A Gallimaufry

So it has been a while since I have posted, but lots of things have taken place so this post will be a "hodgepodge" of topics!

Since my last post we have had a birth in the family. Jonathan's cousin had a baby girl named Audrey Elizabeth Clair (she has 3 names). She is the tinyest thing I have ever held. I will post pictures soon. Please do keep her in your prayers. She went for some testing and tested positive for cystic fibrosis, however the docter stongly feels it was a false positive and so she will go to Scottish Rite on Thursday for further testing. Other than that she is doing great.

Jonathan and I went on vacation ALONE! For the second time in our marriage we went on vacation just as a couple. The other vacaction was our honeymoon. We decided that we wanted to go to Orlando and visit Universal Studios. We ended up getting park hopper tickets for 7 days to both Universal and Islands of Adventures. We had an absolute blast. The hotel we stayed in was gorgeous and VERY reasonably priced since it just opened in May. I will post some pictures soon. There is just something so different about just going as a couple. Last year we were able to go with his family to Orlando and we had an absolute blast, but this time we really were able to just RELAX and focus on eachother. Not only was it refreshing to get away, but it was also refreshing for our marriage. We definitely have to do more of these types of vacations in addition to the family ones.

After arriving home from our vacation I had a week to rest before starting school back up. Today was our first official day back and I put in 12 hours today. The more years that pass by, the harder it gets to go back. I get so spoiled staying home in the summers. I will say that I had an awesome turn out at open house tonight and it really seems like I will have some great students...the real reason for my job. Sometimes it is hard to remember what an important job I have especially when you face things like furlough days. Anyway, my classroom is looking very cute and I will add some pictures.

I have pretty much hit the ground running...school is starting, I'm coaching a u-9 Acadamy soccer team, my sister is getting married in less than 2 weeks, and those are just the big things. My plate is so full already. I really have to slow down...Im saying this and I just got started...oh by the way I am signed up for the gifted certification course. Maybe this is why it is so hard to get back into the swing of things.

Well that is it for now. Look for pictures soon.

I was raised by a Catholic

Yes, I was raised by a Catholic. My mom. I pray that this post is in no way offensive...because I am writing this post be cause I have some what been offended lately and I wanted to share some words from a very wise person I know. It was not until recently that I have been hearing people refer to Catholics as nonbelievers or as someone they need to evangelize to. The first couple of times I brushed it off not thinking much of it. A girl in Sunday school made references to herself as being a "Catholic magnet" in the same way you might refer to yourself as a Jewish magnet or whatever label you would like to slide in there that you feel like you would need to witness to. I thought it strange since I was never taught that Catholics were not Christians. So I was a leader at Youth Camp for FBC D'ville a couple of weeks ago and over heard one of the girls in my room talking about how she needed to witness to this one girl because she was a Catholic. It is funny now that I am catching these remarks when a year ago a friend I worked with (who is Catholic) had shared with me how she had been deeply hurt by some comments of others saying she was going to hell because she was a Catholic and again I was perplexed...and it was not until now that I completely understood how hurtful and how off those comments are. I was raised by a Catholic, a loving mother who was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school all of her life. So I decided to do some asking around...what is the big deal about Catholics. First let me say that my parents raised me in a Methodist church and then I joined the Baptist chruch when I married Jonathan my husband...so you could call me a heinz 57 when it comes to denominations. So after hearing what I thought to be some strage comments about Catholics (the denomination of which my mom was raised in) I decided to do a little research by asking some people close to me what was this all about. So I went to my mother who was Catholic and shared with her some of the things that people where saying. The main things that others were saying is that Catholics believe they are the one true church and if you are not Catholic then you will not go to heaven. I shared a few other comments and this was her response. She said that religion is man made. Religion is mans attempt at getting to God. She emphasized what she HAD ALWAYS TAUGHT me and that was that you must believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to have eternal life and that is what she learned in the Catholic Chruch. I never knew any different than that. She said the only truth comes from the Word and if you ever have any questions your answers will be found there. I asked her was she taught that other believers in other denomiations were not going to heaven just because they were not Catholic and do my aunts who still go to a Catholic church believe that and she said absolutely not. So if we believe what the Word says in John 3:16 which is what my mother always grew up believing and what she taught me from a small child then what is the problem. My mom hit it on the head. "Religion" is man made. We ALL get caught up in our formalities, the Catholics, the Baptists, the Methodist." I just started to ponder these things and thought that the very same people who believe the same thing I do about Salvation are pointing at Catholics like they need to be evangelized (please don't misunderstand me when I say this because we all get caught up in the "formalities" because we are sinners, but thank God he has so much Grace for us) yet my own mother was a Catholic and taught me the same thing they believe about Salvation. It is just interesting how people can get so caught up finger pointing when all they need to do is focus on HIM. And that is what my mom, a Catholic, taught me. I promise I do not pretend to have deep knowledge about the Catholic beliefs, but I did go to a women of God who did and felt that she had some very wise words to share.

