They're Here!

I have been waiting so patiently to share these amazing photos with you all and now I finally can!!

Early in November, Justin and I had a mini-session done by Kate Whitmore, a friend of ours. She is AMAZING! PLEASE click on her name above and visit her blog for information on photos of engagement sessions, family sessions, baby sessions, senior sessions, or weddings! I promise you will not be disappointed! Even if you are not in the market for photos right now, you could look at the beautiful work on her blog for hours! Believe me... I do!

Her edits were done pretty quickly and I had an online gallery to choose some of my favorites. The only reason that I am just now showing them to you all is that I JUST picked them. Justin and I sat down with a literal list of faves and picked through the ones that we agreed on. I just got the disc from her tonight! I can not tell you how pleased Justin and I are with these images... and the pretty little gift wrap it came in! She took and sent me proofs of over 80 images she took (which I am saving up for now to have as well)! 5 just isn't enough! Well... actually you are only seeing 4. Justin and I are keeping #5 a secret because it will be on our Christmas card... coming soon, too! So without further ado.... professional photos of my wonderful husband and I for the first time since we got married... almost 6 years ago! Thanks, Kate! We love you!

Turkey Day Fun!

Well, yesterday was fun! We had a spread!! "Good food, good meat! Thank you Lord..Let's Eat!" I love hauling all of our bowls, spoons, pans, ingredients, mixers, and griddles and heading up here to the mountains for Thanksgiving. Something about it just makes the food taste better. We started cooking on Wednesday, then finished up starting Thanksgiving morning with some AWESOME dishes....

Granny's Dressing (recipe in "My Favorite Recipes" section of my blog)

Corn Casserole (recipe in "My Favorite Recipes" section of my blog)

Sweet Potato Casserole

Needless to say... not many of us could move very well after all this! Luckily, we were thankful enough to have Justin's aunt, uncle, and cousins come shortly after lunch and help us out with some of the leftovers! :)

After all the food.... we enjoyed the company of family in the cabin. We even took some time out for some family pics...

Uncle Keith, Aunt Tina, Wes, Eric, and Jason 

Mrs. Elisa jumped in for one, too :)

...and then Justin, too.

So.. after all the cheesing, we headed to Gatlinburg to see the Christmas lights and shop around a little. I took a TON of pictures, and obviously can't post them all, so if you want to see the entire album, just head over to my Facebook page and take a peek. (The link is on the left under "follow me") However, here are a few to give you an idea of what a fun and beautiful night it was....

Taffy making machine

My AWESOME parents :)

Just in case you are wondering... that's me on the bottom and Justin to my left! haha!

Couldn't resist!

That's Justin walking out with....

A deep fried Snicker bar! Ugh!!!

So there you have it.... a wonderful day with food, family, and fun. Today I will tackle the crowds at retail stores.... pray for me! That ought to be an interesting blog post! See you soon!

Happy Black Friday!

A Day of Thanks

It's on days like today that most people get really reflective and think back on things, past and present, that they are thankful for. Even future potential is something that you will hear people reflect on- "I am thankful for my upcoming promotion," "I am thankful for the upcoming birth of my child," "I am thankful for the time that I will get to spend with my out of town family over the holidays...." You get the picture. And as mushy and cliche as all that sounds, they really are things that people are, and should, be thankful for.

So today, I am thankful for meaningful things, as well as some silly things, too :) I am incredibly thankful for the salvation that I have thanks to the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior, Jesus. I am thankful that it means that I have that direct connection with Him, that I can call on Him rain or shine, and that no matter what I think or how much I wonder if He really has everything under control, once I settle down I know that He has me close and has plans for me... "For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. I am thankful for this promise and see it SO alive in my life.

I am thankful for the Godly man that I have in my life. From day one he has looked out for me and always had my best interest at heart, knowing that it is his duty as a husband. He prays for me, prays with me, and supports me. He lets me know when I am wrong and encourages me to be the best that I can be in every aspect of my life. He is affectionate and makes time for me. He makes me smile. :)

I am thankful for family, for their love, and their support...especially throughout the last 2 years of our life. Through career changes, launching a church, and learning to mentor others in our new positions as leaders in our church, they have been there for us. For that we will always be thankful.

I am thankful for my health, my job, a supportive boss who loves the Lord, and for loving friends that dove in head first and formed relationships that we would never know were new.. for that I am thankful.

