Hubs and I

I stole this from my cousin Cherish and thought it was a cute way to tell everybody a bit about Michael and I!

1. What are your middle names? Mine is Renea.....his is Michael!

2. How long have you been together? Well, we dated for about 2 months in 2006, then started dating again on June 2, 2007 (this time for real!) So.....about 2 and a half years total?!?

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? Oh wow, we met some time around 2002 I guess......

4. Who asked who out? He asked me out, definitely!

5. How old are each of you? I'm 22, he's 28, about to be 29!

6. Did you go to the same school? Nope

7. Are you from the same home town? Nope

8. Who is the smartest? Well, he is definitely! He knows pretty much every random fact known to man, and he remembers EVERYTHING! I think he has a photographic memory, bc he'll say something about like how much something costs down to the penny or what year something happened and I'll think he's just making it up. Then I go and check on it, and he's right....every time!! GAH!

9. Who majored in what? I majored in Social Work...he sorta majored in Criminal Justice, but didn't quite finish it....now he's wanting to go back to school and some point and major in History possibly, which I think he'll be great at!

10. Who is the most sensitive? I think it depends. Me, being a Social Worker am very sensitive when it comes to other people's needs-that's just the way God made me. I can't stand the thought of anybody going without food or being homeless, it just breaks my heart. Michael on the other hand is very sensitive when it comes to family or our relationship........yet not quite as sensitive about other people as I am.

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? I guess that would be our honeymoon to Destin, Florida. Hopefully a trip to Arizona will be soon.....and I really want to go to Jamaica one day!

12. Who has the worst temper? I'm really not sure. Neither one of us really has a bad temper as far as throwing things and stuff....I get mad about some things and pout for a while, and he gets mad about other things and will sulk or whatever. We both are pretty honest, and have had some temper flares, but I'm very thankful to say that we're not very temper-tantrum type people.

13. How many children do you want? I would love to have about 3 or 4 kids, but when I really think about it, that scares me to death! So I'm thinking however many God gives us. If that's 1 or 2, great.....if it's more, then that's good too. As long as we are able to provide for them and I don't go crazy!

14. Who does the cooking? I do mostly. He's good about helping with some stuff, but he rarely cooks an entire meal by himself. I will say he's GREAT about having me something ready if he's off work and if I had to work late or something! May not be a huge dinner, but he's good about making sure I'm fed, so I won't complain!

15. Who is more social? ME definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's certainly an introvert to the max, but I really think he's opened up a lot since we started dating! I could be around people and entertain every night, he can't handle that! His idea of fun is sitting at home with just the 2 of us, where my idea of fun is going out, or having people over!!! I've learned to compromise!

16. Who is the neat freak? Oh, once again, I AM! He could care less if the clothes are put up, or if the kitchen is cleaned. Me on the other hand....I get very ILL and stressed when the house isn't at least picked up! I'm happiest when it's spotless, but I learned very quickly that it's pretty much impossible to keep it spotless while working a full time job! I settle for "picked up" a lot of the time.....he does help with that! I've learned that it may not be to my standards of how I would put up groceries, or mop the floors, but who cares if he does it!?!? =)

17. Who is the most stubborn? That's a hard one. I think we both are in our own little ways. I'm more stubborn when it comes to talking about something (like me being upset about something) and he's more stubborn about other things like plans or whatever.

18. Who wakes up earlier? HIM!!! I could sleep my life away...and his idea of sleeping late is like 9 or 10!

19. Where was your first date? Well, we had 2 first dates!
First date #1 (April 2006): He took me to Ellis piano in Birmingham to let me look at and play on the pianos....and we acted like we were interested in buying a baby grand piano! Then he took me to Macaroni Grill (my fav restaurant) and to watch Ice Age II.
First date #2 (June 2, 2007): We went to Atlanta and ate at Ruth's Cris Steakhouse, then went to a Celtic Woman concert. This is where he knew I was "The One" and when I knew something was different, and that I was falling for him!

20. Who has the bigger family? I do!!! He has like 1 aunt, and 2 or 3 cousins total!!!!

21. Do you get flowers often? Well, when we first started dating, I got them almost weekly! Now, it's just a special occasion type thing! I have been hinting A LOT recently, bc there is a beautiful glass pitcher I have that I want to put flowers in so badly!

22. How do you spend the holidays? Well, we've had 2 holidays of dating/engagement. Since his family is so small....we do whatever gatherings my family has, then we eat dinner or something with his mom. His brother and sister live out of state. Maybe one year we can get his ENTIRE family toghether!

23. Who is more jealous? He used to be..... I've never been the jealous type. He's not so jealous anymore, but when we were dating, I had to constantly remind him I was completely his!

