Many of you probably have heard that some things are going on with Thomas's health. I would like to just put some things out there and clear up the facts. Thomas has swelling in this knees and ankles so we went to see our FNP. They did some blood work and they believe that he may have rheumatoid arthritis. We are going to meet with a joint specialist . We do not know anything for certain. We just have a list of symptoms and a list of possibilities. We do not know anything right now. Nothing is for certain. We are going to the specialist tomorrow morning. After that, we should know more of what is going on. Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers. God is for us so who can be against us.

God Bless
Mrs. Chandler

3 weeks and a birthday :)

Celebrated 21 years of life and 3 weeks of marriage saturday. I must say that I had a pretty good couple of days. My parents and grand parents have been camping at trace lake. So Thomas and I went out there and grilled out this weekend. We had a blast. Thomas rode the intertube for the first time. He loved it! I forsee many more trips in our future. There will be pictures up on facebook soon so check those out.
A bit of praise--I got accepted into Surgical Technology school. I am beyond excited. This is what I have always wanted to do. Surgery is my thing and I am super pumped about being accepted. Thomas and I have some major changes ahead of us. Prayers would be appreciated.
We along with our college sunday school class are going to key west florida for a ten days. We will be leaving on Thursday morning. I am so excited! I love serving God and people. I just know He has big things prepared for us. I just pray that we have open minds and hearts and humble working spirits for this trip!! It will be a long drive down there--18 hours I believe. I am ready to go though. I will blog about that when we get back.

Hope all is well.
God Bless
Mrs. Chandler

From the mind of a newlywed

Well ladies and gentlemen I have been a married woman for two solid weeks. It has been the happiest two weeks of my entire life. I am a very happy lady. I do believe that Thomas and I are soul mates. I am so happy to have that man as my husband. We are all moved into our little apartment in Fulton. Everything is put into its place and most of the place is decorated. I must say I like it. I still feel like I am just playing dress up like when I was a little girl. The only difference is that it keeps going on every morning I wake up to this amazing man. I am telling you girls it is worth the wait. I would not trade what Thomas and I share for anything in the world.
The wedding went beautifully. We were truly blessed. The reception went pretty good aside from the intense heat. But honestly at that point I was so full of happiness that it just didnt matter. I was smiling ear to ear. It doesn't seem like it should all be over already. But it is. The stress levels have gone way down since the wedding. So for those of you out there wedding planning...you will survive!!
The honeymoon to destin was awesome. I had never been to the actual beach before. It was beautiful and we had such great weather. We got to do a little shopping and we ate at most of the good resturants (Fudpuckers, Bubba Gump, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheeseburger in Paradise). We ate a ton of really good food. I really enjoyed the time for just us to relax on the beach. We certainly earned some time away for rest. I did not want to come back to the awful Mississippi heat. But here we are...officially starting our lives together.

I love being married.
Until next time.
God Bless.
Ashley Chandler :)

17 days and counting

In 17 short days I will be marrying the absolute love of my life. I have never been more excited in my life. I am sitting in 17 short days will be the new home for me and my husband, and our little dog too! Planning a wedding has been way more stress than I anticipated but I know that on that day it will all be worth it. I know in my heart that Thomas and I will proudly sit and show those wedding day photos to our children and grand children and probably every body else in between. It doesn't seem like I have waited to marry this man for almost eight years. But then on the other hand it does. Ha. Our apartment is filled with gifts from our precious friends and family. I am so thankful for all the things that we have received. I am anxious to have my husband here now. He is the most important part after all. I look back on our relationship and I can remember those things that happened that we had to work out and pray over. It changed us. It made us grow as a couple and as people. I believe change is part of life we can not avoid no matter how hard we try.
My life has certainly changed in the past year. The plans that I had made I quickly found out were not what my Jesus had planned for me. This statement has not come easy. It is hard as a twenty year old to realize you have no idea what you are doing or why you are doing it. But through the grace of God on a daily basis you figure it out one day at a time. I am officially a graduate from ICC. I must say I was a very proud lady as I walked across that stage. I think my parents were happier than I was. Graduation day was an awesome accomplishment for me. I am so looking forward to my next big day!! The wedding is quickly approaching. 17!!

Have a good week.
God Bless

Pappaw Junior

Pappaw would have celebrated his birthday this month.

