Keeping Pace with the Whiteners

3 Years ago

2012-02-18T21:11:00.002-05:00

It is crazy how fast time flies by....
Three years ago this week is when I met Adam for the first time. He called me on a Tuesday and we chatted on the phone for awhile. We realized that we had alot in common... Then we met for lunch on Thursday of that week and we sat and ate lunch and talked for 2 hours that day. Then then that Friday night we went out on our first official date, we went to eat at Flat Rock Grille and went to see Confessions on a Shopaholic!!! I still remember it and we still have the movie ticket from that date.

And well the rest is history!!

February update

2012-02-03T21:44:00.009-05:00

I can not believe that we have already began the month of February and we have not even had any snow!!! It actually does not feel much like winter.... don't get me wrong, I am not a huge fan of the snow but I would like one really good snow and then it to go away and bring on the spring time! Spring time is my favorite time of the year!

Since I was off today, I spent the day cleaning and updating my house with some Valentine's decorations. Over the years I have stored just a few things and now that I have my house I plan on changing out certain items for the seasons.

This is my table cloth for my dining room table with a heart glass dish in the center... I need to get some candy or something to go in it but I have not made it anywhere to get some.

This is the kitchen table decor... it is not much... I am not the most creative person but I try with what I have and not have to spend much to make it happen.

Oh and not really pertaining to Valentine's Day or February... Adam and I worked on the dog lot this morning. We had to put more wood chips out for the dogs because it was very muddy.

Here is the final product!

Update on my list..... all 30

2012-01-26T21:18:00.007-05:00

My list of "3o before 3o...by the end of 2012"
1. Have a game night at our house!
2. Continue to grow my hair out... My hair has not this long in about 10 years or more.
3. Have ice cream for dinner (We had ice cream at Kids Praise the other night and that was my dinner...)
4. Try 4 Pinterest craft and gift ideas. I will try to do more.
5. Go a day without texting or internet. And that means Facebook as well!
6. To organize my scrapbook room
7. Start catching up on my scrapbook
8. To organize our office room, because even though we have only lived here 9 months, it has become a junk room. (I spent one of the last days on my christmas vacation cleaning and organizing the office. ---pictures to come later) Here is the post with pictures. http://http://dancindaisygirl.blogspot.com/2012/01/organizing.html
9. Enjoy a spa day
10. Make sugar cookies from scratch
11. Start exercising
12. Watch the sunrise with Adam
13. Start blogging more often.
14. Enjoy our 1st Valentine's Day as a married couple.
15. Go thru my closet and get rid of some clothes.
16. Begin planning our 1st vacation
17. Learn how to cook some new recipes
18. Have a PJ day.
19. Have a reunion with the girls from college.(Monday, January 2nd, I met Joanna, Sarah, Kathryn, Kelly and Susan and some of their spouses and kids. It was so nice to hang out!!!)
20. Write letters to friends that I don't see as often
21. Have pictures taken of Adam and I
22. Host a 31 party
23. Spend more time reading.
24. Start sending birthday cards to the close friends and family... the snail mail way. I have already starting marking the dates on my calendar.(So far so good with this one!)
25. To really take a picture a day for 2012. I have tried this the last two years and I do really good until the end of the year. I have not posted a picture the last month. So I am going to try my best!26. To keep my new car clean
27. Finally attend a Zumba class.
28. To paint our bathroom and decorate it
29. Spend a day with my niece and nephews..
30. Provide a meal for a family that needs it.

organizing

2012-01-13T13:59:00.010-05:00

I have tried to spend some time organizing since I was off over Christmas... I wish I had the money to buy all the containers and storage units that I could use to make the space the Best Organized room; however, I don't so I will have to make do.

I started with our bills, I sort all of them on the bed and them put them in order of the dates so they could be filed.
This is the pile of the envelopes and the junk mail that needed to be shredded. I filled an entire trashbag full of shredded junk mail.

Then I filed all of the bills in our file box that we have. It sure does help us out now that finally have that organized.

OFFICE ROOM

This room has become a junk room. So I started organizing this room and this is the room that I can not seem to get the way I want.

Here is the room after... I know it is not perfect yet, But I am working on a few projects right now.

SPARE BEDROOM

This picture is sideways, but most of the clutter is the christmas decorations that I had to get put away.
Here it is now. We had to move the end tables from our living room in this room since we got new furniture.

THE PANTRY
After my grocery trip the other day, I decided to reorganize and clean out our pantry.

Some of the things that I have tried to help keep our pantry in order is a canned drink box (you know the ones that you can punch out the end and it is ready for dispensing in your fridge) and I use it for canned soup.

I also used a storage box that I got at Walmart to help keep the muffin mix and rice bags from falling thru the wires on the shelves.

What kind of organizing tools or units do you use?

update with pictures

2012-01-08T22:37:00.015-05:00

Happy New Year! ---January 13, 2012
The best way for me to sum up the last two weeks will be with pictures...
On January 2, I met with some of my favorite people from college for supper. It was great to catch up with them all.

January 3-- Adam sold our living room furniture by 11am so we spent the rest of the day finding something new... This is it!! It is so comfy.

January 5, Harris Teeter was having super doubles so this is what I got $169.24 worth of groceries for$75.58. Not that bad!!! (Not pictured is 10 cases of drinks and 3 packs of bottled drinks)

January 8, We had Family night at Pin Station for our church family. And Adam's parents, Adam, my mom, and I played two games of bowling...

I did not do so good with this second game!

Then we met for Praise and Worship and then Dr. Yount preached as well!

On Monday January 9, Kyle and Matt helped me and we cleaned out the basketball and game closet at the church.... this is everything once pulled out.

This is one corner once we were done.

