Inaugural Address

I have been talking about doing a blog for a while, ever since I started traveling with my husband Michael Thompson last March as he competed as a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. However a combination of procrastination, forgetfulness, and general laziness kept me from beginning...until now. I have decided to chronicle our week to week activities to keep all our family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, sponsors, pets, and anyone else who cares about what we do every day informed of our progress and movements. I'm not sure how often I will write (it will most definitely NOT be everyday, as the characteristics that prevented me from starting will more that likely continue to strike as I continue), but it will be at least once a week since we go somewhere new and have lots of interesting experiences every week.

Since I am new to the whole blogging thing, please bear with me as I figure out how it works and how to not suck at it. I am not sure what I will write about every week (it will most likely involve golf...), but I will tell you that since Michael and I are strong Christians, every blog will have some of God's Word involved. It may just be a Bible verse at the end of the blog, a cool picture (did anyone else see the "Jesus Loves U, Jesus 4 Gives" written in the sky during the second round of the Children's Miracle Network Classic?!?) Or it may be something Michael and I discussed or read that I want to share with everyone. I know not everyone reading this blog is Christian and I am not trying to offend anyone, but since God is central to what we do out here it will be impossible not to include Him. There...you have been forewarned.

I guess since this is the first blog, I should update everyone on what we are up to right now. Currently, we are home in Birmingham, AL packing up our old apartment and moving into our new one! Our 1 year old cat Bubbles is of course very enthusiastic about this process, sprinting madly around the apartment hiding behind things and claiming every new box I create as her own. However we haven't actually moved yet because we are painting every room in our apartment to cover up the hideously generic light yellow that plagues all apartment complexes. We have absolutely no idea what we are doing of course, having never done this before, but we seem to be getting better with every room evidenced by the reduction in paint accidents on the trim, ceiling, carpet, cabinets, counters and other undesirable surfaces. It has certainly been an experience, one that involves quite a lot of bickering (with love of course) and I may have to devote an entire blog to our painting saga. We are almost finished and can't wait to fill the apartment with fabulous married couple furniture, purchased to replace our current collection of college/grad school decor (though I still LOVE Target!)

Now for what our immediate future holds. Over Thanksgiving, we are very excited to visit Michael's parents, Mike and Beth, in Tucson, AZ. Michael's brother Zach and his wife Krista as well as Michael's cousins Dawn and Oliver will be joining us there. We are so excited to travel somewhere not for golf for a change and spend a wonderful week giving thanks for what God has provided for us with our loving family! For Christmas, we will be traveling up to Fairfax, VA to visit my parents Allen and Holly, along with my sister Emily and her boyfriend Mike, and my brother Abe and his girlfriend Carrie. A massive gingerbread house building endeavor is planned to create a replica of Hogwarts Castle (from the Harry Potter books for those of you who live under a rock) and an epic MarioKart couples battle will ensue, with the winning couple taking home...something (any ideas???) Lastly, we are excited to announce that we will be traveling to Thailand in the middle of December where Michael will be playing in a tournament. We don't have all the details about this yet, but we are so excited to visit a part of the world neither of us have ever been to. We will keep you updated!

To end my inaugural address, I guess I will explain the title of the blog for those few and far-betweeners who don't understand. We are Michael and Rachel ThompsonThompson. Yes, that is right ladies...since my maiden name is also Thompson, I did not have to change it. Genius right? From what I hear, changing your name when you marry is a bit of a hassle, so I was super excited to avoid that little tussle and just enjoy being married! Michael and I have now been married for over a year and I can honestly say that we couldn't be happier! They say the first year is the hardest for married couples, but for us it just seems like we have been on an extended honeymoon traveling all over the country (which is good I guess since we never actually had a honeymoon as Michael had to play in a tournament in Chattanooga, TN a week after the wedding...story of my life these days). However we are very excited to continue to grow as a couple in this journey called Life, follow whatever path God has planned for us, and continue to glorify God in all that we do during our travels on the PGA tour or wherever He may take us! That being said, I will end with the Bible verse that Michael memorized and continually recited in his mind during the McGladrey Classic, where he finished 3rd this year:

       "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" Joshua 1:9, New International Version

I think it worked...