A BIG UPDATE!

This weekend we signed the papers to start building our first house! We had seen an area in Denton a few months ago that we really liked and last week we decided to go check it out. By Saturday morning we were ready to sign. Here some pics of us making the deal:

Signing our life away :)


There were LOTS of papers to sign!


Putting the SOLD sticker on the map!


Our dirt lot!




This lot is now SOLD!




We are so excited about our new house. We've already picked out cabinets, counter tops and floors. Now it just needs to get built! I'm sure there will be many more posts about our house-in-progress.

First Day of School!

Bright and VERY EARLY Monday morning, I headed out to Vickery Elementary in Lewisville to start my first day of work. Craig got up early to make my breakfast and pack my lunch -- I almost thought he was going to pull out a camera and take the "first day pic." I'm really enjoying my job and am already loving the kids. Here's are my favorite kid moments from this week:

At lunch on Monday, a second grader asks me what my name is. I tell him, "Mrs. Northcutt" and he says. "Whoa, that's like a direction and ... scissors!"

At the end of the day on Wednesday, I was in the cafeteria helping dismiss kids and I sat down at the kindergarten table to talk to a student. Another little girl looks at me and asks her teacher if "Mrs. Northcutt is waiting for her mommy pick her up, too." Her teacher laughs and says "Does Mrs. Northcutt look like a kindergartner?" The little girl thinks it over and says, "She could be an older one." I guess my anti-aging cream is really working!

I'm sure there will be many more fun moments with my kids!

Summer Lovin'

Long time no blog! Well, I do have a couple reasons for not updating this sooner.

Reason #1. This summer has been BUSY with lots of weddings, trips and family time.

Reason #2: My computer has lost all my pictures! Well... not lost exactly, just disappeared into the black hole that is my hard drive. It takes forever to hunt down pictures and I haven't had the energy to go digging for something that used to be so easily accessible. I know I could have posted blogs without pics but I tend to have the five-year-old mentality that stories are better when accompanied by pictures.

So, I am posting about the only pictures I have -- the babies I take of! Who doesn't love some cute baby pictures? These pics are from their first birthday party.

Waiting for their cakes and their first time to eat sugar!


Sweet Girl!

Things I love about Laine:
1. She laughs and smiles all the time.
2. She loves to hear songs -- even when I sing them way off key.
3. She eats her food like a polite little lady -- one piece at a time.
4. She bounces up and down when she gets excited.
5. She is the most easy going and laid back baby I've ever taken care of -- she rarely gets upset.

Lil man!

Things I love about Will
1. He likes to make his sister and me laugh.
2. He has this adventurous nature -- he crawls over everything including Laine and me. Nothing gets in his way!
3. He likes to have his bottom patted when he goes to sleep.
4. He crawls up to me and puts his head in my lap.
5. He likes to snuggle when he wakes up from a nap.

Happy Birthday Will and Laine!

No more school -- EVER!!!

I am finally done with school! No more teachers, no more tests, no more papers! It's a little hard to believe that it's all over and by August, I will join the ranks of other full-time working Americans. For the time being, I am enjoying my summer off. Here are some pics from graduation:

Swimming with floaties

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. Everything has been so busy lately. Life has been consumed with tests, projects, work, job hunting -- all thrown at us at once. It's hard to find time to rest and when I do, I lay awake thinking of all I still have left to do. My body is tired and my heart is weary but in my weakness God has shown that He is still there. It's in moments when the pressure of the world is weighing down on you and then something happens to lift you up and give you hope. When you've been treading water for so long and you just don't think you can last much longer -- then He tosses you a floatie to help you stay afloat. Some of our wonderful floaties are:

Our awesome small group: they have sent e-mails filled with encouraging words to help support us as we go through this busy season. Even though we haven't been able to be very involved lately, they let us know they haven't forgotten about us.

My parents, who have had us over for dinner numerous times in the last month. Mom will just call and say she has dinner for us. It's been so nice not to have to cook! Plus nothing is ever as good as Mom's.

Brian Reagan -- the funniest guy ever! We had a wonderful date night at his show and just laughed for two straight hours.

My new job -- well actually two new jobs! This summer I am going to be baby-sitting for the cutest nine month old twins. I met this family at the hospital I am working at now. They needed a sitter and I had nothing planned for the summer so we were a perfect match! I am also the newest employee of Lewisville Independent School District. I went to the job fair last Saturday and they hired me! So I have my first, real official job. I'm so excited and can't wait to start in August.

So, things have been insanely busy but I know it's all coming to an end soon. Once school is over, Craig and I will probably get bored with all our free times. In the mean time, I have been clinging to the floaties in my life, cherishing them because in them, God as reminded me that I am not in this alone.

It's Official!