On January 11, I taught the lesson for Kids Praise and we made snowmen... this is mine.

Thursday, January 12, This is another Harris Teeter trip, they were just having doubles but I still got $36.78 for $14.64.

I also went to Lowes Foods and got $64.96 for $50.40 (but alot of these items I needed but did not have coupons)

And I also went to Bilo and paid $18.83 for $28.97 worth of groceries.

Once I got home, I cleaned out and organized our pantry.

And then we enjoyed our Crock Pot Chicken N Dumplings...I loved this meal because it did not take that much prep and I am all for easy.

So there you have it...

Need three more!!!

2012-01-05T20:40:00.005-05:00

(I have marked some off and yes I still need to add some.)
Wow now it is less than 2 months away until my 30th Birthday. I am not really sure how I feel about turning 30. I have joked that I am not turning 30 and that I will stay 29 years old, but do I really want that.

As I have started really thinking about my upcoming birthday (3/2), I can really only think that my 30s may be the best days of my life. But before we get to the 30s, I wanted to just think back over the last 10 years. Being in your 20s, brings on so many changes and learning how to deal with those changes... oh and I don't do well with change. So for some of those changes that I had to make and learn from were: moving off to college and learning how to live on your own and get your schoolwork done without your parent checking on you, building new friendships that will last a lifetime, had my first real relationship that eventually lead me to walking down the aisle to my Prince Charming, bought my first car, became a homeowner, and just recently became a new car owner.

Now on to the 3o before 30 list ....oh but wait....

So my list is really going to be "30 things to accomplish in 2012"--- I figure I could probably make that work.
I will mark off the items once they are completed! (Oh but wait again.... I only have 26 items right now because I have had a hard time thinking of things that I can get done in a year....I will add more when I come up with them....) (Friends, please help keep me accountable to accomplish this list!!!)
1. Have a game night at our house!
2. Continue to grow my hair out... My hair has not this long in about 10 years or more.
3. Have ice cream for dinner
4. Try 4 Pinterest craft and gift ideas. I will try to do more.
5. Go a day without texting or internet. And that means Facebook as well!
6. To organize my scrapbook room
7. Start catching up on my scrapbook
8. To organize our office room, because even though we have only lived here 9 months, it has become a junk room. (I spent one of the last days on my christmas vacation cleaning and organizing the office. ---pictures to come later)
9. Enjoy a spa day
10. Make sugar cookies from scratch
11. Start exercising
12. Watch the sunrise with Adam
13. Start blogging more often.
14. Enjoy our 1st Valentine's Day as a married couple.
15. Go thru my closet and get rid of some clothes.
16. Begin planning our 1st vacation
17. Learn how to cook some new recipes
18. Have a PJ day.
19. Have a reunion with the girls from college.(Monday, January 2nd, I met Joanna, Sarah, Kathryn, Kelly and Susan and some of their spouses and kids. It was so nice to hang out!!!)
20. Write letters to friends that I don't see as often
21. Have pictures taken of Adam and I
22. Host a 31 party
23. Spend more time reading.
24. Start sending birthday cards to the close friends and family... the snail mail way. I have already starting marking the dates on my calendar.
25. To really take a picture a day for 2012. I have tried this the last two years and I do really good until the end of the year. I have not posted a picture the last month. So I am going to try my best!
26. To keep my new car clean
27. Finally attend a Zumba class.

Happy New Years

2012-01-01T22:22:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Day! I did stay up last night to see the ball drop and ring in the New Year with my Husband!!! He went right to sleep when it was over and I finished watching the movie that we had rented. Then this morning, I started the new year off with a few of the cutest preschoolers while I led Critterland this morning at Sunday School. We had a great time even though there was only 6 kids.... we missed a bunch of our friends. Then Adam and I enjoyed worship together. It was great to start the year off worshipping with my husband. Then Adam and I spent the afternoon looking at new living room furniture! Now let me tell you, that I don't mind spending time with Adam or even shopping for that matter, but after several hours of looking I get very bored.... and hungry!!! So then we ended our day together with dinner at my parents... My mom made the New Years Meal.... Pork Chops, Corn, Stuffing, Black Eyed Peas, Rice, Cornbread, gravy, slaw, and then peach cobbler. I enjoyed spending time with my family again tonight... My mom and I even found a box of my baby dolls.... We finally found the baby doll that I got when I was 1 years old... So over all the last 2 days have been pretty good! Now I am not ready to go back to work on Tuesday! And when I go back to work... I am still hoping that I will make time to blog more often.

A New Year's Eve Reflection on 2011

2011-12-30T17:21:00.019-05:00

20 Questions for a New Year's Eve Reflection
1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
I GOT MARRIED!!!

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

The single most challenging thing had to be the house buying process. Over the past year, there have been some major changes but the process on buying a house really showed how Adam and I worked out problems. Oh wait there is another challenging thing, I know it said the SINGLE one... but moving out of a house that I have lived in for 6 years was also quite challenging.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

Just the love that was shown by all of our friends as we were married

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

I tried to think of this one....and it was quite hard.... but I would say that an unexpected obstacle would have been the house buying process again! I did not really picture Adam and I buying a house during the wedding process and even that before the wedding. The Lord was really trying my patience thru the entire process. The house buying process was an unexpected obstacle but I am so happy we did when we did because we found the perfect house for us!!!!

5. Pick three words to describe 2011.

wonderful, perfect, changing

6. Pick three words your spouse/best friend would use to describe your 2011 (don't ask them;
guess based on how you think they see you).

awesome, amazing, and perfect

7. Pick three words your spouse/best friend would use to describe their 2011 (again, without
asking).
Challenging, awesome, changing

8. What were the best books you read this year?
I have not read very much this year... but that is on the list for 2012 to read more.

