[life] Hello Friends

 

In the past week or so, I have gained a new amount of "followers" via a blog community on Facebook called The Blog Love Project. It's a group of women who support each other in their blog posts, Facebook pages, tweets, Instas, and pins. It really is a great community! If you haven't found a blogging community yet, I suggest heading over there!

Because of this new following, I want to give an overview of who I am, and who "Everyday with the Jays" is all about! If you have been around here before, most of this will be the same as usual. So to all of my new friends, I say welcome! If you're from The Blog Love Project, let me know in the comments so I can come say hello to you too!

I'm Chrissy, he's Nate. We have been a two-some since our marriage in June 2009. We met in college: he was the cute boy leading worship at a college retreat and I thought, "Oh yes, he WILL be mine." A month later and he was my boyfriend! After a year and a half of dating, he proposed in the most memorable way. He gifted me a Bible with my married name on the front cover. He is such a blessing to me and I can't thank God enough for him. He leads our household to love and fear the Lord and to follow His commandments. He treats me like a princess and comforts me. He keeps me safe and I feel secure in his presence. Love this fella!

We have no children, but have two fur-babies who we treat as such. Anyone else? Chloe is the spunky Jack Russell Terrier pictured below. We got her three months after we were married, so she's been with us since the beginning. She loves adventure, the outdoors, and likes to bark at cats. She keeps us on her toes: she's extremely smart AND stubborn! We adopted Oliver, a Shih-Tzu/Lhasa Apso (not sure) almost a year later. He is kind, tender-hearted, and loves Nate fiercely. He has grown to be a snuggler and always gives us a laugh with his goofy hair.

Nate is the Lead Pastor at our church. He has such a heart for God and His people. It is a true joy to hear him preach each Sunday! He also leads the worship music: Nate sings (amazingly well), plays guitar, and piano. Sometimes I will share snippets of his singing, seen below!

I also work part-time at the church: I am Nate's ministry assistant! I do basic office duties, and also create media publications for the church (weekly bulletins, monthly newsletters, website updates). I maintain communication with our small groups and accountant, and also plan church-wide events. I really enjoy my flexible schedule and working alongside Nate. I'm able to be creative and plan/organize events, but also work on my own in a quiet environment. We have our own work spaces, so we aren't all up in each other 24/7, but just across the hall from one another.

We love to travel: our favorite way to travel is by CRUISE SHIP. We have been on six cruises together (I traveled on two before we were married, and he traveled on one, so my total is eight and his is seven). We love to experience the culture, shopping, and food of the places we visit. We also love photography and capturing moments that we can treasure for a lifetime, but we also understand the importance of living IN the moment and soak it up as much as we can.

We were both born and raised Texans and still live here to this day. I was born/raised in Dallas, while he was born/raised in East Texas (Tyler region). Like I said, we met in college at Dallas Baptist University. We both loved our time there, but unfortunately DBU does not have a football program... so we are both STRONG University of Texas supporters. I was accepted there, but my brother (who graduated from UT) strongly encouraged me to attend DBU instead because he felt UT was too big for me. Boy was he right! But- we love our Longhorns! Hook 'em!

On the blog, you will see oodles of our everyday life (hence, "EVERYDAY" with the Jays). I don't blog everyday, but my schedule will (hopefully) continue to be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I enjoy sharing about our life and travels (seen above), but I love me a good craft, party, or recipe! Plus, fashion and beauty are things I am beginning to dip my toe into, so you will see bits of that as well!

I am so so SO glad you have decided to join us on our blog journey! Thank you for reading (AND getting to this point, ha! #longpost) and I hope you stick around with us! Leave me a comment sharing where you blog and I can stop by to say hello back! Have a great week!