25. Who eats more? He does, unless it's chocolate or ice cream!

26. What do you do for a living? I'm a Social Worker at Gateway FOCUS, doing in-home work. He is a car-salesman at Victory Pontiac (go buy a car from him!)

27. Who does the laundry? Well, he'll do it if he needs something clean. But he tends to only wash what he needs...... I mostly do it, just because I like to make sure it's done how I want it done. But he's great about putting in loads or getting it started for me!

28. Who's better with the computer? HE IS!! I only know how to do the basics. He can build them, fix them, and anything else that needs to be done! He's great!

29. Who drives when you are together? I think I've driven maybe 2 or 3 times when we've been together....and he was probably sick during those times. I don't think he trusts my driving.....

30. What is your song? He used the song "Love of my Life" by Jim Brickman & Michael W. Smith to tell me he loves me on June 30, 2007 on the beach in Savannah, GA (I was there as a summer missionary for 6 weeks and he had come to visit me). We also danced to that song at our wedding!

Singing again

Christmas of 2007, my dad kept saying that for Christmas morning, we (mom, my brother, and I) all had to get up and eat breakfast together, and that he just wanted it to be us (not Michael or Amanda there too) because he had something special planned. So that morning, we spent time together as a family that will forever been engraved in my heart. Dad had prepared a written letter to both Alan and I just telling us how much he loved us and encouraging us to fulfill God's will in our lives. He also had created a CD for each of us with Christian songs that reminded him of us, or that were his prayer for our lives. In our letter, he stated what each song meant to him and why he included that on our CD.

I say all of that to say this.....I have kept that letter in my bible since then, and have read it from time to time when feeling down or whatever. Well, I read it this past weekend, as I stumbled upon it, and pretty much the only thing I read was this:

"He (God) also gave you a love for music and singing. You need to continue to use these God given talents and blessings to point others to Christ."

Didn't think that much about it that day, except "yeah, I haven't sang in a really long time..."

So Sunday and Monday came and went....Tuesday gets here, and when I get home from work, there is a strange car in my parking spot, and when I walk in the door to our home, there are strange people sitting on my couch! Of course Michael was there talking with them....it was people from Calera Baptist, the church we've been visiting for quite some time now.

So we chit chat and talk about a bunch of random things, and as they're leaving somehow the subject of choir comes up, and of course Michael says that I like to sing. So I got the time that practice starts at church and that was that.

Wednesday comes.....I'm sitting at a visit with one of my clients, and her adorable 6 year old girl is pretending to listen to music through some headphones. Her mother says for her to go sing, and to put on a show for us. Then the mom tells her that if you are too shy and don't use the gift that God has given you, then He will take it away. She then said that she used to sing all the time as a kid in church, and that she quit because she got scared one Sunday and never sang again.

That didn't hit me then, but later on I was thinking about how it seems like God has been telling me all week to SING!!!!! And not just sing in my car with the windows rolled down and the radio blasting!

So I had pretty much one of the longest, busiest days EVER yesterday (including my visit with the lady mentioned above) and thought all day that if I wasn't tired by the end of the day that I would go to church/choir. Well, my 5:30 visit rolls around and I have more energy that I have in a LONG time!!! Went to that visit, and still felt great...and I even wore heels yesterday! lol!

So long story short.....I went to church, then choir was afterwards. It was great! We're working on the Christmas musical and I must say, it's only been about 5 years since I've sang in a choir, so I'm having to readjust! But everybody was SO SO SO nice!

The moral of the story is......use the gifts God gave you.....remember the good ol' times at Christmas.....and SING SING SING!!!

Mini-update

Wow! I just realized I haven't posted anything all month! I must say that the month has already been flying by, and I do believe it's going to be the holidays before I realize it! While the month has flown by and is pretty much half over, not too much has happened here in the Hicks house.

Well, Michael did hang the curtains in the living room.....and I finally got a comforter for the master bedroom that we don't even sleep in. Yeah, I know-it's weird! We have a queen bed in there, but the mattress is only about 25 years old, so we decided to sleep on the full bed that's only 4 years old! Oh, the joys of being married! But I'm going to try and post pictures of our adorable little home soon....as soon as I get it spotless! =)

More Hicks family news...our Chattanooga trip is only a few weeks away, and I'm so excited! I booked the hotel last week, and I changed my mind from staying in the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, so now we're staying in Stay Bridge Suites-which I though was much nicer, and not to mention about $10 cheaper per night! For all you "old married" people, you can imagine how excited I am about our first weekend trip!

Well, that's it for the mini-update. Maybe my life will be a little more exciting in the upcoming weeks. Hope all is well with you....whoever you may be! =)