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

Adam is the most valuable one , but then my family... over this past year, we have seen each other alot more than we have the past couple of years because of weddings, birthdays, and parties.... I love them all!

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
My biggest change would have to be getting used to being married. I have been on my own for 6 years and I have certain ways that I like to do things... So I have had to make some changes.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

Getting married was great and just going from living on your own to living with some one has its emotional moments. I have definitely learned what is most important and that is LOVE!

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

I have learned that the Lord has the perfect person specifically for you and you just have to let God pick the perfec timing fo you. I know that I wanted to rush things over the years... but I am so glad that I did not! I learned to give GOD control because HE does know best.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

After we moved in, I started walking and sometimes running in the neighborhood but then came the rainy days and that went out the window. However, that is on the list for 2012... to exercise more often and to make it to Zumba.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

I have spent alot of time with my family and those are the most important relationships. We have spent alot of time this year laughing, celebrating, and having fun. As for friendships, it has been hard to grow alot of those since I am married now,but for 2012 I hope to change that.

15. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (Both professionally and at home)?

The most enjoyable part of home is being AT HOME! I enjoy having a house to clean (even though sometimes I don't like to clean) and I enjoy cooking for Adam and I (and I need to learn a few more meals....but we are getting there) and I enjoy just being HOME (I don't go out shopping nearly as much as I used to) ... I am totally content at being at home.

The most enjoyable part of work is working with the preschoolers and the elementary age kids and well the youth age as well. I have seen alot of these kids grow up through our ministry at Woodlawn and well I love to see them invite Jesus into their heart and learn to serve HIM.

16. What was the most challenging part of your work (Both professionally and at home)?

The most challenging part of home is having the time to get things done. I have a long list of projects but there is not enough time in the days and weeks to get it done.

The most challenging part of work is not having the relationships with people my age.

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

The computer or the tv.

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

planning our wedding .... i loved the whole planning process

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

I learned that life does go by rather quickly but to savor every moment with your spouse and your family. I learned how to slow down and to savor all the moments of the wedding process.

And to always say I LOVE YOU to those you love.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2011 for you.
This year will never be forgotten because this was the year that my dreams came true and I had my dream wedding and married my wonderful husband.

UPDATE

2011-12-28T22:01:00.002-05:00

Since I am now a married woman.. I thought that my blog needed a new name!!! "Keeping Pace with the Whiteners".... came from my hubby. I think it fits!!! My new goal is to keep blogging more often. So check back in with me in a few days.

My 30 before 30 list.... oh but wait

2011-12-27T21:36:00.018-05:00

(I have marked some off and yes I still need to add some.)

Wow it is only 66 more days until my 30th Birthday. I am not really sure how I feel about turning 30. I have joked that I am not turning 30 and that I will stay 29 years old, but do I really want that.

As I have started really thinking about my upcoming birthday (3/2), I can really only think that my 30s may be the best days of my life. But before we get to the 30s, I wanted to just think back over the last 10 years. Being in your 20s, brings on so many changes and learning how to deal with those changes... oh and I don't do well with change. So for some of those changes that I had to make and learn from were: moving off to college and learning how to live on your own and get your schoolwork done without your parent checking on you, building new friendships that will last a lifetime, had my first real relationship that eventually lead me to walking down the aisle to my Prince Charming, bought my first car, became a homeowner, and just recently became a new car owner.

Now on to the 3o before 30 list ....oh but wait....

Let me start off with "oh but wait" part of the title.... so with only 66 days until my birthday I know that I will not be able to accomplish all of the 3o things in just 66 days because with my busy schedule with my job and just life in general. It just isn't going to happen. (Yes I know, I should have started my list when I turned 29 but at my last birthday, I was up to my eyeballs in wedding details and counting down to getting married and a 3o before 30 list was the furtherest thing from my mind. Not until the other day when a friend posted her list did I start actually making a list for myself.)

So my list is really going to be "30 things to accomplish in 2012"--- I figure I could probably make that work.

I will mark off the items once they are completed! (Oh but wait again.... I only have 23 items right now because I have had a hard time thinking of things that I can get done in a year....I will add more when I come up with them....) (Friends, please help keep me accountable to accomplish this list!!!)

1. Have a game night at our house!

2. Continue to grow my hair out... My hair has not this long in about 10 years or more.

3. Have ice cream for dinner

4. Try 4 Pinterest craft and gift ideas. I will try to do more.

5. Go a day without texting or internet. And that means Facebook as well!

6. To organize my scrapbook room

7. Start catching up on my scrapbook

8. To organize our office room, because even though we have only lived here 9 months, it has become a junk room. (I spent one of the last days on my christmas vacation cleaning and organizing the office. ---pictures to come later)

9. Enjoy a spa day

10. Make sugar cookies from scratch

11. Start exercising and make it to the Zumba class.

12. Watch the sunrise with Adam

13. Start blogging more often.

14. Enjoy our 1st Valentine's Day as a married couple.

15. Go thru my closet and get rid of some clothes.

16. Begin planning our 1st vacation

17. Learn how to cook some new recipes

18. Have a PJ day.

19. Have a reunion with the girls from college.(Monday, January 2nd, I met Joanna, Sarah, Kathryn, Kelly and Susan and some of their spouses and kids. It was so nice to hang out!!!)

20. Write letters to friends that I don't see as often

21. Have pictures taken of Adam and I

22. Host a 31 party

23. Spend more time reading.

24. Start sending birthday cards to the close friends and family... the snail mail way. I have already starting marking the dates on my calendar.

25. To really take a picture a day for 2012. I have tried this the last two years and I do really good until the end of the year. I have not posted a picture the last month. So I am going to try my best!

