easter weekend

 I found this on Facebook and loved what it said... thankful for my best friends.

 

 

 My blessing.

 

Me and the boys on Easter Eve...they were so excited about the Easter Bunny coming! 

 

 

 

Our weekend has been so nice.  Lazy.  Relaxing.  JP has been with his dad most of today.  Because we are going to the beach this week, they will not be together again until next week, so JP has been clingy with him this weekend.  Of course, I am very happy about that.  However, I've been a little sad not having him with me.  Having said that, what a blessing to have parents and family to "fight" over who gets to spend time with you.  He is a blessed little boy.  I love him so much.

 

 

We went to church this morning with mom and dad at City View.  They needed extra help in the nursery, so I missed the service.  I have decided to swing on over to Newspring tonight for their Easter Service.  I am excited about that!

 

 

That's about it for now, I suppose.  Once again, we are leaving for the beach Wednesday morning.  Lots and lots of pictures to come!

 

 

HAPPY EASTER.

our baby is TWO!!!

 Me and the birthday boy before school yesterday!

 (He is singing Happy Birthday to himself with a mouth full of strawberry pop tart.  Lovely.)

 

 Waiting on his Thomas the Train cupcake (or pancake as he calls it!)

 

I'm so mad because I downloaded a great picture of him blowing out his candle, but it has disappeared somewhere into cyber space.  If I find it, I will upload it at another time.  As a matter of fact, while I was looking through my folder for these pictures, I saw that there are a handful that I have not shared with you.  So, between now and Tuesday I will try to get caught up!   I did want to go ahead and share these few.  Those of you who have followed this blog understand what a miracle this little guy is.  We love him SO MUCH and thank God EVERY SINGLE DAY for his life! 

Our weekend is going to be a pretty lazy one.  Tuesday evening, we are having Preston and Lindi's birthday party together at BJay and Holly's house.  You will definitely want to see those pictures!  SUCH CUTIES!!!  I love them.

Wednesday EARLY morning, JP and I are meeting Hal and Jackson and heading to spend the remainder of our break at Pawley's Island with their family.  I am SO PUMPED about that!!!  I know that the weather is not going to be warm, but I can sit on the sand in a sweatshirt and jeans just as well as I can a bathing suit!!  And early morning runs on the beach sound awesome too!  WooHoo!! 

Well, Preston and JP are both gone for the evening, so I am going to HOP back into my pajama pants and curl up on the couch in front of the television!

Stay tuned...

Hey guys!! 

I know it's been a few days since I've posted.  I have been super busy this week.  I am , however, so excited that we have ONE MORE DAY of work before Spring Break!!  I also turned in my resignation letter to my school TODAY.  Eeeek!!!  That is a scary thought!  So, I officially do not have a job next year.  I can't think about that right now....

The only big plan JP and I have as of now is next Wednesday we are heading to Pawley's Island with some friends until Sunday.  I am super excited, even though the weather is not looking all that great.  But the ocean is the ocean, right?!!

I will DEFINITELY have some awesome pics from that trip!

Well, that's all for today...  Have a super WEDNESDAY!!  (It certainly is a better day for me than yesterday was...I cried all day.  So, I'll enjoy this while it lasts!!)

refining gold

There are two different methods that are used when refining gold.  The two most common types are high temperature flame and chemicals.  The method used is dependant upon the quantity of gold you are working with and the desired level of purity.  In ancient times, refining involved a craftsman sitting next to a hot fire with molten gold in a crucible being stirred and skimmed to remove the impurities.

 I actually care nothing about this topic.  My only interest lies in how the subject relates to my spiritual life. 

I was talking to a friend this week who is wading through the same rough waters I am.  His comment to me was, "This situation is not something any of us wanted to go through, but my faith has never been stronger..."  I quickly responded that I felt the same way.

The path I have walked over the past eight months has been a very unpleasant one.  I wouldn't wish this route on my worst enemy.  Having said that, I know that in the end I will be able to look back at where I began the journey and say with confidence that I wouldn't trade the experience because of where I landed in my walk with Christ.  Just like with gold, sometimes our faith is refined through hot flames.  Hard times.

Heartache.
   Pain.
       Loss.

The good news is, if you are a Christian, God is our Craftsman and He sits by our flame the entire time.  He stirs us and uses the fire to rid us of our impurities.  The process may be long, but when it is complete, we are changed.  Our faith is purified.  We are more beautiful than before.  Brighter.  Shinier.

We are refined.

