First Priority

**This post is a little scattered, and it is honestly just a bunch of random thoughts thrown together, but it is on my mind and my heart today.

 I have attended the First Priority (formerly FCA) meeting at Andalusia High School twice in the last couple of months. The first time I went, Tyler Dent was sharing his testimony, and today, I shared my testimony. I'm going to start going every week because it is a blessing to me and it is a good way to start off my Wednesday!

I have about a 15-20 minute drive to work in the mornings, so I was thinking during my drive today... when I was in high school, this group was called FCA, or Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It makes me so happy that this name has been changed to First Priority because I always thought that calling it "Fellowship of Christian Athletes" was somewhat limiting to your crowd that would come because not everyone who needs to be there is a Christian, and that's who we should be trying our hardest to get there... the lost. As Christians, it is our job and our mission in life to share the gospel, the good news, with the lost.... the unsaved... the ones who are going to hell unless they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

So students, particularly Andalusia High School students, make it a priority to make it to these meetings on Wednesday mornings. Trust me... if I can wake up 30 minutes earlier to get there, you can, too. Invite your peers to come. Maybe someone isn't coming because they haven't personally been invited... or they don't feel welcome... it might just take you letting them know that you would love for them to come next week.

As you probably know, my testimony was centered around my wreck. And just like all the other times I've shared my testimony, the last thing I said this morning was, "About a year after my car accident, Hayley and I were getting ready in our bathroom, and she said 'Hillary, I need to ask you a question.' I had no idea what was about to come out of her mouth, but I said 'okayyy' and she asked, 'If you would have died that day, would you have gone to heaven?' And I without a shadow of a doubt know that I would have." I then told them that the same thing that happened to me, could happen to any one of them; we never know when our life is going to be changed forever by something like that, but everyone there needed to make sure before they left that they knew where they would spend eternity.

I don't think that most high school students realize how important that it is to know with absolute certainty that they are saved, that they have placed their trust in the Lord, and that if anything happens to them, they will spend eternity with Him. They think they have their whole lives ahead of them... and in a perfect world, where nobody dies young, they do. But in this world, in a world that is corrupt and so imperfect, you never know what day is going to be your last.

Mr. Searcy challenged the students to "be bold"... everyone has a story, tell people your story, tell people what Christ has done for you... invite them to next Wednesday's meeting. This is my invitation to every student at Andalusia High School... meetings are every Wednesday morning at 7:15 in the cafeteria. If someone takes you to school and they can't get you there that early, talk to Coach Dent at school or message me on Facebook. We would be happy to come pick you up on our way. Parents, encourage your teenagers to be at these meetings. There was a much better crowd at today's meeting than there was at the one I went to last month, but every seat in that cafeteria should be taken... standing room only. Wouldn't it be great if there were so many students showing up to hear a personal testimony or a short devotion that the speaker needed a microphone for everyone to hear?

A Little Bit of Everything

• Alabama vs. West Virginia

August 30th, we went to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game... Alabama vs. West Virginia. We had a great time, and Alabama won... roll tide!

This was on the way. We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Montgomery for breakfast. Of course, TD didn't want to wait until then to eat, but I won that battle... Chick-fil-A is always worth the wait!

The Andalusia vs. UMS game was the night before in Mobile, so we got home late, and got up early to go to Atlanta; I was exhausted! TD is used to functioning on little sleep... the boy wakes up at like 4:45 to go run most mornings during the week, and he is always at school at like 6:30 except on Friday because the team eats breakfast, but hello... school doesn't start until 8:00?!?! Whatever... to each their own. Anyways, I was practically falling asleep during the game. During every time out, I would try to lay my head on his shoulder to take a "quick nap"... that didn't work out.

This is on the Marta after the game... we were basically Marta pros after this.

• Circus

A few weeks ago, we took Cruise Johnson to the circus... he had talked about it the week before, and Hannah had a doctor's appointment that day, Matt had to teach RAs at church, so we volunteered as tribute. Just kidding- I've never even seen that movie or read the book, and we wanted to take him. If you have never been to a Covington County circus, you are not missing out, but Cruise loved it!