26. To keep my new car clean

Father's Day

2011-06-19T13:32:00.005-04:00

(ok don't faint because I actually posted..)

On this Father's Day, I have been reading facebook statuses and posts about their fathers, grandfathers, etc. And well they all have me thinking about all those people in my life that have impacted my life in major ways. I wish I had pictures of them to post to this blog (because that would make it a better post:)) but I don't have any pictures of them on this laptop and since I am still in the process of unpacking some boxes they are MIA!

Let me start with my dad!

My dad has always been very supportive of all three of us kids. He worked hard and was always there to cheer us on, kept the pool up so that we could enjoy it each summer, or even watch those never ending dance recitals that we watched for 15 years. At the end of each recital daddy would give us a hug and say "well done!". Still even today, when he comes and watches programs at church that I have been apart of or in charge of, he still gives me a hug and says "well done."
You hardly ever see my dad shed a tear, but I remember seeing one on my graduation day! He was so proud! Thank you Daddy for loving me and supporting me in all my decision that I have made and continue to make. (I could go on and on about my dad, but I would be in tears and then it would not be much of a post.)

Then it is Granddaddy(my dad's dad), everyone knew him has the Optimist Man, hushpuppy maker man, bee keeper man, or even azaleas photo taking man, but I knew him as my granddaddy. I was the 1st grand child on that side of the family so I was a little spoiled for awhile. My granddaddy was a hard working man. He built the house that my dad grew up in and then I lived in for 6 years.He could about make anything in his shop. One thing that he was known most for was the honey from his bees.(boy, do I miss that!) He instilled the hard work ethic into us grandkids. He could sing and play the guitar. He even had a recording type machine that my sister and I would record our own songs on sundays after lunch. Granddaddy would always be willing to come to Career days at my school and tell about how to be a beekeeper. My granddaddy never met a stranger and he could even pinpoint exactly where someone was from by their accent. Granddaddy was always ready to go for a walk and spend time outside with us grandkids. He was also a little stubborn (maybe I got that from him!) Granddaddy passed away when I was in college, but I sure wish he could have met Adam. I miss him all the time. I remember him everytime I see an azalea bush and bee flying around my head.

Next is my PapPaw( my mom's dad), he was also very hard working, and had the best garden. PapPaw loved to go on trips whether it be with the church, friends, or family. He loved to go to the beach (even if he stayed inside and napped most of the time).At the beach, PapPaw would take us to the Pavilion and then we would go across the street and get ice cream dipped in chocolate!!!! He loved to spoil the 5 grandkids. He even loved going to the mall. My Nanny would shop and PapPaw would sit and hold the bags and talk with anyone that sat down beside him. PapPaw was always involved at church. PapPaw had a recliner that he sat in all the time, and he would snore..... but then he would say that he wasn't really asleep. The 5 grandchildren had him wrapped around his finger.... every sunday night before we would leave their house, he would give us a $1.00 bill. That was the greatest thing ever. Just the other day, I was thinking of PapPaw because I was at the grocery store wanting to buy a watermelon and cantaloupe, but I did not know how to tell if they were good or not. My PapPaw worked at MDI in the produce department for years and he could pick out the best. Then he would fix the picnic table in the back yard of their house with newspaper, watermelon, and salt and then we would have the best time. PapPaw passed away when I was a junior in high school. I miss him very much.

Now that I married Adam, I have added PawPaw Buddy and PawPaw Gene. They are both loving and caring men. I love to hear stories from PawPaw Buddy about when A was little. And then PawPaw Gene is know for working outside in the flowers.

Lord, thank you for all the men that have been in my life and that have helped shape me into who I am today! I am so very grateful!!!

30 Days of Lists: Day 1: A Few Things About Yourself

2011-03-04T11:54:00.002-05:00

I am going to try and see if I can keep this going!!!

A Few Things About Myself:
*daughter
*sister
*aunt
*aunt
*loves my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
*getting married in 57 days
*just turned 29
*collector of stuff
*loves my camera
*multi tasker
*loves to travel
*loves to dance
*does not LOVE to move

Thankful days!

2010-11-30T20:02:00.002-05:00

To finish off this month of Thankfulness:
22-Is thankful for Taylor, my sweet niece, for her loving spirit and care for her brothers.
23-Is thankful for our wonderful Thanksgiving vesper service and the food that we collected to help out our food pantry.
24-Is thankful for Cody, my youngest nephew, such a little monkey but so cute and full of adventure!
25-is thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with Adam's family and my family all in one day.
26-is thankful for no craziness while out at 4am shopping with my mom. Thankful for my 2 1/2 hours of sleep.
27-is thankful for some time at home to clean up and rest.
28-is thankful for a sunday afternoon nap and game night at the Whiteners!
29-is thankful for the Upward Coaches that showed up at the coaches meeting.
30-is thankful for the rain and spending the evening with Adam with a inexpensive dinner and a movie.

Next Thankful 10

2010-11-21T21:50:00.002-05:00

A day late, but here are the last 11 days of thankfulness.
11-Thankful for all of our veterans that have served and those that are currently serving! Thank you for serving!
12- Thankful that I was able to attend the Women of Faith Conference.
13- Thankful for some great friends that I was able to hang out with while at the Women of Faith Conference. Had a great time ladies!
14-Thankful for Bryant, my "now" 5 year old(birthday is Nov.14), nephew. He is defintely the cutest 5 year old around. (I AM a little biased!)
15-Thankful for my homecooked meal...... I will get better and not just fix spaghetti all the time, but for now, I am thankful that it is quick and easy to fix.
16- Thankful for Adam's family, Mel, Cindy, Christie, Cody, and Aydan. Thankful for sports and being able to watch Aydan play JV basketball.
17-Thankful for God's provision in a situation! God really does go before us and work things out for the good!
18-Thankful that it is Thursday and I get to be off and sleep in on Friday.
19-Thankful for Lisa Walker, my other mom, and the time that we were able to spend over lunch together.
20-Thankful to Adam's cousin, Josh, and that he invited us to join him at the Bobcat game with his free tickets. We had a great time!
21- Thankful for 60% off coupons that allowed me to get some invitations really cheap.
- Thankful for a wonderful church service this morning with the Baptist Children's Home.