I am thankful for new relationships abroad that were formed this summer. For the staff at Vapor sports... both stateside and in Kenya. To meet them was such a blessing, an honor, and eye opening experience. I know that Thanksgiving isn't a national holiday for them. But they have their equivalent, and when they do, they are not enjoying food like I will be eating today. Regardless, they are happy. They are thankful for their Lord Jesus as well, the one who came and gave them hope of a better life someday, regardless of the mess that they currently find themselves in. They are thankful for the relationship that He has with them, and that in the midst of their earthly pain, suffering, and need, they are able to pray and thank him for what little they have. They are honestly thankful. They are sincere. They appreciate every piece of bread, cup of porridge, every bottle of water. Truly. They were thankful for us traveling to see them, spending time with them. And I will be eternally thankful for them. For the new perspective they have given me. I no longer am just "thankful for what I have... there are children in Africa without these things." How true that is. Except now I know those children. They have faces and names. That phrase has new meaning and depth in my life. For that I will forever remember and be thankful.

So many things in life to be thankful for.... I could go on and on. Today we wish "Happy Thanksgiving" because we should be happy to give these thanks! Today I just wanted to share what means the most to me. The things that will be with me when the material things whither away. The things that are not tangible or replenished without love and loss. I am thankful for so much, but these are the most important. I hope and pray that today people will evaluate what means the most to them in their lives, spend time with family and close friends, laugh together, make memories together, and be thankful. Truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving! It is in this neck of the woods! :)

Smoky Mountain Mayhem!

Okay.... so I said that I was coming here to relax and blog and just be lazy.... but then I remembered that I had brought with me the BEST card game on the planet!!

That's right! PHASE 10!! I blame the Mays for my new-found obsession! Seriously... this game takes forever.... hence the score list below... I kid you not... this is the sheet that we used for about two and a half hours... the amount of time it takes you to complete all 10 phases. :)

Luckily, all the work was worth it because I WON!!! :) Sorry, Adam! You put up a good fight!

Lexi even took up residence next to my chair for the entire time.... bored I'm sure, but wouldn't dare lose her front row seat to food dropping potential :)

Seriously.... $5.99 at Toys R Us, Walmart, and Target. AWESOME family fun!

Later!

Sharing the View!

So.... I thought that I would take a minute and share my magnificent views with the world this morning....

Yes.... Bearfoot Lodge in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Nice, huh? Seriously.... we missed this trip last year when we lost grandparents, wanted to spend the holiday with extended family, and just take a break from the tradition that we had made it. However, it wasn't until we missed a year here that we realized how much we LOVED the isolation, relaxation, and being so close together. :) It's just us, parents, and siblings....... well some of our siblings. :)

Justin's little brother, Kam getting in his early morning internet...lol

So there you have it.... where I will be spending my time until Saturday. :) We have plans to eat at favorite restaurants, visit Gatlinburg (maybe even attempt to ice skate again), outlet shop, cook Thanksgiving dinner, the guys are playing golf today, and whatever else we feel like because WE CAN!!! :) 

Happy Monday... I know mine is!

Playing "Catch Up!"

The phrase "playing 'catch up'" cracks me up. I teach Kindergarten. That's why. They're so literal. :) I used this phrase last week in my classroom when we had gotten behind on some work and activities. I told them... "Guys, it's going to be a busy day! We have to play "catch up!" In unison, they all repeated "Play catch up?" and HOWLED with laughter. I can almost picture they're little minds imagining some crazy game that involved ketchup! That's really what they thought. The explanation that followed was almost useless. They still laughed every time I repeated the phrase. Kids... :)

Anyhow... that's what I'm doing now... playing "ketchup!" on some blog posts. There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately, which is a good thing. We stay so busy usually! It was a wonderful Halloween holiday, though, filled with TONS of fun festivities! I started the week with a field trip to the pumpkin patch with my class where we went on a hay ride and got to take home a pie pumpkin. :) Then, a few days later, we walked up to Northside High School and the kids got to go trick or treating in their costumes. Aren't they cute?....

That evening, we headed to Ian and Jenna's for a Halloween House Warming! So fun! The best part.... PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST! I wasn't feeling at my most creative that evening, but I managed to squeak this out....

The next day was "Halloween," well at least in Columbus it was! People were already down the sidewalks at 5:30 when Trick or Treating wasn't supposed to start till 6!! Anyhow... we hadn't planned on really being at home for trick or treaters, but when the Georgia game lasted longer than expected, I just went ahead and assumed my position...

and then was shortly greeted by this nice fellow...

Geez! Anyhow... it was altogether a great weekend! We had a blast.... :) 

I am SO excited to head to Tennessee in a couple of weeks with our family for Thanksgiving. Rent a cabin, do some shopping, and eat, eat, eat! Well... with some restraint ;o). I am also looking forward to seeing our awesome proofs from a photo shoot that we had with a great friend and photographer, Kate Whitmore. Check out her blog http://katewhitmoreblog.com where there is a sneak peek post of our session! Yay!!

Talk to you all soon!