"These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."  1 Peter 1:7

bubbles and such

Hmmm.  That is me letting out a BIG sigh.  I have never been so thankful to crawl into my bed.  I stayed out of work yesterday because both the boys were sick.  I went back today and boy, it was a LOOOONG day!  After work, dad and I took Preston back to the doctor.  Came home, fed JP, did homework, showered, got him to bed, watched NCIS (it was a GOOD one!), jumped on the treadmill, showered, and now here I sit.  Dead tired. 

That's my whining for the night.  I guess I should be thankful for busy days.  I am surrounded by family and friends CONSTANTLY.  It keeps my mind busy.  And my heart.  These days, that's a good thing.

So, once again I can tell you that I have a couple of meaningful things that I want to write about.  I'm just too tired to do it.  I promise, one day you'll visit this site and there will be something inspiring for you to read!  Until then, I hope you don't get TOO bored with my every day life. 

I am able to share with you now that there are some REALLY big changes getting ready to take place in my near future.  I signed my letter of intent with my school rejecting my job for next year.  *GASP*  Talk about stressful!!  I have always been able to pride myself in my work ethic.  I have only worked TWO places in my whole adult life.  Both have been in the field of special education.  The thought of changing careers at this point in my life is beyond scary for me.  Having said that, I know without a doubt that this move is Spirit led.  A leap of faith.  Literally.  Fifteen years is a long time to teach special ed.  It has been a challenge, to say the very least. But, rewarding.  Now that I am living in my parent's home again, I have the unique opportunity (thanks to my family and their unconditional support) to go to school full time.  Again.  The degree I am looking at getting will only take roughly fifteen months to complete.  I am very excited, but bittersweet at the same time.  Naturally, I will keep you up to date on my progress.  In the meantime, please keep me in your prayers. 

Sunday when JP came home, we sat outside on the driveway for a little while and blew bubbles.  He has always been so fascinated with them.  I snapped a few pics.  Enjoy.

Happy Hump Day everyone!!

ramblings and our weekend in pics (sorry...it's long!)

Oh my!  How nice it is to FINALLY sit down.  Isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?  Well, it isn't!  Don't get me wrong, it's been a really nice day.  I spent the night with some friends last night, so this morning I woke up at the CRACK of dawn to drive home, shower and be at church at 9:30 for Sunday School.  I was rushed, but I made it!  Boy was I glad I did.  Isn't it funny how that works?   I almost didn't go.  It wasn't very convenient since I slept away from home.  But, oh how the lesson spoke DIRECTLY to me.  God is so good like that.  The same thing happened tonight.  JP came home in the later part of the afternoon from his dad's house.  He was very tired and a little emotional, so I decided I would stay home with him rather than carrying him to church.  At the last minute, I "just happened" to change my mind.  (Thanks to the Holy Spirit!)  The first song that was shared so beautifully in the worship service tonight talked about carrying your broken heart to Jesus.  I sat in the pew with tears streaming down my face. 

Once again, I was so thankful I went.

Alright, enough of my chatter!  Enjoy the pics...

Friday night my great friend Alexis shared her birthday with ten of us gals!  We had an AMAZING dinner at Brixx Pizza on Woodruff road and then enjoyed the Newsboys concert at Brookwood church.  Good times!

Saturday night I hung out at Megan and Hal's.  We made a "bonfire"  (and by bonfire, I mean a pit with a lot of wood that was barely burning!)  

I ended up staying overnight at their house because by the time our little "party" ended it was SUPER late.  I slept in a GAMECOCK bed, but I will spare all my TIGER friends the picture of that!!!  Go Cocks!!

My sis and I went to see the movie, Silver Linings Playbook.  I will have to do a movie review on this one... it was good.  And Bradley Cooper is SO HOT!!!!

 

 

Today mom, Preston and I went to Rose's to hang out with BJay, Holly and Miss Lindi.  These two fireballs are so precious together!  And their birthdays are coming up very soon.  We are having a joint party for them on April 2nd!  Love them!!

 

When JP came home this afternoon, we spent time outside with bubbles.  I took pictures of that too, but I took them on my actual camera.  I will post those later.

 

 I hope everyone has had a great weekend.  I am getting up and hitting the treadmill at 4:30 in the morning, so I am heading to bed!!!  GOODNIGHT!!

I hope that everyone is having a FABULOUS Friday!!  Most of my Fridays are fabulous just because it's the last day in the work week!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I have several things planned....check back for pictures!!

pictures from the weekend

 Me, Hal and Preston.  For some reason I was unable to upload the picture of me and Megan, or the one of me and Colton.  Boo!  Oh well...we had a great time hanging with them on Friday night.

 Jackson and Preston  AKA  T.R.O.U.B.L.E

 

 Game night!

 

 

 

 

Breakfast at Flour Haven!  Yummy!

 

I found this ecard on the Internet this week and thought it was a perfect description of me and my best girls!

