Momma and Daddy! You are sunshine in our lives! You are the sweetest and most amazing little girl. We are so proud of you and we love you with all our hearts!

Happy Birthday, Booger!