We decided this night that we are going to start a circus... you take "free tickets" to the local schools for kids 14 and under (2 per adult), then the adults have to pay $15 each. It's a million dollar idea!

His $10 sword... Matt sent $20 with him; he spent $7 on food (we went to Dairy Queen before, but he wanted "circus food"), $10 on a sword, $2 on a coloring book, and $1 on peanuts... and he doesn't like to color and he doesn't eat peanuts. 

Now for the good stuff...

This girl is hanging upside down by her feet, and if you look closely (close to the middle- where the other end of the rope is going), you will notice that 3 men are holding the rope. If they accidentally let go of that rope, she is done.

Cruise was so excited to see animals, he just knew that they would have elephants because they had peanuts, and elephants like peanuts. Well, they didn't have elephants, but they did have...

Dogs. Dogs that did tricks like jump over hurdles and roll over. Seriously, it was a joke.

• Angels Walking

My parents (mostly my momma... Bob doesn't know what I'm getting until I open it) gave me a Kindle for my birthday. So last week, I asked TD what book I should buy to read. I used to read all the time, and I really wanted to start back. He said something along the lines of "you really think I know a good book to read?" so I asked my Facebook friends, and I got so many good ideas for books to read! I had several people suggest Karen Kingsbury, and one specifically suggest her Angels Walking series, she said the first book of the series was about a baseball player. I researched all of the books suggested, and the first book of the Angels Walking series was about a former baseball player named Tyler... oh my gosh! It was a given... I had to read it first! I started reading it Wednesday, and finished it Sunday (last night). The plan was to read two or three chapters a night, but I should have known better! I couldn't put it down! I was in tears; I can't give a summary because I basically tell everything that happens... but read it! If you have a Kindle, and can tell me how I can let you "borrow" it, tell me and I will! It was so so good! I can't wait to read more of her books.

• Andalusia football

This was after the Trinity game, our only win.

Yes, we are 1-4. Yes, it is discouraging. Yes, we have played good teams. Yes, we fully intend to win the rest of our games. Coaching, in my opinion, is the riskiest career... like ever. You have no control what-so-ever of your "success" in the eye of the public. Your team loses, you are a bad coach; your team wins, you are a good coach. People don't realize that you can lose and still be a good coach. Coaching is the only career where your "success" is measured by how 11 teenage boys decide to play that night. "And that's all I've got to say about that."

Oh yeah... Go Bulldogs!

Letter to Me

I heard this song on the radio a few days ago. I've heard it before, but this time, it got me thinking... if I could write a letter to me, what would I say?

So... "if I could write a letter to me, and send it back in time to myself at 17..."

Dear Hillary,

You are turning 23 years old in 5 short days! You have so much to look forward to in the next 6 years-- some good, some bad, but everything that happens to you makes you the person that you are 6 years later. Always remember that you are so blessed, and you now have the best husband, family, and friends that you could ever ask for.

This year, your first "serious boyfriend" is going to break up with you. You will think your world has ended, but get over it and get over it quick! Tyler Dent is literally right around the corner, and he is the one that God put on this Earth just for you.

You go to college with plans to become a pharmacist... go ahead and accept the fact that you need to follow in your mother's footsteps and get an Accounting degree. The faster you realize this, the better off you will be. You can save yourself a lot of tears and stress if you will realize this before you begin taking Organismal Biology.

You will graduate high school and move to Troy with Jess. The two of you will spend the next three years traveling wherever you have to to watch a little baseball. You are going to think about letting Jess highlight your hair when you are freshmen... don't let her! You look better in a coma than you look with blonde hair!

On January 31, 2010, you will get in a car accident. Don't try to avoid it... more good comes out of it than bad (you're never in any pain). Just try to come out of the coma a little sooner- everyone's really worried about you! This is the time in your life when you find out that you are going to marry Tyler Dent. If he will stay by your side through that, he will stay by your side through anything!

