Our beautiful bathroom is FINISHED!

AFTER!!! New, bigger shower!
Full fish tank, new tile, and lighting!

Pic from the bath tub

BEFORE

shower, linen closet (that had lost it's door), and carpeted floor
Bath tub empty fish tank, old tile



We just finished the final touches on our master bathroom remodel this morning. We just LOVE it!!! Here are the before and after shots!

2nd Annual Lake Vacation

We have just returned from our 2nd annual Lake Tillery Perez Family Vacation. What a wonderful week it was! We had 23 people come in and out visiting all week! What a blessing it is to spend such wonderful quality time at the lake with so many loved ones. We got to use our boat so much (saw some beautiful sutsets from the water), ate and drank way too much, tubed, swam, and just relaxed! Here are some pictures from our vacation!

Pool Play Date

Swimming with her new Swimmies!
Swimming and lunch!

Our great friends Ellison, Christina, Baity, and Megan came over today for a pool play date! We had a GREAT time! It was the only outdoor activity that we could do b/c it was almost 100 degrees today! Caroline used swimmies for the first time today and loved them! She'll be swimming in no time (we hope:)

Happy Anniversary Tony!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! What a beautiful day it was then and what a hot, beautiful day it is today! Tony and I actually started dating in 1995 around this same time of year...so we like to think of it as 13 years together!
I love you so much Tony. I could not ask for a more perfect husband! Happy Anniversary My Love!

My "intense" intensive

So I guess they call this class an intensive not only because we are in the classroom for almost eight hours a day for five day straight but because of all of the intense, powerful emotions that I have felt this week. Wow, where do I begin in explaining all of the wonderful moments that I have experienced this week. First of all, this is a group counseling class. We are learning how to lead therapy groups but we are also experiencing the power of being a member of a group. The University doesn't want to send out a bunch of therapistsout into the world that have deep issues to face so we are participating in group therapy ourselves this week. I have never been to counseling so this has all been new to me. My small group consists of five members. We are all so very different. There is a southern baptist minister, an air force linguist who is morman, one African American woman with five children, and one very thoughtful and quiet young man. This group couldn't be more different, ranging in ages from 25-45 and coming from all over the US...North Carolina, Georgia, California, and Delaware. Despite our great differences, we have gotten to know each other on a level deeper than most relationships that I have had for years. I have learned so much about myself personally, so much about God, and soooo much about the counseling professsion. There are have been several intense, emotional days that have been enlightening to me and to everyone in the class. I feel like the lessons that I have taken from this week will stick with me for the rest of my life and hopefully will make me a better person. I could write a 10 page blog entry on all of the wonderful things I have witnessed and learned here. Really good stuff if you ever want to have a long conversation with me:) I'm ready to get back home and see my precious Caroline and my sweet husband Tony but I will really hate for this classroom experience to end. It has been so refreshing to see other students and interact with others on my same path as I do most of my work on the computer at home. Lynchburg, Virginia is really a beautiful place if you ever want a visit! It's been a very special week. I have to thank Tony and my parents for caring for our precious daughter this week so that I could have the opportunity to come here! I know it is a lot to work and take care of a very energized toddler for a week! Thank you so much!

Check this out!!!

So my first day at Liberty is going well. My day started at 4:45 am and I was on the way to Virginia by 5:30am. The drive this morning was smooth and I saw a beautiful sunrise! My class has been so interesting and I have met a lot of really cool people. The class is called counseling 512: group counseling and process. We are learning how to lead all kinds of therapy groups but we are also participating in them. It has been fun but I suspect it will get emotional during the week. I just love it...I know I am majoring in something that totally facinates me! Thanks to my big bro Jason who let me borrow his laptop I can check my e-mail, update my blog, and CHECK OUT the awesome pictures that Lindsey Turner took of Tony, Caroline, and myself on Sunday. If you want a sneak peak of some of them go to her blog (which you can link up to from this page...click on her page, Lindsey Turner photography, from my friends blogs section to the left on this page). I have a heavy load of homework so I better get to it!

Back to School

Well my time has come to go to Liberty University for a week long "intensive" class. I'm sure it will be a fast and a new, fun, educational experience for me. However, I just about get sick to my stomach when I think about leaving Caroline and Tony for a week. I know she and Tony will have a great day together tomorrow (Memorial Day) and that she will have fun all week with my parents and others who will be watching her. I just know that I will miss her so very much and I don't want her to be confused about where "the momma" has gone. I will have to do this a few more times over the course of my master's degree so I'd better get used to it but the first time is always the hardest. Nothing but family time after this week! Wish me luck!