Thankful 10

2010-11-10T20:23:00.003-05:00

So I have missed the thankful posts on a daily basis, so I have decided to do 10 at a time.
1-I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ!!!
2- I am thankful for Adam, my future husband. I am thankful that he understands me and listens to me.... I am thankful for his love for me and I can't wait to marry him on April 30, 2011.
3- I am thankful for my family and all the craziness that we have. Thank you Mom and Dad!
4- I am thankful for a job where I get to have an eternal impact on kids lives.
5- I am thankful for a house even though it is never quite clean enough and I don't even have kids yet.
6- I am thankful for great friends.
7- I am thankful for Nancy and all the help and creative ideas that she is creating for my wedding.
8- I am thankful for the beauty that I get to experience as I get to see the sun setting earlier now.
9- I am thankful for the stars that I saw last night. God amazes me with the skyline at night in the country and you can see them all! I was in total awe!
10-I am thankful for my church family!!!!

Wedding Website

2010-10-20T23:57:00.001-04:00

Check it out.

Fall Breeze

2010-08-27T13:44:00.002-04:00

As I stepped outside today, I was so thankful for the the cooler breeze. I love the summer and the times to be by the pool and such, but I am ready for the cooler temperatures.

(Sorry to those that are reading my blog with how absent I have been from the blogging world.) When I open up my blog and see my post from Christmas... I wish I had to time to even keep this up.

I am however, horrible at making time for writing much less putting my thoughts into this blog.

Can you give me some ideas of some things to share on here?

Also, What was your favorite summer activity/trip that you and your family might have taken?
I enjoyed going to the beach this summer. We stayed at Ocean Lakes Campground. It was my first time to the beach in several years. It was wonderful to relax and hang out.

A New Year's Resolution

2009-12-31T14:21:00.005-05:00

Welcome 2010!!!!

I am ready for a new year and ready to see what God has in store for me. I read on someone else's blog of an idea of taking pictures everyday for a year; I am going to try( I always have my camera on me). I love taking pictures and of the places I travel so I will use my pictures to tell about my year. Now I am not going to post everyday but I might try every week( that should be a resolution as well---to post more). I will start with ringing in the new year..... YAY!!!

Now let's back up.... Christmas time!!! I hope everyone had a great one. I sure did. Here are some pictures of my break!

Presents under my tree

Adam opening his Noah's Ark picture

Our attempt at making cookies.... they did not turn out at all....

but he had fun putting flour on my face.
here are the two little helpers.... taylor and bryant made chocolate covered pretzels

Bryant watching tv while waiting to leave on Christmas Eve

AdamChristmas Morning....opening presents

going through our stockings

Cody going down the steps... his favorite hobby at my aunts....

So overall... I great Christmas!!!

Jesus' birth

2009-12-11T09:17:00.005-05:00

Ok let me first start by saying that it has been awhile since I have posted. There has been alot that has taken place and there is no way that I can sum the last 3 or 4 months into a post. When I started my blog I had all intentions to keep it up but life takes its course and then when you add a relationship to that... it takes more time that I did not even have to begin with.

So onto the holiday season, This is my second year of decorating my house for christmas and I actually put my tree up before Thanksgiving, due to Upward starting and the Thanksgiving weekend was pretty full of activities. Adam came over to help me decorate my small but blue and white and silver christmas tree. It is filled with Snowmen and icicles and my White House ornaments that my grandmother gets for us each year. It is topped with a silver and slight blue bow. (I will post pictures soon; however, the pictures do not even do the tree justice.) I have also tried to start decorating a few other places. I love the Christmas season I just wish I had more room to put all of the pieces up.

And for the first time I was able to put two stockings up. I bought two when I purchased mine several years ago because I had to have them matching and now I am actually able to use it.

I love the Christmas season and I have been counting down since before Thanksgiving; but now I wish the time would so slow down just a bit. I still have more shopping to do and I just can't seem to get it all in with work, a death in the family, upward, ballgames, Christmas parties,making special desserts, church Christmas plays and rehearsals and so on... you all know what I mean. I was trying so hard to be ahead with my presents this year.... oh well. We all try to spend all the time that we can with loved ones which is what you are suppose to do over the holidays; however, it seems like we just go from place to place all in a hurry.

This year will bring some change for me, with adding Adam's side of the family to how I celebrate Christmas it will include more traveling, more eating, and more family members to celebrate Jesus' birth. So to end this trying post... I encourage you and I to all take a moment in the busyness of the holidays to remember Jesus' birth and how he came to that lowly manger knowing that one day he would die on that cross ... just for you and me.

Pool Day Fun

2009-08-29T17:37:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Cruise

2009-08-28T17:03:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-05-19T22:57:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-05-19T13:34:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2009-04-28T17:14:00.006-04:00

I know it has been awhile since the last post. Just about 2 months. I have become a very busy bee. The last two weeks I have kept my nephews for a little bit so my sister could get her wedding dress fitted. Here are the cell phone pictures from today.

Ok so the first two are not so great, but I just wanted to share my blessings with you .