Me, Kerri and Kathi.  I do not have one with Megan and Stephanie in it.  I've said it a GAZILLION times before, and I'll say it once again...  I am not sure where I would be without these gals!  They have been my best friends for MANY years, and have always been good to me, but words cannot express what they have meant to me over the past seven months.  Well, one word describes it.  Blessed.

 

 

JP has been sick today with the stomach bug that seems to be going around.  I hate it when he is sick.  I feel so helpless.  I am staying home with him one more time tomorrow to make sure he is fever free for twenty four hours.  He did get a lot of rest today and seems to be better.  Thank God.

 

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

my bucket list, my weekend, and upcoming events

In light of my current circumstances, I have been given the (unfortunate or unique, however you choose to view it) opportunity to reinvent myself.  In doing so, I have compiled a "Bucket List" for myself.  I thought I would share.

1. Begin running again and enter races.  ( I have already been able to cross this one off!)
2. Be in better shape at age 40 than I was at 25.  ( I am on my way...thankfully I have five years left!)
3. Get my devotional book published.
4. Get my children's book published.
5. Finish another degree.  ( I begin this one this summer!)
6. Take photography classes.
7. Go to Hawaii.
8. Spend a week in NYC.
9. Go on a Disney cruise.
10. Take JP back to Guatemala to visit his children's home.

Well, that's all I could come up with for now.  I don't think it is too extravagant.  I'll have to keep you informed on the progress as I go along!

I know it's been a while since I posted.  This past week was pretty busy.  Everyone in our house is back on the mend, thank goodness!!!  Now, if I can just catch up on the housework, we'll be good to go.  Our weekend was pretty laid back and relaxing.  Friday night, we hung out at Megan and Hal's.  Saturday morning, we all met Rose, BJay Holly and Lindi for breakfast in Greer.

 If you live in the Greenville/Taylors/Greer area, I strongly suggest you visit Flour Haven.  It was wonderful.  Everyone knows how much I LOVE breakfast, well let me tell you, I ordered a waffle and sausage links.... YUM. E!  The prices fall in the $8 to $10 range, but the amount of food they delivered to your table is sinful.   And what is even more sinful is when you devour your food and don't leave anything on your plate.  That is what I did!  (Now granted I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day!)


Saturday night, JP and I went to a friend's house for a "Game Night."  It was TONS of fun!  Sunday, I had the special privilege of singing at a young girl's baptism service.  What an honor. 

I am picking up my tickets this week to attend the Easter service at Newspring Church!!  I am SUPER excited about this!!  It will be awesome.  Look for a campus in your area and swing by Friday, Saturday or Sunday for one of the services... you WILL be glad you did!!  It is always amazing.

This weekend I am joining ten other CRAZY ladies for a night of dinner and a concert at Brookwood Church.  It will be a lot of fun.  I am counting down the days...

Well, that's it for now.  Check back tonight or tomorrow for pictures from our weekend.  Have a great Monday, everyone!

I have a couple of new devotional ideas that I am working on.  It seems to be taking me a long time to get my thoughts in order.  My brain has been scrambled this week.  The only two people (knock on wood) in our home who have not been sick is me and JP.  Couple that with all of our day to day CRAZINESS and it has been a mad house. 

But, if I am being honest, I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.  Well,  a little calmer might be nice!

I did get an email from the Editor of the poetry book that is going to have my poem in it.  They want to do a "Featured Artist" page with my profile and poem.  I thought that was pretty cool.  The book is pretty expensive, so I am not going to buy one.  But, I am very honored.  You can read the poem here.   It is the only poem I have ever written.  I actually do not enjoy writing poetry.  Most of you have probably already read it.  Especially if you have followed my blog since the beginning.  God gave me the words while I was waiting for JP to come home from Guatemala.  My emotions were so raw.  God really used that time in my life to teach me how to worship Him through my wait.  And while it was a very painful period, I grew.  Looking back,  I would not trade that time for anything in the world.

I am very tired tonight.  It has been a pretty long day.  I will ask that you continue to keep JP in your prayers.  He is really struggling to sort through his emotions right now.  He is so fragile.  And so special.  And kind.  I could go on and on...  I love him so much it hurts.  Literally. 

This is a picture of us today after he came home from school.  Look how sleepy he is!  He has gotten in the habit of taking about an hour nap after school.  He is usually so drained.  Thankfully, he is still doing well in school.  That is a blessing, for sure.

Well, I guess that is it for now.  I am going to hit the sack early.  Tomorrow's Thursday!  YAY!!  The weekend is right around the corner.  Stay tuned for pictures from our weekend.

GOOD NIGHT!