So here we are, Derek and Tori Jones, making our first entry in our new blog. Derek and I got married on May 2, 2009 and our life has been nonstop since our "I Do's". Here is a short recap of our past few months- We like to refer to it as "Four Weddings and a Funeral".
May
Our adventures started on our honeymoon where each of us got horribly sick every time we ate a meal. there is nothing more romantic on a
honeymoon that violent food poisoning. By the end of the trip we were at our beautifu
l amazing all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic dining on Doritos and Gatorade from the gift shop.
The rest of the month was full of activities
including my dad's birthday, mother's day and my little sister, Hope, graduating from High School.
June
The first week of June was VBS at The People's Church, and since Derek is one of the TPC Kid's pastors, this is a very big week for us. To add to the excitement of the week, we decided that we would get a dog, so we got Zeke. We thought that we had this sweet very calm puppy until Thursday of VBS when we had to rush Zeke to the emergency room at the Vet's office to find out that he had Parvo. Luckily he was treated and survived.
Later in the month we had Warrior and Princess camp again at TPC. This week was so much fun because our niece, Sophie, came and went to camp. We all had a blast. We also found out in June that my sister Carrie was pregnant and would be due in January :)
July
In July, we had a huge event in our lives. Sophie turned 5. We had a "Think Pink" party. Everything was pink, we all wore pink, and ate pink candy. For some reason Derek and I thought that we should make Sophie's birthday cake. After dozens of eggs and pounds of flour later we had a giant pink cup cake cake. Check out my sister Carrie's blog for all the pics.
Later in the month, Derek had Kids Summer Camp, and Zeke and i went with him. Everynight at Camp there was a different theme party and
you better believed we dressed up.
We finished the month with a family trip to the beach with my family---well it was suppose to be a family trip. My mom, dad and Matt and Hope ended up not being able to go (my grandfather had to have surgery and my Aunt Jan was diagnosed with Cancer), so Me, Derek, Sophie, Will and Carrie had a family trip to the beach.
August
August was yet another busy month. We had Leadership Summit at TPC. That is one of my biggest events of the year. My sister, Carrie came in to work for me that week which helped tremendously. That week was also her birthday! The biggest adventure in August was that Derek changed jobs. He went from working on the TPC franklin campus to being the TPC kids pastor at our Spring Hill Campus. With this move, he moved offices. This was the first time in 3 years that we have not worked in the same office. It was a little weird at first. However, he is back now- the Spring Hill staff is officing in Franklin until their new building is done.
September
In september we went to Atlanta for a few days to spend time with my sister, Carrie, Matt, Sophie and Will. We had a great time in the ATL. We spent one full day at World of Coca Cola.
Later that weekend, the girls had a special night out at The Glass Slipper Ball. Sophie was the most beautiful princess and she had a blast dancing the night away. It was during this trip that Carrie and i realized that we were married to teenage boys. Matt is the 15 year old and Derek is 13. They have teenage boy humor and like teenage boy pranks. Matt usually instigates things and Derek keeps it going.
October
In October we had a lot going on at Work. We had a conference, a Spring Hill party, Pumpkinfest and lets not forget the UT vs Alabama game- which was one that was a little too close for comfort. Matt, our brother-in-law also had his big 30- even though his party was postponed twice and eventually canceled :( We also celebrated Derek's dads birthday. He was the big 60 and we had a surprise party!!
November
In November, we had a crazy month. The week before Thanksgiving, my Aunt Jan died. It was a very sad time, but we were all glad that she did not suffer long. She died just a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. We all traveled to Alabama for her funeral on November 17 (which was also my mom's birthday). It was during that trip that we found out about a relative of Aunt Jan's- Unca Jack. Derek and Matt had quite an experience in my Aunt Jan's basement going through some of Unca Jack's most treasured possessions. I cant go in to all the details here, but in their teenage boy humor, Matt and Derek had much fun retelling all that they found. The very next week was Thanksgiving. After having Thanksgiving dinner with Derek's family on Wednesday night, we went to Alabama to have Thanksgiving with my family. We had a great time with family. We loved getting to watch the Alabama/Auburn "Iron Bowl" game at my grandparents. It was a night of yelling, cheering and laughing!
December
The month of December may have been our busiest month. Derek
and I both have December birthdays (the 12th and 23rd). We decided about a week out that we wanted to celebrate our Birthdays in Disney World. So we booked our trip and 9 days later flew out to Orlando. We had the best trip ever. We were only there on a Monday- Wednesday, so we packed out our days and nights. We went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (which was my favorite). The party had amazing decorations, parades, fireworks and a snowfall on Main Street. I will never forget all that we got to do and see on that trip. It was like a dream.
After celebrating in Disney, we came home to get ready for Christmas. We literally had 4 Christmases. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my immediate family, Christmas night with Derek's family, December 26th with my mom's family and the 27th with my Dad's family. All of these family members came to my parents house- Did i mention that my mom had knee surgery on the 23rd. She was a trooper. It was truly the craziest most exhausting Christmas of my life, but it was truly fun.
So, i am betting that you are exhausted from reading all of this. This is just a very small glimpse of all we have been doing in these first few months of marriage. I promise our blogs will never be this long again. Thanks for Keeping up with the Joneses
Tori and Derek
Posts
...So glad you guys are blogging, now! I will definitely be trying to Keep Up With The Joneses now! :) We want to get together soon with you guys. Love you both!
WHOO-HOO! The blog looks great! I am so glad you started it! Keep posting!!! We love you both as big as the sky and can't wait to see you this week!