My birthday present!!!!! SNOW********

2009-03-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Update "into the busy life"

2008-12-18T21:52:00.016-05:00

5 Grandchildren and 6 Great grandchildren
(Ashley, Angela, Me, Amanda, and Trent) and

(Lyndsey8, Katy6, Taylor6, Bryant3, Alex almost 2, and Cody 9 months)

As my blog title reads, "into the busy life", and I guess right now has defintely been a pretty busy one. Since my last post alot has been going on. So I am going to put some pictures up from the holidays. Thanksgiving, we decided to take pictures of the great grand children and when you have 3 boys under the age of 3 and 3 girls under the age of 8, you can guarantee craziness. With 6 kids, you can not get a great picture with all of them looking in the same direction. Then we(the grandchildren) also had the pictures made with the kids.

This was my first year decorating for Christmas since I have lived in my house. Blue and silver ...the theme.

My friend Kim helped me decorate my house, not that we decorated the whole house but a small corner of my living room. I don't have much space to decorate.

So Christmas seemed to come and go, but had a great time hanging out with family and friends.

Had a night out with my "little sis" with some shopping,supper, coffee shop,movie and sleepover

Went to see Katy in the christmas play at her church

(my sister Amanda and nephew cody)

Isn't he the sweetest thing.... my other nephew Bryant watching tv on Christmas Eve!

Before Christmas, Ms. Lisa resigned from Woodlawn, and times have been hard. But God has an amazing plan.

I spent New Year's Eve with one of my adopted moms which was nice.

Then in January, Mary Ella, Lisa and I went to Nashville for the Children's Pastor Conference. It was the first time in Nashville and let me just say that it was beautiful. It was still decorated for Christmas. The whole trip was a bit bittersweet because it was the last time with Lisa as staff from Woodlawn.

After coming back with alot of new ideas to use in the ministry and a new refreshing desire in my heart to work with those kids, things were going to be different. Something that I never thought would happen in 6 years. Once back Upward games have started and well my life is still busy as ever and now I am praying for guidance and wisdom on what God has for my life.

Friends for all seasons

2008-11-14T10:34:00.002-05:00

Who helps you weather the storms of life?

Well as I ponder that question and as I read the article the other day that brought that question up, I recalled the friends that have been there through the thick and thin. "Very few friends are meant to be 'lifelong fixtures', and 'I' think that's the way God intended it. He brings people in and out of our lives to give us just what we need at just the right time."

As high school students we make friendships that we think will last forever because we were all involved in the same activities. Then after many years there are only a handful of those people that you might still be in contact with.

I think the friendships that you make in college are those friends that you will keep for a lifetime because you have lived with, ate with, worked together, prayed together, worshipped together, grew in the Lord together, among many other things.

When I started MHC, I believed that I made some good friends pretty quickly, but I already had friends as well that went to MHC too. Over the years, I met some people awesome people and those friendships are the dearest to my heart.

So to close, I am going to thank those friends that have been there through the storms and the good times. Boy did we have a blast in those great years!!!!

To Kyle: thank you for your friendship for over a decade. You have defintely kept me sane and you have helped me through some issues as well as warned me about others.

To Andrea, Leslie, Rhea, Charlotte. and Sarah: thank you for your friendship through high school and all the craziness in band, high school is defintely a changing place and I thank you for the memories that we shared

To Amber, Amanda, Alma, Heidi, Maria, Kathryn, Erin, Sarah R, Sarah P, Felicia, Casey, Aaron, Dwayne, David, Lori, Matt, Lee, Tyler, Eydie, Joanna, Kelly, Corby, Larry, Ben, Andrew,Stephanie, Beth, and I am sure there are many others: Thank you for just being you, wow we had us a great time in college and boy do I miss those days. Thank you for the awesome memories( there are way tooo many to list here). To those special ladies that have been there the most....it is great to have a group of girls that are still friends and I know that we will be for years to come.

Thank you !!!!!

2008-11-10T23:05:00.002-05:00

Veteran's Day Memorial Service

On Monday, at Riverbend Middle School, they had an assembly to remember and honor our veterans. It was very moving. There are 2 teachers at the school that are veterans and I say thank you! I say thank you to all veterans! Ms. Hamiliton put together a slideshow that had relatives of the rest of the staff at the school and my grandfather was one of those pictures. I can not describe the mood in the gymnasium this afternoon. It was pretty silent, which hardly ever happens with a school full of 7th and 8th graders. The Beta Club presented the program and they did a great job. The ROTC from Bunker Hill came over for the pledge and the National Anthem. They also played Taps, which I don't think you can listen to without crying. So all of this to say, there were several reporters there and the school made the news at 5:30 on channel 3 news. I was pretty impressed. If you have a chance this week or know any veterans, tell them to drive by the school and see the memorial that they have placed around the parking lot.

I have provided two websites to check out: 1st one : is the article and 2nd one : is the video that was televised on WBTV

Please watch!

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9325582

http://www.wbtv.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=3120788&h1=Veterans%20remembered&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=87133&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=5123822

Thankful

2008-11-10T10:05:00.002-05:00

Saturday I rode with my family(Mom, Dad, Nanny, and my nephew Cody) to the mountains. We were hopeful for some pretty scenery but no such luck. I think we were a week too late. The trees and all reminded me of the scene on The Lion King where they show the elephant graveyard. The trees were all dead! I wanted to go so that I could take pictures of Cody in the leaves since this is his 1st Thanksgiving.
So I had to settle with the leaves in my parents front yard. They turned out pretty nice. I will have to add them at a later date (can't find my computer cord).

