wedding day

 Suiting up for the big moment

 The groom with a mouth full of food

 JP waiting with BJay

 Why not eat a few sour worms while we wait

 Waiting on his cue

How stinkin' handsome

Well, the big day for Jamie and Natalie has come and gone.  It was a LOVELY wedding.  No major mishaps took place, thank goodness!  Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures before, during or after the ceremony of the wedding party.  I am assuming this was at the request of the photographer.  I guess they figure if I'm snapping away with my camera, I'm less likely to purchase pictures from them.  True statement!  I was a little disappointed though.  I missed seeing JP have his pictures taken in the sanctuary.  Although SEVERAL little birds told me what a polite, mannerly young man he was!

I was so proud of him!  He marched down that isle with a big grin on his face and stood on that stage (fairly still) the whole time.  Now, we certainly BRIBED him with a trip to Toys R Us if he cooperated, but hey, it worked!  It was money well spent if you ask me.

Jamie and Nat are in Jamaica as I write.  I sure hope they have a fabulous time.  I'll try really hard not to be too jealous while I'm at work tomorrow.

The next few posts will be devoted to the wedding reception.  There was lots of good food, lots of good company, and lots of WILD dancing!  It made for a very memorable night for all involved!

the rehearsal

 The Sanctuary

 BIG Bubba and Li'l Bubba

 JP and BJay (I have to say that included in the groomsmen is, JP, BJay, TJ and PJ) Seriously?!

 The beautiful bride-to-be

 Rose and Terry (parents of the groom)

 JP doing his best to stand still....ha!

 This is gonna look SO good in a tux

 Here comes the bride...

 Two of my favorite boys in the world

 The cake

 Stella's Southern Bistro in Simpsonville

 Papa and his boy

 Miss Lindi Rose

 A tired JP waiting on dinner....thank goodness we brought the Power Ranger book

 Awww, love these two

 Nanny and Lindi

 JP eating his Go-gurt

 Josh, Scott, Jamie and Joey - Scott coached these three guys in baseball in middle school AND at Wade Hampton.  They grew up!  My, how time flies...

JP with his Bubba and Natalea

Last night was a lot of fun.  JP has been sick for two days, so I was worried about how he would do.  He seems better now, thank goodness! 

I will take as many pictures as I can of the wedding party.  I do not know what I'll be allowed to shoot.  Every professional photographer has their own set of rules about that kind of thing. 

Stay tuned... 

Today is THE day!!  My cousin, Jamie, is tying the knot!  I am so excited for him and his bride-to-be, Natalie.


Stay tuned for pictures from the rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception.  I am not sure if I will be able to snap pictures during the actual ceremony.  One thing you CAN be sure of is you'll get to see my sweet JP all dressed up in a tuxedo! 


Hang on to that thought...

quick, cheap, simple recipe for the super mom on-the-go

I know how you feel.  Your alarm went of at an ungodly hour this morning and you reluctantly slid yourself out of the bed.  It would be one thing if you had only yourself to get ready for the day!  But YOU ARE A MOM!


The last thing you want to worry about is what you're going to cook for dinner.  If you truly were a "Super-woman", you would already have your meals cooked and stored in the freezer for the entire week.  But, we all know that's not happening!  (If you are awesome enough to work full-time AND  pull that off, my hat's off to you!  Seriously.)


However, that's NOT me!  I'm the "stop by the store on the way home"  kinda gal.  If you can relate, I want to share a SUPER easy, SUPER quick, SUPER cheap recipe with you.  ( I shared this on a previous blog that I have since deleted.)


Are you ready for this?  You won't even need to write this one down.  It's THAT simple.

1. Get out your crock pot
2. Put enough water in just to cover the bottom of the pot
3. Add (desired amount of) frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts
4. Pour 1 bottle of BBQ sauce over the chicken
5. Add 1 can of Coke
6. Set crock pot on LOW for 7 to 8 hours

When you walk in the door from work, your house will smell DIVINE and your dinner will be ready to serve!  I threw a couple of baking potatoes in the microwave, heated up some vegetables and tossed a roll on the plate!


Don't forget the sweet tea!

a few of the greater things in life

 Look at that smile!

 Would it be possible for Sandi to look any happier??

 My happiness...

 This boy LOVES his momma!

 Sleeping beauty...

 I love the trees in our front yard.

I just thought that I would remind myself with a few pictures of some of the good things in my life. 



And life IS good!

                              Here's a cute pic of my favorite little man!  How gorgeous is he??




Being the unique blessing that he is, he clips all of his animals onto the collar of Happy the Cat.  Creative, huh?!  (Don't answer that...)  Ha!


Not too much has been going on around the Beam home this week.  I was sick for about 24 hours.  A stomach bug made it's way throughout my classroom.  NOT FUN!  The only positive thing that was born out of my misery was a day off yesterday!  This allowed me to catch up on some much needed rest and a few Dr. Phil episodes that I had recorded.


This weekend I am super excited to attend my baby cousin, Jamie's, wedding!!!!  I cannot believe that he is old enough to get married.  Man, how time flies!  Be sure to tune in for those pictures.  My sweet little Mayan is the ring bearer.  I'm not sure if the world is ready for JP in a tuxedo...


Ladies, hold on to your hearts!

book review

I read this book about five years ago.  If you peeked inside the pages today, you would find just about every other sentence of every other paragraph highlighted.  You would also find notes from my pen on just about every page.


This is an incredible book!  If you have not read it, I strongly suggest that you do. 


I like to call it my manual for positive thinking.  No matter what your situation is, Lucado has a word for you in this one.  I will admit that I am a little biased when it comes to this particular author.  He has an amazing way with words, phrases and descriptions.  If you haven't had the blessing of reading Lucado's books, here is a list of a few of my favorites:

• No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
• In the Eye of the Storm
• Six Hours One Friday
• Just Like Jesus
• Traveling Light

And those are just a few.  If you want my opinion on which one to begin with, definitely go with 1 or 2 on my above list.  There is one chapter in No Wonder They Call Him the Savior  entitled,  The Tale Of the Crucified Crook.  I have read this chapter so many times, I actually have parts of it memorized!  Seriously...it's THAT good!


Let me know what you think!

man of many hats

 Preston loves his uncle Scottie

 SILLY STRING FIGHT!

Scott is such a good daddy to JP and uncle to Preston!  I am very blessed to have him as a husband...