I will say one last thing....if we keep this up, we are more than likely going to be surprised at who God excepted into his Kingdom when we finally arrive.

Birthdays, Father's Days, and Bridal Showers

We returned from the beach just in time to celebrate my birthday and Father's day. Since my b-day was on Friday (June 19th) and Father's day was on Sunday we chose to jointly celebrate it on Saturday. We started out the day meeting for lunch at one of my favorite places, Gabe's Downtown. We were joined by Jonathan's family (Ginny and Daniel, Lauren and Chad), My family (My mom and dad, Christine, Quentin and Shannon) and my cousin Elizabeth. After a nice lunch and some very thoughtful gifts (Gift cards to Bed Bath and Beyond and Hobby Lobby, Reba Season 5, an beautiful Shabby Chic picture frame, some $, a shirt from Ann Taylor Loft, a sewing box for my awesome new sewing machine, and a very cute Vera Bradley toiletry bag) I went with my cousin to look nursery furniture. She dropped my off at my mother-in-laws after we were done where I met back up with my family and we celebrated Father's Day and had cake and Ice Cream. It was such a fun day and I could not have asked for a better family. I truly feel like I have been so blessed with a family (mine and Jonathan's) that loves us so much.

Charlie is not the only one who acts up for pictures;) He has a partner in crime and doesn't even know it. Boys, you just can't get them to sit nice for just one picture.

There that is much better.

My cousin Elizabeth met us for Lunch at Gabe's Downtown to celebrate my birthday. It was very special to have her there.
The two who brought me in and the two who can take me out;) We had a wonderful Saturday together.

Me and my daddy. Words can't express how much I love him! Thank you so much for being my dad and raising me up in the admonition of the Lord. You taught me a lot and continue to do so! Happy Father's Day

Aren't they just beautiful. My brother and his wife came to celebrate my birthday and father's day at my mother-in-laws!


On June 13th Along with my cousin Elizabeth and sister-in-law Shannon I helped throw my sister Christine her first bridal shower. We had so much fun shopping for the decorations. So the night before the shower we got together to decorate. The shower was a huge success. Christine got so many nice things. We are so happy for her and she is going to make a gorgeous bride.

If you ever need a lesson in pom pom fluffing...the three girls in the picture above will be happy to teach you.

My cousins Elizabeth and Lauren came the night before to help decorate since the shower started at 10am.

It took 4 of us to finish these, but they turned out so cute. Keep reading to see what we did with them;)

Me and the guest of honor, my little sis.

The sisters: Shannon (My brother's wife), Christine, and me

The girls: my mom, me and my beautiful sister Christine.

The table with the food. We had breakfast and the menu included: Fruit, sausage and cheese balls, whipping cream biscuits and raspberry preserves, breakfast croissants (w/egg, bacon, sausage and cheese), cheese grits casserole, pastries, and orange pineapple punch.

