Michael's Graduation!

So after a very long 5 and a half years Michael's graduation was finally upon us and we could not have been more excited about that day!  We were so excited and grateful that our family and friends were able to come and celebrate with us considering most of them had to drive 2 plus hours to be there first thing in the morning.(you guys rock)
Here are some pics from the graduation ceremony:

 

Everyone(minus a few) anxiously awaiting the ceremony!

 

 

Here he comes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He did it!!

 

 

 

My side of the famly!

 

 

So proud!

 

 

So funny story, due to some administrative mistakes Michael didn't actually get his diploma like all the other PhD's.  So they gave him a generic print out, we thought it was pretty funny!

 

 

The Axtell/Martin family!

 

Michael's side of the family!

 

Wahoo!

 

Jordan!

 

All the members of Michael's fan club!

After graduation we headed over to April and Will's for a graduation party put together by our AMAZING small group!  Have I mentioned how incredibly amazing these people are?  When Michael and I were thinking about graduation a few months ago we had pretty much decided that a graduation party was just not possible.  We knew we would have our  move that week before so we wouldn't have anywhere to host a party.  That's where April and Will steped in and insisted on hosting the party at their house, and then everyone else jumped in and before we knew it they had planned an amazing party!  Not only for us but they graciously invited all of our family and friends as well.  They did such an amazing job, the food was awesome and the company was even better.  I was thrilled for our famalies to get to meet these wonderful people that have become such a huge part of our lives!  My family have told me numerous times since then how much they enjoyed the party and even more how terrific our friends are, I must say I completely agree!  So like I said the party was awesome and we had a blast.  Thank you so much guys for helping us celebrate Michael and his hard work!

And here are some pics from the party:

 

Of course it wouldn't be a party without this little guy!

 

The man of the hour!

 

 

Presents woop woop!

 

 

Time for some grub!

 

 

I must say it again, I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!!

 

 

The guys, looking to cool for school.

 

 

My beautiful ladies.

 

 

Kayley and Brett.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our move!

 

So the weeks passed and it was time for our move, our moving circumstances were a little tricky consdiering Michael was graduating on December 15th the same day we had to be out of our apartment but he doesn't start his job until January 14th.  Luckily it worked out perfect that his company would move our stuff up to VA and store it until we moved up there at the beginning of January and we could head home to Charlotte for almost a full month and spend time with family for the holidays.  The move was a little hectic getting everything organized and preparing for Michael's graduation on Saturday.  The packers came early Thursday morning and started packing our stuff up, I am not going to lie it was a little awkward watching strangers pack your stuff up, I felt like I should help or something.  The packers finished up mid afternoon and Michael and I grabbed lunch ran some errands and before we knew it the movers were there to pick up all of our stuff.  Holy cow were these guys effecient, what would take us an entire day took them all of an hour or so, must say having movers was a huge blessing I cannot imagine having to do it all our selves with everything else that was going on at the time.  The movers loaded up our stuff and drove off to VA, this left Michael and I with no furniture for the next two nights so we picked up pizza and had a picnic on the floor.  We also set up our camping mats(thanks Will and April) that we would be sleeping on.  Overall our move went well, we packed up all of our things we would be taking with us to charlotte late Saturday evening after Michael's graduation festivities(will have a post on that next) and said goodbye to our apartment.  Moving was exausting even though we didn't do much of the manual labor, Michael and I were definitely looking forward to getting home to charlotte and sleeping in a real bed!

 

What else do you do in an empty apartment?

 

Bye bye stuff, see you in VA!

 

Bella was a little confused when she got home from Camp Bow Wow.

 

Our picnic dinner on the floor.

 

 

Our bed for the next two nights.

 

The next morning Bella loved having all the space to lay in the sun!

 

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Christmas card 2012!

I have done a photo Christmas card every year since we got married, my ultimate plan is to put them all together in a scrap book so we can look back on them but I have yet to do that ha ha.  This year is definitely my favorite to date, thanks to Jordan we got some great pics!  I made ours on Shutterfly and I was really pleased with the final product!  So here is our card this year! (I don't have access to a scanner so it is a pic of our card)

Front

Back


 

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Happy Birthday Bella!

Today our sweet girl turns 4!  I know I say this all the time, but boy ol boy do I love that sweet furry little girl! She seriously brings so much joy to our lives and she always keeps us laughing!  Happy Birthday Boopty Bop we love you!