I am officially graduating in May!!! I took my huge COMPS test last Friday and needed to pass in order to be allowed to graduate. Friday night I received an e-mail that said I passed! Thanks to everyone who prayed, called and sent messages while I was preparing for my big test!

Tag! I'm it

I've been tagged by Kristin

Ten years ago...
I was 13 years old and an eighth grader at Briarhill Middle School. I was a proud member of the Briarhill Band and rocked out on my bass clarinet. I had just realized bangs were no longer in style and was desperately trying to grow mine out as fast as possible. I was also sporting an amazing set of braces! Those were not my best years :)

My to-do list today
Wake up late and snuggle in bed with my husband
Make a morning run to Starbucks
Go grocery shopping
Buy computer paper
Go to Jess's baby shower
Finish laundry
Study for my COMPS test (aka Two-years-of-grad-school-mean-nothing-if-you-don't-pass-this test)

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire
Buy Craig a new truck and season tickets to the Mavericks
Pay off school loans for my sister and me
Buy my parents new cars and finish remodeling their house
Buy a house
Adopt ten kids
Open a pediatric clinic with speech, physical and occupational therapy for kids without insurance.
Give to the Denton Campus so we could finish renovations
Go shoe shopping

Five jobs I've had
Children's Ministry Intern at Highland Village First Baptist Church (now known as The Village)
Fashion consultant and cash register operator at Old Navy
Clerk at Dry Clean Super Center (Hooray for free dry cleaning!)
Filed papers and typed stuff on the computer at Paradigm Engineering
Resident Assistant at UT
** In two months I will be able to add Speech Pathologist **

Five things people don't know about me
1. I never let my gas go below a quarter of a tank because I have a huge fear of running out of gas. I always check the amount of gas in any car I'm in. So if you ever give me a ride, please fill up your tank :)
2. I stole Barbie clothes from my next door neighbors when I was little. Yes, I've repented and asked for forgiveness.
3. I'm very self conscious about my head size. I never wear my hair in a ponytail because I think it makes my head look bigger. I also make Craig lean forward in pictures so my head won't seem huge compared to his. God just blessed me with a big brain and he had to create a large head to house it. (That's what I tell myself to make me feel better)
4. I strongly believe that one day I will just wake up and no longer be tone deaf.
5. I can't stand anything underneath my nails and constantly pick at them.

Three of my worst habits
1. I drive like a grandma -- always go exactly the speed limit
2. I hate putting my clothes away. Craig will lay my clean clothes out on the bed, hoping that before I go to sleep I will put them away, but I just move them to the dresser or the chair or even the floor of my closet. Today I finally put away last Saturday's clothes.
3. I took sign language in college and sometimes I still sign when I talk.

I think all my blogging buddies have been tagged but if you haven't... you're it!

Snow Day!

Yesterday Craig and I came home to a Winter Wonderland! We couldn't believe the amount of snow around our apartments.





Who do you think won the snowball fight?

Down but not out

It's been FOR-EVER since our last blog and I'm sure many of you were wondering if the Northcutts had abandoned the blogging world. But have no fear -- we are back! The last few weeks have just been a little crazy:

Craig started back at school in January and has been working hard to balance his job and school work. Last semester, Craig found out that he would not be allowed to graduate in May. He only had 13 hours left but two of the classes could not be taken simultaneously. It was a big disappointment when we found out he would have to go two more semesters and graduate in December. I know Craig was frustrated and so anxious to be done with school but he kept saying that God is sovereign and He had a reason for allowing this to happen. Well, now we know the reason! Craig is taking two very demanding classes. There is no way he could've handled all 13 hours. At least once a week, one of us mentions how glad we are that his schedule got messed up. I guess Garth Brooks said it best... Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

I started an internship at Our Children's House at Baylor and am working there full time this semester. This had created a change in our home life since I am not at home much anymore. I worried about being able to have job and get everything done around the house but my husband has been INCREDIBLE. He always has dinner ready or at least started, he helps with laundry and doing housework, (He's going to be so embarrassed that I posted this but I felt I just had to brag about him)!

My internship has been a great learning experience and lots of fun and also A LOT of work. I have learned that working full time is not as glamorous as I thought it would be and that college life was pretty good. I leave the house about 6:45 am and don't return until 7 at night, physically exhausted and emotionally drained. It has been a challenge to get use to this schedule but I am learning more than any class or textbook could teach me. My greatest lessons have been about God's grace and the undeserving love He has for me. I have always felt blessed for the things God has given me -- family, friends, a place to live but I have never thanked Him for myself. I now realize that He created a miracle in me. I am grateful for every breath I take because it's breath taken without the assistance of a ventilator. Grateful for every step I take because it's a step without the support of a wheelchair. Grateful for every word I speak because I can say them freely without struggle. The body He created for me is not what I deserve and His love overwhelms me.

So for now, life is crazy, unpredictable and at times, so wonderful!