You would not think that danger comes with beautiful decorations...but these did. So me and 15 week pregnant cousin took on hanging the pom poms from the ceiling. Jonathan and I do not own a step ladder or any other type of ladder. But we do have in our possession higher than normal kitchen table chairs. However these chairs did not exactly allow me to reach the ceiling to hang these nice decorations...so we put our heads together and devised a plan. A plan that worked, not a plan that was safe. So with about 45 min left until guest were scheduled to arrive I began looking through the house for something, anything that would help the cause. Yes! I found something. It was a gray Rubbermaid bin that we had some clothes stored in. Turned it upside down, put it on top of chair, proceeded to climb on top and hang pom poms while cousin Elizabeth had a death grip on my ankles. I don't think we have told Aunt Janie (retired 1st grade teacher) how we got those up there yet...best not to;)

Christine and her guests enjoying their brunch on the porch. We had so much fun decorating.

For the first shower game we played we had all of Christine's guest write advice on index cards w/o their names on them as they arrived. We then had Christine read each of them aloud and guess who wrote them. Unfortunately she only got about 2 out of a bunch right. She determined she was not very good at the guessing game.
The second shower game we played we split all the guests into two groups. Each group picked one person to dress as "the bride" in toilet paper. Whoever had the most beautiful gown as voted on by Christine won...you would not believe that both the girls gowns were almost identical. Shannon and Shelby were such great sports and made gorgeous brides.

Shelby, Krya, Abby (Noah's sister) and Noah's mom

Kyra and Amy (college friends of Christines)

Aunt Roberta and Aunt Janie.

Our precious sousins Elizabeth and Julie...if you can't tell they are sisters!

This is the whole crew who attended my sisters shower.

You Would Think...

You would think that since it is summer time and I am not currently busied by the thing we call work that I would have all the time in the world to blog about all my summer happenings....but instead I have not...I have been relaxing and not doing much of anything...however there are a few things to highlight. I will high light these things hopefully tomorrow in probably one of the worlds longest posts.

But for now I am off to spend the rest of what is left of this weekend with my favorite man on this planet, my husband.

FYI: Transformers was awesome. Jonathan took me on two dates this weekend. Friday to transformers and we loved it so much, tonight we went back. We thought it was just as good as the first except for the two adults screaming at each other before the movie started over a child kicking the back of some one's seat...

Update from the Beach

I do not have any photos for you to enjoy... one, because last year at this very camp my camera was crushed so I have been reluctant to bring it out, but two, I just haven't taken any pictures.

Anyway the week is going much better than I thought because I was completely dreading the week.  But to say the least God has been at work and that is always something to sing praise about.

I am very tired even though we have only been here since Monday and I will be leaving to travel home tomorrow morning at 5 am. 

Not to much more going on...ready to be back in the comforts of our own home and back to the pool side without shaving cream, balloons and only God knows what else.  

Our First Yard Project

So exciting...I finally have a nice looking flower bed...still lots more work to come! Up above the wall we are going to lay down sod like we have below the wall there.

Look who's doing almost all the work!

We laid a cool tarp down that does not allow weeds to grow through! Great idea from the better half!

I love plants that are NOT weedy looking and explosive in nature....I like them neat and pretty. So I picked out some hostas...that I planted last week (they need a little help) and some beautiful Asiatic lilies.

Jonathan and I have been meaning to do some yard work for about a month now, but with our busy schedule and the rain that came recently we had not been able to get out in the yard.

This was our very first time working in they yard together and planting. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to more yard work in the future. I say that we worked together but he did do a lot of it.

I really wanted to at least get the bed in the back looking nice since I am throwing a shower for my sister this weekend and intend to use the back deck for seating...stay posted for some pictures the decorations are so cute.

Future plans for our yard are:
1. To put down the same mulch we put down today in our 2 other flower beds that are in the front of the house.
2. Put sod down in the back yard where they threw seed out that turned into nothing but weeds when we moved in back a year and a half ago.
3. A few pots with some pretty flowers in them.
4. Put out my lanterns that I bought recently...you will see them in the pictures for the shower decorations.

Ginny's B-Day

Family Picture

Me and my hubby! I love him so much too!!!!

Happy Birthday To You Cha Cha Cha!

The Birthday Girl!

Yes this is a tad bit late but we celebrated my mother-in-law's B-day a couple of weeks ago and here are some fun pictures! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH Ginny!