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Saying goodbye!

So as I mentioned in our previous post our move was really starting to sink in for us and we were realizing that we would soon be leaving some amazing friends behind.  When Michael and I got married and I moved to Raleigh we began praying that the Lord would help us find a church and help us find a group of friends that could become our family away from Charlotte.  It took a while but as always the Lord was faithful and boy did He ever come through.  Little did we know that some of our closest friends would be just a few doors down from us and he would use our sweet little Bella to meet them.  I'm sure you guys remember Jonathann and Chenoa form this post, we met them along with Cory and Ricky at the dog park and had no idea they would become such a big part of our lives and be such fantastic friends!  Jonathan and Chenoa moved last year and it was really hard to say goodbye so when the time came to say goodbye to Cory and Ricky this past week it was just as difficult!  However we plan on coming back and visiting these two very often, Bella and their pup Toby are BFF's so Bella will not allow to long to go by without seeing her Toby Woby!

Another huge answer to our prayers is our small group! After over two years of church shopping Michael and I finally found a church we liked in  2010, soon after that we decided to join a small group to help get a little more connected in the church.  Little did we know that this group of people would become such a support to us and an incredible blessing in our lives!  Words cannot express how much we love and cherish their friendship.  They have been a tremendous blessing in our lives, they have supported us, prayed for us, encouraged us and celebrated with us.  I know that these friendships will last a lifetimes no matter how much distance seperates us.  Michael and I have enjoyed getting together each week studying the Bible and learning so much from each one of them, they truly have helped Michael and I grow so much in our faith and as a couple.  They are some of the kindest most generous people we know and we are honored to call them our friends.  It was not easy at all saying goodbye to them, during our last Bible study together they all prayed over Michael and I and it was so touching for me, it meant so much to us and I would be lying if I said I didn't quitely sob through the entire prayer.  To know that we have so much support and love surrounding this transition was so comforting.  When we finally said goodbye I put on my brave face and smiled but when Michael and I drove away I broke down in tears in the car, I really really hate goodbyes, but I know we will be visiting as often as possible and hoepfully skyping in occasionally during Bible Study!

 

Love these people!

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Catching up!

Well its been quite a while since I have updated and I totally did not intend to take a hiatus from blogging but some how over a month has past without an update.  My apologies, life has been crazy over the past month. there was Thanksgiving, Michael finished up school and graduated, oh yeah and we moved all of our stuff into storage until our move to VA in January.  For now we are home in Charlotte spending time with our famalies for the holidays and taking a much needed break.  Don't worry I plan to document all the previous happenings in the next few post and catch everyone up to speed. (I know you have all been hanging on the edge of your seats)

So lets start with November and Thanksgiving.  To be totally honest November was pretty  uneventful, Michael was pretty busy at school preparing for graduation and we just spent our time off soaking up our last  few weeks in Raleigh.  Thanksgiving was very nice we went home to Charlotte ate tons of food and spent time with family.  We also had Jordan take some family photos of us for our Christmas card, which was pretty fun and hilarious at the same time!

 

Bella snoozing on Thanksgiving day!

 

Someone looks thrilled about decorating the tree.

 

Decorating the tree!

 

Lookin good Hubs!

 

Bella and the finished product.

 

My girl and I infront of the tree!

 

And here are a few from our famly photo shoot, taken by the fabulous Jordan!

 

 

 

Puppy kisses!

 

 

 

We sure do love this furry little girl!

 

 

And some outtakes because they were just to funny not to share!

 

 

Mom can we please be done already?

 

 

After Thanksgiving it was crunch time and it started to hit us that we were really moving and we only had 3 weeks left in Raleigh.  The weekend after Thanksgiving we headed up to VA to find a place to live.  In all honestly this trip was hard, it was exciting but I was sort of surprised how dificult it was for me.  I guess it all was sinking in that we were moving away from our friends and even further away from family(we would now be over 6 hours from Charlotte).  This new town just didn't feel like home and I know it will come with time, the same thing happened when I moved up to Raleigh, it just was a little overwhelming for me.  After a long day of apartment shopping we decided on a place that we really like and I was starting to feel a little bit better about our move.

  So that pretty much wraps up November next up our last few days with friends, our move and Michael's graduation. Stay tuned!

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