I miss that man more than anyone will ever know. I think about him everyday. I think about how we would sit at the Trolley while Mammaw went home, and we would eat so much ice cream. Then Mammaw would return and we would run to the kitchen, looking like we had been working our fingers to the bone while she was gone.

I think about him singing I'll Fly Away so many days as we worked side by side in that little ole Trolley car. I think about cleaning up at night when it was time to close. I would be so tired and yet I wasn't half his age and he kept right on trucking. He worked harder than anybody I knew. Not for recognition. But because that's who he was. I think about all the summers we worried about Pappaw because he worked in the garden in the hottest part of the day, and he didn't sweat enough. But he loved it so we let him keep at it.

I think about how he hated any kind of drink that wasn't milk or pepsi and how if he knew something had cheese in it he would refuse to eat.

I think about how we drug out those Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving every year for as long as I can remember. The older I got the more I watched Pappaw during this time. He was just like a little kid. He smiled so big and he enjoyed rolling out every light and checking every tiny little bulb making sure that it would light up just right. I think about the first blow up item that we bought him to put in the yard for Christmas. I think we eventually got up to about ten or twelve different things. But no matter what we always put the manager scene up and he would say "This is what it's all about"

I think about those amazing Trolley burgers that he could cook up. I think about the way he taught me to make a Pappaw Breakfast. I can just see him teaching us grandbabies to dutty ump. This was Pappaw's dance for us. Basically he would clap and say dutty ump and we little tots that we were would dance and he would laugh cause he thought it was the cutest thing in the world.

I think about how he always wore a red hat, sitting up too high on his head. I think about the many trips that me and Mama made taking him to the doctor after he got sick.

I can remember him being in the hospital like it was yesterday. I can see so vividly the scans of his brain that the cancer had eaten away at. I also remember him talking to me when he wouldn't talk to anybody else.

I will never forget my last days with Pappaw. I sat beside him on a stool at his house as he laid in the bed, just waiting on God to call him home. I wasn't there when he took his last breathe but the ones that were there know without a doubt that the angels came and swept him right out of this world and into a brand new body that no cancer will ever touch. Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away. I believe that is just what he did.

His funeral was a very sad time for me and my family. But so many people came to his visitation. I have never seen so many people in my life. He touched people's lives and most of the time he never knew it. That was just Pappaw, hard working and dearly loving. We celebrated his life that day. I will never forget us singing I'll Fly Away at his funeral. That song will forever remind me of Pappaw.

Nothing will ever fill the place that Pappaw held in my heart and life. I love that man dearly. I am what I am today because Pappaw taught me that this world doesn't give you anything you don't work for.

Happy Birthday Pappaw! I love you!

nothing fancy...about my life..

I have come to the conclusion that wedding planning is very stressful but with the help of my precious mama that we are going to enjoy every minute of it. Yesterday we went to the Bridal show in tupelo. We got tons of great ideas. I am so excited/nervous. I am such a planner and I want everything to be perfect. My precious fiancé. He has been so good. All he wants is to be married. Thank you Lord for this beautiful man who will be my husband so soon! I have a very long list of things that I need to get done as soon as possible but I am trying to not be a bridezilla!! I think I am doing okay right now ha ha. I will get back to you on that in a month or two!!

My classes started today. I am going solely online this time. I hope that I like it and can handle it. Full time online is going to be tough but I have faith in a higher power for greater strength! I hope you all are enjoying this new semester and new year. To all of you that are student teaching, I wish you the best. You are touching lives on a daily basis!!

I hope that this week brings you great joy and opportunity. Take Care. God Bless.

hello bloggers

hello people of the blog world. i have not written in this thing in such a long time. i think i might have forgotten about it. so much has happened since my last post. i was in nursing school and it consumed my whole life. terrible is probably the word that i would use. so as of right now i am not taking any nursing classes and i am searching for what i really need to be doing. i am praying that health care is where he leads but that is still open. it is hard because in five short months my whole world will change. i will be married. where has the time gone? i was talking to an old friend today and we fill like we are getting so old. everybody we know is finishing up college and getting married and having children. seems like we should still be running from the boys on the playground. time really has flown by in the last couple of months. christmas at the house was great. my last one of a part of my family. next year i will have my own family!! i am so excited. i am going to try and keep some things posted about the wedding. hope you have a good start to this new year.