But as we were driving up the mountain, I began to think of all the things that I am thankful for:
-that my Lord Jesus Christ died for ME and forgives my sins
-that I have a family that loves me
-that I have great friends that will even let me just vent and gripe to them on the phone and don't judge me
-my job that I have and that I can teach the young generation about serving, loving and knowing Jesus as their personal savior.
-my ability to dance and teach interpretive movements.
-the colors of the seasons in NC

There is so much that we all are thankful for! So I ask if you would wish to add to my list to please do so!I would love to hear what you are thankful for this thanksgiving!

Special Video

2008-10-31T08:32:00.003-04:00

I am not sure to how many of you watch Oprah. Let me just say that I do not watch her very often nor am I a huge fan, but the other day I watched the show titled "Miracle Children." I guess you can say I have a soft heart for those children. The stories truly touched my heart. There was a family on there that showed true strength from the Lord with their story about their little boy Eliot. I have attached the website to where you can see the video in its entirety. I will warn you, the first time you see the video you might need a tissue handy. The family is also going to be on Oprah's live show today as well. I hope you are touched by this video. It is amazing at how God gives us the strength to do the things that He has called us to.
http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons

http://www.ninetynineballoons.com/

http://thespectacularvernacular.blogspot.com/

For now!

2008-10-29T11:43:00.002-04:00

It's been over 2 weeks now and the basement is almost empty. I have really stopped my part of the process. Now my dad has gone through most of it because he has to decide what is worth saving or not. See he was an only child and both of his parents died within a few months of each other and at that time it was very hard for him to even go through it all. I have been presently surprised on how Daddy has handled it all. He came over yesterday to work on some more and he told me that he wanted to be by himself. God has continously showed up through the whole process. Over last week, when it began to get cold and rainy, I thanked God that I found the problem when it was a little (alot ) warmer. I can't praise Him enough for the ways that He has shown up. Not that this is the last installment of the story to the basement, but it is the ending for now!!!!

Part 3 and counting

2008-10-21T08:22:00.003-04:00

As you can probably tell, I am not very good at writing posts and keeping them interesting however, right now it has been an outlet for me to put into words the last week of my life. Continuing the story of the busted pipe in the basement. On thursday, my mom and I started around 8:30am working upstairs and then Lisa and Mike came over. They pulled all the rest of the things that were in the water side of the house. By lunch we had cleaned that side out. When I went down there that morning the water had covered the floor again. I am not sure where it is still coming from. I think that it is coming from the wall. Wow there is so much water!!!! So then after I went and got some nourishment that was very well needed since it was liek 85 degrees but felt like 100 because it was hot inside and outside and the smells were not the best. Then another guy from church came, Eric, and Mike and him took 2 loads to the landfill on his trailer. They were big loads. When they got back from the second load, my mom and I had decided that we would call it quits. It was just too hot and the moldy side was not the best to be in anyways and when I walked in there my stomach would turn.

So we waited til my dad came to look at everything that we pulled out. I could not believe the help and support. I felt many prayers lifted up for me and my parents. I got ready and went to Upward evaulation. Then on Friday it rained and I laid around all day. I was worn out and I guess I needed some time to reenergize. On Saturday, my mom and dad came over to help. Even Trent, my brother, came to help. We made some progress on the moldy side. Saturday afternoon around 4pm we stopped for the day and I got ready to go babysit two great kids. After my shower, I sat down and for the first time the whole week, I really felt like I could put my head around things. There is now defintely a light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it. Yesterday mom and I worked on some more things for about an hour. So slowly but surely we are getting it done. It will be awhile til the whole process is done but who knows what could be done down there when it is all said and done.

Have you ever......

2008-10-21T08:20:00.000-04:00

This is so fun, I just couldn't resist. Below is a list of things many people have done or experienced. You are supposed to copy/paste the list onto your blog and then BOLD the things that you have done. You might learn something new about your friends in the process. Here's the list with my experiences in bold and my comments in blue... and TAG!! My friend Amber’s comments are in blue and mine are in red!

Bought everyone in the bar a drink
Swam with wild dolphin
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
Been inside a Pyramid
Held a tarantula
Taken a candle lit bath
Said I love you and meant it
Hugged a Tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightening storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a drip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower
Gotten drunk on champagne
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight * the best one was at the Café at MHC!!!!
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Held a lamb
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a rollercoaster

*the best one is Rockin Rollercoaster Aerso smith at Hollywood Studios in FL
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool, not caring who watched
Adopted an accent for an entire day
Actually felt happy about your life, even for a moment
Had two hard drives for your computer
Visited all 50 states *I want to one day be able to say I have…. I have been to a lot of them.
Taken care of someone who was too drunk
Had amazing Friends *still have them
Danced with a Stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Hitchhiked in Europe
Taken a road-trip * that is what college is all about!!!!
Gone rock climbing
Midnight walk on the beach
Gone sky diving
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer than you were in love
*Important Note here... if this happens to you, he wasn't worth your time. Trust me.
In a restaurant sat at a stranger’s table and ate with them
Visited Japan
Milked a cow * at the North Carolina State Fair every year when I was younger
Alphabetized your CDs
Pretended to be a superhero
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day * at least once every couple of weeks
Posed nude in front of strangers
Gone scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class.
Played a computer game for more than 6 hours straight
Gotten married
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Gotten divorced
Gone without food for 5 days *wow don’t think I could do this
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice
Gotten a tattoo
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news program as an “expert”
Got flowers for no reason
Performed on a stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded Music
Eaten shark
Had a one-night stand
Gone to Thailand
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one/both of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Performed in Rocky Horror
Raised children *not my own but sometimes I feel like I am
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
Picked up and moved to another city
Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge
Sang loudly in the car and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
Had plastic surgery
Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have
Wrote articles for a large publication
Lost over 100 lbs
Held someone while they were having a flashback
Piloted an airplane
Petted a stingray
Broken someone’s heart
Helped an animal give birth
Won money on a TV game show
Broken a bone.
Gone on an African safari
Had a body part below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol
Eaten mushrooms gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had a snake as a pet
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Slept for more than 30 hours over 48 consecutive hours
Visited more foreign countries than US States
Visited all 7 continents
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten Kangaroo meat
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the paper
Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
Gone back to school
Parasailed
Petted a cockroach
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read the Illiad
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Skipped all of your school reunions
Communicated with someone without sharing a common language
Been elected to public office
Written your own computer language
Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
Had to put someone you love in hospice care
Build your own PC from parts
Sold your own artwork to someone that didn’t know it was yours
Had a booth in a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Shaved your head
Caused a car accident
Saved someone’s life
Have a nice weekend everyone!