Even 6 years later, you still have a lot of life to live. Live each day to the fullest and never take one day for granted.

Our First Home

We found our house in February, bought it in March, and I honestly did not have the mind set that everything had to be done right then. I have taken my time over the past 6 months picking out, making decisions, ordering, and purchasing everything for our home. I am happy to say that everything (except a couple of pretty minor things) is done. We still have to hang our tv in our bedroom in the corner, get a monogrammed towel to hang in the guest bathroom, I need a jewelry box, and I have to order a few canvas pictures to hang, but I can't wait until then to give you a "tour".

Kitchen:

Living room:

Office:

Guest bedroom 1:

Guest bathroom:

Hallway:

Guest bedroom 2:

Master bedroom:

Master bathroom:

We could not be happier to call this house our first home. I cannot wait to make so many memories with my husband here. And once those last few things are finished, we can focus on TD's "man cave" out back... maybe that will be done before one of those guest rooms turns into a nursery :)

Here's to the Future Halls

Last Saturday night, we attended the engagement party of our best friends, Jess and Cody. It's always a great time when all of our friends are in one place, so we are so ready for April! I had my first MOH duty as photographer for the night, so now for a few pictures...

Will, Cody, and TD were roommates at AUM, and are a few of my favorites!

The Future Halls

My bestie... ignore that random piece of hair to the right :/

The bride-to-be and her girls

The Dents celebrating our very best friends!

We are so excited for Jess (my best friend) and Cody (TD's best friend and my cousin)... we absolutely cannot wait until April! Jess asked me the week before my wedding to be her matron of honor....

...and I, of course, said yes. Jess and I became friends in 9th grade when she started at Opp. Sometime during our freshman year, we became pretty much inseparable. But I haven't always been as sweet as I am now (I know... hard to believe), so I'm pretty sure she just wanted to come over in hopes that Cody would stop by sometime. So they officially started dating when we were in the 10th grade, and I was dating my ex-boyfriend... I was apparently the only person who liked him, so they didn't hang out with us much. Fast forward to senior year, he breaks up with me (2 days after Valentine's Day... total jerk move), and 2 months later, Tyler Dent and I start dating. Since that moment, we have been the 4 amigos. My first date with TD was a double date that consisted of Rancho and Holt's little league baseball game with Jess and Cody. Over the past 5 years, we don't have very many memories that don't have Jess and Cody in them. 

Jess and Cody,

We wish you both all of the happiness in the world. We are so excited for you and cannot wait to be standing with you on one of the best days of your life. We love you both!

The Day We Became "The Dents"

Our wedding day was nothing short of perfection.

My favorite girls!

We knew that we wanted to have a "first look" before the ceremony, and I decided that the way I wanted to do it was write letters, be back to back, exchange letters, read letters, and turn around.

So Hayley blindfolded him, so he wouldn't see me until we turned around, and led him into the sanctuary.

**Side note: While he was blindfolded and she was leading him in, she forgot that he couldn't see, and she let the door slam in his face**

My handsome groom

This is possibly my favorite picture... like ever. It's just so us!

During baseball season, TD and I agreed that if Andalusia won the first round, he and his guys could wear stirrups (I would have let him even if they lost... but a little extra incentive never hurt anyone)

We could never thank my parents enough for giving us the wedding of our dreams! It was everything that I've ever dreamed of and more!

The Sunday before the wedding, TD had the idea for our wedding party introduction to be like a baseball line up... it turned out so good and I'm so glad he thought of that! Can't wait to see the video!

Absolutely loved his cake

No baseball themed event is complete without some peanuts and cracker jacks

Us with some of his state championship team from Coosa Valley

One of my favorite pictures from the reception... love the Sansom girls!

I think it's safe to say that a great time was had by all... which is really all I wanted!

And we're living happily ever after!