Part 2-

2008-10-20T10:16:00.004-04:00

Okay so I left off waiting on the plumber. Tuesday night since my water was turned off I went to the ladies small group. It was exactly what I needed that night. To be able to get away. We talked about our burning bushes and what we hide from people. So after a great time, I was headed home in almost an out of body moment I seee I wreck and all the EMS, Fire, etc response people come to the scene and because of where I was sitting it was like I could not even move or know the next thing to do. I was just going with the motions. Wednesday rolled around just waiting on the plumber to call me to say he was on his way to my house. I went by my work and talked with a friend and I started crying. At the church that I work at, we have prayer every morning at work at 9:00am so that morning I had not planned on being there but we walked into the circle and I could not stop crying as they prayed. Afterwards, one of the other staff members came up to me and said just let me know exactly what is needed... I have connections to different people. So Lisa came to my house and helped me start the process of moving wet nasty boxes out of the way so that we could begin to get the water up. Water that had been there for a long time. The plumber seemed to thing that the water had been leaking for months but the water bill had not been any higher. When we were able to get to a door where all the water was there was a piece of carpet that was just saturated with water. Then Lisa and I were able to move a piano outside that was behind the door. It is amazing how God gives us the strength to move things that you can normally not do. The piano was sitting on top of the wet saturated carpet and we had to get it over a ledge to get it out of the house. Later on, Alvin and his son came by to give his expertise on the matter and he said that he would help out any way he could. They also helped move some more things out of the water side.

Then another church friend brought a trailer for me to use and his shopvac. I got really good using that. God showed up again with all of that!!!! My plumbing bill had been paid off by someone that said that they were doing it for me because they loved me. Later on, Lisa and I sat down and I told her that is going to be amazing to see God show up through the whole experience. Maybe God will work a miracle in my dad's heart through it all. I prayed Wednesday morning for God to do a miracle and day by day something else is going on.

So early afternoon we decided that we had had enough for the day and we would start fresh Thursday morning. I got ready to go to church. While we were talking with the kids we were telling them about ways that you can let people know that you have the Lord in your heart or that you love him. And I said even when things happen, you have a different perspective on things. You are able to see a happier outcome then becoming bitter about the bad parts about it. It is funny how emotional I have not been. It is kinda of like I am too exhausted to even cry.

I am not sure if that has made any sense at all but I thought writing it out would help me process it at least.

I will share more about Thursday later... one day at a day!!!!

My week of October 13th ....Part 1

2008-10-17T13:35:00.001-04:00

Today is the first day since Tuesday that I am able to even sit back and am able to have a clear mind. Well because I was unable to go to work since Monday.... I have completely put everything that I have to do at the back burner. Right now, my house has been the main priority. Tuesday afternoon when I got home, I went to the bottom half of my house where I have not been in the 4 years that I have lived here. I live in the top half of my house. When I walked downstairs it was hot and muggy feeling and I opened the door and I realized that there was a leak in the bathroom and not only a leak but there was water pouring out of the ceiling. So I called my dad and ran like I never had before to get my neighbor. Well he was in the middle of cutting meat so while I went back to my house, waiting what seemed like hours for him to come over there to help me figure out what happened and how to turn the water off. Once he went down there we realized that the room was covered in mold. He told me that he even thought that there was probably 100 gallons of water in there. So obviously, I begin to panick. I called my dad again and told him that we were able to turn the water off and I asked him if he was going to be able to come over and he told me that work had not been good lately and he couldn't handle the stress. So then I began to cry again!!! I cried for like 2 hours..... my mom came over and we tried to figure out what I needed to do. I had to pack up some stuff and prepare to go and spend the night at my parents house. Now all we had to do was wait on the plumber..... or a plumber!!!! (more to come)

crispness in the air

2008-10-02T16:14:00.001-04:00

There is such a freshness in the air. I would love to say that I love the fall weather but I love spring time more. The fall season has such a crispness in the air. I never want to get up because it is cold and then you have to wear layers because it still gets warm in the afternoon but then in the evening it gets to be chilly again. I feel like I have to pack a bag full of clothes when I leave my house just so I can be comfortable all day. I am sure this is boring you.

As I was thinking about the change of the season and how our life changes in stages like the seasons do. Sometimes change is good and sometimes it can be bad. I know that any change in God's will for my life will be for the good; however, it is it is pretty hard sometimes to discern that voice.

I can't wait to see the leaves start to change colors and all. I think it is just a picture from God to show us how changes can be.

What is God doing in your life ?

just started

2008-09-30T23:42:00.000-04:00

Ok so today, I started this blog, but I am not so sure how I will be at it. Sometimes I am not so good at putting things into words or even making it sound right. And with my home computer out of commission right now, I can not blog on a regular basis. I am up for any ideas of some things to blog about. Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I can defintely talk anyones ear off but when it comes to putting things onto the computer it is not as easy.